Scenes and Adventures in the Semi-Alpine Region of the Ozark Mountains of Missouri and Arkansas Part 7

I observed a small stream of pure water coming in on the north, side, which issued through an opening in the hills; and as this ran in the general direction we were pursuing, the guides led up it. We were soon enclosed in a lateral valley, with high corresponding hills, as if, in remote ages, they had been united. Very soon it became evident that this defile was closed across and in front of us. As we came near this barrier, it was found that it blocked up the whole valley, with the exception of the mouth of a gigantic cave. The great width and height of this cave, and its precipitous face, gave it very much the appearance of some ruinous arch, out of proportion. It stretched from hill to hill.

The limpid brook we had been following, ran from its mouth. On entering it, the first feeling was that of being in "a large place." There was no measure for the eye to compute height or width. We seemed suddenly to be beholding some secret of the great works of nature, which had been hid from the foundation of the world. The impulse, on these occasions, is to shout. I called it Winoca.[9] On advancing, we beheld an immense natural vase, filled with pure water. This vase was formed from concretions of carbonate of lime, of the nature of stalagmite, or, rather, stalact.i.te.

It was greyish-white and translucent, filling the entire breadth of the cave. But, what was still more imposing, another vase, of similar construction, was formed on the next ascending plateau of the floor of the cave. The water flowed over the lips of this vase into the one below. The calcareous deposit seems to have commenced at the surface of the water, which, continually flowing over the rims of each vase, increases the deposit.

The height of the lower vase is about five feet, which is inferable by our standing by it, and looking over the rim into the limpid basin. The rim is about two and a half inches thick. Etruscan artists could not have formed a more singular set of capacious vases.

The stream of water that supplies these curious tanks, rushes with velocity from the upper part of the cavern. The bottom of the cave is strewed with small and round calcareous concretions, about the size of ounce b.a.l.l.s, of the same nature with the vases. They are in the condition of stalagmites. These concretions are opaque, and appear to have been formed from the impregnated waters percolating from the roof of the cavern. There are evidences of nitric salts in small crevices.

Geologically, the cavern is in the horizontal limestone, which is evidently metalliferous. It is the same calcareous formation which characterizes the whole Ozark range. Ores of lead (the sulphurets) were found in the stratum in the bed of a stream, at no great distance north of this cave; and its exploration for its mineral wealth is believed to be an object of practical importance.

I had now followed the geological formation of the country far south-westwardly. The relative position of the calcareous, lead-bearing stratum, had everywhere been the same, when not disturbed or displaced.

Wide areas on the sources of the Maramec, Gasconade, and Osage, and also of the Currents, Spring river, and Eleven-points and Strawberry, were found covered by heavy drift, which concealed the rock; but wherever valleys had been cut through the formation by the stream, and the strata laid bare, they disclosed the same horizontality of deposit, and the same relative position of limestone and sandstone rock.

FOOTNOTE:

[9] From the Osage word for an underground spirit.

CHAPTER X.

DEPART FROM THE CAVE--CHARACTER OF THE HUNTERS WHO GUIDED THE AUTHOR--INCIDENTS OF THE ROUTE--A BEAUTIFUL AND FERTILE COUNTRY, ABOUNDING IN GAME--REACH THE EXTREME NORTH-WESTERN SOURCE OF WHITE RIVER--DISCOVERIES OF LEAD-ORE IN A PART OF ITS BED--ENCAMP AND INVESTIGATE ITS MINERALOGY--CHARACTER, VALUE, AND HISTORY OF THE COUNTRY--PROBABILITY OF ITS HAVING BEEN TRAVERSED BY DE SOTO IN 1541.

It was the last day of the year 1818, when we reached the cave of Winoca, as described in the preceding chapter, on the Ozark summit. An inspection of the country had shown the fact that the mineral developments of its underlying rocks were of a valuable character, while the surface a.s.sumed the most pleasing aspect, and the soil, wherever examined, appeared to be of the very richest quality. The bold, rough hunters, who accompanied me, thought of the country only as an attractive game country, which it was a great pity, they said, that the Indians alone should occupy; and they had very little curiosity about anything that did not minister to their immediate wants. They had lived for so long a time by the rifle, that they had a philosophy of the rifle. It was the ready arbiter between themselves, and the animal creation, and the Indians, and even other hunters. Neither the striking agricultural or mineral resources of the country, arrested much attention on their part. And as soon as I was ready to relinquish my examinations at the cave and proceed, they were ready to resume their horses and lead forward. Unfortunately, it was now severely cold, and everything in the heavens prognosticated its increasing severity.

