Memoirs of a Captivity Among the Indians of North America, by John Dunn Hunter; 3rd edition (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Ohme, Brown, & Green, 1824)

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MANNERS AND CUSTOMS

OF SEVERAL

INDIAN TRIBES

LOCATED WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI:

INCLUDING

SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE EXTENT, ASPECT, AND NATURAL PRODUCTIONS AND CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE COUNTRY THEY INHABIT.

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OF THE EXTENT, ASPECT, SOIL, AND CLIMATE OF THE COUNTRY DISTINGUISHED AT PRESENT BY THE NAMES OF THE MISSOURI AND ARKANSAS TERRITORIES.

Before I enter upon the subjects more immediately connected with the manners and customs of the Indians, some general account of the country inhabited by them, appears to be necessary to enable the reader to understand how far location, boundary, abundance and scarcity of game, and intercourse, influence their general character and habits.

But this account must, from necessity, be exceedingly limited; because, my acquaintance with these subjects originated under circumstances and views altogether disconnected with their application to the general purposes of civilized life.

The extensive country, of which I propose to give a very imperfect description, is bounded on the east by the state of Missouri and Mississippi river; north by the British dominions; west by the Rocky Moun-

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tains; and south by the Arkansas river and territories of the Mexican empire.

These regions, calculated to sustain probably more than fifty millions of inhabitants in a state of civilization, are, at present, with the exception of some inconsiderable white settlements and military posts, occupied by something upwards of one hundred thousand Indians, and have been computed to contain about one million of square miles. The country between the Mississip[p]i and Missouri rivers, may be denominated level; though I observed several ranges of hills as we passed over it. It is composed of nearly equal parts of prairie and woodland, the former predominating in the neighbourhood of the Missouri. I can say but little in respect to the soil. Far north, it appeared, in part, from the growth of plants to be tolerably good; while in other places it was either too sterile or wet for improvement. Lower down, nearly all the country we passed over appeared well calculated for cultivation. On the west side of the Missouri, receding from the alluvions, or what, in the language of the country are called bottoms, the first one hundred, or one hundred and fifty miles may be denominated as level. It is, however, gradually voluted; and, receding farther, these volutations increase, and sometimes swell into considerable hills, and occasionally into abrupt cliffs. Farther west it becomes still more hilly; and, finally, the country assumes the character of mountainous.

These undulated formations maintain a singular coincidence in their directions with respect to particular prairies; but whether they are uniformly alike in all, I cannot pretend to say.

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The mountains generally conform to a meridian parallel in their direction, inclining, if any thing, to the west of north. The same observations will apply to the hills, if we except those situated between the Osage and Arkansas rivers, which individually are very irregular, though we all may, and probably do, conform to a general direciton.

The aspect of this district should also be excepted in the general description; because, the prairies do not bear so great a proportion to the other varieties of land; they are less even, and generally better watered; while the hills are more elevated and numerous, and the proportion of woodland is very much increased.

Generally, throughout this vast country, the alluvions and more elevated hills only are supplied with trees; and the proportion of these lands, compared with the other varieties, would be deemed too inconsiderable to deserve notice, were they not indispensable to the final settlement of the country. The remainder consists of fertile and barren prairies and morasses. To be more particular, the soil is various, and, for convenience of description, may be treated under the five following heads:

The first, or the alluvions, skirt the margin of all the water courses, except where they are occasionally interrupted by the approach of the barrens. They are of various widths, from half a mile to four

