﻿i6o 
  Geological 
  Survey 
  of 
  Louisiana 
  [Sect. 
  

  

  The 
  Great 
  Raft 
  

   Origin 
  and 
  Original 
  Extent 
  

  

  Original 
  extent. 
  — 
  There 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  little 
  doubt 
  that 
  the 
  raft 
  

   once 
  extended 
  far 
  below 
  the 
  place 
  where 
  Shreve 
  commenced 
  

   work 
  on 
  the 
  i 
  ith 
  of 
  April, 
  1833. 
  The 
  early 
  Spanish 
  and 
  French 
  

   accounts 
  speak 
  of 
  the 
  raft 
  beginning 
  near 
  Natchitoches. 
  Dr. 
  

   Joseph 
  Paxton 
  in 
  a 
  very 
  able 
  letter 
  (/. 
  <:.) 
  written 
  in 
  1828 
  says:* 
  

   ' 
  ' 
  The 
  time 
  is 
  yet 
  within 
  the 
  memory 
  of 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  oldest 
  inhab- 
  

   itants 
  in 
  and 
  near 
  Natchitoches, 
  when 
  the 
  lower 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  raft 
  

   was 
  still 
  below 
  that 
  place 
  ; 
  and 
  the 
  Governor 
  ordered 
  out 
  the 
  

   troops 
  in 
  command, 
  to 
  break 
  down 
  and 
  cause 
  to 
  float 
  off, 
  all 
  the 
  

   parts 
  then 
  below." 
  

  

  Dr. 
  John 
  Sibley, 
  writing 
  from 
  personal 
  observation, 
  in 
  1805, 
  

   says 
  : 
  "At 
  the 
  upper 
  house 
  (of 
  this 
  Campti 
  settlement) 
  the 
  great 
  

   raft 
  or 
  jam 
  of 
  timber 
  begins. 
  This 
  raft 
  chokes 
  the 
  main 
  chan- 
  

   nel 
  for 
  upwards 
  of 
  one 
  hundred 
  miles 
  by 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  the 
  river 
  ; 
  

   not 
  one 
  entire 
  jam 
  from 
  the 
  beginning 
  to 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  it, 
  but 
  only 
  

   at 
  points 
  with 
  places 
  of 
  several 
  leagues 
  that 
  are 
  clear, 
  "f 
  

  

  Between 
  Natchitoches 
  and 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  Red 
  river 
  trunks 
  

   of 
  trees 
  growing 
  only 
  on 
  upper 
  Red 
  river, 
  such 
  as 
  cedar 
  and 
  

   bois 
  d' 
  arc, 
  have 
  been 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  banks 
  in 
  several 
  places. 
  These, 
  

   in 
  themselves, 
  do 
  not 
  prove 
  that 
  the 
  raft 
  once 
  extended 
  this 
  far 
  

   down 
  the 
  river, 
  since 
  local 
  masses 
  of 
  drift-wood 
  might 
  have 
  

   accumulated 
  before 
  the 
  raft 
  period 
  ; 
  but 
  in 
  the 
  light 
  of 
  the 
  

   recorded 
  recession 
  of 
  the 
  raft 
  from 
  Natchitoches 
  and 
  Campti 
  to 
  

   IvOggy 
  bayou 
  it 
  would 
  seem 
  quite 
  reasonable 
  to 
  look 
  upon 
  them 
  

   as 
  indicating 
  the 
  former 
  prolongation 
  of 
  the 
  foot 
  of 
  the 
  raft 
  well 
  

   down 
  toward 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  river. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  possible 
  that 
  the 
  rapids 
  at 
  Alexandria 
  were 
  formed 
  by 
  the 
  

   choking 
  of 
  the 
  original 
  channel 
  by 
  raft 
  and 
  the 
  consequent 
  

   enforced 
  passage 
  of 
  the 
  river 
  over 
  a 
  low 
  outlying 
  spur 
  of 
  the 
  

   Grand 
  Gulf 
  rocks. 
  

  

  Origin 
  of 
  the 
  Raft. 
  — 
  Before 
  the 
  clearing 
  of 
  the 
  banks 
  of 
  Red 
  

   river 
  for 
  cultivation 
  the 
  amount 
  of 
  timber 
  caving 
  into 
  the 
  river 
  

  

  *2oth 
  Cong. 
  2d 
  Sess., 
  Senate 
  Doc. 
  vol. 
  i, 
  No. 
  78, 
  p. 
  5, 
  1829. 
  

   t 
  Chief 
  of 
  Eng. 
  Report 
  for 
  1873, 
  P- 
  640 
  ; 
  also, 
  43d 
  Cong, 
  ist 
  Sess., 
  House 
  

   Ex. 
  Doc. 
  No. 
  I, 
  vol. 
  2, 
  part 
  2, 
  p. 
  640, 
  1873. 
  

  

  