USA > Louisiana > Sketches, historical and descriptive, of Louisiana > Part 16
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Of the country about the sources of the rivers we have named, very little is known. These rivers, at least most of them, head in the extensive plains to the north west of the gulf. The Trinity and Brassos flow from near the upper part of Red river ; a small ridge, indeed, only di- vides them.
'The rio Bravo is about one hundred and fifty miles to the westward of St. Antonio, following the course of the road. The lands are generally the same as those already
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noticed, though the produce of them is probably more va- luable. They yield several rare and useful kinds of wood, as also considerable quantities of cochinea !.
" It is taken for granted, that the Spaniards will never se- riously contend for any part of the country to the east- ward of the Sabine ; and it is also presumed, that the United States will extend and maintain their claims to the rio Bravo. This tract, then, may be computed at about six hundred and five miles in length, and four hundred miles in breadth ; containing two hundred and forty two thou- sand square miles, or one hundred and fifty four million, eight hundred and eighty thousand acres.
> There is is some confusion in the maps relative to the latitudes of the rivers, and other remarkable objects, a- long the gulf of Mexico. The Spanish maps, in particu- lar, lay down nineteen rivers, or large water courses, be- tween the Sabine and the rio Bravo. The mouth of the Sabine is placed in north latitude, thirty degrees, nearly ; . that of the Trinity in twenty nine degrees ; that of the Brassos in twenty nine degrees twenty minutes ; the en- trance into the bay of St. Bernard in twenty eight de- grees thirty minutes ; the mouths of the Colorado and Guadaloupe, in the vicinity of each other, in about twenty eight degrees fifty minutes; and the mouth of the rio Bravo in twenty six degrees eight minutes. These calcu- lations of the latitudes, though probably incorrect, will af- ford the reader a general idea of the relative positions of the several objects, to which they refer. The bay of St. Bernard is said to exhibit one of the most beautiful sheets of water in the world ; it contains many islands, and is well stored with various kinds of fish ; nearly twelve feet of water is found on the bar at its entrance ; its shores are pregnant with delightful scenery.
The paucity of materials forbid a more copious account of this part of Louisiana. 'The attention, therefore, is ne- cessarily diverted to another quarter.
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Black river penetrates the left bank of Red river about thirty miles from the Mississippi, and it has been explo- red to the hot springs in north latitude, thirty four de- grees twenty seven minutes, a distance of five hundred and nine miles. Black river, however, loses its name at the junction of the Ocatahola, Washita, and Tenza, about sixty nine miles from Red river. The Washita is the prin- cipal branch, and near it are the hot springs already men- ' tioned. This river, as it is ascended, inclines for some distance to the north west ; so that fort Miro, built by the Spaniards, as likewise the settlements in that quarter, si- tuated two hundred and seventy miles from the mouth of Red river, are at no great distance from the Walnut Hills on the Mississippi.
The lands on Black river, below the junction just mention- ed, are of an alluvial nature. The banks in general are pret- ty elevated, and some portions of them seldom buried un- . der water ; but the lands gradually slope from the river, and are bounded in the rear by cypress swamps, which are an- nually inundated. These elevations along the banks are : generally one plantation deep, and the soil is composed of black marle, mixed with sand, which have been rolled from the upper country. The trees are not so high and large as those on the Mississippi; they are red and black oaks, ash, peccon, hickory, some elms, cotton wood, and willow : But they gradually increase in height and size as the river is ascended.
An opinion prevails, that these and other alluvial lands in the low country are at this time much more elevated than formerly ; and that they are gradually rising above the freshes by the annual depositions made on their sur- face. This opinion is fully supported by three known facts ; the advances of the land into the sea ; the exist- ence of trees and other woody substances at a considerable depth under ground, apparently deposited there by the
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waters ; and the annual formation of an alluvious stratum by means of the expansion of the Mississippi and other rivers.
The same kind of land continues to fort Miro on the Washita, though somewhat more elevated, and studded with a few primitive ridges. On the left bank of that ri- ver are extensive prairies, the soil of which is luxuriant and productive, bearing a high coarse grass. On the op- posite side, between the Washita and Red river, the lands have frequently an elevation of three hundred feet ; part of which is prairie, and the remainder mostly covered with pine, and extremely poor and barren.
