Sketches, historical and descriptive, of Louisiana, Part 17

Author: Stoddard, Amos, 1762-1813
Publication date: 1812
Publisher: Philadelphia : Published by Mathew Carey
Number of Pages: 978


USA > Louisiana > Sketches, historical and descriptive, of Louisiana > Part 17


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med, were of this description. Not till about the year 1794, when the game was nearly exhausted, did they be- gin to cultivate the lands, except for gardens and the rai- sing of scanty supplies of corn ; and since that period the people have gradually turned their attention to agricul- ture. In 1803 the several settlements, exclusive of that , at Arkansas, produced thirty three thousand eight hun- dred and eighty bushels of corn, three hundred and ten bushels of wheat, fourteen thousand eight hundred pounds of flax, four thousand five hundred and sixty pounds of tobacco, and one hundred and sixty two thousand nine hundred pounds of cotton. They also during the same, time manufactured seven hundred and forty gallons of whiskey, tanned four hundred hides, and procured of the- Indians six hundred and sixty five packs of different kinds of peltries. Agriculture and the manufacture of various - articles, are at this time in a progressive state ; and the prospects of success in these branches will eventually su- percede the desire of an Indian traffic.


At the head of Tiwappaty bottom, and about twelve miles below cape Gerardeau, the high grounds commence on the Mississippi. At this place is a high rocky bluff, which stretches at about right angles with the river across the country to the St. Francis. This may be said to di- vide the low from the high country. The settlements to the north of it are the most populous ; and, in whatever light we consider them, they are of much the most conse- quence.


In the territory now to be noticed are several districts or counties, and the face of them exhibits a happy me- dium between a mountainous and level country. No part of this extensive tract is subject to inundation, except now and then, and small portions of it only are unfit for til- lage. It is much less mountainous and broken than the ; eastern and middle states, and not so low and flat as the southern states on the Atlantic side of the mountains.


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All the bottoms, and many of the prairies, are level ; but the lands back of the first, and generally those in the neighborhood of the latter, are formed into gentle swells and vales, and exhibit to the eye what is commonly called a rolling country. It must not, however, be understood, that there are no high mountains, or any abrupt high grounds ; on the contrary, there are many of both ; but they are too few in number, and too limited in extent, to injure the character of the country, or to lessen the value - generally conceived of it.


Both the bottoms and the high grounds are alternately divided into wood lands and prairies. Some of the bot- toms are covered with trees of a large size. Those on the high grounds are more scattered, and generally of a different species. The prairies are covered with grass. These were probably occasioned by the ravages of fire ; because, wherever copses of trees are found on them, the ground about them is low, and too moist to admit the fire to pass over it ; and because it is a common practice among the Indians and other hunters to set the woods and prairies on fire, by which means they are able to kill an abundance of game. They take secure stations to the leeward, and the fire drives the game to them. These prairies are numerous ; but very few of them within our settlements, or in the neighborhood of them, are of any considerable extent. Some of them, indeed, are many miles long ; but they are narrow, and are so situated as to be of great utility to agriculturists. When practicable, prairie lands have been included in plantation surveys. They afford an early grass for cattle, and produce an abundance of hay of no very inferior quality. The soil of them is generally stronger than that of the circumja- cent grounds ; and almost the only labor required to con- vert them into tillage fields, is making the necessary fences round them.


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The district of cape Gerardeau extends from Tiwappa- ty bottom to. Apple creek, a distance on the Mississippi of about thirty miles, and without any definite boundaries to the westward. The first house built in this district was in 1794 at the cape, and by a Frenchman. ,Since that period settlements have been rapidly formed by emi- grants from the United States; and it is generally believ- ed, that the lands in this quarter are inferior to none in Upper Louisiana : Certain it is, that the richest and most industrious farmers in this part of the world are the pro- prietors of them. In 1803 the population of this district was one thousand two hundred and six. During the three preceding years its increase was four hundred and sixty six ; so that in 1804 it contained about one thousand four hundred and seventy whites, as also a few slaves ; and the increase has been equally rapid since the country passed under our jurisdiction. Not more than three or four Frenchmen live in this district ; the rest are English Americans, who were organized into three large compa- nies of militia soon after we assumed the government.


