Journey to Red river--Prairies and mountains of the Pottoe--Pass
the dividing ridge--Kiamesha river--Arrival on the banks
of Red river--The murder of a Cherokee; attempts to obtain
redress--Wild horses--Character, geological structure, and rare
vegetable productions of the prairies--Return to the garrison at
Belle Point.
May 16th.] This morning I left Fort Smith with major Bradford and a
company of soldiers, in order to proceed across the wilderness, to
the confluence of the Kiamesha and Red river.[177] The object of
the major was to execute the orders of government, by removing all
the resident whites out of the territory of the Osages; the Kiamesha
river being now chosen as the line of demarkation.[178]
On this route we again proceeded through Cedar prairie, and, after
traversing two tiresome ridges of sandstone hills, scattered with
oaks and pines, we encamped in the evening near to the base of the
Sugar-loaf mountain, having travelled about 25 miles in {147} a
south-west direction. After passing the two ridges and crossing two
brooks, one of them called James’ Fork, we kept westwardly towards
the banks of the Pottoe, and found the whole country a prairie, full
of luxuriant grass about knee high, in which we surprised herds of
fleeting deer, feeding as by stealth.
The Cavaniol, now clear of mist, appeared sufficiently near to afford
some more adequate idea of its form and character. A prominent
point which appears on its summit, is, I am told by the Cherokees
who accompanied us, a mound of loose stones, thrown up either as a
funeral pile or a beacon by the aborigines. The natives and hunters
assert that subterraneous rumblings have been heard in this mountain.
The Sugar-loaf, covered to its summit with trees and shrubs, is
composed of sandstone, and appears now accompanied by three other
less elevated conic eminences, all mutually connected at the base
by saliant ridges. From what I perceive, I am inclined to consider
the Cavaniol as a continuation of the same chain, proceeding west
by north. From the garrison to the encampment of this evening,
indications of coal are sufficiently obvious in the bituminous shale
and carbonaceous reliquiæ.
17th.] The day was delightfully clear and warm, and the whole aspect
of nature appeared peculiarly charming. In the morning our party
fell in with a favourite amusement, in the pursuit of two bears,
harmlessly feeding in the prairies, which, being very fat, were soon
overtaken and killed. We proceeded about 20 miles; towards evening
passing the Pottoe, which was quite fordable, notwithstanding the
late fresh. Our course was principally south-south-west, and this
evening, after crossing the Pottoe, more westwardly. We were again in
full view of the two picturesque mountains, the Cavaniol and Point
Sucre; the latter yet appeared somewhat conic, and scantily wooded,
but covered with thickets like the Alleghany {148} mountains. Our
route was continued through prairies, occasionally divided by sombre
belts of timber, which serve to mark the course of the rivulets.
These vast plains, beautiful almost as the fancied Elysium, were now
enamelled with innumerable flowers, among the most splendid of which
were the azure Larkspur, gilded Coreopsides, Rudbeckias, fragrant
Phloxes, and the purple Psilotria. Serene and charming as the
blissful regions of fancy, nothing here appeared to exist but what
contributes to harmony.
18th.] To-day, in a journey of about 25 miles, we passed several very
rocky pine ridges, but over which a loaded wagon had been dragged as
far as the Kiamesha, accompanied by a family of emigrants, who had
been obliged to remove from the settlement of Mulberry creek, on the
arrival of the Cherokees. At breakfast time, we were regaled with
the wild honey of the country, taken from a tree which the guide had
discovered for us. Our course was still to the south of south-west,
in which direction we twice crossed the meanders of a branch of the
Pottoe, called Fourche Malin.[179] About 2 o’clock we passed the
dividing ridge[180] of the Pottoe and Kiamesha, nearly the height of
the Alleghany in Pennsylvania, very rocky, and thinly scattered with
pines and oaks; the rock sandstone, and destitute of organic remains.
This ridge forms part of the principal chain called Mazern mountains
by Darby.[181] In the rivulets and ravines I was gratified by the
discovery of a new shrubby plant allied to the genus Phyllanthus.
