Being the Copy of a Report of Major Long To The Hon J. C. Calhoun, Secretary of War
Dated Philadelphia, Jan. 20. 1821.
Sir,
In obedience to your order of the 28th of November, I have the honour to submit the following report, embracing a concise account of the movements of the exploring expedition under my command, and a general description of the country explored by them. Although there may be no very striking incidents to embellish the narration, yet the diversity of scenery presented to the view, the changes in the character and aspect of the country, and the variety of other interesting matter in the several departments of natural science, which have been subjects of particular attention, cannot fail to awaken a lively interest in the minds of an enlightened community, inasmuch as a discussion of them must lead to a knowledge of the condition and natural resources of a large portion of the United States' territory. But as the principal object contemplated in this report is a general view of the topography of the country, the subjects of description will be such only as are thought to be illustrative of such a view.
The expedition embarked on board of the United States' steam-boat, Western Engineer, at Pittsburgh, on the 4th of May, 1819. Their outfit consisted of such books, instruments, stationery, &c. (a return of which is on file in the engineer department), together with such provisions, &c. as were deemed requisite at the commencement of their voyage. They proceeded down the Ohio river, making such observations and surveys along its banks as are calculated to augment the stock of intelligence already acquired in relation to that part of the country. This part of their route having been previously traversed by gentlemen of science, who have judiciously arranged and generously promulgated the intelligence they have collected, but little matter of a novel or interesting character could be expected. Yet an investigation of the numerous organic remains, and mineral productions, discoverable on the Ohio throughout its whole extent, together with such an examination of the country as is requisite to a general description of its aspect, soil, and vegetable productions, were considered as objects meriting their attention in the discharge of their several duties.
On arriving at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi, they proceeded up the latter to the Missouri, and thence up the river last mentioned to the Council Bluffs, improving every opportunity of extending their researches in the various branches of natural science. At the time of their arrival at the Council Bluffs, the season was so far spent, that it was deemed inexpedient to proceed further till the ensuing season; and the boat was accordingly dismantled, and moored in a safe harbour, and quarters constructed for the accommodation of the party during the then approaching winter. Being located in a situation central to a variety of Indian tribes and nations, inhabiting the neighbouring country, {191} they were enabled to acquire a pretty extensive acquaintance with the manners, customs, and character of the natives in that quarter. Surveys of the surrounding country were made; observations for determining the latitude, longitude, magnetic variation, dip, &c. were taken; the changes of the weather, and other meteorologic phenomena were recorded; and such other duties performed, as pertained to the pursuits of the expedition.
On the voyage up the Missouri, a party was detached from the steam-boat at Fort Osage, with instructions to proceed across the country by land, to the Konzas village, and thence to the villages of the Pawnees, on the river Platte, and to return on board again at the Council Bluffs. This excursion was undertaken with a view of prosecuting the business of the expedition. The party had accomplished part of the duties assigned them, when they were met near the Konzas village by a war-party of the Republican Pawnees, and robbed of their horses, baggage, &c., which compelled them to give up the further prosecution of their enterprize. This misfortune rendered it necessary for them to change their route, and shape their course for the Missouri, which they reached at Cow Island, having obtained much useful information concerning the country through which they passed, and the natives inhabiting it.
On my return to the wintering post of the expedition, to which we had given the name of Engineer Cantonment, I pursued a course north of the Missouri, from near its mouth to that place, taking sketches of the country, preparatory to a topographical delineation. The observance of courses, distances, magnetic variations, &c. were objects of our particular care and attention in all the movements of the expedition.
On my arrival at the cantonment, which I reached on the 27th of May last, preparations were made, with all convenient despatch, for reconnoitring the country {192} westward to the Rocky Mountains, in conformity to your order of the 28th of February, 1820. The steam-boat was ordered on topographical duties under the command of Lieut. Graham, who proceeded with her down the Missouri to St. Louis, thence up the Mississippi to the De Moyen rapids, and thence down the river to Cape Girardeau, taking such observations and sketches on the voyage as are requisite in constructing a chart of that part of the river and the adjacent country.
Having made the necessary arrangements, and rendered our outfit, for the western tour, as complete as circumstances would permit, we commenced our march on the 6th of June, all in good health, except Mr. Say, the zoologist for the expedition. It may not be improper here to give a list, exhibiting the names of the persons composing the party, and the several capacities in which they served.
{193} The number of horses and mules, provided for the use of the party, was thirty-four, including several that were the property of individuals; so that we were able to have all of the party mounted, and also a sufficient number of horses besides, for the transportation of baggage. In addition to arms, ammunition, a small quantity of provisions and other necessaries for the tour, our outfit embraced a small supply of Indian goods for presents, not exceeding £150 in value.
The instruments for astronomical and other observations, comprehended in our outfit, were very limited, both in number and variety. The mode of transporting them that we were compelled to adopt was by no means suited to the conveyance of delicate instruments, or such as required much space in packing. We, however, took all belonging to the expedition that were in good repair and of a portable construction. The principal were the following: one sextant of five inches radius; one snuff box sextant; one mercurial horizon with a glass frame; one patent lever watch of an excellent quality; three travelling compasses; one measuring tape; two thermometers; and some few articles of apparatus for the use of the naturalists.
Every man being accoutred with a gun, shot-pouch, and powder-horn, and most of them with pistols, the exploring party proceeded westwardly to the Pawnee villages, situated on a branch of the Platte called the Loup Fork, thence southwardly to the Platte, and thence westwardly along the valley of the Platte, to the place where it issues from the Rocky Mountains. Having examined the mountains at that place, and finding the country too hilly and broken to penetrate with horses within their range, we shaped our course southwardly along their base, taking occasion to ascend the peaks and spurs of the mountains whenever a favourable opportunity presented, for the purpose of ascertaining their geological character, and that of the vegetables growing upon them.
{194} On arriving at the Arkansa Captain Bell was detached with a small party to ascend along the river as far as it was practicable to travel with horses, and was able to ascend nearly thirty miles, when his further progress was intercepted by the proximity of the hills to the river.
Having descended the Arkansa about one hundred miles to the point whence it was judged expedient to strike upon a southwardly course in quest of the source of the Red river, the party was formed into two detachments; the one to proceed down the Arkansa, under the direction of Captain Bell, and the other to accompany me, with the view of exploring the country southwardly to Red river, and thence down its valley to the upper settlements thereon.
Captain Bell's party, with the exception of three soldiers last mentioned in the foregoing list, who deserted on the march, arrived in safety at Belle Point, their place of destination, having performed the duties assigned them.