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or five miles; but they seldom exceed an average of those distances. They are composed of a rich stratum of vegetable and earthy mould to an unknown depth, which, in general, supports large growths of trees, consisting of cotton wood (Populus angulata), sycamore (Platanus occidentalis), hackberry, (Celtis crassifolia), honey locust (Gleditschia triacanthos), white locust (Robinia pseudacacia), pecan (Juglans olivæformis), dogwood (Cornus florida), shot bush, or prickly ash (Aralia spinosa), hoop ash (Celtis occidentalis), coffee tree, (Gymnocladus canadensis), red and white mulberry (Morus rubra, et alba), sassafras (Laurus sassafras), white and slippery elm, (Ulmus Americana, et aspera,) red and sugar maple (Acer rubrum, et saccharinum), persimmon (Diospyros virginiana), various kinds of willow (Salix), swamp dogwood (Cornus sericea), various kinds of cherry and plum (Prunus), crab apple (Pyrus coronaria), chestnut and chinquapin (Castanea Americana, et pumila), various kinds of oak, among which are the pin, over-cup, and swamp (Quercus palustris, macrocarpa, et lyratia), papaw (Annona triloba), black, white, and sweet birch (Betula nigra, papyracea, et lenta), alder (Alnus), elder (Sambucus), trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides), hazel (Corylus,) magnolia, moose-wood*, blood-wood, spice-wood*, bow-wood or Osage orange*, several varieties of grape vines, and many other plants common to the United States. Some of the same kinds of trees as grow on the alluvions are found on the hills, particularly near their base: they also are produced in some of the swamps or morasses.

* The technical names unknown to the author.

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The Alluvions may be divided into wet and dry, the former being more frequently inundated, and are readily distinguishable by the plants they produced.

The second, or fertile prairies.--These, so far as my observations go, constitute a greater extent of surface than the aggregate of all the other varieties. Sometimes they present vast champaigns, and at others a slightly undulated appearance; not sufficient, however, to change the general character of evenness. But the greatest portion is formed by the vallies which are situated between the more elevated ridges or hills. The soil in general is of a dark colour, rich, and, in the vallies, frequently several feet in depth. It produces a great variety of plants which it is impossible for me to describe, because omitting those which are used for nutritive and medicinal purposes, which I shall subsequently notice, they did not fix my attention so strongly as to enable me to make comparisons, that would justify the attempt.

The Prairie grass, which in a degree resembles some kinds of broom grass, grows from three to ten feet in height; and in general affords excellent grazing the whole year round, particularly in the lower latitudes. The tops of that which is tall are beaten down by the snow and winds, and in this situation protect the more tender form the effects of the cold weather; so that grazing animals, without much difficulty, keep themselves in pretty good condition throughout the winter.

Third. The soil of the hills.--This differs considerably; but in general on the northern sides it is black and rich, though not deep, while the southern

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exposures are as uniformly sterile. The former frequently produce tall and thick growths of oak, walnut (Juglans squamosa et nigra), red, mountain, and sugar maple, white locust, ash (Fraxinus), chesnut, chinquapin, sassafras, and several others common to the hills in the eastern states; while the latter, and the tops of the hills, are thinly covered with stinted growths of red cedar (Juniperus Virginiana), pines (Pinus), scrubby Oak, sour wood*, sawas berry*, and whortle-berries (Vaccinium resinosum).

Fourth. The swamps.--These are not very extensive nor numerous; but they are comparatively more so, as we proceed north, or approximate the Rocky Mountains. In general they may be denominated fertile prairies, subject to occasional or long-continued overflowings: the soil appears to be much the same, though probably it reposes on strata of clay; as these grounds prevail to a greater extent among ridges composed almost entirely of this material. In some instances they support growths of trees similar to those on the river lands or alluvions; in others, where more subject to inundations, they produce some species of the rush (Juncus), flags (Iris, et acorus), cat's-tail (Typha), swamp cabbage (Pothos fœtida), and many other aquatic plants; but in general they afford the wild rice, from which, after the buffalos and other grazing animals have trampled over it, the Indians collect their supplies.

Fifth. Barrens.--The tops and sides of the ridges in general constitute the barrens; though I have seen

* Technical names not known to the author.

