Chapter I (4)

{64} Charboniere[091] is on the right bank of the Missouri. This name was given it by the boatmen and the earliest settlers, on account of several narrow beds of coal, which appear a few feet from the water's edge, at the base of a high cliff of soft sandstone. The smell of sulphur is very perceptible along the bank of the river, occasioned doubtless by the decomposition of pyrites, in the exposed parts of the coal beds. Some small masses of sulphate of lime also occur, and have probably derived their origin from the same source.

At St. Charles we were joined by Maj. O'Fallon, agent for Indian affairs in Missouri, and his interpreter, Mr. John Dougherty, who had travelled by land from St. Louis.[092] When Lewis and Clark ascended the Missouri, the town of St. Charles was said to contain one hundred houses, the inhabitants deriving their support principally from the Indian trade. This source having in a great measure failed, on account of the disappearance of the aborigines, before the rapid advances of the white population, the town remained in a somewhat declining condition for several years; but as the surrounding country was soon occupied by an agricultural population, a more permanent though less lucrative exchange is taking the place of the Indian trade. Accordingly within two or three years, many substantial brick buildings had been added, and several were now in progress: we could enumerate, however, only about one hundred houses. There are two brick kilns, a tanyard, and several stores.[093]

A mile or two below St. Charles, are many trunks of trees projecting from the bank, like those mentioned at Bellefontain. In the face of the banks are usually great numbers of the holes made by the bank-swallow for its nest, and the birds themselves are frequently seen.

At St. Charles, arrangements were made for the purpose of transporting baggage for such of the gentlemen {65} of the party as should choose to ascend the Missouri by land, that they might have the better opportunities for investigating the natural history of the country. Messrs. Say, Jessup, Peale, and Seymour, having provided themselves with a horse and pack-saddle, on which they fastened their blankets, a tent, and some provisions, accompanied by one man, left St. Charles at 7 o'clock on the morning of the 26th, intending to keep nearly an equal pace with the steam-boat, in order to rejoin it as occasion might require. Dr. Baldwin, still confined by debility and lameness, was compelled to forego the pleasure of accompanying them.

The Western Engineer proceeded on her voyage, soon after the departure of Mr. Say and his detachment. Having grounded several times in the course of the day, and contending all the way against a heavy current, she proceeded but a few miles. We passed some rocky cliffs; but in general the immediate banks of the river presented the same appearance as below, consisting of a recent alluvium. After we had anchored at evening, Dr. Baldwin was able to walk a short distance on shore, but returned much fatigued by his exertions.[094]

On the morning of the 27th, after having taken in a small supply of indifferent fuel, we crossed over to the right-hand side of the river, and took on board one of the party, who had left the boat at an early hour, to visit a friend residing a short distance from the river. At evening we came to anchor half a mile below Point Labidee,[095] a high bluff, where observations for latitude were taken. Here we were detained a day making some necessary repairs.

A fine field of wheat, which appeared to be ripe, extended down to the brink of the river opposite the spot where we lay. This belonged to the plantation of a farmer, recently from Virginia. From him we obtained a plentiful supply of milk, and some bacon hams. A portion of the bank had lately fallen into {66} the river, and with it a part of the wheat field, and the dwelling house and other buildings seemed destined soon to follow.

The shore here was lined with the common elder, (sambucus canadensis) in full bloom, and the cleared fields were yellow with the flowers of the common mullein. This plant, supposed to have been originally introduced from Europe, follows closely the footsteps of the whites. The liatris pycnostachia, here called "pine of the prairies," which was now in full bloom, has a roundish tuberous root, of a warm somewhat balsamic taste, and is used by the Indians and others for the cure of gonnorrhœa.

The Indian interpreter, Mr. Dougherty, also showed us some branches of a shrub, which he said was much used among the natives in the cure of lues venerea. They make a decoction of the root, which they continue to drink for some time. It is called "blue wood" by the French, and is the symphoria racemosa of Pursh, common to the maritime states, the banks of the St. Lawrence, and the Missouri. It is here rather taller, and the branches less flexuous than in the eastern states.[096]

Without meeting any remarkable occurrences, we moved on from day to day, encountering numerous obstacles in the navigation of the river, and being occasionally delayed by the failure of some part of the steam-engine, till on the 2d of July, we arrived at Loutre Island, where we found Mr. Say and his companions.

After leaving the steam-boat at St. Charles, on the 25th of June, this party had travelled over a somewhat hilly country, covered with open oak woods for about ten miles, to a small creek, called the Darden,[097] entering the Mississippi a few miles above the Illinois. This stream they crossed three miles from the Missouri, having in their walk suffered greatly {67} from thirst. At evening they tied their pack-horse to a bush; and as they returned, after being absent a few minutes for water, the animal took fright, and breaking loose, disencumbered himself of his pack, and set off on a gallop to return to St. Charles; and it was not without great exertion that he was overtaken and brought back. They then pitched their tent, and were so fortunate as to find a house at the distance of half a mile. This belonged to a family from Carolina, and exhibited great appearance of neatness and comfort, but the owner was found particularly deficient in hospitality. He refused to sell or to give any refreshments for the use of the party, and even granted them some water with apparent reluctance, marching haughtily about his piazza, while some person was annoying his family by playing wretchedly on a flute. Mr. Say and the gentlemen of his party had on the fatigue dress of common soldiers, to which they probably owed the coldness of their reception. We are, however, glad to be able, from much experience, to say that there are few houses in the lately settled parts of the United States, where common soldiers would have met such a reception as was accorded by this Mr. N. to the gentlemen of the party. Want of hospitality is rarely the fault of the inhabitants of the remote settlements. Being refused refreshments, they returned to their camp, and with the addition of a hawk which they had killed, made a supper from the contents of their pack.

