Lt. Hartsuff Reports

Lt. Hartsuff Reports, October 27, 1854

Transcribed by Spessard Stone

Fort Meade Florida Oct 27th '54

Sir      In compliance with instructions of Oct. 21st 54, I have the honor to submit the following report of the Country examined by me, including between "Benson's blazed route," Pea river, & an old Indian trail crossing the route & river, & of a small portion of country to the eastward of "Benson's route."

     On the morning of the 23rd inst. I left Fort Meade with my party & Mr. Lanier guide & crossing Pea River at the Fort Meade ford by swimming the animals (the water being higher than usual) and carrying the packs in a boat. I immediately struck into Benson's route & kept it to a point about five miles beyond Bowlegs Creek where I left it & kept about a South West Course to the ruins of a bridge across Pea river at Chok ko nik la. After leaving the route passed several small ponds & marshes, country generally low, grass coarse & high & palmettos large & thick. Of the bridge over the river two of the wooden piers remain entire & might be used in building another. The water is about three ft. deep, bottom smooth and hard, banks abrupt, about 15 ft. high. Country on right bank open & level & land dry & hard. On the left bank a dense swamp for three or four hundred yards. A road has been cut through it but it would be of little use in building a new one, being overgrown & broken up, surface of ground in the swamp irregular. A small branch runs into the river a few hundred yards below the bridge, its banks are covered with palmetto, no appearance of an indian trail in the vicinity, the guide informed me that none ever existed. The trail by which the indians used to arrive at the trading establishment here, crossing the river lower down & passing up the right bank. The guide having reported a way to the indian trail impractible close by the river. I directed him to fulfil as nearly as practible the two conditions of going over the best country for a road, & the shortest distant, to Benson's route. Turned the head of a small branch about a mile from the river, then took a south westerly direction for the Little Charley Popka, country favorable for a road except a few palmettos until near the Charley Popka where the palmettos get quite thick, land low & in some places boggy. Crossed a little branch of the C.P. within sight of it. Water in C.P. about two ft. deep, banks steep; about four yards wide, banks lined with brush (?). After crossing, land favorable for a road until near Benson's route, when the palmettos become large & troublesome. Entered the "route" at one end of the swamp about one mile from Lake branch. Continued on it for about a mile beyond Lake branch, when the guide reported that we had turned the heads of the worst obstructions in our way to the trail; directing him to take the shortest way to it, at the crossing of the river. I arrived there about noon, direction ? West, distant about seven miles, found the trail & ford had been used recently for driving cattle from the right to the left bank of the river & was broad & well defined. A dense swamp extends 1/4 of a mile back from the left bank, but only a short distance from the right bank, river at ford about 20 yards wide, water four ft. deep, banks five or six ft. high, sloping & hard bottom hard. Left the ford, on the trail, direction South for a mile when it changed to South East. The trail to my eyes was entirely obliterated but it had been blazed by the guide as far as the Big Charley Popka, trail keeps the general direction of the river until it crosses the B.C.P. then turns a few degrees East crossing Benson's route in that direction. The Big C.P. at the crossing of the indian trail is not fordable, width fifteen yards deep, depth five ft. bank high and bottom of shifting sand. Guide reported that two logs which had been thrown across at this place by the indians were gone, found with some difficulty a crossing place about 1/2 a mile higher up, palmettos very thick and large, & very troublesome all the way from the crossing on Pea river to this point. After crossing passed several marshes & ponds, a large cypress swamp on left, about four miles from Benson's route, blazed the trees on one side (the one toward Pea river) from the B.C.P. to Benson's route. Arrived at the route about noon. Kept it for a few hundred yards, on our return passing a marsh on our right, then left it keeping a north easterly direction for about five miles. At the point where the indian trail crosses Benson's route, the long prairie mentioned in his report is in sight. From the point five miles from Benson's route just mentioned I took a direction a little west of north & kept it to the Big Charley Popka, blazed the trees on this side. This route turned the heads of the first branch crossed by Lt. Benson, below E A K (?) creek, found the B.C.P. not fordable at the point where our direction intersected it, followed the bank about a mile up, searching a ford, found none & encamped here, river where I encamped 25 to 30 yards wide, depth not ascertained, hard, banks ten to twelve feet high, hard, & never overflown, would be favorable for a bridge if the depth is not too great & would not require causewaying on either side. Next morning followed the river down in search of a ford, found a bad one about a mile below where we first came down the river, found Benson's crossing was but a short distance below, within sight. Went to it & found the water about five ft. deep. Kept the trail back to Fort Meade.

     In the sketch accompanying this report I have made a few changes from Benson's sketch on the authority of my guide who knows more about the country than the one Lt. Benson had, & on my observation.

     Having previously been over the road from Fort Meade to chokko nik-la & examined the ruins of the bridge over Paynes Creek I noted during the examination of the country three routes with special reference to a road from Fort Meade to Fort thompson viz The one by Chokko-nik-la crossing Pea river there & contnuing to Benson's route in south easterly direction. The one from Choko nikla following the Indian trail on the right bank of the river crossing the river where the trail does & continuing on it to Benson's route, & Benson's blazed route, & I think the latter with some slight deviations has decided advantages over the others, for these reasons - It is more direct, passes over a higher country, requires fewer bridges, less causewaying, has not so many palmettos & the fords of the branches are better.

     I am Sir, Very Respectfully
      your Obt. Serv.
     Geo. L. Hartsuff
      2nd Lt. Arty

To 2nd Lieut. T. M. Vincent 2nd Arty Post Adjt. Fort Meade Fla.

Note: Sketch accompanying this report was not attached.

November 16, 2001