Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/287

 HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 227 banks iu sevxTal places fell into the river, carrying with them innumerable trees. The soimds were very terrifying ; the crash of fall- ing timber, the sound of the shock itself, and the screaming of the wild fowl produced an idea that all nature was in a state of dissolu- tion. The river was greatly agitated, so much so, in fact, that Bradbury's companions re- fused to remain in the boat though he himself was of the opinion that it was much safer there than on the land. The shocks continued from day to daj^ until the 17th. They found the people on the river to be very much alarmed, many of them having fled away, and those that remained were very anxious to do so. Bradbury was told by some of them that a chasm had opened on the sand bar and on closing had thrown water to the height of a tall tree and that chasms had opened in the earth in several places back from the river.* Flint, on visiting America in 1818, wrote an account of the New Madrid earthquake as reported to him at that time: "During the year 1812 two considerable shocks and many lesser vibrations were observed. It appeared that the center from which the convulsions proceeded were in the vicinity of New IMadrid. At that place a dreadful commotion prevailed in December, 1812 ; the trees beat upon one another and were either twisted or broken, the site of the town subsided about eight feet, many acres of land sunk and were overflowed by the river and the water rushed in torrents from crevices opened in the land, boats were sunk and simk logs of timber were raised from the bottom in such quantities that almost cov- ered the surface of the river, and that at slight intervals of a few days slight vibrations were felt to the present time. Many of the people deserted their possessions and retreated to the ilissouri where lands were granted them by congress.** Faux quotes a man who lived in Ohio and whom he visited in 1818, as follows: "It shook people out of their beds, knocked down brick chimneys and made old log houses crack and rattle. On the ]Iississippi, too, the con- vulsive motion of the water was truly awful, running and rising mountains high and the solid land on the high banks was seen in an imdulated agitation like the waters of the sea. New IMadrid siuik down several feet, the land, however, in many parts aroimd this town, is covered with w-ater.f From the proceeds of the land granted to him on account of the New Madrid earth- quake, August Chouteau established the first distillery in St. Louis.$ LeSieur says that at the time of the earth- quake there was living on a bayou called Terre Rouge, one of the tributaries of Pemis- cot bayou, a man by the name of Culberson. The bayou at that point formed a short curve or elbow and on the point was Culberson's house; between the house and the extreme point was his well and smoke house. On the morning of the 16th of December, 1811, just after a hard shock had subsided, Mrs. Culber- son started to the well for water and to the smoke house for meat, and discovered that they were on the opposite side of the river; the shock had opened a new channel across the point between the house and the welL^I In 1871 Professor Hager asked Mr. LeSieur certain questions concerning this earthquake and these answers, which shed some light on the situation, are reproduced here: "First — - t Faux, Journal, p. :i80. t Early Western Travel, Vol. IV, p. 138. 11 LeSieur in Weekly Record, Oct. 4, 1893.
 * Bradbury's Travels, p. 204.
 * Flint, Letters from America, p. 246.