Very soon after Lincoln had distributed his handbills, enthusiasm on the subject of the opening of the Sangamon rose to a fever.  The “Talisman” actually came up the river; scores of men went to Beardstown to meet her, among them Lincoln, of course; and to him was given the honor of piloting her—­an honor which made him remembered by many a man who saw him that day for the first time.  The trip was made with all the wild demonstrations which always attended the first steamboat.  On either bank a long procession of men and boys on foot or horse accompanied the boat.  Cannons and volleys of musketry were fired as settlements were passed.  At every stop speeches were made, congratulations offered, toasts drunk, flowers presented.  It was one long hurrah from Beardstown to Springfield, and foremost in the jubilation was Lincoln, the pilot.  The “Talisman” went as near Springfield as the river did, and there tied up for a week.  When she went back Lincoln again had a conspicuous position as pilot.  The notoriety this gave him was quite as valuable politically, probably, as was the forty dollars he received for his service financially.

[Illustration:  Major Robert Anderson.

From a photograph in the war collection of Robert A. Coster.

Born in Kentucky in 1805.  In 1825 graduated at West Point.  Anderson was on duty at the St. Louis Arsenal when the Black Hawk war broke out.  He asked permission to join General Atkinson, who commanded the expedition against the Indians; was placed on his staff as Assistant Inspector General, and was with him until the end of the war.  Anderson twice mustered Lincoln out of the service and in again.  When General Scott was sent to take Atkinson’s place, Anderson was ordered to report to the former for duty, and was sent by him to take charge of the Indians captured at Bad Axe.  It was Anderson who conducted Black Hawk to Jefferson Barracks.  His adjutant in this task was Lieutenant Jefferson Davis.  From 1835-37 Anderson was an instructor at West Point.  He served in the Florida War in 1837-38, and was wounded at Molino del Rey in the Mexican War.  In 1857 he was appointed Major of the First Artillery.  On November 20, 1860, Anderson assumed command of the troops in Charleston Harbor.  On April 14 he surrendered Fort Sumter, marching out with the honors of war.  He was made brigadier-general by Lincoln for his service.  On account of failing health he was relieved from duty in October, 1861.  In 1865 he was brevetted major-general.  He died in France in 1871.]

While the country had been dreaming of wealth through the opening of the Sangamon, and Lincoln had been doing his best to prove that the dream was possible, the store in which he clerked was “petering out”—­to use his own expression.  The owner, Denton Offutt, had proved more ambitious than wise, and Lincoln saw that an early closing by the sheriff was probable.  But before the store was fairly closed, and while the “Talisman” was yet exciting the country, an event occurred which interrupted all of Lincoln’s plans.