The Expeditions of Z. M. Pike to Headwaters of the Mississippi River ... 1805-6-7. A new edition now first reprinted in full from the Original of 1810, with copious critical commentary, memoir of Pike, new map, and other illustrations, and complete Index by Elliott Coues [With loose maps.] L.P

Front matter

HMfee's lEjpeoitions. VOLUME THE EXPEDITIONS OF ZEBULON MONTGOMERY PIKE, To Headwaters of the Mississippi River, Through Louisiana Territory, and in New Spain, During the Years 1805-6-7. A NEW EDITION, Now First Reprinted in Full from the Original of 1810, With Copious Critical Commentary, Memoir of Pike, New Map and other Illustrations, and Complete Index, BY ELLIOTT COUES, Late Captain and Assistant Surgeon, United States Army. Late Secretary and Naturalists United States Geological Survey, Member 0/ the National Academy of Sciences, Editor of Lewis and Clark, etc., etc., etc. IN THREE VOLUMES. Vol. II. arfcansaw Journey*— /TC-earlcan Œour. NEW YORK: FRANCIS P. HARPER. 1895- Copyright, 1895, BY FRANCIS P. HARPER, New York. All rights reserved. CONTENTS OF VOL. II.

Chapter I. Itinerary

: UP THE MISSOURI AND OSAGE RIVERS, AND THROUGH KANSAS TO THE PAWNEE VILLAGE ON THE REPUBLICAN RIVER, JULY 15TH-SEPT. 30TH, 1806. •TTUESDAY, July 15th, 1806. We sailed from the landing at Belle Fontaine1 about 3 o'clock p. m., in two boats. Our party consisted of two lieutenants, one surgeon, 1 Belle Fontaine or Bellefontaine is the name of the large cemetery in the environs of St. Louis, where William Clark lies buried ; and probably few persons now living know its proper geographical connotation. The cemetery is four miles from the Court House, and ten miles further is the place whose name was given to the burying-ground on the road thither, after its original designation as the Rural Cemetery. Belle Fontaine was a plice on the south bank of the river, 14 m. north of St. Louis, in what is now St. Ferdinand township of St. Louis Co. (Sect. 10, T. 47 N., R. 7 E. of this county).

Before there was any such "place," or locality, Belle Fontaine was the French name of the creek which falls in there, which had been called Ferdinand by the Spanish, and which became known to the English as Cold Water creek, there being a fine large spring under the bluffs, close to the Missouri. This, however, was washed away by the encroachment of the river. We find the latter name in Lewis and Clark, who made the first camp of their expedition on Green isl., opposite the mouth of the creek, May 14th, 1804. There was nothing then at the place that was soon to become forever notable as the spot where was built the first military post ever established in the newly acquired territory of Louisiana. Mjch early history attaches to the locality, some of which may be here epito mized, mainly on the basis of Billon's Annals.

In 1768, when St. Louis was but begun, Captain Rios arrived with 25 soldiers under orders from Count Ulloa to DEPARTURE FROM BELLE FONTAINE. one sergeant, two corporals, 16 privates and one interpreter.*1 We had also under our charge chiefs of the Osage and Paw nees, who, with a number of women and children, had been to Washington. These Indians had been redeemed from captivity among the Potowatomies, and were now to be reestablish Spanish authority in the region where things were at a standstill, if not in distraction. Rios was persona non grata in the infant St. Louis ; he with drew, and selected Belle Fontaine as a suitable location for a post. Late in 1768 he there built a fort which he called Fort Prince Charles in honor of the son of his king and heir apparent to the Spanish throne. In 1769 Rios left with his men; in 1770 Piernas came.

