50 1 6 popular reactions to the new madrid earthquakes 1811 1812 legan marshall scott

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POPULAR REACTIONS TO THE NEW

MADRID EARTHQUAKES, 1811-1812

BY MARSHALLSCOTT LEGAN*

MonroeLousana

The pioneer on the Mississippi Valley frontier in 1811-1812 experi-

enced difficulties not unlike those already encountered in other border

regions. Is ola ted fa rms teads remained prey to maraud ing bands of In-

dians. Warlike ges t u r e s by the British had not only the frontier, but the

more heavi ly popu la ted sections restless. Neither the Span ia rds , bemoan-ing their loss of New Orleans with its flourishing Valley t rade, nor the

recent Burr "conspiracy" which still l ingered in the minds of American

expansionists, could be ignored. The mental pressures only compounded

the expected r igors of the rough and tumble frontier environment.

However, a new element of suspense was introduced in December, 1811,

when the region experienced the opening throes of a series of earth

tremors known a s the New Madrid Earthquakes. One commentator a s -

certained that the earth was shaken from New York to the F lo rid as ,

from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River, and specula ted thatan immense tract of country west of the Mississippi experienced simi lareffects. 1 During and after the trembling, both the illiterate and erudite

wrote or related their stories embell ishing their accounts to make better

yarns. The personal accounts of the earthquakes, both fanciful and

real, provide a valuable insight into frontier society and American

folklore.

In retrospect, the year 1811 had proven ominous. The oldest inhabi-

tants of the Mississippi Valley could not remember the River ever be-

ing frozen twice in one season. Widespread floods during the springtha w p romoted the spread of remittent, and intermittent fevers which

remained even after the water receded. Tornadoes ravaged the conti-

nent from Maine to Georgia. The oceans, subjected to vo lc an ic ac tio n,

disgorged entirely new islands. There were reports that even the forest

creatures responded with a morbid recklessness a s multitudes of squir-

rels obeying some supernatural urge left their northern retreat and mi-

grated southward giving way to no obsta cle although m any d ro wn ed

in the broad Ohio River. The fires , s to rms , to rnadoes , freshets, duels,

*Marshal Scott Legan, Ph.D., teaches history at Northeast Louisiana University in

Monroe, Louisiana.

1 The Panoplist, and Missionary MagazineUnited, New Series, IV (April, 1812), 526;Niles' WeeklyRegister, I (January 4, I812), 335; Eugene Lawrence, "The Lands of theEarthquake," Harper's New MonthlyMagazine, XXXVIII (1869), 480-481.

60



1976] PopularReactions to the NewMadridEarthquakes 61

murders, and assassinations were seen as auguries of even greater

caamties.2

Anxieties seemedconfirmed onDecember 16, 1811, when numerous

earth shocksbegan and continued into 1812, thoseof January23 and

February7 bengof extreme intensity. As late as the past decade, a

geologca text describedthe initia shock as themost severeearthquake

inAmericanhistory.3 J.Brookes,wholived inLouisville,Kentuckyand

kept a chronicle of the tremors btween December, 1811, and May,

1812,wroteoftheinitia shocks:

It seemed a s if th e surface of th e earth was afloat and set in motion by a

slight application of immense power , but when this regularity is broken

by a sudden cross shove, all orde r is destroyed, and a boiling action is

produced, during the cont inuance of which th e degree of violence is

greatest and the scene mos t dreadful; houses and other objects oscilate

largely, irregularly, and in different direct ions....The genera l consterna-tion is great , and th e damage done considerable. 4

Suspected causesof such phenomenarangedfromthe illogica andob-scuretothetechnica andcomplex.

Theappearanceof asplendid comet in theheavensgeneratedspecu-

lationover astronomca causations for the earthquakes. Theoreticians

mereyemulated the ancient Babylonianswho ascribed such phenom-

enatotheinfluenceofceestia bodies.ANegro inNewOrleansproph-

esied forthcomngdestruction by the comet onMarch 18, 1812, in

honorof thebirthdateof aRomanking.5 If such reveationsweregen-

uine, then,bywhatmethodsdid thecomet shaketheearth? JohnBrad-

bury, aBritish botanist on an expedition down theMississippi River,taked toone inhabitantwho attributed thedisturbance to thecomet.

