THE MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW VOLUME XII OCTOBER, 1917 NUMBER 1 ««mp r TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Gottfried Duden's "Report," 1824- 1827—Translated 1 WILLIAM Gr. BEK Missouri and the War ,. 22 FLOYD C. SHOEMAKER Missourians Abroad—Q. W. P. Hunt.. 32 IVAN H. EPPERSON Historical Articles in Missouri News­ papers 44 Historical News an^l Comments 59 Published Quarterly by THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI COLUMBIA Entered as second-class mail matter at Columbia, Missouri, July IS, 1907 THE MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW FLOYD C. SHOEMAKER, Editor Subscription Price $1.00 a Year The Missouri Historical Review is a quarterly magazine devoted to Missouri history, genealogy and literature. It is now being sent to eleven hundred members of the Society. The subscription price is one dollar a year. Each number of the Review contains several articles on Missouri and Missourians. These articles are the result of research work in Missouri history. The style of presentation is as popular as is permissible in a publication of this character. In addition to the monographs, the Review contains a list of books recently published by Missourians or on Missouri, and a list of Missouri historical articles that have appeared in the newspapers of the State The last is an aid to teachers, "editors and writers, and will become even more valuable with age. This journal reviews only those books that relate to Missouri. Missourians are interested in their State Historical Society. The Review appeals to this interest by summarizing the recent activities of the Society. It also does this of other state-wide organizations of a historical or patriotic character. Important historical happenings are also chronicled and members of the Society are urged to make this complete for their section of Missouri. The general Missouri items include biographical sketches of individuals in public life or of historic fame. Manuscripts and letters on all Missouri subjects of a historical or biographical nature are welcome, and will be read and decided upon with as little delay as possible. Eleven volumes of the Review have been published. A few complete sets are still obtainable from the Society—Vols. 1-11, bound in best library buckram, $37.50; unbound, $22.00. Separate volumes, unbound, except Vol. 1, as follows: Vol. 2, 3 and 6, each $3.00; Vols. 4 and 5, each $2.00; Vols. 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11, each $1.00. Prices of re-prints of most important articles given on request. All editorial and business communications should be ad­ dressed to Floyd C. Shoemaker, Secretary, The State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri. THE MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW VOL. XII, No. 1 COLUMBIA OCTOBER, 1917 GOTTFRIED DUDEN'S "REPORT," 1824-1827. TRANSLATED BY WILLIAM G. BEK, FIRST ARTICLE Introduction Biographical Facts Concerning Gottfried Duden. Gottfried Duden was the first German who gave his countrymen a fairly comprehensive, and reasonably accurate, first-hand account of conditions as they obtained in the eastern part of the new state of Missouri. In his famous book, "Bericht ueber eine Reise nach den westlichen Staaten Nordamerikas" (1829),* his skillful pen mingled fact and fiction, interwove experience and imagination, pictured the freedom of the forest and of democratic institutions in con­ trast with the social restrictions and political embarrassments of Europe. This singular book passed thru three editions and many thousands of Germans pondered over its contents. When the rulers of the then politically disrupted German states refused to give their subjects the freedom and aid which they felt entitled to, innumerable resolutions were made to cross the ocean and build for the present and for future generations happy homes on the far-famed Missouri. •The title translated reads: "A Report of a Journey to the Western States of North America." (1) 2 MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW. The biographer of this odd man, who came into the life of the state like a comet and passed beyond its horizon almost as abruptly, is embarrassed by the scantiness of certified material concerning this pioneer. Der Deutsche Pionier,** this invaluable source of historic things German American, con­ tains in Vol. VI an interesting sketch of Duden by Friedrich Schnacke. Translated, the account reads as follows: "Gott­ fried Duden was born in Remscheid, Duchy of Berg, Rhine Province in the year 1785. His father was a wealthy apothe­ cary. The youth attended the gymnasium in Dortmund and during the years 1806 to 1810 studied law in Duesseldorf, Heidelberg and Goettingen. For a time he was assistant at the court of law in Duesseldorf. In 1811 he was made Justice of the Peace in the district of Muehlheim