Local History Website of the SMSU Department of History

Henry R. Schoolcraft, Journal of a Tour into the Interior of Missouri and Arkansaw ... in the Years 1818 and 1819 (excerpts)

Thursday Nov. 5, 1818.

I begin my tour where other travelers have ended theirs, on the confines of the wilderness, and at the last village of white inhabitants, between the Mississippi river and the Pacific Ocean.  I have passed down the valley of the Ohio, and across the state of Illinois.... I am now at the mines of Missouri, at the village of Mine a Burton [or Potosi, the county seat for] Washington county, Missouri territory, and is situated forty miles west of St. Genevieve, and about sixty southwest of St. Louis, the capital.

Friday Nov. 6

Having completed the necessary preparations, I left Potosi at three o'clock, accompanied by Mr. Levi Pettibone, being both armed with guns, and clothed and equipped in the manner of the hunter, and leading a pack-horse, who carried our baggage, consisting of skins to cover us at night, some provisions, an axe, a few cooking utensils, etc.

We turned to pursue our way with such feelings as many travelers have experienced on turning their backs upon the comforts and endearments of life, to encounter fatigue, hard fare, and danger.

Saturday Nov. 7

[Camping]

As we are unacquainted with the hunter's art of traveling in the woods, we shall necessarily encounter some difficulties from our want of experience, which a hunter himself would escape.  We find it necessary to gain a knowledge of things, of which we before knew nothing, and in which we had not any experience, such is the art of hobbling a horse properly, with safety to ourselves, and without injury to him-the best method of building a camp fire-how to cook a piece of venison [meat from animals killed by hunting, specifically deer meat], or boil a pot of coffee, &c.  Such are now the objects which will engross our daily attention, and to excel in which becomes a point of ambitious exertion.

Sunday Nov. 8

[The Fourche a Courtols, a tributary of the Meramec River  runs] through a sterile country....  Its banks, at the place we crossed, afford some very rich lands, but they do not extend far, consisting merely of a strip of alluvion running parallel with the river, and bordered by hills, whose stony aspect forbids the approach of the farmer.  

[Osage Indians]

On this stream are settled several persons, who divide their time between hunting and farming. We had proceeded but a short distance beyond the Fourche A Courtois, when the barking of dogs in a contiguous forest, announced our approach to a hunter's cabin, where we halted to inquire respecting the Indian trace to the country of the Osages, which we were informed ran in the direction we were traveling, and might be pursued for sixty or seventy miles with advantage.  The owner of the cabin was not himself in when we first arrived, but his wife very readily gave us every information respecting the direction of the trace, the streams we were to cross, the game we might expect to find for our subsistence, and other particulars, evincing a perfect acquaintance with the subject, adding, that it was dangerous traveling in that quarter on account of the Osages, who never failed to rob and plunder those who fell in their way, and often carried them in captivity to their villages, on the Grand Osage river.  She said her husband bad contemplated going out on a hunt into that quarter for several days, but was fearful of going alone lest he should fall in with a party of those Indians; but she thought he would be willing to accompany us a part of the way, and advised us to await his return from the woods, as he had only gone a short distance to kill some turkey.  While we were waiting his return, she continued to repeat several incidents of robberies and murders committed by the Osages, and unusual hardships which had been encountered in the woods by her husband and others.  She told us, also, that our guns were not well adapted to our journey; that we should have rifles; and pointed out some other errors in our dress, equipment, and mode of traveling, while we stood in astonishment to hear a woman direct us in matters which we had before thought the peculiar and exclusive province of men.  While thus engaged the husband entered, and readily agreed to our proposal, to accompany us toward White River, where he represented the game to exist in great abundance.  In a few moments he was ready.  Putting three or four large cakes of cornbread in a sack, and shouldering a rifle, he mounted his horse, and we all set forward together, mutually pleased with the reciprocal benefits expected from traveling in company.  Our path, for the first four miles, lay across a succession of sterile ridges, thinly covered with oaks....

[Delaware Indians]

[On the stream,] we passed through a small Village of Delaware Indians, who are now all out hunting, except the old men, women, and children.  Four miles below the spot where we crossed this stream, is situated a large village of the Shawnees, and three miles above is another settlement of Delawares.

Monday Nov. 9

[Camping]

The sleep of the hunter is not sound, neither is his vigilance to be eluded; and the anxiety he is kept in, from the fear of the Indian on the one hand, and the approach of wild animals on the other, produces constant wakefulness during the night.  His horse and baggage also demand occasional notice during the darkness of night, and he lies down with his rifle in his arms, to be prepared for emergencies.  An instance of this vigilance occurred last night, and prevented a loss which would, in our situation, have been irreparable.  Our packhorse, who, as usual, was turned loose to graze, accompanied by that of the hunter, strayed off from our camp, but was not long gone, when missed by Roberts, (the hunter,) who awoke me, and we pursued, and overtook them about three miles off, and brought them back to camp before day-light.  All this serves to increase our caution; and the farther we proceed, the more serious would be any loss we might sustain, either in our horse, guns, locks, ammunition, or any other article necessary to our safety or subsistence.  During the night we had several times been disturbed by the approach of elk and deer, and as soon as the day dawned, Roberts went out a short distance and killed a fine fat doe, which he brought in on his shoulders, and we made a breakfast, for the first time, on roasted deer's meat, with appetites sharpened by exercise, which, while it invigorates the body, as we experience, increases its alimentary capacities.

Tuesday Nov. 10

One of the greatest inconveniences we experience in traveling in this region, arises from the difficulty of finding, at the proper time, a place of encampment affording wood and water, both of which are indispensable.  On this account we find it prudent to encamp early in the afternoon, when we come to a spring of good water, with plenty of wood for fire, and grass for our horse; and, on the contrary, are compelled to travel late at night in order to find them.

Wednesday Nov. 11

[Wolves]

While lying before our campfire last night, the wolves set up their howling, apparently within 200 yards of us.  We had already been long enough in the woods, and were sufficiently conversant with the hunter life, to know that this animal will only attack men in cases of the most extreme hunger; and as we knew their common prey, the deer, was abundant in that quarter, we had little apprehension for our safety.  We thought it prudent, however, to be on the watch; a thing, indeed, which we did almost every night, particularly when the cold was such as to render it necessary to keep up a fire.  In these cases we slept and watched alternately, as well from a regard to safety as to mend our fire.  Such, however, was the fatigue of a day's long march, that we both fell into a sound sleep for the greater part of the night, and found our fire nearly out, and ourselves chilled with cold when we awoke, the wolves being still on an adjacent hill.  A short time before day-light we arose, renewed our fire, and prepared breakfast, and commenced our journey at an early hour, holding a south course across the prairie of Little Lakes.

Thursday Nov. 19

[We are going down the valley of a] stream, which I shall for the present call Limestone River [that] is wholly composed of springs which gush at almost every step from its calcareous banks, and it rapidly assumes the character of a considerable river.  The waters are very pure, cold, and transparent.  We have this day passed over some rich bottom lands, covered with elm, beech, oak, maple, sycamore, and ash.  We have frequently driven the deer from its covert; and the wild turkey, duck, and gray squirrel, have been almost constantly in sight. 

