USA > Louisiana > Sketches, historical and descriptive, of Louisiana > Part 27
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Almost all parts of the western country, present us with pyramids or mounts of earth, which were doubtless intended either as works of defence, or as depositories of the dead. Hardly any part of Louisiana is destitute of them ; and they mostly abound in those places the best adapted to culture. Many of them are from fifty to a hun-
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SKETCHES OF LOUISIANA.
dred yards in length, and from ten to thirty feet high, ter- minating each way in a regular slope. Numbers of them have been penetrated in a horizontal direction. Some of them contain a multitude of arrow heads, fragments of pipes, and a rude kind of ware, made of clay. Others furnish several strata of a white glutinous substance, con- taining a considerable degree of moisture, and divided from each other by layers of common earth. This sub- stance was no doubt produced from human bones, which time, and the operation of the elements, have converted into its present state. In some instances, indeed, the bones are found almost entire ; whether this circumstance may be imputed to the qualities of the ground, or to re- cent burial, cannot well be determined.
No doubt some of these tumuli were the receptacles of the common dead ; while others received the remains of chiefs, or of warriors who fell in battle. No less than five remarkable mounts are situated near the junction of the Washita, Acatahola, and Tenza, in an alluvial soil. They are enclosed by an embankment, or wall of earth, at this time ten feet high, and ten feet wide, which contains about two hundred acres of land. Four of these mounts are nearly of equal dimensions, about twenty feet high, one hundred feet broad, and three hundred feet long. The fifth seems to have been designed for a tower or turret ; the base of it covers an acre of ground ; it rises by two steps or stories ; its circumference gradually diminishes as it is ascended, and its summit is crowned by a flatted cone. By an accurate admeasurement, the height of this tower or turret has been found to be 'eighty feet. Per- haps these works were designed in part for defence, and in part for the reception of the dead. 'Twenty-one of these tumuli or pyramids present themselves to view in a cluster just below Kahokia, There are several of them in the vicinity of St. Louis; two of which are of a large. size, with an elevation of about twenty feet ; one of them,
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ANTIQUITIES.
forms nearly a square, with a flat open space on the top. Many of them are found about the falls of St. Anthony, and at various other places in the country, mostly in the vi- cinity of water courses.
Many of the ancient nations buried their dead in this way, especially those of quality and consideration among them. Ireland still exhibits the remains of these tumuli ; and according to the drawings made of them, they ap- pear to resemble those on the Mississippi. Plutarch says, that Alexander, on the death of Demaratus, "made a " most magnificent funeral for him, his whole army " raising him a monument of earth eighty cubits high, " and of a vast circumference." The Scythians, accord- ing to Herodotus, "labored to raise as high a monument " of earth for their dead as possible."' Semiramis endea- vored to eternize the memory of Ninus, her husband, by raising a high and broad mount for his tomb. The same practice obtained among the Spartans and Thracians, and even among the Jews; for they raised a great heap of stones over the body af Acham, who had purloined the accursed thing. All rude and uncultivated nations have raised these pyramids of earth, either as mausoleums, or as cenotaphs to the memory of those they respected.
SKETCHES OF LOUISIANA.
CHAPTER XIV.
OF THE RIVERS OF LOUISIANA.
SOME of the rivers of Louisiana are incidentally noticed in various parts of this work, and care will now be taken to avoid repetition. No part of the world of the same extent seems to afford so great a number of rivers, and few indeed of equal magnitude. Had they been known to the ancients, with what raptures would their historians and poets have described them ! The Achelous and Teli- boas are insignificant rivers, when compared with the Mississippi and Missouri ; and yet Thucydides and Xe- nophon exerted all their powers to render them immortal. Some of the moderns have distinguished themselves in
354
SKETCHES OF LOUISIANA.
the same field of description, particularly Mr. Orme, who has painted the Ganges in all the charms of a poetic and animated diction. The two great rivers of Louisiana fur- nish themes still more pregnant with the sublime and beautiful. The great length of them, the variety of scenes exhibited by them as they roll among the mountains, or over fertile and extensive plains, or along the alluvious - spine of inundated regions, at once charm the senses, and warm the imagination. The facilities they yield to com- merce, the superfluous wealth of several states and terri- tories conveyed on their waters to the ocean, the variety of climates, soils, and productions on their borders, the mineral and other subterraneous riches ready to reward the toils of industry and enterprise, all seem to be de- signed by Heaven as significant tokens of two or more rising constellations in the west, not inferior in magni- tud and brightness to any other in the American hemis- : phere.
