PASS CAPE GARLIC--OBRAZO RIVER--CLIFFS--EMIGRANTS--CAPE ST.
COMB--BOIS BRULE BOTTOM--PAROQUET--FORT CHARTRES--KASKASKIA
--ST. GENEVIEVE--M. BRETON--THE MISSISSIPPI DEFICIENT IN
FISH--ANTIQUITIES--GEOLOGY--STEAMER--HERCULANEUM--M. AUSTIN,
ESQ., THE PIONEER TO TEXAS--JOURNEY ON FOOT TO ST. LOUIS--
MISADVENTURES ON THE MARAMEC--ITS INDIAN NAME--CARONDELET--
ST. LOUIS, ITS FINE SITE AND PROBABLE FUTURE IMPORTANCE--ST.
LOUIS MOUNDS NOT ARTIFICIAL--DOWNWARD PRESSURE OF THE
DILUVIAL DRIFT OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
July 13th. We renewed the attempt to pass Cape Garlic at an early hour,
and succeeded after a protracted and severe trial. But two of our best
men immediately declared their unwillingness to proceed farther in these
severe labors, in which they were obliged to pull like oxen; and they
were promptly paid off by the captain, and permitted to return. The
crew, thus diminished, went on a short distance further with the barge,
and came-to at the mouth of the Obrazo river, to await the effort of our
commander to procure additional hands. We had not now advanced more than
two miles, which constituted the sum of this day's progress. While
moored here, we were passed by four boats filled with emigrants from
Vermont and Western New York, destined for Boon's Lick, on the Missouri.
I embraced the occasion of this delay to make some excursions in the
vicinity.
July 14th. Having been successful in obtaining a reinforcement of hands
from the interior, we pursued the ascent, and made six miles along the
Missouri shore. The next day (15th) we ascended seven miles. This
leisurely tracing of the coast revealed to me some of the minutest
features of its geological structure. The cliffs consist of horizontal
strata of limestone, resting on granular crystalline sandstone. Nothing
can equal the beauty of the varying landscape presented for the last two
days. There has appeared a succession of the most novel and interesting
objects. Whatever pleasure can be derived from the contemplation of
natural objects, presented in surprising and picturesque groups, can
here be enjoyed in the highest degree. Even art may be challenged to
contrast, with more effect, the bleak and rugged cliff with the verdant
forest, the cultivated field, or the wide-extended surface of the
Mississippi, interspersed with its beautiful islands, and winding
majestically through a country, which only requires the improvements of
civilized and refined society, to render it one of the most delightful
residences of man. Nor is it possible to contemplate the vast extent,
fertility, resources, and increasing population of this immeasurable
valley, without feeling a desire that our lives could be prolonged to an
unusual period, that we might survey, an hundred years hence, the
improved social and political condition of the country, and live to
participate in its advantages, improvements, and power.
All the emigrants whom we have passed seem to be buoyed up by a hopeful
and enterprising character; and, although most of them are manifestly
from the poorest classes, and are from twelve to fifteen hundred miles
on their adventurous search for a new home, from none have I heard a
word of despondency.
July 16th. I observed to-day, at Cape St. Comb, large angular fragments
of a species of coarse granular sandstone rock, which appear to be
_disjecta membra_ of a much more recent formation than that underlying
the prevalent surface formation.
The gay and noisy paroquet was frequently seen, this day, wheeling in
flocks over the river; and at one point, which was revealed suddenly, we
beheld a large flock of pelicans standing along a low, sandy peninsula.
Either the current, during to-day's voyage, was less furious, or the
bargemen exerted more strength or skill; for we ascended ten miles, and
encamped at the foot of _Bois Brule_ (Burnt-wood) bottom. The term
"bottom" is applied, in the West, to extensive tracts of level and
arable alluvial soil, whether covered by, or denuded of, native forest
trees. We found it the commencement of a comparatively populous and
flourishing settlement, having on the next day (17th) passed along its
margin for seven miles. Its entire length is twelve miles.
