of our encampment of last evening, the high peak at the head of
the Arkansa was still visible when we passed this morning. From a
computation of our courses and distances we find we cannot, according
to our estimate, be less than one hundred and thirty miles distant
from its base; but the air at this time happened to be remarkably
clear, and our elevation above the common level of the plain
considerable. By referring to Pike's "Journal of a Voyage to the
Sources of the Arkansa," it will be seen that this peak is the most
prominent and conspicuous feature in a great extent of the surrounding
country. "It is indeed so remarkable as to be known to all the savage
nations for hundreds of miles around, and to be spoken of with
admiration by the Spaniards of New Mexico, and was the bounds of their
travels north-west. Indeed, in our wanderings in the mountains, it was
never out of sight, except when in a valley, from the 14th of November
to the 27th of January."[48]
{267} Notwithstanding this representation, and the fact that the peak
in question was seen by ourselves at the distance of one hundred
and thirty miles, we are inclined to the opinion, that in point of
elevation, it falls far below many portions of the interior ridges of
the mountains which are visible from its summit, and from the plains
of the Platte, and that it is by standing a little detached from the
principal group of the mountains, it acquires a great portion of the
imposing grandeur of its appearance.
In the forenoon of this day we passed some tracts of grey sandstone;
having, however, met with several inconsiderable conic hills belonging
to that interesting formation, called by the disciples of Werner,[49]
the fletz trap rocks. We perceived before us a striking change in
aspect and conformation of the surface. Instead of the wearisome
uniformity, the low and pointless ridges which mark the long tract
of horizontal sandstone we had passed, we had now the prospect
of a country varied by numerous continued ranges of lofty hills,
interspersed with insulated cone-like piles, and irregular masses of
every variety of magnitude and position. This scenery is not to be
compared in point of grandeur with the naked and towering majesty of
the great chain of the Andes, which we had lately left, but in its kind
it is of uncommon beauty. The hills, though often abrupt and high,
are sometimes smooth and grassy to their summits, having a surface,
unbroken by a single rock or tree, large enough to be seen at the
distance of a mile.
At noon we halted near the base of a hill of this description. It is
of green stone, and the sandrock on which it rests is disclosed at
the bottom of a ravine which commences near the foot of the hill.
This latter rock is of a slaty structure, and embraces narrow beds
of bituminous clay slate, which contains pieces of charcoal, or the
carbonised remains of vegetables, in every possible respect resembling
the charcoal {268} produced by the process of combustion in the open
air. In the ravines and over the surface of the soil we observed masses
of a light porous reddish-brown substance, greatly resembling that
which is so often seen floating down the Missouri, and has by some been
considered a product of pseudo-volcanic fires, said to exist on the
upper branches of that river.[50] We also saw some porphyritic masses
with a basis of greenstone, containing crystals of felspar.
In the afternoon several magpies, shore larks, and cow buntings were
seen. One of the cow buntings followed us five or six miles, alighting
on the ground, near the foremost of our line, and within a few paces
of our horses' feet, where he stood gazing at the horses until all had
passed him, when he again flew forward to the front, repeating the same
movement many times in succession.
We had now arrived near that part of the country, where, according to
the information of the Kaskaia, we expected to find the remarkable
saline spring from which we were told the Indians often procured large
masses of salt. The Kaskaia had, by the aid of a map traced in the
sand, given us a minute account of the situation of the spring and of
the surrounding country, stating that the salt existed in masses at the
bottom of a basin-like cavity, which contained about four and a half
feet of reddish water. Thus far we had not found a single feature of
the country to correspond in the slightest degree to his descriptions,
and as we had been careful to follow the general direction of the
course he pointed out to us, it was probably his intention to deceive.
Our course, which was a little east of south, led us across several
extensive valleys, having a thin dark coloured soil, closely covered
with grasses, and strewed with fragments of greenstone. Descending
towards evening into a broad and deep valley, we {269} found ourselves
again immured between walls of grey sandstone, similar in elevation
and all other particulars to those which limit the valley of Purgatory
Creek. It was not until considerable search had been made, that we
discovered a place where it was possible to effect the descent, which
was at length accomplished, not without danger to the life and limbs of
ourselves and horses. The area of the valley was covered with a sandy
soil. Here we again saw the great cylindric cactus, the cucumis, and
other plants common to the sandy districts, but rarely found in the
scanty soils of the fletz trap formation. Pursuing our way along this
valley, we arrived towards evening at an inconsiderable stream[51] of
transparent and nearly pure water, descending along a narrow channel
paved with black and shapeless masses of amygdaloidal and imperfectly
porphyritic greenstone. This was the first stream we had for a long
time seen traversing rocks of the secondary formation, whose waters
were free of an impregnation of muriate of soda and other salts.
From the very considerable magnitude of the valley, and the quantity
of water in the creek, it is reasonable to infer that its sources
were distant at least twenty miles to the west, and the purity and
transparency of its waters afford sufficient evidence that it flows
principally from a surface of trap rocks.
Having crossed the creek with some difficulty, we halted on its bank
to set up our tent, and prepare ourselves for a thunder shower, which
was already commencing. After the rain, the sky became clear, and the
sun, which was near setting, gilded with its radiance the dripping
foliage of a cluster of oaks and poplars, which stood near our tent.
The grassy plain, acquiring an unwonted verdure from the shower, and
gemmed with the reflection of innumerable pendant rain-drops, disclosed
here and there a conic pile, or a solitary fragment of black and porous
amygdaloid. The thinly-wooded banks of the creek {270} resounded to
the loud notes of the robin, and the more varied and melodious song
of the mocking-bird; the stern features of nature, which we had long
contemplated with a feeling almost of terror, seemed to relax into a
momentary smile to cheer us on our toilsome journey.
On the morning of the 29th, our course (S. 35° E.) brought us at the
distance of three miles from our camp, to the foot of the cliff which
separates the valley from the high plain. This mural barrier has an
elevation of about two hundred feet, and is impassable, except at
particular points, where it is broken by ravines. One of these we were
fortunate in finding, without being compelled to deviate greatly from
our course, and climbing its rugged declivity, we emerged upon the
broad expanse of the high plain. Turning with a sort of involuntary
motion towards the west, we again caught a view of the distant summits
of the Andes appearing on the verge of our horizon. The scene before
us was beautifully varied with smooth valleys, high conic hills,
and irregular knobs, scattered in every direction as far as the eye
could comprehend. Among these singular eminences nothing could be
perceived like a continuous unbroken range. Most of them stand entirely
isolated; others in groups and ranges, but all are distinct hills,
with unconnected bases. The surface of the country generally, and more
especially in the immediate vicinity of these hills, is strewed with
fragments of compact or porphyritic greenstone. These are, in some
places, accumulated in such quantities as render the passing extremely
difficult.
At half-past eleven, A. M., a violent storm, with high and
cold wind, came on from the north-east, and continued for two hours.
Soon after its commencement we halted to dine, but were unable to
find a spot affording wood until so much rain had fallen as to wet our
clothing and baggage. Fire was almost the only comfort we could now
command, our {271} provisions being so nearly exhausted, that about an
ounce of jerked bison meat was all that could be allowed each man for
his dinner.
The rain ceasing, we again resumed our journey, but had not proceeded
far when we were overtaken by a second storm from the north-east, still
more violent than the first, and attended with such pelting hail that
our horses refused to proceed in any direction except that of the wind,
so that rather than suffer ourselves to be carried off our course, we
were compelled to halt, and sit patiently upon our horses; opposing
our backs to the storm, we waited for its violence to abate. As soon
as the hail ceased we moved on, the water pouring in streams from our
mockasins and every part of our dress. The rain continued until dark,
when, being unable to find wood, and having no occasion for water, we
halted, and without the delay of cooking supper, or eating it, we set
up our tent, and piled ourselves together under it in the most social
manner possible. During the day the mercury had fallen from 70° to
47°, indicating a change of temperature, which was the more severely
felt, as we were hungry, wet, and much fatigued. As we had neither dry
clothing or blankets, we could find no other method of restoring the
warmth to our benumbed bodies than by placing them together in the
least possible compass. We spent a cheerless night, in the course of
which Mr. Peale experienced an alarming attack of a spasmodic affection
of the stomach, induced probably by cold and inanition. He was somewhat
relieved by the free use of opium and whiskey.
30th. We left our comfortless camp at an early hour on the ensuing
morning, and traversing a wide plain strewed with fragments of
greenstone, amygdaloid, and the vesicular substance already mentioned
as the pumice-stone of Bradbury, we arrived in the middle of the day in
the sight of a creek, which, like all the watercourses of this region,
{272} is situated at the bottom of a deep and almost inaccessible
valley. With the customary difficulty and danger, we at length found
our way down to the stream, and encamped.
We were much concerned, but by no means surprised, to discover that
our horses were rapidly failing under the severe services they were
now made to perform. We had been often compelled to encamp without a
sufficiency of grass, and the rocky travelling, to which we had for
some time accustomed them, was wearing out and destroying their hoofs.
Several were becoming lame, and all much exhausted and weakened.
Verplank, our faithful and indefatigable hunter, was so fortunate as to
kill a black-tailed deer at a distance from our course. A horse was,
however, sent for the remainder of the meat, Verplank having brought
the greater part of it on his shoulders; and we once more enjoyed the
luxury of a full meal.
In the course of the day we saw several antelopes, all more wild and
shy than those between the Pawnee villages and the Missouri. Also a few
wild horses, but it was easy to see that all the animals inhabiting
this portion of the country had been accustomed to be hunted. Few
traces of bison, either old or recent, were to be seen. From these
facts we inferred that we were now on the frontiers of some permanent
settlement, either of Spaniards or Indians.
{273} CHAPTER IV {XI}
Sufferings of the Party from Stormy Weather and Want of
Provisions--Indications of an Approach towards Settlements--Inscribed
Rock--Cervus Macrotis--Volcanic Origin of Amygdaloid.
The valley in which we halted, is narrow and bounded on both sides
by cliffs of greenstone, having manifestly a tendency to columnar or
polyhedral structure. It falls readily into large prismatic masses,
but obstinately resists that further progress of disintegration which
must take place before it can be removed by the water. For this reason
the valley is much obstructed by fallen masses retaining their angular
form, and little intermixed with soil. The common choke cherry, and the
yellow and black currants, are almost the only woody plants met with in
this valley.
