In the week after the first quake news slowly spread of the extent of the damage in the New Madrid area. Boats passing down the river noted the damage and their experiences as the quake occurred and relayed that information wherever they landed downstream. At places such as Natchez and the first Chickasaw Bluff. Travelers relayed fantastic sounding tales of the ground rupturing, geysers of sand and debris and trees breaking as wildlife screamed in terror. The also noted the Mississippi river either, shaking, boiling or even flowing against the current as the quake occurred. Eyewitnesses such as William L. Pierce struggled to comprehend the dimensions of the disaster and write them down. These accounts would become the basis of investigation in the succeeding years to unravel the mystery of the quakes.