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them, with the exception of the deep ravines formed by the rains and melting snows, almost of a dead level. They are composed either of clay, interspersed sometimes with rocks, or of sand, and sustain scarcely any vegetable substances except brambles, moss, and a species or two of the cactus.

One of these clay barrens of considerable extent, situated to the north of the La Platte, is remarkably intersected by deep ravines, which render the travelling across it exceedingly difficult. Several others are met with high up on the Arkansas and La Platte rivers, which are composed wholly of sand. Some of them are level; but in general they rise into gentle ridges, and some of them into conical hills or ridges of considerable height. The cactus and a kind of running grass which bears innumerable small sharp-pointed burrs, grow on the hills; and sometimes, especially where rocky, brambles and small shrubs are also found. In windy weather the sands are drifted about, so as to occasion much pain and inconvenience to those who travel over them.

Where the level sand barrens are connected to the fertile prairies, or to the river lands, they appear more elevated, as though they had, at some former period, been transported over them by the agency of wind or water. Another corroborative circumstance that such has been the case, is the appearance of the fertile prairies in many places on one side of the rivers, while on the other these sandy accumulations are of considerable extent. And such, I have no doubt, is the fact; since they are uniformly found more extensive on the sides of the rivers in the leeward direction of the

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prevailing winds. On this hypothesis, the rivers must have conveyed these sands from the mountains, and deposited them in times of floods in such situations as to admit of their subsequent removal by the winds: and yet, as an objection to it, they appear of too vast extent and volume to have been thus accumulated, within the period assigned as the age of our globe.

There is, perhaps, no SOIL in the world which is in itself better qualified for agricultural purposes, than what composes the alluvion districts in this country. They are, however, annually overflowed from a week, to a month or six weeks, according to the situation of the sources of the different rivers, and the length, size, and rapidity of their currents; which circumstances also influence the season of the year at which they occur.

The period for cultivating the alluvions of the lower Missouri, has arrived by the time the snows of the Rocky Mountains begin to dissolve; and it becomes considerably advanced, before the floods they finally produced have reached them: so that it is utterly impossible to improve them, except for grazing meadows, unless the waters be first banked out, as has been done on the Mississippi, in the neighbourhood of New Orleans. Most of the streams flowing into the Missouri, are liable to, and often do overflow their banks, at different periods of the year; so that, to obtain the greatest possible advantage from cultivating their marginal lands, they should also be embanked. But, perhaps, it would be more conducive to the settlement and prosperity of this country, to preserve them for the purpose of supplying the settlers on the prairies with timber.

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The fertile prairies bordering on the woodlands are well adapted for settlement, and, I have no doubt, will be reclaimed to a very great extent before another century has transpired, and finally give employment to a hardy, dense population. On account of the scarcity of wood and water, it is not probable that any attempts to settle the central prairies will be made till the lands better adapted to cultivation are first improved. But the many thousand square miles so situated, will finally become of too great value and importance in a national view, to be suffered to remain a wilderness, as many now suppose they for ever must. The want of wood and water is not, however, the only barrier to their settlement: another very formidable one is presented in their liability to fires, which will, almost to a certainty, prove dangerous, if not destructive to the first adventurers, unless suitable preventive means be carried into effect.

As clay, and I have no doubt coal and turf are abundant, bricks for building may be readily obtained; timber for the same object may be procured by cultivating forests, which the earth, with proper attention, will certainly produce; and for fences, nothing can surpass living hedges, which would probably flourish as readily as forest trees, and in as great perfection as any of the plants found at present in the fertile prairies.

To obtain a supply of water will in general be more difficult; but as one is in the earth, it may be procured. But apart from this source, I am persuaded it may be conveyed in canals, through some extensive districts

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of country, which the consequence increased value of the neighbouring lands will eventually justify.

The prairies may be protected from fire by ploughing in the prairie grass to any length and width necessary to arrest its progress. In some situations where the streams interlock, large districts of country may, in this way, be defended against the fire, which, in dry windy weather, spreads with a rapidity not always to be avoided by the caution and utmost speed of the buffalo.

