102 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



visited under the guidance of Mr. Carlton Smith. On returning to 

 Tallahassee another conference was had with Dr. Gunter and Mr. 

 Simpson, and we then crossed the State of Alabama to Aberdeen, 

 Miss., merely making a stop at Tuscaloosa to call upon the Alabama 

 member of the Commission, Dr. Walter B. Jones. 



At Aberdeen I was met by Col. John R. Fordyce, of Little Rock, 

 Ark., member of the Commission from that State, and was driven by 

 him to various points of interest. In company with Dr. W. A. Evans, 

 of Aberdeen, we made a further examination of the territory along 

 the Tombigbee and visited a town site in Chickasaw County which is 

 possibly that in which De Soto spent the winter of 1540-41, though 

 it is a trifle far south. From this place we went to Helena, Ark., via 

 Clarksdale and spent 2 days visiting sites along Crowley's Ridge 

 believed to have been the location of the Province of Casqui in 

 De Soto's day. On the way to Little Rock we stopped at some points 

 on White River where trails are known to have crossed, because it is 

 evident that the Spaniards used one of these in the summer of 1541 

 on their way toward the south. 



At Little Rock I was the guest of Colonel and Mrs. Fordyce. Visits 

 were made to the Menard Mounds east of Arkansas Post, possibly 

 the site of the town of Quiguate, and the valley of the Little Missouri 

 by which the Spaniards probably sought an exit to the south after 

 leaving the Tula province at Caddo Gap. 



On October 26, Colonel Fordyce and I joined Miss Caroline 

 Dormon, the Louisiana member of the Commission, and her sister at 

 Jonesville. and we spent 2 days exploring the Ouachita and Tensas 

 Rivers in launches kindly put at our service by Brig. Gen. Harley B. 

 Ferguson, president of the Mississippi River Commission. Although 

 the region which the Spaniards visited in the neighborhood of these 

 rivers is plainly indicated, their exact movements are difficult to trace. 



A few days were taken up with a visit to Baton Rouge to consult 

 with the geologists of Louisiana State University. Drs. Russell, Fisk, 

 and Huner, and the archeologist, James A. Ford, regarding the late 

 geological history of the lower Mississippi valley and the relation 

 of the archeological remains to it. This conference proved to be of 

 the utmost value. Mr. Ford brought me back to Alexandria, and on 

 the way gave me a chance to examine the Coles Creek site near Marks- 

 ville which is being excavated under Mr. Ford's direction under a 

 large grant from the WPA. 



