USA > Louisiana > Sketches, historical and descriptive, of Louisiana > Part 28
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- The falls of St. Anthony, according to the best calcu- lations, are situated in about north latitude forty four, de- grees fifty minutes. The climate is as temperate here as in the heart of New England. The river below the falls is less than three hundred yards wide, and above them more than six hundred yards. The water is precipitated over a perpendicular rock of about eighteen or twenty feet, and then forms a rapid of more than two hundred and fifty yards below it. In the middle of the fall, and near the top of the rock, is an island of about fifteen yards long, and thirteen broad, bearing some shrubs, and a number of spruce and hemlock trees; and at the foot of the rapid is another small island, covered with a beau- tiful growth of oak : But it is almost inaccessible on ac- count of the velocity of the current. The country about these falls is finely checquered with prairies and copses of wood ; and these, together with a view of the distant hills, . afford a prospect not only delightful, but in some degree sublime.
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About sixty miles below the falls, there is a remarkable dilatation of the river, called Lake Pepin ; on the borders of which are some ancient fortifications and tumuli.
The French more than a century ago opened some mines in this quarter, and procured no small quantity of : . virgin copper. The Indians, however, were troublesome, and obliged them to abandon their establishments, as well as their prospects of mineral wealth. They neglected to repeat the experiment, though there is good reason to be- lieve, that abundance of copper may be obtained at no great distance from the banks of the Mississippi.
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The navigation of this river, between the falls of St. Anthony and the mouth of the Missouri, is attended with no difficulty in the season of high water ; but subsequent to about the first of July, the numerous islands, shoals, and rapids, obstruct the progress of boats, particularly : above Prairie des Chiens, and in many places prove ex- . tremely dangerous to them ; it requires experienced pilots to trace out the winding channel. The most remarkable rapids commence just above the mouth of the river des Moins, extending from twelve to fourteen miles up and down the Mississippi, at the head of which stands Fort Madison in about north latitude forty degrees thirty two minutes. These rapids are formed by successive ledges or shoals, which cross the bed of the river in a variety of places ; and in passing them the greatest caution is re- quisite to avoid the numerous rocks amid the strong and irregular currents.
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The banks of the Mississippi are in general stable, and for the most part exhibit plenty of rock and gravel. These materials, also, are spread over the bed of the river. The water is free from impurities, though rather insipid to the taste, and much less lively and agreeable than that of the Missouri. Plenty of excellent springs flow from the banks, and from the adjacent high grounds.
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This part of the Mississippi is fed by numerous tribu- tary streams; but the greatest number, particularly those of the largest size and extent, penetrate its left bank. 'This inequality is owing to the comparative narrow tract of country between the Mississippi and Missouri: Yet this tract contains some considerable rivers, and a vast num- ber of other water courses, affording a boat navigation for some distance into the country; calculated in other re- spects to be of infinite advantage to an agricultural peo- ple.
The river St. Pierre joins the Mississippi from the west about ten miles below the falls of St. Anthony. At the junction of these rivers a fine site for a garrison pre- sents itself, and the Indians have ceded to the United States nine miles square of land for that purpose. The St. Pierre is navigable to the lake, out of which it flows, situated about four hundred miles from its mouth. Several bands of the Scioux reside on this river and its waters, known under different names, and not always at peace with each other. 'The English from Canada carry on a profitable trade with them. It is no great distance (some say not more than seven miles) from one part of this river to the waters of the Missouri.
The river des Moins is of some note, and calculated to afford great facilities to internal commerce. It joins the Mississippi from the west about two hundred and thirty miles above the mouth of the Missouri, and in about north latitude forty degrees twenty minutes. The source of it is said to be within two days travel of the Mississippi ; and as it is known to flow nearly parallel to the latter river, its length may be computed at about four hundred and fifty miles, though the Indian traders make it much longer. In its progress it is fed but by few streams ; so that the size of it is nearly the same for several hundred miles. Part of the Iowas live on this branch ; and they
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are neighbors to the Sacs and Foxes, who reside on, or near the west bank of the Mississippi.
