The Forgotten Expedition, 1804–1805

The Louisiana Purchase Journals of Dunbar and Hunter

Trey Berry, Pam Beasley, Jeanne Clements, Trey Berry, Pam Beasley, Jeanne Clements

• Publisher: LSU Press
• Year: 2014
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9780807159750
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

At the same time that he charged Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore the great Northwest, President Thomas Jefferson commissioned William Dunbar and George Hunter to make a parallel journey through the southern unmapped regions of the Louisiana Purchase. From October 16, 1804, to January 26, 1805, Dunbar and Hunter, both renowned scientists, made their way through what is now northern Louisiana and southern Arkansas, ascending the Ouachita River and investigating the natural curiosity called "the hot springs." The Forgotten Expedition, 1804-1805 represents the first time that their daily journals -- which describe the flora and fauna, geology, weather, and native peoples they encountered along the way -- appear in a single volume.The team of the "Grand Expedition, " as it was optimistically named, was the first to send its findings on the newly annexed territory to the president, who received Dunbar and Hunter's detailed journals with pleasure. They include descriptions of flora and fauna, geology, weather, landscapes, and native peoples and European settlers, as well as astronomical and navigational records that allowed the first accurate English maps of the region and its waterways to be produced. Their scientific experiments conducted at the hot springs may be among the first to discover a microscopic phenomena still under research today.Extensively annotated and carefully researched, The Forgotten Expedition completes the picture of the Louisiana Purchase presented through the journals of explorers Lewis and Clark, Zebulon Pike, and Thomas Freeman and Peter Custis. It is a treasure of the early natural history of North America and the first depiction of this new U.S. southern frontier.

Index

Adams, John, 8n3

Aldebaran (Alpha Tauri), 128, 128n56, 161, 216

alligator (Alligator mississippiensis), xxvi, 10, 13, 37, 62, 62n45, 68, 68n55, 197

alum (aluminum sulfate), 38, 38n4, 124n51, 140, 140n70

American anhinga (Anhinga anhinga), 16n18

American Philosophical Society, xxxiii, 112– 13n30;

Dunbar’s election to, xix

as repository of Dunbar and Hunter’s journals, 219, 220, 221

Antoine River, 166–67n15, 175

“Arbor Dianae,” 151, 151n88

“Arbor Veneris,” 151, 151n88

Arcansa Nation. See Quapaw Indians

Arcansa River. See Arkansas River

Arcansa Settlement. See Arkansas Post

“Arietis” (Aries), 47, 47n16, 125, 216

Arkansas, xii, xxixn57, 30n44, 58–59n38, 73n60, 75n62, 79–80n71

average rainfall, 131n59

average snowfall, 131n59, 157n1

first bridge in, 95n6

grapes native to, 120–21n43

prairies of, 77, 77n66

stones of, 92–93n3

wildlife in, xxixn57, 58n37, 60n41, 61nn42– 43, 69n56, 101n12, 104n15

Arkansas cabbage (Streptanthus obtusifolius), xxviii, xxviiin55, xxx, 119–20, 120n42, 122

Arkansas Post, 53, 166–67n15, 174, 174n26

Arkansas River, xxi, xxii, xxvii, xxxii, 71n58, 77, 80, 84, 119, 166, 169–70, 187, 189

bed of, 84

exploration of, xi, 101n12, 200

lands adjacent to, 170, 170n19

source of, xxi, 167–68n17

taste of, 84, 171

ash, 73, 79

various species of, 73n60

astronomical observations. See Dunbar and Hunter expedition (the “Grand Expedition”): astronomical observations of Dunbar during; celestial navigational