Thefieryvisitorwasdescribedashavingtwohorns. Theearthhadrolled

overoneof them and itsattempt to dislodgeitsef produced thetrem-

z Henry Marie Brackenridge, Views o • Louisiana: Together with a Journal o[ a V oyageup the M issouri River, in 1811 (Chicago: Quadrangle Books, Inc., 1962), 111; "A Retro-spect of the Year 1811," T he Month ly M agazine and Literary Journal, I (May 1812), 33;Charles Joseph Latrobe, T he Rambler in Nor t h America (2 vols.; London: R. B. Seeleyand W. Burnside, 1835), l, 102; New Orleans Louisiana G azette and D ai ly A dver t iser(December 4, 1811); Lexington (Ky) American Statesman (December 17, 1811).•William C. Putnam, G eology (New York: Oxford University Press, 1964), 210.

Charles F. Richter in his E lementary Seismology (1958) estimates that all three of thesevere New Madrid shocks exceeded magnitude eight which is significant since the largestrecorded earthquakes have only neared eight and three-fourths magnitude.

4 Henry McMurtie, Sketches o[ Louisville and I ts Environs; including . . . a Florulalouisvillensis . . . To which is added an app end ix , Contain ing an Accurate Account of theEarthquakes Experienced Here f rom the I6 th D ecember, 18ll, to the 7th February,1812, Extracted Principaly [rom the Papers of the Late J. Brookes, esq. (Lousville:Printed by S. Penn, 1819), 233.

S Frankfort (Ky) Am er ican Repub li c (March 27, 1812); Richmond Virginia Argus(February 13, 1812); New Orleans Louisiana G azette (November 27, 1811).



62 The Filson Club History Quarterly [Vol. 50

ors. If the other horn was successfully surmounted, the world would

remain sa fe ; otherwise, inevitable destruction would follow. Of this in-

cident Bradbury wrote: "Finding him confident in his hypothesis, and

myself unable to refute it, I did not dispute the point....,o.

A New Orleans newspaper ventured the opinion that since the comet

had passed its perihelion, perhaps its touching the mountains of Cali-

fornia caused the s h a k e toward the eas te rn s ide of the globe, and

a widely circulated periodical contained an extensive article on comets.

Its author, pleading ignorance of scientific relationships between com-e ts and earthquakes, d iscussed parallels of former calamities in 1807

with the simultaneous appearance of a comet. To him, such a hypoth-

esis was by no mean s slightly founded. • Even a poet's l i cense was in-

spired to ask of the comet: "Or dost thou floods and earthquakes bring!

Or com'st to wrap in f l ames the world? ''8 Nevertheless, the plausibility

of the comet theory was criticized by an Irishman who ended a deba te

on the comet by declaring that in the old country he had roasted pota-

toes in the tail of them. Kentuckian William Brown recorded details of

both occurrences, but as his defender observed: "It is evidence of hisfreedom from superstition that he does not s u gge s t any connection

between the comet and the earthquake. '' • Since evidence neither sup-

ported nor rejected a relationship between earthquakes and comets, the

deba te remained unresolved to an American frontier strongly wedded

to independence of thought.

Heavenly bodies other than the comet sha red the blame for such d e -

struction. The earth's satellite was thought to be coming in contact with

the world, and the frequent repetition of the shocks were attributed to

their rebounding. However, this notion was soon "knocked as low" a s

the quake had leveled chimneys by the appearance of the moon the

next evening?°The learned Daniel Drake in Cincinnati some months

before the tremors observed the sun surrounded by concentric circles

and the moon encircled by a halo exhibiting prismatic colors. A bril-

liant ball with the reflective power of the full moon passed over the

6ohn Bradbury, T ravels in the Interior o] Am erica, in the Y ears 1809, 1810, and181l; Including a D escription of Upper Louisiana, together w ith the Illinois and WesternTer r ito ri es, and Containing Remarks and O bservations Useful to Persons Emigrating tothose Countries (Liverpool: Printed for the Author by Smith and Galway, 1817), 206.7New Orleans Louisiana G azette (December 21, 1811); "Comets," N iles" Weekly

Register, I I (March 21, 1812), 50-52.s Frankfort Amer ican Repub l ic (December 27, 181).9 WilliamAllen Pusey, "The New Madrid Earthquake--An Unpublished Contemporan-

eous Account," Science, New Series, LXXI (March 14, 1930), 286; New Orleans Louisi-ana G azette (December 2, 1811).1°Richmond Virginia Argus (February 24, 1812); Baltimore (Md) Amer ican and

D ai ly A dver t iser (February 21, 1812).



