History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I, Part 33

Author: Douglass, Robert Sidney. 4n
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 844

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ought to be sent back where he came from, to the kind care of his friends.

"The writer had not been in the country one year before he had learned half a dozen lessons in frontier knowledge of great value in practical life. One branch was how In- dians, hunters, surveyors, and all others who had to travel over uninhabited deserts, made their camping-place and kept themselves com- fortable. The first thing is to select the right place-in some hollow or ravine, protected from the wind, and if possible behind some old forest giant which the storms of winter have prostrated. And then, reader, don't build your fire against the tree, for that is the place for your head and shoulders to lie, and around which the smoke and heated air may curl. Then don't be so childish as to lie on the wet, or cold frozen earth, without a bed. Gather a quantity of grass, leaves and small brush, and after you have cleared away the snow and provided for protection from the wet or cold earth, you may sleep comfort- ably. If you have a piece of jerked venison, and a bit of pone with a cup of water, you may make out a splendid supper-provided you think so-'for as a man thinketh so is he.' And if you have a traveling companion you may have a social time of it. So now offer your prayers like a Christian, ask the Lord to protect you, wrap around you your blankets with your saddles for pillows, and lie down to sleep under the care of a watchful Providence. If it rains, a very little labor with barks or even brush, with the tops sloping downward, will be no mean shelter. Keep your feet straight to the fire, but not near enough to burn your moccasins or boots, and your legs and whole body will be warm. The aphorism of the Italian physician, which he left in a sealed letter as a guide to all his former pa-

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tients, contains excellent advice to all frontier people: 'Keep your feet warm, your back straight, and your head cool, and bid defiance to the doctors.'"-("Life of Peck," pp. 103 to 105.)

In spite of these and many other difficulties, of which we can have no proper appreciation at this time, the work progressed. There were men in the early days whose hearts were filled with enthusiasm for the work. They were not daunted by difficulties nor stopped by hard- ships. They labored unceasingly in season and out of season. The journals and diaries of these early men reveal to us a remarkable story of energy and of self-sacrificing devo- tion to the work which they had in hand; that their labors were abundantly blessed and that they exercised a great influence over the course of early history is amply evidenced. Under their ministrations hundreds, and even thousands, of men and women were changed in their lives; received something of inspira-

tion and uplift; schools were founded by them and the beginning of culture, as well as of religion, were made under their direction. Many of these early ministers were educated men. They brought with them a knowledge of the world and they brought, also, the first libraries within the state. The example of their devotion and earnestness of purpose was contagious. The great religious denomina- tions now within the state owe to the memory of these early pioneer preachers a debt which it is impossible for them to pay.

It should not be forgotten, either, that not only do the churches owe to them a debt; the state as a state is equally under obligations to them. If intelligence and morality are the twin pillars on which popular government rests, then these men who so largely contrib- uted, not only to morality but also to the spread of education and the increase of intel- ligence, certainly deserve well at the hands of all the people in the state.

CHAPTER XIV

NEW MADRID EARTHQUAKE

TIME AND AREA-UNIQUE AMONG EARTHQUAKES-CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNTS MENTIONED- THE SCENE DESCRIBED-DIRECTION OF THE SHOCKS-SIZE OF AFFECTED AREA-CHARACTER OF DISTURBANCES-SMALL LOSS OF LIFE EXPLAINED-A DEATH FROM FRIGHT-PERSONS DROWNED-APPEARANCE OF THE AIR-VAPORS-LIGHTS AND GLOWS-EARTH CHANGES- FISSURES-LIGNITE-AREAS OF SURFACE RAISED-SUNK-LANDS - OBSERVATIONS MADE BY LYELL-DISTRIBUTION OF SUNK-LANDS-EFFECT ON TIMBER - EXPULSION OF MATERIAL FROM THE EARTH - WATER-SAND-SAND BLOWS-SAND-SLOUGHS - SINKS - SUGGESTED CAUSES-CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNTS-MRS. ELIZA BRYAN - LONG-BRADBURY-FLINT- FAUX-LESIEUR-COL. JOHN SHAW-LETTER OF AN UNKNOWN WRITER-LONG-NUTTALL -FLAGG-FORMER DRAINAGE AS' DESCRIBED BY LESIEUR-GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE TO SUF- FERERS-THE NEW MADRID CLAIMS-DELISLE VS. STATE OF MISSOURI-LOSS OF POPULA- TION.