July 18th. The most prominent incidents of this day were the passing, on
the Illinois shore, of the celebrated site of fort Chartres, and the
influx of the Kaskaskia (or, as it is abbreviated by the men, _Ocaw_ or
_Caw_) river--a large stream on the eastern shore. These names will
recall some of the earliest and most stirring scenes of Illinois
history. The town of Kaskaskia, which is the present seat of the
territorial government, is seated seven miles above its mouth.
Fort Chartres is now a ruin, and, owing to the capricious channel of the
Mississippi, is rapidly tumbling into it. It had been a regular work,
built of stone, according to the principles of military art. Its walls
formerly contained not only the chief element of military power in
French Illinois, but also sheltered the ecclesiastics and traders of the
time. In an old manuscript journal of that fort which I have seen, a
singular custom of the Osages is mentioned, on the authority of one
Mons. Jeredot. He says (Dec. 22, 1766) that they have a feast, which
they generally celebrate about the month of March, when they bake a
large (corn) cake of about three or four feet diameter, and of two or
three inches thickness. This is cut into pieces, from the centre to the
circumference; and the principal chief or warrior arises and advances to
the cake, when he declares his valor, and recounts his noble actions. If
he is not contradicted, or none has aught to allege against him, he
takes a piece of the cake, and distributes it among the boys of the
nation, repeating to them his noble exploits, and exhorting them to
imitate them. Another then approaches, and in the same manner recounts
his achievements, and proceeds as before. Should any one attempt to
take of the cake, to whose character there is the least exception, he is
stigmatized and set aside as a poltroon.
It is said by some of the oldest and most intelligent inhabitants of St.
Louis, that about 1768, when the British had obtained possession of fort
Chartres, a very nefarious transaction took place in that vicinity, in
the assassination of the celebrated Indian chief Pontiac. Tradition
tells us that this man had exercised great influence in the North and
West, and that he resisted the transfer of authority from the French to
the English, on the fall of Canada. Carver has a story on this subject,
detailing the siege of Detroit in 1763, which has been generally read.
The version of Pontiac's death in Illinois, is this:--While encamped in
this vicinity, an Illinois Indian, who had given in his adherence to the
new dynasty of the English, was hired by the promise of rum, by some
English traders, to assassinate the chief, while the latter was reposing
on his pallet at night, still vainly dreaming, perhaps, of driving the
English out of America, and of restoring his favorite Indo-Gallic empire
in the West.
July 19th. We ascended the Mississippi seven miles yesterday, to which,
by all appliances, we added eleven miles to-day, which is our maximum
ascent in one day. Five miles of this distance, along the Missouri
shore, consists of the great public field of St. Genevieve. This field
is a monument of early French policy in the days of Indian supremacy,
when the agricultural population of a village was brought to labor in
proximity, so that any sudden and capricious attack of the natives could
be effectively repelled. We landed at the mouth of the Gabarie, a small
stream which passes through the town. St. Genevieve lies on higher
ground, above the reach of the inundations, about a mile west of the
landing. It consists of some three hundred wooden houses, including
several stores, a post-office, court-house, Roman Catholic church, and a
branch of the Missouri Bank, having a capital of fifty thousand dollars.
The town is one of the principal markets and places of shipment for the
Missouri lead-mines. Heavy stacks of lead in pigs, are one of the chief
characteristics which I saw in, and often piled up in front of its
storehouses; and they give one the idea of a considerable export in this
article.
July 20th. I devoted this day to a reconnoissance of St. Genevieve and
its environs. The style of building reminds one of the ancient Belgic
and Dutch settlements on the banks of the Hudson and Mohawk--high-pointed
roofs to low one-story-buildings, and large stone chimneys out-doors.