Some of the other branches from the west, are, Salt river, the Buffaloe, the Jaffraon, the Wyaconda, the Turkey river, the Yellow river, the Iowa river, the Cannon river, the Rock river, together with a variety of others. All these afford an inland navigation, some of them from one hundred to two hundred and fifty miles, and their shores are bounded by large tracts of excellent land. Lead and salt, and pro- bably copper, exist in great plenty on their borders.
The Ouisconsing is one of the easterly branches of the Mississippi ; but as it is the great thorough fare of trade -between Canada and Louisiana, it is necessary to take some notice of it. Its confluence with that river is about six hundred miles above the mouth of the Missouri, and in north latitude forty two degrees forty minutes. About one hundred and seventy five miles from its mouth is the portage between it and Fox river, which is less than two miles over ; and in the season of high water a good boat channel extends from one to the other. From the por- tage to Green bay, an arm of Lake Michigan, is about one hundred and eighty miles, and from thence to Michii- limakinak about two hundred and thirty miles. A great proportion of the Canadian trade passes this way, especi- ally in the dry season, as at that time the Illinois affords a much less safe navigation. The Ouisconsing forms the upper boundary of the lands ceded to the United States by the Sacs and Foxes in 1804. Those nations at that same time ceded a small tract on the right bank of the Mississippi, directly opposite to the mouth of the Ouis- consing, under the expectation that a garrison and factory would be erected on it.
On the left bank of the Mississippi, and three miles only above the junction just mentioned, is situated the village of Prairie des Chiens. This village, containing about twenty dwelling houses, is situated on what may be called
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an island, as it is separated from the main land by a ravine, which is connected both with the Mississippi and Ouis- consing, and which is filled with water in the time of the freshes. About twenty other houses are scattered about the neighborhood, and the whole population may be esti- mated at about three hundred souls. The habitual resi- (dents cultivate the land, and in some years dispose of about eighty thousand pounds of flour to the Indians and traders, exclusive of large quantities of beef and pork. The Canadian traders annually rendezvous at this place, where they divide their goods, and despatch them to their several stations ; where also they receive their returns in peltries, which are sent to Canada. These circumstances draw an immense number of Indians to the village ; from fiye to six hundred at a time : So that in the course of the summer from five to seven thousand of them visit that ' place. Here is a fine site for a garrison ; and a factory, with a detachment of troops, would be able in some mea- sure to regulate the trade of the Mississippi above it, and. likewise that by way of the Ouisconsing.
The Illinois river joins the Mississippi from the north cast about eighteen miles above the mouth of the Missou- ri. It is navigable to where it approximates to Lake Mi- chigan, a distance of about four hundred and sixty miles. The isthmus between the Illinois and Chicago, is low and level, and eight miles in breadth : In the season of fresh- es a good boat navigation exists across the portage from . one to the other ; and from the head of the usual naviga- tion on the Chicago down to Lake Michigan is four miles. Boats and their cargoes, in the dry season, are transport- ed across the portage by teams, which are kept there for the purpose. Hence it is easy to perceive, that a good navigable canal may be constructed at this place, and at no great expense.
.The length of the rivers in Louisiana is determined by estimation only. This estimation was made by the first
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explorers of them, and the distances established by them, which are uniformly over-rated, have been regarded by subsequent mercantile adventurers as sufficiently correct. Others again, who have paid more attention to the subject, and were better qualified to ascertain distances, have pro- bably fallen into the opposite extreme; they were not careful to make proper allowances for the meanders of the rivers. From a comparison of the most correct itinera- ries, it appears probable that the source of the Missis- sippi is about seven hundred and fifty miles above the falls of St. Anthony, or one thousand six hundred and thirty five miles above the mouth of the Missouri; so that the whole length of this river may be computed at two thousand nine hundred and ninety nine miles. Hence it is perceived, that the Missouri is one thousand four hundred and sixty one miles longer than the Mississippi ; or ninety seven miles longer than the latter river from its source to the gulf of Mexico !