Friday Nov. 20

The lands continue to be that rich alluvion which is common to all the streams and valleys of Missouri, and covered by a luxuriant growth of forest timber, shrubs, vines, cane, and green-briar, often so matted and interwoven together, that our progress is not only retarded, but attended with great fatigue.  The extent of these bottoms is, however, small, and they are bordered by very high bluffs of calcareous rock.  In our progress, we have been continually breaking in upon the retreats of those natural possessors of the soil, the bear and the deer.  The turkey, the duck, swan, prairie-hen, and squirrel, have also viewed us as enemies, and fled at our approach.

[Springs]

The stream which we are pursuing is ... characterized by being made up wholly of springs, which bubble up from the rocks along its banks.  No tributary has, as yet, swelled its current, either from the right or the left; but it continues visibly to increase from the springs, some of which are of immense size, and all remarkable for the purity of their waters.  We have passed one of these springs today, which deserves to be ranked among the natural phenomena of this region.  It rushes out of an aperture in a lime-stone rock, at least fifty yards across, and where it joins the main river, about 1,000 yards below, is equal to it, both in width and depth, the waters possessing the purity of crystal.

Saturday Nov. 21

[Fording rivers]

In attempting to ford the river where the water appeared to be two, or at most three feet deep, the horse suddenly plunged in below his depth, and was compelled to swim across, by which our baggage got completely wetted.  Our tea, meal, salt, sugar, &c. was either greatly damaged, or entirely spoiled; our skins, blankets, and clothing, were also soaked with water, and such part of our powder as was not bottled shared the same fate.  This proved a serious misfortune, as our situation precluded the possibility of getting new supplies.  It was near night when this accident happened, and we immediately encamped, and began to dry our effects, and save what was not wholly ruined, in which we consumed a considerable part of the night. The weather continues mild and pleasant. We have passed innumerable flocks of turkey in the course of this day: also bear, deer, pigeon, duck, and squirrel.

Monday Nov. 30

[We came upon a] horse path with fresh tracks [followed it, and] met a man on horseback.  He was the first human being we had encountered for twenty days, and I do not know that I ever received a greater pleasure at the sight of a man.  He ... was now returning from a visit.... From him we learned that the stream we had been following down, was the Great North Fork of the White River; that we were then within ten miles of its mouth, and that we were within a few miles of a house either way.  Elated with this information, we ... followed [him] to a house on Bennet's Bayou, a tributary stream of the North Fork, where we arrived about three o'clock in die afternoon.

Our approach was announced by the loud and long continued barking of dogs, who required repeated bidding before they could be pacified....

[Pride of the Hunter]

[T]he first object worthy of remark which presented itself on emerging from the forest, was the innumerable quantity of deer, bear, and other skins, which had been from time to time stretched out, and hung up to dry on poles and trees around the house. These trophies of skill and prowess in the chase were regarded [highly. We were told] that the house we were about to visit belonged to a person by the name of Wells, who was ... a great hunter.  He had several acres of ground in a state of cultivation, and a substantial new-built log-house, consisting of one room, which had been lately exchanged for one less calculated to accommodate a growing family.  Its interior would disappoint any person who has never had an opportunity of witnessing the abode of man beyond the pale of the civilized world.  Nothing could be more remote from the ideas we have attached to domestic comfort, neatness, or convenience, without allusion to cleanliness, order, and the concomitant train of household attributes, which make up the sum of human felicity in refined society.

[Deer-skin clothes]

The dress of the children attracted our attention.  The boys were clothed in a particular kind of garment made of deer skin, which served the double purposes of shirt and jacket.  The girls had buck-skin frocks, which it was evident, by the careless manner in which they were clothed, were intended to combine the utility both of linen and calico, and all were abundantly greasy and dirty.  Around the walls of the room hung the horns of deer and buffaloes, rifles, shot-pouches, leather-coats, dried meat, and other articles, composing the ward-robe, smoke-house, and magazine of our host and family, while the floor displayed great evidence of his own skill in the fabrication of household furniture. 

[We told our host] that we had been without meat or bread for several days.  We were about to add, that we were inexperienced in hunting and traveling in the woods, and had probably fared worse than an old hunter would have done in our situation; but he anticipated our design, notwithstanding our being disguised as hunters, and taking hold of my companion's shotgun, remarked, "I reckon, stranger, you have not been used much to traveling in the woods."

While his wife was preparing a meal, we entered into a general conversation on the subject of our journey, and obtained from him such directions as were necessary for continuing our course....

He inquired respecting the country we had crossed, what were the streams, the kind of wood, and the game.  All this was done with a view either of learning from us, or of judging for himself whether it was a region for hunting, and what animals it abounded with.  He was particularly anxious for bear, deer being very common in all parts, and to use his own words, "hardly worth shooting;" and from information we gave him, he immediately determined to set out the next day on a bear-hunt, up the Great North Fork.  His wife seemed to take a very great interest in this piece of information, and was even more particular than he in inquiries respecting the freshness of the signs we had seen.

We now sat down to a meal of smoking-hot com-bread, butter, honey, and milk, a diet we should at any time have relished, but in the present instance very judiciously set before us; and after eating as much as we supposed two hearty men ought to, arose unsatisfied, not more from a regard to moral than physical propriety.  After supper we made many inquiries respecting the region we were in; its bearing and relation to the nearest settlements; the quality of soil, mineral and vegetable productions, etc. topics upon which he readily gave us information.   

[Frontier Women]

In the course of the evening I tried to engage our hostess and her daughters in small-talk, such as passes current in every social corner; but, for the first time, found I should not recommend myself in that way.  They could only talk of bears, hunting, and the like.  The rude pursuits, and the coarse enjoyments of the hunter state, were all they knew.

The evening was now far spent; we had related the most striking incidents of our tour, and had listened in return to many a hunting exploit, in the course of which, the trophies on the wall were occasionally referred to as proof, when a motion was made for sleep, and we lay down on a skin before the fire, happy in the reflection that we had a roof to cover us.

Tuesday Dec. 1

We had concluded to spend this day in preparations for recommencing our journey on the next.  Our dress now required attention.  Our shoes were literally cut to pieces by the stony region we had crossed, and we had purchased a deer skin for the purpose of making ourselves a pair of moccasins a piece.  We also had purchased some corn for bread, some wild honey, and a little lead.  The former required pounding in a mortar, and the latter molding into bullets, or shot. 

[Making corn meal]

[W]e began early in the morning to beat our corn into meal, by means of a wooden mortar and pestle he kept for that purpose.  This mortar was made by burning a hole in the top of a firm oak-stump, and a large wooden pestle attached to a spring-pole, adapted to play into it.  It was an unwieldy apparatus, and worked with a tremendous clattering, attended with incredible fatigue to the operator.

[O]ur host and his sons early busied in equipping themselves for a bear hunt up the Great North Fork... [We could travel part of the way together, and were] determined not to lose so good an opportunity of being safely piloted.... [But,] he refused to conduct us, unless we would pay a certain sum of money, which he stipulated.  He had already found we had money, for we had paid him very liberal, if not exorbitant prices, for every thing we had received, and it had only served to inflame his avarice.  There was no alternative in our present situation, and we agreed to his demand, provided he would kill us a deer, either on the way, or before he left our camp.  [We] set forward toward the northwest, accompanied by our host, his sons, and a neighbor, seven men in all, armed and equipped for a bear hunt, and followed by a troop of hungry dogs, who made the woods echo with their cries.  They were all on horseback....

