Travels in North America, From Modern Writers

Natchez is a town in the state of Mississippi, near the banks of the river, and about four hundred miles from its mouth. It contains about thirty dwellings, most of which are whiskey-shops, gambling, and other houses, where an excess of profligacy prevails, which is not usual in the United States.

Mr. Fearon visited Natchez in the year 1817; and in the port there were twenty-five flats, seven keels, and one steam-vessel. The flats are square covered vessels, of considerable capacity, used for carrying freight from Pittsburgh, on the Ohio, and other places below that town, down to New Orleans. Their construction is temporary and of slight materials; for they are broken up at New Orleans, as not sufficiently strong to be freighted up the river. The keel is a substantial, well-built boat, of considerable length; and, in form, somewhat resembles the floating-bath at Blackfriars' Bridge.

Observing a great many coloured people in these boats, Mr. Fearon concluded that they were emigrants, who had proceeded thus far on their route towards a settlement. The fact, however, proved to be, that fourteen of the flats were freighted with human beings intended for sale. They had been collected in the United States, by slave-dealers, and shipped, up the Mississippi, to Kentucky for a market.

There are, at Natchez, numerous stores, and three-fourths of the goods at every store are articles of British manufacture. Shopkeeping is here profitable, and mechanics are highly paid. Lotteries are very prevalent at Natchez. When Mr. Fearon was here, there was a lottery for building a Presbyterian church; and the scheme was preceded by a long address, on the advantages of religion, and the necessity of all citizens supporting Christianity, by purchasing tickets in this lottery!

The streets of Natchez were literally crammed with bales of cotton for the Liverpool market. These are carried to the water-side in carts, each drawn by two mules, horses being here little used. During Mr. Fearon's residence at this town, he twice visited the State legislature, which was composed of men who appeared any thing but legislators. Their place of meeting was in a superior kind of hay-loft; and the imitation of the forms of the British parliament were perfectly ludicrous.

Between Natchez, and the mouth of the Ohio, there is not one spot which could be recommended as a place for an Englishman to settle in. Throughout the whole of this space, the white population are the victims of demoralizing habits. The native Indians present, of course, nothing but a picture of mere savage life; and the negro slaves suffer even more misery than commonly falls to the lot of their oppressed and degraded condition. What a foul stain is it upon the American republic, professing, as they do, the principles of liberty and of equal rights, that, out of twenty states, there should be eleven in which slavery is an avowed part of the political constitution; and that, in those called free, New England excepted, the condition of blacks who are indentured, for terms of years, should practically amount to slavery!

Beyond the state of Louisiana, the Mississippi divides the Missouri territory from the territory of Mississippi; and, north of that, from the states of Tenessee and Kentucky. About the 37th degree of north latitude, and on the western bank of the river, is a town called New Madrid. This place, from the advantages of its situation, about forty-five miles from the mouth of the Ohio, may at some future time become of considerable importance. The Ohio, at the place of its junction with the Mississippi, is about a mile in width, and is navigable, for vessels of considerable burden, to a distance of more than a thousand miles.

Beyond the Ohio commences the Illinois territory. Here the general face of the country is flat; but, in some parts, the land is high and craggy. It abounds in deer, wolves, bears, squirrels, racoons, and foxes; in wild turkeys and quails; geese and ducks, partially; and hawks, buzzards, and pigeons in tolerable abundance; and the rivers contain several species of fish. In the prairies there are rattlesnakes. The woods supply grapes, pecan nuts, (similar to our walnut,) and hickory nuts. Hops, raspberries, and strawberries, here grow wild. Limestone abounds; and salt, copper, and coal have all been found in this district.

The seat of the territorial government is Kaskaski, a town which stands on a plain, near the western bank of the Mississippi, and contains about one hundred and fifty houses. This place has been settled somewhat more than a century, and its inhabitants are chiefly French. Some parts of the district of Illinois are occupied by Indians. The other inhabitants are, first, what are here termed "squatters," persons half civilized and half savage; and who, both in character and habits, are extremely wretched: second, a medley of land-jobbers, lawyers, doctors, and farmers, a portion of those who traverse this immense continent, founding settlements, and engaging in all kinds of speculation: and third, some old French settlers, who are possessed of considerable property, and who live in ease and comfort.

