Chapter III: {xi}48 (3)

The section of country under consideration exhibits a great variety of aspect, the surface being diversified by mountains, hills, valleys, and occasional tracts of rolling country; within the section, is an extensive tract of bottom land deserving of a particular consideration. It is situated on the Mississippi, commencing a few miles below the Ohio, and extending downward to Red river, uninterrupted by hills or high lands, and subject in many places to inundation from the freshets of the Mississippi. The bottoms contain many large swamps, rendered almost {213} impenetrable by a dense growth of cypress and cypress-knees (the latter of which are conical excrescences springing from the roots of the cypress, and shooting up in profusion to the height of from one to eight or ten feet). The most extensive of these swamps commences near the head of the bottom, and passes south-westwardly back of New Madrid, the Little Prairie, St. Francisville, &c., and terminates near the village of the Port of Arkansa. The Great Swamp, the name by which this extensive morass is designated, is about two hundred miles in length, and is of a variable width, from five to twenty or thirty miles. The timber-growth of this and of the other swamps, which are of a similar character, but inferior in magnitude, consist principally of cypress of a superior quality. But the difficulty of removing it renders it of little value to the country. Within the bottom are also numerous lakes, lagoons, and marshes, once, no doubt, parts of the bed of the Mississippi, or of some of its tributaries that have their courses through the bottom. Notwithstanding the general depression of this bottom, it contains many insulated tracts of considerable extent, elevated above the range of the highest floods. The bottom, almost throughout its whole extent, supports a dense and heavy growth of timber, of an excellent quality, together with a luxuriant undergrowth of cane brake, vines, &c.

It may not be improper to remark in this place, that great havoc is annually made amongst the timber of this tract, by lumber and fuel mongers, who furnish the New Orleans market with large supplies of these articles, particularly of the former.

The bottom is bounded on the west by a chain of heights, corresponding to the river bluffs on other parts of the Mississippi, but not arranged in so regular a manner. These are the commencement of a part of the hilly country hereafter to be considered. The most considerable rivers that flow through the bottoms, and pour their tribute into the Mississippi, {214} are the St. Francis, the Big Black and White rivers, which are confluent, the Washita and Red river.

There are also a few other bottoms on the west side of the Mississippi of moderate size. The largest of these are Tywapata and Bois Broulè, situated a little above the mouth of the Ohio.

The hilly and mountainous country commences immediately west of the Mississippi bottoms, and extends westwardly about four hundred miles. Although the terms _hilly_ and _mountainous_ are expressive of the general character of the country, yet the following portions of this section may be enumerated as exceptions, viz. a tract of country comprehending St. Louis, Belle Fontain, Florissant, and extending south-westwardly so as to include the lead mine tract, Belle View, &c. This tract (which embraces the most populous part of the Missouri territory) may be denominated rolling, or moderately hilly. Considerable portions of the country situated between the Arkansa and Red rivers, particularly in the vicinity of the latter, are also of this character. On the Arkansa, above Belle Point, is an extensive tract of a similar description; as also many tracts of inferior size, on the north side of the Arkansa, between the villages of the Port and the Cadron settlements. On the south side of the Missouri is also an extensive tract of rolling country, commencing at the river Le Mine, six miles above Franklin, and extending upward along the Missouri, with occasional interruptions, to the Council Bluff. Such is the extent of this tract, that it comprises almost the whole of the country situated between the assumed meridian line and the Missouri, from Fort Osage upward. On the head waters of the Osage river, and on those of its principal tributaries, the country is said to be of a similar character also. To these may be added large portions of country situated on the Verdigrise river, upon the Arkansa, above Grand river, and upon the {215} Canadian, from its mouth upwards to the distance of about two hundred miles. The tracts here designated, exhibit broad and elevated swells of land, separated from each other by deep and spacious valleys.

These portions of country are chequered with woodlands and prairies, in many instances alternating with each other in due proportion, for the accommodation of settlers with farming and woodlands. On the Missouri above Fort Osage, and on the Osage river, however, the proportion of woodland is very inconsiderable, and the timber it affords of a scrubby character. The prairies here, as on the north of the Missouri, occupy at least nineteen-twentieths of the whole surface. Some portions of the Red river country are also deficient in the quantum of woodlands allotted to them; but in general it may be observed, that the more southerly regions are better supplied with timber than those farther north. The growth of the woodlands interspersed amongst the prairies is mostly post oak, hickory, black jack, and white oak upon the high lands; and cotton-wood, sycamore, black and white walnut, maple, bur oak, and several other trees common to the western bottoms, in the valleys. The bow wood, or, as it is sometimes called, the Osage orange, is found upon the southerly tributaries of the Arkansa, and upon the Red river and its tributaries. This tree is deserving of particular notice, inasmuch as it affords a timber extremely compact and elastic; its trunk and roots may prove very useful in dying yellow, and its fruit of importance in medicine.

The residue of this section, with the exception of the river bottoms, and tracts of valley land scattered in various directions throughout the whole, is extremely hilly, broken, and mountainous, the hills and mountains rising from five to fifteen hundred feet above the water-table of the country in which they are situated. They are exceedingly numerous, and are divided into a multiplicity of knobs and peaks, {216} having rounded summits, and presenting perpendicular cliffs and abrupt precipices of sandstone. Their surfaces generally are covered with rocks of this description, or flinty fragments strewed in profusion upon them. The growth upon them is, almost exclusively, pitch pine, cedar, scrubby oaks, hickory, haw and bramble; the poverty of the soil in some instances, and the scarcity of it in others, excluding the more luxuriant vegetable productions common to the more level country in their vicinity.

