THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY:
ITS
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 
I 
THE
MISSISSIPPI VALLEY:
ITS
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY,
INCLUDING SKETCHES OF TIE
TOPOGRAPHY, BOTANY, CLIMATE, GEOLOGY, AND MINERAL
RESOURCES; AND OF THE PROGRESS OF DEVELOPMENT
IN POPULATION AND MATERIAL WEALTH.
J. W. FOSTER, LL.D.,
PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE;
JOINT-AUTHOR OF' FOSTER AND WIITNEY'S REPORT ON THE GEOLOGY OF
THE LAKE SUPERIOR REGION;>" LECTURER ON PHYSICAL GEOGRAPIHY
AND COGNATE SCIENCES IN THE UNIVERSITY OF
CHICAGO, ETC., ETC.
ILLUSTRATED BY MAPS AND SECTIONS.
"Rerum cognoscere causas.
CHICAGO:
S. C. GRIGGS AND COMPANY.
LONDON:
TRUBNER & CO
I869.
BY 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year i869,
BY S. C. GRIGGS AND CO.,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Northern District of Illinois.
T,> 
CHURCH, GOODMAN AND )DONNELLEY, PRINTERS, CHICAGO.
JOHN CONAHAN, STEREOTYPER. 
PREFACE.
HAVING devoted many years to explorations in
different parts of the Mississippi Valley, and to
the study of its soil, climate, and resources  mineral and agricultural,- and having been a witness,
in part, of the gigantic strides which have been
made during the lifetime of a generation, in those
arts which contribute so essentially to the comforts
and conveniences of man; -I propose to describe,
in a comprehensive form, the Physical Geography
of this wonderful region, and particularly of that
portion which lies west of the great dividing linethe Mississippi River. Already this valley contains a majority of the people of the United States;
and the developments which are now going on to
bring it into close commercial relations with the
mining regions of the Ultra-montane and Pacific
States, and with the markets of the Orient, will
add vastly to its resources, and to its commanding
position as a part of the Great Republic.
I5 
PREFACE.
With regard to the capacities of the region lying
between the eastern rim of the Great Basin and
the Missouri River, and known as the Plains, the
vaguest ideas prevail. Some theorists, little versed
in the laws of climatology, and over-sanguine as to
the expansibility of our country, have anticipated
the time when population would flow, in an unbroken wave, to the base of the Rocky Mountains;
while others, more cautious, drawing their concluslops from sources not less erroneous, have been
disposed to regard this region as an irreclaimable
desert. It is neither. While God has doomed
certain portions of the surface to everlasting sterility,
the greater portion will forever afbford vast ranges
for pasturage; and much of it, under a suitable system of irrigation, can be reclaimed and made to
rival the ancient fruitfuilness of the valleys of the
Tigris and Euphrates.
The phenomena of forest-growth, of grassy
plains, and arid wastes, it is believed, result from
laws as constant and harmonious in their operation as those which regulate the planetary movements.
It was with a view of illustrating the gradations
between the forest, prairie, and desert; the varying
conditions of temperature and moisture, and their
effects in determining the range of those plants
cultivated for food; and, at the same time, to trace
vi 
PREFACE.
the character of the fundamental rocks over the
whole of this region, pointing out the mode of
occurrence of those ores and minerals useful in the
arts; and, finally, to trace the colonization of this
region from its feeble beginnings to its present
magnificent proportions; that this work was undertaken.  With the multiplication of observationsmeteorological and geological,- it may be found
necessary to modify some of the views herein expressed; and the most that I can hope is, that they
may prove to be in the right direction.
No writer at this day upon physical geography
can justly ignore the great name of HUMBOLDT.
He explored nearly the whole realm of nature, and
investigated her laws with a patient industry, and
in a philosophical spirit, which have seldom been
approached. He first reduced meteorology to the
regular and consistent form of a science, when he
mapped the lines of equal temperature, thus showing the distribution of heat over the seasons, and,
in connection with the hygrometric state of the
atmosphere, and the precipitation of rain, traced
their effects upon the geographical range of plants.
From confusion and uncertainty, heevoked order
and harmony; out of materials apparently incongruous and misshapen, he erected a temple to
science, proportionate.alike in its outlines and in
vii 
. PREFACE.
its several parts. He is emphatically the father of
the science known as Physical Geography.
The scientific expeditions fitted out by the Government to determine the most practicable routes
for railways between the Mississippi Valley and the
Pacific Coast, have given us an insight into a vast
region which before was almost a terra incognita.
The results are embodied in a series of volumes,
not accessible to the general reader, even if he had
the time to peruse them, known as "The Pacific
Railroad   Surveys."    The   earlier  expeditions
of LEWIS and CLARKE, PIKE, LONG, FREMONT,
WILKES, STANSBURY, and others, gave us general
outlines of the physical geography; and yet, with
the combined results of these observers, and of
those who have subsequently become connected
with the various mining enterprises, much is yet to
be determined in every branch of natural history.
To Messrs. MEEK and HAYDEN the public are
indebted for valuable contributions to the geology
of the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains.
The results of the Geological Survey of California, under the charge of Prof. J. D. WHITNEY,
afbford us a key to unlock the hidden mysteries of
that complicated region; and it is to be regretted
that so important a work has been suspended.
In the year 18I9, a regular series of meteorological observations was instituted at the various Mili
viii 
PREFACE.
tary Posts of the United States, under the authority
of the Secretary of WTar, which has been continued
to the present time. In I857, these observations,
together with those which had been made at other
points by competent observers, were tabulated and
brought out by Mr. LORIN BLODGET, in a work entitled "The Climatology of the United States." This
work contains a vast amount of information, and is
the foundation of most of our discussions in reference to the lines of temperature, the distribution
of rain, and the prevalent direction of winds in the
United  States.  But a work  so thorough, must
necessarily be encumbered with minute details, so
that the generalizations are not presented in so
compendious a form as to be appreciable by the
cursory reader, nor are they, in all instances, carried to their legitimate results. The work is like
an arsenal, to which the soldier resorts to equip
himself with an armor suited to the actual conflict.
It is to be regretted that the Smithsonian Institution, which has been made the repository of these
observations continued up to the present time, has
not communicated  to  the world  the  tabulated
results. These results, it is hardly necessary to
say, are of great importance  in enabling us to
determine the varying fertility of the Continent.
Prof. ASA GRAY,  in Silliman's Journal,  I857
and  I859, and Dr. J. G. COOPER, in the Patent
ix 
PREFACE.
Office Report for I86o, have contributed valuable
information on the geographical range of the forest-trees of North America; and it is to Sir JOHN
RICHARDSON that we are almost entirely indebted
for our knowledge of the climatology, in connection with the botany, of the circumpolar region of
this Continent.
The work of HUMPHREYS and ABBOT, on "The
Physics and Hydraulics of the Mississippi River,"
is of the very highest scientific interest.  Principles
the most elaborate, are patiently wrought out, and
the results are clearly enunciated. From these
demonstrations, it is evident that the views which
formerly prevailed as to the extent of the delta, and
the effects of fluviatile action upon the bed and
enclosing banks of that river, were not understood.
This work,-which, with much distrust, I now
submit to the public,-is not intended to be a purely
scientific treatise. The severity of style and rigor
of deduction which characterize such works, have
been purposely avoided.  I have attempted rather
to present a series of graphic sketches of the
great phenomena of the region under consideration, in a form which should interest and instruct
the general reader, and, at the same time, to explain
those natural laws to whose operation these phenomnena are due. In preparing it for the press, I
have beent'oppressed by a double fear,- lest, while
x 
PREFACE.
I might render it too abstruse for the comprehension of the general reader, at the same time, the
specialties were not sufficiently exact to satisfy the
requirements of those, who brought to the investigation of these subjects a purely scientific spirit.
These details render science repellent to those who
have not acquired a special knowledge of the elements on which it is based. It is believed, however, that generalizations. may be set forth in a manner to interest and instruct the ordinary reader.
In discussing the operation of natural laws as
manifested in climate, in the distribution of moisture, and even in tile origin and spread of civilization, I have felt at liberty to draw my illustrations
from every quarter of the world, and from almost
every department of science. These illustrations
will show that man, even, hlowever much he may
boast of his dominion over matter, is the creature
of climate; and that, only under certain favorable
conditions does he attain to the full development
of his physical and intellectual powers.  Such conditions, it is believed, obtain in the Upper Valley
of the Mississippi.
CIJICAGO, February I, iS69.
xi  
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
The magnitude of the Mississippi -Area - Subordinate basins -
Internal navigation - Character of Lower Mississippi - Charac   teristic vegetation -Overflows -Bluffs -Levees -Outlets-Ap   proaches- Phenomena of waters- Geology-Area of alluvium
and delta-Earthquake-action... —-. -Page I
CHAPTER II.
MOUNTAINS AND PLAINS.
Character of the water-sheds -The Appalachain Range -The Rocky
Mountains-The Sierra Nevada-The  Cascade Range-The
Coast Ranges-Ridges of the Great Basin-Character of the
sources of the Mississippi-Of the Ohio Valley-The Llano
Estacado - Rocky Mountain Valleys - Colorado Desert -Valley
of the St. Lawrence - Pacific Railroad routes - RSsumd. - 26
CHAPTER III.
THE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES.
Distribution of forest, prairie, and desert -Prairies not due to peat   growth -Not due to the texture of the soil -Not due to the
annual burnings -Zones of vegetation-The Great Basin-Cli   matic conditions - Mean annual precipitation - Source of mois   ture- Periodical rains of California - Conclusions.    -   - 71
CHAPTER IV.
THE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES -continued.
South America - Primeval forests of Brazil - The Llanos of Carac   cas -The Pampas of La Plata and the Gran Chaco-Patagonia 
CONTENTS.
Its deserts and mountains - Peru and the desert of Atacama -
Wind  and rain charts-Europe-Plains of the Black SeaSteppes of the Caucasus - Plateau of Central Asia - Desert of
Arabia-Africa-Sahara- Guinea-Basin of the Mediterranean -Australia-Re'sume- Explanation of Map.  -   - II2
CHAPTER V.
FOREST-CULTURE AND IRRIGATION.
Ilow plants grow-Effects of forests on health-On animal life   Effects  of disrobing a country of forests -Rapid destruction
of forests in the United States - Forests, their lessons - They
modify climate -They retain moisture -Tree-planting - Irriga   tion-Practiced at an early day on both hemispheres - Success   fully introduced on the Rocky Mountain slopes-Feasibility of
its application in California, the Colorado Desert, and the West   ern Plains. -                                                  -.. I4I
CHAPTER VI.
CLIMATE.
Definition of climate -Atmospheric currents - Rains and winds -
Cloud-bursts - Isothermal  lines - Gulf-stream - Evaporative
power of winds-Isotherms of the United States-Climate of
the Pacific Slope and Great Basin-Phenomnena of the seasons   Table of temperatures - Of rain-precipitation.    -   -   I72
CHAPTER VII.
CULTIVATED PLANTS.
Conditions of climate and soil restricting the range of plants —Of the
soil in reference to the growth of particular plants-Maize,   Wheat,- Oats,- Rye, and Barley - Natives of the plains of Cen   tral Asia-Rice-Sugar-cane -Sorghum -Potato -Cotton   Tobacco - Grasses for pasturage - Exhaustion of the soil - Fa   cilities for cultivation -Tables of population and production.
209
CHAPTER VIII.
GEOLOGY-IGNEOUS AND METAMORPHIC ROCKS.
Geological structure of the Mississippi Valley-Tabular view of the
different formations - Igneous rocks of different age - Systems
of elevation of mountain chains-The Lake Superior system   The Primeval Continent-The Appalachian system-The Rocky
xiv 
CONTENTS.
Mountain system-The Pacific Coast  Ranges-Igneous products-River systems-The Azoic system associated with ironores-Iron-region of Lake Superior-Of Missouri-The Mythological age of metals-The  present, the Iron age-Annual
product of the world.   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   - 242
CHAPTER IX.
GEOLOGY-coLtinued,- SEDIMENTARY ROCKS.
Silurian system - First evidences of organic life-Area of Silurian   Lower Silurian - Potsdam sandstone - Pictured Rocks - Copper   region of Lake Superior-Lower Magnesian limestone- Lead   bearing veins of Missouri- St. Peter's sandstone- Cincinnati
Blue limestone-Galena  limestone-Upper Silurian system   Niagara limestone-Onondaga salt-group-Devonian system   C.arboniferous system - Fluor spar, with veins of galena - Ga   lena deposits - Silver ores of Mexico - Coal-Measures, their
area - Thickness - Character of the coals - Permian system   Triassic and Jurassic series - Gold deposits of California - Cop   per deposits-Cretaceous deposits-Coal deposits.  -    - 272
CHAPTER X.
GEOLOGY - continuzzted,- SEDIMENTARY ROCKS.
Tertiary system- Marine of the Atlantic Slope - Fresh-water of the
Missouri Basin-Marine of the Pacific Coast-Economic value
of the Tertiary coals-Igneous products of the Great Basin   Comstock lode, its yield in silver - Drift-epoch - Drift-action in
the Mississippi Valley-Erosive action on the Pacific Slope and
in the Colorado Plateau —Terraces of Modified Drift - Loess   Sand-dunes-The  Great  Lakes-Drift-phenomena-Denuda   tion-Area, depth, and elevation - Resume.    -    -   - 318
CHAPTER XI.
INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE ON MAN.
Geographical range of man, as compared with that of plants - Con   ditions of human life under different zones -Arctic life   Tropical life - Life in Northern temperate zone - HIuman
energy displayed within certain isothermal lines-In Europe   In North America - Climate of the Southern States, and the con   dition of society-Climate of the Northern States, and the con   dition of society-Effects of these differences seen in the Rebel   lion- Physical development.                                  355
xv 
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XII.
ORIGIN OF CIVILIZATION.
Valley of the Mississippi, its prospective population -Greece the
cradle of civilization -Rome the inheritor of that civilization
Origin of Teutons and Celts -Characteristics of each race -
Colonization of North America- National unity- Causes which
promote it-English  character-Their  homogeneity as com   pared with that of the people of the United States -The civil   izing effects of the Christian religion.                     377
CHAPTER XIII.
PROGRESS OF DEVELOPMENT.
Ordinance of I787 for the government of the Northwestern Terri   tory)-Its effect upon the character of the colonization-First
settlement of the region- Relative growth in population -Area
of Western States - Agricultural products, their rapid increase -
The assessed value of real and personal property-Indians   Their habits-Government policy towards them-The  Mound   builders-Their civilization-Antiquity of their works-Con   clusion. -   -  -.-.... ——.  40I
ILLUSTRATIONS.
MAP-Showing the distribution of Forest, Prairie, and Desert, - I40
MAP-Showing the Isothermal Lines of the United States,   -                 200co
GEOLOGICAL SKETCH of the United States,
INDEX,
xvi
- 272
433 
THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY:
ITS
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
CHAPTER I.
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
THE MAGNITUDE OF THE MISSISSIPPI- AREA- SUBORDINATE
BASINS - INTERNAL NAVIGATION - CHARACTER- OF LOWER
MISSISSIPPI - CHARACTERISTIC VEGETATION - OVERFLOWS —
BLUFFS - LEVEES - OUTLETS - APPROACHES - PHENOMENA
OF WATERS-GEOLI,OGY-AREA OF ALLUVlUM AND DELTA
EARTHQUAKE ACTION.
"THE beginnings of a river are insignificant, and its infancy is frivolous; it plays among the flowers of a meadow, it waters a garden, or
turns a little mill. Gathering strength in its growth, it becomes wild
and impetuous. Impatient of the restraints it meets with, in the hollows among the mountains, it is restless and fretful; quick in its turning,         and unsteady in its course.  Now it is a roaring cataract, tearing
up and overturning whatever opposes its progress, and it shoots headlong down from a rock; then it becomes a sullen and gloomy pool,
buried in the bottom of a glen. Recovering breath by repose, it again
dashes along, till, tired of uproar and mischief, it quits all that it has
swept along, and leaves an opening of the valley strewed with the
rejected waste.  Now, quitting its retirement, it comes abroad into the
world, journeying with more prudence and discretion, through culti 
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
vated fields, yielding to circumstances, and winding round what it
would trouble it to overwhelm and remove. It passes through populous cities, and all the busy haunts of men, tendering its services on
every side, and becomes the support and ornament of the country.
Increased by numerous alliances, and advanced in its course, it
becomes grave and stately in its motions, loves peace and quiet,
and, in majestic silence, rolls on its mighty waters, till it is laid to
rest in the vast abyss."-Pllizy, " Hist. Nlat.," Lib. V.
Magiaiitude of the Mississippi -The  Mississippi * River, when we consider its great length,
the number and character of its tributaries-often
exceeding the first-class rivers of Europe,-the
area of country which it drains, the vast system of
internal navigation which it affords, and the populous towns which have been founded on its banks,
may be regarded as one of the most striking
topographical features of the earth.  The rivers
descending from the Atlantic and Pacific slopes
are, for the most part, short and rapid, and are not
navigable beyond the reach of tide-water; but this
* The name is derived from the Algonquin, or Chippewyan, language- Mit'si, great, and Seli, river. To the same root, or corruptions
of it, may be traced several conspicuous bodies of water in the Northwest.  The Indian name of Churchill River is Mtssi-nepi, probably
identical in meaning with Mississippi. Gumme signifies water, or a
collection of water, not running; thus, the aboriginal name of Lake
Superior was Ki/chi, great -allied to Mz'chi or Missi- and Gzemmi,
water; Michi-gan (Michigan) is a corruption of the same thing.  In
conversing with a Chippewyan Indian, he will describe any large body
of running water, as Mzissi, or Michi, Sepi, or Sebi, and any large
body of still water as Mitchi, or Missi, Gz,mmi (great water); so that
what he would regard as a generic term, we use as a s}5eczfic term,
which has become thoroughly incorporated with some of the most
marked topographical features of the Northwest.
2 
INTERNAL NAVIGATION.
river-system penetrates to the heart of a continent,
and, with its numerous tributaries, affords an inland
navigation of unsurpassed magnificence.
Area — Subordinate Basins.-The Mississippi
Valley comprises an area of 2,455,000 square miles,
extending through 30 degrees of longitude and 23
degrees of latitude; —an area greater than that of
all Europe, exclusive of Russia, Norway, and
Sweden.
It is composed of several subordinate basins,
whose area, elevation, drainage, etc., are as fol
lows: *
DISTANCE HEIGHT  WIDTH DOWN-  MEAN       AREA
MEAN
DISCH'GE      O
PER  SEC.
Cub.Feet.
AREA
OF
BASIN.
Sq. Miles.
I69,ooo
5I8,ooo
2 I 4,000
I89,ooo
97,00o
x3?850
Io,500
I, 244,000
Upper Mississippi.
Missouri..........
Ohio.............
Arkansas.........
Red River........
Yazoo............
St. Francis........
Lower Mississippi. 
Internal -Vavigalion.- The Mississippi and its
tributaries afford an internal navigation for steam
* Humphreys and Abbot, "Physics and Hydraulics of Miss. River."
3
DISTANCE
FROM
MOUTH.
.Jfiles.
HETIGTIT
ABOVE
SEA.
Feet.
WIDTH
AT
MOUTH.
Feet.'
DOWNFALLOF
RAIN.
I;iches.
. RIVER.
1,330
2,908
I,265
I,514
I,200
500
380
I,286
i,68o
6,8oo
i,649
io,ooo
2,450
2IO
1,150
4i6
5,000
3,000
3,000
I 1 500
800
850
700
2,470
35-2 I05,000
20.9 I20,000
4I -5' ISS,000
29-3 63,000
39-0 57,000
46-3 43,
4I-I 31,000
30-4 675, 
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
boats, of more than 9,000ooo miles in extent.* They
have proved the great highways by which, within
a brief period, man has been able to penetrate to
the interior of the continent, and to subdue it to his
uses.
*The Mississippi is navigable      From its mouth to St. Paul,...   I,944 miles.
And from St. Anthony to Sauk Rapids,.     80o
Making a total navigation of..           2,020
Several of its upper tributaries are navigable      The Minnesota to Patterson's Rapids,..    295
The St. Croix to St. Croix,....  60o
The Illinois to La Salle,....    220
The Missouri is navigable, at high water, from its
mouth to Fort Benton,....  2,644
but ordinarily to 60 miles above the mouth of the
Yellowstone (I,894 miles)...   1,954
(The volume of water discharged by the Yellowstone
is represented to be about the same as that of the
Missouri; and after the junction, the river attains
a width of 2,o000 feet.)
The Ohio is navigable to Pittsburgh,..    975   "
The Monongahela to Geneva,...  91 
The Tennessee to Muscle Shoals,..    6oo
The Cumberland to Burkesville,... 370
Some of its other tributaries, which have been  slack        watered, give a navigation of... 550
The Arkansas is navigable, in flood, to Ft. Gibson,  642   "
but during its lowest stage, it is difficult for boats
of the lightest draught to reach Fort Smith,. 522
The Red river is navigable, in ordinary stage, to
Shrevesport,.....    330 
but only in flood, to Preston,... 820    "
The St. Francis is navigable to Wittsburg,.      So80 
The White River is navigable to Batesville,.. I75
The Yazoo to Greenwood,...           240
The Kaw has been ascended to Fort Riley,.. Ioo00 
but the navigation is ordinarily precarious.
The Platte is an important tributary of the Missouri, which, like the
Canadian and the Arkansas, reaches to the base of the Rocky Mountains, and spreads out over a wide space, so that it is totally unfit for
navigation.
4 
CHARACTER OF THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI.   5
Character  of  the  Lozier  Mississippi." At the mouth of the Missouri, the Mississippi first assumes
its characteristic appearance of a turbid and boiling torrent,
immense in volume and force. From that point, its waters
pursue their devious way for more than I300 miles, destroying
banks  and islands at one locality, reconstructing  them at
another, absorbing tributary after tributary, without visible
increase in size, - until, at length, it is in turn absorbed in the
great volume of the Gulf." *
The shores of the Gulf, so far as relates to the
Louisianian coast, are bordered, for fifty miles
inland,  by  swamps,  bayous,  and  lakes.   The
swamps generally consist of an oozy mass of muld,
from twenty to forty feet in depth, resting on blue
clay. Upon the hummocks, a variety of vegetable
forms take root, unknown in the regions to the
northward.
Typical Forms of Vegetation.- Conspicuous
among these is the cypress, which is first seen
near the mouth of the Ohio, and is always found
on land subject to overflow. From a protuberance
at the surface, a shaft rises straight to the height of
sixty or eighty feet, without a limb, when it throws
out numerous branches, umbrella-shaped, which
sustain a foliage of short, fine, tufted leaves, of a
green so deep as to appear almost brown. They
grow so close together, that their branches inter
* H7imphreys and Abbot. 
TIHE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
lock; and hence a cypress forest resembles a mass
of verdure sustained in the air by tall perpendicular
columns. From their branches, depend long festoons of moss, which sway to and fro in the wind,
like so many shrouds,- communicating to the
scene the most dismal aspect. Arranged around
the parent stem, are numerous cone-shaped protuberances, known as "cypress knees," which enable
the roots of the tree to communicate with the air;
a provision of nature which is essential to its
vitality.
The cypress loves the gloomiest and most inaccessible portions of the southern forest, and where,
for one-half of the year, the surface is submerged.
Repulsive, then, as is its habitat, it is the most valuable of all the southern lumber trees. Soft, free
from knots, rifting straight, and easily wrought, it
is fit for shingles, boards, and finishing material.
The palmetto, not the species of the CarolinA
coast, is another characteristic form of these
swamps, and one which, by its peculiarities, at
once arrests the eye of the northern traveler. It
is perennial; and, from a large, tough root, throws
up a stem six feet high, sustaining fan-shaped palmleaves, exactly ribbed, and of a rich green verdure.
These are used for fans, for braiding into hats, and
for thatching the huts of the negroes.
These swamps, clothed with trees of abundant
6 
TYPICAL FORMS OF VEGETATION.
and interlaced branches, springing from a mass of
ooze tremulous to the foot, remind one of the estiuaries and lakes, with their luxuriant vegetation,
which stretched over large areas of the earth's surface during the Carboniferous epoch-a vegetation
which furnished no sustenance to the higher forms
of animal life, and which flourished in an atmosphere probably fatal to air-breathing animals.
These swamps are the chosen retreats of the alligator, the lizard, and moccasin snake, and swarm
with mosquitoes and other venemous insects.  To
man, they are impassable, except when flooded.
To traverse them, he should be like Milton's fiend,
qualified for all elements and all services; who,
"With head, hands, wings, or feet, pursues his way;
And swims, or sinks, or wades, or creeps, or flies."
In connection with the southern vegetation, two
other types may be mentioned; the live-oak and
the magnolia. The live-oak is a noble tree -tall,
with long spreading branches, and presenting
almost as great a mass of foliage as the northern
elm. Its range does not extend beyond latitude
thirty-one north.
The magnolia belongs to the tribe of laurels.
The beauty of this tree has been greatly overrated.
It is, according to Flint, only a fifth:rate tree, which
grows in the rich alluvium of the Louisiana bottoms, 
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
where the soil is congenial to its full development.
It is tall, graceful in form, with a smooth, lightcolored bark, like that of the beech. The wood is
soft and useless. The leaves are glossy on the
upper surface, like those of the orange, with a
yellowish down  upon the under surface.   The
flower is large, and of a pure white, like those of
the northern pond-lily, but twice the size. The
odor is strong and not offensive. "Instead of displaying," says Flint, "a cone of flowers, we have
seldom seen a tree in flower which did not require
some attention and closeness of inspection to discover where the flowers are situated among the
leaves." *
There are six or seven species among the laurels
of the magnolia tribe.
