12 
SANS BOIS CREEK —CHOCTAW SETTLEMENTS. 
shows that there is no great difficulty in selecting ground for a railway where the expense for 
grading will he very slight. Building materials, timber, and stone are found in abundance, 
and nearly upon the spot where required. But the labor of making an instrumental survey, so 
as to follow the exact line which should he selected, retards the progress of the work so much 
that we have concluded to adopt a more rapid system. Hence, to-morrow, we shall allow the 
survey to follow the general route of the wagons as a base of operations; and, whenever the 
ground becomes unfavorable, make explorations to the right or left, till the route by which the 
obstacles may he avoided can he reconnoitred and sketched. 
July 31— Camp 7.—The survey was to-day carried on as proposed, following near the wagon 
road. Our route differs from Marcy’s trail, which passes over high ridges to the left. Better 
ground evidently exists in the direction of the great valley of woodland and prairie, which is 
said to extend uninterruptedly from our last camp, by a more southern course, to the hanks of 
the Sans Bois. But as the route we followed presented no great difficulty, it did not appear 
worth while to interrupt the progress of the survey to make a detailed examination. At a short 
distance from camp were a few Indian farm-houses and a blacksmith’s shop. Finding the 
smith, whose name was Fraser, to he an intelligent man, and able to speak English, we em¬ 
ployed him to accompany us. He gave much useful information about the country beyond the 
line of our explorations; detailing the courses of streams and chains of hills and mountains. He 
says that in his shop he burns native coal, which crops out in several places in the vicinity. 
Our camp is in the midst of a tall forest, which lines the hanks of the river Sans Bois. This 
title appears to he a misnomer, for the neighborhood affords most excellent timber. The 
stream, now shallow and fordable, flows between high rocky banks, bearing marks of water 
some twenty feet above the present level. But the cliffs afford good abutments, and stone of 
excellent quality for building material. 
August 1— Camp 8.—With great labor we crossed the Sans Bois, the banks of which were 
exceedingly steep and slippery from recent rains. Keeping upon the slopes of the hills, in order 
to cut off a bend of the river, we crossed Cooper’s creek, passed a small Indian village, and, 
following the crest of a low ridge for a mile farther, encamped by a large field of maize belonging 
to an Indian farm near by. No difficulty was presented to the survey. Mr. Marcou, the geolo¬ 
gist, whose health has for sometime been delicate, is quite ill, and thinks seriously of returning. 
Our camp, eight miles from the last, is by the side of a densely wooded ravine, through which 
flows a brook to the Sans Bois. The adjacent prairie has been closely cropped by herds belong¬ 
ing to the farms; and, for the first time, grass is not abundant. 
August 2 — Camp 9.—Our route took us over eight miles of pleasant, well-watered, and fertile 
country. Choctaw settlements were frequently passed, indicating industry and thrift. Among 
them were several trading houses and stores, kept by Choctaws who speak no English. As we 
passed along, they stood by the roadside exhibiting various articles for traffic. 
Near the termination of the day's march the road ascended a rocky hill, very steep, and 
several hundred feet in height. Keeping near the stream which flows around the southern base, 
the ascent could be avoided with no other inconvenience than that of passing through a thick 
chapparal.* That the road should have been chosen over the summit, instead of around the 
base, the distance being about the same, appears surprising. The reason probably is—and the 
same seems to have influenced the selection of most of the route from Fort Smith—that there 
was less timber to be cut away upon the hills than through the valleys ; or the low lands were 
found soft and boggy during the rainy season. 
August 3— Camp 9.—Our camp-ground being a fine one, upon a grassy prairie near a small 
creek called u Santa Rita,” which, a few hundred yards below, empties into the Sans Bois, it 
was thought best to remain here during the day and make explorations. Some of the survey¬ 
ing and reconnoitring parties employed themselves in plotting their notes. The astronomical 
and meteorological assistants carried on their computations ; while another division, taking the 
* A term applied to a dense growth of bushes or small trees. 
