Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 (1907 Volume 6).djvu/18

12 Florida—a position which he occupied for ten years. Through some misunderstanding with Jackson, during the latter's presidency, Brackenridge was removed from office in 1832, and returned to his old home at Pittsburg. Here he re-entered public life, was candidate for Congress, and in 1841 served as a commissioner to draft a treaty with Mexico. His later years, spent in retirement, were largely devoted to literary labors. He died in Pittsburg in 1871.

The early writings of a man who in maturer years attained such eminence as that won by Judge Brackenridge, are interesting for their promise and suggestion. But the Journal of a Voyage up the Missouri has in itself much intrinsic value. It is a record free from youthful exaggeration, being singularly clear and accurate. Inspired solely by a desire to describe in simple terms the vast regions lately become our national possession, Brackenridge gives us a vivid picture of the great plains of the West, clad in their summer verdure, with vast herds of wild animals giving a touch of vitality to the lonely scenes. His descriptions of the marvellous atmospheric effects, and the wide expanses of sky and plain, are the product of one who possessed keen enthusiasm for wilderness landscape; but he confesses his disillusion in regard to the simplicity and charm of the savage in a "state of nature." His accounts of Indian life and customs, although slight in volume, are suggestive and valuable; yet he reaches the harsh judgment that "the world would lose but little, if these people should disappear before civilized communities." Our author's remarks upon existing conditions are apposite and often sound, especially upon the value of the Louisiana Purchase to the growth of the United States—nevertheless as a prophet he is not always happy. He thought the region about Omaha the highest point to which settlement would extend for many years, and that the Indians would hold