FOOTNOTES
[I-1] Belle Fontaine or Bellefontaine is the name of the large cemetery in the environs of St. Louis, where William Clark lies buried; and probably few persons now living know its proper geographical connotation. The cemetery is four miles from the Court House, and ten miles further is the place whose name was given to the burying-ground on the road thither, after its original designation as the Rural Cemetery. Belle Fontaine was a place on the south bank of the river, 14 m. north of St. Louis, in what is now St. Ferdinand township of St. Louis Co. (Sect. 10, T. 47 N., R. 7 E. of this county). Before there was any such "place," or locality, Belle Fontaine was the French name of the creek which falls in there, which had been called Ferdinand by the Spanish, and which became known to the English as Cold Water creek, there being a fine large spring under the bluffs, close to the Missouri. This, however, was washed away by the encroachment of the river. We find the latter name in Lewis and Clark, who made the first camp of their expedition on Green isl., opposite the mouth of the creek, May 14th, 1804. There was nothing then at the place that was soon to become forever notable as the spot where was built the first military post ever established in the newly acquired territory of Louisiana. Much early history attaches to the locality, some of which may be here epitomized, mainly on the basis of Billon's Annals. In 1768, when St. Louis was but begun, Captain Rios arrived with 25 soldiers under orders from Count Ulloa to establish Spanish authority in the region where things were at a standstill, if not in distraction. Rios was persona non grata in the infant St. Louis; he withdrew, and selected Belle Fontaine as a suitable location for a post. Late in 1768 he there built a fort which he called Fort Prince Charles in honor of the son of his king and heir apparent to the Spanish throne. In 1769 Rios left with his men; in 1770 Piernas came. The Spanish presidio was soon turned into a commercial factory or trading-post. On Sept. 10th, 1797, Governor Zenon Trudeau granted to Hezekiah Lord a concession of 1,000 arpents of land on Belle Fontaine or Cold Water cr.; and on the site of the former Spanish fort Lord built a house and mill. He died in 1799; his estate was sold in partition in 1803, when 600 arpents were bought by William Massey. In 1805, General James Wilkinson selected the place for a military establishment, and United States troops were first cantoned in temporary quarters during the winter of 1805-6. This was the original Cantonment Belle Fontaine. On April 20th, 1806, General Wilkinson purchased from Massey, on behalf of the United States, five acres of ground with the improvements, called Belle Fontaine, with the use for five years of the ground on which had been located the cantonment, and upon these five acres established a permanent post. In July, 1806, he purchased the rest of the tract of 500 arpents, which was conveyed to the United States in Mar., 1809. Belle Fontaine was really the parent of Jefferson Barracks; for, after the establishment of Forts Atkinson, Snelling, and others on the Missouri and Mississippi frontiers, it lost its importance from a military point of view, and was abandoned for the site of the present Jefferson Barracks. This in 1825; on July 4th of which year Colonel Talbot Chambers, with four companies of the 1st United States Infantry, evacuated Belle Fontaine and proceeded to the new site which had been selected, though the place remained for some ten years in charge of a military storekeeper, Major John Whistler. General Lewis Cass, Secretary of War under Van Buren, ordered it to be sold at public auction in 1836. It was bought by Jamison Samuel, Dunham Spalding, H. N. Davis, and E. L. Langham, who laid out a paper town that never came to anything. Agriculture finally reclaimed Belle Fontaine after the military occupancy; it was bought for a farm by the late Dr. David C. Tandy of St. Louis, whose son, Robert E. Tandy, now or lately did live there. The old road can still be traced in part over ground where it ran more than a century ago.
[I-2] The roster of the party, with some of the most notable particulars, is as follows:
COMMISSIONED OFFICERS (2).
1. Captain Zebulon M. Pike. Escorted to Mexico from his post on the Rio Conejos, with six privates, by Spanish dragoons, Feb. 26th, 1807. His men, excepting one left with Jackson, were Brown, Carter, Gorden, Menaugh, Mountjoy, Roy, and Stoute.
2. Lieutenant James B. Wilkinson. Detached to descend the Arkansaw with five men, from camp near Great Bend, Aug. 28th, 1806.
NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS (3).
1. Sergeant Joseph Ballenger. Went with Wilkinson.
2. Sergeant William E. Meek. Sent from Rio Conejos to relief of abandoned men, Feb. 19th, 1807.
3. Corporal Jeremiah R. Jackson. Left in charge of post on Rio Conejos, with Carter, Feb. 26th, 1807, to await return of Meek and Miller with Vasquez, Smith, Sparks, and Dougherty.
PRIVATES (16).
1. John Boley. Went with Wilkinson, Aug. 28th, 1806.
2. Samuel Bradley. Went with Wilkinson, Aug. 28th, 1806.
3. John Brown. Left with Jackson on Rio Conejos, Feb. 26th, 1807.
4. Jacob Carter. Went with Pike, Feb. 26th, 1807.
5. Thomas Dougherty. Abandoned in Sangre de Cristo mountains with frozen feet, Jan. 22d, 1807.
6. William Gorden. Went with Pike, Feb. 26th, 1807.
7. Solomon Huddleston. Went with Wilkinson, Aug. 28th, 1806.
8. Henry Kennerman. Deserted July 19th, 1806.
9. Hugh Menaugh. Abandoned in Sangre de Cristo mountains, Jan. 27th, 1807; recovered on Rio Conejos, Feb. 18th, 1807; went with Pike, Feb. 26th, 1807.
10. Theodore Miller. Went with Meek to relief of abandoned men, Feb. 19th, 1807.
11. John Mountjoy. Went with Pike, Feb. 26th, 1807.
12. Alexander Roy. Went with Pike, Feb. 26th, 1807.
13. Patrick Smith. Left with Vasquez on the Arkansaw at site of present Cañon City, Jan. 14th, 1807.
14. John Sparks. Abandoned in Sangre de Cristo mountains with frozen feet, Jan. 22d, 1807.
15. Freegift Stoute. Went with Pike, Feb. 26th, 1807.
16. John Wilson. Went with Wilkinson, Aug. 28th, 1806.
CIVILIANS (2).
1. Dr. John H. Robinson, volunteer surgeon. Left Pike on the Rio Conejos to proceed to Santa Fé alone, Feb. 7th, 1807.
2. Interpreter A. F. Baronet Vasquez. Left with Smith on the Arkansaw, at site of present Cañon City, Jan. 14th, 1807.
Of these persons—
(1) Lieutenant Wilkinson, Sergeant Ballenger, and Privates Boley, Bradley, Huddleston, and Wilson descended the Arkansaw and reached New Orleans in February, 1807.
(2) Private Kennerman deserted.
(3) Dr. Robinson left Captain Pike at the post on Conejos r., and went to Mexico on his own account.
(4) Captain Pike, Sergeant Meek, Corporal Jackson, Privates Brown, Carter, Dougherty, Gorden, Menaugh, Miller, Mountjoy, Roy, Smith, Sparks, Stoute, and Interpreter Vasquez were escorted in separated parties to Mexico by Spanish dragoons. Of whom—
(5) Captain Pike, Privates Brown, Gorden, Menaugh, Roy, and Stoute were escorted back to the United States, and reached Nachitoches on or about July 1st, 1807; while—
(6) Sergeant Meek, Corporal Jackson, Privates Carter, Dougherty, Miller, Mountjoy, Smith, and Sparks, and Interpreter Vasquez, were still detained in Mexico at the time of Pike's return, and are not accounted for in his narrative.
