From the Journal of Henry William Channing

June 3rd, 1844

It is with great interest and much thought that I have finished reading Margaret’s first book, Summer On the Lakes, in 1843. It is the account of her journey through Illinois, Wisconsin, and, of course, Michigan, last summer. Perhaps it would be fitting to say that, rather than describing the landscape of the new worlds which she discovered; she noted the actions and attitudes of the people she encountered; and thus made keen observations regarding American Progress and life in the West.

During her stay at her first destination, Niagra, she insightfully identified the mindset of our country, with its eyes set always upon expansion and innovation; and rarely upon contemplation or simple appreciation. After observing the Falls, she wrote thus:

Once, just as I had seated myself there, a man came to take his first look. He walked close up to the fall, and, after looking at it a moment, with an air as if thinking how he could best appropriate it to his own use, he spat into it…This trait seemed wholly worthy of an age whose love of utility is such that the Prince Puckler Muskau* suggests the probability of men coming to put the bodies of their dead parents in the fields to fertilize them…

Poor Margaret! It is just the sort of thing she would write. She even continues to liken her bitter disillusionment to that of the English writer Charles Dickens, when he made his visit to the States some years back.

On every subject, she writes with great depth of emotion; and particularly shows such overwhelming sympathy for all those under the thumb of injustice. During her stay in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she lived amongst and became quite familiar with the native Indians. With a troubled heart, she observed the great poverty and hunger of the dispossessed people; and, in her book, ever raises her voice against such a sore lack of fundamental justice.

Margaret does not fail to note that, despite their destitution, the women of the Indian tribes are strong, independent, and integral to the well-being of their families. Indian women are even, I understand, placed on the same level as Indian men, and considered their equals. For this reason, Margaret concludes, the Indian women of the west are freer “in spirit” than are white women anywhere in America. Oh, she is always coming up with some newfangled theory. I wonder what she will think of next?…

* Hermann Ludwig Heinrich Furst von Puckler-Muskau was a German writer who wrote on traveling.