A few of the roads which traverse the country from the Mississippi to the upper settlements of Red river and the Arkansa, have been sufficiently opened to admit the passage of waggons. On these are seen many families migrating from Missouri to Red river, and from Red river to Missouri. The first settlements in the wilderness are most commonly made by persons to whom hardihood and adventure have become confirmed and almost indispensable habits, and who choose to depend upon the chase, and the spontaneous products of the unreclaimed forest, rather than submit to the confinement and monotony of an agricultural life. They are therefore, of necessity, kept somewhat in advance of those settlers who intend a permanent residence in the situations they first occupy. Removing from place to place with their cattle, horses, and swine, they confine themselves {141} to one spot no longer than _the range_ continues to afford a sufficient supply of the articles most necessary to life. When the canes are fed down and destroyed, and the acorns become scarce, the small corn-field and the rude cabin are abandoned, and the _squatter_ goes in search of a place where all the original wealth of the forest is yet undiminished. Here he again builds his hut, removes the trees from a few acres of land, which supplies its annual crop of corn, while the neighbouring woods, for an extent of several miles, are used both as pasture and hunting grounds. Though there is in this way of life an evident tendency to bring men back to a state of barbarism, we have often met among the rudest of the squatters with much hospitality and kindness. Near White river, we called at a house to purchase food for ourselves and our horses, but having no silver money, our request was refused, although we offered the notes of the bank of Missouri, then in good credit. In a few miles we arrived at another cabin, where we found every member of the numerous family sick with the ague and fever, except one young girl. But here they were willing to furnish every refreshment their house afforded. There were at this time very few houses, particularly in the settlements about White river, which did not exhibit scenes of suffering similar to those in the one of which we were now the reluctant guests. We have seen some instances, where, of a family of eight or ten, not a single individual was capable of attending to the services of the household, or of administering to the wants of his suffering relatives. In these instances we thought it better to pitch our tents at a little distance, and intrude ourselves no farther than was necessary to procure corn and other indispensable supplies.