Over/ow of the Mississipzpi.-When in flood,
the river extends to a width of thirty miles, and the
surplus waters find their way to the ocean through
deep forests and almost interminable swamps. The
ordinary channel is marked by an outline of woods.
As the flood recedes, it leaves behind, in the bottom
lands, a sediment as fine and as fertilizing as the
Nile mud. The course of the river is in a series
of curves, from ten to twelve miles in diameter,
sweeping round with great uniformity, until it
* "Mississippi Valley."
8 
BLUFFS.
returns to a point very near the one from which it
was deflected. The current continually encroaches
on the alluvial banks, until finally, during high
flood, a crevasse occurs, when nearly the whole
volume of water rushes through the newly-formed
channel, known as a "cut-off." Hence, along its
whole course are seen numerous crescent-shaped
lakes which owe their origin to this cause. Sandbars accumulate at the mouths of the ancient
channels, on which first rushes take root, and subsequently cotton-wood, thus forming lakes which,
except in flood, become isolated from the river.
The river being no where rock-bound in its
lower course, and its banks consisting of the most
comminuted materials, has great excavating power.*
Bluffs.- The alluvial bottoms are ordinarily
impassable, and the bluffs only afford sites for habitations. In a few instances, they approach the river,
as at the Iron Banks, near Columbus, and the Chalk
* The citation of a single case, which occurred at New Madrid, will
suffice. Joseph Lewis (quoting, as authority, an old resident,) as marshal, in I798, was ordered, by the local Spanish government, to move
the church one mile north, to prevent its being undermined. The distance was measured by a surveyor, and the order was executed.
In i8II, the region having passed into the possession of another
government, no pains were taken to protect the church against farther
encroachments, when it fell into the river. My informant had seen
the original plat of the town, which extended back from the river front
four miles. There now remains a strip of the original plat, not more
than sixty feet in width.
9 
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
Banks, near Hickman, Kentucky; at Fulton, Randolph, Old River (but here the river has receded),
and Memphis, Tennessee; at Walnut Hills or
Vicksburg, Grand and Petit Gulf, Natchez, and
Fort Adams, Mississippi; and at St. Francisville
and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. All of the bluffs
occur on the east side of the river, except the St.
Francis Hills, and Point Chicot.
The bluffs, as first suggested by Lyell, belong
to the age of the Rhenish Loess, and ordinarily
consist of beds of yellowish loam, sand, and clay,
with beds of lignite of an earlier age beneath.
Levees. - To protect the plantations from overflow, a system of levees was commenced many
years ago; and, to aid the extension, Congress
passed an act directing the proceeds of the sale
of swamp-lands to be devoted to this purpose.
Under the operation of this act, levees have been
carried up the east bank, nearly as far as Memphis,
and up the west bank to a point opposite the mouth
of the Ohio. The peculiarity of the immediate
banks of the river being higher than the alluvial
plain, is characteristic of the whole course of the
Lower Mississippi.
During the Rebellion, the levees, at many points,
were destroyed as an act of war, and at others,
were allowed to go to decay; and the result is,
IO 
OUTLETS.
that large tracts of land, formerly as fertile as the
valley of the Nile, have been surrendered up to
the dominion of the river. To repair these levees
at public expense, and to give employment to a
class of people overwhelmed by misfortune, even
if it be the result of their own rash acts, is a measure called for alike by a common humanity and an
enlightened public policy.
Contrary to the received opinion, it is found that,
where the current is confined, it has power to push
forward its sediment, instead of allowing it to
deposit on the bottom; so that the necessity will
not arise of raising the levees higher, with the lapse
of time.
Oul.els. -The immediate channel of the river,
after having received the contributions of its main
affluents, is insufficient to discharge all of the
waters which, from the drainage of the valley, find
their way to the ocean. The first point of escape
is at Cape Girardeau, Missouri, through the St.
Francis, White, and several other rivers, before
reaching the mouth of Red River. Here the
volume of water is greater than at any other
point; for, a few miles below, there are several
lateral channels  communicating with the  Gui.2
These outlets are known as Atchafalaya, which is
supposed to be the ancient channel of Red River;
I I 
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
Bayou Manchac, communicating with Lakes
Maurepas, Ponchartrain, and Borgne; and Bayou
Plaquemine and Bayou Lafourche.
Approaches to New  Or7eans.- Bars  exist at
the mouths of all the passes, so that it is difficult
for large vessels to enter the river.
The Southeast Pass is apparently not over 2,000
feet in width, and the ordinary depth of water is i8
feet. The banks are low and lined with reeds.
The few houses visible are perched on piles, and
occupied by pilots, whose services are at all times
required.   There  is no tide in the Mississippi,
owing to its elevation above the Gulf, and its level
is affected by winds, more than by other causes.
The Northeast Pass, which formerly was the
principal one, now carries from 8 to 9 feet of water;
and this is the depth of the Southwest Pass.
Another approach is through  Barataria  Bay,
which admits of vessels drawing Io0 or I2 feet of
water. The Texas steamers go through the Grand
Pass, into Vermilion Bay, and thence into Grand
Lake. The New Orleans and Opelousas Railway extends to Berwick's Bay, which is the terminus of the southern steamship lines.  The Teche
is navigable as far as Franklin, which is quite a
shipping point for sugars. The country to the
west is high rolling prairie.  There  is another
I 2 
PHENOMENA OF THE WATERS.
approach, through Lake Borgne and Pass Rigolet,
into Ponchartrain, where the depth of water is from
8 to I5 feet.
Phenomena of the Waters.-The Upper Mississippi is as clear as the "arrowy Rhone;"  and even
at St. Louis, sixteen miles below the mouth of the
Missouri, whose flood is densely charged with sediment, the thread between the differently-colored
waters is distinctly preserved, so reluctant are
they to commingle. Every one voyaging on the
Lower Mississippi, must have been struck with the
character of the current, as though some substance
of the consistency of tar were boiling and bubbling
in a great caldron.
Another feature of this river which has been
remarked upon, is, that its width is not increased
by the absorption of any tributary, however' large:
thus, at Rock Island, nearly i,Soo miles from its
mouth, it is 5,000 feet wide, while at New
Orleans, and where it enters the Gulf, swollen by
the volumes of the Missouri, Ohio, Arkansas, and
Red Rivers, it is dwarfed to 2,470 feet.* Standing
on the levee at New Orleans, and looking across
to Algiers on the opposite shore, one can hardly
believe that within this narrow span is comprised
the drainage of nearly half a continent.
* Humphreys and Abbot.
I3 
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
Geology of the Ri?ver-Bed. -Its bed, all the
way from Cairo to the Gulf, is not formed of its
own alluvium, but is excavated in a tough blue
clay of Cretaceous origin. By consulting the Geological Map, it will be seen that, outside of the
immediate valley, the Cretaceous rocks extend on
either side, from the mouth of the Ohio to within
seventy miles of the Gulf, where they are overlapped by the Tertiaries. There is little doubt of
the former continuity of these beds, or, in other
words, that the Cretaceous sea extended from the
base of the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Coast.
It is evident, therefore, that the course of the Lower
Mississippi has been determined subsequent to the
Cretaceous age, since its bed has been excavated
in this formation. It would further appear that,
during the Tertiary epoch, there must have been
an estuary extending as far north as the mouth of
the Ohio, as indicated by the wedge-shaped body
of these rocks observed there. Since the erosion
of its channel to a far greater width than that now
occupied by its waters, the immediate valley has
been filled in with other formations; viz., the Loess
and Recent Alluvium. An ideal section across the
valley would exhibit the following arrangement of
the several formations:
I4 
GEOLOGY OF RIVER BED.
~~~~~~~I
I. Upper Cretaceous.                   3. Loess, or Bluff.
2. Tertiary (Eocine).                  4. Modern Alluvium.
Pursuing our researches as to the origin of the
river, it is inferred that it is subsequent to the Tertiary epoch, since outlying patches of this formation
cap the summits of some of the hills of Illinois
far beyond its ancient limits, and all of the associated fossils are of marine origin; thus showing
that no large body of fresh water was discharged
at this point into the Tertiary ocean.
In the deposition of the Loess, however, we have
evidence that, at that period, the river had assumed
its present channel, but with a vastly enlarged volume of water. The fossils are all of fresh-water
origin, and of existing species, intermingled with
quadrupeds, for the most part pachyderms now
extinct but allied to existing genera,* which indicate the immediate presence of land under conditions of soil and vegetation such as now prevail;
* The fresh-water shells collected by Lyell, from the Loess, consisted
of -felix, Helicina, Pupa, Clystomna, Achatina, and Succinea, all identical with shells now living; also, shells of the genera Liznnea, Planoibis, Paludina, Phzysa, and Cyclas. Leidy has identified the following
quadrupeds: Felis atros (lion), Ursus americanus, U. ain5lidlens,
Megalonyx jefersoni, M. dissirnilis, Mylodon harlani, Ereyhtodon iriscus, Tatirus americanus,  T. hays/i, Eqzuus americanus, Bootheritm
cavifrons, Ele.Phas amnericanus, and Maslodon giganteus, all extinct;
and Cervus virginianus, belonging to a living species.
I5 
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
and yet, to account for the present position of the
Loess, as pointed out by Lyell, we must presuppose
a vertical movement or upheaval, of two hundred
and fifty feet.
Area  of Alluvium.-A  wide belt of Recent
Alluvium borders the Mississippi from the mouth
of the Ohio to the Gulf, which is well delineated on
one of Humphreys and Abbot's maps. This belt,
in its greatest expansion, at Napoleon, is nearly 75
miles wide; while in its greatest contraction, at
Natchez and Helena, it is about 25 miles. The
area of the tract, above the delta is I9,450 square
miles. According to the authority above cited, the
alluvial deposit at Cairo is 25 feet thick; about 35
feet in the Yazoo swamps; and this thickness is
maintained as far down as Baton Rouge. The
borings of the Artesian well at New Orleans, indicate there a thickness of 40 feet; but at Bayou
Plaquemine, the alluvial soil does not extend much
below the level of the Gulf.
Area of the Della.- The area of the delta,
assuming that it begins where the river sends off
its first branch to the sea - viz., at the head of
Bayou Atchafalaya-is estimated by them at I 2,300
square miles. This would be at the mouth of Red
River, in latitude 3 I~, while the mouth of the Great
i6 
DEPTH AND SLOPE.
River is now in latitude 29~; thus extending through
two degrees of space.
The rate at which the river advances into the
Gulf is estimated by the same authority, at 262 feet
per annum; and as its prolongation from its supposed original mouth is 220 miles, the age of the
delta is computed at 4,400 years,-a period much
at variance with the estimates of previous writers.
That the Mississippi must have been a deltaforming river at an earlier period, is evidenced by
the Loess which occurs along its banks, and
which, at Natchez, attains a thickness of sixty feet.
The sediment held in suspension by the river, as
determined by numerous experiments, is, by weight,
nearly as I to 1.500; and by bulk, nearly as I to
2.900. The mean annual discharge of water is
assumed at I9,50000oo000,ooo00 cubic feet; hence, it
follows that 812,500,000,oo000 pounds of sedimentary
matter-equal to one square mile of deposit, 241
feet in depth-are yearly transported, in a state of
suspension, into the Gulf.*
Depth and Slope.- The maximum depth of
the Mississippi, as indicated by Hlumphreys and
Abbot's tables, is, at Natchez, ii8 feet; and the
mean depth from below the mouth of the Arkansas
to Red River, is 96 feet. The least low-water
* Humphreys and Abbot, " Physics of the Mississippi."
3
I7 
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
depths on the bars are: at St. Louis, 2 feet; Memphis, 5 feet;  and  Natchez, 6  feet.   The  range
between low and high-water is: at Rock Island,
I6 feet; at the mouth of the Missouri, 35 feet; at
St. Louis, 37 feet; at Cairo, 5I feet; at Carrolton,
14 feet; and at the head of the Passes, 2.3 feet.
The fall of the Lower Mississippi is about J32. of
a foot per mile; of the Ohio, -403 of a foot; of the
Missouri, below Fort Union, 9,- of a foot; and of
the  Upper  Mississippi, below  St. Paul,?o  of a
foot.
EAR THRLUAKE-ACTIOAr IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLE r.
The series of earthquake-shocks which occurred
in the Mississippi Valley, commencing near the
close of I8II, and continuing to I813, were of
sufficient violence to modify its surface to a considerable extent, creating yawning fissures, and
converting dry land into lakes, some of which
are fifty miles in circumference.   The  telluric
activity of which these events were a part, extended
over half a hemisphere, and was manifested in a
series of stupendous phenomena, such as the eievation of the island of Sabrina, one of the group
of the Azores, to the height of 320 feet above the
sea; the destruction of Caraccas, with io,ooo of
its inhabitants; the eruption of the volcano of St.
Vincent; and the fearful subterranean noises which
i8 
EARTHQUAKE-ACTION.
were heard on the Llanos of Calabazo, and at the
mouth of the Rio Apure, and even far out at sea.
New Madrid, in the State of Missouri, and in
the valley of the Mississippi, appears to have been
one of the foci of this earthquake disturbance; and
the shocks were repeated almost every hour for
months in succession.   Fortunately, the town as
well as the surrounding region, was sparsely inhabited, and the houses (log cabins) were of a character little liable to be toppled over; but, so far as
we can gather from the published accounts, and
the personal recollections of those who were eyewitnesses of the scenes, we are satisfied that, if
the same severity of shocks were to occur at this
day, at St. Louis or Cincinnati, the destruction of
life would be appalling, and those cities would
become an undistinguishable mass of ruins.
Several years ago, in voyaging from Memphis to
Cairo, I made the acquaintance of Mr. A. N.
Dillard, who resided in the region of these disturbances, and who was a witness of the events which
I shall record.
It was on the night of the I6th of December,
i8II, that the first shock occurred. The weather
had been warm and pleasant, and the air was filled
with that peculiar haze characteristic of the Indian
summer, except that it was more damp. About
midnight, while the French, who constituted the
I9 
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
bulk of the population at New Madrid, were
engaged in dancing and frolicking, the first shock
came on, and was of sufficient violence to shake
down many of the houses and fences. The greatest
consternation  prevailed.   The  entire population
rushed into the open air; and there, in the midnight
darkness, and upon the rocking earth, Protestant
and Catholic, side by side,
" knelt downs
And oflfered to the Mightiest"
solemn supplication; - for, in that fearful hour,
human aid was unavailing.
" The   shocks,"  my   informant   continued,
"extended  over  a period of twenty or thlirty
months. Sometimes, they would come on gradually, and finally culminate; again, they would come
without premonition, and in terrific force, and gradually subside.
"In every instance the motion was propagated
from the west or southwest. Fissures would be
formed, six hundred and even seven hundred feet
in length, and twenty or thirty feet in breadth,
through which water and sand would spout out to
the height of forty feet. There issued no burning
flames, but flashes such as result from the explosion of gas, or from the passage of the electrical
fluid from one cloud to another. I have seen oak
20 
EARTHQUAKE-ACTION.
trees, which would be split in the centre and forty
feet up the trunk, one part standing on one side of
a fissure, and the other part on the other; and trees
are now standing which have been cleft in this
manner.
"My grandfather had received a boat-load of
castings from Pittsburgh, which were stored in his
cellar.   During one of the shocks, the ground
opened immediately under the house, and they
were swallowed up, and no trace of them was
afterwards obtained.
"I regard the region as still subject to these
agitations. A few years ago, I saw the effects
sufficiently violent to shake the bark off the trees,
and to sway their tops to and fro.
"The region of the St. Francis is peculiar. I have
trapped there for thirty years. There is a great
deal of sunken land, caused by the earthquakes of
I8II.  There are large trees of walnut, white oak,
and mulberry, such as grow on high land, which
are now seen submerged ten and twenty feet
beneath the water. In some of the lakes, I have
seen cypresses so far beneath the surface, that, with
a canoe, I have paddled among the branches. Previous to the earthquakes, keel-boats used to come
up the St. Francis River, and pass into the Mississippi, at a point three miles below New Madrid.
The bayou is now high ground."
2I 
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
From one of the fissures formed during these
convulsions, was ejected the cranium of an extinct
musk-ox  (Bootheriu;t  boinbifrons), now in the
possession of the Lyceum of Natural History of
New York.
Reel-foot Lake, on the opposite shore, in Obion
county, Tennessee, nearly twenty miles long and
seven broad, owes its origin to the sinking of the
ground during this period. The trunks of dead
cypresses are seen standing in the water; and the
fisherman, as he plies his occupation in his canoe,
floats above their branching tops.
Timothy Flint visited this region seven years
after the occurrence of these terrible events, at a
time when the recollections of the inhabitants were
yet vivid. As the work in which he recorded his
information has become rare, I may be pardoned
for transcribing his graphic account almost entire:
" From all the accounts," he says, " corrected one by another,
and compared with the very imperfect narratives which were
published, I infer that the shock of these earthquakes, in the
immediate  center of their force, must have equaled, in the
terrible heavings of the earth, any thing of the kind that has
been recorded. I do not believe that the public have ever yet
had any adequate idea of the violence of the concussions. We
are accustomed to measure this by the buildings overturned
and the mortality that results. Here, the country was thinly
settled.  The houses, fortunately, were frail, and of logs, -the
most difficult to overturn that could be constructed. Yet, as it
was, whole tracts were plunged in the bed of the river. The
grave-yard at New Madrid, with all its sleeping tenants, was
22 
EARTHQ_UAKE-ACTION. 
precipitated into the bend of the stream. Most of the houses
were thrown down. Large lakes, twenty miles in extent, were
made in an hour; other lakes were drained.   The whole
country, to the mouth of the Ohio in one direction, and to the
St. Francis in the other, including a front of three hundred
miles, was convulsed to such a degree as to create lakes and
islands, the number of which is not known, and to cover a tract
of many miles in extent, near the Little Prairie, with water,
three or four feet deep; and when the water disappeared, a
stratum of sand, of the same thickness, was left in the place.
Trees split in the midst, and lashed one with another, are still
visible over great tracts of country, inclining in every direction,
and at every angle to the earth and the horizon. They
described the undulations of the earth as resembling waves,
increasing in elevation as they advanced, and when they had
attained a certain fearful height, the earth would burst, and
vast volumes of water, and sand, and pit-coal were discharged
as high as the tops of the trees. I have seen a hundred of these
chasms which remained fearfully deep, although in a very
tender alluvial soil, and after a lapse of seven years. \Vhole
districts were covered with white sand, so as to become uninhabitable. The water at first covered the whole country, par
ticularly at the Little Prairie; and it must, indeed, have been
a scene of horror, in these deep forests, and in the gloom of the
darkest night, and by wading in the water to the middle, for
the inhabitants to fly from these concussions, which were
occurring every few hours, with a noise equally terrible to
beasts and birds, as to man. The birds themselves lost all
power and disposition to fly, and retreated to the bosoms
of men, their fellow-sufferers in the general convulsion. A
few persons sank in these chasms, and were providentially
extricated. One person died of affright; and one perished
miserably on an island which retained its original level in
the midst of a wide lake created by the earthquake.    *    *
*    *    *    *    A number perished, who sank with their
boats in the river. A bursting of the earth just below the village of New Madrid, arrested the mighty stream in its course,
and caused a reflux of its waves, by which, in a little time, a
23 
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
great number of boats were swept by the ascending current
into the mouth of the bayou, carried out, and left upon the dry
earth, where the accumulating waters of the river had again
changed the current. There were a great number of severe
shocks, but two series of concussions were particularly terrible, far more so than the rest; and they remark that the
shocks were clearly distinguishable into two classes: those in
which the motion was horizontal, and those in which it was
perpendicular. The latter were attended with the explosions
and the terrible mixture of noises that preceded and accompanied the earthquakes in a louder degree, but were by no means
so desolating and destructive as the other. When they were
felt, the houses crumbled, and trees waved together, and the
ground sank, and all the distructive phenomena were conspicuous. In the interval of the earthquakes, there was one evening-and that a brilliant and cloudless one- in which the
western sky was a continued glare of vivid flashes of lightning
and of repeated peals of subterranean thunder, seeming to
proceed, as the flashes did, from below the horizon.  They
remark that the night, so conspicuous for subterranean thunder, was the same period in which the fatal earthquakes of
Caraccas occurred; and they seem to suppose those flashes
and that event parts of the same scene." *
Flint confirms the observations of others, that
the chasms in the earth were in a direction from
southwest to northeast, and were of an extent to
swallow up not only men but houses; and that
they frequently occurred in intervals of half a mile.
The people felled the tallest trees at right angles to
these chasms, and placed themselves upon their
trunks, by which precaution many escaped destruc
* " Recollections of the Last Ten Years in the Mississippi Valley."
(I826.)  P. 224
24 
EARTHQUAKE-ACTION.
tion; for more than once the earth opened beneath,
and would have engulfed them in the abyss.
So great was the destruction of property, and so
irretrievably ruined were many of the farms by
this series of events, that Congress, at a subsequent
day, passed a law granting to each proprietor who
had sustained serious loss, a section of land in what
was known as the Boone-Lick country, on condition
of his relinquishing his desolated farm to the Government.
Earthquake shocks yet occur in this region, and
blasts of air and gas yet find their way to the surfaIce through many of the half-filled fissures, but
there has been no repetition of the terrible phenomena witnessed in I81 I-I 2.
25 
CHAPTER II.
MOUNTAINS AND PLAINS.
OIIARACTER OF THE  WATER-SHEDS -THE  APPALACHIAN
RANGE- THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS- THE SIERRA NEVADA
THE CASCADE RANGE - THE COAST RANGES - RIDGES OF
THE GREAT BASIN-CHARACTER OF THE SOURCES OF THE
MISSOURI- OF THE OHIO VALLEY- OF THE MISSISSIPPI
VALLEY- THE LLANO ESTACADO- ROCKY-MOUNTAIN VAL LEYS - COLORADO DESERT - VALLEY OF THE ST. LAWRENCE
- PACIFIC RAILROAD ROUTES - RESUME.
Czaracter of lhe Water-Sheds.-The Valley of
the Mississippi may be regarded as a table-land
between two diverging coast ranges -the Rocky
and Appalachian Mountains,-with a slope on three
sides towards the line of greatest depression occupied by the current of the river. The Ohio, at
Pittsburgh, is 704 feet above the ocean; the watershed between Lake Michigan and the Illinois River
is only 8 feet; the sources of the Mississippi,
about i,6oo; the sources of the Missouri, about
6,800oo feet; the South Pass (source of the Sweetwater), 7,489 feet; Fort Bridger, 7,254 feet; and
the divide between the Canadian and Pecos Rivers, 
APPALACHIAN RANGE.
about 5,543 feet. The elevations on the Western
rim of the Basin, are attained by an inclined plane so
slight that, in traversing it, the eye scarcely notices
any deviation from a nearly uniform level. The
ascent even to the South Pass, higher than that of
Simplon or St. Gothard over the Alps, is so gradual that Fremont had to watch very closely to
detect the culminating point.
The Appalachian Range.-This range, which
divides the Atlantic slope from the Mississippi
Valley, extends from Northern Alabama to the
mouth of the St. Lawrence-a distance of more
than 1,200 miles,- with a mean height of about
2,oo000 feet, and in a direction northeast and southwest. The culminating points, as determined by
Guyot, are: Clingman's Peak, in the Black Mountains of North Carolina, being 6,702 feet; and Mt.
Washington, in the White Mountains of New
Hampshire, being 6,285 feet.
The Appalachian range does not exhibit a central
axis, but, as first shown by the Rogerses, consists of
a series of convex and concave flexures, giving rise
to alternate ridge and valley, and affording few
scenes of bold and rugged outline.
" The characteristic features," say they, " of the Appalachian
ridges, are: their great length, narrowness, and steepness, the
evenness of their summits, and their remarkable parallelism.
27 
MOUNTAINS AND PLAINS.
Many of them are almost perfectly straight for a distance of
more than fifty miles; and this feature, combined with their
steep slopes and sharp level summits, gives them the appearance, seen in perspective, of so many colossal entrenchments.
Some groups of them are curved; but the outlines of all are
marked by soft transitions and an astonishing degree of regularity. It is, rather, the number and great length of the ridges,
and the magnitude of the belt which they constitute, than their
individual height or grandeur, that places this chain among the
great mountain systems of the world.   *   *   *   The rocks
consist of the older metamorphic strata, including gneiss, and
micaceous, chlorite, talcose, and argillaceous schists, together
with masses referable to the earliest Appalachian formations." *
Flanking these ranges on the west, and coterminous with them in direction, is the Great Appalachian Valley, known by various local names. Its
average width is about fifteen miles, and throughout it forms a nearly level plain.
Beyond this, to the northwest, and embracing an
assemblage of rocks below the Coal-measures, is a
series of long parallel ridges, which reach to the
Cumberland and Alleghany Mountains, having a
breadth of from thirty to sixty miles.
The northwestern portion of the Appalachian
system is composed of what are known as the
Alleghany and Cumberland Mountains, which are
not protracted northeasterly beyond Southern New
York. They embrace the Carboniferous series of
rocks, and are about thirty-five miles in breadth.
While the general direction of the system is north * "Transactions of the American Association of Geologists."
28 
APPALACHIAN RANGE.
east and southwest, there is a remarkable predominance of southeast dips throughout its entire length
from Canada to Alabama, particularly along the
southeastern or most disturbed side of the belt; but
as we proceed towards the northwest, or remote
from the region of greatest disturbance, the opposite or northwest dips, which previously were of
rare occurrence, and always very steep, become
progressively more numerous, and, as a general
rule, more gentle, until they finally flatten down to
an almost horizontality of the strata.