(7) The 51 Indians, which raised to 74 the total of persons who left Belle Fontaine, were all dropped at their respective destinations, and no others were permanently attached to the party which reached the Rocky mts.
[I-3] Past present Jamestown ldg. to Carbunker's pt., off which the large Pelican isl. now separates Car of Commerce bend from Pelican bend.
[I-4] See L. and C., ed. 1893, p. 6, and Pike's Dissertation, etc., beyond. The village was then the seat of justice of the District of St. Charles, Louisiana Territory, as it is now of St. Charles Co., Mo. The Wabash, St. L. and Pac. R. R. bridged the Mo. r. here; opposite is Bon Fils station; also Brotherton. St. Charles was not so called till 1784; the place had been known as Les Petites Côtes, where the hunter Blanchette settled about 1770: note41, p. 214. In to-day's journey Pike passed the place known as Piper's (or Fifer's) ldg.: see the mark "Ferry" on his map. The principal point was the coal hill on the south, then known as La Charbonnière, now Charbonnier pt. A present or recent place of ferriage is Music's or Hall's; some of the landings are Heagler's, Kemp's, and Orick's or Orrick's; some of the present islands above the Pelicans are Charbonnier or Mullanphy, Holmes, and Vingt-une. There was a marsh or lake on the N. side, 5 or 6 m. below St. Charles, which the French called Marais Croche, Crooked marsh; some maps now make it Marie Croche l.
[I-5] M. de Lisa was one of the most noted Missourian Indian traders in those days. This is certainly not the last, and probably not the first, time he played exactly that trick. Pike has a good deal to say of him further on: see also L. and C., pp. lxxix, 62, 242, 256, 443, 1153, 1154, 1232, where my notes refer to further information in Brackenridge's Travels and Irving's Astoria. Lisa was at one time associated with Captain Clark in the fur-trade.
[I-6] One of the two letters Pike wrote to Wilkinson formed No. 3 of the App. to Pt. 2 of the orig. ed. See beyond, where it is given.
[I-7] See L. and C., ed. 1893, pp. 2, 8, 1182, 1211; also, p. 1257, where Charette's cr. and village are given, showing this to be a personal name. We come to the place presently.
[I-8] This letter formed No. 4 of the App. to Pt. 2 of the orig. ed. It is given beyond.
[I-9] This mileage would set Pike about Cottleville ldg., on the N., though I hardly think he got quite so far. He passed Fee Fee and Crèvecœur creeks on the S., latter discharging from Crèvecœur l.; Little Duckett and Big Duckett creeks, near together, on the N.; Catfish isl., behind which is Howard bend, into which Bon Homme or Good Man's r. falls, about opposite the middle of Green's bottom, N., 3½ m. long, separated by Green's chute from Bon Homme isl., next above which comes Bacon's or Post's isl., and then Cottleville ldg. If Pike reached this place, he was 44 m. from the mouth of the Missouri, according to recent charts.
[I-10] Late Sergeant Henry Kennerman, reduced to the ranks for cause at Pike's stockade on the Upper Mississippi r., Mar. 9th, 1806: see p. 181 and note10, p. 245. He was posted as a deserter in various places, but we are not told he was retaken. He drops out of the story at this point. With Kennerman deserted, Vasquez arrested, and Geo. Henry engaged, the whites of the party are now 23 - 2 + 1 = 22; Vasquez rejoins on the 21st, when the roster is again 23.
[I-11] Position uncertain, especially as the text of the 18th-20th cannot be squared with the camp-marks on Pike's map. Going by the text, which agrees with the actual geography better than the map does, we may set Pike in the vicinity of St. Albans. To reach this point from his last camp he passes places on the N. now known as Cottleville ldg., Hamburg, and Dozier's ldg. At the last named Femme Osage r. falls into the lower end of Dozier's bend. The Missouri is here 1½-2 m. broad, and mostly filled with Howell's isl., 2½ m. long, some small islands, and various sand-bars. Thence on the N. or rather N. W. is a bottom 8 m. long and a mile or more deep; while on the S. E. is a nearly unbroken line of bluffs which the river washes from Port Royal (in Franklin Co., just over the border of St. Louis Co.) to St. Albans. At one place in these rocks is the cave formerly, and perhaps still, known as the Tavern: see L. and C., ed. 1893, p. 8, and Pike's map, place lettered "Cave." The small stream which makes in on the S. W. at St. Albans is still called Tavern cr.; and directly opposite is Murdoch's ldg. The Mo. R. Comm. charts of 1879 mark a place Missouriton on the N. W., 2 m. below Murdoch's ldg. Nicollet's map, pub. 1843, marks Missouriton on the N., slightly below mouth of Femme Osage r., about position of present Hamburg.
[I-12] The "point to the south" which Pike passes I take to be that opp. Cottlebaum's ldg., at the mouth of Ridenour or Fiddle cr., at the head of the difficult place called Devil's Race-ground by Lewis and Clark: see ed. of 1893, p. 8. This is a couple of miles above St. Albans, at the 55th river-mile point of recent surveys. The bluffs continue a mile or so, and then, at the mouth of Labadie's cr. or slough, begins the extensive Labadie's bottom on the S., for the Missouri crosses over to the bluffs on the N., and continues on that side to the town of Augusta, St. Charles Co. Thence the channel runs obliquely by the Augusta and Hinkley bends, between Labadie's and Hancock's bottoms, to the S. side again. Here, at Mung's or South Point isl., is the lower end of the "long reach," N. W., in which Pike says he camped. We set him on the S., at the mouth of Dubois or Wood cr., where there is now a place called South Point. This is directly opposite the line between St. Charles and Warren cos. on the N.; it is about 2 m. below Washington, Franklin Co., and at the 67th mile-point from the mouth of the Missouri. Pike maps the stream in the right place, but by the wrong name of "Ash R."
[I-13] The proper name of the interpreter, whom Pike usually calls "Baroney," was A. F. Baronet Vasquez. He was b. St. Louis, 1783; his wife was Emily Faustine Parent. He was the son of Benito Vasquez (b. 1750) and Julia Papin (married Nov. 27th, 1774), and was the fifth child of 12 they had. He appears in army registers as Barony Vasquez, appointed to be an ensign in the 2nd Infantry Dec. 12th, 1808; transferred to 1st Infantry Oct. 31st, 1810; commissioned as second lieutenant Mar. 4th, 1811; promoted to a first lieutenancy July 30th, 1813; and resigned Oct. 1st, 1814. See also a letter about him in my Memoir of Pike, anteà.
[I-14] See note7, p. 361. La Charette is still the name of the stream, and of the extensive bottom on the N. side through which the river seeks the Missouri. But the settlement once so called is not to be found by this name on modern maps. Instead of this we have Marthasville (3 m. N. of which stands still the house in which Daniel Boone died), a village about a mile from the Missouri, and nearly midway between the points where La Charette cr. and Tuque cr. respectively enter the bottom. Marthasville appears on maps of 50 years ago, as for example, on Nicollet's, 1843. Gass calls the place St. Johns where he camped May 25th, 1804; it then had seven houses: see L. and C., ed. 1893, p. 8. St. Johns is now the name of the largest one of a cluster of islands and sand-bars in an expanded part of the Missouri, between the mouth of La Charette cr. on the N. and of St. Johns or Bourbeuse cr. on the S., 2 m. and more above the town of Washington, Franklin Co. Pike maps "St. Johns R." correctly between his "Ash R." (error for Wood or Dubois cr.) and his "Bay R." (error for Bœuf r.). Washington is the most notable place Pike passes to-day; it is now quite a town, large enough to have started a place opposite itself, called North Washington, on Lac's pt. in Warren Co. Here is where, at the 69th river-mile point, a creek falls in on the N.; it is commonly called Tuque cr., though Sheet III. of the Mo. R. Comm. charts has "Duke" as the name. It looks like a French word, but whether it be a personal name, or derived from Toque or Turque, does not appear. It is one of two creeks which L. and C. speak of passing on the N., May 25th; the other one of these has never been identified. But there is an old lake bed, or something of the sort, a couple of miles back of North Washington, in Hancock's bottom, under the bluffs, and I imagine this once discharged about opp. Dubois or Wood cr.—say at Rieskamp's place, on the boundary between St. Charles and Warren cos. Tuque cr. itself seems to have had more than one outlet, in the course of the several miles it meanders the low land and separates Hancock's bottom from La Charette.
