USA > Missouri > A history of Missouri from the earliest explorations and settlements until the admission of the state into the union, Volume I > Part 13
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As we ascend the Missouri river we find a number of mounds in
94
HISTORY OF MISSOURI
Callaway on the bluffs of the river near the town of Steedman, also three groups of mounds south of Mokane, overlooking the river, in section 13, township 45, range 9. In the southeast of the northeast quarter section 32, township 45, range 9, one mound covered nearly two acres of ground, being about 15 feet high. On what is known as Côte sans Dessein, a chain of mounds runs along the top of this entire hill for a distance of about a mile and a quarter, having a height of about 6 feet. Mr. Robert McPheeters writes that there are three very large mounds situated in sections 32 and 33, township 45, range 9, in this county. One of these, situated on the line between sections 32 and 33, and about half-way from the northeast corner of 32, is over 250 feet across the base, and about 25 to 30 feet high. The other two are situated west, nearly as high but not so large across the base. As to these mounds, Mr. Hoffman says that they cover 'nearly two acres. Two others are found on the west half of the south- west quarter of section 23, township 45, range 10, about 50 feet in diameter and 10 to 12 feet high; in one of these a cellar has been dug. On the east half of the southwest corner of section II, township 45, range 10, is a small mound about 40 feet in diameter and only 5 or 6 feet high now. Two in section 16, township 24, range 10, have been dug into and partly destroyed. There are also two in section 8, and two in section 9, township 44, range 10, and one in section 35, town- ship 45, range 10. Mounds in Callaway county are found principally along the Aux Vase. 89
Many Indian mounds in Boone county are in Columbia, Cedar, and Missouri townships, on the Hinckson, Cedar, Bonne Femme, and Perchè creeks, and on the hills skirting the Missouri river. One mound in section 8, township 50, north of range 13 west, on the east of Perchè creek, is 150 feet long, 50 wide, and about 30 feet high, a conspicuous landmark. Many arrow-heads have been found here. In section 27, township 48, north of range 14, on a bluff on the Mis-
89 In Callaway county 112 mounds were counted, located as follows: n. e., s. e., sec. 7, t. 45, r. 9, two mounds; n. w. sec. 8, t. 45, r. g, four mounds; n. w., n. w., sec. 4, t. 45, r. 8, twelve mounds; s. w. and s. e. cor. sec. 35, t. 46, r. 8, six mounds; n. w. and s. w. cor. sec. 33, t. 46, r. 8, eight mounds; s. w., n. e., sec. 34, t. 46, r. 7, two mounds; s. w., n. w., sec. 33, t. 46, r. 7, one mound; n. e. cor. sec. 8, t. 45, 1. 8, five mounds; in township 45, range 9, as follows: n. e. pt. sec. 13, t. 45, r. 9, fourteen mounds; s. w. pt. sec. 23, four mounds; n. w., s. e., sec. 5, two mounds; n. e., n. w., sec. 33, three mounds; s. e., n. e., sec. 32, three mounds; n. w., s. e., sec. II, t. 44, r. 11, three mounds; middle pt. sec. 13, t. 44, r. 11, four mounds; s. w. sec. 16, t. 44, r. 10, five mounds; n. e., s. w., sec. II, t. 45, r. 10, one mound; s. w. sec. 23, t. 45, r. 10, three mounds; s. w., s. e., sec. 25, t. 45, r. 10, one mound; s. e., s. w., sec. 30, t. 45, r. II, five mounds; n. w., s. w., sec. 34, t. 46, r. 10, one mound; s. w., n. w., sec. 10, t. 44, r. II, one mound; s. pt. sec. 13, t. 44, r. 10, nine mounds; s. pt. sec. 18, t. 44, r. 9, eight mounds; s. w. cor. sec. 29, t. 46, r., 9, one mound; s. e., n. w., sec. 3, t. 46, r. 9, three mounds; s. w., n. e., sec. 26, t. 48, r. g, two mounds.
