Sketches, historical and descriptive, of Louisiana, Part 29

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


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which intersects the latter river about twenty miles from the Mississippi. Boats on ascending to the upper coun- try usually pass up the Arkansas, and through this bayou, where there is seldom any current, and thereby avoid twenty two miles of strong water in the Mississippi.


The fourth is the Arkansas, which flows into the Mis- · sissippi, about twenty two miles below White river, or four hundred and nineteen miles below the mouth of the O- hio, in north latitude thirty three degrees forty minutes. It is about four hundred yards wide at its mouth, and the length of it is found to be about fifteen hundred miles. The source of it is in the Mexican mountains in about north latitude forty degrees ; and it is in the vicinity of the waters of the river Platte on the one hand, and of those of the Rio del Norte, or Rio Bravo, on the other. The general direction of it is nearly south east and north west. This river has a rocky bed, and the navigation of it in dry seasons is much obstructed by rapids and shoals. The extensive country through which it rolls is diversified by some mountains, numerous elevations, and 'fruitful vallies, especially along the water courses ; by scattered groves and copses of wood, and by prairies or natural meadows of great extent, where immense flocks of various kinds of wild animals resort to graze. On this river, and the branches of it, lead, salt, and nitre, are common; and the water is so strongly impregnated with the two latter articles, that it is not potable at the Arkansas village, forty five miles only, from the Mississippi. No doubt the country about this river is pregnant with other treasures, which time and an industrious pursuit will dis- close to our view. Some of the carly French discover- ed both 'gold and silver in this quarter ; but their igno- rance of the mineral kingdom, more particularly the diffi- culty at that time of penetrating into the wild recesses of interior regions, cast a cloud over their prospects of speedy opulence. They were chained by poverty to an unpro-


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fitable drudgery, and all their time was necessarily devo- ted to the acquisition of a precarious subsistence.


The fifth is Rouge or Red river. It joins the Missis- sippi just below the thirty first degree, and two hundred and forty three miles above New Orleans. Near its mouth, it is about five hundred yards wide ; but for many hun- dred miles, it seldom exceeds three hundred, and in some instances it is contracted to less than two hundred and fifty yards. The main branch of this noble river has its source in the Mexican mountains to the eastward of Santa Fe, and in about north latitude thirty six degrees. It runs nearly one hundred miles in a north east direction, when + it unites itself with another large branch from the north west, and then makes a sweep round to the south east, pursuing this course to the Mississippi ; the whole length of it must not be computed at more than one thousand four hundred and fifty miles. The country about the heads of this river has never been explored, except by Spanish and French hunters ; and from their accounts, it very much resembles that about the upper parts of the Arkansas. It is almost destitute of wood, except along the various streams. Prairies or natural meadows spread over the greatest proportion of it, filled with wild horses, and every species of game incident to our western regions. There is also good reason to believe, that it abounds in silver. It certainly contains large bodies of mineral salt, as the Indians, and our hunters when in that quarter, ea- sily collect what is necessary for their use ; and an alum bank of considerable magnitude is known to exist on the river near the thirty third degree of north latitude. The water is so strongly impregnated with them, that it cannot be used at Nachitoches, especially in the dry season. Perhaps the saline quality of the water, not only in Red river, but in all the numerous lakes and bayous connected with it, contribute to the health of the inhabitants. At any rate, the climate on that river, above the Mississippi


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and black river swamps, is extremely healthful, though more than six tenths of the settled country, especially a- bout Nachitoches, is constantly covered with water.


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"The country about the lower half of Red river has been pretty well explored, and it is found to be equal in ferti- lity to any other portion of Louisiana of the same extent, except for about fifty miles near the Mississippi, which is annually deluged in water. The cotton and tobacco rai- sed about Nachitoches and the rapids are of the first qua- lity, and command the highest prices in the market. Corn, oats, and vegetables, are produced in abundance among the settlements ; and at some distance above them, the lands are suitable for wheat and other grain. Cattle and swine find a plentiful subsistence, at all seasons of the year, along the rivers and lakes, and in the swamps ; and multitudes of them are owned by the inhabitants.