The range of mountains situated between the Arkansa and Red rivers gives rise to the following streams, all of which are sufficiently copious for mill-seats, and abound in cascades and falls, well adapted to such purposes; viz. the Blue Water, Kiamesha and Little rivers; the Mountain, Rolling, Cossetot and Saline forks of Little river, all of which are tributary to Red river; the Little Missouri, Cadeau, Washita, and the Saline, all confluent; the Mamelle, Le Fevre, Petit Jean and Poteau, tributary to the Arkansa, besides numerous creeks of less note.

The hills and mountains between the Arkansa and Missouri are equally prolific in watercourses. The most considerable of these are the Verdigrise, Neosho or Grand river, Illinois; together with the Frogs, Mulberry, White Oak, Spadra, Pine, Illinois, Point Remove and Cadron creeks, tributary to the Arkansa; the Little Red and White rivers, confluent streams; the Strawberry, Spring, Eleven Point, Currant, Little and Big Black, all confluent, and tributary to White river, which enters the Mississippi about thirty miles above the mouth of the Arkansa. The St. Francis and the Merameg have their sources in this broken region also, and discharge themselves into the Mississippi. Of the valleys of the rivers last enumerated, viz. those north of the Arkansa and tributary to the Mississippi, it is observable that they are uniformly possessed of a rich soil, but owing to the excessive floods occasionally brought down through them from {217} the hills and mountains, their cultivation is very precarious. The valley of White river, and those of some few others, are in many places elevated above the reach of the highest freshets, and are not altogether subject to this inconvenience. But for the most part they are liable to being swept by overwhelming freshets, which prostrate fences, buildings, and every artificial structure that opposes their march. Even a fall freshet has been known to inundate plantations situated within the valleys, to the depth of eight or ten feet. These floods are generally very sudden, as well as excessive, to such a degree, that on some occasions the water has risen, in the course of one night, more than twenty feet. By these sudden rises of the water, the planter that in the evening thought his family and possessions secure from harm, has been compelled the next morning to embark with his family in a canoe, to save themselves from impending destruction, while his habitation, fields, cattle, and all his effects, are abandoned to the fury of the torrent.

The streams rising in the same hilly country, and tributary to the Missouri, are the following, viz. the Bon Homme creek, the Gasconade, the Osage and its tributaries, the Le Mine, the Blue Water, and several streams tributary to the Konzas river. Upon some of these, as the Bon Homme, Gasconade, and some few creeks besides, mills have been constructed, at which much of the timber of the St. Louis market is sawed.

This section, as yet, is but very partially populated, although the inhabitants in some portions of it are considerably numerous. The most populous part of the section is the country situated immediately below the mouth of the Missouri, including the town of St. Louis and the villages of Florissant and Carondelet, Herculaneum, St. Genevieve, Bainbridge, Cape Girardeau, Jackson, St. Michael's, and the country in their vicinity; the lead mine tract, including Mima {218} Berton, Potosi, and Belle View, are considerably populous. The settlements in these places, however, if we except the sites occupied by the towns and villages just enumerated, are still very scattering, and but a small proportion of the land susceptible of agriculture is yet under cultivation. Besides these, there are numerous other settlements and several small villages within this part of the Missouri territory, distributed in various directions, and constituting but a very scanty population. They are scattered along the Missouri from its mouth to Fort Osage, a distance of more than three hundred miles, on the Gasconade, Merameg, St. Francis, Big Black, and several of its tributaries.

Within the Arkansa territory, there are but few villages, and the settlements are as yet very scattering. The principal villages are the Port of Arkansa, situated about sixty miles above the mouth of the river; Davidsonville, on Big Black river; a small village at the commencement of the high lands on the Arkansa, at a place called the Little Rock, about two hundred miles from the mouth of the river, selected as the seat of government for the territory. Besides these, there are a few other inconsiderable villages on the Arkansa river, as also several of small size, situated in the country between the river just mentioned and the Red river, the most considerable of which are at Pecan Point, Mount Prairie, Prairie de Inde, &c. These villages contain but very few houses, and those generally of a rude structure, a circumstance attributable only to the infancy of the territory. The settlements of the territory are scattered along the Arkansa, from the White river cut off (a channel uniting these two rivers at the distance of thirty miles above the mouth of the former, and three miles above that of the latter) to Belle Point, a distance of about four hundred miles. On Little Red, White, and Strawberry rivers, are many scattering settlements, as also on the Washita, Cadeau, Little Missouri, {219} and the several forks of Little river. The settlements upon Red river extend upward to the Kiamesha, a distance of about nine hundred miles from its mouth, following the meanders of the river.

The settlements of the section under consideration are most numerous in those parts represented, in the foregoing description, as being variegated with prairies and woodlands alternating with each other. In the valley of the Arkansa, however, which is generally clad in rich forests and luxuriant cane brakes, prairies are seldom to be met with, and settlers have had recourse to clearing the land necessary for their plantations.