Wednesday Dec. 2

[They had killed a couple turkeys. The first was yesterday's supper, the second was for breakfast.] Early this morning... several of the party went out in quest of game, but all returned... completely unsuccessful, and... suddenly mounted their horses and bid us adieu.  So abrupt a movement took us rather by surprise, and as they trotted off through an adjoining forest, we stood surveying the singular procession, and the singular beings of whom it was composed, and which, taken altogether, bore no comparison with anything human or divine, savage or civilized, which we had ever before witnessed, but was rather characterized in partaking of whatever was disgusting, terrific, rude, and outre in all.  It was, indeed, a novel and striking spectacle, such as we had never before experienced, and when they had passed out of sight we could not forbear an expression of joy at the departure of men, in whose presence we felt rather like prisoners than associates.  From their generosity we had received nothing; they had neglected to fulfill one of the most essential engagements [killing a deer], and departed without even an apology for it; their manner and conversation were altogether rough and obscene, and their conduct such as to make us every moment feel that we were in their power.

Our first care, after the departure of the hunters, was to make ourselves moccasins, and we spent the day in this and other preparations, necessary to the comfort, convenience, and safety of our tour.

Sunday Dec. 6

Face of the country very rough, lands sterile, timber oak, and very scanty; weather very mild and pleasant for the season.

Monday Dec. 7

[W]e halted our horse near the summit of a bald mountain, while we went up to survey one of those beautiful and extensive prospects which the traveler so frequently enjoys in passing over this singularly wild and barren region. 

[Along a river we came to a house of a man named] M'Gary.  He had a field of several acres under cultivation, where he raised corn, with several horses, cows, and hogs.  The house was of logs, built after the manner of the new settlers in the interior of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.  He was provided with a hand-mill for grinding corn, a smoke-house filled with bear and other meats, and the interior of the house, though very far from being either neat or comfortable, bore some evidence that the occupant had once resided in civilized society. I noticed a couple of odd volumes of books upon a shelf.  Some part of the wearing-apparel of himself and family was of foreign manufacture.  Upon the whole, he appeared to live in great ease and independence, surrounded by a numerous family of sons and daughters, all grown up; received us with cordiality, gave us plenty to eat, and bid us welcome as long as we pleased to stay.

[Osage Indians]

In the evening, conversation turned on the length and object of our journey, the difficulties we had encountered, the game we had seen, etc.  He told us we were 800 miles above the junction of White River with the Mississippi; that the river was navigable with keel-boats all the way; that there were several settlements along its banks, the river bottoms being very rich; and that traders sometimes came up with large canoes to that place, and to the settlement above at the Sugar-Loaf Prairie.  He represented our journey toward the head of the White River as extremely hazardous, on account of the Osage Indians, whose hunting grounds embraced the whole region in which this river, and its upper tributaries, originate, and who never failed to rob white hunters, and travelers who were so unfortunate as to fall in their way, and sometimes carried them into captivity.  He related the particulars of a robbery they had some time before committed upon him in the very house we were then sitting, when they took away horses, clothes, and such other articles about the house as they took a fancy to.  They had visited him in this way twice, and very recently had stolen eight beaver traps, with all his firs, from a neighboring hunter, and detained him a considerable time a prisoner in their camp.  Numerous other instances were related, all tending to prove that the Osage Indians felt hostile to the white settlements along that river, and that they were habitual robbers and plunderers, not only of them, but of every person who happened to fall defenseless into their hands.

All this was new to us, and excited some surprise, as the United States have enjoyed an uninterrupted peace with this tribe of Indians ever since the acquisition of Louisiana.  We replied to him, that the existence of such robberies must certainly be unknown to the government; that we considered it bound to protect them in the lawful and peaceable enjoyment of their liberty and property while living within the territories of the United States, and that if proper representations were made to the Indian agent at St. Louis, redress could undoubtedly be obtained.  He said such representations had been attempted, but owing to causes not recollected, did not succeed; that they were not, in fact, able to undertake such long journeys for the purpose of seeking redress, which would cost more than the worth of the property taken, etc.

He also informed us, that a deadly and deep-rooted hostility existed between the Cherokees, who had lately exchanged their lands in Tennessee for the country lying between the Arkansas and Red River, and the Osages, and that they were daily committing depredations upon the territories and properties of each other.  Having but a short time before witnessed the conclusion of a treaty of peace between these two tribes, made at St. Louis under the auspices of Governor Clark, I was surprised to hear of the continuance of hostilities.  To prove what reliance is to be placed on the faith of such treaties, he mentioned, that when the Cherokees returned from the council which concluded that treaty, they pursued a party of Osages near the banks of White River, and stole, unperceived, twenty horses, and carried them safely off.

Tuesday Dec. 8

On offering to pay our [host for food] and lodging, he refused to take anything, and perceiving we had no meat to take with us, took me to his smoke house, and drawing his knife, put it into my hand, then opened the door, and told me to go in and cut what I wanted.  I did so.  It was well filled with dried buffalo's beef, and bear's meat, both smoked and fresh. 

 Wednesday Dec. 9

[W]e found a family who had two weeks before emigrated from the lower parts of White River.  They had brought their furniture and effects, such as it was, partly in a canoe up the river, and partly on pack horses through the woods.

Nothing could present a more striking picture of the hardships encountered by the back wood's settler, than this poor, friendless, and forlorn family.  The woman and her little children were a touching group of human distress, and in contemplating their forlorn situation we for a while forgot our own deprivations and fatigues.  They were short of provisions, the husband being out in search of game, and after obtaining such information as the woman was able to give, respecting the next settlement, we continued our journey....

[We traveled to a] settlement at Sugar-Loaf Prairie [which] consists at present of four families, located within the distance of eight miles, but is so recent that a horse-path has not yet been worn from one cabin to another. It is the highest settlement on the river, excepting two families at the mouth of Beaver Creek, about three miles above.

[Frontier Society]

These people subsist partly by agriculture, and partly by hunting.  They raise corn for bread, and for feeding their horses previous to the commencement of long journeys in the woods, but none for exportation.  No cabbages, beets, onions, potatoes, turnips, or other garden vegetables, are raised.  Gardens are unknown.  Corn and wild meats, chiefly bear's meat, are the staple articles of food. 

In manners, morals, customs, dress, contempt of labor and hospitality, the state of society is not essentially different from that which exists among the savages.  Schools, religion, and learning are alike unknown.  

[Pride of the Hunter]

Hunting is the principal, the most honorable, and the most profitable employment.  To excel in the chase procures fame, and a man's reputation is measured by his skill as a marksman, his agility and strength, his boldness and dexterity in killing game, and his patient endurance and contempt of the hardships of the hunter's life.  They are, consequently, a hardy, brave, independent people, rude in appearance, frank and generous, travel without baggage, and can subsist any where in the woods, and would form the most efficient military corps in frontier warfare which can possibly exist.  Ready trained, they require no discipline, inured to danger, and perfect in the use of the rifle.  Their system of life is, in fact, one continued scene of camp-service. 

Their habitations are not always permanent, having little which is valuable, or loved, to rivet their affections to any one spot; and nothing which is venerated, but what they can carry with them; they frequently change residence, traveling where game is more abundant.  