The Spanish presidio was soon turned into a commercial factory or trading-post. On Sept. 10th, 1797, Governor Zenon Trudeau granted to Hezekiah Lord a concession of 1,000 arpents of land on Belle Fon taine or Cold Water cr. ; and on the site of the former Spanish fort Lord built a house and mill. He died in 1799 ; his estate was sold in partition in 1803, when 600 arpents were bought by William Massey. In 1805, General James Wilkinson selected the place for a military establishment, and United States troops were, first cantoned in temporary quarters during the winter of 1805-6. This was the original Cantonment Belle Fontaine. On April 20th, 1806, Gen eral Wilkinson purchased from Massey, on behalf of the United States, five acres of ground with the improvements, called Belle Fontaine, with the use for five years of the ground on which had been located the cantonment, and upon these five acres established a permanent post.

In July, 1806, he purchased the rest of the tract of 500 arpents, which was conveyed to the United States in Mar., 1809. Belle Fontaine was really the parent of Jefferson Barracks ; for, after the establishment of Forts Atkinson, Snelling, and others on the Missouri and Mississippi frontiers, it lost its importance from a military point of view, and was abandoned for the site of the present Jefferson Barracks. This in 1825; on July 4th of which year Colonel Talbot Chambers, with four companies of the ist United States Infantry, evacuated Belle Fontaine and proceeded to the new site which had been selected, though the place remained for some ten years in charge of a military storekeeper, Major John Whistler. General Lewis Cass, Secretary of War under Van Buren, ordered it to be sold at public auction in 1836.

It was bought by Jamison Samuel, Dunham Spalding, H. N. Davis, and E. L. Langham, who laid out a paper town that never came to anything. Agriculture finally reclaimed Belle Fontaine after the military occupancy ; it was bought for a farm by the late Dr. David C. Tandy of St. Louis, whose son, Robert E. Tandy, now or lately did live there. The old road can still be traced in part over ground where it ran more than a century ago. 2 The roster of the party, with some of the most notable particulars, is as follows : commissioned officers (2). I. Captain Zebulon M. Pike. Escorted to Mexico from his post on the Rio Conejos, with six privates, by Spanish dragoons, Feb. 26th, 1807. His men, ROSTER OF THE PARTY. 359 turned to their friends at the Osage towns. The whole number of Indians amounted to 51.

We ascended the river about six miles, and encamped on the south side behind an island. This day my boat swung ■excepting one left with Jackson, were Brown, Carter, Gorden, Menaugh, Mount joy, Roy, and Stoute. 2. Lieutenant James B. Wilkinson. Detached to descend the Arkansaw with five men, from camp near Great Bend, Aug. 28th, 1806. non-commissioned officers (3). I. Sergeant Joseph Ballenger. Went with Wilkinson. 2. Sergeant William E. Meek. Sent from Rio Conejos to relief of aban doned men, Feb. 19th, 1807. 3. Corporal Jeremiah R. Jackson. Left in charge of post on Rio Conejos, with Carter, Feb. 26th, 1807, to await return of Meek and Miller with Vasquez, Smith, Sparks, and Dougherty. privates (16). I. John Boley. Went with Wilkinson, Aug. 28th, 1806. 2. Samuel Bradley. Went with Wilkinson, Aug. 28th, 1806. 3.

John Brown. Left with Jackson on Rio Conejos, Feb. 26th, 1807. 4. Jacob Carter. Went with Pike, Feb. 26th, 1807. 5. Thomas Dougherty. Abandoned in Sangre de Cristo mountains with frozen feet, Jan. 22d, 1807. 6. William Gorden. Went with Pike, Feb. 26th, 1807. 7. Solomon Huddleston. Went with Wilkinson, Aug. 28th, 1806. 8. Henry Kennerman. Deserted July 19th, 1806. 9. Hugh Menaugh. Abandoned in Sangre de Cristo mountains, Jan. 27th, T807 ; recovered on Rio Conejos, Feb. 18th, 1807 ; went with Pike, Feb. 26th, 1807. 10. Theodore Miller. Went with Meek to relief of abandoned men, Feb. 19th, 1807. 11. John Mountjoy. Went with Pike, Feb. 26th, 1807. 12. Alexander Roy. Went with Pike, Feb. 26th, 1807. 13. Patrick Smith. Left with Vasquez on the Arkansaw at site of present Canon City, Jan. 14th, 1807. 14.

