USA > Missouri > A history of Missouri from the earliest explorations and settlements until the admission of the state into the union, Volume I > Part 14
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IO2
HISTORY OF MISSOURI
It has been asserted, without sufficient evidence, that after cross- ing the river De Soto marched directly west until he reached Crowley's Ridge, and there discovered the Indian village described in the narratives. The objection to this assumption is, that it places the point of crossing north of the mouth of the St. Francois river; leaves out of view the fact that the St. Francois river flows immediately east of this ridge; ignores the fact that the narratives make no men- tion that another river was crossed by De Soto as he moved to the summit of the ridge, and finally, that the country east of the St. Francois is flat and level, with no high elevation or ridges. It is certain, therefore, from all that can now be gathered from the different narratives, that after De Soto crossed the Mississippi he marched along or near the river. This is confirmed by the fact that, subse- quently, it is positively stated that he marched along the borders of the Mississippi,11 and that the "lord of the country held his court" at some small villages "which were distant four leagues from the capitol, in ascending the river."12 The best and highest marching ground was along the banks of the river, and no doubt an Indian trail led to the "high ridge" or "elevation" from his Mississippi river crossing, and naturally he would follow it in his march and so reach the summit whence was discovered the village of the Cas- quins. It should also be noted, that Garcilasso expressly says that De Soto, after he left Mauvila, kept "northward" 13 or "marched directly to the north." 14
From the summit of one of the high hills of Crowley's Ridge could well be "descried a large village" in the bottoms of the St. Francois river, even if a long distance away, especially at that time, when, as near as can be conjectured, the country was not covered with the heavy growth of timber that is found there now. No doubt the In- dians living in such a large village in that fertile land had "luxuriant fields of maize," or, at least, what would appear as "luxuriant fields of maize" to the hungry and famished Spaniards, who had just fought their way through a wilderness, beset by hostile Indians.
Also, on carefully examining the topographical features of this district, the conclusion is irresistible that no other point on the west
11 2 Irving's Conquest of Florida, p. 109.
12 Shipp's De Soto, p. 408.
13 2 Irving's Conquest of Florida, p. 128.
14 Shipp's De Soto, p. 417.
IO3
CASQUINS
bank of the Mississippi river answers more nearly the description, so pointedly given in the narrative of Garcilasso, of the location of the vil- lage where De Soto first rested after crossing this river, than the coun- try in the immediate vicinity of the lower end of Crowley's Ridge. Starting from this first indubitable landmark, let us follow De Soto and his gallant army in their march into what is now Missouri.15
After resting a day in this "large village containing about four hundred dwellings," which he then learned was called "Casquin," or "Casqui," De Soto resumed his march. These Indians, called "Casquins" or "Casquis" were evidently the same as those known as the "Kaskias" or "Kaskaskias" subsequently. At the time when Joliet and Marquette made their voyage down the Mississippi, they were living in northern Illinois and along the Illinois river, and after- ward on the Kaskaskia river. De Soto marched, "ascending the river," it is said in Shipp's translation, or "on the borders of the Mississippi," according to Irving's translation, "through a populous and champaign country, where the land was more elevated and the soil less alluvial than any they had yet seen on the borders of the Mississippi. The fields were overflowingly fruitful; the pecan nut and the red and gray plum were there in abundance." 18 This region here described is a high alluvial, generally black, sandy ridge, extending parallel with the Mississippi river from near the mouth of the St. Francois in Arkansas, as far north as the upper end of the St. Francois basin, where the Ozark hills gradually slope into this district. It is not a continuous ridge, but here and there low depres- sions extend through it, and through these depressions also pass sluggish bayous and creeks, often marshy and swampy, and several miles wide. The Mississippi river, when at its flood tide, thus finds an outlet into the St. Francois river. Many remains of the original dwellers of the land are found at numerous points on this ridge, showing that at one time it was the seat of extensive aboriginal set- tlements. The soil is of a sandy alluvial character and easily tilled, and corn, or maize as it is called by the chroniclers, and all the various
15 In Barnard Shipp's History of Hernando De Soto and Florida, p. 407, the narrative of Garcilasso is translated as follows: "At the end of four days' travel through unpopulated places, they discovered on the fifth day, from the top of an eminence, a town of about four hundred houses, upon the banks of a river, larger than the Guadalquiver, which passes by Cordova. They also saw the lands about it covered with corn and a number of fruit trees."