[River trade]

Vast quantities of beaver, otter, raccoon, deer, and bear-skins, are annually caught.  These skins are carefully collected and preserved during the summer and fall, and taken down the river in canoes, to the mouth of the Great North Fork of White River, or to the mouth of Black River, where traders regularly come up with large boats to receive them. They also take down some wild honey, bear's bacon, and buffalo-beef, and receive in return, salt, iron-pots, axes, blankets, knives, rifles, and other articles of first importance in their mode of life.

[Dogs]

We [went to the home of] Mr. Coker.... Our approach to the house was, as usual, announced by the barking of dogs, whose incessant yells plainly told us, that all who approached that domain, of which they were the natural guardians, and whether moving upon two, or upon four legs, were considered as enemies, and it was not until they were peremptorily, and repeatedly recalled, that they could be pacified.  

[Pride of the Hunter]

Dried skins, stretched out with small rods, and hung up to dry on trees and poles around the house, served to give the scene the most novel appearance.  This custom has been observed at every hunter's cabin we have encountered, and, as we find, great pride is taken in the display, the number and size of the bear-skins serving as a credential of the hunter's skill and prowess in the chase.

We had no sooner acquainted our [host] with the objects and contemplated extent of our journey, than he discovered the fear which appears to prevail on this river, respecting the Osage Indians, and corroborated what we had before heard of their robberies.  He considered the journey hazardous at this season, as they had not yet, probably, broke up their hunting camps, and retired, as they do every winter, to their villages on the Grandosaw (Grand Osage) river. 

He recommended us to abandon our guns for rifles, to take with us as little baggage as possible-thought we should find it a poor season for game, and made other remarks of a discouraging nature.  The fact was, he had an old rifle for sale, thought we had money, and wished to get double the worth of it.... We were inclined to [buy it] but could not agree as to the price....

Sunday Dec 13

We are now at the last ... settlement on the river ... the most remote [frontier point whites have] penetrated in a southwest direction from the Mississippi river, toward the rocky mountains.  It consists of two families, Holt and Fisher by name, who have located themselves here within the last four months.  They have not yet cleared any land for corn, nor finished their houses, notwithstanding the advanced season.  They have fixed the site of their habitations on the east banks of the river, on the verge of a very large and rich tract of bottom land, occupying a bend in the river. It is covered by a heavy forest of oak, ash, maple, walnut, mulberry, and sycamore, the latter skirting the immediate banks of the river, with a vigorous growth of cane below.  The opposite bank of the river is a perpendicular bluff of lime-stone rock, rising at the water's edge to a height of 300 feet, where it terminates in very rugged peaks, capped by a stinted growth of cedars and oaks, and forming a most striking contrast with the level, rich, and heavy wooded plain below, over which it casts its broad shadow by half-past three in the afternoon, which must render it a cool and delightful residence in summer. 

Our first care on reaching this spot, was to endeavor to procure one of the hunters to guide us on our way, but in this we have not, as yet, been successful.  They are strongly impressed with a fear of being robbed by the Osage Indians, and represent that they have not corn enough to last their families until our return; that their camps are not yet finished, etc.

Monday Dec. 14  

[Influence of Money]

The love of gain, which so strongly characterizes polished society in all parts of the world, has also found its way into these remote woods.  [W]e are beyond the pale of civilized society, with all its endearments, inquietudes, and attractions; but we are not beyond the influence of money, which is not confined by geographical boundaries, or located in its operation upon any particular class of society, or degree of civilization.  We, accordingly, found this, after all their plausible excuses, the only real obstacle in the way of our agreement with them to accompany us as guides, but thought it advisable to submit to a little imposition, in order to accomplish our main design in visiting this region, and have just concluded a bargain with Holt.  He is to have our horse, and ten dollars, to accompany us as guide and hunter, with the benefit of all skins or furs he may collect on the tour. 

Thursday Dec. 17

[At the cabin, a] day's work: in the morning, rise at, or before daybreak, and build a large cabin-fire, of logs eight feet long; then pound the corn which is to serve the family during the day.  This is done in a wooden mortar, with a pestle attached to a spring pole.  The time from this to breakfast is employed in patching moccasins, etc.  [We] chop wood and clear land. We [go] out into the forest with our axes, and chop and clear away cane and brush until dinner, which answers also for supper, and happens about five o'clock, so that we never sit down without an appetite.

Our bill of fare presents no variety.  We have hominy, that is, corn boiled until it is soft, and bear's bacon for dinner, without any vegetables.  The same for breakfast, with the addition of sassafras tea.  The day's work closes with building a large night-fire, and packing up, from the adjoining forest, wood enough to replenish it during the night, and succeeding day.  We then lie down on a bear skin before the fire, and enjoy the sweet repose resulting from daily labor.

The weather continues cold and frosty. Water poured upon the corn this morning previous to pounding, froze in carrying it from the cabin to the mortar, a distance of thirty yards.

Friday Dec. 18

We had furnished our traveling pack with a quantity of choice young hyson-tea, and this morning made a pot of it, and invited Mrs. Fisher to partake, presuming it would be highly relished, but were surprised to hear her declare it was bitter, and unpalatable stuff.  She could not drink it.  She preferred dittany, sassafras, and spice-wood tea, to our hyson.  We had not before imagined that there was any part of the white population of the Untied States strangers to this plant, so universally in use in our country.

[Frontier Justice]

Justice, which in civilized society is administered through all the formalities of the law, is here obtained in a more summary way.  Two hunters having a dispute respecting a horse, which one had been instrumental in stealing from the other, the person aggrieved meeting the other, some days afterwards, in the woods, shot him through the body.  He immediately fled, keeping in the woods for several weeks, when the neighboring hunters, aroused by so glaring an outrage, assembled and set out in quest of him. Being an expert woodsman, he eluded them for some time, but at last they got a glimpse of him as he passed through a thicket, and one of the party fired upon him.  The ball passed through his shoulder, but did not kill him. This event happened a few days before our arrival, but I know not how it has terminated.  In all probability several lives will be lost before a pacification takes place, as both parties have their friends, and all are hot for revenge.

Thursday Dec. 24

[Dogs]

The hunter, although habitually lazy, and holding in contempt the pursuits of agriculture, so far, at least, as is not necessary to his own subsistence, is nevertheless a slave to his dog, the only object around him to which he appears really devoted.  His horse, cow, and hogs, if he have any, living upon vegetable food, can subsist themselves in the woods; but the dog requires animal food, which he cannot himself alone procure, and to furnish which occupies no inconsiderable portion of the hunter's time.  It is no easy task to provide a pack of hungry dogs, from six to twelve, the usual number owned by every hunter, with meat, the truth of which we have witnessed for several days past, and the hunters went out this morning to kill meat enough to supply them until our return. 

A very high value is set upon a good dog by the hunter, and they are sought with the greatest avidity. We have been told of a hunter, who lately exchanged a cow for a dog, but this is considered extraordinary even here.

Friday Dec. 25, Christmas day

At our suggestion, the hunters went out to kill some turkeys, as we wished one for a Christmas dinner, and after an absence of a couple of hours, returned with fourteen.  I prevailed on Mrs. H. to undertake a turkey-pie with Indian meal crust, which we partook of under a shady tree on the banks of the river, the weather being warm and pleasant.

Sunday Dec. 27

[Frontier Religion]

The sabbath is not a day [different from others] in this region.  [For the typical  person here,] all days are equally unhallowed, and the first and the last day of the week find him alike sunk in unconcerned sloth, and stupid ignorance.  He neither thinks for himself, not reads the thoughts of others, and if he ever acknowledges his dependence upon the Supreme Being, it must be in that silent awe produced by the furious tempest, when the earth trembles with concussive thunders, and lightening shatters the oaks around his cottage, that cottage which certainly never echoed the voice of human prayer. 

