feet without finding water. This well passes through several strata of loam, clay, and sand; then through a narrow horizontal bed, of that peculiar substance called chalk, by Mr. Schoolcraft;[57] which is here intermixed with numerous angular fragments of flints, and terminates at the surface of a stratum of blue compact limestone, abounding in organic remains. We were informed, that among other things brought up from this well, were masses of carbonized wood, bearing the marks of the axe; but as these could not be found, we thought it reasonable to attribute some part of the account to the active imagination of the narrator. [56] On Dardenne Creek, see preceding volume, note 97. The Cuivre (Copper) River forms part of the northern boundary of St. Charles County.—ED. [57] Views of the Lead Mines, pp. 180, 227.—JAMES. From the _divide_ at the sources of the Cuivre, we overlooked an extensive tract of undulating meadow; and could distinguish on the distant horizon, the wide valley, and the extensive forests of Loutre lick.[58] [58] The Loutre is a Montgomery County stream.—ED. {99} This stream is the first deserving notice, which enters the Missouri from the north. Its sources are several miles to the north-west of those of the Cuivre. In its valley the rocky substrata of the plain are exposed, for an extent of many miles. Near Van Babber's,[59] where we arrived a little before sunset on the 6th, there is, in the middle of the creek, a large brine spring. Over this has been placed a section of the hollow trunk of a tree, to prevent the intermixture of the fresh water of the creek. [59] The correct name of this man was Isaac Van Bibber. His father was killed at the Battle of Point Pleasant (see Bradbury's _Travels_, in our volume v, note 156); he was brought up in Daniel Boone's family, and married Elizabeth Hays, daughter of Boone's eldest daughter, Susan. Emigrating to Missouri in 1800, he served during the War of 1812-15 as major of militia. In the autumn of 1815 he settled at the place called Loutre Lick, on the site of the present village of Mineola, Montgomery County, and a considerable immigration followed. A man named Massey had attempted a settlement even earlier, but from fear of the Indians had retreated. The settlement was sometimes called Van Bibber's Lick. An effort was made to utilize the spring in the manufacture of salt, but the brine proved too weak to yield profitably.—ED.