1976] Popular Reactions to the New Madrid Earthquakes 63

cityofPittsburgh?1 Attendantwththeseastronomcal fearswasthebe-

lief that theearthquakeswereextensiveenough to throw thegobeout

of itsorbit,or cause it to lose its repelant forceand comewthin the

gravitationa power of some superior body causing a collision of

planets.12

Indians in theMississippi Valeybefore 1811 had legendsof great

earthquakesthatdestroyedthearea. Indeed, geologcalevidenceaswel

aswritten records attested to the vaidityof ther stories. Immense

cracks in theearthwth treesfully200 yearsoldgrowngat thebot-tomandon theslopeswereobservedin theareaofdisturbancebefore

1811-1812.A CatholicmssionaryasearlyasDecember25, 1699, in the

generalregonrecorded:

Weweregreatlyastonishedto seetheearth trembleatoneo'clock in theafternoon, andathoughthis earthquakedidnot last long itwasviolent

enough forall to perceveit easily,is

ChiefBlackFeather,aShawnee, traveingwthadetachmentof Ameri-can soldierson therway to FortMelts [Ohio] in 1812, fet theearth

totter.When queriedwhether hehadever beforeexperienced asimlar

sensation, he replied that at three different timesduringthe previous

fortyyearshehadfelt tremors.14

Mostof the Indiansassociated theearthquakeswth theGreat Spirit.

However, oneIndianwhenaskedwhatbroughtontheshockssolemnly

pointed to the heavens and replied: "Great Spirit--whiskey too

much.''xsOther tribes interpreted theearth tremors as sent to destroy

thewhites; theOtosbeievedtheBigKnives[soldiers]werebengpun-ished for killing theson of theMaster of Lifeashe rode through the

foreston awhitestalion. TheMissouri Indians linked theearthquakes

wtha supernatura agency, likethunder, andassumedtheyweremerey

part of the operations of theMaster of Life. Indians in pursuit of

gameas far as theRockies, after witnessingmountans tumbling to

al Daniel Drake, Natural and Statistical View, or Picture o ] C incinnat i and the MiamiCountry (Cincinnati: Printed by Looker and Walace 18155, 239-240; Richmond VirginiaArgus (March2, 18125.12Baltimore Amer ican and Daily A dvertiser (March 3, 18125; Richmond kirgnia

Argus (January9, 1812); Niles'-IVeekly Register, I t (March 21, 18125, 51.as Samuel Cole Williams, Early Travel s in the T ennessee Country, 1540-1800 (Johnson

City, Tennessee: TheWataugaPress, 1928), 66; Sir Charles Lyell, A Second Visit to theUnited States o / N orth America (2 vols.; New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers,18505, I I , 180.1,McMurtle, Sketches o[ Louisvilleand I ts Environs, 25.15 Thomas Bangs Thorpe, "Remembrances of the Mississippi," H arp er's New Monthly

Magazine, XI I (December, 1855), 33; Edwin Adams Davis, "A Northern Sojourner'sRemembrances of the Mississippi," Journal o / Mississippi H istory, XI I (July 19505, 140.




pieces, trees snapped off at the roots, and signs of volcanic eruptions,

rode night anddayin order to perishwth their relatives,le

Twoeventsofmonumental significance for thehistoryof theMissis-

sippi Valleyoccurred almost simultaneouslywth the earthquakes. In

themndsof the Indians, theseoccurrenceswere intimately intertwned.

Tecumseh, the brilliant Shawnee leader, visited the southern tribes to

gain their adherence to his proposed confederacy.When a Creek chief-

tain remainedobdurate,Tecumseh threateneduponhisreturntoDetroit

to stamphis foot upon the ground and shakedowneverydwelling.TheCreeks became awe-struck when a mghty rumbling was heard and

their homes began to reel. Immediately the warriors shouted that Te-

cumseh had arrived in Detroitbecause they could feel the stamping of

his foot.Another Indian recalled the calamtywas foretoldbythe "'Pro-

phet" [Tecumseh's half-brother] for the destruction of the whites;

British traders counseled tile red men to hold American malice re-

sponsible for the unprecedented tremors?7 Along the Mississippi River,the Indians accused the New Orleans, the first steamboat on thewest-

ernwaters, of causing both the comet and the earthquakes. Describingthesteamboatas "Pinelore" or"FireCanoe," the sparks fromthesmoke-

stack were likened to the tail of the comet, and the rumbling of the

earth resulted from the beating of thewater by the fastmoving pad-

dles?s The defeat of Tecumseh and the success enjoyed by the New

Orleans, in retrospect, assume a symbolic importance in the eventual

westwardmovementofthe frontier fromthisregion.

z6LexingtonAmerican Statesman (February 11, 1812); Account of an Expedition from

Pittsburg to the Rocky Mountains; Performed in the Years 1819, 1820. By order of the

Hon. 1. C. Calhoun, Secretary of War, Under the Command o / Maor S. H. Long, of the

U. S. Topographical Engineers, Compiled ]tom the notes o[ Maior Long, Mr. T. Say, andother Gentlemen of the party by Edwin ]ones (3 vols.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees,Orme, and Brown, 1823), II, 57. Appears in ReubenGold Tbwaites (ed.), Early WesternTravels (32vols.; Cleveland: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1904-1907), XV.

