Books were, to a great
extent, closed to him; but as of old, when he began his career as
a blacksmith by making his bellows, so he now fell back on his own
resources. This brave Indian philosopher of ours was not the man
to be stopped by obstacles. He procured some articles for the
Indian trade he had learned in his boyhood, and putting these and
his provisions and camping equipage in an ox-cart, he took a
Cherokee boy with him as driver and companion, and started out
among the wild Indians of the plain and mountain, on a
philological crusade such as the world never saw.
One of the most remarkable features of his experience was the
uniform peace and kindness with which his brethren of the prairie
received him. They furnished him means, too, to prosecute his
inquiries in each tribe or clan. That they should be more sullen
and reticent to white men is not wonderful when we reflect that
they have a suspicion that all these pretended inquirers in
science or religion have a lurking eye to real estate. Several
journeys were made. The task was so vast it might have discouraged
him. He started on his longest and his last journey. There was
among the Cherokees a tradition that part of their nation was
somewhere in New Mexico, separated from them before the advent of
the whites. Se-quo-yah knew this, and expected in his rambles to
meet them.
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