In the fall of the year, when the prairie grass is dry, the prairies are sometimes set on fire by accident, and at others by design. Should the wind be high on these occasions, no spectacle can surpass them in grandeur and sublimity; a space as far as the eye can reach, is seen devastated by the igneous torrent. In some places the tortuous flames, comparatively lost in distance, appear to smoulder beneath impervious columns of smoke; at others, they burst into the skies with the vividness and rapidity of lightning, and seem to threaten universal desolation. Their speed is that of the winds, and destruction betides every living thing that cannot outfly its course. The grazing herds, conscious of the threatening calamity, fearlessly congregate with their natural enemies; and the buffalos, elks, deer, panthers, wolves, and bears, are seen promiscuously crowded together. They sometimes escape to the ravines and avoid death, but more frequently they are overwhelmed by the resistless flames. One of these fires raged to a very great extent a few years since, on the prairies between the Kansas and Arkansas rivers; and it is ex-

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tremely painful on passing over them, to witness the ruin it produced. The mass of bleached bones strewed on the earth is astonishingly great; and no doubt remains, that many thousand buffalos and other animals perished at this particular period.

These fires do not in common prove so destructive; but their occasional prevalence contributes greatly to the destruction of animal life.

All the difficulties presented to the settlement of the prairies, as above stated, may be surmounted, wherever the fertility of the soil will compensate for cultivation.

Many of the swamps or morasses will admit of being drained; at least, such is my present impression; and they would, under such management, prove excellent for arable and grazing purposes.

The foregoing observations will apply with great propriety to nearly the whole fertile district of country, included between the boundaries first described. I assert this, from information I have received from the traders and Indians, and from my own observations, which, it should be kept in view, have been comparatively limited; for I ascended the Missouri but once, and then had but an indifferent opportunity for making observations beyond its variegated boundaries: I, however, crossed three times from the Kansas and Arkansas to the La Platte, and ascended the latter river nearly to its source. Besides, I passed frequently between the Arkansas and Osage rivers, and am well acquainted with the country bordering on them, and

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on White and St. Francis rivers to a considerable extent.

On approaching the Rocky Mountains, the surface of the country, as before observed, is more uneven, abrupt and hilly. The soil is by no means so productive, and runs more frequently into sandy and rocky barrens, which, in some instances, are of great extent. The vegetable growth is also widely different; for instead of the lofty trees, which obtain in the country lower down, though many of them are of the same species, they dwindle into comparative shrubbery. To this, however, may be excepted some varieties of pine, which, not unfrequently in the vallies, grow to a stately size. The lands between the Osage and the Arkansas, including the vallies drained by White and St. Francis rivers, are very different from those above described. The country generally is more hilly, and the hills are larger, more fertile, and better watered.

I have noticed in my narrative, all that I recollect respecting the country west of the Rocky Mountains, and shall conclude by observing, that this subject, connected with the future settlement of this extensive country, is so very important, that I trust my readers will forgive the short digression into which it has led me.

Climate.--On so extensive a line as is included between the 35° and 49° north latitude, the northern and southern extremities of these territories, with very elevated ranges of mountains along their whole western borders, and the greater portion of the surface of the country, exposed to the rays of the sun, the climate

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must necessarily be exceedingly various. My knowledge respecting it does not, however, extend much farther than between the southern boundary and 39° or 40° north latitude; I am therefore, constrained to confine my observations on this subject, principally to the country of the Osage and Kansas Indians.