In the season of high water, which is generally from February to June, loaded boats may ascend this river about nine hundred and fifty miles ; but in the dry season, the channel is obstructed by rocks, banks of sand, and pe- trified trees, particularly above the great raft, a description of which we have given in another place.


Red river, by a division of its waters, forms several large islands, on which are to be found some of our most wealthy settlements. One branch leaves the main stream about four miles above Nachitoches, and flows to the left ; it joins the river about seventy miles below. Just below that village another branch winds to the right, and joins' the middle branch at the distance of about thirty three miles. The island formed by the two latter branches, was called Nachitoches, by the ancient Indians, and on it are formed the most wealthy settlements in this part of the country. The middle branch is usually navigated, though the distance is much greater than by either of the other, and the current extremely rapid; but the rafts and other


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obstructions in it are less numerous, and less difficult to pass.


It unfortunately happens on Red river, as on some parts of the lower Mississippi, that the best, and in some in- stances, the only lands suitable for tillage, are along the margins of the stream, and of an inconsiderable depth ; they regularly descend from the river, and soon terminate in lakes and swamps. The high grounds on the opposite side of these, whatever he their quality, are of no great use to the planters ; they prefer the rich bottoms, on which they build their houses, and which alone they cultivate. A cypress swamp usually intervenes, and obstructs the passage between the river and the hills.


It may appear almost incredible, and yet it is too true, that near seven tenths of Louisiana to the south of the parallel of Nachitoches and Natchez, is either, constantly or periodically covered with water. No doubt a consi- derable proportion of this tract may eventually be redeem- ed, but not without more labor and expense than is in the power of the present generation to bestow.


The most frequented and ready communication between the Mississippi and the Mexican dominions, is by way of Nachitoches ; and the period certainly approaches when a more frequent and sociable intercourse will be opened be- tween the two empires.


The bed and banks of Red river are composed of a bright red sand, mixed with gravel and clay of the same color, and they communicate the like color to the water. The whole country about this river, particularly to the westward of it, whether elevated into hills, or depressed into vallics, exhibits the same complexion. The banks of the Chafalia are composed of the same materials; and this affords almost conclusive evidence, that the commu- nication between Red river and the Mississippi is of no ' very ancient date ; more particularly as the earth along the


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latter river, and its various other branches, is universally of a different color. 'The probability is, that the Chafalia is the old bed of Red river, and that the dereliction in question was wholly owing to the versatility of the Mis- sissippi. This is confirmed by another circumstance. Just below Fort Adams, the Mississippi makes a sweep of ma- ny miles to the right, till it intersects Red river, and then suddenly inclines to the left, forming more than two thirds of a circle. An old bed of the Mississippi, covered with lofty willows, is at this time visible across the gorge or upper extremity of this bend, with one or two elevated islands, in it; the length of which is only five miles ; whereas by the course of the river it is fifty four miles. Hence Red river once found a much nearer way to the gulf than at present; and if the formidable obstructions in the Chafalia were removed, the Mississippi would be - likely to pursue the same way, as it now presses its whole current into it, apparently in search of a passage. Such a change in the Mississippi is certainly among possible events ; and the time may come when we may deem it necessary to accelerate it.


The Washita, although it may be deemed a branch of Red river, deserves notice. This river heads in the high country between the one just mentioned, and the Arkan- sas, and eventually unites with the Ocatahola and bayou 'Tenza ; and from thence to Red river, a distance of se- venty miles, this confluent stream is known by the name of Black river. The Washita has been explored five hun- dred and nine miles ; and the probability is, that it may be ascended much further.


'The right bank of the Mississippi from the district of Cape Gerardeau to the gulf, a distance of about twelve hundred miles, presents to the eye an immense level. No gentle elevations, nor any kind of stone or gravel, appear to diversify the scene. "The whole of this tract, for some distance back of the river, is composed of alluvion, partly


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covered with cane breaks, and various kinds of trees. The left bank of that river affords a different aspect ; al- luvious regions, interspersed with hills and, rocky clifts, alternately arrest attention, and excite pleasing emotions - in the mind of the traveller.