The lower Mississippi presents a rugged aspect. The. channel is crooked and deep, and often winds from one side of the river to the other. The annual changes in this great river are remarkable. New islands are formed, and old ones swept away ; new channels opened, and old ones closed ; the banks in many places either fall into the river and draw after them a multitude of trees, or arc en- larged and strengthened by new accretions. The river often leaves its old bed, and assumes another at some dis- tance from it. The vestiges of several derelictions of this nature present themselves to the traveller ; particular- ly one near the Yazous, two between Natchez, and the mouth of Red river, and another at Point Coupee. The one at the latter place has shortened the distance about. thirty miles, and the one just above the mouth of Red river has proportionably increased it. Numerous points or tongues of land exist, which cause the river to form a circuit of twenty or thirty miles, when at their upper ex-
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tremities or gorges, the channels above and below them are divided from each other by tracts of land of only a few hundred yards wide. Hence it may be easily con- .jectured, that this river forms many curvetures in its progress.
Perhaps the most dangerous obstructions in the Missis- sippi arise from the different and fixed positions of a mul- titude of large trees, which are constantly precipitated from the banks into the water. These, by means of their roots, become firmly fixed in the bed of the river. Some of them are called planters, because they are immoveable, and constantly expose their pointed shafts above the water. Others are denominated sawyers, because their elastic limbs, by the action of the current, alternately rise above, and fall below, the surface with great force. It is dange- rous for boats to run on either of these ; and the best way of avoiding them in descending the river is to keep in the channel, where they seldom make their appearance. The number of them visible to the eye is greater or less, ac- cording to the high or low state of the water. The Mis- sissippi between the mouth of the Missouri and that of the Arkansas, is filled with these and other obstructions. Below the latter river they become less numerous and dangerous, and gradually diminish in both, the nearer the gulf is approached. In the season of high water the sur- face of the river is sometimes almost covered with float- ing trees of all dimensions : Thousands of them are vo- mited from the Missouri ; some of them lodge on the is- lands, and the shores; others sink to the bottom of the river, and the remainder are precipitated into the sea.
In the season of low water, numerous banks of a kind of quick-sand appear in both the great rivers; and the beaches along the shores are sometimes composed of the same materials ; which are, a very fine flinty sand, inter- mixed with a substance of an unctuous quality, precipita- ted from the Missouri. These banks and beaches are so
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hard as to resist the first pressure of almost any weight ; but if a man remains stationary on either of them a few minutes only, the water will begin to ooze from the sand in a circle of six or eight feet round him, till at length the foundation under his feet trembles like a jelly, and soon absorbs whatever be placed on its surface. Some of these banks, as they yielded to the pressure on them, have drawn boats under water by the remarkable suction they occasion. Banks and beaches of this description, though numerous, are of small extent; and are usually attached to others of common sand, dry and compact in their tex- ture.
The strength of the current in the Missouri is conside- - rably greater than that in the lower Mississippi. Perhaps the velocity of the latter may in some measure be ascer- tained by the progress made by boats in descending it. When the water is low, a boat will float from forty five to fifty miles in twenty four hours ; in a middle state from sixty to seventy miles ; and in the season of freshes from ninety to one hundred miles in the same period of time. This statement applies only to that part of the Mississippi above the Arkansas ; for below this, a small dilatation oc- curs, and the swamps also receive a vast body of water ; by which means the current becomes less rapid. As soon as the river enters the Delta another check is evident ; no . .. doubt owing to the diffusion of its waters into various small channels. From this to New-Orleans no variation is perceived. Between the Arkansas and the Delta the velocity of the current is diminished nearly one third; from this to the sea about one half.