On the night of December 15, 1811, there occurred the first of a series of severe earth- quake shocks in the region about New Madrid, which caused great suffering and distress among the inhabitants, changed the surface of the earth in places, and resulted in the de- population of parts of the region affected. This earthquake has been the subject of much contention among historians and scientists. and has recently been made the subject of much careful study.

Myron L. Fuller, a member of the United States Geological Survey, has given as much time and study to the phenomena of the New Madrid earthquake as any other person. In 1912 the Geological Survey issued a bulletin by Mr. Fuller, entitled "The New Madrid Earthquake." His introductory statement is as follows: "The succession of shocks desig- nated collectively the New Madrid earthquake

occurred in an area of the central Mississippi valley, including southeastern Missouri, north- eastern Arkansas, and western Kentucky and Tennessee. Beginning December 16, 1811, and lasting more than a year, these shocks have not been surpassed or even equaled for number, continuance of disturbance, area affected, and severity by the more recent and better-known shocks at Charleston and San Francisco. As the region was almost unsettled at that time relatively little attention was paid to the phenomenon, the published ac- counts being few in number and incomplete in details. For these reasons, although scientific literature in this country and in Europe has given it a place among the great earthquakes of the world, the memory of it has lapsed from the public mind."

Shaler, writing of the earthquake in 1869, said: "The occurrence of such a shock in a

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region like the Mississippi valley, on the bor- ders of a great river, is probably unprece-

dented in the history of earthquakes. * *

* Many of the events of that convulsion were without a parallel. Scientifically this carth- quake may be regarded as a type, exhibiting in unusual detail the geologic effects of great disturbances upon unconsolidated deposits. For this reason its phenomena have an im- portance which, in the absence of any previous systematic discussion, warrants detailed con- sideration."

It is the intention here to give as full an account of the earthquake itself as collected from contemporary accounts as is possible, and a description of the condition of the lands affected by the shocks. It is fortunate that there are in existence a number of accounts written by eye wit- nesses, some of them being scientific men and some others, men of education and train- ing. Perhaps the best known scientist who felt the shocks and described them, was the great naturalist, John James Audubon, who at the time was in Kentucky. John Brad- bury, an English botanist, was on a keel boat on the Mississippi river a few miles below New Madrid; the expedition of Major Long was passing through the region on its way from Pittsburgh to the Rocky mountains; L. Bringier, an engineer and surveyor, was on the scene of the shocks; and Captain Roose- velt was on board a steamer going down the river. Besides these men of scientific train- ing who were on the scene, there were others at a somewhat greater distance who made a record of the shocks, among them being Dan- iel Drake at Cincinnati and Jared Brooks at Louisville; while S. L. Mitchill, a well known geologist and member of congress, collected all the available information about the earth-

quakes. It was fortunate, too, that the scene was visited by Timothy Flint, a Presbyterian minister and a writer on geography, and by Sir Charles Lyell the great English geologist. In addition to these there were accounts writ- ten by a number of other persons ; one of these accounts, that of Mrs. Eliza Bryan, is given in this chapter. Godfrey LeSieur, the former well-known citizen of New Madrid and a mem- ber of the famous French family that founded the town, was at the time at Little Prairie and has given a vivid and interesting account of his experiences; this account is abbreviated in this chapter, also. Senator Lewis F. Linn was interested in the catastrophe and collected information concerning it which he made public in a letter containing a full account of the shocks. Besides all these there exist fragmentary statements from a number of other persons, so that contemporary accounts of events are reasonably full.

