USA > Louisiana > Sketches, historical and descriptive, of Louisiana > Part 15
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of the country adjacent to one side or the other of Red river, is deluged in the wet seasons. All that vast tract below the Avoyelles can never be of any use, except for the hickory, ash, and oak, it produces. It is intersected by innumerable bayous, and checquered by a vast num- ber of lakes, which receive the surplus waters of Red ri- ver and the Mississippi. Some of the former, after me- andering through the swamps, unite with the main chan- nel again : Others fall into the Chafalia and Mississippi ; so that in the season of high water usually from Febru- ary till June, boats may pass over a great extent of country in every direction, except where obstructed by the trees.
The first settlement in ascending Red river, is at the Avoyelles, about sixty miles from the Mississippi. This settlement is formed about an extensive prairie, and the inhabitants have a ready communication with Red river by means of some navigable bayous, which penetrate its right bank. The settlers are partly French, and partly emigrants from the United States. They seldom culti- vate wheat, because they have no mills to grind it. Corn and cotton are almost the only articles cultivated by them, except garden vegetables. They raise large stocks of cattle and swine ; the first range the prairie, and the latter the woods, which are filled with oak, hickory, ash, and grape vines. They prepare considerable quantities of beef and pork for market, which are deemed of a good quality. The population of this place may be estimated at about four hundred and fifty whites, and one hundred and fifty slaves. Above the Avoyelles the lands gradu- ally rise, and few of them, except near the river, are sub- ject to inundation. . Some considerable tracts exhibit large prairies, with very few trees, and even these few are mostly pine. The lands less elevated furnish a vari- ety of excellent timber. Above the Avoyelles, and back
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of the river, the country is of a rolling nature, and not destitute of good springs.
"The next settlement of consequence is at the rapids, about sixty miles still higher up the river. The village of Alexandria is situated just below them, and on the right bank of Red river, in north latitude, thirty one de- grees, twenty minutes. Most of the settlers have planted - themselves some miles back ; and the whole population may be computed at about six hundred and forty whites, and two hundred slaves. The greatest proportion of this part of the country is cultivated by emigrants from the United States. 'The land is of' a good quality, and pro- duces abundantly. A saw mill has been erected on a bavou or stream near the settlements, which has proved of great utility to the inhabitants. The lands on the left bank of the river are rather broken; the soil mostly of a stiff clav : the timber is of large oak, and hickory, inter- mixed with a few pine, thinly scattered over the country, which is well watered. This kind of land extends along , to the north east to the Ocatahola, a distance of about for- ty miles. The plantations about the rapids exhibit the appearance of wealth. The wood lands and prairies are so happily intermixed as to be of the greatest utility to the planters, who raise many cattle and swine, and cul- tivate such articles as are common to the country. -
The rapids in Red river are formed by two ledges of hard indurated clay, or soft rock, which extend across the channel at about three-fourths of a mile from each other. In low water each of them has a fall, and during this season it is dangerous for loaded boats to attempt the passage of them. When the waters are high they are not perceptible, and the Mississippi frequently flows back to them. A good boat channel may be cut over each at a small expense. If the legislative authority were to grant a suitable toll, no doubt a safe navigation would be made.'
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CHAFALIA TO ARKANSAS, &c.
From the rapids to Nachitoches, a distance of about one hundred and ten miles, the settlements are thinly scattered along the river, and mostly on the right bank of it. Nearly the whole of this tract, especially along the water courses, is composed of bottom land of the richest kind, and well covered with wood, though in some instan- ces for the space of fifteen or twenty miles no settlements have been made. These, however, begin to be nume- rous and wealthy about thirty miles below Nachitoches, and they multiply as that place is approached. One great inconvenience is, that the bottom lands suitable for culti- vation extend only in narrow borders along the river, generally from three hundred to four hundred vards in depth, and are bounded in the rear by cypress swamps and lakes. These swamps and. lakes almost invariably extend parallel to the river, and are seldom more than one or two miles wide. 'They are bounded on the op- posite side by the high lands, which are of a rolling na- ture, interspersed with extensive rich prairies, and small ridges of pine and other timber ; and the lands of this mixed quality extend westward to the Sabine. Many el- ~ evated situations occur along the river, and back of it, which afford delightful views. From some of them the eye may glance over vast natural meadows, thickly stud- ded with copses of trees, and adorned with variegated her- bage.