After crossing the mountain, we proceeded, at first, a little east
of south, to clear the subsidiary ridges, afterwards westwardly, the
mountains passing north-west; we then came upon an extensive prairie
cove considerably diversified with hills and groves of trees. To
the west continued a proximate chain of piney hills, with remarkable
serrated summits, known by the familiar name of the Potatoe hills,
and to the north-west backed by a more {149} distant and more lofty
chain equally piney. On the summit of the dividing ridge, we observed
a pile of stones in the bison path that we travelled, which, I was
informed, had been thrown up as a monument by the Osages when they
were going to war, each warrior casting a stone upon the pile.
Discovering herds of Bison in the prairie, the soldiers immediately
commenced the chase, and the bulls, now lean and agile, galloped
along the plain with prodigious swiftness, like so many huge lions.
The pendant beard, large head hid in bushy locks, with the rest of
the body nearly divested of hair, give a peculiar and characteristic
grace to this animal when in motion. We discovered them in a state of
repose, and could perceive the places where they had been gratifying
themselves by wallowing or rolling in the dust. The bison, entirely
distinct from the buffalo of Europe, notwithstanding the surmises of
Doctor Robertson, can scarcely be domesticated. The male, infuriate
and jealous in his amours, gores every thing which falls in his way,
and becomes totally unmanageable.
Perhaps no animal employs a greater diversity of diet than the bear;
the common American species feeds upon fruits, honey, wasps, and
bees; they will turn over large logs in quest of other insects, and
are also destructive to pigs and fawns, by which means the hunters,
imitating the bleat of the latter, will sometimes decoy them within
gunshot.
Panthers are said to be abundant in the woods of Red river, nor
are they uncommon on the banks of the Arkansa. A somewhat curious
anecdote of one of these animals was related to me by our guide. A
party of hunters in the morning missed one of their dogs from the
encampment, and after a fruitless search were proceeding on their
route, when one of the other dogs obtaining a scent, discovered to
the hunters, dead beneath a tree, the dog which had strayed, together
with a deer and a wolf in the same condition. {150} It appeared, that
the panther, having killed a deer, and eat his fill, got into a tree
to watch the remainder, and had, in his own defence, successively
fallen upon the wolf and the dog as intruders on his provision.
19th.] This morning we set out late in consequence of the rain,
which had continued throughout the night. We proceeded a little
west of south, along the hills and prairies which divide the three
principal branches of the Kiamesha, skirting the south side of the
bare serrated hills already noticed scattered with pine and post-oak,
in order to shorten the distance which we should have been obliged
to make by keeping more into the level prairies. In this course we
passed a number of little rivulets or torrents with rocky beds. The
hills abounded with a kind of slaty petrosilex, which, as well as the
slate-clay with which it alternates, appears destitute of organic
remains. Some of the fragments were greenish, and appeared to be
of the same character with the hone-slate of the Washita. At the
junction of its three branches, the Kiamesha is hemmed in by very
lofty ridges, partly covered with pine and oak. On one of the most
conspicuous summits we had observed, for many miles, a beacon of the
Osages, being a solitary tree fantastically trimmed like a broom.
Our path now became difficult and obstructed by fallen rocks; that
which we had pursued in the earlier part of the day was one of those,
which, from time immemorial, had been trodden out by the bison. We
still continued in a south-south-west direction, along the rocky
valley of the Kiamesha, which this evening we crossed. The wooded
hills prevailed on either hand without any prospect of termination,
and strongly resemble the mountains of the Blue ridge, at Harper’s
Ferry, in Virginia.
20th.] This morning we proceeded four or five miles before breakfast
through a pathless thicket, equal in difficulty to any in the
Alleghany mountains. The {151} hills now approached the river in
cliffs and inaccessible acclivities, and we concluded to leave the
impassable windings of the river by the first gap of the mountain.
Having now left the almost impenetrable barriers of the river, we
proceeded along a blind bison trace, but at length descended into a
rocky ravine, scarcely passable for goats, but which at length we
cleared, after being some hours dispersed from each other, and came
again into hilly open woods, near the head of Field’s cove and creek,
deriving its name from an outlaw who here sought refuge from justice.
