USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 8
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103
Ferdinand De Soto was one of the most daring and able of the Spanish soldiers of for- tune who explored the continent of America. He was with Avila on the isthmus of Darien, with Cordoba in Nicaragua ; explored, inde- pendently, the coasts of Guatemala and Yuca- tan, seeking doubtless for a waterway to the west. In 1532, he accompanied Pizarro to Peru and was one of the boldest members of the remarkable band of men that overturned the empire of the Incas. From these expedi-
tions De Soto returned to Spain with a large fortune, apparently willing to settle down to a life of ease. In 1537, however, he was ap- pointed by Charles V, governor of Florida and Cuba and in May, 1539, he landed at Tampa bay, Florida, with an expedition for the exploration of that country. He had with him a well-equipped army of six hundred men, the largest and most complete expedi- tion that Spain had sent to the New World. His purpose was to explore and conquer the country. Especially was he desirous of find- ing the great and populous cities which the imagination of the Spaniards, stimulated by their experiences in Mexico and Peru, pie- tured as existing in the great and unknown continent to the north. Strange stories were told by the Indians of these cities and return- ing wanderers of the Spanish had heard of Quivira, a great and rich city where there was gold enough to satisfy even the Spaniards.
De Soto plunged into the wilderness with his little army and for nearly three years pur- sued his journey through the unexplored wil- derness of North America. For a time he was in the Carolinas; then he explored the
13
14
HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
Alabama river; then he came to the great river, the Mississippi, and crossed it. From this time on his wanderings have an interest for the student of Missouri history, for, from a careful study of the narrative of his further wanderings, we are led to the conclusion that he penetrated the territory of the present state of Missouri. It is not possible to deter- mine with absolute accuracy the precise point where he crossed the Mississippi. Some stu- dents of journey, among them Bancroft, Nut- tall and Schoolcraft, think he must have crossed at the Chickasaw Bluffs, near the present site of Memphis. Others, however, in- cluding Elliot, Winsor and Martin, consider it more probable that he crossed lower down. Houck, reasoning from the fact stated by Garcillasso that heavy timber existed where they crossed the river, concludes that the crossing must have been at a place of alluvial soil and consequently not at Chickasaw Bluffs, which were not then timbered. He thinks the crossing was at some point between the month of the St. Francois and the mouth of the Ar- kansas, and in view of all the facts this seems the most reasonable supposition.
Having crossed the river the expedition wandered for four days through a flat coun- try intersected with swamps. On the fifth day from their crossing they reached a high ridge from whose summit they saw a river. Upon its banks was an Indian town sur- rounded by fields of maize. To this place the march of the party had been to the north. Garcillasso says they kept "northward" or "marched directly to the north." This prob- ably means that after crossing the Mississippi they did not strike into the forest away from it, but continued their journey in a general direction parallel to the course of the river itself. It was quite natural for them to do this, because we know that the trails or traces
of the Indians were accustomed to follow the general course of the river. If, then, De Soto after the crossing, continued to the north near or along the bank of the Mississippi, we may inquire as to the location of the ridge which the expedition climbed and from which was seen another river with a village encircled with fields of maize.
It seems highly probable that this ridge was what is now called Crowley's ridge, one of the offshoots of the Ozark range which con- tinues into Arkansas, forming a divide be- tween the alluvial bottom of the St. Francois and that of the White and the Cache. This ridge terminates at the Mississippi river not far from Helena, Arkansas, and along its eastern border flows the St. Francois. Crow- ley's ridge is the only ridge on the west side of the river between the Ohio and the Arkan- sas. If the expedition then proceeded north from their point of crossing, and that point was south of the mouth of the Arkansas as we believe it to have been, then it was to this ridge they came. From its summit the course of the St. Francois could be seen, and in the alluvial soil at its base would likely be found the fields of maize mentioned by the chron- iclers of the expedition.
De Soto and his men spent some time in the village which they had seen form the summit of the ridge resting and recovering from the effects of their long march through the wil- derness. These Indians are called Casquins by the members of the expedition. They were probably a part of the tribe of the Kaskas- kias. They later made their home on the Illi- nois where they were found by Joliet and Marquette. It was not an unusual thing for the Indian tribes to change their place of residence, however. In fact, this was a habit that marked them, so that we may believe that
15
HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
the Indians found by De Soto dwelling on the St. Francois, later moved to the country of the Illinois. These Indians received De Soto and his men with great hospitality showing the utmost friendliness and desire to please. They opened their houses, such as they were, for the use of De Soto's men, and provided pro- visions for men and beasts.
