[65] The Caddo Indians here mentioned were an important tribe of the stock of the same name. In 1806 their home was on Caddo Lake, which lies partly in Caddo County, Louisiana, and partly in Texas. The tribe went thither about 1790 from north-eastern Texas, where they had dwelt from time immemorial.—Ed.
[66] The spot where Sparks's party was stopped must have been near Little River (of the North); the account is too indefinite to permit an exact statement. In this same year, Pike and his companions were arrested on the upper Rio Grande and taken to Santa Fé. Several recent events had aroused the apprehension of the Spanish authorities; in 1801 one Nolan had led a filibustering expedition into Texas, and Burr's conspiracy aimed, probably, at the Spanish dominions, had not yet been forgotten. Information of the proposed expeditions under Pike and Sparks had reached the Spanish officials before the Americans had completed their preparations, and Pike found upon reaching the Pawnee village on Republican River that a large body of Spanish cavalry had preceded him in visiting the tribes of the Great Plains. During his detention by the Spanish, he learned that this party had been sent out primarily to intercept and turn back both American explorers. They themselves, however, were not only to make explorations within the bounds of the United States, but to renew their former friendship with the Indians in our territories.—Ed.
[67] Under the French régime, a fort was built near the old Caddo village, and several families settled in the vicinity. This was known as the "upper settlements;" but about 1780 the French families abandoned the location and removed to Campti, a few miles above Natchitoches. For many years thereafter Campti was the "upper settlement;" but in 1818 there were twenty families at the mouth of the Kiamichi and a dozen more a few miles below, at Pecan Point.—Ed.
[68] Little River of the South, so called to distinguish it from Little River (of the North), is the present Sulphur Fork of Red River. Its course is eastward, parallel to the Red, into which it falls in Miller County, Arkansas. For Little River, see ante, note 42. Notes on the Poteau and Kiamichi are given in Nuttall's Journal, our volume xiii (169, 177).—Ed.
[69] Boggy (Vaseux) River rises in the Shawnee Hills, very near the main stream of the Canadian, and flows south-east; its mouth is opposite Lamar County, Texas. Blue River is a smaller stream; its course is parallel to that of Boggy River, and its mouth is near the ninety-sixth meridian. The False Washita has already been described (preceding volume, note 66), and the sources of Red River indicated (ibid., note 52).—Ed.
[70] Rio Rojo (Red River) was the Spanish name for the upper Canadian—the portion marked Rio Mora on the map—but Long's party struck the Canadian considerably to the east of this portion (see preceding volume, note 71). However, the same name was commonly given to other streams. Humboldt's conjecture was that the Pecos (which had not been explored to its mouth) was the upper course of Red River of Natchitoches. See Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain (London, 1811), ii, p. 313. The head-waters of the Pecos lie between the upper Canadian and Santa Fé.—Ed.
[71] Thuja occidentalis.—James.
[72] P. [239] [London edition, 1774].—James.
[73] This missionary "family" consisted of nine men, eight women, and four children, sent out by the United Foreign Missionary Society under the leadership of a clergyman named Vaill. The illness of most of the party was nothing worse than ague and bilious fever; but two of the young women were attacked by typhus fever, and died a few days after reaching Little Rock, where they arrived on July 23. Low water detained the missionaries there until the following January; then they proceeded up the Arkansas, and established Union Mission on the Neosho River, twenty miles from the Arkansas.—Ed.
[74] Several persons, passengers on board a steam-boat, ascending the Mississippi, in 1820, went on shore near New Madrid. In one of the houses which they entered they found a small collection of books: as they were amusing themselves with the examination of these, they felt the house so violently shaken, that they were scarce able to stand upon their feet; some consternation was of course felt, and as several of the persons were ladies, much terror was expressed; "Don't be alarmed," said the lady of the house, "it is nothing but an earthquake."—James.