On separating from Captain Bell, the detachment under my direction proceeded southwardly in view of the mountains about one hundred and fifty miles, and arrived at a creek, having a southwardly course, which we took to be tributary to Red river. Having travelled down its valley about two hundred miles, we fell in with a party of Indians of the nation of Kaskaias, or Bad-hearts, who gave us to understand that the stream along which we were travelling was Red river. We accordingly continued our march down the river several hundred miles further; when, to our no small disappointment, we discovered that it was the Canadian of the Arkansa, instead of Red river, that we had been exploring. Our horses being nearly worn out with the fatigue of our long journey, which they had to perform bare-footed, and the season being too far advanced to admit of retracing our steps and going again in quest of the source of Red river with the possibility of exploring it before the commencement {195} of winter, it was deemed advisable to give over the enterprize for the present, and make our way to the settlements on the Arkansa. We were led to the commission of this mistake in consequence of our not having been able to procure a guide acquainted with this part of the country. Our only dependence, in this respect, was upon Pike's map, which assigns to the head-waters of the Red river the apparent locality of those of the Canadian. We continued our march, therefore, and arrived at Belle Point on the Arkansa on the 13th September, four days after the arrival of Captain Bell and his party.
Both parties suffered occasionally for the want of food and water; but in general the game of the country yielded us an ample supply of the former, and the watercourses, along which we for the most part travelled, satisfied our demands for the latter. In regard to health we were all highly favoured, except Mr. Say, who was more or less indisposed throughout the tour. Some of the rest were occasionally affected with slight indisposition.
It is a source of much regret that we had the misfortune to lose some of our most valuable manuscripts by the desertion of three soldiers of Captain Bell's party before mentioned. They deserted on the head-waters of the Verdigrise river, within about two hundred miles of the upper settlements of the Arkansa, taking with them three horses, the best belonging to the party, four saddle-bags, containing wearing apparel and other things belonging to the gentlemen of the party, besides the following manuscripts: viz. Journal of the Tour, one number; Manners and Customs of the Indians, one number; Zoological Description and Remarks, one number; Vocabularies of Indian Languages, two numbers; all by Mr. Say; and one number, containing Topographical Notes and Sketches, by Lieutenant Swift. In addition to the above, the loss of a few horses that died {196} on the march was the only accident or misfortune worthy of notice that befell the expedition.
From Belle Point the exploring party proceeded across the country in a north-eastwardly direction to Cape Girardeau, where they arrived on the 10th October, having been occupied a little more than four months in the performance of the tour from the Council Bluff.
Throughout the whole excursion the attention of the gentlemen of the expedition was constantly occupied upon the several subjects of investigation which were deemed essential to a topographical and scientific description of the country. In the discharge of our duties, however, we laboured under many disadvantages for want of a sufficient variety of instruments to furnish all the data proper and desirable in giving an account of the geology and meteorology of the country. A barometer would have been particularly useful; but out of three belonging to the expedition two were rendered completely unfit for use, partly by accident and partly by defects in their construction, and the third was in such a condition that it was not deemed advisable to take it with us, as it was not likely to remain fit for service but for a short time only. In ascertaining the humidity of the atmosphere a hygrometer would have been particularly useful, but it has never been in my power to procure one that had any claim to being accurate. In taking the various observations, however, that could be effected by means of the few instruments we had with us, no pains were spared, and no opportunities lost; those in particular, for the calculation of latitude and longitude, were taken as often as it was thought necessary, and with the utmost care and precision that circumstances would permit.
On our arrival at Cape Girardeau we had contemplated to embark on board of the Western Engineer, which was at that port ready for our accommodation, {197} and sail for Louisville; but, learning that the water of the Ohio was at that time too low to admit even the passage of a boat drawing no more than fifteen or sixteen inches of water, we were compelled to seek another mode of conveyance. Those of the expedition who had been on duty during the two last seasons, being very anxious to visit their homes, arrangements were accordingly made for their return to Philadelphia, when they would be enabled to complete and report the intelligence they had collected. Messrs. Say, Peale, Seymour, and Lieut. Graham, being desirous to return by water, waited the opportunity of taking a passage to New Orleans, and thence to Philadelphia. Most of the curiosities collected by the expedition were placed in the charge of Mr. Say, to be shipped for this place.
Lieut. Swift was left in command of the steam-boat and crew, with instructions to proceed with them to Louisville as soon as the water would permit. He was instructed to leave the boat in the care of the pilot employed on board of her,—order her crew of United States' soldiers to Newport, Kentucky, for winter quarters and subsistence, and report in person at Philadelphia, for topographical duty.
Having given the foregoing brief account of the movements of the expedition, we next proceed to a consideration of the region explored by them, which embraces a very considerable portion of the immense valley situated between the Alleghany and Rocky Mountains. The portion of this valley to which their attention has been more particularly directed, and relative to which intelligence has been collected, is situated between thirty-five and forty-two degrees of north latitude, and eighty and one hundred and six degrees of west longitude, embracing an extent of {198} about five hundred miles in width from north to south, and thirteen hundred miles in length from east to west. As might be expected in a region of this extent, a great diversity of surface is presented to view, exhibiting all the varieties, from the most level and unbroken to the most rugged and mountainous aspect. The most broken parts of this region are those situated along the Ohio, from its source to its confluence with the Mississippi, and on the west of the Mississippi, between Red river and the Arkansa, and between the latter and the Missouri, extending westward about four hundred miles from the Mississippi. The whole region, in a geological point of view, is constituted of three varieties of formations, which characterize the surface throughout; viz. transition, secondary, and alluvial. A tract, however, of considerable extent, including the hot springs of the Washita, and extending northwardly to the lead mines back of St. Genevieve, has, by some, been considered as possessing a primitive character; but it is believed that the rocks discoverable therein are not sufficiently uniform to warrant such a decision. Moreover, an insulated tract of primitive country, surrounded by others exhibiting the most unequivocal marks of their being secondary, and at the same time presenting a similar conformation in their general aspect, is such an anomaly in natural science as requires more than ordinary proof to be admitted. The particular tract under consideration is probably analogous to other tracts within the region above specified, exhibiting a surface characterized by primitive formation superincumbent upon others of a secondary character.
In order to give a more distinct conception of the country or region under consideration, it may be regarded as divisible into the following sections: viz. 1st, the country situated between the Ohio river and the Alleghany mountains; 2d, the country situated between the Ohio, Mississippi, and the Lakes; {199} 3d, the country situated between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers; 4th, the country situated between the Red and Missouri rivers, west of the Mississippi and east of the meridian of the Council Bluff; and 5th, the country between the proposed meridian and the Rocky Mountains.