The Indians of this village told De Soto that their great chief, or cacique, resided some distance to the north. Indeed two mes- sengers from this chief came to the village during the stay of the expedition and invited De Soto to visit the cacique. This he deter- mined to do. He marched north along the hanks of the Mississippi river, finding higher ground than formerly and the richest alluvial soil they had yet seen. This soil was a sandy loam, black in color and very rich. It was covered with forests of timber in places, di- versified with prairies and broken in places by swamps. The pecan tree, the wild plum and the mulberry were everywhere abundant, while the fields abounded in maize. After two days of marching they came to the chief town of the country where the cacique of the Casquins resided. It seems evident that this ridge up which they marched was the sandy ridge that runs parallel to the river from near the mouth of the St. Francois to the hills of the Ozark region near Cape Girardeau. It has the same soil as that described by De Soto's men, the trees are the same, and it runs in the direction of the course taken by them. On this ridge are situated many flour- ishing towns in southeast Missouri, to-day. Among them are Caruthersville, New Madrid and Charleston. Then, of course, it was a wilderness broken by the small clearings of the Indians and traversed by the celebrated
trace that led to the great crossing of the river near Commerce.
The expedition was received by the In- dians with great kindness. The chief invited De Soto to lodge in his house. This dwelling stood on a high artificial mound and con- sisted of a number of houses for the accommo- dation of his numerous wives and their chil- dren. This invitation was declined by De Soto and he and most of his men were lodged by the natives in arbors or hoothis of brush. Presents were exchanged and the utmost good feeling prevailed.
On the fourth day of their stay occurred an incident which attested the impression made by the expedition upon the savages. On the morning of that day there appeared be- fore De Soto the cacique, accompanied by his principal followers, who addressed the leader of the Spaniards in these words : "Senor, as you are superior to us in prowess and surpass us in arms, we likewise believe that your God is better than our god. We supplicate you to pray to your God that our fields, which are now parched may receive rain and our crops be saved."
In response to this request, De Soto caused a large pine tree to be procured, and from it the carpenter of the expedition constructed a large cross. This cross was erected, and, there in the midst of the forest, a solemn pro- cession was formed which marched to the cross, and while the wondering Indians looked on in astonishment the services of the church were performed and a supplication sent up to God for the needed rain. The Indians seemed profoundly impressed by the solemnity of the occasion. Many of them knelt upon the ground, some were moved to tears by the serv- ice, and others still inquired for an expla-
16
HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
nation of the mysteries which they beheld for the first time. The solemn service was closed with the singing of a Te Deum and the forest aisles echoed for the first time with the sound of men's voices lifted up in the service of song to God. In the middle of the night the long drought was broken and a copious rain fell upon the earth.
Such was the first religious service of the Christian church held in Missouri. Speaking of it Irving says:# "More than three cen- turies ago the cross, the type of our beautiful religion, was planted on the banks of the Mis- sissippi, and its silent forests wakened by the Christian's hymn of gratitude 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 in that savage region again for many gener- ations. It was as if a lightning's gleam had broken for a moment upon a benighted world, startling it with sudden effulgence, only to leave it in ten-fold more gloom. The real dawning was yet afar off from the benighted valley of the Mississippi."
That the place of this first service was with- in the limits of Missouri we may not doubt. It is impossible to fix the precise spot. The high hill, doubtless an artificial mound, has probably disappeared. The pine tree, which was made into a cross, was probably a cypress which resembles the pine in some respects, and might have been found anywhere in a vast extent of territory. From these things, then, it is impossible to determine the place of this Indian village, but, judging from the direction of their travel, from the distance probably covered in the two days of their march, they were within the limits of Mis- souri, perhaps according to the opinion of * "Conquest of Florida, " p. 114.
Nuttall near the present site of New Madrid. At an early day a mound stood near the town. This mound has been swept away by the river, but it may well have been the scene of this service.
On the next morning after the service and the rain, De Soto made ready to continue his journey to the north. He was still led on- ward by the hopes which had brought him into the wilderness. Great cities were yet to be found, gold was to be discovered. These things lay in the distance before him, as he fondly thought. From time to time, during their journey, they had found in the posses- sion of the Indians various trinkets and other things made of gold; and these served to con- firm them in their belief that somewhere in the mighty and unconquered wilderness there was much of the yellow metal waiting for the fortunate men who might be led to find it. And so to seek gold and adventure, after the days of rest and pleasure with their new friends of the Casquin Indians, they made ready to depart.
The cacique, however, a wily savage of ahont fifty years of age, had no idea of al- lowing his good and great friends to depart without conferring on him other tokens of their friendship and power. He had been greatly impressed with the evident power of the Spaniards and meditated on turning it to his own account.
