ENTRY - John Maynard Home Page

1) "I see how it is, Pigeonswing; I see how it is, and thank you for this hint, while I
honor your good faith to your own people. But I cannot go to Detroit, in the first place,
for that town and fort have fallen into the hands of the British. It might be possible for
a canoe to get past in the night, and to work its way through into Lake Erie, but I
cannot quit my friends.‖ (Oak Openings – CSPCT, Vol. 32, Ch. XVIII, pp. 202, Aug. 1848)
2) ―My proper home is in Pennsylvania, on the other side of Lake Erie [=Erie,
Pennsylvania!]. It is a long path, and I‘m not certain of getting safely over it in these
troubled times. Perhaps it would be best for me, however, to shape at once, for Ohio;
if in that state I might find my way round the end of Erie, and go the whole distance
by land.‖ (Oak Openings – CSPCT, Vol. 32, Ch. XIX, pp. 204-205, Aug.
1848)
3) ―As a consequence of the little apprehension entertained by the English of being
soon disturbed in their new conquests, le Bourdon and his friends got out of the
Detroit River, and into Lake Erie, without discovery or molestation. There still
remained a long journey before them. In that day the American side of the shores of
all the Great Lakes was little more than a wilderness. There were exceptions at
particular points, but these were few and far asunder. The whole coast of Ohio—for
Ohio has its coast as well as Bohemia [Footnote: See Shakespeare—Winter’s Tale.] —
was mostly in a state of nature, as was much of those of Pennsylvania and New York,
on the side of the fresh water. The port which the bee-hunter had in view was Presque
Isle, now known as Erie, a harbor in Pennsylvania, that has since become somewhat
celebrated in consequence of its being the port out of which the American vessels
sailed, about a year later than the period of which we are writing, to fight the battle
that gave them mastery of the lake. This was a little voyage of itself, of near two
hundred miles, following the islands and the coast, but it was safely made in the course
of the succeeding week. Once in Lake Erie and on the American side, our
adventurers felt reasonably safe against all dangers but those of the elements. It is true
that a renowned annalist, whose information is sustained by the collected wisdom of a
State Historical Society, does tell us that the enemy possessed both shores of Lake
Erie in 1814; but this was so small a mistake, compared with some others that this
Nestor in history had made, that we shall not stop to explain it. Le Bourdon and his
party found all the south shore of Lake Erie in possession of the Americans, so far as it
was in the possession of any one, and consequently ran no risks from this blunder of
the historian and his highly intelligent associates.‖
(Oak Openings – CSPCT, Vol. 32, Ch. XXIX, p. 325, Aug. 1848)
4) We reached Buffalo, at the foot of Lake Erie, in about twenty hours after we had
entered the cars. This journey would have been the labor of more than a week, at the
time in which the scene of this tale occurred. Now, the whole of the beautiful region,
teeming with its towns and villages, and rich with the fruits of a bountiful season, was
almost brought into a single landscape by the rapidity of our passage.
At Buffalo, we turned aside to visit the cataract. Thither, too, we went on rails. Thirtyeight
years had passed away since we had laid eyes on this wonderful fall of water.
(Oak Openings – CSPCT, Vol. 32, Ch. XXX, p. 326, Aug. 1848)
5) ―These steamboats are great inventions for the western lakes, as are the railroads
for this vast inland region. I dare say you can remember Lake Erie when it was an
unusual thing to see a sail of any sort on it, and now, I should think, we might count
fifty.‖ (Oak Openings – CSPCT, Vol. 32, Ch. XXX, p. 329, Aug. 1848)
[Double Entry: Cf. ―You know, I dare say‖]
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