16 Irving's Conquest of Florida, vol. ii, p. 109.
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI
vegetables and fruit and nut trees of every character yield abundantly and flourish amazingly in this wonderful soil. Nuttall long ago pointed out, taking as a guide the narrative of Garcilasso, that De Soto must have marched north along this ridge.17 The ridge is well and clearly defined and bordered on both sides by a lower alluvial forma- tion, except as stated where the land is depressed and the river passes through it in times of overflow. At some points, for instance near Osceola, in Arkansas, Caruthersville and New Madrid in Missouri, this ridge touches the river. The alluvial and sandy soil generally rests on a yellow clay foundation, showing that perhaps a prehis- toric chain of clay hills (something like Crowley's Ridge) may have run along in this direction, and been washed down in the course of ages, or subsided in earthquakes, which even in historic times have characterized this district. Thus this ridge may have become sub- ject, partially at least, to overflow.
It should also be observed that undoubtedly paths and trails led from one village of the Casquins to the other villages of the same tribe, and even from the villages of one tribe to the villages of the other tribes. Where these Indian roads were actually located it is impossible for us to tell now, but that they followed the high ground, avoided swamps and marshy grounds, is certain. The Indians thor- oughly knew the topographical character of this country, the river courses, their size and depth, and the best crossings. Along such a route on this ridge, and along such trails and paths, we can confi- dently believe, De Soto and his forces marched.
Marching northward through this country, De Soto undoubtedly, if we are to trust the narratives, found the country well inhabited and cultivated. Nuttall seems to think that he reached the New Madrid region of this ridge, basing his opinion upon the statement of the narratives, that he reached a country "where the land was more ele- vated and the soil less alluvial than any he had yet seen," a statement which can now be verified in every particular by an examination of the ridge as it exists to-day in that territory. Here the cacique of the Casquins resided, "in a very fertile and populous country." 18 Here De Soto and his followers were well received by the cacique, who made him a present of mantles fabricated from coarse threads of the bark of trees and coarse nettles, as well as skins and fish, and
17 Nuttall's Arkansas, p. 251.
18 Irving's History of Conquest of Florida, p. 109.
IO5
ERECTS A CROSS
invited him to lodge in his habitations. The cacique lived on a high artificial hill "on one side of the village," and his habitations "consisted of twelve or thirteen large houses for the accommodation of his numerous family of women and attendants." The adelantado, that is to say, De Soto - for by this title he is invariably described by Garcilasso - for fear of incommoding him, so it is stated in the narrative, but more likely out of caution and to prevent a surprise, declined this invitation, preferring to quarter his army in separate houses and in bowers the Indians quickly built out of green branches, in groves near by. This was in May, and the weather was oppres- sively warm, so "the tenants of these rustic bowers found them truly delightful." Here, in the present limits of Missouri, after many un- told hardships, De Soto and his army rested in peace and enjoyed plenty for several weeks.
On the third day after his arrival, the cacique, accompanied by his principal subjects, so Garcilasso tells us, came into the presence of De Soto and, making a profound obeisance, said: "Señor, as you are superior to us in prowess and surpass us in arms, we likewise believe that your God is better than our God. Those you behold before you are chief warriors of my dominions. We supplicate you to pray to your God to send us rain, for our fields are parched for want of water." De Soto answered that, although he and his followers were but sinners, they would yet supplicate God, the Father of mercies, to show mercies unto them. He then ordered the chief carpenter, Francisco the Genoese, to hew down "the highest and largest pine-tree in the vicinity, and to construct of it a cross." As no `pine grows in this region, no doubt the cypress was confounded with the pine by the informant of Garcilasso. The tree was felled, and was so large that a hundred men could not raise it from the ground, and out of this tree a perfect cross was constructed and erected on a high hill-that is to say, artificial mound, because no natural hills exist there. This hill or mound was near the river bank, and served the Indians as a watch tower. It may be observed that, when the first settlement was made near the present town of New Madrid, a high artificial mound existed near the river, but this mound has long since been washed away by the abrasions of the stream. Similar hills or mounds are yet found along the river, higher than the ordinary mounds, and were evidently used, as Gar- cilasso says, as "watch towers."
