ABOUT 450 MILES UP THE RED RIVER IN A LARGE PRAIRIE: PETER CUSTIS' SURVIVING BOTANICAL INFORMATION FROM THE RED RIVER EXPEDITION OF 1806

2004·5.1 MB·English

by  Michael H Macroberts

ABOUT450MILESUPTHEREDRIVERINALARGEPRAIRIE:
PETERCUSTIS'SURVIVINGBOTANICALINFORMATION
EROMTHEREDRIVEREXPEDITIONOE1806
MichaelH.MacRobertsandBarbaraR.MacRoberts
BogResearch,740Columbia
Shreveport,Louisiana71104,U.S.A.
l-lerbarium,MuseumofLifeSciencesandRedRiverWatershedManagementInstitute
LouisianaStateUniversity-Shreveport,Shreveport,Louisiana71115,U.S.A.
/\BSTRACT
In1806PeterCustis,botanistontheRedRiverExpedition,collected26plantsmainlyintheprairies
inwhatistodayCaddoandBossierparishes,Louisiana.TheseweresenttoBenjaminSmithBartonin
Philadelphia.TwoofthespecimensarestillintheBartonHerbarium.Theyareveryunusuallorthe
regiontoday.Wehavelookedfortheother24specimensbutwithoutsuccess.Those24specimens
wouldcertainlyaidmunderstandingtheecologyoftheRedRiverareain1806.
RESUMEN
En1806PeterCustis,botanicoenlaexpediciondelRedRiver,colecto26plantasprincipalmenteello
quehoysonlosmunicipiosdeCaddoyBossier,Louisiana.FueroncnviadasaBenjaminSmilhBarton
enFdadelfia.DosdelosespecimenesestanaunenelBartonHerbarium.Estassonmuyrarasenla
regionactualmente.Hemosbuscadolosotros24especimenesperonohemostenidoexito.Fstos24
especimenesayudarianciertamenteacomprenderlaecologiadelareadelRedRiveren1806.
INTRODUCTION
Thefirstpartofthetitleofthispapercomesfromanherbariumspecimenlabel
writtenbyBenjaminSmithBartonforaplantcollectedbyPeterCustisin1806.
Theplantcomesfrom"theforgottenexpedition"-thelUTatedandsuppressed
ThomasJefferson-sponsored1806ExpeditiontotheRedRiverThisexpedition
wastohavebeenasoutherncounterparttothenowfamousLewisandClark
expedition(Figs.1,2).Thespecimen,housedmtheBartonHerbariumatthe
AcademyofNaturalSciences,Philadelphia,isoneofthreePeterCustisplant
specimensthere.Itisoneoftwoknownsurvivingplantsof26thatwerecol-
lectedbyCustisontheexpedition.
Thispaperhasatwofoldpurpose.First,itmakestheFreemanandCustis
RedRiverExpeditionof1806anditsbotanicalcontributionmorefamiliarThe
year2006willmarkthebicentennialofthefirstbotanicalexpeditionintowhat
isnownorthwesternLouisiana,southwesternArkansas,andnortheasternTexas
(Anon1807).Second,wecallattentiontoanadditional24collectionsmadeby
PeterCustisin1806ontheRedRiverthatarenothousedintheBartontierbarium.
Thesespecimens,theidentityofwhichisnotknown,mightbecrucialtounder-
SIDA21(2):963-975.2004
964 BRIT.ORG/SIDA21(2)
Wll.RUASPHKOSOPHICALSOOH>
C.JlMrilb> li-.IVlura;stls
—
,..'••..t... ,,n. ,,
Fig.1.Veronicastrumvirginicum(L.)Farw.collectedbyPeterCustisin1806"450milesuptlieRedRverinalargeprairie."
SpecimenhousedintheBartonHerbarium,AcademyofNaturalSciences,Philadelphia.PhotographmadeattheOld
CourthouseMuseum,Natchitoches,Louisiana.
MACROBERTSANDMACROBERTS,PETERCUSTIS,BOTANISTONTHEREDRIVEREXPEDITION 965
-'7
fA(*HK»:'"" fcji»-»»«i—-^ r 40% i.,rf~ O #<•»-«..-% ^2..i0^ %
FiG.2.LabelinformationinBarton'shand.PliotograplimadeattheOldCourthouseMuseum,Natchitoches,Louisiana.
StandingflonsticchangesthathaveoccurrednitheRedRiverregionoverthe
pasttwocenturies.
THl:liXPEDITION
LouisianawaspurchasedfromFrancein1803.ThomasJeffersonsentprobes
intothenewlyacquiredterritory,themostnotableofwhichwastheLewisand
Clarkexpeditionbegunin1804.Otherexpeditionssoonfollowed:Dunbarand
HunteruptheOuachita,PikeuptheArkansas,andFreemanandCustisupthe
Red(Jackson1981).ThislatterexpeditionwastoskirttheSpanish/UnitedStates
border,followtheRedRivertoitssource,andtesttheSpanishresolvetoprevent
Americanwesternexpansion.