The climate is here temperate, though exceedingly changeable; it very much resembles that of the same latitudes on the east side of the Mississippi. The prevailing winds, snow storms and such hurricanes as happen, which in general are annually periodical, come mostly from the north-west, and the rains and thunder gusts most frequently from between the south and south-east points. The earth is commonly supplied with seasonable and refreshing showers of rain, except from the middle of the summer to the ingathering of the corn, when droughts generally prevail. Fogs are by no means frequent; late in the fall they occur sometimes in the morning, but disappear uniformly as the sun rises. Preceding the accession of frost, the atmosphere assumes a reddish hazy appearance; for the rest of the year it is agreeably arid, and beautifully clear. The snow storms are usually followed by rain, in consequence of which the earth is seldom covered by any considerable time. The grounds are not commonly frozen for more than two or three months, and I think, on an average, would admit the plough by the first of March.

The climate on the Arkansas, south of the Osage river, is more mild; which necessarily produces deviations from the above description, that the intelligent reader will readily comprehend, without any

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farther notice of the subject on my part. I ought, however, to remark, that hail storms are more frequent, and the winds more changeable and strong, especially in the summer season, tending much to mitigate the heat of the sun, which otherwise would oftentimes be very oppressive. Low down on White, and on the alluvion lands of the St. Francis and neighbouring rivers, the country is subject to long-continued and dense fogs, and is, in consequence, unhealthy. The inhabitants of this district suffer annually in a greater or less degree from intermittent and remittent fevers and our concomitant diseases, according to the prevalence of this peculiar atmospheric contamination.

To conclude, I may remark that the climate, after passing the foggy regions of the Mississip[p]i, is healthy, and, no doubt, advancing west it becomes more so, as far as the country is habitable, quite to the base of the Rocky Mountains. On the other hand, the facilities for settlement, and the prospects of reward for labour, beyond what is essential for home consumption, diminish in proportion as the distances increase. The fertile districts of this whole country are, beyond a doubt, capable of being made to produce all the varieties found in similar latitudes and elevations throughout the world, and that too with means in the first instance exceedingly limited, in comparison to what has been necessary to reclaim other portions of the globe. These lands are not now in demand, and before they will become so, the government, with judicious management, may, at a very moderate expense compared to their value, readily

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obviate the difficulties to their improvement in advance of the settlements, by planting forests, digging wells, &c. as I have previously suggested.

Approaching the mountains, the proportion of the good land is much diminished; but the quantity under all circumstances, is sufficient to support a numerous population; and it must, in the necessary course of events, finally yield, in common with those more advantageously situated, to the improving influence of civilized life.

It is true, that the snows which perpetually cover some of these mountains, will operate to a certain extent against particular agricultural pursuits, but not sufficiently to change the character of the country; because, the winds which come from them, although at first sufficiently cold to arrest and even render doubtful the anticipated results of culture, yet become gradually warm and fertilizing in their progress through regions highly rarified by the reflecting power of the extensive prairies.

But, was the climate still less favourable, the advantages offered from the cultivation of indigenous plants, and others which experience has shown will flourish, in particular situations, are sufficient to fix the attention, and reward the industry of the enterprizing. The white mulberry abounds at present in sufficient numbers to authorize a very wide attention to the product of the silkworm: and grape vines producing black, red, flesh-coloured, and white fruit, of a richness of flavour surpassing any I have seen under cultivation, are to be met with in astonishing quantities in the hollows of the prairies. This cir-

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cumstance will not appear extraordinary, if the character of the plan be taken into consideration, since it is well known in order to obtain the grape in its greatest perfection, that the vine should be exposed to a free circulation of air and the direct rays of the sun; both of which are natural results in the open prairies.

I have seen hundreds of acres spread over with the vine; nay, I might say thousands, which, in the proper season, are loaded to an almost incredible extent, with the most delicious grapes. And, were it not for the paths kept open by bears, deer, and other animals which feed on them, it would be next to impossible to pass through the thickly interwoven branches. Large tracts are frequently to be seen in various parts of the country, particularly near the Osage river, which are covered with thick growths of the crab apple, plum, and wild-cherry tree, and are so thickly interwoven with grape vines, as totally to exclude the sun's rays from the ground beneath. Such do not, however, bear either rich or abundant fruit, and I name the circumstance merely to show their wild luxuriancy.