[We were told] that itinerant preachers sometimes visited the lower parts of White River, and had penetrated within 300 miles of the place where we then sat, but had not found much encouragement.

[Education/Growing up on the Frontier]

Schools are also unknown, and no species of learning cultivated, children are wholly ignorant of the knowledge of books, and have not learned even the rudiments of their own tongue.  Thus situated, without moral restraint, brought up in the uncontrolled indulgence of every passion and without a regard of religion, the state of society among the rising generation in this region is truly deplorable. 

In their childish disputes, boys frequently stab each other with knives, two instances of which have occurred since our residence here.  No correction was administered in either case, the act being rather looked upon as a promising trait of character. 

[The boys] begin to assert their independence as soon as they can walk, and by the time they reach the age of fourteen, have completely learned the use of the rifle, the arts of trapping beaver and otter, killing the bear, deer, and buffalo, and dressing skins and making moccasins and leather clothes.  They are then accomplished in all customary things, and are, therefore, capable of supporting themselves and a family....

The girls are brought up with little care, and inured to servile employment.  They have ruddy complexions, but, in other respects, are rather gross, as they live chiefly on animal food.  Being deprived of all the advantages of dress, possessed by our fair country-women in the east, they are by no means calculated to inspire admiration, but on the contrary disgust; their whole wardrobe, until the age of twelve, consisting of one greasy buckskin frock, which is renewed whenever worn out.

[Boys and girls] enter into marriage early in life. 

[Frontier Women]

The women are observed to have few children, and of those, being deprived of the benefit of medical aid, an unusual number die in their infancy.  This is probably owing wholly to adventitious causes, and may be explained on the same principles as a similar circumstance in savage life, the female being frequently exposed to the inclemency of the weather, always to unusual hardships and fatigues, doing in many instances the man's work, living in camps on the wet ground, without shoes, etc.  Mrs. H. tells me, she has not lived in a cabin which had a floor to it for several years; that during that time they have changed their abode several times, and that she has lost four children, who all died before they reached their second year.   

[Witchcraft and superstition]

Among all classes superstition is prevalent.  Witchcraft, and a belief in the sovereign virtue of certain metals, so prevalent in those periods of the history of the progress of the human mind, which reflect disgrace upon our species, have still their advocates here.  Mr. F. related to us an amusing story of a rifle he had, that was bewitched, so that he could kill nothing with it, and sold it on that account.  He had fixed his suspicions upon a neighbor, and was full in belief that he had, out of malice, laid a spell upon his rifle.

Tuesday Dec. 29

The country passed over yesterday [going north], after leaving the valley of White River, presented a character of unvaried sterility, consisting of a succession of limestone ridges, skirted with a feeble growth of oaks, with no depth of soil, often bare rocks upon the surface, and covered with coarse wild grass; and sometimes we crossed patches of ground of considerable extent, without trees or brush of any kind....

[O]ne of the highest and most remarkable [hills is] called the Bald Hill, and known ... in this quarter as a land mark....

Swan Creek ... which joins the ... White River: Its banks afford a strip of rich alluvial bottom, covered with a heavy growth of maple, hickory, ash, hackberry, elm, and sycamore, and its waters are frequented by the beaver.  

Wednesday Dec. 30

[Osage Indians]

[We went on] a horse-path beaten by the Osages in their hunting excursions … and passed successively three of their camps, now deserted, all very large, arranged with much order and neatness, and capable of quartering probably 100 men each. Both the method of building camps, and the order of encampment observed by this singular nation of savages, are different from anything of the kind I have noticed among the various tribes of aboriginal Americans, through whose territories I have had occasion to travel. The form of the tent or camp may be compared to an inverted bird's nest, or hemisphere, with a small aperture left in the top, for the escape of smoke; and a similar, but larger one, at one side, for passing in and out. It is formed by cutting a number of slender flexible green-poles of equal length, sharpened at each end, stuck in the ground like a bow, and, crossing at right angles at the top, the points of entrance into the ground forming a circle. Small twigs are then wove in, mixed with the leaves of cane, moss, and grass, until it is perfectly tight and warm. These tents are arranged in large circles, one within another, according to the number of men intended to be accommodated. In the centre is a scaffolding for meat, from which all are supplied every morning, under the inspection of a chief, whose tent is conspicuously situated at the head of the encampment, and differs from all the rest, resembling a half cylinder inverted.

[Differences between the American and Indian hunters]

The white hunter, on encamping in his journeys, cuts down green-trees, and builds a large fire of long logs, sitting at some distance from it. The Indian hunts up a few dry limbs, cracks them into little pieces a foot in length, builds a small fire, and sits close by it. He gets as much warmth as the white hunter, without half the labour, and does not burn more than a fiftieth part of the wood. The Indian considers the forest his own, and is careful in using and preserving every thing which it affords. He never kills more meat than he has occasion for. The white hunter destroys all before him, and cannot resist the opportunity of killing game, although he neither wants the meat, nor can carry the skins. I was particularly struck with an instance of this wanton practice, which lately occurred on White River. A hunter returning from the woods heavy laden with the flesh and skins of five bears, unexpectedly arrived in the midst of a drove of buffalo, and wantonly shot down three, having no other object than the sport of killing them. This is one of the causes of the enmity existing between the white and the red hunters of Missouri.

Thursday Dec. 31

Within a mile after quitting the spot of our encampment, we entered the valley of Findley's Fork, or river, a large stream running from the northeast, and tributary to James' river, the main northwestern branch of White River.  We pursued down this stream five miles, passing over a body of well-wooded, fertile river bottom, when the severity of the weather induced us to stop and build a fire to warm ourselves. 

We now quit the river, ascending the highlands which divide it from James' River, and encamped at an early hour on the banks of a small stream, in a well-wooded and fertile country.

Friday Jan.  I, 1819  

[James' River]

[W]e entered on a district of country characterized by gentle sloping hills, well wooded with oak and hickory, with some extensive prairies, and a pretty fertile black soil, and encamped last night on the banks of a small stream, affording some handsome sites for plantations.  On traveling two miles this morning we entered a rich and extensive valley, and found ourselves unexpectedly on the banks of James' River, the stream we were in search of.  It is the principal north western fork of White River, and a large, clear, and beautiful stream.  It originates in highlands, a little south of the Gasconade river, which falls into the Missouri above St. Charles, and running in an opposite direction for two hundred and fifty miles, forms a junction with the south fork of White River, one hundred miles below.  Along its banks are found extensive bodies of the choicest land, covered by a large growth of forest trees and cane, and interspersed with prairies.  Oak, maple, white and black walnut, elm, mulberry, hackberry, and sycamore, are the common trees, and attain a very large size.  On the west commences a prairie of unexplored extent, stretching off towards the Osage river, and covered with tall rank grass.  Towards its mouth, it is said to be bordered with high rocky bluffs.  We forded the river on horseback, and pursuing up its western bank about four miles, encamped near the shore, in the vicinity of a lead mine.  Distance six miles.  Weather cold and piercing.  Killed one prairie-hen and one goose.

