West of the head branches of Mississippi are Packagamau, remarkable for the wild rice which grows in its water. Lake Winnipique, of an oval form, thirty-six miles in circumference, Leech, and Otter-tail lakes. In the south, along the valleys of the Washita, White river, and St. Francis, small lakes are numerous.

The Massarene mountains extend westwardly from near the Mississippi to the sources of the Red river, and give to the country west of the Washita a rugged appearance. The Massarene chain is a prolongation of the Chippewan, and rises in detached masses, between Red and Arkansaw rivers. This range has not been carefully examined by men of science: of course its component parts are not correctly known. It is supposed to be rich in minerals, and there are ample indications of iron. The Black mountains run nearly parallel to the Missouri, from the head of the river Kanzas. The Rocky mountains, noticed in page 38, constitute a formidable boundary on the west and north-west, at the distance of 1,400 miles from the river Mississippi.

Aspect of the country, climate, soil, and productions.-In such an amazing extent of territory, the face of the country must be exceedingly diversified. Towards the south the land is low, and in many places overflowed by rivers; to the north it becomes elevated, frequently swelling out into large hills; and towards the west there are very lofty mountains. On all the rivers there are extensive alluvial tracts; this land, when not subject to inundation, is of the first quality, and is apparently but little exhausted by producing a long series of crops. Between the bayous of St. Francis and the Louisiana boundary line, the Mississippi, St. Francis, and Arkansaw, annually overflow considerable tracts, which in many places produce irreclaimable swamps. Two hundred miles west of the Mississippi river, the arable soil of the country experiences a total change. Beyond that limit an extensive desert commences, which extends to the Pacific ocean. Though this vast region is not an extended uninterrupted expanse of unproductive land, yet the greatest part of the distance is prairie* devoid of timber, or else a hard gravelly soil. The rivers are remarkable for their great length and little water; no lakes of any extent are found, and in seasons of dry weather, an extreme want of water is experienced by all persons who traverse this uninviting See page 104,-Note.

waste. The banks of the Missouri are, like those of the Mississippi, alluvial, and subject to inundation; yet the country may be said to be fertile from the mouth of the Missouri westwardly, as far as the river Kanzas, 342 miles, and northwardly, up the Mississippi, as far as the Great Sac river.

Boone's Lick country, now Howard county, is, no doubt, the richest considerable body of good land in the Missouri territory; and is equal, if not superior, to the best part of Kentucky. It commences at the mouth of the Great Osage river, 133 miles above St. Louis, and runs up said river to the boundary line of the Osage Indians; thence north with that line to the Missouri; thence up the Missouri to a point opposite the Kanzas river; thence northward 140 miles; thence eastward to the main dividing ridge of high ground between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers; thence along the said ridge to the head of the main branch of Cedar river; thence down this river to the Missouri, and down the Missouri to Osage river, or place of beginning; containing about 30,000 square miles, one half of which is first rate land, and but little that is unfit for cultivation: three-fifths are prairie.

The first settlement of this country was made in 1805, for the purpose of making salt; and has since been occupied for salt works. Farmers did not settle until the fall of 1811, when about twenty settled in Boone's Lick bottom; but their number increased slowly on account of the Indians during the late war. In November, 1815, the population amounted to 526 free white males, and it was formed into a separate county of the above boundary and name. In August, 1817, it contained 1,050 white males; when the site of a town was fixed by the county commissioners, on the bank of the Missouri, in a very eligible situation.

The face of the country is neither mountainous nor hilly, yet a great part of it is uneven ground; there is great uniformity throughout this large county, and but little diversity, of soil, stone, or timber. The Missouri runs through the county; the other navigable rivers are the Great Osage, Mine river, and Kanzas, from the south; the Charlatan, Grand river, and Little Platte from the north, besides numerous small streams.

Minerals of various kinds are found here; among which are, iron in abundance, lead, tin, copper, zinc, silver (rare) sulphur, alum, copperas, saltpetre, &c. In some parts of the county salt is procured in abundance; the main branch of Mine river, called the Salt fork, is generally

as salt as sea water, from the month of June to November. On the Osage river coal can be raised in any quantity. The country abounds in medicinal plants, from among which the Indians select some that are capable of curing the most inveterate venereal complaints. The natives also cure the bite of the rattlesnake, likewise rheumatisms of long standing, and are remarkable for their successful treatment of gun-shot wounds: the Great Osage Indians are most skilled in medicine.

Agriculture is not sufficiently attended to, although the country is extremely fertile. One acre of land will produce 100 bushels of prime Indian corn, fifty do. of wheat, sixty pounds to the bushel, and 1,000 lbs. of Carolina cotton in the seed. Hemp, flax, and every article of husbandry, except tobacco, which does not thrive well, (though none of the farmers can tell the reason,) can be raised in greater abundance, than in any county near the same latitude in the United States. A public road has been opened from Potosi (the lead mines in Washington county) which will greatly facilitate the intercourse with the

states.

