Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1850-12-21

cred with willows are encfoaching lips
" Lake Soda on the east and oil the mort
0 The water beihg confined to harrow
a spnte.by each yenr's formation, is deere
s ing. The same is HE eHse with Gro
= Lake. Cross bayou, (already wider al
deeper THAN Rcd River itsef) at 10
a stage Of water is twelve feet lower tlla
= the level Of Cross Lake, ahd divided Iro
Iit by ridge only twenty-five hundrt
9 feet wide. The current has already mac
g considerable progress in cutting thrduo
this ridge, and with the assstailce that
now being given to It, III the sli6pe of
. ditch, will probable complete the sanl
during the next period Of high waite
The urea Of Cross Lake being from twer
ty five to thirty squire miles, it will readil
he perceived that should it be drained te
or twelve feet below the usuhl low waite
mark, the period of ,eopd low water favj
gatioti Id Red River Will be tfitich extend
ed Cross Lake will act al reservoir
and supply water to Red River ever
year at the time it ia most needed
| The distance by way of Dooy's bayol
from Red River Mt Cashatta Bluffs, t.
Shreveport Is aBout forty miles, BY tn,
river. between the sahie toihts it Is seeeil
ty. Tam convinced that the whole rive
can be made to adopt this route through
Dooly's bhyon, and abandon entirely the
old channel. The work required to opsi
and Improve 1t would be heavy, but we
| should have the assistance of powerful
current, caused by fall Of nearly Il
foot per mile. The Cnt-W (as | will
term this route) completed, we should
have reclaimed the whole valley to
the east and contributed mitch I'd To-
wards the reclamation Of the lower part oI
Bossier parish. BY leaving the raft where
it Isl, we preserve the river below in a
good condition and nte enabled to free il
entirtly from shags,
The head of the raft is at present about
four miles below Dooly's bayoll--lhis four
miles would accommodate from two to
three yeats raft. in the bend opposite
and below Doolys bayou there is large
lake, divided from the river by u
a strip of low land about one hundred
yards wide, by cleariig the banks We
ean throw the drift into this lake. aud 1t ia
OF sufficient size to accommodate ten years
Of raft. Above we have many lakes,
some very large, capable of being made
RESERVOIRS for drift. Several lakes adjon-
ing Dooly's bayou, as we'll ms Shiftai and
Soda lakes, can be made to receive raft
1t IS sufficient to say, that all the rift that
ever will come down can be disposed of SO
asto prevent injury to the route recommrn-
ded. Otir next step would be to lessen
the qtianiity of drift from above. This
could be accomplished by clearing the
banks above for distance Of four or five
hundred miles, and deadening the timber
still further bnck, for the same distance
by the tlde the FLYER would Gave It's banks
through the cleared land 10 the deadened
timber, said timber would be so much de-
caycd rs to be. harmless. The lands OH
upper Red River for hundreds OF miles are
equal to any In the world navigation
which can be relied upon is all that is re- !
quired to induce settlement. The whole
valley above is peculiarly adapted to the
cultivation Of cotton, more SO perlaps than
lower Red River. Every plantation
cleared lessons the quantity Of falling
timber, and confidence once established
that navigation will be maintained, ten
or fifteen years will place the river out Of
.he reach Of danger from raft,
Provided the raft Is removed in prefer
snce to opening tic Route to tile west,
I would DE indispensable to clear the river
,love and below perfectly. Below, that
t might be enabled to pass off the drift,
ind and above, to lessen the quantity.
1t is susceptible Of proof from the expe-
ience gained by the removal Of the old
aft, that the removal Of the present one
would not materially improve the old
and further, that it would not
prevent the largest portion Of wuter from
aking the route through Dooly's bayou
md the lakes. | will premise, however,
hat in consequence Of the water leaving
ied River only on the west Dooly's
'ayou is much farther advanced as a
hannel, than Bayou Pierre was at the
ime the original raft was removed.
MIR. Shreve, when he removed the old
aft, followed all the old bends with two
xceptioiIs) and closed all the outlets, with
lie expectation that the river would EN-.
arge itself sufficietly to carry off all the
vater. From ten to fifteen years have
allied to accomplish this; it is true the
Iver is much larger than Il was, but, 1t is
OF half large enough yet.
Bayou Pierre is about one hundred miles
horter than by Red River between the
anne points, and as is the case with both
ides. Of the valley, is much lower than !,
ne river.
Had the raft not been touched, one half
le amount expended upon it, would have
pened Bayou Pierre and made 1t Red (
liver. Had this been done, all the lands
, the east comprising the whole valley {
'ould have been reclaimed. Had all the ,
rye bends been cut off instead of going
'und them, perhaps there might have
zen sufficient current to cut out Red Riv-
and made large enough to Accommodate g
| the water. As it Is the water natural i,
takes the nearest route through the
" lands ON the east and west. On the !.
'st through Willow Chute, Williams :. !
you, Benoit's bayou and a multitude of Z
others, into Bodcau Red Chute, Fiatte s 8
iyer, &c, and through Loggy and Cash :; !;
CO Chute back into Red River. On :
e west through the head Of Bayou Pierre :
ndersoA's bayou, Sand Beach river, :
1ne's bayou, Pascagouia, Prairie river, :. :.
rand bayou, &c, &c, into Bayou Pierre :
d through Bayou Winsey and the differ
mouths of Bayou Pierre back into Red 4,
lyer. The wafer is so divided that it ],
Is to make either route large enough. z, z,