The stream which may be supposed to exist in it for a part of the year
at least, but which was now dry, runs towards the south-east. Having
arrived at that part of the country which has by common consent been
represented to contain the sources of the Red river of Louisiana,
we were induced, by the general inclination of the surface of the
country and the direction of this creek, to consider it as one of those
sources; and accordingly resolved to descend along its course, hoping
it might soon conduct us to a country abounding in game, and presenting
fewer obstacles to our progress than that in which we now were. Our
sufferings from the want of provisions, and from the late storm, had
given us a little distaste for prolonging farther than was necessary
our journey towards the south-west. And our horses {274} failing so
rapidly, that we did not now believe they would hold out to bring us
to the settlements by the nearest and easiest route.[52]
The country between the sources of Purgatory creek and the stream on
which we were now encamped, is a wide and elevated formation of trap
rocks, resting upon horizontal sandstone. It has a loose and scanty
soil, in which sand, gravel, and rolled pebbles are rarely seen, except
in the vicinity of some parts where the sandstone appears to have been
uncovered by the action of currents of water. In traversing it we had
collected many new and interesting plants. Among these were a large
decumbent mentzelia, an unarmed rubus, with species of astragalus,
pentstemon, myosotis, helianthus, &c. Beside the common purslane, one
of the most frequent plants about the mountains, we had observed on
the Arkansa a smaller species, remarkably pilose about the axils of
the leaves, which are also narrower than in P. oleracea. A very small
cuscuta also occurs almost exclusively parasitic on the common purslane.
July 31st. In attempting to descend the creek from our last encampment,
we found the valley so obstructed with fragments of greenstone as to
be wholly impassable. We accordingly ascended into the plain; and
continuing along on the brink of the precipice, arrived in a few hours
at a point where the substratum of sandstone emerges to light at the
base of an inconsiderable hill. It is a fine gray sandstone, having
an argillaceous cement, and its lamina are so nearly horizontal,
that their inclination is not manifest to the eye. It is smooth and
fissile, and in every respect remarkably contrasted to the massive and
imperfectly columnar greenstone which it supports.
The greenstone of this district is not universally characterized by any
tinge of green in the colouring, but often, as in the instance of which
we are speaking, its colour is some shade of gray, varying from light
{275} gray to grayish black. The hornblende and felspar which enter
into its composition, are minutely and intimately blended. Its minute
structure is rarely, if ever distinctly crystalline; most frequently it
is compact, and the fracture nearly even.
The hunters were kept constantly forward of the party, and in the
course of the morning they killed a small fawn and a heron. At one
o'clock we arrived at the confluence of a creek tributary from the east
to the stream we were following, and descending into its valley by a
precipitous declivity of about four hundred feet, we encamped for the
remainder of the day. This valley is bounded by perpendicular cliffs of
sandstone, surmounted by extensive beds of greenstone. The fragments of
the latter have fallen down into the valley, and being less perishable
than the sandstone, they constitute the greater part of the _débris_
accumulated along the base of the cliffs.
The sand-rock, which in some places is exposed in perpendicular
precipices, is soft and friable, being very readily scratched with
the point of a knife, and has been rudely inscribed, probably by the
Indians, with emblematic figures commemorative of some past event.
Several of the figures intended to represent men are distinguished by
the sign of the cross inscribed near the head; some are represented
smoking, and some leading horses, from which we infer, that the
inscriptions are intended to commemorate some peaceful meeting of the
Indians with the Spaniards of N. Mexico for the purposes of trade,
when horses were either given as presents or bartered for other
articles. Some meeting of this kind has probably happened here at no
very distant period, as corn cobs were found near our encampment. From
this circumstance it would appear, that the distance to the Spanish
settlements cannot be very great.
Mr. Peale, who had been unwell since the cold storm of the 28th, now
found some relief in the {276} opening of an abscess which had formed
upon his jaw. As several of our horses had been lamed in descending
into the valley, and by the rough journey of the preceding day, it was
thought necessary to allow ourselves a day of rest. Since arriving in
the country inhabited by the hitherto undescribed animal called the
black-tailed or mule deer, we had been constantly attentive to the
important object of procuring a complete specimen for preservation and
description. Hitherto, though several had been killed, none had been
brought to camp possessing all the characters of the perfect animal.
Supposing we should soon pass beyond their range, a reward had been
offered to the hunter who should kill and bring to camp an entire and
full-grown buck.
Verplank killed one of this description, on the afternoon of the 1st
of August, near enough our camp to call for assistance, and bring it
in whole. They did not arrive until dark, and we had such pressing
necessity for the flesh of the animal, that we could not defer dressing
it until the next morning. The dimensions were accordingly taken, and
a drawing made by Mr. Peale, the requisite light being furnished by a
large fire. Verplank informed us, that in company with the buck which
he killed, were five does, two of the common red deer, (C. virginianus)
and three of the other kind.[53]
We observed about this camp, a yellow-flowering sensitive plant,
apparently a congener to the saw-brier, (schrankia uncinata) of the
Platte and Arkansa. Its leaves are twice pinnated, and manifestly
irritable. We also added to our collection, two new species of gaura,
smaller than G. mollis, which is also found here.
Several rattle-snakes were seen, and many orbicular lizards. These are
evidently of two different species, differing from each other in the
length of the spines and position of the nostrils. Scarce any two of
either species are precisely similar in colour, but the markings are
permanent. Both species possess, in a slight {277} degree, the power of
varying the shades of colour. We can find no conspicuous difference,
marking the different sexes in the species with long spines; the other
we have not had sufficient opportunity to examine.
Wednesday, August 2d. The rain which had fallen during great part
of the preceding day and night, had considerably raised the water in
the small creek on which we were encamped. At sunrise we collected
our horses and proceeded down the valley, the direction of our course
south, 30° east. At the distance of two or three miles we found the
valley much expanded in width, and observed a conspicuous change in the
sandstone precipices which bound it. This change is the occurrence of
a second variety of sand-rock, appearing along the base of the cliff,
and supporting the slaty argillaceous stratum already described. These
rocks have precisely the same position relative to each other, and
nearly the same aggregate elevation, as the two very similar varieties
observed in the valley of Purgatory creek; indeed, the conclusion that
they are the continuation of the same strata as appeared similarly
exposed in that valley, can scarcely be avoided. The lowermost, or red
sand-rock, is here very friable and coarse. Its prevailing colour is a
yellowish grey or light brown. It is often made up almost exclusively
of large rounded particles of white or transparent quartz, united
by a scanty cement, which usually contains lime, and sometimes, but
not always, oxide of iron. In some instances the cement seems to be
wanting. Its stratifications are very indistinct compared to those of
the gray sandstone, and like them disposed horizontally.
On entering the wider part of the valley, we perceived before us,
insulated in the middle of the plain, an immense circular elevation,
rising nearly to the level of the surface of the sandstone table,
and apparently inaccessible upon all sides. On its summit {278} is a
level area of several acres, bearing a few cedar bushes, probably the
habitation of birds only.
Leaving this, we passed three others in succession similar to it in
character, but more elevated and remarkable. Of one of them, Mr. Peale
has preserved a drawing. After passing the last of these, the hills
ceased abruptly, and we found ourselves once more entering a vast
unvaried plain of sand. The bed of the creek had become much wider,
but its water had disappeared. Meeting at length with a stagnant pool,
we halted to dine, but found the water more bitter and nauseous than
that of the ocean. As it could neither be used for cooking or to drink,
we made but a short halt, dining on a scanty allowance of roasted
venison, which we ate without bread, salt, water, or any thing else.
Some fragments of amygdaloid were strewed along the bed of the stream,
but we saw no more of that rock, or of the other members of the fletz
trap formation in place. They may extend far towards the south-west,
but of this we have no conclusive evidence. The aspect of these rocks,
particularly of the amygdaloid or toad stone, is so peculiar, and its
disposition so remarkably dissimilar to that of the sandstones with
which it is associated, that nothing seems more natural than that it
should be referred to a different origin.
In the midst of one of the violent storms we encountered in passing
this trap formation, we crossed the point of a long and inconsiderable
elevated ridge of amygdaloid, so singularly disposed as to suggest
to every one of the party the idea that the mass had once been in a
fluid state; and that, when in that state, it had formed a current,
descending along the bed of a narrow ravine, which it now occupied,
conforming to all the sinuosities and inequalities of the valley, as
a column of semifluid matter would do. Its substance was penetrated
with numerous vasicular cavities, which were observed to be elongated
in the direction of the ridge. Its colour is nearly {279} black, and
when two masses are rubbed together, they yield a smell somewhat like
the soot of a chimney. These appearances are so remarkable, that it
is not at all surprising these rocks should have been considered of
volcanic origin; and it is this supposition unquestionably from which
has originated the statement contained in the late map of the United
States by Mellish,[54] that the district about the sources of Red river
is occupied by volcanic rocks; the information having probably been
derived from the accounts of hunters.
The valleys which penetrate into the sandstone supporting these
trap rocks, have usually a sandy soil, while that of the more
elevated portions, though inconsiderable in quantity, is not sandy
nor intermixed with pebbles or gravel. Among the few scattered and
scrubby trees met with in this district, are oaks, willows, and the
cotton-wood; also a most interesting shrub or small tree, rising
sometimes to the height of twelve or fourteen feet. It has dioecious
flowers, and produces a leguminous fruit, making in several particulars
a near approach to gladitschia; from which, however, it is sufficiently
distinguished by the form of the legume, which is long and nearly
cylindric, and by the seeds, which are enclosed in separate cells,
immersed in a saccharine pulp, but easily detached from the valves
of the legume. In these particulars it discovers an affinity to the
tamarind of the West Indies. The legume or pod, which is from six
to ten inches long, and near half an inch in diameter, contains a
considerable quantity of a sugar-like pulp, very grateful to the
taste when ripe. The leaves are pinnated, and the trunk beset with
spines, somewhat like the honey locust, but the spines are simple.
Our Spanish interpreter informs us, that it is found about Monterrey,
and other parts of the internal provinces, where it must have been
noticed by Humboldt, but we have not been able to have access to his
account of it. In the afternoon we travelled {280} thirteen miles,
descending along the valley in a south-east direction. We extended our
ride farther than we had wished, finding no suitable place to encamp.
After sunset we found a small puddle of stagnant water in the bed of
the creek, which, though extremely impure, was not as bitter as that
near which we halted in the middle of the day. Neither wood nor bison
dung could be found, so that being unable to kindle a fire, we were
compelled to rest satisfied with the eighth part of a sea biscuit each
for supper, that being the utmost our supplies would allow. In the
afternoon one of our hunters had killed a badger; this was all the game
we had, and this we were compelled to reserve until we could make a
fire to cook it.