[I-15] Originally Docs. Nos. 5 and 6, p. 33 and p. 36 of the App. to Pt. 2. They are given beyond.
[I-16] To camp at New Haven, Franklin Co., a considerable town which has grown up of late years at the place formerly known as Miller's ldg., on the S., a little below Pinckney pt. Passing through Charette bend, beyond Patton's pt. and ldg., Pike comes to the mouth of the Rivière au Bœuf of the French, now Bœuf or Buffalo r., which falls in on the S. behind Bœuf, Buffalo, or Shelton's isl., about a mile below Dundee station of the Mo. Pac. R. R. This is the stream by error lettered "Bay R." on Pike's map. On rounding Emily and Miller bends, Pike comes to his camp, say at the 85th river-mile point of late surveys. Here he is 1½ m. below a place which was charted by Nicollet in 1843 as Griswold, and which may be found on maps of but few years ago, but has since disappeared. On the N., opp. Griswold, was a place called Pinckney or Pinckneyville, seat of Warren Co. about 1825, and there is still a hamlet of the same name in the vicinity. The Shepherd r. which the above text mentions falls in about a mile above Griswold and the same below the present R. R. station Etlah. This is Shepherd's cr. of L. and C., ed. 1893, p. 9, but is oftener now called Berger r. or cr. I am told by R. J. Holcombe that the word is not the common F. noun berger, a shepherd, but a personal name, probably of the old German pioneer Caspar Burger, a founder of the colony there; if so, it should not have been translated into English. The word is mangled into "Boeger" on the beautiful chart of the Mo. R. Comm. It is a pity that so many cases as bad as this one mar the lettering of such fine draughtsman's work as Mr. D. W. Wellman's. Berger's or Burger's cr. comes into the bottom 2 m. above its mouth, and is there joined by Little Berger's or Burger's cr., which runs about 4½ m. in the bottom before its confluence; the two thus make what is known as Berger's (i. e., Burger's) bottom nearly an island, 6 or 7 m. long.
[I-17] On rounding Pinckney pt. through the bend of that name, Pike passes the mouth of Berger's cr., opp. Yeager's ldg., crosses to the N. side of the Missouri, and sails along with Berger's bottom on his left for several miles; he goes by Whitehouse's isl., near which L. and C. were camped May 26th, 1804, and on finishing with Berger's bottom, reaches a place on the N. called Bridgeport. This is pretty old for a Missouri River town; we find it located more than 50 years ago, and it still exists in name, but has never amounted to much. Opp. Bridgeport is Bates' isl., 2 m. long, the largest one of several at the head of Berger's bottom. In the vicinity of Bridgeport several small creeks fall in on the N. Three of these are called Lost cr., Massas (qu. Massey's?) cr., and Malhern (qu. Malheur?) cr. Excepting Lost cr., these fall into Chenal à Loutre or Otter slough; and this snicarty cuts off a very large piece of bottom known as Île à Loutre or Otter isl. L. and C. speak of this as nearly 10 m. long, and say that it was one of the most fertile in the whole river. The details of the river bottom along here seem to have altered a good deal since 1804, and even since Long's time; the upper end of the slough is now a little above Hermann, near McGirk's isl. and ldg., cutting the island down to a total length of not over 7 m. The slough itself is very narrow, and hardly more than a sluggish creek, like a good many others that meander bottoms before they discharge. L. and C. speak of three creeks which fall in behind Otter isl., and one of these as having the same name. This is Rivière à la Loutre of early F. settlers, now Loutre, Louter, or Luter r., and Otter r., very curiously lettered on the Mo. R. Comm. map, as "L'Outre"—a form which only needs an accent to be decidedly outré. Pike maps the stream as "Otter Riv." He proceeds by Otter or Loutre Island bend to a mile or so above Hermann, and camps on the S. In finishing the bend just named he passes on the S. the county line between Franklin and Gasconade, which cuts through Bates' isl., and then on the N. the line between Warren and Montgomery cos., which cuts the upper part of Otter isl. at the lower point of Hermann isl., opp. the town of this name. This is now quite a place, and more than 50 years old. It is situated across the mouth of Rivière aux Frênes of the F., commonly called Frene cr. and Ash cr., but uncommonly appearing as "Frame" cr. on the Mo. R. Comm. map. Pike does not map Ash cr., though it is given under this name by L. and C.: for the stream he marks "Ash R." by mistake, see note12, p. 363.
Loutre isl. is quite historic. A number of Americans and some French families settled there in 1805; first child born was Jacob Grosjean (name corrupted to Groshong); one b. 1806 became the local celebrity known as "old man Patton," living in 1884. Fort Clemson was built by Capt. Clemson about 1808, and maintained till after the war of 1812-15. From 1808 to 1816 there was quite a colony, whence were drawn the settlers for Boone's Lick, Howard Co. On the N. mainland the colonists, when the war broke out, were killed in part, and the rest driven to the island to be "forted up" till the peace. Fort Clemson was a Rangers' hdqrs. in the war, and from this post Capt. James Callaway, grandson of Daniel Boone, set out in March, 1815, on the expedition up Loutre r., during which he and others were killed. Daniel Boone's Spanish grant from Gov. Delassus was about 15 m. up the Loutre, and included a salt spring—the original and only genuine "Boone's Lick"; Boone's adopted son Van Bibber kept a tavern there, where Washington Irving stopped some time in the '30's; it is now reputed a medicinal spring in the little village Mineola, near Danville, seat of Montgomery Co.
[I-18] Passing McGirk's ldg. and isl. N., Cole's or Coles' cr., S., Rineland and Kallmeyer's ldgs., S., to the mouth of the Gasconade, which falls in on the S., opp. Cuyler's pt., 107⅓ m. up the Missouri: see L. and C., ed. 1893, p. 9. This is much the largest tributary of the Missouri thus far reached; Pike elsewhere allows it 200 yards' width at the mouth, and navigability at times of 100 m. He also notes that the Sac boundary started opp. its mouth: see note14, p. 11. Gasconade City is a place on the tongue of land that makes into the Missouri on the upper side of the Gasconade; being a mere village or hamlet, is as appropriately named as the river itself, which got its name from the way some persons bragged about their exploits when they returned to St. Louis. Beck's Gaz. speaks of pine which was cut and rafted down, but there has been none for 60 years within 150 miles.
[I-19] One of these letters, given beyond, formed No. 7, p. 36, of the App. to Pt. 2. of the orig. ed.