A comparison of all these accounts discloses the fact that they are in reasonable accord in their description and the main facts con- cerning the earthquake shocks seem to rest on the concurring testimony of these wit- nesses. The night of December 15, 1811, was as quiet and undisturbed during its early hours as any other of the hundreds of nights that had passed. There seems to have been nothing to give warning of any change im- pending. Some who wrote afterwards speak as if there was a peculiar condition of the air, but these accounts indicate only that it was probably damp and foggy weather. About 2 o'clock in the morning of December 16, the earth suddenly shook and vibrated with ter- rific force; the houses, most of them built of logs, were greatly shaken, some of them being thrown into instant ruin. The inhabitants made their way as best they could out of

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their houses into the open. The shocks con- tinued; they were accompanied by low rum- bling sound; the earth was thrown into waves like the waves of the sea; this waving motion was so violent that it was impossible to stand or to walk. One man gives it that he at- tempted to return to the house for a member of the family who was sick; he was thrown down five or six times in attempting to walk a short distance owing to these waves. The crest of the waves was elevated some three or four feet above the usual level of the earth, forming long lines running from the south- west to the northeast, and having depressions between them; some of these waves or swells burst, forming fissures in the earth some three to seven feet in width and extending to an unknown depth. These fissures were in some cases short, but others of them extended for miles. Out of the fissures thus formed there spouted great quantities of water, sand, and a kind of charcoal or lignite. In many cases there seems to have been a sort of gas having a sulphurous smell. The banks of the rivers fell into the stream owing to their being split off by these fissures. The quantities of earth carried into the river were very great, hun- dreds of trees being swept down into the stream. The shaking of the earth and the rising and falling of these swells or waves threw down whole forests and inclined many of the trees left standing at an angle. Some of the timber was split and much of it snapped off, as told by Mrs. Bryan. In places on the side of the high bluffs faults were formed in the earth, resulting in occasional land slides ; the surface of some areas seem to have been raised, while other areas were sunk several feet below their former level. In other places small craters were opened in the earth from which spouted quantities of sand and water, the sand being deposited on top

of the alluvium forming sand blows. The river itself was greatly agitated. In many places there were falls formed in it, due to the faulting of the surface; these falls were in places six to eight feet in height and the pour- ing of the water of the streams over them produced tremendous and unusual sounds. In other places the bottom of the river seems to have been raised, ponding water before these places so that the level of the river was raised several feet in a very short time. The waters receded from either shore to the center of the river and were piled up there for a time, leaving boats stranded on the bare sands. In a moment the waves returned and washed up on the shore and out into the timber, carry- ing the boats with them. Through the de- pressions formed in the banks of the river great volumes of water made their way, cov- ering parts of the country to a depth of sev- eral feet. The falling of trees into the river and the shaking loose from the bottom of thousands of logs previously accumulated, covered its whole surface with floating tim- bers; the waters were agitated and churned into a foam so that it was almost impossible for a boat to live upon its surface. The in- habitants of the country were of course ex- ceedingly terrified by these things and even the wild animals and fowls were thrown into confusion and uttered cries of alarm. This shaking of the earth continued at intervals for more than a year, though the last severe shock of the series was felt on the 7th of February, 1812. The shaking was felt over great re- gions, extending to the lakes on the north and to the Atlantic seaboard on the east, being observed in such widely separated places as Charleston, N. C .; Cincinnati, Ohio; Savan- nah, Ga .; St. Louis, Mo .; Washington, D. C., and Pittsburgh, Pa. In all these places the shocks were violent and all of them were

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noted as occurring about the same time as the shocks at New Madrid.

The shocks seemed to travel from the south- west to the northeast, and a study of all the recorded evidence indicates that the center of the disturbance was within the alluvial re- gion. It is the opinion of Mr. Fuller, who has made a careful study of the situation, that the line marking the center of disturbance extended from a point in New Madrid county just east of Parma, in a southwesterly direc- tion, crossing the sand ridge just east of Ken- nett, and ending south of St. Francis lake in Arkansas .*

The area affected, as we have said, was very large, including perhaps the east half of the United States. The smaller area in which there was an unusual earth disturbance char- acterized by sunken lands, fissures, sinks, sand-blows, etc., includes the New Mad- rid region as it is called, which extends from a point west of Cairo on the north to the lati- tude of Memphis on the south, a distance of more than 100 miles, and from Crowley's ridge on the west to the Chickasaw bluffs on the east, a distance of over 50 miles, the total area affected in this striking way being from 30,000 to 50,000 square miles.

It is not possible to give the number of shocks that were felt, but there were probably at least a hundred that could be detected without the use of instruments, a number of them being severe.

