Chapter I (3)

At the mouth of the Kaskaskia river, on the east bank of the Mississippi, a town has been recently commenced, called Portland. The high lands approach here to the brink of the river, affording an elevated and advantageous site. The landing is said to be good; and there is reason to expect that Portland will soon rival the old town of Kaskaskia, the present seat of a great portion of the mercantile business in this part of Illinois.[067]

On the 5th the wind blew from the south-east, and with the aid of sails, we were enabled to ascend the river with considerable rapidity. As we were proceeding briskly forward, our boat struck upon one of those concealed trunks of trees so frequent in the Mississippi, and soon afterwards we discovered that a leak had occurred, which made it necessary for us to lie by. By the constant use of the pumps during the remainder of the day, and the following night, we were able to prevent the water from gaining further upon us; and the next day, having discovered the leak, we raised the stern of the boat, by means of a pair of shears, and succeeded in repairing the injury.

On the beach, opposite the place where we lay by for these repairs, was a large flock of pelicans, which remained in sight for several hours. We had met with some wild geese; and a swan, which we saw was unable to fly, having at that time cast its feathers. The yellow-breasted chat, chuck-wills-widow, the falco haliatus, the kingfisher, bank swallow, and numerous other birds, occurred.

At the mouth of the Kaskaskia river, on the east side of the Mississippi, commences the celebrated valley called the American Bottom, extending along {47} the eastern bank of the river last mentioned to the Piasa hills, four miles above the mouth of the Missouri. It is several miles in width, and has a soil of astonishing fertility, consisting of comparatively recent depositions from the river. It has all the disadvantages usually attending tracts of recent river alluvion, the most valuable parts of it being liable to be swept away by the current of the Mississippi, and its surface descending from the brink of the river to the stagnant pools and lagoons, at the outskirts of the valley. But the inexhaustible fertility of its soil makes amends for the insalubrity of the air, and the inconveniences of a flat and marshy situation; and this valley is undoubtedly destined to become one of the most populous parts of America. We were formerly shown here a field that had been cultivated, without manure, one hundred years in succession, and which, when we saw it (in August, 1819) was covered with a very luxuriant growth of corn.

The town of Kaskaskia, the villages of Prairie de Roches, Kahokia, Prairie du Pont, Harrisonville, and Fort Chartres, are situate in this tract. Some of them are in a flourishing condition. Fort Chartres, which was built by the French government, at the expense of one million and a half of dollars, stood near the bank of the river, about twenty miles from Kaskaskia. Not long after they were erected, a part of the works were undermined by the washing of the river; since which time the whole has been suffered to remain in ruins, which are now one-fourth of a mile distant from the river.[068]

The country west of the Mississippi, opposite the American Bottom, is of a very different character. The high lands approach the river, presenting abrupt declivities, prominent points, and in many places perpendicular precipices from one to two hundred {48} feet high, frowning over the brink of the river. One of the most remarkable of these is known by the name of the Cornice Rock. It bounds a narrow arm of the river, which has generally sufficient water to admit the passage of boats. The rock extends nearly in a straight line, having a front of about four hundred yards, the brow of the precipice at some points impending over the channel through which boats pass. The rock rises above, to the height of fifty or sixty feet, smoothly rounded by the attrition of the water, which never rising to the upper part of the precipice, leaves that to project in the form of a cornice. Though the lands on the west side of the Mississippi are less fertile than those of the American Bottom, they are of great value, and have long been objects of scandalous speculation.

Among a variety of stratagems, practised in this part of the country to obtain titles to lands, was one which will be best explained by the following anecdote, related to us by a respectable citizen of St. Genevieve. Preparatory to taking possession of Louisiana in 1805, the legislature passed a law, authorising a claim to one section of land, in favour of any person who should have actually made _improvements_, in any part of the same, previous to the year 1804. Commissioners were appointed to settle all claims of this description; more commonly known by the name of improvement rights. A person, somewhere in the county of Cape Girardeau, being desirous of establishing a claim of this kind to a tract of land, adopted the following method:--The time having expired for the establishment of a right, agreeably to the spirit of the law, he took with him two witnesses to the favourite spot, on which he wished to establish his claim, and in their presence marked two trees, standing on opposite sides of a spring; one with the figures 1803, the other 1804, and placed a stalk of growing corn in the spring. He then brought the witnesses before the commissioners, who upon their {49} declaration, that they had seen corn growing at the place specified, in the spring between 1803 and 1804, admitted the claim of the applicant, and gave him a title to the land. In the old district of Cape Girardeau, as in other parts of Louisiana, the difficulty of establishing indisputable titles to the lands, arising out of the great number of Spanish grants, pre-emption, and improvement claims, has greatly retarded the settlement of the country.[069] Establishments were made here more than one hundred and fifty years since; yet the features of the country are little changed, retaining the rudeness and gloominess of the original forest.[070]

At five o'clock, on the afternoon of the sixth, we passed the Platteen rock, a perpendicular precipice, not unlike the Cornice rock, near the mouth of a creek of the same name. Along the base of this cliff, we found the water three and sometimes four fathoms deep. In the evening we arrived at Herculaneum, a small village on the west side of the Mississippi, depending principally upon the lead mines for its business.[071]

Here are three shot manufactories, all of them built at the summits of perpendicular precipices; by which means, the expense of erecting high towers has been avoided. Thirty or forty miles to the south-west of Herculaneum, commences the region of the lead mines, which, though not yet satisfactorily explored, is known to extend for many miles through the hilly country, at the sources of the Merameg, the St. Francis, and the other small rivers, rising in the angle between the Mississippi and Missouri, below the mouth of the latter river.

