There is an old expression that "history is written by the winners"..........Most of us grew up learning about how President Thomas Jefferson commissioned Lewis & Clark to go explore the West................We have either read about their great journey in books, studied their exploits while in school or watched the tv Specials that have aired on PBS...........Pretty much lost to the general public and only studied by a handful of Scholars are the 3 other Western Expeditions commissioned by Mr. Jefferson...... All taking place within two years of each other(1804-1806)................Willam Dunbar's Red River expedition of 1804, the Red River Expedition of Thomas Freeman and Peter Custis(1806) and the Zeb Pike expedition of 1806.............Jefferson wanted to know the economic potential of the vast Louisiana Purchase Lands that he had just purchased from the French..............He wanted to befriend the Indian Tribes of the region to both further the Fur Trade for American Trappers as well as inducing the Tribes to become allies of ours so as to compromise Spain's occupation and ownership of Texas and the inter-mountain West all the way to California ............Whie Dunbar, Freeman & Custis and Pike's Expeditions were not as wildly successful in the totality of their accomplishments compared to Lewis & Clark's, each of them added to our knowledge of the natural history, fauna, flora and economic potential of the unexplored American West.................Today let us look at the faunal discoveries of Freeman & Custis in the Red River region of Louisana, Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma...........While the Expedition was halted and turned back by the Spanish Army, Freeman(a Surveyor) and Custis(a Naturalist) cataloged the prolific animal and plant life of this famous River System......... Gray and Mexican Wolves, Cougars, Coyotes, foxes, Bison, Black Bears were all very much in evidence in this part of North America at the turn of the 19th Century

References to native animals:

-Black Bears: "Very numerous"(both the Louisiana subspecies as well as the Black Bear of the Eastern woodlands)...............The Sulpur River in this part of the Country had been named "the river of bears" in 1719

-White Tailed Deer: "Numerous"................In 1775, the village of Natchitoches had exported 36,000 deer skins 

-Wolves-the Gray Wolf and Mexican Wolves..................but Custis and Freeman did not mention the Red Wolf which also occupied this region......."White Wolves(Gray Wolves) are said to be very numerous.........They are perfectly white except the feet and half of the legs...They are seen in large herds"

Red Foxes-seen

Cougars-seen...................Jaguars also occupied this region(as far North as 32 degrees latitude) but were not mentioned in the Freeman-Custis journals---13 years afters Custis and Freeman explored the Red River, the Naturalist, Nuttall states that "panthers were numerous in the woods along the middle Red River"

Bison-"Are first met with about the second little River and become more numerous as you ascend the Red River." "I am told by hunters, that in the large plain about the Panis Villages(Indians of the area), many thousands may be seen at a view---some say they have seen 10,000 at a sight;this is most probably an exaggeration--The Indians pursue them on horses and kill them with bows & arrows and spears"

Beavers-"abundant on the tributary"

Pronghorns--" Probable near the headwaters of the Red River"........In 1687, Joutel described many "wild goats(Pronghorn) two days travel southwest of the Red River, along the Sulphur River."...............In East Texas, confirmed records in the 19th Century had Pronghorn still persisting in Fannin County, Texas, 100 miles beyond the termination of Custis's examination of the river

Elk--"are plenty about the head of the river"........Elk were still found in Louisana as late as 1842... 
The Blackhand Prairie is where abundant herds were to be encountered in the early 1800's-Lowery

Red River Expedition (1806)

The Red River Expedition, also known as the Freeman-Custis Expedition, Freeman Red River Expedition, Sparks Expedition, or officially as the Exploring Expedition of Red River in 1806 was one of the first civilian scientific expeditions to explore the American West. The expedition was turned back by the Spanish before it met all of its goals.

 Planning

President Thomas Jefferson thought the Red River Expedition to be ranked second only to the Lewis and Clark expedition. The Red River stretches west from its confluence with the Mississippi River across what is now the state of Louisiana and part of south-western Arkansas. Further west, the river forms the southern border of Oklahoma where it meets Texas, and finally originates in the Texas panhandle. After acquiring the lands making up the Louisiana Purchase, Jefferson commissioned several groups to explore these unfamiliar lands. ^[1] By sending a group of explorers up the Red River, Jefferson wanted to verify reports that the Red River could provide a water route to Santa Fe. Other goals were to build relationships with the local Indians and to locate the Louisiana Purchase's western border with New Spain. ^[2]

In 1805 and early 1806 the President began to appoint leaders for the expedition. He chose astronomer/suveyor Thomas Freeman, (who had recently been with Andrew Ellicott on his survey of the southern boundary of the United States), Dr. Peter Custis (who served as the group's botanist), and Captain Richard Sparks.^[3] As the expedition grew closer, many more were appointed until the group numbered twenty-four in all.

Jefferson first convinced Congress that the expedition was indeed necessary, and followed by persuading foreign diplomats in Washington that the exploration was for scientific purposes. Both Britain and France accepted the proposal, but the Spaniards did not and claimed that the exploration lands were in fact owned by Spain. ^[4]

 Expedition

On April 19, 1806 the now twenty-four member crew (Freeman and his two assistants, Sparks, two officers, seventeen privates, and a servant) pushed off in two flat-bottomed barges and a pirogue from Fort Adams and turned into the Red River. ^[5] The group gradually took on soldiers along the route in response to rumors of a possible attack by Spanish troops. On July 28, near what is now New Boston, Texas, the group heard gunfire in the distance, which announced the presence of Spanish troops. A parlay was then submitted between the Spanish commander and Freeman. The Spaniards refused to back down and proclaimed their orders to fire on armed troops if they were to pass through Spanish territory. In response Freeman demanded for the Spaniards to portray in writing their objections and to name the authority making these delegations. The Spaniard commander quickly asked when they were going to start on their return journey. ^[6]

 It was quite obvious that Freeman's crew was highly outnumbered, and Jefferson had given the group orders not to take part in any antagonistic conflict with the Spaniards. They turned back on the next day, and traveled back down the river.

Even though at first the exploration ended abruptly, and to some was a failure, it proved to be a success in some aspects. Coupled with Dunbar and Hunter's excursion of the lowland Louisiana, the Red River expedition demonstrated that exploration of this area was possible and that the land could support a large population. This supposed border debacle received much attention. However official comments were not taken concerning these events and only a single printed pamphlet was made about the journey.^[7]

 Results

Spain took a less provoking strategy and opened the Red River country to American traders soon after the expedition. The information gathered by the scientists of the trip proved to be very little compared to the discoveries of Lewis and Clark. Along with the pamphlets mentioned earlier, both Freeman and Custis produced journals that proved to be very priceless information about Indian life and certain aspects of the Red River.^[8]

The objectives of the expedition would not be achieved until 1852, by Randolph B. Marcy. Although the journey is not well known, there are many important events that unfold during this expedition that could have caused history to be drastically changed. Conflict with the Spanish military caused the explorers to turn back. History could have been altered if a battle had occurred at this time.

[edit] Bibliography