Rocky Mountains. 273 



ted on the Illinois Baj^ou about seven miles above Point 

 Pleasant. It consists of no noore than five or six cabins, but 

 is the residence of the venerable Tikatok, who, since the 

 death of Tallantusky in 1817, has been considered as the 

 principal chief of this portion of the Cherokee nation. He 

 has been a distinguished benefactor to his people, and is fa- 

 miliarly known by the name of " The Beloved." The Che- 

 rokees, who live at and about this village, and those settled 

 at a distance from the Arkansa, generally, are less subject to 

 fevers than those who reside in the river bottoms. At a 

 little distance above the village we left the Illinois, and pro- 

 ceeded across the wilderness towards Little Red river on 

 our route to Cape Girardeau. Two or three wretched ca- 

 bins only on the whole route, and two or three scattered 

 plantations occupied by Cherokees, occur in the country be- 

 tween Point Pleasant and Little Red river, where we arrived 

 on the 28th, This river has a deep rocky channel, sixty or 

 one hundred yards in width at the point where we crossed 

 it, which is distant about eighty miles from its confluence 

 with White river. It had at this time scarcely a percepti- 

 ble current, and in many places might be crossed on foot 

 without wading. It is however, like most of the rivers of 

 this region, liable to great and sudden floods which in se- 

 veral instances, have drowned the cattle, and destroyed and 

 swept away the crops of those who were settled along its 

 banks. From the marks left by the last flood upon the banks, 

 we perceived that the range from high to low water, could 

 not be less than sixty feet. 



From Stanley's settlement on Little Red river, it is about 

 thirty- six miles, northeast to Harding's ferry on White river. 

 Here are numerous settlements of whites, but notwithstand- 

 ing the country is hilly, and profusely irrigated, with nume- 

 rous rapid streams, the inhabitants have almost without ex- 

 ception, a sickly appearance. Harding's ferry is about four 

 hundred miles distant from the confluence of White river 



VOL. ti. 35 