1¢Albert James Pickett, History of Alabamaand Incidentally of Georgia and Mississippi

from the Earliest Period, Second edition (2 vols.; Charleston: Waker and Jones, 1851),II , 246; Dale Van Every, The Final Challenge: The American Frontier, 1804-1845 (New

York: William Morrow and Company, 1964), 105; Lexington American Statesman

(January 21, 1812). For other embellishments on the Tecumseh incident see Henry S.Halbert andT. H. Ball, The Creek War o/ 1813 and 1814 (Chicago: Donohue & Henne-berry, 1895), 67, andGlen Tucker, Tecumseh: Vision o/ Glory (NewYork: The Bobbs-

MerrillCompany, Inc., 1956), 211.

18Latrobe, The Rambler in North America, I, 103. The experience of the New Orleans

and the earthquake is a frequently quoted story. A prepared bibliography on the incidentcould extend ad infinitum; however, illustrativereferences include: Emerson W. Gould,Fifty Years on theMississippi; or, Gould's History o[ River Navigation (St. Louis: Nixon-

Jones PrintingCo., 1899); John F. H. Claiborne, Mississippi as a Province, Territory andState, Wth Biographical Notices of Eminent Citizens (2 vols.; Jackson Power & Barks-dale, Printers, I880); Ethel C. Leahy (ed.), Who's Who on the Ohio River (Cincinnati:

E. C. LeahyPublishing Co., 193I); Leonard V. Huber, "Heyday of the Floating Palace,"American Heritage: The Magazine of History, VIII (October. I957), 15-25, 96-98, andCarl Vitz, "The Steamboat Comes to the Ohio," Bulletin of the Historical and Philo-

sophical Society ot Ohio, X (July,1950), 197-214.



1976] Popular Reactions lo lhe New Madrid Earlbquakes 65

The Cherokee Chieftain Skaquaw (the Swan) admonished his tribe

to move after the Great Spirit appeared to him in a vision. The chief

related to h is tribesmen how the Spirit was determined to put an end

tomankind and only save h is red children. In his words:

• . . The fire of war i s burning already in all four corners of the earth.Watch fo r a sign and the ea rth wi l l soon shake, l ike a horse shakes the

dust from his bac k, but be sure to move away f rom the S t . Francis.

The result of this prophecy was total evacuation of the St. FrancisRiver Valley (Arkansas), and movement to the White, Arkansas, Big

Mulberry, and Missouri Rivers.1 ° Despite such displacement, stories

emerging from Indian country were indeed grim. Warriors near the

Arkansas River told of see ing a large lake or se a where many of their

brothers had previously res ided . Believing their comrades had perished

in the general wreck, and to escape a similar fate, the band traveled

three days up the Arkansas, frequently having to cut down large t rees

to cross the cha sms in the earth. Newspapers reported seven Indians

swallowed up, only one of them escaping after being taken into theground to a depth of two t r ees in length and being forced out of the

earth again when water c ame up under him. Wading and swimming

four miles, the Indian r eached dry land to tell of his experiences,s°

White men, at times, attempted to be more objective and logical in

their reactions to the causes of the tremors. A prevalent delusion was

that volcanic eruptions e l sewhe re caused the plight along the frontier.

Shocks were ascribed to eruptions in the Southwest, perhaps in Mexico,

New Spain, Quinto, or southward in the West Indies. During the same

period, violent explosions and tremors did sweep through South Ameri-

ca. An earthquake in Venezuela on March 26, 1812, destroyed nearly

all of Caracas and the town of Laguira. With over 10,000 inhabitants

buried under the rubble, survivors interred the dead in the sea or cre-

mated them because of the awful stench. A night conspicuous for sub-

terranean thunder in the United States proved to be the same one in

which the Venezuelan d isas te r occurred. To many scientific minds,

f lashes of light and subterranean noises were closely assoc ia ted reactions.