Attempts have been made to determine the exact character of the disturbances that took place in the surface of the earth. Here de- pendence must be put upon the observations within the area of the great disturbances. It is difficult to reconcile the opinions of the different observers on this particular point differences arising, doubtless, from the diffi-

* U. S. Geological Survey, Bulletin 494, Plate 1.

culty experienced during the earthquake in observing and recording the facts as they actually existed; the feeling of terror was so great that it was almost a matter of impossi- bility to make accurate and exact observa- tions. The disturbances of the crust is said by Bringier to have been like the blowing up of the earth accompanied by loud explosions .**

Casseday says: "It seems as if the surface of the earth was afloat and set in motion by a slight application of immense power and when this regular motion is moved by a sudden cross shove all order is destroyed and a boiling action is produced, during the continuance of which the degree of violence is greatest and the scene most dreadful .***

Flint was told by other witnesses that the movement was an undulation of the earth resembling waves, increasing in elevation as they advanced, and when they had attained a certain fearful height the earth would burst.t

This agrees with LeSieur's account also, and Haywood writes that the motions were undulating, the agitating surface quivering like the flesh of beef just killed, and the mo- tion progressed from west to east and was sometimes perpendicular, resembling a house rising and suddenly let fall to the ground.}

Audubon, describing his experiences in Kentucky, says that the ground rose and fell in successive furrows like the ruffled waters of a lake; the earth moved like a field of corn before the breeze.IT

This wave motion of the crust seems to have

** Bringier, American Jour. of Science, Ist se- ries, Vol. III (1821), p. 1546.

*** Casseday, History of Louisville, p. 122.

t Timothy Flint, Recollections of the Last Ten Years, p. 223.

¿ Haywood, Natural and Aboriginal History of Tennessee, p. 124.

{ Audubon, J. J., Journal, Vol. II, p. 234.

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been the most common form of disturbance though there were also certain vertical mo- tions which seem, however, not to have been so destructive as the wave motion.

It is plainly evident that if these accounts of the waving of the earth are accurate the shocks must have been very severe and de- structive. That such was the case is amply evidenced by the testimony of men who visited the scene shortly afterward, Flint, who saw the country within a short time after the shocks, says: "The country exhibited a melancholy aspect of chasms, of sand covering the earth, of trees thrown down, or lying at an angle of 45 degrees, or split in the middle. The earthquakes still recurred at short inter- vals, so that the people had no confidence to rebuild good houses, or chimneys of brick."*

One of the remarkable things connected with the earthquakees is that notwithstanding their very great violence, few people were killed. The inhabitants were very naturally greatly alarmed and for a time refused to live within their houses, but they finally came to pay little or no attention to them. ' It seems that the earthquakes killed only one person by means of falling walls. This remarkable fact, when we compare the record of this earthquake with the record of other shocks which were possibly no more severe, is due to a number of circumstances. In the first place the country was very thinly settled. Within the whole New Madrid region as we have de- fined it, there were only a few hundred per- sons living. The character of the buildings also contributed to this escape from death. There were no brick or stone buildings; most of the houses were built of logs and were only one story in height. These log houses were strongly built and at the same time were elastic and fitted to give before the shock of

* Flint, Recollections of the Last Ten Years.

the earthquake. Then, too, the most severe shocks came after the people had gotten out of their houses. Besides the person killed by the falling of a house, one woman died from the effects of fright. She was so terrified that she ran until she was entirely exhausted and died.t

A number of men seem to have been drowned, some of whom were in boats that were overthrown and sunk by the violence of the waves. And there were others who were drowned, it seems, by falling into the river from caving banks. Some men were drowned by the disappearance of Island No. 94 near Vicksburg. Broadhead says: "They tied up at this island on the evening of the 15th of December, 1811. In looking around they found that a party of river pirates occupied part of the island and were expecting Sarpy with the intention of robbing him. As soon as Sarpy found that out he quietly dropped lower down the river. In the night the earth- quake came and next morning when the ac- companying haziness disappeared, the island could no longer be seen. It had been quietly destroyed, as well as its pirate inhabitants."

