THE ARKANSAS TRAVELLER.
By THOMAS WILSON,
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM, WASHINGTON, D. C.
Some years of my teens were passed in
the town of Salem,
Columbiana county, Ohio. This was before
any railroads passed
through that country. I remember the
first meeting of citizens
ever held there (under the direction of
Mr. Zadok Street) for
the purpose of securing subscriptions of
money or right-of-way
for the construction of what was then to
be the Ohio & Pennsyl-
vania Railway, afterwards the Crestline,
and finally the Pitts-
burg, Fort Wayne & Chicago R. R. The
natural highways for
travel in Ohio were by the Ohio River on
the south and Lake
Erie on the north. The artificial water
communication on the
east was by the Pennsylvania Canal from
Beaver to Erie, with
a branch from Newcastle to Cleveland. In
the center of Ohio
was the great Ohio Canal from Cleveland
to Portsmouth.
The paralellogram within these borders
was served with
travel, for passengers by the Ohio Stage
Company, and for
freight by the Conestoga wagons which
had been in use
from Philadelphia westward over the
mountains before the
building of the Western Division of the
Pennsylvania Canal
and the construction of the Portage
Railroad over the moun-
tains. Pittsburg and Wheeling were the
great centers for
western distribution of goods, while
Beaver and Wellsville were,
from their position on the Ohio river,
and the consequent com-
munication with them by steamboat,
subsidiary centers. The
distribution from these points was
accomplished by these great
wagons on certain roads, in which the
road, the route and the
wagons almost corresponded to the great
caravans of Oriental
times.
The wagons were immense lumbering
machines with broad
tires three to five inches in width and
an inch in thickness. The
boxes or bodies were like unto the later
"Prairie Schooners;"
the keel was not straight as is usual at
the present day, but highly
(296)
The Arkansas Traveller. 297
The Arkansas Traveller. 299
horse carried the saddle for the driver,
on which he could mount
as occasion demanded, but he rarely did.
In driving, he walked
by the side of the near wheel horse,
carrying in his hand his
Loudoun County black-snake whip, the
single line attached to
the lead horse being continually within
reach. The rear end
of the line was buckled to the hame of
the wheel horse, high up,
and was about long enough to clear the
ground as it swung;
when it was not in use its slack was
hung over the hame. The
line was used to guide the horses, more
as a signal than by
actual force. To pull it steadily
without jerk means for the
lead horse to come "haw" (to
the left) ; two or three short jerks
meant for him to go "gee" (to
the right). By these signals,
with the aid of his voice, the driver
had perfect command of
his team. The horses were large and
heavy, the smallest span
in the lead. Their motion was slow and
dignified; each one
seemed to lose his individuality,
recognizing that he was only a
unit in a great machine, and he acted
accordingly. No horse
ever seemed to take upon himself any
individual action, he
worked harmoniously with the rest,
therefore a stranger had no
control over the team and could neither
drive nor manage them.
They did not refuse to do his bidding,
they simply ignored his
existence. Occasionally a horse, being
(as the indictments say)
"moved and instigated by the
devil," would grow sulky and balk.
This was usually a new or untrained
horse, frequently one sold
or traded by the farmer or jockey on
account of this very fault.
Then came the contest between him and
his driver, in which
the latter must win or kill the horse;
and cases of obstinacy
have been known wherein he had to do the
latter in order to
accomplish the former.
The wagons were greased with tar. To
perform the opera-
tion the wheel was usually pried up with
a fence rail put under
the axle until a bit of plank of the
right height could be put
under, which was kept from pressing into
the ground by hav-
ing a bit of board as a foundation. Two
lengths of plank were
required, one for the hind and one for
the front wheel, and these
were usually kept at the tavern for
common use. The wheels
were fastened on with linchpins which
went through the ex-
treme out end of the axle, and not with
nuts and screws as in
300 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
later times. The linchpin was taken out
with the hammer,
the end of the handle of which was kept
sharpened chisel-fashion
for that purpose. The tar kettle swung
on a hook fastened to
the hind axle. A tool box was on the
near side of the wagon
body in the middle (shown in the cut)
and contained a hatchet,
wrench, gimlet, etc., etc., such as
experience showed was needed.
