James's Account of S. H. Long's Expedition, 1819-1820, part 1

by Edwin James; Stephen H. Long; Thomas Say

The interpreter, who returned with them, brought intelligence of the safe arrival of Mr. Say and his party, and of their kind reception at the Konza village. We were sorry to learn that Mr. Say had been in ill health, and had not entirely recovered.

On the 24th, the chiefs and principal men of the Konzas, to the number of one hundred and fifty, assembled under an arbour prepared for their reception. The Indian agent addressed them in a speech {104} adapted to the occasion, setting forth the causes of complaint which they had given[pg177] by their repeated insults and depredations upon the whites, giving them notice of the approach of a military force, of sufficient strength to chastise their insolence, and advising them to seize the present opportunity of averting the vengeance they deserved by proper concessions, and by their future good behaviour to conciliate those, whose friendship they would have so much occasion to desire.

The replies of the chiefs were simple and short, expressive of their conviction of the justice of the complaints made against them, and of their acquiescence in the terms of reconciliation proposed by the agent. There were present at this council one hundred and sixty-one Konzas, including chiefs and warriors, and thirteen Osages. The most distinguished men were Na-he-da-ba, or Long Neck, one of the principal chiefs. Ka-he-ga-wa-ta-ning-ga, Little Chief, second in rank. Shon-ga-ne-ga, who had been one of the principal chiefs, but had resigned his authority in favour of Ka-he-ga-wa-ta-ning-ga. Wa-ha-che-ra, Big Knife, a partizan or leader of war parties. Wom-pa-wa-ra, He who scares all men, more commonly known to the whites as Plume Blanche, or White Plume, a man rising rapidly in importance, and apparently destined to become the leader of the nation.[144] In addition to the Indians, the officers of the garrison and a few gentlemen were present at the council. The ceremonies were commenced by a discharge of ordnance from the steamboat; the flags were hoisted in their appropriate places, a council flag being placed near the chair occupied by the agent. The Indians appeared gratified at the displays[pg178] made on the occasion, but their attention was more particularly aroused by the exhibition of a few rockets and shells, fired for their entertainment. At our departure, which, on account of the Indians, was delayed until the 25th of August, many {105} of them were present, and manifested some surprise at witnessing the operations of the steam-boat.[145]

It was thought advisable to make some addition to our force at Isle au Vache, as we should soon be in advance of the troops on the Missouri, and might be exposed to insults and depredations, from some of the numerous tribes of Indians. Accordingly, on application to Colonel Morgan, a boat and fifteen men, under the command of Lieutenant Fields, were detailed for this duty, and directed to regulate their movements agreeably to the orders of the commanding officer of the exploring expedition.[146] These men were[pg179] furnished with provisions for sixty days, and having embarked on board a keel-boat, called the General Smith, they sailed in company with the Western Engineer. A favourable wind springing up, we proceeded in the course of the day about twenty-three miles, and encamped at night near the entrance of a small stream, called Independence Creek. A little above, and on the south side of the river, is the site of an old Konza town, formerly called the village of the Twenty-four.[147] Above Cow Island the Missouri is more serpentine in direction than below, and the difficulties of the navigation we found by no means diminished as we ascended. The bed of the river in many places is broad, and the water distributed into small channels separated by sand-bars. About fifty miles above Cow Island we passed a spot that had lately been occupied as a hunting camp by Captain Martin, who had been here to procure the requisite provisions for the subsistence of his party.

At the Yellow Banks we found the bluffs elevated about one hundred and fifty feet above the surface of the valley.[148] Barometric observations, several times repeated, gave nearly the same result at some points below. One hundred[pg180] and fifty feet may, therefore, be assumed as the medium depth of the immediate valley of the Missouri; its aggregate width, for the {106} first five hundred miles above the Mississippi, may be estimated at about three miles. The corresponding appearances in the strata of the opposite sides of this valley, as well as its entire form and character, indicate it to have been formed by the river. But far more than that vast body of soil and of rocky strata, which formerly filled the space now occupied by the immediate valley of the river, has been removed by the Missouri. From the summit of the bluffs there is a sloping ascent towards the interior of the country; and it is probable the aggregate elevation of the great plains is not less than three hundred feet above the surface of the river. If we admit that this great valley, with its numerous ramifications, has resulted from the operation of currents, wearing down and transporting to the ocean the solid materials of the earth's surface, it would appear necessary still farther to acknowledge that this channel was once much deeper than at present, for we usually meet with thick alluvial depositions covering the rocks that line the bottom of the Missouri valley. The manifest tendency of the operation of the Mississippi, at this time, upon its valley, is to fill up rather than to excavate; but it may be doubted whether this is equally, or even to any degree, the case with the Missouri. The aggregate mass of alluvion within the valley of the Missouri is, undoubtedly, moving downwards, with considerable rapidity; for the quantity of earthy matter carried into the Mississippi is, at all times, very great. In their descent the alluvial substances are alternately deposited and swept away, as by the variations in the direction of the current any particular point is, from time[pg181] to time, either exposed to, or sheltered from, the action of the stream.