Perhaps the rivers in our western regions have a great- er rise and fall than those of most other countries. The rise of the Ohio is frequently from forty to fifty feet ;- the Cumberland sometimes ninety feet, as is attested by the inhabitants, who live on its banks. The swell of the Mississippi near the sea is only three feet ; at New-Or-
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leans twelve feet; at Baton Rouge twenty five feet; at Fort Adams, and generally between that place and the Ohio, about forty five feet ; between this and the mouth of the Missouri thirty five feet; the upper Mississippi from eighteen to twenty two feet; and the lower part of the Missouri about forty feet. The swell is greater in the narrow parts of the river, than in places where it is broad.
It is difficult to ascertain the general width of the Mis- sissippi. That part of it between the falls of St. Anthony and the Illinois varies from three hundred to nine hundred yards, and in some instances exceeds two thousand yards. At the mouth of the Missouri it is about two thousand five hundred yards ; at St. Louis, eighteen miles below, one thousand four hundred and fifty seven yards; on an average between this and the Arkansas about fifteen hun- dred yards ; from thence to the mouth of Red river about sixteen hundred yards, except at Fort. Adams, where it is contracted to nine hundred yards ; at New- Orleans rather less than fifteen hundred yards; though the general width of it along the Delta is somewhat less.
It is still more difficult to ascertain the average depth of the channel of the Mississippi. At New-Orleans and below it in dry seasons, it is about one hundred and twen- ty feet ; it is said to be more than two hundred feet at the distance of one hundred miles above that city ; from thence to the Arkansas it may average nearly fifty feet ; and between that and the Missouri from twenty five to thirty five feet, in the lowest state of the water. The dif- ference between this and high water is very great, espe- cially above the mouth of Red river. The higher the Mississippi is ascended from Natchez, particularly from about the thirty third degree, the more winding and nar- row the channel ; and at the same time containing more obstructions to navigation. It is observable, that the freshes in the Ohio, and other tributary streams, have
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but little effect on the rise of the water in the lower Mis- . sissippi. The same observation applies to the Missouri. These great rivers seldom have any considerable rise, ex- cept in the months of May and June, when the waters from the vast mountains about their sources, are precipi- tated to the ocean.
Such is the rapidity of the current in the Mississippi, that no craft will be able to ascend it above Natchez by means of sails only. Most of our boats make use of sails, when the wind is favorable; but this is merely occasional. Owing to the zig-zag course of the river, and the great elevation of its banks, except in time of freshes, the wind is seldom favorable. Soon after the late Indian war, one of our gun boats was about eighteen months in ascending from Natchez to the Ohio. Many of the boats or barges concerned in the trade between New-Orleans and Upper Louisiana, and the settlements on some of the branches of the Mississippi, are from thirty to forty tons burthen : It is customary to employ one oarsman to every three thou- sand weight; so that the freight of goods to the upper settlements on our great rivers is very considerable. At- tempts have been made, and are now making, to lessen the labor of this inland navigation by the substitution of machinery, worked by horses ; but the success of them is at least problematical. To contrive an adequate substi- tute for manual labor, has now become a subject of en- quiry ; and the successful projector will be amply reward- ed for his expense and trouble.
As the Missouri and Mississippi are extremely winding, the current is forced from one point of land to another, or rather from each successive point into each successive bend on the opposite side of the river. "The greatest pro- portion of the water rushes into the bends, where also the channel winds its way, and where the current is always much more rapid than in any other part of the river; in- deed it often presses so strongly on the islands and shores,
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that boats are only kept from them, and preserved from destruction, by means of oars. Most of the produce of the upper country is floated to market in what are called Kentucky flats, or arks. These are of various sizes, ge- nerally from forty to sixty feet long, and from twelve to fifteen broad, with roofs of thin boards to secure their cargoes from the water. They only require from three to five men each to navigate them. By means of oars the crews are generally able to avoid obstructions, and to bring their boats in safety to land. They are seldom suffered to float in the night time above the Arkansas, unless the moon affords a good light, the water be high, and the weather calm. These flats or arks are not calculated to live in rough water ; and therefore when the wind blows .. hard, or. a storm approaches, they are taken under some point, into the mouth of some creek, or safely moored among the willows. They are built of timber and plank ; and on their arrival at the market, are dismantled and sold.
