Tumuli and Indian Graves about St. Louis, and on the Merameg—Mouth of the Missouri—Charboniere—Journey by land from St. Charles, to Loutre Island. Saint Louis, formerly called Pain Court, The horizontal strata of limestone which underlay the town of Saint Louis and the surrounding country, {53} have strongly attracted the attention of the curious, on account of having been found, in one or two instances, to contain distinct impressions of the human foot. There is now in the possession of Mr. Rapp, Nothing is more probable, than that impressions of human feet made upon that thin stratum of mud, which was deposited on the shelvings of the rocks, and left naked by the retiring of the waters, may, by the induration of the mud, have been preserved, and at length have acquired the appearance of an impression made immediately upon the limestone. This supposition will be somewhat confirmed, if we examine the mud and slime deposited by the water of the Mississippi, which will be found to consist of such an intimate mixture of clay and lime, as under favourable circumstances would very readily become indurated. We are not confident that the impressions above mentioned have originated in the manner here supposed, but we cannot by any means adopt the opinion of some, who have considered them as contemporaneous to those casts of submarine animals, which occupy so great a part of the body of the limestone. We have no hesitation in saying, that whatever those impressions maybe, if they were produced, as they appear to have been by the agency of human feet, they belong to a period far more recent, than that of the deposition of the limestone on whose surface they are found. The country about St. Louis, like that in the rear {54} of Fort Chartres, and indeed like the horizontal limestone country generally, abounds in sink holes sometimes of great depth. These are very numerous, from five to seven Tumuli, and other remains of the labours of nations of Indians that inhabited this region many ages since, are remarkably numerous about St. Louis. Those tumuli immediately northward of the town, and within a short distance of it, are twenty-seven in number, of various forms and magnitudes, arranged nearly in a line from north to south. The common form is an oblong square, and they all stand on the second bank of the river. The statement given below of their forms, magnitudes, and relative positions, is the result of actual admeasurement taken with care, and with as much accuracy as their present indefinite boundaries, together with the dense growth of underwood, covering their surface, and tending to beguile and obstruct the vision of the observer, will admit. It seems probable these piles of earth were raised as cemeteries, or they may have supported altars for religious ceremonies. We cannot conceive any useful purpose to which they can have been applicable in war, unless as elevated stations from which to observe the motions of an approaching enemy; but for this purpose a single mound would have been sufficient, and the place chosen would probably have been different. Nothing like a ditch, or an embankment, is to be seen about any part of these works. Indian graves are extremely numerous about St. Louis, though none are found in the immediate vicinity of the town: they are most frequent on the hills about the Merameg and on the north side of the Missouri. On the 12th June, Mr. Say and Mr. Peale, accompanied by one man, descended the Mississippi,{56} in a small boat to the mouth of the Merameg, and ascended the latter river about fifteen miles, to a place where great numbers of graves have been explored, and have been represented to contain the bones of a diminutive race of men. Most of these graves are found near the bank of the Merameg. They do not rise above the general surface, but their presence is ascertained by the vertical stones which enclose them, and project a little at either end of the grave. When the included earth, and the numerous horizontal flat stones are removed, we find the sides neatly constructed of long flat stones, vertically implanted and adapted to each other, edge to edge, so as to form a continuous wall. The graves are usually three or four feet, though sometimes six feet in length. The bones they contained appeared to have been deposited after having been separated from the flesh, and from each other, according to the custom of some tribes of Indians at the present day. In the first grave opened by Mr. Say were found the fragments of an earthen pot, and the bones of an infantine skull; the second contained what appeared to be the remains of a middle aged man, of the ordinary stature, laid These graves evidently contain the relics of a more modern people than those who erected the mounds. On the summit of one of the large hillocks, near St. Louis, (No. 27. described in note 83) are several of these graves: we opened five of them, but in one only were we Whilst we were at Cincinnati, Dr. Drake exhibited {58} to us, in his cabinet of natural history, two large marine shells, that had been dug out of ancient Indian tumuli in that vicinity. These shells were each cut longitudinally, and the larger half of each only remained. From this circumstance it seems probable that they had been used by the aborigines as drinking cups; or, consecrated to superstition, they may have been regarded as sacred utensils, and either used in connection with the rites of sacrifice, or in making libations to their deities; they may, however, like the cymbium of the Archipelago, have served a more useful and salutary purpose in bathing. One of these specimens seems to be a Cassis cornutus, of authors, or great conch shell, though it is proper to observe, that of the three revolving bands of tubercles, characteristic of that species, the inferior