A view of West Florida, embracing its geography, topography, etc. With an appendix, treating of its antiquities, land-titles and canals

Front matter

A VIEW OF WEST FLORIDA, EMBRACING its GEOGRAPHY, TOPOGRAPHY, $c. WITH AX APPENDIX, THEATIITG OF ITS ANTIQUITIES, LANS TITLES. ANS CANALS. AND CONTAINING A MAP, BJBIBITIKQ A CHART OF THE COAST, A PLAN OF PENSACOLA. AND THE ENTRANCE OF THE HARBOUR. BY JOHN LEE WILLIAMS. PHILADELPHIA.- PRINTED FOR H. S. TANNER AND THE AUTHOR. r. B. DAILET, J?RIHTER, 1837. EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA, to wit: BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the ninth day of March, (L. S.) in the fifty-first year of the Independence of the United States of America, A. D. 1827, H. S. Taxner and Johs Lle Wiilums, of the said District, have deposited in this Office the Title of a Book, the right whereof they claim as Proprietors, in the words following, to wit : "A View of West Florida, embracing* its Geography, Topography, &c. with "an Appendix, treating of its Antiquities, Land Titles, and Canals.

And con *' taining a Map, exhibiting a Chart of the Coast, a Plan of Pensacola, and the " entrance of the Harbour. By John Lee Williams." In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, intituled, "An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, durng the times therein mentioned." And also to the Act, entitled, "An Act supplementary to an Act, entttfed, 'An Act for the encoiuagement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned,' and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching, historical and other prints." D. CALDWELL, Clerkof the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Preface

. The following pages are the result of the occasional employment of the writer, while engaged in other pursuits, during a residence of seven years in Florida. His attention was first attracted to the subject, by remarking the singular deficiency of the maps of West Florida, in his frequent excursions through the country. Having been appointed one of the commissioners for locating the new seat of government of Florida, the author, for his own satisfaction, made a minute survey of the coast, from St. Andrew's bay to the Suwannee, as well as of the interior of the country in which Tallahassee is situated. In consequence of the information thus acquired, he conceived the idea of pre paring a new map of that part of Florida which had come under his immediate notice ; and of accompanying it with a memoir, or essay, containing such information in relation to the country, as would seem to be called for at the present moment.

In appearing before the public as an author for the first time, he throws himself upon the candour of those who are in search of useful and accurate information, without being too fastidious as to the manner in which it is conveyed ; for they will find no attempt to amuse by highly wrought diction, or the ingenious inventions of the imagination : his object has been to oiler something useful to practical men. Although Florida is rapidly increasing in population, there are several causes which must tend to retard its progressun some parts, for several years to come : these are, principally, the un settled land claims, and the large grants possessed by individu als, which are withheld from sale for the purpose of speculation.

PREFACE.

. The general excellence of the climate, and its adaptation to the culture of some of the most valuable of the southern staples, must give it decided advantages over any part of the southern seaboard. The sugar cane, the silk worm, the grape, and the olive, will no doubt at some future day render it one of the most important portions of America. The fine harbours of Florida will secure to it important commercial advantages ; and no portion of the Union possesses such singular facilities for the construction of canals. Should the ship channel across the peninsula be effected, and in the practicability of which the author is very sanguine, a most important revolution in commerce will be the result The author has had it in contemplation to prepare a similar map and memoir of East Florida, should the success of the pre sent attempt be such as to afford him encouragement : his ex pectations, however, are not high, and it is therefore impossible that his disappointment can be great.

Should such a work be undertaken, the natural as well as the civil history of Florida will appear in a more systematic form. The Appendix to this little volume is somewhat more copious than was at first intended ; but it contains some interesting docu ments, which the author felt unwilling to omit. Phh.abeli*bia, March 5th, The title of West Florida has, at different periods, been ap plied to territories very different in location as well as in extent. At one time, the river Mississippi was the western boundary, and for a long period of time, the Appalachicola river was the east ern limit. In 1821, General Jackson, then Governor of Florida, by an ordinance, since confirmed by several Acts of Congress, fixed the limits of West Florida, from the bay and river Perdido on the west, to the river Suwannee on the east ; and from the Gulf of Mexico on the south, to the thirty-first degree of north latitude on the north, until intersected by the Chattahoche river; then down the Chattahoche river to its junction with the Flint river; thence eastwardly on a direct line towards the head of St. Mary's river, until it intersected the river Suwannee.

