484 SOME ABORIGINAL SITES ON RED RIVER. 
The preliminary work of Captain Raybon and a companion occupied parts of 
two summers and covered Old river and all that part of Red river investigated by 
us with the exception of the small portion above Fulton and of that part of the 
stream which lies between its union with Black river and its junction with Atcha- 
falaya river, 27 miles by water, which is mainly swamp and which we, in our boat, 
searched over three times with negative results. 
Near Natchitoches (pronounced Nack-ee-tosh) Red river divides, uniting near 
Colfax, below, a distance of about 43 miles by water. Тһе westernmore course of 
the river is known as Cane river. This part also, now navigable only in times of 
fairly high water, was carefully searched by Captain Raybon but was not investi- 
gated by us since the report as to the antiquities along it was unfavorable. 
Previous to our work there had been no investigation of the antiquities of Red 
river: digging by treasure-seekers; the occasional putting down of small holes in 
mounds by local residents impelled by curiosity; or infrequent demolition of por- 
tions of high places by collectors with the aid of scoops drawn by horses, can 
scarcely be termed investigation. 
Unfortunately, our own investigation of that part of the river covered by us 
was of necessity far from complete. Aboriginal cemeteries which are in level 
ground where unlimited digging may be done, for reasons to be given later, are 
almost absent along Red river, so that our field for productive work was restricted 
to mounds. Now, much of the Red river country is an overflow region, and 
mounds are often places of refuge for domestic animals and occasionally for inhab- 
itants, in periods of high water, so that the destruction of mounds or work done on 
them which may lead to their destruction through wash of water, is entirely out 
of the question. Consequently, we were not always able to determine the exact 
nature of mounds. However, in the case of large, flat-topped tumuli along Red 
river we believe it can be said, as of the same class of mounds in many other 
regions, that they were built for places of residence and that they do not contain 
burials except occasionally, and when burials are found in them they are superficial. 
Our investigation along Red river was impeded also by the flood that pre- 
vailed during the latter part of our trip, which prevented our visiting a few mounds 
and in several cases interfered with our work in others. Nevertheless, we believe 
we shall be able to give a general idea of the antiquities of somewhat more than 
the lower five hundred miles of Red river. 
As is well known, the lower part of Red river was explored by the French 
not long after their settlement in Louisiana. Tonti tells us that the Indian nations 
there waged cruel war on each other. . Pénicaut, early in the eighteenth century, 
went up Red river to the village of the Natchitoches, which he estimates as about 
195 miles above the mouth of the river. This distance would place the settlement 
very near the site of the present Natchitoches, which is not far distant from the 
old French fort built by La Harpe a few years after Pénicaut's visit. 
We endeavored in vain to identify the former settlement of the Tassenogoula, 