On leaving the Valley of the Cave, and ascending the hills that environed it, we pa.s.sed over a gently sloping surface of hill and vale, partly covered with forest trees, and partly in prairies. I have seldom seen a more beautiful prospect. The various species of oaks and hickories had strewed the woods with their fruits, on which the bear and wild turkey revelled, while the red deer was scarcely ever out of sight.

Long before the hour of encampment had arrived, the hunters had secured the means of our making a sumptuous evening meal on wild viands; and when, at an early hour, we pitched our camp on the borders of a small brook, Holt, who was ever ready with the rifle, added a fat brant from this brook to our stores. We had not travelled more than twelve miles, but we had a sharp wind to face, the day being severe; and nothing was so agreeable, when we halted, as the fire, around which we enjoyed ourselves, as we each displayed our skill in forest cookery. There was cutting, and carving, and roasting, in the true prairie style. We then prepared our couches and night-fires, and slept. At the earliest peep of light, we were again in motion.

The 1st of January, 1819, opened with a degree of cold unusual in these regions. Their elevation is, indeed, considerable; but the wind swept with a cutting force across the open prairies. We were now on the princ.i.p.al north-western source of White river, the channel of which we forded in the distance of two miles. The western banks presented a naked prairie, covered with dry gra.s.s and autumnal weeds, with here and there a tree. We pushed on towards the north-east. The prairie-hen, notwithstanding the cold, rose up in flocks before us, as we intruded upon their low-couched positions in the gra.s.s. Of these, Holt, whose hunting propensities no cold could restrain, obtained a specimen; he also fired at and killed a wild goose from the channel of the river. On pa.s.sing about four miles up the western banks of the stream, we observed a lead of lead-ore, glittering through the water in the bed of the river, and determined to encamp at this spot, for the purpose of investigating the mineral appearances. The weather was piercingly cold.

We found some old Indian camps near at hand, and procured from them pieces of bark to sheath a few poles and stakes, hastily put up, to form a shelter from the wind. A fire was soon kindled, and, while we cooked and partook of a forest breakfast, we recounted the incidents of the morning, not omitting the untoward state of the weather. When the labor of building the shanty was completed, I hastened to explore the geological indications of the vicinity.

The ore which had attracted our notice in the bed of the stream, existed in lumps, which presented bright surfaces where the force of the current had impelled its loose stony materials over them. It was a pure sulphuret of lead, breaking in cubical lines. I also observed some pieces of hornblende. It was not easy to determine the original width of the bed of ore. Its course is across the stream, into the banks of red marly clay on which we had encamped. Its geological position is in every respect similar to the metalliferous deposits at Potosi, except that there were no spars, calcareous or barytic, in sight. I gathered, in a few minutes, a sufficient number of specimens of the ore for examination, and employed myself in erecting, on the banks of the river, a small furnace, of the kind called "log-furnace" in Missouri, to test its fusibility. In the mean time, my New England companion took a survey of the surrounding country, which he p.r.o.nounced one of the most fertile, and admirably adapted to every purpose of agriculture. Much of the land consists of prairie, into which the plough can be immediately put. The forests and groves, which are interspersed with a park-like beauty through these prairies, consist of various species of oaks, maple, white and black walnut, elm, mulberry, hackberry, and sycamore.

Holt and Fisher scanned the country for game, and returned to camp with six turkeys and a wolf. Their fear of the Osages had been only apparently subdued. They had been constantly on the look-out for signs of Indian enemies, and had their minds always filled with notions of hovering Osages and p.a.w.nees. The day was wintry, and the weather variable. It commenced snowing at daylight, and continued till about eight o'clock, A. M. It then became clear, and remained so, with occasional flickerings, until two o'clock, when a fixed snowstorm sat in, and drove me from my little unfinished furnace, bringing in the hunters also from the prairies, and confining us strictly to our camp.

This storm continued, without mitigation, nearly all night.

Jan. 3d. The snow ceased before sunrise, leaving the country wrapped in a white mantle. The morning was cold; the river began to freeze about nine o'clock, and continued till it was closed. The weather afforded an opportunity for continuing the explorations and examinations commenced yesterday. I found that the red clay afforded a good material for laying the stones of my lead-furnace, and continued working at it for a part of the day. The hunters came in with the carcases of two deer, and the skin of a black wolf. Except in its color, I could not distinguish any permanent characteristics in the latter differing from the large grey wolf, or coyote. Its claws, snout, and ears, were the same--its tail, perhaps, a little more bushy. The size of this animal, judging from the skin, must have been double that of the little prairie-wolf, or _myeengun_ of the Indians of the North.