The Rogerses suppose that the movement
which  produced the permanent  flexures  "was
compounded of a wave-like oscillation, and a tangential or horizontal pressure,, both propagated
northwestward across the disturbed belt, as indicated by the oblique character of nearly all the
anticlinal and synclinal curves, both those which
are closely folded and those which are obtuse;"
and, resorting to forces now in operation for an
explanation of these phenomena, they find analogies in the wave-like undulation of the surface,
which occurs and is propagated over large areas
during the throes and convulsions of the earthquake, as manifested in our time.*
* "Physical Structure of the Appalachian Chain," ("Trans. Amer.
Association Geologists and Naturalists,") by Profs. Wm. B. and HIenry
D. Rogers.
It is desirable that there be recognized a division of the Appalachian
29 
MOUNTAINS AND PLAINS.
7Te Rocky Mountins.- The numerous ridges
bounding the Great Valley on the west, pursue a
general direction north of west and south of east,
and are a part of a long axial line which extends
almost uninterruptedly from Cape Horn to Beliring's
Straits, where, conforming to the gneat circle of
the earth, it is protracted south, as first pointed out
by Erman, through Western Asia, and terminates
in Sumatra,-the whole length extending through
240~ of latitude, or I8,560 miles.* In the United
States, the Rocky Mauntains extend from latitude
3I~ 30' to 49~, and from longitude I02~ to I22.2,
and embrace an area of more than Ioo,ooo square
miles. Their greatest width-between San Francisco and Fort Laramie-is I,ooo miles.  In this
area are included portions of Dakota, Montana,
Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico,
Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.   This vast assemblage of mountains  is
Chain-a division founded on a difference in geological structure, and
consequently on physical aspect.  Let that portion which is characterized by the presence of crystalline and metamorphic rocks, and
embracing the Unaka or Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, the
Blue Ridge of Virginia and Pennsylvania, the Green Mountains of
Vermont, and the White Mountains of New Hampshire, receive the
generic name of Apjealach/aii  C/hai~; while that portion characterized
by the coal-bearing rocks, and known as the Cumberland Mountains
of Tennessee, and their extension into Virginia and Pennsylvania,
retain the generic name of A4leg/ia/es.
* Lieutenant (now General) Warren, "Pacific Railroad Survey,"
Vol. XL.
30 
THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.
made up of several distinct chains, and will doubtless be found to consist of several distinct systems
of upheaval. Sometimes they form central groups
from which radiate subordinate branches, and again
they present an endless maze of rugged flanks, with
bare peaks sharply defined against the sky, and
rising high above the line of vegetation into the
region of perpetual snow.
It is between the parallels 400 and 4I~, that they
attain their greatest altitude and put on their sternest aspect; and as they range northward they sink
down and become less serrated in contour. The
most conspicuous peaks are:  Fremont's, in the
Wind-river Chain, (I3,570); Long's Peak, in the
North Park, (I4,2I6); Gray's Peak, (I4,245); and
Spanish Peak is supposed to be equally high.
These determinations, which differ somewhat from
former ones, were recently made by Parry and
Engelmann. To the south, the Raton Mountains
project far into the plain.   On the 35th~ parallel
there are two conspicuous landmarks, known as
Mount Taylor or San Mateo, estimated at I I,ooo000
feet, and San Francisco Mountain, estimated at
12,oo000 feet. All of these peaks are volcanic, and
their elevation is among the most recent of geological events.
To the east, the plains along the parallel of the
South Pass, are 6,ooo feet above the sea-level. The
3 1 
MOUNTAINS AND PLAINS.
western rim of the Great Basin is elevated 8,200
feet, while the Basin itself is 6,234 feet.  To the
north, about the sources of the Columbia, the
mountains attain an altitude of from 7,oo000 to 8,00ooo
feet above the sea, and are not snow-clad the year
round.*
Many observers, like Warren and Abbot, looking
at the topographical rather than the geological features of the region, have failed to recognize any
thing like parallelism in the several chains. The
Rocky Mountains, like the Alps, will doubtless be
found to be intersected by numerous lines conforming to the great circle of the earth; but to develop
those lines will be the work of long and patient
investigation. The great frame-work of the region,
we have reason to believe, was laid in a direction
of N.N.W. and S.S.E.; but that frame-work has
been repeatedly shattered, and the strata displaced,
by more modern volcanic eruptions, the evidences
of which exist almost every where throughout the
whole region.
Topographers have laid down the trend of mountains and valleys, and of lakes and rivers, without
comprehending the full import of apparently con
* The following are some of the subordinate groups composing the
Rocky Mountains:  Bitter-Root, Cceur d'Alene, Kootanie, SalmonRiver, Rocky Mountains (proper), Wind-River, The Parks, Raton,
Santa Fe, Sandia, Manzana, Organ, Gaudalupe, Hucco, San Juan,
Chusca, and Sierra Madre.
32 
THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.
forming lines; but geologists, following in their
wake, and carefully studying the strata which have
been disturbed by these lines, resulting from igneous
invasions, have been enabled to eliminate some of
the grandest deductions in physical science. Let
any student of structural geography plat upon a
map the outlines of the great Appalachian and
Illinois coal-fields; let him then examine the riversystems in connection with the mountain-systems
of North America, and he will see that these topographical features are not the result of accidental
upheaval, but of forces acting over vast areas, and
in determinate directions,-evincing that, even
amid apparently chaotic materials, there was still a
presiding spirit of law and order.
It must be ever borne in mind that, between the
Mississippi Valley and the Pacific Slope, there is a
great swelling of the land, in an axial form, or a
series of axes, to the height of from 5,oo000 to 7,oo000
feet; and from this elevated plateau, as in the
Andes, the Caucasus in Central Asia, and other
mountainous districts, rise still loftier ranges,
various in direction and in age.   Humboldt  has
pointed out this notable fact which has been
ignored by less skillful physicists:
"The arrangement of these partial groups," he remarks,
" erupted from fissures not parallel to each other, is in its bearings for the most part independent of the ideal axis which may
be drawn through the entire swell of the undulating flattened
3
33 
MOUNTAINS AND PLAINS.
ridge. These remarkable features in the formation of the soil
give rise to a deception which is strengthened by the pictorial
effect of this beautiful country.   The colossal mountains, covered with perpetual snow, seem, as it were, to rise out of a
plain. The spectator confounds the ridge of the soft-swelling
land, the elevated plain, with the plain of the low lands; and
it is only from the change of climate, the lowering of the temperature, under the same degree of latitude, that he is reminded
of the height to which he has ascended."   (This swelling of
the soil belongs to a different epoch from the rampart-like
chains with which it is crowned.) " The immense swelling
of the surface of land," he continues, "which goes on increasing in breadth towards the north and northwest, is continuous
-from tropical Mexico to Oregon; and on this swelling or elevated plain, which is itself the great geognostic phenomenon,
separate groups of mountains, running often in varying directions, rise over fissures which have been formed more recently
and at different periods. These superimposed groups of mountains-which, however, in the Rocky Mountains, are for an
extent of 8~ of latitude connected together almost like a
rampart, and rendered visible to a great distance by conical
mountains, chiefly trachyte, from I 0,000 to I2,000 feet high,
produce an impression on the mind of the traveler which is
only the more profound from the circumstance that the elevated
plateau which stretches far and wide around him, assumes in
his eyes the appearance of a plain of the level country. Though
in reference to the Cordilleras of South America, a considerable part of which is known to me by personal inspection, we
speak of double and triple ranges, we must not forget that even
here, the directions of the separate ranges of mountain-groups,
whether in long ridges or in separate domes, are by no means
parallel, either to one another, or in direction to the entire
swell of the land." *
The Sierra NVevada or Snowy Range forms
the western rim of the Great Basin, and is more
* " Cosmos," Vol. V., Art. "Volcanoes."
34 
SIERRA NEVADA.
rugged and rises to loftier elevations than any other
mountain-chain in the United States. The Sierra
itself is a granitic crest, pursuing a course of about
N. 300 W., flanked by metamorphic shales and
sandstones. The culminating points are between
the parallels 360 and 37~ of latitude. Mount Silliman, as determined by the Geological Survey of
California, is in height  1,623 feet;'Mount Brewer,
I3,886; Mount Tyndall, I4,386; and Mount Whitney, I5,00ooo feet,-probably the highest point of
land in the United States.
The volcanic cones which have been lifted up
since the Sierra Nevada assumed its direction, have
an elevation little inferior.  The Shasta Butte, as
determined by Whitney, rises I4,440 feet, and
Lassen's Peak is io,577 feet.
The strata of Triassic age, metamorphosed and
tilted, pursue a direction along the foot-hills of
the Sierra Nevada of great uniformity, and the
Cretaceous and Miocine tertiary are observed to
rest undisturbed upon their upturned edges until
traced to the vicinity of Shasta, where it is found
that the continuity of the former is interrupted, and
the latter are lifted up at high angles, thus showing
that the volcanic action which elevated this butte
was subsequent in age to that which formed the
Snowy Mountains, and operated in a different line
of direction.
35 
MOUNTAINS AND PLAINS.
The Cascade Range.-This range pursues a
course nearly north and south, and is characterized
by a series of lofty volcanic cones, among which
are Mount St. Helen's, estimated by Dana at i6,oo000
feet; Mount Hood, 11,225 feet, as recently determined by Williamson; Mounts Jefferson and
Adams, unmeasured; Mount Rainier, (according
to Johnson) I2,330 feet; and Mounts Olympus and
Baker, unmeasured. It is probable that the estimated height of St. Helen's is exaggerated; so
that it is still doubtful whether any peak in the
United States overtops Mount Blanc (I5,8 O feet).
Most of these peaks have trachytic cones, which
were ignited up to a recent period; and the peperino
and scoriae which have been ejected from these
vents cover large areas of country, and effectually
conceal the fundamental rocks.
The  Coast Ranges.-According to Antisell,*
these ranges exhibit a remarkable parallelism, and
show unmistakable evidence of ancient volcanic
action. Their general direction is N. 700 W.; but
Whitney gives N. 54~ W. as the strike of the
Mount Diablo Range. They have, in their course
north of San Francisco, some lofty peaks, but the
chains are short and ill-defined. San Francisco itself
reposes on Cretaceous strata. South of the city,
* "Pacific Railroad Report" Vol. VI.
36 
THE GREAT BASIN.
the ranges preserve much uniformity through 4~ of
latitude, until, in the vicinity of Fort T6jon, they
become blended with those of the Sierra Nevada,
and are prolonged into the sea at San Louis Bay.
Monte Diablo, which stands as a sentinel over
the approach to the Golden Gate, is, according to
Whitney, 3,856 feet high; Mount Hamilton, 4,440
feet; and Mount Carlos, 4,977 feet.
The elevation of the Coast Ranges above the
sea-level was an event subsequent in time to that
of the Sierra Nevada, since it brought up and metamorphosed into jaspery materials the sandstones
and shales of the Cretaceous and Miocine-tertiary
series which now form the wall of the Pacific Coast.
This uplift may be regarded as one of the most
recent of the dynamical events which has determined the outlines of the continent.
The Greal Basin.- This remarkable plateau is
elevated about 4,500 feet above the sea-level, and
is traversed by successive ridges running north and
south, which preserve a considerable degree of
parallelism. These ridges are generally short and
ill-defined, and some of them are a deviation from
the general course which characterizes the Rocky
Mountains. Thus, the Humboldt Range bears N.
20~ E., and the Uintah Range runs east and west.
Within this basin is contained the Washoe
37 
MOUNTAINS AND PLAINS.
Mountains, which include the famous Comstock
silver-lode. These mountains, according to Baron
Richthofen, are separated from the steep slope of
the Sierra Nevada by a continuous meridional
depression marked by the deep basins of Truckee
Valley, Washoe Valley, and Carson Valley.
Though irregular, a general direction may be
traced in the summit range from north to south,
where it slopes down to a smooth table-land, traversed from west to east by the Carson River flowing in a narrow crevice, beyond which the Washoe
Range is protracted in the more elevated Pine-Nut
Mountains. The culminating point of the range is
Mount Davidson, whose elevation, as determined
by Whitney, is 7,827 feet. Virginia City is 6,205,
Washoe Lake is 5,oo006 feet, and Dayton 4,490 feet.
" The aspect of the Washoe Mountains," remarks the Baron,
" is exceedingly barren; so is the view from Virginia over the
hilly country to the east. Yet there is a remarkable grandeur
and sublimity in it. The air is extraordinarily pure and transparent, so as to allow every gulch and declivity in the slope of
mountains a hundred miles off to be distinguished. The eye
wanders over an unbroken desert, where barren hills alternate
with sandy basins. There is no beauty in this scenery, but it
has a strange charm; the constant enjoyment of the distant
view is a redeeming feature of life in Virginia." *
In the report of the expedition under Governor
Blasdel to Pahranagat, in Southeastern Nevada,
* " Report on the Comstock Lode," by Ferdinand Baron Richthofen.
38 
THE MISSOURI RIVER.
the chief features of the country are noted: the
parallelism of the mountain ranges, which are
nearly northwest and southeast; wide valleys, often
covered with artemisia, and often bare of all vegetation; the presence of volcanic overflows along
the foot-hills; the entire absence of timber, the
only wood being mezquite bushes near the springs;
great scarcity of water; the occurrence of wide
gravel washes at the mouths of the canons; and a
general air of sterility and desolation pervading the
whole region.
CHARACTER OF THE MAIN VALLETS.
The Missouri River is the longest affluent of
the Mississippi- though the volume of water discharged is not so great as that of the Ohio,-and
by reason of its length ought to be regarded as the
main stream. It has its sources in longitude II2~
and latitude 47~, where they nearly interlock with
those of the Columbia,-the only river which rises
in the Rocky Mountains and breaks through the
Coast Ranges, in the vast extent from British
Columbia to Mexico.  Standing on the summit at
any point, Captain Mullan remarks, you can see
the waters that flow into the two oceans; and no
where on the continent do we find such a perfect
net-work of water-courses. Amid an innumerable
39 
MOUNTAINS AND PLAINS.
number of sheltered valleys found embosomed in
the mountains, stock can graze on the hill-sides in
winter, without forage being provided for them;
and here the Indians, during that season, find abiding places.
"When we reach," he continues, "the Great Falls, there
for thirteen miles, the river, in a series of cascades, falls, chutes,
and rapids, has a total fall of three hundred and eighty feet.
The land to the north, and for four or five miles back from the
river, is much broken by coulees and ravines; but to the south,
and distant three miles, the country is a flat plain." *
After leaving this region, according to Humphreys, the streams flow through almost treeless
plains. Near the foot-hills, the soil is good, and
receives a greater supply of moisture than the
region further east. Extending to longitude 97~,
and thence southward, there is a belt of country
which, without putting on the features of a desert,
has yet an aspect of sterility not to be mistaken.
The meteorological conditions (deficiency of moisture), and the nature of the soil (alternations of sand
and clay), render it unfit for agricultural purposes.
The soil produces luxuriant grapes in the spring,
but in the dry season the sun withers the vegetation, and parches, bakes, and cracks, the clayey
surface; a process which gives it not only a sterile
* Mullan, "Address before Geographical Society," N.Y.
t Humiphreys, "Pacific Railroad Survey," Vol. I.
40 
SOURCES OF THE MISSOURI.
aspect, but renders it uncultivable.t This region
is known as the Mauvaises Terres, or Bad Lands.
The Yellowstone is the principal affluent of the
Missouri, whose volume, as estimated by General
Warren, is as large as that which is considered the
main stream; and Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin
Forks, are by no means inconsiderable rivers
The country drained by these tributaries, according to Mullan, before quoted, is among the most
beautiful to be found west of the Mississippi,gently undulating prairie, dotted here and there
with clumps of timber. All the streams are fringed
with forest growth, the soil is rich, the climate mild
and invigorating, and here exist all of the elements
for happy homes.
That portion of Oregpn and Washington Territory west of the Coast Range, and bounding the
Pacific, with the exception of the meadow or prairie bottoms, is a dense forest, timbered with fir,
pine, and oak. The lumber trade is large; and is
maintained with China, Japan, Australia, and the
Sandwich Islands. The finest spar and mast timber is here found, and is sent to the ship-yards of
France and England.*
The Columbia is navigable for four hundred and
fifty miles from its mouth to South Fork, subject,
however, to two interruptions by falls, around
* "Address before the Geographical Society," N.Y.
41 
MOUNTAINS AND PLAINS.
which railroads have been constructed; and there
is a project to extend its navigation to Fort Boise,
three hundred miles further, and reach the heart
of Idaho.
Thus the vision of the poet has passed away.
Those deep solitudes,
" Where rolls the Oregon, and hears no sound
Save its own dashings,"
have become the abodes of an active population,
and the river itself is made the great highway to
the interior of a continent.
The Ohio Basin is so well known that a brief
description will suffice. It is diversified by hills
of no great elevation, and by valleys of no great
width. The rocks are of sedimentary origin, and
but slightly metamorphosed; so that almost every
where, from their yielding nature, the hills present
rounded outlines, and are cultivable to their summits.   The  valleys are fertile, and  abundantly
watered by running streams. The surface, with
the exception of a few wet prairies, was originally
clothed with magnificent forests of several species
of the oak, together with black walnut, hickory,
sugar maple, and the liliodendron; while the undergrowth was composed of azaleas, rhododendrons,
and many creeping plants; -altogether presenting
a diversity of vegetable forms rarely to be seen
42 
SOURCES OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
over an equal area on other portions of the earth's
surface.
The  Sources of the  Upper 3fississippi are
among the great forests of conifers, white birches,
and aspens - subarctic  types-which  continue
north, but dwarfed in stature, until the limits of
arborescent vegetation are reached; and its mouth
is in the region of the orange, the magnolia, and
even the palm,-thus approaching the verge of
tropical forms. A navigable river, flowing through
a region so diversified in climate and productions,
can not but become the source of a vast inland
commerce.
Its central portion is through a magnificent region
of alternate forest and prairie. The vegetation of
the latter is largely represented by the Composilae.
This belt, so far from being restricted to the Mississippi Valley, extends southwesterly through the
Osage and Cherokee countries, and is prolonged
into Western Texas, constituting the best agricultural region of the United States, where the conditions of soil and climate are well adapted to the
cultivation of those plants useful to man.
Captain (now General) Pope thus describes the
region:
" By far the richest and most beautiful district of country I
have ever seen, in Texas or elsewhere, is that watered by the
43 
MOUNTAINS AND PLAINS.
Trinity and its tributaries.  Occupying, east and west, a belt
of one hundred miles in width, with about equal quantities of
prairie and timber, intersected by numerous clear, fresh streams
and countless springs, with a gently undulating surface of prairie and oak openings, it presents the most charming views, as
of a country in a high state of cultivation; and you are startled
at the summit of each swell of a prairie, into a prospect of
groves, parks, and forests, with intervening plains of luxuriant
grass, over which the eye in vain wanders in search of the
white village or the stately house, which seem alone wanting
to the scene." *
Leaving this beautiful country and proceeding
westward, the traveler enters one of the most desolate portions of the United States, known as the
Llano Estacado, or the Staked Plain,-a treeless
plateau, elevated 4,000 feet above the sea, a hundred miles or more in breadth, and stretching from
the Canadian to beyond the northern confines of
Mexico, unbroken by a single peak, and underlaid
by nearly horizontal strata of red clay and gypsum.
It is without wood or water.  For thirty miles east
of the Pecos, the surface is hard, and covered with
grama grass; and from thence to a point about
thirty miles west of the Colorado of Texas, the
hard surface alternates with patches of dark-red
sand, covered with coarse bunch-grass. The Llano
Estacado presents no inducements to cultivation.t
* "Pacific Railroad Surveys," Vol. III.
t Pope, "Pacific Railroad Surveys," Vol. II.
44 
ROCKY-MOUNTAIN VALLEYS.
Rocky-Mountain Valleys.-Between Great-Salt
Lake and the base of the Sierra Nevada-a space,
according to Humphreys, of 500 miles-the country consists of alternations of mountains and plains,
the latter gradually rising from the lake to the base
of the Humboldt; that is, from 4,200 feet to 6,oo0o
feet above the sea.   The  mountains  are sharp,
rocky, and generally inaccessible, and rise from
1,500 to 3,000 feet above the valleys. The greater
part of these valleys are sparsely sprinkled with
several varieties of artemisia, presenting the aspect
of a dreary waste; but on the flanks of some of the
mountains, which are more liberally supplied with
moisture from the melting snows, grama grass
flourishes. Immediately west of Great-Salt Lake,
there is a desert plain of clay and sand, impregnated
with salt, seventy miles in width, and extending
through five degrees of longitude.
The southern rim of the Great Basin is not
hemmed in by any great mountain range, but is
formed by a gradual swell of the plain, traversed by
detached ranges, whose passes are only 400 or 500
feet above the general level, thus preventing the
drainage into the Pacific. This water-shed separates the Great Basin from the Colorado Valley,
the most desolate portion of the United States.
45 
MOUNTAINS AND PLAINS.
The Colorado Desert.-This desert, according
to Blake,* extends from the base of San Bernardino
Pass to the Gulf of California, the distance, between
latitudes 320 and 34~ N., being about I40 miles.
Its greatest width is 75 miles, and the entire area is
about 9,000ooo square miles. Portions of the surface,
instead of being composed of drifting sands, are of
compact blue clay, with a floor-like appearance,
hardly indented with the mule's hoof in passing
over it. A similar desert borders the Colorado
River on the east side, which extends for a long
distance up the Gila, and reaches the base of the
mountains in the region of Sonora.
The desert spreads out as a wide and apparently
limitless plain; not a green spot, not a shrub, not a
solitary tree is to be seen, and the mountains which
hem it in, are so bald that there is not soil enough
to cover the rocks.
Blake notices the variety and intensity of colors
in the light which invests every distant object, as
characteristic of that region, the result of the extreme purity and dryness of the atmosphere, which
is so transparent that small objects may be seen
at extraordinary distances, robed in a peculiar
azure hue.
Upon these desolate plains are witnessed all of
the phenomena of a tropical twilight. The shadows
* "Pacific Railroad Survey," Vol. V.
46 
VALLEY OF THE ST. LAWRENCE.
of the distant mountains, sharply defined, are projected on the surface of the ground, and these again
are reflected upon the apparently glassy vault above.
While yet the distant summits are gilded with the
rays of the setting sun, the plain itself is enveloped
in darkness, and the stars sparkle like diamonds in
a setting of jet,-thus realizing the vision of the
Ancient Mariner:
" The sun's rim dips; the stars rush out;
At one stride comes the dark."
Valley of the St. Lawrence.-So little elevated
is the divorlia aquaruzn between the river-systems
of the St. Lawrence, Hudson's Bay, the Mississippi,
and the Hudson Rivers, that it opposes slight
impediments to navigation. The Mississippi and
St. Lawrence have their sources in a labyrinth of
lakes, -so numerous, indeed, as, according to Richardson, to cover at least one-half of the surface.
The commerce of the Hudson's Bay Company,
extending over a vast region, embracing the sources
of the Columbia, Mackenzie, Lake Superior, Hudson's Bay, and the Saskatchawan, is carried on
through a great net-work of natural channels.  The
voyageur, starting at a common point on that slightly
elevated plateau, in a light canoe, may pass, by
easy portages, to the Arctic Ocean, to Astoria, to
Hudson's Bay, to Chicago, to Quebec, and to New
47 
MOUNTAINS AND PLAINS.
York. Between the Minnesota branch of the Mississippi and the Red River of the North, loaded
bateaux are transferred each year. During flood,
the Muskingum of the Ohio, interlocks with the
Cuyahoga of Lake Erie; the Des Plaines of the
Illinois, with the Chicago River of Lake Michigan;
and the Wisconsin River of the Mississippi, with
the Fox River of Green Bay.
By reason of a notable physical fact, the sinking
down of the Alleghany Ridges, in their northeasterly prolongation, a continuous water communication has been established between Lake Erie
and the Hudson-River Valley, which will, at no
distant day, be enlarged into a ship-canal; while
the Ohio River and Lake Erie, and the Mississippi
and Lake Michigan, have been connected by similar artificial communications, and have been made
the great highways of an unsurpassed internal commerce.
On the destinies of New York City, this peculiar
topographical feature has exercised a dominating
influence, enabling her to hold easy and expeditious
communication with the Great Interior, and to
become alike the depository and the distributing
point of the vast mass of vegetable and animal food
which annually moves from West to East, through
this channel, to the markets of the world. It has
been the main-spring of her opulence and com
48 
INTERNAL NAVIGATION.
mercial greatness; the Aladdin's lamp, by the rubbing of which, the baser materials have been transmuted into gold; the secret, by the possession of
which, she has been enabled to outstrip all of the
rival sea-board cities in population and material
prosperity, and to become the connecting link in
the traffic of two hemispheres. The highlands of
the Hudson are the gateways of a commerce such
as Venice in her palmiest days never dreamed of,
and such as Holland, rescued from the sea and
fortified by dykes, can not surpass.  In access to
the ocean, New York has not, perhaps, advantages
superior to Norfolk, Baltimore, Philadelphia, or
even Boston; but in access to the great FOOD-PRODUCING STATES, she has unrivaled facilities, which
she can for all time retain, if she lends her credit to
the opening of enlarged routes of communication,
thereby producing cheap and easy modes of transit.
To many unacquainted with the conditions of
soil and climate, it might appear that New Orleans,
situated at the outlet of this great river-system,
would become a powerful competitor in the career
of commercial greatness; but a few facts will serve
to dispel this illusion. Several years ago, I expressed the following sentiments, which, in the
light of subsequent events, I am not disposed to
retract or modify:
4
49 
MOUNTAINS AND PLAINS.
"In the early settlement of the West, the Mississippi was
the only outlet for the products of the country; but the opening of the New York and Canadian canals, and the construction
between the East and West of not less than five trunk railways, have rendered the free navigation of the Mississippi a
matter of secondary importance.