About seventy miles north of Kaskaski, and on the opposite side of the river, is a town or large village, called St. Louis. It stands on a rock or bank of considerable height, in a beautiful and healthy situation, and is surrounded by a country of exuberant fertility. The inhabitants of this place are chiefly employed in the fur-trade, and seldom occupy themselves in agriculture.

Narrative of a Voyage from St. Louis to the source of the Mississippi.By Zebulon Montgomery Pike

Major Pike, at that time a lieutenant in the American army, was employed by the government of the United States, to make a survey of the Mississippi, from the town of St. Louis, upwards, to its source. In pursuance of his instructions, he embarked, in a keel-boat, at this place, on the afternoon of Friday the 9th of August, 1805; and was accompanied by a serjeant and seventeen private soldiers of the American army.

As far as the mouth of the river Missouri, he says, the eastern shore of the Mississippi consists of a sandy soil, and is covered with timber-trees of various kinds. The western shore is, for a little distance, composed of high land, bordered by prairie or natural meadow-ground; after which bottom-land occurs, with timber similar to that on the eastern shore. The current is rapid, and, at low water, the navigation is obstructed by sand-banks.

Beyond the entrance of the Missouri, the stream is gentle, as far as the mouth of the Illinois; but there, owing to extensive sand-bars, and many islands, it becomes extremely rapid. From the Illinois to the Buffalo River, the eastern shore exhibits a series of gentle eminences; but, on the west, the land is a continued prairie. Timber is found on both sides; generally hackberry, cotton-wood, and ash. The Buffalo river enters from the west, and is about a hundred yards wide at its mouth.

On the 14th of August the voyagers passed a camp of the Sac Indians, consisting of three men, with their families. The men were employed in spearing and landing a large fish. Mr. Pike gave them a small quantity of whiskey and biscuit; and they, in return, presented him with some fish. The Sacs are a tribe of Indians which hunt on the Mississippi, and its confluent streams, from the Illinois to the river Jowa; and on the plains west of them, which border upon the Missouri. They are much dreaded by other Indians, for their propensity to deceit, and their disposition to commit injury by stratagem.

On the ensuing day, the voyagers reached the mouth of Salt river, a considerable stream, which, at high water, is navigable for at least two hundred miles. From the Illinois to this river, the western shore is either immediately bordered by beautiful cedar-cliffs, or the ridges of these cliffs may be seen at a distance. On the east the land is low, and the soil rich.

On the 16th of August they passed the house of a Frenchman, on the western side of the river. The cattle belonging to this person appeared to be in fine order, but his corn-land was in a bad state of cultivation. Three days afterwards their boat was damaged by striking against a vessel carrying timber and planks down the stream. While they were engaged in repairing it, three canoes, with Indians, passed on the opposite side of the river. The men in the canoes called out, in English, "How do you do?" wishing for an invitation to come over; but this was not given, and they proceeded on their voyage.

Beyond Salt river the western shore of the Mississippi is hilly, but the eastern side consists of lowland, timbered with hickory, oak, ash, maple, and other trees. The navigation here is easy, and the soil on both sides tolerably good.

On the 20th of August the voyagers, with great difficulty, passed the Rapids des Moines. These are eleven miles in extent; and, with successive ledges and shoals, reach from shore to shore, across the bed of the river. Mr. Pike had here an interview with four chiefs, and fifteen men of the Sac nation, accompanied by a French interpreter, and an agent who had been sent from the United States to teach them agriculture. These men assisted him in his progress up the Rapids; and, in recompense for the service, they were presented with some tobacco, knives, and whiskey.

At some distance beyond the Rapids the voyagers had a beautiful prospect, at least forty miles in extent, down the river. Their average daily progress appears to have been betwixt twenty and thirty miles.