I am satisfied that the two above-mentioned articles, that is, silk and wine, may be attended to with decidedly greater advantage than generally results in the United States, from the ordinary agricultural pursuits, especially in situations remote from a market. Besides those, cotton, rice, and tobacco, will succeed remarkably well towards the southern confines of this territory; and tobacco, flax, hemp, and all the products of farming, common to the eastern and western states, must answer equally well farther in the interior. This account of the soil, climate, &c. might be ex-

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tended; but as these subjects have already elicited the proper solicitude of the United States' government, and very laudable and judicious measures have been pursued and are still pursuing both by it, and by meritorious, intelligent, and enterprising individuals, it would be presumptuous in me to extend my remarks any farther.

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Mountains.--If that devious range of the Rocky Mountains which divides the waters flowing into the Pacific Ocean from those which are discharged into the Atlantic, be taken as the western boundary, several very considerable continuations of the Andes will be found to pass within the western limits of these territories. But in respect to them I can add nothing to the present stock of knowledge. They are the highest lands in North America, and many of their peaks and ridges are covered with perpetual snows; to which no doubt many of the rivers flowing from them, are more indebted for their varying supplies of water, than to any other source. Besides, they exert a great influence on the climate, as I have already had occasion to remark.

In addition to these, there are several other elevations, particularly in the neighbourhood of the Arkansas which have received the name of mountains; but so far as my knowledge extends, without any extraordinary claim to such distinction.

Lakes.--I mentioned in my narrative, that, in crossing from the head waters of the La Platte to the Rocky Mountains, we passed a considerable lake; which, excepting some small ones on the head waters

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of the Mississippi, and on the river St. Francis, is the only one I know of within this extensive country. Small sheets of water are occasionally met with in some of the morasses, and on some of the small streams, but they are too inconsiderable to merit notice.

Rivers.--The rivers are numerous, but as they have been frequently described, and are pretty generally known, my observations on them will be very limited.

Of the Mississippi and Missouri, nothing requires to be said. Their approximation does not admit of the origin of any very considerable streams between them, that is, comparative speaking. The largest are Grand, Des Moins, St. Peter's, the Sioux, and Jaque or James, rivers. The Indians say that they are navigable; but I am ignorant of them all except the first, which is navigated in canoes for five or six hundred miles, according to the course of the rivers.

On the right side of the Missouri receives the Osage, Kansas, and La Platte rivers, besides several other small, and some large streams, of which I know nothing, and shall therefore omit to mention even their names.

The Osage river originates from numerous streams which collect in the hills situated north of the Arkansas river, and after flowing in a very crooked channel, in a north-eastern direction, for about six hundred miles, is discharged into the Missouri on its south-west side, about one hundred and thirty miles above its entrance into the Mississippi. It is navigable for canoes at all seasons of the year, for about three hundred and fifty miles, to the Osage villages; but the

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trading craft of the Missouri can ascend it only to the shoals, about one hundred and thirty miles from its mouth, except during the prevalence of floods; when they also may be navigated as far as the Osage settlements.

The Kansas river is much larger than the Osage: its southern branch has its origin principally from the same range of hills, continued westwardly into the interior of the country, while its northern or western branches, which are numerous, though in the summer almost dry, rise in the prairies intermediate between the former and the La Platte rivers. Its course is east a little north; it drains a very extensive country, and is subject to devastating floods. The Indians descend it at all seasons of the year in their canoes, from a considerable distance above the crossing place between it and the Arkansas river; which, according to the best calculations I can make, is full six hundred miles from its mouth; so that the river itself and its southern branch are navigable in the same manner that the Osage is, for more than a thousand miles. Except in floods, the current is not rapid, and the channel is generally deep. In its whole course, I have never heard of any considerable natural obstruction, nevertheless, many may exist; though as the Kansas Indians were in the habit of frequently descending it from their hunting excursions, it is probable I should have heard something of the causes if they had experienced much difficulty.