The country on the south side of the Ohio, including the northerly parts of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Tennessee, together with the whole of Kentucky, abounds in hills elevated, in the vicinity of the Ohio, from four to eight hundred or a thousand feet above the water-table of the river, and rising many hundred feet higher in the neighbourhood of the Alleghany mountains. This section is watered by many streams of considerable magnitude tributary to the Ohio, the most important of which are the Monongahela, Kenhawa, Great Sandy, Licking, Kentucky, Salt, Green, Cumberland, and Tennessee. These rivers are all navigable for keel-boats, and many of them for steam-boats, some hundreds of miles, during the boating season, which generally commences about the 20th February and terminates early in June. Occasional freshets contribute to render them navigable during short portions of the other months of the year; but no reliance can be placed in periodical returns of freshets, excepting those of the spring season. Upon these rivers are extensive and valuable tracts of bottom land covered with deep and heavy forests, and possessed of a soil adapted to the cultivation of all the variety of vegetable products common to the various climates in which they are situated. The highlands, back of the bottoms, although variegated with hills and vallies alternating with each other in quick succession, are generally possessed of a surface susceptible of being tilled, and in many instances of a soil equally rich and prolific with that of the bottoms. {200} In many parts of the country, however, the hills are abrupt and stony to such a degree as renders them unfit for tillage. The average produce per acre, upon the farming lands of this section, may be estimated at the following rates: viz. Indian corn or maize, forty bushels; wheat, twenty-two; rye, twenty-six; oats, thirty-five; barley, thirty; tobacco, from twelve to fifteen cwt., and cotton from five to seven cwt. In regard to the products last mentioned, viz. cotton and tobacco, it should be observed, that they are cultivated only in the south-westerly parts of this section, and that oats and barley are seldom cultivated except in the upper or north-easterly parts.
Of the population of this section, if we except the towns and villages and their immediate vicinities, as also a large portion of country surrounding Lexington, Kentucky, and another of considerable extent, including Nashville, Tennessee, it is yet but thinly inhabited, affording room for a population far more numerous and more widely diffused. There are extensive tracts of country between the Alleghany mountains and the Ohio as yet almost entirely destitute of inhabitants, the most considerable of which are situated in the vicinity of the mountains, also the country generally between Tennessee river and the Mississippi. As this section of country is pretty generally well known, the foregoing outline of its topography will suffice.
The section of country next in the order proposed is situated north of the Ohio river, and comprehends the states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. This section may be subdivided into three orders or varieties of country, which merit a separate consideration, viz. the hilly, the plain or rolling, and the valley country.
{201} The hilly country, like that south of the Ohio, exhibits a very uneven surface, variegated with hills and dales irregularly distributed, and occupying about one third part of the section under consideration. This portion of the country is of an oblong shape, bounded on the south-east by the Ohio river, and on the north-west by an imaginary line, commencing on the Mississippi near the grand tower, and running in a direction nearly E.N.E., till it approaches the easterly part of Lake Erie. On the east it mingles with the hilly country, comprehending the back parts of Pennsylvania and New York. In short, the whole region situated between the Alleghany mountains and the imaginary line above specified, or in other words, the country through which the Ohio and its tributaries, except the Wabash, have their courses, may be arranged under this head. The hills throughout the whole are very similar in respect to their altitudes, multiplicity and conformation.
Although the hilly country north of the Ohio is in many places rugged and broken, yet a large proportion of it is susceptible of cultivation. No high mountains are to be seen; the hills usually rise from six to eight hundred feet above the common level, or about one thousand feet above the water-tables of the principal rivers, and invariably present rounded summits. Interspersed among the hills are numerous fine tracts of arable land, which may in general be alleged of the valleys of the numerous rivers and creeks by which the country is watered. The soil upon the hills is generally productive, except where the surface is rocky and the declivities abrupt, which is more particularly the case in the vicinity of rivers, where the high lands are divided into numerous knobs, being cut by deep ravines with abrupt and precipitous banks.
The hilly country, having been generally esteemed more healthy than either of the other varieties above mentioned, has acquired a more numerous population {202} than the latter. As yet, however, no part of this section has its full complement of inhabitants, if we except, as before, the numerous towns and villages and their immediate neighbourhoods. In regard to the products of agriculture, the same remarks that have been made concerning the section south of the Ohio are equally applicable to the country under consideration, with the exception that cotton is cultivated only in the south-westerly extreme of this section, and tobacco is raised for domestic uses only.
The most considerable rivers intersecting this section of country are the Muskingum, Sciota, Big Miami, and Wabash, all of which, in the spring season, are navigable two or three hundred miles from their mouths.
The valleys of these rivers give place to many extensive and fertile bottoms well adapted to cultivation, and producing the necessaries of life in great abundance and variety.
The plain, or rolling country, is separated from that last under consideration by the imaginary line above mentioned. It is not to be inferred, however, that the junction of these two regions is distinctly marked by any characters whatever by which the line can be traced with precision, but that a gradual change of aspect is observable in travelling from one variety of country to the other, and that the general direction of the line indicated by this change is that specified above. The other boundaries of this variety are the Mississippi on the west, and the Lakes Erie and Michigan, and the Fox and Wisconsan rivers on the north and east. This variety of country, although not entirely destitute of hills, is almost throughout its whole extent possessed of an undulating or rolling surface, rising into broad and gentle swells in some parts, and subsiding into extensive flats or plains in others. The valleys of numberless watercourses, bounded by abrupt bluffs or banks, afford some diversity to its aspect; and the bluffs in {203} particular of the principal streams, being cut by numerous ravines, contribute in many places to give the surface a hilly and broken appearance. Although no part of this region can with propriety be denominated hilly, especially when compared with the portions of country above considered, yet upon the Wisconsan, Fox, the head-waters of Rock and Melwakee rivers, the country is considerably diversified with hills, or rather swells, and valleys. The only hills worthy of particular notice, not only in this variety, but in the whole section under consideration, are the Ocooch and Smokey mountains, which are broad and elevated ridges rather than mountains. The former is situated about twelve miles north of the Wisconsan, one hundred miles above its mouth, and the latter about forty miles south of the portage between the river just mentioned and Fox river of Green Bay. The rivers of most note within this region are, the Wabash, above the hilly country before described, the Kaskaskias, Illinois, Rock and Wisconsan, tributary to the Mississippi; the Fox of Green Bay, the St. Joseph of Lake Michigan, and the Maumee and Sandusky, tributary to Lake Erie. These rivers are all navigable for boats of ten or fifteen tons burden when swollen by spring freshets; but, during the greater part of the summer and fall, they have not a sufficient depth of water for boats of burden, and in winter their navigation is entirely obstructed by ice. The spring freshets, consequent to the melting of the snow and ice, usually take place in the month of March, the southerly streams being open for navigation much earlier than those in the north.
The prairies, or champaigns, east of the Mississippi, are mostly situated in this particular region, occupying at least three fourths of it. These are waving or flat tracts of country, of greater or less extent, separated from each other by narrow skirts of woodland situated upon the margins of rivers and creeks. They are generally possessed of a rich soil, yielding {204} a spontaneous growth of grass and herbage of a luxuriant appearance. They are well adapted to the cultivation of corn, wheat, rye, barley, oats, &c. of which they yield plentiful crops.