In addition to the white settlements above pointed out, there are numerous villages and settlements of the Cherokee Indians extending along the Arkansa, from the mouth of Point Remove creek upward to Mulberry river, a distance of about one hundred miles. These settlements, in respect to the comforts and conveniences of life they afford, appear to vie with, and in many instances even surpass, those of the Americans in that part of the country.

There are a few villages of the Quapaws or Arkansas, and Choctaws, situated on the south side of the Arkansa river, below the high lands. They are not numerous, subsist principally upon game and Indian corn of their own raising, and have ever been friendly to the whites. Upon the river St. Francis are a few settlements of the Delawares and Shawnees, dispersed remnants of those unfortunate nations. The several bands of the Osage nation resident upon the Verdigrise, and upon the head waters of Osage river, also the Konzas Indians living upon the river bearing their name, are included within this section of the country.

In regard to climate, this region, as it expands through more than eight degrees of latitude, may be expected to afford a considerable variety; and the position is sufficiently verified by the commencement {220} and progress of annual vegetation. The change of climate is also indicated by certain peculiarities observable in the vegetable products of different parts of the country. For example, vegetation begins at least a month earlier in the southern than in the northern extreme of the region. The Spanish moss disappears northwardly of the 33d degree of north latitude; cotton and indigo cannot be cultivated to advantage in a latitude higher than 36 or 37 degrees; and the cane brake is seldom found north of 37½ degrees.

In regard to the salubrity of the climate, there is also a diversity, depending upon local circumstances rather than upon the temperature of the weather. A luxuriant soil yielding its products to decay and putrefy upon the ground, also stagnant waters, flat lands and marshes in which the river valleys of this region abound, cannot fail to load the atmosphere with pestilential miasmata, and render the country unhealthy, wherever these occurrences are to be met with. But it is presumed that the causes of disease will gradually be exterminated as the population of the country increases.

Of the rivers of this region there are many that are navigable for keel-boats of several tons burden, but all of them have more or less obstructions from shoals and frosts at different periods. The Arkansa, which, in point of magnitude and extent, deservedly ranks second amongst the tributaries of the Mississippi (the Missouri being the first), is navigable to the mouth of the Neosho, or Grand river, a distance of about six hundred miles. In this part of the river, however, the navigation is liable to obstructions, for want of a sufficient depth of water, during a period of two and a half or three months, commencing in July. Occasional obstructions are also imposed by ice forming in the river during the winter season, but these are seldom of long continuance, the winters being usually short and mild. As the freshets {221} of the river seldom prevail more than a few days at a time, and are usually attended by sudden rises and falls of the water, boats of moderate draft and burden only are suited to its navigation. The Arkansa is navigable at all seasons for boats of this description about two hundred miles, which comprehends the distance by the meanders of the river from the Mississippi to the commencement of the high lands. Above the mouth of the Neosho it spreads to a much greater width than below, and the water is more extensively diffused over its bed, which renders the shoals more numerous and the navigation more precarious. This part of the Arkansa cannot indeed be considered navigable, even for pirogues of a large size, except during the short period of a freshet, which is seldom long enough to complete a voyage of one hundred miles ascending and descending.

The Red river is navigable, during most of the year, to the Great Raft, about five hundred miles from its mouth. At this place its navigation is effectually obstructed, except in a high stage of water, when keel-boats of ten or fifteen tons burden may pass around it and ascend several hundred miles above. That part of the river situated above the Raft, however, like the upper part of the Arkansa, is rendered impassable for boats of burden, by shoals and sand-bars.

The Washita, tributary to Red river, is navigable many miles. That part of it particularly situated within the valley of the Mississippi, and denominated Black river, admits of constant navigation for boats of considerable burden. The Little river, which is also tributary to Red river, together with its forks, heretofore enumerated, is navigable in high water. White river is navigable in a moderate stage of water between three and four hundred miles. Also the Big Black, its principal tributary, and several branches of the river last mentioned, viz. the Strawberry, Currant, {222} Eleven Point, and Spring rivers. The navigation of the St. Francis is blocked up near its mouth, and rendered impassable for boats of every description, by rafts of logs and drift-wood, completely choking the channel of the river, and in many places occupying the whole of its bed for the distance of several miles together. The Merameg is also navigable in a moderate stage of water for many miles.

The Gasconade, Osage, and Konzas rivers are navigable in the spring season, but their navigation seldom extends far inland from their mouths, being obstructed by shoals or rapids.

Of the rivers tributary to the Missouri, it is remarkable that their mouths are generally blocked up with mud, consequent to the subsidence of the summer freshet of that river, which usually takes place in the month of July. The reason is obvious; the freshets of the more southerly tributaries are discharged early in the season, and wash from their mouths the sand and mud previously deposited therein, leaving them free from obstructions. These freshets having subsided, the more northerly branches discharge their floods, formed by the melting of the snow at a later period. The Missouri being swollen thereby, backs its waters, charged with mud, considerable distances up the mouths of the tributaries before alluded to. The water here becoming stagnant, deposits its mud; and the tributaries, having no more freshets to expel it, remain with their mouths thus obstructed till the ensuing spring.

The lower part of the Canadian river, although it is included within the section under consideration, will be described in the sequel of the report, in connexion with the rest of that river.

Of the animals found in the several sections of country above described, there are a great variety in almost every department of zoology. But as most of them are common in other parts of the United States, they need not to be enumerated here.