The tract of country thus designated, is situate between 28° 10' and 31° N. lat, and between 6° and 10° 20' W. long, from Wash ington. It is about 276 miles long, from east to west ; and from forty to ninety in width, from north to south. It contains about 16,500 square miles, and 10,560,000 acres of land, with a population of from eight to nine thousand inhabitants. The face of the country is, generally, rolling, but there are neither mountains nor hills of any considerable magnitude. It is intersected from north to south by numerous rivers, many of which are navigable quite through the territory. A large portion of the country is covered with forests, the trees usually at a considerable distance apart, without underbrush ; while the sur= B face of the ground presents a carpet of verdant grass and flowers most of the year.

The borders of the water-courses, however, as well as the hammocks, are covered with thick woods of hard timber, tangled with innumerable vines. An abundance of lakes and ponds diversify the interior ; while the seacoast is indented with bays, bayous, and lagoons, abounding with fish of all kinds, and affording every facility for internal as well as foreign com merce. Although the largest portion of the country is covered with pine barrens, and much of it extremely poor, yet there is also much upland, interval, and hammock land, of the most ex cellent quality ; peculiarly well calculated to produce sugar, rice, cotton, tobacco, indigo, corn, small grains, vines, and fruits ; and all the timbers necessary for ship-building are found here in abundance. The pine barrens afford excellent grazing for cattle, and they are abundantly stocked with wild game.

The climate is healthy and the seasons mild. The southern coast of West Florida, from Perdido bay to Cape St. Blass, a distance of 140 miles, is formed of pure white sand, principally silicious, but mixed with calcareous particles of broken sea shells. From Cape St. Blass to the Appalache river, a distance of sixty miles, the coast is composed of a yellowish brown sand, alternating with white cliffs and sometimes with salt marshes. From the Appalache to the Suwannee river, a distance of eighty miles, a calcareous rock forms the seacoast, generally covered with grass and rushes for several miles into the sea. These different formations of the coast are occasioned by various causes. The limestone which forms the base of the country, from the Chactawhatchee river in the interior, to the seacoast of Appalache bay, is, every where, very productive of grass ; this bay is also sheltered from storms by the circular form of the coast ; and the Tortugas shoals throw the currents of the gulf so far out to sea, that they scarcely strike the western coast of Flo rida until they reach Cape St. Blass ; from thence westward, the coast receives the full force of both storms and currents, and ex hibits a beach of sand, white as snow, and almost as hard as rock.

Between the Perdido bay and the Escambia river, the soil is alluvial. The substratum is a clay of various colours — white, yellow, red, and blue. Strata of dark iron sandstone pervade it in many places; and is often thrown up in small hills, especially in the low grounds near the water-courses. This clayey substratum is generally covered with a fine, white, silicious sand, which in its native state, produces little more than pine forests and grass ; except where the tide or the streams have thrown upon it fossil or vegetable remains ; these form hammocks and intervals, rich in vegetable productions. The peninsula, extending between Pensacola bay and St. Rosa sound, has not even clay beneath the sand : peat is sometimes found there in extensive beds, with abundance of cypress and cedar stumps, standing far beneath the sand.

A stratum of sandstone, three or four feet in thickness, is forming, some twenty miles from the west end of the penin sula, but it is yet too tender for building. North of the Chactawhatchee bay, a high ridge of sand divides the water-courses, which fall southwardly into the bay, and northwardly into Shoal river, a branch of Yellow Water. Near the east end of the bay, this ridge subsides in a succession of knolls, which give rise to the springs of Alaqua river and Uchee creek. A pleasant country of rich land extends from this to the Chactawhatchee river, based on soapstone and limestone forma tions. The soapstone is found in strata, from five to eight feet thick, and extends to the Shoal river. The limestone has been dis covered west of the Chactawhatchee, only in the Uchee valley, where it is abundant.

