Kyle Carroll Art: At the Prairies Edge

The vast forests shrouding the eastern shoulder of the north American continent
were the domain of the long hunter in the 18th century. Moving ever westward, these
linen and leather clad explorers crossed the Appalachians and followed the river
drainages to eventually reach the Ohio country, Kentucky and Tennessee. There
they discovered what the French called "prairie". As the native Americans already
knew, these beautiful grasslands bordering the hard wood forest were rich beyond
description with game and plant life. Felix Walker's narrative of his exploration into
Kentucky in 1755 describes the thoughts of one such hunter upon seeing his first
prairie.

"So rich a soil we had never seen before; covered with clover in full bloom, the
woods were abounding with wild game-turkies so numerous that it might be said
they appeared as one flock, universally scattered in the woods. It appeared that
nature in the profusion of her bounty, had spread a feast for all that lives, both the
animal and the rational world."

This scene was repeated many times as the frontier pushed into the Illinois country,
and across the Mississippi. The lesson had been learned about those special
places, at the prairie's edge.

Kyle Carroll - June 2000

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