Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1835-10-29
VT ny
From the New England Magazine for Ortob'
LEITEnS EROM AEKANsAs

a I'll II kNEN ELF tdiI Magazine Tor flgfpAaF-
LETTERS FROM ARKANSAS.
Sin You have been pleased 10 a sure me tha,
a passing sketch, or two Of Ark ansas lis men s
manners, would be admitted iato your Marazine
IL the hasty aud imperfect fragments, which |
shall from time TO time send you. written in mo.
fnshts stolen from severe professional avocatioas.
! shall be gratihed BY affording your readers soma
information Of a county, OF which almost a. litIls
IS known as OF the interior OF Mexico. If. a. Is
extremely probable, they should be deemed too
undressing TO find a place there, | shall b.
sufficiently rewarded il you yourself derive any
pleasure from perusing them.
MY knowledge Of Arkansas, and the people Of
the west, has been gained from personal obser.
Fatlon and actual residence among them. / know
their pecuiiarities we'll. am like one Of Them
an adopted son Of The West; and | love nv
brethren and their character To New England
however, mine ancient home-to Boston, my
mother city, | look back with love & affection:
and could l BE- the means OF making more fatty
knosn 10 your readers the character and virtees
Of the people Of the West, | should hold myself
a fortunate man.
1t Will be my object, in the few letters which
1 shall indite al odd seasr1s and scattered mo.
ments, TO give you in the first place a general
sketch Of Arkansas. What other NAV after.
wards pursue is entirely uncertain. think.
however, that / shall net weary Of my task un-
III 1 have given you a description Of some OF the
principal curiosities, including courts Of justice,
and distinguished men 10 Arkansas.
Tbs territory OF Arkansas, as every one knows,
10 bounded on the East by the Mississippi river,
On the West by the Indian Territory, on The
North by the State Of Missouri, and on the South
by Red River, and a part of louisiana. 1t is with
the portion ofthe Territory lying on the river Ar.
kansas thatI am most eonYersant and ii is there
Tore natural that this river should FIRST engage
oar attention. IL rises in the Rocky bIouufsins
about three hundred miles north of Santa Fe.-
] have crossed il and been on it in many places,
but never within five hundred miles Of ito head.
In the mountains, however, il is, like ALI other
mountain streams, a clear and rapid river, aud
30 continues until its color is changed in its pas
sage through the prairie. | crossed il in Octo-
Der 1881, at q considerable distance above tho
mouth OF the Senaron, where it was a shallow
and clear stream, with a low prairie on oHe side
ard sand bills on the other-about an eighth If a
mile wide. Farther down il receives the red
and salt waters Of the Semsron, and below Fort
Gibson, the waters Of the Canadian, which come
from the Rocky Mountains. In the Cherokee
Territory il receives the waters Of the Grand
River, or Neosho, Illinois, and Ssliaus, and al
Fort Smith, the POteau. Above Fort Smith the
river is generally about a quarter of mile wide;
aud, in fact its width ia not much increased
from that paint to its mouth. Above that place,
the river is shallow, and not often nayigable BY
steamboats,. Below Fort Smith the river con
tin1es Of about the same size and dppth-rassing
in succession, the counties Of Craw ford, Johnson
and Pope, to Pulaski. Within the boundary Of
the Territory, that is 10 say below Fort Smith,
the Arkansas is a muddy, red, and bTackish riv-
cF-thoush much more so at one time than auo.
Their, according 10 the stages Of water, or the
places where the rises comes from. At low wa.
ter tits the worst river Of the west, executing
Red River, for snags aud difficult nayigation.-
To a person passing down the river, the country
presents a generally uniform appearance, owing
TO the low bottoms, which extend in a %continu.
Ouq belt On pnrh gffp gF tia" Yfvor f.o., Ita,.
Smith 10 the mouth. except in places where q
point or bluff jnts out on the river, Immediately
succeeded by the monctonous bottom.
The bottoms, as they are called, being entire
" alluvial, are generally from one 10 three miles
wide on each side Of the riYer-ofa fine black
and rich soil, producing excellent corn, and tho
best cotton inNorth America. The stranger who
enters one Of these bottoms FOR the first lime, in
spring or summer, IS asloAiAhCd and delighted.
Imagine a New Englander, familiar with the
clear silrer-sanded, pebbly brooks and rivers Of
that country the level, vcrdant, and heavy
swarded meadows through which they run, and
the forests Of pine, oak, maple, and blreh-ima-
gine him entering a solid mass Of greenness, a
heavy and unstirred body of veTdure. He en-
tiers by some narrow path into the depth of bot.
bottom. Thu first idea that strikes hitn is, that
that he would have no conception Of tho depth
and solidity of greenness. There is not a hand
breadth Of baTrenness about him The immense
trees, standing close together, avs completely
covered and laden with leaves 90 their very tops
and their trunks, twined round and garlandeh
with vines, appear like pillars Of embCdjcd
grecnness. The underground Of small trees and
small bushes is matted with vines aud ereeubri-
ars, and the ground is covered with grass and
weeds, or perhaps the never falling greenncss of
the cane. Such is the character Of grea 1 pro-
portion of the Arkansas bottom. The cotton
wood, a Tree similar to the poplar, but Of gigsn-
tic size and immense height, is the most common
tree in these bottoms. There 10 besides, an a
Guidance Of ash, black, Spanish, and yellow oak
all growing RxuFiantly, the branching mulber-
~, the tall and graceful persimmon, and the
humble but beautiful papaw, with muititudes of
others unknown in your country. The dog
wood, with its fms close grain, aud It's multitude
OF white blossoms the blackberry, similar 20 the
beach, the honey and black locust s. that splen.
did evergreen, the holly, appearing like = huge
bcxwood tree; blossoms Of many kinds shine a.
mong the greenncss Ike gems; while on the
river bank, the tall sycamore stands, hoaTy with
age, and its silver tfuHk cut lasting many mems
lives. 10 some places the imperyi0us forests Of
cane are twenty feet high, as thick as they can
be stuck, In others, are low swampy places,
where the water stagnatcs, aud where there is
little or no vegetation. Out of these boys or
swsmps, rise the protuberances or nots, called
knees, from which the STRAIT trunk CT the cyp-
ress Ga tree similar 10 the hemlOck) shoots up.
This is a picture of Arkansas bottom ia sum
mer. In tho winter everything is reversed
The vegetation has passed away the leaves
are massed and r%otting below, and the tall cot
tonwood signs mournially in the wind, while the
dark ard sullen river rolls on under them. Ey-
e~rything seems dark. filthy, aud desolate and
high on the trees are the red marks Of the
great inundation.
Tn soil Of the Arkansas bottoms is inferior 10
none in the world and The facilities offered a
man for making a living and a fortune there, are
nowhere equalled, A poor man comes here,
whose necessities have driven him from the
States. He has not cent in the world-noth :
ing but his axe and his riho lie goes into the
Arkansas bottoms, cats a few logs, and his neigh
bors help him 20 raise a hut. with a wooden
chimney, daubed with mud Ifit is summer he
leaves the crannies open If il is wi0ter, he
chuaks them with bits Of wood, and daubs them
with mud. He chops out a hole for a door, and
another for a window; ne splits and hews out