Thursday, 3d. Little delay was occasioned by our preparations for
breakfast. The fourth part of a biscuit, which had been issued to each
man on the preceding evening, and which was to furnish both supper and
breakfast, would have required little time had all of it remained to
be eaten, which was not the case. We were becoming somewhat impatient
on account of thirst, having met with no water which we could drink
for near twenty-four hours; accordingly, getting upon our horses at an
early hour, we moved down the valley, passing an extensive tract, whose
soil is a loose red sand, intermixed with gravel and small pebbles,
and producing nothing but a few sunflowers and sand cherries, still
unripe. While we should remain upon a soil of this description, we
could scarcely expect to meet with water or wood, for both of which
we began to feel the most urgent necessity; and as the prospect of the
country before us promised no change, it is not surprising we should
have felt a degree of anxiety and alarm, which, added to our sufferings
from hunger and thirst, made our situation extremely unpleasant. We
had travelled great part of the day enveloped in a burning atmosphere,
sometimes letting fall upon {281} us the scorching particles of sand,
which had been raised by the wind, sometimes almost suffocating by its
entire stagnation, when we had the good fortune to meet with a pool
of stagnant water, which, though muddy and brackish, was not entirely
impotable, and afforded us a more welcome treat than it is in the power
of abundance to supply. Here was also a little wood, and our badger,
with the addition of a young owl, was very hastily cooked and eaten.
Numbers of cow buntings had been seen a little before we arrived at
this encampment, flying so familiarly about the horses that the men
killed several with their whips.
August 4th. We were still passing through a barren and desolate region,
affording no game, and nearly destitute of wood and water. Its soil
is evidently the detritus of a stratum of red sandstone and coarse
conglomeratic, which is still the basis and prevailing rock. It appears
to contain a considerable proportion of lime, and fragments of plaster
stone and selenite are often seen intermixed with it.
Our morning's ride of sixteen miles brought us to a place where the
water of the river emerges to view, rising to the surface of that bed
of sand beneath which it had been concealed for a distance of more
than one hundred miles. The stream is still very inconsiderable in
magnitude; the water brackish, and holds suspended so large a quantity
of red earth as to give it the colour of florid blood. The general
direction of its course inclining still towards the south-east, we were
now induced to believe it must be one of the most considerable of the
upper tributaries of Red river. A circumstance tending to confirm this
opinion was our falling in with a large and much frequented Indian
trace, crossing the creek from the west, and following down along the
east bank. This trace consisted of more than twenty parallel paths, and
bore sufficient marks of having been recently travelled, affording an
explanation of {282} the cause of the alarming scarcity of game we had
for some time experienced. We supposed it to be the road leading from
the Pawnee Piqua village on Red river to Santa Fé.[55]
Two shrubby species of cactus, smaller than the great cylindric prickly
pear noticed near the Rocky Mountains, occur in the sandy plains we
were now traversing. One of these, which is about four feet high,
and very much branched, has long and solitary spines, a small yellow
flower, and its fruit, which is about as large as the garden cherry,
is very pleasant to the taste. The fruit of the C. ferox, which was
also found here, was now ripe, being nearly as large as an egg, and of
a deep purple colour. The jatropha stimulosa, a congener to the manihot
or cassada of the West Indies, a cassia, an amorpha, and many new
plants, were here added to our collection.
The hunters were kept constantly out during the day, but nothing was
killed until evening, when Verplank brought in a young buck, which
enabled us to make a full meal, the first we had eaten for several days.
Game in this portion of the country is extremely scarce, and few traces
of bisons are to be seen; and as we were travelling along a frequented
road, we had some reason to fear this want of game might continue.
A few wild horses had been observed in the course of the day, and
towards evening one was seen following the party, but keeping at a
distance. At night, after our horses had been staked in the usual
manner, near our camp, we perceived him still lingering about, and at
length approaching the tent so closely, that we began to entertain some
hopes of capturing him alive. In attempting this we stationed a man
with a long-noosed rope in the top of a cotton-wood tree, under which
we tied a few of our horses; but this plan did not succeed.
{283} On the following morning [5th] one of our hunters fortunately
discovered the same horse standing asleep under the shade of a
tree, and having shot him, returned immediately to camp with the
intelligence. We had all suffered so severely from hunger, and our
present want of provisions was so great, that instead of questioning
whether we should eat the flesh of a horse, we congratulated ourselves
on the acquisition of so seasonable a supply. We felt a little regret
at killing so beautiful an animal, who had followed us several miles
on the day before, and had lingered with a sort of confidence about
our camp; but our scruples all yielded to the loud admonitions of
hunger. The [next] day being Sunday, and the plain about our camp
affording a supply of grass for our jaded horses, we resolved to remain
encamped, seizing the opportunity of making observations for latitude,
&c. The morning was calm and clear; the mercury at 69° Fah. For five
mornings preceding this it had been at 58°, and in the middle of each
day rose to above 90°. The moon was now too near the sun to admit of
observations by lunar distances; but the meridional altitude of the
sun's lower limb was taken with great care, and under circumstances
favourable to accuracy, gave 35° 16′ 19″ for the latitude of our
encampment.
The river bed in the front of our camp was found by admeasurement to
be sixty yards in width, twenty of which were naked sand-bar, the
remaining forty covered with water, having an average depth of about
ten inches. The current is moderate, the water intensely red, having
nearly the temperature and the saltness of new milk. It suspends a
great quantity of clay, derived from the cement of the sand-rock; but
notwithstanding its impurities, it is more grateful to the taste than
any we had met with since leaving the mountains, and though drank in
large quantities, produces no unpleasant effect.
{284} Some spots in the low plains had here considerable fertility,
depending probably, in some degree, upon the intermixture of a large
proportion of calcareous matter with the soil, resulting from the
disintegrated sand-rock. Though no extensive formation, a limestone
appears, yet the sandstone has, in many instances, a calcareous
cement; but is traversed by numerous veins, both of gypsum and
carbonate of lime.
The occurrence of the elm and the diospyros indicated a soil at least
approaching towards one adapted to the purposes of agriculture.
Among great numbers of interesting plants, we found here a gentian,
with a flower much larger than G. crinita, an orobanche (probably
the O. ludoviciana, N.) a new croton, an ipomopsis, and many others.
Notwithstanding the scarcity of game which we had so long felt, we
daily saw considerable numbers of antelopes, with some signs of bear,
deer, and turkies; but these animals had acquired all the vigilance
which results from the habit of being often hunted, and the entire want
of thick forests, and even of solitary trees or inequalities of the
surface, to conceal the approach of the hunter, rendered abortive most
of our attempts to take them.
The common partridge (perdix virginianus) was seen near this
encampment; also the dove, which had never disappeared entirely in all
the country we had passed.
Rising at the customary hour on the morning of the 7th, we perceived
that a part of our horses were missing. As we were apprehensive that
they had been stolen by Indians, a small party was immediately sent
to discover the route they had taken; pursuing along their path, the
men overtook them at the distance of two or three miles, as they were
straying on in search of pasture.
On leaving our camp, we endeavoured to regain the trace on which we had
for several days travelled; {285} but though we spent considerable time
in the search, and travelled several miles off our course, we were not
able to find it. This we had occasion to regret, as the surface of the
country is mostly of a loose sand, bearing turfs of wormwood and other
plants, rendering the travelling difficult where there is no road. In
order to shun the numerous ravines which now began to occur, we chose
our route at some distance from the bank of the river, where we found
the vallies deeper and more abrupt, though less frequent.
In the course of our morning's ride of twenty miles, we saw several
gangs of wild horses, and with these we distinguished numbers of colts
and some mules. In passing through a village of prairie dogs, of which
we saw great numbers, Mr. Peale killed a burrowing owl. The bird,
though killed instantly, had fallen into one of the marmot's burrows;
but had luckily lodged within the reach of the arm. On opening it, the
intestines were found filled with the fragments of grasshoppers' wings,
and the hard parts of other insects. We have never been able, from
examination, to discover any evidence that these owls prey upon the
marmots, whose villages they infest.
After proceeding near twenty miles, we directed our course towards the
river, which we kept at some distance on our left; arriving at it at
two o'clock, we encamped and sent out the hunters; as we had some hopes
of procuring a supply of provisions less repugnant to our prejudices
than horse-flesh; the hunters, however, as well as others of the party,
spent the remaining part of the afternoon in an unavailing search after
game.
The hills which bound the immediate valley of the river at this place,
have an elevation of from one to two hundred feet above the surface
of the water. They are usually covered with a deep sandy soil, but
disclose in their sides, points, and precipices of red sandstone,
containing large quantities of very beautiful selenite. The other
more common varieties {286} of sulphate of lime are also of frequent
occurrence, crystals of carbonate of lime are also met with in veins
traversing the sandstone.
The cenchrus tribuloides, a most annoying grass, which is common here,
supplies the place of the cactus ferox; and the troublesome stipas of
the Platte now become less abundant. The cenchrus bears its seed in
small spikelets, which consist of a number of rigid radiating spines.
These clusters of barbed thorns are detached at the slightest touch,
falling into our mockasins, adhering to our blankets and clothing, and
annoying us at every point. The cloth-bur (xanthium strumianum), which
had occurred in every part of our route, began now to ripen, and cast
off its muricated fruit, adding one more to the sources of constant
molestation.
A formidable centipede (scolopendra) was caught near the camp, and
brought in alive by one of the engagees. It was about eight inches in
length, and nearly three-fourths of an inch in breadth, being of a
flattened form, and of a dark brown colour. While kept alive, it showed
great viciousness of disposition, biting at every thing which came
within its reach. Its bite is said to be venomous.
On the morning of the 8th, we continued our journey, crossing and
recrossing the river several times. This we found necessary, as the
occurrence of steep and rocky ravines made it impossible to pass along
the bank, parallel to the course of the river, which here became
more meandering, winding about the points of rocky and impassable
promontories.
Few trees occur along this part of the valley; but grape vines were
becoming numerous, and some of them loaded with fruit. Among these,
we saw numerous signs of the black bear, and one of these animals was
this morning seen and shot at, but not killed. We also saw some recent
tracks of bison, reviving us with the hope of a return of the days of
plenty. We constantly met with the remains of Indian {287} encampments;
trees which had been felled with the tomahawk, and other evidences that
the country had been recently occupied by savages.
We passed in the afternoon to a more plain and fertile country than
that we had been for some days traversing. The river valley became
wide, and bounded on both sides by low and rounded hills instead of
abrupt and perpendicular precipices. The interior of the country is but
little elevated above the river, and its surface is nearly unbroken.
We crossed the beds of several creeks, apparently of large streams in
the wet season, but now entirely destitute of water. As yet we had not
a single tributary discharging any water into the river, nor had we
been able to discover any augmentation of the volume of water, which
appeared to have been derived from tributaries entering on the other
side. The channels of all the creeks hitherto observed, were beds of
sand without water. Several of these "dry rivers," which we passed
in the course of the day, have broad valleys, which, if we may judge
from a comparison with that we are descending, must have an extent of
more than one hundred miles, draining a wide expanse of country of the
surplus water in the rainy season, but remaining dry during great part
of the year. At five o'clock we encamped, having travelled twenty-six
miles due east. The hunters were immediately sent out, but returned
without game, having seen nothing.
