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A 'voyage of trouble' gets second wind at Fort Miro
 William Dunbar did two important things after the Ouachita River Expedition arrived at Fort Miro (Ouachita Post) on November 6, 1804: In a letter, he updated President Thomas Jefferson on the expedition's progress and he docked the bulky keelboat designed by his co-leader, Dr. George Hunter.
Hunter had supervised the construction of the keelboat in Pittsburgh on the Ohio River, and with his 13-year-old son departed for Natchez on June 15, 1804. Also on board for the journey South were two passengers and a crew of three, none of whom reached Natchez.
The passengers were a lieutenant assigned to Fort Massac on the Ohio River, near its confluence with the Mississippi, and an army doctor heading for the Arkansas Post, located at the confluence of the Arkansas River and the Mighty Miss near Dumas, Ark. This post -- like Fort Miro -- became American following the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.
The trip down the Mississippi proved deadly for one of the three crew members. Historian John McDermott identified the men as "an old Spanish fencing master, a Swiss shoemaker and a German." All earned their passage down river in exchange for their labor.
Along the way, the Spaniard and German jumped ship when offered money for their labor on another boat. A bit miffed, Hunter complained that both were "saucy & Lazy." Later, when the Swiss shoemaker grew ill, Hunter treated him, McDermott wrote, with "the customary ounce of Glaubers Salts (a laxative) and drew the customary sixteen ounces of blood, but in a fit of delirium the man walked off the boat into the Mississippi and presumably drowned."
Hunter's keelboat worked well on the Mississippi, but its deep draught caused problems months later on the Ouachita. The boat had been stuck several times in the shallows between present day Harrisonburg and the Ouachita Post (present day Monroe). Dunbar knew from the outset that the boat would be difficult to guide up the river during a period of low water in late autumn, but an attempt to get another boat from the U.S. Army garrison at New Orleans during the summer had failed.
Both natives of Scotland who separately immigrated to America in the 1770s, Dunbar of Natchez and Hunter of Philadelphia were leading a 19-member crew that included 12 Army privates and their sergeant. Their designation was the hot springs of Arkansas, a mecca for the sick and dying.
It was believed that the springs had healing properties and those with the means traveled there to bathe in the waters. Dunbar and Hunter's job was to study the springs and see if the stories about it were true and to map and explore the Ouachita, examine the soil and terrain and document the plants, trees, fish and wildlife that thrived in the river valley.
At Fort Miro (present day Monroe), Dunbar took advantage of his last opportunity to update the President on the journey up to that point. This site and the settlement of Baron de Bastrop three miles up river were the only ones of any size along the Ouachita. The military was charged with getting Dunbar's message into the hands of the President.For the full story, subscribe to the The Concordia Sentinel's NEW E-Edition! |
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