95
NORTHWEST COUNTIES
souri, a group of mounds is claimed to be a remnant of an ancient fort. In a cave in section 30, township 49, north of range 12 west, many arrow-heads and granite hatchets were discovered, and near McBain a copper hatchet was found. On the west side of Cedar creek, on the Missouri bluffs, there are six mounds built nearly in a line, and almost touching each other. These are about 20 to 30 feet in diameter, and 4 to 8 feet high, all circular. A mile east of these, on top of another bluff said to be 206 feet high, Mr. Broadhead found a mound 8 feet high; and five miles east of this, on top of another bluff, on the river, another 8 feet high.90 In some mounds of this county Mr. Gerard Fowke uncovered stone graves.
In Howard county a large mound is in sight of Fayette on top of a hill in the northeast quarter section 10, township 50, range 16; also four in a row two and a half miles west of Fayette, in the northwest quarter section 16, same township and range. These mounds are on waters tributary to the Bonne Femme creek. There are two mounds in the northeast of the northwest section 34, township 50, range 17; also two mounds in the southwest quarter section 25, township 49, range 17. These last two mounds are on the waters of Sulphur creek, a stream emptying into the Bonne Femme near its mouth.
In Chariton, Carroll, Ray, Clay, Platte, Buchanan, Andrew, Holt, Atchison, Nodaway, Worth, Harrison, and other counties of northwest Missouri only a cursory exploration was made and a few mounds located, as given in a note below, yet the field is most promis- ing.91 In Clay county, in 1878, Mr. E. P. West discovered about
90 Smithsonian Report, 1879, P. 355.
91 Mounds in these counties are found as follows: in Carroll, in sec. 9, t. 52, r. 22, east of Moss creek, a mound, arrow-heads and hammers here; sec. 17, t. 52, r. 22, south of Moss creek, a mound in the valley of the creek; in sec. 6, t. 52, r. 23, near the qr. sec. corner, on east side of section, in fork of Moss creek, four mounds; in sec. 6, t. 52, r. 22, at qr. sec. cor. on south side of same creek, a mound; in sec. 26, t. 53, r. 21, a mound known as "Mormon Hill."
In Clay county: a mound in sec. 9, t. 51, r. 32, in center of s. e. pt.
In Caldwell county: in sec. 26, t. 56, r. 28, near qr. sec. cor. on south side of section a mound 100 ft. long, 60 feet wide, 12 ft. high, on north side of creek; granite hammers and arrow- heads found here.
In Platte county: sec. 28 and 21, t. 52, r. 35, s. w. cor. of s. e., n. w., a small mound; sec. 17, t. 52, r. 35, near center, small mound; sec. 21, t. 54, r. 36, near qr. sec. cor. w. side of sec .. two small mounds; sec. 17, t. 54, r. 36, in n. w. cor., a mound 40 by 12; skeletons found here and mound covered with small stones; sec. 4, t. 50, r. 32 w., in n. w. pt. of sec., three mounds in line, small size.
In Livingston county: in sec. 32, t. 57, r. 22 w., a mound 25 by 4 ft. on s. south side of Grand river; arrow-heads found here.
In Linn county: in sec. 34, t. 59, r. 21 w., at center of s. e. qr., a mound; in sec. 10, t. 58, r. 21, at center of s. e. qr. in valley of Locust creek, a mound 150 by 25; in sec. 36, t. 50, r. 21, in s. e. cor. of sec. on w. side of East Yellow creek, a mound 100 ft. diameter, 8 ft. high; arrow- heads and stone hatchets found here.
In Atchison county: in sec. 33, t. 64, r. 41, two small mounds, 20 ft. diameter, 5 ft. high; bones and stone hatchets found here; in sec. 20, t. 65, r. 41 w., near qr. cor. on e. side of sec., a mound 40 ft. in diameter, 4 ft. high. Here pottery, skeletons, and stone hatchets were found.
In Daviess county: two mounds in sec. 14, t. 59, r. 27 w .; in sec. 12, t. 58, r. 26 w., in center of sec., a mound on a hill, 4 ft. high; in sec. 35, t. 60, r. 27 w., in n. w., n. w., mound 10 ft. high.
