The Party Meet with Osage Indians—Some Account of this Nation—Manner of Taking Wild Horses.
Friday, September 1st. The hunters, who had been sent out at day-light, returned at eight o'clock again unsuccessful, but after a journey of about three hours we had an opportunity to appease the cravings of hunger, and halted to regale ourselves on a small fawn that was shot. At three o'clock proceeded on under the extreme atmospheric temperature of the day of 96 degrees, and, as the current of air was scarcely perceptible, the day was as usual very sultry. We were at length very agreeably surprised by hearing an Indian whoop in our rear, and on looking back a mounted Indian was observed upon a rising piece of ground, contemplating our movements. The usual ceremony of displaying our flag, and deputing an individual to assure him of the pacific nature of our mission, induced him readily to approach; and after some communication, he consented to encamp with us. He informed us that he was the son of Clermont, principal chief of the Osages of the Oaks, or Osage des Chênes of the French traders; in whose territories we then were. Their village was at the distance of about fifteen miles, but by far the greater portion of the inhabitants of it were now on their way to this river for the purpose of hunting. They had heard the report of the guns of our hunters, and, agreeably to their custom, had sent out spies, of whom he was one, to ascertain from whom the firing proceeded; that he had fallen upon our trail, and consequently had no difficulty in finding us, and was moreover glad to see us. Indeed his conduct proved that he [102] entertained towards us the most friendly and generous disposition. He was not tardy in ascertaining our wants, nor parsimonious in his attempts to relieve them. He passed his pipe around, a ceremony which signifies just as much among these people as the drinking to friendship and good fellowship does amongst the lower classes in civilized society; but to us, who had been so long deprived of the use of tobacco, it was an intrinsic gratification. He then laid before us some fine ripe blue plums; and remarking that the small portion of fawn meat, that constituted all our store, was very lean, he said that he would soon bring some more palatable food, and leaving his pipe and tobacco pouch on the ground, with the request that we would partake freely of both, he disappeared in the forest.
It was dusk when he returned with a fat buck hanging in pieces from his saddle; he was accompanied by five or six young warriors. These young men had visited the opposite side of the river, where they had discovered a herd of bisons, and as they were hastening back to Clermont with the intelligence, they observed our trail, which they mistook for that of a Pawnee war-party, and were exerting their utmost speed homeward, when they met with our friendly Indian, who smiled when he informed us of their mistake.
The remnant of our fawn had been cooked, and was partly eaten on their arrival, when they readily accepted our invitation to partake of it. In return for which, when their meat was prepared, the whole was set before us, and they respectfully waited until we were satisfied.
We now ascertained our position with respect to the settlements. We were within about four days march of Belle Point, and the next large stream we would cross was the Verdigrise.
Previous to retiring to rest the Osages performed their vespers by chanting in a wild and melancholy [103] tone a kind of hymn to the Master of life. Very remote lightning in the S. E. horizon.
Saturday, 2d. Our guests awakened early, and one of them, retiring a short distance from his companions, began the well-known ceremony, common to this nation, of crying aloud with a voice of lamentation, intended probably as an invocation of the departed spirit of a relative or friend.124
Messengers were despatched before sunrise to Clermont's camp, to inform that chief of the proximity of a party of white men on this side of the river, and of bisons on the other; and soon afterwards the remainder of our guests, with the exception of one that concluded to remain with us, departed to hunt.
Other Indians, attracted by curiosity, visited us in the course of the day, one of whom informed us, that three men, whose appearance corresponded with the description of our deserters, were now at the village; and that the approaching hunting party being already apprised of their character, Clermont, who was himself with the party, had forthwith despatched an order to the village to have them detained there until the decision of our chief respecting them should be known.
This most welcome news induced Lieutenant Swift and Julien, accompanied by Clermont's brother, and two or three of the young warriors who were present, to set out immediately for the village, in order to seize the recreants, and conduct them to camp. Thus we were inspired with the most sanguine expectations, not only of retrieving our losses, but also of subjecting the offenders to that punishment which was their due.