A beautiful white-flowered gaura,[56] had been for several days
observed along the bank of the river. It is undescribed, and has,
before flowering, a very distinct resemblance to common flax.
{288} CHAPTER V {XII}
Kaskaia Hunting Party--Indian Encampment--Unfriendly Behaviour of
the Kaskaias--Some Account of their Persons and Manners--Salt
Plains--Cumancias.
Wednesday 9th. We breakfasted on the last of the horse, which, having
been killed on the 5th, and the weather since unusually warm, had
suffered from long keeping. We ate it cheerfully, only regretting that
we could not promise ourselves as good for dinner. All our party, who
are marksmen, were kept constantly out in search of game, but for
several days had met with no success in hunting.
In the morning our course was east, thirteen and a-half miles, at
the end of which we found a large spring of transparent and almost
pure water, where we halted to dine. Our sufferings from want of
provisions, and from the apprehension of still more distressing
extremities, were now so great, that we gave little attention to any
thing except hunting. Unfortunately for us the wind had been high
during the morning, and had blown from west to east, nearly in the
direction of our route, so that whatever animals might have been
in the way, had received early intimation of our approach. We were
glad to observe considerable numbers of wolves, jackals, and carrion
birds, as they afforded an almost certain indication of the proximity
of herds of bisons. The recent tracks of a herd of these animals had
been discovered, from which we learned that they had crossed the river
within a day or two, in a crowded and hurried manner, as if pursued by
hunters. In the afternoon we pursued on nearly the {289} same course,
and halted for the night at a late hour, much exhausted with fatigue,
hunger, and the heat of the day, the mercury at noon having stood at
96°. Distance twenty-eight miles.
At about 10 o'clock on the morning following, the hunters who had
preceded the party, discovered on the opposite side of the river a
solitary bison, of which they went immediately in pursuit. The party
had made their breakfast of about two ounces of sugar and some grapes
which had been found near the camp, and having been for several days
reduced to a scanty allowance of provisions, they encamped immediately,
and awaited with great anxiety the return of the hunters, who soon
joined us, bringing in the greater part of the carcass of the bison,
so extremely lean and ill-flavoured, that nothing but the most urgent
necessity could have induced us to taste it. It was indeed sufficiently
evident that the animal was diseased, and had lingered behind the herd
for want of strength to travel. Our situation, however, afforded us not
the power of choosing, and from the occurrence of this one, we were
induced to hope we should soon meet with others in better condition.
We had passed on the preceding day for the first time, a small creek
discharging some water into the river, and shortly afterwards the sandy
bed of another, sixty yards in width, with an extensive valley, but
having no water visible above the sand. This morning we also crossed
a tributary affording a little water, and a dry channel communicating
opposite to our encampment with the bed of the river, which is filled
with small stones, occasioning an inconsiderable fall. Throughout the
day the weather was extremely warm, and at sunrise on the following
morning, the mercury was standing at 71°.
We had not proceeded far on our way when we discovered on the opposite
side of the river a large party of Indians, approaching in an irregular
and interrupted line which extended more than a mile from {290} the
opposite bank. They had, as was evident, already discovered us, and
their outriders were seen plunging into the river at various points,
and several soon came up to shake hands with us. The foremost scarcely
allowed themselves time to finish this hasty ceremony of salutation,
when they rode to reconnoitre some points of bushes and patches of low
grape vines on our left, manifestly to ascertain if the whole strength
of our party was collected. The main body of the Indians crossed the
river more slowly, and as we halted on an elevation near the point
where they ascended the bank, the whole passed in review before us.
They were all on horseback, and the squaws and children, composing by
far the greatest part of the cavalcade, passed us without halting.
Every squaw appeared to have under her care a greater or less number
of horses, which were driven before her, some dragging lodge-poles,
some loaded with packs of meat, and some carrying children. We were
surprised to observe many small children too young to be able by their
own strength to sit upon a horse, lashed by their legs to the saddle,
and riding on in entire unconcern. As they passed the deepest part of
the river, many of the squaws stooped to fill their vessels with water.
These were of the most primitive kind, being formed, almost without
exception, of the stomach or bladder of a bison or other animal.
At length the chief, who was one of the last to cross the river,
came up, and shaking each of us by the hand, with some appearance of
cordiality, invited us to accompany him a short distance on his route,
to a place where his party would encamp for the remainder of the day
and the ensuing night. The chief was accompanied by an old man who
could speak a little Spanish, by which language we communicated with
him. He informed us his band were a part of the tribe of Kaskaias, or
Bad-hearts, as they are called by the French; that they had been on a
{291} hunting excursion to the sources of the Rio Brases and the Rio
Colorado of Texas,[57] and were now on their way to meet the Spanish
traders at a point near the sources of the river we were descending.
They in their turn demanded who we were, whence and whither we were
travelling, and were apparently satisfied with our answers, though, as
afterwards appeared, they did not entirely credit what we had told them
of the purposes of our journey.
To our inquiries concerning the river they answered without hesitation,
that it was Red river; that at the distance of ten days' travelling in
the manner of Indians with their lodges, (about one hundred miles,)
we should meet with the permanent village of the Pawnee Piquas, that
a large band of Cumancias were hunting on the river below, whom we
should fall in with in two or three days. Having described to them the
route we had pursued, and the great and frequented road on which we
had travelled, they said, that when we were at the point where that
road first crosses the river, we were three days' ride from Santa Fé,
which was situated behind a low and distant range of hills, which we
remembered to have seen from that place.[58]
We hesitated a little to comply with the request of the chief, enforced
as it was with some insolence, that we would return and encamp with
his party. As, however, we wished to purchase horses and provisions,
and to make the best use of an opportunity to become acquainted with
the savages, we at length consented. The ground they chose for their
encampment was a beautiful open plain, having the river in front, and
a small creek on the left. We were somewhat surprised to witness the
sudden manner in which this plain became covered with their tall conic
lodges, rising "like an exhalation" in perfect silence and good order.
For our accommodation, a lodge was spread, enclosing as much space as
possible in a semicircular {292} area in such a manner that the skin
covering afforded a shade, which was all the shelter needed. In order
to enlarge this tent as much as possible, the covering was raised
so high upon the poles, that its lower margin did not extend to the
ground by a space of several feet. To remedy this the squaws
brought bushes from a neighbouring thicket, which they placed around
the base of the lodge in such a manner as effectually to exclude
the sunshine. We were sorry to find afterwards, that this had been
done not more from motives of hospitality, than to aid them in their
design of pilfering from our baggage.
[Illustration: (Skin Lodges of Kaskaias)]
These skin lodges, the only habitations of the wandering savages, are
carried with them complete in all their marches. Those of the Kaskaias
differ in no respect from those we have already described, as used by
the Otoes and others of the Missouri Indians. The poles which are six
or eight to each lodge, are from twenty to thirty feet in length, and
are {293} dragged constantly about in all their movements, so that the
trace of a party with lodges is easily distinguished from that of a
war-party. When they halt to encamp, the women immediately set up these
poles; four of them being tied together by the smaller ends, the larger
resting on the ground, are placed so far apart as to include as much
space as the covering will surround. The remaining poles are added to
strengthen the work, and give it a circular form.
The covering is then made fast by one corner to the end of the last
pole which is to be raised, by which means it is spread upon the frame
with little difficulty. The structure, when completed, is in the form
of a sharp cone. At the summit is a small opening for window, chimney,
&c. out of which the lodge-poles project some distance, crossing each
other at the point where the four shortest are tied together. This tent
seems to be sufficient to protect its occupants from the rain; it must
however be greatly inferior in point of comfort, particularly in the
winter season, to the spacious mud cabins of the settled Indians.
The poles necessary for the construction of these movable dwellings,
are not to be found in any part of the country of the Kaskaias, but
are purchased from the Indians of the Missouri, or others inhabiting
countries more plentifully supplied with timber. We were informed by
Bijeau, that five of these poles are, among the Bad-hearts, equal in
value to a horse.
The chief of this band is called the Red Mouse. He is of a large
stature, is somewhat past the middle age of life, and no way deficient,
in his person and countenance, of those indications of strength,
cunning, and ferocity, which form so important a part of greatness in
the estimation of the Indians. Immediately after he had dismounted
from his horse, on the halting of his party, a small wooden dish was
brought {294} him, containing some water. He had received a wound some
time before, apparently from an arrow, which had passed through the
arm, glancing upon the humerus. Placing the dish on the ground before
him, he dipped his hand repeatedly in the water, then seizing a small
image of an alligator, profusely ornamented with white and blue beads,
he pressed it for some time with all the strength of his disabled arm.
This we saw him repeat a great number of times. The alligator appeared
to be the "great medicine," on which he relied for the cure of his
wound. No dressing or application of any kind was made immediately to
the affected part.
As soon as we had placed our baggage in the tent provided for us, we
commenced negotiations with Red Mouse, for the purchase of horses.
When the articles we proposed to barter were exhibited, he appeared
dissatisfied, supposing probably we had still others in reserve,
which he would be able by a little obstinacy to extort from us. He
accordingly insisted that more of the packs should be opened, and
undertook at last to extend his inquiries to our private baggage. This
we found it necessary to resist, and a little scuffle ensued, at which
many of the Indians, with a throng of women and children who surrounded
us, took fright and ran off with the utmost despatch. They appeared all
somewhat surprised and intimidated, and the few who remained in our
lodge entreated us not to be angry at the insolence they had shown,
saying we should frighten their women, and that they had mistaken
us for traders. We had good reasons for wishing not to carry our
resentment farther than was necessary, and accordingly relinquished the
attempt to trade with them; informing them at the same time that we
were hungry. Having received us in a friendly manner, we expected they
would, according to custom of most Indians, have shown their good-will,
by inviting us to a feast. We had, {295} therefore, waited with some
impatience for their good cheer so long, that hope began to fail us.
It will be recollected, we had for some days been almost in a starving
condition; and we perceived that the Indians had very plentiful
supplies of jerked meat. In compliance with our repeated requests, the
wife of the Red Mouse at length brought us a little half-boiled bison
meat, from which we had observed her to select the best pieces and give
them to the children. After we had eaten this, we returned the wooden
dish, on which it had been brought, at the same time asking her for
more. This second demand procured us a little more jerked meat, which
came, however, with such an ill grace, that as our hunger was somewhat
appeased, we resolved to ask them for no more.