The teams were usually owned by their
drivers, who took
care of them themselves. Some of the
more celebrated teamsters
on the road through to New Lisbon,
Salem, Youngstown, were
Berry Goodwin, Milo Grove, the Sell
Brothers, Tom William-
son. There were others who were only
occasionally on the road.
Jake Sell was the best known and
continued his work latest
with his team reduced to five, and then
to four, horses, until his
trade was taken away entirely by the
opening of the Ohio and
Pennsylvania R. R. I remember the trip
wherein he became
celebrated for hauling over the road the
heaviest load ever
known; five tons and nearly a half (108 hundredweight).
The
horses wore great heavy harness, with
straps and breeching four
and five inches in width, made of
double, and sometimes triple,
plies of leather sewed together, and
would last longer than the
horses; collars and hames were
correspondingly large and heavy,
the latter always of wood and standing
high above the collar.
A leather, or goat-, sheep- or bear-skin
shield or cape, with
wool or fur outside, sometimes dyed in
fancy colors, blue or
red, was worn over the horses' withers
to protect them from the
rain and prevent them from chafing,
which would happen if the
rain was allowed to get under the
collar. Holes were cut in
these shields which fitted the
protruding ends of the hames, and
thus they were kept in place without
further fastening. The
bridle reins were hooked over the hames
outside the capes.
Many teams wore bells, usually three to
each horse; they
were attached to a steel or iron bow,
the ends of which, brought
together, were inserted into two
projecting loops or keepers on
the upright ends of each hame. The
stepping motion of the
horse kept up a continual ringing of the
bells, which made music
for the driver and could be heard in the
stillness of the summer
day through the adjoining fields,
attracting the attention of
every boy, and man too, within a mile of
the road. The bells
The Arkansas Traveller. 301
were of different sizes, the center one
in the arch being the size
of a small cow bell, the outside ones
being smaller and, if there
were five in the row, they were about
the size of a sheep bell.
They were attuned in harmony and thus
made a concord of sweet
sounds. It was only the well-to-do
driver with an aesthetic taste
who indulged in bells. Every boy along
the road knew Jake
Sell's bell-team and could tell whether
it had passed up or down,
and when. A tradition was told me by my
father of a rich old
wagoner, Whittenberry, who owned ten
teams, all with bells.
As they went out from the depot or
starting point, several to-
gether, the old man listened to the
harmonious tones of the
jingling bells as they took from the
stately tread of the dignified
horses a regular rhythm which to his
delighted ear resolved
itself into words (as does the ticking
clock, sometimes), that
gratified his proud old heart as they
seemed to chant to him in
unison: "Whittenberry's ten teams,
Whittenberry's ten teams,
Whittenberry's ten teams." One of
the rules of the road was that
no driver should ever pass a stalled
team without helping it.
A gentleman with a lady might pass and
leave them without
remark, but a mere or common man, never!
I have seen a
procession of teams, heavy and light,
standing in line while their
drivers were helping a brother in
difficulty. In the case of bell
teams, the penalty or salvage, so to
speak, for this aid, was their
bells, which the unfortunate driver had
to take from off his horses
and give to the team that had assisted
him.
These teams had their regular routes of
travel and every
boy along the line knew the team by the
appearance of the
wagon, the number and color of the horses,
and so was able
to identify the individual team from any
field in the farm as
soon as the wagon made its appearance
over the hills. There
were many of these teams in operation.
The wagoners were
compelled to stop early enough to groom
their horses before
it became too dark to work. They began
their journey early
in the morning and usually made a
distance of fifteen never
more than twenty, miles a day. As far as
possible, they had
their regular stopping places, although
they rarely allowed the
latter to curtail the day's journey.