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Nachitoches, situated in north latitude, thirty one de- grees, forty six minutes, was settled by the French as early as 1714, and was once much more considerable than at present. It now contains between forty and fifty fa- miles, mostly French. The village was originally built on a hill or elevation at some distance from the river ; but it was abandoned by the Spaniards after they came into possession of Louisiana, who caused another to be erected on the bottom a short distance higher up on the right bank of the river. The inhabitants formerly sub-
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sisted almost wholly by the Indian trade, and this indu- ced them to live contiguous to each other ; but as this re- source became less profitable and more precarious, they gradually turned their attention to agriculture, and resort- ed to their plantations. This place experiences some in- convenience from the want of good water. The river is impregnated with salt and alum, and the water taken from the wells is equally unpleasant. The high grounds about a mile from the river afford some good springs ;- but the inhabitants mostly use rain water collected and preserved in cisterns. The bottom lands in this quarter are composed of a rich sandy texture, and produce a thick growth of wood. The soil on the high grounds is gene- rally of a stiff clay ; and though it produces considerable pine, it yields good crops of cotton, corn, and tobacco. Perhaps cotton and tobacco are raised on Red river in greater perfection than in any other quarter of the union ; certain it is, that they command the highest prices in the market. It must be confessed, however, that agriculture is but little understood among the old settlers of the coun- try, and it will probably be some time before they will be- come acquainted with the practical duties of agricultura- lists.
The village of Nachitoches will always preserve some importance, particularly as it is the usual thoroughfare over land from the settlements east of the Mississippi to the Mexican dominions. A garrison was always kept here by the French and Spaniards, and the United States still maintain one at the same place.
In the neighbourhood of Nachitoches are several consi- derable lakes. The country, indeed, about the lower half part of Red river, is full of them ; some of which are from thirty to fifty miles in circumference. They pro- duce an abundance of several sorts of good fish. At some seasons of the year prodigious numbers of wild fowl re- sort to them, particularly several kinds of ducks, geese,
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CHAFALIA TO ARKANSAS, &c.
brant, and swan. They invariably communicate with the river, and in the season of high freshes receive the surplus water precipitated from the upper country, and by these means prevent the inundation of vast tracts of low land. These lakes uniformly rise and fall with the river.
From Nachitoches in a north east direction to the Wa- shita or Black river, the country swells into gentle hills and ridges; it contains a mixture of prairie and wood lands, and the natural growth of many considerable tracts is pine. The soil is of a good quality, especially on the broad bottoms, which extend along the numerous streams.
The upper settlement on Red river is at a place called Compti, about thirty miles above Nachitoches. The lands about this settlement are very irregular and bro- ken, and much injured by numerous bayous and la- goons.
About eighty miles above this settlement, part of the waters of Red river break through its right bank, and fi- nally unite with the main stream again just above Nachi- toches. Nearly sixty miles above this union or junction, the outlet of Red river just mentioned receives the bayou Pierre, on which the French formed some settlements about the year 1730. The inhabitants at this place make considerable quantities of butter, cheese, and bacon hams, which they usually sell to the people below them on Red river. The lands about bayou Pierre are a mixture of prairie and wood, and the soil in general is deemed of a good quality. The inhabitants cultivate wheat, corn, cot- ton, and tobacco. They are furnished with many ex- cellent mill seats, and plenty of good building stone, an ar- ticle seldom found in the country below them.
Perhaps the number of inhabitants between the rapids and the bayou Pierre may amount to about twelve hun- dred whites, and to nearly as many slaves.