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI
25 mounds near the Platte county line, on the highest bluff of the Missouri river. These were afterward explored and found to contain concealed rock vaults, and are fully described by Professor Broad- head.92 As to Holt, Mr. Bean observes that there seem to be mounds in every section of the county, and that many of the bluffs of the Missouri are topped with them. Near Maitland, in excavating a mound, seventy spear-heads 6 to 8 inches long were found. In another mound on the river a large number of granite hammers and hatchets, hoes, pipes, bow-tighteners, stone drills, and round stone balls for slings were found; also a quantity of wampum. In Worth county, in the southeast of the northwest quarter section 9, township 66, range 30 west, in a bottom, a crescent-shaped mound is located, 30 feet high and about 500 feet long. In Gentry, on Panther creek, Mr. Hoffman found a mound 25 feet high and more than 600 feet in diameter; in section 24, township 62, range 31, another mound 20 feet high and about 400 feet in diameter. 93
The explorations made indubitably show that long prior to the time when the first European adventurers came into what is now Missouri, a people numerous and industrious, devoted to the arts of peace, a sedentary and agricultural people, a people venerating and honoring their dead, and in civilization far in advance of the historic nomadic Indians, dwelt within the limits of the state. The erection of many of the mounds which we have enumerated must have required much time, as calculations show that the quantity of material moved to erect some of them aggregates millions of cubic.
In Grundy county: sec. 16, t. 63, r. 24 w., in s. w., n. e., four mounds on a hill, mounds 4 ft. high; in sec. 18, t. 61, r. 24 w., in s. e., n. w., on a hill, three mounds 4 ft. high; in sec. 19, t. 61, r. 25 w., in n. w., n. w., in a bottom, mound 1 5 ft. high; in sec. 27, t. 60, r. 24, in s. w., n. w., two mounds, one about 15 ft. high covering two or three acres of ground, and not far from it a small mound; in sec. 34, t. 60, r. 24, in n. w., n. e., an old Indian village was located at one time.
In Worth county: in sec. 33, t. 67, r. 32, in n. w., s.w., four mounds, 4 ft. high; in sec. 26, t. 66, r. 32, in n. w., n. w., small mound; in sec. 28, t. 66, r. 31, a mound in creek bottom 15 ft. high; in sec. 3, t. 66, r. 30, in s. w., n. w., on top of hill, a mound, and on the opposite side of the branch on n. w., s. e., a mound; in sec. 16, t. 66, r. 32, in n. e., s. e., a mound 30 ft. high, which has been excavated partially and pottery found; sec. 9, t. 66, r. 30, a crescent-shaped mound 30 feet high, in s. e., n. e. qr. sec .; in sec. 14, t. 65, r. 30, in s. e., n. e., a mound 4 ft. high.
In Harrison county: in sec. 19, t. 64, r. 27, a mound 20 ft. high covering several acres of ground in n. w., s. w .; in sec. 18, t. 62, r. 27, a group of four mounds 4 ft. high in n. e., n. e .; in sec. 10, t. 63, r. 28, in n. e., n. e., a mound 6 ft. high, 30 ft. diameter; in sec. 35, t. 62, r. 28, in n. e., n. w., two mounds about 4 ft. high, 40 ft. diameter.
In Mercer county: sec. 16, t. 64, r. 24, in s. e., n. e. two mounds 4 ft. high; sec. 17, t. 65, r. 24, in s. e., s. e., two mounds on a hill, 4 ft. high; in sec. 20, t. 65, r. 24, what appeared to Mr. Hoffman as an old Indian graveyard on a hill; in sec. 9, t. 63, r. 24, in s. e., s. e., three mounds on a hill, about 4 ft. high.
92 Smithsonian Report, 1879, P. 352.
93 In Gentry county 18 mounds were counted, as follows: n. w., s. w., sec. 31, t. 64, r. 30, one mound, 20 ft. high; in township 62, range 31, as follows: n. e., s. e., sec 2, one mound; n. e., s. w., sec. 24, one mound; s. w., n. e., sec. 26, one mound; s. w .. n. w., sec. 22, t. 63, r. 30, evi- dence of ancient circular Indian race-course; e. half s. w. sec. 25, t. 63, r. 32, eight mounds, on public road; n. e., n. e., sec. 10, t. 63, r. 31, five mounds; n. e .. s. e. sec. 1, t. 61, r. 33, one mound .