106
HISTORY OF MISSOURI
After the cross was erected De Soto ordered that on the next morn- ing all should join in a solemn procession, except an armed squadron of horse and foot, who should be on the alert to protect the army. In this procession the cacique walked beside De Soto, and the Indian warriors mingled among the Spanish soldiery. The priests and friars chanted the litany and the soldiers responded. Fully a thou- sand persons were in the procession and arrived before the cross, where they sank on their knees, offered solemn prayers, "approached the holy emblem, bent the knee before it and worshiped and kissed it." Many thousand savages, we are told by Garcilasso, witnessed this ceremony. And "with their arms extended, and their hands raised, they watched the movements of the Spaniards. Ever and anon they raised their eyes to heaven, and made signs with their faces and hands, as if asking of God to listen to the Christian's prayers. Then would they raise a low and wailing cry, like a people in excessive grief, echoed by the plaintive murmurings of their children's voices." And, says the chronicler, De Soto and his followers "were moved to tenderness, to behold in a strange and heathen land, a savage people worshiping with such humility and tears the emblem of our redemp- tion." The solemnities of the day were closed with a Te Deum Laudamus, and in the middle of the ensuing night, marvelous to relate, a plenteous rain refreshed the parching corn. When the cacique and his warriors, full of joy, repaired to De Soto to express their gratitude, he answered them, "they must give thanks to God, who created the heavens and the earth, and was the bestower of these and other far greater mercies."
And so in Missouri, over three centuries ago, "the cross, the type of our beautiful religion, was planted on the banks of the Mississippi, and its silent forests were awakened by the Christian's hymn of grati- tude and praise. The effect was vivid but transitory. The 'voice cried in the wilderness' and reached and was answered by every heart, but it died away and was forgotten; and was not to be heard again in that savage region for many generations. It was as if a lightning gleam had broken for a moment upon a benighted world, startling it with sudden effulgence, only to leave it in tenfold gloom. The real dawning was yet afar off from the benighted valley of the Mississippi." 19
The cacique of the Casquins, however, was a wily savage. He 19 Irving's Conquest of Florida, p. 114.
IO7
CAPAHA
fully appreciated the value of his new friends and proposed to use them to wreak signal vengeance on his ancient enemies, the Capahas, residing farther north and where the hills slope into and lose them- selves in the alluvial plains. These Capahas are undoubtedly identi- cal with the "Kapahas," who resided on the Mississippi and near the St. Francois and Arkansas when La Salle made his voyage of dis- covery. He records that on the 14th day of March, 1682, he took possession of the country in the name of his king, by planting a cross upon which were painted the arms of France in "said Kapaha village of the Akansas." 20 On Marquette's map, a village named Papikaha is noted as being situated in the same locality.21 The "Gentleman of Elvas" names this village Pacaha.22 By Charlevoix, these Indians are named "Kappas" and also "Ouyapes," and he says that "this nation was very numerous in the time of Hernando De Soto." 23
These Indians were subsequently known as the Quapaws. Dorsey says that they are of Siouan linguistic origin. They and their kindred, the Atotchasi, the Toyengan or Tongenga, the Tori- man, and the Ossoteoez or Otsotchove, all at the time of La Salle's discovery, resided between the Arkansas and St. Francois, and, according to Nuttall, called themselves "Oyuapes" or "Kapahas," but by La Salle are called "Akansas." Originally, their habitat was on or near the mouth of the Ohio. According to Father Gravier, the Illinois Indians and other savages called the Ohio "the river of the Akansas" because the "Akansea," formerly dwelt on it,24 thus confirming the statement of Dorsey.25 Nuttall says that an old chief 20 II Wisconsin Hist. Col., p. 29, for full copy of the process verbal.
21 According to Father Gravier, in 1702, the village of the Kapahas, where Joliet and Father Marquette were received, had been abandoned by these Indians which he calls the "Kappa Akansas." The new village was situated a half league from the river, and here Monsieur de Montigny had erected a cross on a hill, which he says "is very steep and forty feet high." (Jesuit Rel., p. 117.) And which would indicate that perhaps the noted village was located near the foot of Crowley's Ridge, and near where the city of Helena, Arkansas, is now located.
22 2 Irving's Conquest of Florida, p. 292.
23 Charlevoix's Travels, p. 307. When Charlevoix was at their village he found it in great desolation on account of small-pox, which a passing Frenchman had communicated to some of the savages, and thus the whole village became infected. Over against their village Charlevoix saw the sad ruins of Mr. Law's grant, and where he had expected to settle nine thousand Germans from the Palatinate, and some of whom came over and after the collapse of the Missis- sippi scheme were settled on what is now known as the German coast of the river above New Orleans.