On the 27th they crossed the Perogue,[098] about nineteen miles from St. Charles; and after a fatiguing march of several miles, were entertained at the house of a very worthy man, who supplied them with whatever his place afforded. From too long fasting, and from the effect of exposure and fatigue, Mr. Say and others became somewhat unwell; and on their account, the party remained at the house of their friendly host till evening, when they walked four {68} miles to a place called Fort Kennedy. They purchased a ham, and a loaf of corn bread of Mr. Kennedy, paying ten cents per pound for the ham, and twenty-five cents for all the bread, milk, and corn, consumed during their stay.[099]

The next morning, having travelled about seven miles, they halted for breakfast; and having fettered their horse, dismissed him to feed; but when sought for the purpose of continuing their journey, he could not be found. Two travellers at length arrived, and informed them that the horse had been seen at about six miles' distance, on the way towards St. Charles: a horse was therefore hired, and a person returned in pursuit; but he was not to be found, having proceeded on his journey previously to the arrival of the messenger.

The prairie flies (a species of tabanus,) are exceedingly troublesome to horses and cattle, insomuch that people who cross these grassy plains usually travel very early in the morning, and again at evening, resting greater part of the day; some, indeed, journey only by night. If they travel at all in the day, they have the precaution to defend the horse, by a covering thrown loosely over him. The tabani appear about the 10th of June, and are seen in immense numbers, until about the 10th of August, when they disappear. Near the farm houses we observed, that cattle, when attacked by them, ran violently among the bushes, to rid themselves of their persecutors.--Mosquitoes were not numerous.

As they were fearful of being unable to overtake the steam-boat on the Missouri, if they made a longer delay to prosecute the search for their horse, it was determined to abandon him altogether, rather than return to St. Charles, whither he had doubtless gone; accordingly, on the 29th of June, they made a division of their baggage, and each one shouldering his respective portion, proceeded towards the margin of Loutre Prairie. When they arrived here, they determined {69} to take the most direct route towards the Missouri, as it seemed folly for them to attempt, in the drought and heat, which then prevailed, to cross the extensive plains of Loutre and the Grand Prairie with their heavy burthens. They therefore followed a path leading nearly south, along a naked ridge; where they travelled twelve miles, without finding water, and arrived at Loutre Island in the evening. They were all the day tormented with excessive thirst; and being unaccustomed to travelling on foot, they were much fatigued, and several became lame. The soil of the extensive prairies which they passed was not very good; but mixed at the surface with so much vegetable matter, accumulated by the successive growth and decomposition of the yearly products, as to give it the aspect of fertility.[100]

On the south side of Loutre Prairie a well has been sunk sixty-five feet, without obtaining water; on the north water is readily found, by digging to a moderate depth. Loutre Prairie is twenty-three, and Grand Prairie is twenty-five miles in length: on the borders of each are some scattering settlements.

Near Loutre Island are several forts, as they are called by the inhabitants, built by the settlers during the late war, and designed to afford protection against the attacks of the aborigines, chiefly the Kickapoos, and Saukees, who were most feared in this quarter. They are simply strong log-houses, with a projecting upper story, and with loop-holes for musketry.

It was within a few miles of this place, that a company of mounted rangers, commanded by Captain Calloway, were attacked by the Indians. The assault commenced as the rangers were entering a narrow defile, near the confluence of the Prairie Forks of Loutre Creek. Several men were killed at the first fire, and Captain Calloway received in his body a ball that had passed through his watch. So furious was the onset, that there was no time for reloading their pieces after they had discharged them. {70} Captain Calloway threw his gun into the creek, that it might not add to the booty of the Indians; and though mortally wounded, drew his knife, and killed two of the assailants; but seeing no prospect of success he ordered a retreat, hoping thereby to save the lives of some of his men. He was the last to leave the ground; when springing into the creek he received a shot in his head, and expired immediately.[101]

Loutre Island is something more than nine miles long, and about one mile wide, and is the residence of several families. Between it and the main land is an isthmus, which is left naked at times of low water. Loutre Creek enters at the lower end of the island. It is not navigable. Mr. Talbot, formerly from Kentucky, has been resident here for nine years. His farm is in a high state of cultivation, and furnishes abundant supplies of poultry, eggs, potatoes, and the numerous products of the kitchen garden, of which he sent a handsome present on board our boat. He informed us that peach-trees succeed well in the most fertile parts of the island.[102]

The first dwellings constructed by the white settlers are nearly similar in every part of the United States. Superior wealth and industry are indicated by the number and magnitude of corn-cribs, smoke-houses, and similar appurtenances; but on the Missouri, we rarely meet with any thing occupying the place of the barn in the northern states. The dwellings of people who have emigrated from Virginia, or any of the more southern states, have usually the form of double cabins, or two distinct houses, each containing a single room, and connected to each other by a roof; the intermediate space, which is often equal in area to one of the cabins, being left open at the sides, and having the naked earth for a floor, affords a cool and airy retreat, where the family will usually be found in the heat of the day. The roof is composed of from three to five logs, laid longitudinally, {71} and extending from end to end of the building; on these are laid the shingles, four or five feet in length; over these are three or four heavy logs, called weight poles, secured at their ends by withes, and by their weight supplying the place of nails.

