CHAPTER XIII

Interviews with the Osages--Occasional observations on their manners and habits, &c.--Sickness in the encampment.

24th.] Last evening, as well as this morning, we were waited upon by two of the Osage chiefs from the village, one of whom was Tá-lai, their hereditary ruler. Some of the inferior chiefs were begging tobacco, like earnest and genuine mendicants. It is to be regretted, that the man of nature should sink so low by intercourse with the civilized world, and by the acquisition of what were once to him merely artificial wants. Surrounded by a fertile country, the Indian, without ever being either rich or independent, finds it difficult to obtain subsistence, trespasses upon his neighbours, lives in insecurity, and in implacable enmity with those of his own race. A {182} stranger to our ideas of honour, he destroys his enemies by the meanest stratagems, and levels, in his revenge, all distinctions of age and sex. Such is the general character of the Osages, and such even that of the Cherokees, after all their external approaches towards civilization.

To give my Reader some idea of the laborious exertions which these people exercise to obtain a livelihood, I need only relate, that the Osages had now returned to their village from a tallow hunt, in which they had travelled not less than 300 miles up the Arkansa, and had crossed the Saline plains, situated betwixt that river and the Canadian. In this hunt, they say, that 10 villages of themselves and friends (as the Kansas, who speak nearly the same language) joined for common safety. They were, however, attacked by a small scout of the Pawnees, and lost one of their young men who was much esteemed, and, as I myself witnessed, distractingly lamented by the father, of whom he was the only son. They say, the country through which they passed is so destitute of timber, that they had to carry along their tent poles, and to make fire of the bison ordure.

The activity and agility of the Osages is scarcely credible. They not uncommonly walk from their village to the trading houses, at the mouth of the Verdigris, in one day, a distance of about 60 miles.

The Osages, in their private conversations, do not appear still to be on an amicable footing with the Cherokees. One of their chiefs insisted on the hunting boundary being established betwixt the two nations, so that either party might be punished, by robbery and plunder (or confiscation as we term it), who should be found transgressing the limits assigned. Aware of the strength of their enemies, they have been led to seek the alliance of other Indians, and have recently cultivated the friendship of the Outigamis (now called Sauks and Foxes) of the Mississippi. {183} In a recent council, held at the village of the Verdigris, these people were presented with 100 horses by the Osages. Sensible of this liberality, the Outigamis pledged themselves to prove their active allies, whenever necessity should dictate it to them. These gifts, however great, are not difficult to replace, as they now, this hunt, obtained more than 300 horses, which they had either caught wild, or stolen from the Pawnees, their enemies.

27th.] This morning, Clarmont, accompanied by some of the lesser chiefs, arrived from the lower village, on their way to the garrison, where they were to hold a council with the Cherokees. There was some degree of urbanity, though nothing at first very prepossessing, in the appearance of Clarmont. He wore a hat ornamented with a band of silver lace, with a sort of livery or regimental coat, and appeared proud of the artificial distinctions bestowed on him by the government. He asked, familiarly, if I had ever heard of him before, and appeared gratified at my answering in the affirmative. I am told, however, that, of late years, his influence at _home_ has been greatly superseded by that of Tá-lai, the true hereditary chief. Tá-lai was now also present, but destitute of any exterior decorations, though on his way to the general council; I did not consequently recognise him until pointed out to me. In excuse for laying aside the honourable distinctions of the government, he said, there was no necessity, he thought, of parading the medal, his people knew him to be the chief, and the major could not be ignorant of his station. This natural unassuming behaviour, which we so seldom witness in life, surprised and prepossessed me in favour of this legitimate chief. His aspect was uncommonly benign, and bespoke the man of candor and benevolence.

Last summer a general council of the natives, friendly disposed towards the Osages, took place at {184} their village; amongst them were Shawnees, Delawares, Creeks, Quapaws, Kanzas, Ouitgamis, &c. Their ostensible object was not known; it would appear, however, that they had been invited by the Osages, who on this occasion gave away more than 300 horses. The Outigamis told them in an unlimited manner, that they would be always ready at the first notice, to join them at any time, against any nation. With the Creeks they were dissatisfied, and alledged that they had undervalued their hospitality by bringing spoons in their pockets, which was probably turned into a sinister omen.

Preparatory to undertaking a warlike expedition, the Osages, in common with many other of the aborigines, practised rigid fasts, which were frequently continued from three to seven days together, forming, with other privations and inflictions, a kind of penance, by which they disciplined themselves for disasters, and supplicated the pity and favour of heaven. Their invocations to the Good Spirit, and their lamentations, are incessant. About sunrise the whole village re-echoes with the most plaintive tones of distress, uttered at the doors of their lodges, or at the tombs of those whom they loved and esteemed while living. Indeed, all their affections, uncontrolled by the mask of affectation, are sincere and ingenuous. Of the sincerity of their conjugal attachment, notwithstanding the coldness of temper which has been alleged against the aborigines generally, I have witnessed, among them and others, many unequivocal proofs. The expression of affection, perhaps, as in other societies, where it is so studiously concealed, is more tender and assiduous on the part of the female. A few days ago we were near upon witnessing something tragical, in the conduct of an Indian woman, who had been several years married to a French hunter, living with the Osages. Soon after Mr. Bougie’s arrival, intoxication taking place in the camp, a quarrel {185} ensued between the husband of this woman and another of the French hunters. Their altercation filled her with terror, and she gave way to tears and lamentations, not doubting but that the antagonist, who was the aggressor, intended the death of her husband, as threats among the Indians are the invariable preludes to fatal actions. When, at length, they began to struggle with each other, without any more ado, she seized upon a hatchet, and would instantly have dispatched the man who fought with her husband, if not prevented by the bystanders.

That curious species of polygamy, which prevails among some other Indian nations, is likewise practised by the Osages, by which, the man who first marries into a family, from that period possesses the controul of all the sisters of his wife, whom he is at liberty either to espouse himself, or to bestow upon others. The maid, as amongst the Quapaws and others, is distinguished from the matron by the method she employs in braiding her hair into two cylindric rolls, which are ornamented with beads, silver, or wampum, and inclined to either side of the head near the ears. After marriage the hair is unloosed and brought together behind. This is one of those little arbitrary distinctions which is quite as invariable as the general costume of the people who employ it.

A practise no less notorious among the young men of the Osages, and the natives generally, is the careful extraction of the marks of pubescence from every part of the body. These Indians even pluck out their eyebrows, shave their heads, and leave only a small scalp upon the crown. Of this, two locks left long, are plaited and ornamented with silver, wampum, and eagle’s feathers. The tonsure and ears, as well as the eye-lashes, are painted with vermillion on ordinary occasions, but blackened to express grief or misfortune. Sometimes, apparently out of fancy, they fantastically {186} decorate their faces with white, black, or green stripes. The use of calico or shirts is yet unknown among them, and their present fashions and mode of dress have been so long stationary, as now to be by themselves considered characteristic. In their dress, fairish tawney red colour, and aquiline features, they resemble the Outigamis.