The prevailing opinion in regard to this portion of the country, viz. that it is unhealthy, appears too well founded to admit of refutation. The causes that contribute to render it so are very obvious: a large proportion of the prairies are so flat that much of the water deposited upon them by showers remains stagnant upon the surface till it is carried off gradually by evaporation, which renders the atmosphere humid and unhealthy. The vegetable mould of which the immediate surface is composed, and the abundance of vegetables that spring and decay upon the ground, contribute largely to render these exhalations more deleterious. Although there are but few swamps or marshes, and very rarely pools of stagnant water, to be met with in this region, still the general water-table of the country is so little inclined, that the streams, having but a moderate descent, are uniformly sluggish, often exhibiting the appearance of a succession of stagnant pools. The consequence is, that the vegetable matter they contain, instead of being carried away by the strength of the current, is deposited upon the bottoms and sides of the channels, and, while in its putrescent state, serves to augment the quantity of noxious effluvia with which the atmosphere is charged.
The population of this region, compared with its extent, is very limited; and with the exception of a few villages the settlements are very scattering. Large portions of it, embracing the northerly parts of Indiana and Illinois, are almost entirely destitute of inhabitants. Many parts of the country must remain uninhabited for many years to come, on account of the scarcity of timber and other deficiencies, such as the want of mill-seats, springs of water, &c. which are serious blemishes in the character of a large {205} proportion of the country. There are, however, numerous and extensive tracts within this region possessed of a rich soil, and in other respects well adapted for settlements, and presenting the strongest inducements for emigrants to occupy them.
The country of the third order, agreeably to the subdivision above given, viz. the valley country, is situated upon the rivers, and is included within the hilly and plain country above described. The tracts belonging to this order, usually denominated bottoms, are altogether alluvial, being composed of alternate layers of sand and soil deposited from the water of the rivers upon which they are respectively situated. The alluvion thus deposited, having once constituted a part of the surface of the countries drained by the watercourses tributary to the rivers along which the deposit has been made, it will readily be inferred that the fecundity of the valleys will in some measure correspond with that of the countries whence their alluvion was derived. Accordingly we find the bottoms more or less productive in proportion to the fertility of the regions in which the rivers take their rise and through which they flow. In the valley of the Ohio the quality of the soil appears to improve from its source downwards. The alluvion, of which it is composed is supplied by the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers, which have their origin and courses in a hilly and mountainous country, possessed in general of a sandy surface. The alluvion, supplied by other tributaries entering the Ohio at various points between its source and its mouth, is of a better quality, being composed principally of argillaceous and calcareous earth, which are prevailing ingredients in the soil of the country drained by those tributaries.
It should be remarked, however, in relation to all the varieties of alluvia, that they are partially composed of the fine particles of decayed vegetable {206} matter with which the water drained from the surface of the ground is invariably charged. This property in alluvial deposits often prevails to such a degree as to render soils, apparently sandy and sterile, remarkably productive. The alluvial bottoms throughout the United States afford innumerable examples of this fact. The fertilizing matter often exhibits itself in the slimy deposits left upon the surface of the ground after an inundation.
The most extensive tract of valley country east of the Mississippi is that situated within the bluffs of this river, usually denominated the American Bottom, extending from the mouth of the Ocoa, or Kaskaskias river, northwardly to that of the Missouri. This spacious bottom, although at present elevated much above the range of the highest freshets, is nevertheless alluvial. Its length along the Mississippi is about eighty, and its average breadth about four miles. It is generally destitute of a timber growth, except along the margin of the river, upon which there is a skirt of woodland extending almost from one end of the tract to the other. The alluvion of the American Bottom is composed of the rich mud brought down by the turbid Missouri, united with an abundance of vegetable matter yielded by the waters of the upper Mississippi, which also characterizes the bottoms of this extensive river from the Missouri downward to its mouth. Upon this bottom are situated the town of Kaskaskias, the villages of Prairie de Rocher, Harrison, Prairie de Pont, Cahokia and Illinois, together with many other settlements.
On the same side of the river another large tract of valley land, called the Mississippi Bottom, commences a few miles below the mouth of the river Kaskaskias, and extends downwards along the Mississippi, between fifty and sixty miles, having an average width of about three miles. This tract, in regard {207} to soil and aspect, is of a character similar to that of the American Bottom, except that the former is more plentifully stocked with timber.
Besides these, there are numerous other bottoms on the Mississippi, within the limits prescribed for this report, all of which are composed of a rich alluvion. Those in particular situated below the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri are possessed of a soil exceedingly luxuriant, being composed, as before observed, of the rich and fertilizing mud deposited from the water of the Missouri. Most of them are covered with deep and heavy forests of timber, accompanied with a luxuriant undergrowth of vines, shrubs, grass and other herbage.
The bottoms of the Wabash, Kaskaskias, Illinois, and Rock rivers, are also made up of a rich alluvion of sand and loam, containing a large proportion of vegetable mould. Their surfaces, like those of the Mississippi bottoms, are generally flat, exhibiting tabular elevations or benches, formed by the washing of their rivers at different periods. Large tracts of prairie land are to be met with upon them; but for the most part the proportion of woodland is amply sufficient to supply the adjacent country with timber and fuel.
The valleys of these rivers differ from that of the Ohio, not only in having a greater width, but also in being limited on both sides by bluffs stretching along their whole length, and maintaining nearly a parallel direction; whereas the valley of the Ohio is bounded by abrupt hills irregularly disposed, in some instances protruding far into the valley like promontories, and in others retiring from the river, and affording room for bottoms of pretty large extent. The Ohio bottoms are uniformly clad in deep forests, except where they have been removed by settlers; no prairies worthy of notice making their appearance.
{208} The valley country, from the circumstances already detailed in allusion to the country constituting the second variety, is almost without exception unhealthy. But at the same time it appears evident, that this evil gradually decreases in proportion to the increase of population, and the consequent advancement of agriculture; for the products of the soil, which the bottoms yield in the greatest profusion, instead of being left to wither and decay upon the surface, are necessarily consumed in the subsistence of man and beast; in consequence of which, one of the most fruitful causes of pestilential effluvia, viz. vegetable putrefaction, is in a very considerable degree removed.
The prevailing timber growth of the region comprehending the two sections of country already described, is exhibited in the following list of trees: viz. cotton-wood, willow, sycamore, black walnut, pecan, coffee-tree, sweet and sour or black gum, red and water elm, hackberry, blue and white ash, linden, yellow and white poplar, catalpa, black and honey locust, buck-eye, bur oak, white and black oak, mulberry, box, elder, white dogwood, sugar-tree, white maple, wild cherry, red oak, hickory, iron-wood, and hop hornbeam. The foregoing constitute the principal timber growth of the valley country, and are to be met with more or less frequently throughout the whole of it. Red beech is abundant in some parts of the valley of the Ohio, and in those of many of its tributaries; it abounds also in the northerly parts of the States of Ohio and Indiana. Post oak, black jack, and several other varieties of the oak, also chesnut, white and shell bark, hickory, persimmon, &c. are sometimes found in the bottoms, but are more prevalent upon the hills and highlands. Pitch pine abounds in many parts of Ohio and Indiana, and generally in the neighbourhood of the Alleghany mountains. White pine occasionally {209} makes its appearance in the northerly parts of Ohio. Red cedar is found in a great variety of places throughout the country, but no where in great abundance.
