POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY.

1. DIVISIONS. Indiana is divided into 64 counties.* The population is 341,582. There are no slaves.

2. Towns. Indianapolis, the seat of government, is situated on White River, in the centre of the state. A few years ago the spot was a dense forest. It has now about 1,500 inhabitants, and many large brick buildings, manufactories, shops, &c. The river is navigable to this place by steamboats, in common stages of the water. The land surrounding the town is uncommonly fertile.

Vincennes is one of the oldest towns in the western states, yet it is but a small place. It was settled by the French from Canada, early in the last century. It is situated on the Wabash, 150 miles above its mouth, and is accessible for the greater part of the year by steamboats. It has considerable trade, and of late years has been improving. A large and beautiful prairie adjoins the town; 5,000 acres of which are cultivated in common by the inhabitants, after the ancient French custom. Vincennes was formerly the seat of the territorial government. It has about 1,800 inhabitants.

New Albany, on the Ohio, a short distance below Louisville in Kentucky, has a considerable trade by means of the river, and there are many steamboats built here. It is the largest town in the state, and contains a population of about 2,500.

Jeffersonville, on the Ohio, just above the falls, is a handsome village, and enjoys a beautiful prospect of the foaming rapids in the river, and the richly wooded banks, and the town of Louisville opposite. Vevay, on the Ohio, in the southeastern corner of the state, was settled in 1804, by 30 Swiss families, to whom the United States made a grant of a large tract of land with a view to introduce the cultivation of the vine. Here are the largest vineyards in the United States. The inhabitants also manufacture straw bonnets, and some other articles. Madison, on the Ohio, midway between Cincinnati and Louisville, is a pleasant and flourishing town. Pop. about 2,000. Corydon, near the Ohio, was formerly the seat of government, but is an inconsiderable place.

Brookville, on White Water River, is a flourishing town, with many mills and factories. Harmony, on the Wabash, near the southwestern corner of the state, is a noted place, though now decayed. It was settled in 1804, by the Germans, under Rapp, who subsequently sold the establishment, and removed to Economy, in Pennsylvania, as we have related at page 166. The lands and village of Harmony were purchased by Robert Owen, of New Lanark, in Scotland, who attempted to establish here a community upon the cooperative system, but this has lately been abandoned.

3. AGRICULTURE. The articles of culture are similar to those of Ohio. The vineyards at Vevay are flourishing and profitable, and the products increase yearly. The cape or blue grape, and the Madeira grape, have been principally cultivated. Recently, the native American grapes have grown into esteem; they are thought to produce better wine, and to be more easy of culture. Foreign grapes have a tendency to grow too succulent.

4. INDIANS. The Aborigines a few years since owned the greater part of the fertile lands in the state, but most of it has been purchased of them by treaties. Great numbers of them have emigrated to the west, into Canada, and to the sources of the Mississippi. There remain some of the Potawotamies and Miamies, with a few belonging to other tribes. Their numbers are not above 5,000, and they occupy the north part of the state.

5. GOVERNMENT. The legislature is called the General Assembly, and consists of a Senate and House of Representatives. The senators are chosen for three years, and the representatives yearly; one third of the senators are renewed annually. The Governor is chosen for three years, and may be once re-elected. Elections are popular, and suffrage is universal. The state sends three representatives to Congress.

6. RELIGION. The Baptists have 127 ministers; the Methodists 34, and the Presbyterians 50.

7. EDUCATION. Indiana College, at Bloomington, was founded in 1827. It has three instructers, and 51 students; it has two vacations, in May and October. Two townships of land were granted by the United States to endow this college. Popular education is provided for by the constitution of this state, but it has not yet received much attention.