The Osages are more than usually superstitious. With them an ominous dream is often sufficient to terminate the most important expedition. After performing an exploit, instead of pursuing their success, scarcely any consideration can deter them from instantly returning to bear the welcome intelligence to their band. Their communion with each other is so frank, that nothing can remain a secret. In this way their intentions of war and plunder are long anticipated, however sudden and secret may be their actual operations. They are no strangers to dissimulation, when it will answer their purpose in their intercourse with others, but falsehood among their friends or fellows would be looked upon as unnatural and unpardonable. They entertain unconquerable prejudices against hunters. While in the village, or in their company abroad, the stranger is sure to be protected and treated like themselves in every particular; but if he is found in their country as a foreigner, and pursuing a different interest from their own, he can scarcely be distinguished from an enemy and an intruder, and must calculate on meeting with chastisement accordingly. To be found upon their war-paths is likewise considered criminal. These particular routes which they pursue in quest of their enemies, are recognised by beacons, painted posts, and inscribed hieroglyphics, commonly set up near the boundaries of their range; and those whom they chance to find in this direction, are at best considered as ambiguous friends, and trespassers on the neutral character which is expected to be maintained.

{187} The miserable fate which, last autumn, befel Mr. M’Farlane (who is mentioned by Wilkinson,[197] in his descent of the Arkansa, as then taken prisoner by the Osages) is a sufficient proof the danger of intruding on their war-path.[198] The Osages had taken this hunter into custody near to a Pawnee village, with whose inhabitants they were at war, and were about to proceed with him to their own town on the Verdigris. He was, however, very desirous of returning to the village for his son who remained behind, to which the Indians at last consented, and two of them offered to accompany him back towards the Pawnees; but after proceeding some distance they seized upon him, put out his eyes, and then goaded him along for several miles with sharpened canes, thus protracting his death by torture, until one of them, through compassion, put an end to his existence by the tomahawk. Although this fact was now well known in the territory, and not denied by the Osages, no steps had been taken to avenge the death of this unfortunate hunter. The Osages indeed disavowed the deed as that of their nation, but contented themselves by saying, that the action had been committed by two bad men, who were beyond their control. The property of the white hunter generally, whom they discover in their country, without special permission, is considered as an indisputable perquisite; and after perhaps (as I have heard related) breaking his gun in pieces, and flogging him with the ram-rod, they will turn him out into the wilderness nearly naked, and leave him to perish, unless, like a prisoner, he consents to adoption or affiliation, when every thing is again restored to him, and he is received as one of their people.

* * * * *

28th.] To-day I accompanied one of the hunters about 9 or 10 miles over the alluvial lands of Grand {188} river, which were fertile, and covered in great part with cane. The river lands are no less extensive and luxuriant betwixt the Verdigris and Arkansa, and would apparently support a condensed settlement; but the prairies will only admit of settlements along their borders, in consequence of the scarcity of wood and water. Coal, however, in this country appears abundant, as fragments are to be seen commonly deposited along the borders of the rivers.

On the 30th and 31st an irregular remittent fever began to show itself in our camp, with which myself and five or six others were affected. With me it came on towards evening, unaccompanied by any sensible chill, but attended with the most excruciating head-ache and violent heat.

_August_ 2d and 3d.] These two days in succession I experienced the same fever, but now more moderate, and preceded by chills.

4th.] Last evening the chiefs of the Osage village arrived from Fort Smith, without effecting an interview with the Cherokees, who, under the pretext of attending to their harvest, had postponed the meeting until the month of September. The chiefs, not without reason, appeared to be considerably perplexed and disappointed at the conduct and apparent evasion of the Cherokees.

Yesterday, whilst I lay sick, some Indian contrived to rob me of the only penknife in my possession, and my pocket microscope. I immediately suspected the thief to have been a fellow who had the same morning, out of amusement, mounted my coat and hat, but he constantly denied the theft, and suffered himself to be searched by the soldier of police, who is generally some trusty warrior appointed by the chief to keep order in the camp or village, and to punish offenders in a summary way.

The chiefs addressed the Indians present concerning the theft, and seriously admonished those who {189} had the articles to give them up. Tálai reproved the Indians in general terms for their injustice, which he asserted to be the means by which they had made themselves so many enemies. “Why will you,” says he, “steal things which are useless to you, and which are, at the same time, of importance to others. To-day, while we were travelling, we heard the report of a gun, which might, indeed, have been that of white people, who are our friends, but it might likewise have been some party of those enemies by which we are everywhere surrounded, who could so easily have destroyed a handful of old and almost defenceless chiefs. How much better, my friends, would it be if we could learn to do right and be honest. We should then have friends instead of enemies; but as long as we violate justice, we shall continue to live in fear and shame. When did the white people steal from us? yet you have both plundered and killed those who have always been your friends and benefactors. This evening we arrived here fatigued and hungry, and the white people have fed us. We ought to return this kindness by presents of provision; but, instead of that, the Osages sell their tallow, and corn, and meat, give nothing, and come and eat of that which they have sold. The Osages are always a bad people, and so have many enemies.”

The candour of this speech surprised us, although it well accorded with the honest and benevolent character of the speaker. I am told that he was quite assiduous in attempting the reform of the village, and inculcating amongst them the necessity and advantage of maintaining peace with their neighbours. It is gratifying to learn that this chief, Tálai, whose example so well accorded with the just principles which he preferred, was now gaining the ascendancy over Clarmont, whose conduct had always been tinctured by rapacity. Tálai, indeed, well deserved the chief medal of the nation.

{190} It is, I think, to be regretted, that the Indians should not be made sensible of the impropriety and illegality of executing summary and unlimited punishment upon the citizens of the United States, who are found travelling or hunting in their country. Ought they not rather to be taught that the government would be ever willing and ready to do them justice, by punishing their own citizens, rather than submitting them, in this way, to the cruel pilfering, and castigation of savages! If the frontier garrisons are not capable of effecting this beneficial purpose, for what were they established? but could not even this be better executed by the governor and the militia of the territory, than by the arbitrary commander and the soldiers of a garrison?

* * * * *

This morning, about day-break, the Indians, who had encamped around us, broke out into their usual lamentations and complaints to the Great Spirit. Their mourning was truly pathetic, and uttered in a peculiar tone. Amongst those who first broke forth into lamentation, and aroused the rest to their melancholy orisons, was the pious Tá-lai. The commencing tone was exceedingly loud, and gradually fell off into a low, long continued, and almost monotonous base. To this tone of lamentation was modulated, the subject of their distress or petition. Those who had experienced any recent distress or misfortune, previously blackened their faces with coal, or besmeared them with ashes. This lamentation and abasement, in unison with oriental customs, recalled to mind the penance of the Jews, their “sackcloth and ashes,” and Jeremiah their weeping prophet.

4th.] Last evening two very handsome young men of the Osages arrived from the village, with some tallow to barter, and while Mr. Bougie and the rest of the camp were amusing themselves at cards, these Mercuries contrived to carry off a small brass kettle, {191} and endeavoured, though ineffectually, to hook off a musquetoe bier, after which they took the advantage of the night to make their escape. They appeared to have been very well satisfied with the trader, but could not postpone their dexterity at thieving, which being scarcely considered as a dishonourable action, is rarely punished further than by the restitution of the articles.

