The Expedition of William Dunbar and George Hunter along the Ouachita River, 1804-1805

Abstract

ON MARCH 13, 1804, PRESIDENT THOMAS JEFFERSON penned a letter to William Dunbar of Natchez, Mississippi, a man who shared his passion for science, his convictions about superiority of agricultural life, and his intellectual curiosity. Jefferson wrote: Congress will probably authorize me to explore greater waters on Western side of Mississippi and Missouri, to their sources in case I should propose to send . . . another party up Arcansa to its source, thence that to its mouth . . . . These several surveys will enable us to prepare a map of Louisiana . . . as you live near point of departure of lowest expedition and can acquire so much better information . . . . I have thought if Congress should authorize enterprize to propose to you unprofitable trouble of directing it.1 Jefferson thereby charged Scottish immigrant planter with task of assembling and conducting first American scientific expedition into lower Louisiana Purchase. The American team ultimately had to settle for a shorter journey than Jefferson had originally envisioned, but it provided earliest scientific study of Ouachita River and springs at present-day Hot Springs, Arkansas, and offered a pioneering description of environs of early Arkansas and Louisiana. The Dunbar-Hunter expedition represents one of four ventures into Louisiana Purchase territory commissioned or approved by Jefferson. In addition to dispatching Dunbar and George Hunter to explore the Washita and the hot President Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark into northern regions of purchase. Zebulon Pike explored Rocky Mountains and southwestern areas of purchase. A shorter foray, led by Thomas Freeman and Peter Custis, proceeded up Red River.2 A complete understanding of Louisiana Purchase exploration cannot be achieved without examination of all of these expeditions into new American hinterland. While Ouachita River expedition was not as vast, and did not provide as expansive geographic and environmental information, as that collected by Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery, exploration of Dunbar and Hunter remains significant for several reasons. First, it provided Americans with first scientific study and first extensive description in English of varied landscapes, as well as animal and plant life, of Ouachita River region in southern Arkansas and northern Louisiana. In fact, expedition resulted in arguably most purely scientific collection of data among all of Louisiana Purchase explorations. It was also first to report. Because this trip ended well in advance of conclusion of Corps of Discovery's journey, detailed notes and journals of William Dunbar and George Hunter were earliest reports Jefferson received describing unfamiliar landscapes and varied resources within United States' new territory. Second, trip yielded an early portrait of people of purchase territory, describing an already well-trodden frontier and an extremely active and, in places, vibrant interaction between European cultures and indigenous populations. The journals of Hunter and Dunbar reported many encounters with European trappers, hunters, planters, settlers, as well as fellow river travelers plying waters of Red, Black, and Ouachita Rivers. Their copious notes portray a region in which these European and Indian inhabitants harvested abundant natural resources along rivers and in lands beyond. Reports from both men show that hot springs near upper reaches of Ouachita had already become an important site for persons seeking relief from ailments and infirmities. The team met several individuals who had either been to springs or were on their way to bathe in its waters. When explorers arrived at springs, they found evidence that people had been in residence there. …