Saturday Jan. 2

Calculating to remain here several days previous to our return, we spent the afternoon of yesterday in constructing a comfortable camp, and covering the roof with bark, etc.  This morning, at daylight, it commenced snowing, but ceased about eight o'clock, and continued clear, with the exception of occasional flickerings, until two o'clock, when a snowstorm set in, which continued till night, and confined us to our camp. 

Monday Jan. 4

[On the area that  becomes Springfield]

[V]iewing the country:  The prairies, which commence at the distance of a mile west of this river, are the most extensive, rich, and beautiful, of any which I have ever seen west of the Mississippi river.  They are covered by a coarse wild grass, which attains so great a height that it completely hides a man on horseback in riding through it. The deer and elk abound in this quarter, and the buffalo is occasionally seen in droves upon the prairies, and in the open highland woods.  Along the margin of the river, and to a width of from one to two miles each way, is found a vigorous growth of forest trees, some of which attain an almost incredible size.  The lands consist of a rich black alluvial soil, apparently deep, and calculated for corn, flax, and hemp.  The river banks are skirted with cane, to the exclusion of all other underbrush; and the lands rise gently from the river for a mile, terminating in highlands, without bluffs, with a handsome growth of hickory and oak, and a soil which is probably adapted for wheat, rye, oats, and potatoes.  Little prairies of a mile or two in extent are sometimes seen in the midst of a heavy forest, resembling some old cultivated field, which has been suffered to run into grass.

Near our present encampment are some bluffs, which serve to diversify the scene, and at the foot of which is situated a valuable lead mine.  A country thus situated, cannot fail to present a scene of great beauty in the season of verdure, and even now, in the depth of winter, wears a pleasing aspect.  It is a mixture of forest and plain, of hills and long sloping valleys, where the tall oak forms a striking contrast with the rich foliage of the evergreen cane, or the waving field prairie grass.  It is an assemblage of beautiful groves, and level prairies, of river alluvion, and high-land precipice, diversified by the devious course of the river, and the distant promontory, forming a scene so novel, yet so harmonious, as to strike the beholder with admiration; and the effect must be greatly heightened, when viewed under the influence of a mild clear atmosphere, and an invigorating sun, such as is said to characterize this region during the spring and summer. 

Taking these circumstances into view, with the fertility and extent of soil, its advantages for water carriage, and other objects, among which its mines deserve to be noticed, it offers great attractions to enterprising emigrants, and particularly to such as may consider great prospective advantages an equivalent for the dangers and privations of a frontier settlement.

Having now satisfied ourselves with respect to the objects of our tour, and the weather rendering a further residence unpleasant, it is determined to begin our journey back tomorrow.

Tuesday Jan. 5

At an early hour, and before the dawn of day, we arose, and began to prepare the last meal we were to partake of on the banks of James' River, and to put ourselves in readiness to leave a camp, and a country which had already became so familiar to us as to appear, in some measure, a home.

We were surprised, in fact, by the innumerable tracks of the deer, wolf, elk, bear, and turkey, met with, the snow being completely trodden down in many places with them, and affording a perfect map of their movements. 

[Deer]

The deer ...  which is very abundant, was frequently in view, and we sometimes started droves of twenty or thirty at a time.  Being suddenly aroused, no animal surpasses the deer in fleetness, and I have enjoyed a high gratification in surveying a frightened troop of them in full speed across an extensive prairie, or barren open woods, where they could be observed for a mile, or more.  They will bound twenty feet at a leap, on a gentle declivity.  This I have afterwards measured.

The deer, however, has a fatal curiosity, which prompts it, after running five or six hundred yards, to turn around and look back upon its pursuer, and it is at this moment that he is killed.  For the hunter, on starting a deer, immediately pursues with all his speed after it, without regarding the noise  made among the bushes and upon the earth; for a similar disturbance, excited by the deer itself, prevents it from distinguishing that of its pursuer, and whenever it stops to turn around, at that instant also the hunter is still, and if within shooting distance, say one hundred yards, he fires; but if not, he endeavors to creep up, by skulking behind bushes and trees.  If, in this attempt, he is discovered, and the deer takes the alarm, he again follows in the pursuit, assured that it will, in running a certain distance, again turn round and stand still to see whether it is pursued.  This extraordinary and fatal curiosity is the cause of so many of these animals being killed, for did they rely unhesitatingly upon that strength and activity of limb with which nature has so admirably provided them for running, no foot-hunter, and no dog, would be able to overtake them.

Wednesday Jan. 6

[Bear]

In passing down Bull Creek, and in some places along the valley in which we are now encamped, the tracks of bear upon the snow, some of enormous size, have been very plentifully observed; but as hunting is not our object, we have not pursued them to the dens, and to the hollow trees, into which they have, at this season, retired.  These traces, made upon the snow, in the most inclement part of a Missouri winter, show conclusively, that although this animal retires, on the approach of snow and cold weather, into crevices, caves, and fissures in the rock, and into large hollow trees, and other places where he can lie secure and warm; and can there subsist a length of time upon the superabundant fat with which nature has provided him for that purpose, and without any other nutriment; yet he occasionally quits those recesses, and seeks food upon the adjoining plains.  It is probable, also, that he frequently changes the place of retirement during the winter-season, and only ventures out of his hiding place in the mildest days, and at noon, when the power of the sun is at its maximum of heat upon the earth.  Hunters kill this animal during the winter season by tracking him up to his den, either upon the snow, or by the scent of dogs.  If tracked to a large cave, they enter, and often find him in its farthest recess, when he is shot without farther difficulty.  If a narrow aperture in the rock, dogs are sent in to provoke him to battle; thus he Is either brought in sight within the cave, or driven entirely out of it, and while engaged with the dogs, the hunter walks up deliberately to within a few feet, and pierces him through the heart.  A shot through the flank, thigh, shoulder, or even the neck, does not kill him, but provokes him to the utmost rage, and sometimes four or five shots are necessary to kill him; for, as he is constantly in motion, it is very improbable that the first shot, however sure the rifle from which it is driven, will penetrate the heart; and it is not uncommon that one, two, or three of the best dogs are killed in the affray, either by the bear, or a mistaken shot from the huntsman, in which case the bear taken by no means compensates for the dogs lost....

[Dogs]

[A] high value is set upon a good dog, and his death is greatly lamented.  Neither is such a dog soon forgotten; and his achievements in the chase, his deep-mouthed cry, his agility and fleetness, his daring attack, and desperate gnash, and his dexterity in avoiding the fatal paw of his antagonist, these long continue to be the theme of admiration.  

[Pride of the Hunter]

When seated around his cabin-fire, the old hunter excites the wonder of his credulous children, gathered into a group, to listen to the recital of his youthful deeds, and thus creates in their breasts a desire to follow the same pursuits, and to excel in those hunting exploits which command the universal applause of their companions, and crown with fancied glory the life of the transalleganian hunter, whether red or white.  