TheRedRiverexpedition,unlikeotherexpeditions,wasclearlypohtically
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motivatedbutwasdisguisedasscientificbytheinclusionofanaturalistinthe
company.Thepurposewastoprobe,nonetoodelicately,theresistanceofthe
SpanishbeyondtheasyetunsettledboundarybetweenLouisianaandMexico.
PeterCustis,ayoungnaturalistandmedicalstudenttrainedatthattimebythe
mostknowledgeableAmericanbotanistBenjaminSmithBarton,accompanied
ThomasFreeman,asurveyorandastronomerandleaderoftheexpedition,dur-
ingthespringandsummerof 1806.Theywereaccompaniedby45soldiers,
interpreters,andguidesontheRedRiversome615milesinsearchofitshead-
waters,thenthoughttobeinthevicinityofSantaFe.Theexpeditionentered
theRedRiveronMay2andleftNatchitoches,thenorthernmostpostonthe
RedRiver,amonthlater.SoonafterleavingNatchitoches,theyencounteredthe
lowestlogjamoftheRedRiverraftandhadtodiverttheircoursetothebayous,
"raftlakes,"andsloughsthatsurroundedtheRiver(Figs.3,4,5)(Humphreys
1971;Flores1984;Triska1984;Bagur2001).TheyreenteredthemainRiverjust
abovepresentdayShreveporttofindthcmscK'esunobstructedinalandofprai-
ries,cedarforests,riverbottomlands,andpine-oak-hickorybluffsanduplands.
TheSpanishreactionwasimmediateandmforcefarbeyondthemodest
Freemanparty.TheexpeditionwasstoppedonJuly28byCaptainf)onFran-
ciscoVianaandaforceofbetween200and300mountedsoldiersandinfantry
atapointnearwhatistodaySpanishBluffinBowieCounty,Texas,andturned
back(Fig.6).TheRedRiverexpeditionwasapoliticalfailureandanembar-
rassmenttoPresidentJefferson,whoquietlysuppressedit.Knowledgeofthe
expeditionwaslosttohistoryforalmost200years.TheRedRiver,northofBowie
County,remainedvirtuallyunexploreduntiltheMarcyandMcClcllanExpe-
ditionof1852,almostfiftyyearslater(Marcy&McClellan1854).
PHTERCUSTISANDTHEBOTANICALASPECTOFTHEE.XPEDITION
SinceJellersonhadreceivedsomecriticismfornotincludinganaturaliston
theLewisandClarkexpedition,theRedRiverexpeditionwastobethefirst
American-sponsoredexploringexpeditiontoincludeatrainednaturalist.Pre-
sumablyBarton,attheUniversityofPennsylvaniaatthetime,selectedthelist
ofcandidates,andFreemanmadethefinalchoice.Thenodwasgiventothe25-
yearoldmedicalstudent,PeterCustisofVirginia,whohadenteredtheUniver-
sityof Pennsylvaniaasamedicalstudentin1804andwasaboutayearaway
fromhisdegree.Hisbackgroundforthepositionconsistedmhavingattended
Barton'sinclusivelecturesonnaturalhistory.Hehadnofieldexperienceand
wasnotconsidereda''naturalist"inanyrealsenseoftheword.Onthisexpedi-
tionnoprovisionwasmadeforproperscientificpreparationtopreserveand
sendspecimenstoBarton.Consequently,Custisattemptedtoidentifyandde-
scribeinthefieldtheplantsheencounteredeitherbyfamiliarityorbyrefer-
encetothefewflorashetookwithhim,oneofwhichprobablywasLinnaeuss
SyslcmuVcgeiahiUum.Asmightbeexpected,therewerenamesofmanylor-
MACROBERTSANDMACROBERTS,PETERCUSTIS,BOTANISTONTHEREDRIVEREXPEDITION 967
Fig.3.RaftwithvegetationgrowingonitonRedRiver,1873.Archive?Department,NoelMemorialLibrary,Louisiana
StateUniversityinShreveport,Shreveport,Louisiana.R.B.Talforphotographer.
eignspeciescontainedinthelistofabout190plantsthatCustisdescribed(Mor-
ton1967;MacRobertsetal.1997).BecauseCustiscouldnotidentifyalloftheplants
tohissatisfaction,hecollected26andsentortookthemtoPhiladelphiawhere
twoofthemareknowntosurviveintheBartoncollection(Flores1984).Custis
hstedthese26plantsseparatelyinhisreport,mostofwhichwerecollectedinthe
extensiveprairiesthatthenexistednorthofpresentdayShreveport(Fig.7).