I found the bed of the stream, where it permitted examination, to be non-crystalline limestone, in horizontal beds, corresponding to the formation observed in the cave of Winoca. Its mineral const.i.tuents were much the same. The country is one that must be valuable hereafter for its fertility and resources. The prairies which extend west of the river are the most extensive, rich, and beautiful, of any which I have yet seen west of the Mississippi. They are covered with a most vigorous growth of gra.s.s. The deer and elk abound in this quarter, and the buffalo is yet occasionally seen. The soil in the river valley is a rich black alluvion. The trees are often of an immense height, denoting strength of soil. It will probably be found adapted to corn, flax, hemp, wheat, oats, and potatoes; while its mining resources must come in as one of the elements of its future prosperity.

I planted some peach-stones in a fertile spot near our camp, where the growth of the sumac denoted unusual fertility. And it is worthy of remark that even Holt, who had the antipathy of an Indian to agriculture, actually cut some bushes in a certain spot, near a spring, and piled them into a heap, by way of securing a pre-emption right to the soil.

The region of the Ozark range of mountain development is one of singular features, and no small attractions. It exhibits a vast and elevated tract of horizontal and sedimentary strata, extending for hundreds of miles north and south. This range is broken up into high cliffs, often wonderful to behold, which form the enclosing walls of river valleys.

The Arkansas itself forces its way through, about the centre of the range. The Was.h.i.+ta marks its southern boundary. The St. Francis and the Maramec, at the mouth of the former of which De Soto landed, const.i.tute its northern limits. The junction of the Missouri with the Mississippi may be said to be its extreme northern development. The Missouri, from the influx of the Osage, is pushed northward by the Ozark range. It rests, on the south, upon the primitive granites, slates, and quartz rock, of Was.h.i.+ta. The celebrated Hot Springs issue from it. The long-noted mines of Missouri, which once set opinion in France in a blaze, extend from its north-eastern flanks. The primitive sienites and hornblende rock of the sources of the St. Francis and Grand rivers, support it. The Unica or White river, the Strawberry, Spring river, Currents and Black rivers, descend from it, and join the Mississippi.

The Great and Little Osage, and the Gasconade, flow into the Missouri.

The great plains, and sand-desert, which stretches at the eastern foot of the Rocky mountains, lie west of it. It is not less than two hundred miles in breadth. No part of the central regions of the Mississippi valley exhibits such a variety in its geological const.i.tuents, or such a striking mineralogical development. Its bodies of the ore of iron called iron-glance, are unparalleled. These are particularly developed in the locality called Iron Mountain, or the sources of the St. Francis. Its ores of lead, zinc, antimony, and manganese, are remarkable. Its limestones abound in caves yielding nitre. Salt and gypsum are found in the plains on its western borders. Its large blocks of quartz rock, which are found north of the Arkansas river, particularly scattered over the formations crossing the Little Red, Buffalo, and White rivers, about the Buffalo shoals, furnish indications of the diluvial gold deposit, which would justify future examination.

Through these alpine ranges De Soto roved, with his chivalrous and untiring army, making an outward and inward expedition into regions which must have presented unwonted hards.h.i.+ps and discouragements to the march of troops. To add to these natural obstacles, he found himself opposed by fierce savage tribes, who rushed upon him from every glen and defile, and met him in the open grounds with the most savage energy. His own health finally sank under these fatigues; and it is certain that, after his death, his successor in the command, Moscoso, once more marched entirely through the southern Ozarks, and reached the buffalo plains beyond them. Such energy and feats of daring had never before been displayed in North America; and the wonder is at its highest, after beholding the wild and rough mountains, cliffs, glens, and torrents, over which the actual marches must have laid.

Some of the names of the Indian tribes encountered by him, furnish conclusive evidence that the princ.i.p.al tribes of the country, although they have changed their particular locations since the year 1542, still occupy the region. Thus, the Kapahas, who then lived on the Mississippi, above the St. Francis, are identical with the Quappas, the Cayas with the Kanzas, and the Quipana with the p.a.w.nees.

CHAPTER XI.