The fort and settlement on the Washita are situated in north latitude, thirty two degrees thirty minutes, nearly. The first settlement made here was by the French, which was destroyed by the Natchez Indians in 1729, and never revived till the country passed into the hands of Spain ; it. now extends about thirty miles above fort Miro, and com- prehends between five and six hundred souls. Many fine creeks and bayous intersect this part of the country, bounded by rich and extensive bottoms. Just above the fort commences the grant of baron Bastrop, which embra- ces a square of thirty six miles on each side of the river. .
Here the banks are elevated about thirty feet ; the bot- toms are at least half a mile wide, and the high grounds in the rear of them covered with pine.
The uplands, properly so called, make their first ap- pearance about one hundred and thirty miles above the fort, covered with cane breaks, birch, maple, holly, per- simmon, and black grape vines. The margins of the ri- ver are fringed with a variety of vines and plants, among which is several species of convolvulus. The banks at this place and above it, in some instances suffer from the ebrasion of the waters, though mostly skirted with rocky clifts frem eighty to an hundred feet in height, and cover-
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ed with pine. Hills of freestone are common in this quar- ter. The lands, among other trees, produce the elm, sy- camore, dog and iron wood.
About three hundred and forty five miles above the fort, the country suddenly assumes a more rugged aspect. ITills frequently rise out of the level plains, and exhibit an abundance of rocks, free stone, and blue slate, among whose fissures are found plenty of sparry and chrystaline matter.
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This kind of land continues to the hot springs; its sur- face is covered with a stratum of vegetable earth, from six to twelve inches in thickness, of a dark brown colour, mixed with loam and sand, and well calculated for til- lage. The navigation is good in the season of high wa- ter, and the climate one of the finest in the world. The distance from the hot springs to the source of the river, is unknown. It is probable, that the country about it is bro- ken, and much less inviting than that lower down.
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These springs are numerous, and situated in the neigh- borhood of the river. Four of thein only, are worthy of much notice. The first raises the mercury in Fahrenheit to one hundred and fifty degrees ; the second to one hun- dred and forty five degrees ; the third to one hundred and thirty six degrees; and the fourth to one hundred and thirty two degrees. The temperature of the water in- creases - or diminishes in proportion to the size of the spring. The water in none of them, when suffered to cool, is unpleasant to the taste. It is supposed to contain some medicinal virtues, and on this account the springs begin to be visited by valetudinaries.
The sketches now given of the country about the Wa- shita are derived from several sources, particularly from the observations of Mr. Dunbar and Dr. Hunter. It is unfortunate, that all the other great rivers of Louisiana have not been equally well explored and surveyed.
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It has been recently found, that the bayou Tenza is of much more consequence than was apprehended. It is an outlet or branch of the Mississippi, which leaves that ri- ver near the Arkansas, and meanders along the swamps till it joins Black river. In some places it makes near approaches to the Mississippi ; in others it diverges from fifteen to twenty five miles from it, and in its progress passes through several long and narrow lakes, probably formed by occasional dilatations of the stream. This ba- you, with very little labor and expense, would afford a good boat navigation for about four hundred miles ; and as the current is comparatively weak, it is calculated to facilitate the ascent of boats to the upper country. The lands along the Tenza are as elevated, and as well covered with cane, as those on the Mississippi, and of equal breadth. Many people, under an expectation of acqui- ring pre-emtive titles, have surveyed and taken possession of large tracts of these lands, admirably adapted to the culture of cotton, and such other articles as are common to the country.