On the eastern bank of the Chactawhatchee, the limestone is found less compact than on the western ; it seems a congeries of shells, some of them entire, cemented together by a tough aluminous matter. Buhrstone of an excellent quality is found in large masses near the Alabama line. Millstones are made here of a better quality than can be procured from abroad. This stone extends as far eastward as the Flint river, and northward for a hundred miles or more. The structure is nearly compact; the cavities are very small; it appears like a mass of fine escal lop shells; is evidently calcareous; and rings like marble. The colour is from a light gray to a brown, the break conchoidal, and has an earthy appearance. Ponds and sink holes are numerous hetween the Chactawhatchee and Chapola rivers, and large springs, forming navigable streams, often burst from this formation ; the waters, though perfectly transparent, are highly im pregnated with lime, and are not generally considered healthy.

Proceeding towards the Chapola river, the limestone acquires a firmer texture, the clayey concrete disappears, and the mass ap proaches nearer the surface ; it is seen as far south as the Econ fina river, seven miles above the head of St. Andrew's bay. Near the Chapola river, this formation often rises above the earth, in tabular platforms ; they are usually covered with grass, but not with trees. At other places, broken fragments lie in large piles, interspersed with dogwood, chicasa plumb, hydran gia shrubs, and vines. Under these piles of rock, caves have usually been discovered. East of the Appalachicola river, there are few indications of stone, until we approach Leon county. Here a ridge appears above the earth, from four to six miles from the coast, and paral lel with it ; it dips a few degrees to the SSW., and is probably the edge of that stratum which forms the coast : the navigation of all the streams between St. Marks and Suwannee is impeded by it.

This rock resembles chalk, generally of an ash colour ; some of it, however, is quite white, and is used for chalk. A kind of imperfect flint is imbedded in it, in form of a shelly nucleus. It becomes hard on exposure to the air. The flint is of a light gray colour, full of holes, which are filled with the cal careous matter : it breaks with a conchoidal fracture ; gives fire freely with steel ; is quite opaque, but void of the greasy feel which is peculiar to pure flint. On points of the coast, where the waves have washed the calcareous matter away, these flinty nuclei form extensive and very rugged reefs. The fort of St. Marks is built of this limestone. Grass grows spontaneously on this rock, whether covered with salt or fresh water, even to the depth of twenty feet. Oysters grow in great masses to the rock. and they are very hard to separate from it.

Through the centre of Gadsden and Leon counties, ridges of clay extend, and form the base of an excellent soil. The upper stratum is red and very pure, and has an unctuous feel ; but very small sandstones, of the size of a buck-shot or bullet, pervade the whole mass : this stratum is usually fourteen feet, more or less, in thickness. Under this, a white clay, similar in quality, extends from twenty to thirty feet, which resposes on a rotten limestone; somewhat different, however, from that found in the western part of Jackson county. The shells which compose it are more perfect, and the cement is a calcareous, instead of aluminous matter. It is found to make excellent lime. The springs and streams in this part of the country are very pure ; they rise and run over the aluminous formations, but they all at length sink beneath the limestone rock, where, having united their currents and become highly impregnated with lime, they rise at once navigable rivers ; such are the St. Marks, the Wakulla, and Oscilla rivers, which from these springs pass over the chalky formation to the sea.

CLIMATE. This term, originally expressing temperament of situation, has by common use become an indication of situation, as it respects health or sickness. In this sense, West Florida is peculiarly blessed. Her climate is temperate, both from its latitude and from exposure to the mild sea breezes of the Southern gulf. A rolling country is more favourable to a free circulation of air than a level plain ; and a sandy soil, covered with forests, although not the most profitable to cultivate, is eminently pro ductive of health. On the contrary, the estuaries of large rivers, and rich bottom lands, densely covered with timber, although rich in natural productions, are usually unfavourable to health, especially when first opened to the influence of the sun. A high state of cultivation usually corrects both.