The streets are narrow, and the whole village as compact as if built to
sustain a siege. The water of the Mississippi is falling rapidly, and
leaves on the shores a deposit of mud, varying from a foot to two feet
in depth. This recent deposit appears to consist essentially of silex
and alumine, in a state of very intimate mixture. An opinion is
prevalent throughout this country, that the water of the Mississippi,
with every impurity, is healthful as a common drink; and accordingly the
boatmen, and many of the inhabitants on the banks of the river, make use
of no other water. An expedient resorted to at first, perhaps, from
necessity, may be continued from an impression of the benefits resulting
from it. I am not well enough acquainted with the chemical properties of
the water, or the method in which it operates on the human system, to
deny its utility; but, to my palate, clear spring-water is far
preferable. A simple method is pursued for clarifying it: a handful of
Indian meal is sprinkled on the surface of a vessel of water,
precipitating the mud to the bottom, and the superincumbent water is
left in a tolerable state of purity.
July 21st. We again set forward this morning. On ascending three miles,
we came to Little Rock ferry--a noted point of crossing from the east to
the west of the Mississippi. The most remarkable incident in the history
of this place is the residence of an old French soldier, of an age gone
by, who has left his name in the geography of the surrounding country.
_M. Breton_, the person alluded to, is stated to be, at this time, one
hundred and nine years of age. Tradition says that he was at Braddock's
defeat--at the siege of Louisbourg--at the building of fort Chartres,
in the Illinois--and at the siege of Bergen-op-Zoom, in Flanders. While
wandering as a hunter, after his military services had ended, in the
country about forty miles west of the Mississippi, he discovered the
extensive lead-mines which continue to bear his name.
We ascended this day twelve miles, which is the utmost stretch of our
exertions against the turbid and heavy tide of this stream. Our captain
(Ensminger) looked in the evening as if he had been struggling all day
in a battle, and his men took to their pallets as if exhausted to the
last degree.
July 22d. I have seen very little, thus far, in the Mississippi, in the
shape of fish. The only species noticed has been the gar; one of which I
caught, as described, from the side of the boat, while lying at the
mouth of the Ohio. Of all rivers in the West, I should think it the
least favorable to this form of organized matter. Of the coarse species
of the catfish and buffalo-fish which are found in its waters, I suppose
the freshet has deprived us of a sight.
Of antiquities, I have seen nothing since leaving the Ohio valley till
this day, when I picked up, in my rambles on shore, an ancient Indian
dart, of chert. The Indian antiquities on the Illinois shore, however,
are stated to be very extensive. Near the Kaskaskia river are numerous
mounds and earthworks, which denote a heavy ancient population.
The limestone cliffs, at the place called Dormant Rocks, assume a very
imposing appearance. These precipitous walls bear the marks of attrition
in water-lines, very plainly impressed, at great heights above the
present water-level; creating the idea that they may have served as
barriers to some ancient ocean resting on the grand prairies of
Illinois.
We were passed, near evening, by the little steamer Harriet, on her
descent from St. Louis. This vessel is the same that was noticed on the
11th, on her ascent, and is the only representative of steam-power that
we have observed.[5] Our ascent this day was estimated at thirteen
miles.
July 23d. Passing the Platten creek, the prominence called Cornice Rock,
and the promontory of Joachim creek, an ascent of five miles brought us
to the town of Herculaneum. This name of a Roman city buried for ages,
gives, at least, a moral savor of antiquity to a country whose
institutions are all new and nascent. It was bestowed, I believe, by Mr.
Austin, who is one of the principal proprietors of the place. It
consists of between thirty and forty houses, including three stores, a
post-office, court-house, and school. There are three shot-towers on the
adjoining cliffs, and some mills, with a tan-yard and a distillery, in
the vicinity. It is also a mart for the lead-mine country.
I had now ascended one hundred and seventy miles from the junction of
the Ohio. This had required over twenty-two days, which gives an average
ascent of between seven and eight miles per day, and sufficiently
denotes the difficulty of propelling boats up this stream by manual
labor.
At Herculaneum I was introduced to M. Austin, Esq.--a gentleman who had
been extensively engaged in the mining business while the country was
yet under Spanish jurisdiction, and who was favorably known, a few years
after, as the prime mover of the incipient steps to colonize Texas.
