Na4. 



The Missourium. 



123 



the ribs are much smaller; 5th. the dental system at 

 the first view somewhat resembles that of the Masto- 

 don, but upon a close examination, the observer will 

 perceive that the teeth of the Leviathan are much 

 smaller in proportion to the maxillary bones than those 

 of the Mastodon, and also better calculated for mastica- 

 ting softer substances 



Supposed Habits and Mature of the Animal. — The ani- 

 mal has been, without doubt, an inhabitant of water 

 courses, such as large rivers and lakes, which is proven 

 by the formation of the hones: 1st. his feet were webbed; 

 2d. all his bones were solid and without marrow, as the 

 aquatic animals of the present day; 3d. his ribs wt^re 

 too small and slender to resist the many pressures and 

 bruises they would be subject to on land; 4th. his legs 

 are short and thick ; 5th. his tail is flat and broad; bth 

 and last, his tusks are so situated in the head that it 

 would be utterly impossible for him to exist in a tim- 

 bered country. His food consisted as much of vegeta- 

 bles as Hesh, although he undoubtedly consumed a great 

 abundance of the latter, and was cajiable of feeding 

 himself with the forefoot, after the manner of the bea- 

 ver or otter, and possessed also, like the hippopotamus, 

 the faculty of walking on the bottom of waters, and 

 rose occasionally to take air. 



The singular position of the tusks has been very 

 wisely adapted by the Creator for the protection of the 

 body from the many injuries to which it would be ex- 

 posed while swimming or walking under the water; 

 and in addition to this, it appears that the animal has 

 been covered with the same armour as the alligator, or 

 perhaps the megatherium. 



The location and excavation of the Bones. — The bones 

 were found by me near the shores of the river La Pomme 

 de Terre, a tributary of the Osage river, in IJenton 

 county, in the state of Missouri, latitude 40 and longi- 

 tude J8. There is every reason to believe that the 

 Pomme de Terre, at some former period, was a large 

 and magnificent stream, from one half to three-fourths 

 of a mile in breadth, and that its waters washed the 

 high rocky bluffs on either side, where the marks of the 

 rolling surges are now perfectly plain: they present a 

 similar appearance to that of the Missouri and Missis- 

 sippi. It appears from the different strata, that since 

 the Missourium existed, six or seven different changes 

 have taken place here, by which the original bed of the 

 Pomme de Terre was filled with as many difterent 

 strata, which are as follow: 



The original stratum on which this former river 

 flowed at the time it was inhabited by the Missourium, 

 and up to the time of its destruction, consisted of quick- 

 sand; on the surface of this stratum, and partly min- 

 gled with it, was the deposite of the above-described 

 skeleton. The next is a stratum from three to four feet 

 in thickness, consisting of h brown alluvial soil : in this 

 all the remainder of the skeleton was contained, and 

 covered by it. This stratum was mixed with a great 

 quantity of vegetable matter, and most of this is in a 

 wonderful state of preservation ; but what is still more 

 surprising, all the vegetable remains are of a tropical 

 or very low southern production. They consisted of 

 large quantities of cypress burs, wood and bark ; a great 

 deal of tropical cane and tropical swamp moss; several 

 stumps of trees, if not logwood, yet bearing a very close 

 resemblance to it; even the greater part of a flower of 

 the Strelitzia class, which, when destroyed, was not 

 full blown, was discovered imbedded in this layer; also, 

 several stems of palmetto leaf, one possessing all the 

 fibres perfect, or nearly so. 



The time when the revolution of the earth took place, 

 during which this animal lost its life, was between the 

 15th of September and 20th of October, which is proven 

 hy the fact just mentioned of the cypress burs being 

 found ; from which circumstance might be inferred, that 

 they had been torn by force from their parent stem be- 

 fore they had arrived at perfection, and were involved 

 in one common ruin with the trees which bore them, 

 these having been torn up by the roots, and twisted 

 and split into a thousand pieces, apparently by light- 

 ning, combined with a tremendous tempest or tornado. 

 There was no sign or indication of any very large trees, 

 the cypresses that were discovered being the largest 

 that were ever growing here at the time. 



Through this stratum ran several veins of iron ore — 

 sufficient evidence of the antiquity of this deposit. 