The people, among many other articles, raise wheat, corn, tobacco, flax, hemp, and cotton, and manufacture .. large quantities of maple sugar. They annually export considerable quantities of beef, pork, lard, smoaked hams, and some peltry. They also cultivate various kinds of fruit, small grains, and garden vegetables. The lands in . this district are elevated, and well supplied with springs ; free from stagnated waters and low marshy grounds, and the climate is deemed healthful. It contains only one swamp, which is just below the cape, and extends across the country to the St. Francis ; this swamp is filled with cypress trees of no great value.


Not many of the settlers in this district have planted themselves on the Mississippi ; they preferred the country about twelve miles back of that river. Several considerable


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settlements are formed on the waters of the St. Francis, about sixty miles in the rear of the cape, where the lands' are of the first quality. All the lands in this, district are of a rolling nature ; they possess a luxuriant soil, are well › covered with timber, and are intersected with a variety of excellent streams and springs.


Apple creek enters the Mississippi from the west about · eighteen miles above the cape, and affords an inland navi- gation at some seasons of the year. About twenty miles . up this creek, and near to it, are three villages of Indians, ' one of Delawares, and two of Shawnees, which were erected about the year 1794. The settlement of the In- dians in this quarter was favored by the Spanish govern- ment, to whom a considerable tract of land was promised. They had several hundred warriors among them ; who were considered as a safe-guard to the whites, and at the devotion of the Spanish authorities. One of these villages contains about eighty houses. 'The houses of all the vil- lages are built of logs, some of them squared, and well interlocked at the ends, and covered with shingles. Many of them are two stories high ; and attached to them are small houses for the preservation of. corn, and barns for the shelter of cattle and horses, with which they are well supplied. Their houses are well furnished with decent and useful furniture. These Indians are said to be the most wealthy of any in the country ; but they are greatly debauched and debilitated by the use of ardent spirits. . 'The country about them is too much settled to afford plen- ty of game. They mostly hunt on the waters of the St. Francis, and White river ; and sometimes they penetrate into the territories of the Osages, between whom a preda- tory war has been maintained for many years.


The district of St. Genevieve is bounded on the south by Apple creek, and by the Merimak on the north ; and the breadth of it on the Mississippi is upwards of an hun- dred miles, The boundaries to the west have never been


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designated. This district, perhaps, is more hillv and un- even than any other settled part of the same extent in Upper Louisiana. It contains two regularly built villages, Sc. Genevieve and New Bourbon, which were founded soon after the peace of 1763; and these were the first - settlements made in the district, except some scattering ones, occasioned by the appearance of mineral riches. The former contains about one hundred and eighty, and the latter thirty five houses, exclusive of some other buil- dings. On the Mississippi are some extensive bottoms, the soil of which is prolific. Some of them are nearly three miles in breadth. The extensive one between the Mississippi, and St. Genevieve and New Bourbon, and claimed as the property of these villages, which are erect- ed on the margin of the high grounds, is under good cul- tivation ; it is, however, flooded once in about ten or twelve years. The high grounds for fifty miles back, are more or less cultivated; but they are in some instances broken, steril, and less productive than the lands of the other districts. These defects, however, are more than counterbalanced by the great quantities of lead, which are found in various quarters, and by the salines, which yield a sufficient quantity of salt for the consumption of the in- habitants, and some for exportation. The settlements are' extended to some of the waters of the St. Francis, which take their rise among them. Several streams, navigable for fifteen or twenty miles, intersect this district. On the Merimak, navigable for a hundred miles, is a silver mine, which was formerly worked by the French ; and on its banks considerable quantities of lead and salt are manu- factured. The settlements extend about fifty miles up this river. .


