CONTENTS. The River Ohio-its etymology-scenery-timber-low water— floods-the great flood of 1832-impediments to navigation-pro- General surface of the country-the alternation of forest and prairie -scenery in western Pennsylvania, western Virginia, Ohio, Illi- The Public Domain-title of the United States to the public lands examined-objections discussed the policy of the government in the disposal of the public lands-proposed reduction, and gradua- Western Steamboats-discouraging prospects in regard to naviga- tion, at the first settlement of the west-the earliest boats-intro- duction of steam--history of the first steamboats-calculations relative to cost and expenses of steamboats-accidents-imposi- tions-number of flat boats-table of distances and prices of pas- sage-alphabetical list of the steamboats on the western waters- comparative view of the number of steamboats built at different places-comparative view of the number built in each state,. 213 Trade and Commerce-western cities-manufactures-tabular state- ment of the imports into New Orleans, consisting of produce de- scending the Mississippi, during ten years-tabular statement of the exports of cotton from New Orleans, for nine years-exports of tobacco-exports of sugar and molasses-other tables,.... 264 THE WESTERN PLAIN. CHAPTER I. The Western Plain-Its Limits-Its Topography-The General Character of its Formation-Its Mineral Resources. In order to understand the subject distinctly, it will be necessary to consider carefully the topography of that part of the valley of the Mississippi embraced within our remarks, with a few of its geological features. It extends from the western slope of the Allegheny mountains, to the great sand plains of the west, a distance of about fifteen hundred miles; and from the northern lakes to the mouth of the Ohio, a distance of about six hundred miles. We confine ourselves chiefly within these limits, because they circumscribe a territory naturally connected, by similarity of climate, and contiguity of territory. It is properly the West, the seat of what is called the Western population, and the most valuable tract of country in the United States. It embraces the states of Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, the territory of Michigan, and parts of Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee, and a region of about five hundred miles in width lying west of those organised boundaries. There is probably not on the globe, an equal expanse of surface, of such uniform fertility; and when in addition to that advantage, we take into view, its temperate climate, its salubrity, the abundance of its mineral resources, the variety of its productions, the multiplicity and extent of its navigable communications, and its central position in relation to our continent, it will be conceded that there is none which better deserves to be described and studied. The term valley-the valley of the Mississippiwhich is popularly applied to this region, does not express its real character, as it is in fact a plain, one of the most remarkable features of which, is the great extent of level surface embraced within its area; for although undulations, and even hills, sometimes swell before the eye of the traveler, the general plane is almost invariable. The difference in elevation over its whole surface-leaving out of view a few unimportant local inequalities is only a few feet. There is, however, a gradual declination from the north east, towards the southwest. This will become obvious from an examination of the annexed table, compiled by Colonel Long, and founded on actual observations had in his expedition to the sources of the St. Peter river. A table shewing the probable altitudes, in feet, of the water level, at a variety of points therein specified, above tide water. Points Indicated. Mouth of the Ohio River Ohio River at Cincinnati Do. at the mouth of Sciota River at the mouth of Muskingum River Surface of Lake Erie; River des Plaines 20 miles above its mouth; Mississippi at the head of the rapids Des Moines; and the Ohio, a few miles below Wheeling, Va. Lakes Huron and Michigan Lake Superior Elevation. 300 414 464 541 The Ohio at Pittsburgh; the Mississippi at St. Peters; and the Missouri at the mouth of the River La Platte 565 571 595 680 830 902 907 919 964 1040 - 1100 Points Indicated. Sources of the streams on the route of the Expedition, tributary to lakes Winnepeck and Superior; and head waters of the Mississippi Dog Lake Lake Winnepeck Elevation. 1200 - 1000 630 These elevations may be relied upon, as possessing all the accuracy desirable for the purpose of topographical description, having been derived from sources entitled to the highest credit. They have reference to the water surface, and shew, that from Pittsburgh, the Ohio river has a descent of less than four hundred feet, to its mouth,—a distance, by its meanders, of eleven hundred miles; and that from the sources of the Mississippi to the same point, the descent is only about seven hundred feet. The surface of the plain itself approaches still nearer to an actual level. Its north east corner near Pittsburgh, lies about seven hundred feet above the tides; the plains of Kentucky and West-Tennessee are about the same height, and as we proceed westwardly up the Missouri or Arkansas, we reach similar elevations. These are the exterior limits of the plain which descends as well from the Rocky Mountains, as from the Alleghenies, towards the Mississippi. “The great and numerous rivers that cross this plain," says an acute writer in the American Quarterly Review, "instead of forming distinct valleys, do but indent narrow lines or grooves into its surface, barely sufficient to contain their floods. These river channels, as the current rolls on, must form a declivity, and towards the lower parts of their courses sink deep into the plain; hence the large rivers, Ohio, Missouri and others, seem bordered with abrupt hills of several hundred feet elevation; but the tops of these hills are the level of the great plain, and are formed by smaller streams which fall into those large rivers, where their channels are thus worn down; and to give themselves an easy slope, these |