This chain of hills and clifts commences near the Illi- noisriver, and extends down the Mississippi (in some places a good distance from it) to the neighborhood of Baton Rouge. The iron and chalk banks, the four elevated clifts between them and the Chickasaw bluffs, where the United States have a garrison, the bluffs at what are called great and little gulfs, the one at Natchez, at the mouth of the river St. Catharine, at Fort Adams, and at Baton Rouge, successively rise and approach the river at some distance from each other, and relieve the mind from the dull mo- notony of an extensive level. The crests of these eleva- tions are in some places seventy five, in others more than two hundred feet above the surface of the river ... Some of them extend half a mile, and others more than double that distance, along the bank. Many of them exhibit the appearance of rock ; but this substance, when carefully examined, is found to be extremely porous, and composed. of a hard indurated sand, by no means strongly com- 'bined, easily broken, or crumbled in pieces. Others of them are solid banks of sand of various colors, intermixed with laminas of iron ore, ochre, and argillaceous earths. At the bases of some of them, numerous trees of various -dimensions are found converted into stone, by the petrify- ing quality of the springs about them. It must be re- marked that, in most instances, where these bluffs or rid- ges appear, the Mississippi approaches them with great force, nearly at right angles, as if in search of a passage more to the left. 'They cross the Ohio at a place called the Grand Chain, about twelve miles from its mouth ..


Whoever reflects attentively on this great river, will be apt to suspect, that it has disrupted large portions of the


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country on each side of it, and even attempted in some of its capricious frolics to work a wonderful change in the face of nature. Large trees are often found from twenty to twenty five feet under ground in some of the extensive bottoms, and from four to six miles from the channel. Add to this, the trunks of large trees at the same depth appear in a horizontal position near the bases of the banks ; also in the sides of the banks newly caved in, trees in a perpendicular position are constantly seen, whose shafts above their roots are sunk from twenty to twenty five feet below the surface of the ground. , These facts afford con- clusive proof, that the immense bottoms along the Mis- sissippi have been formed by alluvion ; that this river has occasionally changed its bed ; and that it has washed in the course of time the whole of the extensive valley boun- ded by the distant high grounds on each side of it.


What alterations or revolutions have taken place in this valley in the course of ages, can only be conjectured ; yet there are two or three facts of sufficient importance to at- tract the attention of philosophers.


The banks of the river are composed of alluvious stra- ta, and in places where they newly cave in, the dif- ferent layers are easily -distinguished. The banks be- tween. the Ohio and Missouri have generally, in a low state of the water, an elevation of more than forty feet, and exhibit to the eye about nine hundred distinct lavers. What conclusion results from this fact? Most certainly, that these alluvious banks have been accumulating during a period of nine hundred years; and probably much longer, as the freshes since the first discovery of the coun -. try have not risen over them more than once in about twenty years. No doubt the number of layers is precise- ly the same as that of the freshes. These freshes never - occur more than once a year ; they are wholly occasioned by the melting of the snows at the breaking up of winter about the sources of the great rivers; the rains have little


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or no effect on the Mississippi above the mouth of the Ohio.


Another fact is that, in the season of freshes, the water in many places is as deep in the centre of the swamps as in the channel of the river, particularly below New Madrid. This seems at first blush to give countenance to the conjecture, that the valley of the Mississippi was once a lake ; because, prior to the elevation or formation of the banks, there was nothing to prevent the expansion of the waters. But has not the bed of the river been gradually elevated as well as the banks? The more the banks rose, the more the water was confined within them; of course less alluvion was precipitated over them ; and of course also, the more of it, especially the heavy sandy particles, subsided to the bottom, and elevated the bed of the river. If this was the process, however, it would seem that, instead of nine hundred annual layers, as many thousand may exist. These hints are merely suggested to excite reflection.


Intelligent and speculative men have contended, that the valley of the Mississippi was once a lake, and that its waters were drained off by means of some convulsion of nature, or by a passage formed by gradual abrasion. If such a lake ever existed, where was its southern bounda- ry ? One place only is known below the mouth of the Mis- souri, which seems to render the existence of a lake even possible, and it requires no small degree of credulity to attach any weight to the evidence it affords.


