Page:Recollections of My Boyhood.djvu/9



My father was born in Lexington, Kentucky, my mother in East Tennessee, but from the time of my earliest recollection we had been living on the Osage river in Missouri. Our house stood in the edge of the woods which skirted the river bank. The prairie country from the house lay westward and up and down the river, and was vast in extent. Our house was of hewed logs closely joined together, and the spaces between were filled with limestone mortar. There were two buildings, one story and a half, under one roof, and a porch on the west side of the building; there was a hewn stone fireplace and a chimney for each building. There were two doors and probably four windows opening on the porch, and a door towards the river, opening on a short walk to the small house containing, a loom where cloth was woven. Near the river were several corncribs in a row, and sheds for stock. West of the house was a large corn field, cotton and tobacco patches, and garden. I have no recollection of any orchard, probably because as yet it had not supplied me with any fruit. Of forest trees, between the house and river, I can name the hickory of three kinds: black, shellbark, and pignut, the last producing a soft-shelled nut. This variety grew between the dwelling house and the corncribs. Several large walnut trees grew between the corncribs and the river; a very large bur-oak, also water oaks, persimmon and slippery elm, and sycamore trees, grew along the margin of the river. Of timber classed as brush, there were red-bud, sassafras, willow, line-bark and hazel. I saw red cedar, chinquapin oak, pawpaw, and pecan trees growing on the other side of the river. In the autumn season we always gathered several bushels of walnuts, pecan and hickory nuts. There was a wild plum of this country which for sweetness was equal to the petite prune, while its flavor was superior. When ripe it was pale yellow, but frosted over with a white, flour-like substance. It was a size larger than the petite