In the afternoon we had the company of numerous Indians from the hunting party; and an individual, that left our camp early in the morning in pursuit of the bisons on the opposite side of the river, brought a horse load of very lean meat. Their demeanour was pacific and kind, and they appeared disposed to [104] serve us. They brought a considerable quantity of plums of a blue colour, and exceedingly agreeable taste, which were collected from trees growing in the adjacent forest. Our cook having intimated to one of them our want of salt, he instantly mounted his horse, and, after a short absence, returned with a supply. One half of the hunting party was soon afterwards observed fording the river in a long line about a mile below our camp; the other portion, we were told, would cross the river at some point above the camp to-morrow morning, and would act in concert with the others, so as to surround the herd of bisons that they were now going in pursuit of.
In the evening Mr. Swift returned unsuccessful; when he left us in the morning he directed his course to Clermont's camp, which he found in the prairie near a little impure puddle of water. He was very cordially and graciously received by the chief, who invited him to partake of some food. He assured Mr. S. of his regret at being unable to induce any of his young men to pursue our fugitives, who, as he had but then been informed, departed from the village early in the morning. This unwillingness on the part of his young men arose from their extreme anxiety to hunt the bisons, that were at this time unusually near; an enjoyment which they would on no account relinquish. He likewise regretted that he was at present so circumstanced as to be unable to comply with his wishes by visiting our camp. "But," said Clermont, "if your chief will visit me at my camp, which will be established near yours in the evening, I will treat him well; I will present him with as much maize and dried meat as he wants. I will, moreover, furnish him with young men to serve as guides, and a horse or two if he wants them, to aid in the transportation of the baggage." Lieutenant Swift assured him that we were much in want of such assistance as he had proffered, and that on our arrival at Belle Point his generosity should be [105] requited; but the chief declared his indifference to any recompence for such services. Mr. Swift further learned that the deserters, during their short stay at the village, had traded freely for provisions with the trinkets they found in our saddle bags; and although dressed in our clothing, they appeared to imagine themselves suspected to be not what they seemed. This idea was in truth well-founded; for the Indians observing that they retained their guns constantly within their grasp, even when partaking of the hospitality of the different lodges, believed them to have committed some crime or outrage, in consequence of which they regarded themselves as unsafe in any asylum.
As the camp was about to move when Mr. Swift arrived there, he now took his leave to return, but inadvertently deviating from the proper course, he struck the river several miles above our camp. Clermont, meeting with his trail, perceived at once that he had gone astray, and immediately deputed one of his sons to pilot him to our camp.
In the acceptation of these Indians white man and trader seemed to be synonymous, and many of those who visited us importuned us much to trade for leather, dried meat, pumpkins both dried and fresh, &c.; in exchange for which they desired our blankets, and even the clothing from our bodies.
The superiority of the hunting qualifications of the Indians over those of our hunters was obvious in an instance which occurred to-day. The corporal went to the forest for the purpose of killing a deer, and it was not long before an Indian, who accompanied him, pointed out one of those animals in a favourable situation. The corporal fired, but thought he had missed his object. The Osage, however, insisted that the animal was mortally wounded, and advanced forward a very considerable distance, where our hunter could see nothing of the usual sign of blood, or trodden grass, and found the victim dead upon the ground. [106] One of the party, on another occasion, saw an Osage shoot at a deer running, and wound him; another Indian, at a short distance further, fired at the same deer and brought him down, both, of course, with single ball.
The extreme heat of the day was 95 degrees.
Sunday, 3d. Our chief, who upon the invitation of Clermont visited the Indian camp accompanied by Julien and Clermont's son, returned this morning with two other sons of that chief, and a handsome young squaw, wife of one of them. His reception was not equal to his anticipations; Clermont, however, and one of his sons, each presented a skin of maize; but that chief could not realize the almost splendid offers he had made of guides and horses.
Word was brought to Clermont that the information received yesterday, of our deserters having departed from the village, was incorrect, and that they still remained there. This induced, at once, the offer of every thing they were in possession of, with the exception of the manuscripts alone, to any persons who should bring them to our camp. With this liberal offer Clermont himself, accompanied by Julien, set out for the village to arrest them, but on their way a messenger, whom they met, assured them that they had actually and finally departed this morning. Thus all our hopes of recovering our lost property vanished.
The stature of the Osages that fell under our observation was by no means superior to that of the Missouri Indians, and in very many instances their form exhibited a beautiful symmetry. They do not seem to differ, in point of features or colour, from the Indians just mentioned. But the custom seems to be still more general in this nation of shaving the head, so as to leave only a scalp on the back part and above, which is, as usual, ornamented with silver plates, brooches and feathers.