Some one of the party having asked for water, the paunch of a bison
was brought, containing three or four quarts, from which we all
managed, though with some difficulty, to drink. Little care or labour
had been bestowed on the preparation of this primitive vessel. The
papillous coat which formed the internal surface of the stomach of
the animal, had not been removed, nor had it lost, from long use, its
original smell. The organ is suffered to retain its original form as
far as is consistent with the uses to which it is applied. One of
the orifices is brought nearly in contact with the other, where it
is retained by a stick passed through the margin; the depending part
is a sack sometimes large enough to contain six or eight gallons of
water. It may well be supposed practice is required to enable a person
to drink with ease and adroitness from one of these vessels; and the
Indians appeared somewhat amused at our awkward attempts, in which we
spilt more water in our bosoms, than was conveyed into our mouths.
When filled, these sacks cannot be set upon the ground without
suffering the loss of their contents. To remedy this, the Kaskaias
carry with them, as an {296} indispensable article of furniture, a sort
of tripod, consisting of three light poles, tied together at one end,
and sharpened at the other, by which they are driven into the ground,
and the water-sack is suspended between them. One of these was placed
near the entrance of almost every lodge in this encampment.
We had scarcely finished our scanty repast, when the wife of the Red
Mouse showing her trencher, to signify that we were her debtors, began
to beset us for presents; as we were, however, little pleased with
her hospitality, we treated her demands much as she had done ours. A
number of small articles were pilfered from us, and the Indians seemed
determined to show us little respect, until they perceived we were
putting our guns in order for immediate use; at this they expressed
some apprehension, and behaved afterwards with less rudeness.
There were thirty-two lodges, and probably about two hundred and fifty
souls, including men, women, and children. Among them we could number
only twenty-two armed men; and these kept constantly about us. They
were armed exclusively with bows and arrows, and, as we believed, had
some fear of us, though we were less than half their number. It was
probably owing to our perceiving, or at least appearing to perceive
this, that we escaped from them uninjured. They had many horses,
probably more than five hundred, and some of them very good.
Towards evening the chief withdrew from our lodge, when we observed his
squaw prepare some food for him, pounding the jerked meat to a powder
with a stone pestle, using a piece of skin instead of a mortar. When
reduced to very fine fragments, it is mixed with bison tallow; a little
water is added, and the whole boiled together. After he had finished
his meal, a council was held between all the men of the band. They met
behind the chief's lodge, and we were not greatly pleased to perceive,
that they {297} seemed anxious to conceal their meeting from us. At
night we determined to collect all our horses, and, placing them as
near as we could around our lodge, to watch them during the night; but,
upon examination, a few of them only could be found, the remainder,
as we believed, having been seized by the Indians. The crowd which
had been assembled about us during the day, dispersed as the evening
advanced, and at dark all became still in and about the encampment.
At this time the chief, whose lodge was near ours, standing at the
entrance of his dwelling, harangued with great vehemence, in a voice
sufficiently loud and clear to be heard by all his people, who had now
retired to their several lodges. As we had no interpreter of their
language, we could understand nothing of the import of his speech.
Every thing remained quiet during the night, and as soon as the day
dawned on the following morning, a loud harangue, similar to that in
the evening, was pronounced by the chief, and immediately afterwards
the whole camp was in motion. The lodges were taken down, the packs
placed upon the horses, and the whole body were in a short time ready
to move off. As several of our horses, our kettles, and other articles
of the greatest importance to us were missing, we were unwilling to
part from our hosts in the hasty and unceremonious manner they seemed
to intend. We accordingly summoned the old Indian interpreter, and made
our complaint and remonstrance to the chief. He told us our horses
had strayed from camp, and that several of his people were then out
searching for them, and made other excuses, evidently designed to gain
time until his band could move off. Perceiving we had no time to lose,
Major Long ordered horses and other articles, corresponding to those we
had lost, to be immediately seized. This prompt and well-timed measure
produced the desired effect. Their whole camp had been some time in
motion; the women {298} and children, with all their baggage, except
what we had detained, had moved to a considerable distance; and we
found ourselves, at this unpleasant state of the dispute, surrounded
by their whole armed force. We observed they had a greater number of
arrows in their hands than on the preceding day, and were not without
our fears, that they intended to carry the dispute respecting our
horses and kettles to greater lengths than we could wish. We were,
however, agreeably disappointed, to learn that all our lost property
had been found. It was accordingly restored to us, and we parted from
the Kaskaias as friends.
The time we spent with this band of savages was so short as to afford
little opportunity of becoming acquainted with their manners. Their
dress is nearly similar to that of the Pawnees, but consists more
exclusively of leather. The women, instead of the robe, wear a loose
sort of a frock without sleeves. It has an opening for the neck, just
large enough to admit the head, and descends from the shoulders,
hanging like a bag about the body, and reaching below the knees. When
eagerly engaged in their employments, this inconvenient article of
dress is thrown aside, and there remains the squabbish person of the
female savage, disfigured only by a small apron of leather worn round
the waist. The young females appear to be in some measure exempted from
the laborious services performed by the married women, and consequently
possess a degree of lightness and elasticity in their persons,
which they soon lose after they begin to bear children, and subject
themselves to the severe drudgeries of a married life. Their breasts
become so flaccid and pendulous, that we have seen them give suck to
their children, the mother and the child at the same time standing
erect upon the ground. This fact is sufficient to prove that they do
not, at least in some instances, wean their children at a very early
age.
{299} Like all savages, they suffer themselves to be covered with
filth and vermin, notwithstanding which some of the young ones are far
from disgusting in their appearance. They have well turned features,
aquiline noses, large and regular teeth, and eyes, which though
usually rather small, are clear and brilliant. Some of the men of
this band have larger and finer teeth than we remember to have seen
heretofore among savages. In the general structure of their features,
and the complexion of their skins, they resemble the Missouri tribes,
being of a clearer and brighter red than many of the eastern Indians.
In stature and in symmetry, and elegance of form, they are inferior to
the Otoes, Pawnees, and to most of the Missouri Indians who reside in
permanent villages. They seemed to have had little intercourse with
the whites, as some among them appeared to take great pleasure in
exhibiting to their friends the skin of our arms, which they requested
us to show for that purpose. It was probably by means of a mistake on
the part of one of the interpreters, that we received the intimation
that they had never heard before of such a people as that to which
we belonged. We saw among them few articles of foreign production;
these they had probably received from Spanish traders. In the whole
encampment we saw but one kettle, which belonged to the chief, and
their great eagerness to steal our tin cups and other similar articles,
sufficiently evinced that such things are scarce, and of great value
among them. They have some beads, most of which are bestowed in
ornamenting the dress of the children; also some pewter and brass
rings, worn principally by the women. They are acquainted with the use
of tobacco, and smoked with us according to the universal custom of the
Indians, but expressed by signs that they found the smoke of unmixed
tobacco too strong for them. One of their young men, who was in his
ordinary dress when we met the party, visited us soon after we had
encamped, {300} dressed in leggings and breech cloth, with a striped
worsted vest and a silver-headed bamboo, which he sported among us with
the air of a great traveller.
A child was shown us who spoke Spanish, and who was said to be
a prisoner from the Spanish settlements; he was not, however,
distinguished from the Kaskaias by any difference of colour or of
features. He spoke frequently of the Christians, which convinced us
that he had at least been among the half civilized Indians of New
Mexico, who have some acquaintance with the Spanish language, and have
been taught enough of the Christian religion to make use of the sign of
the cross.
This band of Kaskaias occupy the country about the sources of the
Platte, Arkansa, and Rio Del Norte, and extend their hunting excursions
to Red river and the sources of the Brases. The great numbers of images
of the alligator, which they wear either as ornaments or as amulets for
the cure or prevention of disease and misfortune, afford sufficient
proof of their extending their rambles to districts inhabited by
that reptile. These images are of carved wood covered with leather,
and profusely ornamented with beads. They are suspended about the
neck, and we saw several worn in this manner by the children as well
as by adults. It was observed likewise, that the rude frames to the
looking-glasses, carried by several of the men, were carved so as to
approximate towards the same form.
It is perhaps owing to their frequent exposure to the stormy and
variable atmosphere of the country about the Rocky Mountains, that
these Indians are subjected to numerous attacks of rheumatic and
scrofulous diseases. We saw one old woman with a distorted spine, who
had probably suffered, when young, from rickets. A young man, of a
fine athletic frame, had his neck covered with scrofulous ulcers. While
he was with us he was constantly endeavouring to conceal with his robe
this afflicting spectacle. He {301} remained but a short time among us,
and did not make his second appearance.
An old man came frequently with a diseased leg, informing us by signs,
that it had repeatedly formed large abscesses, which had discharged
much matter, and afterwards healed. His frequent applications seemed to
be made with the hope that we would do something for his relief. The
men of this band wear the hair long, and suffer it to hang negligently
about the shoulders. Some of them have a braid behind, which is
garnished with bits of red cloth, small pieces of tin, &c. and descends
nearly to the ground, being sometimes eked out with the hair of a
horse's tail. Among the old men were several who had suffered a number
of scattering hairs on the face to become of considerable length, a
violation of good manners, and a neglect of personal neatness, not
often met with among the Indians, and excusable only in the old.
In their conduct towards us, they were guilty of more rudeness and
incivility than we had been accustomed to meet with among the savages
of the Missouri. Soon after we had encamped with them, one of our party
who had brought along a roasted rib of a bison which had remained of
our breakfast, had produced this bone, and was engaged in eating from
it; an Indian who observed this came up, and without ceremony taking
the rib out of his hand, carefully scraped off and ate all the meat,
and returned the bone.
Though we saw much to admire among this people, we cannot but think
they are among some of the most degraded and miserable of the
uncivilized Indians on this side of the Rocky Mountains. Their
wandering and precarious manner of life, as well as the inhospitable
character of the country they inhabit, precludes the possibility of
advancement from the profoundest barbarism. As is common among other of
the western tribes, they were persevering in offering us their women,
but this appeared to be {302} done from mere beastliness and the hope
of reward, rather than from any motive of hospitality or a desire to
show us respect. We saw among them no article of food except the flesh
of the bison; their horses, their arms, lodges, and dogs, are their
only wealth.
In their marches they are all on horseback; the men are expert
horsemen, and evince great dexterity in throwing the rope, taking in
this way many of the wild horses which inhabit some parts of their
country. They hunt the bison on horseback with the bow and arrow,
being little acquainted with fire arms. One of them who had received a
valuable pistol from a member of our party, soon afterwards returned,
and wished to barter it for a knife. They begged for tobacco, but did
not inquire for whiskey; it is probable they have not yet acquired
a relish for intoxicating liquors. In their persons they are all
uncommonly filthy, and many of the women spent a great part of their
time in catching and eating the lice from the heads of their children.
