Scenes and Adventures in the Semi-Alpine Region of the Ozark Mountains of Missouri and Arkansas Part 24

No country in the world affords such an extent of inland navigation by its streams, as the basin lying between the Alleghany and Rocky mountains, whose congregated waters are carried to the ocean by those stupendous natural ca.n.a.ls, the Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Illinois. The Mississippi river itself, in whose current all these majestic streams unite, and are discharged into the Mexican gulf, washes the eastern boundaries of the Territory, from the mouth of the river Desmoines to that of the St. Francis, a distance of more than five hundred miles. The Missouri, swelled by its great tributaries, the Yellowstone, Little Missouri, Whitestone, La Platte, Kanzas, and Osage, pa.s.ses diagonally nearly through its centre, affording on both sides a widely-extended tract of soil transcendently rich, and bearing a luxuriant growth of forest trees and plants, interspersed with prairie.

It is navigable, without interruption, from its junction with the Mississippi to its falls, a distance of two thousand miles.

The Ohio is a thousand miles in length from its head, at Pittsburgh, to its junction with the Mississippi, and, in its pa.s.sage, successively washes the sh.o.r.es of Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois--sh.o.r.es which are covered with villages, towns, and settlements, and lined with an industrious and hardy population.

The Illinois is also a stream affording a great length of navigation, and lands of superior quality, and has a natural connection with the great north-western lakes, into which boats may, at certain seasons, uninterruptedly pa.s.s.

These rivers, communicating with all parts of the country by their tributaries, afford the advantages of commercial exchange, trade, and manufactures, to a greater extent, and a richer description of country, than is anywhere to be found in Europe, Asia, or Africa.

Of these advantages, the Territory of Missouri, occupying so commanding a position in the geography of the country, must always partake largely, and may, from the wealth already concentrated in its capital, St. Louis, enjoy almost exclusively the trade of the Missouri and upper Mississippi.

The streams which originate within the lines described by the political boundaries of the Territory, and which, either during their whole course, or for a considerable distance, meander through it, are the Osage, the Gasconade, Maramec, Salt river, St. Francis, and Black river.

Of a lesser magnitude are Mine river, Chariton, Currents, Fourche a Thomas, Eleven-points, and Spring rivers; the four latter running southerly into the Arkansas Territory, and discharging their waters into Black river, which is itself a tributary of White river.

The Osage originates in a prairie country, near the ninety-sixth degree of west longitude, about one hundred miles north of the Arkansas, and, after meandering in an east and north-east direction for a distance of five hundred miles, unites with the Missouri one hundred and thirty miles above St. Louis. In its course it is swelled by several tributaries, the princ.i.p.al of which is the Little Osage, its great south-eastern fork. This river affords, in its whole length, large bodies of the choicest prairie-land, interspersed with woodland, and occasionally with hills, and is navigable for moderate sized boats. Its banks afford exhaustless beds of stone-coal, and some iron and lead is found, while its upper forks reach into the country of the p.a.w.nees--a country rich in salt. The Osage Indians inhabit its banks; but a part of their lands have been purchased by the United States. It is a very beautiful stream, and situated in a delightful climate; and when its borders are opened for emigration, and its resources properly drawn forth, will support a large population, and a profitable trade. Its fertile soil and genial climate ent.i.tle it to the rank of one of the first tributaries of the Missouri.

In estimating the length of western rivers, there is one circ.u.mstance which is not properly estimated by an eastern reader. It is their serpentine course, which is so remarkable, that, in running one hundred miles on a geographical line, they will, by their great windings, measure at least double that distance; so that a river stated to be one thousand miles in length by its banks, cannot be calculated to traverse a country of more than five hundred miles in extent; indeed, I believe that a fair average of distances would show the geographical distance to be less.

The Gasconade enters the Missouri one hundred miles above St. Louis. Its length is about two hundred miles, and it is navigable for half that distance. It is made up of several streams running from a ridge of high lands, separating the waters which fall on the north into the Missouri, from those which flow on the south into the Mississippi. Its banks afford but a small proportion of tillable lands, being bordered with rocks and sterile hills. The rocks are, however, cavernous, and afford saltpetre; and the hills are covered by pine timber, which is sawed into boards and plank. In these two articles, the commerce of this river will always princ.i.p.ally consist. The current is rapid, and affords by its fall many mill-seats, so that boats and rafts may descend with ease; but its ascent is attended with great labor. On this stream are already situated several saw-mills.