"The heated waters of a tropical sea, destructive to most
of our articles of export; a malarious climate, shunned by
every Northerner for at least one-half of the year; and a
detour in the voyage of over three thousand miles in a direct
line to the markets of the world; -these considerations have
been sufficiently powerful to divert the great flow of animal
and vegetable food from the South to the East. Up to I86o,
the West found a local market for an inconsiderable portion
of her breadstuffs and provisions in the South; but, after supplying that local demand, the amount which was exported
from New Orleans was insignificant, hardly exceeding two
millions of dollars per annum."
This system of internal navigation, if platted on
the map of Europe, would stretch from the North
Sea to the confines of Tartary, and from the Mediterranean to the Baltic. We have, within this
area, a people united and prosperous, and acknowledging allegiance to one all-protecting Government, while there, the area is divided into principalities and empires for ages disunited, and differ
ing in laws, language, and race. No one fact can
impress the American more profoundly than this,
of the prospective grandeur of his country.
The external commerce of the nation is but a
tithe of that which is carried on through this
internal system of communication.
5~ 
PACIFIC RAILROADS.
PACIFIC RAILROADS.
Two railroads, the Union Pacific and the Union
Pacific Eastern Division, are in progress of construction between the Missouri River and the
Pacific Slope; and one other, the Northern Pacific,
is projected to connect the waters of Lake Superior
with those of Puget Sound.
Union Pacifc Railroad. —This railway starts
at Omaha, on the Missouri River, at an altitude of
968 feet above the ocean, and follows the valley of
the Platte to the forks, where, leaving the North
Fork, it follows the South Platte to Julesburg, and
thence to the mouth of Lodge-Pole Creek. This
station is 484.75 miles distant, and the altitude
attained is 3,528 feet. This portion of the route is
through a region highly favorable to the construction of a road; requiring few bridges, and little
excavation.
Here the engineering difficulties begin. From
Lodge-Pole Creek to Evans's Pass, in the Black
Hills, 545.62 miles, the altitude rises to 8,248 feet.
This is the culminating point on this line between'
the two oceans, and is 75 feet higher than the
Pass of Great St. Bernard in the Alps. The highest points of the Black Hills, in this vicinity, are
from 9,000ooo to 9,500 feet.
5 I 
MOUNTAINS AND PLAINS.
The table-lands between the Black Hills and
Medicine-Bow Mountains, have an elevation between 6,ooo and 7,oo000 feet, and are nearly barren
of vegetation, except the characteristic artemisia.
The next highest summit is that between Bear
River of Salt Lake and Muddy Creek, a tributary of
Green River flowing into the Colorado. This point,
on the eastern rim of the Great Basin, is 893 miles
distant from Omaha, and has an altitude of 7,567
feet. Salt-Lake City, distant I,026.76 miles, has
an elevation of 4,285 feet. The road, as finally
located, leaves Salt-Lake City to the left, crossing
Bear-River Bay, and curves round the head of the
lake, on whose borders is founded, by that peculiar
people known as Mormons, the largest' settlement"
in any of the territories; and however much we
may deplore the social economy of this people,
all must admit that they have exhibited a degree of
thrift and patient industry which is highly to be
commended.
Materials for construction of a railroad abound
along this portion of the route. Pines suitable for
timber clothe the ridges, and lignite is found in
the earth, at intervals, as far east as Boulder Creek,
sufficiently pure to furnish fuel for locomotives.
Between Salt Lake and Reed's Pass, in the Humboldt Mountains (altitude 5,550 feet), the country
52 
PACIFIC RAILROADS.
is said to abound in grasses, and also in timber and
water.
From Reed's Pass, 1,259.47 miles, the route follows one of the branches of the Humboldt River.
The mountains on the south have an elevation of
8,ooo feet, and the loftiest peaks are perpetually
covered with snow. The valley is well-watered
by numerous streams which have their sources in
the melting snows, and is adapted to agricultural
purposes.
At Copper Canion, the river is from I50 to 200
feet wide, and passes I8,oo000 cubic feet of water in
a minute.  " This section," remarks the engineer,
Mr. Bates, "is the most remarkable and interesting
feature of the line. A range of mountains, having
a direction nearly north and south, in remote ages,
formed a barrier to the flow of the water between
this point and Humboldt Wells, and the valley has
probably been the bed of a lake. All along the
slopes of the hills, the water-line can be seen several hundred feet above the river-bed... They
rise several thousand feet in height, with mountain
on the top of mountain, rolling off, in the dim distance, in almost every conceivable shape."
The lower valley of Humboldt River is susceptible of cultivation, and several ranches have been
established along its course.
The route between Humboldt Lake and Truckee
53 
MOUNTAINS ANDI) PLAINS.
Desert, traverses a region where the soil is so light
that it blows and drifts like snow, requiring ballast
to protect the road-bed. The Truckee-River Valley, where intersected, is narrow and tortuous, but
finally emerges into the Big Meadows, which are
surrounded by mountains of great height. These
meadows are inhabited by a mixed population of
500 souls, occupied in agriculture, trade, and
mining. The proposed termination of the road is
on the Truckee River, near Crystal Peak, at the
boundary of California;- 5, I 95 feet above tide, and
1,550.50 miles distant from Omaha.
The Central Pacific Railroad of California.
-This road extends from Sacramento to Truckee
Valley, and in its construction, impediments which
a few years ago would have been deemed insurmountable by the civil engineer, have been successfully overcome.
ILeaving Sacramento in June, the passenger, in
the course of a few hours, experiences as great a
change of temperature as though he were to pass
from New York to Greenland. The valley, at this
season, is clothed with a semi-tropical vegetation,
and the balmy air is laden with the fragrance of
flowers.
From the treeless plain to the eastward, the Sierra
Nevada looms up like a great cloud-bank, the snow
54 
PACIFIC RAILROADS.
fields on the summits flashing in the morning sun
with opalescent hues. Soon he becomes involved
in the foot-hills, and the view of the distant mountains is shut out. The cars wind around a projecting promontory, and far down is seen, like a silver
thread, the foaming torrent of a branch of the
American River. Ere long a glimpse of the snowcapped mountains is gained, and the air is tempered
by their proximity. The flanks of the subordinate
hills are clothed with dense forests of pine and
other evergreens.
As the engine continues to climb, the country
becomes still more inhospitable, and, seventy-five
miles from Sacramento, and 4,500 feet above the
sea, the snow-fields descend to the level of the
track; and at intervals, through deep cuts, are constructed steep-roofed sheds with heavy timbers, to
ward off the avalanches.
Still ascending, the pines are replaced by the
cedar and tamarack, until finally the limit of vegetation is attained, and the hills rise up bare and
desolate. The track is through tunnels in the solid
rock, and along immense fields of snow, and icicles
hang pendent from every projecting crag.
About one hundred miles from Sacramento, the
summit is attained-7,o42 feet, being  1,206 feet
less than Evans's Pass; and, two miles beyond, the
train enters the Great Tunnel, I,659 feet in length.
55 
MOUNTAINS AND PLAINS.
The aspect here has all the rigors of an Arctic
winter. Deep snow-banks, glacier-like torrents,
and stalactites of ice, are on every side.
And now commences the descent. Steam is
shut off, the breaks are applied, and the train moves
forward by its own momentum. Far below, the
eye catches a glimpse of Donner Lake, cradled in
the hills, and surrounded by a fringe of pines.
Around this lake, the road makes a circuit of seven
miles, to gain an advance of only one-fourth of a
mile, and in this distance accomplishes a descent
of 783 feet. Truckee Station, in the valley of the
Great Basin, is I I9 miles from Sacramento, and
5,860 feet above the sea. *
The entire distance from Omaha to Sacramento is
1,669 miles,  to San Francisco, 1,793 miles.
Humboldt Valley is represented as rich in the
precious metals, but the products are unavailable,
by reason of inaccessibility and cost of transportation. Virginia City, the seat of extensive and prosperous mining, is sixteen miles south of the road,
but owing to the topography of the country, forty
miles of construction are required to make the connection.
The mining interests of Nevada will receive a
prodigious impulse on the completion of this great
* The details of the passage of the first passenger train, are abridged
from the Correspondent of the "New York Tribune."
56 
PACIFIC RAILROADS.
work,-in the accession of population; in the diminished cost of transport of mining machinery and
supplies of every kind; and in the facilities of communicating with both slopes of the continent.
Union Paciflc Railroad, Eastern Division.
This road runs nearly due west from Kansas City,
Missouri, up the valley of the Kaw, of which the
Smoky Hill River is the continuation, to Pond
Creek, near Fort Wallace, 4I2 miles distant. The
route is through a region highly feasible for the
construction of such a work, the country rising by
an almost uniform slope to the height of about
2,200 feet.
The valley of the Kaw, for more than ioo miles,
is well wooded, while the uplands rise in gentlyswelling hills. The precipitation of rain is sufficient, during the spring and summer, to mature all
the cerealia usually cultivated at the West. The
western portion of the State is unfitted for agriculture, without a resort to irrigation, but affords an
unlimited range of pasturage, which was, up to a
recent time, the favorite resort of the buffalo.
To make Pond Creek the terminus of the road,
or to continue it to Denver, seems a short-sighted
policy, as it simply gives an additional outlet to the
mining regions of Colorado and Nevada, of which
there is no pressing necessity. The Company now
57 
MOUNTAINS AND PLAINS.
propose, by Government aid, to deflect the road
southwesterly to Fort Lyon; thence, after ascending the valley of the Purgatoire, to cross the eastern
spur of the Raton Mountain; and thence, passing
Fort Union, to continue onward to the Rio Grande,
at Albuquerque, 872 miles. The highest summit
encountered is at the head of Caflon Blanco-latitude 35~, and about thirty miles south of Santa Fe,7,I36 feet above the sea.  From Albuquerque, the
survey has been protracted nearly along the 35th
parallel, over the axial line of California, and
thence northwesterly into the San Joaquin valley;
and, crossing a gap in the Diablo range, reaches
San Francisco. Such a route would develop a
region rich in mineral resources, and over portions
of which the dominion of the Government is but
imperfectly asserted and maintained.
Dr. Le Conte, who accompanied the expedition
as far as New Mexico, has briefly reported on the
geology of the country.
The region from Fort Wallace to the Arkansas
(seventy miles) is deficient in water; the annual
rain-fall at Fort Lyon being I I.25 inches. The
Arkansas furnishes an abundant supply of good
water, and the valley contains much land capable,
under irrigation, of yielding abundant harvests.
Occasional groves of cotton-wood are seen in the
valley; but the Purgatoire is fringed with a growth
58 
PACIFIC RAILROADS.
of cotton-wood, box, elder, and willow. The hills,
within thirty miles of the Arkansas, are thickly
covered with cedars; and on the higher ridges,
adjacent to the cainon, pines of good quality appear.
Important beds of coal (Cretaceous) were
observed along the foot-hills of the mountains,
eight and ten feet in thickness.   Enough is known
to justify the conclusion that there are several
places in the neighborhood of the line surveyed,
which will furnish sufficient supplies of fuel adapted
to railroad and domestic purposes.
Rich deposits of placer gold exist near Maxwell's, and gold quartz, argentiferous galena, copper, limonite, specular, and magnetic oxide of iron,
are found in quantities of economic value.*
The country between the Rio Grande and the
Colorado of the West, presents far different physical aspects. Instead of gentle slopes, composed of
thick beds of water-worn materials, we find abrupt
cliffs, barren rocks excavated into deep catons, and
sheltered valleys, where the herds are secure against
the severest storms which rage on the mountains.
To add to the desolation of the scene, extinct volcanic cones and long lines of erupted rock are by
no means rare.
* Dr. John L. Le Conte's "Preliminary Report to General Palmer,
in charge of Survey," I868.
59 
MOUNTAINS AND PLAINS.
"The Navajo Country," according to Dr. Parry, " comprises
a similar character of broken highlands, with fertile valleys,
grassy slopes, and deeply-sheltered canons.
"In passing to the valley of the Colorado, we descend by a
succession of irregular mountain ranges and basin valleys,
becoming more arid as they reach the lower elevation, and
finally passing into the valley of the Colorado, characterized by
its bare mountain ranges, desert uplands, and broad alluvial
bottoms, supporting their peculiar semi-tropical vegetation." *
The features of the Colorado Desert, as well as
of the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, require
no further description. Dr. Parry traces the peculiar coal-deposits two hundred miles west of the
Rio Grande.  Over all of the region, between the
Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada, placer
gold is known to exist. Silver is very generally
associated with lead and copper, and it also occurs
in the form of chloride and black oxide, with more
or less gold. Copper is mined on Williams's Fork
of the Colorado, and shipped to Swansea. Absence
of water and fuel, the difficulty of transporting
machinery, and the insecurity of life, have thus far
prevented the development of this region. The
extension of this railroad has already become a
matter of commercial importance, and will soon
become one of national necessity.
* Dr. C. C. Parry, "Preliminary Report," i868.
6o 
PACIFIC RAILROADS.
Nvorthern Pacific Railroad.-It is contemplated
by a company of capitalists, aided by a government subsidy, to construct a railroad from the
Fond du Lac of Lake Superior, to the Great Bend
of the Missouri, thence through the valley of the
Yellowstone River, and across the Rocky Mountains, through Cadott's Pass, to the valley of the
Columbia; and thence, to Scattle, in Washington
Territory, with a branch to Portland, on the Columbia River.
This road will traverse an entirely new region,
which is supposed to contain resources, both mineral and agricultural, not to be developed by the
roads now in progress of construction.
The estimated distance is 1,775 miles. From
Fond du Lac to the main divide of the waters of
the Missouri and Columbia, - according to Mr.
Edwin F. Johnson, Chief Engineer of the road,
a distance of over i,ooo miles, there is no mountain range to be overcome. The elevation of the
ground between the Mississippi and Lake Superior, in the direction of Crow Wing, is I,I58 feet
above the ocean, or 558 feet above Lake Superior.
The highest elevation encountered, is at Cadott's
Pass, 5,330 feet, and the second, Snoqualmie Pass,
3,00o0 feet. The main range of mountains which
forms the axis of the Continent where the proposed
line crosses, is broken down, so as to permit the
6i 
MOUNTAINS AND PLAINS.
sources of the Missouri and the Columbia nearly
to interlock.*
The general sterility of the valley of the Upper
Missouri has been dwelt upon, but to the north of
this, there lies a region drained by the Red, Mouse,
Assiniboin, and Saskatchawan Rivers, which are
navigable for long distances, - a region which,
owing to the rapid trend of the isothermal lines to
the northward, after passing longitude 98~, has a
climate far more genial and a soil far less sterile
than that of New England. So far as known, it is
better adapted to the growth of wheat, rye, and oats,
than the prairies of Illinois and Wisconsin. Herds
* My young friend, William H. Dall, who, for five years past, has
been engaged in investigating the natural history of the region of
Alaska, has furnished me with the following topographical notes, as
to the northern extension of the Rocky Mountain ranges:
"I. ROCKY MOUNTAINS.-From the reports of the explorers of the
Telegraphic Expedition, and the employes of the Hudson's Bay Company, and my own explorations, the following are our conclusions:
First, the prolongation of this chain, northwesterly to the Arctic
Ocean, as laid down on most physico-geographical maps, is erroneous.
"The Rockv Mountains lose their distinctive character, as a range,
about latitude 60~ N. The country here to the west and northwest,
becomes mountainous, rolling, and broken. This conglomeration of
mountains extends to the north and northwest, perhaps as far as the
parallel 64~. About longitude I47~ west, the Coast Mountains (being
the prolongation of the Cascade Range, and probably the same in
age) also lose themselves in this rolling country. Through these
hills- 1,200 to 2,500 feet-the Youkon River cuts its way in a northwest direction. These mountains gradually close up their ranks as
we go west, and about longitude 140~ or I45~, they are united in a
clearly defined range, which has a trend parallel with that of the
coast, and which I have named the Alaskan Mountains. (See Proc.
Boston Society of Nat. Hist., Nov. 4, i868). This range contains
62 
PACIFIC RAILROADS. 
of buffalo range over plains of rich pasturage, and
winter even on the sources of the Athabasca, —a
pretty conclusive evidence of the mildness of the
climate.
This region, as large as the original Thirteen
States in area, would be directly dependent on this
route for its commercial intercourse; and, though
under the dominion of a foreign power, its people
would  naturally gravitate to us as the centre of
their political system.
The Pacific coast has a climate as congenial as
that of Western Europe. Its fiord-like character,
many high volcanic peaks, and forms the back-bone of the peninsula
of Alaska, and the Aleutian Islands.
" 2. ROMANZOFF MOUNTAINS.- These mountains extend along the
coast, from near the mouth of the Mackenzie River, gradually rising,
till they culminate near the mouth of the Colville River. Several fine
peaks are visible from Ft. Youkon, at the junction of the Porcupine
and the Ycukon Rivers. Near the Mackenzie River they are comparatively low and insignificant.
"3. Between the eastern end of this range, and the high, rolling
country mentioned above, there is a broad extent of surface comparatively free from mountains. It is a rolling country, and these hills
attain their highest point (2,000 feet?) at the water-shed between the
sources of the Porcupine and the Peel Rivers. This permits the westward migration of eastern species of birds - summer visitors, - and
the Alaskan Range to a great extent, if not entirely, arrests the northward progress of the typical west coast land-birds.
" There is no defined northerly current through the Ounimak Pass,
but to the westward the Japan Current, or a branch of it, extends
north through Behring's Straits, into the Arctic Ocean.
" The other mountains, in the valley of the Youkon, are low, none
exceeding 30ooo feet, and probably only one or two attain over I,500 or
2,000 feet. There are no large rivers emptying into Kotzebue Sound,
or the Arctic Ocean. The Kouskoquim River is the only large one
south of the Youkon.
"Isanotsky Pass is a cul-de-sac, and impassable for vessels."
63 
MOUNTAINS ANDI) PLAINS.
and the deep articulations through the Straits of
Fuca into Puget's Sound, afford harbors unsurpassed in ease of approach, anchorage, and shelter.
Lignite of a superior quality is found at Bellingham Bay and in the Willamette Valley. The interior affords magnificent forests, which already yield
large supplies of lumber. From the Douglas pine,
or the sugar pine, may be hewn spars fit
" to be the mast
Of some great ammiral."
The mountains of Idaho and Montana already
yield $20,000,oo000 annually of the precious metals.
It will thus be seen that two lines of Pacific
railways are under construction, and a third is
projected. Already is the commercial interest of
the valley of the Mississippi beginning to feel the
effects of this new impulse communicated to its
trade, as the ocean is affected by a large stream
discharging its waters into its abyss. That the
completion of these lines is to have an important
bearing on our own commerce and that of the world,
is not to be gainsayed; and yet these benefits may,
by many, be overestimated. Viewed as a work
of art, spanning such rivers as the Mississippi and
Missouri, and scaling the crests of ridges like those
of the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada, it may
be pronounced the most magnificent example of
64 
PACIFIC RAILROADS.
ancient or modern engineering. Viewed as a commercial problem, while it may not divert the commerce of the world, so far as relates to bulky articles which have received little enhanced value from
the skill or industry of man, from its accustomed
channels; but, so far as relates to human intercourse
by travel, to the transmission of intelligence through
the mails, to the development of mines of the precious metals, to the conveyance of the spices, silks,
and teas of the Orient to their appropriate markets,
its benefits will be great. But, viewed as a political
measure, building up lines of States across the Continent, linking together parts of the Republic now
widely separated by ties of the closest intimacy,
and consolidating the strength and glory of a nation,
it presents an aspect far more important than any
mere commercial enterprise, and amply justifies the
expenditure of all the money which has been
appropriated to this object.
The construction of these roads will be regarded,
in all coming times, as among those great works
dictated by a wise patriotism and a far-seeing
sagacity, which have for their object the substantial
welfare of every portion of the Great Republic.
Undertaken, too, at a time of great national depression, and when the burdens of taxation bore
heavily on all classes, they are illustrious examples
of what a free people can accomplish to develop
5
65 
MOUNTAINS AND PLAINS.
those resources which shall contribute to the
national strength and unity.
RESUME.
I have thus attempted to sketch the physical features of the United States; and, in doing so, have
purposely avoided, except incidentally, all reference
to those portions which are well known to the
general reader.
This country has within itself elements of wealth
such as are possessed by no other nation. On other
continents, the progress of nations and the unity of
the people have been interrupted both by physical
restraints, such as impassable mountains and vast
deserts, and by artificial restraints, such as civil disabilities and inequality of condition. "The feeble
barrier of the Cheviot Hills," says  Mrs. Somerville, " between England and Scotland, and the
moderate elevation of the Highlands, have prevented the amalgamation of the Anglo-Saxons and
Celts, even in a period of high civilization. The
Franks and Belgians are distinct, though separated
by hills of still less elevation." * Thus, slight
physical barriers have controlled the migration of
races, and checked the spread of civilization.
* "Physical Geography."
66 
MATERIAL RESOURCES.
" Lands intersected by a narrow frith
Abhor each other. Mountains interposed
Make enemies of nations, who had else,
Like kindred drops, been mingled into one."
Our own country, with the internal improvements
already completed, presents no such obstacles to
inter-communication.  With a vast body of agricultural lands in the interior, capable of producing
a diversity of products, with great manufacturing
capacities at one extreme, and great mineral
resources at the other, the whole intersected by
navigable rivers and far-stretching railroads, by
which expeditious communication is had with the
most distant parts, and maintaining an oceanic
commerce both with Europe and Asia, soon to be
more intimate than that of the most favored
nations,-all these conditions are conducive  to
national strength and unity.
Nor are the peculiar tendencies of our political
system to be overlooked.   Founded, as it now is,
upon the basis of equal rights to all men, every
citizen is animated with the sentiment that he constitutes a part of the State. This sentiment will
impress him with the value and efficiency of the
ballot, and the importance of its use in checking
abuses and promoting reforms. To those who,
born in a foreign land, have been accustomed to
see the right of empire exercised by a rule of suc
67 
MOUNTAINS AND PLAINS.
cession as inexorable as the decrees of fate, and
the most obsequious devotions paid by the wisest
statesmen and the most renowned warriors to one
who has inherited this right by the mere accident
of birth, irrespective of public capacity or private
worth,-to those, we repeat, who arrive on our
shores and become invested with citizenship, there
is no inducement to maintain the distinctions of
nationality or the prejudices of race, whether he
be Celt, Teuton, or Sclavonian. By the removal
of all restraints upon intermarriage, by bringing
together the children in the public schools and
teaching them from the same text-books, and by
enlisting men in the pursuit of the same industries,
a spirit is evoked whose tendency is to soften the
asperities of local association, and to fuse incongruous materials into harmonious proportions,-in
fact, to Americanize all nationalities.
The recognition, in its broadest sense, of individual and political freedom, will produce unity and
fraternity; it will "humanize men, and give them
a common country." *
Our country has yet vast tracts of rich land
whose surface has never been furrowed by the
plough, and whose sod has never been upturned to
the light of the sun.  It is as fresh in rural beauty
* "Humanitatem homini daret, breviterque una cunctarum gentiumin,
in toto orbe patria fierat."  (Pliny, "Natural History.")
68 
ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS.
as when first it came from the hand of nature.
Apart from the tumuli and embankments of that
mysterious race, the Mound-Builders, or occasional
patches of greensward, to indicate the spot where
the Indian once pitched his lodge, there is little to
remind us of the former occupancy of the continent.
How different this from the aspects of the Old
World! There are the remains of human structures whose origin stretches back to the dawvn of
the  historic  epoch; -  pyramids,  obelisks,  and
sphinxes, to remind us of an Egyptian civilization;
winged bulls, colossal in size, hanging gardens, and
spacious palaces, monuments of the former greatness of the Assyrian empire; statues of matchless
proportions, temples of faultless architecture, and
colisseums vast in extent, to remind us of the
refinements of a Grecian or Roman civilization; and
Gothic cathedrals, castles, and towers, to recall the
rude civilization of the Middle Ages. But these
are monuments of an effete civilization, indicative
of long ages of crime and oppression, when man
remorselessly appropriated the unrequited toil of
his fellow-man. There is nothing to symbolize the
moral or intellectual elevation of the masses; and,
while we may admire these ruins of former greatness, the true philanthropist does not regret that
such civilizations have been swept from the earth.
They proclaim a relation which, throughout all
69 
MOIJNTAINS AND PLAINS.
history, has been adverse to human progress,-that
of tyrant and people, of patrician and plebs, of lord
and vassal, of master and slave.
But the contemplation of the physical aspects of
our country awakens far different thoughts. Its
vast primeval forests of rich and varied verdure;
its almost boundless plains of waving green, spread
out far as human vision can range; its noble rivers,
thousands of miles in length, often expanding into
inland seas, which serve as the great highways of
an extended and prosperous commerce; its lofty
mountains, whose crests penetrate high into the
region of perpetual snow, and whose flanks are
stored with the precious metals; -all remind the
statesman and the philanthropist that here are the
elements of material wealth and of human power,
such as the world never saw; that here is a field
for the display of the most vigorous manifestations
of physical or intellectual force; and that here,
under a beneficent form of government, man may
rise to his true dignity,-a position in the order of
creation "a little lower than that of the angels."
7o 
CHAPTER III.
THE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES.
DISTRIBUTION OF FOREST, PRAIRIE, AND DESERT - PRAIRIES
NOT DUE TO PEAT-GROWTHI -NOT DUE TO THE TEXTURE OF
THE SOIL-NOT DUE TO THE ANNUAL BURNINGS-ZONES OF
VEGETATION - THE GREAT BASIN - CLIMATIC CONDITIONS -
1MEAN ANNUAL PRECIPITATION- SOURCE OF MOlSTURE PERIODICAL RAINS OF CALIFORNIA- CONCLUSIONS.