Boats of a different construction only, and calculated for a number of oars, can ascend the Mississippi and Mis- souri. A description of them is given in another place, and need not be repeated here. Keel boats, however strongly manned, cannot possibly ascend to any great dis- tance in the middle of the current; in some places, in- deed, they cannot make head against it. They are ob- liged not only to ply along the shore, where the water is less rapid, and where counter currents or eddies frequent- ly prevail, but they also find it necessary to keep on the side opposite to the bends. Hence they cross the river at the lower extremity of every bend, which can seldom be done without falling down with the current about half a mile. It is said by old boatmen, that they are obliged to cross the Mississippi three hundred and ninety times on ascending from New-Orleans to St. Louis. If we admit the river to average three fourths of a mile in breadth,
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and the loss of half a mile at each traverse, on account of the velocity of the current, it is evident, that the track of the boat, between the two points just mentioned, exceeds in distance the direction of either shore, more than four hundred miles. These traverses are also necessary on other principles. Greater and more numerous obstructi- ons appear in the bends than opposite to them. The banks likewise along the bends are generally concave, and con- stantly giving way in large masses, sometimes by several acres at once, which render a passage near them danger- "ous ; while the banks on the opposite side project with a sloping beach, usually covered or fringed next the land with willows, and therefore safe of approach. It is uni- versally the case that, where the banks cave in and waste away on one side, those on the other increase by the de- position of new matter. Boats usually ascend from four- teen to twenty miles in a day. The labor of propelling them is excessive; it requires great exertion to move them against the current; and boatmen find it necessary to rest every hour, at least at every traverse. The river is so winding, that the daily progress of boats to their destination, is very inconsiderable. In one instance they are obliged to stem the current for fifty four miles to gain five ; in another thirty miles to gain one and a half ; and similar instances, though of less magnitude, occur in the course of almost every fifteen or twenty miles.
A variety of branches join the lower Mississippi from the west ; but five of them only are properly denominated rivers, and claim particular notice in this place.
The first is the Merimeg, which joins the Mississippi about fifteen miles below St. Louis. It is about sixty . yards wide at its mouth ; and in the season of high water affords a small craft navigation for nearly one hundred miles. It flows through a fine country, much of which is under cultivation. The salt works and mills on its bor-
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. ders are of great advantage to Upper Louisiana, and to the settlements in the Illinois territory.
The second is the river St. Francis, which is cursorily noticed in another place. It joins the Mississippi about three hundred and five miles below the Ohio, and is two hundred yards wide at its mouth. The source of it is about fifty five or sixty miles back of St. Genevieve. It first washes a rolling country, and then passes over a large tract of inundated land ; and the whole length of it may be computed at about four hundred and sixty miles. Wealthy settlements are already formed about some of its head branches, as also on its borders in the districts of Cape Gerardeau and New Madrid. This river gradually converges to the Mississippi, and in some places flows at no great distance from it. Rafts and other obstructions a- bound in it; but it is not difficult to remove them. The period is at hand when our population will be so much · increased as to render the navigation of it of the utmost ' importance.
The third is White river, which penetrates the right bank of the Mississippi about three hundred and ninety seven miles below the Ohio, by a mouth of three hundred . and fifty yards wide. The source of this river is rather more than one hundred miles due west from that of the St. Francis ; and indeed these two rivers flow nearly pa- rallel to each other. The length of White river has ne- ver been accurately ascertained ; it is probably about se- ven hundred miles : It has been navigated six hundred. miles, and the distances carefully estimated by an intelli- gent officer of the Artillerists. This river is somewhat crooked ; it rolls through an elevated country, which a- bounds in lead. 'The channel is deep, and generally free from obstructions. About three miles from its mouth, in the season of high water, a boat communication exists be- tween it and the Arkansas, by means of a bayou or outlet,
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