[107] Their dresses and decorations are very similar to those of the Omawhaws, Otoes, and Konzas; but, from their proximity to the settlements, they are furnished with a great proportion of manufactured articles from the Whites.
Their government, so far as we could ascertain, was of the same description with that of the other nations; and their manners, though perhaps less fierce and warlike, seem to be, with the exception of their vociferous matins, not very essentially distinct.
They have the usual armature of the bow and arrow, tomahawk, war-club, and scalping-knife; but a large proportion of them have fusees, and we saw but very few who bore the lance and shield. They are freely branded by the Missouri Indians with the epithet of cowards. They are, at present, in amity with the Sauks and Foxes; and their friendship with the Konzas, with whom they freely intermarry, seems to have been uninterrupted since the expedition of Lieutenant Pike.
The horses belonging to the Osages are by much the best we have seen amongst the Indian nations, and they are kept in the best order. The Indians generally of this country appear to be excellent connoisseurs of horses, and to perceive any defects in them with a remarkable readiness. One of Clermont's sons possessed a very fine horse, for which the Kaskaia horse was offered, but the exchange was refused.
Horses are the object of a particular hunt to the Osages. For the purposes of obtaining these animals, which in their wild state preserve all their fleetness, they go in a large party to the country of the Red or Canadian river, where these animals are to be found in considerable numbers. When they discover a gang of the horses, they distribute themselves into three parties, two of which station themselves at different and proper distances on the route, which by previous experience they know the horses will most [108] probably take when endeavouring to escape. This arrangement being completed, the first party commences the pursuit in the direction of their colleagues, at whose position they at length arrive. The second party then continues the chase with fresh horses, and pursues the fugitives to the third party, which generally succeeds in so far running them down as to noose and capture a considerable number of them.
The name of this nation, agreeably to their own pronunciation, is Waw-sash-e; but our border inhabitants speak of them under the names of Huz-zaus, and O-saw-ses. The word Wawsashe, of three syllables, has been corrupted by the French traders into Osage; and though the spelling of the latter has been retained by the Americans, we have still farther swerved from the original, by pronouncing the word agreeably to the genius of our language.
The lodges or huts of their villages are yet covered with the bark of trees, but it is probable that they will adopt the more permanent and preferable architecture of dirt lodges, used by most of the Missouri nations.
As we proceeded to load our horses at ten o'clock, in order to continue our journey, we perceived that several small articles of no great value had been pilfered from us by our visitors. These are the only losses we have sustained from Indian theft during this protracted journey. During the stay of our party at Fort Osage last season, Mr. Sibley, Indian factor at that place, politely furnished us with the following information respecting the Osages; being the copy of a report made by him to government, in the late war with Great Britain. We present it to the reader in Mr. Sibley's own words:
"1st. The Chancers,125 or band of the Arkansa, 600 men; town situated near the mouth of the Verdigrise, a branch of the Arkansa; Clermont first chief.
[109] "2d. The Great Osages, or White Hair's band, 400 men; town situated near the head of the Osage river; Che-sho-hun-ga, first chief.
"3d. The Little Osages, 250 men; town situated on the Ne-ozho, a branch of the Arkansa; Ne-zu-mo-nee, first chief.
"These tribes are at war with all their neighbours, except the Konzas, and a part of the Sauks and Foxes; with the Konzas they are and long have been on the most intimate and friendly terms; with the Sauks and Foxes they are at present barely at peace. All their chiefs (except Clermont) are very weak and unpopular. Many of their great war captains are in opposition to their chiefs, and have powerful influence in their respective tribes. Of these are 'The Duck,' 'Big Wolf,' and 'John L. Foe,' of the Great Osage; 'Sansoreille,' 'Big Soldier,' and 'The Soldier of the Oak,' of the Little Osage.126 Their council are very much distracted by the jealousies and intrigues of the principal warriors, and for want of energy and decision in the chiefs. When I left them last spring, my impressions were, that the Osages were generally disposed to be at peace with us, but they were very much dissatisfied and displeased, and losing their former unbounded confidence in us, in consequence of what they alleged to be a failure on the part of the United States to fulfil the treaty existing between them and the United States. My opportunities for observation and inquiry concerning the temper and disposition of those Indians were very good, and were not neglected. And my acquaintance with the Osages being very general (extending almost to every individual), and of long standing (upwards of eight years), enables me to speak confidently of them.