Distribution of Forest, Prairie, and Desert.Whenever we examine a continental mass, we
ordinarily find a  wooded belt along the shores,
succeeded, as we advance inland, by grassy plains,
and graduating in the interior into inhospitable
deserts.  Whenever we study the annual precipitation of moisture, in connection with the lines of
temperature, we find that, wherever the moisture is
equable and abundant, we have the densely-clothed
forest; wherever it is unequally distributed, we
have the grassy plain; and wherever it is mostly
withheld, we have the inhospitable desert.
The varying supply of moisture, then, is sufficient
to account for the diversity of vegetation, modified
to some extent by the physical features of the 
THE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES.
country, altitude above the sea, and the extremes
of heat and cold.
Most of us were born in a wooded region, and
in the vicinity of the moisture-distilling sea. In
our childhood, we were accustomed to look out
upon a landscape diversified by mountain and valley. Every hill had its crown of forest, and every
stream its waterfall. To subdue the soil by cutting
down these aborescent forms, was an herculean
task. Thus, then, from early associations, we were
led to infer that this was the primal condition of
the earth's surface.
Transported to a region with a combination of
features far different, with a soil composed of the
most comminuted materials, where in a day's journey we should fail to see the underlying rock or
even an erratic block, with a surface stretching out
in vast savannas, either level or thrown into gentlyrounded outlines, like the waves of the ocean
arrested and petrified,- the whole waving with a
luxuriant growth of vegetable green,- while in the
distance, the eye would discern a clump of trees,
like an island in mid-ocean, or a long line of trees,
like a low coast, fringing a stream which wound its
sluggish way through this mass of verdure, and
where the whole plain seemed to be spread out
like a hemisphere bounded by the sky;-transferred to such a scene, our ideas of the earth's
72 
NOT DUE TO PEAT-GROWTH.
surface would be very different from those of our
youthful remembrance.
If we were to penetrate still further into the interior, and behold plains equally extended, the surface
covered with efflorescences of salt which glittered
like snow-flakes in the morning sun, or with a rank
growth of artemisia which perfumed the air as with
camphor, or with cacti which we had seen cultivated as hot-house plants, shooting up in tree-like
forms; our ideas of the earth's surface would be still
further modified. And yet, such are the diversities
which nature presents in every continental mass.
The Prairies not due to Peal-Growth.- It is a
microscopic view to undertake to trace analogies
1),etween the formation of the prairies and that of
the treeless morasses known as peat-swamps, as
has been done by Lesquereux, a distinguished botanist, in the first volume of the "Illinois Geological
Reports." It is a theory which presupposes a humid
climate, a level country with imperfect drainage,
and with a surface dotted over with lakes and sheltered from the winds, where the peat-producing
plants could  grow,-conditions  none  of which
obtain where the prairies assume their grandest
proportions. *
* Take, for example, Kansas: So great is the relief and depression
of the soil, that, standing on one of the "rolls," I have commanded
a view of forty miles in extent. The rise of the Kansas Slope is 2,200
73 
ORIGIN OF THE PRAIRIES.
We can hardly conceive of conditions by which
the whole surface of a country would be converted
into a peat-bog. Such bogs are generally found
occupying erosions in the surface, and where they
are sheltered from the winds. There is no tendency
to the formation of peat along the shores of the
Great Lakes, where the waters are agitated by
storms, nor along the margins of rivers of brisklyrunning water. Peat-vegetation, then, only thrives
in still waters, and where there is a tendency to
stagnation; and the area over which it extends in a
given region is inconsiderable, compared with the
area occupied by other vegetable forms. *
feet in the distance of 4oo00 miles. What struck me as remarkable, in
traversing that region, was the entire absence of peat.
Dr. Logan (" Report on the Geology of Kansas," I866,) remarks:
"There is but little marshy or spongy soil in the whole State; the surplus water coursing down the natural conduits, leaves no opportunity for the saturation of the ground, which is observable in some of
the other States, and particularly the prairie States east of the Mississippi River.  *  *  *  Kansas, as said before, by reason of its physical features, its soil, and its winds, is thoroughly drained. The streams
usually have high banks and run in narrow channels, and the water is
carried off with great rapidity. * * Hence, no ponds or sloughs are
formned, and but rarely any spongy soil."
Thus, while the treeless region of Kansas is characterized by an
absence of peat, the densely-wooded region of Massachusetts contains,
by estimate, I20,000,000 of cords.
* Staring gives the following explanation of the formation of peat:
The first condition on the surface of the fens, is stillness of water.
Hence, it is not formed in running streams, nor in pools so large as to
be subject to frequent agitation of the wind. Aquatic plants of various
genera, such as Nujiepar, 2Vyin}hoa, etc., fill the bottom with roots and
cover the surface with leaves. Many of the plants die each year, and
furnish a soil fit for a higher order of vegetation, viz., Phragmiles,
74 
NOT DUE TO PEAT-GROWTH.
The aromatic sage-plants, the cacti, and the
bunch-grasses, are forms of vegetation which characterize the Western Plains, and are unknown in a
region favorable to the growth of peat.
The Llanos of Venezuela have many features in
common with the prairies, but they are subject,
each  year, to droughts  so  long-continued  and
intense that the soil cracks and bakes, and the carbonized particles of vegetation are whirled through
the air in the form of fine dust. Such climatic
conditions would preclude the growth of peat-vegetation.
It is evident, therefore, that we must resort to
other and different causes to explain the phenomena of these grassy plains.
Acorus, ~S(arganiium, etc.  In course of twenty or thirty years, the
muddy bottom is filled with roots of aquatic and marsh plants, which
are lighter than water; and if the depth is great enough to detach the
vegetable net-work, it rises to the surface, bearing with it, of course,
the soil formed above it by decay of stems and leaves.  New genera
now appear upon the mass, such as Carix, Menyanthes, and others,
which quickly cover it.
The turf has now acquired a thickness of from two to four feet, and
floats about. In about half a century, the mass, having increased in
thickness, reaches the bottom and becomes fixed. Arborescent plants,
Alnzus, Salix, etc., appear, and these contribute to hasten the attachment of the turf to the bottom, both by their weight and by sending
their roots through into the ground. This is the method employed by
nature for the gradual filling up of shallow lakes and pools, and converting them first into morass and then into dry land. (Staring, " De
Bodem van Nederland," i., 36.)
Hundreds of acres of floating pastures, which have nothing to distinguish them from grass-lands, resting on solid bog, are found in
North Holland. Cattle are pastured on these islands, and sometimes
large trees are found growing on them. There is little evidence that
the surface of the prairies has been thus formed.
75 
THE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES.
lVol due to the Texture of the Soil.-Other
physicists would attribute the formation of prairies
to the mechanical or chemical composition of the
soil, —a theory which we think equally untenable,
when we reflect that the surface of these treeless
plains may vary in every degree between drifting
sands and impervious clays, and that the efflorescences of soda and gypsum which are the evidences
of an arid climate at one extremity of the Continent, would become fertilizing agents at the other.
The forest of Fontainbleau thrives on a plain
composed of sand to the extent of ninety-eight per
cent. of the whole contents; the region of the Colorado Valley, the most desolate portion of the
United States, is often underlaid by a blue clay so
indurated as hardly to be impressed by a mule's
hoof in passing over it; the soil of the Llano Estacado is red clay and gypsum, which, under certain
conditions of moisture, would be highly productive;
and even the entire area of Sahara is far from being
a mass of drifting sands.
zvol due to Annual Burnings.-The theory
very much in vogue before the laws of climatology
were fully understood, which attributed the formation of prairies to the annual fires set by the Indians,
is deserving only of a passing notice. If these
regions were once wooded, we should expect to
76 
ZONES OF VEGETATION.
find the remains of an arborescent vegetation
entombed in the sloughs, where they would be
capable of indefinite preservation. If their treeless character is due to such causes, we should
expect to find similar tracts east of the Alleghanies; particularly, as it is a historical fact that,
when this country was first known to the European,
the Indian lived in the wooded region, and not on
the prairies.
In traversing the great forests adjacent to Lake
Superior, where, owing to the resinous nature of
the trees, the fires at times rage with unabated
fury, consuming even the turf, until quenched by
drenching rains, we have seen large areas thus
burnt over; but we never saw a grassy plain which
could be traced to such a cause.
In order to fuilly comprehend the origin of these
vast savannas, and to trace that origin to the
operation of known laws, it becomes necessary to
consider the varying distribution of moisture in
connection with the geographical distribution of
plants.
ZONES OF VEGETATION.
North America may be divided into five zones
of vegetation, resulting from its climatic conditions:
77 
THE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES.
I. The Region of jfosses and Saxifrages.
2. The Densely-wooded Region.
3. Alternate Wood and Prairie.
4. Vast Grassy Plains, where the Trees are restricted to
the immediate Banks of the Streams.
5. Vast Arid Plains, often bare of Vegetation, and covered
to some extent with Saline Efforesceizces.
Region of Mosses and Saxifrages. - From
latitude 600 N., on Hudson's Bay, and thence
extending northwesterly as far as the Arctic Ocean,
lie the "Barren Grounds," so well described by
Richardson. They are treeless, and the simpler
kinds of vegetation abound, such as lichens, mosses,
and fungi. Still north, beyond the flood, is the
7erra Damnata of the Laplanders; there,
" A frozen continent
Lies dark and wild, beat with perpetual storms
Of whirlwind and dire hail, which on firm land
Thaws not, but gathers heap, and ruin seems
Of ancient pile; all else deep snow and ice."
This peculiar vegetation is the result of diminished temperature, rather than of deficient moisture,
where every hill is sculptured in ice, and every
stream has a viscid flow to the oceanic abyss.
Densely-wooded  Belt. — Below  the  "Barren
Grounds," we enter upon a forest-belt which
stretches continuously to the Gulf of Mexico.
78 
ZONES OF VEGETATION.
The prairie has its greatest transverse expansion
in the Missouri Basin, and narrows as it goes
north.   In the temperate zone, the western line
of the forest-belt would bear southeast, passing
west of the head of Lake Superior, and striking
the west shore of Lake Michigan, whence it is
protracted southwest into Eastern Texas. Clumps
of spruce-fir form its outliers to the north, while
its southern extension embraces the magnolia and
palmetto.
With reference to the forest-range, as determined
by lines of latitude, and, therefore, by the vicissiludes of summer and zvinler lemperalure, rather
than by the varying supp5lies of moisture, it may
be stated than many of the Canadian types, following the course of the Alleghanies, reach as far
south as Virginia, and even Georgia, where they
intermingle with forms purely sub-tropical. Thus,
on the crests of the Alleghanies, in Pennsylvania,
may be seen the hemlock of the north holding
divided empire with the magnolia of the south,
sub-arctic and sub-tropical species intermingling,and both withstanding alike the rigor of our winters and the heat of our summers; both hybernating
during the winter, and both displaying during the
summer, in the most vigorous manner, the functions
of foliation and fructification. Thus it is, by reason
of these excessive variations of summer and winter
79 
THE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES.
temperature, an American forest presents an assemblage of trees and a variety of foliage, of which
Europe affords no parallel. The former has about
one hundred and twenty different species, while
the latter has only thirty-four.
In the forests adjacent to the Great Lakes, the
Coniferous or Pine tribe is largely predominant.
While this group occupies a region little prized for
agriculture, by reason of the poverty of the soil
and the rigor of the climate, it is fortunately contiguous to a region where both of these conditions
are wanting, and where the presence of dense forests would be a serious obstacle to the development
of the country.
Taking root in a soil which may contain but two
per cent. of organic matter, and which, but for its
vegetable covering, would become a mass of drifting sands, the white pine (P. strobus) becomes the
monarch of our forests, symmetrical in form where
grown in the open air, and the most valuable of all
our trees when felled for lumber. I cite this example to illustrate the fact, that certain forms of vegetation are far more dependent for their growth upon
a regular supply of moisture, than upon the quantity of organic matter in the soil.
While the sub-arctic types, in their southern prolongation, cling to the crests of the Alleghanies,
there are other types, characteristic of a more tem
80 
ZONES OF VEGETATION.
perate climate, such as the oak, the hickory, and
tulip, which clothe the slopes; and still other types,
such as the mulberry, black-walnut, papaw, buckeye, honey-locust, and persimmon, which seek the
rich, mellow bottoms.
While the geographical range of certain arborescent forms is mainly limited, north and south,
by the conditions of lemsperature, their eastern
and western range, taking the Alleghanies as the
axis, is limited by ithe conditions of moisture; and
these limits are more circumscribed by the latter
cause than by the former.
The eastern rim of the Mississippi Valley contains many characteristic trees which are but feebly
represented where the prairies commence, and disappear altogether beyond the Missouri, where they
assume their full development. On the other hand,
vegetable forms are not represented on the eastern
margin, which attain their full development as we
approach the base of the Rocky Mountains. These
changes are wholly independent of isothermal lines,
but dependent on the variable supply of moisture.
Alternate Wood and Prairie.- In this zone,
we would include the region between the eastern
shore of Lake Michigan and the eastern slope of
the Missouri Basin, in Iowa, latitude 420 N., longitude 95~ W.; and thence the western boundary is
6
8I 
THE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES.
protracted a little west of south, towards the mouth
of the Rio Grande.   This line is far from being
well-defined, since the trees follow all of the great
valleys of the Mississippi and Missouri, to within
five or six hundred miles of the Rocky Mountains.
With regard to the botany of this region, Dr.
J. G. Cooper, who has paid much attention to the
geographical distribution of plants in the United
States, remarks, that "no new forms of trees appear,
while those found farther eastward rapidly diminish towards the west.   Thirteen species have not
been traced west of its eastern border; about ninety
extend pretty far into the Texan and Illinois regions;
but only five or six cross the eastern limit of the
Camanche and Dacotah regions, which, however,
receive nine more from the west and south." The
cause of the disappearance of trees, he attributes
to the deficient and irregular supply of moisture.
"It is true," he adds, "that this does not materially
affect agriculture in the more eastern regions; in
fact, most crops will succeed better with less rain
than is necessary for most trees to thrive." *
It is in this region that the grasses become
predominant over the forest, usurping, for the most
part, the high and dry rolls, and hedging the trees
to the immediate valleys, or to such uplands as
have a stiff, clayey, retentive soil. That the limits
* "Smithsonian Report," i858.
82 
ZONES OF VEGETATION.
of the forest were not more extended in former
times, is evident from the fact that the sloughs yield
no entombed trunks of trees which, we know, in
other regions, are preserved for an indefinite period
of time.
The differences in the retentive power of moisture in the soil, give to the eastern line of the prairieregion an irregular outline, which may be likened
to a deeply-indented coast,-far-entering bays, projecting headlands, and an archipelago of islands.
What are known as "oak openings," indicate
the transition from the densely-wooded region to
the treeless plains.   The trees stand as in an artificial park, shading a green-sward devoid of underbrush, so that the traveler may ride or drive in any
direction. This characteristic feature I have noticed
almost continuously from Green Bay to the western
borders of Arkansas. The trees appear dwarfed
and sickly; the extremities are often dead, while
the main body is covered with foliage, and the
trunks, when felled, are found to be more or less
decayed. *
* As illustrative of the retentive power of a soil in modifying vegetation, I would state that, in the lead-bearing region of Wisconsin, the
Galena limestone is a porous rock, intersected by numerous fissures;
and hence, where it prevails, we almost invariably find a growth of
scrub-oaks or prairie-grass. In the denudation of that region, during the Drift-period, there were left behind patches of the Cincinnati
blue limestone, which is here a shale decomposing into clay, and is
much more retentive of moisture than the subjacent formation.
These patches form forest-crowned mounds, and are so distinct
83 
THE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES.
The change in the character of the grasses and
herbaceous plants is more marked, even, than in
the trees. These are largely Compositce, with the
genera H-elianthus, Actinomeris, Coreopsis, Echinacea, etc.  The  compass-plant  (Silphium  laciniatomn), which arranges the margin of its leaf
north and south with so much uniformity that the
traveler, in a cloudy day, may determine the direction of the magnetic meridian, forms one of the
most noticeable plants of the prairie.
These plants are the pioneers of a more marked
change in a vegetation which finds its full development still farther in the interior of the Continent,
and may be regarded, I think, as the unerring index
of a change in the conditions of humidity in the
atmosphere.
Vast Grassy Plains, with Trees restrictecd lo
tihe immediate banks of the Streams.-This is
the character of the country between the Missouri
River and the base of the Rocky Mountains; but
as the traveler advances from east to west, he
begins to notice increasing signs of dryness in the
atmosphere, and of a more marked continental cliin character from the general plain, that the geologist can map
the boundaries of the two formations, without an examination of the
respective strata,-the vegetation of the one being dwarfed, while
that of the other is luxuriant. Such is the origin of the Sinsinowa,
Blue, and Scales's Mounds, Gratiot's Grove, and several other forestcrowned eminences.
84 
ZONES OF VEGETATION.
mate. The rain-fall becomes insufficient for the
cultivation of crops, and the diurnal changes of
temperature are too abrupt to permit the growing
and maturing of the sub-tropical plants cultivated
for food. The thermometer may rise to 700 or 80~
at mid-day, and drop to below the freezing-point at
night. Not a cloud, for days, dims the lustre of
the sun; and at night, are shed no refreshing dews.
The purity of the air is so great that wild meats are
cured without the aid of salt, and the grasses dry
up without a loss of their nutritive properties.
Surrounded by a medium so dry, elastic, and bracing, the voyageur toils under a heat of 9go without
exciting excessive perspiration, and at the same
time his system is proof against the chilling air of
the night. Those stifling and enervating heats, and
those cold and disagreeable storms, characteristic
of the humid regions to the east, are here unknown,
and the atmosphere itself becomes highly electrical.
There are other indications of an arid climate.
The soil becomes sandy and porous; the surface, in
places, is covered with incrustations of soda and
gypsum; and the streams are rendered unpalatable
by reason of the solution of these salts in their
waters. Such phenomena occur in most regions
where evaporation is equal to precipitation. Where
there is an excess of precipitation, the water leaches
85 
THE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES.
out these salts from the soil, and bears them to the
ocean.
Salt lakes and saline efflorescences were observed by Stevens, as far east as longitude IoI~,
northwest of the sources of the Mississippi; by
Fre'mont, in longitude Io00o~, south of the Platte;
and by Marcy, in longitude IoI~, on the Red River.
They extend even farther east, as salt-flats have
been observed near the Red River of the North;
in Nebraska, within seventy miles of Omaha; in
Kansas, seventy-five miles northwest of Fort Riley,
and in the valleys of the Republican, Saline, and
Solomon Rivers; on the Great Bend of the Arkansas, in beds from six to twenty inches deep; and
between the Arkansas and Canadian, as far east as
longitude 970.
The vegetation indicates a similar change of
climatic conditions. While the cotton-wood, the
box-elder, and occasionally a dwarfed red-cedar,
are almost the only representatives of the noble
forests to the east, and these hug the moist alluvium
of the streams, there are other forms which here
attain their full development.   These are the artemisia, the cactus, and the buffalo or bunch grass.
The  artemisia  (A.  tridentata)  first attracts
attention-on the Kansas River, as far east as longitude 95~, but it attains a ranker development nearer
the base of the Mountains, where saline efflores
86 
ZONES OF VEGETATION.
cences are more common, and its full development
in the Great Basin. The narrative of every explorer
contains notices of the "interminable deserts" of
wild sage.   Fremont  ("Expedition of I842,")
remarks:
"With the change in the geological formation, on leaving
Fort Laramie, the whole face of the country has entirely
altered its appearance. Eastward of that meridian, the principal objects which strike the eye of the traveler are the absence
of timber, and the immense expanse of prairie, covered with
the verdure of rich grasses, and highly adapted to pasturage.
* * * Westward of Laramie River, the region is sandy,
and apparently sterile; and the place of the grass is usurped
by the artemisia and other odoriferous plants, to whose growth
the dry air and sandy soil of this region are favorable. * * *
They grow every where, - on the hills and over the river-bottoms, in tough, twisted, wiry clumps; and wherever the beaten
track was left, they rendered the progress of the carts rough
and slow. As the country increased in elevation, they increased
in size; and the whole air is strongly impregnated and saturated with the odor of camphor and spirits of turpentine which
belongs to this plant."
Bigelow, on the journey between Fort Smith and
Santa Fe, does not record the occurrence of this
plant.
The cactus is another characteristic form of an
arid climate. Although occasionally seen as the
prickly pear on the sandy shores of Lake Michigan,
and within the sparsely-wooded belt of southern
Missouri, yet on the Plains it puts on a variety of
forms, and attains, at times, tree-like dimensions.
87 
THE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES.
Bigelow notes the occurrence of Opuztia as far
east as Fort Smith. The Llano Estacado, however, is emphatically the region of the cacti, which
ascend even the slopes of the mountains, as at Santa
Fe'.  Fremont remarks that there "cacti become
rare, and mosses begin to dispute the hills with
them,"- a conclusive evidence of the increasing
humidity of the air; for lichens and mosses are the
first to attach themselves to trees and rocks, where
they pave the way for the higher orders of plants.
The crests of the Sierra Madre', which are sufficiently high to condense the moisture which is
withheld from the plains, become clothed with
arborescent forms, such as the Douglas pine, the
Mexican yellow-pine  (Pii.on) and the balsam-fir.
Accustomed as we are to see the Cctacea cultivated as hot-house plants, we can form very imperfect ideas of their luxuriance and magnificence
where they flourish in their native arid wilds,some of them rising in candelabra-like forms, or
like the pipes of an organ, to the height of thirty
or forty feet.  One species (Cereus giganteus), it
is said, on the Gila, reaches sixty feet, and shoots
up twenty-five or thirty feet without a branch,
yielding an edible fruit much prized by the natives.
The melon-cactus contains within its prickly envelope a watery pulp which the mule, parching with
thirst, opens with his foot and extracts with his lips.
88 
ZONES OF VEGETATION.
The cactus is characteristic of the arid region both
of North and South America, but is rarely seen
under like conditions in the eastern hemisphere.
The buffalo or "grama" grass, of which there
are several species, is another marked type of the
Plains. It grows in tufts, having a narrow, slender
leaf, and where it exists in all its perfection, the
surface of the soil resembles a sheep-lawn.   It
dies down under the heats of summer, and the climate is so dry that its nutritive properties are preserved; and thus, at all seasons of the year, it affords
sustenance to the immense herds of buffalo which
roam over the plains. Bigelow first noticed its
appearance on a small branch of the Canadian,
about longitude 960, and it extends thence to the
Sierra Nevada. On the Smoky-Hill route, I have
observed it about thirty miles west of Fort Riley.
Vast Arid Plains, often bare of Vegetation,
and covered, to some extent, with Saline Incrustations. -The Rocky Mountains form a well-marked
division in the climatology of the United States,
both in reference to the fertility of soil and the distribution of plants. Newberry has remarked that,
while on the eastern slope, we have immense grassy
plains, large accumulations of detrital materials,
and a gently-rolling surface; on the western slope,
we have large tracts of sandy wastes, of rocky sur
89 
ORIGIN OF THE PRAIRIES.
faces bare of covering, and intersected by numerous
and deep canons, so intricate as to bewilder and
impede the explorer. The Great Basin and the
Colorado Desert occupy the region between the
Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada, from the
head of the Gulf of California as far north as latitude 42~, and in many respects present physical
aspects not elsewhere recognized in North America.
The Great Basin.- This remarkable plateau
has a lake and river system of its own, and is cut
off from communication with the sea. It embraces
an area, triangular in shape, of 700oo miles in length
and 500 in width. It is elevated from 4,000 to 6,ooo
feet above the ocean, and is traversed by bare and
rocky ridges, having a general parallelism with the
intervening valleys, which are of a desert-like character, and are sprinkled over with the ever-present
artemisia. Throughout, hot springs and salt lakes
abound, the most notable of the latter class being
the Great Salt Lake, whose outlines have been
faithfully mapped by Stansbury. *
* The water, according to Stansbury, (" Expedition to the Great
Salt Lake,") contains more than twenty per cent. of chloride of sodium,
and is so buoyant that, in bathing, a man may float, stretched at full
length on his back, having most of his person above water. In a sitting posture, the shoulders remain above the surface. The brine is so
strong that the least particle getting into the eyes, causes the most
acute pain. Whole tracts of land on the borders of this lake are cov
9o 
ZONES OF VEGETATION.
The Dead Sea, with its river Jordan, here finds
its counterpart. Its bleak and rugged shores are
without a tree to relieve the eye, and its waters
apart from animalcule sustain no organic life.
The mountains which rim this Basin are sufficiently high to condense the vapors of the clouds
and cause them to descend in showers, thus forming
the sources of streams which, as they reach the
margin of the valleys, are absorbed by the thirsty
soil. Hence, the plains are absolute deserts, whilst
the slopes are clothed with grama grass.   Salt
beds and alkali flats are abundant. "They are situated," says Ross Brown, "in valleys from which
the waters, having no escape, are spread out over
large surfaces, and soon evaporate, leaving the salt
and other substances behind. * * Upon the great
saliniferous fields of Nye county, Nevada, millions
of tons could be shoveled up, lying dry and pure
upon the surface, to a depth varying from six inches
to three feet." *
The salt is extensively used in the metallurgy
of the silver ores which occur so abundantly in
Nevada.
The mountains almost every where, except where
ered with saline incrustations having all the purity of snow-flakes, and
the amount in one field, ten miles long and seven miles broad, was
- estimated at Ioo,ooo,ooo of bushels,- equal in bulk to the entire wheat
crop of the United States.
* "Mineral Resources of the United States."  I867.
9I 
THE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES.
they reach the snow-line, are clothed with forests
of pine, spruce, and fir, of sufficient size to afford
the materials for lumber.
The Sierra Nevada.-Bounding the Great Basin
on the west, as with a wall, is the Sierra Nevada.
The vapors rolled up from the Pacific are here
arrested and wrung of their moisture; and hence,
each side of the axis is distinguished by wellmarked differences in climate and vegetable forms.
