Pioneer Poetry

POEM BY JOHN LOWE.

In rambling o’er the hilltops late,
Where once I used to roam,
So changed from their former state,
A lonely feeling o’er me came.

But sixty years and more have past,
Since those early scenes were met;
Though slow in youth the years have past,
In age soon each year is met.

The scenes so dear to me in youth
Now lie in sad decay;
I scarcely realize the truth,
That has passed so quick away.

The woodman’s ax has done its work,
The forest has been removed;
Where savage Indians, so unbeloved,
Held their dances where we men work.

Made ready for the husbandman,
The fertile soil to cultivate
The choice products of the land,
To increase his good estate.

The bears and panthers, wolves and deer,
Unmolested used to roam
The wildwood which in days of yore,
They no more dare to come.

Wild turkeys, deer, and raccoons, too,
Were plenty in those days;
They fed where they chose to go,
And frolicked in their plays.

But now the place so free to them,
No longer gives them room;
And all who ’scape the eyes of man,
Have found another home.

Days, weeks, months and years have passed,
In the long, long time ago;
The time so slow yet swift has passed,
Since four and sixty years ago.

Though sixty years and more have passed,
Since first those scenes I roamed;
In memory dear, from first to last,
My youth has been just now renewed.

Some of the scenes alone have sadness brought,
That memory now by time records;
Of scenes more recently have passed,
Some comfort yet at times affords.

My span of life is almost done,
When counted by the score;
Three score and ten is not enough
You must add yet four years more.

Lebanon, Ind., March 3, 1887.

THE OLD PIONEERS.

By H. T. Cotton.

Oh, I love to read the story
Of the grand old pioneer,
Living in his little cabin
On the wild, wierd [sic] frontier.

Far away from native homestead
By childhood’s memories blest,
When this goodly land of ours
Was a wilderness, out west.

Oh, I fancy now I see him
Sitting in his cabin door,
In the shadows of the evening,
When the hard day’s work is o’er.

In the forest dark and gloomy,
Clustering all around his home,
Undergrown with briars and bushes
Where the bear and panther roam.

And the prowling wolf in shyness,
For the darkness lies in wait,
Whilst he sits alone in silence,
Dreaming of his native state.

All unconscious of the darkness,
And the dangers lurking nigh,
Until wakened from his musings
By the panther’s fearful cry;

Borne upon the night winds chilly,
Heard above the rustling leaves,
Then he blinds the little windows,
Just beneath the clapboard eaves.

Piles the rough wood in the corner,
On the heavy puncheon floor,
Draws the string in through the latchet,
Fastens well the oaken door.

Wife and children all around him,
Sleeps he ’til the morning sun,
Safe as any king in palace,
With his faithful dog and gun.

Honest hands by toiling hardened,
Honest hearts that knew no fears,
Oh, I love to hear the story
Of the grand old pioneers.


Zionsville, February 9, 1887.

DEDICATED TO THE BOYS WHO CROSSED THE PLAINS WITH ME IN 1852.

By Samuel Harden.

The following are the names of the company who left Eagle Village for California, March 15, 1852: Marion Patterson, James Duzan, George Harden, Henry French, James N. Lee, Isaac Cotton and Samuel Harden.

Comrades, it is growing late, tis camping time,
Here let us rest on the banks of this stream;
Yonder is a spring, and wood to light our fire by;
Green pastures on every hand to rest our jaded team.

Yes, let us gather ’round the fire once again;
For we must be nearing our journey’s end;
The plains are past, the mountains are in view,
The slope beyond where sky and water blend.

How like life the overland journey seems
The plains the morning, ere the noon begins;
The mountains gained, snow-capped we find
Morning past, the evening tide appears.

Comrades, our journey o’er the plains is nearly done,
The golden shore lies just beyond;
Our fire is burning low – another day begun;
We may reach there ere night comes on.


Lebanon, May, 1887.

Source Citation: Boone County History [database online] Boone County INGenWeb. 2007. <http://www.rootsweb.com/~inboone> Original data: Harden & Spahr. "Early life and times in Boone County, Indiana." Lebanon, Indiana. May, 1887, pp. 143-146.

Transcribed by: Julie S. Townsend - July 10, 2007