In the neighborhood of Kaskaskia, the gap or opening between the high grounds on each side of the Mississippi is not more than from four to six miles in breadth. Be- low this point the high grounds gradually diverge from the river, particularly on the west side of it, and leave a space between them of about forty miles in width. If. ever the waters were so much obstructed at these narrows as to form a lake, still they must have had an outlet to the ocean, and a great river existed; for it would be idie


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.. to suppose, that the copious and united streams of the Mississippi and Missouri above them were wasted by e- vaporation and absorption. , The two rocky. chains or rid- ges, which skirt the valley above the narrows, and whose crests are elevated about two hundred feet above the low country, exhibit regular horizontal lines, as if formed by the attrition of a strong current; and the advocates for the existence of such a lake adduce these as the strongest proof in favor of the hypothesis. As well might they contend, that the ocean once covered the Andes, because beds of petrified oysters, and other marine shells, have been found on their summits ; that the Appennine moun- tains, the territories of Mantua, and the canton of Berne, were once immersed in the same element, because some parts of supposed petrified vessels, and even sea weeds, have been discovered enveloped in their rocky protuber- ances, or buried in their sandy plains ; and that even Dal- matia was once a bed of the sea, because an anchor was once accidentally discovered ten feet under ground. Per- haps mountains, by some powerful agency of nature, have been elevated from the great deep .; but that the valley of the Mississippi was ever a lake, cannot be supported by any rational proofs. Some indeed maintain, that a great lake, or inland sea, once existed, which covered the whole country between the Allegheny and Mexican mountains. This lake, then, must have been about two thousand two hundred miles in length, twelve hundred miles in breadth, ' and in the middle not less than five hundred fathoms in depth ! It is needless to waste time on such a subject. Were they disposed to suggest, that the ocean at some former period extended several hundred miles more in- land than at present, and that the apparent redemption of the Delta from the water is more owing to the gradual reflux of the sea than to the deposition of alluvious sub- stances, they would not be destitute of arguments, at least plausible, to support and illustrate the hypothesis. :


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The Mississippi, differs from all the other rivers known to us, except perhaps the Nile and Kian-ku, not only in its length, but particularly in the uniformity of its width and depth for many hundred miles. Neither of the three great rivers of South America appears to be of equal length, though each of them presents an estuary , of one hundred and fifty miles in breadth. The breadth of one 1. of them, the Oronoco, about one hundred and fifty miles above its mouth, is seven thousand yards ; and yet the whole length of this river does not exceed fifteen hundred miles ! Perhaps the Mississippi furnishes less than half. the quantity of water ; but its breadth and depth conti- que nearly the same to the mouth of the Missouri, a dis- tance of about thirteen hundred and sixty four miles ; so that a good boat navigation extends by way of the first more than twenty two hundred miles, and by way of the second more than four thousand miles ; to which may be added several hundred miles of practicable navigation near the sources of each. These advantageous traits pre- sent themselves in no other rivers, with whose geography .. we are acquainted.


Maps never afford accurate data for the length of ri- vers ; the intermediate windings and deviations are too minute to be delineated ; and yet geographical writers seldom have any other materials to aid them in their cal- culations : 'I'he consequence is, that the length they allow to, most great rivers in each of the hemispheres is much too limited. The Nile is said to be two thousand miles long ; the Kian-ku two thousand two hundred miles ; the Ganges fourteen hundred miles ; the Barrampooter four- teen hundred miles ; the Rio de la Plata nineteen hun- dred miles ; and the Amazons, or rather Maranon, two thousand three hundred miles. Now it is well known, that the latter river, following its windings, is three thou- sand three hundred miles long ; and it seems, proper to allow a proportionable number of miles to the length of


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the others. Even after this allowance is made, it will be found, that the Mississippi, or rather Missouri, is much longer than either of them ; probably longer than any oth- er river on the globe.