This river disembogues into the Missouri, on its south-west side, about three hundred and forty miles

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above its mouth, or two hundred and ten miles above that of the Osage river.

The river La Platte rises in the Rocky Mountains, runs nearly east, is about one thousand six hundred miles in length; broad, shoal, and not navigable, I believe, even during the prevalence of its floods. It is exceedingly winding for more than half the distance from its heading sources, and flows principally through sandy barrens, and over a sandy bed, occasionally interrupted by rocks. At times it is almost dry, and may be forded in particular places with almost dry feet; while, at others, it is difficult to conceive of the volume of water that seeks a level, with astonishing rapidity, through its wide cut channels. Its entrance into the Missouri is two hundred and sixty miles above the mouth of the Kansas river, or six hundred miles from the Mississippi.

I have already remarked, that the barrens are very much intersected by deep ravines, and the same may be said, in a limited degree, of the fertile prairies. In fact, all parts of the country, in dry weather, present broad, and not unfrequently rocky channels, in which there is not the least appearance of water.

After heavy rains, or great thaws, these channels become filled, and may with propriety be regarded as so many rivers, on account of the great quantity of water conveyed off by them. No section of country is, perhaps, more remarkable for this particular character, than that bordering on the upper La Platte. This river drains a valley of great extent, which, being in generally badly supplied with springs, affords

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in dry periods very little water in addition to what is produced by the dissolving snows on the neighbouring mountains; so that what does collect, appears to be lost in the extensive channels, formed by the resistless and devastating deluges that occasionally take place. It is owing to these circumstances that this river is not, and, in my opinion, can never be made navigable.

The Arkansas rises in the Rocky Mountains, and, flowing in nearly a south-east direction, for more than two thousand miles, through its numerous windings, discharges itself into the Mississippi, about eight hundred miles above its entrance into the Gulf of Mexico. In its course, it is joined by several very considerable streams, among which are the Negracka (White man's), Little and Big Salt, Jefferson, and Canadian rivers, flowing from the right, and the Verdigris and Vermillion from the left.

The Arkansas, in comparison with the Missouri, is not a rapid stream, though in another view it would be regarded as such. In its course it is interrupted by several inconsiderable rapids, one of which is situated near the mouth of Canadian river; nevertheless, it is navigable a great distance up, for boats of forty or fifty tons burden, except in dry seasons, when its passage is difficult even for canoes.

After ascending this stream for six or seven hundred miles, it becomes, and continues for nearly the same distance farther, more deep and tranquil, and less interrupted by rapids; after which, its navigation is still more impeded than it is any where towards its mouth.

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During floods, like the La Platte, it swells into an overwhelming torrent; but in very dry seasons contracts into a shoal, and comparatively inconsiderable stream. Were it not for this circumstance, the route of the Arkansas to some of the great rivers which flow west, would be decidedly the best to communicate with the Pacific Ocean; at least I judge so from the comparative facility with which the Rocky Mountains may be passed in this direction. The route of the Missouri is widely circuitous, the river of difficult ascent, and the mountains next to impassable for loaded teams, even though human art and means should be exhausted in the construction of roads. That of the La Platte from the seat of government, is perhaps the most direct communication; but then, as before remarked, this river is not navigable, nor can it be made so, for any expence at present justifiable by the object in view. Of the navigation of the rivers on the west side of the Rocky Mountains, opposite to the head waters of the Arkansas, I am wholly ignorant: should they prove suitable for that portion of the communication, I have no doubt that the Arkansas may be rendered navigable at least for eight or nine months in the year.

Towards its sources it will be necessary to abandon the river for the site of a road, as its banks are in many places exceedingly precipitous.

I have made these observations, as well as some others, at the suggestion of a friend, not, however, with an expectation that they will afford sufficient interest

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to my readers, to compensate for the interruption of my subject.