[Beaver]

In the course of the last two days we have also passed, upon different streams, the habitations of the beaver, an animal so highly valued for its fur, and which differs from other quadrupeds in having chosen that part of the vegetable creation for its sustenance which is rejected by all others, viz. the bark of trees.  To procure this, it is provided with two large teeth in the under jaw, set with astonishing firmness, and resembling chissels, by which it is enabled to gnaw or cut down saplings, and even large trees.  These, when down, they completely peel, preferring, however, the bark of the smaller limbs and twigs, which are young, tender, and full of sap.  Often they so contrive it as to make them fall into the water, where they serve to stop and collect all floating limbs and brush, making a kind of dam, which thus supplies them with food without the labor, (and an immense labor it must be) of gnawing down large trees.  There are few descriptions of wood, the bark of which they will not eat.  Thus they attack the maple, the mulberry, black walnut, and elm; nor does the astringent and bitter properties of the oak prevent them from making it an article of food.  They prefer, however, all barks which have an aromatic, or spicy flavor, and from the number of those trees we find peeled, possess a high relish for several kinds of laurus, which abound in the valleys in this region, particularly spicewood and sassafras.

Being web-footed, their favorite region is the water, and they seldom venture far from the banks of the stream they inhabit, and never travel on to the neighboring highlands.  They burrow in the banks of the stream above the water level, so that they lie dry: but the mouths of their habitations are situated below the waters, so that it enters them for a distance, and they cannot get out without diving into the water.  By this sagacious contrivance they at once exclude the cold air from their habitations, and prevent their being entered by animals which cannot endure to live under water.  It is probable many of their natural enemies are thus debarred of their prey.  As all other species of animated nature, which has been endowed with sufficient sagacity and foresight for its own preservation by habits and customs peculiar to itself, is also endowed with some peculiar tastes, habits, or propensities, which are prone to work its own destruction; so the beaver, which has wisdom enough to cut down trees and form dams, and elude the vigilance of its enemies, both man and beast, in an hundred ways, yet falls a sacrifice to its passion for high sweet-scented herbs, and spicy barks.  It is by a skillful preparation of these, that beaver-trappers are enabled to take such quantities of them.  A natural musky substance, taken from the stomach of the beaver, serves as the principal article in the composition of the bait which is put into the trap; some sassafras, and other barks and fragrant herbs, are added; the exact proportions and method of preparation being a secret only known to those who are skilled in trapping, and who are unwilling to communicate the information.

Saturday Jan. 9

Having [decided, on the return trip, to go by water down the White River, we] purchased a canoe ... and made other necessary preparations.... [We] procured a quantity of lead and ball.  We also put into our canoe some bear's meat smoked, dried venison, corn-bread, and salt... [We were going] down one of the most beautiful and enchanting rivers which discharge their waters into the Mississippi.  To a width and a depth which entitles it to be classed as a river of the third magnitude in western  America, it unites a current which possesses the purity of crystal, with a smooth and gentle flow, and the most imposing, diversified, and delightful scenery.  Its shores are composed of smooth spherical and angular pieces of opaque, red, and white gravel, consisting of water-worn fragments of carbonate of lime, hornstone, quartz, and jasper.  Every pebble, rock, fish, or floating body, either animate or inanimate, which occupies the bottom of the stream, is seen while passing over it with the most perfect accuracy; and our canoe often seemed as if suspended in air, such is the remarkable transparency of the water....

Monday Jan. 11  

[River trader] 

[W]e met a petty trader coming up stream with a large canoe, in which he had the remains of a barrel of whiskey, and a few other articles intended to be bartered off for skins....

Of him, anxious to hear how the civilized world was progressing, we inquired the news, but were disappointed to learn that he himself resided at no great distance below, where he had purchased his articles from another trader, and knew nothing of those political occurrences in our own country, about which we felt solicitous to be informed.  He evinced, indeed, a perfect indifference to those things, and hardly comprehended the import of such inquiries.  He knew, forsooth, that he was living under the United States government, and had some indefinite ideas about St. Louis, New Orleans, and Washington; but who filled the presidential chair, what Congress were deliberating upon, whether the people of Missouri had been admitted to form a state, constitution, and government, and other analogous matters, these were subjects which, to use his own phraseology, "he had never troubled his head about."  Such a total ignorance of the affairs of his own country, and indifference to passing events, in one who possessed enterprise enough to become a river peddler, surprised us, even here, in this benighted corner of the union. 

After a confabulation of fifteen or twenty minutes, we parted, he urging his heavy canoe with labor up stream, and we descending with an easy motion of the paddle in the current, which had now imperceptibly acquired greater velocity....

Tuesday Jan. 12

On learning from us that the Osage Indians had broken up their hunting encampments in the region about James' River, and retired upon the Grand Osage some weeks previous to our arrival, one of the sons of M'Gary manifested a strong inclination to go out upon a hunting excursion into that quarter, which, on further learning that we had found game abundant, he immediately determined upon, and was ready to set out toward that country at the time we embarked in our canoe this morning.  Undoubtedly he will be rewarded with as many skins as he can transport back.   

[Canoeing over the falls]

Here the river has a fall of fifteen or twenty feet in the distance of half-a-mile, and stands full of rugged calcareous rocks, among which the water foams and rushes with astonishing velocity and incessant noise.  There are a hundred channels, and the strange navigator runs an imminent risk of being dashed upon the rocks, or sunk beneath the waves, whose whirling boiling and unceasing roar warns him of his peril long before he reaches the rapids. There is a channel through which canoes and even large boats pass with a good depth of water, but being unacquainted with it, we ran the hazard of being sunk, and found our canoe drawn rapidly into the suction of the falls, apprehensive of the result.  In a few moments, notwithstanding every effort to keep our barque headed downwards, the conflicting eddies drove us against a rock, and we were instantly thrown broadside upon the rugged peaks which stand thickly in the swiftest part of the first schute, or fall. Luckily it did not fill, but the pressure of the current against a canoe thirty  feet in length, lying across the stream, was more than we could counteract, and we had nearly exhausted our strength in vain endeavors to extricate and aright it.  For all this time we were in the water, at a depth of two, three, and four feet, at a cool January temperature, but at length succeeded in lifting it over a ledge of rocks, and again got afloat.  We now shot down the current rapidly and undisturbed for 600 yards, which brought us to the verge of the second schute, where we twice encountered a similar difficulty, but succeeded, with analogous efforts, in passing our canoe and effects in safety.

This is the most considerable obstruction to the navigation of the river we have yet encountered, but is said to be perfectly safe in high [water], when the rocks are buried by the vernal and autumnal floods. 

Thursday Jan. 14  

[River trade]

[T]he Buffalo Shoals, being situated at the mouth of the Buffalo Fork of White River ... are considered the most formidable obstacle to the navigation of White River, and although boats pass and repass at certain stages of water, it may be reckoned an effectual interruption to navigation for all boats over eight tons.  From the foot of these shoals, however, to its junction with the Mississippi, the navigation of  White River is unobstructed, and the largest keel-boats, barges, and even steamboats, may in safety ascend, particularly up to the Great North Fork, which enters on the north, about half-a-mile below the spot where we now tarry.  There is now a keel boat lying here, which ascended a few weeks ago on a trading voyage among the hunters and farmers.  It is a boat of thirty tons burthen, built at Pittsburgh, and decked and painted off in the neat and convenient style of the generality of Ohio and Mississippi boats other class, but is prevented from going higher by the Buffalo Shoals. 

The articles brought in it, for the purposes of exchange, were chiefly flour, salt, and whiskey, with some coffee, calico, and a few smaller articles.  In return, beaver, deer, otter, bear, and raccoon skins, bears' bacon, fresh pork, and beef, in the gross, venison, bees' wax, honey, and buffalo beef, are taken.  From the rates of exchange noticed, I concluded a trading-voyage on this stream is attended with immense profit.

