SEVERE WINTER WEATHER ON THE SUMMIT OF THE OZARKS--FALSE
ALARM OF INDIANS--DANGER OF MY FURNACE, ETC., BEING
HEREAFTER TAKEN FOR ANTIQUITIES--PROCEED SOUTH--ANIMAL
TRACKS IN THE SNOW--WINOCA OR SPIRIT VALLEY--HONEY AND THE
HONEY-BEE--BUFFALO-BULL CREEK--ROBE OF SNOW--MEHAUSCA
VALLEY--SUPERSTITIOUS EXPERIMENT OF THE HUNTERS--ARRIVE AT
BEAVER CREEK.
The indications of severe weather, noticed during the last day of
December, and the beginning of January, were not deceptive; every day
served to realize them. We had no thermometer; but our feelings denoted
an intense degree of cold. The winds were fierce and sharp, and snow
fell during a part of each day and night that we remained on these
elevations. We wrapped our garments closely about us at night, in front
of large fires, and ran alternately the risk of being frozen and burnt.
One night my overcoat was in a blaze from lying too near the fire. This
severity served to increase the labor of our examinations; but it did
not, that I am aware, prevent anything essential.
On the fourth day of my sojourn here, a snowstorm began, a little before
one o'clock in the morning; it ceased, or, as the local phrase is, "held
up," at daybreak. The ground was now covered, to a depth of from two to
three inches, with a white mantle. Such severity had never been known by
the hunters. The winds whistled over the bleak prairies with a rigor
which would have been remarkable in high northern latitudes. The river
froze entirely over. The sun, however, shone out clearly as the day
advanced, and enabled me to complete my examinations, as fully as it
was practicable to do, under the existing state of the weather.
It happened, on this day, that my companion had walked a mile or two
west, over the smooth prairie, to get a better view of the conformation
of the land, returning to camp before the hunters, who had also gone in
the same general direction. On their coming back, one of them, whose
head was always full of hostile Osages, fell on his returning track in
the snow, and carefully traced it to our camp. He came in breathless,
and declared that the Osages were upon us, and that not a moment was to
be lost in breaking up our camp, and flying to a place of security. When
informed of the origin of the tracks, he still seemed incredulous, and
could not be pacified without some difficulty. We then prepared, by
collecting fuel, and increasing our bark defences against the wind and
snow, to pass another night at the camp.
I had now followed the Ozarks as far as it seemed practicable, and
reached their western summit, notwithstanding every discouragement
thrown in my way by the reports of the hunters, from the first moment of
my striking the White river; having visited the source of nearly every
river which flows from it, both into the Missouri and the Mississippi. I
had fully satisfied myself of its physical character and resources, and
now determined to return to the camps of my guides at Beaver creek, and
continue the exploration south.
It was the 5th of January, 1819, when we prepared our last meal at that
camp, and I carefully put up my packages in such portable shape as might
be necessary. Some time was spent in looking up the horses, which had
been turned into a neighboring canebrake. The interval was employed in
cutting our names, with the date of our visit, on a contiguous oak,
which had been previously blazed for the purpose. These evidences of our
visit were left, with the pit dug in search of ore, and the small
smelting-furnace, which, it is hoped, no zealous antiquarian will
hereafter mistake for monuments of an elder period of civilization in
the Mississippi valley. When this was accomplished, and the horses
brought up, we set out with alacrity. The snow still formed a thin
covering on the ground, and, being a little softened by the sun, the
whole surface of the country exhibited a singular map of the tracks of
quadrupeds and birds. In these, deer, elk, bears, wolves, and turkeys,
were prominent--the first and last species, conspicuously so. In some
places, the dry spots on the leaves showed where the deer had lain
during the storm. These resting-spots were uniformly on declivities,
which sheltered the animal from the force of the wind. Frequently we
crossed wolf-trails in the snow, and, in one or two instances, observed
places where they had played or fought with each other, like a pack of
dogs--the snow being tramped down in a circle of great extent. We also
passed tracts of many acres, where the turkeys had scratched up the
snow, in search of acorns. We frequently saw the deer fly before us, in
droves of twenty or thirty. They will bound twenty feet at a leap, as
measured, on a gentle declivity. This animal is impelled by a fatal
curiosity to stop and turn round to look at the cause of its
disturbance, after running a distance. It is at this moment that the
hunter generally fires.
