On the following day we resumed our journey, and were accompanied about ten miles by Mr. Sibley, agent of Indian affairs, and his lady, to whom the gentlemen of the party were indebted for numerous hospitable attentions during their stay at Fort Osage; also by Captain Bissel, and Lieutenant Pentland,[139] of the rifle regiment, who returned in a skiff. Our progress was much impeded by shoals and rapids in the {101} river, but we succeeded in passing these without warping, and anchored at sunset, having ascended eighteen miles.
Between Fort Osage and the mouth of the Konzas river, a distance of about fifty-two miles, are many rapid places[pg173] in the Missouri. We were able to ascend all these, except one, without towing. It was with some difficulty we supplied our furnace with wood of a suitable quality. The forests of the Missouri, though limited in extent, are deep and shady, and though the atmosphere is perceptibly less humid than in the forests of the Mississippi, fallen trees, whose wood is soft and porous like that of the linden and cotton tree, absorb much moisture from the ground. It was only when we were so fortunate as to find a dry mulberry, ash, or cotton-wood still standing, that we could procure fuel well adapted to our purpose. Much time was of necessity expended in cutting and bringing on board our supplies of this article, and the additional delay occasioned by the numerous obstacles to the easy navigation of the river, made our ascent somewhat tedious.
The mouth of the Konzas river was so filled with mud, deposited by the late flood in the Missouri, as scarcely to admit the passage of our boat, though with some difficulty we ascended that river about a mile, and then returning dropped anchor opposite its mouth. The spring freshets subside in the Konzas, the Osage, and all those tributaries that do not derive their sources from the Rocky Mountains, before the Missouri reaches its greatest fulness; consequently the waters of the latter river, charged with mud, flow into the mouths of its tributaries, and there becoming nearly stagnant, deposit an extensive accumulation of mud and slime. The Konzas river has a considerable resemblance to the Missouri; but its current is more moderate, and the water less turbid, except at times of high floods. Its valley, like that of the Missouri, has a deep and fertile soil, bearing similar {102} forests of cotton-wood, sycamore, &c., interspersed with meadows; but, in ascending, trees[pg174] become more and more scattered, and at length disappear almost entirely, the country, at its sources, being one immense prairie.[140]
We sailed from the mouth of the Konzas on the 13th of August. Numerous sand-bars occur in the Missouri above that point, and these occasioned us some delay. The water having fallen several feet, we had less velocity of current to contend against, but found it more necessary to keep in the channel, and could not so often take advantage of the eddy currents below the points and along the shore.
A party of white hunters were encamped on the Missouri, not far above the Konzas. In the rudeness of their deportment and dress, they appeared to us to surpass the savages themselves. They are usually the most abandoned and worthless among the whites who adopt the life of wandering hunters: frequently they are men whose crimes have excluded them from society.
Eighteen miles above the Konzas river, and five above the Little Platte, is a large island, which, from its rhombic form, has received the name of Diamond island. The principal channel is on the north side. It is difficult to pass, being much obstructed by sand-bars. Four miles above this is a small group, called the Three Islands; and two miles further another cluster, known as the Four Islands, and by the French as the Isles des Parcs, or Field Islands. At each of these places, as in the neighbourhood of islands generally, the navigation is difficult.[141]
The site of an old village of the Konzas, and the remains of a fortification erected by the French, were pointed out a few miles below Isle au Vache. This island, which lies about one hundred miles above Fort Osage, was the wintering post of Capt. Martin's detachment, destined to proceed in advance of the troops ordered to the Missouri. Captain Martin, {103} with three companies of the rifle regiment, left Bellefontain in September 1818, and arrived at Isle au Vache in October, with the expectation of resuming his march as early in the following spring as the weather would permit. But not having received the necessary supplies of provisions as anticipated, they had been compelled to remain till the time of our arrival, subsisting themselves principally by hunting. Fortunately this part of the country afforded so much game, that a competent supply was easily obtained. Between two and three thousand deer, beside great numbers of bears, turkies, &c., had been taken. The arrival of the boats, laden with provisions, now furnished them the means of continuing their ascent, and they had the prospect of departing within a few days.[142]
Previous to our departure from Fort Osage, Major O'Fallon, the Indian agent who accompanied us, had sent a messenger across the country by land to the Konzas nation of Indians, residing on the Konzas river, summoning their chiefs to a council, to be held at Isle au Vache, on the arrival of the Western Engineer.[143] Agreeably to the message sent by an interpreter, the Indians had been expected on the 18th, but did not arrive until the 23d of August, having been absent, when the messenger reached their village, on a hunting excursion. As soon as they received the invitation, they repaired with all convenient speed to the appointed place, having sent runners before, to apprise us of their approach.