BothFreemanandCustissentregularreportstoPresidentJefferson,the
SecretaryofWarHenryDearborn,andtoProfessorBarton.Theseweredrawn
together,andNicholasKingwasgiventhetaskofredactingtheaccounts,fits
redactionwaspublishedinaverylimitededitionin1807,ofwhichonlyabout
adozencopiessurviveasstatedinanextensiveaccountofthispublicationby
Flores(1984).TheKingredactionhasmanyerrorsandsomeomissions,which
Flores(1984),usingprimarymaterial,hascorrected.Theredactioninapartial
facsimileeditionhasbeenreprinted(Adams1985).
Whilesomehistorianswereawareoftheexpedition(e.g.,Jackson1981),it
didnotgetfullattentionuntilFlores(1984)publishedhisdetailedaccount.In
anthropologicalcircles,theexpeditionwasknownbecauseofitsdescriptions
ofNativeAmericansencounteredabovetheGreatRedRiverRalt(Morton1967).
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FiG.4.JacquesNicholasBellin1764mapofNatchitochesregionofcentralLouisianashowingthelowestraftontheRed
Riverinthe18thcentury.ArchivesDepartment,NoelMemorialLibrary,LouisianaStateUniversityinShreveport,Shreve-
port,Louisiana.
Inbotanical,zoological,andecologicalcircles,theexpeditionremaniedun-
known(e.g.,McKelvey1955;Ewan1967;Sundell1979;Lowery1974a,1974b).
TheexpeditionwasunknowntojosephEwan(1952,1969,1988),Louisianabota-
nistandeminenthistorianofBartonianPhiladelphia.Morton(1967),usingthe
-g.
MACROBERTSANDMACROBERTS,PETERCUSTIS,BOTANISTONTHEREDRIVEREXPEDITION 969
Fig.5.Mapofthe"raftlakes"alongtheRedRivercreatedbyoverflowcausedbytheRaft.HouseDocument488,59th
Congress,1stSession.
Kingredaction,publishedthefhstaccountoftheplantsobservedbyCustis.
HisaimwastouiterprettheCustisplantnamesandnotesandprovidemodern
identificationsandnomenclature.Flores(1984)madethesameattemptwith
theaidofMortons(1967)paperWiththehelpofJamesMearsattheAcademy
ofNaturalSciencesinPhiladelphia,FloresalsolocatedtwooftheCustisspeci-
mensandmadephotographicreproductions(Flores1984:246-247).MacRoberts
etal.(1997)reexaminedtheCustisaccountsusing,bythattime,muchbetter
botanicalinformation.Gilmore(2002)inhisveryimportant"Foundationsof
SoutheasternBotany:AnAnnotatedBibliographyofSoutheasternAmerican
BotanicalExplorersPriorto1824"broughttogetherthemajorworksconcern-
ingthebotanicalaspectsoftheFreemanandCustisexpedition.AsMorton
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Fig.6.Freeman-CustisrouteuptheRedRiver.ModifiedfromJackson(1981,Fig.10).
(1967)hasrightlypointedout,thebotanicalpartofthenarrativeisquitcinfor-
mative,beingthefirstpubhshedinformationconcerningthenativeplantsof
northwesternLouisianaandsouthwesternArkansas,aswellasthefirstdescrip-
tionsolsomeoitheplantcommunities,severalofvvdiichhaveceasedtoexistin
thearea,e.g.,canebrakes,prairies,andcedarforests.
Till:SPHClMnNS
whileitispossibletomakeinformedguessesabouttheidentityoftheplants
thatCustislistedanddescribedinhiscatalogues(Mortonf967;Flores1984;
MacRobertsetai.1997),itisneverpossibletobecertainwithoutaspecimen:thus
theimportanceofthe26plantscollectedbyCustisthatwereforwardedtoBarton.
MACROBERTSANDMACROBERTS,PETERCUSTIS,BOTANISTONTHEREDRIVEREXPEDITION 971
No. I,2,8c4,.attheCoashatta.
No.3. Inprairies. No. 5, every whereIn
plenty. TheCoashuua Indiaosmakeadecoc-
tif)ii v«iththiswhichihryt'rink at ihc\rgreen
c-rndance, previoustolakinj;ihe blackdrink.
I:i)uke-»themvioWntlyjnimediattlyafterdrink-
ingIt. Whether It i> the emetic properlyof
thtplant, orth ^rcatquantityof warm water
whichth«y drink thaicauses ii lo operate so
soonjsd'kubilul.
No,)5. Vtryplentiiul,particularlyon(hede-
clivitiesof thehiUs,
No.7.Thepoorpeoplearesaidtousetheroot
asasubstjtt)telor soap. The leaves arcwhat
thepeopleofCampcachymakethihrcordageof.