Above the river Jowa, which is one hundred and fifty yards wide at its mouth, the shore of the Mississippi consists of high prairie, with yellow clay-banks, and, in some places, banks of red sand: the western shore also is prairie, but bounded by wood. About ten miles up the Jowa is a village of Jowa Indians. This people subsist chiefly by hunting, but they cultivate some corn-land. Their chief residence is on the small streams in the rear of the Mississippi. From the Jowa to Rock river, there are, on the west, beautiful prairies, and, in some places, rich land, with black walnut and hickory timber.

On the 28th of August the vessel was much injured in passing up a series of rapids nearly eighteen miles in extent, and, in some places, reaching from shore to shore. Four days after this they arrived in the vicinity of some extensive lead-mines, which belonged to a Frenchman named Dubuque. The only animals they had hitherto seen were a few wild turkeys and some deer.

From the lead-mines to Turkey river, the Mississippi continues nearly of the same width, and the banks, soil, and productions appear precisely similar. On the bank of the Turkey river is a village of Reynard Indians, who raise there a considerable quantity of corn. The Reynards reside in three villages on the Mississippi, two of which Mr. Pike had already past. They grow corn, beans, and melons; and they annually sell many hundred bushels of corn to the inhabitants of the United States.

On the 2d of September, Mr. Pike and some of his men landed for the purpose of shooting pigeons; but the guns were no sooner fired, than a party of Indians, who were on shore at a little distance, ran to the water, and escaped in their pirogues or canoes, with great precipitation. After this the voyagers passed the mouth of the Ouisconsin river, which enters the Mississippi in latitude 43 degrees 44 minutes, and is nearly half a mile wide. This river is an important source of communication with the great American lakes, and is the route by which all the traders of Michillimackinac convey their goods to the Mississippi.

On the 6th of September, a council was held with a party of Puant or Winebagoe Indians, and one of the Sioux chiefs. The former occupy seven villages, and are supposed to be a nation who originally emigrated from Mexico, to avoid the oppression of the Spaniards. They are reputed to be brave; but their bravery resembles the ferocity of tigers, rather than the deliberate resolution of men. They are so treacherous that, it is said, a white man should never lie down to sleep in their villages, without adopting the utmost caution to preserve himself from injury. The Sioux are a powerful nation, the dread of whom is extended over all the adjacent country. They are divided into numerous bands, headed by celebrated chiefs. Few of them cultivate land; but they chiefly live on the production of the chase, and on a kind of bread which they make from wild oats. This species of grain is here produced in such abundance, that a sufficiency for their subsistence is easily collected in the autumn, without any trouble whatever in cultivating the land.

Not long after their interview with these Indians, the voyagers reached the Prairie des Chiens. The houses of this village, about eighteen in number, are arranged in two streets, along the front of a marsh. They are chiefly built of wood; are daubed on the outside with clay, and white-washed within. The furniture in most of them is decent, and, in those of the most wealthy inhabitants, displays a considerable degree of taste. The Prairie des Chiens was first settled under the protection of the English government, in the year 1783; and derives its name from a family of Reynards, who formerly lived there, and were distinguished by the appellation of Dog Indians. It is a place of resort for Indian traders and others, who reside in the interior. Mr. Pike here engaged two interpreters to accompany him; one of whom was to perform the whole voyage, and the other to sail with him as high as the falls of St. Anthony.

On the 9th of September he had an interview with a party of Sioux Indians. When he went towards the shore to meet them, they saluted him by firing three rounds from their muskets, loaded with ball. On landing, Mr. Pike was met by the chief, and invited to his lodge. This invitation he complied with, having first stationed some of his men as guards, to protect him in case of danger. In the lodge he found a clean mat and a pillow arranged for him to sit upon; and the complimentary pipe of peace was placed before him, on a pair of small crutches. The chief sate at his right hand, and the interpreter at his left. After they had satisfied each other of their mutual good wishes, and Mr. Pike had accepted the pipe, dinner was prepared. This consisted of wild rye and venison.