{223} _Of the country situated between the meridian of the Council Bluff and the Rocky Mountains_

We next proceed to a description of the country westward of the assumed meridian, and extending to the Rocky Mountains, which are its western boundary. This section embraces an extent of about four hundred miles square, lying between 96 and 105 degrees of west longitude, and between 35 and 42 degrees of north latitude.

Proceeding westwardly across the meridian above specified, the hilly country gradually subsides, giving place to a region of vast extent, spreading towards the north and south, and presenting an undulating surface, with nothing to limit the view or variegate the prospect, but here and there a hill, knob, or insulated tract of table-land. At length the Rocky Mountains break upon the view, towering abruptly from the plains, and mingling their snow-capped summits with the clouds.

On approaching the mountains, no other change is observable in the general aspect of the country, except that the isolated knobs and table-lands above alluded to become more frequent and more distinctly marked, the bluffs by which the valleys of watercourses are bounded present a greater abundance of rocks, stones lie in greater profusion upon the surface, and the soil becomes more sandy and sterile. If, to the characteristics above intimated, we add that of an almost complete destitution of woodland (for not more than one thousandth part of the section can be said to possess a timber-growth) we shall have a pretty correct idea of the general aspect of the whole country.

The insulated tracts herein alluded to as table-lands, are scattered throughout the section, and give to the country a very remarkable appearance. They rise from six to eight hundred feet above the common {224} level, and are surrounded in many instances by rugged slopes and perpendicular precipices, rendering their summits almost inaccessible. Many of them are in this manner completely insulated, while others are connected with the plains below by gentle acclivities, leading from their basis to their summits, upon one side or other of each eminence. These tracts, as before intimated, are more numerous, but less extensive in the vicinity of the Rocky Mountains than they are farther eastward; and in the former situations, they are more strikingly characterized by the marks above specified than in the latter.

The geological formations that present themselves along the declivities of those heights are principally horizontal strata of secondary sandstones, and breccia or puddingstone, alternating with each other. Clinkstone prevails upon the surface of them in many places, but in general the superior strata are rocks of the description just before mentioned. These tracts are denominated tabular, not from any flatness of surface by which they are characterized, but from their appearance at a distant view, and from the horizontal disposition of the stratifications imbedded in them. Their surfaces are usually waving, and in some instances rise into knobs and ridges of several hundred feet high; many of them are clad in a scanty growth of pitch pine, red cedar, scrubby oaks, &c., while others exhibit a bald or prairie surface.

By far the greater proportion of this section of country is characterized by a rolling and plain surface, which may be alleged not only of the space included within the limits above assigned, but of extensive portions of country north and south of it. Although the elevated table-lands, a description of which has just been given, are situated within this region, they occupy but a small proportion of it. In addition to these inequalities in the surface of the country, there are numerous mounds or knobs of different magnitude, and occasionally swells of greater {225} or less extent, which contribute to give a pleasing variety to the prospect. The country is also divided into extensive parterres by the valleys of rivers and creeks, which are usually sunk 150 or 200 feet below the common level, and bounded in some places by perpendicular precipices, and in others by bluffs, or banks of gentle slopes.

Immediately at the base of the mountains, and also at those of some of the insular table-lands, are situated many remarkable ridges, rising in the form of parapets, to the height of between fifty and one hundred and fifty feet. These appear to have been attached to the neighbouring heights, of which they once constituted a part, but have, at some remote period, been cleft asunder from them by some extraordinary convulsion of nature, which has prostrated them in their present condition.

The rocky stratifications, of which these ridges are principally composed, and which are exactly similar to those of the insulated table-lands, are variously inclined, having various dips, from forty-five to eighty degrees.

Throughout this section of country the surface is occasionally characterized by water-worn pebbles, and gravel of granite, gneiss, and quartz, but the predominant characteristic is sand, which in many instances prevails almost to the entire exclusion of vegetable mould. Large tracts are often to be met with, exhibiting scarcely a trace of vegetation. The whole region, as before hinted, is almost entirely destitute of a timber-growth of any description. In some few instances, however, sandy knobs and ridges make their appearance, thickly covered with red cedars of a dwarfish growth. There are also some few tracts clad in a growth of pitch pine and scrubby oaks; but, in general, nothing of vegetation appears upon the uplands but withered grass of a stinted growth, no more than two or three inches high, prickly pears profusely covering extensive {226} tracts, and weeds of a few varieties, which, like the prickly pear, seem to thrive best in the most arid and sterile soil.

In the vicinity of the Rocky Mountains, southwardly of the Arkansa river, the surface of the country, in many places, is profusely covered with loose fragments of volcanic rocks. On some occasions, stones of this description are so numerous as almost to exclude vegetation. A multiplicity of ridges and knobs of various sizes, containing rocks of this character, also make their appearance. All these formations seem to be superincumbent upon horizontal strata of secondary sandstone. But the volcanoes whence they originated have left no vestiges by which their exact locality can be determined. In all probability, they were extinguished previously to the recession of the waters that once inundated the vast region between the Alleghany and Rocky Mountains.