This cove was a kind of hilly prairie land interspersed with small
plains, presenting rocky terraces where most elevated, and covered
with herbage. Lofty wooded hills, scarcely inferior to those of the
river, hemmed in this cove on either hand. I am informed that the
sources of all the rivers in this part of the Arkansa territory,
however closely locked betwixt mountains, present extensive prairies
or plains, where they divaricate to their sources.
Our course was a little west of south, and the distance we travelled
probably 20 miles. We calculated upon arriving at Red river on the
succeeding evening, being somewhere about 30 miles distant. The
woods were now disgustingly infested with ticks, though free from
musquetoes.
21st.] We continued about five miles over dreary and rocky pine
hills, without the good fortune of a bison trace, when, after taking
a frugal breakfast, our hunters again surprised a herd of Bison
lying down, but which were quickly roused into an active gallop.
Deer were uncommonly abundant, and scarcely timid, or conscious
of the aim of their destroyers. At length getting rid of the pine
hills, we proceeded through a shrubby prairie, but, by continuing too
much to the westward, again came inadvertently to the Kiamesha, and
were obliged to leave it some miles directly behind us, in order to
keep clear of the swampy alluvions {152} and ponds by which it was
bordered. We now continued south-east, about 20 miles, over hilly
woods covered with dwarfish post and black oaks, which having been
burnt were extremely difficult to penetrate, lashing and tearing
every thing with which they came in contact; we had also to encounter
the additional embarrassment of ponds and wet prairies.
The rock was still sandstone, containing appearances indicative of
coal. For the last two days I was busily employed in collecting new
and curious plants, which continually presented themselves.
22d.] This morning we kept two or three miles to the south-east,
and on turning to the south, had the good fortune to enter upon a
beaten path, recognised by our guide, which, in the distance of
about three miles, brought us to Mr. Styles’s,[182] where we had the
gratification of obtaining milk and butter for breakfast. This was
the emigrant whose traces we had discovered, and who had encountered
the Mazern mountains with a loaded wagon, women, and children,
among whom was the mother of his wife, blind, and 90 years of age!
Mr. Styles had chosen the margin of the prairie for his residence,
at a short distance from whence commences the usual bushy hills.
After breakfast we continued our route, parallel with Red river, over
an extensive prairie to the confluence of the Kiamesha. The people
appeared but ill prepared for the unpleasant official intelligence
of their ejectment. Some who had cleared considerable farms were
thus unexpectedly thrust out into the inhospitable wilderness. I
could not but sympathise with their complaints, notwithstanding the
justice and propriety of the requisition. Would it had always been
the liberal policy of the Europeans to act with becoming justice, and
to reciprocate the law of nations with the unfortunate natives!
A flagrant act of injustice to the Indians now, however, came to
our knowledge. It was, no doubt, the hopes of employing the present
opportunity of gaining {153} redress, which had instigated the
journey of the two civilized Cherokees (Messrs. Rodgers), who had
accompanied us; one of whom acted as the state interpreter. The
information which we obtained concerning this affair gives it almost
an incredible air of atrocity. It appears, that about three months
ago, one of the Cherokees, returning from hunting in this quarter,
saw some horses in the possession of two brothers named Gibbs, which
he recognised to have belonged to Monsieur Vaugin, of the Arkansa,
and which had been stolen by these renegadoes. For fear he should
convict them of the theft, they treacherously took an opportunity
of way-laying the Indian, and shot him dead with a rifle. The same
two brothers, this very evening, inadvertently passed by our camp,
but in the absence of the major and the Cherokees, and though our
circumstantial knowledge of this horrid fact was purely accidental,
yet such is the self-condemning nature of guilt, that no sooner
had they learnt who we were, than they rushed into the adjoining
cane-brake, and effected their escape into the neighbouring province
of Texas. A party, indeed, went out instantly in pursuit of them, but
were obliged to return in consequence of the darkness of the night,
and the extreme difficulty of the way. Orders for their apprehension
were left with the magistrate of the district, accompanied by a
reward from the Cherokees. They returned after an absence of three
weeks, when an attempt was made to bring them to justice by two
hunters armed with rifles; and one of the brothers, who had not
actually committed the murder, in the act of warning the other, was
shot dead by one of the hunters, whom he had formerly injured in the
most indelicate manner. With this revenge, though not sufficiently
discriminate, I afterwards learnt, that the Cherokees had expressed
themselves satisfied, as it accorded probably with their own ideas of
diverging retaliation.