"In the year 1804 the President of the United States gave his promise to a number of Osage chiefs, then on a visit at Washington, to establish for them a trading-house on the plan authorized by a law of [110] congress. In 1806 the President repeated the same promise to another deputation of Osage chiefs then here. In 1808 the President ordered the establishment to be made, and accordingly in October of that year it was made. So far this was a gratuitous act of the government; but in the following month it assumed a very different character. On the 8th November 1808 Peter Choateau (the U. S. agent for the Osages), arrived at Fort Clark.127 On the 10th he assembled the chiefs and warriors of the Great and Little Osages in council, and proceeded to state to them the substance of a treaty, which he said Governor Lewis had deputed him to offer the Osages, and to execute with them. Having briefly explained to them the purport of the treaty, he addressed them to this effect (in my hearing) and very nearly in the following words: 'You have heard this treaty explained to you; those who now come forward and sign it shall be considered the friends of the United States, and treated accordingly; those who refuse to come forward and sign it shall be considered enemies of the United States, and treated accordingly.' The Osages replied in substance, 'that if their Great American Father wanted a part of their land, he must have it; that he was strong and powerful, they were poor and pitiful. What could they do? He had demanded their land, and had thought proper to offer them something in return for it. They had no choice; they must either sign the treaty, or be declared the enemies of the United States.'
"The treaty was accordingly signed on the same day; and so much were the Osages awed by the threat of Mr. Choateau, that a very unusual number of them touched the pen; many of whom knew no more the purport of the act than if they had been an hundred miles off; and I here assert it to be a fact, that to this day the treaty is not fairly understood by a single Osage.
"Thus, the trading-house which had been established gratuitously, in conformity with the earnest [111] solicitations of the Osage chief, and repeated promises of the President, was made a part of the price of the lands acquired under that treaty of the United States. In April 1810 this treaty was ratified and confirmed by the Senate, and was duly proclaimed by the President of the United States to be a law of the land. The Osages complained of the delay which took place between its signature (from which time it was binding on them) and the payment of the first and second annuities, which were not made till September 1811. The trading-house was kept up and well supplied until early in June 1813, at which time the establishment was by order broken up, and has been discontinued ever since, contrary to the expectations and entirely against the consent of the Osages, who considered the trading-house as the only benefit they had acquired by the treaty.
"No complaints have been made against the Osages from the signature of the treaty till after the trading-house and garrison were withdrawn from Fort Clark; since that time a party of the Great Osages murdered one of our citizens, and the murderers were promptly demanded (agreeably to the treaty) by Governor Clark, and would have been surrendered, if Mr. Choateau (who was sent after them) had performed his duty. Several other important things are promised the Osages in the treaty. A mill, ploughs, and other implements of husbandry, a blacksmith to mend their guns, ploughs, &c. and block-houses to defend their towns. In short, they were induced to believe, that an establishment was to be perfectly kept up near their towns, which should afford them a ready market at all times for their furs and pelts, encourage and assist them in acquiring habits of civilization, and protect them from their surrounding enemies. A mill and one block-house have been built at an enormous expense, and a blacksmith has been fixed; all at the town of the Great Osages. The mill, I believe, is of [112] some use to those few who are near it. The blacksmith (although expensive to government) is not of the smallest service. The block-house is only useful to the traders who sometimes go to that village.
"All of them would be extremely useful, if properly placed and taken care of; but detached as they are from the agency, and unconnected with an establishment such as was originally contemplated at Fort Clark, they are at present of very little use.