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POPULATION LARGE
feet. While we are left to conjecture how these prehistoric people moved so much material, it is probable, however, that it was done in a primitive fashion, in baskets; in such a case, a cubic foot of earth is a heavy load for one person. This alone, taken in connection with the size of some of the mounds, shows that in some sections of our state the prehistoric population must have been very large. As already stated, it is not assumed that all the mounds, or even the largest number of mounds, found in this state have been definitely located; only one step in that direction has been taken.94
94 In addition to mounds heretofore reported by Mr. Bean in Cape Girardeau County, he has located 24 mounds in U. S. Survey 488 on the waters of Byrd's Creek in this County, mounds 20 to 25 feet in diameter and two to three feet high have been plowed over for many years.
Mr. Gerard Fowke has also located a number of mounds in Boone County in addition to mounds located by Mr. Bean, viz. - nine mounds in Section 4, six mounds in Section 9, three mounds in Section 34, all in Twp. 46, range 13 E; eight mounds in Section 17, Township 46, Range 12; seventeen mounds in Section 27, six mounds in Section 33, Twp. 47 N., Range 13 E .; nine mounds in Section 16 and five mounds in Section 25, Twp. 48, Range 14. Also in Clay County - fifteen mounds in Section 11, mainly on the east side of the section and five mounds in Section 12, Twp. 45, Range 12 W,, and one mound in Section 13, Twp. 45, Range 13 W. In Howard County two large mounds in Section 32, Twp. 40, Range 15 E. In Osage County in Section 10, Twp. 44, Range 10 W. three mounds in the S. ¿ N. W. and one mound in the S. W. N. E. In Section 12 two mounds, Twp. 44, Range 10 N. } N. E .; in Section 23, Twp. 44, Range 14, three mounds.
CHAP. III.
De Soto's March-Crosses the Mississippi-Follows the River North to Crowley's Ridge-Crosses the St. Francois Near Helena-Marches North and Enters What is Now Missouri-Finds the Casquins- Accompanied by Casquins Marches North to Capaha-Crosses an Old Bed of the Mississippi-The Capahas-Where Their Habitat-Battle with the Capahas-Establishes Truce Between the Casquins and Capa- has-Secures Salt from the Country North of Capaha-Returns to Casquin-Marches Southwest to Quigate-Probable Location of Qui- gate -Turns North to Caligoa-Probable Location of Caligoa-Moves Southwest to Palisema-Thence to Tanico-Camped on the Headwaters of White River-Marches South Across the Boston Mountains to the Arkansas River.
Undoubtedly De Soto1 and his adventurous followers marched through territory now within the limits of the state of Missouri.
1 Hernando De Soto was the son of a squire of Xeres of Badajos, born 1500 or 1501, died 1542; he first went to America with nothing but his sword, and by Don Pedro Aries de Arila, the governor of the West Indies, was made captain of a troop of horsemen; went with Pizarro to Peru, was third in com- mand; participated in the capture of Atahulpa, and in the storming of Cuzco; returned to Spain rich; married Donna Isabella de Bobadilla, daughter of Pedro Aries de Arila, Earl of Punno in Rostro; was made governor of Cuba and adelantado of Florida, with the title of marquis of certain part of the land that he should conquer. The impulse was given to this Florida expedition by Alvaro Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, who was a member of the Navarez expedition, and on the failure of this enterprise, lost and abandoned, wandered across the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific during seven or eight years, and at length reached the City of Mexico. On his return to Spain, de Vaca gave an account of the wonderful mineral wealth of New Mexico, Arizona, and North Mexico, which he had discovered during his travels. These accounts created a great sensation; De Soto obtained permission to organize an expedition for the conquest of the country, and many distinguished people and soldiers enlisted under his banner, evidencing plainly that, in popular opinion, he had every qualification to successfully conduct an expedition of conquest. He left Spain in 1538, with six hundred men, cavalry and infantry, in seven ships, reached the island of Cuba, first touching at Santiago, and afterward arrived at Havana, from which port he sailed for Florida May 18, 1539, with a fleet of five great ships, two caravels and two brigantines, and on the 30th day of May, landed at Tampa Bay, named by him the Bay of Espiritu Santo. Thence he began his march into the interior of the continent. The narrative of the various incidents and hardships of this march has been recorded by the veritable his- torian, Garcilasso de la Vega, who, although not a participant, obtained his facts from those soldiers who were fortunate enough to return. Another account by one who actually participated in the expedition was published in Europe in 1557. This is known as the "Portuguese Narrative," but was signed by the author, "A Gentleman of Elvas." Louis Fernandez de Biedma, who also was with the expedition, wrote a short account, which was published in 1544. De Soto himself died May 21, 1542, on the banks of the Mississippi, and was buried in its waters.