John Sparks. Abandoned in Sangre de Cristo mountains with frozen feet, Jan. 22d, 1807. 15. Freegift Stoute. Went with Pike, Feb. 26th, 1807. 16. John Wilson. Went with Wilkinson, Aug. 28th, 1806. civilians (2). I. Dr. John H. Robinson, volunteer surgeon. Left Pike on the Rio Conejos to proceed to Santa Fe alone, Feb. 7th, 1807. ROSTER OF THE PARTY. around twice ; once when we had a tow-rope on shore, which it snapped off in an instant. The Indians did not encamp with us at night. Distance six miles.3 July 16th. We rejoined our red brethren at breakfast, after which we again separated, and with very severe labor arrived late in the evening opposite the village of St. Charles,4 where the Indians joined us. Distance 15 miles. July 17th. We crossed the river to learn if any communi cations had arrived from St. Louis, and if there was any news of other Indian enemies of the Osages.

Called at Mr. James Morrison's, and was introduced to Mr. [George] Henry, of New Jersey, about 28 years of age ; he spoke a little Spanish and French tolerably well ; he wished to go with me as a volunteer. From this place I wrote letters back to Belle Fontaine, whilst the Indians were crossing the 2. Interpreter A. F. Baronet Vasquez. Left with Smith on the Arkansaw, at site of present Canon City, Jan. 14th, 1807. Of these persons — (1) Lieutenant Wilkinson, Sergeant Ballenger, and Privates Boley, Bradley, Huddleston, and Wilson descended the Arkansaw and reached New Orleans in February, 1807. (2) Private Kennerman deserted. (3) Dr. Robinson left Captain Pike at the post on Conejos r., and went to- Mexico on his own account. (4) Captain Pike, Sergeant Meek, Corporal Jackson, Privates Brown, Carter, Dougherty, Gorden, Menaugh, Miller, Mountjoy, Roy, Smith, Sparks, Stoute, and Interpreter Vasquez were escorted in separated parties to Mexico by Spanish dragoons.

Of whom — (5) Captain Pike, Privates Brown, Gorden, Menaugh, Roy, and Stoute were escorted back to the United States, and reached Nachitoches on or about July 1st, 1807 ; while — (6) Sergeant Meek, Corporal Jackson, Privates Carter, Dougherty, Miller, Mountjoy, Smith, and Sparks, and Interpreter Vasquez, were still detained in Mexico at the time of Pike's return, and are not accounted for in his narrative. (7) The 51 Indians, which raised to 74 the total of persons who left Belle Fontaine, were all dropped at their respective destinations, and no others were permanently attached to the party which reached the Rocky mts. 8 Past present Jamestown ldg. to Carbunker's pt., off which the large Pelican isl. now separates Car of Commerce bend from Pelican bend. 4See L. and C, ed. 1893, p. 6, and Pike's Dissertation, etc., beyond.

The village was then the seat of justice of the District of St. Charles, Louisiana Ter ritory, as it is now of St. Charles Co., Mo. The Wabash, St. L. and Pac. R. ARREST OF VASQUE7- — GEORGE HENRY. 361 river. A man by the name of Ramsay reported to the In dians that 500 Sacs, Ioways, and Reynards were at the mouth of Big Manitou [**'. «*., the band under Pashepaho (Stabber) and Quashquame (Lance)]. This gave them considerable uneasiness, and it took me some time to do away the impression it made upon them, for I by no means believed it. We were about sailing when my interpreter [Vasquez] was arrested by the sheriff at the suit of Manuel De Liza [or Lisa6], for a debt between $300 and $400, and was obliged to return to St. Louis. This made it necessary for me to write another letter to the general.8 We en camped about three-fourths of a mile above the village.

