The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 88, July 1984 - April, 1985 Page: 5
476 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Ecology of the Red River in 18o6
Finally, of course, scientific and intellectual curiosity would be well
served by an examination of the little-known environs of southern
Louisiana. Study of the region's natural history would nicely comple-
ment similar investigations by the Lewis and Clark expedition in the
northern country. Certainly the stories from the southwestern frontier
were tantalizing enough. Relying upon the account of Antoine Simon
Le Page du Pratz from the preceding century, the House Committee
on Commerce and Manufactures (chaired by the eminent naturalist
Samuel L. Mitchill) favored an expedition up the Red River because
of the natural curiosities purported to be found there. William Dun-
bar, the southern scientist and friend of Jefferson, had relayed to the
president reports of medicinal plants in the area, as well as quarries of
all kinds of minerals, mountains purely or partially of salt, water ser-
pents, and "wonderful productions" along the Red River and its
tributaries.8
Philip Nolan, the trader and "Mexican traveller," further aroused
Jefferson's enthusiasm with descriptions of immense herds of wild
mustangs, descended from Arabian stock, running free on the southern
plains.9 Still another southwestern traveler, Natchitoches Indian agent
John Sibley, sent reports gleaned from French hunters indicating a
rich and diverse fauna. "I asked [Mr. Brevel] what animals were found
in the Great Prairies," Sibley wrote Henry Dearborn, the secretary of
war, continuing:
He told me, that from Blue river, upwards, on both sides of Red river,
there were innumerable quantities of wild horses, buffalo, bears, wolves,
on May 26, 1805, TJP. See also, Thomas Jefferson, "The Limits and Bounds of Louisi-
ana," in Documents Relating to the Purchase and Exploration of Louisiana (Boston,
1904), 7-45.
8See Annals of Congress, 8th Cong., 1st sess., 1, 124-126, for the Mitchill committee
report. See also Antoine Simon Le Page du Pratz, The Hzstory of Louisiana . . . , intro.
Henry C. Dethloff (1774; reprint ed., Baton Rouge, 1972). For Dunbar's promotion of
the Red River, see Dunbar to Jefferson, June 9, 1804, Rowland, William Dunbar, 133-
135 (quotation); John Sibley to Dunbar, Apr. 2, 1805, ibid., 162-174; Dunbar to Jefferson,
Aug. 22, 1801, TJP, first series.
9"Concerning Philip Nolan," Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, VII
(Apr., 1904), 314 (1st quotation), 30o8-317; Annals of Congress, 8th Cong, 1st sess., 1,o88-
1,103, 1,1o4 (2nd quotation). Although he expressed considerable excitement over the
fact that Philip Nolan had captured horses in the Southwest at "the only moment in
the age of the world" when the horse could be studied scientifically in its wild state,
Jefferson never met Nolan, who was killed by the Spaniards in 18oi. See "Concerning
Philip Nolan," 30o8 (footnote quotation); Noel M. Loomis, "Philip Nolan's Entry into
Texas in 18oo," John Francis McDermott (ed.), The Spanzsh in the Mississippi Valley,
1762-1804 (Urbana, 1974), 120-132; Flores (ed.), Jefferson and Southwestern Exploration,
32-33 n. 44.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 88, July 1984 - April, 1985, periodical, 1984/1985; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101210/m1/27/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.