Verbal information, from him and others, appeared to make this a
favorable point from which to proceed into the interior, for the purpose
of examining its mineral structure and peculiarities. I therefore
determined to leave my baggage here until I had visited the territorial
capital, St. Louis. This was still thirty miles distant, and, after
making the necessary preparations, I set out, on the 26th of the month,
on foot. In this journey I was joined by my two _compagnons de voyage_
from Pennsylvania and Maryland. We began our march at an early hour. The
summer had now assumed all its fervor, and power of relaxation and
lassitude on the muscles of northern constitutions. We set out on foot
early, but, as the day advanced, the sun beat down powerfully, and the
air seemed to owe all its paternity to tropical regions. It was in vain
we reached the summit land. There was no breeze, and the forest trees
were too few and widely scattered to afford any appreciable shade.
The soil of the Missouri uplands appears to possess a uniform character,
although it is better developed in some localities than in others. It is
the red mineral clay, which, in some of its conditions, yields beds of
galena throughout the mine country, bearing fragments of quartz in some
of its numerous varieties. In these uplands, its character is not so
well marked as in the districts further west; geologically considered,
however, it is identical in age and relative position. The _gullied_
character of the soil, and its liability to crumble under the effect of
rain, and to be carried off, which was first noticed at Cape Girardeau,
is observed along this portion of the river, and is most obvious in the
gulfy state of the roads.
What added greatly to our fatigue in crossing this tract, was the having
taken a too westerly path, which gave us a roundabout tramp. On
returning to the main track, we forded Cold river, a rapid and clear
brook; a little beyond which, we reached a fine, large, crystal spring,
the waters of which bubbled up briskly and bright, and ran off from
their point of outbreak to the river we had just crossed, leaving a
white deposit of sulphur. The water is pretty strongly impregnated with
this mineral, and is supposed to have a beneficial effect in bilious
complaints. The scenery in the vicinity of the spring is highly
picturesque, and the place is capable of being made a delightful resort.
Five miles more brought us to the banks of the Maramec river, where we
arrived at dark, and prevailed with the ferryman to take us across,
notwithstanding the darkness of the night, and the rain, which, after
having threatened a shower all the afternoon, now began to fall. The
Maramec is the principal stream of the mine country, and is the
recipient of affluents, spreading over a large area. The aboriginal name
of this stream, Mr. Austin informed me, should be written "Marameg." The
ferryman seemed in no hurry to put us over this wide river, at so late
an hour, and with so portentous a sky as hung over us, threatening every
moment to pour down floods upon us. By the time we had descended from
his house into the valley, and he had put us across to the opposite
shore, it was dark. We took his directions for finding the house at
which we expected to lodge; but it soon became so intensely dark, that
we pursued a wrong track, which led us away from the shelter we sought.
Satisfied at length that we had erred, we knew not what to do. It then
began to pour down rain. We groped about a while, but finally stood
still. In this position, we had not remained long, when the faint
tinkling of a cow-bell, repeated leisurely, as if the animal were
housed, fell on our ears. The direction of the sound was contrary to
that we had been taking; but we determined to grope our way cautiously
toward it, guided at intervals by flashes of lightning which lit up the
woods, and standing still in the meanwhile to listen. At length we came
to a fence. This was a guide, and by keeping along one side of it, it
led us to the house of which we were in search. We found that, deducting
our misadventure in the morning, we had advanced on our way, directly,
but about fifteen miles.
July 27th. We were again on our path at a seasonable hour, and soon
passed out of the fertile and heavily timbered valley of the Maramec.
There now commenced a gentle ridge, running parallel to the Mississippi
river for twelve miles. In this distance there was not a single house,
nor any trace that man had bestowed any permanent labor. It was sparsely
covered with oaks, standing at long distances apart, with the
intervening spaces profusely covered with prairie grass and flowers. We
frequently saw the deer bounding before us; and the views, in which we
sometimes caught glimpses of the river, were of a highly sylvan
character. But the heat of the day was intense, and we sweltered beneath
it. About half-way, we encountered a standing spring, in a sort of open
cavern at the foot of a hill, and stooped down and drank. We then went
on, still "faint and wearily," to the old French village of Carondelet,
which bears the soubriquet of _Vede-pouche_ (empty sack). It contains
about sixty wooden buildings, arranged mostly in a single street. Here
we took breakfast.