A Charleston newspaper m a d e reference to vulcanism after receiving a

letter from Raleigh, North Carolina, which asser ted that a volcano had

1 9 L o u i s B r i n • i e r , ' * N o t i c e s of t h e Geology, M inera logy , Topography, P r o d u c t i o n s , a n d

Aboriginal I n h a b i t a n t s of t h e R e g i o n s a ro u n d t h e M i s s i s s i p p i a n d i t s c o n f l u e n t Waters--i n a l e t t e r from L . B r i n g i e r , E s q . of L a . t o R e v . E l i a s Cornelius--communicated f r o m t h i sJ o u r n a l " Th e A m e r ic a n J o u r n a l o / S c i e n c e a n d A r t s , Il l ( 1 8 2 1 ) 4 0 .

2 o B a l t i m o r e A m e r ic a n a n d Dai ly Adver t i ser ( F e b r u a r y 2 1 a n d M a r c h 3 , 1812) ; Lexing-t o n A m e r ic a n S t a t e s m a n ( J a n u a r y 2 1 , 1812) ; New O r l e a n s L o u is i a n a C o u r ie r ( F e b r u a r y3 , 1812); R i c h m o n d Vi rg in ia A r gus ( F e b r u a r y 2 4 , 1812.)



66 The Filson Cit:b History Quarterly [Vol. 50

burst forth in the BuncomeMountans between North Carolina and

Tennessee. Theunwaryeditor hastily concluded: "Shoud the account

prove correct, we shal find 11o dil• culty in ascertaining the cause of

thelatenumerousearthquakes.''21

The news of the volcano between North Carolina and Tennessee

proved tobeimmenseypopular. OnFebruary15, 1812, theCharleston

paper reprinted thetextof a letter gvinganaccountof theeruption.

On themorningof the16thultimo, agreat smokewasseen to issuefrom

thetop ofSpear'sMountain [wth] . . . great noiseheard thro thede).Thecontinuedsmoke left no doubt but it was a volcano thathad burst

forth during theearthquake....t still continues to burn wth great

violenceand throwsup lava scoria ashes cacined stones and vitrified

matter ingreatquantitiesandwththemost tremendousnoise....nthenight timethe ignited stones, cinders, etc. whicharethrown twoor threehundred feet into theair present a grand appearanceand have a greatresemblanceto artificia fireworkssuchasrockets, etc....n afewdays,I shal goandtakeanotherviewof thisWestern Aetna I t is hoped that

it will draw theattentionof somegeologst or man of Sciencewhowill

be abetodrawa correctdescriptionof it. I haveseenbut twopiecesof

pumceaone JohnClarkEdwards.m

On the next page the paper reflected that Edwards was the same gen-

tleman who had furnished a marvelous account of the falling of Painted

Rock during the earthquake, a story which was soon afterward contra-

dicted. Indeed, seve ra l visitors from the supposedly affected area had

neither seen nor heard of anything of the kind. The paper concluded:

"We think this story of the volcano should be received with great cau-

tion notwithstanding the .circumstantial description which he g ives of

the phenomenon. ''23 Nevertheless, Edward's story was widely publicized

by news hungry editors and there is no way of determining the number

of gullible minds that fell prey to the spurious reports of volcanic

activity.2 4

=1Charleston (S.C.) Courier (February 13, 1812); Richmond Virginia Argus (April23, 1812); Timothy Flint, Recollections o[ the Last Ten Years, Passed in occasionalresidences and iourneyings in the Valey of the Mississippi, f rom Pittsburg and theM issouri to the G ulf o[ Mexico, and f rom Florida to the Spanish Frontier; in a series o[Letters to the Rev. James Flint, of Salem, Massachusett s (Boston: Cummings, Hillard, andCompany, 1826), 224. See also "E arthquakes on the Mississippi; extracted from theTravels of Mr. Flint,;' T he American Journal of Science and A r ts, XV (1829), 366-368;The Panoplist, N.S., IV (April 1812), 29-77, and Lyel[. A Second Visit to the UnitedStates ot North America, I f, 172.

u2 Charleston Courier (February15, 1812).23Ibid. For a report of Edwards's Painted Rock story see: Baltimore Amer ican and Daily

A dvertiser (January 30, 1812); Charleston Courier (January 25, 1812), and RichmondVirginia Argus (February 6, I812).

24 Frankfort American Republic (March 27, 1812); Lexington American Statesman (Feb-ruary 25 and March ?,, 1812); Richmond Virginia Argus (February 10, 1812).