About eighty-seven miles above Cow Island is the mouth of the Nodowa, a river of some importance, being about seventy yards wide, and navigable to some distance. It is not usually seen in passing, being {107} concealed by the island called the Great Nodowa, which is about five miles long, and covered with heavy forests. The lands on the Nodowa are of an excellent quality.[149]

On the 1st of September, we were under the necessity of remaining encamped near the mouth of Wolf river,[150] that some repairs might be made to the steam engine. Here we sent out some persons to hunt, who after a short time returned, having taken a deer, a turkey, and three swarms of bees, which afforded us about half a barrel of honey. On the trees which margin the river, we frequently observed a fine species of squirrel, which possesses all the graceful activity of the common gray squirrel, as it leaps from bough to bough.[151] After our machinery was adjusted,[pg182] we resumed our ascent, and had proceeded a short distance, when we were hailed from shore by Mr. Dougherty, who had accompanied Mr. Say's party across the country. We were not a little surprised at this unexpected meeting, and were apprehensive some disaster had befallen the detachment.

Mr. Dougherty being received on board, informed us that Mr. Peale, Mr. Swift, Mr. Seymour, Chaboneau the Indian interpreter,[152] and one of the soldiers, were at a little distance in the rear, having accompanied him across the country, from Cow Island, where they had arrived five days after our departure. Mr. Say and Mr. Jessup had been left sick at Cow Island. We encamped immediately, to give those who were near an opportunity of joining us. It will now be necessary to return to the time of Mr. Say's[pg183] departure from Fort Osage, and briefly to trace the progress of his detachment to the place where a rencontre with a war-party of Pawnees frustrated their design, and made it necessary for them to rejoin the steam-boat.

Mr. Say's detachment, consisting of twelve men and a boy, furnished with three pack-horses for the {108} transportation of baggage, departed from Fort Osage on the evening of August 6th. Their route lay westward across the woodless plains about the sources of the Hay Cabin, Blue Water, and Warreruza Creek. The cliffs along the Blue Water are naked perpendicular rocks. In the vallies numerous Indian encampments occurred, which appeared not long since to have been occupied. These were most frequently seen at the points, where the streams making almost a complete circuit, and nearly enclosing a small tract of ground, afforded an important protection against the approach of an enemy. The prairies about the head waters of the Warreruza abound in game. Here ravens were first seen by the party, and numbers of large banded rattlesnakes were killed. The blowing flies swarmed in inconceivable numbers, attacking not only the provision of the party, but depositing their eggs upon the blankets, clothing, and even on the furniture of the horses. On the 11th of August they arrived at some elevated ridges, from which they overlooked an extensive country, and could trace the whole course of the Wahrengeho, or Full Creek, diverging slightly from the Konzas, and could readily perceive timber upon several of its head branches. The lands between the head waters of Full Creek and the Konzas are not so good as those about the sources of the Warreruza, and produce less timber. The settlement of this region will be much retarded[pg184] on account of the want of trees, these being confined to the margins of the watercourses, while tracts of valuable soil, of many miles in extent, have not a single tree or bush upon them. The soil is, however, well adapted to the culture of some of our most valuable forest trees. The sugar-maple, and several of the most important species of carya, the oaks, the tulip-tree, and the linden, would unquestionably succeed.[153]

In consequence of the excessive heat of the weather, the great fatigues of the party, and their constant {109} exposure in the open plains, the health of several of them began to be impaired. The high and coarse grasses, which now covered the plains, greatly impeded their progress, and very rapidly destroyed their clothing and mockasins. Their journey was, therefore, slow and laborious. On the night of the 13th they encamped on the bank of the Konzas, having travelled some distance parallel to the course of[pg185] that river. The next day several of the party, already much debilitated, began to be afflicted with dysentery; some accidents also occurred to retard their progress, and on that and the following day they advanced only two miles. On the 16th they marched about fifteen miles, and encamped on the bank of the Konzas. Being now in doubt as to the situation of the Konza village, and the illness of some of the party continuing, they determined to remain encamped, while some persons should be sent out to reconnoitre the country, and discover, if possible, whether that part of the river at which they had arrived, was above or below the village they designed to visit.[154] The Konzas river, in this part, bears the closest resemblance to the Missouri, both in the turbulence and rapidity of its current, and the aspect of the country along its banks; it is, however, so shoal as at almost any point to admit of being forded without difficulty.