Hunter and Dunbar Expedition

With Lewis and Clark ascending the Missouri and exploring the northern and western boundaries of the Louisiana Purchase, President Thomas Jefferson selected Scottish-born scientist Sir William Dunbar and Philadelphia chemist George Hunter to explore the Purchase’s southern boundary in present-day Louisiana and Texas. The proposed Grand Expedition or Excursion into the Southwest was an ambitious undertaking on a scale similar to Lewis and Clark’s trip up the Missouri. The president tasked Dunbar and Hunter with exploring the headwaters and courses of the Red and Arkansas rivers by ascending the Red, portaging across the mountains, and descending the Arkansas.

Dunbar, owner of The Forest plantation nine miles south of Natchez, was an experienced surveyor who had traded with Indians and had surveyed the Spanish-U.S. border and lower Mississippi Valley in 1798. After becoming a U.S. citizen, he received the honor of being named surveyor general of Mississippi and made meteorological observations of the region. An acquaintance of Jefferson through the American Philosophical Society, Dunbar constructed an observatory at his plantation equipped with the best astronomical instruments available. He also conducted extensive scientific research on chemically treating soils, increasing crop yields, and developing and improving agricultural machinery such as the cotton baler. He was also skilled in mathematics, botany, zoology, ethnology, meteorology, and other sciences.^[2]Arthur H. DeRosier, Jr., William Dunbar: Scientific Pioneer of the Old Southwest (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2007).

George Hunter, like Dunbar born in Scotland, was one of the finest chemists in early American history. He journeyed west in 1796 and 1802 to explore the Ohio and Mississippi valleys. His trips provided opportunities for him to visit mining operations, salt licks, and other interesting phenomena before he returned to Philadelphia, where he worked as a druggist and doctor. After the purchase, Hunter expressed an interest, and Jefferson appointed him co-leader of the Red River expedition. Subsequently, his widely circulated accounts of the southern portions of the Louisiana Purchase gained general acceptance.^[3]Hunter kept four extensive journals of his western trips and observations of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys. John F. McDermott, ed., The Western Journals of Dr. George Hunter, 1796–1805 … Continue reading

Up the Ouachita

Hunter arrived at Dunbar’s plantation in late July 1804. Jefferson initially wanted to dispatch the expedition earlier, but Spain’s unwillingness to issue passports and Osage Chief Great Track’s threat to kill Americans who invaded Osage land forced them to reconsider their plans. Jefferson, who had requested and received a $3,000 appropriation for the venture, thought it best to exercise caution. To avoid possible trouble with the Osages and Spaniards, Dunbar suggested they pursue an alternative reconnaissance up the Ouachita River, one of the major tributaries along the lower Red, pointing out there were many “curiosities” along that route. Jefferson consented to the change.^[4]For correspondence between Dunbar and Jefferson, see Eron Rowland, comp., Life, Letters, and Papers of William Dunbar (Jackson: Press of the Mississippi Historical Society, 1930). Dunbar’s … Continue reading

On 16 October 1804, Hunter and his teenage son, along with Dunbar, his two slaves and a servant, and thirteen soldiers, set out from St. Catherine’s Landing on the Mississippi River. During the autumn and winter of 1804, they ascended the Ouachita. Hunter’s and Dunbar’s journals contain excellent descriptions of flora, fauna, and soils, as well as accurate thermometer readings and astronomical tabulations. Dunbar utilized a pocket chronometer, a circle of reflection, a compass, and an artificial horizon to take latitudinal and longitudinal readings to make as accurate a map as possible.

Unfortunately, the boat that Hunter had designed and brought down from Pittsburgh did not work as well in inland waterways because its draft was too deep. At Fort Miro (renamed Ouachita Post, now Monroe, Louisiana), Dunbar employed guide Samuel Blazier and, to proceed onward, secured a flatboat with a cabin on deck. On 22 November 1804, while cleaning his gun, Hunter accidentally shot himself, wounding his hand and his head, and burning his eyes. Despite the mishap, they proceeded on their journey, strenuously working up the rapids, or “chutes,” caused by the Ozark Mountains, before arriving in the hot springs area of present-day Arkansas. They spent nearly a month studying the 150-degree water, geological features, and plant and animal life of the area before continuing their journey. By 8 January 1805, cold temperatures and shallow water had turned them back, and while floating downstream they encountered an entourage of Quapaw Indians, who provided them with valuable geographical information. After stopping briefly at Fort Miro, they arrived in Natchez on 27 January 1805.^[5]Trey Berry, Pam Beasley, and Jeanne Clements, eds., The Forgotten Expedition: The Louisiana Purchase Journals of Dunbar and Hunter, 1804–1805 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2006); … Continue reading

Follow-up

Both men presumed that their follow-up excursion up the Red would occur in 1805, but personal circumstances, advancing age (both men were in their fifties), new congressional and War Department directives, and the difficulties of their winter journey up the Ouachita persuaded them not to volunteer for the potentially more hazardous Grand Excursion up the Red River. Continued Osage resistance to American interlopers along the Arkansas and the expected difficulties of a mountain portage further compromised Jefferson’s proposal for a team to ascend the Red and cross over and descend the Arkansas. The duo recommended instead that the next expedition should focus solely on the Red, and Jefferson concurred in May 1805.^[6]For the Red River exploration, see Freeman-Custis Expedition. With the new plan in place, Jefferson continued corresponding with Dunbar who, along with Hunter, began recruiting replacements to lead a party up the Red.^[7]John F. McDermott, ed., “The Western Journals of George Hunter, 1796-1805,” special issue, Proceedings, American Philosophical Society 103, no. 5 (1959). Reprint, Philadelphia: American … Continue reading

Though the Hunter and Dunbar journey was relatively short, their journals and maps provided detailed scientific observations and data on the region’s plant and animal life and its resources. They described an active trade between trappers and Indians along the Red, Black, and Ouachita rivers and chronicled the locations of hot springs, which later attracted hosts of individuals seeking relief from their ailments by soaking in the hot mineral water. Their findings brought them recognition and acclaim after their return. Dunbar resumed oversight of his plantation and continued his scientific observation and writing, providing one of the first topographical and scientific descriptions of the Mississippi Valley. He likewise published a dozen papers on Indian sign language, natural history, and astronomy in the American Philosophical Society’s journal before his death in 1810. Hunter moved his family to Louisiana in 1815 and operated a steam distillery. He was known as a Jeffersonian explorer until his death in New Orleans in 1823.