SEVERE WINTER WEATHER ON THE SUMMIT OF THE OZARKS--FALSE ALARM OF INDIANS--DANGER OF MY FURNACE, ETC., BEING HEREAFTER TAKEN FOR ANTIQUITIES--PROCEED SOUTH--ANIMAL TRACKS IN THE SNOW--WINOCA OR SPIRIT VALLEY--HONEY AND THE HONEY-BEE--BUFFALO-BULL CREEK--ROBE OF SNOW--MEHAUSCA VALLEY--SUPERSt.i.tIOUS EXPERIMENT OF THE HUNTERS--ARRIVE AT BEAVER CREEK.

The indications of severe weather, noticed during the last day of December, and the beginning of January, were not deceptive; every day served to realize them. We had no thermometer; but our feelings denoted an intense degree of cold. The winds were fierce and sharp, and snow fell during a part of each day and night that we remained on these elevations. We wrapped our garments closely about us at night, in front of large fires, and ran alternately the risk of being frozen and burnt.

One night my overcoat was in a blaze from lying too near the fire. This severity served to increase the labor of our examinations; but it did not, that I am aware, prevent anything essential.

On the fourth day of my sojourn here, a snowstorm began, a little before one o'clock in the morning; it ceased, or, as the local phrase is, "held up," at daybreak. The ground was now covered, to a depth of from two to three inches, with a white mantle. Such severity had never been known by the hunters. The winds whistled over the bleak prairies with a rigor which would have been remarkable in high northern lat.i.tudes. The river froze entirely over. The sun, however, shone out clearly as the day advanced, and enabled me to complete my examinations, as fully as it was practicable to do, under the existing state of the weather.

It happened, on this day, that my companion had walked a mile or two west, over the smooth prairie, to get a better view of the conformation of the land, returning to camp before the hunters, who had also gone in the same general direction. On their coming back, one of them, whose head was always full of hostile Osages, fell on his returning track in the snow, and carefully traced it to our camp. He came in breathless, and declared that the Osages were upon us, and that not a moment was to be lost in breaking up our camp, and flying to a place of security. When informed of the origin of the tracks, he still seemed incredulous, and could not be pacified without some difficulty. We then prepared, by collecting fuel, and increasing our bark defences against the wind and snow, to pa.s.s another night at the camp.

I had now followed the Ozarks as far as it seemed practicable, and reached their western summit, notwithstanding every discouragement thrown in my way by the reports of the hunters, from the first moment of my striking the White river; having visited the source of nearly every river which flows from it, both into the Missouri and the Mississippi. I had fully satisfied myself of its physical character and resources, and now determined to return to the camps of my guides at Beaver creek, and continue the exploration south.

It was the 5th of January, 1819, when we prepared our last meal at that camp, and I carefully put up my packages in such portable shape as might be necessary. Some time was spent in looking up the horses, which had been turned into a neighboring canebrake. The interval was employed in cutting our names, with the date of our visit, on a contiguous oak, which had been previously blazed for the purpose. These evidences of our visit were left, with the pit dug in search of ore, and the small smelting-furnace, which, it is hoped, no zealous antiquarian will hereafter mistake for monuments of an elder period of civilization in the Mississippi valley. When this was accomplished, and the horses brought up, we set out with alacrity. The snow still formed a thin covering on the ground, and, being a little softened by the sun, the whole surface of the country exhibited a singular map of the tracks of quadrupeds and birds. In these, deer, elk, bears, wolves, and turkeys, were prominent--the first and last species, conspicuously so. In some places, the dry spots on the leaves showed where the deer had lain during the storm. These resting-spots were uniformly on declivities, which sheltered the animal from the force of the wind. Frequently we crossed wolf-trails in the snow, and, in one or two instances, observed places where they had played or fought with each other, like a pack of dogs--the snow being tramped down in a circle of great extent. We also pa.s.sed tracts of many acres, where the turkeys had scratched up the snow, in search of acorns. We frequently saw the deer fly before us, in droves of twenty or thirty. They will bound twenty feet at a leap, as measured, on a gentle declivity. This animal is impelled by a fatal curiosity to stop and turn round to look at the cause of its disturbance, after running a distance. It is at this moment that the hunter generally fires.

