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Show APPENDIX TO PART II. only limited by the ·u nbeci·1 ·H y o f om· s1'gl1t · The waters of the 'Vhite river and the Osage, at·e divided m~rely by a smul.l ridge 1•1 1 t 11 c pr:u• n•e , ancl the dry bt·;mches app.e at·. to mterlock at the1r head. ] ·•r om t 11 cnce to tl1e n"•a in branch of said rivet·, the cou. ntry ap. pea.r ed }li ~h unci g ravelly ridges of prairie land. ?n ~he mam \Vlute nver .is large timber and fine g-round for cnluvauon. ll.en.ce a doubt . : a to the clisemboguing of this stream. Lt. 'Vllkmson from dllSeS c S < • • • J[' som e authority ' has drawn the conclusion, that It dis.c rh arges. Jtse into the Arkansaw, a short distance below the V ern:nlwn n:cr-but from the voyages or capt. Maney, on the ~Vhite l'JVCI', ~he l~for· mation of hunters, Indi<.ms, &c. I am rather induced to believe 1t ~o be the \Vhitc river of the Mississippi-as atthcit· mouths there IS not so PTcat a cliffcrencc between thci1· mag nitude; and all persons agree 1:.1,1 a' scert·•l in.ino>:>· that the '\IVhite river heads betwee• n the Osag1e 1.ivcr, Arkansaw and Kanses rivers, which would. slll.l leav~ t1c Arkansaw ncar 800 miles more lengthy than the \Vlnte n~er. hom these proofs, I am ptctty confident in asscning, that this was the \Vhite rivet· of the Mississippi which we crossed. At the place where we traversed it, the stream was amply navigable for canoes, e ven at this dry season (August) of the yeat·. ~ . Up this river to the dividing rid ~cs, between it and the \1 Ct'di· grise river, the bottom is of some magnitude and im~o:·tan:e, but the latter river is bounded here in a nan·ow lJcd of pra1nc lulls, affording not mot·c than suflicient timber for fire wood f~r ~limited number of inhabitants fot· a few years. From the Vcrchgn sc, our course ag-ain lay over gTavclly hills ancl a prairie country, but w.ell watered by the bt·anches of the: Verdigrise and \tVhite rivers (ah~s Grand river.) From this point to the source of White river~ there IS very little timber, the gt·ass short, praities h · gh and dry. l'l'om the l1ead of White river ovet· the dividing- ridge between that and the Eastern branch of the Kans river, the ridge is high, dry, and has many appearances of iron ore, and on the \Vest side some spaw springs-Here the country is very deficient of water, from the East Branch of the Kans river (by our route) to the Pawnee rep:tb· lie on the republican fork, (see chat't) the 1wairics at·c low, lngh !"'rass, and the country abounds with salines, and the earth appem:s to be I. mpregnated W.i th m. trous and common sa1 t s. Tll e immcch· ate border of the republican fork ncar the villa~e is high ridges, but t his is an exception to the general face of the country. AI! the count.r y, between the forks of the Kans n.v er, a<r I stance of 16d0 miles, may lJc called prairie, notwithstanding the bordei'S of woo and which ornament the banks of those streams, but arc no more APPENDIX TO PART II. 5 than a line traced on a sheet of paper, when compared to the immense tract of meadow country. For some distanre from the Osage villages, you only lind deer, then elk, then cabric and finally buffa lo. lltn it is worthy of rc mat ·k, that although the male buA'alo were in great abundance, yet in all our t•outc from the Osa.~c to the Pawnees we never saw one female. I ~\cknowl cdgc myself at a loss to determine, whether this is to be atlributed to the decided prcfci'<:ncc the savages gi,·c to the meat of the female ; and that consequently they arc almost exterminated in the hunting grounds of the nations- ot· to some physical causes, fo1· I afterwards eli covered tl1c females with young in such immense h e rds, as gave me no reason to beli eve, they yielded to the males in numbct·s. From the P i!wnce town on the K anses river, to the Arkansaw, the countt·y may almost be tct·mcd mountainous, but want of timber gircs the hills less claim to the appellation of mountains. They arc watered :-~nd c t·eated as it were by the vat·ious branches of the Kans ri vc1·. One of those branches, a stt·cam of considerable magnitude (say 20 yards) which I have designated on the chart by the name of the S;.dine-was so salt at where we crossed it, on om· route to the Arkansaw, that it salted sufficiently, the soup of the meat which my men boiled in it. \Vc were here, very eligibly situated, had a fresh spr·ing, issuing from a bank near us; plenty of the necessaries of life a ll around, viz: hu(:. falo; a beautiful little sugar loaf hill, fot· a look out post; fine grass fo1· our horses; and a saline in front of u s. As you approach the Arkansaw (on this route) within 15 o1· 20 miles the country ap pears to be low and swampy; or the land is covered with ponds cxtenclino· out fl·om the rivet· some distance. The river at the place where I struck it, is nearly 500 yards wide, from bank to b:.mk. Those banks not more than four feet high, thinly covered with cotton wood. The north side a swampy low prait·ic, and the south a sandy sterile desert. From thence, about h alf way to the mountains the coun-t . ' . ry contmued the low pl'airic hills, with scat·cely any streams putting Into the river; and on t!Je bottom many bat·e spots, on which when tile sun is . tl 'd' . . . m 1e met·I tan, 1s congealed a spcctes of salt, sufficiently thic~ .to ue accumulated, but it is so strongly impreg nated with nitric q~alltles, us to render it unfit for use until purified. The rrr a:is in tlus d' .. · · ., Istuct on the nvcr bottoms, has a gTcat appearance of the grass on our salt mat·shes. From the first south fork (see chart) the borders of the l'ive1· have more wood, and the hills arc J1igher, until you ai'J·ivc at its entrance, into the mountains. The whole()[ the timber i . s cotton wood, fl'Om the entrance of the Arkansaw, m the |