on the river Ruhr. In the year 1812 he joined the Second Regiment of the Duchy of Berg, which regiment was later incorporated in the twenty-eighth Prussian Infantry. He was advanced by degrees to the rank of adjutant and participated in the campaign against Napoleon. During this campaign Duden gave evidence of extraordinary bravery. After the campaign he again resumed the duties of his office at Muehlheim. By order of the Cabinet he was made Proctor of State for the district of Muehlheim in 1820. This office he held till 1823, his residence being at Cologne. In his capacity as an officer of the state he had exceptional opportunity to gain an insight into the sufferings of his fellowmen. He was convinced that most of the crimes, which he was called upon to prosecute, were due to poverty. He therefore decided to discover, if possible, the cause of this poverty, and, if within his power, to find the means of remedying the evil. On this point we are able to quote Duden's own words: *'By careful reflec­ tion I had come to the conclusion that most of the evils from which the inhabitants of Europe and especially of Germany **The German Pioneer was a German monthly, dealing with the pioneer life of the Germans of the United States. In all 18 vols, of this periodical were published, from 1869 to 1887, at Cincinnati, Ohio. H. Rattermann was editor during the greater period of its existence. *C/., p. IV and V, Introduction, Duden's A Report of a Journey to the Western States of North America. GOTTFRIED DUDEN's "REPORT," 1824-1827. 3 are suffering, arise from the effects of an excess of population, and are of such a nature that every means for alleviating this suffering will be futile until the population is reduced in number. I recognized the fact that a certain amount of population is absolutely necessary for the highest develop­ ment of the individual, as well as that of the state. I recog­ nized at the same time, that excess of population distorts the social condition in a lamentable manner, and that all the endeavors of the intellectual forces of society must necessarily end in making the state nothing but a great prison-house.' Obsessed by such ideas Duden obtained a furlough in order to devote himself to the study of medicine at the University of Bonn. Having at last obtained his dismissal from the service of the state, he sailed for America on the 8th of June 1824, arriving at Baltimore on the 14th of August. The ship on which he took passage was an American sail-ship, the Henry Clay. "Duden said*: 'I was of the opinion that the emigrants of Europe would have to direct themselves to those regions where the mass of natives is also seeking new homesteads. I also held the view that the Europeans had best take these natives as their models in the establishment of their new settlements. I regarded it therefore a gross error, to take as the goal of my journey those regions which lie east of the Alleghany Mountains, where the good land is even now quite expensive.' Accordingly Duden directed himself to what was then the far West, to the then young state of Missouri. They, Duden and his traveling companion Louis Eversmann, an agriculturist, traveled in an open spring-wagon, going via Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia), Zanesville, Chilli- cothe and Cincinnati in Ohio, Louisville, Kentucky, arriving in St. Louis, Missouri, the latter part of October 1824. "Duden desired to become acquainted with all the phases of pioneer life and therefore bought a tract of land in Mont­ gomery (now Warren) County, in the vicinity of the present town of Dutzow, some fifty miles west of the junction of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. There he built a house and *C/., p. IX, Introduction, ibid. 4 MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW. devoted himself to agriculture. He remained on his farm the greater part of three years. Among his backwoods neighbors he rendered great service by applying his knowledge of medi­ cine. During his idle hours he made a careful study of his surroundings and wrote his observations. These studies ap­ peared as the famous "Report" in 1829 at Elberfeld. In 1827 Duden placed his possessions under the care of a manager and departed for Europe, where he arrived on the 22nd of June of the same year." Another source of information, dealing briefly with the sojourn of Duden in Missouri is Gert Goebel, a well educated German, who was twice elected to the state senate of Mis­ souri and who held various minor offices of trust in Franklin County, Missouri, and who finally published an intensely interesting book, entitled: Laenger als ein Menschenleben in Missouri* In the issue of the Westliche Post of St. Louis, under the date of November 10, 1893, Gert Goebel writes concerning Duden: "I who have lived for more than sixty years in Missouri know only one man who knew Dr.