SWANTON] INDIANS OP THE SOUTHEASTEiRN UNaTE'D STATES 53 



This was in answer to the prayers of the chief, whose fields were 

 suffering from drought, and a few days afterward we learn that there 

 were abundant rains. 



At Casqui the Spaniards were told of a wealthy province toward 

 the north called Pacaha at war with the Casqui Indians, and De Soto 

 set out for that country on the 26th. Next day he crossed a swampy 

 bayou which lay between the two tribes, and on the 29th entered 

 the chief settlement of Pacaha, whose inhabitants had abandoned 

 it and sought refuge on an island in the Mississippi higher up. 

 Thither De Soto immediately followed them and peace was soon 

 made, the Pacaha chief and his people returning to their town and 

 the Spaniards establishing themselves there for a month while they 

 sent exploring parties inland toward the west and north. 



There has been much discussion over the place where De Soto 

 crossed the Mississippi, but the strongest reasons may be adduced 

 for locating it at Sunflower Landing below Friar Point, Miss. In 

 the first place, we are told that, on leaving the Alibamo fort, the 

 Spaniards went "through a wilderness, having many pondy places, 

 with thick forests, fordable, however, on horseback, except some 

 basins or lakes that were swum" (Elvas). Of the three routes which 

 have been advocated by the most competent students, via Memphis, 

 Commerce Landing, and Sunflower Landing, this description applies 

 to only the second and third. As between these, however, it is a 

 significant fact that Sunflower Landing is the only point south of 

 Crowley's Ridge, and Crowley's Ridge is the only high land west 

 of the river corresponding to that in the province of Casqui. From 

 a lowland province, Aquixo, by the river, they passed to higher land at 

 Casqui and again to low land by the river in the province of Pacaha. 

 This succession would not be encountered if the Spaniards had crossed 

 at Commerce Landing or at Memphis. There is still another argument 

 based on the identification of Ouachita River as the River of Cayas or 

 Anilco. Counting the number of cardinal rivers crossed back from 

 the Ouachita, we are brought to Sunflower Landing. If we count 

 back from the Arkansas, we are taken beyond the St. Francis. The 

 Ouachita having been identified with the River of Cayas on inde- 

 pendent evidence. Sunflower Landing is indicated rather than Com- 

 merce Landing or Memphis. This conclusion seems inescapable. 



The affiliations of the tribes encountered by De Soto in this region 

 are in considerable doubt. There is every reason to believe that the 

 Casqui were the later Kaskinampo who finally united with the Musk- 

 hogean Koasati. It was formerly thought that the Pacaha were the 

 later Quapaw and such may have been the case, though their culture, 

 as indicated in the De Soto narratives, was quite distinct. I am 

 rather inclined to regard them as a branch of the Tunica, as also the 