{154} The change of soil in the great Prairie of Red river now
appeared obvious. It was here that I saw the first calcareous rock
charged with shells, &c. since my departure from the banks of the
Ohio. Nothing could at this season exceed the beauty of these plains,
enamelled with such an uncommon variety of flowers of vivid tints,
possessing all the brilliancy of tropical productions.
After passing through a swamp, we crossed the Kiamesha in boats,
and swam our horses. Five or six miles from Styles’s we, at length,
obtained sight of Red river, appearing here scarcely more than 100
yards wide, passing to the south-east, with the water very red and
turbid. I was told that the river was here 1100 miles from its
confluence by the meanders, or 900 above Natchitoches.
Here, for the first time, I saw the _Maclura_ (or Bow wood) in
abundance, but almost a month past flowering, at least with the
staminiferous plant.
We found in this country two poisonous species of Coluber, or common
snake, one of them very small, and finely marbled with vivid colours.
The other frequents waters, and is called the water-mockasin, and
poisonous black-snake; it is nearly black, two or three feet long,
and thick in proportion, the head triangular and compressed at the
sides. Both of them were furnished with the mortal fangs.
24th.] To-day we continued to the Horse-prairie, 15 miles above the
mouth of the Kiamesha. In our way we proceeded for about three miles
through the fertile alluvion of Red river to Mr. Varner’s, where we
breakfasted, and at length arriving at our destination on the banks
of Red river, we remained there the whole of the following day. This
prairie derives its name from the herds of wild horses, which till
lately frequented it, and of which we saw a small gang on our return.
It is very extensive, but flat, and in some {155} places swampy. In
these depressions we saw whole acres of the _Crinum americanum_ of
the West Indies, besides extensive glaucous fields of a large leaved
and new species of _Rudbeckia_. The _Sus tajassu_ or Mexican hog,
is not uncommon some distance higher up Red river. A great part of
the skin of one of these animals was shown me by Mr. Varner; so that
we need not go to Mexico, in order to account for the head of this
animal which was found in one of the saltpetre caves of Kentucky.
That a continual intercourse was also kept up by the natives of
the east and west sides of the Mississippi, is evident from the
authority of Du Pratz, who tells us that the Mobilian or Chicasaw
language was even spoken by the natives of Red river.
On the banks of Red river, nearly on a level with the water, as it
appeared at the present depression, I noticed a dark greenish-grey
sandstone, resembling trap, and occasionally interspersed with
pebbles of agate, jasper, and chalcedony; the cement of this curious
conglomerate proved to be calcareous spar.
26th.] To-day we prepared to return by the route which we had come.
Knowing that we should arrive early at Mr. Styles’s, and spend the
remainder of the day there, I delayed about two hours behind the
party, for the purpose of collecting some of the new and curious
plants interspersed over these enchanting prairies. It was not,
however, my fortune ever again to overtake the party. Deceived by
the continued traces of two strangers who had accompanied us, I
passed the place of rendezvous, and was, in fact, so much engaged as
to travel along no less than seven miles below Mr. Styles’s, which
I ascertained by enquiring at another house, to which accident had
directed me. Night began to approach, and I had proceeded but about
three miles on my return when the sun set. By pursuing a new path
which now opened, I had the good fortune to arrive at the {156} house
of Mr. Davis, contiguous to Gates’s creek,[183] which I had crossed.
Here I was kindly requested to remain for the night, as the path from
hence was even difficult to trace by daylight. Four guns were fired
at major Bradford’s camp as signals to me, which were answered by Mr.
Davis, but unfortunately they were never heard.
27th.] It was scarcely day-break when I arose, impatient to join my
companions; but now my horse was not to be found, and it was not
until we had made two or three unsuccessful searches, that he was at
length discovered two miles on the path I had yesterday travelled.
By this time it was near eight o’clock, and nine when I arrived at
the major’s camp, where I found they had departed about half an hour.