The west bank of the Mississippi, from the mouth of Red river to that of the Arkansas, presents an almost per- fect level, and the land is much more elevated on the river than in the rear of it. This vast tract affords a thick growth of large and tall trees, mostly cotton wood and cypress, with extensive cane breaks. This kind of cane near the Arkansas is from fifteen to twenty feet in height ; opposite to Natchez and fort Adams, from thirty five to forty feet. All these lands are of an alluvial nature, and extremely fertile. Most of those within half a mile of the Mississippi are sufficiently redeemed from the floods. The swamps extend westward to the high grounds, gene- rally from twenty to thirty five miles breadth, and in the spring season are buried from twelve to twenty five feet under water. During the latter part of summer, the
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whole of autumn, and the beginning of winter, they are usually dry, and afford excellent pasturage for cattle and wild animals. The water they receive in time of freshes, is mostly precipitated from the Mississippi by means of the creeks and bayous ; and as the floods subside, part of it returns to the river by the same channels or drains ; but 'much the greatest part is left to be exhausted by evapor- ation and absorption. "
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. It must not be supposed, however, that these extensive swamps, situated between the mouth of Red river and that of the Arkansas, and embracing near eight thousand square miles, will always remain entirely useless. They afford plenty of large and excellent cypress, and some o- ther valuable trees, especially along the banks of the water "courses. As soon as settlements are formed on the high grounds in the rear of them, or on the borders of the Ten- za, they will be occupied as ranges for cattle. Besides, the water communications afforded by them at certain sea- sons, will be of great use to the opulent planter.
Of the immense country between these low grounds and the rivers to the westward of them, and between the Wa- shita and the Arkansas, no correct information was ever obtained. It was partly explored by the French in the early part of the last century ; but no record of their disco- veries, at least of any merit, has been handed down to us. Some hunters, however, have occasionally penetrated it. They represent it as mostly destitute of wood, except a- long the water courses, and somewhat mountainous.
Few settlements are formed on the west bank of the Mississippi, within the tract just noticed. They are thin- ly scattered along from Red river to the mouth of the Ya- zous. Planters, however, begin to turn their attention to this quarter, which, at this time receives nearly its propor- tion of new settlers from the States. The lands cultiva- ted by them are of the first quality for cotton, and yield an abundance of corn and other provisions.
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Every part of the country we have noticed produces se- veral sorts of wild fruit, particularly pawpaws, grapes of different kinds, mulberries, figs, persimmons, and a variety of nuts and plums. Perhaps no part of the world yields finer peaches and mellons. Apple and pear trees flourish . extremely well on the high grounds ; but their fruit is in- different.
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CHAPTER VI.
UPPER LOUISIANA.
UNDER the Spanish government the south bounda- ry of Upper Louisiana was a place called Hope Encamp- ment, nearly opposite to the Chickasaw Bluffs. In this chapter a general description will be given of all the known parts of Louisiana, situated above the Arkansas ; the mouth of which is in about north latitude, thirty three de- grees forty minutes : Some attention will be paid to the natural divisions of the country, as well as to the division- al lines of districts.
The country about the mouth of the Arkansas is rather low, and most of it overflowed in seasons of high water.
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SKETCHES OF LOUISIANA.
The village on that river is situated about forty five miles from the Mississippi. The French visited this place as early as 1685, where they opened a trade with the natives, built a fort, and formed some settlements about it. At that period the Arkansas nation of Indians was deemed one of the most powerful in the country, and the French to preserve peace with them, and to secure their trade, in- . termarried with them. Most of the inhabitants of that village, are of mixed blood, and the same mixture is ob- servable among the Indians, who are now reduced to a very few in number, and live in two small villages above . that of the whites. They formerly contended with the Chickasaws for superiority ; and their wars with that peo- ple, and the use of ardent spirits, have nearly extinguish- ed them as a nation. The village of the whites at present contains thirty or forty houses only, and a garrison, in which a few troops are quartered. In the neighborhood of it are a few plantations, and the country about it is well adapted to tillage. But the Indian trade, at present very inconsiderable, occupies the attention of the inhabi- tants, who are altogether of French extraction, and in a great measure unacquainted with agricultural pur- suits.
It is certain, that the French nearly a century ago pe- netrated the Arkansas to its source : But they have left us no accounts of the country in that quarter; and for the few traits we have of it, and of the regions between the Arkansas and the Missouri, we are indebted to the enter- prise of English Americans. A few prominent features, therefore, must suffice.