[I-20] Pike's map marks no camp for the 26th. The distance between Gasconade and Osage rivers is exactly 30 m. by the channel. Pike says he goes 15 m. to-day; I doubt that he went so far if he did not leave the Gasconade till 6.30 p. m. But to take the record on its face would be to set him a mile above Fisher's ldg., on the S., in the vicinity of the hamlet called Chamois, in Osage Co. On decamping and ferrying over the Gasconade, Pike first passed the mouth of Bailey's cr. (Deer cr. of L. and C.), on the S., whence the channel took him obliquely to Bluffton on the N., 5 m. above the Gasconade. The bluffs border the river for about 4 m. along here, and at one place in them is the cave which used to be known as Montbrun's Tavern: see L. and C., l. c. At 1 or 1½ m. above Bluffton the line between Montgomery and Callaway cos. comes to the Missouri just about opp. the line between Gasconade and Osage cos. on the S.; this last strikes the river-bottom just where Bailey's cr. also does. At 5 m. above Bluffton is Portland, Callaway Co., before reaching which Pike passes Little Tavern and Big Tavern creeks, which are a mile apart, on the N., and both opp. Portland isl., 2 m. long; while a mile above Portland is the mouth of Logan cr. On the S. along here is a creek whose mysteries I have never been able to fathom. This is Rush cr. of L. and C., l. c., given by them as 4 m. above Montbrun's Tavern, on the S. It is called Greassy cr. by the Mo. R. Comm., and Greasy cr. by the U. S. G. S.; the latter name is probably correct. It comes into the bottom in the vicinity of Chamois, about the 121st river-mile point, meanders down for several miles, and finally discharges behind Portland isl., somewhere between the 117th and 115th m. of the Mo. R. Comm.
[I-21] To an interesting locality—that of the old French village, Côte sans Dessein, so called from the celebrated long narrow ledge of rocks of the same name immediately above, isolated on the N. bank of the river opposite Dodd's isl. In approaching the Osage, Pike maps two streams from the N., respectively lettered "Gr. R. au vase" and "L. R. au vase." The first of these is Grande Rivière au Vase or Grande Rivière Vaseuse of the F., which appears on the best modern maps as Au Vasse and Auxvasse r.—better talk English than such Missouri French as this, and say Big Muddy r., as L. and C. did! This considerable stream falls in a mile above Harrison's ldg., about 123½ m. by the channel from the mouth of the Missouri. The other is Little Muddy r. of L. and C., who translated Petite Rivière au Vase (or Petite Rivière Vaseuse) better than those do who now style it Au Vasse cr. or Auxvasse cr. This creek joins in the bottom-land another now called Middle r. or cr., and the two fall in together a mile above the village of St. Aubert, Callaway Co. Moreover: between the Big and the Little Muddy there is a third creek, distinct from both the others, falling in 1½ m. below St. Aubert. This is simply called Muddy cr. on the Mo. R. Comm. map; on that of the U. S. G. S. it is lettered Ewing's cr. A branch of this is lettered by the U. S. G. S. East Wing cr.—a name which I suspect originated in mistaking "Ewing" for "E. Wing." On the S. side of the Missouri Pike passes two small streams, both historically notable. The first of these is the one which L. and C. called Grindstone cr., when they camped at its mouth May 30th, 1804; but it is now known as Deer cr. It falls in behind St. Aubert's isl., a mile below St. Aubert station on the Mo. Pac. R. R., or the village now called Medora, 126⅔ m. up the Mo. r. One Carr has or had his home at the mouth of this creek. The other creek is 4¾ m. above Grindstone or Deer cr., and 1¼ m. above Shipley's ldg.; it is the one L. and C. called Bear cr., May 31st, 1804; Pike charted it "Bear R.," and it is now called Bear or Loose cr. I suppose "Loose" cr. to be a loose translation of F. R. à l'Ours or à l'Ourse, according to whether it was a he-bear or a she-bear which the Frenchman who first named the creek killed there. In any event this stream has given name to the village of Loose Creek and to Bear Creek isl., opposite its mouth. Four miles higher on the S., opposite the foot of Dodd's isl., is the village of Dauphine at the place where one Benêt, Bénite, Benoit, Bennet, Bonnet, Bonnot, or Bennight built his mill, 15-20 years ago. Dauphine is almost exactly opposite the site of the old French village above named, which started about 1808 and had a dozen or more families in 1811. There is a sort of settlement in this vicinity immediately at the lower end of the Côte sans Dessein, at one time known as Bennet's ldg.; people named Gray, Crews, and Maddox live or lived there. Behind the Côte are some small lakes or ponds discharging by R. aux Riveaux or Riveaux cr. (as it is called) around the upper end of the Côte, near Dearing's ldg. Hence it is only 1½ m. diagonally across the Missouri to Glenn's ldg. at the mouth of the Osage r. See L. and C., ed. 1893, p. 11.
[I-22] Arising in the Ozark mts. of Kansas, the Osage r. leaves that State and enters Missouri in Vernon Co., which it delimits in part from Bates Co.; traverses St. Clair and continues past the corner where this, Henry, and Benton cos. adjoin; traverses Benton, enters Morgan, forms a part of the boundary between this and Camden, makes a loop through the latter and again separates it for a short space from Morgan, then for a little distance separates Camden from Miller, traverses the latter, enters Cole, and finally runs to the Mo. r. between this last and Osage cos. We shall learn much more of this stream as we follow it up in Pike's wake. There is a village called Osage City at its mouth on the west bank; Pike's camp is also on this side, in Cole Co., past two small tributaries known as Caddy and Sandford's creeks, and not far above Maries r., which comes from Pulaski through Maries (named for two French girls) and Osage cos. to fall in on the E. or right (left hand) bank. A Spanish fort (trading-house) was built about 1795 near the mouth of the Osage.
[I-23] No further indication of camp of 29th, which is also omitted by the draughtsman or engraver from Pike's map; nor is there any notable modern locality along here. But it must be short of where the Osage, after coursing in Cole Co., begins to separate the latter from Osage Co. Nearest present settlements, Babbtown, Osage Co., and St. Thomas, Cole Co.
[I-24] In Cole Co., and a mile or two above Proft's cr.; about 2 m. N. E. of St. Thomas, and 4 m. S. E. of Osage Bluff.
[I-25] Camp a little above Big Tavern cr., from the E., in Miller Co., on whichever side of the river it was pitched. There is no mark on Pike's map for this camp, nor those of Aug. 2d and 3d. The nearest named places to the camp of July 31st and Aug. 1st, and that of Aug. 2d (only 2 m. further), are St. Elizabeth, on Big Tavern cr., and Mary's Home, west of the Osage—both in Miller Co., but both some miles away from the river. On breaking camp this morning, Pike passed on his right the bluffs from which the hamlet of Osage Bluff takes its name; this is about a mile north of the river. He later passed Babruly cr., from the W., whose name is obviously a corruption of Bois Brûlé; then Sugar cr., from the E., and next Little Tavern cr., falling in from the W. a mile or two below Big Tavern cr. There was more than one cave or "tavern" in the bluff near the creek: see figure of one, where the early Osage boatmen used to put up, in the Mo. Geol. Reports.
[I-26] Passing Cub cr., right; Humphrey's and Panther creeks, left; then the present Saline cr., on the right. This is laid down and lettered "Saline R." on Pike's map; but observe that it is not the Saline r. of Aug. 7th: see that date. Above Saline cr. Pike passes Dog cr., left, and then present site of Tuscumbia, seat of Miller Co., on the right; and camps at or near present site of Brockman, on the right, a mile above Bear cr., in the same county.
[I-27] Taking Pike past a place called Bagnell, on the right, just below present Little Gravois cr., in Miller Co., and setting him somewhere about the point on the river where Miller, Morgan, and Camden cos. come together—the latter on the S., the two former on the N. side, as the river is here running E. His camp of Aug. 4th and 5th is marked on his map, on the left, just below the mouth of his Little Gravel r., which he passes on the 6th: see next note.
