DESCEND WHITE RIVER IN A CANOE--ITS PURE WATER, CHARACTER,
AND SCENERY--PLACES OF STOPPING--BEAR CREEK--SUGAR-LOAF
PRAIRIE--BIG CREEK--A RIVER PEDLAR--POT SHOALS--MOUTH OF
LITTLE NORTH FORK--DESCEND FORMIDABLE RAPIDS, CALLED THE
BULL SHOALS--STRANDED ON ROCKS--A PATRIARCH PIONEER--
MINERALOGY--ANTIQUE POTTERY AND BONES--SOME TRACE OF DE
SOTO--A TRIP BY LAND--REACH THE MOUTH OF THE GREAT NORTH
FORK.
I determined to descend the river from the hunters' cabins at Beaver
creek, being the highest location to which a pioneer hunting population
had pushed, and with this view purchased a large and new canoe, of about
twenty feet in length, from the enterprising hunters. Putting into this
such articles from our former packs as were deemed necessary, and some
provisions, I took the bow, with a long and smooth pole to guide it in
rapids and shoals, and gave the stern to my companion, with a
steering-paddle. It was now the 9th of January. Bidding adieu to our
rough, but kind and friendly guides, we pushed into the stream, and
found ourselves floating, with little exertion, at the rate of from
three to four miles per hour. The very change from traversing weary
plains and prairies, and ascending steep cliffs, was exhilarating and
delightful.
White river is one of the most beautiful and enchanting streams, and by
far the most transparent, which discharge their waters into the
Mississippi. To a width and depth which entitle it to be classed as a
river of the third magnitude in Western America, it unites a current
which possesses the purity of crystal, with a smooth and gentle flow,
and the most imposing, diversified, and delightful scenery. Objects can
be clearly seen in it, through the water, at the greatest depths. Every
pebble, rock, fish, or shell, even the minutest body which occupies the
bottom of the stream, is seen with the most perfect distinctness; and
the canoe, when looking under it, seemed, from the remarkable
transparency of the water, to be suspended in air. The Indians,
observing this peculiarity, called it Unica, which is the transitive
form of _white_. The French of Louisiana merely translated this term to
_la riviere au Blanc_. It is, in fact, composed of tributaries which
gush up in large crystal springs out of the Ozark range of mountains,
and it does not receive a discoloured tributary in all its upper course.
These gigantic springs, which are themselves a curiosity, originate in
the calcareous or sandstone strata of that remarkable chain, and are
overlaid by a heavy oceanic deposit of limestone, quartz, hornstone, and
chert pebbles, which serve as a filtering-bed to the upspringing waters.
Sometimes these pebbles are found to be jasper, of a beautiful quality.
The scenery of its shores is also peculiar. Most frequently the
limestone, which has been subjected to the destructive power of the
elements, is worn into pinnacles of curious spiral shapes. Where the
river washes the base of these formations, a high and precipitous wall
of rock casts its shadow over the water. On the shores opposite to such
precipices, there is invariably a rich diluvial plain, covered by a
vigorous forest of trees, clothed in all the graceful luxuriance of a
summer foliage.
If the shores be examined to any distance inland, the calcareous rock is
found to exhibit frequent caverns, where the percolation of the waters
has produced stalactites of beautiful forms, or the concretions are
spread upon the floors of these caves in curious masses.
Often, upon the shores, we observed the graceful doe. At early hours in
the morning, the wild turkeys appeared in large flocks, with their
plumage glistening in the light. The duck, goose, and brant, often rose
up before us, and lighted in the stream again below us; and we thus
drove them, without intending it, for miles. Sometimes, perched on some
high pinnacle or towering tree, the eagle, hawk, or heron, surveyed our
descent, as if it were an intrusion upon their long undisturbed domain.
A few miles below our point of embarkation, we passed, on the left
shore, a precipitous wall of calcareous rock, on the summit of which I
observed the location of the cavern, into the mouth of which I descended
some twenty or thirty feet, on my outward journey; and it now seemed
probable that the ramifications which I saw by the dim light admitted,
were of an extensive character.
As the shades of night overtook us, a hunter's cabin was descried on the
left shore, where a landing was made. It proved to be occupied by a
person of the name of Yochem, who readily gave us permission to remain
for the night. He told us we had descended thirty miles. He regaled us
hospitably with wild viands, and, among other meats, the beaver's
tail--a dish for epicures.