At eight o'clock on the morning of the 12th of August we took our leave
of the Kaskaias, having recovered from them all the articles they had
stolen, except a few ropes, halters, and other small affairs, which not
being indispensably necessary to us, we chose to relinquish, rather
than submit to a longer delay among a people we had so much reason to
dislike.
They had shown a disposition so far from friendly towards us, that we
were surprised to have escaped without having found it necessary to use
our rifles among them; and as we thought it by no means improbable some
of their young men might follow us to steal our horses, we moved on
rather briskly, intending to travel as far in the course of the day as
we conveniently could.
The river valley spread considerably a little below the point where we
had encamped. In many places we found the surface a smooth and naked
bed of {303} sand; in others, covered by an incrustation of salt, like
a thin ice, and manifestly derived from the evaporation of water which
had flowed down from the red sandstone hills bounding the valley. These
hills were here of moderate elevation, the side towards the river being
usually abrupt and naked. The sandstone is fine, of a deep red colour,
indistinctly stratified and traversed in various directions by veins
filled principally with sulphate of lime.
We had seen among the Indians on the preceding day quantities of salt
in large but detached crystalline fragments, greatly resembling the
common coarse salt of commerce. It had evidently been collected from
some place like the one above mentioned, where it had been deposited
from solution in water. When we inquired the particular locality of
the Indians, they pointed to the south, and said it was found near the
sources of a river heading in that direction.
At the place of our evening encampment, we saw the red-necked avoset
(recurvirostra americana), the minute tern (sterna minuta), and
several other strand birds which we could not approach near enough
to distinguish the species. There is also a very evident similarity
between the plants found here and many of those growing in saline
soils along the sea coast. We saw here several species of atriplex,
chenopodium, salsola, kochia, and anabasis, all delighting in a saline
soil, and affording on analysis a greater proportion of soda than most
inland plants.
The day had been unusually warm. During all our mid-day halt,
protracted, on account of the sultriness of the weather, to an unusual
length, the mercury had remained at 100°, the thermometer being
suspended in the closest shade we could find. It is to be remarked,
however, that in almost every one of the numerous instances when the
mercurial column had indicated so high a temperature as in {304} the
one just mentioned, a fair exposure could not be had.
We often found it necessary to halt upon the open plain, where the
intensity of light and heat were much increased by the reflection
of the sun's rays from the sand. The temperature indicated by the
thermometer, suspended in the imperfect shade of our tent, or of a
small tree, was however somewhat lower than that to which our bodies
were exposed; and it will be believed our sufferings from this source
were great, both on our marches and while encamped in the middle of
the day. Our tent being too small to afford its imperfect shade to the
whole party, we sometimes suspended blankets, using, instead of poles,
our rifles and gunstocks, but the protection these could afford against
the scorching glare of a vertical sun, was found extremely inadequate.
At sunset we crossed what appears to be at some seasons of the year the
bed of a large river at least two hundred yards wide, but at this time
not a drop of water was found in it. It has a wide valley, and in every
respect but the occasional want of water, is a large stream. A little
beyond this we encamped for the night, having travelled twenty-eight
miles.
August 13th. The course of the river had now become considerably
serpentine, so that our route along its valley was of necessity
somewhat circuitous. Wishing to avoid the unnecessary travelling thus
occasioned, we turned off from the river and ascended the hills,
hoping to meet with an Indian trace leading across the country by the
most direct route. Our search was however unavailing, only affording
us an opportunity of examining a portion of the country remote from
the river. This we found much broken with irregular hills, abrupt
ravines, and deep valleys. At ten o'clock we met with a small stream
of water running towards the river we had left, and crossing it,
perceived the trace of a large party of mounted Indians which had
ascended {305} the creek within a few hours previous. We supposed they
must have been the band of Cumancias spoken of by the Bad-hearts;
and, notwithstanding some fears we have had reason to entertain, that
they would have treated us no better than the Kaskaias had done, we
considered ourselves unfortunate in not having met them. Much confusion
and uncertainty attends the limited information hitherto before the
public concerning the wandering bands of savages who occupy the
country between the frontiers of New Mexico and the United States.
Some who have spoken of these Indians, seem to have included several
of the erratic hordes already enumerated under the name of Hietans or
Cumancias. From their wandering mode of life, it unavoidably happens
that the same band is met by hunters and travellers in different
parts of the country at different times, consequently they receive
different appellations, and the estimate of their numbers becomes
much exaggerated. Of this band we have no other information to
communicate, than that they appeared, from the tracks of their horses
and lodge-poles, to have been rather more numerous than the party of
Bad-hearts we had lately met. A recent grave was discovered by one
of our hunters at no great distance from the river, in which it was
supposed one of this band had been buried. At one end of the grave
was erected a pole about ten feet in length, crossed near the top by
another two feet long. To the foot of this rude cross was tied a pair
of mockasins, newly soled and carefully prepared for the use of the
departed in that long journey on the _road of the dead_ to which the
good wishes of some friend had accompanied him.
Where we halted at noon were some trees, and several of these were
covered with grape vines, loaded with ripe and delicious fruit. The
Osage plum was also common, and now beginning to ripen. The temperature
of the air inside of our tent, partially shaded by some small trees,
was sufficiently {306} high to keep the mercury at 105° Fah. from
twelve o'clock to three P. M. A suffocating stillness prevailed in the
air, and we could find no relief from the painful glare of light and
the intense heat which seemed about to reduce the scanty vegetation to
ashes.
In the afternoon a thick grove of timber was descried at a distance
below, and on the opposite side of the river. This cheering sight
was like the discovery of land to the mariner, reminding us of the
comparative comfort and plenty which we had learned to consider
inseparable from a forest country, and exciting in us the hope that
we should soon exchange our desolate and scorching sands for a more
hospitable and more favoured region. As this little grove of trees,
appearing to us like the commencement of an immense forest, gave us
reason to expect we should soon meet with some small game at least; Mr.
Peale, with one man, went forward to hunt. Soon after arriving at the
wood, they discovered a flock of turkeys, and the rifleman dismounting
to shoot, left his mule for a moment at liberty. The animal, taking a
sudden advantage of the opportunity, turned about, and made the best
of his way out of the wood, pursued by Mr. Peale. This chase continued
about five miles, and ended in putting the mule on the recent trace of
the party, which there was no reason to fear he could be induced to
quit, until he had rejoined his companions. Mr. P., who was exhausted
with the pursuit, followed on but slowly, and neglecting to follow
carefully the path of the party, he passed us, after we had turned
aside to encamp, still travelling on in the direction of our course. At
dark, believing we were still before him, and knowing we must encamp
near the river, he betook himself to the sand-bars, which were now
naked, occupying the greater part of what was sometimes the bed of the
stream. Along these he travelled, occasionally discharging a pistol,
and looking {307} about in constant expectation of seeing the blaze of
our evening fire, until the moon began to sink behind the hills, when
finding the light insufficient to enable him to continue his search, he
tied his horse to a tree, and laid down to await the return of daylight.
At camp, guns were discharged, as large a fire kindled as we could find
the means of making, and other measures taken to give notice of our
situation; and late in the evening, the man whose mule had been the
occasion of the accident, joined us, but was unable to give any account
of Mr. Peale or the mule, which had, however, arrived before him.
At seven o'clock on the morning following, Aug. 14th, Mr. P. returned
to us, having convinced himself, by a careful examination of the river
valley, that we were still above. He accordingly retraced his course,
until he discovered the smoke of our encampment. He had been much
harassed in the night by mosquitos; and bisons having recently occupied
the shade of the tree under which he slept, the place afforded as
little refreshment for the horse as for himself. Delaying a little to
allow him time to make amends for his long absence, we left our camp at
a later hour than usual; and moving along a wide and somewhat grassy
plain, halted to dine near an old Indian breast-work by the side of a
grove of cotton-wood trees, intermixed with a few small-leaved elms.
This breast-work is built like that described on the Platte, a few
days' march above the Pawnees. We have met with the remains of similar
works in almost every grove of trees, about the base of the mountains;
near some of them, we have noticed holes dug a few feet into the
ground, probably as caches or depositories of provisions; the earth
which was raised having been removed to a distance, or thrown into
the river, that it might not lead to the discovery of the concealed
articles. We have met with large excavations of this kind, having an
entrance comparatively small, and so placed as to be {308} easily
concealed; made by white hunters to hold their furs, and whatever else
they might wish to deposit in safe keeping.
The occurrence of the elm, the phytolacca, the cephalanthus, and other
plants not to be met with in a desert of sand, give us the pleasing
assurance of a change we have long been expecting to see in the aspect
of the country. The blue jay, the purple martin, a deer, and some
turkeys, were also seen near this encampment.
The bed of the river is here eight hundred yards wide, but the quantity
of water visible is much less than in some places above. The magnetic
variation ascertained at this camp was 12° 30′ east.
{309} CHAPTER VI {XIII}
Sand Plains--Mississippi Hawk--Small-leaved Elm--Wild
Horses--Hail-storm--Climate--Bisons--Grapes--Red Sand
Formation--Gypsum.
August 15th. Extensive tracts of loose sand, so destitute of plants,
and so fine as to be driven with the wind, occur in every part of
the saline sandstone formation we had as yet seen. They are perhaps
invariably the detritus of the sand-rock, deposited in valleys and
depressions, where the rapidity of the abrading currents has been
checked by permanent obstacles. This loose sand differs in colour from
the sandstone, which is almost invariably red; the difference may,
however, have been produced simply by the operation of water suspending
and removing the light colouring matter, no longer retained by the
aggregation of the sandstone. These fields of sand have most frequently
an undulating surface, occasioned probably not less by the operation of
winds than by the currents of water; a few plum bushes, almost the only
woody plants found on them, wherever they take root, form points, about
which the sand accumulates, and in this manner permanent elevations are
produced. The yucca angustifolia and the shrubby cactus are here rarely
seen; the argemone and the night-flowering bartonia have not entirely
disappeared, but are not of frequent occurrence.
Our horses had broken loose, and a part of them strayed from camp. This
occasioned some unusual delay, and the morning was somewhat advanced
when we commenced our ride. The day was bright and cool, comparatively
so at least, the mercury in {310} the extreme heat rising to only 95°
in the shade of our tent, whereas on several of the preceding days, it
had stood at or above 100° in a fairer exposure. A light breeze sprung
up from the south-west, and continued during the remainder of the day.
Our course led us twice across the bed of the river, which we found one
thousand and four hundred paces in width; and without water, except
in a few small pools, where it was stagnant. This wide and shallow
bed is included between low banks, sometimes sloped gradually, and
sometimes, though rarely, perpendicular, and rising scarcely more than
four feet from the common level of the bottom of the channel. Drift
wood is occasionally seen without these banks, affording evidence that
they are at times not only full, but overflowed. If they are ever but
partially filled, it is easy to see that what, for a great part of the
year, is a naked sand beach, then becomes a broad and majestic river.