At the distance of about one hundred and thirty miles above Nachitoches commences what is called the great
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SKETCHES OF LOUISIANA.
raft. The distance from the lower to the upper end of , it is estimated at forty-five or fifty miles. 'This obstruc- tion is similar to the one in the Chafalia; and is broken and unconnected in many places ; so that in a variety of instances, for several miles in extent, a good navigation exists : Yet, "as the channel is frequently and wholly ob- structed by vast collections of logs, and the branches of trees, firmly bound together by the alluvious substances precipitated from above by the current, no boat can possi- bly ascend the river. A passage, however, is found round this raft by means of a chain of lakes and bayous, connec- ted with each other; though in some places it is difficult to navigate, and the distance is upwards of ninety miles. It is said, that there is no better land on Red river than along this raft.
Red river has never been explored more than about two hundred miles above this raft, except by Indian tra- ders and hunters. Some of these have explored it to its source in the Mexican mountains at no great distance from Santa Fé. This source appears from the best ac- counts to be about one thousand four hundred and fifty miles north west of its confluence with the Mississippi. It is a remarkable fact, that the nearer the Mexican moun- tains are approached, from whatever point, the less wood is to be found.' This is verified on Red river; for no trees are to be seen, except along the water courses, a- bove Boggy creek, which is estimated at six hundred miles above Nachitoches. All that immense tract be- yond this creek, of about six hundred and fifty miles on the river, and extending in an opposite direction from near the Spanish settlements about St. Antonio to some of the head waters of the Missouri, is one immense prai- rie or natural meadow, except on the bottoms along the numerous rivers and streams, which are generally cover- ed with a thick growth of timber. The Mexican moun- tains, in which nearly all of the great westerly branches
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CHAFALIA TO ARKANSAS, &c.
of the lower Mississippi and Missouri have their sour- ces, are also mostly destitute of wood ; but they produce a short grass, which attracts to them in summer vast herds of wild horses, buffaloe, bears, wolves, elk, deer, foxes, wild hogs, antelopes, and a variety of other ani- mals. In winter these are driven by the cold, and the want of food, to the plains or prairies below ; and the number of these animals, as described by hunters, al- most exceed the bounds of credibility. The soil in these mountains is represented as sandy and steril, and the face of the country as extremely broken, covered by ab- rupt hills and rocky clifts, and by deep gullies or ra- vines formed by the rains. Here rock or mineral salt is found, as also mines of silver; but of what value is unknown.
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Between the mountains and the great raft, the lands are of various qualities. On Red river, and on some of its branches, many of the bottoms are from ten to fifteen miles broad, and generally covered with the growth pe- culiar to such lands in other parts of Louisiana. The soil is considered as luxuriant ; and the grass, particular- ly in the prairies, is of an uncommon height. The high- er the river is ascended, the more it is confined within its banks; and above the great raft, instances of inunda- tion are not common, though the soil on all the bottoms is evidently alluvial. The high grounds produce good wheat ; and this was fully ascertained by the French, who formerly settled themselves among the Caddoques.
"The climate on Red river, though not refrigerated by the sea breezes, is deemed as healthful as that along the gulf. This is the more remakable, as the surface of near- ly six tenths of the country about the settlements is con- stantly covered with water, and the atmosphere loaded with vapors, which in other places produce troublesome and fatal endemics. Perhaps this general exemption from diseases may be traced in part to the dry and san-
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SKETCHES OF LOUISIANA.
dy soil of the high grounds, many of which are covered with pine, and in part, more especially to the numerous salines about the country ; to the brackish nature of the water, both in the rivers and lakes, and in the wells and springs, and to the saline qualities of the ground. What- ever the cause may be, certain it is, that the inhabitants on Red river enjoy as much health as is usual in any part of the United States ; and the climate, though warm and humid in summer, is not productive of diseases even a- mong strangers unaccustomed to it.
Little is known of the vast country, situated between Red river on the east, the rio Bravo on the west, and the gulf of Mexico on the south, except along the road ex- tending from Nachitoches to St. Antonio. The whole of this tract fronts, or has a regular and gradual descent to the south, and its rivers and other streams flow through it in an oblique south east direction, and fall into the gulf. The road from Nachitoches to Nacogdoches runs nearly west, and from the latter place to St. Antonio it extends about west south west. The north shore of the gulf from the mouth of the Mississippi to the head of the bay of St. Bernard extends in a west north west di- rection; so that the tract between the road and the sea is of unequal breadths; much wider at the Sabine than at St. Antonio. 'The road at the former place is about one hundred and fifty miles from the gulf, while at the latter it is not more than eighty or ninety miles. The average width of this tract, situated between the sources of the rivers and the gulf, may be estimated at about four hun- dred miles; though some of the rivers from their oblique direction as just mentioned, flow more than seven hun- dred miles before they fall into the sea, and afford a boat navigation for about three fourths of that distance.
