2. RIVERS. The Mississippi washes the whole western limit of the territory. The Wisconsin, Chippeway, St Croix and Mississagaigon, fall into the Mississippi. The St. Louis flows into the southern extremity of Lake Superior. Fox River is the outlet of a considerable lake which discharges its waters into Lake Michigan. Within the peninsula are Grand River and the Kallemarzo flowing into Lake Michigan; the Saginaw into Lake Huron, and the Raisin into Lake Erie.

3. LAKES. Lakes Superior and Huron bound this territory on the N. and E. Lake Michigan lies almost wholly within it. It is 260 miles in length and 50 in breadth, and communicates with Lake Huron by the Strait of Michilimackinac. It is sufficiently deep for vessels of any burthen. In the northwestern part is an arm of the lake called Green Bay. In this quarter are a great many islands; the most important is that of Michilimackinac or Mackinaw, in the strait of that name, upon which is a military post of the United States. West of Lake Michigan are several small lakes, as Winnebago, Flambeau, Tomahawk, and Spirit Lake.

4. CLIMATE. The climate of the peninsula is much tempered by the lakes sourrounding it; the southern part has a mild winter. In the western and

northern parts the climate approaches toward that of Canada.

5. SOIL. The country along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan consists of hills of sand thrown up by the lake, and producing some scanty herbage and a few stunted trees. The land is still encroaching upon the water. In the eastern part of the peninsula the soil is fertile. The northwestern parts have been little explored; but the land along the rivers is said to be of an excellent quality.

6. NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. All the water courses, ponds and marshes in the northwestern parts are covered with the Zizania aquatia, or wild rice. It is a tall, reedy water plant, and springs up from the depth of 6 or 7 feet where the bottom is soft and muddy; it rises nearly as high above the water; its leaves and spikes resemble those of oats but are much larger. When it is intended to be preserved, the spikes are bound together to preserve the grain from the water fowl who resort to these spots in millions. After it has ripened canoes are rowed among the grain; blankets are spread in the bottoms of the canoes, and the grain is beaten out upon them. It is as white as common rice, and has much the taste of sago.

7. MINERALS. The lead mine district of Illinois extends into this country. Copper is thought to exist abundantly in the northwest. On the banks of the Onontagon, a stream flowing into Lake Superior, have been discovered large masses of native copper, one of which weighed 2,200 pounds. Iron occurs in various parts, and gypsum is found on some of the islands. The mineral resources of the country have not yet been turned to much account. 8. NATURAL CURIOSITIES. The southern shore of Lake Superior exhibits a singular phenomenon called the Pictured Rocks. They are a series of lofty bluffs and precipices, exhibiting the appearance of towering walls, ruins, caverns, water-falls, &c. in every variety of combination. They are generally about 300 feet in height, and often overhang the water. The color varies in shades of black, yellow, red, white and brown. The waves driven by the violent north winds have worn the rocky shores into numerous caverns, bays and indentations which increase the romantic effect of these appearances. In one place a cascade tumbles from the top of the rock in so wide a curve that boats pass between the sheet of water and the shore. Another spot exhibits a mass of rock supported by four natural pillars and overgrown on the top with trees; it is called the Doric Rock, and closely resembles a work

of art.

9. FACE OF THE COUNTRY. The peninsula of Michigan is extremely

level with hardly a sufficient elevation in the central parts to give the streams a direction toward the lakes. The Northwest Territory is also level, but in the western and northern parts are some hilly tracts. Nearly the whole of this portion is in a wild state.

10. DIVISIONS. The settled portion of the Territory is divided into 17 counties, 4 of which are west of Lake Michigan. The population is 31,260, of whom 27 are slaves.

11. Towns. Detroit, is the capital, and the only large town. It stands on the river Detroit which unites lakes St Clair and Erie, and occupies a beautiful plain 20 feet above the river. The streets are wide and the houses of stone, brick and wood: there are several wharves upon the river. A great number of the inhabitants are French, and the town is much resorted to by the Indians for trading. It has been incorporated as a city. Pop. 2,222. There are many small towns in the southern part of the peninsula, and the United States have military posts at Mackinaw and Prairie du Chien, at the mouth of the Wisconsin.

12. AGRICULTURE. Wheat, maize, oats, barley, buckwheat, &c. are the articles generally cultivated. The land is now more favorable to cultivated grasses than the other parts of the western country.

13. COMMERCE. This territory has some foreign trade by the lakes. In 1829 there were imported goods to the value of 2,957 dollars. Steamboats

ply upon Lake Michigan, and a short portage connects Fox River, a stream of that lake with the Wisconsin, falling into the Mississippi.