[I-28] On the right hand as Pike ascends, left bank of the Osage, and rather on the N. than W., as the general course of the river is to the E. The "Gravel" rivers of Pike require attention in identifying them with ours. The Osage is here making an ox-bow bend, which reverses points of the compass so far as a traveler's right and left are concerned. The stream now in question, Gravel r. of the above text, lettered "L. Gravel R." on the map, is that now known as Big Gravois, Gravis, or Gravel cr., running in Morgan Co., with a place called Gladstone near its mouth, one known as Gravois Mills higher up, and some of whose branches are called Indian, Soap, and Mill creeks. Cape Galena is 2½ m. above the mouth of this river. Present Little Gravois cr. is that one with Bagnell just below its mouth; it is laid down by an unlettered trace on Pike's map. The correct form of the word is Gravois, being F. gravois, rubbish, rubble, whence "Gravel."
[I-29] Not the Saline r. of Pike's map, which was passed on the 3d. "Saline river" of the present text is a slip of the pen or memory; Pike meant to say Great Gravel r., as correctly laid down by this name on his map on the left or south, being lettered "G. Gravel R." This is not the Great Gravel or Big Gravois cr. of present maps, but the considerable stream now known as Grand Auglaise cr.—a name also perverted from the F. word glaise, clay, into Glaize or Wet Glaize cr. It heads in Laclede and Pulaski cos., in close relation with sources of the Gasconade, and runs about N. N. W. through Camden Co. to fall into the Osage from the S., on the right bank of the river, on Pike's left, at or near a place called Blackman's Mills. The Osage is here turning from its E. course to N., whence it soon bends W., then loops N. and again E., where it receives present Big or Pike's Little Gravel r., and completes another ox-bow bend. Camp of the 7th, opposite the notable bluff called "La Belle Roche," is marked on Pike's map, not far above a place now called Damsel, on the other side of the Osage; whence the Yungar is reached for breakfast on the 8th.
[I-30] Sic, usually in Pike, and I make no change. But "Cheveux Blanche" is a phrase joining a masculine plural noun to a feminine singular adjective. The English ed. alters to Cheveu Blanc; but as doubtless the savage had more than one hair of that color, probably Cheveux Blancs would be better in form and fact for the F. name of the person also known as White Hair.
[I-31] Before the Youngar is reached Pike passes on his left Linn cr.; county seat called Linn Creek, a mile above its mouth. The name of the river has fluctuated widely. Pike has Yungar, Youngar, and also Nehemgar; the latest G. L. O. and U. S. G. S. maps letter Niangua. The word, whatever may be its preferable form, is the Osage name of the bear, though by some it is said to refer to the numerous springs at the sources of the stream. It is by far the largest tributary of the Osage thus far reached; Pike credits it with a canoe navigation of 100 m. The main stream heads in Webster Co., in relation with sources of the Osage fork of the Gasconade, and runs through Dallas Co., also touching the W. border of Laclede, into Camden; its tributaries are numerous and widespread. One called Little Niangua falls in on the W., 6 or 8 m. above the mouth of the main river. To-day's voyage takes the Expedition past Purvis, and finishes about 4 m. above Bolinger or Bollinger cr., from the S., on which are the Osage Iron Works.
[I-32] Pike's map marks none of the places passed to-day by the names given in his text. We have therefore a triple adjustment to make—of map with text, and of these with modern geography. This I can do, bearing in mind that Pike does not necessarily mention places in the order in which they are passed en route, and that all his mileages are guessed at by the hours spent in making them. His map marks camp of Aug. 8th a good ways above the Niangua, and I set it 4 m. above Bolinger cr., as already said. For the 9th the map has: (1) Big Rock cr., right; (2) Rapids; (3) Slave r., right; (4) camp, right. The facts in the case are: Pearson's branch, left; Wells' branch, right; Proctor cr., right, on which is Proctor; Raney, Rainey, or Rainy cr., left, with Crittenden at its mouth—none of the foregoing noted by Pike in any way; then (1) Little Buffalo cr., right, on or near which is a place called Search; (2) rapids along a long curved bluff, right, with three little creeks on the left; (3) Big Buffalo cr., right, with a place called Riverview at its mouth; (4) camp, right. This makes about 25 m., barely over the border of Morgan into Benton Co., Big Buffalo cr. falling in just short of the same boundary; whence it is evident that (1) Big Rock cr. of the map is (1) Little Buffalo cr., on which is Search; (3) Slave r. of the map is (3) Big Buffalo cr., on which is Riverview; and this last is the Upper Gravel cr. of the text. This ends the day, for by no stretch can we get Pike past Pottoe r. of the text: see next note for this.
[I-33] Text gives no geography to-day, but the map shows three large streams between the camp-marks of 9th and 10th. These are: (1) a river, left, lettered "P. R."—that is, "Pottoe" r.; (2) Francis r., right; (3) Cardinal r., left. The facts in the case are: Knobby cr., left, small, at lower point of Williams isl., large; (1) a large creek, left, falling in at head of Williams isl., called Beaver cr. on the G. L. O. map, Deer cr. on the U. S. G. S. map, and on which is a place named Hastain; 2 m. above its mouth is another place called Duroc, on the S. bank of the Osage; (2) a very large creek, right, variously called Vermilion, Coal Camp or Cole Camp cr.; (3) a very large creek, left, called Turkey cr. These three are of the relative sizes and in the relative positions of the three that Pike charts; so that unquestionably "P. R." or "Pottoe" r. of Pike's map is (1) the Beaver or Deer cr.; (2) Francis r. is the Vermilion or Cole or Coal Camp cr.; and (3) Cardinal r. is the Turkey cr. It is true Pike says his Pottoe cr. was passed on the 9th; but his map shows otherwise; and if it had been, that is a question of the location of camp for the 9th, not affecting the identification of the streams here made. The queer name "Pottoe" I suppose to be intended for Poteau, and not a misprint for Potatoe: see the name Pomme de Terre or Potatoe for a river further on. Where Pike got his name Francis r. I have no idea. His Cardinal r. I imagine was so called by some confusion with Vermilion r.; for cardinal and vermilion are two names of a red color—in the one case worn by certain church dignitaries on their heads, in the other by cochineal insects on their bodies. Camp of the 10th (and 11th) is 3 or 4 m. above Turkey cr.
[I-34] The lacuna of the orig. text can be supplied from the map, which marks camp of the 12th as above said. On decamping this morning Pike passed what he charts as Cave cr. This is the middle one of three insignificant runs which make in on the right. "Vermillion" r. of to-day is a mistake. This is the stream Pike charts as Deep cr., on the right, immediately below Grand r., and is that now called Little Tebo, Teabo, Tabo, Tebeau, etc. These are commonly supposed to be forms of a personal name; but I am informed by R. I. Holcombe they are perversions of Terre Beau, old name of the prairie in Lafayette Co. where the "Tebo" r. that flows into the Missouri rises. The Osage tributary called Tebo, etc., falls in a mile below Grand r.; its E. fork is meandered for some miles by the Sedalia, Warsaw and Southern branch of the Mo. Pac. R. R., which then leaves the creek and strikes the Osage 2½ m. below Warsaw. This is the county seat of Benton, on the N. bank of the Osage, 2 m. below Little Tabeau cr. and three below Grand r., opposite the very large island also called Warsaw. Grand r. of the text and present maps is the largest branch of the Osage passed since the Niangua was left. It falls in on the N., a mile below Wright's isl. Some of its affluents head not far from Independence (on the Mo. r.), and others in Kansas. Its largest branch is Big cr.; others are Deep Water and Big Tabeau. Camp is in the bight of the bend that receives Grand r., between Wright's and Holloway isls.