Ponds of stagnant water are usually fruitful sources of disease, and some of these exist in this country. Many of these ponds, however, are merely expansions of the subterraneous rivers, which pervade the lime stone region. Extensive marshes are, also, usually unhealthy in a warm climate ; and these line our seacoast, from the St. Marks eastward, to the Suwannee ; how far the sea breezes may correct the evil, time will discover. From these observations, it appears certain, that the advantages of a pure atmosphere, and at the same time a very rich soil, cannot be expected to meet in the same place. If this coun try be diversified with both these blessings, in different situations, it is all we can reasonably expect. Residences on the low alluvial bottoms, and near the marshes, have usually, in autumn, been attended with agues and bilious fevers ; except these, I have heard of no diseases peculiarly incident to the climate.

Pensacola has twice been visited with yellow fever. The last time that dreadful disorder occurred, was in the year 1822. The season had been unusually hot, there was no efficient police, the town was filthy in the extreme, and overrun with strangers. A cargo of spoiled codfish arrived from Havana, and was distri buted among the little huckster-shops along the bay. From this moment, the pestilence spread like wildfire, sweeping whole families, and almost whole streets, in one general destruction, which ended only in a total desertion of the inhabitants. We have every reason to believe, that a vigilant police will always prevent the recurrence of a similar calamity. Our climate has proved peculiarly salutary in pulmonary com plaints. Many of our most useful citizens came here, merely for the recovery of constitutions which were rapidly declining ; and they are now enjoying perfect health.

We are taught by expe rience, that intemperance will produce disease in every climate ; but with habits of cleanliness, moderate industry, and temper ance, any person may enjoy as perfect health in West Florida, as in any part of the universe. Sea-bathing is one of the greatest luxuries of our climate ; and this, more than any other prescrip tion, has tended to recover invalids from most disorders. This, with other gentle exercise, and a prudent diet, has uniformly proved successful, in the most inveterate diseases. The yellow fever has yielded to it, and by it this dreadful disorder has often been prevented. BAYS. Perdido bay, which divides Florida from Alabama on the west, is a pleasant sheet of water, about thirty miles in length, and from two to six miles in breadth. The bar, at its junction with the gulf, is shoal and constantly shifting, and has from five to seven feet water.

Pensacola bay is from twenty-five to thirty miles long, and from four to seven miles wide. About eleven miles from its junction with the gulf, it divides into three parts ; the north-west bay is called Escambia, which is about ten miles long, and from four to six wide. It receives the Escambia river at the north west end, which enters among several low islands. The north branch is called Yellow Water bay; it is about the same length, and from three to four miles wide. It receives a river of the same name, from the east, through several channels. Black Water bay is attached to its north-west corner. This is a small bay, seven miles long and two wide, and is full of islands ; it receives from the north, Cold Water river, Black Water and Cedar creeks. The eastern bay is called East river bay, it extends six or seven miles into the country, where it ends in a small river.

St. Rosa sound is connected with Pensacola bay, on the south west. The latter joins the Gulf of Mexico, between the fort of Barrancas and St. Rosa island, where it is at least three-fourths of a mile wide. It has, at the lowest tides, twenty -one feet, and usually twenty-three feet water on the bar. This is by far the best harbour on the Gulf of Mexico, or indeed south of the Chesapeake bay. The following Report of Commodores Bain bridge and Warrington, and Captain Biddle, will show the opin ion of those gentlemen on the subject. " The bay of Pensacola is extensive and capacious, easy of access from the sea, and affording secure anchorage for any num ber of vessels of the largest class. The depth of water on the bar, as laid down by Major Kearney, of the Topographical En gineers, is twenty-one feet.