The sea-ward slope is densely wooded, and contains
many peculiar forms, among which is a species of
red-wood (Sequoia gigantea), the monarch of
all arborescent forms. *
* Many of the trees of the Pacific Coast are peculiar. Among them
may be mentioned:
Pizus lambertiana (Sugar Pine). It grows to the height of 200 feet.
The grain is so straight that shingles and clap-boards may be rifted out
of the trunk. Whitney speaks of it thus: " The sugar pine is the
grandest tree. It occurs at all altitudes between 3,oo000 and 4,00o0 feet,
but attains its greatest dimensions between 4,oo000 and 5,oo000 feet, where
it is frequently 300 feet in height. Its trunk is perfectly straight, its
head symmetrical, and from the slightly-drooping ends of its horizontal branches, the enormous cones hang down in bunches of two or
three, like tassels. One tree, measured by us, was found to be 300 feet
high, without a flaw or curve in its trunk, and only seven feet in diameter at its base. These forests are rather open, the trees being seldom
densely aggregated; and, owing to the dryness of the air, their trunks
are very free from mosses and lichens."   (" Geology of California,"
p. 336.)
P. ponderosa (Pitch Pine).  The wood is very coarse and durable,
and well-fitted for the purposes of construction.
P. sabiniana (Sabine's Pine.) Grows to the height of i5o feet.
Timnber soft and durable.
P. insignis (Seal Pine). A noble tree, with bright grass-green leaves.
Abies douglasii (Douglas Fir). A tree characteristic of the northern
92 
ZONES OF VEGETATION.
As we descend the slopes towards the sea,
where the conditions of moisture are less constant,
we encounter changes in the vegetable forms so
abrupt as at once to attract observation.
The forests of California are mainly restricted to
the sea-coast or the mountain slopes, while the
longitudinal valleys are covered with herbaceous
plants, with trees bordering the immediate banks
of the streams,-presenting features not unlike the
prairie region of the Mississippi Valley.   From
May to November is the dry season, in which rain
rarely falls, and clouds and mists rarely veil the
Pacific coast, from latitude 40 to Alaska, and only found east of the
Cascade Range.  This is principally the timber used at the saw-mills
on Puget's Sound, and is both strong and durable; in fact, says Ross
Brown, it is the strongest timber on the Coast, both in perpendicular
pressure and horizontal strain. According to experiments made in
France, at the imperial dock at Toulon, masts from this tree are superior to the best Riga spars. In flexibility and tenacity of fibre, these
trees are rarely surpassed; they may be bent and twisted several
times in contrary directions without breaking, and they possess other
rare qualities, such as superficial dimensions, strength, lightness, and
absence of knots. ("Mineral Resources of the United States," I868.)
There are other pines which occur on the Rocky Mountain Slope,
deserving of notice:
P. edulis (Pinon of the Mexicans), grows from 40 to 50 feet high.
The seed is about the size of a hazel-nut, and is used as food by the
Indians.
P. fiexilis (Rocky Mountain White Pine), has many of the qualities
of the P. strobus of the East. Dr. James, who first discovered it,
asserts that its nuts are edible. It is used as a lumber tree.
The Balsam Fir (P. abies), and Red Cedar (_uniperus virginiana),
range from the Atlantic to the Mountains.  The latter maintains its
existence, with great tenacity, nearly to the base of the Mountains,
and reappears upon their flanks.
All the species of firs, according to Whitney, are very beautiful.
93 
THE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES.
sun; under whose intense rays the temperature
often rises to I I 2-I  15~, vegetation is consumed, the
soil cracks and bakes, and the germination of seeds
is effectually arrested. With the setting in of the
autumnal rains, vegetation at once quickens into
life, and the surface becomes clothed with a green
sward, interspersed with a multitude of variously
tinted. flowers.* These effects are clearly traceable
They attain a large size, are very symmetrical in their growth, and
have a very dark-green and brilliant foliage, which is very fragrant.
The branches are often regularly and pinnately divided, producing a
" most brilliant effect. The color of the sky is perceptibly darker, as
seen through this peculiar foliage, raised in a canopy so high above
the observer."
Sequoia semnpervirens (Red-wood). A noble tree, growing 200 feet
in height, with a trunk ten feet in diameter; wood soft, durable, and
easily wrought; one of the most valuable lumber trees on the Pacific
Coast, and in the absence of its namesake would be regarded as the
giant of the forest.
S. gigantea (Giant Red-wood). The most colossal of all forms of
forest growth. One prostrate trunk, according to Blake, (" Pacific Railroad Survey,") must have been 450 feet in height, and 45 feet in diameter.  The Mariposa grove, containing these trees, is scattered over
an extent of six miles or more, and includes about six hundred trees.
They stand in groups of twos and threes. The largest is 102 feet in
circumference, and there are four others which exceed Ioo feet. There
are other groves, but the trees have no great geographical range, and
it is to be feared that they are undergoing the process of extinction.
From the number of annular rings counted on some of the prostrate
trunks, the age indicated was not less than 1,300 years. The British
botanists were the first to become aware of this gigantic tree, and gave
it the name of Wellingtonia. American botanists proposed the name
of Washingtoria, but they could not assert priority of discovery. It
is found, however, to belong to the genus Sequoia, and, hence, must
bear that name.
Mariposa grove is included in the grant made by Congress, of the
Yosemite Valley, to the State of California, to be used as a public
palk; and it is to be hoped that these noble trees will be preserved.
* Sec Newberry's "Botanical Report," in " Pacific Railroad Reports."
94 
ZONES OF VEGETATION.
to the unequal supply of moisture. The Coast
Ranges absorb whatever is derived from the local
winds of the Pacific, and the melting snows of the
Sierra water the mountain-slopes, while the valleys
are given up to unmitigated drought. These conditions fully explain the limits of tree and herbaceous growth.
The -rosemite Valley, though illustrating no
meteorological fact, forms one of the most marked
physical features, not only of California, but of the
world.   A  narrow valley, walled in by precipices
two and three thousand feet in height, with a great
dome 4,600 feet in height, dominating over the
whole; a cataract, falling with an unbroken plunge
i,6oo feet, another 950 feet, and still another of 350
feet, whose waters at length commingle in a
river known as the Merced, which winds its way
through grassy meadows, occasionally expanding
into pools, from whose glassy surface is faithfiilly
reflected every tint, not mingled, but sharplydefined, of rock, tree, and sky;-the whole forms
a combined scene of rugged grandeur and picturesque beauty, which is probably unequaled on the
face of the earth.
Thus, then, the traveler, in crossing the Continent
from east to west, passes through every gradation,
from a luxuriant forest-growth to one completely
95 
THE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES.
bare of all vegetation; and, in his progress, is
impressed with the constantly-increasing signs of
aridity, until he comes within the influence of the
moist breath of the Pacific Ocean.
SOURCES OF MOISTURE.
Let us now inquire into the sources of moisture
which fertilizes the Continent, and its mode of distribution.
I. The rains which water the Atlantic Slope are
eqzually distribited, the variations between the
four seasons being very slight.
2. Those which water the Mississippi Valley are
unequally disribultecd, those of spring and summer
being greatly in excess; a fact which has been overlooked by most meteorologists, in reference to the
geographical distribution of plants.
3. Those which water the Californian Coast are
periodic, marking a well-defined wet and dry season.
In examining Blodget's Rain-Chart of the United
States, showing the mean distribution for the year,
we find that, leaving out the Pacific Slope and the
extreme peninsula of Florida, the greatest precipitation is in the vicinity of Pensacola, where it annually reaches 63 inches. This area is extremely
limited, and presents a rounded outline, from
96 
AMOUNT OF RAIN-FALL.
which the lines of diminished precipitation rapidly
decrease in intensity, like the eddying circles from
the point where a stone first strikes the water. The
Alleghanies, so far from condensing the vapors and
causing increased precipitation, seem to serve only
as an entering wedge to separate the vapor-bearing
currents, and cause a more copious precipitation on
their slopes than on their crests. The Great Lakes,
too, instead of generating moisture to be distributed
over the adjacent regions, seem to repel it; so that
it is dryer in their immediate basins than on the
plateaux which surround them.
When we examine the precipitation of rain, as
distributed over the four seasons, there is, owing to
the two systems of equal and unequal distribution,
a strange inosculation of lines.
Winter.-The mouths of the Mississippi and the
region of Pensacola are in the area of greatest precipitation (I8 inches).  From this centre, the lines
of equal precipitation on the west, maintaining a
considerable parallelism, first bear northwest along
the Texas coast; then, rapidly curving, bear northeast; then east; and, as they leave the Continent,
northeast.
The conditions of moisture are as follows:
7
97 
THE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES.
In the Densely-Wooded Region,.   I8 to 7 inches.
In the Prairie Region,...5 to 3   "
On the Treeless Plains,..    2 
Aulumn.-The  mouths of the Mississippi and
the region of Pensacola are within the area of
greatest precipitation  (I 2 inches).  The lines of
equal precipitation pursue a north-northeast direction, and, in the distribution of moisture, exhibit the
following results:
In the Densely-Wooded Region,.
In the Prairie Region, 
On the Treeless Plains,.
Summer.-The lines of summer precipitation,
owing to the operation of the law of unequal distribution, are very irregular.  On the Plains, they
bear nearly north and south; but, as protracted
east, they make one curvature to the south, as they
approach Lake Michigan, and another, still more
abrupt, as they approach the Alleghanies, equal to
five degrees of latitude,- after passing which, they
curve abruptly to the northeast. The conditions
of moisture are as follows:
In the Densely-Wooded Region,. 15 to I 2 inches.
In the Prairie Region,.      I2 to  8   "
On the Treeless Plains,.   8 to 4   "
98
I2 to 8 inches.
. 8 to 5   "
4
c;6 
AMOUNT OF RAIN-FALL.
Sprinig.- The  lines  of  equal  precipitation
exhibit a remarkable deflection to the northwest,
caused, as we shall show, by the prevailing summer winds, and which, but for this deflection,
would render the region at the base of the Rocky
Mountains an uninhabitable desert.   While  the
mouths of the Mississippi and the region of Pensacola still receive the greatest amount of precipitation (I5 inches), Fort Laramie, on the Plains, is
nearly as well watered as New York, on the sea
board (io inches); and Chicago receives no more
rain than falls in Cheyenne, at the base of the
Rocky Mountains (8 inches).
There is this noticeable fact, illustrated in the
preceding remarks: that while, on the Atlantic
Slope, the precipitation is pretty equally distributed
over the four seasons, the tendency to unequal precipitation, comparing spring and summer with
autumn and winter, begins to manifest itself on the
Prairies, and as we enter the Plains it becomes still
more marked,-the fall, and especially the winter,
being the dry season.
Making a section across the Continent, from
New York to San Francisco, w,e have the following results:
99 
ORIGIN OF THE PRAIRIES.
MEAN ANNUAL PRECIPITATION.
STATIONS.
New York1........
Ann Arbor'.......
Fort Leavenworth 3.
Fort Riley4........
Fort Laramie.....
Fort Yuma6........
San Francisco           7....
i  Wooded.   2  Verge of Prairie.   3  4  5 Prairie.
Contrasting the two  stations, New  York and
Fort Laramie, it will be seen that on the sea-board
about 48 per cent. of the yearly precipitation occurs
during the fall and winter, while on the Plains only
25 per cent. occurs during that period; and that,
while on the sea-board the precipitation is nearly
uniform during the four seasons, three-fourths of
the precipitation on the Plains occurs during the
spring and summer months.
At Fort Riley, the immediate valley of the Kaw
is well-wooded, and the trees derive moisture, apart
from the annual precipitation, from the stream itself;
but when we ascend the bluffs which line its shores,
the eye roams over a region of bold, rounded out
lines, without a tree or a shrub to break the mono
tony of the scene.
I 00
SPRING.
SUMMER.
AUTUMN.
IO-30
7-00
7-33
5-58
3.96'
o-86
2.96
WINTER.
YEAR.
42-23
2,8.6o
30-29
2, I -go
ig-gs
3-I5
2I.95
9.63
3-IO
2.75
I.26
i.63
0.72
II-34
II-55
7-30
7.92
7-91
8.69
0.27
7-56
II-33
II-20
12-24
7-I5
5-70
I -30
I -og
6 Desert. I Periodical Rains. 
AMOUNT OF RAIN-FALL.
A region where the annual precipitation is
slightly in excess of twenty inches, I infer from
observation, is unfavorable to the growth of trees,
even were that moisture equally distributed; but
where three-fourths of it is precipitated during the
spring and summer, the grasses flourish and mature
to the exclusion of arborescent forms.  The effect
of this peculiarity of the climate is to extend the
cultivation of the cereals much farther west than
could be done, if the moisture were equally distributed, and to afford rich pasturage to immense
herds of buffalo, up to the verge of the Rocky
Mountains, over a region which, if the rains were
equally distributed, would present still more inhospitable features.
California. - Turning now to California, we
find that far different conditions prevail, and new
elements enter into the combination.   There, a
well-defined wet and dry season is observed,-86
per cent. of the annual precipitation of rain taking
place during the winter and spring, and nearly 50
per cent. during the winter.   While, therefore,
winter is the dry season on the Plains, it is the season of most profuse rains on the California coast,a pretty conclusive proof that the vapor-bearing
winds which water the Plains, do not come from
the southwest.
IOI 
THE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES.
More than one writer on the Climatology of the
United States,* has maintained that the moisture
which bathes the Continent is mainly derived from
the Pacific Ocean, and distributed by the great
southwest current of winds, without taking into
consideration how far that current is modified by
the configuration of the Continent.
If this theory of a southwest origin of the moisture be true, we should justly infer that the winds
of the Pacific, however highly charged, and apart
from a great mountain barrier, in passing over I7~
of longitude, would become dry winds long before
reaching the Atlantic Slope, and the conditions of
the fertility of the Continent would be reversed.
The Alleghanies would be as desolate as the Purple
* It may be stated that the National Observatory at Washington,
under the control of the Navy Department, and maintained by liberal
appropriations from Congress, was for years in charge of Lieutenant
Maury; and among the fruits of his labors was a work on the "Physical Geography of the Sea," in which it was maintained that the moisture which waters this Continent is taken up from the Pacific Ocean
and carried into the higher regions, and then precipitated by a descending current, first striking the land in the region of Salt Lake, among
the most desolate jortions of the United States.
Berghaus and Johnston (" Physical Atlas") have mapped the United
States as being mainly in the belt of southwest winds; and Coffin, by
tabulating numerous results (" Smithsonian Institute Contributions,")
has shown the existence of a great westerly current, north of the parallel 35~, and about 23Y2~ in breadth, which encircles the globe.
The winds which water the Great Valley, as will be seen, are the
result of the peculiar configuration of the coast adjacent to the Gulf
of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, by which they are diverted from
their uniform course; and that diversion explains the phenomena of
our climatology.
I02 
SOURCE OF MOISTURE.
Hills, and the Colorado Desert would be as fertile
as the Valley of the Shenandoah.
Source of Jfoisture.-That portion of the Continent which embraces the United States, is situated
in the zone of southwest winds, and these winds
are found to prevail with wonderful regularity on
the Atlantic, north of the calms of Cancer; but in
the region of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of
Mexico, there are abnormal conditions which present a marked deviation from the fixedness and
uniformity observable in the winds of the midAtlantic and the north of Africa. Both southerly
and northerly winds blow with violence across the
parallel 300 (in the belt of the calms of Cancer)
which, away from the American continent, acts as
a great wall between the southwest and northeast
winds. In the summer season, the northeast trades,
hot and moist from the equatorial zone, as they
enter the Caribbean Sea, are deflected by the lofty
chain of the Andes which girds the coast, and pass
into the Gulf of Mexico, where they become inland
breezes on the Coast of Texas; and as they penetrate the interior, they are gradually deflected east,
until they reach about latitude 39~, when they
assume the direction of the great southwest aerial
current. It is this deviation from the regular flow,
Io3 
THE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES.
which gives to the Mississippi Valley its mnoist,
tropical summer climate.
Volney was the first to point out this deflection:
"Mariners relate that from Cape Vela, a projecting point of
the Gulf of Maracaybo, the winds vary and swerve into a course
parallel to the stream which flows into the Caribbean Sea. On
entering the Bay of Honduras, it veers a little, and blows from
the southeast. The bank of sand called Yucatan, is interposed
between the two bays, but is so low and level that it is no
obstacle to its progress. Bernard de Orto, who has published
some useful information on the winds of Vera Cruz, tells us
that southeast winds prevail in those parts."
He further adds that the trade-winds are deflected
by the table-lands of Mexico, and become the south
winds of the Mississippi Valley. Redfield admits
that it is to this current that the Mississippi Valley
owes its fertility; and Russell, whose work I have
consulted with satisfaction, sustains the same view.*
Blodget remarks that southeast winds prevail
almost exclusively, from April to October, or during the whole period of the warm months, when
the western plains receive their excess of moisture.
"These winds are also stronger at the most distant
of these posts from the sea,- a proof that the impulse is not wholly at the coast, but that some ade
* Russell, Robert, in his work on "North America, its Agriculture
and Climate," elaborately discusses this question, and calls attention
to the remarkable generalization of Volney, made at a time when no
wind or rain charts were available. Russell has overlooked the earlier
generali.:Lions of' Blodget, and the facts on which they are founded.
Io4 
SOURCE OF MOISTURE.
quate cause, at least for their continuance, exists in
the interior." "There is no preponderance of these
winds at Fort Scott or Fort Leavenworth." * At
Natchez, the winds are southerly and easterly to
the extent of one-third; at St. Louis, according to
Engelman, the south and southeast winds are the
prevailing ones from April to October, in the other
months the west and northwest; at Cincinnati,
according to Dr. Ray, west and southwest winds
are the prevailing ones the year round. Thus,
"these statistics are decisive," says Blodget, "that
the southerly winds have ceased before reaching
Cincinnati."
Humphreys and Abbot remark:
"Diagrams of the winds have been plotted from the'Army
Meteorological Observations,' for five years, at Key West,
from June, I850, to June, I854, and also for the year from
June, I85I, to June, 1852, at the same place.   Similar diagrams have been made from the wind observations of the
Delta Survey, at Fort St. Philip, and at Carrollton.  The great
resemblance between the winds at Key West and those near
the mouth of the Mississippi, is apparent when these diagrams
are compared.  Both have, in part, the characteristics of the
northeast trade-winds. Blowing chiefly between northeast and
southeast, they veer towards the south as summer approaches,
and continue to blow from that quarter and from the east
during the summer and early part of the autumn; changing
towards the north upon the approach of winter, they blow
principally from that direction during the winter months." t
* "Climatology of the United States."
t "Physics and Hydraulics of the Mississippi River."
Io5 
THE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES.
This course conforms, too, to the track usually
pursued by the great hurricanes which, originating
in the West Indies, first blow southeast, then curve
abruptly, and sweep the Atlantic Coast in a northeast direction.
Periodical Rains of California.-The Pacific
Slope affords another illustration of the law, every
where observed, of diverse climates on opposite
sides of a great mountain chain. It is evident that
the high lands in Central America interrupt the
flow of the northeast winds between the Gulf of
Mexico and the Pacific Coast, giving origin to two
distinct systems of aerial circulation. That of the
Pacific Coast appears to partake of the periodical
character of the Tropics, there being well-defined
monsoons, whose movements are dependent on
the sun. As in autumn he retires southward, the
southwest winds, charged with the moisture of
the Pacific, set in and water the land, until they
strike the crests of the Sierra, where they part with
the remainder of their moisture, and flow over the
Great Basin as dry winds. As the sun returns
north, an opposite set of winds become predominant. Day after day and month after month, the
sun flames in an unclouded sky; and under the
intensity of his rays, vegetation withers and shrivels
up, and the ground bakes and cracks as if in an oven.
Io6 
PERIODICAL RAINS.
At few places on the earth's surface does the thermometer mark a higher range of temperature than
at Fort Miller, amid the foot-hills of the Sierra.
Parry is of the opinion that the configuration of
the southerly slope of the interior district between
the Rio Grande and the Colorado Basin is such
that, while it weakens the force of the cold northern
currents, it permits the warm winds from the south
to precipitate their moisture on the higher slopes in
the form of summer rains and winter snows; and
hence, we have in these elevated districts, a climate
favoring the growth of trees, and a more equable
precipitation of rain and dew throughout the year.
These features are particularly noticeable along the
elevated slopes of the San Francisco mountains,
where magnificent pine forests are agreeably interspersed with grassy valleys and parks, and numerous springs, together with an invigorating atmosphere. *
The details embodied in this chapter may fail to
enlist the attention of the general reader, but they
contain the causes of the variable fertility of the
Continent, and should be mastered by every one
who would acquire a comprehensive knowledge of
its Physical Geography.
* Report on "Kansas Pacific Railroad," along the thirty-fifth parallel. By C. C. Parry.
Io7 
THE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES.
CONCL USIONS.
Regarding, then, the Gulf of Mexico as the proximate source of the rains which water the Great
Valley, we can explain the following phenomena,
which are inexplicable on the supposition that
the southwest winds are the great vapor-bearing
current:
I. Why the greatest precipitation takes place
along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico.
2. Why the Llano Estacado, the Colorado Desert, and the Great Basin, almost wholly within the
zone of the southwest winds, are dry.
3. Why the Western Plains, during the spring
and summer, are nearly as profusely watered as the
Atlantic Slope.
4. Why the Valley of the Mississippi, during the
prevalence of these winds, has an almost tropical
climate.
5. And why the Atlantic Slope, instead of being
the most arid, as it would be if the southwest winds
furnished the moisture, is within the region of
equally-distributed rains.
Thus it is believed that a study of the physical
features of this country, in connection with the prevailing winds, and the consequent distribution of
moisture, and also in connection with the lines of
equal temperature, will show:
I08 
CONCLUSIONS.
I. That these great changes in the geographical
distribution of plants, under nearly equal lines of
temperature, are not due to the mechanical texture
or chemical composition of the soil, but to the vari
able supplies of moisture.
2. And that in the winds, as the agent in the
distribution of that moisture, we have an adequate
cause to explain all of the phenomena of forest,
prairie, and desert.
NOTE.- Since the completion of this Chapter, which  is but an
expansion of the views expressed by me in a "Report to the Illinois
Central Railroad Company," in IS58, my attention has been directed
to a Report "On the Flowering Plants and Ferns of Ohio," by Dr. J.
S. Newberry, (I86o,) in which that distinguished physicist holds the
following language:
I. "The great controlling influence which has operated to exclude
trees from so large a portion of our territory west of the Mississippi,
is unquestionably a deficiency of precipitated mnoisture. To this cause
are due the prairies of Oregon,  California,  New  Mexico, Utah,
Nebraska, Kansas, Arkansas, and Texas. Throughout this great
area, we find every variety of surface, and soil of every physical structure, or chemical composition, -unless in exceptional circumstances,
where it receives an unusual supply of moisture, - if not utterly sterile,
covered with a coating of grass.
2. "To the Great Plains, the typical prairies of the Far West, the
theories proposed for the Origin of Prairies, viz.: that of Professor
Whitney, that they are due to the fineness of soil; or that of Mr.
Lesquereux, that they are beds of ancient lakes; that of Mr. Desor,
that they are the lower and level reaches of sea-bottom; or, finally,
that which attributes them to annual fires; are alike wholly inapplicable.
3. " The prairies bordering on, or east of, the Mississippi, may be,
and doubtless are partly or locally, due to one or more of the conditions suggested in the above theories; but even here, the great controlling influence has been the supply of water. The structure of the
soil of the prairies coinciding with the extremes of want and supply
of rain characteristic of the climate, have made them now too dry and
now too wet for the healthy growth of trees. A sandy, gravelly or
iog 
TIlE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES.
rocky soil or subsoil, more thoroughly saturated with moisture and
more deeply penetrated with the roots of forest trees, affords them constant supply of the fluid which to them is vital. This, as it seems to
the writer, is the reason why the knolls and ridges, composed of coarser
materials, are covered with trees; while the lower levels, with firmer
soil, are prairies. Where great variation of level exists, the high lands
are frequently covered with trees, in virtue of the greater precipitation
of moisture which they enjoy."
Dana (" Manual of Geology," I863, p. 46), without going into details,
announces the general result, thus: "That prairies, forest regions,
and deserts, are located by the winds and temperature, in connection
with the general configuration of the land." Cooper, before quoted,
has shown the geographical distribution of plants; and Blodget, the
annual precipitation of rain. But, to fully explain the Origin of Prairies, requires the combined observations of the Meteorologist, the
Botanist, and the Geologist.
IIO 
CHAPTER IV.
THE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES (Continued).
SOUTH AMERICA -PRIMEVAL  FORESTS OF BRAZIL -'THE
LI,LANOS OF CARACCAS -THE PAMPAS OF LA PLATA AND THE
GRAN CHACO-PATAGONIA, ITS DESERTS AND MOUNTAINS PERU; AND THE DESERT OF ATACAMA- WIND AND RAIN
CHARTS - EUROPE - PLAINS OF THE BLACK SEA - STEPPES
OF THE CAUCASUS - PLATEAU OF CENTRAL ASIA - DESERT
OF ARABIA- AFRICA- SAHARA- GUINEA- BASIN OF THE
MEDITERRANEAN - AUSTRALIA - RESUME - EXPLANATION
OF MAP.
A THEORY, such as we have announced, in order
to command assent, must not be used to explain
local phenomena, but must be applicable to the
explanation of the physical features of every continental mass. Without deviating too far from the
scope of this work, and avoiding unneccessary
details, we propose to make such an application.
SOUTH AMERICA.