98
99
WHERE DE SOTO CROSSED
The route he took and the trials, hardships, and many battles he fought, from the coast of Florida until he reached the Mississippi, do not, although of absorbing interest, immediately concern us. What more particularly interests us is to trace his route into what is now Missouri, and, in order to do so intelligently, we must begin our story where he crossed the Mississippi river. But at the very threshold we will have to admit that it is impossible, from the data we have, to fix the precise point where he made his crossing. This only is clear, that a crossing was effected at some point between the Arkansas and St. Francois rivers. Some suppose that it was made at the lower Chickasaw Bluff, near the present site of Memphis, for this is said to have been an ancient crossing place of the aborigines.2 There is little rea- son to assume that De Soto passed the river at this place; on the contrary, it is quite apparent that he must have made the pas- sage below the mouth of the St. Francois, a stream which empties into the Mississippi some distance below the lower Chickasaw Bluff. This seems to be the generally ac- cepted opinion. However, Bancroft thinks that the crossing was effected at "the lowest FERDINAND DE SOTO Chickasaw Bluff."3 Nuttall seems, also, to believe that it "could have been no other than one of the Chickasaw Bluffs, or ancient crossing places, and apparently the lowest," 4 and this is also School- craft's opinion. But Martin conjectures that it was "a little below the lowest Chickasaw Bluff."5 So also Winsor." Ellicott, in his Journal, places the point of crossing at thirty-four degrees ten min- utes, "at about Sunflower Landing." 7 McCulloch alone thinks that the expedition crossed below the mouth of the Arkansas.
The banks at the point of crossing are described in Garcilasso as "so steep that they could neither ascend nor descend them," and were "bordered by very thick forests." This shows plainly that
2 2 Irving's Conquest of Florida, p. 108.
3 Banc. oft's History of the United States, vol. i, p. 44.
4 Nuttall's Arkansas, p. 248.
5 Martin's History of Louisiana, vol. i, p. 12.
6 Winsor's Narrative and Critical History, vol. ii, p. 251.
7 Ellicott's Journal, p. 125. Ellicott says when he wrote it was "generally supposed" that this was the place of crossing.
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI
De Soto crossed where the soil was alluvial, because it is certain that the Chickasaw Bluffs, at least then, were not covered with heavy forests. In order to cross, he pulled up the river with his boats about a quarter of a league, then dropped down to a point of landing on the west side opposite the camp, on a "sandy plot, very hard and clear ground," that is to say, a sand-bar.