 Immediately over this was one of blue clay, 3 feet in 

 thickness; the next was one of gravel, from 9 to 18 

 inches in thickness, so hard compressed together that 



it resembled pudding stone; the next was a layer of 

 light blue clay, from 3 to 4 feet in thickness: on this 

 was another stratum of gravel, of the same thickness 

 and appearance of the one first mentioned ; this was 

 succeeded by a layer of yellowish clay, from -i to 3 feet 

 in thickness; over this, a third layer of gravel, of the 

 same appearance and thickness; and, at last, the pre- 

 sent surface, consisting of a brownish clay, mingled 

 with a few pebbles, and covered with large oak, maple 

 and elm trees, which were, as near as I could ascer- 

 tain, from 80 to 100 years old. In the centre of the 

 above-mentioned deposit was a large spring, which ap- 

 peared to rise from the very bowels of the earth, as it 

 was never affected by the severest rain, or did it be- 

 come lower by the longest drought. 



About 200yards from said deposit stands a singularly 

 formed rock, which not only bears the appearance, but 

 can be considered as a monument of great antiquity 

 formed by nature, against whose rough and rugged sides 

 can be distinctly traced, in deep and furrowed lines, 

 the former course of angry waters ; yet its summit is 

 full 30 feet above the present level of the Pomme de 

 Terre. The rock has the appearance of a pillar, on 

 whose top rests a table-rock far projecting over on 

 every side ; from the base of the pillar to the Tower edge 

 of the table is 30 feet, and from the base down to the 

 deposit of the hones, is 10 feet — making, from the stra- 

 tum on which the bones were deposited to the edge of 

 the table, 46 feet. 



By a minute and close examination, I found that the 

 formation of the said rock, as it now appears, was pro- 

 duced by the long action of the river against and 

 around it : and had the river continued to act with the 

 same force for one or two hundred years longer, the 

 pillar would have been so far worn away, that the table 

 must have fallen. It now stands as an indisputable 

 witness, that the water, at the time these animals ex- 

 isted, was at least 4G feet in depth. 



Indian Traditions.— \t is perfectly true that we can- 

 not, with any degree of certainty, depend on Indian 

 traditions; but it is equally true that generally, these 

 traditions are founded on events which have actually 

 transpired, and according to their importance in rela- 

 tion to the welfare of the aborigines among whom they 

 occurred, and in absence of any better method of per- 

 petuating them, are transmitted with great care in 

 their legends from generation to generation ; but in the 

 course of time, as might reasonably be expected, these 

 traditions lose much in correctness and minuteness of 

 detail, owing to the circumstances, more or less, in 

 which the tribes have been placed. As I am constrained 

 to confine my remarks within very circumscribed limits, 

 I will only relate oneof the traditions having reference 

 to the existence of the above-described animal: this, 

 however, led principally to its discovery. 



At the time when the first white settlers emigrated 

 to the Osage country, (as this section of territory is 

 usually called,) it was inhabited by the Osage Indians, 

 and the river by which it is watered was called the Big 

 Bone river, owing to a tradition preserved by them, 

 which they stated as follows : 



There was a time when the Indians paddled their 

 canoes over the now extensive prairies of Missouri, 

 and encamped or hunted on the blufis. (These bluffs 

 vary from 50 to 400 feet in jierpendicular height.) That 

 at a certain period, many large and monstrous animals 

 came from the eastward, along and up the Mississippi 

 and Missouri rivers ; upon which the animals that had 

 previously occupied the country became very angry, 

 and at last so enraged and infuriated, by reason of 

 these intrusions, that the red man durst not venture 

 out to hunt any more, and was cotisequently reduced 

 to great distress. At this time a large number of these 

 huge monsters assembled here, when a terrible battle 

 ensued, in which many on both sides were killed, and 

 the remainder resumed their march towards the setting 

 sun. Near the bluffs which are at present known by 

 the name of the Rocky Ridge, one of the greatest of 

 these battles vi'as fought. Immediately after the battle, 

 the Indians gathered together many of the slaughtered 

 animals, and offered them on the spot as a burnt sacri- 

 fice to the Great Spirit ; the remainder were buried by 

 the Great Spirit himself in the before-mentioned 

 Pomme de Terre, which from this time took the name 

 of the Big Bone river, as well as the Osage, of which 

 the Pomme de Terre is a branch. From this time the 

 Indians brought their yearly sacrifice to this place, and 

 offered it up to the Great Spirit as a thank-offering for 