For many years enmity had existed between the Casquins or Kaskaskias and the Capa- has, a tribe living further to the north. Lately the fortunes of war had inclined to the side of the Capahas, and the cacique of the Casquins and his people had been com- pelled to accept the yoke of their enemies and to pay tribute and render service to them. In the undoubted prowess and power of his
17
HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
new-found friends, the Spaniards, the cacique saw a means by which he and his people might be liberated from the power of the Capahas. Accordingly when De Soto was ready to depart toward the north the ca- cique begged leave to accompany him with two bodies of his people. "For," he said, "the way is long and ardnous. Roads are to be cut, the swamps are to be crossed, and the baggage of the army to be carried through the rough woods of the way." Accordingly, De Soto was accompanied by three thousand In- dians, who carried the luggage of the expe- dition, and by a body of five thousand war- riors, gay with plumes and war-paint and armed with all the weapons of savage war- fare. Of course we are to understand that these numbers have been greatly exaggerated in the telling by the chroniclers of the expe- dition. No such numbers of savages could have been gathered together in that region. Still we are to suppose that many accom- panied the expedition, perhaps the whole force which the cacique could muster, for he meant, now to avenge himself on his hated enemies, the Capahas.
On taking up the march, the cacique took the lead with his men; dividing them into squadrons and. marching in what the Spanish called good military array. The reason given for the arrangement of men was that the Indians were to clear the roads and prepare the camps in advance of the expedition. On the third day of the march they came to a miry swamp which contained within its cen- ter a lake or gulf which was probably a part of the old channel of the Mississippi. This swamp discharged itself into the river and was about half a bowshot across and was deep and sluggish. Over this the Indians con- structed a bridge of logs, over which the men passed while the horses of the expedition Vol. 1-2
swam. This lake with a miry swamp about its edge was quite probably one of the slug- gish streams which break the sandy ridge up which De Soto was pursuing his march. This ridge extends through the counties of New Madrid, Mississippi, and Scott. It is broken at a number of places by streams which carry part of the drainage from the basin of Little river to the Mississippi. It is impossible to know which one of these is meant from the early accounts, but it is evident that one of them is referred to, if we accept the general course of his march as here outlined. That march must have carried him from near the site of New Madrid across lakes, bayous, swamps, along the sandy ridge through the edge of Mississippi county, east of the hills in Scott county, to the swamp lying south- west of Cape Girardeau.
Having crossed on the improvised bridge of of logs, De Soto and his men found then- selves on what is described as meadows. Here they encamped, charmed by the beauty of the landscape, the luxuriance of the foli- age and the abundance of the flowers. From this place he continued his journey north for two days. On the third day he came to some elevated ridges from which he saw the forti- fied camp of the chief of the Capahas. This town was itself on a high hill or mound. "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 plaster and timber such as has already been described. The moat was filled with water by a canal cut from the Mississippi river. which was three leagues distant. The canal was deep and sufficiently wide for two canoes to pass abreast without touching one another's paddles. The canal and moat were filled with fish, so as to supply all the wants of the army
-
18
HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
and village, without any apparent diminution of the number." #
It is evident that, in thus describing the situation and character of the Indian camp, the Spaniards were transferring to America, as they often did, the scenes and customs of Europe. The moat and canal to supply it were doubtless nothing more than natural channels, perhaps a bayou or former channel of the river. The Indians of America seem never to have constructed castles defended by moats, and while the situation of the Ca- paha village may have resembled the artificial moats with which the Spaniards were fa- miliar, they were not constructed by the hand of man. It would be interesting to know the exact site of this camp of Capaha Indians for these were among the most interesting of all the Indians encountered by De Soto and his party; but it is not possible to determine from the description given what the site of the camp was. If we have been correct in our conjectures as to the general route fol- lowed thus far in the wanderings, then the camp thus reached must have been not far from the neighborhood of Cape Girardeau. Of course many places in the foothills of the Ozarks might fit in a general way the de- scription here given, but two circumstances in addition to the course pursued in reaching this place lead us to believe that it was in the vicinity mentioned. One of these is a jour- ney, hereafter described, of a part of the ex- pedition to a stream, which from the pres- ence of salt we suspect to have been Saline creek in Ste. Genevieve county. The other is the fact that one of the varieties of fish de- scribed as having been present in the moat and canal was the spadefish or Platyrostra edentula, sometimes known as the shovel-bill cat. The latter fish is characteristic of the
* Irving, "Conquest of Florida," p. 117.
regions we have mentioned and its presence lends weight to the theory that the place of the Capahas was at least within the limits of Southeast Missouri. This town of the Capahas contained, according to the account of the Spaniards, about five hundred houses, and was situated nearly three leagues from the Mississippi river.