In whatever light we view this majestic river, it appears of more real importance than any other known to us. Most of the different climates, soils, and productions, in- cident to the new world, are found on its borders ; and it seems destined at some future period to form the boun- dary, if not the centre, of an extensive empire. It opens two or more communications with the Pacific on the one hand, and with Hudson's bay and Canada on the other ; also with various territories and states in the union, af- fording to all the facilities of a ready and profitable com- merce. By means of this river, and its tributary streams, the surplus produce of more than a million of industrious ' inhabitants is at this time carried to a ready market; and by the same means the valuable products of India, of Eu- rope, and the islands, are received by them in return. What will be the increase of population and opulence at any future given period from this, would be presumptu- ous to conjecture : yet, if the United States remain for any considerable time at peace, and enjoy the freedom of the seas, the vast regions on the Mississippi will exhibit splendid tokens of industry and commerce ; populous ci- ties and towns will rise in the yet unexplored waste ; the arts and sciences cherished ; moral philosophy, ci- vil and political liberty, diffused among numerous so- cieties of human beings, disposed to cultivate harmony and social intercourse with each other, and with distant nations. It is not extravagant to suppose, that our popu- lation will eventually extend to the sources of the Missou- ri, and that such a communication will be opened between that river and the Pacific as to draw to it a portion of the wealth of the Indies. Neither the Nile, the Ganges, the Niger, nor the Gambia of the old world ; nor any of those


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great rivers in the southern parts of our continent, yield so many natural advantages. It may be even safely doubt- ed, whether any of them are calculated to afford a popu- lation equal to what may be expected to exist on the Mis- sissippi and its waters. There is also this important dif- ference between them : Most of the former are, and will long continue to be, inhabited by savage nations ; the per- petual and bloody conflicts provoked and maintained a- mong themselves, added to the cruel and disastrous poli- cy 'of their more civilized neighbors, serve in a great measure to interdict inland navigation and commerce ; whereas the regions about the latter are likely to be occu- pied by an enlightened race of men, peaceable and indus- trious in their pursuits, prone to enterprize and the acqui- sition of wealth, solicitous only to elevate the aborigines of the forests in the scale of human beings, and to make the best use of the advantages, which a kind and benevo- lent Providence has designed for them.


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CHAPTER XV.


MINERAL RICHIES.


THE varieties of soil and climate, the numerous productions they afford, and the great and important fa- cilities yielded to commerce, conspire to give Louisiana a place among the fairest portions of the globe. This coun- try is doubtless equally valuable from the mineral riches it contains, which are gradually unfolded, in most instances rather by accident than labored research; and from their accessibility, where they are known to exist, we have a right to conclude, that industry and enterprise will be amply rewarded in pursuit of them. Our knowledge on this subject is extremely limited ; especially when com-


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pared with the probable plenitude of the mineral king- " dom. The discoveries already made are few in number ; and in most instances the details of them are extremely confused, and partake of the marvellous : So that all we are able to do is, to select and arrange with caution the- heterogeneous materials before us ; not to admit as autho- rity what appears to be spurious and incredible ; nor to manifest too much incredulity where a great variety of circumstances unite to control it.


Most probably the bowels of the earth in Louisiana con- tain many articles of convenience and wealth, of which we are still, and shall long remain, ignorant. This we have the more right to expect, as symptoms of mineral wealth abound in various places. A considerable quanti- ty of silver was obtained from a mine opened in 1719 on the borders of the Merimak; and the pursuit of it was abandoned, as it is said, more from want of skill in the workmen, than an apprehension of the scarcity of it. 'There is testimony to prove, that silver so pure as to be malleable has been found on the Arkansas. Silver mines, it is said, exist about the head waters of the Washita ; more particularly about some of the head branches of Red river. Some French hunters and traders, near the close of the Spanish government, procured in that quarter, and produced to the Spanish authorities, several specimens of this metal ; but on account of the known curiosity and enterprise of the English Americans, the pursuit of mine- ral riches on the rivers just mentioned was expressly pro- hibited, especially as they admitted of an easy access. An old French author and traveller declares, that he ga- thered a quantity of gold dust at the mouth of a rivulet on the Arkansas, which the rains precipitated from the mountains. The Spaniards have opened no mines in the neighborhood of our claims. The celebrated ones of Ca-




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