The Maramec also originates in high lands, two hundred and fifty miles south-west of its mouth, and is separated from the waters of the Gasconade only by a dividing ridge of land. It is swelled in its course by a great number of streams, the most noted of which are the Little Maramec, Bourbuse, Fourche a Courtois, Big river, and Mineral Fork. It forms a junction with the Mississippi eighteen miles below St. Louis, where it is two hundred yards wide. It is only navigable about fifty miles, except in high floods in the spring and fall, when most of its tributaries may be ascended with boats. This stream waters the country of the mines, and interlocks, by its affluents, with the Gasconade on the west, and the St. Francis on the south. The mines of Missouri are situated on its southern sh.o.r.es.

Salt river enters the Mississippi one hundred and three miles above St.

Louis, and seventy-three miles above the mouth of the Illinois. The settlements on its banks are rapidly progressing, and the lands are noted for their fertility.

The St. Francis originates, with Big river, in broken lands in the southern part of Was.h.i.+ngton and St. Genevieve counties, and joins the Mississippi five hundred miles below. The most noted bodies of iron-ore in the western country lie on its head, at Bellevieu. The La Motte lead-mines also lie along the banks of one of its tributaries. It affords, in its course, a proportion of excellent land, mixed with some that is rocky, and bordered near its mouth with much that is swampy, low, and overflown. A raft of trees, about two hundred and fifty miles above its mouth, obstructs the navigation, which would otherwise be good to within fourteen miles of St. Michael, the seat of justice for Madison county.

Black river has its origin near the heads of the Gasconade and the Maramec, and is swelled in its course by the river Currents, Fourche a Thomas, Eleven-points, Spring and Strawberry rivers, and forms a junction with White river about forty miles below Poke Bayou, where the road to Arkansas and Red river crosses it. The banks of Black river, and of all its tributaries, afford rich alluvial land of more or less extent; but the intervening ridges are rocky and sterile.

Although there is much high land in this Territory, there is perhaps none which, strictly speaking, is ent.i.tled to the appellation of a mountain. A ridge of high land, called the Ozark chain, commencing on the banks of the Maramec, near the Fourche a Courtois, extends in a south-west direction to the banks of White river, in Arkansas Territory, a distance of about four hundred miles, and occasionally rises into peaks of mountain height. This ridge serves to divide the waters of the Missouri from those of the Mississippi; the streams on one side running south into the latter, and those on the other running north into the former. The body of red granite found on the head of the St. Francis, lies in mountain ma.s.ses, and forms, in connection with the accompanying rocks, some of the most rude and terrific scenery, full of interest in a mineralogical, as well as a geological point of view.

In the preceding view of the lead-mines of Missouri, and in the catalogue of minerals subsequently introduced, I have already antic.i.p.ated much that might with propriety be given here; it may therefore be sufficient to give a brief synopsis of both.

The lead-mines in this Territory are situated about forty miles west of the Mississippi, and sixty miles south-west of St. Louis. They occupy a district of country between the waters of the St. Francis and the Maramec, one hundred miles in length, by about forty in breadth. The first lead-ore was discovered by Philip Francis Renault and M. La Motte, acting under the authority of the Company of the West, about the year 1720; since which period, the number of mines has been greatly augmented by new discoveries. The quant.i.ty of lead annually smelted from the crude ore, I have estimated at three millions of pounds; and the number of hands to whom it furnishes employment, at eleven hundred.

Iron-ore is found in very large bodies in Bellevieu, Was.h.i.+ngton county--on Fourche a Courtois, where it is accompanied by manganese--on Big river--on Platten and Joachim creeks--and on the waters of the St.

Francis and Black rivers. Stone-coal exists in large bodies at Florissant, and in various places on the Osage river.

On the banks of the Maramec and the Gasconade are found numerous caves, which yield an earth impregnated largely with nitre, procured from it by lixiviation. On the head of Currents river are also found several caves, from which nitre is procured; the princ.i.p.al of which is Ashley's cave, on Cave creek, about eighty miles south-west of Potosi. This is one of those stupendous and extensive caverns which cannot be viewed without exciting our wonder and astonishment, which is increased by beholding the entire works for the manufacture of nitre, situated in its interior.

The native nitrate of potash is found in beautiful white crystals, investing the fissures of the limestone rock, which forms the walls of this cave; and several others in its vicinity exhibit the same phenomenon.

