Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/249

 HISTORY OP SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 189 cept with the cry of wild beasts, the echo of thunder, or the crash of undermined trees, falling into the flood. Our admiration, our unsated curiosity at that time, would be a matter of surprise at the present to the thous- ands of haclvueyed travelers on this stream, to whom this route and all its circumstances are as familiar as the path from the bed to the fire."* It has been said that among all the settlers of Upper Louisiana there existed comparative quiet and freedom from disturbance, under Spanish rule. The French were by nature and by the circumstances of their relation- ship and close connection in the towns, peace- able and law abiding people, and little effort was required to keep peace among them. The Americans were scattered over the country, and while thej' were bolder in some respects and a more difficult population to govern, the troubles that arose among them were usuallj^ settled by an appeal to physical strength, with the use of nature 's weapons, so that there was little crime which needed the attention of the officers of the law. They stood, too, as we have said, in wholesome respect of the Span- ish authorities and had a dread of Spanish dungeons and mines. "When the territory passed imder the dominion of the United States, however, and when large numbers of immigrants from the states further to the east had filled up the country, there ensued a period of considerable lawlessness. It was, perhaps, the natural feeling of reaction after the repression of the Spanish government. Quarreling, fighting, and occasional crimes were present in all the settlements in the ter- ritory. The officers of the law had much to do in some of the settlements and the popula- tion was far from being as quiet and free from disturbance as it had been under the government of Spain. We have seen that one of the subjects which early occupied the attention of the territorial assembly was that of the suppression of vice and immorality on the Sabbath, owing to the lack of religious teaching, and to that free- dom of restraint of public opinion found in new communities. There was not a great deal of attention paid to the observance of the day of rest, so that the legislature endeavored to correct this evil. One of the prevalent vices of the popula- tion was gambling. There .seems to be some connection between the life of a new eoimtry and the existence of the gambling spirit. Something of the exhilaration of the free life and of the spirit of taking chances which is cultivated by the daily circumstances imder which the people live seem to incline large numbers of them to the gaming table. Gam- bling was exceedingly popular; it was, per- haps, the most prevalent form of amusement. The territory itself authorized a lottery, so that gambling was regulated and authorized by the law. But, perhaps, the thing that most impressed itself upon travelers from other coimtries with regard to the lawless condition of the terri- tory was the habit of dueling. Men were accustomed to settle differences between them by an appeal to arms. Some one has pointed out that this method was not in use among all classes of peoj^le in the territory, the laboring class not being accustomed to resort to the duel, but professional men, especially law- .yers and all those who regarded themselves as higher up in the scale of society were ac- customed to look with contempt upon the man who appealed to the law for the settlement of
 * Houek, Vol. Ill, p. 199.