They have corn-mills, consisting of a large horizontal wooden wheel, moved by a horse, and having a band passed round its periphery to communicate motion to the stone. These are called band-mills, and are the most simple and economical of those in which the power of horses is employed. The solitary planter, who has chosen his place remote from the habitation of any other family, has sometimes a mill of a more primitive character, called a hand-mill, probably differing little from those used among the ancient Egyptians. It consists of two stones; and while one person causes the uppermost to revolve horizontally upon the disk of the other, a second, who is usually a child or a woman, introduces the corn a few grains at a time, through a perforation in the upper stone. Some are content with the still ruder apparatus, consisting of an excavation in the top of a stump; into which the corn is thrown, and brayed with a pestle. This is the method in use among many of the agricultural Indians.

A large species of lampyris is common on the lower part of the Missouri. It is readily distinguished from the smaller species, the common fire-fly, by its mode of coruscating. It emits from three to seven or eight flashes, in rapid succession, then ceases; but shortly after renews its brilliancy. This species appears early in May. We saw many of them in returning by night from the Merameg to St. Louis; but before our arrival at Loutre Island they had disappeared, and were succeeded by great numbers of the lampyris pyralis, whose coruscations are inferior in quantity of light, and appear singly.

The black walnut attains, in the Missouri bottoms, {72} its greatest magnitude. Of one, which grew near Loutre Island, there had been made two hundred fence-rails, eleven feet in length, and from four to six inches in thickness. A cotton-tree, in the same neighbourhood, produced thirty thousand shingles, as we were informed by a credible witness.

FOOTNOTES:

[077] The name Pain Court (Short of Bread), and the similar
appellations of Carondelet (_Vide Poche_--Empty Pocket),
and of Ste. Geneviève (_Misère_--Poverty), are said to have
originated in the good-natured raillery between the French of
the several settlements. They probably point also to the want
often experienced by a trading people who neglected agriculture.
For further facts relative to the early history of St. Louis,
see Croghan's _Journals_, in our volume i, note 134, and André
Michaux's _Travels_, in our volume iii, note 138.--ED.

[078] The lack of a good harbor at St. Louis has occasioned
vast trouble and expense. The encroachment of the river on the
Illinois side caused sand-bars to form along the city water
front, and for many years it seemed likely that the town would
eventually be left high and dry. Efforts at improvement were
begun in 1833, ox-teams and plows being used to loosen the sand
for high water to remove. Both city and federal governments have
since made many improvements, the river at that point requiring
almost continuous care.--ED.

[079] George Rapp, the founder of the Harmonites, was born in
Würtemberg in 1770. The sect endeavored to revive the practices
of the primitive Christian church, communism and celibacy being
among its tenets. After founding Harmony, Pennsylvania, in 1803,
and New Harmony, Indiana, in 1815, the community settled at
Harmony, Pennsylvania, where Rapp died in 1847.--ED.

[080] C. parviflorum.--JAMES.

[081] Hamamelis virginica, and quercus nigra.--JAMES.

[082] Bradbury's _Travels_ are reprinted as volume v of our
series. See preface of that volume for biographical sketch.--ED.

[083] What we have called base in the following statement is in
reality the length of a line passing over the top of the mound,
from the termination of the base each side.

The numbers refer to a draft. The heights are estimated, with
the exception of two.

No. 2. A square with a hollow way, gradually sloping to the top;
or, in other words, a hollow square open behind.

feet.
Base 50
Height 5
Distance N. from the Spanish bastion 259

No. 3. An oblong square.

feet.
Longitudinal base 114
Transverse base 50
Length at top 80
Perpendicular height 4
Distance from No. 2. N. 115

No. 4. An oblong square.

feet.
Longitudinal base 84
top 45
Perpendicular height 4
Distance N. 251

Nos. 2. 3. and 4. are each about 33
ordinary steps from the edge of the
second bank of the river.

No. 5. An oblong square.

feet.
Longitudinal base 81
top 35
Perpendicular height 4
Distance W. 155

No. 6. Different in form from the
others. It is called the _Falling
Garden_, and consists of three stages,
all of equal length, and of the same
parallelogramic form: the superior
stage, like the five succeeding mounds,
is bounded on the east by the edge of
the second bank of the river: the second
and third stages are in succession on
the declivity of the bank, each being
horizontal; and are connected with each
other, and with the first, by an
abruptly oblique descent.

feet.
Longitudinal base 114
top 88
Transverse base of first stage 30
height of first stage 5
Declivity to the second stage 34
Transverse surface of second stage 51
Declivity to the third stage 30
Transverse surface of third stage 87
Declivity to the natural slope 19

feet.
No. 7. Like the three succeeding ones,
conical.
Distance northward 95
Base 83
Top 34
Height 4-1/2

No. 8. Distance about N. 94
Base 98
Top 31
Height 5

No. 9. Distance about N. 70
Base 114
Top 56
Height 16

No. 10. Distance about N. 74
Base 91
Top 34
Height 8 or 10

No. 11. Nearly square, with a large area
on the top (a brick house is erected at
the S.W. corner). The eastern side
appears to range with the preceding
mounds.
Distance 158
Base 179
Top 107
Height W. side, say 5
Height S. 11
Height E. 15 or 20

No. 12. Nearly square, westerly a little
N. from No. 7. and distant from it 30
Base 129
Top 50
Height 10

No. 13. A parallelogram, placed
transversely with respect to the group.

feet.
Distance 30
Distance from No. 5. N. 10 W. 350
Longitudinal base 214
top 134
Transverse base 188
top 97
Height 12