Mr. Pike was afterwards conducted by the chief to a dance, the performance of which was accompanied by many curious gestures. Men and women danced indiscriminately. They were all dressed in the gayest manner imaginable. Each had, in his hand, a small skin of some kind of animal. They frequently ran up, pointed their skin, and gave a puff with their breath; on which the person blown at fell, and either appeared lifeless, or in great agony; but afterwards slowly recovered, rose, and joined in the dance. This was understood to be of a religious description; and the Indians believed that they actually puffed, into each others bodies, something which occasioned them to fall. For persons to be permitted to take a part in these dances, it was requisite that they should make valuable presents to the society, give a feast, and be admitted with great ceremony. When Mr. Pike returned to his boat, he sent for the chief, and presented him with a quantity of tobacco, four knives, half a pound of vermilion, a quart of salt, and several gallons of spirits.

At some distance beyond this place, Mr. Pike was shewn several holes, which had been dug in the ground by the Sioux Indians. These were, in general, of circular shape, and about ten feet in diameter; but some of them were in the form of half moons. When this people apprehend an attack from their enemies, or discover an enemy near them, they dig into the ground, with their knives, tomahawks, and wooden ladles; and, in an incredibly short space of time, sink holes that are sufficiently capacious to protect both themselves and their families from the balls or arrows of their foe.

Though the part of the river which the voyagers were now traversing was nearly two thousand miles distant from the sea, the width of the stream was supposed to be at least two miles.

The wet season had commenced, and rain fell, in considerable quantity almost every day. In this part of his voyage, Mr. Pike was accompanied by a Mr. Frazer and two other persons, with three birch canoes. On the 16th of September, they passed the mouth of the Sauteaux or Chippeway river, a deep and majestic stream, which has a communication, by a short passage, with the Montreal river, and, by this river, with Lake Superior. The shores of the Mississippi were here, in many places, bold and precipitous, forming a succession of high perpendicular cliffs and low valleys; and they exhibited some of the most romantic and picturesque views imaginable. But this irregular scenery was sometimes interrupted by wide and extensive plains, which brought to the minds of the voyagers the verdant lawns of civilized countries, and almost induced them to imagine themselves in the midst of a highly-cultivated plantation. The timber of this part of the country was generally birch, elm, and cotton-wood; and all the cliffs were bordered with cedars. The prevailing species of game were deer and bears.

On the 21st of September, the voyagers breakfasted at a Sioux village, on the eastern side of the river. It consisted of eleven lodges, and was situated at the head of an island, just below a ledge of rocks; but the inhabitants had all left it. About two miles beyond this village, they saw three bears, swimming over the river, but beyond the reach of gun-shot.

In a camp of Sioux, which they afterwards passed, Mr. Pike was astonished by the garrulity of the women. At the other camps the women had not opened their lips; but here they flocked around the strangers, and talked without cessation. The cause of this freedom is supposed to have been the absence of their husbands. In a spot at which the voyagers arrived this day, the Mississippi was so narrow that Mr. Pike crossed it, in a boat, with forty strokes of his oars.

From the Canoe river to the St. Croix, it becomes still narrower, and the navigation is less obstructed by islands, than below. From the Cannon river it is bounded on the east, by high ridges; but the left shore consists of low ground. The timber is generally ash and maple; except the cedars of the cliffs, the sugar-tree, and ash. Mr. Pike this day observed, on the shore, a white flag, and, on landing, he discovered it to be of silk. It was suspended over a scaffold, on which were laid four dead bodies; two enclosed between boards, and two between pieces of bark. They were wrapped in blankets, which appeared quite new; and were the bodies of two Sioux women, a child, and a relative. This is the manner in which the Sioux Indians bury such of their people as die a natural death: such as are killed, they suffer to lie unburied.

On the 23d, the voyagers arrived at the Falls of St. Anthony. These are about seventeen feet in height, and the approach to them is through rapids, which vessels have great difficulty in passing. At the foot of the falls, the voyagers unloaded their boats, which they carried up the hill, and placed and reloaded in the river above. While this process was going on, a small party of Indians, painted black, and prepared for war, appeared on the heights. They were armed with guns, bows and arrows, clubs, and spears; and some of them had cases of pistols. Mr. Pike was desirous of purchasing from them a set of bows and arrows, and one of their war-clubs, made of elk-horn, and decorated with inlaid work; but they took offence at something which occurred, and suddenly went away.

