Natchitoches

“ For most of these demoiselles are descended from the old colonists of the two Latinic races; not a few with some admixture of African, or Indian. The flaxen hair, blue eyes, and blonde complexion of the Northland are only exceptional appearances in the town of Natchitoches.
Meet these same young ladies in the street, it is the custom, and comme il faut, to take off your hat, and make a bow. Every man who claims to be a gentleman does this deference; while every woman, with a white skin, expects it. On whichever side the privilege may be supposed to lie, it is certainly denied to none. ”

“ Le Beau was the first 46 to arrive at the Natchitoches post. He was the first Doctor to realize that this golden opportunity did not supply medium-of-exchange. The post personnel, their wives and children were exempt from payment for his services. All of the inhabitants and their families supplied the post with food and produce, so they were also exempt as were the Indians. The doctor knew that he would have to wait two years before he would receive his next salary from the King. He could receive payment for his services to the Spanish at Los Adais, but traffic with the Spanish was forbidden. ”

“ The Confederates constantly retreated, frequently stopping to skirmish, but offering no serious resistance.
Natchitoches was reached on April 3, the cavalry division camping just outside the town where a halt of a day or two was made. On the 6th the march toward Shreveport was begun at daylight, the battery marching in the center of the division as reserve artillery. In addition to the troops there was a train of 200 wagons carrying ten days' rations for the men, three days' forage, ammunition, and camp equipage. ”

“ Turning to Sibley (l. c. p. 42) , we find that in 1805 there were 20 men and more women living "about 40 miles from Natchitoches, below the Yattassees [a tribe that lived on Bayou Pierre or Stony creek] , on a lake called Lac Macdon, which communicated with the division of Red river that passes by Bayau Pierre. They live at or near where their ancestors have lived from time immemorial. They being the nearest nation to the old Spanish fort, or Mission of Adaize, that place was named after them, being about 20 miles from them, to the south." Dr. ”

“ In the spring they have been thought by many to migrate in flocks, whereas they are only retreating with their relations away from the haunts of men to the deep, cool woods, where they nest. With infinite patience the nuthatch excavates a hole in a tree, lining it with feathers and moss, and often depositing as many as ten white eggs speckled with red and lilac) for a single brood.
RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH (Sitta canadensis) Nuthatch family
Called also: CANADA NUTHATCH
Length — 4 to 4.75 inches. One-third smaller than the English
sparrow.
Male — Lead-colored above; brownish on wings and tail. ”

“ When a portion of the tribe, settled on Bayou Lafourche, had murdered Mr. Saint-Cosme, a Naktche missionary descending the Mississippi river in 1703, they were attacked by the colonists and their Indian allies. The war ended with a speedy submission of the savages. They called the Naktche Indians their brothers, and their myths related that their "Great Spirit" created them in the country of that people, and gave them laws, women and tobacco. The Cha'hta tribes, who attempted to deprive them of their native land, made continual forays upon them during the eighteenth century. ”

“ It is the little nuthatch hard at work scooping out his home in the bark. He sways his body with every stroke of his beak, and is so busy he takes no notice of you. The nuthatch is very fond of filberts, as his name implies. You may see him in the autumn with a nut firmly fixed in a crevice in the bark of a hazel branch, and he taps away until he pierces the shell and gets at the kernel. Nuthatches, which are very plentiful hereabouts, are sometimes to be found in the forsaken homes of woodpeckers, which they plaster round with mud. ”

“ BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCH
729. Sitta pusilla. 41⁄4 inches
Crown brownish with a white patch on the nape.
These diminutive Nuthatches are found in the southern states. Their general habits do not appear to differ from those of other members of the family. They nest very early, commencing to excavate their holes in January and having complete sets of eggs as early as the middle of February.
They usually are found in small flocks and at night they will often be seen flying to the top of a pine where they sleep, all huddled together. ”

“ Long years after, and when the last Natchez had been gone from the land of his love many years, and when threatening war was disturbing the people of the colonies, there came here a band of men, as had come to this land of beauty and plenty, the oppressors of the Natchez, seeking to make a peaceful home upon these hills, where grew in luxuriant profusion the magnolia and great tulip-trees, and where the atmosphere was redolent with the perfume of the wild flowers which clothed and ornamented the trees and grounds so fruitful and rich with nature's gifts. ”

“ In addition to beetles, moths, caterpillars, ants, and wasps, the nuthatch eats seeds, waste grain, and nuts such as acorns, beechnuts, and chestnuts. [43] His habit of wedging nuts into some crevice that will hold them securely, and then using his strong bill as a hatchet to “hatch” open the nuts is well-known. From that habit he derives his name, which Mr. Forbush says originated probably from nuthack or nuthacker. The bird does much good, and no harm that is known. ”

“ IT IS doubtful if any bird has been more persistently overlooked or more universally confounded with a closely allied species than the subject of this sketch. His superficial resemblances to the white-breasted nuthatch, either in color or voice, are not striking, certainly not so much so as with other species which are not so confused, yet it is certainly true that but a small proportion of the laity are aware that there are two nuthatches roaming the woods, the one a migrant in the Middle and Southern States, the other resident wherever it is found. ”

“ To the northerner, to whom every verdant hill is a magazine of health, every mountain torrent and limpid river are leaping and flowing with life, who receives a new existence as the rays of the summer's sun fall upon his brow, and whose lungs expand more freely and whose pulse beats more strongly under the influence of every breeze, Natchez has been, till within a very short period, associated with miasma and marshes over which the yellow fever, like a demon king, held undisputed sway. ”

“ This Nuthatch, who is our most conspicuous bird-acrobat, persistently walking head downward and performing various tortuous feats while he searches for food, is a resident of the eastern United States, only leaving the most northerly parts of his range for a short time in winter.
He appears to migrate in spring and return in autumn, but in reality only retreats to the woodlands to breed, emerging again when the food supply grows scant in the autumn. ”