No. 14. A convex mound, W. 55
Base 95
Height 5 or 6

No. 15. Together with the three
succeeding ones, more or less square.

feet.
Distance N.W. 117
Base 70
Height 4

No. 16. Distance N. 10 E. 103
Base 124

No. 17. Distance N. 78
Base 82

No. 18. Distance, N.N.E. 118
Base 77

The mounds from 14. to 18. inclusive,
are so arranged as to describe a curve,
which, when continued, terminates at the
larger mounds, Nos. 15. and 19. No. 19.
A large quadrangular mound, placed
transversely, and with No. 13., ranging
in a line nearly parallel to the
principal series (from 2. to 11.)

feet.
Distance N.N.W. from No. 13. 484
Distance E.N.E. from No. 18. 70
Base 187
Top 68
(By measurement) Height 23

No. 20. A small barrow, perhaps two feet
high, and of proportionably rather large
base, say 15 or 20 feet.

No. 21. A mound similar to the
preceding, same height. West of No. 16.,
base 25 feet.

No. 22. Quadrangular.

feet.
Distance West from No. 16. 319
Base 73

No. 23. A mound of considerable
regularity; but, owing to the
thickness of the bushes, we cannot at
present satisfy ourselves of its being
artificial, though from its
corresponding with No. 25. we suppose
it to be so.

No. 24. Appears to be an irregular mound
10 or 12 feet high, and 145 feet base.

No. 25. Distant N. 10 E. 114 feet; and
following this course 132 feet, we
arrive at an elevation on its margin,
as is also the case with No. 24., and
which we have numbered 26.

No. 26. Of which the base is 89 feet,
and height 10 or 12.--It is distant
W.N.W. from No. 26., 538 feet.

No. 27. Is the largest mound, of an
elongated-oval form, with a large step
on the eastern side.

feet.
Distance N. from No. 26. 1463
Longitudinal base 319
top 136
Transverse base 158
top 11
Step transversely 79
Height by measurement 34

At the distance of a mile to the westward, is said to be another
large mound.--JAMES.

_Comment by Ed._ These mounds have been effaced by the growth
of the city. The map of them prepared by Long's party was not
published until 1861; it will be found on page 387 of the
Smithsonian Institution _Report_ for that year.

[084] The uncertainty with which the shell mentioned was classed
as _Cassis cornutus_ renders its identification in terms of
modern nomenclature practically impossible; such identification
could be accurately made only by examination of the same
specimen. The value of the argument relative to the origin of
the Indians is, therefore, not easy to estimate.--ED.

[085] From this fact it derived the name "Monk's Mound." The
Trappist establishment was made in 1808, but was soon afterwards
abandoned. The mound is one of the largest in the United
States--the area of the base is six acres, that of the top two;
the height is ninety-one feet.--ED.

[086] Maturin.-JAMES.

_Comment by Ed._ Charles Robert Maturin (1782-1816) was a Dublin
dramatist and novelist. In his writings passages of undoubted
eloquence were strangely mingled with extravagance and bombast.
The incoherence of his plots and the inconsistency of his
characters led many who recognized his genius to believe him mad.

[087] The cordelle was a rope, often several hundred yards
long, by means of which men towed boats up rapid streams. When
the current was especially strong, the end of the cordelle was
attached to a tree and a windlass used.--ED.

[088] In a section of forty feet perpendicular, of the alluvion
of the Mississippi, near New Madrid, Mr. Shultz found seven
hundred and ninety-eight layers, indicating an equal number of
inundations, in the time of their deposition. Supposing these
inundations to have happened yearly, we have an easy method
of forming an estimate of the rapidity of the elevation of
the bed of the Mississippi. These layers were found to vary
in thickness, from one-fourth of an inch to three inches. See
Shultz's _Travels_, vol. ii. p. 90.--JAMES.

[089] Bellefontaine, or Fort Bellefontaine (old Fort Charles
the Prince), was occupied by troops until 1826. See Thwaites,
_Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition_, v, pp.
392, 393, note 2. The site of the newer works mentioned in the
text is now uncertain. An island opposite the mouth of Cold
Water Creek was the camp of Lewis and Clark the first night
after beginning the ascent of the Missouri (May 14, 1804).--ED.

[090] Tilia Americana. The Podalyria alba, anemone virginiana,
polygala incarnata (prairies) anagallis arvensis, lathyrus
decaphyllus, ranunculus fluviatalis, carex multiflora, &c. were
collected at Bellefontain. _Dr. Baldwin's MS. Notes._--JAMES.

[091] The correct orthography of the word is Charbonnière, which
means "carrying coals."--ED.

[092] This was Benjamin O'Fallon, whose mother was the youngest
sister of George Rogers and William Clark; his father, Dr. James
O'Fallon, was a Revolutionary character and prominent Kentucky
pioneer. A brother, John O'Fallon, was in the middle of the
century, one of the most prominent citizens of St. Louis.

John Dougherty was later for many years agent for the Oto,
Pawnee, and Omaha tribes.--ED.

[093] For St. Charles, see Bradbury's _Travels_, in our volume
v, note 9.--ED.

[094] The vegetable productions at this place were, the populus
deltoides, occupying the narrow margin of the river (not here
preceded by the salix angustata, as is generally the case in
recent alluvial grounds on the Ohio and Mississippi); the
amorpha fruticosa,[A] and platanus occidentalis, next follow.
The margin of the bluff produces the quercus rubra, juglans
pubescens, carpinus Americana, (around the latter, we observed
the celastrus scandens entwined and in fruit,) and on higher
grounds, the laurus sassafras and juniperus Virginianus. Of
herbaceous plants, the only one in flower was the rudbeckia
fulgida. The higher parts of the hills were in many places
thickly covered with species of elymus and andropogon, the
summits being usually quite naked, and consisting of horizontal
masses of ferruginous coloured sandstone. _Baldwin._--JAMES.

