I planted some peach-stones in a fertile spot near our camp, where the growth of the sumac denoted unusual fertility. And it is worthy of remark that even Holt, who had the antipathy of an Indian to agriculture, actually cut some bushes in a certain spot, near a spring, and piled them into a heap, by way of securing a pre-emption right to the soil.
The region of the Ozark range of mountain development is one of singular features, and no small attractions. It exhibits a vast and elevated tract of horizontal and sedimentary strata, extending for hundreds of miles north and south. This range is broken up into high cliffs, often wonderful to behold, which form the enclosing walls of river valleys. The Arkansas itself forces its way through, about the centre of the range. The Washita marks its southern boundary. The St. Francis and the Maramec, at the mouth of the former of which De Soto landed, constitute its northern limits. The junction of the Missouri with the Mississippi may be said to be its extreme northern development. The Missouri, from the influx of the Osage, is pushed northward by the Ozark range. It rests, on the south, upon the primitive granites, slates, and quartz rock, of Washita. The celebrated Hot Springs issue from it. The long-noted mines of Missouri, which once set opinion in France in a blaze, extend from its north-eastern flanks. The primitive sienites and hornblende rock of the sources of the St. Francis and Grand rivers, support it. The Unica or White river, the Strawberry, Spring river, Currents and Black rivers, descend from it, and join the Mississippi. The Great and Little Osage, and the Gasconade, flow into the Missouri. The great plains, and sand-desert, which stretches at the eastern foot of the Rocky mountains, lie west of it. It is not less than two hundred miles in breadth. No part of the central regions of the Mississippi valley exhibits such a variety in its geological constituents, or such a striking mineralogical development. Its bodies of the ore of iron called iron-glance, are unparalleled. These are particularly developed in the locality called Iron Mountain, or the sources of the St. Francis. Its ores of lead, zinc, antimony, and manganese, are remarkable. Its limestones abound in caves yielding nitre. Salt and gypsum are found in the plains on its western borders. Its large blocks of quartz rock, which are found north of the Arkansas river, particularly scattered over the formations crossing the Little Red, Buffalo, and White rivers, about the Buffalo shoals, furnish indications of the diluvial gold deposit, which would justify future examination.
Through these alpine ranges De Soto roved, with his chivalrous and untiring army, making an outward and inward expedition into regions which must have presented unwonted hardships and discouragements to the march of troops. To add to these natural obstacles, he found himself opposed by fierce savage tribes, who rushed upon him from every glen and defile, and met him in the open grounds with the most savage energy. His own health finally sank under these fatigues; and it is certain that, after his death, his successor in the command, Moscoso, once more marched entirely through the southern Ozarks, and reached the buffalo plains beyond them. Such energy and feats of daring had never before been displayed in North America; and the wonder is at its highest, after beholding the wild and rough mountains, cliffs, glens, and torrents, over which the actual marches must have laid.
Some of the names of the Indian tribes encountered by him, furnish conclusive evidence that the principal tribes of the country, although they have changed their particular locations since the year 1542, still occupy the region. Thus, the Kapahas, who then lived on the Mississippi, above the St. Francis, are identical with the Quappas, the Cayas with the Kanzas, and the Quipana with the Pawnees.
CHAPTER XI.
SEVERE WINTER WEATHER ON THE SUMMIT OF THE OZARKS—FALSE ALARM OF INDIANS—DANGER OF MY FURNACE, ETC., BEING HEREAFTER TAKEN FOR ANTIQUITIES—PROCEED SOUTH—ANIMAL TRACKS IN THE SNOW—WINOCA OR SPIRIT VALLEY—HONEY AND THE HONEY-BEE—BUFFALO-BULL CREEK—ROBE OF SNOW—MEHAUSCA VALLEY—SUPERSTITIOUS EXPERIMENT OF THE HUNTERS—ARRIVE AT BEAVER CREEK.
The indications of severe weather, noticed during the last day of December, and the beginning of January, were not deceptive; every day served to realize them. We had no thermometer; but our feelings denoted an intense degree of cold. The winds were fierce and sharp, and snow fell during a part of each day and night that we remained on these elevations. We wrapped our garments closely about us at night, in front of large fires, and ran alternately the risk of being frozen and burnt. One night my overcoat was in a blaze from lying too near the fire. This severity served to increase the labor of our examinations; but it did not, that I am aware, prevent anything essential.
On the fourth day of my sojourn here, a snowstorm began, a little before one o'clock in the morning; it ceased, or, as the local phrase is, "held up," at daybreak. The ground was now covered, to a depth of from two to three inches, with a white mantle. Such severity had never been known by the hunters. The winds whistled over the bleak prairies with a rigor which would have been remarkable in high northern latitudes. The river froze entirely over. The sun, however, shone out clearly as the day advanced, and enabled me to complete my examinations, as fully as it was practicable to do, under the existing state of the weather.