Of the number of inhabitants now resident in the Territory, I have estimated eleven hundred to be engaged in mining; but the number was much greater at a former period, one thousand men having been employed at Mine a Burton alone. The residue of the population are farmers, mechanics, and manufacturers, including professional men. There is also another cla.s.s of society, which I shall notice under the name of hunters. The farming cla.s.s is by far the largest, as the fertility of the soil, and the advantage of procuring lands on easy terms, and in a mild climate, afford the strongest and surest prospects of gain to the emigrant. There are probably fewer mechanics than are required by the existing population. The wages of mechanics of all kinds are very high.

A carpenter or bricklayer cannot be hired for less than two dollars per day, and often receives more. Other mechanics are also in demand, particularly in the new settlements; and these are increasing with such rapidity, as to invite the emigration of skilful and industrious artisans from all parts, with the sure prospect of success.

The manufactures of the Territory, in addition to its grand staple, lead, consist in the distillation of whiskey from rye and corn, in the flouring of wheat, the fabrication of coa.r.s.e cotton goods, and tow cloth in private families, and of patent shot. Some white lead has been made at St. Louis. A clothier's and fuller's works have been recently established on Big river; and a number of tan-yards, where raw hides are manufactured into leather, are in successful operation in various sections of the country.

Made up of emigrants from all other parts of the United States, and from Europe, the inhabitants can hardly be said to have acquired an uniform character. Hospitality to strangers, enterprise in business, ardor in the pursuit of wealth, an elevated pride of country, and perseverance under the pressure of many difficulties growing out of the infancy of the settlements, are the most conspicuous traits in the character of the inhabitants west of the Mississippi. They are robust, frank, and daring. Taught, by the hards.h.i.+ps and dangers incident to a frontier settlement, to depend for security and success upon their own individual exertions, they rely little upon extraneous help, and feel that true independence, flowing from a conviction that their own physical exertions are equal to every call, necessity, and emergency of life.

Observations drawn from habitual intercourse, and from witnessing their public debates, would also lead us to conclude, that their enjoyments arise more from those active scenes attendant upon adventures which require corporeal exertion, than from the arts of peace, refinement, and intellectual research.

Duelling is unfortunately prevalent in Missouri; and the practice, while it continues to receive the sanction of men occupying the first rank in society, cannot be expected to fall into disrepute, but must, on the contrary, continue to exert its influence over other cla.s.ses of the community, and to involve, in some measure, in its consequences, those who from principle are opposed to it.

Those scenes of riot and atrocity, however, which have been imputed to the inhabitants of the mines by former travellers, do not now exist; the most beneficial changes having been effected in the state of society in that country. Emigration has added to the former population an accession of talents and intelligence, which has served to mark the society at the mines with much of the hospitality, decorum, and refinements of older settlements.

The first inhabitants of this part of ancient Louisiana were French and Spanish; the former of whom still const.i.tute a considerable proportion of the population, but of the latter there are very few remaining. The French language is therefore spoken, in many settlements, almost exclusively; and many of the Americans have found it advantageous to acquire a knowledge of that tongue.

The hunter cla.s.s of the population is composed of persons from various sections of the Union, who have either embraced hunting from the love of ease or singularity, or have fled from society to escape the severity of the laws, and to indulge in unrestrained pa.s.sion. Learning and religion are alike disregarded, and in the existing state of society among the Missouri hunters, we are presented with a contradiction of the theories of philosophers of all ages; for we here behold the descendants of enlightened Europeans in a savage state, or at least in a rapid state of advance towards it. These hunters are chiefly located on the White, Arkansas, and Red rivers. Their numbers may be computed at a thousand or fifteen hundred. The late division of the Territory will throw nearly all of them into Arkansas.

The princ.i.p.al tribe of Indians in this Territory are the Osages, a powerful nation residing on the Osage river. They are remarkable for their tall stature, and their fine proportions. It is very rare to see any of them under six feet. They inhabit a delightful country, and are in amity with the United States. Their chiefs are hereditary, and in war they fight on horseback. Their warriors are called _braves_, to which honor no one can arrive without having previously plundered or stolen from the enemy. Hence, plundering and stealing are acts of the greatest merit, and demand rewards proportionate to the adroitness or extent of the act. They are also in the habit of plundering white hunters and travellers, but are never known to commit murders on such occasions.

A part of the ancient and once powerful tribes of Shawnees and Delawares, also inhabit this Territory. They are located on the banks of Apple creek and Fourche a Courtois.

Many of the plantations and mines are worked by slaves, and among them are to be found blacksmiths and carpenters, whose services are extremely valuable to their masters. The introduction of slavery into this section of the western country, appears to have taken place at an early day, and it has led to a state of society which is calculated to require their continued a.s.sistance.