one in this specimen is double. In length it is about nine inches and a quarter, and in breadth seven inches. The other specimen is a heterostrophe shell of the genus Fulgur of Montfort; and, as far as we can judge, in every respect the same with those which are, at the present day, found on the coast of Georgia and East Florida, known to naturalists under the name of F. perversus, though it is certainly much larger than any of the recent specimens we have seen; its length being nine inches, and breadth six and a half. Several different countries have been mentioned by authors as the habitation of the cornutus; according to Rumphius, it inhabits Amboyna, the straits of Malacca, and the shores of the island of Boeton; Humphreys says it is brought from the East Indies and China; LinnÆus believed it to inhabit the coasts of America; but Bruguiere, a more recent author, informs us that LinnÆus was probably mistaken in the habitation of this shell, and states it to be a native of the Asiatic ocean. The cornutus becomes of some importance in the question relative to the Asiatic origin of the American {59} Indians. All the authorities to which we have been able to refer, correspond in assigning the shores of Asia, or those of the islands which lie near that continent, as the native territory of this great species of conch, with the sole exception of LinnÆus; but as no other author has discovered it on the coasts of this continent, we must believe with Bruguiere, that it is only to be found in the Asiatic ocean. The circumstance then of this shell being discovered in one of the ancient Indian tumuli, affords, at least, an evidence that an intercourse formerly existed between the Indians of North America and those of Asia; and leads us to believe that even a limited commerce was carried on But although this isolated fact does not yield a positive proof of the long asserted migration of the ancestors of the present race of American Indians from Asia to this country, yet, when taken in combination with other evidence, which has been collected by various authors, with so much industry, it will be regarded as highly corroborative of that popular belief. In the prairies of Illinois, opposite St. Louis, are numbers of large mounds. We counted seventy-five in the course of a walk of about five miles, which brought us to the hill a few years since occupied by the monks of La Trappe. The survey of these productions of human industry, these monuments without inscription, commemorating the existence of a people once numerous and powerful, but no longer known or remembered, never fails, though often repeated, to produce an impression of sadness. As we stand upon these {60} mouldering piles, many of them now nearly obliterated, we cannot but compare their aspect of decay with the freshness of the wide field of nature, which June 21st. After completing our arrangements at St. Louis, we left that place at noon, and at 10 o'clock on the following day, entered the mouth of the Missouri. From St. Louis upward to the Missouri, the water of the Mississippi, for a part of the year, is observed to be clear and of a greenish colour on the Illinois side, while it is turbid and yellow along the western bank. But at the time of our ascent every part of the Mississippi appeared equally turbid, its waters soon becoming blended with the heavy flood of the Missouri. The Missouri being now swollen by the spring floods, which had subsided in the Mississippi, entered that river with such impetuosity, as apparently to displace almost the whole body of the waters in its channel. We had occasion to observe that the water of the Missouri passes under that of the Mississippi, rising and becoming mingled with it on the opposite shore, so that a portion of the clear, green waters of the latter river run for some distance in the We had the pleasure to find, notwithstanding the furnace was supplied with wood of an indifferent quality, that the force of our steam-engine was sufficient to propel the boat against the current of the Missouri, without recourse to the aid of the cordelle, We were somewhat surprised to see here a flock of black-headed terns. It is remarkable that these birds, whose ordinary range is in the immediate vicinity of the sea-coast, should ascend this river to so great a distance. They are not seen on the Delaware as high as Philadelphia, unless driven up by storms. In ascending from the mouth of the Missouri to Bellefontain, a distance of four miles, our boat grounded twice on the point of the same sand-bar, and considerable time was consumed in efforts to get her afloat. A military post was established at Bellefontain, under the direction of the government of the United States, by General Wilkinson, in 1803; but the soil on which his works were erected has Here we found it necessary to adjust a tube to the boilers of our steam-engine, in order to form a passage, through which the mud might be blown out: the method heretofore adopted, of taking off one end for the purpose of admitting a man to clean them, proving too tedious when it was found necessary to repeat the operation daily. The expedient of the tube succeeded to our entire satisfaction. Dr. Baldwin found here a plant, which he considered as forming a new genus, approaching astragalus; {63} also the new species of rose, pointed out by Mr. Bradbury, and by him called Rosa mutabilis. This last is a very beautiful species, rising sometimes to the height of eight or ten feet. The linden tree In ascending from Bellefontain to Charboniere, where we came to an anchor, on the evening of the 24th, we were opposed by a very strong current, and much impeded by sand-bars. On the upper ends of these sand-bars are many large rafts of drift wood; these are also frequent along the right hand shore. In several