Article-1858, May 8

W.P. Tomlinson, correspondent for the New York Tribune, wrote the following interesting description of his visit to Westport and Shawnee mission:

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   I took a walk out to Westport, and proceeded from thence to the plains of Kansas territory, where the Santa Fe trains were encamped in “corrals” (a Mexican term, signifying a number of wagons forming an encampment) on the prairies. I went out the Santa Fe road to Westport, and then followed the old California road until I came to where the “corrals” dotted the prairies set apart by the United States government for the special benefit of the Santa Fe and Oregon trains. It was a beautiful view; the great prairie, over whose rolling swells, covered with waving grass, and variegated with a profusion of beautiful flowers, the herds of a hundred “corrals” were grazing or lying idly on the velvety sward; while on every eminence was the picturesque “corral” of the trader, from which would momentarily dart some Mexican, Indian, or half-breed, mounted on pony or mustang, to visit some neighboring encampment….

   I have seen a great deal of country—mountain, forest, and prairie—but my eyes never rested on a finer scene than I beheld that May morning. It is a misnomer to call it a “new country”—for those vast, undulating plains, glowing with the richly-colored flowers indigenous to them, and the beautiful groves of trees that skirt the depressions and relieve the abrupt lines of the horizon, present a landscape more beautiful than the oldest civilization with its cultivated fields, parks, and woodlands…. Then the vast herds of cattle. feeding far and near over the prairie; the white tents and wagons of the emigrant, and far-traveled Santa Fe trains, with the dusky Mexican teamsters, require but a small stretch of the imagination to be transformed into the caravans of Bagdad, and the Moslem merchants of the East, in their traverse of pastoral lands of Palestine and the plains of Arabia….

   In my return I called at the Shawnee mission, which was originally established to educate the Shawnee Indians, and which, after flourishing for some time, is now rapidly going to decay…. The buildings are of brick, and are massive and extensive, but very tasteless in appearance. Connected with the mission are three sections of the finest quality of land, which were donated by the Shawnees at the time of its establishment. It was the residence of Gov. Shannon, while he was in office, and bus always figured prominently in Kansas history. I was shown over the school by the obliging teacher, and a great deal of curious information imparted me concerning the Indian character. The school had then only about twenty pupils; but when it was in a flourishing condition it numbered over sixty….

   I also called on Capt. Park, the celebrated chief of the Shawnee nation…. He resides about three miles from Westport, in Johnson Co., K. T., on a splendid farm of two thousand acres: the greater part of which is under cultivation. Contrary to my expectation, he recognized me almost immediately, and invited me into his house, which is a large, brick structure, furnished in the most comfortable and even elegant manner…. He takes great interest in farming and has all the new improvements in the way of implements…. He still owns a few slaves, but says he wants Kanas to become a free State….