Elaborate details and descriptions are inconsistent with the nature of this work ; nor are sufficient data at hand to authorise the attempt.
Until within a very short period, the United States, and indeed the English and Spaniards, were totally igno- rant of the sources of the Mississippi and Missouri. Their knowledge of the former was mostly limited to the falls of St. Anthony, and of the latter to the Mandan nation ; and even below these points it was extremely de- fective. The voyage of Colonel Pike to the source of the Mississippi, and that of Messrs. Lewis and Clarke to the source of the Missouri, and from thence to the Pacific Ocean, will no doubt, when published, afford much infor- mation of our interior regions, and gratify the curiosity of the inquisitive enquirer. These gentlemen prosecuted their discoveries under the auspices of- a liberal govern- ment ; and their success is no less honorable to themselves than advantageous to the United States.
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OF THE RIVERS OF LOUISIANA.
What is denominated the source of the Missouri is the junction of three rivers or branches, nearly of equal size, cach of which is about sixty yards in breadth. 'This junction is formed in about north latitude forty five degrees twenty two minutes, in the rocky or shining mountains, which are spurs or prolongations of the Andes. Little is known of the two southern branches. The most northern one is navigable to near its source, two hundred and forty eight miles above the junction already mentioned. From this junction, in an opposite direction, to where the Missouri leaves the moun- tains is one hundred and eighty one miles ; so that this great river flows four hundred and twenty nine miles in the mountains, and two thousand six hundred and sixty seven miles below them, before it unites with. the Mississippi. Hence from its source to this union is three thousand and ninety six miles; from thence to the gulf of Mexico is about one thousand three hundred and sixty four miles ; making the whole length of the Missouri four thousand .. four hundred and sixty miles ! The general direction of it . below the Mandans is nearly south east and north west; be- tween the Mandans and the mountains its direction inclines more to the east and west ; and within the mountains to the south west and north east.
There is some reason to believe, as is stated in another place, that a water passage may be found to the Pacific Ocean by means of the middle or southern branch of the , Missouri. Such is the nature of the evidence on this sub- ject, added to the great importance of such a water com- munication, that the fact ought to be ascertained. If a communication of this nature should be found to exist, though obstructed by falls and rapids, it requires no great penetration to perceive the immense advantages it is cal- culated to yield.
The rocky or shining mountains are several hundred miles in breadth. They are composed of several spurs or ridges, generally extending south west and north east, and
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SKETCHES OF LOUISIANA.
alternately rising one above another. Some fruitful vallies are interpersed among them, especially along the water courses. They approach the river in a variety of in- stances ; some of them, indeed, are in a manner suspend- ed over it, and exhibit a prodigious elevation. They are mostly abrupt and barren, and their summits probably en- . veloped in perpetual winter, as they are known to be crowned with snow in the month of July.
- Some of these mountains, particularly those situated to the eastward of the great chain, are composed of a fine white clay, which, when washed by the rains, is precipi- tated into the rivers and streams below ; and hence the color of the water in the Missouri, and the unctuous im- purities it contains, may be explained without a labored analysis. These qualities extend even to the sea. The gradual projection of the land into that element is owing. to the deposition of these and other impurities. The formation of the numerous sand banks and islands, and the alluvious nature of the lands on the Missouri and lower Mississippi, may be ascribed to the same cause. The water is lively and soft, and the specific gravity of it about the same as that of rain or snow water. A common tumbler, filled with the Missouri water, and suffered to remain undisturbed for a few hours, will be about one third full of sediment. Notwithstanding this, the inhabi- tants drink it in preference to any other ; partly indeed, because they deem it healthful, and in this particular they judge correctly. Some of them put it into large stone jars, and let it stand till the sediment has subsided. Oth- ers filtrate it through stone or sand, and others again ren- der it clear and transparent, by putting into it a small quantity of alum, or the kernel of the peach stone, either of which precipitates the impurities to the bottom. The greatest number, however, use the water in its impure state, and experience no bad effects from it. The Mis- souri water is impregnated with sulphur and nitre, and
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OF THE RIVERS OF LOUISIANA.