Arrived at the stopping
302 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
place, the horses were taken out, stripped of their harness, watered, fed, curried, etc. The wagoner carried a big feed box |
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swung from hooks and chains to the back part of his wagon; this he lifted clear from its place, put up the end of the wagon tongue with a light St. Andrew's cross of wood which he car- ried with him and fastened the feed trough on the tongue by inserting the hook in the front end of the trough into a corresponding slot or keeper in the tongue; while the rear end was kept in place by a corresponding strap |
with a hole in it which received the wagon hammer, the double- trees being taken off and disposed of under the wagon. The horses were fastened to the pole or the trough and stood out all night. They were driven into the great wagon-yard for this purpose, and it was not unusual to see, at a popular station or tavern, five or six of these great ships of travel (pioneers of civilization) arranged around the wagon-yard. The wagoner always, or nearly always, bought his feed from the tavern keeper by the bushel, and fed as much or as little as he pleased. The wagoners ate at the table with other guests, travel- ers, gentlemen, ladies, what-not, for they were just as good as anybody else. But it was not usual for them to occupy either bed or room at the tavern; they carried their own beds in the form of a mattress, containing all the clothes necessary for warmth and, being rolled together and strapped, was placed in the front of the wagon, the cover being drawn tightly over it. These rolls of bedding were brought into the tavern in the early evening, but stacked in the corner of the bar-room until bed-time, when they were unrolled and straightened out on the floor, the places being chosen by pre-emption, "first come, first served." After supper, and from that till bed-time, these bar-rooms were scenes of fun and frolic. The stations on the road from Pittsburg to Salem I remem- ber well: Backhouse Tavern, Sewickly, Economy, Freedom, Bridgewater, Douthit's, Darlington, Palestine, Roose's, Colum- |
The Arkansas Traveller. 303
biana, Franklin Square, Salem. There
were three taverns in
Salem: Webb's Tavern at the western,
Wilson's in the center,
and the Golden Fleece at the eastern
side of the town. This
last was originally kept by an old
settler, Aaron Hise. He
had a large family mostly grown to man-
and womanhood. The
oldest one became a celebrated steamboat
builder at New Al-
bany, Indiana. These were all sober,
temperate, industrious
and proper men and women. They obtained
a good education.
The men all became excellent mechanics
and skilled artisans.
The family were noble men and women and
made the best of
citizens. They were all musicians or, at
least, had musical
genius. The girls could sing, and many a
day I have worked
full ten hours with Howell Hise,
listening to his singing and
whistling, and finished the evening with
a concert of our own
at Hinchellwood's, where Jesse played
the clarionet, George
Hinchellwood and I the flutes, while
Phoebe and Lizzie sang.
Each of the taverns standing along the
road naturally
exerted itself to present the greatest
attractions to the traveller
in order to secure the greatest amount
of custom. The chief
attraction in early times at the
"Golden Fleece" was the music,
the chef d'oeuvre of which was
considered to be the "Arkansas
Traveller." The residents always
kept their attention upon any
night when it was likely this play would
be enacted, and if it
should get out through the town that
this was to be given, that
night would surely see the old bar-room
packed to the utmost.