Soon after the cession of Louisiana to the United States, particular care was taken to have all claims to land investigated and registered. Some few {50} may have been omitted, which may be hereafter revived, but these cannot be numerous. In all the recent sales of public lands in the western states and territories, liberal reservations have been made for the encouragement of learning. We subjoin some particulars, extracted from a communication of the commissioner of public lands. From this statement, it will be easy to form an idea of the liberal provision made by government, for the future support of schools and colleges. It is probable, similar grants will be made to the Eastern States.[072]

On the 7th, after taking in wood at Herculaneum, we moved up the river; but had scarcely passed the mouth of the Merameg,[073] when we found ourselves unable to stem the heavy current of the Mississippi, on account of the great quantities of mud that had accumulated in the boilers, and prevented our raising the requisite pressure of steam. While we were lying at anchor, to afford the steam engineer an opportunity to clean the boilers, some gentlemen of the party returned along shore to the Merameg, a beautiful river, whose limpid and transparent waters present a striking contrast to the yellow and turbid Mississippi. They were fortunate in meeting with many interesting objects, and, among others, an undescribed mus, which has received, from Mr. Ord, the name of floridanus.[074] Upon the specimen, which was a male, was a dilated, glabrous, ventral line, 2-1/4 inches long. This species is well known in some districts, under the name of large hairy-tailed rat, and is by no means rare in Florida. It is as large as the ordinary stature of the Norway rat, and is equally troublesome. The contents of its stomach were entirely vegetable, consisting of the green bark of trees, and the young shoots of plants. Their nests are large, and are composed of a great quantity of brush. Dr. Baldwin had rarely been able to join in the excursions on shore. Plants were, however, collected and brought to him on board the boat, {51} where he spent much of his time in the examination of such as were interesting or new.[075]

A few rods above our anchoring ground, were two graves, supposed to be those of Indians. One of them was quite recent, and both were covered with heaps of loose stones, probably designed as monuments, and to protect the graves from the ravages of wolves or other animals. The eighth of June brought us to the small village of Vide Poche,[076] and the following day to St. Louis, where our arrival was noticed by a salute from a six-pounder on the bank of the river, and the discharge of ordnance on board several of the steam-boats lying in front of the town.

FOOTNOTES:

[043] Observations were made, at Shippingsport, to ascertain the
rate of going of our chronometer, the latitude of the place, and
for other purposes; according to these, the Falls are in 38° 15′
23″ N.--JAMES.

_Comment by Ed._ The latitude is 38° 15′ 8″.

[044] Page 108.--JAMES.

_Comment by Ed._ Miguel Venegas, a native of Mexico, was born
in 1680, joined the Jesuit order in 1700, and after several
years' service as professor of Latin, rhetoric, and theology,
went out as a missionary to the Indians. His chief work was,
_Noticia de la California y su Conquista temporal y espiritual
hasta el tiempo presente_ (Madrid, 3 vols., 1757). Its
importance as a contemporary account of the native tribes and
mission stations of California is attested by the fact that
translations were promptly made into English, French, and
Dutch. The English edition is entitled _Natural and Civil
History of California_ (London, 2 vols., 1759).

[045] For historical importance of the Wabash River and origin
of the name, see Croghan's _Journals_, in our volume i, note
107; for sketch of the site of Shawneetown, see _ibid._, note
108.--ED.

[046] Testudo geographica of Leseuer.--JAMES.

[047] Usually called Cave-in-Rock. For additional facts relative
to its history, see Cuming's _Tour_, in our volume iv, note
180.--ED.

[048] _Nitrate of Potash._--This salt occurs in most of the
caves in the western states and territories. It is found in
efflorescences and incrustations frequently combined with
nitrate of lime. Its colour is grayish or yellowish white. The
manufacture of nitre, in the numerous caves in Kentucky, is
conducted as follows: The earths containing the nitrates of lime
and potash are lixiviated; the lixivium is afterwards passed
through the ashes of wood, by the alkali of which the nitrate of
lime is decomposed. If the earths, after having been lixiviated,
are replaced in the caves, they again become impregnated with
the same salts.

One bushel of earth commonly yields from one to four pounds of
nitre. The process by which nature supplies the consumption of
this important article has not yet been discovered.

_Muriate of Soda._--In the United States, common salt has been
usually found in solution combined with the sulphates of lime,
magnesia, and soda, and with sulphuretted hydrogen gas. The
springs yielding the greatest quantity of salt, are those of
the Kenhawa, and Little Sandy rivers, the United States'
Salines near Shawaneetown, Illinois, Boon's Saline, near
Franklin, Missouri, and Lockhart's on the Le Mine river.

The Kenhawa salt-works supply about thirty thousand bushels of
salt per annum. The rocks about these springs belong to the
secondary formation, and are limestone, variegated sandstone,
and bituminous shale: we were informed that two hundred and
fifty gallons of this water yield one bushel of salt. At
the Salines of the Little Sandy, ten thousand bushels are
manufactured yearly. The waters, like those of the Kenhawa,
hold in solution muriate and sulphate of soda, sulphate of
lime, and probably a small portion of sulphate of magnesia.
Limestone and sandstone are the only rocks to be met with in the
neighbourhood. The United States' salines, near Shawaneetown,
produce at present about a hundred and thirty thousand bushels
of salt per annum; they formerly yielded more than two hundred
thousand in the same time. There are now seven furnaces in
operation: the water is procured from three wells, two of which
are rented by Major I. Taylor. At these works the salt water
formerly issued from the earth at the surface. A well of sixteen
feet deep brought the workmen to a spring, which now discharges
sixteen gallons of water per minute. Two hundred and fifty
gallons yield fifty pounds of salt. About one thousand yards
to the east of this well is a basin, or hollow, one hundred
and thirty-five feet in diameter. The soil in and about it is
intimately blended with fragments of earthen ware.

