Above the Gasconade, the aspect of the shores of the Missouri is the same as below, except that the hills are discontinued on the left side, and make their appearance on the right, extending along eight or nine miles; above this both shores are low bottom grounds.
Having received on board Mr. Say and his companions, we left Loutre Island on the 3d of July; and passing in succession the mouths of the Gasconade, Bear Creek, the Au Vase, and other tributaries, we anchored on the evening of the 5th, above the little village of Cote Sans Dessein.[104] This place contains about thirty families, mostly French, occupying as many small log cabins, scattered remotely along the left bank of the river. Nearly opposite[pg138] the village is the lower mouth of the Osage. Just above the town is the elevated insular hill, which has given name to the place; it extends about eight hundred yards, parallel to the bank of the river, and terminates at a small stream called Revoe's Creek. Back of the hill is a marsh, discharging a small stream of water into the creek. The site of the settlement of Cote Sans Dessein is remarkable on account of the fertility of the soil, the black mould extending to the depth of about four feet. The soil is very rich for twenty or thirty miles, in the rear of the village; but the uncertainty of the titles, arising from the conflicting claims, founded on the basis of pre-emption, New Madrid grants, and the concession of a large tract opposite the mouth of the Osage, made by the Spanish authorities in favour of Mr. Choteau, still operates to retard the increase of population. [105]
At the time of the late war the inhabitants of this settlement, relying on mutual protection, did not retire, but erected two stockades, and block-houses for their defence; the Sauks, assisted by some Foxes and Ioways, having by a feigned attack and {75} retreat, induced the greater part of the men to pursue them, gained their rear by means of an ambuscade, and entering the village, raised their war-cry at the doors of the cabins. The women and children fled in consternation to the block-houses. At this juncture a young man was seen, who would not abandon his decrepit mother, even though she entreated him to fly and save his own life, leaving her, who could at best expect to live but a few days, to the mercy of the savages. The youth, instead of listening to her request, raised her upon his shoulders, and ran towards the stockade, closely pursued by the Indians. They fired several times upon him, and he must have been cut off had not a sally been made in his favour.
After killing the villagers who had fallen into their hands, the Indians proceeded to attack the lower stockade. The block-house at this work was defended by two men, and several women. On hearing the war-cry, this little but determined garrison responded to it in such a manner as to communicate to the Indians the idea that the block-house contained a considerable number of men. They, therefore, proceeded to the attack with caution. In the first onset, one of the two men received a mortal wound, which made him incapable of further exertion—the other continued to discharge the guns at the besiegers, they being loaded and put into his hands by the women. One mode of attack, adopted by the Indians, had nearly proved successful. They threw burning torches upon the[pg140] roof, which was several times on fire; but the women, with admirable presence of mind, and undaunted intrepidity, ascended to the top of the building and extinguished the flames. This scene continued during the entire day; and at evening, when the assailants withdrew, a small portion only of the roof remained; so often had the attempt to fire the building been repeated. The loss sustained by the enemy was never correctly {76} ascertained; it has since been stated by an Indian, that fourteen were killed and several wounded, but many are of opinion that two or three only were killed.
We saw the hero of this affair at the block-house itself, now converted into a dwelling; but he did not appear to be greatly esteemed, having perhaps few qualities except personal intrepidity to recommend him.[106] Cote Sans Dessein contains a tavern, a store, a blacksmith's shop, and a billiard table.
The Cane[107] is no where met with on the Missouri; but its place is in part supplied by the equisetum hiemale, which, remaining green through the winter, affords an indifferent pasturage for horned cattle and horses: to the latter, it often prove deleterious. The inhabitants of St. Genevieve placed their horses upon an island covered with rushes, where great numbers of them shortly after died; but it was observed that such as received regularly a small quantity of salt remained uninjured. Of a large number of horses, placed on an island near the mouth of the Nishnebottona,[108] to feed upon this plant, no less than twenty[pg141] were found dead at the end of five days. May not the deleterious properties of the equisetum hiemale depend, in some measure, on the frozen water included in the cavity of the stalk?
We were told the cows on this part of the Missouri, at certain seasons of the year, give milk so deleterious as to prove fatal, when taken into the stomach; and this effect is commonly attributed to a poisonous plant, said to be frequent in the low grounds, where it is eaten by the cattle. They have a disease called the milk sickness: it commences with nausea and dizziness, succeeded by headache, pain in the stomach and bowels, and finally, by a prostration of strength, which renders the patient unable to stand; a general torpor soon ensues, succeeded {77} by death. It is a common belief that the flesh of animals, that have eaten of this poisonous weed, is noxious, and that horses are destroyed by it.
We have heard it remarked by the inhabitants of the Ohio below the rapids, that the milk of cows running at large in August is poisonous; and this they do not fail to attribute to the effect of noxious plants; and in some places they point out to you one, and in another place another vegetable, to which they assign these properties. The inhabitants generally seem to have no suspicion that milk, unless it is poisoned, can be an unwholesome article of diet; and we have been often surprised to see it given to those labouring under fever. Throughout the western states, and particularly in the more remote settlements, much use is made of butter-milk, and soured milk in various forms; all of which they sell to travellers. Below Cote Sans Dessein we paid, for new milk, twenty-five cents per gallon, and for soured milk, eighteen and three-fourth cents. At[pg142] that place twenty-five cents per quart were demanded by the French settlers. It is commonly remarked that the French, as well as the Indians, who have been long in the immediate vicinity of the whites, charge a much higher price for any article than the Anglo-Americans, under the same circumstances. Emigrants from the southern states prefer sour milk; and the traveller's taste in this particular, we have often observed, forms a test to discover whether he is entitled to the opprobrious name of Yankee, as the people of the northern and eastern states rarely choose sour milk. We have found that in some of the sickliest parts of the valley of the Mississippi, where bilious and typhoid fevers prevail, through the summer and autumn, the most unrestrained use is made of butter, milk, eggs, and similar articles of diet. Dr. Baldwin was of opinion that the milk sickness of the Missouri did not originate from any deleterious vegetable substance eaten by the cows, but {78} was a species of typhus, produced by putrid exhalations, and perhaps aggravated by an incautious use of a milk diet.
During the few days we remained at Cote Sans Dessein, Dr. Baldwin, though suffering much from weakness, and yielding perceptibly to the progress of a fatal disease, was able to make several excursions on shore. His devotion to a fascinating pursuit stimulated him to exertions for which the strength of his wasted frame seemed wholly inadequate; and it is not, perhaps, improbable that his efforts may have somewhat hastened the termination of his life.