In instituting a comparison between the two portions of the Western Hemisphere, we have not, so
far as relates to South America, a series of meteo 
THE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES.
rological observations to guide us; but we know
the topographical features of the country, and the
prevailing direction of the winds, as well as the
boundaries of the forests, llanos or pampas, and
the deserts of the interior.
The Andes border the western coast of the
Continent, from one extremity to the other, rising
up rugged and rock-ribbed into the region of perpetual snow, and leaving on the Pacific side a narrow and abrupt slope to the ocean, while on the
Atlantic side the country stretches out in gentlyundulating plains. The mountains are every where
sufficiently high to arrest the floating clouds and
deprive them  of their moisture; and hence, on
opposite sides, we find not only the most marked
diversity of climate, but of vegetable forms. *
* The Andes assume their most colossal proportions in the vicinity
of Lake Titicaca (Peru). It is from this point, according to Squier,
(" Harper's Magazine," April, I868,) that the traveler has a full view
of the massive bulk of Illampu, the crown of the Continent, the highest mountain of America, rivaling if not equaling in height the monarchs of Himalaya.  " Observers vary in their estimates and calculations of its altitude, from 25,000 to 27,000 feet; my own estimates
place it at not far from 26,000. Extending southward from this, is an
uninterrupted chain of Nevados, or Snowy Mountains, no where less
than 20,000 feet in height, which terminates in the great mountain of
Illamini, 24,500 feet in altitude."
"No where in the world, perhaps," he continues, " can a panorama
so diversified and grand be obtained from a single point of view. The
whole great table-land of Peru and Bolivia, at its widest part, with its
own system of waters, its own rivers and lakes, its own plains and
mountains, all framed in by the ranges of Cordillera and the Andes,
is presented like a map before the adventurous visitor who climbs the
apacheta of Tiahuanaco. Grand, severe, almost sullen, is the aspect
I I2 
SOUTH AMERICA.
Like North America, this continent has its region
of luxuriant forests, grassy plains, and inhospitable
deserts.
Primeval Forests of Brazil.-Brazil is fed by
perpetual currents of moisture, which are exhaled from the Atlantic and distributed over half
a  continent.   A  vast  forest  region  fills the
connected basins of the Orinoco and Amazon,
extending to the base of the Andes,-a primeval
forest, as graphically described by Humboldt, so
impenetrable that it is impossible to clear with an
axe a passage between trees eight and twelve feet
in diameter for more than a few paces, and where
the chief obstacle presented is the undergrowth of
plants, filling up every interval in a zone where all
vegetation has a tendency to assume a ligneous
form,- a region traversed in all directions by systems of rivers, whose tributaries even sometimes
exceed the Wolga or the Danube, and whose
courses are the only highways into the interior.
This connected forest has an extent of surface, and
a grandeur of arborescent forms, unequaled on any
other portion of the earth.
which nature presents here.  We stand in the centre of a scenery and
a terrestrial system which seems to be, in spirit as well as in fact, lifted
above the rest of the world. * * * Clouds surge up from the dank
plains and forests of Brazil, only to be precipitated and dissolved by
the snowy barriers which they can not pass."
8
I I3 
SOUTH AMERICA.
The Llanos of Caraccas.- Bounding this forestbelt on the north, the Llanos stretch from the lofty
gigantic crests which gird the Caribbean Sea southward to near the channel of the Amazon, and from
the base of the Andes east to the mountains of La
Parame, constituting a plain of irregular dimensions,
I8o by 200 leagues in extent. It is thus walled in,
with a single outlet through the valley of the Orinoco. The valleys of Caraccas are fertile beyond
compare, and grow all of the tropical fruits so
highly prized by man; presenting an abrupt contrast to these vast treeless plains. "Fresh from the
richest luxuriance of organic life," says Humboldt,
"the traveler treads at once the desolate margin of
a treeless desert. Neither hill nor cliff rises to
break the uniformity of the plain. * * * The
steppe lies stretched before us, dead and rigid, like
the stony crust of a desolated planet."
During the rainy season, these plains are clothed
with a rich carpet of verdure; but in the dry season,
every form of vegetable organism is withered and
burned, as if by an all-consuming fire, and the very
air is filled with particles of carbonized dust.
The contrast of seasons is graphically described
by Humboldt:
" When, under the rays of a never-clouded sun, the carbonized turfy covering falls into dust, the indurated soil cracks
asunder as if from the shock of an earthquake.   *   *  The
I l4_ 
SOURCE OF MOISTURE.
lowering sky sheds a dim, almost straw-colored light on the
desolate plain.   The  horizon draws suddenly nearer;  the
steppe seems to contract, and with it the heart of the wanderer.
The hot dusty particles which fill the air, increase its suflbcating heat, and the east-wind, blowing over the long-heated soil,
brings with it no refreshment, but rather a still more burning
glow. The pools which the yellow-fading branches of the fanpalm had protected from evaporation, now gradually disappear.
As in the icy north the animals become torpid with cold, so
here, under the influence of the parching drought, the crocodile and the boa become motionless and fall asleep, deeplyburied in the dry mud. Every where the death-threatening
drought prevails; and yet, by the play of the refracted rays of
light, producing the phenomenon of mirage, the thirsty traveler is every where pursued by the illusive image of a cool,
rippling, watery mirror.  *   *   *  At length, after the long
drought, the welcome season of rain arrives; and then how
suddenly is the scene changed!  The deep blue of the hitherto
perpetually cloudless sky becomes lighter; at night, the dark
space in the constellation of the Southern Cross is hardly distinguishable; the soft phosphorescent light of the Magellanic
clouds fades away; even the stars in Aquila and Ophiucus, in
the zenith, shine with a trembling and less planetary light. A
single cloud appears in the south, like a distant mountain rising
perpendicularly from the horizon. Gradually the increasing
vapors spread like mist over the sky, and now the distant thunder ushers in the life-restoring rain. Hardly has the earth
received the refreshing moisture, before the previously barren
steppe begins to exhale sweet odors, and to clothe itself with a
variety of grasses.  *  *  *  Sometimes (so the Aborigines
relate) on the margin of the swamps, the moistened clay is
said to blister and rise slowly in a kind of mound; then, with
a violent noise, like the outbreak of a small mud volcano, the
heaped-up earth is cast high in the air. The beholder acquainted
with the meaning of this spectacle, flies; for he knows there
will issue forth a gigantic water-snake or scaly crocodile,
awakened from a torpid state by the first fall of rain. * * *
A portion of the steppe now presents the aspect of an inland
I I5 
THE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES.
sea; and now nature constrains the same animals who in the
first half of the year panted with thirst on the dry and dusty
soil, to adopt the amphibious life. * * Such a sight reminds
the thoughtful observer involuntarily of the capability of conforming to the most varied circumstances, with which the allproviding Author of Nature has endowed certain animals and
plants." *
Such a region could never tempt the natives to
leave the beautiful cacao groves of Caraccas, but
since it has been open to European occupancy, vast
herds of cattle here find pasturage.
Tze Pampas of La Plata.- In the northern
portion of the Argentine Republic, there is an immense tract of country known as the Gran Chaco,
occupying a triangle between the rivers Paraguay
and Solado, and reaching north to Bolivia,-an
area of more than iooooo miles square.  It is of
variable fertility.   The  northern  part is forestclothed, but the southern part is arid, sandy, and
uninhabitable. West of the Vermejo, is the great
desert of Salinas, covered for the most part with
mineral efflorescences which sparkle like dewdrops in the sun.
The Pampas, from the Indian name valley, are
immense plains which commence as high as latitude 33~, and extend over the whole country, graduiating into the stern deserts of Patagonia, and their
* Humboldt, "Aspects of Nature." Title, "Steppes and Deserts."
II6 
THE PAMPAS OF LA PLATA.
area is not less than 300,000 square miles. In the
main, they are fertile, being dotted with numerous
lakes of a brackish character; but the wells afford
palatable water.
Proceeding inland from Buenos Ayres, the character of the country undergoes marked changes.
For the first two hundred miles, the surface is covered with clover and thistles, which grow in alternate crops, conforming to the seasons. The succeeding belt, four hundred and fifty miles broad, is
clothed with grass alternately brown and green, as
spring or autumn prevails; and to this succeeds the
wooded region, consisting of scrubby trees and
shrubs, which stretches to the base of the Cordilleras. The trees, mostly evergreens, do not form
tangled thickets, but are grouped in a park-like
arrangement.  "The whole country," according to
Head, "is in such beautiful order that, if citizens
and millions of inhabitants could suddenly be
planted at proper intervals and situations, the people would have nothing to do but drive their cattle
to graze, and, without any previous preparation, to
plough whatever quantity of ground their wants
may require." *
In the region of grass and wood, the climate is
exceedingly dry: there is no dew at night; in the
hottest weather, the most violent exertions of man
* Sir Francis Head's "Journey over the Pampas."
I17 
ORIGIN OF THE PRAIRIES.
produce very little perspiration; and the animals
which die, lie upon the plain dried up in their
skins.
Patagonia. - The southern extremity of the
Continent, on the western coast, is girt with a range
of mountains, reaching high into the air; while the
eastern coast, so far as known, is arranged in stairlike terraces, which sustain a coarse, wiry grass,
with belts of stunted trees along the water-courses.
The plain, or interior region, is one of unmitigated
sterility; but that which borders the Pacific, is surfeited with rain. Twelve feet have been known to
fall within forty days; and navigators report that,
off the coast, pools of fresh water have been found
floating above the briny waters of the ocean, so
pure that it may be scooped up for the use of the
vessel's crew.
Peru. Although this region occupies the same
relation to the Pacific Coast as the western border
of Patagonia, yet it presents an abrupt contrast in
climate. Rains are unknown, and with the excep.tion of occasional fogs, called garua, the inhabitants
enjoy a perpetual serenity of sky. So constant is
this condition of the atmosphere, that those ordinary
forms of civility which, in the northern temperate
zone, usually succeed an introduction, and are the
II8 
DESERT OF ATACAMA.
prelude to more intimate relations, such as "A fine
day!" or "A prospect of a shower!" are here obsolete terms. Ridiculous as this custom, abstractly
considered, may seem, it after all paves the way to
more confidential relations; it is the bridge which
spans an otherwise almost impassable gulf. In the
mountainous regions, rains occasionally fall, when
the sands at once attest the quickening power of
nature, and become clothed with peculiar forms of
vegetation.
Between the parallels 2I~ 30' and 25~ 30' S., lies
the desert of Atacama. Towards the north, there
are some fertile spots, but to the south it is not only
uninhabited, but uninhabitable.   The  surface is
covered with dark movable sands; the air is dry;
no refreshing dews descend at night; no clouds
discharge refreshing showers by day; but, from the
abundant presence of salt, the surface glistens in
the clear sunlight, as though studded with a floor
of diamonds.
Such are some of the physical features of South
America,-luxuriant forms of vegetable life, farstretching plains robed in grasses, deserts of drifting
sands, or covered with saline incrustations, and
mountains shooting far up into the regions of perpetual snow.
We find a solution of these phenomena in the
variable supply of moisture. The effect of the
II9 
THE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES.
Andes in condensing the vapors, come from what
quarter they may, has been adverted to. Hence,
while there is a wet and dry side throughout their
entire range, the conditions are not constant, as seen
in the contrast between Patagonia and Peru, for the
reason that the winds which supply the moisture
are not constant.
WIND ANZD RAIN CHARTS.
If we examine the Map (Plate I.), we shall find
that the climatic centre of the earth-the Zone of
Variable Winds and Calms, and at the same time
the Zone of Constant Precipitation-lies about 6~
north of the Equator. This belt is not stationary, but
advances and recedes with the sun, over a space of
about a thousand miles, carrying with it its attendant rains, winds, and calms, and giving origin in the
tropics to a well-defined wet and dry season.
North of this belt, about 28~ in width, is the Zone
of the Northeast-Trades, and south of it that of the
Southeast-Trades. On the north next succeeding,
we have the Calm Belt of Cancer, and on the south
the Calm Belt of Capricorn. North of Cancer is
the Region of Southwest Winds, and south of Capricorn the Region of Northwest Winds. In the calm
belts, the under-currents proceeding from the Poles
meet the downward returning currents from the
I20 
SOURCES OF MOISTURE.
Equator, in which the latter prevail; so that, in the
Northern Hemisphere, we have two sets of aerial
currents blowing in opposite directions, southwest
and northeast; and in the Southern Hemisphere,
northwest and southeast, with a belt of Variable
Winds at or near the Equator.
Applying this system of winds and rains to the
physical features of South America, as modifying
the direction of the currents and the distribution
of moisture, we find that the Llanos are situated in
the Belt of Variable Winds, and are, therefore,
subject to a wet and dry season.   Walled in as
they are on nearly every side by lofty mountains,
which exclude the local moisture of the ocean,
with heated columns of air rising from the glowing
surface, to dissipate each forming cloud,- giving
origin to droughts so protracted as to burn up every
form of vegetation and cause the particles to fill the
air with carbonized dust,-succeeded by inundations so copious as to convert vast tracts into inland
seas; -these would be conditions highly unfavorable to the growth of trees, while they would not be
unfavorable to the growth of grasses. It is, then,
to the unequal distribution of moisture that we are
to attribute the origin of the Llanos.
Brazil, on the other hand, lies between the Equatorial Belt and the Belt of Capricorn; while Peru
occupies the same position to the west, but sepa
I2I 
THE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES.
rated by the culminating peaks of the Andes, not
less than 24,00ooo feet high. In the one region, as
we have seen, there is an unequaled forest-growth,
and in the other nothing can be grown except by
artificial irrigation.
Whence proceeds this diversity? The Southeast
Trades, laden with moisture perpetually distilled,
strike the Atlantic Coast, and, as they sweep over
the Continent, make a perpetual deposit; until,
reaching the snow-capped Andes, they are wrung
of their remaining moisture, and pass over to the
Pacific as dry winds. Hence, then, as these winds
blow constantly, the constant serenity of the Peruvian skies; and hence, too, the nearly unvarying
flood which the Amazon, without a shoal or a rapid
between its mouth and the base of the Andes, pours
into the ocean.
Below the tropic of Capricorn, the prevailing
winds become northwest, which have a long seaward sweep before striking the shore. The high
and abrupt coast, aided by the low temperature, at
once arrests and deprives them of moisture; and
hence the western coast of Patagonia is among the
most profusely-watered portions of the earth's surface, while the opposite slope is in an almost rainless region.
La Plata occupies an intermediate position
between the luxuriant forest-growth of Brazil and
I22 
EUROPE.
the barren steppes of Patagonia; and as nature, like
a skillful painter, always blends and harmonizes
her lines, we should not look for abrupt transitions.
The northern portion is in the Movable Belt of Capricorn, where the conflict takes place between the
under-currents of the Southern Pole and the upper
descending currents from the Equator, and is the
best-watered; while the southern portion is in the
Belt of Northwest Currents, which are dry off-shore
breezes, and hence there is a deficiency of moisture.
There is a local monsoon, too, along the coast,
whose effects in distributing moisture do not extend
far inland.
Combining, therefore, in one view, the varying
distribution of moisture, as influenced by the prevailing winds, we find the dense forest, where it is
constant and abundant, as in Brazil; the pampas
and llanos, where it is deficient or unequally distributed, as in Venezuela and La Plata; and the
inhospitable desert, where it is nearly withheld, as
in Patagonia and Peru.
EUROPE.
The great Southwestern aerial Current, described
in the previous Chapter, as it leaves the coast of
the United States, is dry; but in its passage across
the Atlantic, it imbibes the warmth and moisture
I23 
THE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES.
of the Gulf Stream, which it exhales on the western coast of Europe. It is to the warmth and
moisture thus communicated, that Ireland owes
her rich pasturage, verdant in all vicissitudes of
the seasons; that England has a precarious wheatharvest, and that the Atlantic Coast of United States
exhibits a depression equal to II~ of temperature.
As these winds penetrate interiorly, they gradually
part with their moisture, and the climate assumes a
more continental character. To the forest-growth,
succeed grassy steppes; then, plains covered with
saline efflorescences; and finally, as in the United
States and in South America, inhospitable deserts.
Starting eastward from the German Ocean,
between the parallels 520 and  53~, the traveler
may advance to the river Lena, without having
passed a mountain-range higher than 2,000 feet;
thus traversing I30~ of longitude, or more than
one-third part of the curvature of the earth.
Western Russia, in the Temperate Zone, is covered almost entirely with a dense forest,-so dense
that it has been said a squirrel might travel on the
tree-tops from St. Petersburg to Moscow, without
touching the ground. Leaving this forest-region
and penetrating still further into the interior, vast
steppes succeed, which graduate into inhospitable
wastes.
I24 
PLAINS OF THE BLACK SEA.
Plains of the Black Sea.-These plains have
been celebrated from the earliest historical period,
for their productiveness in human food; and the
nations of the Mediterranean, before the Christian
Era, as they now do, drew large supplies from this
source.
Herodotus, the Father of History, has described
this region as possessing the same features which
we now behold. " Across the Borysthenes (the
Don), the first country after you leave the coast is
Hylea (Woodland). Above this, dwell the Scythian
Husbandmen.  *  *  Crossing the Panticapes and
proceeding eastward of the Husbandmen, we come
upon the wandering Scythians, who neither plough
nor sow. Their country, and the whole of this
region except Hylea, is quite bare of trees." *
General Turchin, of Chicago, whose early life
was passed in this region, has furnished me with
an elaborate paper upon its soil and climate, an
abstract of which I shall embody here. Between
these plains and the prairies of the Mississippi Valley, there is a marked similarity in soil and climate,
confirmed by the observations of one familiar with
both regions.
Starting at Lublin, Poland, about latitude 5I~,
the northern boundary of the wheat-region, and, at
the same time, the southern boundary of the forest,
* Herodotus, Book IV.
I 25 
ORIGIN OF THE PRAIRIES.
the dividing line runs north of east to Penza, comprehending the whole eastern portion of Russia,
and thence is produced along the southern boundary of Siberia. The whole area of the wheatgrowing region is not less than 500,oo000 square
miles; from which, deducting the area of timber,
and the salt and sandy steppes, we have 375,000
square miles.  These steppes may be thus classified:
I. Those of a rolling character, well supplied with  Timber, Shrings, and Streams.
2. Thzose -Partly-rolling, with scarcely any Timber,  but
Possessing a sufficient quan/ity of Sireams.
3. Thze level Steppes, intermixed with those of a Salt and
Sandy charac/er, with no Timber and few Streams.
I. The first class of steppes comprehends the
region lying north of the Caucasus Range. These
steppes, particularly those of the Ukraine, are
extremely beautiful, and, where not cultivated, are
clothed with grasses and wild flowers; while the
streams, which are numerous, are bordered with
trees.  The soil is very rich-humus and clay,well supplied with different salts, such as potash,
magnesia, lime, nitre, etc., which, pulverized and
intermixed, give it a brownish-yellow color; but,
in the eastern portion of the region, it is darkbrown. Almost all of the nitre of Russia is mnanufactured in the Ukraine.   The Coal-Measures in
I26 
PLAINS OF THE BLACK SEA.
many cases constitute the underlying rock, and
yield an excellent quality of coal. These are best
developed along the north line of the Caucasus.
The soil of the Caucasus is extremely rich, and the
timber attains an uncommon size, particularly the
walnut and tchinor, the latter strongly resembling
the cotton-wood of the Mississippi Valley.
2. The second-class steppes include the southern
part of Bessarabia, the province of Kherson, and
the peninsula of Crimea. The soil is a very rich
black mould, produces every variety of grain, and
very much resembles the black prairie-soil of Illinois. Its composition does not materially differ
from that of the first class, except that it contains
more humus. These steppes differ from the prairies in being dryer, in having sloughs only near the
streams, in furnishing grass of a finer texture, and
presenting a surface almost bare of trees.  The
traveler may journey for hundreds of miles without
meeting with a belt or grove, or seeing aught but
the green waves of the grassy steppes spread around
him like a vast sea, and melting away imperceptibly
into the distant horizon.
3. The third class of steppes comprises the country extending along the coast of the Black Sea, the
Sea of Azov, the interior of the Crimea, the eastern
portion of the country between the Black and Caspian Seas, and the vast region on the left bank of
I27 
THE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES.
the Wolga. These steppes are level, treeless, with
few streams, but contain numerous salt and sandy
patches.   In the province of Sartov, there is a salt
lake from which are annually extracted vast quantities of this material.
Thus far have I extracted from General Turchin's
MS. In examining the Rain-Charts of this region,
we find that the same law prevails as in the Mississippi Valley; that is, instead of the precipitation
being distributed nearly equally over the four seasons, the spring and summer rains are greatly in
excess.
In explanation of the phenomena of this region,
it may be remarked that the Caucasus Range occupies the country between the Black and Caspian
Seas (a distance of 700 miles), the highest peaks
penetrating the snow line, and one peak (Elbrouz,
I7,785 feet,) rising 2,000 feet higher than Mount
Blanc (I5,744 feet). A portion of the moisture
borne by the Southwest Trades against these summits, is condensed; and here a precipitation takes
place, amounting to 60 inches, which is far in
excess of what falls on the steppes. On the first
and second-class steppes, the rain-fall is from 35 to
20 inches; on the third class, 15 inches; in the
salt-region of the Caspian, IO inches. *
* Compare these figures with those of the United States: Greatest
precipitation along the Gulf Coast (densely wooded), 63 inches; prairies of Iowa and Wisconsin, 35 inches; plains at base of the Rocky
Mountains, Is inches; and in the Great Basin, IO inches.
I28 
HIMALAYA RANGE.
PLATEAU OF CENTRAL ASIA.
The Caspian region is but an outlier of the Great
Asiatic Plateau, the vastest, if not the most elevated,
according to Humboldt, on the surface of the globe.
Instead of drifting sands, the Asiatic steppes, like
the Great Basin, are crossed by ranges of hills
clothed with coniferous woods.   There are, too,
grassy plains; other parts are covered with succulent evergreen plants; and "other parts," quoting
from  Humboldt,  "glisten from a distance with
flakes of exuded salt, which cover the clayey soil,
not unlike in appearance to fresh-fallen snow." Of
this character is the great desert of Gobi, walled
in on the north by the Altai Range, and on the
south by the Kuen-lun. Nor are these steppes
uninhabitable. Tartars and Mongolians, swarming
forth from their desert retreats, have at different
times exercised the most direct influence on the
destinies of mankind.
Thus situated in the interior of a Continent, in
the lee of the monsoons which sweep the Indian
Ocean, and sheltered by the loftiest mountains of
the world, it is to be inferred, in the absence even
of precise meteorological statistics, that this Great
Plateau would present varying aspects of sterility.
The southern slope of the Himalaya is intersected
by deep-entering bays, like the Arabian Sea and
9
I29 
THE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES.
the Bay of Bengal, which give it a peninsular character. The southwest monsoons blow from April
to October, and the northeast monsoons the other
half of the year, and both expend their moisture
upon the southern slope of the great mountain bar
rier. The rain-fall here reaches 200 inches a year;
and thus it is we have another illustration of the
physical fact of a rainless district on one side of a
great mountain chain, and a district on the other
most abundantly watered.
Arabian Desert.-The desert of Arabia may be
considered as an extension of that system of arid
wastes which finds its full development in the
Sahara of Africa.
An historian versed in philosophy, while yet the
laws of climatology were not understood, has thus
graphically described that inhospitable region:
"It is a boundless waste of sand, intersected by sharp and
naked mountains; and the face of the desert, without shade or
shelter, is scorched by the direct and intense rays of the tropical sun. Instead of refreshing breezes, the winds, particularly
from the southwest, diffuse a noxious and even deadly vapor;
the hillocks of sand which they alternately diffuse and scatter,
are compared to the billows of the ocean, and whole caravans,
whole armies, have been lost and buried in the whirlwind.
The common benefits of water are an object of desire and contest; and such is the scarcity of wood, that some art is requisite
to preserve and propagate the element of fire.
"Arabia is destitute of navigable rivers, which fertilize the
soil, and convey its products to adjacent regions. The torrents
I30 
AFRICA.
that fall from the hills are imbibed by the thirsty earth; the
rare and hardy plants, the tamarind or the acacia, that strike
their roots into the clefts of the rocks, are nourished by the
dews of the night; a scanty supply of rain is collected in cisterns and aqueducts; the wells and springs are the secret
treasures of the desert; and the pilgrim of Mecca, after many
a dry and sultry march, is disgusted with the taste of the waters
which have rolled over a bed of sulphur or salt. Such is the
general and genuine picture of the climate of Arabia. The
experience of evil enhances the value of any local or partial
enjoyments. A shady grove, a green pasture, a stream of
fresh water, are sufficient to attach a colony of sedentary Arabs
to the fortunate spot which can afford food and refreshment to
themselves or their cattle, and which encourage their industry
in the cultivation of the palm-tree or the vine.
"The high lands that border the Indian Ocean are distinguished by their superior plenty of wood and water; the air is
more temperate, the fruits are more delicious, the animals and
the human race more numerous; the fertility of the soil invites
and rewards the toil of the husbandman; and the peculiar gifts
of frankincense and coffee have attracted, in different ages, the
merchants of the world. If it be compared with the rest of
the peninsula, this sequestered region may truly deserve the
appellation of HAPPY; and the splendid coloring of fancy and
fiction has been suggested by contrast, and countenanced by
distance.   It was for this earthly paradise, that nature hlad
reserved her choicest favors and her most curious workmanship." *
AFRICA.
A grander and a more desolate aspect characterizes the plains of Africa.  "They are," says Humboldt, "parts of a sea of sand which, stretching
* Gibbon, " Decline and Fall," Ch. L.
I3I 
THE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES.
eastward, separate fruitful regions from each other,
or encloses them like islands. Neither dews, nor
rains, bathe these desolate plains, or develop on
their glowing surface the germs of vegetable life;
for heated columns of air, every where ascending,
dissolve the vapors, and disperse each swiftlyvanishing cloud." *
And yet these plains do not present one wide
waste of desolation.  They have their oases, which
are   habitable by man;
" The tufted isles
That verdant rise amid the Libyan wild."
