August 28, 2010

My location tonight is N 39 48.037' W 89 38.747'.  (I'm going to force you to figure out my exact location by consulting your maps and globes.  A hint is that I spent my day at the Lincoln New Salem Historic Site.)

After driving the 4 plus hours from Huntingburg, IN  to LNSHS, I happily spent the afternoon exploring the reconstructed village.  It is beautiful ... I imagine it is far more gracious than it was in Lincoln's day.  The cabins are quaint, grass grows and is cared for, there are many trees, which probably wasn't the case in Lincoln's day since they'd been cut for cabins.

New Salem has an interesting history.  Two men thought it would be a great place for a saw mill because it was on the Sangamon River, which fed into other arteries that ultimately reached the Mississippi.  They thought the town would grow significantly.  And a number of people moved there to establish businesses.  However, the village was gone within 12 years because Petersburg (just downstream from New Salem) was made the county seat of Morgan County.  When that happened people realized they had misjudged the community that would prosper.  So ... and get this ... they took their cabins apart, log by log, and moved them into Petersburg, 2 miles away.

I'm beginning to think I understand why Lincoln ended up there and why it was an important place in his development.  His arrival there was pretty much happenstance: he was on a flatboat trying to reach the Mississippi when he got stuck on the damn that had been created for the mill.  His getting stuck caused him to have to stay in New Salem for a bit of time.  His friend, Daniel Offet, who was on the boat with him,thought it looked like a good place to start a store.  He hired Lincoln to man it.  The rest is history.  Lincoln was around merchants and people who were excited about the economic prospects for their futures, and they acted on them.  Also, Lincoln had time to read and study while in New Salem.  He was developing amazing leadership skills and was respected by the community. 

Now, like Lewis and Clark had difficulties along the way toward the NW, I have a problem.  I'd put my Vaseline jar in my suitcase.  While I was enjoying myself in New Salem Village, it was happily melting!  Fortunately it only melted onto my swimsuit, cover-up, and slip, but does anyone have suggestions for getting it out?  I tried the hairdrier and it was working until it shorted out!  Things are tough on this expedition!