In the middle of this basin a well has been sunk, which
affords a more concentrated brine than that before mentioned;
one hundred and ten gallons yielding fifty pounds of salt.

In digging this well, the first fourteen feet was through a
light earth mixed with ashes and fragments of earthen ware:
the remaining fourteen through a bed of clay, deeply coloured
with oxyde of iron, and containing fragments of pottery. The
clay has something the appearance of having been subjected to
the action of fire. At the eastern side of the basin appears
to have been a drain for the purpose of conveying away the
superabundant water. In this drain, about four feet below the
surface of the earth, is a layer of charcoal about six inches
deep. The stones in the vicinity appear as if they had been
burnt. Four miles west of this point, a well has been sunk
sixty feet through the following beds.

First—— twenty feet of tenacious blue clay, at the bottom of
which they came to a small spring of salt water.

Second—— another bed of clay, of a similar character,
twenty-five feet thick.

Third—— a bed of quicksand, about ten feet deep; in which
they met with a large vein of salt water.

Bones of the mammoth, and other animals, were found both in
the clay and sand. The original reservation at these salines
comprised ninety-two thousand one hundred and sixty acres of
woodland, and was transferred from the United States to the
state of Illinois, at the time of the admission of the latter
into the union. The rents amount to ten thousand dollars per
annum.

_Nitrate of Lime_ is found in the calcareous caverns of
Kentucky, accompanying nitrate of potash, with which it is
intimately blended in the earth, on the floors of the caves:
it is also sometimes found in delicate accicular crystals,
shooting up from the walls and floors of the caverns.--JAMES.

[049] Smithland is now the seat of Livingston County. The
deserted settlement three miles below the mouth of Cumberland
River was laid out about 1800 by one Coxe; upon the failure of
his plans, the site was converted into a farm.--ED.

[050] See Cuming's _Tour_, in our volume iv, note 43.--ED.

[051] The correct name of this stream is Cache River. The French
explorers applied the term "cache" (hiding-place) to many
streams, probably because of articles hidden there by them. This
particular stream is about thirty miles long, being navigable
for small boats about a third of the distance.

The town of America was laid off in 1818, with the expectation
that it would attain considerable size. For two or three years
it grew rapidly; then low water uncovered a long bar which
excluded steamers from the landing, whereupon the town declined
and practically disappeared, the site now being occupied by but
one or two small dwellings.--ED.

[052] For a description of the Iron Banks, see Nuttall's
_Journal_, in our volume xiii, note 54.--ED.

[053] Although the range from extreme high to extreme low water
amounts to sixty feet perpendicular, in many parts of the Ohio,
it does not exceed twenty feet at this place, owing to the width
to which the Ohio spreads in this neighbourhood, when the river
is high. This may be considered a circumstance much in favour
of the place, when compared with the disadvantages most other
positions on the Ohio labour under, from inundation in high
water, and the difficulty of unlading in low.--JAMES.

[054] Rockport is the seat of Spencer County, Indiana, one
hundred and forty miles below Louisville, measured on the
river's course.--ED.

[055] Green River enters the Ohio from the Kentucky side,
thirty-five miles below Rockport.--ED.

[056] On Cherokee purchase, see Cuming's _Tour_, in volume iv,
this series, note 190.--ED.

[057] Latitude 36° 59′ 47.99″; longitude, 89° 9′ 31.2″.--ED.

[058] Schultz's Travels, vol. 2. p. 92.--JAMES.

[059] The cymbidium hiemale of Willdenow, which has been placed
by Mr. Nuttall under the genus corallorhiza of Haller, occurs in
the fertile soils of the Mississippi, with two radical leaves,
as described by the early authors. Mr. N.'s amended description
is therefore only applicable to the plant as it occurs in the
eastern states, where it is commonly found to have but a single
leaf.--JAMES.

[060] Tyawapatia (Tywappity, Tiwappaty) Bottom was the
name formerly applied to the flood plain on the Missouri side,
in the present Scott County. It extended from the mouth of the
Ohio to Commerce, near the site of which was the settlement
referred to. Americans began to enter the bottom as early as
1798, and in 1823 the town of Commerce was laid out on the
site of a trading post already twenty years old.

The name Cape à la Bruche is probably a corruption of Cape à
la Broche (spit-like). The point was also called Cape La Croix
(The Cross), which name alone survives. It is about six miles
below Cape Girardeau, on the same side of the river.--ED.

[061] The name Au Vaise is a corruption of Rivière au
Vase (Muddy River); the present name is Big Muddy. It enters
the Mississippi from the northeast, at the northwest corner of
Union County, Illinois, and boats ascend forty or fifty
miles.--ED.

[062] Opposite the town of the same name, in Jackson County,
Illinois.--ED.