Resuming the descent at an early hour, a couple of miles brought us to
the inlet of Bear creek--a stream coming in on the right side, which is
described as long, narrow, and crooked. Nothing denoted that man had
ever made his residence along this part of the stream. We floated on
charmingly. At every turn, some novel combination of scenery presented
itself. As evening drew near, a hunter's cabin appeared on our right,
and, a couple of miles further, another on our left, near one of those
natural monuments of denudation common to the limestone of this river,
which is called the Sugar-loaf. We stopped for the night at this
habitation, and found it to be occupied by a Mr. Coker. The old man
received us with the usual frank and friendly air and manner of a
hunter. More than fifty years must have marked his frontier pilgrimage
on its constantly shifting boundary. He stood some six feet three in
height, was erect and thin, and looked like one of the patriarchs of the
woods, who, cherishing his personal independence and his rifle, had ever
relied upon his own arm for a support, and distrusted nothing on earth
half so much as Indians. In his view, the Osages were the perfection of
robbers; and he congratulated us on getting out of their country with
our scalps safely on our heads, and our "plunder" (a common word here
for baggage) untouched. It appeared from his estimates that we had
descended the river twenty-five miles.
Rain fell copiously during the night; but it ceased before daylight
(11th), by the earliest gleams of which we were again in motion,
descending the pellucid river. At the computed distance of sixteen
miles, we passed the mouth of Big river, a considerable stream on the
left banks, where I halted a few moments to see a new location which had
just been commenced. A small clearing had been made in the dense
canebrake, and a log house commenced. Shortly below this spot, we
encountered a river pedlar, ascending the stream with his commodities in
a canoe. On conversing with him, I found his knowledge of affairs very
local and partial. Of the outer world, and of its news, he knew nothing.
At every stage of our progress, the river was increasing in its volume;
and, soon after this occurrence, we observed its velocity accelerated,
and almost imperceptibly found ourselves gliding rapidly over the Pot
Shoals. This rapid appeared less formidable than had been anticipated. I
rose up to observe the draught of the current, and, by a few strokes of
the pole, kept the canoe in the force of the stream. About seven miles
below these shoals, and just as evening closed in, a house appeared on
the left shore. It proved to be M'Garey's, at whose domicile we had
originally struck on crossing the wilderness from Potosi. He was glad to
hail our return from a region, against the Indian occupants of which, he
had decidedly warned us on our outward trip, but from whom we had
fortunately received no injury. He informed us that we had this day
descended the river forty miles, that being the received distance to
Sugar-loaf Prairie.
We were indeed cordially received as old acquaintances, and
congratulated on our perseverance in visiting a region where Indian
hostility was so much to be dreaded. On learning that the Osages had
retired west, and that the country abounded in game, one of the sons of
our host prepared to push into that region. M'Garey told us that he had
delivered "Butcher," agreeably to our order, to Holt; but the latter, on
travelling a day's journey toward Beaver creek, had found him too feeble
to proceed, and, after taking off his shoes, had abandoned him to the
wolves. Sad emblem of the fate of persons who have served great men,
till they have reached some pinnacle where the service is forgotten,
because no longer necessary!
Nearly opposite, but a little below this cabin, we passed, on the 12th,
the mouth of the Little North Fork; a stream originating in a broken
region on the left bank, and having some alluvions at its mouth.
Evidences of habitation became more frequent below the Little North
Fork, which caused me to cease noting their succession in my journal.
Nothing of special interest occurred to mark the day's progress, till we
reached, at an advanced hour in the afternoon, the Bull shoals. At this
formidable rapid, the river probably sinks its level fifteen or twenty
feet in the space of half a mile. Masses of limestone rock stand up in
the bed of the river, and create several channels. Between these the
river foams and roars. When I arose in the canoe to take a view of the
rapid into which we were about to plunge, the bed of the stream appeared
to be a perfect sheet of foam, whirling and rushing with great force and
tumult. As I knew not the proper channel, and it was too late to
withdraw, the only step left was to keep the canoe headed, and down we
went most rapidly. Very soon the canoe leaped on a round rock, driving
on it with great force, and veered about crosswise. In an instant I
jumped into the water at the bows, while my companion did the same at
the stern, and, by main force, we lifted it over the ledge, got in
quickly, and again headed it properly. We were, emphatically, in the
midst of roaring rapids; their very noise was deafening. The canoe had
probably got down six hundred yards, when a similar difficulty occurred,
at the head of a second shute or bench of rocks, reaching across the
river. In an instant, it again struck. It was obviated by getting into
the water, in the same way as on the first occasion; only, however, to
put our strength and skill to the test a third time, after which we shot
down to the foot of the rapids safely. We had managed neither to ship
water, nor to lose a piece of baggage. We were, however, thoroughly
wetted, but kept our position in the canoe for five miles below the
rapid, bringing us to the head of Friend's settlement. We landed, at a
rather early hour in the evening, at a log building on the left shore,
where we were hospitably received by Teen Friend, a man of mature age
and stately air, the patriarch of the settlement. It was of him that we
had heard stories of Osage captivity and cruelty, having visited one of
the very valleys where he was kept in "durance vile."