Observations of other geological disturbances closely assoc ia ted with

vulcanism lent support to its connection with the tremors. Thomas

Nuttan, visiting the Arkansas Territory in 1819, watched very deep

mud boiling up into circular masses like fumeroles. He a s sumed that

vast beds of lignite or wood-coal filled with pyrites had decomposed

near the Mississippi River and produced the earthquakes.2 • Other west-

erners speculated that fire feeding on some hidden deposit of under-

ground combustible matter produced the upheavals. As the fire burned,

occasionally it penetrated subterraneous s t r e ams creating powerful s team

which shook everything above until ' _ ' t gained sufficient room under-

ground or was discharged into the air. The motion extended great dis-

tances either by the continuity of the solid earth or by subterraneous

vacuities into which the s team darted. This action caused the earth to

shake hundreds of miles away almost at the same instant. The fire the-

ory seemed plausible to those who affirmed that fire caused the subter-

ranean thunder that rumbled through the countryside. Inhabitants in

New Madrid, Missouri, witnessed at the time of the heavy shocks , not

only f i ssures open in the earth, but also something like smoke or s team

issue out of them. One observer expected "every moment to s e e it blaze

and believes it would have done so if it were not for the large quantity

of sand discharged with it. ''26 Charred wood thrown up in seve ra l places

gave more conclusive proof, as well as lava observed floating on the Mis-

sissippi River.27

Sincepeopleexperiencedsensationsmuch likethoseproduced in beng

shockedbyastronggavanic battery, theeectrica hypothesiswas de-

bated widely. Louis Bringier, aNew Orleans engineer, attributedthe

quiveringtoeectricity, andDanie Drakeof Cincinnati conductedex-

perimentswthan iron rodsupporting a cork bal eectrometer inserted

sixoreght inches into theground. Another publishedopinionsupposed

theaffinityof terrestia for ceestia elctricity and its violent efforts to

escapefromtheearth'sbowescreatedtheagtations.2s Credencewaslent

to thistheoryaftereachshockwasobserved toendwtha snaporcrack

likethatheardon discharginganeectricbattery.A Kentuckian finaly

concluded that if theearthquakeswerecausedby theemssion of eec-

2 • Thomas Nuttall, ]ournal o[ Travels into th e A r• ansar Territory, During the Y ear

1819. IVith Occasional Observations on the Manners of the A borigines (Philadelphia:Thomas H. Palmer. 1821), 85 . A ppears in Thwaites (ed.}, Early Western Travels, XIII.

2 e Stanley Griswold, "Information Concerning the Ear thquak es wh ich have prevailedin th e United States since December . 1811; particularly in th e States an d Territories ad -jacent to th e River Mississippi. In several letters from the Hon . Stanley Griswold, ofKaskaskia, to th e Hon . S . L . Mitchell," The Medic al Repository, New Series, I (1813),304-305; Frankfort A merican Repub lic (February t4 an d March 27 , 1812).

2 7 Lexington A m erican Statesman (December 24 , 1811); Richmond V irginia A rgus(February24, 1812).

2s Bringier, American Journal of Science and Arts. IlI, 20; Drake, Natural and Statisti-cal V i ew or Picture of Cincinnati, 240; Nilef ]VeeklyRegister, ]I (March 21, 1812), 51 .




trical matter from the bowels of the earth, then they would cease after

the atmosphere became saturated, hopefullywithout any material injury

to any part of the country,s°

In many localities, inhabitants remembered other less scientific oddi-

ties which speculation linked with stimuli producing the earthquakes.

InSouth Carolina before the first tremor, the ocean roared with unusual

loudness, while on the Mississippi River an old navigator, feeling the

initial shock, dismissed the water's turbulence as banks caving into the

River. Among the more foolish of the enumerated causes was the unin-

formd man who feared that the shocks were produced by the reaction

of chemicals on copper that he buried in order that it might undergo a

process that would fit it for use in coining counterfeit money,z° How-

ever, this absurdity seemed matched by the fear of an Arkansan who

accidentally opened an Indian grave and feared the shaking was the In-

dian "turning over," or the young child possessed of a guilty conscience

blaming himself after he had gathered hazelnuts on the sabbath.3 1 Each

individual, whether frontiersman or scientist, had his own explanation

for the tremors and no single cause was proclaimed universally.