On the evening of the 5th, we were visited by another of the Osages, bringing the usual commodities of the season, tallow, dried bison meat, and sweet corn, being dried while in the milk, and thus forming an agreeable ingredient in the soup of the prepared bison beef. It is a dish which the Indians, from time immemorial, have been accustomed to prepare, and consider a luxury coeval with their annual festival of the “Green-corn Dance.”[199]

In the morning, I was informed, that this Indian wished to exchange a horse with me, for the mare which I had purchased of Mr. Lee; I desired them to tell him, that I requested to have nothing to say to him; knowing him, by report, to be a consummate thief and rascal; but, as he insisted on the subject, I went to see the animal offered me in exchange, and was truly surprised at the impudence and knavery of the demand. The horse which he proffered, was not worth possession, as lean as Rosinante. It may easily be supposed that I rejected his offer, which was nothing better than an insult. My mare was at this time feeding across the Verdigris. The Indian said no more, concluded his barter with the trader, and left us; but instead of proceeding directly towards the village, by the usual route, he kept down the Verdigris. I now suspected that he was intent on thievery, and two of us directly followed him by land, and two by water. We saw him and his wife now crossing the river, and then walking hastily across the beach; by the time we came up with him, he had {192} seized my horse, loaded it with his baggage, and would in a minute or two more, with all the dexterity of an Arab, have carried him off, and so by force and robbery have effected the exchange he so much desired. Daring villains seldom want excuses; he pretended, that the man of whom Mr. Prior bought the horse, had told him to bring it away, and leave the one he offered in its stead. His first depredation, this morning, was stealing a case of razors, which being discovered in his shot pouch, were taken from him; these he said, he only wanted to shave his head, and would then have returned them.

Circumstanced as we were, it was not politic to chastize him, as he would probably, out of revenge, have lurked about a week, in order to have stolen my horse. After some persuasion, and, above all, a hint that if his conduct were made known at the garrison, from whom I had received permission to proceed up the country, he need not expect the restitution of his wife and three children, from the hands of the Cherokees, if that was to be his line of conduct; he now began to speak in a submissive tone, and ordered his squaw to unpack my horse. I was still, however, mortified to find that it was necessary, prudentially, as suggested by the trader, not only to desist from administering punishment, but even to bestow a present upon the villain by way of encouragement. Such is the indulgent method of dealing with Indians employed by the traders!

As among most other nations of the aborigines, the principal labour, except that of hunting, devolves upon the women. Accustomed to perpetual drudgery, they are stouter and lower in stature than the men. They appear scarcely to inherit the same condition. Considered almost as slaves and creatures of appetite, their lives are always secured as prisoners. It is to their industry and ingenuity, that the men owe every manufactured article of their dress, as well as every {193} utensil in their huts. The Osage women appear to excel in these employments. Before the Cherokees burnt down their town on the Verdigris, their houses were chiefly covered with hand-wove matts of bulrushes. Their baskets and bed matts of this material, were parti-coloured and very handsome. This manufacture, I am told, is done with the assistance of three sticks, arranged in some way so as to answer the purpose of a loom, and the strands are inlaid diagonally. They, as well as the Cherokees and others, frequently take the pains to unravel old blankets and cloths, and re-weave the yarn into belts and garters. This weaving is no modern invention of the Indians. Nearly all those whom De Soto found inhabiting Florida and Louisiana, on either side of the Mississippi, and who were, in a great measure, an agricultural people, dressed themselves in woven garments made of the lint of the mulberry, the papaw, or the elm; and, in the colder seasons of the year, they wore coverings of feathers, chiefly those of the turkey. The same dresses were still employed in the time of Du Pratz.[200] These feather mantles were, within the recollection of the oldest men, once used by the Cherokees, as I learnt whilst among them. There is, {194} therefore, nothing extraordinary in the discovery of these garments around the bodies which had been interred in the nitre caves of Kentucky. Presents of these “mantels” as they are called by Purchas, now superseded by European blankets, were perpetually offered to Soto, throughout the course of his expedition, and are still made use of by the natives of the north-west coast. Nor is there any thing in this invention beyond the common ingenuity of man, guarding himself against the inclemencies of climate. To assert that all men were of the same race, because they had all invented a somewhat similar clothing, is quite as futile, as the same conclusion would be in consideration of their all being born naked.[201]

The principal food of the present Indians, who inhabit the west side of the Mississippi, is the bison, which they prepare in a very commodious way, without the use of salt, by cutting it up into broad and thin slices, which are dried on a scaffold over a slow fire, and afterwards folded up in the manner of peltries, so as to be equally portable. The tallow is rendered into skins or cases, like the utriculi, or leathern bottles of the ancients, the whole animal being skinned through the aperture of the neck. In this way, they also collect with convenience the honey and bear’s oil, which is the produce of their forests.

* * * * *

From the general absence of religious ceremony, and the unostentatious character of devotion among the Indians, it has always been a difficult matter to inspire them with any thing like correct ideas of the Christian religion. As we have already remarked, they are not, however, void of superstition, such as a belief in the warnings of dreams, the observance {195} of omens, the wearing of amulets, and the dedication of offerings to invisible or miraculous agents, supposed to be represented in the accidental forms of natural objects. But these objects, calculated to inspire a momentary homage, are never addressed for any thing beyond temporal favours.

Although they generally believe in the immortality of the soul, they have no steady and distinct conception of a state of reward and punishment. The future state, believed to be but little different from that which they now enjoy, is alike attainable by every hunter, and every warrior. It is on a conviction of this belief, that the implements of war, and the decorations and utensils employed by the living, are entombed with the dead. Their jealousy of the whites, and suspicion of sinister designs, render them cold and cautious in the adoption of Christianity, and it has ever been those who have said the least on religion, and who, like the Society of the Friends and the Moravians, have preached rather by their benevolent example, and by the introduction of useful arts, that have made the most durable and favourable impression on the minds and morals of the natives.

To show how little can be anticipated among the Osages, by the inculcation of the mere dogmas of Christianity, may be seen by the following anecdote. Mr. Bougie, informed me, that last winter, while accidentally engaged in reading the New Testament, two or three young men, of the Osages, coming into his store, enquired of him what was said in that book. He answered, that it informed him of the descent of God upon the earth, who was seen by men, conversed with them, and wrought miracles. If that was true, they asked, why did he not come down now among men as he did then? To which Mr. B. replied, because the world was now so wicked. They looked at one another, held their hands to their mouths, as they always do in token of surprise, and, smiling, {196} said, “the book may tell you so, but we don’t believe it.”

* * * * *

Independent of some resemblance in language, discoverable betwixt the aborigines of North America, and the Tartar tribes of the Russian empire, there is, likewise, something very similar in their habits and morals. They are equally erratic and unsettled in their abode, and have ever been so, according to Herodotus, for thousands of years. The Hamaxobii, of that author, still live in their travelling houses, and occupy the same country without any sensible diminution or increase of numbers. Both people are separated into numerous bands or tribes, characterised by a diversity of language, acknowledging no other rule than that which is patriarchal, and no other alliance than that of fraternity. They are alike insensible to the wants and comforts of civilization. They know neither poverty nor riches; vice nor virtue. Their simple condition appears to have perpetually partaken of that of the first family of the human race, and they have been alike exempt from the luxuries of ephemeral grandeur, and the mournful vicissitudes of fortune. Happy equality, which knows neither the sins of ambition, nor the crimes of avarice!