The Negracka, Big Salt, Jefferson, and Canadian, are all navigable rivers, at favourable seasons of the year. The hunters sometimes ascend them in their Batteaux, but to what distance, I am unable to say. The Indians seldom undertake to navigate these or any other streams upwards; though it is common for them, and i have often been of their hunting parties, when, after having obtained our supplies, we have descended them in skin canoes.

Vermillion river rises in the highlands which separate it from the streams flowing north and east into the Kansas and Osage rivers. Its direction is nearly south by east, for about two hundred and fifty miles, where it empties into the Arkansas. It is rapid, shoaly, and not navigable, except during the continuance of floods. The country through which it flows is delightful, and abundantly supplied with game: the circumstance which probably induced White Hair to locate his tribe in its neighbourhood.

The Verdigris is of nearly the same size, and in other respects very much resembles the Vermil[l]ion river. It discharges itself into the Arkansas, a few miles above the former, and is not navigable.

White River rises in the highlands, between the Arkansas, Osage, and Marameck rivers, and flows in a very serpentine channel, for more than a thousand miles, first in nearly an east, and then in a south-east direction, and is discharged into the Mississippi, a few miles above the mouth of the Arkansas. It is navi-

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gable at all seasons of the year for boats of forty or fifty tons, for five hundred miles. It flows for a considerable distance through one of the most fertile, delightful, and healthy countries on earth, which is well watered, and agreeably interspersed with hills, vallies, prairies, and woodlands. Game of all kinds is abundant; and I may say with safety, that it holds out to new settlers, decidedly greater advantages than any other with which I am acquainted.

I passed some time, as noticed in my narrative, on some of the northern branches of this stream; and in our hunts have several times visited its western sources, which are situated to the north-east, and not very remote from the Vermillion river. I know very little of the central part of the principal stream, and what I do, is from the report of some of our hunters, who collected furs on it, during the season which I passed on the west side of the Rocky Mountains. The description they gave of it was flattering; and I have no doubt that they continue to hunt on it, unless prevented by the Cherokee or Delaware Indians, as they claim dominion for a considerable distance, eastwardly, from the heads of this stream.

The St. Francis river originates in the hilly country, to the south-west of St. Genevieve, and after flowing for nearly five hundred miles in a southern direction, joins the Mississippi, fifty or sixty miles above the mouth of White river. The country through which it flows is generally low, and in many places swampy and very forbidding to settlers. The river is sluggish, and admits of an easy and safe navi-

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gation for three hundred or three hundred and fifty miles into the interior.

The Marameck flows from the hilly country, about three hundred miles south-west from the mouth of the Missouri. It is somewhat rapid, though said to be navigable quite to its source: its confluence with the Mississippi is twenty miles below St. Louis.

In the above account of rivers, I have scarcely mentioned any except those of which I possess some knowledge, and to give my readers any information respecting them, and the extent and character of the country through which they flow, less could not with propriety have been said. I ought not, however, to quit this subject without remarking that, from the internal structure of some portions of this country, considerable streams, in some instances, disappear in the cavities of the rocks; while in others, some of a size almost sufficient to merit the appellation of rivers, gush in concentrated currents from the earth. In situations where there was not the slightest appearance of water within the range of vision, I have frequently heard currents gurgling over their subterranean beds; and I know of a stream, at some distance west of the usual route between the Osage settlement on the Arkansas and Osage rivers, more than sufficient in size to turn a common mill water-wheel, which only appears for about fifty yards, and then retreats to its hidden channel. The banks around it are deep, much inclined, and covered with large trees. The earth, probably, at no very remote period, entirely obscured this stream, and has since fallen in, leaving the appearance above described. I

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have seen others resembling the above, though not so remarkably characterised.

I name these circumstances to show that although scarcity of water prevails to a wide extent, in many places, yet there is every prospect for obtaining supplies by merely excavating the earth.

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