14. RELIGION. The Methodists have 11 preachers; the Presbyterians 6; the Episcopalians 5; the Baptists 2; and there are some Catholic priests. 15. HISTORY. A settlement was made in this territory at Detroit, by the French, in 1670, yet little progress was made by the settlers for more than a century. In 1805, a territorial government was established by the United States. The peninsula was overrun by the British in 1812, but recovered by the American army under General Harrison in the following year.

CHAPTER XXXII. TERRITORY OF MISSOURI.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.

1. BOUNDARIES AND EXTENT. Missouri Territory is bounded N. by the British possessions; E. by the Northwest Territory, Illinois and Missouri; S.. and S. W. by the territories of the Mexican republic; W. by the Rocky Mountains. It lies between 34° and 49° N. lat. and 90° and 1120 W. lon. and is 900 miles in length and 800 in breadth, and is estimated to contain 470,000 square miles.

2. MOUNTAINS. The ridges of the Rocky Mountains, on the western borders of this state, have been but very imperfectly explored, and little is known in relation to them. Their bases have an elevation of between 3 and 4,000 feet above the level of the sea. Many of their summits are covered with perpetual snow. In numerous places, the waters that run into the Pacific, rise near those that fall into the tributaries of the Mississippi; and it is said

that between the sources of the La Platte and the great lake, Buenaventura, there is a road which may easily be travelled by loaded wagons. The passage called the 'Gates of the Rocky Mountains,' which the river Missouri has torn for itself among these ridges, is described as presenting a very sublime spectacle. For nearly six miles, these mountains rise in black and perpendicular masses 1200 feet above the surface of the river. The chasm is little more than 150 yards wide; and the deep and foaming waters of the river rush through the passage, as if it were a cataract. Vast columns of rock, torn from their beds and lying along the banks of the river, attest the violence of the conflict between the floods and the mountain. The Black Hills, the elevated table lands between the heads of the Missouri and Mississippi, called Coteau du Prairie, the Ozark Mountains, and the Masserne Mountains, may all be considered collateral ranges of the Rocky Mountains. There is one mountain distinguishable from all the rest, whose black sides and hoary summit, are a land mark at immense distances over the plain. It has been called Mount Pike, from the intrepid traveller who first described it.

3. RIVERS. The Missouri intersects this whole territory. The Riviere de Corbeau, St Peters, Cannon, and Toway, are tributaries of the Mississippi; the Yellowstone, La Platte, Kansas, Osage, and Runningwater, are tributaries of the Missouri. The Arkansas runs through the southern parts of the territory, flowing through that part of it where the traveller can often see nothing but a boundless grassy plain. Its principal tributaries are the Negracka, and Grand Saline.

4. CLIMATE. The climate in a great measure corresponds with the latitude. The first climate, beyond the state of Missouri and the territory of Arkansas, is mild and temperate. The belt beyond has nearly the climate of New England. Still further towards the mountains it is Canadian. Travellers speak of storms of sleet and hail, in summer, near the sources of the ArkanWhen the winds blow from the west over the summits of these mountains, and bring down the temperature of frozen regions, we must of course expect such changes of temperature near their bases.

sas.

5. SOIL. The soil and surface of this territory are very peculiar. The banks of the lower courses of the rivers that flow from this region into the Mississippi, are wooded: as we ascend towards their sources, the wood becomes scarce, and the upper tributaries flow through open prairies. Along the margins of all these streams there is a line of rich land; but as we diverge from them, the soil becomes dry and barren. A great extent in some parts, may be travelled, without seeing water. It has been compared to the steppes of Central Africa, and in some portions to the desert of Zahara. In the most sterile parts, however, there is a thin sward of grass and herbage. The belt of country, partially wooded, extends generally from two to four hundred miles west of the Mississippi, and there commences the ocean of prairies. 6. INHABITANTS. This territory is inhabited by various tribes of Indians, of whom the Sioux are most numerous. The other principal tribes are the Osages, the Pawnees, the Cherokees, and the Fox Indians. Their whole number is estimated at about 150,000. There is a garrison of the United States soldiers at the Council Bluff, on the Missouri, near the mouth of the La Platte, and another on St Peter's river. There is no government over this Territory, except that of the military posts established in it.

CHAPTER XXXIII. TERRITORY OF OREGON.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.