Of the rivers that have their courses through this section, those of most note are the Platte, the Konzas and its forks, the Arkansa, and the Canadian tributary to the Arkansa. The Platte rises in the Rocky Mountains, and after an easterly course of about eight hundred miles, falls into the Missouri, at the distance of about seven hundred miles from the Mississippi. It derives its name from the circumstance of its being broad and shoal; its average width being about twelve hundred yards, exclusive of the islands it embosoms; and its depth, in a moderate stage of water, so inconsiderable, that the river is fordable in almost every place. The main Platte is formed of two confluent tributaries of nearly equal size, called the North and South forks, both of which have their sources considerably within the range of the Rocky Mountains. They unite about four hundred miles westward from the mouth of the Platte, having meandered about the same distance eastwardly from the mountains. Besides these, {227} the Platte has two considerable tributaries, the one called the Elk Horn, entering a few miles above its mouth, and the other the Loup Fork, entering about ninety miles above the same place. The valleys of the Platte and its several tributaries are extremely broad, and in many places considerably fertile. They gradually become less fertile on ascending from the mouths of the rivers on which they are situated, till at length they exhibit an arid and sterile appearance. The alluvion of which the bottoms are composed contains a large proportion of sand, which, added to the nitrous and saline matter blended with it, occasions frequent appearances of complete barrenness. Magnesia also appears to be a component part of the soil, a quality invariably derogatory to the fertility of any soil. The valley of the Platte, from its mouths to its constituent forks, spreads to the width of ten or twelve miles, and forms a most beautiful expanse of level country. It is bounded on both sides by high lands, elevated twenty-five or thirty feet above the valley, and connected therewith by gentle slopes.

The river in several places expands to the width of many miles, embosoming numerous islands, some of which are broad and considerably extensive, and all of them covered with a growth of cotton-wood and willows. These are the only woodlands that make their appearance along the river, and in travelling westward these become less numerous and extensive, till at length they entirely disappear. Copses and skirts of woodland again present themselves in the neighbourhood of the mountains, but they are of small magnitude, and the trees they furnish are of a dwarfish growth. For a distance of nearly two hundred miles, commencing at the confluence of the North and South forks, and extending westwardly towards the mountains, the country is almost entirely destitute of woodland, scarcely a tree, bush, or even a shrub, making its appearance.

{228} The Platte is seldom navigable, except for skin canoes, requiring but a moderate depth of water, and for these only when a freshet prevails in the river. No attempts have ever been made to ascend the river in canoes for any great distance; the prevalence of shoals, and the rapidity of the current, discouraging such an undertaking. The bed of the Platte is seldom depressed more than six or eight feet below the surface of the bottoms, and in many places even less; and spreads to such a width, that the highest freshets pass off without inundating the bottoms, except in their lowest parts; the rise of the water, on such occasions, being no more than five or six feet.

In order to account in some measure for the diversity of soil observable in the vallies of most of our western rivers, it may not be improper in this place to assign one of the principal causes that operate in producing this effect. The alluvial deposits of which the river bottoms are formed, consist of particles of mud and sand, more or less minute. The coarser and more ponderous particles are of course soonest deposited, while the finer are transported by the current to a greater distance, and deposited near the mouths of the rivers. Thus it happens, that the bottoms situated nearest to the sources of the western rivers, are sandy, and contain but a small proportion of vegetable mould, while those nearer their mouths are generally furnished with a rich and fertile loam.

The Konzas, or Konzays, as it is pronounced by the Indians, is made up of two considerable streams, heading in the plains between the Platte and Arkansa rivers, called the Republican and Smoky-hill forks; tributary to the former of these, are the Solomon's and Salim forks, of less magnitude, rising also in the same plains. The Konzas is navigable only in high freshets for boats of burden, and on such occasions not more than one hundred and fifty or two hundred miles, the navigation being obstructed by shoals. {229} The character of this river and its several branches is similar to that of the Platte and its tributaries. Woodlands are seldom to be met with, except in narrow skirts and small copses along the watercourses. Much of the country situated upon its forks is said to be possessed of a good soil, but is rendered uninhabitable for want of timber and water. The bottoms are possessed of a light sandy soil, and the uplands are in many places characterized by aridity and barrenness. The surface for the most part is rolling, but in some instances inclines to hilly.

That portion of the Arkansa included within the section under consideration has a bed or channel varying in width from four hundred yards to more than a mile, exclusively of islands. In the neighbourhood of the mountains, its width does not exceed fifty or sixty yards, gradually growing wider in its progress downward. Its valley, for a distance of more than one hundred miles from the place where it issues from the mountains, contains a considerable timber-growth, principally of cotton-wood, in skirts bordering upon the river, which occasionally embosoms islands clad in the same kind of growth. Every appearance of timber, however, is lost on a further progress eastward, and nothing is presented to variegate or adorn the prospect inland, but a broad expanse of waving prairies.

Proceeding eastward along the river, its valley gradually widens, and the bluffs or banks by which it is bounded become less elevated and abrupt. The bottoms rise but a few feet above the water-level of the river, but the freshets, having a broad bed like that of the Platte to expand upon, seldom rise so high as to inundate the bottoms. This part of the Arkansa, as before hinted, cannot be considered as navigable, except for boats of light burden during the prevalence of a freshet. In a very low stage, the river is said to disappear in many places, the {230} whole of its water passing off through the immense body of sand of which its bed is composed.

The Arkansa, having a direction nearly east and west, has no great variety of climate to traverse in its course from the mountains to the Mississippi; consequently there is no succession of thaws taking place upon the river, calculated to maintain a freshet for any considerable length of time. The freshets are occasioned by a simultaneous melting of the snow throughout the whole extent of the river, and by showers of rain, which, falling upon a rolling surface, is quickly drained off, and causes sudden, but seldom excessive rises in the river. I have witnessed, in the Arkansa, no less than three considerable rises and falls of the water in the course of two weeks.