The air in this part of the country is less liable to sudden changes than in the eastern sections of the territory. Chilling cold is seldom experienced, except when the north-west winds break across the vast extent of prairies which lie towards the northern regions; that wind, however, seldom continues longer than eight hours. The spring season opens about the middle of March with heavy rains, which continue at intervals until the end of April, and from that time to the first of August there is but little rain weather hot, with frequent thunder and lightning. Diseases are but little known in this agreeable climate; those most frequent are remittent fevers; but the most troublesome disorder is the influenza, well known, and often fatal, in Great Britain, about the year 1783. It is probable, however, that diseases will be introduced with wealth and dissipation.

The place selected for a town is nearly in the centre of the largest body of rich land in this territory, and is situated in about 38° 43′ N. lat. It is 150 miles west of St. Louis; 158 from the mouth of the Missouri by land, 180 by water; from St. Charles, 130; from Grand river,* which falls into the Missouri, twenty-four; from the Great

⚫ Near the mouth of Grand river will stand, at some future day, the capital of the Missouri country. It is in the centre of the level lands, and is the most delightful situation in the western territory. From this spot to the Mississippi, at the nearest point, is only eighty-four miles across a beautiful country, dry, open, and pleasant.

Osage town, 100; the same distance from the Mississippi; and 130 from the town of Potosi.

The principal articles of trade are salt, live stock, beef, pork, beaver, tallow, bees-wax, honey, peltries, saltpetre, and grain. The inhabitants are composed of different religious persuasions. At present the state of education is at a very low ebb; but as the people are only in the first stage of their political existence, it may be reasonably expected that they will soon emerge from their darkness and obscurity.

Between Boone's Lick and the fort, the land south of the river is one extended prairie, except about 100 sections of good woodland, extending about twenty miles down the river from the fort. One or two creeks pass through this tract, sufficient for small machinery or grist mills. The prairie lies well, and is scarcely inferior in point of soil to the river bottom. The fort is in N. lat. 39° 5', and stands on the brow of a hill within 100 yards of the river. It commands a full view of five miles east, down, and two miles north up the river. From the fort to the Osage river, seventy-six miles, the land is altogether prairie, except some little spots on the creeks, not any where sufficient for a settlement. A great proportion of the land, so far, is of good quality and lies well. On the north side of the Osage river there is a very extensive bottom of the finest quality, and on the south side another of secondary quality. Upon the latter plain stand some high mounds of earth, from one of which a view may be taken of 500 square miles of land, nearly all of the first rate; timber and springs only are wanting to make this one of the finest parts of the world.

About 130 miles further, in the same direction, the woody country begins, and the land becomes poorer as you approach it. Here are found the first running streams, except the Osage; they all run west, and are waters of the grand river Arkansaw: after entering the timbered land, there is little more prairie to be seen. At the distance of 200 miles is the head water of the Buffalo fork of White river; 254 miles brings you to the river Arkansaw, about sixty miles above the Cherokee village. The wood land through this distance is poor, stony, and approaching to mountainous; game plentiful, but no buffalo until near the waters of White river. The same kind of soil and surface continues down to the Cherokee village; from thence for about twenty miles east, to the mouth of the Quadrant, the land somewhat improves, though it is still rather poor.

The river bottom is generally rich,

though not very extensive, and somewhat subject to inundation. From the Quadrant, by the usual route to St. Louis, the soil is mostly poor, and the country broken; yet there is some very good bottom land on the tributary streams of White river and St. Francis, and many spots might be selected fit for cultivation, though not enough to give a character to the country.

The late general Pike describes the district round the Osage villages, as one of the most beautiful the eye ever beheld. The three branches of the river, viz. the east, middle, and northern forks, all wind round and pass the villages, affording the important advantages of wood and water; while the extensive prairies, crowned with rich and luxuriant grass and flowers, gently diversified by rising swells and sloping lawns, present to the warm imagination the future seats of husbandry, and the numerous herds of domestic animals, which are no doubt destined to crown with joy these happy plains. From the Osage towns to the source of the Osage river, in lat. 36° N., there is no difference in the appearance of the country; except that on the south and east, the view on the prairies becomes unbounded, and is only limited by the shortness of our sight. The waters of the White river and the Osage, are divided merely by a small ridge on the prairie, and the dry branches appear to interlock at their head; from thence to the chief branch of the latter river, the country appears to be high and gravelly ridges of prairie land. On the main White river is large timber, and fine ground for cultivation; but from the Verdigris to the Arkansaw, the country is composed of gravelly hills and extensive prairies, in some places well watered, but deficient in timber, except for a limited number of inhabitants for a few years: salt springs and iron ore in abundance. All the country between the forks of Kanzas river, a distance of 160 miles, may be called prairie, notwithstanding the borders of woodland which ornament the banks of those streams; but are no more than a line traced on a sheet of paper, when compared to the immense tract of meadow country. Approaching the Arkansaw, the land is low and swampy for the space of fifteen or twenty miles; from thence about half way to the mountains, is a continued succession of low prairie hills, badly watered, and nearly destitute of timber.

The banks of the Missouri are lined with vegetable riches. The northern shore, as far up as the mouth of the Gasconade, above 100 miles, is generally a low, rich bottom, from one to two miles wide, covered with ash,