The antiquities and mineral appearances in that vicinity were
represented as worthy of examination; in consequence of which, I devoted
a part of the next day (13th) to these objects. The neighboring hills
consist of stratified limestone. The surface of the soil exhibits some
fragments of hornstone and radiated quartz, with indications of
iron-ore. At the shoals, traces of galena and calcareous spar occur.
Mr. Friend, being familiar from personal observation with the geography
and resources of the country at large, states that rock-salt is found
between the south fork of White river and the Arkansas, where the
Pawnees and Osages make use of it. It is presumed that this salt
consists of crystalline masses from the evaporation of saline water. He
represents the lead-ores on its north-western source, which we had
partially explored, as very extensive.
If, as is probable, De Soto ranged over these regions in his extensive
marches between the St. Francis and Arkansas, his exploratory parties
may have reached the locality of crystalline salt referred to, and he
would have found the buffalo in several positions east of that place.
The antiquarian objects to which my attention was called, afforded the
greatest degree of interest. They consisted of pieces of earthenware,
some antique fragments of bone, and a metallic alloy, resting in a
substance resembling ashes, and also arrow-heads. The metallic alloy, of
which Mr. F. gave me a specimen, resembles a combination of lead and
tin. But what adds to the interest attending the discovery of these
articles, is the fact, that they lie, apparently, below the diluvial
deposits, bearing a heavy forest, and at the geological line of
intersection with the consolidated rocks.
From the apparent vestiges in this quarter, I am of opinion that De
Soto's "Tanico" must be located in this vicinity, and that he crossed
the White river near this place. A march west of this point, over a
hilly country, would bring him into the fertile valley of the Little Red
river, or Buffalo creek--his probable Tula, where his people first
tasted the flesh of this animal, and where he recruited his army for a
new effort.
These inquiries occupied the morning. It was late before we embarked,
and, at some four miles below, we landed on the right shore, at a Mr.
Zadock Lee's, being the first New Englander whom we had met in this
region. With him we took dinner. He appeared pleased to see us, and
conducted me to see some antique, white, lime-like masses, in the earth,
near the bank of the river, which had the appearance of decayed bones.
Rumor speaks of some other antiquities in this quarter of the country,
in the shape of bricks, concealed by the undisturbed soil; but I saw
nothing of this kind. While here, Mr. Lee's son returned from the forest
with the flesh of the bear and buffalo, the fruits of his own prowess in
the chase, and amused us with an account of his recent exhibition of
skill in these departments. We embarked and descended the river six
miles, to a Mr. Jacob Yochem's, who received us with hospitality, and
added no little, by his conversation, to our local lore.
It was determined, the next morning, (14th,) to loan our canoe, which
was a capacious, new, and clean vessel, made from white-ash, to our
host, to enable him to transport his hunter products to a market at the
mouth of the Great North Fork, leaving our baggage to be brought that
way. The distance by water is thirty-five miles; by land, probably not
more than eighteen or twenty. By this step, we avoided the dangers of
navigating two formidable rapids, called the Crooked Creek and Buffalo
Shoals; the former situated fifteen, and the latter twenty miles below
Yochem's.
We left our host's at a seasonable hour in the morning, taking a good
horse-path; and we walked diligently till near dusk, before reaching our
destination. We then had the whole volume of White river between us and
our purposed place of lodgment, which was at the residence of a man
named Matney. It was the only house within a considerable distance at
which shelter for the night could be obtained; and we did not hesitate
long between the two alternatives presented to us--either of lying out
in the woods all night, or of fording the river, with the depth of which
we were not acquainted. We chose the latter, and accordingly prepared
for the attempt. At the shallowest part we could find, it was about four
feet deep in the channel; but we struggled through, and reached the
house just at nightfall, wet and chilly. We were hospitably received,
and speedily made ourselves comfortable. We had been told that the
distance was fifteen miles; but to us, who had diligently footed it, it
seemed more than twenty.