Pike has mapped the river unmistakably along here, rendering identifications easy; but the text is not so correct, and requires the interpretation I have given. The mileages of the 10th-12th seem excessive. Here, as in various other places, he seems to have supplied the loss of orig. notes from memory.
[I-35] In making the circuit Pike passed two rivers which he charts by name as "Hallico R." and "Potatoe R.," both from the S., or on his left as he ascends. Potatoe is clearly the same name as Pomme de Terre, by which latter title is now mapped the large stream which heads in Webster Co., cuts the N. E. corner of Green, perhaps also the S. W. corner of Dallas, then traverses Polk and Hickory, and in Benton falls into the bight of the bend of the Osage herein mentioned. The natives call this river "Pumly Tar." Two miles above its mouth it receives the Little Pomme de Terre, from the W., in the vicinity of Fairfield. A much smaller stream, next above on the same hand, which is received in the same bend of the Osage, is Hogle's cr. The relative situations of these would make Pike's Hallico correspond to Pomme de Terre, and his Potato to Hogle's. But I have no doubt he meant by Potato the river now called Pomme de Terre, and we need not insist upon the reversal of names, especially as there may be some small stream below to answer to Hallico, and it would be nothing for Pike to pass over so small a creek as Hogle's, both in the text and on the map.
[I-36] This letter formed Doc. No. 8 of the App. to Pt. 2. The name, omission of which causes the hiatus in the text, is Chouteau. The letter was sent by one Baptiste La Tulipe, who is no doubt the man of whom we read in Frémont, Rep. 1845, p. 18: "I had found an old companion on the northern prairie, a hardened and hardly-served veteran of the mountains, who had been as much hacked and scarred as an old moustache of Napoleon's 'old guard.' He flourished in the soubriquet of La Tulipe, and his real name I never knew."
[I-37] Near the N. E. corner of St. Clair Co. and the S. E. corner of Henry Co. The Park is a narrow, somewhat rectangular loop of the Osage, including some bold bluffs in its bight. The distance was much under "28" m., unless the river were then even crookeder than it is now. We have to foreshorten the mileages along here, in order to bring Pike into anything like the proper position above the mouth of Sac r. on the 16th. He passes five or six small creeks to-day, the last and largest being charted by Pike as Buckeye cr. This is Wright's, from the S., in St. Clair Co. A mile above this is a large island, which seems to be Pike's Turkey isl.; and a mile above this is another, probably that on which he camped.
[I-38] That is to say, Lieut. Wilkinson, Dr. Robinson, the interpreter, and one soldier, who left the boats to march across country with some of the Indians, thus avoiding the periplus of several bends in the river.
[I-39] Pike is still considerably below the present site of Osceola, at the neck of the last remarkable bend the river makes some 6 or 7 m. (direct distance) from that town. At present this loop is 4 or 5 m. around and about a quarter of a mile across at the narrowest part. It receives several creeks from the N. E., E., and S., the highest and largest now called Bear cr. In this day's course, which does not include the circuit of the bend, Pike charts a certain "East River," which he runs in directly from the W. This corresponds in position with the stream now called Muddy cr., but if meant for that it is drawn much too large—half as large as Grand r. itself.
[I-40] Several points require attention in this long course, whatever its actual length may have been. 1. Passing Osceola in the forenoon, Pike reaches his "Grand Fork," i. e., the confluence of Sac r. with the Osage, at noon. This is clear, and the distance seems about right from the place where I set his camp of the 15th. But the streams he charts on this course, below the forks, are not more easily disposed of than was the "East" r. 2. Thus, on the same side as "East" r., about halfway from this to the forks, he lays down two small streams from the W., the lower of which he names Light cr. There are in fact several such; and it may be reasonable to assume that by Light cr. Pike means the largest of them. This is the one now called Gallinipper cr., which falls in a mile below Osceola, and which is now meandered for a few miles by both the Kansas City, Clinton, and Springfield R. R., and the Kas. Cy. and Southern R. R. 3. After rounding the bend above described, and passing the Bear cr. there said, Pike passes two creeks on his left, from the S., one of which he charts by the name of Lime r. This probably answers to the stream now called Wablo, or Weablo, or Weaubleau cr. The other one of the two is Brushy cr. But the identification of Lime r. with Weaubleau cr., and of Light with Gallinipper, throws both out of relative position, and introduces a difficulty which can only be done away with by supposing an error of the map. 4. Osceola is the seat of St. Clair Co., on the left hand going up river, 3 or 4 m. below the mouth of Sac r. This village is notable as a point up to which steamboats used to come, especially during our Civil War; it was burned in Sept., 1861, by "Jim" Lane (James Henry Lane, b. Lawrenceburg, Ind., June 22d, 1814, committed suicide at Leavenworth, Kas., July, 1866); pop. lately 331. 5. Two of the little crosses which usually mark Pike's camps are superfluous for the 14th-16th. One I cannot account for; the other evidently marks the spot where Bel Oiseau was killed, as there is the legend "Beloiseau Kill'd." Pike usually calls him Belle Oiseau; but the French noun is of the same gender as the Indian himself. He was also known as Beautiful Bird. 6. The Sac is about as large as the Osage at their confluence; it runs on an average due N. course from Lawrence, through Dade and Cedar, into St. Clair Co. We are told by the old pioneer "Jack" Beard that the river was so called because a party of Sacs (probably of the Missouri River band) camped on it about 1820; in the fall of 1861 Sterling Price's rebel army were on this river for several weeks. 7. Camp is set on the left bank or right hand of the Osage, above Salt cr., right, and just below the mouth of the stream from the N. called Mine r. in the text, but lettered "Mire Cr." on the map. This is the Little Monegan, Monegau, or Monegaw cr.; the place called Monegaw Springs is in the vicinity. (The name may be preferably Monega, Osage word for "wolf.")
[I-41] Legended "Chouteau's" on the map, where the cross × also does duty for to-night's camp, two miles higher up. The spot can be identified by the coal bank and shoal mentioned, though the "41½" m. assigned for the day's journey take us beyond the confluence of the Little Osage, and we see by tomorrow's itinerary that we are still half a day's sail short of that point. Pierre Chouteau's place was known in Spanish records as Fort Carondelet, and was built about 1790 at what is now called Halley's Bluff named for Col. Anselm Halley. It was an actual fortification with mounted swivels, which Lieut. Wilkinson speaks of in his Report (given beyond); but it was only maintained for a few years. The post is twice noticed in the Hist. of Vernon Co., 1887, by R. I. Holcombe, who informs me that he went over the ground, including Blue Mound, Timbered Hill, and other places in the vicinity, and that some old caches in the sandstone may still be seen. 1. In the course of to-day's voyage the map shows a large stream, unnamed, falling in from the N., on the right-hand or left bank. This is evidently intended for Big Monegan or Monegaw cr.; place called Dollie at its mouth. 2. Higher up, on the other side, another nameless cr. is charted, from the S. This is Beshaw, better called Clear, cr.; quite large, coming from Barton, through Vernon, past the N. W. corner of Cedar, into St. Clair Co. 3. Above this, Pike has two traces, both from the N., unnamed. One of these doubtless represents Panther or Painter cr., in Bates Co. Here the Mo., Kan. and Tex. R. R., a branch of the Mo. Pac. R. R., crosses the Osage between Rockville on the N. and Schell City on the S. of that river. These places are 4 m. apart. A mile or two below this crossing the Osage now forms a circle circumscribing a large round island, nearly a mile in diameter, which may have been a bend in Pike's time. Several smaller streams than those just named fall into the Osage on either side, in the course of a few miles, as Miller, McKenzie, Shaw, Willow, and Lady's. The "10 French houses" Pike speaks of were opp. the mouth of Lady's cr. (named for one Wm. Lady). Camp was on the N. W. side of the Osage, near Lady's cr., and thus in the vicinity of Papinsville (old Harmony Mission).