Atchafalaya River, 9n6

Attacapa, 206–7, 206n10

Audubon, John James, xxxiii–xxxiv, xxxivn68

“Auges d’ Arclon” (Arclon’s troughs), 76, 76n64, 78, 78n69, 166, 173

azimuth, 125, 125n53, 134

Balize, the, 209–10, 210n18

Baron Bastrop. See Bogel, Philip Henrik Nering

Barton, Benjamin, 219

Bartram, William, xix, 17, 17n20

Bastrop and Nancarrow, 205

Bayley, Mr. (“D. Ballie”), 201, 201n1

Bayou Bacheloi, 24n33

Bayou Bartholomew (Bayou Bartheleme; Bayou Barthelmi), 50–51, 50n20, 53, 182, 183n41

Bayou Boeuf (Bayu Beauf), 29, 29n43, 30

Bayou Calamus (Bayou Calumet), 33–34n51, 34, 187

Bayou Crockodile (Bayou Cocodrie), 196, 196n67

Bayou D’Acassia (Locust Creek), 68, 69

Bayou Dan, 31n46, 32n49

Bayou D’Arbonne, 51n21

Bayou de Hachè, 65

Bayou de Loutre, 51–52n24

Bayou de la Tulipe, 58, 58–59n38, 59

Bayou des Butte, 53–54, 54n27, 181, 181n39

“bayou des sources chaudes” (hot-spring Creek), 103

Bayou Louis, 25, 25n36, 26n37

Bayou Pierre, xxii, xxxii

Bayou Sirad (Bayu Sirad), 50, 50n20, 53

Bayu Assmine (Bayu Asemine), 53, 182, 183n41

Bayu of Black water, 52

Bayu Califat (Bayu Calfat), 110, 165

Bayu Darbone, 50–51

Bayu de Cypre (Deceiper Creek [also called Caney Creek]), 80–81n73, 81, 85–86, 173

Bayu de la Froid (Cold Water River), 165

Bayu de la L’Outre, 182, 183n41

Bayu de la Prairie de Champignole. See “prairie de Champignole” Bayu de l’eau froide (cold water creek), 85, 85n79, 97, 97n8

Bayu de l’eau noir, 182, 183n41

Bayu de Lisle de Mallon, 92, 92–93n3

Bayu de long vue (Bayu of long reach), 57, 57n36, 180, 180n36

Bayu de Roches (Rock Creek or “rocky creek Island”), 90, 90n86, 91, 165

Bayu de Saline, 99, 100, 152

Bayu Franquere, 180, 180n36

Bayu Honda (Bahia Honda Key), 210, 210n19

Bayu Macon, 82

Bayu Mercier, 55

Bayu Moteau (Moro Bay), 64, 64n47

Bayu Poiles (Hair Creek), 180, 180n36

Bayu Sirad (Bayou Sirad), 50, 50n20, 53

Bayu of the Springs (Hot Springs Creek), 110, 110n26, 111

Bayu Talien, 78, 78n70

bear. See black bear

“Bears head camp,” 80, 80–81n73

Beaver creek, 80–81n73

Bedinger, M. S., 154n94

beech, xxvii, 68

American (Fagus grandiflia), 61n42, 68n55

“beech-mast,” 60

Carolina (Fagus caroliniana), 61n42

Belle Ance (handsome bend), 78, 78n70

Bergfelder, Bill, 139–40n69

Big Fork chert, 148n83

birch (river or black birch [Betula nigra]), xxvi, 66, 67n52, 73

bitumen, 124n51, 140

bituminous oil. See naptha rose

black bear (Ursus americanus), 60–62, 61n42, 64, 148, 175

bear cubs, 159, 159n3

value of the oil of, 62

Black Branch, 92–93n3

black mold, 113, 136, 139

Black River, xii–xiii, xiiin6, xxiv, xxvi, 12–13, 12n13, 16n18, 20n26, 21, 190n54, 191n55

mapping of, xiii–xiv

Blakley Creek, 97n8

Blazier, Samuel, xxv, xxv–xxvin44, 50n20, 53, 53n26, 104n15, 183n42, 193n60

Blowout Mountain, 128n57

“blue shistus,” 106n19, 110n26

bluestar (Amsonia tabernaemontana or Amsonia illustris), 18n22

Boeuf Prairie, 32n49

Boeuf River, 32n49

Bogel, Philip Henrik Nering (Baron Bastrop), 48, 48n18, 49, 51, 53, 205

Boggy Bayou, 55n30

bois d’arc (yellow wood [osage-orange], also bow wood [Maclura pomifera]), 67n52, 175, 186, 186n48, 187n49, 194n63