24 65 Jes. Rel., p. 107.
25 15th Report Bureau of Ethnology, 1893-94, pp. 157, 244.
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI
of the Quapaws said, at the time their lands were acquired by the government, that at a very remote period his nation descended the Mississippi, and having in a body come to the mouth of a large and muddy river, evidently referring to the Missouri, they divided, one party going up the "muddy" river, and his tribe going down the Mississippi, until checked in their progress by the Kaskaskias, whose opposition they finally subdued and thus obtained possession of the banks of the Arkansas.26 This account slightly differs from Dorsey.
At the period of De Soto's expedition, these Indians manifestly still resided near and above the Ohio. The "Casquins," on the other hand, probably identical with the "Kaskias" or "Kaskas- kias," were of Algonquin linguistic origin,27 resided farther down the Mississippi, and were at war with these Capahas, who had come down the Ohio and invaded a country which before that was in their exclusive possession. This would naturally explain the con- tinual state of war which seemed to exist between these tribes at the time of De Soto's advent.
When De Soto gave orders to the army to prepare to march, the following morning, the cacique of the Casquins obtained permission to go with him, with a train of warriors and domestics, "the one to escort the army, the other to carry his supplies, as they had to traverse a wilderness, and also to clear the road, gather wood for the encamp- ment, and fodder for the horses." The Capahas had kept the Casquins in subjection for long years, and for this reason the cacique of the Casquins, meditating revenge, took the field, we are told by the
26 Nuttall's Arkansas, p. 82.
27 If we reverse the order in which the names of these Indian tribes of the country is given in the narratives of the historians of De Soto's expedition, and substitute the name of Kapaha where the narrators give the name of Cas- quin, and the name of Casquin where the name of Kapaha occurs, the whole narrative would be in harmony with the subsequent habitat of these Indians, because French explorers and voyageurs found the Kappas, or Kapahas, or Quapaws, near the mouth of the St. Francois and Arkansas rivers, and the Cas- quins or Kaskaskias in the region between the river of that name and the Illinois river. But it is well known that the Indians from time to time changed their residence, and that the Kaskaskias moved up and down the river, so also the Kapahas, Quapaws, after they began to trade with the French. Undoubtedly Kaskaskia Indians also lived and hunted on the west side of the river and in the upper portions of the St. Francois basin, and thus came into conflict with the Kapahas, as is narrated by the chroniclers of the expedition of De Soto. The Pottowattamies, the Fox (Renard) and Saukee Indians, the Kickapoos, Peorias, and other Illinois tribes, we know definitely crossed and recrossed the · river at subsequent periods.
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DE SOTO CROSSES A SWAMP
veritable chroniclers, with three thousand Indians loaded with sup- plies and the baggage of the army, all well armed with bows and arrows. In addition, five thousand of his warriors, well armed, fiercely painted, and decorated in war plumes, also moved with De Soto's army. These numbers certainly are greatly exaggerated in the narrative, because, at any subsequent period, even the greatest Indian tribes of North America could not muster such numbers. But the cacique of the Casquins, no matter what may have been the number of his warriors, took the lead, under the pretense of clearing the road and preparing encampments for the Spaniards; dividing his men into squadrons, a quarter of a league in advance, he moved forward in good military array. On the third day the army came to a great swamp, miry on the borders, with a lake in the center, too deep to be forded; which formed a kind of gulf on the Mississippi, and, the narrative says was the old bed of the river. This swamp is another landmark on this march, making it certain that De Soto passed through what it now the southeastern portion of the state of Missouri. It is at the upper end of the St. Francois basin, a low alluvial district located immediately southwest of Cape Girardeau. The Mississippi evidently ran through this bottom in comparatively recent times, before the river broke through the narrow chain of rocks known as the Grand Chain, between Gray's Point and Commerce. Three hundred years ago, undoubtedly, the margin of this bottom was miry, as is stated by the narrative, nor was the bed of the old river at that time filled up with alluvium by successive river floods and by the muddy waters coming from the adjacent hills. At such a place, too, a lake would be likely to be found, a remnant of the old river too deep to be forded. This swamp, now all an alluvial bottom, extends for many miles southwest, and everywhere the evidence of its having been the former bed of the Mississippi is patent. Across this swamp, or marsh, the Casquins constructed a rude bridge out of the trunks of trees, over which the soldiers of De Soto and the Indians passed; but the horses were obliged to swim, and, on account of the miry character of the soil on the margin, were transferred with great difficulty. This swamp then separated the territory of the Casquins and Capahas.
