St. Louis,
Missouri,
January
19, 1871.
SIR: I most respectfully submit herewith the
report on the examination of Little Red River, in Arkansas, compiled from the field-notes
of Captain John S. Tennyson. Little Red River is a tributary of White River,
and empties into the latter, thirty miles below Augusta.
Having been ordered, at that time, to
succeed Mr. A. Livermore in charge of the examination of rivers in the. State
of Arkansas, I proceeded to Little Red River, in order to meet Captain Tennyson
on the field of operations.
By doing so, I had the opportunity to judge
of the condition of the river from the mouth upwards to West Point myself,
whereby I found that Captain Tennyson’s notes fully coincided with my own
observations. The examination of the upper part, that is from Searcy Landing to
West Point, was made by Captain Tennyson alone, who had finished the same
before my arrival on the river.
Searcy Landing being regarded as the head of
navigation on Little Red River, the examination of this stream was commenced at
that point and conducted to its mouth. The river can be divided into two
sections, entirely different in their features, and they will be therefore
treated separately. The upper section reaches from Searcy Landing to West
Point, eighteen miles; the lower, from that place to the mouth, thirty miles in
length.
Section I. —Searcy Landing
to West Point.
The bottom of the river from the upper
Searcy Landing, called Merchants’ Landing, is rocky throughout, and has several
shoal places between these two points.
The first shoals are half a mile below
Merchants’ Landing, 115 feet long, and extend 211 feet from the right shore
into the river. The channel is 55 feet wide and 5 inches deep at low water,
with 1.1 feet fall.
The next shoal place is in front of lower
Searcy Landing. These shoals are nearer to the left bank, one mile and a half
long, and 200 feet wide. The width of the channel is 63 feet at the narrowest
point, with 8 inches of water, and 0.8 feet fall.
Rock Island Shoals, 3 miles below Searcy
Landing, are 300 feet long. The width of the channel is 61 feet; depth at low
water, 9 inches; fall, 0.75 feet.
From these last shoals to Prospect Shoals, a
distance of four miles and a half, there is hardly any visible current in the
river. The bottom consists of loose rocks with the exception of about 500 feet,
where sand is prevalent. The width of the river is in this part 275 feet on an
average between banks, and has from 2 to 7 feet water in the channel.
Prospect Shoals are a half a mile above the
town of Prospect Bluffs. The river-bed is covered with small rooky islands,
which are from 2 to 5 feet above, low' water. The channel lies very nearly in
the middle of the river, and is 57 feet wide, with 3 inches depth. On the right
shore is a chain of loose rocks, which have been taken out of the channel and
piled up in the shape of a dam. The length of these shoals is 600 feet, with
2.30 feet fall.
The left bank along this part of the river
is from 25 to 35 feet high, consists of common clay and is covered with timber.
There are but a few cultivated fields along this shore. The caving and crashing
out of the banks amounts to very little.
The right shore is high upland. The bluffs
are from 50 to 60 feet high, and consist of clay, with rooks cropping out half
way upon the bank. These bluffs reach their utmost height three miles below
Searcy Landing, in a hill 150 feet high, which is composed of rocks clear up to
the top.
From
Prospect Bluff, sandy bottom is prevalent for a distance of five miles; the average
width of the river is 300 feet between banks, which are low and subject to overflow;
the depth of the channel is from 2 to 16 feet.
Best’s Shoals, five miles below Prospect
Bluffs, consist of two chains of loose rocks. On the upper chain, 130 feet
long, the channel lies nearer to the left shore, is 65 feet wide, with 6 inches
of water and 2.05 feet fall. The lower chain, 50 feet long, is close to the
left shore, has 7 inches of water in the channel, which is 57 feet wide. Fall
0.75 feet. The loose rocks on both of these chains have been piled up in form
of dams.
There is rocky bottom for the next two miles
below Best’s Shoals, with from 10 inches to 3 feet water in the channel. Three
miles above West Point there are piles of loose rocks scattered along the left
shore and extending half way into the river.
The average width of the river from Best’s
Shoals to West Point is 300 feet between banks. The channel is 100 feet wide
and 10 inches deep.
The right bank along this part is, on an
average, 45 feet high, the left one low and subject to overflow; both are covered
with heavy timber.
Section II.—From West Point to
the mouth.
The
river assumes more the character of a natural canal. The width is almost
uniform, and varies between 250 and 300 feet. The banks are nearly of the same
height, (about 25 feet,) slope at an angle of 45°, and are covered with timber
from low- water edge up. The adjacent country is, during high water, subject-to
overflow, and there are but few spaces of cleared land in this section. The
depth in the channel in this part is, at the lowest stage of water, 2 feet and
over.
Low Water
occurs
during the months of July, August, and September. The depth in the channel at
low water has been described at the different localities above.
High Water
takes
place first during the month of May, sometimes as early as the end of April.
This is called the spring rise, and does not last very long.
The fall, and winter-rise from the head-waters
is also of short duration. The river may rise from 15 to 20feet within twelve hours,
and fall again to the former, stage within the next twelve hours.
The only rise for any length of time to
depend on is the back-water from White River, when the latter is high. Arise of
15 feet in White River will make 4 feet water in Little Red River, clear,
through-to Searcy Landing.
The
highest water known was in 1867, when the high-water mark showed 39.30, feet at
Searcy Landing, 32.6 feet at Prospect Bluffs, and 29.3 feet at West Point.
Obstructions, Snags, and
Leaning Trees
From Searcy Landing to West Point there, are
588 snags, and 6,203leaning trees. The latter are seen only in two bends and
close together,
From West Point to the mouth are 588 snags
and 6,203 trees, 5,332 of which are less than one foot in diameter.
In regard to the improvement of the river it
is evident that the scarcity of water between Searcy Landing and West Point,
and the condition of the stream, will not justify any other expense than that
absolutely necessary to remove the snags and leaning timber. The removal of the
loose rocks from the bed of the river will be of no benefit to navigation, as
there is not water enough during the dry season to give sufficient depth for
the passage of boats were the obstructions removed.
The rise from the head-waters disappears as
suddenly as it comes on, and whenever steamboats have ventured to go further up
during a head-rise, in most cases they have been obliged to turn back before
reaching Prospect Bluffs, the rise having entirely disappeared. The only rise
to depend on is the back-water from White River, and whenever this takes place,
there is sufficient depth of water for navigation to Searcy Landing.
The improvement in this lower part of the
river will be the removing of snags and the cutting of the leaning timber on
both shores.
General Remarks.
The
improvement of this stream, to the commerce of the country, will perhaps be
best shown from the fact, that the White River Packet Company send their boats
as far into the Little Red as practicable every time they ascend White River;
thus, two boats a week reach West Point from White River during about nine
months in the year, and during three months these boats reach Searcy Landing ;
and when the water is too low to permit the large White River boats to ascend
the Little Red, a small boat is kept on hand to do the business between West
Point and the mouth, connecting at that place with the boats on White River.
These facts give some idea of the amount of
commerce on the river; no data could be obtained as to the amount of cotton or
other produce shipped.
The above is enough to show that the
improvement is one of great importance to that section of country.
I am, most respectfully, colonel, your
obedient servant,
Justin Straszer,
Civil Engineer.
Lieutenant Colonel
W. F. Raynolds,
Corps of Engineers, U. S. A., St. Louis,
Missouri.
References:
1871 Chief’s Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers to the
Secretary of War for the Year 1871. Page 362
– 364.
Government Printing Office, Washington D.C. https://usace.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16021coll6/id/1832. Accessed 07 July, 2019.
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