[063] They left the Illinois about the middle of June. Of
the rocky cliffs below the confluence of that river, Father
Marquette speaks as follows: "Among the rocks I have mentioned,
we found one very high and steep, and saw two monsters painted
upon it, which are so hideous that we were frightened at first
sight, and the boldest savages dare not fix their eyes upon
them. They are drawn as big as a calf, with two horns like a
wild-goat. Their looks are terrible, though their face has
something of human figure in it. Their eyes are red, their
beard is like that of a tiger, and their body is covered with
scales. Their tail is so long that it goes over their heads,
and then turns between their fore-legs under the belly, ending
like a fish-tail. There are but three colours, viz. red,
green, and black; but those monsters are so well drawn that I
cannot believe the savages did it; and the rock whereon they
are painted is so steep that it is a wonder to me how it was
possible to draw those figures: but to know to what purpose
they were made is as great a mystery. Whatever it be, our best
painters would hardly do better.

"As we fell down the river, following the gentle stream of the
waters, and discoursing upon those monsters, we heard a great
noise of waters, and saw several small pieces of timber, and
small floating islands, which were huddled down the river
_Pekitanoni_. The waters of this stream (the Missouri) are so
muddy, because of the violence of its stream, that it is
impossible to drink of it; and they spoil the clearness of the
Mississippi, and make its navigation very dangerous in this
place. This river runs from the north-west; and I hope to
discover, in following its channel to its source, some other
river that discharges itself into the _Mar Marvejo_, or the
_Caliphornian Gulf_.

"About twenty leagues lower than the Pekitanoni, we met another
river, called the Ouabouskigon; but before we arrived there,
we passed through a most formidable place to the savages, who
believe that a _manito_ or devil resides in that place, to
deliver such as are so bold as to come near it. This terrible
_manito_ proves to be nothing but some rocks in a turning of
the river, about thirty feet high, against which the stream
runs with great violence." This is probably the Grand Tower.
"The river _Ouabouskigon_ (Ohio) comes from the eastward. The
_Chuoanous_ (Shawneese) inhabit its banks; and are so numerous,
that I have been informed there are thirty-eight villages of
that nation situated on this river."--JAMES.

_Comment by Ed._ James dates the start too early, for by
Marquette's account, it was near the end of June ("sur la fin
de Juin"); nor is James's version quite accurate. Compare the
French of Marquette's account in _Jesuit Relations_, lix, p. 138.

[064] Spelled also Brazos and Brazeau--a Perry County (Missouri)
tributary of the Mississippi.--ED.

[065] The Bois Broulé (Burnt Wood) Bottoms lie chiefly in Perry
County, Missouri. The tract is about eighteen miles long and
from four to six wide.

For Kaskaskia River and settlement, see André Michaux's
_Travels_, in our volume iii, note 132.

For Ste. Geneviève, see Cuming's _Tour_, in our volume iv, note
174.--ED.

[066] Among the nobles who fled from France during the
Revolution was the father of Charles Dehault Delassus, last
governor of Upper Louisiana under Spanish domination. The
elder Delassus came to Ste. Geneviève, and was placed in
command of a post established for him on a bluff overlooking
the river, two or three miles below the town; this post was
named New Bourbon (La Nouvelle Bourbon), in honor of the
fallen French dynasty. The town which grew up around it was
still in existence in 1812.--ED.

[067] Portland was one of many towns laid out along the
Mississippi by speculators who hoped that important cities
would arise on the sites chosen. This particular venture was
undertaken by a company organized in Cincinnati in 1819; but
inhabitants failed to come, and the buildings erected by the
promoters fell into ruins. The site was near the present town
of Chester; an Illinois state penitentiary now stands on the
spot.--ED.

[068] It is stated by Mr. Schultz that Fort Chartres, which
was originally built one-fourth of a mile from the river, was
undermined in 1808. Vol. 2, p. 37.--JAMES.

_Comment by Ed._ For Kaskaskia, Prairie du Rocher, Cahokia, and
Fort Chartres, see André Michaux's _Travels_, in our volume iii,
notes 132, 133, 135, 136.

Prairie du Pont, one mile south of Cahokia, grew up about
a water-mill built in 1754 on a creek of that name, by
missionaries of St. Sulpice.

Harrisonville dates from the era of American domination. It
was laid out in 1808, and named for William Henry Harrison,
the governor of Indiana Territory, which then included
Illinois. It was, in early days, the county town.

[069] Ample information on the subject of land titles,
is contained in Stoddart's Sketches of Louisiana, pages
243-267.--JAMES.

[070] The statement here is not accurate. Marquette's
descent of the Mississippi was just one hundred and fifty
years earlier, and the French settlements in Illinois date
from the beginning of the eighteenth century; while Ste.
Geneviève, the first in Missouri, was not established before
1732.--ED.

[071] Herculaneum, laid out in 1808, was another of the now
extinct river towns. It was thirty miles below St. Louis, and
was at one time seat of Jefferson County.--ED.

[072] A _township_ is a square, whose sides (limited by true
meridians and parallels to the equator) are each 6 miles in
length: area 36 square miles, or _sections_, each containing 640
acres. Each township contains 23,040 acres. A _quarter-section_
is a square whose sides (bounded by meridians and parallels),
are each half a mile, and contain 160 acres. The corners of
each section are distinctly marked by the United States'
deputy-surveyors. The _sections_ are numbered from 1 to 36,
beginning at the N. E. corner of the township, and going from
right to left, to the N. W. corner; and then returning from left
to right to the east boundary of the township, and so on.

The act of February 22. 1817, authorizes the sale, in _half
quarter_ sections, or (80 acres) of the sections 2, 5, 20, 23,
30, 33, of each township. The subdivision of the quarter
section is made by true meridians.