About noon, we reached and crossed Findley's Fork, or the Winoca
valley--the locality of the cave. Two miles south of it, in ascending an
elevation, our ears were saluted by a murmuring sound in the air, which
the hunters declared to be single bees, flying in a line. I observed one
of them directing its flight to the top of a large oak, which was thus
indicated as the repository of their honey. My companion and myself
proceeded to chop it down, while the hunters stood by. It was of the
white-oak species, and was judged to be two feet and a half across. When
it fell, a hollow limb was fractured, disclosing a large deposit of most
beautiful white honeycombs. We ate without stint, sometimes dipping
cooked pieces of venison (we had no bread) in the fluid part. The
remainder was then wrapped up in a freshly flayed deerskin, and firmly
tied, to be carried to the hunters' cabins at Beaver creek on one of the
horses.
We now resumed our route. As evening approached, we entered the head of
a valley formed out of the plain, toward our right. It turned out to be
a stream known to them, in their buffalo hunts, as Bull creek. Here we
encamped, having travelled about twenty miles. The weather continued
moderately cold during the day, the sun not having attained sufficient
power to melt the snow. A single deer was the trophy of this day's hunt.
Morning found us, as we arose from our couches, in a small, brushy, and
tangled valley, through which it was not easy to make our way. The
weather was raw, cold, and lowering, and the hunters did not seem
inclined to make an early start. It was determined to replenish our
fire, and breakfast, first. It was a rough region, and cost some
exertion and fatigue to get out of its tangled defiles, and ascend the
plains south of it. These impediments consumed so much time, that we
made but slow progress. The atmosphere was so obscure, that it was
difficult to determine the proper course; and it was evident that the
guides did not know exactly where they were. At length they entered one
of the lateral valleys of Swan creek, the Mehausca of the Osages. In
this, after following it down some distance, we encamped. The atmosphere
was clouded up, and betokened falling weather.
The next morning, (Jan. 7th), when I awoke, I felt an extra pressure of
something on my blanket, which had the effect to keep off the wind, and
produce warmth; and on opening its folds, I threw off a stratum of an
inch or two of snow. We had been fatigued by the day's march, and slept
soundly.
Some eight miles' travel brought us to the junction of this little
tributary with the Mehausca, where our guides, by recognizing known
objects, reassured themselves of their true position. It was, however,
still hazy and obscure, and doubts soon again arose in their minds as to
the proper course. After travelling some miles in this perplexity, they
were at length relieved by observing a known landmark in the peak of
Bald hill. This mark was, however, soon lost sight of, and, the
atmosphere still continuing overclouded, dark, and hazy, they speedily
became again bewildered. I was surprised at this; it denoted a want of
precision of observation, which an Indian certainly could not have been
charged with. He is able, in the worst weather, to distinguish the
_north_ from the _south_ face of a mature and weathered tree--a species
of knowledge, of the utmost consequence to him in his forest wanderings.
An experiment, of letting a certain horse take his course homeward, by
throwing the reins upon his neck, was adopted by our guides; but after
trying it for some time, it was found necessary to give it up. It was
clear that the animal was going directly from home; and Fisher, who
believed in bewitched guns, was obliged to yield the point. Not long
after resuming the reins, Holt announced, in the dense atmosphere which
enveloped us, that we were ascending the valley hills that border the
main channel of White river. As soon as this was verified, and we had
reached the highest point, the guides both fired their rifles, to
advertise their families, on the bottom-lands below, of their approach;
and we were soon welcomed, at the hunters' cabins at the mouth of Beaver
creek, "by dogs, women, and children, all greasy and glad."
During this trip, I had listened to frequent recitals of the details of
hunting the bear, beaver, deer, and other animals, the quality of dogs,
the secret of baits, &c.--a species of forest lectures, the details of
which, at the moment, were new to me, and had the charm of novelty, and
the merit of information; but which it is unimportant, at this length of
time, to repeat.[10]
FOOTNOTE:
[10] Vide Journal of a Tour into the Interior of Missouri and Arkansas.
London, 1821.