"These facts, concerning the Osage treaty, are stated merely to show that we have not dealt justly with the Osages, and to infer from them, that unless immediate steps are taken to recover that confidence and respect which those Indians once had in the United States, the inevitable consequence will be, their decided and active hostility against the settlements of the Missouri, and those back of the lead mines. British emissaries had repeatedly attempted to engage the Osages in their service previous to the evacuation of Fort Clark, but without effect. The leading men have often declared to me their determination 'never to desert their American Father as long as he was faithful to them.' At a time when we were under serious apprehensions of an attack on Fort Clark, the warriors of the Little Osages offered their services to me to defend the post. In less than two months after those declarations and offers of service Fort Clark was evacuated, and the Osage establishment abandoned, without any notice or apology for so very extraordinary and unnecessary an act. Thus were the Osages left (I may truly say) in the arms of the British agents. How far those agents have succeeded in weaning them from their growing attachment to the United States I am unable to say; they have had full scope for their arts, and it would be idle to suppose they have not made some progress.
"Of all the Missouri Indians, the Osages were the least accessible to British influence, from their [113] strong attachment to the French. They had acquired a French prejudice against the English, which, since my acquaintance with them, has rather increased than diminished. Such are the Osages, and such our relations and political standing with them.
"To put an end to the difficulties now existing between the United States and those people, and to relieve our frontier from the additional weight and destructive effects of their hostility, I beg leave to propose the following plan:—
"The Osage treaty should be immediately carried into complete effect, and measures promptly adopted to engage the Osages in the service of the United States: with this view, and to effect the latter important object, it will be necessary to make an establishment near the Osage towns, to consist of a trading-house, armourer, or blacksmith, and mill; the trading-house to be constantly supplied with a sufficient quantity of suitable Indian goods, to be furnished to the Osages (and such other Indians as the Osages may associate with them in the service of the United States, and request to be furnished,) on liberal terms, either in barter for their furs and pelts, payment of their annuities, payment for their services, and such occasional presents as the safety of Indian affairs may authorize or require. This store should constitute an ample fund always in their country, and always accessible to supply all their wants, and promptly to discharge all their just demands against the United States. During the continuance of the war 40,000 dollars per annum would be requisite. In peace from 10 to 15,000 would be sufficient.
"This establishment should be so regulated in its details as to prevent frauds and abuses, restore confidence among the Osages, and produce the most satisfaction to them, and benefit of the United States. In peace the net profits of the trade will more than defray the whole expense. In war those profits will very much diminish the expense. This establishment [114] should be under the direction of a responsible and confidential agent, who should also be charged with the local superintendence of Indian affairs within the proper sphere of his agency.
"A strong stockade fort and garrison should be fixed in the neighbourhood of the Indian establishment, under such police and regulations as should effectually prevent any clashing between the military and Indian departments, and solely to be confined to military purposes. A system of espionage to be adopted and put into operation at this establishment, and extended as far as possible among the surrounding Indian nations."
The Osages of the Oaks, or Clermont's band, were separated from the other bands, and fixed in their present situation, chiefly, it is said, through the influence of Mr. Choteau, previously to the cession of the territory to the American government. The monopoly of the Missouri trade having been granted to Mr. Manuel Lisa by the Spanish authorities, Mr. Choteau, a rival trader, could no longer traffic with them on the waters, or within a certain distance of the Missouri. He therefore managed to separate a considerable portion of the nation from the interest of his rival, and induced them to establish a town near the Arkansa, of the trade of which river he enjoyed the monopoly.
At a short distance we crossed a small creek which issues from a spring of water. The prairie is now very fertile, interspersed with pleasing groves of oak, and swelling, on either hand, and in the distance, into remarkable pyramidal and conical hills, of which the summits are rocky. The spice-wood (laurus benzoin) and the pecan (carya olivæformis) first occurred to-day. Our distance, twelve miles.
Verdigrise River—Mr. Glenn's Trading-house—New Species of Lizard—Neosho or Grand River—Salt Works—Large Spider—Illinois Creek—Ticks—Arrival at Belle Point.
Monday, 4th. The face of the country exhibited the same appearance as that of yesterday's journey, until we arrived at a dense forest, which we supposed to margin the Verdigrise river, or Was-su-ja of the Osages. There being no trace to direct us, we were obliged to penetrate the intricate undergrowth as we might, and after a tedious and laborious passage of something more than three miles, we attained, probably by a somewhat circuitous route, the river which we had so long vainly sought. At our crossing-place the stream was probably eighty yards wide, and one foot in depth, running with a brisk stream over a rocky bed, though above and below, as far as we examined, the depth of water is much more considerable. This river is more rapid and pellucid than any tributary we had passed on this side of the mountain streams, and during the season of floods its volume is augmented by the tribute of those ravines over which we passed on the 30th ultimo.