Being now within six miles of the place of our destination, and
recruited and refreshed, we pushed on with more alacrity. The first
three miles led through a kind of brushy heath, which had the
appearance of having once been covered with large trees that had all
been cut away for firing, with here and there a dry trunk, denuded and
white, looking like ghosts of a departed forest. Patches of cultivation,
with a few buildings, then supervened. These tokens of a better state of
things increased in frequency and value till we reached the skirts of
the town, which we entered about four o'clock in the afternoon.
St. Louis impressed me as a geographical position of superlative
advantages for a city. It now contains about five hundred and fifty
houses, and five thousand inhabitants. It has forty stores, a
post-office, a land-office, two chartered banks, a court-house, jail,
theatre, three churches, one brewery, two distilleries, two water-mills,
a steam flouring-mill, and other improvements. These elements of
prosperity are but indications of what it is destined to become. The
site is unsurpassed for its beauty and permanency; a limestone formation
rising from the shores of the Mississippi, and extending gradually to
the upper plain. It is in north latitude 38 deg. 36', nearly equidistant
from the Alleghany and the Rocky mountains. It is twelve hundred miles
above New Orleans, and about one thousand below St. Anthony's falls.
No place in the world, situated so far from the ocean, can at all
compare with St. Louis for commercial advantages. It is so situated with
regard to the surrounding country, as to become the key to its commerce,
and the storehouse of its wealth; and if the whole western region be
surveyed with a geographical eye, it must rest with unequalled interest
on that peninsula of land formed by the junction of the Missouri with
the Mississippi--a point occupied by the town of St. Louis. Standing
near the confluence of two such mighty streams, an almost immeasurable
extent of back country must flow to it with its produce, and be supplied
from it with merchandise. The main branch of the Missouri is navigable
two thousand five hundred miles, and the most inconsiderable of its
tributary streams will vie with the largest rivers of the Atlantic
States. The Mississippi, on the other hand, is navigable without
interruption for one thousand miles above St. Louis. Its affluents, the
De Corbeau, Iowa, Wisconsin, St. Pierre, Rock river, Salt river, and
Desmoines, are all streams of the first magnitude, and navigable for
many hundred miles. The Illinois is navigable three hundred miles; and
when the communication between it and the lakes, and between the
Mississippi and lake Superior, and the lake of the Woods--between the
Missouri and the Columbia valley--shall be effected; communications not
only pointed out, but, in some instances, almost completed by nature;
what a chain of connected navigation shall we behold! And by looking
upon the map, we shall find St. Louis the focus where all these streams
are destined to be discharged--the point where all this vast commerce
must centre, and where the wealth flowing from these prolific sources
must pre-eminently crown her the queen of the west.
My attention was called to two large mounds, on the western bank of the
Mississippi, a short distance above St. Louis. I have no hesitation in
expressing the opinion that they are geological, and not artificial.
Indian bodies have been buried in their sides, precisely as they are
often buried by the natives in other elevated grounds, for which they
have a preference. But the mounds themselves consist of sand, boulders,
pebbles, and other drift materials, such as are common to undisturbed
positions in the Mississippi valley generally.
Another subject in the physical geography of the country attracted my
notice, the moment the river fell low enough to expose its inferior
shores, spits, and sand-bars. It is the progressive diffusion of its
detritus from superior to inferior positions in its length. Among this
transported material I observed numerous small fragments of those
agates, and other silicious minerals of the quartz family, which
characterize the broad diluvial tracts about its sources and upper
portions.
FOOTNOTE:
[5] I found fifty steamers of all sizes on the Mississippi and its
tributaries, of which a list is published in the Appendix.