From the report to us of Lieutenant Pinkham of the John Adams, whom we directed to sound, and from all the information we have been able to collect, at least this depth of water, we believe, will always be found on the bar, even after a long continuance of northerly winds. These norther ly winds sensibly affect the waters on this part of the coast ; they, however, seldom continue long. The ordinary tides do not rise more than three feet, but these tides run with considerable rapidity, thus affording facilities to vessels working in or out of the harbour, against an unfavourable wind. u The position which we have selected, as, in our judgment. combining the greatest advantages for a Navy Yard, is in the vicinity of the Barrancas, and to the northward and eastward of Tartar point. Here we found the necessary depth of water nearest the shore ; an important consideration in respect to the expense to be incurred in carrying out the wharves required for naval purposes.

Here too the works erected for the defence of of the Navy Yard, would give additional security to the harbour, while its vicinity to the Barrancas would admit of assistance to it, in case of need, from the troops stationed there. Here, we are, in our opinion, susceptible of complete defence, at a less expense than elsewhere in the bay. The position is wholly pro tected by Tartar point, against the swell of the sea, which strong south-westerly winds set over the bar. It is favourably situated for rendering assistance to vessels approaching the harbour. Its healthiness is not surpassed by any other part of the bay ; and fresh water is here abundant, and of a wholesome quality." The post of Barrancas was established in 1669, by the Spaniards, under Andre de la Riola ; and the present fort was built by Don Bernardo de Galvez, about 1784.

It is situate on the north shore, on a high shell bank. It completely commands the entrance of the harbour. West of the fort, a light-house was erected in 1824. It is thirty feet high, and may be distinctly seen at fifteen miles distance. The ruins of old Fort Arunado, are situate on the north side of St. Rosa island, about two miles from the west end, and two and a half from Barrancas, nearly opposite Tartar point, where the naval depot is now es tablished. Large vessels, coming from the eastward, should keep in seven fathoms water, until the light-house bears N. by W., in that course run to three and a half fathoms on the bar, then steer the same course till the west end of St. Rosa island bears E. by S. and the light-house N. one half W. ; then steer direct for the light, until within the island, then hawl up and run into the bay.

The same should be the course of large vessels coming from the west, except that they may safely run in five fathoms. Vessels drawing less than fourteen feet, may bring the light to bear N. three-fourths W., and then steer for it till within half a mile ; thence E. by N. till sheltered by St. Rosa. The ebb tide sets south-west, and the flood north-east. The ebb sets directly on to the Caycos shoal, and the flood across the Middle ground. The following extract from the Report of F. Laval, Commis sioner of Marine, &c. to His Catholic Majesty, in 1719, will show that a century has made no material difference in the en trance of Pensacola bay: " The Admiral (Champmeslin) was on board of the Hercules, of sixty-four guns, but then mounted only fifty-six, and drew about twenty-one feet water; he was advised that there was only twenty two feet on the bar; he therefore despaired of entering the harbour; but an old Canadian, named Grimau, a man of experience, and well acquainted with the channel, alleged that he could take her in, and actually succeeded.

He ran along a good musket-shot from the ledges, (breakers,) till he brought the Fort of Pen sacola, (Barrancas,) N. and S. one-fourth E., and ran that course till he was W. one-fourth S. from the old fort on St. Rosa ; he then bore away a little to the west land, keeping mid way betwixt that and the island, to avoid a bank on the latter, which ran out to some distance WNW. from the point. The Hercules was followed by the Mars, pierced for sixty, but carry ing only fifty-four guns. The Triton, pierced for fifty-four, but carrying only fifty. Two frigates, one of thirty-six, the other twenty guns. They all anchored in water from twenty-five to thirty-six feet, in good holding ground of soft mud." The Grand Lagoon extends from the entrance of Pensacola bay, below the Barrancas, eight miles westward, and within three fourths of a mile of the Perdido bay, and with which it might be connected by a trifling labour.

It is open to the gulf near the west end; the passage has usually six feet water on the bar; near the Barrancas it is more shoal, the sea having lately broken over and thrown considerable sand on the bar. The Big bayou enters the bay one and a half miles above Tar tar point Three miles farther north-east, Bayou Chico enters; on the north bank of which, Camp Clinch is beautifully situated, one and a half C miles north of the bay, of which there is a fine prospect. This bayou is a pleasant, healthy, and safe harbour for small craft. Bayou Texar enters from the north, one mile above the city of Pensacola; it is a handsome sheet of water, one-fourth of a mile wide, and four miles in length. The Bayou Mulatto enters the east side of Escambia bay. St. Rosa sound connects the bays of Pensacola and Chactaw hatchee.