“ Naktche town lay, in B. Hawkins' time (1799) , on a creek of the same name, joining Coosa river sixty miles above its confluence with Tallapoosa river, and harbored from fifty to one hundred warriors (Hawkins, p. 42) . A number of Naktche families, speaking their paternal language, now live in the hilly parts of the Cheroki Nation, Indian Territory.
A body of Indians, called by French and English writers Thioux and Grigras, remained in the vicinity of the Natchez colony after the departure of the Naktche Indians, who had been the ruling tribe of the confederacy. ”

“ The white-breasted nuthatch is our most common species east of the great plains, breeding from the Gulf States to the northern border of the United States and to New Brunswick. One peculiarity about him is that he breeds throughout his range, and therefore may be found as both a summer and winter resident in all suitable localities within these boundaries. ”

“ RAND-SUN was a chief of the Natchez tribe. Sun was a common name for all chiefs of that nation; this chief was particularly distinguished in the first war with the French, in which the Natchez engaged, and the title of Great-Sun was given him by his people. He was brave, wise, and generous, and a friend to the whites until the haughty and overbearing disposition of one man brought ruin upon the whole colony. The affair occurred in 1729.
Grand-Sun resided in the beautiful village called White Apple, near the French post of Natchez, the commandant of which was M. Chopart. ”

“ June 9.—The red-breasted nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) at times acts like a real flycatcher. Just now one alighted on a tree-trunk near me, and while investigating the bark crevices, twice he flew out from the trunk, captured a flying insect dexterously in the air, and returned to his gleaning on the bole. ”

“ When he had done invoking the name, he laid himself down upon the earth, hid his head between his paws, and his tail between his legs, and pretended to be sleeping. Presently, the Nanticoke saw arise from the bottom of the lake a creature shaped like a Musk-rat, but larger than any beast he had ever seen. Each of his legs was as large as a tree, and his tail was broader than the length of a man, and his ears were of great size. He had a great white ring around his neck, and around each leg, and his belly was as red as the leaf of the maple in autumn. ”

“ The lesser Suns took care to follow the same custom. The law likewise condemned every Natchez to death who had married a girl of the blood of the Suns as soon as she was expired. On this occasion I must tell you the history of an Indian who was noways willing to submit to this law. His name was Elteacteal; he contracted an alliance with the Suns, but the consequences which this honor brought along with it had like to have proved very unfortunate to him. His wife fell sick; as soon as he saw her at the point of death he fled, embarked in a piragua on the Mississippi, and came to New Orleans. ”

“ The tongue cannot be projected like the woodpecker’s to catch insects with its glue, nor does the tail serve as a support.
“The nuthatch examines old trees with painstaking care, going up and down the trunk repeatedly, or around it in a spiral, and sometimes visiting a branch above or below or on one side. Every crack [183] is explored with the point of the beak, to the accompaniment of the bird’s resonant cry, tuee, tuee, tuee, repeated again and again in a penetrating tone. Very few insects can escape so careful a search. If grubs are lacking, the nuthatch makes a frugal meal of a hazelnut. ”

“ They are erratic winter migrants to the eastern forest types. In Colorado, their preferred habitat is the coniferous-aspen type from the Canadian Life Zone to timberline.
Nest: Red-breasted nuthatches will excavate their own cavity if a natural cavity or woodpecker hole is not available or to their liking (de Kiriline 1952) . Nests are usually 6 to 40 feet above the ground in rotten stubs or branches of dead trees. Nests have been reported in birch, poplar, cottonwood, oak, and pine. Nests usually are not lined, in contrast to those of white-breasted nuthatches. ”

“ The Nuthatches are great friends of the Kinglets and Titmice, and often travel in flocks with them. They pass for being shy, but are not so in reality, but merely elusive because of their restless habits, which seldom allow them to stay in one spot long enough to be examined. ”

“ The poor Natchez shared the hospitality of their protectors until their necessities and sorrows were alike relieved by death; their bones repose in a land unknown to their fathers; their spirits may be again mingled in the beautiful regions which they believe to be prepared by the Great Spirit for the fearless warrior, the successful hunter, and the faithful and hospitable Indian, beyond the great lakes. ”

“ But this also is doubted, since the Nuthatch will climb along the trees and limbs in 137 search of insects and larvæ when the tree hangs full of nuts. So it is thought their principal food is composed of ants, seeds of various shrubbery, bugs and insects.
While the female bird is sitting on her eggs, the male Nuthatch displays a great deal of care and affection, supplying her regularly with the choicest food he can collect. ”

“ At Natchez the tribe, which, from their peculiar customs, have been called the sun worshippers, raised mounds primarily for the residence of their chiefs, who differed from other Indians of that rank, in being invested with special attributes in connection with ceremonies performed before the rising sun. ”

“ They usually weep and lament for their dead three days; but for those who are killed in war, they make a much longer and more grievous lamentation.
Among the Natchez the death of any of their Suns, as I have before observed, is a most fatal event; for it is sure to be attended with the destruction of a great number of people of both sexes. Early in the spring 1725, the Stung Serpent, who was the brother of the Great Sun, and my intimate friend, was seized with a mortal distemper, which filled the whole nation of the Natchez with the greatest consternation and terror ”

“ This parapet, constructed either to keep out bulky intruders or to keep in the young birds, if injured or destroyed will be found restored after a short lapse of time; and so devoted a mother is the hen bird that she will suffer herself to be taken rather than desert her brood. I have rarely noticed a Nuthatch on the ground during winter, but in spring and summer it adds to its diet terrestrial insects and worms and is said also to be partial to red currants—not a singular taste. ”