The Sabine (called in some maps the Mexicano, and in others the Adaize) is about fifty miles to the westward of Nachitoches. Most of the lands between these two
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CHAFALIA TO ARKANSAS, &c.
places, particularly along the road, are considerably bro- ken, and of an inferior quality. This tract is rather de- ficient in good water, and contains more pine than any other wood. This river has its source in the extensive plains to the north west of Nachitoches.
From the Sabine to Nacogdoches, a Spanish village, is about sixty miles. The lands are thinly timbered, except along the water courses, covered with vast bodies of flint stones, and afford many symptoms of rich iron ore. This village is situated in an elevated country, in about thirty one degrees twenty five minutes north latitude, and continually washed on three sides by a beautiful stream of pure water: It is badly built, and contains no more than thirty or forty indifferent houses, with a chapel; and as it is at a distance from any navigable water, it never can arrive to much importance.
The river Trinity, or Trinidad, is about ninety six - miles to the westward of Nacogdoches, and between them . are two or three considerable streams, probably branches only of some of the rivers. Perhaps the country about the Trinity is better calculated for settlements than any other in this quarter. It is pretty well wooded, and a- bounds in excellent water. The soil is fertile and the climate healthful. This river estimated at three hundred and fifty miles in length, is navigable for large boats in the season of high water, and vessels of considerable size can enter the mouth of it. Here commence the high grounds on the gulf, which continue to bound the shore to the head of the bay of St. Bernard. On the contrary, between the mouth of the Trinity and that of the Missis- sippi, the country along the gulf for a considerable depth is covered with marshes, in which some of the rivers are in a manner lost, and their channels obstructed. The Spaniards begin to estimate the importance of the Trini- ty ; for they have planned a town on its banks near the road, and called it Salsedo, in honor of the governor-ge-
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SKETCHES OF LOUISIANA.
neral of the internal provinces, whose capital is the city of Chihuahua, laid down in north latitude, twenty eight degrees fifty minutes, and longitude, one hundred and six degrees, fifty minutes, west from Paris. To encou- rage the growth of this place, which now (1809) contains twenty five or thirty miserable mud cabins only, liberal grants of lands are made to settlers, in some instances two and three leagues square. It may be safely doubted, however, whether the town of Salsedo will even arrive to much importance under the Spanish government, and the reason is obvious. Agriculture, commerce, and manufac- tures, are hardly known in the province of Texas; and without them no country can expect to flourish.
From the Trinity to the river Brassos is about eighty miles. Between these two rivers are several small creeks, probably branches of larger streams, on the borders of which are some extensive tracts of valuable land, well wooded and watered, and furnished with a pure and wholesome air. The bottoms along the Brassos are also extensive and fertile, though portions of them are usually deluged in the spring. This river is about seven hundred miles long, and affords a good navigation for some dis- tance above its mouth. ,
The next river of any consequence is the Colorado, about eighty five miles to the westward of the Brassos. The land between these two rivers is of a good quality ; but the want of wood and water will probably obstruct the settlement of it. The Colorado is a beautiful river, navigable nearly to its source in the season of high water, a distance of about four hundred and fifty miles. On its borders are large bodies of excellent well timbered land ; and perhaps the period is not far distant when po- pulous settlements will be formed on them, especially if industry and enterprise be sufficiently encouraged. This river falls into the head of the bay of St. Bernard.
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CHAFALIA TO ARKANSAS, &c.
From the Colorado to the river St. Marks, (one of the branches of the Guadaloupe) is about fifty miles. This river is about one hundred yards wide where the road cros- ses it, and the lands on its borders are extremely rich and productive, but they are mostly destitute of wood.
