AT THE PRAIRIE'S EDGE
by Kyle Carroll

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