July 18th. Lieutenant Wilkinson and Dr. Robinson went with [one soldier and] the Indians across the country to the village of La Charette.7 Mr. George Henry engaged, under oath, to accompany me on my tour. Wrote to the general, and inclosed him one of Henry's engagements.8 After we R. bridged the Mo. r. here ; opposite is Bon Fils station ; also Brotherton. St. Charles was not so called till 1784 ; the place had been known as Les Petites Cotes, where the hunter Blanchette settled about 1770 : note 41, p, 214. In to day's journey Pike passed the place known as Piper's (or Fifer's) ldg. : see the mark " Ferry " on his map. The principal point was the coal hill on the south, then known as La Charbonniere, now Charbonnier pt. A present or recent place of ferriage is Music's or Hall's ; some of the landings are Heagler's, Kemp's, and Orick's or Orrick's ; some of the present islands above the Pelicans are Charbonnier or Mullanphy, Holmes, and Vingt-une.

There was a marsh or lake on the N. side, 5 or 6 m. below St. Charles, which the French called Marais Croche, Crooked marsh ; some maps now make it Marie Croche 1. 6 M. de Lisa was one of the most noted Missourian Indian traders in those days. This is certainly not the last, and probably not the first, time he played exactly that trick. Pike has a good deal to say of him further on : see also L. and C, pp. lxxix, 62, 242, 256, 443, 1153, 1154, 1232, where my notes refer to further information in Brackenridge's Travels and Irving's Astoria. Lisa was at one time associated with Captain Clark in the fur-trade. 6 One of the two letters Pike wrote to Wilkinson formed No. 3 of the App. to Pt. 2 of the orig. ed. See beyond, where it is given. 1 See L. and C, ed. 1893, pp. 2, 8, 1182, 1211 ; also, p. 1257, where Cha rette's cr. and village are given, showing this to be a personal name.

We come to the place presently. 8 This letter formed No. 4 of the App. to Pt. 2 of the orig. ed. It is given beyond. DESERTION OF KENNERMAN. had made our little arrangements we marched by land and joined the boats, which had sailed early [in charge of Ser geant Ballenger], at twelve o'clock. Two of the men being sick, I steered one boat and Mr. Henry the other, by which means we were enabled to keep employed our full comple ment of oars, although we put the sick men on shore. En camped on the north side. About eleven at night a tremen dous thunderstorm arose, and it continued to blow and rain, with thunder and lightning, until day. Distance 15 miles.9 July 19th. In consequence of the rain we did not put off •until past nine o'clock ; my sick men marched. I had some reason to suspect that one of them [Kennerman10] in tended never joining us again.

At dinner time the sick man of my own boat came on board ; I then went on board the other, and we continued to run races all day. Although this boat had hitherto kept behind, yet I arrived at the en camping ground with her nearly half an hour before the other. The current not generally so strong as below. Dis tance 14 miles." 9 This mileage would set Pike about Cottleville ldg. , on the N., though I hardly think he got quite so far. He passed Fee Fee and Crevecceur creeks on the S., latter discharging from Crevecceur 1.; Little Duckett and Big Duckett creeks, near together, on the N. ; Catfish is]., behind which is Howard bend, into which Bon Homme or Good Man's r. falls, about opposite the middle of Green's bottom, N., 3^ m. long, separated by Green's chute from Bon Homme isl., next above which comes Bacon's or Post's isl., and then Cottleville ldg.

If Pike reached this place, he was 44 m. from the mouth of the Missouri, according to recent charts. 10 Late Sergeant Henry Kennerman, reduced to the ranks for cause at Pike's stockade on the Upper Mississippi r., Mar. 9th, 1806: see p. 181 and note10, p. 245. He was posted as a deserter in various places, but we are not told he was retaken. He drops out of the story at this point. With Kennerman deserted, Vasquez arrested, and Geo. Henry engaged, the whites of the party are now 23— 2+1=22 ; Vasquez rejoins on the 21st, when the roster is again 23. 11 Position uncertain, especially as the text of the i8th-20th cannot be squared with the camp-marks on Pike's map. Going by the text, which agrees with the actual geography better than the map does, we may set Pike in the vicinity of St. Albans.