[I-42] A most important point in this itinerary, for here is the junction of the Little Osage with the main stream, which latter Pike now leaves to proceed up the former to the villages, and so on into Kansas, etc. He elsewhere says: "The three branches of the [Osage] river, viz.: the large east fork [i. e., Sac r., lying E. of where he now is], the middle one up which we ascended [i. e., Little Osage], and the northern one [i. e., main Osage]." The present confluence is at the point where Bates and Vernon cos. begin or cease to be separated by the meanders of the Osage; for the Little Osage runs in Vernon Co., and the main Osage, above the confluence, runs in Bates. There is a conspicuous mound in the prairie, a short distance S. of this "second fork," giving name to Blue Mound township. Both forks head beyond (W. of) the Missouri State line, in Kansas, in which State the main Osage r. bears the name of Marais des Cygnes. The "large drift" in the Little Osage which stopped the boats is marked and so legended on the map, a short distance above the forks. It seems to have been above the mouth of Muddy cr., which falls in from the N. within 2 m. of the forks, and was probably about the place where there is now some marshy ground on the W. side, opposite Horseshoe l. The latter is a mile long around the curve, and discharges by a short stream into the Little Osage, from the S., between the forks and the mouth of Muddy cr. Doubtless it was once the bed of the river. Close by this lake, an eastward bend of the Little Osage receives a creek from the S.; and beyond this was the Grand Osage village, close to which Pike established what he calls Camp Independence, on the E. side of the river, near the confluence of Marmiton or Marmaton r. This stream falls in from the S., and is rather larger than the Little Osage; in fact, it forms with the latter the main forks. The Marmiton receives Drywood cr. a few miles above its confluence with the little Osage. The name of this river is apparently the F. word marmiton, scullion, from marmite, pot or kettle; the settlers pronounce it "Mommytaw." For other features of the locality we may note that the river bottoms are here below the 750-foot contour line, which represents the general level of the surrounding prairie; and that there is an isolated mound or butte of 850 feet or more on the E. side of the Marmiton and close to this river, at the first bend it makes eastward. The Marmiton is otherwise notable in the present connection, as Pike's further route goes between it and the Little Osage.
[I-43] A letter received from General Wilkinson by this express formed Doc. No. 9 of the App. to Part 2.
[I-44] Joseph Browne, who in 1806 was first Justice of the Court of Common Pleas in and for the District of St. Louis, appointed by Governor and General Wilkinson Tuesday, Mar. 18th, 1806; in 1807 he was Territorial secretary, and sometimes acting governor. He was succeeded by Frederick Bates, appointed secretary by Jefferson, May 7th, 1807: see L. and C., p. 1236. The "Babtiste Larme" of the above paragraph is elsewhere called by Pike "Mr. Baptist Duchouquette alias Larme." Billon's Annals of St. Louis for 1764-1804, pub. 1886, p. 437, has "Jno. B. Duchouquette, usually called Batiste Lami." Among the signers of a paper relating to the erection of a Roman Catholic church in St. Louis, Oct. 30th, 1819, is found "Batiste × Duchouquete" (his mark). The alias occurs in various forms, as Lamie, Lamy, Lamme, etc. J. B. D. was son of François Lafleur Duchouquette and Céleste Barrois; b. about 1760, d. May, 1834; married Marie Brazeau, St. Louis, 1798.
[I-45] The village of the Little Osage Indians was about 6 m. higher up and on the other (west) side of the river of the same name. Marmiton r. falls in between where the two villages were. These were so well-known to the traders and others in Pike's time that he does not take the trouble to say exactly where they were; nor are we favored with the precise location of Camp Independence, "near the edge of the prairie." But there is of course no question of the exact site of a village which stood for more than a century: see for example Holcombe's Hist. Vernon Co. Hundreds of Osages were buried on the mound, to which their descendents used to come from Kansas to cry over them, as late at least as 1874. Among the remains rested those of old White Hair himself, until his bones were dug up and carried off by Judge C. H. Allen of Missouri. In the vicinity of the upper village is now a place called Arthur, where the Lexington and Southern Div. of the Mo. Pac. R. R. comes south from Rich Hill, Bates Co., and continues across both Little Osage and Marmiton rivers; a mile W. of its crossing of the former, on the S. of that river, is the present hamlet called Little Osage. All Pike's positions of Aug. 18th-Sept. 1st are in the present Osage township.
[I-46] This census of the Grand Osage village was contained in a letter which in the orig. ed. formed Doc. No. 12 of the App. to Pt. 2, being a folded table opp. p. 52, with a tabular "recapitulation" on p. 53. The matter is given beyond.
[I-47] Three letters from Pike to Wilkinson which went by this express formed Docs. Nos. 10, 11, 12 of App. to Pt. 2. One of them is dated from "Camp Independence," by which we learn the name Pike gave his station: see beyond.
[I-48] So far as the white men are concerned, the party is identical with that which left Belle Fontaine (see the roster, pp. 358-360), excepting Kennerman, deserted, which reduced the privates from 16 to 15, and further excepting the additional interpreter, one Noel alias Maugraine. (Mr. George Henry, who is left here, was engaged after the start, and therefore does not affect this count.)
[I-49] By "Grand Osage fork" Pike means the stream on which was the Grand Osage village, i. e., Little Osage r. By "fork of the Little Osage" his actual implication is Marmiton r., near which was the Little Osage village—though the phrase happens to be verbally applicable, as the Marmiton is the fork of the Little Osage r. Pike's course "N. 80° W." at the start would seem to conflict with the dot-line on his map; but this is simply due to faulty projection of the streams: see next note. Observe also that the course of Sept. 1st is simply a swing-around to the mouth of the Marmiton, whence Pike revisits the Grand Osage village. There is no camp-mark for this day; the first + set is camp of the expedition of Sept. 2d, before Pike had rejoined his party.
[I-50] Which the party had made on the 3d before Pike joined them. Their camp of the 2d is the first one marked on the map, and this of the 3d is the second one so marked. This we know from the position marked for the 6th, just over the divide, and three camps ahead of this of the 3d. Pike is now first fairly en route. The faulty projection of his map makes him seem to go E. of S. till the 6th, and then turn W. abruptly. The course of the Little Osage is practically from W. to E., and Pike ascends it the whole way, having it at a considerable distance to his right. His trail is over the prairie between the Little Osage and Marmiton rivers. This is to be particularly noted, as some have vaguely supposed Pike "followed up the Osage river," i. e., the main Osage (Pike's "North fork"), and then wondered how he came where we presently find him. In fact, he goes almost due W. from Missouri over into Kansas. Camp of the 3d was in the vicinity of the present town of Little Osage. Gregg's map, on which Pike's trail is traced for the most part with all the accuracy that the small scale allows, starts him into Kansas too far S.—a good way S. of Fort Scott, which is correctly located on the Marmiton.