The picture of the Samoyades,[202] drawn apparently by a careful hand, might almost pass for that of the North American Indians. Alike they acknowledge the existence of a supreme and invisible Being, the author of all things. The sun and moon they also adore as superior beings of the creation. They both in their invocations address the four quarters of the earth. Their priests or elders administer to them charms when sick or unfortunate in hunting. They submit with apathy (or resignation) to misfortunes, and express no violent passions. Their insensibility is such, as to prevent all surprise or curiosity at the {197} sight of novelties. They fear, but do not adore bad spirits. Unacquainted with laws, and governed by customs, they acknowledge no ruler beyond the senior of the common family or tribe. To religious ceremonies they are strangers. Anticipating the contingencies of a future state of existence, they also inter with the warrior his bow and arrows. They allow polygamy, but avoid consanguinity in marriage. Their wives are purchased (to evince their esteem), and the marriage, consummated at an early age, is no longer binding than the continuance of mutual friendship and affection. Their names are taken from the animals of the forest, or the phenomena of nature. Their hair is coarse, lank, and black, and they have little or no beard, or marks of pubescence on other parts of the body, and, whenever it does appear, it is carefully eradicated. Such is the character, and such the manners of those Asiatics, inhabiting the very same parallel as that which includes the most proximate and occidental point of the North American continent, the same parallel, which in both continents afford the _Ovis Ammon_, or wild sheep, the reindeer, the white wolf, the chacal, the silver fox, the sable, and the ermine.

FOOTNOTES:

[197] Lieutenant J. B. Wilkinson, mentioned in note 195. For the account of his meeting with M’Farlane, see Coues, _Expeditions of Zebulon Montgomery Pike_ (New York, 1895), p. 558.--ED.

[198] Charlevoix remarks, “Every one is an enemy found in the warrior’s path,” p. 155.--NUTTALL.

[199] For an account of the green corn dance as practiced by the Minitaree of Dakota, see _Report_ of Smithsonian Institution, 1885, ii, p. 314.--ED.

[200] “Many of the women wear cloaks of the bark of the mulberry tree, or of the feathers of swans, turkies, or India ducks. The bark they take from young mulberry shoots that rise from the roots of trees that have been cut down; after it is dried in the sun, they beat it to make all the woody part fall off, and they give the threads that remain a second beating, after which they bleach them by exposing them to the dew. When they are well whitened, they spin them about the coarseness of packthread, and weave them in the following manner: they plant two stakes in the ground, about a yard and a half asunder, and having stretched a cord from the one to the other, they fasten their threads of bark double to this cord, and then interweave them in a curious manner into a cloak, of about a yard square, with a wrought border round the edges.” Du Pratz. Hist. Louisiana. p. 363. Lond. Ed.

According to Adair also, the Choctaws formed blankets of the smaller feathers of the turkey. “They twist the inner end of the feathers very fast into a strong double thread of hemp, or the inner bark of the mulberry tree, of the size and strength of coarse twine, and they work it in the manner of fine netting.” Adair’s History of the American Indians. p. 423.--NUTTALL.

[201] See Archæologia Americana, vol. i. p. 320, &c. in which there is an attempt to prove that the ancient inhabitants of the western states originated from the Malays.--NUTTALL.

[202] Vide Pinkerton’s collection of Voyages and Travels, vol. i. in loco.--NUTTALL.

{198} CHAPTER XIV

Journey by land to the Great Salt river of the Arkansa--Proceed across the prairies to the Little North Fork of the Canadian--Detained by sickness--Continue up the Little North Fork, arrive at Salt river, and afterwards at the Arkansa--Molested and pursued by the Osages--Arrive again at the Verdigris, and proceed to the garrison--Conclusion of the treaty between the Osages and Cherokees.

August 11th.] To-day I left the trading establishment of the Verdigris to proceed on a land journey up the Arkansa, accompanied by a trapper and hunter named Lee, who had penetrated across this country nearly to the sources of Red river, and followed his present occupation for upwards of eight years. We crossed the river, and proceeding through the alluvion, entered the prairie, over which we continued in a westwardly course, encamping in the evening upon the banks of a small creek, about 12 miles from our place of departure. The prairies or grassy plains which we entered upon a mile from the river, exhibited the same appearance as below, and on the opposite side of the river. The rock of the hills, like those of the prairies near the garrison, consisted of a ferruginous sandstone. To the south of our encampment, we had in view a low ridge of hills very abruptly broken into fantastic contours. In these prairies, I found a second species of _Brachyris_, pungently aromatic to the taste, and glutinous to the touch; its aspect is that of _Chrysocoma_. Our route was directed towards the Salt river, or the first Red river of the Arkansa, called by Pike the Grand Saline,[203] and about 80 or 90 miles distant from our encampment.

{199} 12th.] We continued our journey about sunrise, proceeding over the plain in a south-west direction. About 10 miles from the brook of our last night’s encampment we passed another, but destitute of running water, which is at this season of the year exceedingly scarce. The Arkansa, several miles to our right, appeared to make an extensive sinus to the north-west, as is designated in Pike’s map, where it is continued up to the 100th degree of longitude, the dividing line from the possessions of Spain. We found the prairies full of grass about knee deep, although all the gullies and smaller streams were perfectly dried up; it was only when we arrived at a brook or rivulet that we could obtain a draught of water, and that always stagnant, and often putrid. The day being oppressively hot and thirsty, I very imprudently drank some very nauseous and tepid water, which immediately affected my stomach, and produced such a sickness, that it was with difficulty I kept upon my horse, until we arrived at the next creek for shelter, where we encamped and remained for the rest of the afternoon. Our horses were still tormented with the clegs or green-headed flies of the prairies, which goaded them without intermission.

About 10 o’clock this morning, we crossed the trace which the Osages had made, going out to hunt in a body of 2 or 300 men and their families. Its direction was south, or towards Red river. Two or three miles further we crossed their returning track. We were no way anxious to meet with Indians, as they would, probably, rob us of our horses, if not of our baggage, and ill-treat us besides, according to the dictates of their caprice and the object of their party.--To-day we came about 20 miles.

13th.] We were again on our way soon after sunrise, and still continued through plains destitute of timber. After proceeding about four miles, we passed another insignificant brook, and about six miles {200} further a second of the same magnitude. We observed very little game. Yesterday, Mr. Lee pointed out to me the burrow of a badger, about the size of those made by the prairie wolf. Still proceeding, a little to the north of west, about 10 miles further, we came to a considerable rivulet of clear and still water, deep enough to swim our horses. We kept for about two miles through the entangled thickets, by which it was bordered, in search of a ford. Both above and below it was bordered by wooded hills, which appeared almost to shut up our course, and terminate the prairies. This stream was called the Little North Fork[204] (or branch) of the Canadian, and emptied into the main North Fork of the same river, nearly 200 miles distant, including its meanders, which have been ascended by the trappers of beaver. Having encamped, without crossing the rivulet, towards evening, I was about to bathe, but was sufficiently deterred by the discovery of a poisonous water snake, lurking a few yards from the spot I had chosen. No change yet appears in the vegetation; and the superincumbent rock continues arenaceous. No mountains or picturesque prospects present themselves to amuse the eye. Occasionally, indeed the monotonous plain is diversified by the view of low and broken ridges, often presenting isolated hills, deserted by the more friable materials with which they were once surrounded, and now presenting the fantastic appearance of artificial tumuli, and piles of ruins. In the course of the day we passed three or four of these hillocks, of considerable elevation. About six miles from our encampment, to the right, there are two of them nearly together, and two also which are separated from each other, nearly opposite to the others on the left. The Indians remark them in the regulation of their routes, and, on some of them, they have made elevated interments. This fondness for burying in high places has not subsided among the aborigines, and, {201} probably, gave rise to the erection of artificial hills over the remains of the dead. Blackbird, the chief of the Mahas, was interred, at his particular request, on the summit of a hill which overlooked the village; and both the Mahas and the Arikarsees made choice of the summit of a neighbouring ridge for their general place of sepulture.