The undergrowth of the several tracts of country above considered includes a great variety of shrubs, vines, brambles, grass and other herbage, to be enumerated in a botanical catalogue daily expected from Dr. James.
The most valuable timber trees are the white, post, and bur oaks, the white and blue ash, the shell bark hickory, the black walnut, the cherry, the locust, chesnut, poplar, mulberry, beach, cotton-wood and linden. The two last mentioned are seldom used where other kinds of timber are to be had. The cotton-wood is not only the most abundant timber-growth upon the bottoms, but is more widely diffused than any other, and in many places is the only variety of forest trees that make their appearance; which, however, is more particularly the case westward of the Mississippi.
We next proceed to a consideration of the country west of the Mississippi, and shall begin with that situated between this river and the Missouri. This section contains no mountains, or indeed hills, of any considerable magnitude. The term rolling appears to be peculiarly applicable in conveying an idea of the surface of this region, although it is not entirely destitute of abrupt hills and precipices. The aspect of the whole is variegated with the broad valleys of rivers and creeks, and intervening tracts of undulating upland, united to the valleys by gentle slopes. Its surface is chequered with stripes of woodland situated upon the margins of the watercourses, and dividing the whole into extensive parterres. If we {210} except those parts of the section that are contiguous to the Mississippi and Missouri, at least nineteen-twentieths of the country are completely destitute of a timber-growth.
Within the valleys of these two rivers are extensive tracts of alluvial bottom possessed of a rich soil. The bottoms of the Missouri in particular are probably inferior to none within the limits of the United States in point of fertility. Those of the Mississippi are very rich, but do not exhibit symptoms of so great fecundity as the former. The bottoms of both, on ascending the rivers, become more sandy, and apparently less productive.
The bottoms of the Missouri are for the most part clad in a deep and heavy growth of timber and under-brush, to the distance of about three hundred and fifty miles above its mouth. There are, however, prairies of considerable extent occasionally to be met with on this part of the river. Higher up, the prairies within the river valley become more numerous and extensive, till at length no woodlands appear, except tracts of small size, situated at the points formed by the meanders of the river.
The bottoms on the Upper Mississippi (that part of the Mississippi situated above its confluence with the Missouri being distinguished by this appellation) contain less woodland, in proportion to their extent, than those of the Missouri. The prairies upon this river also become more numerous and extensive as we proceed upward.
The interior of the country, situated between the valleys of these rivers, presents, as before remarked, a rolling aspect, inclining to hilly, and broken in some parts, but generally variegated with gentle swells and broad valleys. Within this section are numerous small rivers and creeks, with valleys of a character similar to those of the Mississippi or Missouri, but not so fertile. These valleys expand to a great width, compared with the magnitude of the streams upon which they are situated, {211} but are not bounded by abrupt bluffs, like those of the two rivers just mentioned. They are generally covered with a luxuriant growth of grass and other herbage, and occasionally present copses of woodland of moderate extent. The timber-growth of the bottoms is similar to that of the Mississippi bottoms; cotton-wood, blue and white ash, hackberry, black walnut, cherry, mulberry, hickory, and several varieties of the oak, being the prevailing timber trees. The hills or high lands are in some instances covered with a scrubby growth of timber and furze, consisting of post oak, black jack, hazel, green brier, &c. The soil of this section is probably equal, if not superior, to that of any other tract of upland of equal extent within our territory. But the scarcity of timber, mill-seats, and springs of water,—defects that are almost uniformly prevalent,—must for a long time prove serious impediments in the way of settling the country.
The population of this section of country is located almost exclusively within the valleys of the Mississippi and Missouri, and in their immediate neighbourhood, extending upwards along the former about one hundred and sixty, and along the latter about three hundred and twenty miles above their confluence. The most populous parts of the country are the county of St. Charles, situated near the junction of these two rivers; Cote Sans Dessein and its vicinity; that part usually denominated the Boon's Lick country, extending from the mouth of Osage river upward along the Miami to the river Chariton; and the country on the Mississippi, including the Salt river settlements, which have become numerous and pretty widely diffused.
Along the valleys, both of the Mississippi and Missouri, there are still innumerable vacancies for settlement, holding forth inducements for emigrants to occupy them, equally as strong as any of the positions already occupied. The inhabitants of this {212} section have frequently been visited by the prevailing epidemics of the western country, which may be attributed, in all probability, to the same causes that have been herein assigned in relation to the country east of the Mississippi, which operate with equal force and effect upon the inhabitants of this section.
Although no precise limits can be assigned as the western boundary of this section, yet the meridian above proposed may be regarded as a line of division between two regions differing in their general character and aspect. It is not pretended that the immediate course of the line is marked by any distinct features of the country, but that a gradual change is observable in the general aspect of the two regions, which takes place in the vicinity of the proposed line. The assumed meridian is in longitude ninety-six degrees west nearly, and crosses the Platte a few miles above its mouth, the Konzas near the junction of the principal forks, the Arkansa about one hundred miles above the Verdigrise, or seven hundred miles from its mouth, the Canadian about one hundred and fifty miles from its mouth, and the Red river about one hundred and fifty miles above the Kiamesha river.
The section of country under consideration exhibits a great variety of aspect, the surface being diversified by mountains, hills, valleys, and occasional tracts of rolling country; within the section, is an extensive tract of bottom land deserving of a particular consideration. It is situated on the Mississippi, commencing a few miles below the Ohio, and extending downward to Red river, uninterrupted by hills or high lands, and subject in many places to inundation from the freshets of the Mississippi. The bottoms contain many large swamps, rendered almost {213} impenetrable by a dense growth of cypress and cypress-knees (the latter of which are conical excrescences springing from the roots of the cypress, and shooting up in profusion to the height of from one to eight or ten feet). The most extensive of these swamps commences near the head of the bottom, and passes south-westwardly back of New Madrid, the Little Prairie, St. Francisville, &c., and terminates near the village of the Port of Arkansa. The Great Swamp, the name by which this extensive morass is designated, is about two hundred miles in length, and is of a variable width, from five to twenty or thirty miles. The timber-growth of this and of the other swamps, which are of a similar character, but inferior in magnitude, consist principally of cypress of a superior quality. But the difficulty of removing it renders it of little value to the country. Within the bottom are also numerous lakes, lagoons, and marshes, once, no doubt, parts of the bed of the Mississippi, or of some of its tributaries that have their courses through the bottom. Notwithstanding the general depression of this bottom, it contains many insulated tracts of considerable extent, elevated above the range of the highest floods. The bottom, almost throughout its whole extent, supports a dense and heavy growth of timber, of an excellent quality, together with a luxuriant undergrowth of cane brake, vines, &c.