[A] This beautiful flowering shrub occupies the low lands of
Georgia, on the sea coast, but is not confined to the margin of
rivers, as appears to be the case on the Missouri.

[095] On Point L'Abbadie, see Bradbury's _Travels_, comprising
our volume v, note 13.--ED.

[096] Baldwin.--JAMES.

[097] Dardenne Creek flows northeast across St. Charles County
to the Mississippi, as do nearly all the watercourses of this
county. It and the township of the same name are so called from
one of the early settlers.--ED.

[098] Perruque (Wig) Creek is said to commemorate the adventure
of a Frenchman whose wig became entangled in the branches of a
tree while he was crossing the stream.--ED.

[099] Thomas Kennedy, a Revolutionary veteran from Virginia
came to Warren County, Missouri, early in 1808. His stockade
and blockhouse, built for protection against the Indians during
the War of 1812-15, stood a mile and a half southeast of Wright
City.--ED.

[100] The course of the party had been northwest through St.
Clair and Warren counties, and thence south by west to the
river. Loutre Island is on the boundary between Warren and
Montgomery counties.--ED.

[101] This affair took place March 7, 1815. Captain James
Callaway was the grandson of Daniel Boone. His company consisted
besides himself of a lieutenant and fourteen men.--ED.

[102] Loutre (Otter) Island was the site of the first
settlements in Montgomery County, which probably date back
to 1798. There were two Talbots among the early arrivals,
Christopher and Hale. Among their neighbors were the Thorps,
Ashcrafts, Coles, Pattons, and Coopers--there were two or three
families of each, most of them being from Kentucky. The father
of "Kit" Carson was another member of the community.--ED.

{73} CHAPTER IV

Settlement of Cote Sans Dessein--Mouths of the Osage--Manito
Rocks--Village of Franklin

The left bank of the Missouri at the confluence of Loutre Creek is precipitous, terminating a group of hills which can be distinguished running far to the north-east. Towards the river these fall off in perpendicular precipices, whose bases are concealed in a dense growth of trees and underwood. From their summits huge masses of rock have fallen; and some of these are of such magnitude, that their summits rise above the surrounding forest. One standing opposite the head of the island next above Loutre, is marked with numerous rude drawings, executed by the Indians; some representing men with the heads of bisons, spears, arrows, bows, &c. Half a mile above this rock the Gasconade enters the Missouri from the south. The sources of this river are in the hilly country, near those of some of the larger tributaries of the Yungar fork of the Osage; its waters are transparent, and its current rapid. Traversing a rocky and broken country, it has not the uniformity of current common to many of the branches of the Missouri, but is varied by numerous cataracts and rapids, affording convenient stations for water-mills. Some saw-mills have already been erected; and from them a supply of pine-timber is brought to the settlements on the Missouri, that tree being rarely met with here, except in the hilly country. The Gasconade is navigable for a few miles. As might be expected, a projected town is placed at the confluence of this {74} river and the Missouri, and is to be called Gasconade.[103]

Above the Gasconade, the aspect of the shores of the Missouri is the same as below, except that the hills are discontinued on the left side, and make their appearance on the right, extending along eight or nine miles; above this both shores are low bottom grounds.

Having received on board Mr. Say and his companions, we left Loutre Island on the 3d of July; and passing in succession the mouths of the Gasconade, Bear Creek, the Au Vase, and other tributaries, we anchored on the evening of the 5th, above the little village of Cote Sans Dessein.[104] This place contains about thirty families, mostly French, occupying as many small log cabins, scattered remotely along the left bank of the river. Nearly opposite the village is the lower mouth of the Osage. Just above the town is the elevated insular hill, which has given name to the place; it extends about eight hundred yards, parallel to the bank of the river, and terminates at a small stream called Revoe's Creek. Back of the hill is a marsh, discharging a small stream of water into the creek. The site of the settlement of Cote Sans Dessein is remarkable on account of the fertility of the soil, the black mould extending to the depth of about four feet. The soil is very rich for twenty or thirty miles, in the rear of the village; but the uncertainty of the titles, arising from the conflicting claims, founded on the basis of pre-emption, New Madrid grants, and the concession of a large tract opposite the mouth of the Osage, made by the Spanish authorities in favour of Mr. Choteau, still operates to retard the increase of population.[105]

At the time of the late war the inhabitants of this settlement, relying on mutual protection, did not retire, but erected two stockades, and block-houses for their defence; the Sauks, assisted by some Foxes and Ioways, having by a feigned attack and {75} retreat, induced the greater part of the men to pursue them, gained their rear by means of an ambuscade, and entering the village, raised their war-cry at the doors of the cabins. The women and children fled in consternation to the block-houses. At this juncture a young man was seen, who would not abandon his decrepit mother, even though she entreated him to fly and save his own life, leaving her, who could at best expect to live but a few days, to the mercy of the savages. The youth, instead of listening to her request, raised her upon his shoulders, and ran towards the stockade, closely pursued by the Indians. They fired several times upon him, and he must have been cut off had not a sally been made in his favour.

