A journal of travels into the Arkansa Territory : during the year 1819, with…
"A journal of travels into the Arkansa Territory" by Thomas Nuttall is a travel journal and natural history account written in the early 19th century. It follows an 1818–1820 expedition from Pennsylvania to the Arkansas country, combining route-finding and river travel with close observations of geology, botany, Indigenous cultures, and frontier life along the Ohio and Mississippi. Readers can expect detailed notes on landscapes, fossils, plants, ancient earthworks, and the social conditions
of early American settlements. The opening of the book presents an editor’s preface sketching Nuttall’s scientific career and outlining his 1818–1820 itinerary, then shifts to the author’s own narrative. He departs Philadelphia, crosses Pennsylvania’s mountain chains on foot, and records layered geological formations, coal signs, and notable plants before reaching smoky, industrious Pittsburgh. Launching a skiff down the Ohio, he endures cold, contrary winds, and rough lodgings, while noting towns (Steubenville, Wheeling, Marietta), ancient mounds (especially the Great Mound at Grave Creek), and the habits and hardships of emigrants. He describes broader bottoms, fossil-rich limestones, and persistent upriver winds en route to Louisville and the Falls, with remarks on canals, speculation, and river hazards. Resuming in a flatboat from Shippingsport, he drifts swiftly past Yellow Banks, Evansville, Diamond Island, and Shawneetown, praises the river’s grandeur amid largely untouched forests, and passes Fort Massac to the Ohio’s mouth—only to be stalled by Mississippi ice beside towering cane brakes. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Nuttall, Thomas, 1786-1859 |
|---|---|
| Editor | Thwaites, Reuben Gold, 1853-1913 |
| Title | A journal of travels into the Arkansa Territory : during the year 1819, with occasional observations on the manners of the aborigines |
| Original Publication | Cleveland: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1905. |
| Series Title | Early western travels, 1748-1846, v. 13 |
| Credits | Carol Brown, Greg Bergquist and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | F396: United States local history: Old Southwest. Lower Mississippi Valley |
| Subject | Mississippi River -- Description and travel |
| Subject | Ohio River -- Description and travel |
| Subject | Southwest, Old -- Description and travel |
| Subject | Arkansas -- Description and travel |
| Subject | Arkansas River -- Description and travel |
| Subject | Indians of North America -- Southwest, Old |
| Subject | Oklahoma -- Description and travel |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 77978 |
| Release Date | Feb 18, 2026 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 402 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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