The most considerable streams tributary to this part of the Arkansa are the Negracka or Red Fork, and the Newsewketongu, or Grand Saline, on the south, and the Little Arkansa and Stinking Fork on the north side. The Negracka rises within fifty or sixty miles of the mountains, and after meandering eastwardly between four and five hundred miles, unites with the Arkansa at the distance of about nine hundred miles from the mouth of the latter. The Newsewketongu has its source in the plains between the Arkansa and Canadian rivers, and unites with the former about one hundred and fifty miles below the Negracka. The head waters of the Little Arkansa interlock with those of the Smoky-hill Fork of the Konzas, and are discharged into the Arkansa, about fifteen hundred miles above its mouth. The Stinking Fork rises amongst the head-waters of the Neosho, and enters the Arkansa about eight hundred miles from its mouth. Besides these, there are many other streams of smaller size entering on both sides of the river.

The Canadian rises at the base of the Rocky Mountains, and after a meandering course of about {231} one thousand miles, enters the Arkansa at the distance of about five hundred and fifty miles from the mouth of the latter. This river has generally been represented, upon the maps of the country, as having a north-easterly course; whereas its source is nearly in the same latitude as its confluence with the Arkansa, consequently its general course is nearly east. In its course, it forms an extensive curve to the southward, leaving a broad space between it and the Arkansa, in which several streams, many hundred miles in length, tributary to both of these rivers, have their origin and course.

This river has a broad valley, bounded by bluffs from two to five hundred feet high, faced with rocky precipices near its source, and presenting abrupt declivities, intersected by numerous ravines lower down. It has a spacious bed, depressed but a few feet below the bottoms, and exhibiting one continued stratum of sand through the greater part of its length. It is the channel through which the water of a vast extent of country is carried off, yet, during most of the summer season, it is entirely destitute of running water throughout a large proportion of its extent, a circumstance in proof of the aridity of region drained by it. Fifty miles above its mouth, it receives at least two-thirds of its water from its principal tributary, denominated the North Fork. This fork rises between the Arkansa and Canadian, and has a meandering course of about seven hundred miles. Six miles above the fork just mentioned, another tributary enters the Canadian called the South Fork, about half as large as the other. Notwithstanding the supplies afforded by these two tributaries, the Canadian has not a sufficiency of water in summer to render it navigable even to their mouths. At the distance of twenty miles above its mouth, a chain of rocks (slaty sandstone) extends across the bed of the river, but occasions no considerable fall. A little above the entrance of the South Fork, is another of the same {232} description, forming rapids of moderate descent, not more than four hundred yards in length. With these exceptions, the bed of the river presents no rocky formations in place, for more than four hundred miles from its confluence with the Arkansa. About three hundred and fifty miles from that point, beds of gypsum, or plaster of Paris, begin to make their appearance in the bluffs fronting upon the river, and upon the declivities of the highland knobs. A great abundance of this article is to be met with, not only upon the Canadian, but also upon the upper part of the Arkansa. The hills, in which it is imbedded, are composed of ferruginous clay and fine sand of a deep red complexion. Hence the Arkansa derives the colouring matter that gives to its waters their reddish hue.

The bottoms of the Canadian, in the neighbourhood of its mouth, are possessed of a soil exceedingly prolific; but, like those of the other rivers of this region, the more remote their situation from the mouth of the river, the more sandy and sterile is their appearance. Its valley is plentifully supplied with timber of an excellent quality, for a distance of about two hundred miles on the lower part of the river; and the high lands, for nearly the same distance, are agreeably diversified with prairies and woodlands. This portion of the river is situated eastward of the assumed meridian, and the country upon it has already been partially described in a former part of this report.

The woodland growth, upon the lower part of the Canadian, consists of cotton-wood, sycamore, white, blue, and black ash, swamp cedar, red elm, coffee tree, yellow wood, sugar tree, box elder, white and black walnut, wild cherry, mulberry, &c. in the river valley; and hickory, white and post oak, black jack, black oak, &c. upon the adjacent uplands. On a progress westward, the most valuable of the timber trees above enumerated disappear, till at length occasional groves of cotton-wood, mingled with mulberry, {233} red elm, and stunted shrubbery of various kinds, constitute the only woodlands of the country. On this occasion, it may be observed, that the cane or reed, the pea-vine, pawpaw, spice-wood, hop-vine, and several other varieties of shrubs and vines common only to rich soils, are no where to be found within this section, or westward of the proposed meridian.

The country of the Canadian above that last considered, or that portion of it west of the assumed meridian, appears to be possessed of a soil somewhat richer than the more northerly parts of the section, but exhibits no indications of extraordinary fecundity in any part of it. Proceeding westward, a very gradual change is observable in the apparent fertility of the soil, the surface becoming more sandy and sterile, and the vegetation less vigorous and luxuriant. The bottoms appear to be composed, in many places, almost exclusively of loose sand, exhibiting but few signs of vegetation. Knobs and drifts of sand, driven from the bed of the river by the violence of the wind, are piled in profusion along the margin of the river throughout the greater part of its length. It is remarkable, that these drifts are in many instances covered with grape vines of a scrubby appearance, bearing fruit in the greatest abundance and perfection. The vines grow to various heights, from eighteen inches to four feet, unaccompanied, in some instances, by any other vegetable, and bear a grape of a dark purple or black colour, of a delicious flavour, and of the size of a large pea or common gooseberry.