The weather, constantly changed from oppressive heat to severe cold,

and nature's creatures seemed to conform to the moods of the earth-

quakes. Heaviest shocks usually occurred in the coldest extremes of wea-

ther and in the coldest time of the day. The naturalist, John James

Audubon, on horseback near Hendersonville, Kentucky, during the first

tremor, noticed a strange darkness in the west. Hearing what was

thought to be the distant rumble of a tornado, Audubon spurred his

steed in order to find shelter. After the shock, he recalled: "The heav-

ens again brightened as quickly as they had become obscured. ''m In

other communities, days became hazy with fog arising, and a strong

sulfurous smell permeated the atmosphere,m Itwas reported that great

29 Frankfort American Republic (February 14, 1812); Batimore American and Daily

Advertiser (January 30, 1812).30Richmond Virginia Argus (March 2, 1812); Water Brownlow Posey, "TheEarth-

quake of 1811 and I ts Influence on Evangeistic Methods in the Churches of theOldSouth," Tennessee Historical Magazine, Second Series. I (1931), 109; Water BrownlowPosey, The Development of Methodism in the O ld Southwest: 1783-1824 (Tuscaoosa,AlabamaWeatherfordPrintingCompany, 1933), 51.31Horace Jewel, History of Methodism in Arkansas (LittleRock: Printed and Bound

by Press PrintingCompany, 1892), 26; Margaret Ross, "TheNewMadrid Earthquake,"

The Arkansas HistoricalQuarterly, XXVII (Summer, 1968), 99.3• Mrs. John ]ames Audubon (ed.), The Life of John ]ames Audubon (NewYork:G. P. Putnams Sons, 1883), 53; Constance Mayfied Rourke Audubon (New York:

Harcourt, BraceandCompany, 1936), 106-107.33Lexington American Statesman (March 3, 1812); New Orleans Louisiana Courier

(February 3, 1812); LorenzoDow. The Dealings of God, Man, and the Devil; as Exem-

plified in theLife, Experience, and Travels o/ Lorenzo Dow, in a period of over Half aCentury: Together with his Polemic and Miscelaneous IVritings, Complete. T o which is

Added: TheVicissitudes of Life br Peggy Dow (2vols.; NewYork: Cornish, Lamport &Co., 1851), I , 156; William Legh Pierce, An Account of the Great Earthquake in the

Western States, Particularly on the Mississippi River; December 16-23, 18ll (Newbury-port, Massachusetts: Printed at theHerad Office, 1812), 3, 12.



1976] Popular Reactionsto theNewMadridEarthquakes 69

numbersof stupefiedwld creatures, bear, deer, wolves, andpanthers

pressed closer to humans for companionship in their hour of terror.

Even thefowslost al power anddisposition to fly, lightingon peoples

heads, aboutfiresof thosewhohad left ther dwellings,andon rocking

boatson theMssissippi River. Domesticated stock wasmuch agtated

wth frightenedhorses nickering, cattle lownghogssqueaing, andal

running to the inhabited dwellings for protection and comort.34 The

terribleunrestof theanimasmade theexperienceevenmoreterrifying

forhumanexistence.

Men confessed toaurasofgiddinessduring the earthquakes. Insom

nia and solitudewere common symptoms of themeancholia which

gripped human habitations. On board the New Orleans, silence pre-

valed, even necessary conversations bengwhispered. Barges and flat-

boats, insteadof theusua exchangeofgreetings, passedamostsullenly.

Mrs. Nicholas Roosevet lived in constant fear "unable to sew or

read.''aSThe rollingof theearthwas so violent in places that settlers

could stand only wth ditficulty.Manyof those standing experienced

sensationsof vertigo. Severa ladiescomplaned that theywereafradoffaling fromtheir seats. Fantingandnausea indicated the convulsive

natureof the tremors.36 Although statistica evidence is lacking in the

number of deaths caused by the earthquakes, themortaity ratewas

lowchieflybecauseof thesmalpopulationandther habitation in shod-

dilybuilt logcabins. Settlershadonly to bewaryof openingchasms,

drowningorbenghit by a falingtreeorchimney,s7

Inevitably, popular consensus came to ascribethe tremors to divine

sanctions, however theymght be induced. Thegoom producedby the

horrorsof theearthquakes foundperhaps itsmost fruitful reaction inrenewedreligiousfervor. Scripturepassageswereassiduouslycombedfor

stVan Every, The Final Challenge, 109; J. W. Foster, The Mississippi Valley; I tsPhysical Geography (Chicago: S. C. Griggs and Company, 1869), 23; Zadok Cramer,TheNavigator; Containing Directions [or Navigating the Monongahela, Allegheny, Ohioand Mississippi Rivers; With an Ample Account of these Much Admired Waters, Fromthe Head of the Former to the Mouth of the Latter; And a Concise Description of their

Towns, Villages, Harbors, Settlements, etc. lVith Maps of the Ohio and Mississippi,Eighth Edition (Pittsburgh: Robert Ferguson & Co. Printers, 1814), 303-304; DanieBerry, "The Illinois Earthquake of 1811 and 1812," Illinois State Historical Library

Publications, XII (1908), 78; Francis A. Sampson, "TheNewMadrid and Other Earth-

quakes of Missouri," Missouri Historical Review, VII (July, 1913), 186.s5 Leahy (ed.), Who's Who on the Ohio River, 350; Huber, "Heyday of the Floating

Paace," American Heritage, VIII (October, 1957), 19; Richmond Virginia Argus (Feb-ruary10, 1812).