From the Arkansas village to Verdigris river, a dis- tance of at least five hundred miles, the shores are gene- rally lined with reeds or cane, and furnish many rich and extensive bottoms. The country below the upper extent of the Osage hunting grounds, is well supplied with wood. Craggy clifts frequently make their appearance along the
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Arkansas, at least as far up as a branch of that river call- ed Negrocka. All that vast country, which lies between Verdigris river and the Mexican mountains, and between the Arkansas and the Kansas and Platte rivers, may be considered as one immense prairie, with very little else to attract attention. Between the Osage villages and the head waters of those rivers, the country is sandy, and al- most destitute of herbage; the surface of it is irregular and broken, interspersed with a variety of small streams, some fresh and some salt, with barren sand hills, and some level tracts covered with grass, and others with flint and lime-stones. The nearer the Arkansas is approached from this quarter, the more regular and the less stony is the surface of the country ; though even here it has the ap- pearance of a barren waste, and exhibits to the eye an arid and steril soil. Few trees are to be discovered, except along the water courses, and these are generally the cotton wood, a species of the poplar. Many of the small branch- es of the Arkankas are strongly impregnated with salt, and the shores of that river, in many places, are frosted with nitre. The water of many of the springs or salines are too salt for soups, and it even renders corn, when boiled in it, unfit for use. Immense herds of buffaloe, elk, deer, and a species of the goat, range about this open country, which produces a short grass, of which they are fond ; and a gentleman of veracity has asserted, that he has seen a drove of them, containing at least nine thou- sand.
These regions, however, although they are at the dis- tance of several hundred miles from our present ·settle- ments, are not wholly useless. They produce vast quan- tities of peltry, and the lands along the numerous rivers and streams are suitable for cultivation. A series of years must elapse before the country between them and the Mississippi is settled ; and at whatever time our settlers approach the vast prairies already noticed, they will ex-
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perience one advantage not common in other new and interior countries, a fruitful supply of sait.
The flat country on the Mississippi extends from the mouth of the Arkansas to the head of what is called Ti- wappaty bottom, a distance of nearly four hundred and fif- ty miles. The river St. Francis runs nearly parattel to the Mississippi, and from thirty to forty miles, (in some places less) to the westward of it, for the distance of about four hundred and sixty miles, and mostly through the flat country already mentioned. Nearly half of the lands be- tween these two rivers are covered with swamps and ponds, and periodically inundated. These swamps, filled with cypress, are mostly dry in summer ; though, unless they be drained at great expense, or banks constructed to keep the water from them, they will never be of any ser- vice to agriculturalists, other than as ranges for cattle. Many creeks or bayous take their rise in them, and they flow into both rivers ; and it is calculated, that there are as many of them as one to every fifteen miles. These swamps are generally in a central position between the two rivers ; they mostly communicate with both by forming creeks or bayous, which are navigable in the time of freshes. The lands along the banks of the rivers and other streams are much more elevated than the intermediate tracts ; they are seldom overflowed, and present a thrifty growth of large trees. Prairies abound in the interior, as also some tracts of upland, calculated for rich and extensive plantations.
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This tract contains no varieties of soil. The lands are mostly what are called bottoms or intervals, and are compo- sed of a deep rich mould, calculated for most kinds of grain, cotton, tobacco, flax, and hemp. The more elevated grounds yield thirty bushels of wheat, and eighty bushels of corn, by the acre. 'Tiwappaty bottom, which is situated above the mouth of the Ohio, is equal in fertility to any part of the western country. It produces a thick growth of tim-
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ber, and many of the trees are of an extraordinary size. Part of this bottom, which is about twenty miles long, and from three to six miles broad, produces an immense quantity of rushes. These grow to the height of about eight feet ; they are large, and stand so thick, that it is diffi- cult for a man to make his way among them. Large droves of cattle resort to them in winter, and fatten on them.
Most of the settlements are formed along the Mississip- pi, not only because the lands near the banks are less ex- posed to inundation, but because that navigable stream af- fords the desired facilities to commerce. The settlement at Little Prairie, thirty miles below New Madrid, was formed by Canadian traders about the year 1795; and in 1803 it contained about one hundred and fifty souls.