It is unnecessary to pourtray my apprehensions on this occasion; not
a moment was to be lost, and I offered one of Mr. Styles’s sons two
dollars to accompany me for a few hours to find their trace, and,
if possible, to overtake them. We travelled as fast as possible for
about 10 miles through a horrid brake of scrubby oaks, but all to
no purpose, and, after firing a gun, which was neither heard nor
answered, we returned again, as I dared not to venture alone and
unprepared through such a difficult and mountainous wilderness.
My botanical acquisitions in the prairies, proved, however, so
interesting as almost to make me forget my situation, cast away
as I was amidst the refuse of society, without money and without
acquaintance; for calculating upon nothing more certain than an
immediate return, I was consequently unprovided with every means of
subsistence.
I was informed by the hunters, that these prairies, partially
divided by groves and strips of timber, bordering the water
courses, continued with little interruption to the hot springs of
the Washita, to which, from hence, there is a plain and direct
road.[184] The surface of these woodless expanses was gently
undulated, {157} and thickly covered with grass knee high, even to
the summits of the hills, offering an almost inexhaustible range
to cattle. The flowers, which beautify them at this season of
nature’s vigour, communicated all the appearance of a magnificent
garden, fantastically decked with innumerable flowers of the most
splendid hues. The soil appears to be universally calcareous, with
the limestone nearly white and full of shells, among which there was
abundance of a small species of gryphite, and in the more compact
beds some species of terebratulites. This calcareous rock, different
from the mountain limestone, often contains uncemented or loose
shells immersed in beds of friable clay, and is more analogous to
that of South Carolina and Georgia, than that of St. Louis and the
Ohio.
Along the further edge of the prairie, relative to Red river, there
were, in the distance of 10 miles, five or six families settled, or
rather encamped, upon the lands of the United States, which have not
yet been surveyed or offered for sale.
_June_ 1st.–5th.] I still remained at the house of Mr. Styles,
without any very obvious prospect of regaining fort Smith. On the
4th I walked over the adjoining prairie to a more considerable hill
than any which I had yet visited, near Red river. Its north-western
declivity was thinly wooded; here I found the limestone more compact
than usual, containing also smaller shells, but still presenting
scarcely any perceptible dip. The summit was scattered with
coarse quartzy and petrosiliceous pebbles, originating from the
disintegration of a ferruginous conglomerate, of which large masses
still lay on the surface compact. A similar overlay, though much more
abundant, and continuous, occurs over the calcareous rock of South
Carolina and Georgia.
The singular appearance of these vast meadows, now so profusely
decorated with flowers, as seen from {158} a distance, can scarcely
be described. Several large circumscribed tracts were perfectly
gilded with millions of the flowers of _Rudbeckia amplexicaulis_,
bordered by other irregular snow-white fields of a new species of
_Coriandrum_. The principal grasses which prevail are _Kœleria
cristata_ of Europe, _Phalaris canariensis_ (Canary birdseed),
_Tripsacum dactyloides_, which is most greedily sought after by
the horses, _Elymus virginicus_ (sometimes called wild rye), a new
_Rotbolia_, one or two species of _Stipa_ and _Aristida_, with
the _Agrostis arachnoides_ of Mr. Elliott, and two species of
_Atheropogon_. The common Milfoil, and sorrel (_Rumex acetocella_),
are as prevalent, at least the former, as in Europe. In these plains
there also grew a large species of _Centaurea_, scarcely distinct
from _C. austriaca_; and along the margin of all the rivulets we
met with abundance of the Bow-wood (_Maclura aurantiaca_), here
familiarly employed as a yellow dye, very similar to fustic.
6th.] To-day I went five or six miles to collect specimens of the
_Centaurea_, which, as being the only species of this numerous genus
indigenous to America, had excited my curiosity. All the lesser
brooks and neighbouring springs were now already dried up, and the
arid places appeared quite scorched with the heat. Still there
prevailed throughout these prairies, as over the sea, a refreshing
breeze, which continued for the greatest part of the day. The swarms
of musquitoes, which prove so troublesome along the banks of the
Mississippi and the Missouri are here almost unknown, and never met
with except on the immediate alluvial borders of the rivulets.