The horses fed and cared for, supper
over, the rows of
bedding brought in and stacked in the
corner, the big table
which stood against the wall brought out
into the center of the
room, and one of the boys (it made
slight difference which)
mounted thereon seated on any kind of a
broken-backed or
no-backed chair, and commenced to play
the first part of the
tune. After playing it once or twice to
familiarize the new
members of his audience, he prefaced the
performance with
an explanation, a sort of prologue, that
which would be called
in our modern librettos, the
"Argument." It was, according
to my remembrance, about as follows:
The scene represented, the locale, is
in Arkansas, and he
(the player) is to represent an Arkansas
squatter (a fiddler)
304 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
who has been down the Mississippi river to New Orleans and had, of course, attended the theater. He has heard for the first time this tune, "The Arkansas Traveller," played by the theater orchestra. He was enraptured with it; it made an impres- sion upon him, and he did his best to remember it so that he could play it, but his fiddle was at home and his "best" was by whistling and drumming and otherwise to impress it upon his memory. The opening of the story represents this Arkansas squat- ter, just returned from his trip to New Orleans, and his first move is to get down his fiddle and attempt to reproduce the tune. He has already picked out the first part, but the second is too much for him and he fails in it. Therefore he is com- pelled to content himself by playing the first part only. |
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While he is engaged in playing it over and over and over again, the "Arkansas Traveller" makes his appearance and the play begins. So one of the boys would play this in different keys and to different time; improvising right and left in it, playing it high and low as a master improvisator could be expected, but the last part of the tune continually evaded him. While thus engaged, his brother would enter the room dressed in the guise of a Traveller, and make his way up to the front part of the circle around the player, who would stop a little, maybe to tune a string, straighten the bridge or tighten the nut on his bow, when the alleged stranger asks him a question. Of course I cannot remember the entire dialogue--I do not know that it was ever given twice in the same way. It was largely a matter of improvisation, depending upon the skill and ability of the players, the humor they were in, the time at their command, and the extent to which the audience could |
The Arkansas Traveller. 305 arouse the enthusiasm of the players. The first question was by the traveller: Traveller: "How do you do, stranger?" Squatter: "Do pretty much as I please, sir." (Plays first part only.) |
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Traveller: "Stranger, do you live about here?" Squatter: "I reckon I don't live anywheres else!" (Plays first part only.) Traveller: "Well, how long have you lived here?" Squatter: "See that big tree there? Well, that was there when I came here." (Plays first part.) |
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Traveller: "Well, you needn't be so cross about it; I wasn't asking no improper questions at all!" Squatter: "Reckon there's nobody cross here except yourself!" (Plays first part only.) |
|
Traveller (proposing a modification): "How did your potatoes turn out here last year?" Squatter: "They didn't turn out at all; we dug 'em out." (Plays first part only.) |
|
Traveller: "Can I stay here all night?" Vol. VIII-20 |
306 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
Squatter: "Yes, you kin stay right where you air, out en the road." (Plays first part.) Traveller: "How far is it to the next tavern?" Squatter: "I reckon it's upward of some distance." (Plays first part.) Traveller: "How long will it take for me to get there?" Squatter: "You'll not git there at all, if ye stay here foolin' with me." (Plays, always first part.) Traveller: "Got any spirits in your house?" Squatter: "Do you think my house is haunted? Plenty of 'em down in the grave-yard!" (Plays.) Traveller: "How far is it to the forks of the road?" Squatter: "Hit haint forked sence I've been here." (Plays.) Traveller: "Where does this road go to?" Squatter: "Hit haint gone anywhere sence I've been here--jist staid right here." (Plays.) Traveller: "Why don't you put a new roof on your house ?" Squatter: "Because it's a rainin' and I can't." (Plays.) |
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Traveller: "Why don't you do it when it is not raining?" Squatter: "It don't leak then." (Plays, etc.) Traveller: "Can I get across the branch down here?" Squatter: "I reckon you can, the ducks cross there when- ever they want to." (Plays.) |
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Traveller: "Why don't you play the rest of that tune?" The player stopped quick as lightning. |
The Arkansas Traveller. 307
"Gee, stranger, can you play
the rest of that tune? I've
been down to New Orleans and I heard
that at the theater,
and I've been at work at it ever since I
got back, trying to
get the last part of it. If you can play
the rest of that tune,
you can stay in this cabin for the rest
of your natural life. Git
right down, hitch your horse and come
in! I don't care if
it is a rainin'! I don't care if the
beds is all full! We'll make
a shake-down on the floor and ye can
kiver with the door.