It may not be improper to remark in this place, that great havoc is annually made amongst the timber of this tract, by lumber and fuel mongers, who furnish the New Orleans market with large supplies of these articles, particularly of the former.
The bottom is bounded on the west by a chain of heights, corresponding to the river bluffs on other parts of the Mississippi, but not arranged in so regular a manner. These are the commencement of a part of the hilly country hereafter to be considered. The most considerable rivers that flow through the bottoms, and pour their tribute into the Mississippi, {214} are the St. Francis, the Big Black and White rivers, which are confluent, the Washita and Red river.
There are also a few other bottoms on the west side of the Mississippi of moderate size. The largest of these are Tywapata and Bois Broulè, situated a little above the mouth of the Ohio.
The hilly and mountainous country commences immediately west of the Mississippi bottoms, and extends westwardly about four hundred miles. Although the terms hilly and mountainous are expressive of the general character of the country, yet the following portions of this section may be enumerated as exceptions, viz. a tract of country comprehending St. Louis, Belle Fontain, Florissant, and extending south-westwardly so as to include the lead mine tract, Belle View, &c. This tract (which embraces the most populous part of the Missouri territory) may be denominated rolling, or moderately hilly. Considerable portions of the country situated between the Arkansa and Red rivers, particularly in the vicinity of the latter, are also of this character. On the Arkansa, above Belle Point, is an extensive tract of a similar description; as also many tracts of inferior size, on the north side of the Arkansa, between the villages of the Port and the Cadron settlements. On the south side of the Missouri is also an extensive tract of rolling country, commencing at the river Le Mine, six miles above Franklin, and extending upward along the Missouri, with occasional interruptions, to the Council Bluff. Such is the extent of this tract, that it comprises almost the whole of the country situated between the assumed meridian line and the Missouri, from Fort Osage upward. On the head waters of the Osage river, and on those of its principal tributaries, the country is said to be of a similar character also. To these may be added large portions of country situated on the Verdigrise river, upon the Arkansa, above Grand river, and upon the {215} Canadian, from its mouth upwards to the distance of about two hundred miles. The tracts here designated, exhibit broad and elevated swells of land, separated from each other by deep and spacious valleys.
These portions of country are chequered with woodlands and prairies, in many instances alternating with each other in due proportion, for the accommodation of settlers with farming and woodlands. On the Missouri above Fort Osage, and on the Osage river, however, the proportion of woodland is very inconsiderable, and the timber it affords of a scrubby character. The prairies here, as on the north of the Missouri, occupy at least nineteen-twentieths of the whole surface. Some portions of the Red river country are also deficient in the quantum of woodlands allotted to them; but in general it may be observed, that the more southerly regions are better supplied with timber than those farther north. The growth of the woodlands interspersed amongst the prairies is mostly post oak, hickory, black jack, and white oak upon the high lands; and cotton-wood, sycamore, black and white walnut, maple, bur oak, and several other trees common to the western bottoms, in the valleys. The bow wood, or, as it is sometimes called, the Osage orange, is found upon the southerly tributaries of the Arkansa, and upon the Red river and its tributaries. This tree is deserving of particular notice, inasmuch as it affords a timber extremely compact and elastic; its trunk and roots may prove very useful in dying yellow, and its fruit of importance in medicine.
The residue of this section, with the exception of the river bottoms, and tracts of valley land scattered in various directions throughout the whole, is extremely hilly, broken, and mountainous, the hills and mountains rising from five to fifteen hundred feet above the water-table of the country in which they are situated. They are exceedingly numerous, and are divided into a multiplicity of knobs and peaks, {216} having rounded summits, and presenting perpendicular cliffs and abrupt precipices of sandstone. Their surfaces generally are covered with rocks of this description, or flinty fragments strewed in profusion upon them. The growth upon them is, almost exclusively, pitch pine, cedar, scrubby oaks, hickory, haw and bramble; the poverty of the soil in some instances, and the scarcity of it in others, excluding the more luxuriant vegetable productions common to the more level country in their vicinity.
The range of mountains situated between the Arkansa and Red rivers gives rise to the following streams, all of which are sufficiently copious for mill-seats, and abound in cascades and falls, well adapted to such purposes; viz. the Blue Water, Kiamesha and Little rivers; the Mountain, Rolling, Cossetot and Saline forks of Little river, all of which are tributary to Red river; the Little Missouri, Cadeau, Washita, and the Saline, all confluent; the Mamelle, Le Fevre, Petit Jean and Poteau, tributary to the Arkansa, besides numerous creeks of less note.
The hills and mountains between the Arkansa and Missouri are equally prolific in watercourses. The most considerable of these are the Verdigrise, Neosho or Grand river, Illinois; together with the Frogs, Mulberry, White Oak, Spadra, Pine, Illinois, Point Remove and Cadron creeks, tributary to the Arkansa; the Little Red and White rivers, confluent streams; the Strawberry, Spring, Eleven Point, Currant, Little and Big Black, all confluent, and tributary to White river, which enters the Mississippi about thirty miles above the mouth of the Arkansa. The St. Francis and the Merameg have their sources in this broken region also, and discharge themselves into the Mississippi. Of the valleys of the rivers last enumerated, viz. those north of the Arkansa and tributary to the Mississippi, it is observable that they are uniformly possessed of a rich soil, but owing to the excessive floods occasionally brought down through them from {217} the hills and mountains, their cultivation is very precarious. The valley of White river, and those of some few others, are in many places elevated above the reach of the highest freshets, and are not altogether subject to this inconvenience. But for the most part they are liable to being swept by overwhelming freshets, which prostrate fences, buildings, and every artificial structure that opposes their march. Even a fall freshet has been known to inundate plantations situated within the valleys, to the depth of eight or ten feet. These floods are generally very sudden, as well as excessive, to such a degree, that on some occasions the water has risen, in the course of one night, more than twenty feet. By these sudden rises of the water, the planter that in the evening thought his family and possessions secure from harm, has been compelled the next morning to embark with his family in a canoe, to save themselves from impending destruction, while his habitation, fields, cattle, and all his effects, are abandoned to the fury of the torrent.
The streams rising in the same hilly country, and tributary to the Missouri, are the following, viz. the Bon Homme creek, the Gasconade, the Osage and its tributaries, the Le Mine, the Blue Water, and several streams tributary to the Konzas river. Upon some of these, as the Bon Homme, Gasconade, and some few creeks besides, mills have been constructed, at which much of the timber of the St. Louis market is sawed.
This section, as yet, is but very partially populated, although the inhabitants in some portions of it are considerably numerous. The most populous part of the section is the country situated immediately below the mouth of the Missouri, including the town of St. Louis and the villages of Florissant and Carondelet, Herculaneum, St. Genevieve, Bainbridge, Cape Girardeau, Jackson, St. Michael's, and the country in their vicinity; the lead mine tract, including Mima {218} Berton, Potosi, and Belle View, are considerably populous. The settlements in these places, however, if we except the sites occupied by the towns and villages just enumerated, are still very scattering, and but a small proportion of the land susceptible of agriculture is yet under cultivation. Besides these, there are numerous other settlements and several small villages within this part of the Missouri territory, distributed in various directions, and constituting but a very scanty population. They are scattered along the Missouri from its mouth to Fort Osage, a distance of more than three hundred miles, on the Gasconade, Merameg, St. Francis, Big Black, and several of its tributaries.