: New Madrid also situated in north latitude, thirty six degrees thirty minutes, (seventy miles by the course of the Mississippi below the mouth of the Ohio, and forty-five miles over land) was first settled by hunters and traders. In 1787 it assumed the form of a regular built town under the direction of general Mor- gan, then of New Jersey, but now of Pennsylvania. In consequence of some obstacles to his designs, created by the Spanish government, he finally abandoned his pursuits, and retired from the country. The town is situated on the west bank of the Mississippi, bounded on the north by the bayou St. John, which always affords plenty of water, and on the south by a cre.k, which heads in a cy- press swamp in the rear of the town, and is generally des- titute of water in the dry seasons. The river never rises. so high as to inundate the town : But the banks of it are very unstable ; portions of thein annually cave in ; the hou- ses were originally erected over the present channel, and the inhabitants are annually obliged to remove some of them, otherwise they would be destroyed ; and the proba- bility is, that the encroachments of the river will eventu- ally scatter the population of this place.
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This town was originally so laid out as to extend as the French express it, forty acres in length along the river ; the back part was contracted to twenty acres on account of some swamps, and the depth was sixteen acres. It contained ten streets running parallel with the river, and eighteen others crossing them at right angles. The for- mer were sixty feet, and the latter forty five feet in breadth. Six squares were also laid out, and reserved for the use · of the town, each of which contained two acres. A street of one hundred and twenty feet in breadth was likewise re- J. served on the bank of the river.
The tract of country already mentioned, between the Arkansas and 'Tiwappaty bottom, is more insalubrious than any other part of Upper Louisiana ; and from the situ- ation of it a stranger would be inclined to believe, that it was more subject to dangerous diseases than it really is. Complaints of an epidemic nature, are unknown. Deaths are more frequent among children than adults ; and this is imputed to the green fruit, which the former indulge themselves in eating during the most sickly season of the year. The mephitic exhalations from the swamps and low grounds must necessarily poison the air; they pro- duce intermittents, and some bilious fevers, though they have never been considered as very malignant. Indeed, the sick have suffered more from the want of medicine than from the obstinate nature of the endemics ; and more mor- tality has occurred from old age and accidents than from prevalent diseases.
A considerable number of Delawares, Shawanese, and Cherokees, have built some villages on the waters of the St. Francis and White rivers. Their removal into these quarters was authorised by the Spanish government, and they have generally conducted themselves to the satisfac- tion of the whites. Some stragglers from the Creeks, Chocktaws, and Chickasaws, who are considered as out- laws by their respective nations, have also established
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themselves on the same waters ; and their disorders and depredations among the white settlers are not unfre- quent.
The population of this tract in 1804 was estimated at_ one thousand three hundred and fifty, including one hun- dred and fifty slaves ; of which about four hundred, ac- cording to the best accounts, were capable of bearing arms. One company of militia at Arkansas, another at Little Prairie, and three in New Madrid and its vicinity, were regularly organised. The more distant and scatter- ed settlers were not included in the organised militia ; they were excused from the ordinary duties of this corps on account of the inconvenience of attending to them. About two thirds of the population is composed of Eng- lish Americans ; the other third of French. It is believ- ed, that the population of this tract has not much increas- ed in several years. For three years, commencing in 1800, the increase was only six persons. About New Ma- drid, and below it, the population evidently diminishes ; while it increases more to the north, particularly above the mouth of the Ohio.
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The natural growth of this portion of the country is some- what different from that among the upper settlements ; and it partly consists of mulberry, locust, sassafras, walnut, pec- con, cotton wood, cypress, willows, and dogwood. On the highest grounds some persimmons, hickory, oak, and ash, are to be found. This enumeration is not complete ; but it is sufficient to afford a general idea of the natural growth of this tract.
It has been the misfortune of most of the first settlers in Louisiana, particularly the French, to neglect agricul- ture, and to turn their attention almost wholly to the In- dian trade, which at best only afforded a precarious sub- sistence ; and none but a few of the principal traders ever derived any profits from it. The first settlers at New Ma- drid, and those of most of the other places already na-
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