The day was very warm, though occasionally relieved by a breeze from the south-west; and the dazzling light of the prairies proved oppressive and injurious to the eyes. We passed a place where the Indians appeared to have been killing numbers of deer, though not recently.

14th.] We remained to-day on the banks of the Little North Fork, to recruit our horses, that of my companion being from the first totally unfit to travel from a large wound upon its back. I now experienced a relapse of the remittent fever, attended with delirium. Being about 3 o’clock in the afternoon when it came on, I was exposed to a temperature of between 90 and 100°. It was with difficulty that I could crawl into the shade, the thin forest being every where pervious to the sun, so that I felt ready to burn with heat; by forcibly inciting a vomit, I felt relieved. Mr. Lee, profiting by our delay, began to trap for beaver, and the last night caught four of these animals. Scarcely any thing is now employed for bait but the musk or castoreum of the animal itself. As they live in community, they are jealous and hostile to strangers of their own species, and following the scent of the bait, are deceived into the trap.

15th.] At night I again experienced an attack of the fever, without any preceding chill, and attended with diarrhœa. It continued 36 hours, the paroxysm being only divided for a short space by an intermediate chill. The heat of the weather continued excessive; and the green blow-flies, attracted by the meat brought to our camp, exceeded every thing that can {202} be conceived. They filled even our clothes with maggots, and penetrated into the wounds of our horses, so as to render them almost incurable.

16th.] Still at the same encampment, and still afflicted with the fever.

17th.] This morning, at the suggestion of my companion, for the purpose of trapping, we went about five miles lower down the rivulet. In proceeding this short distance, I fainted with the effort, and was near falling off my horse. All the remainder of the day and the succeeding night, I experienced the fever under the exposure of a burning sun and sultry air. Shade was not to be obtained, and the night brought with it no alleviation but darkness.

In the evening Mr. Lee suggested the propriety of our returning to the Verdigris, before I became so weak as to render it impossible; but the idea of returning filled me with deep regret, and I felt strongly opposed to it whatever might be the consequences.

18th.] To return, was again urged to me in plainer terms than before. I therefore complied, on the condition of trying the event of one or two days longer, and that then, if no better, I would return. I remarked to him, however, that these small distances from one trapping place to another, would, at this hot season, be far less difficult for me to accomplish, than to enter back again upon the prairies.

19th.] We proceeded to another place of encampment, through ponds and dry gullies, crossing the prairies from point to point, for about 10 miles, instead of a supposed five or six, until it became dark, when, not finding the place where Mr. Lee had deposited his baggage, we stopped in a very eligible situation, compared with the rest of the wilderness through which we had been toiling. The preceding night we had experienced a slight rain, and had reason to suspect it again, but we lay down unprepared; and about midnight were caught in a thunder storm {203} of great violence, and continued till daylight under pelting torrents of rain.

20th.] Mr. Lee now said nothing more about returning, as his horse was become incapable of carrying either himself or his baggage. We had no method left of proceeding, at present, but by making double journeys, and employing my horse to convey the whole. The flies still continued to annoy us, filling our blankets, linen, and almost every thing about us with maggots. To compensate, however, in some measure, for these disgusting and familiar visitors, we had the advantage of the bee, and obtained abundance of excellent honey, on which, mixed up with water, I now almost entirely subsisted, as we had no other food but venison, and were without either bread or vegetables.

21st.] We again proceeded five or six miles further over stoney hills, with great fatigue, and again encamped on a branch of the Little North Fork. Lee was now in a great dilemma about our falling into the way of the Indians; he observed to-day (22d) their general encampment quite contiguous.

The fever had now rendered me too weak to bear any exercise; and it was become impossible to find any thing which would suit my feeble appetite. In the commencing coolness of the weather, I had, however, a reasonable hope of recovery.

23d.] We continued about three miles further up the banks of the rivulet, and again encamped amidst gloomy prospects.

24th.] To-day, Mr. Lee having contrived to place a great part of his baggage upon his own horse, we proceeded about 10 miles, alternately along the borders of the rivulet and over the bases of the adjacent hills, which we had now the satisfaction to find more open and less rocky. We passed by three or four enormous ponds grown up with aquatics, among which were thousands of acres of the great pond lily {204} (_Cyamus luteus_), amidst which grew also the _Thalia dealbata_, now in flower, and, for the first time, I saw the _Zizania miliacea_ of Michaux. At length we gained sight of the prairies, which were doubly interesting after being so disagreeably immured amidst thickets and ponds. In our way we struck across the desiccated corner of the pond; here the _Ambrosias_ or bitter weeds were higher than my head on horseback, and we were a considerable time in extricating ourselves from them. Clearing the thicket, we ascended a hill of the prairie, and continued across it to the first creek, where we encamped.

26th.] While Mr. Lee was absent this morning examining the beaver traps, which he had set, to my surprise I observed, on the opposite side of the creek, an Indian busily examining our horses; after viewing them a few minutes, he chased them down the creek in a gallop towards our encampment, and after looking at me also with caution, instantly disappeared without paying me a visit. I need not say, how unwelcome this intelligence was to my cautious companion, who had not now to learn the rapacity of the savage hunters, having nearly lost his life, and all his property, last autumn, by falling in with the Cherokees near the banks of the Canadian. We delayed not a moment to leave our encampment, expecting nothing more certain than an unfriendly visit or clandestine theft. My own situation was indeed extremely critical, as I could not possibly walk, and even required assistance to get on and off my horse: thus to have had it stolen would have been to leave me to perish without hope. As we passed along, something which I imagined to be an Indian, dodged near us twice, from amidst the high grass, like some unfriendly animal of the forest, and slunk from our observance. This evening I felt extremely unhappy, and became quite delirious; when reclined, it was with difficulty that I could rise; a kind of lethargy, almost the prelude of death, now {205} interposed, affording an ominous relief from anxiety and pain.

27th.] Three days were now elapsed since I had been able to taste any kind of food, and to add to the miseries of sickness, delirium, and despondence, we experienced as many days of unremitting gloom, in which the sun was not visible even for an hour.

30th.] Being a little recovered, we now ventured out some distance into the prairie hills; but, after travelling a few miles without much pain, my mind became so unaccountably affected with horror and distraction, that, for a time, it was impossible to proceed to any convenient place of encampment. This evening my companion killed two bison, the first we had seen on the route, but neither of them were fat, or any thing like tolerable food. I here spent a night of great misery and delirium, and felt exceedingly cold from the sudden decrease of the temperature.

31st.] We moved onwards a few miles, but encamped at an early hour.

_September_ 1st.] We proceeded about 10 miles over wooded hills, with the expectation of soon arriving at the Salt river, which we imagined to lie before us, either to the west or south-west, but were entirely deceived, and my companion now appeared to be ignorant of the country. We saw nothing far and wide but an endless scrubby forest of dwarfish oaks, chiefly the post, black, and red species.

2d.] We now travelled about 15 miles nearly north, in the hope of arriving, at any rate, on the Arkansa, and passed through oak thickets, like those of Red river, for most part of the day. The land was poor and hilly, but abounded with clear and cool springs, issuing through rocks of a fine grained sandstone. We found the small chinquapin oak by acres, running along the ground as in New Jersey. The _Portulaca_ resembling _P. villosa_, which I had seen below in a solitary locality, Mr. Lee picked up for me to-day, growing {206} in arid rocky places, where the soil had been nearly washed away. The general aspect of the vegetable kingdom still, however, continued nearly the same.