The _section_ No. 16. in every township, is by law reserved
for the support of schools; the S. E. corner of that section
is the centre of each township. More than 60 million acres of
United States' land, have already been surveyed:--1/36 of 60
millions is 1,666,666 acres, reserved by law for the support
of schools. The section No. 16. will unquestionably be
reserved in all future surveys and disposals of public lands.

For colleges and seminaries of a higher grade, thirteen whole
townships have already been granted by the United States to
Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, &c. Thirteen townships are equal to
299,520 acres.

By section 2. of the act of April 18. 1806, relative to
Tennessee, 200,000 acres are in that state reserved for
colleges and academies.

The reservations for schools, colleges, &c. are--

Section No. 16. 1,666,666
Thirteen townships 299,520
Reservation in Tennessee 200,000
---------
2,166,186 acres;

which, at the minimum price established previous to the year
1820, of two dollars per acre, is $4,332,372.

The area of the whole state of Ohio (the eldest of the states
north of the Ohio) is about 25 millions of acres; of this
about 14,400 had been surveyed anterior to the late cessions,
which embrace the N. W. part of that state: 1/36 of 14,400,000
is 400,000.

The free spirit of Ohio, united with signal industry and
economy, has already given to section 16. in the surveyed
portion of the state, a value of at least four dollars per
acre, or of 1,600,000 dollars. There are instances, in which
section 16. in Ohio, is worth from twenty to thirty dollars per
acre.--_National Intelligencer of November 10. 1819._--JAMES.

[073] The Meramec River (the name is a corruption of an Indian
word meaning "Catfish") forms part of the boundary between
Jefferson and St. Louis counties, Missouri. It flows from the
southwest, its chief sources lying in Dent County, and is
navigable for steamboats for almost a hundred miles.--ED.

[074] _Genus Mus. L.--M. Floridanus, Ord, Say._ _Body_ robust;
_back_ plumbeous; sides, sacrum, and origin of the tail,
ferrugineous-yellowish; _fur_ plumbeous near its base; all
beneath white; _tail_ hairy, above brown, as long as the body;
_head_ plumbeous, intermixed with gray, gradually attenuated to
the nose; _ears_ large, prominent, patulous, obtusely rounded,
naked or furnished with obsolete sparse hairs behind, and on the
margin within; _eyes_ moderately prominent; _whiskers_, some
black, and some white bristles, elongated, longest surpassing
the tips of the ears, arranged in six longitudinal series,
superior labia, and those of the angles of the mouth, folded
into the mouth, and hairy within; _legs_ subequal, robust;
anterior legs with a few white projecting setæ near the foot
behind; _feet_ white; _toes_ annulate beneath, with impressed
lines, intermediate ones equal, exterior ones equal; shorter
thumb minute; _palm_ with five tuberculous prominences, of
which the anterior ones are placed triangularly, and the others
transversely; _nails_ concealed by the hairs; _posterior feet_,
inner toe shortest, 2d, 3d, and 4th subequal, the third slightly
longest, all beneath annulated; _nails_ concealed by the hairs;
_palm_ with six tubercles, of which the three posterior ones
are distant from each other. Entire length, from nose to tip of
tail, sixteen inches nearly; _tail_ seven inches, _ear_ rather
more than 9/10 of an inch long, greatest breadth one inch. From
tip of nose to anterior canthus of the eye, 1/20 inches. Length
of the eye nearly 2/5.--JAMES.

_Comment by Ed._ George Ord, a Philadelphia scientist and
writer, was known especially for his work in ornithology. He
was at one time a vice president of the American Philosophical
Society, and from 1851-58 was president of the Academy of
Natural Sciences at Philadelphia.

[075] Near the mouth of the Merameg were collected the
Rudbeckia _hirta_, and R. purpurea, a small white flowering
species of Houstonia, the Galium tinctorium Smyrnium aureum, a
phlox, a new species of potentilla, a conyza, the trifolium
reflexum, a beautiful aira, the campunula perfoliata,
diospyros virginiana, rhus glabra, and many others. _Dr.
Baldwin's MS. Notes._--JAMES.

[076] Vide Poche (Empty Pocket), more properly Carondelet, now
included in St. Louis, was at this time five miles south of the
original city. It is of about the same age.--ED.

{52} CHAPTER III

Tumuli and Indian Graves about St. Louis, and on the Merameg--
Mouth of the Missouri--Charboniere--Journey by land from St.
Charles, to Loutre Island.

Saint Louis, formerly called Pain Court,[077] was founded by Pierre La Clade [Laclède] and his associates in 1764, eighty-four years after the establishment of Fort Creve-cœur, on the Illinois river. Until a recent period, it was occupied almost exclusively by people of French extraction, who maintained a lucrative traffic with the Indians. The history, and present condition of this important town, are too well known to be dwelt upon in this place. Its population has been rapidly augmented within a few years, by the immigration of numerous families, and its wealth and business extended by the accession of enterprising merchants and mechanics from the Eastern States. As the town advances in importance and magnitude, the manners and customs of the people of the United States, are taking the place of those of the French and Spaniards, whose numbers are proportionably diminishing. As this place seems destined to be the depôt for such articles of merchandize, as are to be sent from New Orleans to the upper rivers, it is unfortunate, that no good harbour offers for the protection of boats against the impetuosity of the current, and from the danger occasioned by floating ice. In this respect, the site of a projected town, a few miles below, has a decided advantage over Saint Louis, as it possesses a good harbour. It was selected many years since, by some Canadian Frenchmen, who formed a settlement there.[078]

The horizontal strata of limestone which underlay the town of Saint Louis and the surrounding country, {53} have strongly attracted the attention of the curious, on account of having been found, in one or two instances, to contain distinct impressions of the human foot. There is now in the possession of Mr. Rapp,[079] of the Society of the Harmonites, a stone, which has upon its surface marks that appear to have been formed by the naked feet of some human being, who was standing upon it while in a plastic state; also an irregular line, apparently traced by a stick or wand, held in the hand of the same person. This stone was taken from the slope of the immediate bank of the Mississippi below the range of the periodical floods. To us there seems nothing inexplicable or difficult to understand in its appearance.

