er
acre, the tax being about equally divided between the territory and the
county.(314) Public lands were not to be taxed by the state, after 1818,
until five years from the date of their sale. Governor Edwards, who was a
large landowner, offered to pay three dollars per acre for plowing.(315)
Prairies were not yet settled to any considerable extent, but it is worthy
of note that a traveler of 1818-19 suggested what was eventually to be the
solution of the question of prairie settlement. He wrote: "It will
probably be some time before these vast prairies can be settled, owing to
the inconvenience attending the want of timber. I know of no way, unless
the plan is adopted of ditching and hedging, and the building of brick
houses, and substituting the stone coal for fuel. It seems as if the
bountiful hand of nature, where it has withheld one gift has always
furnished another; for instance, where there is a scarcity of wood, there
are coal mines."(316) The remedy suggested was the one adopted, except
that brick houses did not become common.

Really good roads were entirely lacking. Most of the settlements were
connected by roads that were practicable at most seasons for packers and
travelers on horseback, but in times of flood the suspension of travel by
land was practically complete. A post-road had been established between
Vincennes and Cahokia in 1805, and in 1810 a route was established from
Vincennes, by way of Kaskaskia, Prairie du Rocher, and Cahokia, to St.
Louis. At this time and place, however, a post-route does not necessarily
imply anything more than a bridle-path. Mail was received at irregular
intervals, although the trips were regularly made in good weather. The
post-office nearest Chicago was Fort Wayne, Indiana, whence a soldier on
foot carried the mail once a month.(317) A report for the first six months
of 1814 shows, in Illinois, nine post-offices, three hundred and
eighty-eight miles of post-roads, about $143 received for postage, and
$1002 paid for transportation of mail--a balance of some $859 against the
United States.(318) At this time even Cleveland, Chillicothe, and Marietta
received mail but twice per week.(319)

Books were very scarce,(320) and no newspapers had been published in
Illinois before its separate territorial organization. Between 1809 and
1818 there were founded the _Illinois Herald_ and the _Western
Intelligencer_, at Kaskaskia, the latter becoming the _Illinois
Intelligencer_ on M