“Bois du bord de l’eau” (water side wood), 66–67, 67n52

Bois jaune, 175

Bomar (also Bommar). See Bowmar, Joseph

Boon, Matthew, xxiiin36

Boon(e), Daniel, 194n61

Boone, Squire, 194n61

Bouligny, Francis, 33–34n51

Bouligny, Louis, 33, 33–34n51

Bowers, Peter, xxiiin36

Bowmar, Joseph, xxv, xxvn42, 43, 43n11, 44, 45, 48, 183–84, 203, 205, 205n9

brandt. See brant

brant (Branta bernicula), 10, 10n8, 52

Bringhurst, John, 201–2

Bruce, James, 61, 61n44

Bruyere, André Fabray de la, 71n58

Bryant, Phoebe, xx

buffalo (Bison bison), xiv, xxix, xxixn57, 93, 104, 104n15, 107, 148, 168, 171

difficulty of killing, 132–33

Buffalo creek (Buffalo River), 198, 198n71

Bull Bayou, 128n57

Bundy (Sergeant), xxiiin36, xxiv, xxivn41, 111n27

burrstone (buhrstone), 114, 114n33

Bushley Bayou, 24n33

butterflies, yellow (“sulphurs” [genus Colias]), 80, 80n72

“Cabbage radish of the Washita.” See Arkansas cabbage

Cache à Macon (Cache de Macon), 82, 165, 166

“Cache la Tulipe” (Tulip’s hiding place), 63, 64, 178, 178n32

Cadadoquis (also Caddo or Cadaux) Indians, 71, 71n58, 77, 169, 169–70n18, 194

harassment of by the Osage, 77n67, 80

Caddo Lake, 169–70n18

Caddo River, 89n85

Caddo Trace, 71n58, 73

“Cadi”/“Cadits”/“Cadet”/Monsieur Cades. See Hebrard, Don Juan

calcium carbonate, 8n4, 137n66

Califat. See Gulpha Creek

Cambel (Campbell), Mr., 67, 70, 175

“Campement des bignets” (“fritter camp”), 176, 176n30

Canadian geese. See geese: Canadian

cane (Arundinaria gigantia), xxvi, 13, 13n14, 14, 41, 63, 79, 98

growth of, 64

Caney Bayou, 62n46

carbonated iron, xxxi

carbonated lime, 134, 134n63

carbonated wood, 82, 187–88

carbonic acid (“carbonic”), xxx, 124, 131, 131n59, 153, 153n93

Carolina moss. See Spanish moss

Catahoola (later Jonesville, Louisiana), 11n12, 184, 184n44, 188–89

Catahoola Bayou, 191

Catahoola River, 12, 17, 18, 20, 190n54, 191, 191n55

Catahoula Lake, 191, 191n57, 195

cedar, 113, 138

eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana), 116, 116–17n37

celestial navigation, 11, 47n16

and the artificial horizon, 215–16, 215n6

celestial observation, 216

determining latitude, 215–16, 215n7

determining longitude, 216–17

and an ephemeris chart, 216, 216n9

and Greenwich mean time (GMT), 217

and index error, 216

and the meridian altitude of the sun, 56, 56n33

navigational techniques, 214–17

and the reflecting circle (circle of reflection), 122, 215, 217n15

and the sun’s declination, 216

Chabau, Madam, 208

Chafalaya (Opelousa) River, 9

“Charnier” tree, 174

Chauvin Bayou (“Bayu Chenier”), 51n21

“Chemin Couvert” (Smackover Creek), 66, 66n51, 176, 176–77n31

Cherokee Indians, 85n80, 167, 173

Chew, Mr., 208, 208–9n15

Chicasaw Indians, 84, 85, 85n80, 87

“China Briar” (Chinabrier [Smilax bona-nox]), 195, 195n65