In my solitary, but amusing rambles over these delightful prairies,
I now, for the first time in my life, notwithstanding my long
residence and peregrinations in North America, hearkened to the
inimitable notes of the mocking-bird (_Turdus polyglottus_). After
amusing itself in ludicrous imitations of other birds, {159} perched
on the topmost bough of a spreading elm, it at length broke forth
into a strain of melody the most wild, varied, and pathetic, that
ever I had heard from any thing less than human. In the midst of
these enchanting strains, which gradually increased to loudness, it
oftentimes flew upwards from the topmost twig, continuing its note as
if overpowered by the sublimest ecstasy.
On the 8th I went down to the Red river settlement, to inquire
concerning some company, which I had heard of, on my returning
route to the Arkansa; and, on conferring together, we concluded to
take our departure on Sunday next, a day generally chosen by these
hunters and voyagers on which to commence their journeys. In our
way to this settlement we crossed Gates’s and Lemon’s creek and
another smaller brook. The width of the prairie to the banks of Red
river might be about five miles, and the contracted alluvial lands,
which by the crops of corn and cotton appeared to be exceedingly
fertile, were nearly inhabited to their full extent. The wheat
planted here produced about 80 bushels to the acre, for which some of
the inhabitants had now the conscience to demand three dollars and
a half per bushel, in consequence of the scarcity of last season.
Along the borders of this part of Red river a chain of low hills
appears, on which I observed large dislocated masses of a ferruginous
conglomerate, inclined towards the river, and incumbent on the usual
calcareous rock.
These people, as well as the generality of those who, till lately,
inhabited the banks of the Arkansa, bear the worst moral character
imaginable, being many of them renegadoes from justice, and such as
have forfeited the esteem of civilized society. When a further flight
from justice became necessary, they passed over into the Spanish
territory, towards St. Antonio, where it appears encouragement was
given to all sorts of refugees. From these people we frequently
heard {160} disrespectful murmurs against the government of the
United States. There is, indeed, an universal complaint of showing
unnecessary and ill-timed favours to the Indians. It is true that the
Osages and Cherokees have been permitted, almost without molestation,
to rob the people on this river, not only of their horses and cattle,
but even occasionally of their household furniture. It does not
appear from experiment, that the expensive forts, now established and
still extending, possess any beneficial influence over the savages
which could not be answered by the interference of the territorial
government.
It is now also the intention of the United States government,
to bring together, as much as possible, the savages beyond the
frontier, and thus to render them, in all probability, belligerent
to each other, and to the civilized settlements which they border.
To strengthen the hands of an enemy by conceding to them positions
favourable to their designs, must certainly be far removed from
prudence and good policy. To have left the aborigines on their
ancient sites, rendered venerable by the endearments and attachments
of patriotism, and surrounded by a condensed population of the
whites, must either have held out to them the necessity of adopting
civilization, or at all events have most effectually checked them
from committing depredations. Bridled by this restraint, there would
have been no necessity for establishing among them an expensive
military agency, and coercing them by terror.
14th.] According to our appointment, my traveling companions called
upon me, and, although about the middle of a Sunday afternoon, it
was not possible to persuade them to wait for Monday morning. So,
without almost any supply of provision, I was obliged to take a
hasty departure from my kind host and family, who, knowing from the
first my destitute situation, separated from pecuniary resources,
could {161} scarcely be prevailed upon to accept the trifling
pittance which I accidentally possessed. I shall always remember,
with feelings of gratitude, the sincere kindness and unfeigned
hospitality, which I so seasonably experienced from these poor and
honest people, when left in the midst of the wilderness.
The evening was pleasant, and, after proceeding about eight miles
through oak thickets in a path of the hunters, we reposed without
further trouble by a brook, beneath the shade of the forest, and
under the serene canopy of a cloudless sky.