It must flow with a rapid current, and in floods; its waters cannot be
otherwise than of an intense red colour. The immediate valley of the
river had now become little less than two miles in width; and had, in
some places, a fertile soil. This happens wherever there occur spots
having little elevation above the bed of the river, and which have not
recently been covered with sand.
Several species of locust were extremely frequent here, filling the
air by day with their shrill and deafening cries, and feeding with
their bodies great numbers of that beautiful species of hawk, the falco
Mississipiensis of Wilson.[59] It afforded us a constant amusement
to watch the motions of this greedy devourer in the pursuit of his
favourite prey, the locust. The insect being large, and not uncommonly
active, is easily taken; the hawk then pauses on the wing, suspending
himself in the air, while, with his talons and beak, he tears in pieces
and devours his prey.
We were also fortunate in capturing a tortoise, {311} resembling the
T. geographica of Le Sueur.[60] The upper part of its shell was large
enough to contain near a quart of water, and was taken to supply the
place of one of our tin cups recently lost, while the animal itself was
committed to the mess kettle. Wolves, jackals, and vultures, occurred
in unusual numbers, and the carcasses of several bisons recently killed
had been seen. We could also distinguish the recent marks of a hunting
party of Indians, the tracks of horses and of men being still fresh
in the sand. At four P. M., several bisons were discovered
at a distance, and as we were in the greatest want of provisions, we
halted, and sent the hunters in pursuit; and being soon apprized of
their success, the requisite preparations were made for jerking the
meat. Near our camp was a scattering grove of small-leaved elms. This
tree (the U. alata, N.) is not known in the Eastern states; but it is
common in many parts of Tennessee, Missouri, and Arkansa. When found
in forests intermixed with other trees, it is usually of a smaller
size than the ulmus americana, and is distinguished from it by the
smallness of the leaves and the whiteness of the trunk. On the borders
of the open country, where large trees often occur entirely isolated,
the ulmus alata has proportionally a more dense and flattened top than
any other tree we have seen. When standing entirely alone, it rarely
attains an elevation of more than thirty or thirty-five feet; but its
top lying close to the ground, is spread over an area of sixty or
seventy feet in diameter, and is externally so close and smooth as to
resemble, when seen from a distance, a small grassy hillock.
Near our camp was a circular breast-work, constructed like those
already mentioned, and large enough to contain eighty or an hundred
men. We were not particularly pleased at meeting these works so
frequently as we had done of late, as they indicate the country
where they are found, to be one {312} particularly exposed to the
depredations of Indian war-parties.
August 16. The greater part of the flesh of the bison killed on the
preceding evening had been dried and smoked in the course of the night,
so that we had now no fear of suffering immediately from hunger, having
as much jerked meat as was sufficient to last several days.
The sky continued clear, but the wind was high, and the drifting of the
sand occasioned much annoyance. The heat of the atmosphere became more
intolerable, on account of the showers of burning sand, driven against
us with such force as to penetrate every part of our dress, and proving
so afflictive to our eyes, that it was with the utmost difficulty we
could see to guide our horses. The sand is carried from the bed of the
river, which is here a naked beach of more than half a mile wide, and
piled in immense drifts along the bank. Some of these heaps we have
seen covering all but a small portion of the upper branches of what
appeared like large trees. Notwithstanding we were now three hundred
miles distant from the sources of the river, we found very little
water; and that being stagnant, and so much frequented by bisons and
other animals, was so loathsome both to sight and smell, that nothing
but the most uncontrollable thirst could have induced us to taste it.
At a short distance below the place of our encampment, we passed the
confluence of a considerable creek entering from the south-west. Though
like all the streams of this thirsty region, its waters were entirely
hid in the sand; yet it is evidently the bed of a large tributary, and
from its direction, we conclude it can be no other than the one on
which the Kaskaias informed us they had encamped the night before we
met them. Its name, if it have any, among the Indians or Spaniards, we
have not yet learned.[61]
We had, for some days, observed a few wild horses, {313} and they, as
well as the bisons, were now becoming numerous. In the habits of the
wild horse, we find little unlike what is seen in the domestic animal,
though he becomes the most timorous and watchful of the inhabitants of
the wilderness. They show a similar attachment to each other's society,
though the males are occasionally found at a distance from the herds.
It would appear, from the paths we have seen, that they sometimes
perform long journeys, and it may be worthy of remark, that along these
paths are frequently found very large piles of horse-dung, of different
ages, affording sufficient evidence that this animal, in a wild state,
has, in common with some others, an inclination to drop his excrement
where another has done so before him. This propensity is sometimes
faintly discovered in the domestic horse.
As we were about to halt for dinner, a bison who had lingered near our
path was killed; but the flesh was found in too ill a condition to be
eaten, as is the case with all the bulls at this season.
Soon after we had mounted our horses in the afternoon, a violent
thunder-storm came on from the north-west; hail fell in such
quantities, as to cover the surface of the ground, and some of the
hail-stones which we examined, were near an inch in diameter. Falling
with a strong wind, these heavy masses struck upon our bodies with
great violence; our horses, as they had done on a similar occasion
before, refused to move, except before the wind. Some of the mules
turned off from our course, and had run more than half a mile before
they could be overtaken. For ourselves, we found some protection, by
wrapping our blankets loosely around our bodies, and waited for the
cessation of the storm, not without calling to mind some instances on
record of hail-stones which have destroyed the lives of men and animals.
It is not improbable, that a climate of a portion of country within
the range of the immediate influence {314} of the Rocky Mountains,
may be more subject to hail-storms in summer, than any other parts
of North America in the same latitude. The radiation of heat from
so extensive a surface of naked sand, lying along the base of this
vast range of snowy mountains, must produce great local inequalities
of temperature. The diminished pressure of the atmosphere, and the
consequent rapidity of evaporation, in these elevated regions, may
also be supposed to have an important influence on the weather. We
have not spent sufficient time in the country, near the eastern range
of the Rocky Mountains, to enable us to speak with confidence of the
character of its climate. It is, however, sufficiently manifest, that
in summer it must be extremely variable, as we have found it; the
thermometer often indicating an increase of near fifty degrees of
temperature between sunrise and the middle of the day. These rapid
alternations of heat and cold must be supposed to mark a climate little
favourable to health, though we may safely assert that this portion of
the country is exempt from the operation of those causes which produce
so deleterious an atmosphere in the lower and more fertile portions
of the Mississippi basin. If the wide plains of the Platte, the Upper
Arkansa, and the Red river of Louisiana should ever become the seat
of a permanent civilized population, the diseases most incident to
such a population will probably be fevers, attended with pulmonary and
pleuritic inflammations, rheumatism, scrofula, and consumption.[62] It
is true, that few, if any, instances of pulmonary consumption occur
among the Indians of this region; the same remark is probably as true
of the original native population of New York and New England.
Though much rain fell during this storm, it was so rapidly absorbed by
the soil, that but little running water was to be seen. The bed of the
river was found smooth and unobstructed, and afforded us for several
days the most convenient path for travelling. As we {315} descended,
we found it expand in some places to a width of near two miles. Bisons
became astonishingly numerous; and in the middle of the day countless
thousands of them were seen coming in from every quarter to the
stagnant pools which filled the most depressed places in the channel of
the river. The water of these was of course too filthy to be used in
cooking our meat, and though sometimes compelled to drink it, we found
little alleviation to our thirst. At our encampments, we were able to
supply ourselves with water of a better quality by digging in the
sand, where we scarce ever failed to meet with a supply at a few feet
from the surface.
On the 17th,[63] we halted in the middle of the day to hunt, as,
although we had killed several bisons on our marches of the preceding
days, none of them had been found in good condition. The flesh of
the bulls, in the months of August and September, is poor and ill
flavoured; but these are much more easily killed than the cows, being
less vigilant, and sometimes suffering themselves to be overtaken by
the hunter, without attempting to escape. As the herds of cows were
now seen in great numbers, we halted, while the hunters went out and
killed several. Our camp was placed on the south-west side of the
river, under a low bluff, which separates the half-wooded valley from
the open and elevated plains. The small elms along this valley were
bending under the weight of innumerable grape vines, now loaded with
ripe fruit, the purple clusters crowded in such profusion as almost to
give a colouring to the landscape. On the opposite side of the river
was a range of low sand hills, fringed with vines, rising not more than
a foot or eighteen inches from the surface. On examination, we found
these hillocks had been produced exclusively by the agency of the grape
vines, arresting the sand as it was borne along by the wind, until such
quantities had been accumulated as to bury every part of the plant,
except the end of the branches. Many of these were so loaded with {316}
fruit, as to present nothing to the eye but a series of clusters, so
closely arranged as to conceal every part of the stem. The fruit of
these vines is incomparably finer than that of any other native or
exotic which we have met with in the United States. The burying of
the greater part of the trunk, with its larger branches, produces the
effect of pruning, inasmuch as it prevents the unfolding of leaves
and flowers on the parts below the surface, while the protruded ends
of the branches enjoy an increased degree of light and heat from the
reflection of the sand. It is owing, undoubtedly, to these causes, that
the grapes in question are so far superior to the fruit of same vine in
ordinary circumstances. The treatment here employed by nature, to bring
to perfection the fruit of the vine may be imitated; but without the
same peculiarities of soil and exposure, and with difficulty be carried
to the same magnificent extent. Here are hundreds of acres, covered
with a movable surface of sand, and abounding in vines, which, left to
the agency of the sun and the winds, are, by their operation, placed
in more favourable circumstances than it is in the power of man, to so
great an extent, to afford. We indulged ourselves to excess, if excess
could be committed in the use of such delicious and salutary fruit, and
invited by the cleanness of the sand, and a refreshing shade, we threw
ourselves down, and slept away, with unusual zest, a few of the hours
of a summer afternoon.
Our hunters had been as successful as could be wished, and at evening
we assembled around a full feast of "marrow-bones;" a treat whose
value must for ever remain unknown to those who have not tried the
adventurous life of the hunter. We were often surprised to witness in
ourselves a proof of the facility with which a part at least of the
habits of the savage could be adopted. Having been in several instances
compelled to practise a tedious abstinence, the return of plenty found
us well disposed to make amends for these temporary privations; and we
lingered, {317} almost involuntarily, at every meal, as if determined
not only to supply the deficiency of the past, but to secure such ample
supplies as would enable us to defy the future.
