Illinois

Bodmer produced a finished watercolor of an Illinois homestead after his return to Europe. Based on earlier studies obtained during the winter of 1832-331 this view may have been intended for inclusion in the series of aquatints illustrating Maximilian's travel account, but it did not appear in the published atlas of 1839-43.

View of a Farm on the Illinois Prairie

In his journal for March 23 Maximilian briefly described the environment of Herculaneum, commenting that "immediately above the village is a limestone rock with a hole in its front edge...One can see daylight through this hole. Behind the upper shot tower (which Mr. Bodmer likewise sketched) a creek opens up from a valley surrounded by more flattened hills. There follows on the left shore a row of hills whose small valleys regularly converge on the Mississippi."

Shot Tower near Herculaneum

Above Cape Girardeau, Missouri, near Hanging Dog Island on the morning of March 21, Maximilian observed, "This region of the river is called Hanging Dog Bend. The river is beautiful and wide. On the left tobacco is grown. Farther away is the mouth of Indian Creek, now called Apple Creek." Bodmer made two quick sketches in this vicinity.

Hanging Dog Island

The morning of March 22 dawned clear and bright according to Prince Maximilian, who noted in his journal that the river had risen three inches since the previous midnight. The steamer approached the Chester Islands around nine o'clock "in about six feet of water" and the mouth of St. Mary's River, on the right, flowing into the Mississippi from between densely wooded banks.

Fire Island on the Mississippi

On the whole, Maximilian was not favorably impressed with the frontier settlements in Illinois, commenting in his journal, "By way of settlement we may preserve here in America neither the aborigines nor the wild beasts because the beginning of settlement is always the destruction of everything." Maximilian reckoned that within ten years neither deer, wolves, nor wild turkeys would be seen in the area, adding, "The elks, bears, and beavers have already vanished, and the rest will follow soon."

James Green's Farm

Late in November 1832, Bodmer journeyed by horseback beyond the Wabash into neighboring Illinois, ostensibly to hunt prairie chickens. Arriving at the settlement of Albion, he stayed there several days and also visited the settlement of Bon Pas and James Green's farm at Green's Prairie. In January 1833 Maximilian visited this same area with Thomas Say.

Albion, Edwards County, Illinois