Nothing is more probable, than that impressions of human feet made upon that thin stratum of mud, which was deposited on the shelvings of the rocks, and left naked by the retiring of the waters, may, by the induration of the mud, have been preserved, and at length have acquired the appearance of an impression made immediately upon the limestone. This supposition will be somewhat confirmed, if we examine the mud and slime deposited by the water of the Mississippi, which will be found to consist of such an intimate mixture of clay and lime, as under favourable circumstances would very readily become indurated. We are not confident that the impressions above mentioned have originated in the manner here supposed, but we cannot by any means adopt the opinion of some, who have considered them as contemporaneous to those casts of submarine animals, which occupy so great a part of the body of the limestone. We have no hesitation in saying, that whatever those impressions maybe, if they were produced, as they appear to have been by the agency of human feet, they belong to a period far more recent, than that of the deposition of the limestone on whose surface they are found.

The country about St. Louis, like that in the rear {54} of Fort Chartres, and indeed like the horizontal limestone country generally, abounds in sink holes sometimes of great depth. These are very numerous, from five to seven miles back of the town. They are in the form of vast funnels, having at the surface a diameter of from twenty to fifty yards. Mr. Say descended into one of these, for the purpose of ascertaining the medium temperature below the surface of the earth. This sink opens at the bottom of a deep ravine. It has two apertures near each other, through which water is admitted, and each large enough to afford passage to the body of a man. Within are two chambers from six to twelve feet in breadth, and thirty-five feet long. At the bottom of the second chamber is a pool of water rather difficult of access. In this apartment the mercury stood at 60° fah.: in a shady part of the ravine about twenty-five feet below the general surface at 75°. The grassy plains to the west of St. Louis are ornamented with many beautifully flowering herbaceous plants. Among those collected there, Dr. Baldwin observed the aristolochia Sipho, cypripedium spectabile,[080] lilium catesbeiana, bartsia coccinea, triosteum perfoliatum, cistus canadensis, clematis viorna, and the tradescantia virginica. The borders of this plain begin to be overrun with a humble growth of black jack and the witch hazel,[081] it abounds in rivulets, and some excellent springs of water, near one of which was found a new and beautiful species of viburnum. On the western borders of this prairie are some fine farms. It is here that Mr. John Bradbury,[082] so long and so advantageously known as a botanist, and by his travels into the interior of America, is preparing to erect his habitation. This amiable gentleman lost no opportunity during our stay at St. Louis to make our residence there agreeable to us. Near the site selected for his house is a mineral spring, whose {55} waters are strongly impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen gas. Cattle and horses, which range here throughout the season, prefer the waters of this spring to those of the creek in whose bed it rises, and may be seen daily coming in great numbers, from distant parts of the prairie, to drink of it.

Tumuli, and other remains of the labours of nations of Indians that inhabited this region many ages since, are remarkably numerous about St. Louis. Those tumuli immediately northward of the town, and within a short distance of it, are twenty-seven in number, of various forms and magnitudes, arranged nearly in a line from north to south. The common form is an oblong square, and they all stand on the second bank of the river. The statement given below of their forms, magnitudes, and relative positions, is the result of actual admeasurement taken with care, and with as much accuracy as their present indefinite boundaries, together with the dense growth of underwood, covering their surface, and tending to beguile and obstruct the vision of the observer, will admit.

It seems probable these piles of earth were raised as cemeteries, or they may have supported altars for religious ceremonies. We cannot conceive any useful purpose to which they can have been applicable in war, unless as elevated stations from which to observe the motions of an approaching enemy; but for this purpose a single mound would have been sufficient, and the place chosen would probably have been different.

Nothing like a ditch, or an embankment, is to be seen about any part of these works.[083]

Indian graves are extremely numerous about St. Louis, though none are found in the immediate vicinity of the town: they are most frequent on the hills about the Merameg and on the north side of the Missouri. On the 12th June, Mr. Say and Mr. Peale, accompanied by one man, descended the Mississippi,{56} in a small boat to the mouth of the Merameg, and ascended the latter river about fifteen miles, to a place where great numbers of graves have been explored, and have been represented to contain the bones of a diminutive race of men. Most of these graves are found near the bank of the Merameg. They do not rise above the general surface, but their presence is ascertained by the vertical stones which enclose them, and project a little at either end of the grave. When the included earth, and the numerous horizontal flat stones are removed, we find the sides neatly constructed of long flat stones, vertically implanted and adapted to each other, edge to edge, so as to form a continuous wall. The graves are usually three or four feet, though sometimes six feet in length. The bones they contained appeared to have been deposited after having been separated from the flesh, and from each other, according to the custom of some tribes of Indians at the present day.