After killing the villagers who had fallen into their hands, the Indians proceeded to attack the lower stockade. The block-house at this work was defended by two men, and several women. On hearing the war-cry, this little but determined garrison responded to it in such a manner as to communicate to the Indians the idea that the block-house contained a considerable number of men. They, therefore, proceeded to the attack with caution. In the first onset, one of the two men received a mortal wound, which made him incapable of further exertion--the other continued to discharge the guns at the besiegers, they being loaded and put into his hands by the women. One mode of attack, adopted by the Indians, had nearly proved successful. They threw burning torches upon the roof, which was several times on fire; but the women, with admirable presence of mind, and undaunted intrepidity, ascended to the top of the building and extinguished the flames. This scene continued during the entire day; and at evening, when the assailants withdrew, a small portion only of the roof remained; so often had the attempt to fire the building been repeated. The loss sustained by the enemy was never correctly {76} ascertained; it has since been stated by an Indian, that fourteen were killed and several wounded, but many are of opinion that two or three only were killed.

We saw the hero of this affair at the block-house itself, now converted into a dwelling; but he did not appear to be greatly esteemed, having perhaps few qualities except personal intrepidity to recommend him.[106] Cote Sans Dessein contains a tavern, a store, a blacksmith's shop, and a billiard table.

The Cane[107] is no where met with on the Missouri; but its place is in part supplied by the equisetum hiemale, which, remaining green through the winter, affords an indifferent pasturage for horned cattle and horses: to the latter, it often prove deleterious. The inhabitants of St. Genevieve placed their horses upon an island covered with rushes, where great numbers of them shortly after died; but it was observed that such as received regularly a small quantity of salt remained uninjured. Of a large number of horses, placed on an island near the mouth of the Nishnebottona,[108] to feed upon this plant, no less than twenty were found dead at the end of five days. May not the deleterious properties of the equisetum hiemale depend, in some measure, on the frozen water included in the cavity of the stalk?

We were told the cows on this part of the Missouri, at certain seasons of the year, give milk so deleterious as to prove fatal, when taken into the stomach; and this effect is commonly attributed to a poisonous plant, said to be frequent in the low grounds, where it is eaten by the cattle. They have a disease called the _milk sickness_: it commences with nausea and dizziness, succeeded by headache, pain in the stomach and bowels, and finally, by a prostration of strength, which renders the patient unable to stand; a general torpor soon ensues, succeeded {77} by death. It is a common belief that the flesh of animals, that have eaten of this poisonous weed, is noxious, and that horses are destroyed by it.

We have heard it remarked by the inhabitants of the Ohio below the rapids, that the milk of cows running at large in August is poisonous; and this they do not fail to attribute to the effect of noxious plants; and in some places they point out to you one, and in another place another vegetable, to which they assign these properties. The inhabitants generally seem to have no suspicion that milk, unless it is poisoned, can be an unwholesome article of diet; and we have been often surprised to see it given to those labouring under fever. Throughout the western states, and particularly in the more remote settlements, much use is made of butter-milk, and soured milk in various forms; all of which they sell to travellers. Below Cote Sans Dessein we paid, for new milk, twenty-five cents per gallon, and for soured milk, eighteen and three-fourth cents. At that place twenty-five cents per quart were demanded by the French settlers. It is commonly remarked that the French, as well as the Indians, who have been long in the immediate vicinity of the whites, charge a much higher price for any article than the Anglo-Americans, under the same circumstances. Emigrants from the southern states prefer sour milk; and the traveller's taste in this particular, we have often observed, forms a test to discover whether he is entitled to the opprobrious name of _Yankee_, as the people of the northern and eastern states rarely choose sour milk. We have found that in some of the sickliest parts of the valley of the Mississippi, where bilious and typhoid fevers prevail, through the summer and autumn, the most unrestrained use is made of butter, milk, eggs, and similar articles of diet. Dr. Baldwin was of opinion that the _milk sickness_ of the Missouri did not originate from any deleterious vegetable substance eaten by the cows, but {78} was a species of typhus, produced by putrid exhalations, and perhaps aggravated by an incautious use of a milk diet.

During the few days we remained at Cote Sans Dessein, Dr. Baldwin, though suffering much from weakness, and yielding perceptibly to the progress of a fatal disease, was able to make several excursions on shore. His devotion to a fascinating pursuit stimulated him to exertions for which the strength of his wasted frame seemed wholly inadequate; and it is not, perhaps, improbable that his efforts may have somewhat hastened the termination of his life.

Between Loutre Island and Cote Sans Dessein compact limestone occurs, in horizontal strata, along the sides of the Missouri valley. It is of a bluish white colour, compact structure, and a somewhat concoidal fracture, containing few organic remains. It alternates with sandstones, having a silicious cement.[109] These horizontal strata are deeply covered with soil, usually a calcareous loam, intermixed with decayed vegetable matter.

July 6th.--Soon after leaving the settlement of Cote Sans Dessein, we passed the upper and larger mouth of the Osage river. Here, to use the language of the country, a town has been _located_, and the lots lately disposed of at St. Louis, at various prices, from fifty to one hundred and eighty dollars each.[110] Within the limits of this town is a considerable hill, rising at the point of the junction of the two rivers, and running parallel to the Missouri. From its summit is an extensive view of the village of Cote Sans Dessein, and the surrounding country.

The river of the Osages, so called from the well-known tribe of Indians inhabiting its banks, enters the Missouri one hundred and thirty-three miles above the confluence of the latter river with the Mississippi. Its sources are in the Ozark mountains, opposite those of the White river of the Mississippi, and of the Neosho, {79} a tributary of the Arkansa. Flowing along the base of the north-western slope of a mountainous range, it receives from the east several rapid and beautiful rivers, of which the largest is the Yungar, (so named, in some Indian language, from the great number of springs tributary to it,) entering the Osage one hundred and forty miles from the Missouri.

