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thick syrup. This was carried to the house, reboiled and grained, lest in the woods the flying pollen and early insects should mar the unsullied whiteness of the sugar. Sugar making time was a hey day for us boys. We scampered among the trees, playing Indian and hide and go seek. Mother showed us how to make whistles from the pawpaw bushes and pointed out the bloodroot, the snake root and ginseng which grew near the sugar camp.”
Ginseng was wanted for the Chinese trade; it brought six cents a pound; it was very common in the woods and much of it was gathered, so that the sale of it Sadana to a considerable extent.
Thursday, March 6, 1823. “I was solicited to attend a tea party at Mrs. Walpole’s. Am making a chemise. Commenced reading The Horrors of Oakendale Abbey, a romance” (the only one ever mentioned in the diary).
“December 1, 1823. Some Indians in with bear meat and venison; loins, 121⁄2 cents apiece. Captain John, a Wyandot chief, is among the number.” Captain John was considered a dangerous man, but no charges were ever brought against him, although he lived about the settlement many years. He made his home in a hollow sycamore log on the east bank of the river. Parties of Indians often visited the settlement with game to sell. Besides deer, wild turkey and bear, the small fur-bearing animals were abundant. There were waterfowl of all kinds and swans were seen on the river on several occasions. Wildcats and wolves were also not uncommon. Dr. William H. Wishard encountered a pack of wolves in 1826; he had been sent, when a boy, from his home in Morgan County to get meal at the old bayou mill at Indianapolis, starting home after dark through the dense forest, young Wishard was confronted by a pack of wolves, which had