places we observed portions of the bank in the act of falling or sliding into the river. By this operation, numerous trees, commonly cotton-woods and willows, are overturned into the water. The forests, on the low grounds immediately in the vicinity of the Missouri, are remarkably dense; but in many instances, the young willows and poplars (which are the first and almost the only trees that spring up on the lands left naked by the river) have not attained half their ordinary dimensions, before, by another change in the direction of the current, they are undermined, and precipitated down, to be borne away by the river. The growth of the cotton-tree is very rapid, that of the salix angustata, the most common of the willows found here, is more tardy, as it never attains to great size. The seeds of both these trees are produced in the greatest profusion, and ripened early in the summer, and being furnished by nature with an apparatus to ensure their wide dissemination, they have extended themselves and taken root in the fertile lands along all the ramifications of the Mississippi, prevailing almost to the exclusion of other trees. {64} Charboniere At St. Charles we were joined by Maj. O'Fallon, agent for Indian affairs in Missouri, and his interpreter, Mr. John Dougherty, who had travelled by land from St. Louis. A mile or two below St. Charles, are many trunks of trees projecting from the bank, like those mentioned at Bellefontain. In the face of the banks are usually great numbers of the holes made by the bank-swallow for its nest, and the birds themselves are frequently seen. At St. Charles, arrangements were made for the purpose of transporting baggage for such of the gentlemen {65} of the party as should choose to ascend the Missouri by land, that they might have the better opportunities for investigating the natural history of the country. Messrs. Say, Jessup, Peale, and Seymour, having provided themselves with a horse and pack-saddle, on which they fastened their blankets, a tent, and some provisions, accompanied by one man, left St. Charles at 7 o'clock on the morning of the 26th, intending to keep nearly an equal pace with the steam-boat, in order to rejoin it as occasion might require. Dr. Baldwin, still confined by debility and lameness, was compelled to forego the pleasure of accompanying them. The Western Engineer proceeded on her voyage, soon after the departure of Mr. Say and his detachment. Having grounded several times in the course of the day, and contending all the way against a heavy current, she proceeded but a few miles. We passed some rocky cliffs; but in general the immediate banks of the river presented the same appearance as below, consisting of a recent alluvium. After we had anchored at evening, Dr. Baldwin On the morning of the 27th, after having taken in a small supply of indifferent fuel, we crossed over to the right-hand side of the river, and took on board one of the party, who had left the boat at an early hour, to visit a friend residing a short distance from the river. At evening we came to anchor half a mile below Point Labidee, A fine field of wheat, which appeared to be ripe, extended down to the brink of the river opposite the spot where we lay. This belonged to the plantation of a farmer, recently from Virginia. From him we obtained a plentiful supply of milk, and some bacon hams. A portion of the bank had lately fallen into {66} the river, and with it a part of the wheat field, and the dwelling house and other buildings seemed destined soon to follow. The shore here was lined with the common elder, (sambucus canadensis) in full bloom, and the cleared fields The Indian interpreter, Mr. Dougherty, also showed us some branches of a shrub, which he said was much used among the natives in the cure of lues venerea. They make a decoction of the root, which they continue to drink for some time. It is called "blue wood" by the French, and is the symphoria racemosa of Pursh, common to the maritime states, the banks of the St. Lawrence, and the Missouri. It is here rather taller, and the branches less flexuous than in the eastern states. Without meeting any remarkable occurrences, we moved on from day to day, encountering numerous obstacles in the navigation of the river, and being occasionally delayed by the failure of some part of the steam-engine, till on the 2d of July, we arrived at Loutre Island, where we found Mr. Say and his companions. After leaving the steam-boat at St. Charles, on the 25th of June, this party had travelled over a somewhat hilly country, covered with open oak woods for about ten miles, to a small creek, called the Darden, On the 27th they crossed the Perogue, The next morning, having travelled about seven miles, they halted for breakfast; and having fettered their horse, dismissed him to feed; but when sought for the purpose of continuing their journey, he could not be found. Two travellers at length arrived, and informed them that the horse had been seen at about six miles' distance, on the way towards St. Charles: a horse was therefore hired, and a person returned in pursuit; but he was not to be found, having proceeded on his journey previously to the arrival of the messenger. The prairie flies (a species of tabanus,) are exceedingly troublesome to horses and cattle, insomuch that people who cross these grassy plains usually travel very early in the morning, and again at evening, resting greater part of the day; some, indeed, journey only by night. If they travel at all in the day, they have the precaution to defend the horse, by a covering thrown loosely over him. The tabani appear about the 10th of June, and are seen in As they were fearful of being unable to overtake the steam-boat on the Missouri, if they made a longer delay to prosecute the search for their