The waters of this section, almost in every part of it, appear to hold in solution a greater or less proportion of common salt and sulphate of magnesia, which, in many instances, render them too brackish or bitter for use. Saline and nitrous efflorescences frequently occur upon the surface, in various parts of the country, and incrustations of salt, of considerable {234} thickness, are to be found in some few places south of the Arkansa river. As to the existence of rock salt in a mineral state some doubts are to be entertained, if the decision is to rest upon the character of the specimens exhibited as proofs of the fact. The several examples of this formation that we have witnessed, are evidently crystalline salt deposited by a regular process of evaporation and crystallization, and formed into concrete masses or crusts upon the surface of the ground.

Indications of coal are occasionally to be seen, but this mineral does not probably occur in large quantities. The geological character of this section is not such as to encourage the search for valuable minerals. A deep crust of secondary sandstone, occasionally alternating with breccia, with here and there a superstratum of rocks of a primitive type, are the principal formations that present themselves.

Of the animals of this region, the buffaloe or bison ranks first in importance, inasmuch as it supplies multitudes of savages not only with the principal part of their necessary food, but also contributes to furnish them with warm clothing. The flesh of this animal is equal, if not superior, to beef, and affords not only a savoury but a wholesome diet. A large proportion of this section, commencing at the assumed meridian, and extending westward to within one hundred miles of the Rocky Mountains, constitutes a part only of their pasture ground, over which they roam in numbers to an incredible amount. Their range extends northwardly and southwardly of the section, as far as we have any particular account of the country. The animal next in importance is the wild horse, a descendant, no doubt, of the Spanish breed of horses, to which its size, form and variety of colours, show that it is nearly allied. In regard to their contour, symmetry, &c. they afford all the varieties common to that breed of horses. They are {235} considerably numerous in some parts of the country, but not abundant. They are generally collected in gangs, but are sometimes solitary.

Grizzly or white bears are frequently to be seen in the vicinity of the mountains. They are much larger than the common bear, endowed with great strength, and are said to be exceedingly ferocious. The black or common bears are numerous in some parts of the country, but none of these animals are found remote from woodlands, upon the products of which they in a great measure depend for their subsistence.

The common deer are to be met with in every part of this section, but are most numerous in the vicinity of woodlands. The black-tailed or mule deer is found only in the neighbourhood of the mountains; hilly and broken lands seem to afford them their favourite pasture ground. The elk is also an inhabitant of this section, but is not to be found remote from woodlands. The cabric wild goat, or, as it is more frequently called, the antelope, is common. They are numerous, and with the buffaloe are the common occupants of the plains, from which they retire only in quest of water.

Wolves are exceedingly numerous, particularly within the immediate range of the buffaloe. Of these there are many varieties, distinguishable by their shape, size and colour.

The marmot, commonly called the prairie dog, is more abundant throughout this section than any other quadruped. They live in villages scattered in every direction, and thickly inhabited; a single village in some instances occupying a tract of ground three or four miles in extent. Their habitations are burrows three or four inches in diameter, situated at the distance of fifteen or twenty paces asunder. Their habits and manners in other respects are peculiarly interesting. They subsist on vegetables; their {236} flesh is similar to that of the ground hog, and their hair equally as coarse.

The beaver, otter, mink, and muskrat, are numerous upon the rivers, creeks, and rivulets issuing from the mountains, and generally upon those whose valleys are supplied with woodland.

Badgers, raccoons, hares, polecats, porcupines, many varieties of squirrels, panthers, wild cats, lynxes and foxes of several species, are also inhabitants of this section. Besides these, the country affords a great variety and abundance of reptiles and insects, both venomous and harmless.

Of the feathered tribes, no very considerable variety is observable. The turtle-dove, the jay, the barn swallow, the quail (partridge of the Middle States), the owl, whip-poor-will, and lark, which seem more widely distributed over the territory of the United States than any other birds, are found here. Several varieties of the hawk, containing some new species, the bald and gray eagle, the buzzard, raven, crow, jackdaw, magpie, turkey, two or three varieties of the grouse, pheasant, pigeon, many varieties of the sparrow and fly-catcher, the whooping or sandhill crane, curlew, sandpiper, together with a variety of other land and water fowls, are more or less numerous in this region. It is remarkable that birds of various kinds common to the sea-coast, and seldom found far in the interior, pervade the valley of the Mississippi to a great distance from the gulf of Mexico, and frequent the regions adjacent to the Rocky Mountains.

In regard to this extensive section of country, I do not hesitate in giving the opinion, that it is almost wholly unfit for cultivation, and of course uninhabitable by a people depending upon agriculture for their subsistence. Although tracts of fertile land considerably extensive are occasionally to be met with, yet the scarcity of wood and water, almost {237} uniformly prevalent, will prove an insuperable obstacle in the way of settling the country. This objection rests not only against the section immediately under consideration, but applies with equal propriety to a much larger portion of the country. Agreeably to the best intelligence that can be had, concerning the country both northward and southward of the section, and especially to the inferences deducible from the account given by Lewis and Clarke of the country situated between the Missouri and the Rocky Mountains above the river Platte, the vast region commencing near the sources of the Sabine, Trinity, Brases, and Colorado, and extending northwardly to the forty-ninth degree of north latitude, by which the United States' territory is limited in that direction, is throughout of a similar character. The whole of this region seems peculiarly adapted as a range for buffaloes, wild goats, and other wild game; incalculable multitudes of which find ample pasturage and subsistence upon it.