Late in the afternoon, we struck the Osage trace, leading from their village to the trading establishment, at the confluence of the Verdigrise, whither we now direct our course. Our evening encampment was at a small ravine, in which were some plum bushes, bearing fruit, yet unripe, of a fine red colour, and, without the slightest exaggeration, as closely situated on many of the branches as onions when tied [116] on ropes of straw for exportation. Distance, seventeen miles three quarters. Extreme heat, 90 degrees.
Tuesday, 5th. At ten o'clock we arrived at Mr. Glenn's trading-house, near the Verdigrise, about a mile above its confluence with the Arkansa. We were hospitably received by the interpreter, a Frenchman, who informed us that Mr. Glenn was absent on a visit to Belle Point. In reply to our inquiries respecting the best and shortest route to the place of destination, two Americans who were present assured us, that there was a path the whole distance so obvious as not to be mistaken, and that they were so much occupied, as to be unable to spare any one to pilot us. Unfortunately, however, for our informant, a military cap, which was now discovered suspended from a beam, betrayed him to be a soldier, belonging to the garrison of Belle Point, temporarily employed at this place. When asked by what right he entered into any other engagements whilst in the service of the United States, he replied that he had the permission of his officers; but as he could not show a certificate, he was ordered to join our suit forthwith as a guide, and to assist with the pack-horses. The interpreter informed us, that the distance to the town of the Osages of the Oaks is about fifty-five miles; from thence to the village of the second band of Osages, called the Great Osages, situated near the head waters of Osage river, more than fifty miles; thence to the village of the third band, called Little Osages, situated on the Neosho or Grand river, three miles; he assured us, that Clermont had then four wives and thirty-seven children; a number, doubtless, unprecedented amongst the North American Indians, and which may probably be attributed to this chief by mistake. We also learned, that at the distance of twenty-five miles was a copious salt spring, lately worked with the permission of the Indians; but at present it is abandoned, and the apparatus removed. Mr. Nuttall, in his interesting Journal of Travels in the Arkansa territory, has given [117] an excellent account of this saline. It produced, agreeably to his statement, under the management of the company, one bushel of salt from eighty gallons of water, and one hundred and twenty bushels were manufactured in a week.129
A beautiful species of lizard130 (agama), is occasionally met with in this territory. It runs with great swiftness. The form of its scales, their arrangement and proportions, considerably resemble those of polychrus marmorata, with the exception of the caudal ones, the series of which are equal, and the scales near the tip of the tail only are mucronate. A band over the shoulders somewhat resembles that of stellio querto paleo.
In addition to our usual fare, served upon the earth, we here enjoyed the luxury of wild honey and Indian corn, or maize bread, spread upon a table; and felt perhaps a little of that elation which the possession of a new coat communicates to the beau, when we found ourselves mounted on stools and benches around it.
The sassafras (laurus sassafras) occurred this morning; and soon after our departure from the trading-house, we saw the cane (miegia macrosperma), and were soon involved in a dense cane brake. Here we were hardly fanned by a breath of air, and during the prevalence of the extreme heat of the day, which was 96 degrees, the state of the atmosphere was extremely oppressive. A short ride brought us to the Neosho, or Grand river, better known to the hunters by the singular designation of the Six Bulls.
It enters the Arkansa very near to the confluence of the Verdigrise, and at the ripple, which offers us a facility of crossing, is about eighty yards wide, the water clear, above and below moving with a gentle current, and its bed and shores paved with large pebbles. At the entrance of the opposite forest, our guide, to whom the direct and very obvious path was supposed to be so familiar, now became bewildered, and [118] after reconnoitring to his heart's content amongst the entangled briers, vines, and nettles, ushered us into a trace which conducted to an old Indian encampment, and terminated there. Further progress was in a great measure intercepted by the cane brake, which not presenting any path, obliged us to break our passage with much labour. The dusk of the evening found us still pursuing a devious course through a world of vegetation impenetrable to the eye, vainly seeking a spot upon which an encampment could be fixed, when, to our unspeakable joy, and without previous intimation, the prairie of Bayou Menard131 appeared suddenly before us. The timber of these bottoms is large and various. The extreme heat of the day, 96 degrees. Distance, eighteen miles.