To reach this point from his last camp he passes places on the N. now known as Cottleville ldg. , Hamburg, and Dozier's ldg. At the last named Femme Osage r. falls into the lower end of Dozier's bend. The Missouri is here 1^-2 m. broad, and mostly filled with Howell's isl., 2% m. long, some DUBOIS OR WOOD CREEK. 363 Sunday, July 20th. Embarked about sunrise. Wishing to ascertain the temperature of the water, I discovered my large thermometer to be missing, which probably had fallen into the river. Passed one settlement on the north side, and, after turning the point to the south, saw two more houses on the south side. We encamped [on the south] in a long reach which bore north and west. The absentees had not yet joined us. Distance 15 miles.12 July 21st. It commenced raining near day, and continued until four o'clock in the afternoon ; the rain was immensely heavy, with thunder and lightning remarkably severe.

This obliged me to lie by ; for, if we proceeded with our boats,, it necessarily exposed our baggage much more than when at rest, as the tarpaulin could then cover all. We set sail at a quarter past four o'clock, and arrived at the village of La small islands, and various sand-bars. Thence on the N. or rather N. W. is a bottom 8 m. long and a mile or more deep ; while on the S. E. is a nearly un broken line of bluffs which the river washes from Port Royal (in Franklin Co., just over the border of St. Louis Co.) to St. Albans. At one place in these rocks is the cave formerly, and perhaps still, known as the Tavern : see L. and C, ed. 1893, p. 8, and Pike's map, place lettered " Cave." The small stream which. makes in on the S. W. at St. Albans is still called Tavern cr. ; and directly opposite is Murdoch's ldg.

The Mo. R. Comm. charts of 1879 mark a place Missouriton on the N. W., 2 m. below Murdoch's ldg. Nicollet's map, pub. 1843, marks Missouriton on the N. , slightly below mouth of Femme Osage r., about position of present Hamburg. 12 The " point to the south " which Pike passes I take to be that opp. Cottle baum's ldg., at the mouth of Ridenour or Fiddle cr. , at the head of the difficult place called Devil's Race-ground by Lewis and Clark : see ed. of 1893, p. 8. This is a couple of miles above St. Albans, at the 55th river-mile point of re cent surveys. The bluffs continue a mile or so, and then, at the mouth of Labadie's cr. or slough, begins the extensive Labadie's bottom on the S., for the Missouri crosses over to the bluffs on the N. , and continues on that side to the town of Augusta, St. Charles Co. Thence the channel runs obliquely by the Augusta and Hinkley bends, between Labadie's and Hancock's bottoms, to the S. side again.

Here, at Mung's or South Point isl., is the lower end of the " long reach," N. W., in which Pike says he camped. We set him on the S., at the mouth of Dubois or Wood cr. , where there is now a place called South Point. This is directly opposite the line between St. Charles and Warren cos. on the N. ; it is about 2 m. below Washington, Franklin Co., and at the 67th mile point from the mouth of the Missouri. Pike maps the stream in the right place,. but by the wrong name of " Ash R." VILLAGE OF LA CHARETTE. Charette at a little after the dusk of the evening. Here we found Lieutenant Wilkinson and Dr. Robinson with the Indians ; also, Baroney [Vasquez "], our interpreter, with letters from the general and our friends. The weather still continued cloudy, with rain. We were received in the house of Mr. Chartron, and every accommodation in his power was offered us.

Distance six miles.14 13 The proper name of the interpreter, whom Pike usually calls " Baroney," was A. F. Baronet Vasquez. He was b. St. Louis, 1783 ; his wife was Emily Faustine Parent. He was the son of Benito Vasquez (b. 1750) and Julia Papin (married Nov. 27th, 1774), and was the fifth child of 12 they had. He appears in army registers as Barony Vasquez, appointed to be an ensign in the 2nd Infantry Dec. 12th, 1808 ; transferred to 1st Infantry Oct. 31st, 1810 ; commissioned as second lieutenant Mar. 4th, 1811 ; promoted to a first lieuten ancy July 30th, 1813 ; and resigned Oct. 1st, 1S14. See also a letter about him in my Memoir of Pike, antea. 14 See note 7, p.361. La Charette is still the name of the stream, and of the extensive bottom on the N. side through which she river seeks the Missouri.

