Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/11

Rh countless wild fowl that amazed the traveler, aud then having restored the past as it was, can trace again the steps by which civilization came, sees before him one of the most stirring pages of history. It is the ever interesting story of man's conflict with the savage forces of nature, with savage man himself, of his conquest of mighty forests, his mastery of the streams, of the expansion of little settlements and frontier towns to great cities, the change of the rude and hard conditions of frontier life for the comforts and luxuries of civilization, the building of governments of systems of education, the spread of religion—in a word, he lives again the experience of the race in its struggle up from the savage conditions of the wilderness to the height of civilization.

To recount this wonderful story in part is the purpose of this work. No one can appreciate more than the author how imperfectly the task has been performed. The field is vast, the difficulty of sorting and selecting historical material great, and the time which might be devoted to the task, limited. He is conscious of many faults of omission, and doubts not that many of commission are present.

The sources of material are varied. For the early period the monumental work of Houck, The History of Missouri, must for many years be indispensable to the historian of Missouri. It is a rich mine of information. Goodspeed's History of Southeast Missouri is also valuable. The period of the Civil war is adequately covered as yet only by the official reports in War of the Rebellion Records published by the government. Conard's Encyclopaedia of the History of Missouri has been freely used. Where possible actual research work has been relied upon.

The author's thanks are due and are hereby tendered to Hon. Louis Houck of Cape Girardeau, for encouragement and assistance; to Rev. J. C. Maple, D. D., whose long acquaintance with Southeast Missouri and scholarly attainments render him peculiarly fitted for assistance in preparing its history; to Rev. Geo. W. Harlan of Farmington, for permission to use his unpublished History of the Presbytery of Potosi; to Dr. J. S. Dalton of New Madrid; to H. W. Watson of Memphis, for permission to print the account prepared by his grandfather, Judge Goah Watson.

It remains to be said that none of these, here named, are in anyway responsible for the errors in the work. For them the author is solely responsible and toward them he begs the kindly indulgence of the reader.