This is a charming sheet of water, about forty miles long, and from one and a half to two and a half miles wide. A narrow peninsula divides the Pensacola bay from the sound, for thirty miles. Vessels drawing five feet water may pass through the sound and thence to sea, through the west end of Chactawhatchee bay, and the pass L'Este. The navigation is perfectly safe, and no difficulty occurs, except at the narrows, near the east end of the sound, where there are two places that the channel is narrow and crooked. The Chactawhatchee bay is at least forty miles long, and from seven to fifteen wide. It receives the Chactawhatchee river through many mouths, at the east end ; while on the north side there enters Cedar creek, the Alaqua river, Rock creek, Boggy creek and Twin creek. This bay is much affected by storms; and many shoals running far into it, the navigation is considered somewhat dangerous.

It has two outlets. The pass L'Este communicates with the sea, seven miles south-east from the west end of the bay, and at the west end by St. Rosa sound. When a heavy swell of the sea meets the ebb tide on the pass L'Este, the breakers render it impassable. The British established a very profitable fishery here. It might still be improved to great advantage. St. Andrew's bay has, hitherto, been little known, but it must hereafter become a place of importance. It is easy of access, has eighteen feet water on the bar, good anchorage, and is perfectly sheltered from every wind. It is divided into several arms, which stretch over a wide extent of country ; the north and east arms extend to the neighbourhood of the rich settlements of Chi pola, the principal trade of which, at this time, passes through this bay.

Three islands lie off the mouth of this harbour, Sand island, Hummock island, and Crooked island. The principal channel is between Sand and Hummock islands, it being the nearest; betwixt Hummock and Crooked islands the channel is equally good. The main body of the bay extends northward for about twelve miles, and thus far averages about five miles in breadth. Five miles from the entrance, a large arm, near a mile in width, runs to the west, parallel with the coast for twenty miles. Ten miles from the entrance, another branch extends westwardly thirty miles; this branch is in some places ten miles wide, and approaches very near the Chipola inundation. The Wetappo, a navigable creek, which enters the north-east end, rises near the very bank of this sheet of water. Five miles north-west of East bay, the Wapaluxy bay branches off to the west, in a circular form, which the name indicates.

This bay is from seven to ten miles in diameter. A navigable creek enters the west side of Wapaluxy, from which, to the lake branch of Chactawhatchee river, is only four miles and a half. Seven miles farther up the north branch, vessels may carry eighteen feet water, to Little Oyster point. From thence to the head of the bay, a distance of eight miles, the water gradually shoals to seven feet. St. Joseph's bay presents an entrance, from the north-west, six miles wide, but most of this distance is occupied by a middle ground. One channel is close under the north point of the pe ninsula, where there is seventeen feet water. The main channel commences near Cape False, and passes about two miles from the main land, and has twenty-eight feet water. The bay is generally from seven to eight miles wide, but grows narrower, and shoal, towards the south-east end.

It is twenty miles in length, and easy of access. On the land side it is unapproachable, being insulated among lakes, lagoons, and marshes. The southern point of the peninsula, which forms St. Joseph's, is the Cape St. Blass. The north end is blown up into sharp sand hills, except, that inside of the point there is a forest of high pines, which may be seen art a great distance. The Appalachicola bay is formed by the islands of St. Vincent and St George,opposite to the mouth of the Appalachicola river. It is from four to eight miles wide, and twelve in length. Vessels drawing twelve feet water can enter the bay, and with eight feet can approach Murder point, at the mouth of the river. This river being the largest in West Florida, and the outlet of an extensive and fertile country, it will, at some future time, render this bay a place of extensive business, unless the produce of the country should be directed into some other channel.