No.8. Abutidaniin theprairies. Theroot
isaCaddoremtdyforthe convulsions ofchil-
dren, 11 atallusefulit is most probably in
casesarising from worms, by its anthelmintic
properties.
NNoo..91.0.IsAatstpleicceCiosasohfatMtai.mosa abundantin
prairies.
No. 11. Abundantin the prairies.
No. 12. Aclimber.
No. 13. On thebanks of the river. The
leavtsftaiheredwithanoddone.
No. H. Abundantinprairies.
No. 15. AxtheCoubhattaVillage.
No. 16. On1akeBadika.
No 17, 18. Intheprairies;
No. 19. Vohpodium^ everywhereabundant.
No.20 Oneof themost abundantvcgcta-
bksinthecountry, foundineverysituation.
NNoo..2212,. APlenstmiaflullisnbtihuebprgairroiweis.ng near the
headof thegreatrafl.
No.23. Foundintheprairies.
No.24. Supposed tobe aspeciesof Loni'
cera. IigrowsneartheCoashattavillage.
No.25. Veryabundant.
No.26. AttheCoashattavillage.
Note. The above numbera refer tofpeci-
mcasof theplantt.
FiG.7.Facsimilecopyofthelistof26plantscollectedbyCustisfromtheKingredactionoftheFreeman-Custisreports.
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Thetwoknownsurvivingspecimens,whichcomeIromabovetheGreatRaftin
the prairiesakongthe Red River,are unusual for the presentflora. One,
Veronicastrumvirginicum(L.)Farw.,isveryrare,ifextant,mhouisianatoday,
andtheother,Eiistomarusscllianum(fiook.)G.Don,hasneverbeenfoundinthe
areasince.Whatweretheother"prairie"specimenscollectedbyCustis;and,if
theywereextant,woulditbepossibletoenvisionthetypeofprairiewherethey
occurredi'Unfortunately,theprairiesfromwhichtheseplantscamehavelong
ceasedtoexistandarenowknownonlyfromoldmapsandplacenames(Fig.8).
THF,SHARCH
OnJune12and1.3,2003,wemadeathoroughsearchofallofthespecimensin
theBartonandLambertHerbariaattheAcademyofNaturalSciencesmPhila-
delphia.TheBartonHerbarium,keptseparateattheAcademyofNaturalSci-
ences,consistsoff674specimensoriginallyhousedattheAmericanPhilosophi-
calSocietybutmovedtotheAcademyin1898(Pennellf926).Itconsistsofmany
specimensonlyafewofwhichwerecollectedbyBartonhimself.Theinaprity
werecollectedbyFrederickPursh(Barnhartf926).Barton'scollectionwaspre-
viouslysearchedforthesamematerialbyJamesMearsintheearlyf980'swith
thesameideainmind;hefoundbothofthespecimensmentionedaboveCFlores
f984).OursearchlocatedthreePeterCustisspecimens,thesametwofromthe
RedRiverandoneapparentlyfromVirginia.Thesethreespecimensmayhave
beenallthatweretherein1926whenbothPennell(f926)andBarnhart(f926)
examinedthecollectionsortheywouldhavedonemorethanverybrieflymen-
tionCustisintheirpapers.WealsoexaminedtheAylmcrBourkeLambertcol-
lection,whichistheremainsofLambertslargecollectionpurchasedbyEd-
wardTuckermanandgiventotheAcademymf842(Miller1970).Ithasagood
dealol AmericanmaterialbutnoCustiscollections.Thisleaves24specimens
thathavenotbeenlocated.
Wedonotknowwhathappenedtotheother24Custisspecimens.Weonly
knowthattwoofthemdidgettoPhiladelphia,thenthehubofAmericanbotany
(Pennell1950).Iftwodid,thenprobablyalIofthemdid.Ifthatisso,then,where
aretheynow?Itisunlikelytheywerediscarded;collectorsandcuratorsprized
theirherbaria.But,thefragmentationandneglectofplantcollections(includ-
ingminimallabeling)mtheearlyyearsofAmericanbotanyiswell known
(Pennell1950).Forexample,FrederickPursh,Bartonspart-timecuratorand
collectorbetweenf805and1809,tookvariousspecimensfromtheBartoncol-
lection,includingasignificantportionoftheLewisandClarkcollection,first
toNewYorkandthentoLondon,andmanyplantssimplydisappeared(Ewan
1952;McCourt&Spamer2003).AfterBartonsdeathmf815,hiscollections
werewarehousedforover80yearsattheAmericanPhilosophicalSocietybe-
foretheywereentrustedtotheAcademyofNaturalSciences(MearsI98f).Por-