About twenty five miles to the westward of the St. Marks, is the river Guadaloupe, which is about the size of the former. The lands on this river are good, well watered, and contain a fine growth of timber. This ri- ver is about two hundred miles long, and falls into the bay of St. Bernard, at the mouth of which was planted the colony under M. de la Salle in 1685.
„ From the Guadaloupe to St. Antonio, the capital of Texas, is about sixty miles. This capital is situated in about north latitude, twenty nine degrees, on one of the head branches of the Guadaloupe, and is said to contain about two thousand five hundred inhabitants ; but these are probably overrated. The country about it is elevated, and fanned by a pure air. It has been remarked by tra- vellers, that more old people are found in this quarter than are known to exist in any other territory of the same extent. The houses in St. Antonio are very indifferent ; generally one story high, with flat roofs, supported by up- rights sunk in the ground, and built of combustible mate- rials. There are, however, one or tvo public squares, round which the houses make a better appearance. The chapel or church is an ordinary structure, though it is 'considered by the inhabitants as a splendid edifice. At . no great distance from the town, a spring of an uncom- mon size, yielding pure lime stone water, breaks out of the side of a hill, and soon becomes a river. A dam is erected across it in such a position as to precipitate the water in almost. every direction among the houses by means of canals or sluices, which are so constructed as to convey it ; over the cultivated fields below. This irrigation is the more necessary, as it seldom rains
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in the neighborhood of St. Antonio during the summer season.
If the preceding calculations are correct, St. Antonio is about five hundred and five miles to the west-south-west of Nachitoches. . The several distances we have men- tioned were computed in 1806 by a gentleman of intelli- gence and observation, who traversed the country in that year between Red river and the capital of Texas. From him also were derived in part the few descriptive hints . we have given of that country.
In addition to what has been said of the country to the westward of Red river, it may be observed, that it pos- sesses many advantages denied to other portions of Loui- siana under the same latitudes. It is elevated ; and the air is untainted by noxious exhalations, which in other places are more or less prejudicial to health. The springs afford excellent water ; and even the water in most of the rivers is free from impurities, and impregnated with the qualities of the lime stone. It is believed also, that this part of the country contains plenty of salt, as the hunters have discovered several salt springs. Another great ad- vantage attached to it is, that it has a variety of easy and short communications with the sea, by means of the ri- vers already named, and no doubt some good ports. Hence the facilities to the exportation of cotton, tobacco, and provisions, (perhaps even sugar) which these exten- sive regions are calculated to yield, and which will be con- sidered as the staple commodities of them.
The country in general is of a rolling nature, destitute of any considerable mountains, and may be considered as an inclined plane from the great Mexican ridge ; it is al- most wholly free from swamps and marshy grounds, ex- cept along the gulf between the mouths of the Sabine and the Trinity. 'The greatest obstacle to the settlement of some parts of it, is the scarcity of wood ; yet the prai- ries, which are always covered with luxuriant grass, will
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CHAFALIA TO AKKANSAS, &c.
afford fine ranges for cattle, and therefore cannot be deem- ed useless in an agricultural point of view. The portion of the country covered with wood, were it even limited to the borders of the rivers, is sufficient for a considerable population ; and it is said that, in the neighborhood of the gulf, especially to the westward of the Trinity, a good growth of timber is to be found. We may therefore safe- ly pronounce, that these regions are destined to yield, at no distant period, great quantities of surplus produce, and to open new and important sources of wealth to the agri- cultural and commercial world.
The road we have traced out is the great thorough- fare between Red river and the city of Mexico, as well as the internal provinces. The Spaniards at all the vil- lages, and at nearly all the rivers on this route, have esta- · blished small military posts, composed of eight or ten men each ; not merely as guards of security, but to faci- · litate the passage of public letters and despatches, which are carried with as much expedition between the Sabine . and the most distant provinces, as in any part of the Uni- ted States. All these posts are provided with mules. As soon as the mail arrives at one post, it is hastened by a fresh mule and rider to the next, and so on; it travels night and day, and is seldom obstructed, or even retard- ed, by the weather. Carriages have passed the road from Nachitoches to Mexico; a distance of little more than one thousand miles; some say twelve hundred miles.
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