Our pleasure at first seeing civilized white men was of no ordinary kind; it appeared as though we had already arrived at our own homes and families, in anticipation of Belle Point, which had hitherto seemed the utmost boundary and terminus of our pilgrimage.
Wednesday, 6th. A fine morning, and, as on the days of the first instant, and 30th ultimo, no dew had fallen. Crossed the ravine at the head of Bayou Menard, and ascended the elevated hills, clothed with small oaks, and arrived at a branch of Greenleaf Bayou about nine o'clock; a distance of eight miles.132
A slight shower of rain fell in the afternoon; and during our ride we first observed the dogwood (cornus florida). In the evening, we arrived at Mr. Bean's salt works. These are situated on a small creek which flows into the Illinois creek about a mile below, and are at the distance of about seven miles from the Arkansa. Mr. Bean commenced his operations in the spring, and has already a neat farm-house on the Illinois, with a considerable stock of cattle, hogs, and poultry, and several acres in Indian corn. Near the springs he has erected a neat log-house, and a shed [119] for the furnace; but his kettles, which were purchased of the proprietors of the Neosho establishment, were not yet fixed. He assured us that the water was so far saturated as not to dissolve any perceptible quantity of a handful of salt that was thrown into it. On the side of a large well, which he had sunk to collect the salt water, and perhaps two feet from the surface of the soil, he pointed out the remains of a stratum of charcoal of inconsiderable extent, through which they had penetrated, and which to a by-stander was a certain proof that these springs had been formerly worked by the Indians. But as no other appearances justified this conclusion, a greater probability seems attached to the idea, that during some former conflagration of the prairies, the charred trunk or branches of a tree was here imbedded. Another agent, however, of sufficient efficacy to operate this carbonization of wood, resides in the sulphuric acid, liberated by the decomposing pyritous rocks, so abundant here.
Whilst waiting with a moderate share of patience for our evening meal of boiled pumpkins, one of the children brought us a huge hairy spider, which he carried upon a twig, that he had induced the animal to grasp with its feet. Its magnitude and formidable appearance surprised us. The boy informed us that he had captured it near the entrance of its burrow, and that the species is by no means rare in this part of the country. Not having any box suitable to contain it, nor any pin sufficiently large to impale it, we substituted a wooden peg, by which it was attached to the inside of a hat. This species so closely resembles, both in form, colour, and magnitude, the gigantic bird-catching spider of South America,133 that from a minute survey of this specimen, which is a female, we cannot discover the slightest characteristic distinction. But as an examination of the male, [120] comparatively with that of the avicularia, may exhibit distinctive traits, we refrain from deciding positively upon the species. This animal had been previously mentioned by Mr. Nuttall, in his recent and interesting account of his travels in this region.134 Distance, twenty-four miles.
Thursday, 7th. The Illinois is called by the Osages Eng-wah-condah, or Medicine Stone Creek. At our fording place near the Saline, it is about sixty yards wide, with clear water and pebbly shores, like those of the Neosho. We proceeded on, through a country wooded with small oaks, and interspersed with occasional small prairies, and crossed a deep ravine called Bayou Viande.135 The Bayous, as they are named in this country, unlike those of the lower portion of the Mississippi river, are large and often very profound ravines or watercourses, which, during the spring season, or after heavy rains, receive the water from the surface of the prairies, and convey it to the river; but in the summer and early autumn, the sources being exhausted, the water subsides in their channels, occupying only the deeper parts of their bed, in the form of stagnant pools, exhaling miasmata to the atmosphere, and rendering their vicinity prejudicial to health.
The extreme temperature of the day was 93 degrees, but it was rather abruptly reduced by a strong wind from the S. E., which brought up a heavy rain, with much thunder and lightning, and continued to drench us until the evening, when, after a ride of fourteen miles, we encamped at Bayou Salaison or Meat-salting Bayou.136 At our mid-day refectory, we were much annoyed by great numbers of small ticks, that were excessively abundant amongst the grass, and crawled by dozens up our leggings. Wherever they effected a lodgement upon the skin, their numerous punctures would cause an intolerable itching sensation, that bid defiance to repose. In the evening, in addition to the needful process of drying our [121] clothing and blankets, we had ample employment in scratching and picking the pestiferous arachnides from our bodies. On entering the water, the disagreeable sensation seemed to be mitigated for a time, only to be augmented on our return to the atmosphere. Mosquitoes, which were also abundant, were readily expelled from our tents by the smoke of burning wood; but the ticks, otherwise constituted, frustrated our endeavours to obtain the necessary rest and sleep during the night.