3d.] We continued on about 26 miles through the same kind of deeply undulated country, abounding with clear grit springs, but the land poor, and covered with scrubby oak, except occasional prairie openings and narrow valleys. At length we arrived on the banks of a small clear brook dammed up by the beaver, where we obtained a ford. Towards evening, greatly fatigued, and with our course directed more towards the west, we observed clouds of sand to arise at a distance, which we were satisfied must originate from the beach of some neighbouring river, and, in about an hour after, we came upon the rocky bank of the First Red Fork or Salt river, which, though very low, was still red and muddy, bordered with an extensive beach similar to the Arkansa, and not greatly differing from it apparently in point of magnitude. Along the argillaceous banks I observed saline incrustations, and, on tasting the water, I found it to be nauseous and impotably saline.[205] Our horses, however, naturally fond of salt, drank of it with the utmost greediness. Though gratified by the sight of this curious stream, which we had so tediously sought, I now lamented the loss of the fine spring water lately afforded us by the barren hills. This extensive stream constitutes the hunting boundary of the Pawnees and Hietans. Its first view appeared beautifully contrasted with the broken and sterile country through which we had been travelling. The banks of cotton-wood (_Populus monilifera_), bordered by the even beach, resembled a verdant garden in panorama view. A few days journey to the west, Mr. Lee informs me, that there are extensive tracts of moving sand hills, accompanied by a degree of sterility little short of the African deserts.

{207} 4th.] We continued a few miles up the banks of this saline stream, crossing it from point to point. But the following day (5th) we concluded on leaving it, studying our safety from the Osages, whose traces became now more and more evident. We pursued our course along the sand beaches of the river, now oppressively hot, and about noon turned out into a shade. Here, unfortunately, while Mr. Lee was busied about his beaver traps, his horse got into a mirey gully, and could not be extricated. In this dilemma, no resource for proceeding remained for my companion, but to construct a canoe, and so descend by water. From the general diminution and deterioration of the forest, it was not even an easy matter to find a tree of sufficient size for this purpose. The largest timber was the cotton-wood (_Populus angulata_). After an unexpected and irksome privation, I was now again gratified by the taste of fresh water, which we found in a small stagnant rivulet contiguous to our encampment.

On the 8th, my companion launched his canoe, which so exactly answered his purpose that it would have sunk with any additional loading. Although I had now so far recovered as to possess a little appetite, we were, for several days, destitute of any kind of food, except the tails of the beaver, the flesh of this animal being now too lean and musky to be eaten. The game appeared to be driven out of the country by the approach of the Indians. I still continued my route along the beaches of the river, which proved almost insupportably hot, and I severely felt the want of fresh water, though it now, from necessity, became possible for me to swallow this tepid brine, which always proved cathartic. As we proceeded, the river appeared continually bordered by sandstone hills, like the Arkansa. Amongst several other new plants, I found a very curious _Gaura_, an undescribed species of _Donia_, of _Eriogonum_, of _Achyranthes_, _Arundo_, {208} and _Gentian_. On the sandy beaches grew several plants, such as the _Uralepsis aristulata_ (_Festuca procumbens_, Muhlenberg), an _Uniola_ scarcely distinct from _U. spicata_ and _Sesuvium sessile_, which I had never heretofore met with, except on the sands of the sea coast.

9th.] About noon we arrived at the entrance of the Arkansa, and were once more gratified with the taste of fresh water. Here the stream, now at its lowest depression, was almost colourless, and scarcely any where exceeding the depth of three feet. We travelled down it 9 or 10 miles, and saw the ascending smoke of the general encampments of the Osages, whom, if possible, we wished to avoid. By the multitude of traces upon the sand, it was easy to perceive that the whole village and its accompaniments were in motion.

10th.] We still saw the smoke of the Osage fires in all directions, and hourly expected a discovery. As I passed along contiguous to the river, now alone, one of the Indians saw me in the wood, but did not venture to come up, dodged out of sight, and then ran along with haste towards his encampment. This wolfish behaviour, it may be certain, was not calculated to give me any very favourable anticipation of our reception. I could not help indeed reflecting on the inhospitality of this pathless desert, which will one day perhaps give way to the blessings of civilization. The scenery was not without beauty; wooded hills of gentle slope every where bordered the river; and its islands and alluvions, still of considerable extent, are no way inferior to the lands of the Ohio.

11th.] To-day, with all our caution, it became impossible to avoid the discovery of the Indians, as two or three families were encamped along the borders of the river. They ran up to us with a confidence which was by no means reciprocal. One of the men was a blind chief, not unknown to Mr. Lee,{209} who gave him some tobacco, with which he appeared to be satisfied. About the encampment there were a host of squaws, who were extremely impertinent. An old woman, resembling one of the imaginary witches Macbeth, told me, with an air of insolence, that I must give her my horse for her daughter to ride on; I could walk;--that the Osages were numerous, and could soon take it from me. At last, the blind chief invited us to his camp to eat, but had nothing to offer us but boiled maize, sweetened with the marmalade of pumpkins. When we were about to depart, they all ran to the boat, to the number of 10 or 12, showing symptoms of mischief, and could not be driven away. They held on to the canoe, and endeavoured to drag it aground. Mr. Lee tried in vain to get rid of them, although armed with a rifle. At length, they got to pilfering our baggage; even the blind chief, who had showed us a commendatory certificate which he had obtained at St. Louis, also turned thief on the occasion. We had not got out of the sight of these depredators, before another fellow came after us on the run, in order to claim my horse, insisting that it was his, and I could no way satisfy his unfounded demand, but by giving him one of my blankets.

Mr. Lee, as he descended, now observed two men on the shore, who hid themselves at his approach, and began to follow him as secretly as possible. They continued after us all the remainder of the day, till dark. We knew not whether they intended to kill or to rob us; and, endeavouring to elude their pursuit, we kept on in the night, amidst the horrors of a thunder storm, the most gloomy and disagreeable situation I ever experienced in my life. In consequence also of the quicksands and the darkness, it was with the utmost difficulty that I could urge my horse to take the river, which it was necessary repeatedly to cross. In one of these attempts, both myself and it were on the point of being buried before we {210} could extricate ourselves. Dressed in leather, I came out of the water drenched and shivering, almost ready to perish with cold. After some persuasion, I prevailed upon Lee to kindle me a handful of fire, by which I lay alone for two or three hours, amidst the dreary howling of wolves, Mr. Lee not wishing to trust himself near such a beacon. Nothing, however, further molested us, and, after cooking and eating a portion of a fat buck elk, which my companion had contrived to kill in the midst of our flight, we continued our journey by the light of the moon. After proceeding about 20 miles farther down the Arkansa, unable to keep up with Lee and his boat, at noon we agreed to part. I took with me some small pieces of the boiled elk, with a portion also uncooked, and furnished myself, as I thought, with the means of obtaining fire, but, when evening arrived, I was greatly mortified to find all my attempts to obtain this necessary element abortive. My gun was also become useless, all the powder having got wet by last night’s adventure.

14th.] Fatigued with the sand-beaches, as hot and cheerless as the African deserts, I left the banks of the river; and, after travelling with extreme labour through horrible thickets for three miles, in which the _Ambrosias_ were far higher than my head on horseback, I, at length, arrived amongst woody hills, and a few miles further came out, to my great satisfaction, into the open prairies, from whence, in an elevated situation, I immediately recognised the Verdigris river. At night, though late, I arrived on its wide alluvial lands, lined with such an impenetrable thicket, that I did not attain the bank, and had to lie down alone, in the rank weeds, amidst musquetoes, without fire, food, or water, as the meat with which I had been provided was raw, and spoiled by the worms.

