Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/75

 HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 15 the Indians found by De Soto dwelling on the St. Francois, later moved to the country of the Illinois. These Indians received De Soto and his men with great hospitality showing the utmost friendliness and desire to please. They opened their houses, such as they were, for the use of De Soto's men, and provided pro- visions for men antl beasts. The Indians of this village told De Soto that their great chief, or cacique, resided some distance to the north. Indeed two mes- sengers from this chief came to the village during the stay of the expedition and invited De Soto to visit the cacique. This he deter- mined to do. He marched north along the banks of the Mississippi river, finding higher ground than formerly and the richest alluvial soil they had yet seen. This soil was a sandy loam, black in color and very rich. It was covered with forests of timber in places, di- versified with prairies and broken in places by swamps. The pecan tree, the wild plum and the mulberry were everywhere abundant, while the fields abounded in maize. After two days of marching they came to the chief town of the country where the cacique of the Casquins resided. It seems evident that this ridge up which they marched was the sandy ridge that runs parallel to the river from near the mouth of the St. Francois to the hills of the Ozark region near Cape Girardeau. It has the same soil as that described by De Soto's men, the trees are the same, and it runs in the direction of the course taken by them. On this ridge are situated many flour- ishing towns in southeast Missouri, to-day. Among them are Caruthersville, New^ Madrid and Charleston. Then, of course, it was a wilderness broken by the small clearings of the Indians and traversed bv the celebrated trace that led to the great crossing of the river near Commerce. The expedition was received by the In- dians with great kindness. The chief invited De Soto to lodge in his house. This dwelling stood on a high artificial mound and con- sisted of a number of houses for the accommo- dation of his numerous wives and their chil- dren. This invitation was declined by De Soto and he and most of his men were lodged by the natives in arbors or booths of brush. Presents were exchanged and the utmost good feeling prevailed. On the fourth day of their stay occurred an incident which attested the impression made by the expedition upon the savages. On the morning of that day there appeared be- fore De Soto the cacique, accompanied by his principal followers, who addressed the leader of the Spaniards in these words: "Senor, as you are superior to us in prowess and surpass us in arms, we likewise believe that your God is better than our god. We supplicate you to pray to your God that our fields, which are now parched may receive rain and our crops be saved." In response to this request, De Soto caused a large pine tree to be procured, and from it the carpenter of the expedition constructed a large cross. This cross was erected, and, there in the midst of the forest, a solemn pro- cession was formed which marched to the cross, and while the wondering Indians looked on in astonishment the services of the church were performed and a supplication sent up to God for the needed rain. The Indians seemed profoundly impressed by the solemnity of the occasion. Many of them knelt upon the ground, some were moved to tears by the serv- ice, and others still inquired for an expla-