IN THE BRUSH; OR, OLD-TIME SOCIAL, POLITICAL, AND RELIGIOUS LIFE IN THE SOUTHWEST. BY REV. HAMILTON W. PIERSON, D.D., EX-PRESIDENT OF CUMBERLAND COLLEGE, KENTUCKY; AUTHOR OF "JEFFERSON AT MONTICELLO"; CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY, ETC. _WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY W.L. SHEPPARD._ NEW YORK: D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 1, 3, AND 5 BOND STREET. 1881. COPYRIGHT BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 1881. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I.--Why I relate my experiences in the Southwest. Introductory 1 II.--My outfit for my life in the Brush 12 III.--The itinerant pioneer preacher's faithful horse 35 IV.--Old-time hospitality in the Southwest 47 V.--Old-time basket-meetings in the Brush 60 VI.--The baptism of a Scotch baby in the wilds of the Southwest 82 VII.--Barbecues, and a barbecue wedding-feast in the Southwest 90 VIII.--The old, old book, and its story in the wilds of the Southwest 103 IX.--Candidating; or, old-time methods and humors of office-seeking in the Southwest 130 X.--Some strange experiences with a candidate in the Brush 156 XI.--Experiences with old-time Methodist circuit-riders in the Southwest 171 XII.--Heroic Christian workers in the Southwest 193 XIII.--Strange people I have met in the Southwest 204 XIV.--Old-time illiterate preachers in the Brush 238 XV.--"Ortonville"; or, the universal power of sacred song 278 XVI.--Work accomplished in the Southwest 294 IN THE BRUSH. CHAPTER I. WHY I RELATE MY EXPERIENCES IN THE SOUTHWEST.--INTRODUCTORY. On a visit to New York, many years ago, after the first few months of my ministerial labors in the wilds of the Southwest, I met a warm personal friend, a genial, generous, noble Christian woman, who at once said to me: "And so you are a Western missionary. Well, do tell me if anything _strange_ or _funny_ ever _did_ happen to a missionary. Mother has taken the home-missionary papers ever since I was a child, and I always read them; and I often wonder if anything _strange_ or _funny_ did _ever_ happen to a Western missionary."