This region, however, viewed as a frontier, may prove of infinite importance to the United States, inasmuch as it is calculated to serve as a barrier to prevent too great an extension of our population westward, and secure us against the machinations or incursions of an enemy that might otherwise be disposed to annoy us in that part of our frontier.

The Indians of the section last described, whose numbers are very limited compared with the extent of country they inhabit, will be considered in the sequel of this report.

_Of the Rocky Mountains_

This range of mountains has been distinguished by a variety of appellations, amongst which the following are the most common, viz. Rocky, Shining, Mexican, Chippewyan, Andes, &c. The general {238} course of the range is about N.N.W. or S.S.E. Its breadth varies from fifty to one hundred miles. They rise abruptly out of the plains, which lie extended at their base on the east side, towering into peaks of great height, which renders them visible at the distance of more than one hundred miles eastward from their base. They consist of ranges, knobs, and peaks, variously disposed, among which are interspersed many broad and fertile valleys. The more elevated parts of the mountains are covered with perpetual snows, which contribute to give them a luminous and at a great distance even a brilliant appearance, whence they have derived the name of Shining Mountains.

Between the Arkansa and Platte, on a small creek tributary to the former, is situated a high part of the mountains, denominated the "Highest Peak" on many maps of the country, and said to be more elevated than any other part within the distance of one hundred and fifty or two hundred miles. This peak, whose summit has been accounted inaccessible, was ascended by a detachment of the expedition conducted by Dr. James, from which circumstance it has been called James's Peak. Its elevation above the common level, ascertained by a trigonometrical measurement, is about eight thousand five hundred feet. But the correctness of the statement, that it is higher than any other parts of the mountains within the distance above mentioned, is questionable. Judging from the position of the snow near the summits of other peaks and ridges at no great distance from it, a much greater elevation is apparent.

The mountains are clad in a scattering growth of scrubby pines, oak, cedar, and furze, and exhibit a very rugged and broken aspect. The rocky formations embodied in them, contrary to the opinion generally received, are of a primitive character, consisting of granite, gneiss, quartz rocks, &c. It {239} should be remarked, however, that a deep crust of secondary rocks, the same as the stratifications of the plains before mentioned, appears to recline against the east side of the mountains, extending upward from their base many hundred feet.

At the base of James's Peak above designated, are two remarkable springs of water, considerably copious, and strongly impregnated with fixed air. At the place also where the Arkansa issues from the mountains, are several medicinal springs on the north side of the river, rising in a small area at the base of the mountain. These springs were discovered by Captain Bell, and, in consequence, I have taken the liberty to call them Bell's Springs. They are six in number, one of which is strongly impregnated with fixed air, another with sulphurated hydrogen, and the rest with salt and sulphur; the water of all being more or less chalybeate.

_Of the Indians inhabiting the section of country last described_

This country is exclusively inhabited by savages, no other beings of the human family having fixed their abode within it. They consist of the following tribes and nations, whose numbers, places of residence, and mode of life, will be subjects of consideration as far as our knowledge of them extends.

The Otoes, or as they are called in their own language, the Wahtooh-tah-tah, reside in a permanent village of dirt or earthen lodges, on the south bank of the river Platte, about fifty miles from its confluence with the Missouri, and thirty miles south-westwardly from the Council Bluff. The principal remnant of the old Missouries, who have become extinct as a nation, have their residence with the Otoes. In the course of the last winter, whilst these Indians were absent from their village on their winter-hunt, their town was partly burnt by the {240} Sauks, which misfortune induced them to take up a temporary abode upon Salt river, a few miles from their former residence. But it was generally supposed that they would return again, and rebuild their town. The name of their principal chief is Shongotongo, or Big Horse. Probable number of lodges 100, of persons 1400. The Otoes and Missouries are esteemed a brave people, and are friendly towards the Americans. They are at war with the Sauks, Foxes, Sioux, Osages, Ietans, and other Indians west of the Missouri. A small band of the Ioways resided for some time with these Indians, but not being able to harmonize with them, lately returned to their old village on the river De Moyen of the Mississippi. Their principal chief, usually called Hard Heart, being dissatisfied with the conduct of his tribe, remains with the Otoes.

The Omawhaw, or as it is commonly written the Maha nation, exultingly boast that they have never killed an American. On the contrary, they have ever been friendly, and still hold the Americans in the highest estimation. Under the influence of their present principal chief, Ongpatonga, or the Big Elk, they never go to war except in the pursuit of a predatory war-party, in consequence of which the traders have given them the reputation of being cowardly. But the history of this people shows that they have been as ambitious of martial renown, and have acquired as large a share of it, as any of their neighbours. They formerly resided in a village of dirt lodges upon Omawhaw creek, a small stream entering the Missouri about two hundred miles above the Council Bluff; but they have recently abandoned it, and are about building a town on Elk Horn river. Their number of souls is about 1500.