But the settlement once so called is not to be found by this name on modern maps. Instead of this we have Marthasville (3 m. N. of which stands still the house in which Daniel Boone died), a village about a mile from the Missouri, and nearly midway between the points where La Charette cr. and Tuque cr. respectively enter the bottom. Marthasville appears on maps of 50 years ago, as for example, on Nicollet's, 1843. Gass calls the place St. Johns where he camped May 25th, 1804 ; it then had seven houses : see L. and C, ed. 1893, p. 8. St. Johns is now the name of the largest one of a cluster of islands and sand-bars in an expanded part of the Missouri, between the mouth of La Charette cr. on the N. and of St. Johns or Bourbeuse cr. on the S., 2 m. and more above the town of Wash ington, Franklin Co. Pike maps " Sl.

Johns R." correctly between his "Ash R." (error for Wood or Dubois cr.) and his "Bay R." (error for Bœuf r.). Washington is the most notable place Pike passes to-day ; it is now quite a town, large enough to have started a place opposite itself, called North Wash ington, on Lac's pt. in Warren Co. Here is where, at the 69th river-mile point, a creek falls in on the N.; it is commonly called Tuque cr., though Sheet III. of the Mo. R. Comm. charts has " Duke " as the name. It looks like a French word, but whether it be a personal name, or derived from Toque or Turque, does not appear. It is one of two creeks which L. and C. speak of passing on the N., May 25th ; the other one of these has never been identified. But there is an old lake bed, or something of the sort, a couple of miles back of North Washington, in Hancock's bottom, under the bluffs, and I imagine this once discharged about opp.

Dubois or Wood cr.— say at Rieskamp's place, on the boundary between St. Charles and Warren cos. Tuque cr. itself seems to have had more than one outlet, in the course of the several miles it meanders the low land and separates Hancock's bottom from La Charette. SHEPHERD, BERGER, OR BURGER'S CREEK. 365 July 22d. We arranged our boats, dried our lading, and wrote letters for Belle Fontaine. July 23d. I dispatched an express to the general, with advertisements relative to Kennerman, the soldier who had deserted.10 We embarked after breakfast, and made good progress. Lieutenant Wilkinson steered one boat and I the other, in order to detach all the men on shore, with the Indians, that we could spare. We crossed to the south side, a little below Shepherd river. Dr. Robinson killed a deer, which was the first killed by the party.

Distance 13 miles.18 July 24th. We embarked at half past six o'clock. Very foggy. The Indians accompanied by only three of my people. Lieutenant Wilkinson being a little indisposed, I was obliged to let Baroney steer his boat. We made an 15 Originally Docs. Nos. 5 and 6, p. 33 and p. 36 of the App. to Pt. 2. They are given beyond. 16 To camp at New Haven, Franklin Co., a considerable town which has grown up of late years at the place formerly known as Miller's ldg., on the S., a little below Pinckney pt. Passing through Charette bend, beyond Patton's pt. and ldg., Pike comes to the mouth of the Riviere au Bœuf of the French, now Bœuf or Buffalo r. , which falls in on the S. behind Bceuf, Buffalo, or Shelton's isl. , about a mile below Dundee station of the Mo. Pac. R. R. This is the stream by error lettered " Bay R." on Pike's map.