{211} 15th.] With all the advantage of day-light, it was still difficult to penetrate through the thicket, and ford the river. Towards evening, I again arrived at the trading establishment of Mr. Bougie, an asylum, which probably, at this time, rescued me from death. My feet and legs were so swelled, in consequence of weakness and exposure to extreme heat and cold, that it was necessary to cut off my pantaloons, and at night both my hands and feet were affected by the most violent cramp.

I remained about a week with Mr. Bougie, in a very feeble state, again visited by fever, and a kind of horrific delirium, which perpetually dwelt upon the scene of past sufferings. I now took the opportunity of descending to the garrison with an engagée, but continued in a state of great debility, my hands and feet still violently and frequently affected with spasms.

In about five days slow descending, from the feebleness of my invalid companion, we arrived at the garrison.

The Indian councils now pending betwixt the Osages and Cherokees filled the fort with a disagreeable bustle.[206] The Osages, according to the stipulation of the treaty signed at St. Louis, were assembled to receive their prisoners from the hands of the Cherokees. The captives, chiefly female, were, however, kept back, and they wished to retain them on the score of adoption. Tálai and Clarmont insisted on their compliance with the treaty; and the government agents now ordered the Cherokees to produce the prisoners in 10 days. The 11th day, however, arrived without any appearance of the Cherokees, excepting five of their hunters. The chiefs of the Osages were exceedingly mortified. Captain Prior told them to demand of the commander the liberty of seizing upon the five Cherokees in the fort as hostages. To this the chief, called the Mad Buffalo, objected, saying, “if we take these Cherokee prisoners {212} to our village, the warriors, and those who expected the return of their own people, would say, who are these strangers and enemies? we wanted our own captives, not Cherokees, and so they would instantly kill them.”

In the evening the Osage chiefs left the fort, and proceeded towards their village; but next morning the Cherokees began to assemble, and the Osages were sent for to receive their prisoners, now arrived. Tálai and Clarmont sent the lesser chiefs, and remained behind, but the Cherokees insisted on the presence of the whole, and after a second message they came as desired.

Tikitok,[207] one of the principal Cherokees, a very old and venerable looking man, presided on the occasion, and every appearance of friendship and satisfaction, accompanied by the usual smoking, prevailed on either side. The prisoners, after some little talk, were now produced, and given up according to the treaty. There was, however, a chief sitting next to Tikitok, who undertook to propose, that the prisoners should be permitted to use their own will, and go to either party as they should chuse, but this unfair and equivocating proposal was not made known to the Osages, some private conversation with the Cherokees putting a stop to it. It appeared that, in the interval of captivity, one of the young women had contracted marriage with a Cherokee of her own age. Their parting was a scene of sorrow; the Cherokee promised to go to the village, and ask her of her father, she also plead with the chiefs to stay, but Clarmont, unmoved by her tears and entreaties, answered, “your father and mother lament you; it is your duty to go and see them. If the Cherokee loves you, he will not forget to come for you.” In this way terminated the treaty of peace between the Osages and Cherokees, in September, 1819.[208]

FOOTNOTES:

[203] This river is now known as the Cimarron. A smaller stream, some distance above, is alone properly called Salt Fork of the Arkansas. The two waterways and their names were long confused. Among the tributaries of the Arkansas from the west, the Cimarron is second only to the Canadian in size. It rises in the mountains of New Mexico.--ED.

[204] Now known as Deep Fork.--ED.

[205] Lieutenant Wilkinson reported (1807) that the Cimarron, which he called the Grand Saline, was potable at all seasons, its name being derived from the salt upon the banks. See Coues, _Expeditions of Z. M. Pike_, p. 556.--ED.

[206] See _ante_, note 155.--ED.

[207] Tikitok (or Tikatok) was one of the chiefs whose leadership dated from the death of Tallantusky (see _ante_, note 148). His village was situated on the lower of the streams called Illinois.--ED.

[208] Since this period, as might readily be foreseen, hostilities have again commenced between these restless and warlike tribes, who can perhaps never be prevailed upon to live in friendship, as they will be perpetually transgressing each other’s hunting bounds. At a very recent date (1821), 400 Osage warriors appeared before the garrison of Belle Point, on their way against the Cherokees, accompanied by a party of the Sauks and Fox Indians, and killed four Quapaws hunting in the neighbourhood. Such is the effect of the imprudent and visionary policy of crowding the natives together, in the hopes of keeping them at peace.--NUTTALL.

{213} CHAPTER XV

Proceed from the garrison to the Pecannerie settlement--Hot-springs of the Washita--Phenomena of the seasons.

In consequence of sickness, and an extreme debility, which deprived me of the pleasure of my usual excursions, I remained at the garrison until the 16th of October. A nervous fever had now for ever separated me from the agreeable company of Dr. Russel, and amongst my associates in affliction were numbered two missionaries, who had intended to proceed to the Osages. One of them, (Mr. Viner), after the attacks of a lingering fever, paid the debt of nature.

From July to October, the ague and bilious fever spread throughout the territory in a very unusual manner. Connected apparently with these diseases, was one of an extraordinary character. It commenced by slight chills, and was succeeded by a fever, attended with unremitting vomitings, accompanied with blood, and bloody fœces. Ejecting all medicine, it became next to impossible to administer internal relief. The paroxysms, attended with excruciating pain, took place every other day, similar to the common intermittent. One of the soldiers who descended with us, was afflicted in this way for the space of six days, after which he recovered. On the intermitting days he appeared perfectly easy, and possessed a strong and craving appetite. I was credibly informed {214} that not less than 100 of the Cherokees, settled contiguous to the banks of the Arkansa, died this season of the bilious fever.

On the 3d of November, I at length got down in a perogue of the garrison as far as Major Wilborne’s in the Pecannerie settlement. Here, though the bilious fever and ague had been unusually prevalent, no instance of mortality had taken place.

In this settlement there was a succession of heavy rains down to the month of September. Above, we had experienced no rain beyond the month of June. Perhaps the unusual prevalence of rain, on the banks of the Arkansa, might have been conducive to the extraordinary sickness of this season. As a proof of the locality of this rain, the river was now so exceedingly low, that no boats drawing more than 10 or 12 inches of water could possibly navigate it from the Dardanelles to the Verdigris. All along the banks, the clay and pebbles of the beaches were whitened with an efflorescence of salt (muriate of soda), deposited from the water of the red freshes. We also remarked that all the sandstone rocks, scattered confusedly on the borders of the river, blacken by exposure, and assume a metallic tinge, probably arising from an admixture of manganese.

The Pecannerie, now the most considerable settlement in the territory, except Arkansas, derived its name from the Pecan nut-trees (_Carya olivæformis_), with which its forests abound; in a few years it will probably form a county, containing at this time about 60 families, all, in regard to circumstances, living in a state of ignorance and mediocrity of fortune: many of them indeed were renegadoes from justice who had fled from honest society, to seek refuge in these fertile alluvial forests, where, indulging themselves in indolence, they become the pest of their more industrious and honest neighbours, and are encouraged in their dishonest practices by the laxity of the laws, and {215} the imperfect manner in which they are administered. Thus the settlement was now oppressed by gangs of horse thieves, who carried their depredations even among the neighbouring savages.