Within the Arkansa territory, there are but few villages, and the settlements are as yet very scattering. The principal villages are the Port of Arkansa, situated about sixty miles above the mouth of the river; Davidsonville, on Big Black river; a small village at the commencement of the high lands on the Arkansa, at a place called the Little Rock, about two hundred miles from the mouth of the river, selected as the seat of government for the territory. Besides these, there are a few other inconsiderable villages on the Arkansa river, as also several of small size, situated in the country between the river just mentioned and the Red river, the most considerable of which are at Pecan Point, Mount Prairie, Prairie de Inde, &c. These villages contain but very few houses, and those generally of a rude structure, a circumstance attributable only to the infancy of the territory. The settlements of the territory are scattered along the Arkansa, from the White river cut off (a channel uniting these two rivers at the distance of thirty miles above the mouth of the former, and three miles above that of the latter) to Belle Point, a distance of about four hundred miles. On Little Red, White, and Strawberry rivers, are many scattering settlements, as also on the Washita, Cadeau, Little Missouri, {219} and the several forks of Little river. The settlements upon Red river extend upward to the Kiamesha, a distance of about nine hundred miles from its mouth, following the meanders of the river.
The settlements of the section under consideration are most numerous in those parts represented, in the foregoing description, as being variegated with prairies and woodlands alternating with each other. In the valley of the Arkansa, however, which is generally clad in rich forests and luxuriant cane brakes, prairies are seldom to be met with, and settlers have had recourse to clearing the land necessary for their plantations.
In addition to the white settlements above pointed out, there are numerous villages and settlements of the Cherokee Indians extending along the Arkansa, from the mouth of Point Remove creek upward to Mulberry river, a distance of about one hundred miles. These settlements, in respect to the comforts and conveniences of life they afford, appear to vie with, and in many instances even surpass, those of the Americans in that part of the country.
There are a few villages of the Quapaws or Arkansas, and Choctaws, situated on the south side of the Arkansa river, below the high lands. They are not numerous, subsist principally upon game and Indian corn of their own raising, and have ever been friendly to the whites. Upon the river St. Francis are a few settlements of the Delawares and Shawnees, dispersed remnants of those unfortunate nations. The several bands of the Osage nation resident upon the Verdigrise, and upon the head waters of Osage river, also the Konzas Indians living upon the river bearing their name, are included within this section of the country.
In regard to climate, this region, as it expands through more than eight degrees of latitude, may be expected to afford a considerable variety; and the position is sufficiently verified by the commencement {220} and progress of annual vegetation. The change of climate is also indicated by certain peculiarities observable in the vegetable products of different parts of the country. For example, vegetation begins at least a month earlier in the southern than in the northern extreme of the region. The Spanish moss disappears northwardly of the 33d degree of north latitude; cotton and indigo cannot be cultivated to advantage in a latitude higher than 36 or 37 degrees; and the cane brake is seldom found north of 37½ degrees.
In regard to the salubrity of the climate, there is also a diversity, depending upon local circumstances rather than upon the temperature of the weather. A luxuriant soil yielding its products to decay and putrefy upon the ground, also stagnant waters, flat lands and marshes in which the river valleys of this region abound, cannot fail to load the atmosphere with pestilential miasmata, and render the country unhealthy, wherever these occurrences are to be met with. But it is presumed that the causes of disease will gradually be exterminated as the population of the country increases.
Of the rivers of this region there are many that are navigable for keel-boats of several tons burden, but all of them have more or less obstructions from shoals and frosts at different periods. The Arkansa, which, in point of magnitude and extent, deservedly ranks second amongst the tributaries of the Mississippi (the Missouri being the first), is navigable to the mouth of the Neosho, or Grand river, a distance of about six hundred miles. In this part of the river, however, the navigation is liable to obstructions, for want of a sufficient depth of water, during a period of two and a half or three months, commencing in July. Occasional obstructions are also imposed by ice forming in the river during the winter season, but these are seldom of long continuance, the winters being usually short and mild. As the freshets {221} of the river seldom prevail more than a few days at a time, and are usually attended by sudden rises and falls of the water, boats of moderate draft and burden only are suited to its navigation. The Arkansa is navigable at all seasons for boats of this description about two hundred miles, which comprehends the distance by the meanders of the river from the Mississippi to the commencement of the high lands. Above the mouth of the Neosho it spreads to a much greater width than below, and the water is more extensively diffused over its bed, which renders the shoals more numerous and the navigation more precarious. This part of the Arkansa cannot indeed be considered navigable, even for pirogues of a large size, except during the short period of a freshet, which is seldom long enough to complete a voyage of one hundred miles ascending and descending.
The Red river is navigable, during most of the year, to the Great Raft, about five hundred miles from its mouth. At this place its navigation is effectually obstructed, except in a high stage of water, when keel-boats of ten or fifteen tons burden may pass around it and ascend several hundred miles above. That part of the river situated above the Raft, however, like the upper part of the Arkansa, is rendered impassable for boats of burden, by shoals and sand-bars.
The Washita, tributary to Red river, is navigable many miles. That part of it particularly situated within the valley of the Mississippi, and denominated Black river, admits of constant navigation for boats of considerable burden. The Little river, which is also tributary to Red river, together with its forks, heretofore enumerated, is navigable in high water. White river is navigable in a moderate stage of water between three and four hundred miles. Also the Big Black, its principal tributary, and several branches of the river last mentioned, viz. the Strawberry, Currant, {222} Eleven Point, and Spring rivers. The navigation of the St. Francis is blocked up near its mouth, and rendered impassable for boats of every description, by rafts of logs and drift-wood, completely choking the channel of the river, and in many places occupying the whole of its bed for the distance of several miles together. The Merameg is also navigable in a moderate stage of water for many miles.
The Gasconade, Osage, and Konzas rivers are navigable in the spring season, but their navigation seldom extends far inland from their mouths, being obstructed by shoals or rapids.
Of the rivers tributary to the Missouri, it is remarkable that their mouths are generally blocked up with mud, consequent to the subsidence of the summer freshet of that river, which usually takes place in the month of July. The reason is obvious; the freshets of the more southerly tributaries are discharged early in the season, and wash from their mouths the sand and mud previously deposited therein, leaving them free from obstructions. These freshets having subsided, the more northerly branches discharge their floods, formed by the melting of the snow at a later period. The Missouri being swollen thereby, backs its waters, charged with mud, considerable distances up the mouths of the tributaries before alluded to. The water here becoming stagnant, deposits its mud; and the tributaries, having no more freshets to expel it, remain with their mouths thus obstructed till the ensuing spring.