On rounding Emily and Miller bends, Pike comes to his camp, say at the 85th river-mile point of late surveys. Here he is I J^ m. below a place which was charted by Nicollet in 1843 as Griswold, and which may be found on maps of but few years ago, but has since disappeared. On the N., opp. Griswold, was a place called Pinckney or Pinckneyville, seat of Warren Co. about 1825, and there is still a hamlet of the same name in the vicinity. The Shepherd r: which the above text mentions falls in about a mile above . Griswold and the same below the present R. R. station Etlah. This is Shepherd's cr. of L. and C, ed. 1893, p. 9, but is oftener now called Berger r. or cr. I am told by R. J. Holcombe that the word is not the common F. noun berger, a shepherd, but a personal name, probably of the old German pioneer Caspar Burger, a founder of the colony there ; if so, it should not have been translated into English.

The word is mangled into " Boeger "on the beautiful chart of the Mo. R. Comm. It is a pity that so many cases as bad as this one mar the lettering of such fine draughtsman's work as Mr. D. W. Wellman's. Berger's or Burger's cr. comes into the bottom 2 m. above its mouth, and is there joined by Little Berger's or Burger's cr. , which rims about m. in the bottom before its confluence ; the two thus make what is known as Berger's (•'. e. , Burger's) bottom nearly an island, 6 or 7 m. long. POINTS ABOUT OTTER ISLAND. excellent day's journey, and encamped [on the south] five miles from [below] the Gasconade river. Killed three deer, one bear, and three turkeys. But three or four of the In dians arrived ; the others encamped a small distance below. Distance 18 miles.17 July 25th. We embarked at half past six o'clock, and ar rived at the entrance of the Gasconade river at half past eight o'clock, at which place I determined to remain the day, as my Indians and foot people were yet in the rear, and they " On rounding Pinckney pt. through the bend of that name, Pike passes the mouth of Berger's cr. , opp.

Yeager's ldg., crosses to the N. side of the Missouri, and sails along with Berger's bottom on his left for several miles ; he goes by Whitehouse's isl., near which L. and C. were camped May 26th, 1804, and on finishing with Berger bottom, reaches a place on the N. called Bridgeport. This is pretty old for a Missouri River town ; we find it located more than 50 years ago, and it still exists in name, but has never amounted to much. Opp. Bridgeport is Bates' isl. , 2 m. long, the largest one of several at the head of Berger's bottom. In the vicinity of Bridgeport several small creeks fall in on the N. Three of these are called Lost cr., Massas (qu. Massey's ?) cr. , and Malhern (qu. Malheur ?) cr. Excepting Lost cr. , these fall into Chenal a Loutre or Otter slough ; and this snicarty cuts off a very large piece of bottom known as He a Loutre or Otter isl.

L. and C. speak of this as nearly 10 m. long, and say that it was one . of the most fertile in the whole river. The details of the river bottom along here seem to have altered a good deal since 1804, and even since Long's time ; the upper end of the slough is now a little above Hermann, near McGirk's isl. and ldg., cutting the island down to a total length of not over 7 m. The slough itself is very narrow, and hardly more than a sluggish creek, like a good many others that meander bottoms before they discharge. L. and C. speak of three creeks which fall in behind Otter isl., and one of these as having the same name. This is Riviere a la Loutre of early F. settlers, now Loutre, Louter, or Luter r., and Otter r., very curiously lettered on the Mo. R. Comm.' map, as " L'Outre "—a form which only needs an accent to* be decidedly outre: Pike maps the stream as " Otter Riv."

He proceeds by Otter or Loutre Island bend to a mile or so above Hermann, and camps on the S. In finishing the bend just named he passes on the S. the county line between Franklin and Gasconade, which cuts through Bates' isl., and then on the N. the line between Warren and Montgomery cos., which cuts the upper part of Otter isl at the lower point of Hermann isl., opp. the town of this name. This is now quite a place, and more than 50 years old. It is situated across the mouth of Riviere aux Frenes of the F., commonly called Frene cr. and Ash cr but uncommonly appearing as " Frame " cr. on the Mo. R. Comm. map. Pike does not map Ash cr., though it is given under this name by L. and C: for the stream he marks "Ash R." by mistake, see note I!, p. 363. GASCONADE RIVER. 367 had complained to me of being without shoes, leggings, etc.