In point of magnitude the Osage ranks nearly with the Cumberland and Tennessee. It has been represented as navigable for six hundred miles; but as its current is known to be rapid, flowing over great numbers of shoals and sand-bars, this must be considered an exaggeration. In the lower part of its course it traverses broad and fertile bottom lands, bearing heavy forests of sycamore and cotton trees. We may expect the country along the banks of this river will soon become the seat of a numerous population, as it possesses in a fertile soil and a mild climate, advantages more than sufficient to compensate for the difficulty of access, and other inconveniences of situation.

The northern bank of the Missouri, for some distance above the confluence of the Osage, is hilly. Moreau's Creek enters three miles above; and at its mouth is Cedar Island, where we anchored for the night. This island is three miles long, and has furnished much cedar timber for the settlements below; but its supply is now nearly exhausted.[111]

In the afternoon of the following day we were entangled among great numbers of _snags_ and _planters_, and had a cat-head carried away by one of them. In shutting off the steam on this occasion, one of the valves was displaced; and as we were no longer able to confine the steam, the engine became useless, the boat being thus exposed to imminent danger. At length we succeeded in extricating ourselves; and came to an anchor near the entrance of a small stream, called Mast Creek by Lewis and Clarke.[112]

{80} At evening dense cumulostratus and cirrostratus clouds skirted the horizon: above these we observed a comet bearing north-west by north. Above the mouth of the Osage, the immediate valley of the Missouri gradually expands, embracing some wide bottoms, in which are many settlements increasing rapidly in the number of inhabitants. The Manito rocks, and some other precipitous cliffs, are the terminations of low ranges of hills running in quite to the river. These hills sometimes occasion rapids in the river, as in the instance of the Manito rocks; opposite which commences a group of small islands stretching obliquely across the Missouri, and separated by narrow channels, in which the current is stronger than below. Some of these channels we found obstructed by collections of floating trees, which usually accumulate about the heads of islands, and are here called rafts. After increasing to a certain extent, portions of these rafts becoming loosened, float down the river, sometimes covering nearly its whole surface, and greatly endangering the safety, and impeding the progress, of such boats as are ascending. The group above mentioned is called the Thousand Islands.

Nashville, Smithton, Rectorsville, and numerous other towns of similar character and name, containing from one to half a dozen houses each, are to be met with in a few miles above the Little Manito rocks. Almost every settler, who has established himself on the Missouri, is confidently expecting that his farm is, in a few years, to become the seat of wealth and business, and the mart for an extensive district.[113]

The banks of the Missouri, in this part, present an alternation of low alluvial bottoms and rocky cliffs. Roche à Pierce Creek is a small stream entering nearly opposite another, called Splice Creek, a few miles above the Manito rocks. Here is a range of rocky cliffs, penetrated by numerous cavities and fissures, {81} hence called by the French boatmen, Roche a Piercè, and giving name to the creek.[114] These rocks we found filled with organic remains, chiefly encrinites. About eight or ten miles above this point the Missouri again washes the base of the rocky hills, which bound its immediate valley. The rocks advance boldly to the brink of the river, exhibiting a perpendicular front, variegated with several colours arranged in broad stripes. Here is a fine spring of water gushing out at the base of the precipice; over it are several rude paintings executed by the Indians. These cliffs are called the Big Manito rocks, and appear to have been objects of peculiar veneration with the aborigines, and have accordingly received the name of their Great Spirit.

It is not to be understood that the general surface of the country, of which we are now speaking, is traversed by continuous ridges, which, in their course across the valley of the Missouri, occasion the alternation of hill and plain; which to a person ascending the river, forms the most conspicuous feature of the country. The immediate valley of the Missouri preserves great uniformity in breadth, and is bounded on both sides by chains of rocky bluffs rising from one to two hundred feet above the surface of the included valley, and separating it from those vast woodless plains which overspread so great a part of the country. Meandering from right to left along this valley the river alternately washes the base of the bluffs on either side, while, from a person passing up or down the stream, the heavy forests intercept the view of the bluffs, except at the points where they are thus disclosed. Opposite the Big Manito rocks, and the island of the same name, is the Little Saline river, on the left side; and three or four miles above, on the opposite side, a stream called the Big Manito Creek.[115] Here we passed the night of the 12th July. About midnight so violent a storm arose that we were {82} compelled to leave our encampment on shore, the tent being blown down, and to seek shelter on board the boat. Though the storm did not continue long, the water fell to the depth of one inch and an half.

After taking in a supply of wood, we departed on the morning of the 13th, and the same day arrived at Franklin. This town, at present, increasing more rapidly than any other on the Missouri, had been commenced but two years and an half before the time of our journey. It then contained about one hundred and twenty log houses of one story, several framed dwellings of two stories, and two of brick, thirteen shops for the sale of merchandize, four taverns, two smiths' shops, two large team-mills, two billiard-rooms, a court-house, a log prison of two stories, a post-office, and a printing-press issuing a weekly paper. At this time bricks were sold at ten dollars per thousand, corn at twenty-five cents per bushel, wheat one dollar, bacon at twelve and a half cents per pound, uncleared lands from two to ten or fifteen dollars per acre. The price of labour was seventy-five cents per day.

In 1816 thirty families only of whites, were settled on the left side of the Missouri, above Cote Sans Dessein. In three years, their numbers had increased to more than eight hundred families.