medicinal uses of, 13n14

use of as cigarette paper, 13n14

chinkapin. See oak, Chinquapin oak

Choctaw Indians, 24n35, 70, 85n80, 84, 85, 87, 188

Chouteau, Pierre, 172–73n22

chronometers, 213n1, 216

accuracy of, 217

“chrystalisation,” 140

“Chutes,” the, xxvii–xxviii, 95–98, 95n6

circumferentor, 125n53

Claiborne, C. C., 204, 204n7, 208–9n15

clams, 26, 26n38. See also mussel

Clark, Daniel, xix, 33–34n51, 34, 204, 206, 207

Clark, Dinah. See Dunbar, Dinah

Clark, William, xi, xxi, 167–68n17

clay, 7, 9, 39, 42, 59, 60, 66, 69, 82, 104

blue, 87, 90

indurated, 27

iron (rust or red) color of, 68, 113, 121

kaolin, 107, 107n21

yellow, 65, 83, 110

coal, 83, 187, 187n50

mineral, 38, 39, 39n6, 188

pit-coal (also called pitch coal or peat coal), 75, 75n62, 81–82, 81n74

stone, 36. See also lignite

Coal Mine Creek (Mill Creek), 83, 83n76

Coffee Creek, 57n36

Colapissa Indians, 24n35

Colorado, xxi

Concord (later Vidalia, Louisiana), 184, 184n44, 189

convolvulus (Convolvulaceae), 67, 67n53

Cooper, William, 203, 203n5

copper, 112, 172

cordelling, xxvii, xxviin51, 22n30

cormorant, 15, 55

double-crested (Phalacrocorax auritus), 16n18

Cornu Ammonis (ammonite), 171, 172n21

Corps of Discovery, the, xi, xiii, xxiv, xxxvi

“Cote de Champignole” (Champagnolle Creek), 65, 65n49, 66

“Cote de Finn” (Finn’s Hill), 68, 69, 69n56

“cote de Hachis,” 178, 178n32

“cote de Sofrion,” 75, 75–76n63

cottonwood (Populus deltoids), 9, 9n7

cougar (Felis concolor), xiv, 30, 30n44, 175

Court, William, xxiiin36

Cove Creek, 99n10

coyote-wolf interbreeding, 101n12

Cramer, Zodak, 8n2

crane, 20

sandhill (Grus canadenis), 16n18, 39n7

whooping (“hoopping” [Grus americana]), xiv, 16n18, 39, 39n7

Crooker, E., 207, 208, 210

Curtis, Peter, xi, xxxii–xxxiii, xxxvi

cypress, bald (Taxodium distichum), 26n38, 37, 37n3, 55, 59, 64, 174, 174n26

cypress swamps, 15, 32n49, 33, 86, 174

“Cypriere Chattelrau,” 56, 56n34

Dearborn, Henry, xxii, xxxii, 107n21

Deceiper Creek (also called Caney Creek), 80–81n73

deer (white-tailed [Odocoileus virginianus]), xxix, 20, 39, 58, 60, 61, 61n42, 107, 148

Delaware Indians, 85, 85n80, 166

DeSoto Bluff, 88–89n84

Documents Relating to the Purchase and Exploration of Louisiana, 221–22, 222n5

dogwood (flowering dogwood [Cornus florida]), 30, 30n45, 51, 51n22, 55, 73, 79, 91

Donaldson, William, 201, 207–8, 207–8n13

Drunken Islands, the, 74n61, 175

duck, 10, 12, 20, 52, 55, 65, 69, 165, 180

American coot (Fulica ameri...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Editors’ Introduction
• October 1804
• November 1804
• December 1804
• January 1805
• February–March 1805
• Explanation of Navigational Techniques
• Notes on Sources and Editorial Process
• Bibliography
• Index