We haint got much to eat, but what we
have, you're mighty
welcome to it. Here, Sal, old woman, fly
round and git some
corn-dodgers and bacon for the
gentleman, - he knows how to
play the last part of that tune! Don't
you, stranger-didn't
you say you did? Gol, though, you don't
go back on it now!
If you say you don't there'll be some of
the wildest sawin'
around here you ever seed. If you want
to save your life, you
want to know the rest of that tune, and
quick, too! Out with
it! Do you know it, or don't you know
it? Git down off'n
'at hoss! If you know it, you are a
friend and 'brother-come-
to-me-arms'; if you don't you've excited
the tiger in my bosom,
and I'll have nothing short of your
heart's blood! Git down,
git down!"
"Well," the stranger said,
"yes, I can play it; there's no
use of your getting mad. I'll play it
for you as soon's I get
something to eat."
Squatter: "Fly 'round here, old
woman, set the table,
bring out the knives and forks."
Here the little boy was to put in his
oar and say: "Daddy,
you know we haven't got any forks, and
there aint knives to
go 'round."
Squatter: "Like to know why there
'aint! There's big
butch and little butch, and short handle
and corn-cob handle,
and no handle at all, and if that 'aint
knives enough to set any
gentleman's table in this country, I
would like to know! Git
off'n your hoss, stranger, and come in
and have someth'n', and
then play the rest of that tune."
308 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. The result of it is that the stranger gets off, takes the seat of the squatter and the fiddle, and then starts in playing the last part of the tune, |
|
but he refuses to play the first part. Then the squatter becomes interested and begins plying questions to the stranger; where he comes from, who he is, where he is going, where he got that tune, what is the name of it, who made it, and everything of that kind; to all of which the stranger replies with as much imperturbability as is pos- sible, and in the same style as he had been replied to when he came; that is, he gave the answers as short as might be, and then ended the discussion by playing the tune, always and only the second part. |
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I have known this to last for an hour, and I have never seen an audience go away from any entertainment better pleased than were the denizens of the town of Salem, were they guests, travellers or wagoners, when was played, in this simple and country style, the drama of "THE ARKANSAS TRAVELLER." |
THE ARKANSAS TRAVELLER.
By THOMAS WILSON,
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM, WASHINGTON, D. C.
Some years of my teens were passed in
the town of Salem,
Columbiana county, Ohio. This was before
any railroads passed
through that country. I remember the
first meeting of citizens
ever held there (under the direction of
Mr. Zadok Street) for
the purpose of securing subscriptions of
money or right-of-way
for the construction of what was then to
be the Ohio & Pennsyl-
vania Railway, afterwards the Crestline,
and finally the Pitts-
burg, Fort Wayne & Chicago R. R. The
natural highways for
travel in Ohio were by the Ohio River on
the south and Lake
Erie on the north. The artificial water
communication on the
east was by the Pennsylvania Canal from
Beaver to Erie, with
a branch from Newcastle to Cleveland. In
the center of Ohio
was the great Ohio Canal from Cleveland
to Portsmouth.
The paralellogram within these borders
was served with
travel, for passengers by the Ohio Stage
Company, and for
freight by the Conestoga wagons which
had been in use
from Philadelphia westward over the
mountains before the
building of the Western Division of the
Pennsylvania Canal
and the construction of the Portage
Railroad over the moun-
tains. Pittsburg and Wheeling were the
great centers for
western distribution of goods, while
Beaver and Wellsville were,
from their position on the Ohio river,
and the consequent com-
munication with them by steamboat,
subsidiary centers. The
distribution from these points was
accomplished by these great
wagons on certain roads, in which the
road, the route and the
wagons almost corresponded to the great
caravans of Oriental
times.
The wagons were immense lumbering
machines with broad
tires three to five inches in width and
an inch in thickness. The
boxes or bodies were like unto the later
"Prairie Schooners;"
the keel was not straight as is usual at
the present day, but highly
(296)