The Missouri bottoms about Franklin are wide, and have the same prolific and inexhaustible soil as those below. The labour of one slave is here reckoned sufficient for the culture of twenty acres of Indian corn, and produces ordinarily about sixty bushels per acre, at a single crop. In the most fertile parts of Kentucky, fifteen acres of corn are thought to require the labour of one slave, and the crop being less abundant, we may reckon the products of agriculture there, at about one third part less than in the best lands on the Missouri. Franklin is the seat of {83} justice for Howard county. It stands on a low and recent alluvial plain, and has behind it a small stagnant creek. The bed of the river, near the shore, has been heretofore obstructed by sand-bars, which prevented large boats from approaching the town; whether this evil will increase or diminish, it is not possible to determine; such is the want of stability in every thing belonging to the channel of the Missouri. It is even doubtful whether the present site of Franklin will not, at some future day, be occupied by the river, which appears to be at this time encroaching on its bank. Similar changes have happened in the short period since the establishments of the first settlements on the Missouri. The site of St. Anthony, a town which existed about thirteen years since, near Bon Homme, is now occupied by the channel of the river. Opposite Franklin is Boonsville, containing, at the time of our visit, eight houses, but having, in some respects, a more advantageous situation, and probably destined to rival, if not surpass, its neighbour.[116]

Numerous brine springs are found in the country about Franklin. Boon's Lick, four miles distant, was the earliest settlement in this vicinity, and for some time gave name to the surrounding country. Some furnaces have been erected, and salt is manufactured, in sufficient quantities to supply the neighbouring settlements. Compact limestone appears to be the prevailing rock, but it is well known that the coal-beds, and strata of sand-stone, occur at a little distance from the river.[117] We visited one establishment for the manufacture of salt. The brine is taken from a spring at the surface of the earth, and is not remarkably concentrated, yielding only one bushel of salt to each four hundred and fifty gallons. Eighty bushels are manufactured daily, and require three cords of wood for the evaporation of the water. The furnace consists of a chimney-like funnel, rising obliquely along the side of a hill, {84} instead of the vertical and horizontal flues, commonly used in these manufactories. The fire being kindled in the lower orifice of this, the ascent of the air drives the flame against forty or fifty iron pots, inserted in a double series; to these the water is conveyed by small pipes. The banks of the ravine in which this spring rises, still retain the traces of those numerous herds of bisons, elk, and other herbivorous animals, which formerly resorted here for their favourite condiment.

While at Franklin, the gentlemen of the exploring party received many gratifying attentions, particularly from Gen. T. A. Smith, at whose house they were often hospitably received, and where they all dined by invitation on the 17th of July.[118] Here we met several intelligent inhabitants of the village, and of the surrounding country, from whose conversation we were able to collect much information of the character of the country, and the present condition of the settlements.

Mr. Munroe, a resident of Franklin, related to us, that being on a hunting excursion, in the year 1816, he remained some time on a branch of the Le Mine river, where he found the relics of the encampment of a large party of men, but whether of white troops, or Indian warriors, he could not determine. Not far from this encampment, he observed a recent mound of earth, about eight feet in height, which he was induced to believe must be a cachè, or place of deposit, for the spoils which the party, occupying the encampment, had taken from an enemy, and which they could not remove with them on their departure. He accordingly opened the mound, and was surprised to find in it the body of a white officer, apparently a man of rank, and which had been interred with extraordinary care.

The body was placed in a sitting posture, upon an Indian rush mat, with its back resting against some logs placed around it in the manner of a log house, enclosing {85} a space of about three by five feet, and about four feet high, covered at top with a mat similar to that beneath. The clothing was still in sufficient preservation to enable him to distinguish a red coat, trimmed with gold lace, golden epaulets, a spotted buff waistcoat, finished also with gold lace, and pantaloons of white nankeen. On the head was a round beaver hat, and a bamboo walking stick, with the initials J. M. C. engraved upon a golden head, reclined against the arm, but was somewhat decayed where it came in contact with the muscular part of the leg. On raising the hat, it was found that the deceased had been hastily scalped.

To what nation this officer belonged, Mr. Munroe could not determine. He observed, however, that the button taken from the shoulder, had the word Philadelphia moulded upon it. The cane still remains in the possession of the narrator, but the button was taken by another of his party.

In relation to this story, Gen. Smith observed, that when he commanded the United States' troops in this department, he was informed of an action that had taken place near the Le Mine, in the Autumn of 1815, between some Spanish dragoons, aided by a few Pawnee Indians, and a war party of Sauks and Foxes. In the course of this action, a Spanish officer had pursued an Indian boy, who was endeavouring to escape with a musket on his shoulder, but who finding himself nearly overtaken, had discharged the musket behind him at random, and had killed the officer on the spot. The skirmish continuing, the body was captured, and recaptured several times, but at last remained with the Spanish party. This may possibly have been the body discovered by Mr. Munroe, but by whom it was buried, in a manner so singular, is unknown.

About the middle of July, the summer freshets in the Missouri began to subside at Franklin. On the {86} 17th the water fell twelve inches, though in the preceding week more than two inches of rain had fallen. We were informed that the floods had continued longer this year, and had risen higher than usual, owing to the unusual quantities of rain that had fallen.

FOOTNOTES:

[103] Of Gasconade in 1823 it is said, "very few buildings are
as yet erected, and it is very doubtful whether its increase
will be as rapid as was anticipated." It was the first seat of
Gasconade County, but was supplanted by Hermann. At present its
population numbers less than one hundred.