: those who drink of it pretend, that it is a remedy for cu- taneous diseases. Certain it is, that it operates as a gen- tle cathartic on those unaccustomed to the use of it.
Among the mountains, and for a great distance below them, the navigation of the Missouri is either obstructed by falls and rapids, or by shoals and sand bars, and likewise by a strong current. On ascending the river, the first and most remarkable falls are seventy one miles below the mountains, and two thousand five hundred and seventy five miles from the Mississippi, in north latitude forty seven de- gress three minutes. These falls consist of four great pitch- , es; the first is ninety eight feet, the second nineteen feet, the third nearly forty eight feet, and the fourth about twenty six feet, exclusive of others of less note. They extend up and down the river about eighteen miles, and the whole fall in this distance rather exceeds three hundred and sixty two feet. Small craft only can navigate the river above the Mandans, particularly in the season of low water. Be- tween the Mandans and the Mississippi, boats of consi- derable size may navigate the river at all seasons; though above the river Platte the navigation is rendered tedious and troublesome by numerous sand banks and bars, which approach the channel in all directions. The channel con- tains water of sufficient depth at any season; but it is dif- ficult to trace its meanders. When the water is high, ge- nerally from April to June, it moves at the rate of nearly five miles an hour ; and yet a boat will ascend it at this season more easily, and with much greater speed, than when the freshets have subsided. The swell of the water renders the banks stable and safe ; it covers the numerous trees and other drift stuff, which oppose the navigation in low water, and produces an eddy or counter current along shore, which is of great advantage ; it also shortens the distance, because it enables boats to keep near the banks, and to avoid circuitous passages round islands ; whereas in low water they are obliged to trace with great labor the
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SKETCHES OF LOUISIANA.
zig-zag channel among sand banks and other obstructions, alternately extending from one shore to the other.
Few animals are found in the mountains, except bea- vers, and these are numerous. The want of game, added to the severity of the cold, has probably induced the In- dians to prefer some other residence, as seldom any of them are to be met with in this quarter. Straggling par- ties from the Columbia, and other rivers of the west, . sometimes make their appearance in these desolate regi- ons; more to avoid their enemies than to seek subsis- tence.
Between Yellow Stone river and the mountains, (sepa- rated by a tract of about seven hundred and seventy nine miles in extent along the winding course of the Missouri) the country is steril and broken ; the numerous hills scat- tered over it are mostly covered with pine and cedar, and - the bottoms and other low grounds with cotton wood and , willows. The banks of the river are thickly studded with high rocky cliffs. Game is plenty in this quarter; and among other animals incident to the country may be no- ticed the Ibex, or Antelope of California, called by the Spaniards mountain sheep ; as also white bears and wolves of uncommon size, and of ferocious dispositions.
From Yellow Stone river to the river Platte is about twelve hundred and fifty eight miles,# and the, Missouri along this tract is remarkably crooked. This portion of country may be considered as level, though at a distance from the water courses it is not destitute of hills and mountains, presenting arid plains and prairies of vast ex- tent. The bottoms along the Missouri and other rivers are in many places of considerable breadth, and the na- tural growth does not materially vary from that among the settlements in Upper Louisiana. Plenty of salt is found on the waters of the Platte, and salt springs are
* From the source of the Kansas to that of Yellow Stone river, is only ten days ride over land.
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OF THE RIVERS OF LOUISIANA.