The line of march of the combined forces north from the village of the cacique of the Casquins must have been along a continuation of the same sandy ridge on which De Soto marched north from the
IIO
HISTORY OF MISSOURI
first village of the Casquins, near the mouth of the St. Francois. Above the New Madrid region this ridge extends through what is now known as "Big Prairie" and "Sandy Prairie," and all along this route are found numerous remains of aboriginal settlements. Of course, on this march De Soto also crossed lakes, marshes and lagoons, which at various points cut through this ridge. He must have followed the west flanks of what we now know as the Scott county hills, and made his crossing over the Big Swamp somewhere north of the present town of Oran, a locality then perhaps 'a lake, a remnant of it existing near there to-day. After going over this swamp the army marched for two days more, and on the third day they came to some elevated ridges, whence they saw the principal town of the Capahas. This town was on high ground, commanding the surrounding country, and is thus described: "It was nearly encircled by a deep moat fifty paces in breadth; and where the moat did not extend, was defended by a strong wall of timber and plaster, such as has already been described. The moat was filled with water by a canal cut from the Mississippi river, which was three leagues distance. The canal was deep and sufficiently wide for two canoes to pass abreast without touching each other's paddles. This canal and moat were filled with fish, so as to supply all the wants of the village and army, without any apparent diminution of their number."28 It is, of course impossible now to identify the precise point where the town of Capaha stood. This much seems certain; that it was located near the old channel of the river. The canal referred to was probably a creek that carried its waters into this old river-bed, in all likelihood encircling the town in the shape of a horseshoe, making it appear as if surrounded by a moat. Numerous high places on the edges of the Ozark slopes are thus surrounded by the meanderings of creeks. Evidence of extensive Indian settle- ments are found on nearly all the creeks running into the so-called Big Swamp. Notable remains of such settlements exist at a number of places southwest of Cape Girardeau, on the north edge of this bottom. On such a place, without more definitely locating the spot, the village of the Capahas stood, when De Soto and the Casquins approached. The cacique of the Capahas, when he heard that his ancient enemy approached, accompanied by a new and powerful ally, his own warriors being dispersed, escaped in a canoe through 28 2 Irving's Conquest of Florida, p. 117.
III
PEACE WITH THE CAPAHAS
the canal to the Mississippi and took refuge upon an island in that river. Such of his people as were not able to follow him escaped into the woods, and some remained in the village. When the Cas- quins reached the village they gave full vent to their hatred and vengeance; over one hundred and fifty were killed, the houses were sacked and plundered, and women and children made captives. , Among these captives were two young and beautiful wives of the cacique of the Capahas. The Casquins not only wreaked vengeance upon the living, but their hostility also extended to the dead; they broke into the sepulchres and scattered about the bones. From these demonstrations of hostility, it is evident that the imagination of the chronicler supplied the details, especially the statement that the Indians broke open the sepulchres and scattered the bones of their enemies. The narrative then proceeds to say that the Casquins would have set fire to the whole village, but were restrained by the Spaniards and the fear of offending the adelantado. The chronicler is careful to tell us that all the outrages were committed before the Spaniards reached the place, and that De Soto was much concerned at the ravages of his allies. He sent envoys to the cacique of the Capahas, proffering his friendship, but naturally enough these advances were rejected. De Soto, finding that he cound not conciliate him, determined to attack him in his stronghold. The Casquins provided canoes to cross over to the island where the cacique of the Capahas had taken refuge. Two hundred Spaniards and three thousand Indians, so we are told, invaded the island. It was covered with a dense forest of undergrowth and trees, and in this the cacique of the Capahas had entrenched himself. The Spaniards gained the first barriers by hard fighting, but the warriors of the cacique of the Capahas fought with fury, and struck such dismay into the Casquins that they abandoned their allies and fled to the canoes, and would have even carried off the canoes of the Spaniards, if these had not been guarded by Spanish soldiers. Being deserted by their allies, the Spaniards were compelled to retreat to their canoes, which they did in good order. "They would all, however, have been cut off," so says the historian, "had not the Cacique restrained the fury of his warriors, and suffered them to regain the shore and embark unmo- lested."
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