horse, it was determined to abandon him altogether, rather than return to St. Charles, whither he had doubtless gone; accordingly, on the 29th of June, they made a division of their baggage, and each one shouldering his respective portion, proceeded towards the margin of Loutre Prairie. When they arrived here, they determined {69} to take the most direct route towards the Missouri, as it seemed folly for them to attempt, in the drought and heat, which then prevailed, to cross the extensive plains of Loutre and the Grand Prairie with their heavy burthens. They therefore followed a path leading nearly south, along a naked ridge; where they travelled twelve miles, without finding water, and arrived at Loutre Island in the evening. They were all the day tormented with excessive thirst; and being unaccustomed to travelling on foot, they were much fatigued, and several became lame. The soil of the extensive prairies which they passed was not very good; but mixed at the surface with so much vegetable matter, accumulated by the successive growth and decomposition of the yearly products, as to give it the aspect of fertility. On the south side of Loutre Prairie a well has been sunk Near Loutre Island are several forts, as they are called by the inhabitants, built by the settlers during the late war, and designed to afford protection against the attacks of the aborigines, chiefly the Kickapoos, and Saukees, who were most feared in this quarter. They are simply strong log-houses, with a projecting upper story, and with loop-holes for musketry. It was within a few miles of this place, that a company of mounted rangers, commanded by Captain Calloway, were attacked by the Indians. The assault commenced as the rangers were entering a narrow defile, near the confluence of the Prairie Forks of Loutre Creek. Several men were killed at the first fire, and Captain Calloway received in his body a ball that had passed through his watch. So furious was the onset, that there was no time for reloading their pieces after they had discharged them. {70} Captain Calloway threw his gun into the creek, that it might not add to the booty of the Indians; and though mortally wounded, drew his knife, and killed two of the assailants; but seeing no prospect of success he ordered a retreat, hoping thereby to save the lives of some of his men. He was the last to leave the ground; when springing into the creek he received a shot in his head, and expired immediately. Loutre Island is something more than nine miles long, and about one mile wide, and is the residence of several families. Between it and the main land is an isthmus, which is left naked at times of low water. Loutre Creek enters at the lower end of the island. It is not navigable. Mr. Talbot, formerly from Kentucky, has been resident here for nine years. His farm is in a high state of cultivation, and furnishes abundant supplies of poultry, eggs, potatoes, and the numerous products of the kitchen garden, of which he sent a handsome present on board our boat. He informed us that peach-trees succeed well in the most fertile parts of the island. The first dwellings constructed by the white settlers are nearly similar in every part of the United States. Superior wealth and industry are indicated by the number and magnitude of corn-cribs, smoke-houses, and similar appurtenances; but on the Missouri, we rarely meet with any thing occupying the place of the barn in the northern states. The dwellings of people who have emigrated from Virginia, or any of the more southern states, have usually the form of double cabins, or two distinct houses, each containing a single room, and connected to each other by a roof; the intermediate space, which is often equal in area to one of the cabins, being left open at the sides, and having the naked earth for a floor, affords a cool and airy retreat, where the family will usually be found in the heat of the day. The roof is composed of from three to five They have corn-mills, consisting of a large horizontal wooden wheel, moved by a horse, and having a band passed round its periphery to communicate motion to the stone. These are called band-mills, and are the most simple and economical of those in which the power of horses is employed. The solitary planter, who has chosen his place remote from the habitation of any other family, has sometimes a mill of a more primitive character, called a hand-mill, probably differing little from those used among the ancient Egyptians. It consists of two stones; and while one person causes the uppermost to revolve horizontally upon the disk of the other, a second, who is usually a child or a woman, introduces the corn a few grains at a time, through a perforation in the upper stone. Some are content with the still ruder apparatus, consisting of an excavation in the top of a stump; into which the corn is thrown, and brayed with a pestle. This is the method in use among many of the agricultural Indians. A large species of lampyris is common on the lower part of the Missouri. It is readily distinguished from the smaller species, the common fire-fly, by its mode of coruscating. It emits from three to seven or eight flashes, in rapid succession, then ceases; but shortly after renews its brilliancy. This species appears early in May. We saw many of them in returning by night from the Merameg to St. Louis; but before our arrival at Loutre Island they had disappeared, and were succeeded by great numbers of the The black walnut attains, in the Missouri bottoms, {72} its greatest magnitude. Of one, which grew near Loutre Island, there had been made two hundred fence-rails, eleven feet in length, and from four to six inches in thickness. A cotton-tree, in the same neighbourhood, produced thirty thousand shingles, as we were informed by a credible witness. |