Between St. Genevieve and the Merimak, the banks of the Mississippi are in many places extremely high and rocky ; some of them have an elevation of at least three .


hundred and sixty feet, and are so disposed as, on a dis:


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tant view, to exhibit the appearance of artificial towers. They are solid masses of lime stone, deposited in hori- zontal strata.


'The agricultural productions of this district are similar to those of the district of cape Gerardeau. Hemp is in- digenous; it grows to the height of eleven feet, and is said to be equal in goodness and texture to that of the north of Europe; it covers the fields of the farmers in : spite of their efforts to destroy it. About fifteen hun- dred weight may be obtained from the acre. Rope and duck manufactories are much wanted in this coun- try; and the avails of them might always be dispos- ed of to advantage at New Orleans and the Havanna. Such manufactures would probably enrich the proprie- tors, and at the same time prove useful to our numerous river navigators, who are now obliged to supply their wants from Kentucky. Perhaps, however, a business of this nature might be carried on with more profit higher up the Mississippi, where the hemp is undoubtedly better.


. This district produces some articles of natural growth not common among the other settlements in Upper Loui- siana. These are several kinds of pine, which are mostly found at some distance up the Merimak, and from which the inhabitants manufacture considerable quantities of pitch and tar, nearly sufficient for the consumption of the country. The banks of the Merimak also produce some excellent cypress ; and this species of wood is not com- mon to the country to the northward of the district of New Madrid. From this and the pine, boards of a good qua- lity are manufactured ; but the price of them are so ex- orbitant, that few only can afford to purchase them. Ce- dar is also found in plenty on the banks of the Mississip- pi, and some other rivers, above the mouth of the Illi- nois ; and this is converted to a variety of useful purposes.


The population of this district in 180-4, cannot be pre- cisely ascertained; but from the census of 1800, and the


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probable increase in four years, it must have amounted to about two thousand three hundred and fifty whites, and five hundred and twenty slaves. Since we have been in possession of the country, the population has been much more rapid than before. Only three companies of mili- " tia existed in this district under the Spanish government, but on the change six of them were organized.


In addition to the several articles usually sent out of the country to market, those of lead and salt form a con- siderable branch of commerce in this district. They are exported to the states of Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, to part of Pennsylvania and Virginia, and to New Orleans. : Lead, indeed, is frequently sent from this quarter to the Atlantic markets ; sometimes by way of the sea, and some- times by way of the Ohio.


The district of St. Louis has the Mississippi on the east, the Missouri on the west, and the Merimak on the south. - It contains several good settlements, as also three compact villages, St. Louis, Carondelet, and St. Ferdi- nand.


St. Louis, the capital of Upper Louisiana, is situated on the west bank of the Mississippi, eighteen miles below the mouth of the Missouri, and fourteen miles above that of the Merimak, and, according to Hutchins, in latitude thirty eight degrees twenty four minutes north. It was founded in 1764 by " Pierre Laclade, Maxan, and com- pany," who associated for the purposes of trade. They conceived it a position where the trade of the Missouri, Mississippi, and the other rivers, was most likely to cen- ter ; and since that period, St. Louis has been the empo- rium of trade in Upper Louisiana. In 1766 this village received a large accession of inhabitants from the oppo- site side of the river, who preferred the government of Spain to that of England. 'The situation of the town is elevated ; the shore is rocky, which effectually prevents the encroachments of the river. It has two long streets


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running parallel with the Mississippi, with a variety of o- thers intersecting them at right angles. It contains about one hundred and eighty houses, and the best of them are built of stone. Some of them, including the large gar- dens, and even squares, attached to them, are enclosed with high stone walls ; and these, together with the rock scat- tered along the shore and about the streets, render the air uncomfortably warm in summer. A small sloping hill extends along in the rear of the town, on the summit of which is a garrison, and behind it an extensive prairie, which affords plenty of hay, as also pasture for the cattle and horses of the inhabitants.