These ticks are of two different species, and, in common with other species inhabiting different parts of the United States, are distinguished by the name of seed ticks, probably on account of their small size when compared with others of the same genus.
The larger of the two kinds137 may be compared, in point of transverse diameter, to the head of a small-sized pin; but the other one is so much smaller, as to elude the sight, except on minute inspection.
The Cherokee Indians frequently visit this vicinity on hunting excursions; and our guide informs us, that a hunting-party of that nation is at present situate at the mouth of this Bayou, at the distance of two miles and a half from our camp.
Friday, 8th. The face of the country presents the same appearance with that we passed over yesterday, offering in the arrangement of forest and fertile prairie, many advantageous sites for plantations, of which one is already established at the confluence of Big Skin Bayou.
During the afternoon's ride, the country was observed to be more hilly. Soon after the occurrence of the greatest heat of the day, which was 91 degrees, several showers of rain fell, accompanied with distant thunder.
On a naked part of the soil, gullied out by the action of torrents of water, we beheld a hymenopterous or wasp-like insect (sphex) triumphantly, but laboriously, dragging the body of the gigantic spider, [122] its prey, to furnish food to its future progeny. We cannot but admire the prowess of this comparatively pigmy victor, and the wonderful influence of a maternal emotion, which thus impels it to a hazardous encounter, for the sake of a posterity which it can never know. Distance, nineteen miles.
Saturday, 9th. Pursued our journey, with every hope of reaching the place of rendezvous appointed by Major Long before noon. Since passing Bayou Viande, we have observed the country on either side of our path to be distinguished by extremely numerous natural elevations of earth, of some considerable degree of regularity. They are of a more or less oval outline, and their general dimensions may be stated at one hundred feet long, by from two to five feet in greatest height. Their existence is doubtless due to the action of water. Should the rivers Platte and Arkansa be deprived of their waters, the sand islands of their beds would probably present a somewhat similar appearance.
An Indian, who observed us passing, hallooed to us from a distance, and expecting some important communication, we waited some time until he came up. He proved to be a Cherokee, dressed much in the manner of the whites, and not a little infected with the spirit of an interrogator, common, no doubt, to those with whom he has been accustomed to associate, and therefore probably regarded by him as a concomitant of civilization. We left him to his own surmises respecting our object and destination, and soon arrived at the path which strikes off for the river. After passing a distance of two miles through a cane brake, we passed a hut and small farm belonging to a soldier of the garrison, and were shortly on the strand of the river, with the long-sought Belle Point before us. We were soon ferried over, and were kindly received on the wharf by Captain Ballard and Mr. Glenn. The former gentleman was at present invested with the command, in consequence of [123] the temporary absence of Major Bradford, on a visit to St. Louis. His politeness and attention soon rendered our situation comfortable, after a houseless exposure in the wilderness of ninety-three days. The greatest heat of the day was 91 degrees, and distance travelled nine miles.
The Arkansa, below the great bend, becomes more serpentine than it is above, and very much obstructed by sand-bars and islands, either naked or clothed with a recent vegetation; they are but little elevated above the water, and are covered to some depth during the prevalence of floods in the river. At Belle Point, and some distance above, these islands almost wholly disappear, but the sandy shores still continue, and are, as above, alternately situated on either side of the river, as the stream approaches or recedes from the opposite river bottoms. The colour of the water was now olive green. All the red colouring matter, with which it is sometimes imbued, is contributed by streams entering on the southern side. The current of the Arkansa is much less rapid than that of the Platte, but the character of these two rivers, in a great degree, corresponds in their widely spreading waters of but little depth, running over a bed of yielding sand. The rise of the waters at Belle Point takes place in the months of March and early in April, with a less considerable freshet in July and August. But to this place navigation is seldom practicable, for keel-boats, from the month of August to February inclusive, though the autumnal freshet of October and November frequently admits their passage.