3"New Orleans Louisiana Courier (February 3, 1812); Richmond Virginia Argus

(January 9 and February 3, 1812); John Haywood, The Natural and Aboriginal

History o[ Tennessee up to the First Settlements therein by the WhitePeople in the Year

1768: Including Archaeological, Geological and Historica Annotations Bringing the

Ancient Account into Focus with Present Knowledge (edited byMary U. Rothrock; Jack-son,TennesseeMcCowat-MercerPress, 1959), 31.

s7 Foster, TheMississippi Valley, 19, 22.




revelations of approaching doom, and voluminous amounts quoted to

justify the wrath of the Almighty. The psalmist David had prophesied

of the Lord that "he looketh on the earth, and it trembleth," while the

apost le Matthew wrote of "earthquakes in divers places." Sin-hardened

frontiersmen were urged to take heed of their ways and ready them-

se lves with lamps trimmed and burning. Thus prepared, even the d isso-

lution of the world would justly be a subject of rejoicing? s The west-

ern mind, long respectful of s igns and omens , thus was easily swayed by

ministers who made shrewd use of natural phenomena.

By the last severe shock on February 21 , 1812, most settlers recog-

nized the tremors a s me r e physical reactions. Whatever the causes,

whether natural or supernatural, there was a tapering off period when

the shocks grew fainter. An Illinois resident recalled that the water in

his father's well was never still for more than two years after the event.

John James Audubon became so accustomed to the earth's trembling

that he rather enjoyed the fears manifested by others?9 After the initial

shock, a Kentuckian exp ressed a strong des i re to experience another.

When his wish was instantly met, he recalled: "I was then quite satisfied

and had no des i re to s e e any more shocks . ''4° In less than three months,

people became so accustomed to the recurring vibrations that they paid

little regard to them, not even interrupting their dances , frolics, and

v ices . In 1824, Timothy Flint noted that occasional shocks were still

felt. Staying in New Madrid, he remembered:

In themdst of someof theseconversations, prolonged over the v• interfire,wewerenotunfrequently interrupted for a momentby the distant

andhollow thunder of the approaching earthquake. An awe, a slight

paenesspassedovereverycountenance. Thenarrativewassuspended foramoment,andthen resumed.41

The causes of the tremors were long debated by the frontier settlers,

illustrating well their addiction to beliefs in the supernatural. Personal

exper iences during the earthquakes grew with each retelling. To an

American society strongly wedded to independent thought, the actual

stimuli triggering the earthquakes remained unsolved. Perhaps the most

as Charleston Courier (February21, 1812).30 Mrs. Audubon (ed.), L i/ e o[ lohn James Audubon. 54; Water Brownlow Posey, T he

Baptist Church in the Lower Mississippi Valley: 1776-1845 (Lexington: University ofK entucky press, 1957), 58; Berry, "Illinois Earthquake of 1811 and 1812," I llinois StateH istor ical Library Publications, XI I (1908), 78.

40 WilliamWarren Sweet, Religion on t he Am er ican Frontier, 1783-1840: A Collectiono/ Source M aterials (NewYork: Cooper Square Publishers, Inc., 1964), 821.

41 Flint, Recollections o / the Laft Ten Y ears, 222; John Ervin K irkpatrick, TimothyFlint: Pioneer, M issionary, Au ther , Ed it or ; 1780-1840 (Cleveand: Arthur H. Clark Com-pany, 1911), 134-135; "New Madrid Earthquake: Account of John Shaw," M issouriH istor ical Review, VI I (July 1913), 192.




significant reactions to the tremors were the reigous revivas that

ascribed them to the power of God. However, ignorance remaned a

predomnating force as settlers contributed popular hypotheses to the

NewMadridEarthquakes.As the rumblingsubsided, conditions in the

Mississippi Valley quickly degenerated into the famliar rough and

tumblemodeoffrontiersociety.

50 1 6 popular reactions to the new madrid earthquakes 1811 1812 legan marshall scott

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