HOT SPRINGS OF WAs.h.i.+TA.

The attention of the traveller in the interior of Missouri and Arkansas, is frequently arrested by the novelty of the scenery, and the wild and singularly fanciful aspect of the country; he is often induced to stop, to survey some cavern, water-fall, high, loose-hanging cliff, or other natural phenomenon. It is in this light that those natural curiosities, the Hot Springs of Was.h.i.+ta, will be found to reward attention.

These springs, which have been known for many years, are situated on a stream called Hot Spring creek, which falls into the Was.h.i.+ta river eight miles below. They lie fifty miles south of the Arkansas river, and six miles west of the road from Cadron to Mount Prairie, on Red river.

The approach to the Springs lies up the valley of the creek, which is partly made up of its waters. On leaving the banks of the Was.h.i.+ta, the face of the country almost imperceptibly changes from a rich soil, covered with a luxuriant growth of trees, to a sterile mineral tract. On the right hand rises the Hot Mountain, with the springs issuing at its foot; on the left, the Cold Mountain, which is little more than a confused and mighty pile of stones; and the view in front is terminated by a high point of land, which makes down gradually into the valley, and separates the creek into two forks, of nearly equal size.

The Hot Mountain is about three hundred feet high, rising quite steep, presenting occasionally ledges of rocks, and terminating at top in a confused ma.s.s of broken rocks, with here and there a pine or oak tree.

Its sides, notwithstanding their sterility and the steepness of the ascent, are covered by a most luxuriant growth of vines, particularly muscadine, the fruit of which is delicious.

The Cold Mountain is separated from the Hot by a valley of about fifty yards wide, through which the creek flows; it is nearly as steep as the other, about of an equal height, and terminates in the same confused manner. Some pine trees are found on it, but its sides are dest.i.tute of vegetation.

The springs issue near the foot of the Hot Mountain, at an elevation of about ten feet above the level of the creek. They are very numerous all along the hill-side, and the water, which runs in copious streams, is quite hot. It will scald the hand, and boil an egg hard in ten minutes.

Its temperature is considered that of boiling water; but Dr. Andrews, of Red river, tells me that it cannot be reckoned over 200 of Fahrenheit.

There is a solitary spring, situated seventy feet higher than the others, on the side of the mountain; but it is also of an equal temperature, and differs in no respect from those below. Evaporation produces a dense fog, which hangs over the springs, and upon the side of the hill, looking at a distance like a number of furnaces in blast. It is probably the condensation of this fog by the cold air at night, which produces such a rank growth of vines on the side of the mountain, where, otherwise, there would hardly exist a sign of vegetable life.

An idea of the beneficial effects of this water is generally prevalent throughout the Territory, and numbers annually resort to the springs.

They are found serviceable in rheumatisms, paralysis, pains in the breast, and all chronic and nervous complaints. The method of using the water is various. Bathing and sweating are generally resorted to. It is also drunk as hot as can be borne, and is not, like ordinary warm water, productive of nausea in the stomach. Of the chemical or medicinal properties of the water, little is known, as no accurate a.n.a.lysis has been made. The water appears clear, pure, and beautiful; it deposits a sediment, which is sometimes red, and in other places green or yellow.

Some of the springs have a petrifying quality. The warmth of the water, acting along the courses of the streams, has a stimulating effect on the vegetation.

There is abundance of a beautiful green moss growing in the springs, near their edges; and their devious courses to the creek below are only indicated by a more vigorous growth of gra.s.s and moss all along the borders, and a brighter green.

The mineralogical character of the country around the springs is highly interesting. Three miles above is a quarry of oil-stone, of a peculiar and valuable kind. It has a very compact texture, is heavy, translucent, and gives a fine edge to a razor. The rock formations here are limestone, slate, and quartz. Veins of white quartz, four or five feet in width, are found running through the slate rock. Fine crystals of limpid quartz are also abundant in the neighborhood. At the cove on Was.h.i.+ta river, fifteen miles below the springs, there is a body of magnetic iron-ore; sulphates of copper and zinc, and sulphuret of iron, in cubical crystals, occur in the same locality.

These springs, geologically, exist in a primitive formation, which may be considered the southern termination of the Ozark chain. Ancient volcanic forces have raised the beds of slate, sienite, and greenstone, of the chain, to their present elevations. The waters owe their heat to these long-extinguished, but deep-slumbering fires, which may hereafter break out into new activity.

UNICA, OR WHITE RIVER