The weather was now so rainy, and the men had been so much fatigued with conveying the vessels and their lading, to the upper part of the falls, that seven of the twenty-two, who accompanied Mr. Pike, were taken ill. It is impossible for vessels of any description, or in any state of the river, to pass up these falls. The width of the river, immediately below them, is two hundred and nine yards, and above them, six hundred and twenty-seven yards. At high-water, the appearance is extremely sublime; as then, the quantity of water falling throws up a spray, which, in clear weather, reflects, from some positions, the colours of the rainbow; and, when the sky is overcast, this spray covers the falls in gloom and chaotic majesty.

On Tuesday, the 1st of October, Mr. Pike and his men again embarked, to proceed on their voyage above the falls. At first the river was sufficiently deep for the easy passage of the boats; but, at the distance of about four miles, the shoals commenced, and there was much difficulty in proceeding. Nearly from the Falls of St. Anthony to the Rum river, the Mississippi is a continued chain of rapids, with eddies, formed by winding channels. The land, on both sides, consists of Prairie, with scarcely any timber, except small groves of scrubby oaks. Not far from this spot is Red Cedar lake, the grounds in the vicinity of which are considered, by the Indians, extremely valuable for hunting.

In some parts of the river it was requisite for the men to wade for many successive hours, in order to force the boats over the shoals, and draw them through the rapids. The weather was now cold and rainy. On the 10th of October, in the course of four miles, the voyagers passed a cluster of more than twenty islands, which Mr. Pike called Beaver islands, from numerous dams and paths which had been made by these animals upon them. The passage up the river was still much impeded by rocks and shoals.

About the beginning of October, the voyagers began to look out for a station in which they could pass the winter. Mr. Pike was determined, if possible, to reach the Corbeau or Raven river, the highest point that had ever been reached by traders, in bark canoes. But he was not able to accomplish his intention; for, on the seventeenth, many of his men were so benumbed with cold, that their limbs became useless, and others were laid up with illness. He consequently fixed on a station near Pine Creek, where the borders of the Mississippi consisted of prairie, with groves of pine at the edge of the banks; and, in some places, with oak, ash, maple, and lime-trees. The banks of Lake Clear, a small and beautiful lake, about three miles distant, are the resort of immense herds of elks and buffaloes; and Clear river, which unites this lake with the Mississippi, is a delightful little stream, about eighty yards wide.

On the seventeenth, snow fell during the whole day: Mr. Pike killed four bears, and his hunter three deer. Several ensuing days were occupied in cutting down trees, for the formation of winter-huts; and in constructing the huts, and forming a fence round them. When the latter was completed, the two boats were hauled out of the water, and turned over, on each side of the gateways, so as to form a defence against any Indians who might be inclined to attack the encampment.

At this place, and in its vicinity, the voyagers continued several weeks, during which they suffered great hardships. Much of their time was occupied in hunting. They occasionally saw large herds of elks, some of them of immense size; the horns of the bucks measuring four feet and upwards in width. Many droves of buffaloes were also seen, and deer of various kinds: bears, wolves, racoons, and otters, were occasionally shot.

On the 7th of November the Mississippi was nearly filled with snow; and, on the land, the snow was knee deep. Before the end of the month, the river was frozen over.

During his residence at this place, Mr. Pike did not see many Indians. On one occasion he visited the tent or hut of an Indian chief, whom he found sitting amidst his children, and grand-children, ten in number. The hut was constructed of rushes, platted into mats.

In the month of December, Mr. Pike and some of his men proceeded, in sledges, up the Mississippi. On the twenty-fourth, they reached Corbeau river; which, at its mouth, was nearly as wide as the Mississippi. For a considerable distance, the Mississippi was interrupted by a continued succession of rapids, shoals, and falls. One of the latter, called the Falls of the Painted Rock, formed the third important obstacle to the navigation of the river, which Mr. Pike had encountered. Most of the timber, now observed near the banks, consisted of pine-trees.