In the first grave opened by Mr. Say were found the fragments of an earthen pot, and the bones of an infantine skull; the second contained what appeared to be the remains of a middle aged man, of the ordinary stature, laid at full length; the bones much confused and broken. An inhabitant residing here informed them, that many similar graves had been found along the summits of most of the neighbouring hills. In one of these he had found two pieces of earthenware, one having nearly the form of a porter-bottle; the other with a wide mouth; but this grave contained no bones. After spending a night at this place, they crossed the river to the town of Lilliput, (one of the projected towns here has received this name,) the place so often mentioned as the locality of the graves of a pigmy race. Appearances here are in general similar to those already described. One head that had been dug up was that of an old person, in whom the teeth had been lost, and the alveolæ {57} obliterated, leaving the sharp edge of the jaw-bone. From this the neighbouring settlers had inferred the existence of a race of men without teeth, having their jaws like those of the turtle. Having satisfied themselves that all the bones found here were those of men of the common size, Mr. Say and Mr. Peale "sold their skiff, shouldered their guns, bones, spade, &c. and bent their weary steps towards St. Louis, (distant sixteen miles,) where they arrived at eleven o'clock P. M., having had ample time, by the way, to indulge sundry reflections on that quality of the mind, either imbibed in the nursery or generated by evil communications, which incites to the love of the marvellous, and, by hyperbole, casts the veil of falsehood over the charming features of simple nature."

These graves evidently contain the relics of a more modern people than those who erected the mounds.

On the summit of one of the large hillocks, near St. Louis, (No. 27. described in note 83) are several of these graves: we opened five of them, but in one only were we fortunate in finding any thing interesting, and all that this contained was a solitary tooth of a species of rat, together with the vertebræ and ribs of a serpent of moderate size, and in good preservation; but whether the animal had been buried by the natives, or had perished there, after having found admittance through some hole, we could not determine. If they were buried by the Indians, they are probably the bones of a species of crotalus, as it is known that many Indians of the present day have a sort of veneration for animals of that genus. The circumstance of the discovery of these bones renders it somewhat probable, that rattlesnakes were formerly worshipped by the natives of America, and their remains, like those of the Ibis of Egypt, religiously entombed after death.

Whilst we were at Cincinnati, Dr. Drake exhibited {58} to us, in his cabinet of natural history, two large marine shells, that had been dug out of ancient Indian tumuli in that vicinity. These shells were each cut longitudinally, and the larger half of each only remained. From this circumstance it seems probable that they had been used by the aborigines as drinking cups; or, consecrated to superstition, they may have been regarded as sacred utensils, and either used in connection with the rites of sacrifice, or in making libations to their deities; they may, however, like the cymbium of the Archipelago, have served a more useful and salutary purpose in bathing.

One of these specimens seems to be a _Cassis cornutus_, of authors, or great conch shell, though it is proper to observe, that of the three revolving bands of tubercles, characteristic of that species, the inferior one in this specimen is double. In length it is about nine inches and a quarter, and in breadth seven inches.

The other specimen is a heterostrophe shell of the genus _Fulgur_ of Montfort; and, as far as we can judge, in every respect the same with those which are, at the present day, found on the coast of Georgia and East Florida, known to naturalists under the name of _F. perversus_, though it is certainly much larger than any of the recent specimens we have seen; its length being nine inches, and breadth six and a half.

Several different countries have been mentioned by authors as the habitation of the _cornutus_; according to Rumphius, it inhabits Amboyna, the straits of Malacca, and the shores of the island of Boeton; Humphreys says it is brought from the East Indies and China; Linnæus believed it to inhabit the coasts of America; but Bruguiere, a more recent author, informs us that Linnæus was probably mistaken in the habitation of this shell, and states it to be a native of the Asiatic ocean.

The _cornutus_ becomes of some importance in the question relative to the Asiatic origin of the American {59} Indians. All the authorities to which we have been able to refer, correspond in assigning the shores of Asia, or those of the islands which lie near that continent, as the native territory of this great species of conch, with the sole exception of Linnæus; but as no other author has discovered it on the coasts of this continent, we must believe with Bruguiere, that it is only to be found in the Asiatic ocean.

The circumstance then of this shell being discovered in one of the ancient Indian tumuli, affords, at least, an evidence that an intercourse formerly existed between the Indians of North America and those of Asia; and leads us to believe that even a limited commerce was carried on between them, as it undoubtedly was with the Atlantic coast, from which the Fulgur was obtained.

But although this isolated fact does not yield a positive proof of the long asserted migration of the ancestors of the present race of American Indians from Asia to this country, yet, when taken in combination with other evidence, which has been collected by various authors, with so much industry, it will be regarded as highly corroborative of that popular belief.[084]

In the prairies of Illinois, opposite St. Louis, are numbers of large mounds. We counted seventy-five in the course of a walk of about five miles, which brought us to the hill a few years since occupied by the monks of La Trappe.[085] This enormous mound lies nearly from north to south, but it is so overgrown with bushes and weeds, interlaced with briers and vines, that we were unable to obtain an accurate account of its dimensions.

The survey of these productions of human industry, these monuments without inscription, commemorating the existence of a people once numerous and powerful, but no longer known or remembered, never fails, though often repeated, to produce an impression of sadness. As we stand upon these {60} mouldering piles, many of them now nearly obliterated, we cannot but compare their aspect of decay with the freshness of the wide field of nature, which we see reviving around us; their insignificance, with the majestic and imperishable features of the landscape. We feel the insignificance and the want of permanence in every thing human; we are reminded of what has been so often said of the pyramids of Egypt, and may with equal propriety be applied to all the works of men, "these monuments must perish, but the grass that grows between their disjointed fragments shall be renewed from year to year."[086]

June 21st. After completing our arrangements at St. Louis, we left that place at noon, and at 10 o'clock on the following day, entered the mouth of the Missouri. From St. Louis upward to the Missouri, the water of the Mississippi, for a part of the year, is observed to be clear and of a greenish colour on the Illinois side, while it is turbid and yellow along the western bank. But at the time of our ascent every part of the Mississippi appeared equally turbid, its waters soon becoming blended with the heavy flood of the Missouri.