[I-51] Misleading, at first sight; but "Grand river" here means that stream on which was the Grand Osage village. Pike and Robinson simply took an excursion of 6 m. to the Little Osage and back to camp, supposed to be 13 m. from that of the 3d. It was considerably past Rinehart, and probably in the vicinity of Hoover, a place 2 m. E. of the inter-State line; or perhaps just over this boundary, which here runs on a meridian of longitude (about 94° 37´). This vicinity is notable as the scene of the raid of old John Brown in Dec., 1859, when this extraordinary compound of saint and sinner, whose prophetic visions of the coming struggle had startling distinctness, killed a man and stole some negroes and horses. Pike has entered or will immediately enter the N. E. portion of Bourbon Co., Kas., in the vicinity of places called Hammond, Fulton, and Barnesville. The two former of these are on the Kansas City, Fort Scott, and Gulf R. R. I suppose Pike to be about 10 m. N. N. E. of Fort Scott, the county seat of Bourbon. This is a well-known city, on Marmiton r., at the point where Mill cr. falls in. Its military name is a legacy from former days, the fort having been built in 1842; pop. now about 12,000.
From the present station we have to trail Pike clear across Kansas to a point on the Republican Fork of the Kansas r., just over the middle of the northern boundary of the State. This is not easy. It would be impossible to do so with precision, had we only the slender thread of text to guide us. His Indians took him a roundabout way by the Smoky Hill r. The whole country is flat, with a complicated river-system; Pike cuts through it, incessantly crossing creeks and rivers, not one of which does he follow for any considerable distance after he leaves the Osage basin. The names of the many small towns and stations, as well as of the small streams, will be recognized by few non-residents. Fortunately we have the trace dotted on his map, and though this is far out of drawing for absolute geography, its relative positions are recognizable for the most part. I am satisfied that the course I lay down for Pike is true to his route in all its main features. The whole of this Kansan route would be in the Missourian watershed, were it not for the northward extension of the Arkansan basin in the drainage of the Neosho and Vermilion rivers. This Pike enters as soon as he leaves the Osage basin, crosses, and quits before reaching the Smoky Hill: see the two places legended "Dividing Ridge," etc., on his map. If we suppose, what I see no reason to question, that his camp-marks are all right, his marches of Sept. 5th to 17th may be summarized as follows: Sept. 5th, further up Little Osage r.; 6th, over divide to Arkansan waters of the Neosho r.; 7th, approaching the Neosho; 8th, across this river; 9th, further along S. of it; 10th, across subdivide of Vermilion river basin; 11th, heading this river, and across subdivide into Neosho basin again; 12th, across Cottonwood fork of the Neosho; 14th, further along this fork; 15th, across divide from these Arkansan to Missourian waters again; 16th, nearing Smoky Hill r.; 17th, across this river. (Total distance from the Osage villages about 210 m., by Pike's mileages of Sept. 1st-17th about 250 m.) The counties crossed are Bourbon, Allen, Woodson, Coffey, Lyon, Chase, Marion, Dickinson, and Saline. Further details in following notes.
[I-52] The whole of this way is W. up along the S. side of the Little Osage, for the most part at a considerable distance from the river, which here has a northward convexity. But for some miles after leaving Camp Independence, Pike must have kept pretty close to the south side of the Little Osage, to avoid the unnumbered mounds into which the country further to his left is broken. The hill to which Pike came in the forenoon represents a rise from the general 750-foot level hitherto traveled to about 1,100 feet. From its southern slopes, Mill and Wolverine creeks gather to flow into the Marmiton at and near Fort Scott; while from the other side some small runs seek the Little Osage. Camp is in Bourbon Co., somewhere in the vicinity of Xenia, Zenia, or Hay, a small place near a branch of the Little Osage.
[I-53] Pike does not mean that the Arkansaw r. itself is otherwise called White r., but the waters of the Arkansaw River basin he has reached are those of a river called the White, which is perfectly true. He elsewhere calls this Grand r. He also discusses whether this White r. be a tributary of the Arkansaw or of the Mississippi, and comes to the latter erroneous conclusion. This White or Grand r. of Pike is the Neosho; a large stream which waters much of southeastern Kansas, leaves the State in Cherokee Co., enters Indian Territory, and falls into the Arkansaw on the boundary between the Cherokees' and the Creeks' country. Its general course is S. E., then S. Pike lays it down pretty well on his map, by the name of Grand r., and I find it so charted on various modern maps. Pike runs it into the Arkansaw all right, and makes its Cottonwood fork the main stream, out of all proportion to the little creek he traces for the other fork; but there is not much difference in the two streams, which unite in Lyon Co. some 8 m. below Emporia. From the vicinity of Xenia, in Bourbon Co., Pike has to-day continued about W., by or near the station Bayard of the Mo., Kas., and Tex. R. R., in Allen Co. Having thus headed all Osage (Missourian) waters, he strikes and crosses the divide, and camps on the head of a small tributary of Elm cr., a branch of the Neosho (Arkansan waters). I suppose his camp to be at a point about equidistant from Bayard and two other places called respectively La Harpe and Wise—perhaps rather Bayard, La Harpe, and Morantown.
[I-54] The two streams concerned in Pike's approach to the Neosho are Elm and Deer creeks. Elm is the large forked one which falls in close below Iola, county seat of Allen. Deer cr. is the next above, falling in about 4 m. above Elm cr. Pike's map indicates that, after passing some insignificant heads of Elm cr., he got into its forks, then crossed its north branch near Iola, and camped on Deer cr., very near the junction of this with the Neosho. I do not know whether horses can swim in Deer cr.; if not, the only alternative stream would be the Neosho itself. But the map sets Pike on the east branch of Deer cr., and there I leave him.
[I-55] The Neosho, Neozho, or Neocho r. "A grand fork of the White river" is ambiguous; but becomes intelligible if we remember that he has just spoken of the "Arkansaw, alias White river." Pike's ideas of what he calls "White" and "Grand" r. were not clear. There is no stream in his present vicinity large enough to be dignified as the "grand fork" of the Neosho itself; we must understand him to mean the Neosho, as being itself a grand fork of whatever he meant by "White" r. The Neosho was long and often called Grand r.; "Neosho or Grand R." is lettered on Gregg's map. Pike never says where he crossed the Neosho, nor in fact does he inform us that he ever crossed it—unless it was when he swam his horses. But that was on the 7th. However these uncertainties be regarded, two facts are certain: Pike was across the Neosho on the 8th, and he crossed it between Iola and the town of Neosho Falls, Woodson Co. I think the crossing was a little above the mouth of Deer cr.
[I-56] West for a few miles, then about northwest, up along the Neosho, but at several miles' distance from that river, on the dry prairie, and passing from Woodson into Coffey Co. As to the "second branch" on which is camp: Pike charts three streams passed to-day, running to his right into the Neosho, and marks his camp on the third one of these. I take these to be Turkey, South Big, and North Big creeks; and suppose that Pike camped on the last of these. It is true that these all three unite in one before falling into the Neosho; but Pike passed them too high up to observe their connections. Turkey cr. is practically a separate one, as it falls into Big cr. only about one-quarter of a mile above the mouth of it; and the connection of North and South creeks, much higher up, may be implied in his speaking of the "second branch" on which was camp (Turkey cr. then answering to a first branch). The single mouth of the three streams here in mention falls into the Neosho about 2 m. west of Leroy. If it seems rather a stretch to get Pike some distance up North Big cr. to-day, it may be remembered that the place he crossed the Neosho was not determined with precision; and that we have to find him to-morrow, at 11 miles' distance, on a large creek up which he can go over the divide to the heads of Verdigris r. There seems to be no alternative.