About noon, we reached and crossed Findley's Fork, or the Winoca valley--the locality of the cave. Two miles south of it, in ascending an elevation, our ears were saluted by a murmuring sound in the air, which the hunters declared to be single bees, flying in a line. I observed one of them directing its flight to the top of a large oak, which was thus indicated as the repository of their honey. My companion and myself proceeded to chop it down, while the hunters stood by. It was of the white-oak species, and was judged to be two feet and a half across. When it fell, a hollow limb was fractured, disclosing a large deposit of most beautiful white honeycombs. We ate without stint, sometimes dipping cooked pieces of venison (we had no bread) in the fluid part. The remainder was then wrapped up in a freshly flayed deerskin, and firmly tied, to be carried to the hunters' cabins at Beaver creek on one of the horses.

We now resumed our route. As evening approached, we entered the head of a valley formed out of the plain, toward our right. It turned out to be a stream known to them, in their buffalo hunts, as Bull creek. Here we encamped, having travelled about twenty miles. The weather continued moderately cold during the day, the sun not having attained sufficient power to melt the snow. A single deer was the trophy of this day's hunt.

Morning found us, as we arose from our couches, in a small, brushy, and tangled valley, through which it was not easy to make our way. The weather was raw, cold, and lowering, and the hunters did not seem inclined to make an early start. It was determined to replenish our fire, and breakfast, first. It was a rough region, and cost some exertion and fatigue to get out of its tangled defiles, and ascend the plains south of it. These impediments consumed so much time, that we made but slow progress. The atmosphere was so obscure, that it was difficult to determine the proper course; and it was evident that the guides did not know exactly where they were. At length they entered one of the lateral valleys of Swan creek, the Mehausca of the Osages. In this, after following it down some distance, we encamped. The atmosphere was clouded up, and betokened falling weather.

The next morning, (Jan. 7th), when I awoke, I felt an extra pressure of something on my blanket, which had the effect to keep off the wind, and produce warmth; and on opening its folds, I threw off a stratum of an inch or two of snow. We had been fatigued by the day's march, and slept soundly.

Some eight miles' travel brought us to the junction of this little tributary with the Mehausca, where our guides, by recognizing known objects, rea.s.sured themselves of their true position. It was, however, still hazy and obscure, and doubts soon again arose in their minds as to the proper course. After travelling some miles in this perplexity, they were at length relieved by observing a known landmark in the peak of Bald hill. This mark was, however, soon lost sight of, and, the atmosphere still continuing overclouded, dark, and hazy, they speedily became again bewildered. I was surprised at this; it denoted a want of precision of observation, which an Indian certainly could not have been charged with. He is able, in the worst weather, to distinguish the _north_ from the _south_ face of a mature and weathered tree--a species of knowledge, of the utmost consequence to him in his forest wanderings.

An experiment, of letting a certain horse take his course homeward, by throwing the reins upon his neck, was adopted by our guides; but after trying it for some time, it was found necessary to give it up. It was clear that the animal was going directly from home; and Fisher, who believed in bewitched guns, was obliged to yield the point. Not long after resuming the reins, Holt announced, in the dense atmosphere which enveloped us, that we were ascending the valley hills that border the main channel of White river. As soon as this was verified, and we had reached the highest point, the guides both fired their rifles, to advertise their families, on the bottom-lands below, of their approach; and we were soon welcomed, at the hunters' cabins at the mouth of Beaver creek, "by dogs, women, and children, all greasy and glad."

During this trip, I had listened to frequent recitals of the details of hunting the bear, beaver, deer, and other animals, the quality of dogs, the secret of baits, &c.--a species of forest lectures, the details of which, at the moment, were new to me, and had the charm of novelty, and the merit of information; but which it is unimportant, at this length of time, to repeat.[10]

FOOTNOTE:

[10] Vide Journal of a Tour into the Interior of Missouri and Arkansas.

London, 1821.

CHAPTER XII.

DESCEND WHITE RIVER IN A CANOE--ITS PURE WATER, CHARACTER, AND SCENERY--PLACES OF STOPPING--BEAR CREEK--SUGAR-LOAF PRAIRIE--BIG CREEK--A RIVER PEDLAR--POT SHOALS--MOUTH OF LITTLE NORTH FORK--DESCEND FORMIDABLE RAPIDS, CALLED THE BULL SHOALS--STRANDED ON ROCKS--A PATRIARCH PIONEER-- MINERALOGY--ANTIQUE POTTERY AND BONES--SOME TRACE OF DE SOTO--A TRIP BY LAND--REACH THE MOUTH OF THE GREAT NORTH FORK.