The Missouri being now swollen by the spring floods, which had subsided in the Mississippi, entered that river with such impetuosity, as apparently to displace almost the whole body of the waters in its channel. We had occasion to observe that the water of the Missouri passes under that of the Mississippi, rising and becoming mingled with it on the opposite shore, so that a portion of the clear, green waters of the latter river run for some distance in the middle of the channel, and along the surface of the Missouri waters, rendered perhaps specifically heavier by the great quantities of earthy matter mingled with them. The waters of the Missouri are so charged with mud and sand as to be absolutely opake, and of a clay {61} colour; while those of the Mississippi being comparatively clear, and having a somewhat olivaceous tint, afford an opportunity of tracing their respective courses, after their junction in the same channel. At some stages of water they run side by side, and in a great measure unmingled as far as Herculaneum, forty-eight miles below their confluence.

We had the pleasure to find, notwithstanding the furnace was supplied with wood of an indifferent quality, that the force of our steam-engine was sufficient to propel the boat against the current of the Missouri, without recourse to the aid of the _cordelle_,[087] which we had expected to find necessary.

We were somewhat surprised to see here a flock of black-headed terns. It is remarkable that these birds, whose ordinary range is in the immediate vicinity of the sea-coast, should ascend this river to so great a distance. They are not seen on the Delaware as high as Philadelphia, unless driven up by storms.

In ascending from the mouth of the Missouri to Bellefontain, a distance of four miles, our boat grounded twice on the point of the same sand-bar, and considerable time was consumed in efforts to get her afloat. A military post was established at Bellefontain, under the direction of the government of the United States, by General Wilkinson, in 1803; but the soil on which his works were erected has disappeared, the place being now occupied by the bed of the river. A few fruit trees only, which stood in the end of his garden, are yet standing, but are now on the brink of the river. The first bank is here ten or twelve feet high, rising perpendicularly from the water. Near its base are the trunks of several trees with one end imbedded, and the other projecting horizontally over the surface of the water, affording an evidence of the recent deposition of the soil of the low plains, and an admonition of the uncertainty of tenure, on the first bank of the river. One of these projecting trunks is still in good preservation. It is {62} about three feet in diameter, and from its direction, must pass immediately under the roots of two large trees, now occupying the surface of the soil.[088] Similar appearances are frequent along the Mississippi and Missouri, and furnish abundant evidence that these rivers are constantly changing their bed, and, from the great rapidity of the stream, as well as from the appearances presented, we must suppose these changes are not very slowly produced; but their range is confined to the valley within the second banks, which are here raised about seventy feet. On this second bank, in the rear of the site of the former works, the buildings belonging to the present military establishment have been erected. They were commenced in 1810. The houses are of one story, constructed of logs, based upon masonry, and united in the form of a hollow square. At the foot of the second bank rises a fine spring of water, which has given name to the place. Cold Water creek, a very small stream not navigable, discharges itself a few hundred yards above; in times of high water its mouth might afford harbour to small boats. Before the recent change in the bed of the Missouri, this creek entered higher up than at present, and then afforded a good harbour for boats of all sizes. The sixth regiment were encamped here at the time of our arrival, waiting for the contractor's steam-boats, three of which we had passed at the mouth of the river.[089]

Here we found it necessary to adjust a tube to the boilers of our steam-engine, in order to form a passage, through which the mud might be blown out: the method heretofore adopted, of taking off one end for the purpose of admitting a man to clean them, proving too tedious when it was found necessary to repeat the operation daily. The expedient of the tube succeeded to our entire satisfaction.

Dr. Baldwin found here a plant, which he considered as forming a new genus, approaching astragalus; {63} also the new species of rose, pointed out by Mr. Bradbury, and by him called Rosa mutabilis. This last is a very beautiful species, rising sometimes to the height of eight or ten feet. The linden tree[090] attains great magnitude in the low grounds of the Missouri; its flowers were now fully expanded.

In ascending from Bellefontain to Charboniere, where we came to an anchor, on the evening of the 24th, we were opposed by a very strong current, and much impeded by sand-bars. On the upper ends of these sand-bars are many large rafts of drift wood; these are also frequent along the right hand shore. In several places we observed portions of the bank in the act of falling or sliding into the river. By this operation, numerous trees, commonly cotton-woods and willows, are overturned into the water.

The forests, on the low grounds immediately in the vicinity of the Missouri, are remarkably dense; but in many instances, the young willows and poplars (which are the first and almost the only trees that spring up on the lands left naked by the river) have not attained half their ordinary dimensions, before, by another change in the direction of the current, they are undermined, and precipitated down, to be borne away by the river. The growth of the cotton-tree is very rapid, that of the salix angustata, the most common of the willows found here, is more tardy, as it never attains to great size. The seeds of both these trees are produced in the greatest profusion, and ripened early in the summer, and being furnished by nature with an apparatus to ensure their wide dissemination, they have extended themselves and taken root in the fertile lands along all the ramifications of the Mississippi, prevailing almost to the exclusion of other trees.