frequently discovered above it along the banks of the Missouri. The beaver, martin, buffaloe, antelope, white wolf, porcupine's hare, the black-tailed or mule deer, are peculiar to this part of the country, as well as numerous other species of game. Here also are to be seen vestiges of several ancient fortifications, one of which has been measured, and found to be two hundred and fifty yards long. The Indians are numerous in this quarter, and some of them have made considerable progress in the agricultural arts, particularly the Ottos, Missouris, and Pawnes, on the river Platte, and likewise several bands of Scioux, and others, on the Missouri. They cultivate large quantities of corn, pumpkins, beans, and tobacco. These nations or tribes occupy a vast tract of country, and perhaps no part of the world produces game in grea- ter abundance, or in greater variety. The English and Spanish traders occasionally approach this quarter; but it is in our power to paralize their influence, and to secure the trade to ourselves. Adequate supplies of goods, fur- nished either by the United States, or by individual mer- chants, would stimulate the industry of the Indians : The quantity and variety of peltries and furs, which they are able to deliver in return, would excite the surprise of those unacquainted with this traffic. The profits of the Mis- souri trade, under the Spanish government, have been stated in another place ; and from the results there given may be inferred some satisfactory conclusions of what it is susceptible .*
* It is believed, that by way of the river Platte, or Yellow Stone river, perhaps by means of both, an easy communication may be had with the rio Colorado, of course with California. Certain it is, that the sources of these rivers are in the neighborhood of each otht . er. It would be pleasing to examine and contemplate the country of . the Moqui. These aborigines are still independent, and manifest ex- traordinary advances in civilization. In this quarter of the globe, also, may be seen the ruins of ancient .Aztec cities and temples, little inferior in extent and grandeur to those of the elder world.
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SKETCHES OF LOUISIANA.
Some distance above the Mandans, and near the Mis- souri, a volcano has been discovered. Its eruptions are frequent ; and this accounts for the pumice stones, so of- ten found on that river, and on the lower Mississippi. Perhaps, too, it has some connexion with the earthquakes, which have so often agitated Upper Louisiana. The di- rection of these are known to be nearly from west to east.
From the mouth of the river Platte to that of the Missouri .is about six hundred and thirty miles. The lands among the settlements have already been noticed ; and the remainder along this tract are nearly similar in appearance and quality. It may be remarked, however, that along the Missouri are extensive bottoms, and that the high lands in the rear of them are of an excellent quality ; except about the head waters of the Kansas, and between that river and the Arkansas, where the country is disfigured by knobs and other inequalities of surface, mostly destitute of wood, and presenting a barren soil. These are discouraging symptoms to agriculturists; but this vast tract is rendered valuable from the quantities of salt and lead it contains. Salt springs are numerous in the neighborhood of the whites, and they derive their supplies from them. Some extensive prairies appear about the Osage river ; but these bear no proportion to the wood lands, which are calculated to sustain a numerous population. Mulberry trees are indigenous in this quar- ter, as also various other kinds of wild fruit trees. Grape vines grow in abundance along the water courses. Here are likewise many bluffs or ridges, almost wholly com- posed of iron ore.
Perhaps the country between the Missouri and Missis- sippi is not the least valuable part of Louisiana. It abounds in salt, lead, and other minerals, and the lands are generally covered with a good growth of timber. It is also inter- sected by a multitude of small rivers and streams, which are calculated for a variety of useful purposes.
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OF THE RIVERS OF LOUISIANA.
It is difficult to estimate the average breadth of the Missouri. It is of very unequal breadths in different places ; in some about nine hundred yards, and in others not more than three hundred yards. For eighteen or twenty miles above its mouth, it may be about half a mile in breadth, and in one or two instances, though for a short distance only, it probably exceeds three fourths of a mile. In some places, several hundred miles from the Missis- . sippi, it is wider than near its mouth. It possesses two remarkable features, depth of channel and strength of current.
The tributary streams of this river, considering its long course, are not numerous ; and those flowing from the south west, or west, are much the largest, and of the great- est length. Perhaps those from the opposite direction, though of inferior size and extent, are equally numerous, and no doubt will be highly useful to the future population of the country. This inferiority arises from the con- tracted space between the two great rivers, not calculated to give birth to any considerable navigable waters. The branches of the Missouri serve to fructify the regions washed by them, and to open ready communications in va- rious directions ; to establish an intercourse with the In- dians, who inhabit them, and to place at our command such treasures as they possess. Those at present naviga- ted by the whites, are the Osage, Kansas, and Platte. All of them are extensive. The waters of the latter, as well as those of the Yellow Stone river, interlock with some of the branches of the rio Bravo, which washes the eas- tern boundary of New Mexico. The names of the most considerable branches of the Missouri from the south west, or west, their breadth at their junction, their dis- tance in miles from the Mississippi, and their respective latitudes, so far as they have been ascertained with any tolerable exactness, will be explained, among other objects, in the following table :
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SKETCHES OF LOUISIANA.
Names.
Yards in width.