The chief of the Capahas had received no- tice through his scouts of the coming of the Casquins with their new allies, and on their near approach to the town, being unable, be- cause of the absence of his warriors, to do- fend it, he escaped in a canoe, making his way down the canal to the river and taking refuge on an island in the vicinity. All who could, followed him to this retreat, others fled into the woods, while many remained in the village and waited with alarm the ap- proach of the Casquins. The cacique of the Casquins, marching with his men in advance of the expedition, entered the Capaha village and proceeded to take vengeance for former defeats. All the men who were found were immediately killed and scalped, the women and children were taken as prisoners, among them being two wives of the cacique who had failed to flee with him, owing to the confu- sion and alarm into which the village was thrown by the approach of their enemies. These women are described by the Spaniards as being young and beautiful-a description which we may be pardoned for doubting, for it was their invariable custom to find beau- tiful women among the Indians, just as they found among them almost all the manners and customs with which they were acquainted at home. The houses of the Capahas were plundered, and even the dead were not safe from insult and disturbance. Within the public square there was situated a mausoleum
19
HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
or burial place in which had been deposited the remains of the ancestors of the chief, the great men of the tribe and the trophies won by them in war. The Casquins broke open this sacred place, stripped arms and trophies from the walls, heaped insult and abuse on the dead bodies contained within it, trampled upon the bones and scattered them upon the ground. They replaced the heads of slain enemies, some of them Casquins, with these of freshly slain Capahas. There was no in- sult or indignity which the minds of savages could devise which was not put upon all that the Capahas held sacred.
Now these outrages were committed, we are told, before the arrival of De Soto and his men. They were in the rear and came to the village only in time to save it from utter destruction as the maddened Casquins were proceeding to fire the houses. De Soto re- sented these actions, for he was impressed with the evidences of the power of the Capa- has and learning of the presence of the chief on the island to which he had fled, he sent envoys there to disavow the actions of his savage allies, and to beg for a friendly alli- ance with him. These envoys were not re- ceived by the Capaha chief, and De Soto learned that he was making every effort to gather warriors that he might take vengeance for the outrages inflicted upon his village. Accordingly De Soto prepared to attack the Capahas on their island. He caused to be gathered all the available canoes and, filling these with his own men and the warriors of the Casquins, he made an attack on the island. He found that the Capahas had for- tified themselves strongly, and it was only with great difficulty that he was able to effect a landing at all. The Casquins were unwill- ing to fight and, after a brief engagement, retreated to their canoes leaving the brunt of
the battle to fall upon the Spaniards. It was only after a desperate struggle that De Soto and his men were able to retreat from the island and make their way back to the village. In fact, it seems they would not have been able to embark in their canoes at all had not the Capaha chief ordered his men not to press their attack upon the Spaniards and allowed them to depart.
De Soto was very much displeased because of the cowardly desertion of the Casquins and when on the following day envoys arrived from the Capahas, asking for peace and sig- nifying the desire of their cacique to visit him, he determined to accept the offered friendship and agree to an amnesty despite the objections of the Casquins.
The cacique of the Casquins feeling the displeasure of De Soto and fearing to lose the help of such powerful allies as the Spaniards had proved themselves to be, attempted to appease the Adelantado (as De Soto is called by the chroniclers) by gifts of skins and even of his daughter as handmaid. In spite of these evidences of friendship, De Soto was distrustful of the cacique and contrasted his conduct most unfavorably with that of the Capala, and he cansed the cacique to send most of his warriors home.
On the day appointed the Capaha chief, ac- companied by a hundred of his warriors, dressed in handsome skins and beautiful plumes came to pay his court to De Soto. He proved to be a young man of noble and splen- did bearing with handsome face and physique. He was vastly moved by the indignities which had been offered to his dead, and his first care was to gather the scattered bones, and return them reverently to their resting place. He then sought De Soto who came forth to meet him accompanied by the Casquin.
He brought presents for the Adelantado,
20
HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
and offered himself as a vassal, but refused to have anything to do with Casquin, except to threaten him with a day of retribution, until upon the interposition of De Soto he finally agreed to settle his quarrel with him.
In this village the expedition remained for several days as the situation was pleasant, the Indians friendly, and the supplies of food and of skins for clothing were very grateful to the members of the expedition who were worn and ragged from their long wanderings. It was De Soto's wish to find out about the country he had not visited. To this end he made many inquiries of the Indians concern- ing the country to the north and its inhabit- ants. He was told that much of the country was' barren, but hearing that salt was to be obtained in that direction, he sent de Silvera and Morena in search of it. The Spaniards had suffered much on the expedition from lack of salt. Many of those who had died on the way declared that they thought they would recover if only they could have meat with plenty of salt on it. At the end of eleven days, the men who had been detached re- turned, almost starved, having passed through a thinly settled and sterile country where they found little to eat except roots and wild plums. They brought with them, however, supplies of salt and some copper. It is quite probable that these men had reached Saline creek for the Indians of later, and doubtless of that time also, were accustomed to secure salt from the banks of that stream.
.. From this place the expedition returned to the village of the Casquins where they re- mained for four or five days, and then De Soto determined to travel to the westward. He was led to this decision by the reports of a country called Quigate. On leaving the vil- lage of the Casquins he travelled one day's march and then rested at another village of
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.