Springfield 1636-1886, History of Town and City, by Mason A. Green ...

572 SPRINGFIELD, J636-1SS6.
Some of the early settlers here came from the Connecticut toAvns down the
river. "Windsor, Hartford, and AVethersfield had each of them some representa-
tives among the early inhabitants of Springfield. Such settlers could avail them-
selves of the river as a way of travel. Boats, or, as they were usuallj' called,
canoes, were in frequent use for the carriage of goods and the transportation of
persons. Trees that were suitable for use in constructing boats were called
" canoe trees," and the cutting of such trees was restrictCLl by vote of the Plan-
tation.
For the accommodation of those persons who wished to pass to or from the
town by the river, three wharves or landing-places were established, one at the
foot of what is now known as Cypress street, called the upper or "higher"
wharf, another at the foot of Elm street, called the middle wharf or landing, and
the third at the foot of York street, known as the lower landing. To each of
these a street or lane led from the main street. The street leading to the middle
landing was the same that conducted to the training-place, part of wMch was
afterward used as a burial-place. This street, the Elm street of our day, was at
first one rod wide, but soon was widened to two rods.
Probably the greater number of the settlers who came early to Springfield
made the journey of one hundred miles from the bay to the Connecticut river by
land. Some of them brought tlieir families and goods with them. The journey
in 1030 was a serious and hazardous undertaking for an emigrating family.
There were no paths through the forest, except occasionally an Indian trail, no
bridges over tlie streams, often swollen and rapid. Rough and rocky hills must
be climbed, and tangled underbrush must be threaded. Savage beasts might be
lurking in the thicket, and encountered at any moment. Some of these pilgrims,
seeking a new home on the banks of the Connecticut, were the wives and young
children of the emigrants, and this was their first experience of a journey through
the wilderness. There were dangers to be met by day and by night. The forest
was full of sights and sounds to which they were unused. The Indian was there,
and the travellers were not so familiar with the savages as to feel perfectly easy
in their neighborhood. After traversing the forests for many days without
coming to one friendly house, where the women and children could have needed
shelter and rest, and without seeing one white face they had ever seen before,
liow wistfully must they have sought to catch the first glimpse of the beautiful
river on the Ijanks of which they hoped to find their home.
Conceive for a moment a party of these wayfarers, fatigued with their
long and wearisome journey, as they straggle out from the woods, com-
ing, toward the close of an autumnal afternoon, to one of the knolls that
mark the borders of our valley, and looking down from it for the first time
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