After the attack made on St. Louis in 1780 by the go- vernor of Michillimakinak, the Spanish government found it necessary to fortify the town. It was immediately stockaded, and the stone bastion and the demilune at the upper end of it, were constructed. The succeeding peace of 1783 lessened the danger, and the works were suspend- ed. In 1794 the garrison on the hill in the rear of the town and government house, was completed. In 1797, when an unfriendly visit was expected from Canada, four stone towers were erected at nearly equal distances in a · circular direction round the town, as also a wooden block- house near the lower end of it. It was contemplated to enclose the town by a regular chain of works, and the towers were intended to answer the purposes of bastions : But as the times grew more auspicious, the design was abandoned, and the works left in an unfinished state.


The village of Carondelet is situated on the Mississip- pi about five miles below . St. Louis. It contains forty or fifty houses, inhabited by Creoles and Canadians.


About fourteen miles to the north west of St. Louis, is the small village of St. Ferdinand. It contains about six- ty houses ; most of them are situated on a rising ground, at the foot of which is a considerable stream of pure wa- ter, and on the opposite side is one of the most fertile and


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valuable prairies in the country. The inhabitants of this village are also Creoles and Canadians. The inhabitants of all the compact villages are of this description : But the extensive settlements about the country have been made by English Americans ; these form about three fifths of the population, and perhaps more.


The lands in this district are more fertile, and much less broken, than those in the district of St. Genevieve. Between the Merimak and St. Louis, the banks of the ri- ver are mostly high and rocky. Just above St. Louis a bottom commences, and continues to the mouth of the Missouri. On this river the bottoms are extensive, ge- nerally from one to one and a half miles in width, mostly covered with a thick growth of large timber. Settlements · are formed as high up as the Du Bois, about sixty miles from the Mississippi. Back of St. Louis is an extensive elevated prairie, the soil of which is good, but which from the want of timber to fence it, will probably remain unculti- vated. The people of St. Louis, however, derive from it . a plentiful supply of hay and pasturage. The prairie in the vicinity of St. Ferdinand is about twelve miles long, · and two miles broad, and is so situated as to be of great utility to the inhabitants. It extends nearly parallel to the Missouri, and from one to two miles from it. The plantations on each side of this prairie are so laid out as to embrace suitable portions of it, as also the necessary woodlands. Considerable settlements are formed along the borders of it. Those extensive ones on the long point, formed by the junction of the Mississippi and Missouri, are near the lower end of it, and those at Maries des Li- ards, are at the opposite extremity. These settlements are wealthy ; the people industrious ; and the lands culti- vated by them of the first quality. On the right bank of the Missouri, and not many miles above its mouth, is a bluff or mountain of pit-coal ; but this article is so much intermixed with sulphur, that it is too apt to consume


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iron, and therefore the smiths pretty generally decline the -- use of it.


The largest and best settlement in this district is that called St. Andrews, situated on a small river, which joins the Missouri a few miles above St. Charles. This settle- ment is about twenty four miles to the south west of St. Louis, and is composed of excellent farmers, who have introduced a more correct agriculture than is commonly practised, and who have cultivated with success some of the most useful grasses in the Atlantic States. The lands in this quarter contain a happy mixture of prairie and wood, of bottom and high grounds, and the soils of all of . them are productive.


Considerable settlements are also formed along the Me- rimak. From the large bodies of good land along the borders of this river, the salt works on it, the lead and iron mines in the vicinity of it, and the facilities it affords to navigation, we have a right to conclude, that the settle- ments in this quarter will soon acquire more importance than other interior ones.


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The population of this district, like most of the others, can only be conjectured by reference to the census of 1800, adding to it the probable increase between that period and 1804, when the United States took possession of Up- per Louisiana. This district then contained about two thousand . two hundred and eighty whites, and five hun- dred blacks. Its productions are similar to those of the district of St. Genevieve, except the article of lead ; and except cypress and pine, the natural growth is also the same. 'T'he exports principally consist of various kinds of furs and peltries, salted pork, beef, and lead. The lat- ter article is obtained from the other districts. 'The mili- tia of this district was only partially organised under the Spanish government ; but it soon assumed a more regular form under our own.


