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as the expedition was poorly documented and ultimately ended in disaster. de Soto
died from a fever most likely caused by malaria at the mouth of the Red River in
AD 1542. The Raft would have been approximately 1,500 years old upon de
Soto's death.
The first historic accounts in an AD 1806 navigation expedition described it as
trunks of large trees, lying in all directions, and damming up the river for its whole
width, from the bottom, to about 3 feet higher than the surface of the river
(Freeman et al.
2002
). The more recent formation process of the Raft was further
described by Dr. Norman Caldwel in his publication ''The Red River Raft''
(Caldwell
1941
), relating higher stages of water in the Mississippi River with
backed up waters at the Red River. Floating driftwood accumulated within the
meandering parts of the river and settled as the waters receded. Once established,
these accumulations would increase yearly, progressing up the river. As time
passed, the lower end of the Raft would rot and fall apart as the upper end grew.
''The raft was thus like a great serpent, always crawling upstream and forcing the
river into new lateral channels'' (Caldwell
1941
). Estimates of the length of the
Raft range from 70 to 200 miles (Albertson
1992
).
Since AD 1542, the lower Red River has been the focus of interest because of
its perceived value as a navigational route. The Raft territory was originally
inhabited by the Adais (Brushwood) Indians of the Caddo Confederacy and was
claimed first by Spain, then France, England, Spain again, and finally France
again. The Red River was the only practical route to northern Texas and to an
enormous area of Indian territories, then a part of Mexico. The Red River was the
logical route for westward expansion and commerce. However, unlike the Ohio
and the Mississippi Rivers, the Red River's unique geologic and hydrologic
properties would prove to be major challenges to the numerous attempts to remove
the Raft and make it suitable for navigation (Wright
1930
).
More than a century and a half would pass from de Soto's sighting of the Red
River to the establishment of a trading post at Natchitoches, Louisiana in AD 1714.
Natchitoches was founded at the toe of Raft by the French explorer, St. Dennis.
The trading post served as a base for several attempts to continue the westward
expansion. Bernard La Harpe was dispatched from Natchitoches in AD 1719 to
explore the region, and to try and establish trade with the Spaniards in New
Mexico, but poor communication with the locals and war ultimately limited
French expansion to the west.
Napoleon sold the Louisiana Territory to the United States as the Louisiana
Purchase in AD 1803. In AD 1806, President Thomas Jefferson sent Captain
Thomas Sparks and scientist Peter Custis to explore the Red River as a possible
alternate boundary to the Louisiana Purchase. This expedition, known as the
Freeman-Custis Expedition, was the southern counterpart to the Lewis and Clark
expedition, and was greatly overshadowed by the latter's achievements (Flores
1984
). No new information was obtained, and the mission was a political setback
for President Jefferson.
The Freeman-Custis expedition was stopped about 30 miles northwest of
present-day Texarkana by a superior Spanish force under Captain Don Francisco
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