1. BOUNDARIES AND EXTENT. This territory is bounded N. by the British and Russian possessions; E. by the Rocky Mountains; S. by the Mexican territories; and W. by the Pacific Ocean. It extends from 420 to 54°

N. lat. and from 107° to 130° W. lon. and contains about 300,000 square miles.

2. MOUNTAINS. The main ridges of the Rocky Mountains form the eastern boundary of this country. Between these ridges and the Pacific is another high and extensive chain of mountains, in which are the great falls of the Columbia. Still west of these, running parallel with the coast, is the third chain. The peaks of all these heights are above the regions of perpetual snow. The highest peaks have been named Mount Baker, Mount Regnier, Mount St Helena, Mount Hood, and Mount Jefferson.

3. RIVERS. The chief rivers of this region are the Oregon or Columbia and its tributaries. The Oregon has its sources in the Rocky Mountains, at about a mile distant from those of the Missouri, on the other side, and soon becomes a deep and broad river. Having received the waters of Clarke's and Lewis' rivers, it forms a southern bend, and breaks through the second chain of mountains. One hundred and thirty miles below, are the great falls, where the river descends in one rapid 57 feet. In passing through the third chain of mountains it is compressed to the width of 150 yards. Below this rapid, and about 120 miles from the sea, it receives the waters of the Multnomah, a large and unexplored tributary. The mouth of the river is in 46° 24', and the tide rises there about eight and a half feet. Clarke's River has a course of between 2 and 300 miles, before it unites with the Oregon. Lewis' River is large and of great length, and after receiving the waters of the Kooskooskee and North Fork, falls into the Oregon by a mouth 250 yards in width.

4. CLIMATE. It has been said that few countries have a climate more agreeable than that of this region to the west of the Rocky Mountains. The breezes from the west are softened by traversing an immense extent of sea, and the mountain ridges afford a shelter from the cold winds of the north. The spring is early, though the winters are rainy and some parts of them severe. 5. SOIL. The summits of the mountains are composed of rough rocks, and covered with snow the greater part of the year; but some sheltered and fertile valleys are found among them. The country bordering upon the Oregon and its branches, is represented as having a fertile soil.

6. NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. The prairies are covered with grass and a great variety of beautiful flowers. There are also among the prairie plants two or three roots, which the Indians eat with their salmon. Wild sage abounds, and grows to the size of a small tree, forming one of the principal articles of fuel. The timber in the mountains is spruce, pine and fur; the seashore for some distance to the interior is covered with forests of pine and hemlock. Many of the trees grow to an enormous height.

7. FACE OF THE COUNTRY. At a distance from the ocean the country is mountainous and destitute of trees; but extensive prairies are found on both sides of the Rocky Mountains.

8. COMMERCE. The chief articles of trade are the skins of seal and other aquatic animals, which are taken in great numbers in the Oregon. The principal intercourse is between the settlement at Astoria and China.

9. INHABITANTS. The number of Indians of the different tribes is estimated at 140,000. In 1811, a trading establishment was formed by some Americans at Astoria.

10. HISTORY. This country was first discovered by the Spaniards. In 1791, Captain Gray, of Boston, entered the Oregon and called it Columbia, from the name of his ship. In 1805, Lewis and Clark descended the river from the mountains to the Pacific, and spent the winter on its shore. Attempts are now making to establish a settlement in this country upon the shores of the Pacific.

1. BOUNDARIES AND EXTENT. This portion of the United States is boun ded N. by Russian and British America; E. by British America, Pennsylvania, Virginia, N. Carolina, and Mississippi; Š. by Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and the Mexican Territories; and W. by the Mexican Territories and the Pacific Ocean. It extends from 330 to 54° N. lat. and from 80° 35' to 130° W. lon. and contains about 1,272,000 square miles.

2. MOUNTAINS. The western ridges of the Apalachian chain limit a portion of this territory on the East. The Ozark and Masserne Mountains are branches of the Mexican chain which extends into the Southeastern part of this country. But the most important are the Rocky Mountains, whose numerous ridges intersect this territory from north to south. In extent, height and breadth they far exceed the Apalachian Mountains. Their base is 300 miles in breadth. The central chain is covered with perpetual snow, and the peak of the Great White Mountain between the heads of the Arkansas and Platte rivers has been calculated at 18,581 feet above the level of the sea. A great number of parallel ridges occupy the territory on both sides of the main range with a mean breadth of 200 miles. The mountains present generally a very rugged and sterile appearance, and oppose a very formidable barrier to any intercourse between the western states and the Pacific Ocean. For the greater part of the year they are impassable. From June to September