The Journey to Illinois: The Story of Young Abe and the Dog

 

In the 19th Century, unlike today, the nature of the human-dog relationship was not a close one. Dogs - especially in rural areas or on the frontier - were chosen and tolerated for their usefulness to the family, mainly as hunters, guards, or even for transportation and hauling.

But as "pets" or "companions" - only the very rich bothered to indulge.

In his biography of Abraham Lincoln, William H. Herndon, Lincoln's law partner, told this story about a dog and Abe during the Lincoln family's move to Illinois from southern Indiana in March 1830, when Lincoln was twenty-one years old. 

Mr. Lincoln once described this journey to me. He said the ground had not yet yielded up the frosts of winter; that during the day the roads would thaw out on the surface and at night freeze over again, thus making travelling, especially with oxen., painfully slow and tiresome. There were, of course, no bridges, and the party were consequently driven to ford the streams, unless by a circuitous route they could avoid them. In the early part of the day the [streams] were also frozen slightly, and the oxen would break through a square yard of thin ice at every step. 

Among other things which the party brought with them was a dog, which trotted along after the wagon. One day the little fellow fell behind and failed to catch up till after they had crossed the stream. Missing him they looked back, and there, on the opposite bank, he stood, whining and jumping about in great distress. The water was running over the broken edges of the ice, and the poor animal was afraid to cross. It would not pay to turn the oxen and wagon back and ford the stream again in order to recover a dog, and so the majority, in their anxiety to move forward, decided to go on without him. 

"But I could not endure the idea of abandoning even a dog," related Lincoln. "Pulling off shoes and socks I waded across the stream and triumphantly returned with the shivering animal under my arm. His frantic leaps of joy and other evidences of a dog's gratitude amply repaid me for all the exposure I had undergone."

Abraham Lincoln's stubborn attitude and behavior about all living things stood out in relief against the callousness of life on the American frontier. They also demonstrated his willingness to take the unpopular path against the opinions around him - if he felt that it was right.

This is another anecdote from Abe Lincoln, Storyteller.

Mac 

FYI: The painting used as the featured imager for this post is titled: "Lincoln Moves to Illinois - 1830". It was copyrighted and printed in 1939 by R.L. Parkinson, Chicago from a painting by Louis Bonhajo (1885-1970).

Works Cited

Herndon, William H. and Weik, Jesse W. (1921). Herndon's Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life. (2 vols., Springfield, IL: The Herndon's Lincoln Publishing Company). Vol. 1: p.68.