Distance from the Missis- sippi.
N. Latitudes.
W. Longi- tudes from Greenwich.
The Gasconade
157
103
38
44
35
Great Usage Hiver
397
137
38
31 16
Kansas River
2.50
364
39
5
25
Big ne-ma-har River
80
510
39
55
56
River Piatte
600
630
40
54
35
' Little Scioux River
80
763
41
42
34
Rapid River
152
1026
White River
300
1148
Teton River
70
1280
Shark River
400
1327
44
19
36
. We-ter-how River
120
1432
45
35
5
Cannon-ball River
140
1511
46
39
Mandan Induns
1610
47
21
47
101 25
Little Missouri
1700
Yellow Stone River
858
1888
Muscle-shell River
110
2270
47
. 0
24
First great falls
257.5
47
3
10
Rocky mount.mas
2668
Three great forks
2848
'45
22 .34
Source of N. fork.
3096
The junction of the two great rivers of Louisiana is in north latitude thirty eight degrees forty seconds, and forms an interesting spectacle. The two islands in the mouth of the Missouri oblige him to pay his tribute to what is deno- minated the father of rivers through one large, and two small channels. As if he disdained to unite himself with any other river, however respectable and dignified, he pre- cipitates his waters nearly at right angles across the Missis- sippi, a distance of more than twenty five hundred yards. The line of separation between them, owing to the dif- ference of their rapidity and colors, is visible from each shore, and still more so from the adjacent hills. The Mississippi, as if astonished at the boldness of an intru- der, for a moment recoils and suspends his current, and views in silent majesty the progress of the stranger. They flow nearly twenty miles before their waters mingle with each other.
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Bald pated Prairie
569
40
27
7
deg. min. sec.
min. deg.
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OF THE RIVERS OF LOUISIANA.
'The Missouri is much larger, and affords more water, than the Mississippi. Geographers and other writers have considered it as a branch of the latter; whereas it is the main river, and the Mississippi a tributary stream only.
The obstructions in the navigation of the Missouri are similar to those in the lower Mississippi, which will be more particularly noticed in the sequel.
By the Indians the Mississippi was called Meate Chassi- pi, which in their language signifies the ancient father of rivers. This noble river has its source in upper red cedar lake in north latitude forty seven degrees forty two mi- nutes, forty seconds, and longitude ninety five degrees eight minutes west from Greenwich. Six miles only from this lake are some of the waters which fall into Hudson's bay. The navigation of the upper part of the Mississippi is ex- tremely difficult, owing in part to the scarcity of water, and in part to numerous shoals, rapids, and other obstruc- : tions ; one of which is the great fall of Packagama.
The country above the falls of St. Anthony will never attract the attention of agriculturists. It is mostly of a cold and steril nature. The face of it presents sandy rid- ges, either covered with shrub oak, or pitch and other pine ; some rich bottoms, covered with elm, cotton wood, ash, oak, and the sugar tree ; prairies, covered with a long coarse grass ; and swamps filled with hemlock. It is also chequered with numerous small lakes and rivers. Indi- genous berries and fruit of various kinds, are common. . The zizania aquatica, known by the name of wild rice, grows in this part of the country, as well as below the falls of St. Anthony, which affords the Indians a wholesome nutritive food. With the exception of one or two short portages, a navigable water communication exists between lake Superior and the heads of the Mississippi, and be- tween the latter and the upper parts of the Missouri; and this communication is exclusively frequented by the Canadian traders.
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SKETCHES OF LOUISIANA. -
Perhaps no part of Louisiana is better adapted to agri-' culture than that between the falls of St. Anthony and the mouth of the Missouri. This portion of it is of a rolling nature, and affords many charming and sublime views : The soil in general is rich, and calculated to yield all kinds of grain, grass, and vegetables, and the climate healthful. Prairies of any considerable extent seldom ap- pear, except in the upper part of this tract. Timber of all kinds is plenty, as also calcareous and other rock. The richest lead mines in Louisiana are situated in this quar- ter, though only partially opened ; as also a sufficient num- ber of salines, or salt springs, to supply a crowded popu- lation with salt. The bottoms along the Mississippi are seldom inundated, and not less prolific than those on the Missouri. Among the trees common to the country may be noticed plenty of cedar and black walnut.
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