The grapes and plums, so abundant in this portion of the country, are
eaten by turkies and black bears, and the plums by wolves or jackals,
as we conclude, from observing plumstones in the excrement of one of
those animals. It is difficult to conceive whence such numbers of
predatory animals and birds, as exist in every part of the country
where the bisons are present, can derive sufficient supplies for the
sustenance of life; and it is indeed sufficiently evident, their
existence is but a protraction of the sufferings of famine.
The great flowering hibiscus is here a conspicuous and highly
ornamental plant among the scattering trees in the low grounds. The
occurrence of the black walnut, for the first time since we left
the Missouri, indicates a soil somewhat adapted to the purposes of
agriculture. Portions of the river valley, which are not covered with
loose sands, have a red soil, resulting from the disintegration of
the prevailing rocks (red sandstone and gypsum) intermixed with clay,
and are covered with a dense growth of fine and nutritious grasses.
Extensive tracts of the great woodless plain, at a distance from the
river, appear to be based upon a more compact variety of sandstone,
which is usually of a dark gray colour, and less pervious to water
than the red. For this reason some copious springs are found upon it,
and a soil by no means destitute of fertility, yielding sustenance
to inconceivable numbers of herbivorous animals, and through them to
innumerable birds and beasts of prey. It must be supposed, however,
that the herds of bisons daily seen about the river, range over a
much greater extent of country than was comprised within our limited
views. The want of water in many places may compel them to resort {318}
frequently to the river in dry weather; though at other times they may
be dispersed in the high plains.
August 18th. In speaking of a country whose geography is so little
known as that of the region S. W. of the Arkansa, we feel very sensibly
the want of ascertained and fixed points of reference. Were we to
designate the locality of a mineral, or any other interesting object,
as found twenty or thirty days' journey from the Rocky Mountains,
we should do nearly all in our power; yet this sort of information
would probably be thought vague and useless. The smaller rivers of
this region have as yet received no names from white hunters; if they
have names among the Indians, these are unknown to us. There are no
mountains, hills, or other remarkable objects to serve as points of
departure, nearer than the Rocky Mountains and the Arkansa. The river
itself, which we supposed to be the Red river of Natchitoches, is a
permanent landmark; but it is a line and not a point; and aids us
only in one direction, in our attempts to designate locality. The map
accompanying this work was projected in conformity to the results of
numerous astronomical observations for latitude and longitude; but many
of these observations were made at places which are not, and at present
cannot be known by any names we might attempt to fix upon them.[64]
More extensive and minute examination than we have been able to bestow
might establish something like a sectional division, founded on the
distribution of certain remarkable plants. The great cylindric cactus,
the ligneous rooted cucumis, the small-leaved elm, might be used in
such an attempt; but it is easy to see that the advantages resulting
from it, would be for the most part imaginary.
Discussions of this sort have been much insisted on of late, and may
be important as aiding in the geography of climates and soils, but can
afford little assistance to topography.
{319} The geognostic features of the region under consideration, afford
some foundation for a natural division, but this division must be so
extremely general as to afford little satisfaction. We could only
distinguish the red sandstone, the argillaceous sandstone, and the trap
districts, and though each of these have distinctive characters not
easy to be mistaken, they are so irregular in form and position, as to
be in no degree adapted to aid in the description and identifying of
particular places. On the contrary, it is to be regretted there are no
established points to which we might refer, in communicating what we
have observed of the position of these formations, and indicating the
particular localities of some of the valuable minerals they contain.
The red sandstone, apparently the most extensive of the rocky
formations of this region, has, wherever it occurs, indications of the
presence of muriate of soda, and almost as commonly discloses veins and
beds of sulphate of lime. The substance last mentioned had been growing
more and more abundant since we left the region of the trap rocks at
the sources of the river. It was now so frequent as to be conspicuous
in all the exposed portions of the sand-rock, and was often seen from a
distance of several miles. It occurs under various forms, sometimes we
meet with the most beautiful selenite, disposed in broad reticulating
veins, traversing the sandstone; the granular and fibrous varieties,
whose snowy whiteness contrasts strongly with the deep red and brown
of the sandstone, are sometimes seen in thin horizontal lamina, or
scattered about the surface, sometimes included in larger masses of
the common amorphous plaister-stone. This last is usually of a colour
approaching to white, but the exposed surfaces are more or less tinged
with the colouring matter of the sand-rock, and all the varieties are
so soft as to disintegrate rapidly when exposed to the air. Recent
surfaces show no ferruginous tinge; {320} or rather, we would say, this
colour does not appear to have been contemporaneous to the formation
of the sulphate of lime, but derived from the cement of the sandstone,
and to have penetrated no farther than it has been carried by the
impetration of water.
We left our encampment at 5 o'clock, the morning fair; thermometer at
62°. Our courses regulated entirely by the direction of the river,
were north fifty-five east, eleven miles; then north, ten east, seven
miles; in all eighteen miles before dinner.[65] The average direction
of our courses for some days had been rather to the north, than south
of east. This did not coincide entirely with our previous ideas of
the direction of Red river, and much less of the Faux Ouachitta, or
False Washita,[66] which being the largest of the upper branches of
the Red river from the north, we believed, might be the stream we were
descending. From observations taken at several points along the river
we had ascertained, that we must travel three or four days' journey
to the south, in order to arrive at the parallel of the confluence of
the Kiamesha with the Red river,[67] and we were constantly expecting
a change in the direction of our courses. The confident assurance of
the Kaskaias, that we were on the Red river, and but a few days march
above the village of the Pawnee Piquas, tended to quiet the suspicions
we began to feel on this subject. We had now travelled, since meeting
the Indians, a greater distance than we could suppose they had intended
to indicate by the admeasurement of ten "lodge days," but we were
conscious our communications with them had been made through inadequate
interpreters, and it was not without reason, we began to fear we might
have received erroneous impressions. In the afternoon, however, the
river inclined more {321} to the direction we wished to travel, and
we had several courses to the south of east. At sunset we pitched our
tent on the north side of the river, and dug a well in the sand, which
afforded a sufficient supply of wholesome, though brackish, water.
Throughout the night the roaring of immense herds of bisons, and
the solemn notes of the hooting owl were heard, intermixed with the
desolate cries of the jackal and the screech-owl. The mulberry, and the
guilandina, growing near our camp, with many of the plants and birds we
had been accustomed to see in the frontier settlements of the United
States, reminded us of the comforts of home and the cheering scenes
of civilized society, giving us at the same time the assurance that we
were about to arrive at the point where we should take leave of the
desert.
Saturday, August 19th. The mercury at sunrise stood at 71°. The morning
was calm, and the sky tinged with that intense and beautiful blue which
marks many of our summer skies, and is seen with greater pleasure by
those who know that home or a good tavern is near, than by such as
have no prospect of shelter save what a tent or a blanket can afford.
We were now looking with much impatience for something to indicate
an approach towards the village of the Pawnee Piqua, but instead of
this the traces of Indians seemed to become less and less frequent.
Notwithstanding the astonishing numbers of bison, deer, antelopes,
and other animals, the country is less strewed with bones than almost
any we have seen; affording an evidence that it is not a favourite
hunting ground of any tribe of Indians. The animals also appear wholly
unaccustomed to the sight of men. The bisons and wolves move slowly off
to the right and left, leaving a lane for the party to pass, but those
on the windward side often linger for a long time, almost within the
reach of our rifles, regarding us with little appearance of alarm. We
had now nothing to suffer either from the apprehension {322} or reality
of hunger, and could have been content that the distance between
ourselves and the settlements should have been much greater than we
supposed it to be.
In the afternoon, finding the course of the river again bending
towards the north, and becoming more and more circuitous, we turned
off on the right hand side, and choosing an east course, travelled
across the hills, not doubting but we should soon arrive again at the
river. We found the country at a distance from the bed of the river,
somewhat elevated and broken, but upon climbing some of the highest
hills, we again saw the landscape of the unbounded and unvaried grassy
plain spread out before us. All the inequalities of the surface have
evidently been produced by the excavating operation of currents of
water, and they are consequently most considerable near the channels of
the large streams. This remark is applicable to the vallies of all the
large rivers in the central portions of the great horizontal formation
west of the Alleghanies. We find accordingly, that on the Ohio, the
Missouri, the Platte, the Konzas, and many of the rivers tributary to
the Mississippi, the surface becomes broken in proportion as we proceed
from the interior towards the bed of the river, and all the hills bear
convincing evidence that they have received their existence and their
form from the action of the currents of water which have removed the
soil and other matters formerly occupying the vallies and elevating the
whole surface of the country nearly to a common level. Regarding in
this view the extensive vallies of the Mississippi and its tributaries,
we naturally inquire how great a length of time must have been spent
in the production of such an effect, the cause operating as it now
does. It is scarcely necessary to remark, that where tributaries of
the rivers in question are bounded on both sides, as they often are,
by perpendicular cliffs of sandstone or limestone {323} in horizontal
strata, the seams and markings on one side correspond with those on
the other, indicating the stratifications to have been originally
continuous.
A ride of a few miles in a direction passing obliquely from the
river, brought us to a point which overlooked a large extent of the
surrounding country. From this we could distinguish the winding
course of a small stream, uniting numerous tributaries from the
ridge we occupied, and pursuing its course towards the south-east,
along a narrow and well-wooded valley. The dense and verdant foliage
of the poplars and elms contrasted strongly with the bright red of
the sandstone cliffs, which rose on both sides, far surpassing the
elevation of the tallest trees, and disclosing here and there masses
of sulphate of lime of a snowy whiteness.[68] Looking back upon the
broad valley of the river we had left, the eye rested upon insulated
portions of the sandy bed disclosed by the inflections of its course
or the opening of ravines, and resembling pools of blood, rather than
wastes of sand. We had been so long accustomed to the red sands, that
the intensity of the colouring ceased to excite any attention until a
distant view afforded us the opportunity of contrasting it with the
general aspect of the country.
The elevated plains we found covered with a plenteous but close-fed
crop of grasses, and occupied by extensive marmot villages. The red
soil is usually fine and little intermixed with gravel and pebbles, but
too sandy to retain moisture enough for the purposes of agriculture.
The luxuriance and fineness of the grasses, as well as the astonishing
number and good condition of the herbivorous animals of this region,
clearly indicate its value for the purposes of pasturage. There can
be little doubt that more valuable and productive grasses than the
native species can with little trouble be introduced. This may easily
be effected by burning the prairies at a proper season of the year, and
sowing the seeds {324} of any of the more hardy cultivated gramina.
Some of the perennial plants common in the prairies will undoubtedly
be found difficult to exterminate, their strong roots penetrating to a
great depth and enveloping the rudiments of new shoots placed beyond
the reach of a fire on the surface. The soil of the more fertile plains
is penetrated with such numbers of these as to present more resistance
to the plough than the oldest cultivated pastures.