Having given some of the general features of the earthquake, of the effect upon the peo- ple living within the district, it is now intended to give a more particular account of some of the phenomena that accompanied the shocks. Many of the observers speak of the darkness that accompanied the most severe disturbances. In the account of Eliza Bryan, given herewith, she speaks of the awful dark- ness of the atmosphere; Godfrey LeSieur says a dense black cloud of vapor overshadowed the land. At Herculaneum it is said that the "air was filled with smoke or fog so that a boat could not be seen twenty paces, nor a house fifty feet away; the air did not clear

+ Flint, Recollections of the Last Ten Years, p. 223.

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until the middle of the day after the shocks."*

At New Madrid it is said that at the time of the shock the air was clear but in five min- utes it become very black and this darkness returned at each successive shock.t

Geologists have sought an explanation of this darkness and some have ascribed it to dust projected into the air by the agitation of the surface, the opening and closing of fis- sures in dry earth, land slides, and falling chimneys and buildings. Besides the dust it is probable that the water vapors coming from the warm water sent up from the cracks and small craters was condensed and helped to make the air foggy. The darkness observed in places outside of the earthquake area may very probably be ascribed to other causes than the earthquakes themselves ; perhaps to storms and clouds.

Besides the darkness the shocks seem to have been accompanied by sulphurous or other ob- noxious odors and vapors. Mrs. Bryan speaks of the saturation of the atmosphere with sul- phurous vapors; other observers tell of sul- phur gas escaping through the cracks and tainting the air and even the water so that it was not fit for use. These vapors or odors were probably due to buried organic matter which had been covered by the alluvium. Gas from this matter was released through the fissures and small craters formed by the earth- quake.

Some accounts speak of the light flashes and glows in connection with the shocks. D- says that there issued no burning flames but flashes such as would result from an explosion of gas or of the passing of electricity from cloud to cloud, and Senator Linn says the

shock was accompanied by flashes of electric- ity. Another observer says sparks of fire were cmitted from the earth. Over all the affected area, indeed, there were reports of lights and flashes like lightning about the time of the earthquake shocks.

It is not possible to account for these lights and glows in any satisfactory way. Some have doubted their presence at all, but they are mentioned by so many observers as to make it difficult to deny their existence alto- gether. They might possibly have been light- ning accompanying storms. There seems to be no good reason for ascribing them to burn- ing gas. The suggestion has been made by some that the light was due to magnetic dis- turbances and was perhaps of electrical char- acter.

One of the phenomena accompanying the earthquakes and one of the most noticeable of all, was the noise. This noise was remarked by many persons. Among the quotations given from contemporary accounts, a number speak of the tremendons sounds terrifying in their nature, Haywood says: "A murmuring noise, like that of fire disturbed by the blow- ing of a bellows, issued from the pores of the earth; a distant rumbling was heard almost without intermission and sometimes seemed to be in the air." (Haywood, Natural and Aboriginal History of Tennessee.) Senator Linn compares the sounds to those produced by a discharge of one thousand pieces of artil- lery and says also that hissing sounds accom- panied the throwing out of the water from the crevices. Flint says the sounds of the ordi- nary shocks were like distant thunder, but that the vertical shocks were accompanied by explosions and terrible mixture of noises. Mrs. Bryan speaks of the "awful noises re- sembling loud and distant thunder but more hoarse and vibrating." The noise of the escap-

* Mitchill, Trans. Lit. and Philos. Soc., New York, Vol. I, p. 291.

t Mitchill, p. 297.

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ing water is compared to the escape of steam from a boiler by some of the observers. Au- dubon speaks of the sound as if it were "the distant rumbling of a violent tornado," while Bradbury mentions the fact that he "was awakened by a tremendous noise" and noticed the fact that the sound which was heard at the time of every shock always preceding it at least a second and uniformly came from the same point and went off in the opposite direc- tion.

Other observers describe the sound in dif- ferent ways. One said ""when the shocks came on the stones on the surface of the earth were agitated by a tremulous motion, like eggs in a frying pan, and made a noise similar to that of the wheels of a wagon in a pebbly road." Others speak of the sound as resem- bling a blaze of fire acted upon by the wind, or the wind rushing through the trees, or a carriage passing along the street, or distant thunder.

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History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I, Part 33

Author: Douglass, Robert Sidney. 4n Publication date: 1912 Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 844

Author: Douglass, Robert Sidney. 4n
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 844