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The district of St. Charles is situated between the left bank of the Missouri and the right bank of the Mississip- pi, and contains immense bodies of valuable land : Its boundaries up these rivers are undefined. Perhaps the climate, the lands, and the navigable streams in this dis- trict, combined with other natural advantages, point it out as the most eligible part of the country for farmers. Ex- ' clusive of the two great rivers already mentioned, it is intersected by a variety of smaller ones ; some of them afford among the present settlements an inland navigation of fifteen or twenty miles, and most of them are calculat- ed for mills and other water works ; But when our set- tlements in this district have a little more than doubled their present extent, they will embrace a variety of others, some of which furnish an inland navigation of several hundred miles. The country is rolling, but not moun- tainous; the soil is deep and strong ; there is no want of timber, or sweet and wholesome water, except on some of the extensive prairie bottoms, particularly those along the Mississippi.


Extensive bottoms are to be found along all the great rivers. Those on the Missouri are generally covered with wood, and are seldom inundated, except when the water is unusually high. A prairie bottom stretches from the mouth of the Missouri along the west bank of the Mississippi to sandy creek or bay, about sixty five miles, where our settlements in that quarter terminate ; and the width of it is from four to six miles, and in some places it exceeds ten miles. 'The soil is of a luxuriant nature, and yields in abundance; but the want of wood and spring water, of which this prairie bottom is almost des- titute, obliges the settlers to plant themselves on the mar- gin of the high grounds. The small village of Portage des Scioux stands on this bottom. Few other settlements have been formed on it, though some part of it is culti-


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, vated by the farmers, who have established themselves a- long the interior borders of it.


This district presents us with only two compact villa- ges, St. Charles, and Portage des Scioux; and these are almost wholly peopled with Creoles and Canadians. The other settlements have been formed by emigrants from the United States, who compose nearly four fifths of the po- pulation.


St. Charles was founded in 1780, and is situated on the left bank of the Missouri, about twenty four miles above its mouth. It contains only one street, which extends upwards of a mile on the river, and is lined by about one hundred houses. The banks of the river along the town are not of a firm texture, and encroachments are appre- hended. Owing to a hill, which extends along in the rear of the town, and nearly the whole length of it, the streets cannot be multiplied, nor any buildings erected, except on the borders of the present street. This village is remark- · able for the health enjoyed by the inhabitants of it. Health, indeed, is more generally experienced on the Missouri than on any other of the rivers; and perhaps this results from the rapidity of its current, and from the cold and lively nature of its water, added to the nitrous and sulphureous qualities it contains.


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The village of Portage des Scioux is situated on the right bank of the Mississippi, about six miles above the mouth of the Missouri, and on the extensive prairie bot- tom already noticed. The origin of this village is of re- cent date, and contains only about twenty or twenty five houses ; but the fertility of the lands about it will probably cause an increase of population, and eventually render it of some importance.


Small rivers and creeks are numerous in this district, and many settlements are formed on their borders. One of the principal of these is on the river Femme Osage, some distance above St. Charles on the Missouri. Perhaps


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the only mills of any consequence in Upper Louisiana, except one at St. Louis, are to be found in this dis- trict ; and a spirit of industry prevails among the set- tlers. :


In 1804 the population of this district was estimated, partly by official documents, at about one thousand four hundred whites, and one hundred and fifty blacks; and . perhaps its increase is greater than that of any other dis- trict, except cape Gerardeau. Only two organised com- panies of militia existed under the Spanish government ; but five large ones were formed soon after the country fell under our jurisdiction. The agricultural productions in this quarter are similar to those of the adjoining dis- tricts, though some articles yield more abundantly, parti- cularly wheat, hemp, and most kinds of esculent roots and : vegetables. Salt is manufactured on or near the Missou -. ri, and on one or two small rivers at some distance up the Mississippi ; these manufactories may be rendered produc- tive. Here are also plenty of iron ore, and some of the . richest lead mines in the country ; as likewise various kinds of clay and stone of peculiar qualities, out of which household and other utensils may probably be manufac- . tured.




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