The soil throughout this settlement, after three or four years working, is found to be extremely favourable for the growth of cotton, as appeared by the crops of the present year, but the price was fallen to 3 dollars per cwt. in the seed, with little or no demand, so that the settlers, for want of a market, were really indigent, and most of them lived in a very poor and uncomfortable manner. The alluvial lands, here about two miles wide, are flanked by a range of wooded hills, and a somewhat broken country of considerable fertility.

A number of families were now about to settle, or rather take provisionary possession of the land purchased from the Osages, situated along the banks of the Arkansa, from Frog bayou to the falls of the Verdigris; a tract in which is embraced a great body of superior alluvial land. But, to their disappointment, an order recently arrived, instructing the agent of Indian affairs to put the Cherokees in possession of the Osage purchase, and to remove them from the south side of the river. It appeared, from what I could learn, that the Osages, purposely deceived by the interpreter, at the instigation of the Shoutous, had hatched up a treaty without the actual authority of the chiefs, so that in the present state of things a war betwixt the Cherokees and the Osages is almost inevitable, unless the latter relinquish the banks of the Arkansa, as Messrs. Shoutou wish them. The Osages in a recent council said, they would have no objection to dispose of their lands, provided the whites only were allowed to settle upon them.[209]

* * * * *

I understand that the hot springs of the Washita are situated about a mile from that river, contiguous to the {216} bank of a brook. At the springs, a ridge of between five and six hundred feet, from whence smoke had been seen to issue, appears, by the massive rocks that fill this stream, to have been broken through, or undermined by its torrents. Many thermal springs, besides those employed by visitors, are seen boiling out of the side of the hill, and mingling with the cool water of the brook. The principal fountain, issuing from amidst huge masses of black rocks, apparently bituminous and calcareous slate in thick laminæ, has a stream of near a foot in diameter at its orifice, and hot enough to boil eggs or fish; a steam arises from it as from water in a state of ebullition, attended with a considerable discharge of bubbles. It is only after mixing with the cool water of the brook, at some distance from this spring, that it becomes of a temperature in which it is possible to bathe. There is, however, a kind of rude inclosure made around the spring, as a steam bath, which often probably debilitates, and injures the health of ignorant and emaciated patients. Major Long,[210] who visited these springs in the month of January, found their temperature to vary from 86° to 150° of Fahrenheit. Hunter and Dunbar[211] ascertained the temperature of five different springs, to be at 150°, 154°, 140°, 136°, and 132°. The water, as near Onondago, in the state of New York, at the tepid baths of Natlock in Derbyshire, and in many parts of Italy, charged with an excess of carbonic acid, holding lime in solution, deposits a calcareous tufa, which incrusts leaves, moss, or any other substance which it meets in its course, to the great surprise of the ignorant, who commonly pronounce them petrifactions. Indeed, the exploring party of the Washita assert, that a mass of calcareous rock, 100 feet perpendicular, had been produced by this aqueous deposition. Eruptions of argillaceous mud in small quantities have also been observed, which in time become considerably indurated.

{217} Among the more remarkable features of the autumnal season in this country, is the aspect of the atmosphere, which in all directions appears so filled with smoke, as often to render an object obscure at the distance of 100 yards. The south-west winds at this season are often remarkably hazy, but here the effect is greatly augmented by the burning of the surrounding prairies, annually practised by the savages and whites, for the benefit of the hunt, as the ground is thus cleared of a heavy crop of withered grass, prepared for an early vegetation in the succeeding spring, and also assisted in its growth by the stimulating effects of the alkaline ashes. Indeed, ever since the beginning of September, the prairies had appeared yellow and withered, with a prevailing mass of dying vegetation. The autumnal Asters and Solidagos, are but a faint gleam of the mid-summer splendour of these flowery meadows. Throughout this territory, there are no grasses nor other vegetables of consequence in agriculture (except the cane), which retain their verdure beyond the close of September. ’Tis true, that in the sheltered alluvions, verdure may be protracted, and it is here that the cattle, left to nature, now seek their food, and, as the winter advances, finally repair to the sempervirent cane brake. That delightful and refreshing verdure one naturally expects to see in a garden, regales not the eye of the Arkansa farmer beyond the vegetating period assigned by nature. From the month of September to February (except in the lowest and richest alluvions), every enclosure, in common with the prairies, appears a dreary waste of withered herbage, with the exception of the biennial turnip, the radish, and the cabbage, which still retain their freshness. The month of February, however, scarcely closes before vegetation again commences, and the natural meadows, thickets, and alluvions, in March, are already enamelled with the flowers of May.

{218} The aridity of the autumnal atmosphere, which becomes more and more sensible as we advance towards the west, or recede from the ocean, may be perceived to modify many of the natural productions of the country, and deserves to be studied by those who reside on the spot. Amongst the _Cucurbitaceæ_, every species of melon, which attain such enormous bulk and perfection east of the Mississippi, are here often of diminutive size, notwithstanding the heat of the climate; and by the increasing dryness of the air, the plants, full of young fruit, wither and prematurely die. The diminution of the forest, and at length its total disappearance, is also, in all probability, attributable to the same source of infertility.

The natural phenomena of the seasons appear no less corroborative of a distinction of climate betwixt the eastern and western territories. From the Pecannerie settlement eastward, heavy rains were experienced for most part of the summer down to the beginning of September; while from the garrison upwards, scarcely any rain except the slightest flying showers had fallen since the month of June. It might, indeed, be reasonably conjectured, that the further any country was removed from the ocean, the great reservoir of rains, and the more it was elevated above that level, the more it would have to depend upon the winter or rainy season for irrigation; and that, in such a country, rain can hardly be expected in the summer, especially if the temperature be elevated. Facts bear out these conjectures, for the higher we ascend toward the great platform of the Andes, the more arid becomes the climate; and at length, approaching the mountains, nothing is to be seen but a barren and desert region, tantalized with numerous streams, which flow only in the winter, and then with such force and velocity, as to tear up frightful ravines, and, sweeping away thousands of acres of friable materials, which to a considerable depth constitute the more ancient {219} incumbent soil, leave behind, upon the denuded plains, colossal masses insulated in the most fantastic forms, so as to appear like piles of artificial ruins. Such is the appearance of the saline plains of the Arkansa, and many extensive tracts towards the sources of the Missouri, from Fort Mandan westward to the basis of the Northern Andes.

FOOTNOTES:

[209] The Osage purchase referred to was made at St. Louis, September 25, 1818. Frog Bayou is a few miles below Fort Smith. The tract lay on the north side of the Arkansas, and was sixty miles wide at the eastern line. By the word “Shoutous,” Nuttall means to designate the Chouteaus, French fur-traders at St. Louis.--ED.

[210] For sketch of Major Stephen H. Long, see preface to volume xiv of our series.--ED.

[211] In the autumn of 1804 President Jefferson sent a party under Sir William Dunbar (see Cuming’s _Tour_, in our volume iv, note 209), to explore the Ouachita. Dunbar, a Scotchman (1740–1810) who had come to the United States before the Revolutionary War, had after various business ventures at Philadelphia, Pittsburg, and Baton Rouge, settled near Natchez on a plantation. He was a scientist of considerable note; the _Transactions_ of the American Philosophical Society at Philadelphia, of which he was a member, contain various contributions from his pen.

Dr. Hunter was Dunbar’s assistant on the Ouachita journey. Their “Observations” were transmitted to Congress with Jefferson’s message of February 19, 1806.--ED.