8. HISTORY. The French from Canada explored this country, and settled Vincennes in the early part of the last century. The settlers were soldiers of Louis XIV. For more than an age, they lived in a state of seclusion, almost separated from the rest of the world, and partially assimilated with the savages. By the treaty of 1763 between France and England, this region came into the possession of the English, although the change was merely nominal, and no additional settlements were made in the country. In the revolutionary war, the French at Vincennes manifested so favorable a disposition toward the American cause, that the government made them a grant of land in the neighborhood of the town, at the end of the war. In 1800, Indiana was placed under a territorial government, and about this time new settlements were formed. The Indians committed various hostilities from time to time upon the frontiers, and in 1811, at the instigation of the British, who furnished them with arms and ammunition, one of their leaders, called the Shawanee prophet, collected a numerous body, and made such devastations that the United States government despatched an armed force against them. In November 1811, the troops marched into the Indian country, and encamped near the Prophet's town, at Tippecanoe, where the savages had collected an army of 600 warriors. General Harrison, the American commander, proposed a negotiation; the Indians accepted it with every protestation of friendship, and agreed to hold a council the next day. Prophet, at night, consulted his grand medicine,' and declared to his followers that the enemy was now in their power, fast asleep, and should never wake. Before the dawn of day, the Indians burst into the American camp with horrid shouts, and a fierce engagement succeeded, amid the confusion of darkness and the yells of the war whoop. The militia fled, but were soon rallied. The troops formed a solid column, and charged the savages at the point of the bayonet. They were soon driven from the field and routed, but nearly 200 Americans fell in the battle. The Prophet's town was then set on fire. This severe blow put an end to the incursions of the savages for a

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time; but during the war of 1812, they joined the British, and were troublesome to the frontier towns of this, and the neighboring states. admitted into the Union in 1816.

CHAPTER XXVIII. ILLINOIS.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.

1. BOUNDARIES AND EXTENT. This state is bounded N. by the Northwest Territory; E. by Lake Michigan and Indiana; S. by Kentucky, and W. by the state and territory of Missouri. It extends from 37° to 42° 30′ N. lat., and from 87° 17 to 91° 50′ W. lon. It is 350 miles in length, and 160 in mean breadth, and contains 56,000 square miles.

2. RIVERS. The Mississippi forms the boundary of this state on the west. The Illinois rises near Lake Michigan, and flows west and south to the Mississippi. It is above 400 miles in length, and is navigable by boats nearly to its source. About 200 miles above its mouth, the river widens so as to form a lake 20 miles long, and two in width, called Peoria Lake. This is a beautiful sheet of water surrounded by prairies; it is very deep, and the current of the river through it is not perceptible. One of the head streams of the Illinois rises within 10 miles of Lake Michigan. Here is a morass, which at certain seasons discharges its waters into the Illinois in one direction, and into the Chicago which falls into the lake, on the other. Boats of 5 tons burthen have passed through from the Illinois to the lake. The rocky shores of the lake everywhere exhibit evidence that its waters have considerably lowered, and there is little doubt that it was formerly drained by the branches of the Illinois.

Rock River rises beyond the northern limit of the state, and flows southwest to the Mississippi; it is 200 miles in length. The Kaskaskia rises a little east of the interior of the state, and flows southwest into the Mississippi; it is 250 miles in length, and is navigable for boats. The Wabash forms a part of the eastern boundary, and receives from this state the Little Wabash 130 miles in length; its navigation is incommoded by sand bars, and great masses of timber which have clogged the stream.

3. CLIMATE. The air of this state is somewhat damper than that of Indiana and Ohio. The northeastern part is exposed to the bleak, cold winds of the lakes. This has been generally considered an unhealthy state; yet we are informed by residents, that the air is in general quite as salubrious as in any part of the western country. The marshy districts are subject to fevers. 4. SOIL. Three different qualities of soil may be distinguished in a general description. First, the alluvial borders of the rivers, which are from one to 8 miles wide, sometimes elevated, and at others low and subject to inundation. These consist of alternations of wood and prairie, and have almost always a fertile soil. Second, between the alluvion and the bluffs which bound them, are level tracts from 50 to 100 feet high. These consist mostly of prairie, either dry or marshy, and are less fertile than the alluvions, but are commonly preferred by emigrants. Third, the interior, which consists of an intermixture of woods and prairies; here the soil is various, and the surface waving or broken. One sixth of the bottom or alluvial land, is overflowed for a longer or shorter time by the rivers, and is thereby rendered unfit for cultivation, although it is productive in timber. There is a tract called

the American Bottom, beginning at the mouth of the Kaskaskia, and extending along the Mississippi, to the bluffs at Alton; it is 90 miles in length, and 5 in average width, and consists of soil 25 feet deep, as rich as can be found in the world. About the French towns it has been cultivated, and produced maize every year without manuring, for above a century. In the north there are tracts somewhat stony, yet in every other part the plough may pass over millions of acres without meeting so much as a pebble to impede its course.