Friday Jan. 15

Here [on the White River] were beautiful views for the landscape-painter, rocks for the geologist, minerals and fossils for the mineralogist, trees and plants for the botanist, soil for the agriculturist, an advantageous situation for the man of business, and a gratifying view for the patriot, who contemplates with pleasure the increasing settlement, and prospective improvements of our country.  Here, the innumerable streams which originate in a district of country 400 miles long, by 200 in breadth, collected into two large and beautiful rivers, unite, and from this point forth to the Mississippi, form a river navigable at all seasons, for boats of the largest burden.

[Rocks found on the White River:]

quartz
carbonate of lime
limestone
calcareous spar
jasper
Granular quartz
rock crystal
sandstone
Argillaceous pebble
red granite
hornstone
flint

No ... clay or pudding-stone, so common to other western streams; slate, particles of mica, or petrified wood, were noticed, from which it may naturally be concluded that clay-beds are not common on the river....

[T]he country in which the river originates, may hence be inferred; and, in fine, from the collection above described, one would be apt to imagine, without knowing that it actually is so, that the river is made up of streams which traverse, for the most part, a rocky region.  This is actually the fact; for although there are very rich bodies of alluvial lands along the immediate margin of White River, and some of its tributaries, yet they are not very extensive, and the country is, generally speaking, a stony region.

[Plants and trees found on the White River, in the valley, and on the hills:]

[along the river:]
sycamore
reed, called cane in this region
wild hop

[in the valley:]
spice wood
papaw
wild cherry
hemlock
several species of grapes
wild pea

[forest trees:]
cottonwood
white elm
red elm
buckeye
black walnut
white walnut
white ash
swamp ash
white oak
red oak
sugar maple
mulberry
dogwood
sassafras
persimmon

[upon the plains:]
crab apple
red plumb
black haw

[on the bluffs and highlands:]
white pine
yellow pine
mountain ash
post oak
cedar

Saturday Jan. 16  

[Whiskey]

[Y]esterday... arrived ... several neighbors and friends in their canoes, who came down to trade, making a party of twelve or fourteen in all.  Whisky soon began to circulate freely, and by the time they had unloaded their canoes, we began plainly to discover that a scene of riot and drinking was to follow.  Of all this, we were destined to be unwilling witnesses; for as there was but one house, and that a very small one, necessity compelled us to pass the night together; but sleep was not to be obtained.  Every mouth, hand, and foot, were in motion.  Some drank, some sang, some danced, a considerable proportion attempted all three together, and a scene of undistinguishable bawling and riot ensued.  An occasional quarrel gave variety to the scene, and now and then, one drunker than the rest, fell sprawling upon the floor, and for a while remained quiet.  We alone remained listeners to this grand exhibition of human noises, beastly intoxication, and mental and physical nastiness.  We did not lie down to sleep, for that was dangerous.  Thus the night rolled heavily on, and as  soon as light could be discerned in the morning we joyfully embarked in our canoe, happy in having escaped bodily disfiguration, and leaving such as could yet stand, vociferating with all their might like some delirious man upon his dying bed, who makes one desperate effort to arise, and then falls back in death.

Tuesday Jan. 19

[The explorer states his thanks to] the hardy, frank, and independent [people of the White River] territories we have traveled ... with whom we have from time to time sojourned.... [W]e have been uniformly received at their cabins with a blunt welcome, and experienced the most hospitable and generous treatment.  This conduct, which we were not prepared to expect, is the more remarkable, in being wholly disinterested, for no remuneration in money for such entertainment (with a very few exceptions,) was ever demanded; but, when presented, uniformly refused, on the principle of its not being customary to accept pay of the traveler, for anything necessary to his sustenance.

Wednesday Jan. 20

A mile before reaching the river we entered upon an alluvial plain, which continued to the village seated upon its margin.  Here were fifteen buildings, scattered along the banks of the stream, including a small grist mill turned by water, a whisky distillery, a blacksmith's shop, and a tavern.

Tuesday Jan. 26

I entered the valley of Little Black River, a stream of clear water ninety feet wide, with a swift current.  This is the principal south branch of Black River, and joins the main stream seven miles below.  The alluvion on its banks is not extensive.  Some improvements are however made, and the newness of the buildings, fences, and clearings, indicate here, as at every other inhabited part of the road for the last I00 miles, a recent and augmenting population.  This is chiefly composed of emigrants from Pennsylvania, the Carolinas, Kentucky, and Tennessee. 

Wednesday Jan. 27

[I traveled] to the banks of Big Black River, a large and rapid stream.... I here found myself in Wayne county, according to a late division of Lawrence, by the territorial legislature of Missouri.

Agriculture forms the principal employment of the inhabitants along this stream, and its tributaries.  A small proportion are mechanics, less merchants, and very few professional men. The soil and climate are considered favorable for the different species of our domesticated graminea. Wheat and corn are the surest, and most advantageous crops.  Rye, oats, flax, and tobacco, are also cultivated, the latter partially; and cotton is also grown, but not as a market crop, merely for family convenience, and domestic consumption. 

The raising of cattle has also engrossed considerable attention in this section of country, and graziers have been well remunerated.  St. Louis, St. Genevieve, Kaskaskia, and other distant markets, have drawn a part of their supplies from this quarter.  This business ... was ... to drive their stock to remote markets.

Tuesday Feb. 2

[I traveled] to St. Michael, a village of sixty houses, and the county seat of Madison, according to a recent act of the legislature.  It has three stores and a post-office.  This village was originally settled by the French, and has for many years been in a state of decline; but since its selection as the seat of justice for the new county, has ... rapidly improved in appearance.  Here a road diverges to St. Genevieve, which is situated thirty miles east on the banks of the Mississippi.  Two miles beyond St. Michael, on the road toward St. Louis, we pass the lead-mines of la Motte.

Wednesday Feb. 3

[This area has] a large and flourishing neighborhood of industrious farmers, and presents many well-cultivated fields, fenced in a neat and substantial manner, with young apple and peach-orchards, and framed dwelling houses, clap-boarded in the eastern style.  There is also a post office in this settlement, where a mail is received once a week, a school house, and a physician resident.  All these things indicate the wealth, the industry, and the intelligence of the inhabitants.... As you approach the banks of [Big River] the lands gradually descend, and terminate in a very rich river alluvion.  Its width is nearly a mile from hill to hill, and it is the seat of numerous plantations and well-cultivated farms, where large quantities of wheat and corn are raised.  A great proportion of the former is floured for exportation, and of the latter, distilled for the same purpose. 

Thursday Feb. 4

From this spot, (Hale's on Big River,) the roads diverge eastwardly to St. Genevieve, northwardly to Herculaneum and St. Louis, and westwardly to Potosi, which is situated at a distance of fifteen miles.  Toward this I hastened with a buoyancy of spirit, consequent upon the reflection that the termination of my journey was at hand. 

I arrived [at Potosi] at three o'clock in the afternoon, after an absence of ninety days, and having traveled more than nine hundred miles.  

Excerpts from Henry R. Schoolcraft, Journal of a Tour into the Interior of Missouri and Arkansaw, from Potosi, or Mine a Burton, in Missouri Territory, in a South-West Direction, toward the Rocky Mountains, Performed in the Years 1818 and 1819. London: Richard Phillips and Company, 1821. Edited, with headings inserted, by F. Thornton Miller.