The lower part of the Canadian river, although it is included within the section under consideration, will be described in the sequel of the report, in connexion with the rest of that river.
Of the animals found in the several sections of country above described, there are a great variety in almost every department of zoology. But as most of them are common in other parts of the United States, they need not to be enumerated here.
We next proceed to a description of the country westward of the assumed meridian, and extending to the Rocky Mountains, which are its western boundary. This section embraces an extent of about four hundred miles square, lying between 96 and 105 degrees of west longitude, and between 35 and 42 degrees of north latitude.
Proceeding westwardly across the meridian above specified, the hilly country gradually subsides, giving place to a region of vast extent, spreading towards the north and south, and presenting an undulating surface, with nothing to limit the view or variegate the prospect, but here and there a hill, knob, or insulated tract of table-land. At length the Rocky Mountains break upon the view, towering abruptly from the plains, and mingling their snow-capped summits with the clouds.
On approaching the mountains, no other change is observable in the general aspect of the country, except that the isolated knobs and table-lands above alluded to become more frequent and more distinctly marked, the bluffs by which the valleys of watercourses are bounded present a greater abundance of rocks, stones lie in greater profusion upon the surface, and the soil becomes more sandy and sterile. If, to the characteristics above intimated, we add that of an almost complete destitution of woodland (for not more than one thousandth part of the section can be said to possess a timber-growth) we shall have a pretty correct idea of the general aspect of the whole country.
The insulated tracts herein alluded to as table-lands, are scattered throughout the section, and give to the country a very remarkable appearance. They rise from six to eight hundred feet above the common {224} level, and are surrounded in many instances by rugged slopes and perpendicular precipices, rendering their summits almost inaccessible. Many of them are in this manner completely insulated, while others are connected with the plains below by gentle acclivities, leading from their basis to their summits, upon one side or other of each eminence. These tracts, as before intimated, are more numerous, but less extensive in the vicinity of the Rocky Mountains than they are farther eastward; and in the former situations, they are more strikingly characterized by the marks above specified than in the latter.
The geological formations that present themselves along the declivities of those heights are principally horizontal strata of secondary sandstones, and breccia or puddingstone, alternating with each other. Clinkstone prevails upon the surface of them in many places, but in general the superior strata are rocks of the description just before mentioned. These tracts are denominated tabular, not from any flatness of surface by which they are characterized, but from their appearance at a distant view, and from the horizontal disposition of the stratifications imbedded in them. Their surfaces are usually waving, and in some instances rise into knobs and ridges of several hundred feet high; many of them are clad in a scanty growth of pitch pine, red cedar, scrubby oaks, &c., while others exhibit a bald or prairie surface.
By far the greater proportion of this section of country is characterized by a rolling and plain surface, which may be alleged not only of the space included within the limits above assigned, but of extensive portions of country north and south of it. Although the elevated table-lands, a description of which has just been given, are situated within this region, they occupy but a small proportion of it. In addition to these inequalities in the surface of the country, there are numerous mounds or knobs of different magnitude, and occasionally swells of greater {225} or less extent, which contribute to give a pleasing variety to the prospect. The country is also divided into extensive parterres by the valleys of rivers and creeks, which are usually sunk 150 or 200 feet below the common level, and bounded in some places by perpendicular precipices, and in others by bluffs, or banks of gentle slopes.
Immediately at the base of the mountains, and also at those of some of the insular table-lands, are situated many remarkable ridges, rising in the form of parapets, to the height of between fifty and one hundred and fifty feet. These appear to have been attached to the neighbouring heights, of which they once constituted a part, but have, at some remote period, been cleft asunder from them by some extraordinary convulsion of nature, which has prostrated them in their present condition.
The rocky stratifications, of which these ridges are principally composed, and which are exactly similar to those of the insulated table-lands, are variously inclined, having various dips, from forty-five to eighty degrees.
Throughout this section of country the surface is occasionally characterized by water-worn pebbles, and gravel of granite, gneiss, and quartz, but the predominant characteristic is sand, which in many instances prevails almost to the entire exclusion of vegetable mould. Large tracts are often to be met with, exhibiting scarcely a trace of vegetation. The whole region, as before hinted, is almost entirely destitute of a timber-growth of any description. In some few instances, however, sandy knobs and ridges make their appearance, thickly covered with red cedars of a dwarfish growth. There are also some few tracts clad in a growth of pitch pine and scrubby oaks; but, in general, nothing of vegetation appears upon the uplands but withered grass of a stinted growth, no more than two or three inches high, prickly pears profusely covering extensive {226} tracts, and weeds of a few varieties, which, like the prickly pear, seem to thrive best in the most arid and sterile soil.
In the vicinity of the Rocky Mountains, southwardly of the Arkansa river, the surface of the country, in many places, is profusely covered with loose fragments of volcanic rocks. On some occasions, stones of this description are so numerous as almost to exclude vegetation. A multiplicity of ridges and knobs of various sizes, containing rocks of this character, also make their appearance. All these formations seem to be superincumbent upon horizontal strata of secondary sandstone. But the volcanoes whence they originated have left no vestiges by which their exact locality can be determined. In all probability, they were extinguished previously to the recession of the waters that once inundated the vast region between the Alleghany and Rocky Mountains.
Of the rivers that have their courses through this section, those of most note are the Platte, the Konzas and its forks, the Arkansa, and the Canadian tributary to the Arkansa. The Platte rises in the Rocky Mountains, and after an easterly course of about eight hundred miles, falls into the Missouri, at the distance of about seven hundred miles from the Mississippi. It derives its name from the circumstance of its being broad and shoal; its average width being about twelve hundred yards, exclusive of the islands it embosoms; and its depth, in a moderate stage of water, so inconsiderable, that the river is fordable in almost every place. The main Platte is formed of two confluent tributaries of nearly equal size, called the North and South forks, both of which have their sources considerably within the range of the Rocky Mountains. They unite about four hundred miles westward from the mouth of the Platte, having meandered about the same distance eastwardly from the mountains. Besides these, {227} the Platte has two considerable tributaries, the one called the Elk Horn, entering a few miles above its mouth, and the other the Loup Fork, entering about ninety miles above the same place. The valleys of the Platte and its several tributaries are extremely broad, and in many places considerably fertile. They gradually become less fertile on ascending from the mouths of the rivers on which they are situated, till at length they exhibit an arid and sterile appearance. The alluvion of which the bottoms are composed contains a large proportion of sand, which, added to the nitrous and saline matter blended with it, occasions frequent appearances of complete barrenness. Magnesia also appears to be a component part of the soil, a quality invariably derogatory to the fertility of any soil. The valley of the Platte, from its mouths to its constituent forks, spreads to the width of ten or twelve miles, and forms a most beautiful expanse of level country. It is bounded on both sides by high lands, elevated twenty-five or thirty feet above the valley, and connected therewith by gentle slopes.