15th.] My companions, three in number, appeared to be men of
diligence and industry, and were up by break of day. The object
of their journey was the recovery of horses stolen from them by
the Cherokees. After proceeding about six miles from the place of
departure, the trace or path could no longer easily be followed,
as we now began to enter upon the pine hills scattered with loose
rocks. Our first object was to have entered Field’s cove; we got,
however, too far to the east, and crossed a considerable brook of the
Kiamesha. All ignorant of the country, except myself, we had taken
the precaution to mark down the reported bearings and distances,
from the information of Mr. Styles. Our proper course was now
north-north-east, but the man who took the lead, embarrassed by the
accumulation of the mountains, which appeared in succeeding ridges
for 40 miles before us, and too confidently considering the proposed
route impracticable, kept towards the west in direct opposition to
our proper course, so that on the 16th, about noon, we obtained sight
of Field’s cove, which we ought now to have left, and crossing the
Kiamesha, much too low down, found it running nearly due west, and
very low. Our labour and distance was thus doubled, and we passed
and repassed several terrific ridges, over which our horses could
scarcely keep their feet, and which were, {162} besides, so overgrown
with bushes and trees half-burnt, with ragged limbs, that every
thing about us, not of leather, was lashed and torn to pieces. We
now relinquished the mountains, and kept up along the banks of the
Kiamesha, by a bison path, frequently crossing the river, which was
almost uniformly bordered by mountains or inaccessible cliffs. Having
killed a fat bison bull, we encamped at an early hour in a small
prairie, in order to jerk or dry some of the beef for our future
subsistence, it being now all the provision on which we had to depend.
All the rock we saw since our departure from Mr. Styles’s, consisted
of a fine-grained sandstone, with no inconsiderable dip, and, as far
as visible, destitute of organic remains.
In a lake, about a mile from the Kiamesha, where we crossed it at
noon, grew the _Pontederia cordata_, _Nymphæa advena_, _Brassenia
peltata_, and _Myriophyllum verticillatum_, all of them plants which
I had not before seen in the territory, and which I have found
chiefly confined to the limits of tide water. In a northern bend of
the Kiamesha, about 30 miles from its mouth, I am informed, there
exists a very copious salt spring.
17th.] We still continued up the Kiamesha, over pine hills,
and through a succession of horrid, labyrinthine thickets and
cane-brakes, meeting, to our disappointment, very little prairie. At
length, we arrived at the three main branches of the river: Jack’s
creek to the south, Kiamesha to the east, and a third rivulet to
the north. To the entrance of Jack’s fork, as it is called, the
Kiamesha continues hemmed in with lofty pine hills. From hence the
mountains diverge; the highest chain still continuing on one side
to border the main stream, while, to the north, we came in sight of
the “Potatoe hills.” In this extensive cove, covered with grass, and
mostly a prairie of undulated surface, I had the satisfaction to
find, as I {163} had also done at noon, the _Ixia cœlestina_ of my
venerable friend, Wm. Bartram. Instead of sandstone, we now found
a predominance of slaty petrosiliceous rock breaking in rhombic
fragments, nearly of the same nature as the hone-slate of the
Washita, and alike destitute of organic reliquiæ.
18th.] We continued across the great cove of the Kiamesha, towards
the dividing ridge of mountains which separates the waters of the
Arkansa and Red river, and which had been visible to us on the very
day after our departure. We now kept a course rather too much south
of east, and encamped on the banks of a creek that appeared to issue
from a conspicuous gap in the mountains. The prairie, though in
many places open and hilly, was still divided by small torrents,
now generally dry, and lined with thickets, laced with thorns and
green briers. Towards the middle of this fertile cove, we passed
over a large tract formed like a lake, and, except a southern outlet
towards the Kiamesha, surrounded with low hills. In one of these rich
alluvial bottoms, we saw abundance of tumuli. On the hills of the
prairies of Red river, I also saw them of stone, and containing,
according to custom, fragments of earthen pots. All the hills in this
cove, which abound with pine, present slaty rocks of the petrosilex
already mentioned, apparently forming partial beds, alternating with
a soft slaty or shale rock, which occasionally exhibits balls of
argillaceous iron ore, and the fibrous mineral production which has
been called cone coralloid.[185]
To-day we came very near losing our horses, for, while reposing at
noon, though as usual hobbled, the torments of the large flies which
appear at this time of the day and in the evening, became so extreme,
as to excite them to run away, and with some difficulty we traced
them for five or six miles, through woods and prairies, to the banks
of the Kiamesha, into which {164} they had rushed for alleviation.
