162 Expedition to the 



of the North Fork are in the floetz trap country, nearly 

 opposite those of Purgatory creek of the Arkansa. Of one 

 of its northern tributaries we have received some infor 

 mation from the recent work of Mr. Nuttall, who crossed 

 it in his journey to the Great Salt river of Arkansa, in 1819. 

 "Still proceeding," says he, "a little to the north of west, 

 about ten miles further, we came to a considerable rivulet of 

 clear and still water, deep enough to awim our horses. This 

 stream was called the Little North Fork (or branch) of the 

 Canadian, and emptied into the main North Fork of the 

 same river nearly two hundred miles distant, including its 

 meanders, which had been ascended by the trappers of bea- 

 ver."* From his account it appears that the banks of this 

 stream are wooded, and that the " superincumbent rock" 

 is a sandstone, not of the red formation, but probably belong- 

 ing to a coal district. 



Its water, like that of the Arkansa and its northern tribu- 

 taries, when not swelled by rains, is of a greenish colour. 

 This colouring is, sometimes, so intense in the rivers of 

 this region as to suggest the idea that the water is filled with 

 minute confervas, or other floating plants; but when we see it 

 by transmitted light, as when a portion of it is held in a glass 

 vessel, the colour disappears. 



Three and an half miles below the confluence of the North 

 Fork is a remarkable rock, standing isolated in the middle 

 of the river, like the Grand Tower in the Mississippi. It is 

 about seventy-five feet high, and fifty or sixty in diameter, 

 and its sides so perpendicular as to render the summit in- 

 accessible. It appears to have been broken from a high 

 promontory of gray sandstone overhanging the river on the 

 north side. 



Not being able to find grass for pasture, we rode later than 

 usual, and were finally compelled to encamp on a sandy beach, 

 which afforded nothing but rushes for our horses. 



• Journal of Travels into the Arkansa Territory, by Thomas Nuttall, 

 4-c. page 200. 