Much has been written, and many conjectures advanced, as to the route pursued by De Soto after he crossed the river. All we know about it was written long afterward from reports gathered from those who participated in the expedition, with the exception of the narratives of the "Gentleman of Elvas" and Biedma. The narrative of Garcilasso 8 forms a volume of about two hundred and forty-five octavo pages, is very circumstantial, and such as might naturally be expected when constructed from the verbal reports of one or more old soldiers going over the same details from time to time. The account of the "Gentleman of Elvas," otherwise known as the "Portuguese Narrative," is contained in one hundred
8 Garcilasso de la Vega was born in Cuzco in 1540, and died in 1616 at Cor- dova, Spain. His father was a Spanish adventurer, his mother Nusti, a niece of Huayna Capac, the last of the Incas, and a granddaughter of the Inca Tupac- Yuyanque. In 1560 he went to Spain, entered on a military career, reached the rank of captain under Don Juan of Austria, but in consequence of the fact that his father had embraced the cause of Gonzalo Pizarro, distrust rested on him, and, despairing of obtaining eminence in the military profession, he resigned, returned to Cordova and devoted himself to literary pursuits, translating the Dialogues of Love by Leon Hebreos, writing a History of Peru, and the Royal Commentaries on the History of the Incas. He was greatly admired as a man of virtue, piety, modesty, and as a historian. His narrative of the expedition of De Soto was principally derived from the statements of an old friend, who was with the expedition, a brave soldier of noble rank, a hidalgo, who possessed the confidence of the royal council of the Indies to such a degree that he was frequently sent for to be consulted as to the events of the expedition. In addition to the oral statements of this friend, Garcilasso had the written reports of two other soldiers, Alonzo de Carmona and Juan Coles. (Irving's Conq. of Florida, p. 283.) He finished his history of the Conquest of Florida in 1591, and at that time some of those who participated in it were still alive It seems to be conceded that Garcilasso took advantage of all the opportunities he had to secure an accurate account of all the incidents, the trials, and triumphs of this tragic march. Undoubtedly he was misled as to the vast Indian population and their great armies, great cities, and great temples by the old soldiers from whom he derived his information, whose anxiety was to make it appear that a country vastly greater in extent than Mexico and Peru, which they had con- quered, was also possessed of great population, armies and temples, and this may account for many exaggerations. Nothing, however, more conclusively demonstrates the truth of the general route of the march, as given by Garcilasso, the "Gentleman of Elvas," and Biedma, than that some of the Indian tribes they mentioned were found to have their habitat in the same regions described by subsequent voyageurs and explorers, and that many of the natural land- marks of the country described can yet be identified with reasonable certainty.
IOI
CROWLEY'S RIDGE
and eight octavo pages, but the account of Biedma is very short and covers only a dozen pages. As to the route pursued, these narra- tives in the main agree, but as to the distances given, Garcilasso expressly says that he cannot hold himself responsible for their accu- racy, because unavoidably compelled to leave much to conjecture, and, because the Spaniards were principally seeking for gold and silver, they gave themselves little trouble to mark down the route and distances marched.9 This much, however, is certain, that after De Soto passed the river he marched for four or five days through a wilderness intersected in many places by morasses, which he was compelled to ford, and on the fifth day, "from the summit of a high ridge," his followers "descried a large village containing about four hundred dwellings." It was located "on the banks of a river, the borders of which as far as the eye could reach were covered with luxuriant fields of maize, interspersed with groves of fruit trees." 10
What is now known as Crowley's Ridge, terminating on the west bank of the Mississippi near Helena, Arkansas, is the only conspicu- ous elevation on the west side of the river between the mouth of the Ohio and the Gulf of Mexico. The description of the chroniclers can refer to no other "high ridge." This ridge, apparently an out- runner of the Ozarks of Missouri, runs in a southern direction about forty miles west of the Mississippi and parallel with it, until it strikes it, and is flanked on both sides by an alluvial district. The eastern district is now known as the St. Francois basin. The St. Francois river runs its course immediately east of this ridge and empties its waters into the Mississippi at the foot of it. On the west of Crowley's Ridge lie the Cache bottoms, about forty miles wide above the junc- tion of the Cache and White rivers. Through the middle of this bottom runs the Cache river. On the west, this bottom is bounded in a general way by the White river, flowing along the eastern Ozark slopes. Below the junction of the Cache and the White rivers, the bottom country extends from the Mississippi west from sixty to sev- enty miles, and through the center of this bottom country the White river flows to its junction with the Arkansas. Crowley's Ridge sepa- rates this district on the east and northeast from the St. Francois basin, and it was through this alluvial district, below Crowley's Ridge, De Soto marched after he passed over the river.
" 2 Irving's Conquest of Florida, p. 285.
10 2 Irving's Conquest of Florida, p. 108.
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