We here also found, by the bell, a horse which had been lost by some
hunters. In consequence of this unexpected delay, we did not proceed
more than about 20 miles.
19th.] We continued across the cove towards the mountains, and began
the ascent, but totally missing the gap, arrived at length, with much
difficulty, upon one of the highest summits of the dividing ridge.
Towards the Pottoe, the descent was altogether impracticable: for
miles we could perceive nothing but one continued precipice of the
most frightful elevation. After proceeding, however, with difficulty
for about three miles along the summit of the mountain, high as any
part of the Blue ridge, through thickets of dwarf oaks (_Quercus
chinquapin_, _Q. montana_, and _Q. alba_), none of them scarcely
exceeding the height of a man, we began the descent, which we still
found extremely steep and broken, and, after toiling four or five
hours in the mountains, had, at last, the unexpected satisfaction of
entering upon, and pursuing the wagon trace, so recently trod by the
major’s party. We now clearly saw, a little to the north-west, the
right gap of the mountain which we ought to have sought.
In the course of the afternoon, we passed over three pine ridges,
and two creeks, and then re-entering the prairie, proceeded before
night about ten miles from the mountain, which, as well as the lesser
ridges, consisted of sandstone.
20th.] This morning we passed the Pottoe, and proceeded along the
trace, some distance beyond the Sugarloaf mountain. The prairies were
now horribly infested with cleg flies, which tormented and stimulated
our horses into a perpetual gallop. In the evening, we encamped
in the valley of the third oak ridge that separated us from Cedar
prairie.
21st.] Passing the fourth ridge, I again entered Cedar prairie, and
before noon arrived at the garrison, {165} where I had been long
expected, and was very cordially welcomed by the Doctor and the Major.
To the end of the month, I now remained at the garrison.
FOOTNOTES:
[177] The orthography of this Indian name is still unsettled; after
various permutations it seems to have assumed the form Kiamichi. The
river joins Red near the southeast corner of Indian Territory. In
1824, Fort Towson was built ten miles from its mouth.--ED.
[178] The Osage had claimed the territory south of the Arkansas to
its mouth, but had gradually been pushed back. In October, 1820, the
land between the Canadian fork of the Arkansas and the Red was given
to the Choctaw.--ED.
[179] The nomenclature of these regions is quite confusing; much of
it, though in corrupted forms, bears marks of French origins now
irrecoverable. Fourche Malin on modern maps is Fourche Melane or
Malane, and on some old charts is given as Meline Creek, a branch of
Cavaniol Creek, which, in its turn, is a tributary of the Poteau.--ED.
[180] The ridge between the Kiamichi and the Poteau is now called
Sans Bois Mountains. The name (meaning woodless) agrees well with
Nuttall’s description.--ED.
[181] William Darby, a Pennsylvania geographer (1775–1854), was one
of the surveyors who ran the boundary between the United States and
Canada. He published an emigrant’s guide and several gazetteers.
“The Masserne chain ... rises in detached masses, between Red and
Arkansaw rivers. This range has not been carefully examined by men of
science; of course its component parts are not correctly known. It is
supposed to be rich in minerals.”--Darby, _Emigrant’s Guide_ (New York,
1818), p. 50.
“Masserne, from Mt. Cerne, one of its peaks ... The provincial
vulgarism Ozark, the hunter’s name for Arkansas, has been given to the
Massernes, by some writers and map makers.”--Darby and Dwight, _New
Gazetteer_ (Hartford, 1833), p. 293.--ED.
[182] It is practically impossible to trace the history of the
squatters mentioned by Nuttall. This region was never legally open to
white occupation, and the transient white settlers left few traces of
their presence. At this time there were said to be twenty families
at the mouth of the Kiamichi and twelve at Pecan Point, a few miles
farther down Red River.--ED.
[183] Gates’ Creek is a tributary of the Kiamichi, although not so
given on Nuttall’s map.--ED.
[184] The road to Hot Springs ran almost directly east to Washington,
in Hempstead County, Arkansas, thence northeast, crossing the
northwest corners of the present counties of Clark and Hot
Springs.--ED.
[185] See Martyn’s Petrificata Derbyensia, Tab. 27. fig. 4.--NUTTALL.