5. MINERALS. Iron is found in the southern part. Native copper in small quantities, has also been met with in the same quarter. The chief mineral production, however, is lead. Here are the richest lead mines in the world. The district which furnishes the ore, lies in the northwest part, and extends beyond the limits of the state. It comprises a tract

of above 200 miles in extent. The ore is inexhaustible. It lies in beds or horizontal strata, varying in thickness from one inch to several feet. It yields 75 per cent. of pure lead. For many years the Indians and hunters were accustomed to dig for the metal; they never penetrated much below the surface, but obtained great quantities of the ore, which they sold to the traders. The public attention was drawn to this quarter, and from 1826 to 1828, the country was filled with miners, smelters, merchants, speculators and adventurers. Vast quantities of lead were manufactured; the business was overdone, and the markets nearly destroyed. At present, the business is reviving, and in 1830, there were 8,323,998 pounds of lead made at the mines. The whole quantity obtained from 1821 to 1830, was 40,088,860 pounds. The principal mines are in the neighborhood of Galena.

The whole state abounds in coal. It appears above the surface in the ravines and gullies, and in the points of bluffs. There is scarcely a county in the state, unable to furnish it in large quantities. Limestone and sandstone occur in every part. Salt springs are common, but they are generally neg.

lected.

6. FACE OF THE COUNTRY. This is one of the most level states in the Union. The greater part consists of vast plains, or barrens, gently undulating. One may travel across immense prairies for many days, without meeting with an eminence worthy to be called a hill. The banks of the Mississippi exhibit lofty bluffs, and near the Ohio, is a range of hills of moderate height.

POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY

1. DIVISIONS. This state is divided into 52 counties.* The population is 157,575, of whom 746 are slaves.

2. CANAL. A canal has been projected to unite Lake Michigan with the Illinois. It is intended to leave the river at a point below the rapids, and proceed upward, along its banks, to the lake at Chicago. The length is es

timated at about 70 miles, and the cost at 800,000 dollars. The national government has made a grant of land in aid of the design, but the work is not yet commenced.

3. TOWNS. Vandalia, the seat of government, stands on the Kaskaskia, somewhat south of the centre of the state, and upon the great national road. It has been founded but a few years, and has about 500 inhabitants. Kaskaskia, on the river of that name, near the Mississippi, is the oldest settlement in the whole western country, and was founded by the French, shortly after the first visit of La Salle, in 1683. While the French held possession of the county, Kaskaskia was a populous town, and the seat of government. In 1721 it contained a college of Jesuits. After the war of the revolution it declined, but lately it has begun to revive. Cahokia is another ancient French settlement on the Mississippi; it is nearly as old as Kaskaskia. Bellville, in the same neighborhood, is a new and flourishing town. Shawneetown, on the Ohio, is the largest place in this state, upon the river. It has about 600 inhabitants. Galena, in the northwest, on the Mississippi, is the centre of a lead-mining district. All the towns in this state are small.

4. AGRICULTURE. The chief agricultural productions are maize, wheat, potatoes, hemp, flax, and tobacco. The cultivation of the Castor Oil bean has lately been introduced. Thousands of swine are raised without any expense. The system of agriculture is in general very rude and unskilful. The greater part of the inhabitants live in log cabins, and there are very few good buildings in the state.

5. MANUFACTURES. The chief manufacture is that of salt, from the water of springs; the water is obtained by boring. The salt commonly sells at the works for 40 or 50 cents a bushel. There are some lead and iron foundries, and one or two cotton manufactories.

6. GOVERNMENT. The legislature is called the General Assembly, and consists of a Senate and House of Representatives. The Senators are chosen for 4 years, and the Representatives for 2. The Governor is chosen for 4 years. The legislature has but one stated session in two years. Elections are popular, and suffrage is universal. The state sends but one representative to Congress.

7. RELIGION. The Baptists have 69 ministers; the Methodists 45; the Presbyterians 13.

8. EDUCATION. Illinois College, at Jacksonville, was founded in 1830. It has 3 instructers and 35 students. Two townships of land have been granted by the government for the support of schools, but no system of general education has yet been organized.

9. HISTORY. This state was first explored by La Salle, a French traveller, toward the end of the 17th century, and at that early period settlements were formed by the French at Kaskaskia and Cahokia as already related. These establishments however did not become politically important. At the treaty of Paris in 1763, this country came into the possession of Great Britain. This state formed a part of the region which in 1789 was placed under a territorial government, with the title of the Western Territory. In 1800 that part comprising Indiana and Illinois was made a distinct territory. In 1809 Illinois was made a separate territory, and in 1818 it was admitted into the Union as an independent state.