side of the Caspian, the large plain to the south of the Baltic, and that through which the river of the Amazon flows; the Tehama of Arabia, the Delta of Egypt, and others of a similar nature, which seem to have been once covered by the waters of the ocean and its gulfs. The immense plains covered with grass, called prairies in the United States, are the steppes of Asia, and the pampas of South America.
CHAPTER IV.—RIVERS.
ALL the rivers of the United States, of the first magnitude, have their sources, either in the Rocky Mountains, or in elevated spurs projecting from the sides of that range. Many of the rivers which descend from the western sides of the Alleghanies are of inconsiderable volume, and by no means remarkable for the rapidity or the directness of their course. Those which flow from the eastern and southern sides of these mountains are worthy of extended description, even in the same pages with the great tributaries of the Mississippi. They afford the advantages of a good inland navigation to most parts of the states.
I. RIVERS WHICH FLOW INTO THE MISSISSIPPI, AND THE GULF OF MEXICO.
The Mississippi with its branches drains the great central basin which lies between the Alleghany and the Rocky Mountains. This river has its rise in the table-lands within the territories of the United States, in north latitude forty-seven degrees and forty-seven minutes, at an altitude of thirteen hundred and thirty feet above the Atlantic, though the country at its source appears like a vast marshy valley. Mr. Schoolcraft fixes it in Cassina Lake, which is situated seventeen degrees north of the Balize on the gulf of Mexico, and two thousand nine hundred and seventy-eight miles, pursuing the course of the river. Estimating the distance to Lake La Beesh, its extreme north-western inlet at sixty miles, we have a result of three thousand and thirty-eight miles as the entire length of this wonderful river. Mr. Schoolcraft, in his very interesting Journal of Travels observed that he believed there was no one then living, beside himself who had visited both the sources and the mouth of this celebrated stream. As the description furnished by this gentleman is the clearest and most complete that we find, we have taken the liberty to transfer it to our pages, without mutilation:—
‘In deciding upon the physical character of the Mississippi, it may be advantageously considered under four natural divisions, as indicated by the permanent differences in the color of its waters—the geological character of its bed and banks—its forest trees and other vegetable productions—its velocity—the difficulties it opposes to navigation—and other natural appearances and circumstances.’
‘Originating in a region of lakes, upon the table-lands, which throw their waters north into Hudson’s Bay—south into the gulf of Mexico—and east into the gulf of St. Lawrence—it pursues its course to the falls of Peckagama, a distance of two hundred and thirty miles, through a low prairie, covered with wild rice, rushes, sword grass, and other aquatic plants. During this distance, it is extremely devious as to course and width, sometimes expanding into small lakes, at others, narrowing into a channel of about eighty feet. It is about sixty feet wide on its exit from Red Cedar or Cassina Lake, with an average depth of two feet; but from the junction of the Leech Lake fork, increases to a hundred feet in width, with a corresponding increase of depth. Its current, during this distance is still and gentle; and its mean velocity may be estimated at a mile and a half per hour, with a descent of three inches per mile. This is the favorite resort of water-fowl, and amphibious quadrupeds.
‘At the falls of Peckagama, the first rock stratum, and the first wooded island, is seen. Here the river has a fall of twenty feet; and from this to the falls of St. Anthony, a distance of six hundred and eighty-five miles, exhibits its second characteristic division. At the head of the falls of Peckagama, the prairies entirely cease; and below, a forest of elm, maple, birch, oak, and ash, overshadows the stream. The black walnut is first seen below Sandy Lake river, and the sycamore below the river De Corbeau. The river, in this distance, has innumerable well wooded islands, and receives a number of tributaries, the largest of which is the river De Corbeau, its great south-western fork. The Pine, Elk, Sac, and Crow rivers, also enter on the west, and the St. Francis and Missisawgaiegon, on the east. The course of the river, although serpentine, is less so, than above the falls of Peckagama, and its bends are not so short and abrupt. Its mean width may be estimated at three hundred feet until the junction of the De Corbeau, and below that at two hundred and fifty yards. Its navigation is impeded, agreeably to a memorandum which I have kept, by thirty-five rapids, nineteen ripples, and two minor falls, called the Little and the Big Falls, in all of which the river has an aggregate descent of two hundred and twenty-four feet in fourteen thousand six hundred and forty yards, or about eight miles. The mean fall of the current, exclusive of the rapids, may be computed at six inches per mile, and its velocity at three miles per hour. In the course of this distance it receives several small turbid streams, and acquires a brownish hue, but still preserves its transparency, and is palatable drink-water. A few miles above the river Corbeau, on the east side, we observe the first dry prairies, or natural meadows, and they continue to the falls of St. Anthony. These prairies are the great resort of the buffalo, elk, and deer, and are the only parts of the banks of the Mississippi where the buffalo is now to be found. Granite rocks appear at several of the rapids, in rolled pieces, and in beds; and in some places attain an elevation of one or two hundred feet above the level of the water, but the banks of the river are generally alluvial.
‘At the falls of St. Anthony, the river has a perpendicular pitch of forty feet, and from this to its junction with the Missouri, a distance of eight hundred and forty-three miles, it is bounded by limestone bluffs, which attain various elevations from one to four hundred feet, and present a succession of the most sublime and picturesque views. This forms the third characteristic change of the Mississippi. The river prairies cease, and the rocky bluffs commence precisely at the falls of St. Anthony. Nine miles below it receives the St. Peter’s from the west, and is successively swelled on that side by the Ocano, Iowa, Turkey, Desmoines, and Salt rivers, and on the east by the St. Croix, Chippeway, Black, Ouisconsin, Rock, and Illinois. One hundred miles below the falls of St. Anthony, the river expands into a lake, called Pepin, which is twenty-four miles long and four in width. It is, on issuing from this lake, that the river first exhibits, in a striking manner, those extensive and moving sandbars, innumerable islands and channels, and drifts and snags, which continue to characterize it to the ocean. Its bends from this point onward are larger, and its course more direct; and although its waters are adulterated by several dark colored and turbid streams, it may still be considered transparent. The principal impediments to navigation in this distance are the Desmoines, and Rock river rapids. The latter extends six miles, and opposes an effectual barrier to steam-boat navigation, although keel-boats and barges of the largest classes, may ascend. This rapid is three hundred and ninety miles above St. Louis.
‘The fourth change in the physical aspect of this river is at the junction of the Missouri, and this is a total and complete one, the character of the Mississippi being entirely lost in that of the Missouri. The latter is, in fact, much the larger stream of the two, and carries its characteristic appearances to the ocean. It should also have carried the name, but its exploration took place too long after the course of the Mississippi had been perpetuated in the written geography of the country, to render an alteration in this respect, either practicable or expedient. The waters of the Mississippi at its confluence with the Missouri, are moderately clear, and of a greenish hue. The Missouri is turbid and opake, of a grayish white color, and during its floods, which happen twice a year, communicates, almost instantaneously, to the combined stream its predominating qualities, but towards the close of the summer season, when it is at its lowest stage of water, the streams do not fully incorporate for twenty or thirty miles, but preserve opposite sides of the river; and I have observed this phenomenon at the town of Herculaneum, forty-eight