They have their fountains, shaded by the palm,
where the weary traveler may slake his thirst.
Approaching the Great Sahara from the Mediterranean or the Red Sea, we view it where it puts on
its sternest features. The extreme northwestern
portion of the Continent, lying in the Zone of
Southwest Winds, has a strip of cultivable land;
while the Nile, by its annual inundations, maintains
a green thread of vegetation through a region of
desolate sands.
There is no region of the earth where the conditions of climate are more constant than those which
embrace the sources of the Nile. When the DogStar rises, the inhabitants of the Lower Valley look
* "Aspects of Nature," Title, "Steppes and Deserts."
I32 
INUNDATION OF THE NILE.
for a swelling of the river. If the Nilometer which
measures the height of the flood, indicates but eight
cubits, the crops will be scanty; but if it reaches
fourteen cubits, they will be abundant.
" Where the Nile," says Draper, " breaks through the mountain gate at Essouan, it is observed that its waters begin to rise
about the end of the month of May, and in eight or nine weeks
the inundation is at its height. The flood in the river is due
to the great rains which have fallen in the mountainous countries among which the Nile takes its rise, and which have been
precipitated by the trade-winds that blow, except where disturbed by the monsoons, over the vast expanse of the tropical
Indian Ocean. Thus dried, the East-Wind pursues its solemn
course over the solitudes of Central Africa, a cloudless and a
rainless wind, its track marked by desolation and deserts. At
first the river becomes red, and then green, because the flood
of its great Abyssinian branch, the Blue Nile, arrives first;
but soon after, the White Nile makes its appearance, and from
the overflowing banks, not only water, but a rich and fertilizing mud, is discharged." *
Those portions of the Great Desert accessible
from the Mediterranean and the Nile, are wholly
within the Belt of Northeast Winds, which, in
their passage over other lands, have been wrung
of all their moisture; and hence, as observed by
Marsh,t the present general drift of the sands
appears to be to the southwest and west.
The coast of Guinea, the strike side, is in the
Zone of Periodical Rains, and is most profusely
* " Intellectual Development of Europe."
t "Man and Nature."
I33 
THE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES.
watered. In I838, during three months, at Sierra
Leone, the prodigious quantity of 3 I4 inches of rain
fell; and in two days, nearly 20 inches, an amount
equal to two-thirds of the annual precipitation in the
British Isles. The rainy season lasts from May to
November, and is ushered in and carried off by
tornadoes.  To the inhabitants, it is a period of
gloom and apprehension. The hills are wrapped
in impenetrable fogs, and the rains fall in such torrents that all out-door exercises are suspended. It
is the period, too, of fevers and malarious diseases.
Vast and impenetrable forests stretch into the
interior, which afford teak and cam-wood. A range
of mountains, whether mythical or real I know not,
is laid down by most geographers as reaching
from the coast eastward into the interior, which
should serve as a wall to arrest the vapor-bearing
currents and prevent their flow into the region of
the Great Desert.
In the absence of positive information, then, we
would presuppose that a section extended from the
Coast of Guinea to the Mediterranean Sea would
exhibit somewhat the following features: A luxuriant growth of arborescent vegetation on the
Atlantic Coast, developed under tropical heats and
oceanic moisture; alternations of grove and grass;
and last, wild wastes of drifting sands. A theory
which supposes that these arid wastes originated in
I34 
AUSTRALIA.
and are maintained by the circulation of an atmosphere previously robbed of all moisture, is just as
plausible and tenable as one which presupposes
that these sands are but a portion of an elevated
ocean-bed, from whose glowing surface arise heated
currents of air, which dissolve every vapor-bearing
cloud.  It is simply a question whether we have
not confounded cause with effect.
The strip of cultivable land bordering the Mediterranean, including Morocco and Algeria, is in
the Region of the Southwest Currents, and affords
many fruitful valleys. It is shut off from the desert
by the stupendous chain of the High Atlas, whose
range is east and west. In the basin of the Mediterranean, evaporation is far in excess of precipitation,
and hence there is a constantly-flowing current
from the Atlantic, through the Straits of Gibraltar,
to supply the vacuum thus created.
AUSTRALIA.
Australia has been characterized as "a land of
anomalies,"-where the fishes, in some instances
at least, approach in structure those of the Old
Red Sandstone epoch; where the birds, recently
extinct, were furnished with wings simply to enable them to run; where we find mammalia that do
not suckle their young; where reptiles are warm
I35 
THE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES.
blooded; where animals bring forth a few days
after conception-the fceti being without limbs or
external organs; and where other animals whose
fore-legs are nearly useless for locomotion, accomplish this operation by employing their hind-legs
and tail; and finally, where there is a paradoxical
animal, with the bill and feet of a duck, the body
of a mole, and the general structure of a reptile.
The vegetation is equally strange, where the
margin of the leaves, and not the surface, as in
other lands, is upturned to the sun.
The physical features of the country are no less
strange,-a Continent without rivers, and where
fertility is confined to the summits of considerable
hills. Surrounded by the ocean, yet its interior is
an arid waste. While subject in some degree to a
wet and dry season, there are cycles of ten or twelve
years of unmitigated drought, during which no rain
falls; close upon which, is a year of floods. The
floods of the coast are simultaneous with drought
in the interior, and vice versa.
Australia lies partly within the influence of the
Southeast Trades, and partly within that of the
Northwest Currents; while the northern portion is
swept by the Periodical Monsoons. The highest
mountains are on the Pacific side, and hence prevent the passage of the Northwest Currents into
the interior. According to Dana, the Australian
I36 
RESUME.
Alps, which face the southwest shores, have peaks
5,00ooo to 6,500 feet in height, which are continued
northward in the Blue Mountains, whose general
elevation is 3,000 to 4,000 feet, with some more
elevated summits, and beyond these, in ridges
under other names, - the whole range being
between 2,000 and 6,ooo feet in elevation. The
elevated grounds to the east perform the same
office, and thus we have a Continent with high
borders around a depressed interior. Of all continents, Australia is the most arid and inhospitable.
RESUME.
If we examine a geological map of the world,
we shall find that these vast plains and deserts were
sea-bottoms during the Cretaceous, and in many
instances, during  the  Tertiary epoch,  and  the
mountains by which they are girt were the ancient
shore-lines. But this does not justify us in the
inference that their desert-like character is due to
this cause, for the sedimentary rocks of every
age, which, as a general rule, afford a far more
hospitable soil than those of igneous origin, have
undergone the same process. There is little doubt
that, if the most inhospitable portions of Sahara
had been exposed to the direct action of the winds
of the region of monsoons, which give origin to
I37 
THE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES.
the inundations of the Nile, they would have been
robed with an appropriate vegetation, whose decay,
in the course of ages, would have created an
amount of humus which, incorporating itself with
the soil, might have made this desolation a garden.
Embracing the whole subject in a comprehensive
glance, we believe that it will be found:
That the phenomenon of varying vegetation,
throughout every continent and throughout every
zone, is, primarily, dependent on the varying supply
of moisture; modified, secondarily, by altitude of
surface above the sea, diversity of soil, its evaporative power, and the climatic conditions of temperature.
The winds and the rains, heat and cold, light and
and darkness, are the great powers, whether manifested in the tempest or in the gently-distilling
dew; whether in Arctic colds or tropical heats;
whether in midnight darkness or in the full glare
of the midday sun; whether in the structure of the
rugged oak, or in the delicate tissues of the unfolding flower;-these, we repeat, are the great powers
which every where act in accordant harmony, to
produce the infinite diversity of vegetable life; they
are the agents by which Nature perpetually renews
the youth, the beauty, and the fertility, of our
planet.
And yet, all these apparently complicated phe
I38 
RESUME.
nomena are but emanations from a single source,
the SUN,-the "lantern of the World"  (lucerna
mundi), as described by Copernicus; the all-vivifying, pulsating " heart of the Universe," as
described by an ancient philosopher; * or, as
described by a modern philosopher,' the primary
source of light and radiating heat, and the generator
of numerous terrestrial, electromagnetic processes,
and, indeed, of the greater part of the organic vital
activity on our planet.
"By its rays," quoting the greatest of living astronomers, I
" are produced all winds, and those disturbances in the electric
equilibrium of the atmosphere which give rise to terrestrial
magnetism. By their vivifying action, vegetables are elaborated
from inorganic matter, and become in their turn the support
of animals and man, and the sources of those great deposits of
dynamical efficiency which are laid up for human use in our
coal-strata. By them, the waters of the sea are made to circulate
in vapors through the air, and irrigate the land, producing
springs and rivers. By them are produced all disturbances of
the chemical equilibrium of the elements of nature, which, by
a series of compositions and decompositions, give rise to new
products, and originate a transfer of materials. Even the slow
degradation of the solid constituents of the surface in which
its chief geological changes consist, and their diffusion among
the waters of the ocean, are entirely due to the abrasion of the
wind and rain, and the alternate action of the seasons."
* "Theon of Smyrna."
t Humboldt, "Cosmos," V.
$ Sir John Herschel.
I39 
THE ORIGIN OF PRAIRIES.
Thus, then, to solar influence may be traced all
the great phenomena which affect the surface of the
earth,-day and night, heat and cold, atmospheric
and oceanic currents, and the vicissitudes of the
seasons, and extending even to the oxygen of the
atmosphere, which to man is "the breath of life."
EXPLANA TION OF THE MAP.
PLATE I.
I. The map shows the relative areas, on each Continent, of
Forest, Prairie, and Desert.
2. The distribution of some of the Great Families of Plants.
3. The different Zones of the Winds, and the barriers, in
the form of mountain-chains, which they encounter ill their
sweep over the land.
The Rain-Chart of the World would be identical with the
WVind-Chart, with a substitution of names,  viz., for "Zone of
Variable Winds" read " Zone of Periodical Rains," which
has a range north and south of nearly a thousand miles
during the year; for the " Zone of Southwest Currents," read
'" Zone of Constant Precipitation." The deeply-shaded portions occupied by the Palms and Deciduous and Coniferous
types, are well-watered; while the slightly-shaded portions,
occupied by the Cacti and Grasses, are either deficient or unequally supplied.
I40 
~;~Th                      0   <jj/?~4E
//<7<K<~;i/Y~.
~;~                    ~~~~
4~                     /                /<7~4~
;~/~<~     ~       ~~  ~
j~~~~~~j      ~                       ~j4
~                <<
ThTh~        ~ ~~~'
0                            _____
jy.:\ —-- 7,!
~~     ___
R I
40 -
0                      40  
CHAPTER V.
FOREST-CULTURE AND IRRIGATION.
HOW PLANTS GROW  EFFECTS OF FORESTS ON HEALTHI- ON
ANIMAL LIFE -EFFECTS OF DISROBING A COUNTRY OF FOR ESTS - RAPID DESTRUCTION OF FORESTS IN THE UNITED
STATES -FORESTS, THEIR LESSONS - THEY MODIFY CLI MATE- THEY RETAIN MOISTURE- TREE-PLANTING  IRRI GATION-PRACTISED AT AN EARLY DAY, ON BOTH HEMI SPHERES -SUCCESSFULLY INTRODUCED  ON THE  ROCKY
MOUNTAIN SLOPES -FEASIBILITY OF ITS APPLICATION IN
CALIFORNIA, THE COLORADO DESERT AND THE WESTERN
PLAINS.
How Plants  Grov.- Plants extract inorganic
substances from the soil, which are essential to
their perfection; but the ligneous portions, together
with the sugar, starch, and acids, are derived, for
the most part, from the air. The cerealia, or edible
grains, require both potash and phosphate of magnesia; they also require silica, to give hardness to
the stem, and to the seed-envelope. This substance
enters largely into the structure of those grasses
known as canes, bamboos, and scouring rushes.
The oak extracts iron; and those vegetables comprehended in the term Crucifere, such as cabbages, 
FOREST-CULTURE.
turnips, mustard, etc., contain sulphur. The rains
are the solvent power by which the salts are
brought within the reach of their rootlets, by which
they are taken up, assorted, and assimilated, and
such parts as are useless rejected, as the human
system casts off the exuvie after the nutriment has
been extracted.   Hydrogen, resulting  from the
decomposition of water, is also absorbed, and
forms an element in the composition of wood, as
well as of the fruits, flowers, and seeds of plants.
Ammonia, the result of the decay of animal matter,
is volatilized, and passes into the atmosphere; but,
returned to the earth in descending showers, it is
absorbed by the soil, and enters into the pores of
the plant, where it is separated into its constituent
parts, hydrogen and nitrogen. The latter enters into
the albumen of wood and the gluten of the cerealia,
which is the nutritive part. It also enters into the
composition of the esculent roots, such as potatoes
and beets; and of the climbing plants, such as peas
and beans.
From the air, plants derive carbonic acid, a substance which, where it exists in excess, is destructive
to animal life. This is not a simple element, but a
compound of oxygen and carbon, and is diffused
throughout the air in about the proportions of Tf%parts. This supply is maintained by every exhalation of air-breathing animals, by the steam poured
I42 
HOWV PLANTS GROW.
out from every active volcano, and by every fire
artificially kindled. It is also given off in the decay
of animal and vegetable life, where oxygen, though
by a less rapid combustion, performs the same office
as fire. The leaves of plants, on the other hand,
constantly absorb carbonic acid by day, decompose
it, restoring the oxygen to the atmosphere, and converting the carbon into ligneous fibre. Solar influence seems to be essential to effect this result, for
at night, and in gloomy weather, almost all of the
carbonic acid is returned to the air unchanged.
Thus, it may be said that the trees and grasses
which clothe the surface of the earth, as well as the
immense accumulations of coal stored beneath the
surface, are but the condensation, by solar rays, of
those gases destructive to animal life, into forms
which are essential to its support and comfort.
The black mould in soils known as humus, is the
result of the decay of vegetable matter, such as the
leaves of the forests, the grasses of the meadows,
and the mosses of the peat-swamps. When brought
in contact with the oxygen of the atmosphere, an
equal volume of carbonic acid is evolved. The
effect of ploughing or stirring up the soil, is to
bring fresh portions of humus in contact with the
air, and thus create a fresh supply of carbonic acid.
In applying animal manure to soils, we seek mainly
to furnish this substance to the growing plant.
I43 
FOREST-CULTURE.
Although soils of pure lime and sand are barren,
yet, if they contain two per cent. of vegetable matter, the fir and pine tribes will flourish, but oaks
and other deciduous trees require ten times as
much.
Such is the order which prevails throughout the
realms of Nature. Inorganic substances act and
react in accordant harmony, to give support to that
infinite diversity of organic life, both animal and
vegetable, which is found on the surface of our
planet; and one series of elements which is destructive to animal life, is essential to the growth and
perfection of vegetable life. Thus intimate is the
connection, thus mutually dependent. Thus is constituted a great system of vital forces, by which the
surface-covering of continents is perpetually maintained, and the wants of its inhabitants provided
for.
Effects of Forests on Health.-We have seen
that a beautiful harmony exists between animal and
vegetable life,-that while the former consumes
oxygen and exhales carbonic acid, the latter assimilates carbonic acid and gives out oxygen; and that
the noxious effluvium arising from the decomposition of animal matter, is converted into ammonia,
and elaborated into seeds, grains, and fruits, which
become the essential food of man. Thus, the for
I44 
FORESTS ON HEALTH.
ests perpetually renew the purity of the air, and fit
it for the respiration of the higher orders of animals.
Forests absorb to a far greater extent than mere
flowering plants, the noxious gases which are
continually thrown into the air from a variety of
sources; -from the breath of animals, from the
smoke of chimneys in densely-populated cities, and
from the decay of organic matter.  Few people are
aware of the extent of such emanations. It is rendered probable that the peculiar principle of the
atmosphere known as ozone, is a most efficient
disinfectant; and yet, as stated by Angus Smith, a
wind blowing over a manufacturing city, like Manchester, at the rate of fifteen miles an hour, after
having passed less than a mile, is deprived of this
principle. A single individual exhales, in a day,
twenty cubic feet of carbonic acid, and therefore
contaminates 20,000 cubic feet of air. The addition
of one-tenth of one per cent. may be perceived.
The rain that falls in a populous city is so acrid
that a drop will redden litmus paper. Blood shaken
in the air of towns takes a different shade from that
shaken in pure air. A method has been devised
by Dr. Smith for measuring the amount of impurity
in the air, by means of dilute permanganate of potash poured in a bottle, and noticing the degree of
decolorization of the liquid, when exposed to the
light. The oxidizable matter in the air over a pig-sty
IO
I45 
FOREST-CULTURE.
was represented by Io9 measures, in the centre of
Manchester by 58, and over Lake Lucerne (Switzerland) by I.4. * Thus, people closely huddled
together are surrounded by emanations both of
organic and inorganic matter, which may be injurious to health, even when the effluvium is not
apparent to the senses.
The winds, in their mechanical power to transport and dissipate these exhalations, and in their
chemical power to oxidize them; the sunlight, in
hastening decomposition, and callsing new combinations; the soil, in its power of absorption; and,
lastly, the vegetation, in its power of consolidating
the most abundant of these exhalations into innocuous forms, are the great natural disinfectants.
Hence, then, tree-planting along crowded thoroughfares and in parks amidst dense cities, can not,
as a measure of sanitary economy, be too strongly
recommended.   The  practice, however, of surrounding a house with dense shrubbery, is far from
commendable. It is desirable, so far as can be
attained, that the sunlight should strike all portions
of the wall during the day. Where, in-doors,
there is a lack of sunlight and air, the whole surface of the rooms, and even of the furniture,
becomes coated with a film of organic matter, on
* Dr. R. Angus Smith, in Ure's Dic. Sup.; Art. "Sanitary Economy."
I46 
FORESTS ON HEALTH.
which fungi germinate, giving off unpleasant odors.
Books, even, become thus invested. Rubbing with
water does not destroy the vegetable growth, but
the application of any of the essential oils, like turpentine, benzine, etc., is effectual.
Malaria may also originate in wooded belts, particularly in conditions of the weather which cause
vegetation to putrefy instead of to grow. On the
other hand, deltas at the mouths of rivers, marsh
lands, and lands alternately flooded either by salt
or fresh water, generate malaria, resulting in fevers,
which do not travel far from the places of their
origin. It has been found that a forest-belt interposed to the leeward of such malarious marshes
afforded an efficient protection against these diseases,-the canopy of foliage acting both mechanically and chemically, in the one case to intercept
the current of miasmatic vapors, and in the other
to decompose and recombine them into harmless
elements. And yet, as to the relative salubrity of
the forest and prairie, as evidenced in the settlement
of the Western States, the preponderance is greatly
in favor of the latter.
Sunlight is essential both to animal and vegetable
life. It undoubtedly exercises a chemical action
upon the organic tissues of both; and we know
that, in the case of plants, they become bleached and
sickly where it is feebly exerted; and that man, dur
147 
FOREST-CULTURE.
ing the long and cheerless night of an Arctic winter,
is peculiarly liable to scorbutic diseases. Darkness
is    his worst enemy.  We  know, too, the vivifying
action which the sun brings, after his long exclusion
from the heavens. Kane, with his little party, wintering at Renssellaer Harbor, describes the depressing effects of the "long, intense darkness," extending not only to man, but even to the dogs, some of
whom           died of epilepsy, resulting from "long-lost
daylight." We read with what joyful feelings he
greeted "the first distinct orange tint" indicative
of the returning sun, observed on the southern hori   zon, at noon, January 2I; and he records how different it was "from the cold light of the planets." *
Forests exclude the sunlight and obstruct the
circulation of the air, and, therefore, generate and
retain dampness,-conditions which are prejudicial
to health, and which do not exist on the prairies.
The first stirring-up of the soil, whether of the forest
or the prairie, generates malaria, probably from
the liberation of carbonic acid; but it is far more
malignant in the former region than in the latter.
The pioneers who planted themselves in Western
New York, Ohio, and Michigan, suffered far more
from intermittent fever than those who first subdued
the soil in Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin. The
history of those who colonized the Holland Land * "Arctic Explorations," Vol. I., p. I55.
I4.8 
FORESTS ON ANIMAL LIFE.
Purchase, in Western New York, is one of privation and  suffering from  disease.   A  prominent
physician of Chicago, whose early career was
passed in Michigan, informed me that there would
be hardly a family within the circuit of a day's
ride, but had some member of it afflicted with
chills and fever. So prevalent was this disease,
that at length it came to be understood that it was
necessary to build the cabinto the windward of the
farm to be subdued.  The partial destruction of the
forest in the Middle States, by letting in the sunlight and permitting a free circulation of air, has
improved, without doubt, the sanitary condition of
the country. On the prairies of Illinois and Wisconsin, cases of intermittent fever occur, but it is
of a mild type, and readily yields to appropriate
treatment; and at this day, it is far less prevalent
than on Staten Island, or along the shores of New
Jersey and Long Island, where, under the action
of the ebbing and flowing of the tide, large muddy
flats are alternately exposed to the rays of the sun
and the wash of the ocean.
The Effects of Foresis on Animal Life.-The
depths of the forest are almost as destitute of animal life, as the interior of deserts.   Throughout
the Mississippi Valley, there are abundant monuments, in the form of high circular mounds, of par
149 
FOREST-CULTURE.
allel roads and far-reaching embankments, laid out
in mathematical forms, of a race who possessed a
higher degree of civilization, and different manners
and customs, from those who occupied the country
when first known to the European. These monuments  are restricted to the valleys.   They  are
neither found in the densely-wooded region, nor on
the open prairie. The banks of lakes and rivers
were selected by the Indians, as the sites of their
lodges; for these gave them the most easy and
expeditious  highways of communication.   To a
race unacquainted with the use of iron, the forest
would present an insurmountable barrier, except so
far as marking it by trails.*  Even European settlements followed the same course. Colonies were
planted at the mouths of rivers, or in places accessible to the sea. They extended themselves up thie
valleys, and at last resorted to the highlands. But,
in the case of the Aborigines, there was a reason
why their lodges should be restricted to the valleys.
Here the sunlight could gain access. Here grew
the spontaneous fruits of the earth, which could be
appropriated as food. The waters furnished fish,
and the quadrupeds and birds, such as furnish food
to man, here found their feeding-grounds.  The
* Perhaps it is necessary to explain what is meant by a " trail." It
has, however, a specific meaning with every backwoodsman. It is the
path beaten through the forest, by men moving in Indian-file -or a
column of men following in the footsteps of a leader.
I50 
FORESTS ON ANIMAL LIFE.
beasts and birds of prey followed in their wake.
Every explorer in a North American forest must
have remarked the absence of game remote from
lakes and water-courses, and how rarely its solitude
is broken by the song of birds. *
Humboldt, in his " Aspects of Nature," has
devoted a chapter to the nocturnal life of animals
in the primeval forests of South America. At
night, all resort to the rivers.  " The jaguar pursues the peccaries and the tapirs, and these, pressing against each other in their flight, break through
the inwoven tree-like shrubs which impede their
flight; the apes on the tops of the trees, being
frightened by the crash, join their cries to those of
the larger animals; this arouses the tribes of birds,
who build their nests in communities; and thus the
whole animal world becomes in a state of commotionl."
* To this general rule, there is a notable exception. Those who
have camped in the forests of Lake Superior, have often heard, issuing
from its deepest recesses, not only by day, but in the darkness of night,
the song of a small bird, of which at times he may catch a glimpse, as
it flits among the branches.
Richardson, in his " Arctic Expedition," thus records   " The song
of the Frizgilla leucophrys has been heard day and night, and so
loudly, in the stillness of the latter season, as to deprive us at first of
rest.  It whistles the first bar of' Oh, dear, what can the matter be!'
in a clear tone, as if played on a piccolo fife; and though the distinctness of the notes rendered them at first very pleasing, yet, as they
haunted us up to the Arctic Circle, and were loudest at midnight, we
came to wish occasionally that the cheerful little songster would time
his serenade better."
15I 
FOREST-CULTURE.
So, too, in the northern forests, the deer at night
resorts to the lake or running stream, tracked by
his remorseless foe, the wolf.   Hardly have the
shades of evening fallen, when the panther, rousing
himself from his lair, sets up a howl preliminary to
starting on his predatory tramp, and the beaver
and other aquatic animals begin their nocturnal
tasks.
Effects of Disrobing a Country of Forests.Vast areas of the prairie-region now deemed too
arid for cultivation, are as well-watered and possess
as productive a soil as those regions adjacent to the
Mediterranean which were formerly the sites of
mighty cities in the midst of a densely-populated
country.   If, therefore, the desolation of these
regions has been brought about by the agency of
man, it becomes an interesting inquiry whether that
agency, beneficially exerted, can not restore their
former fruitfulness. If so, can not the area of the
cultivable prairies be enlarged by an application of
the same means?
Mr. George P. Marsh, in a late work entitled
"Man and Nature," has collected a vast body of
facts tending to show the influence of man upon
the material world. That influence has been beneficially exerted in the conversion of the desert into
a garden, in draining marshes, in cutting canals and
I52 
DESTRUCTION OF FORESTS.
roads, in clearing at one point a portion of the
forest and letting in the sunlight, and in planting
forests at another. That influence has been inju
riously exerted by disrobing a country entirely of its
forests, thereby creating a more arid climate by
drying up the sources of the springs, and by giving
the local winds an unresisted passage over the land,
thereby communicating to it a more continental
character. I shall refer to this storehouse of facts
to illustrate my text:
"If we compare," says he, "the present physical condition
of the countries [around the borders of the Mediterranean]
with the descriptions that ancient geographers and historians
have given of their fertility and general capability of ministering to human uses, we shall find that more than one-half of
their whole extent   *   *  is either deserted by civilized men
and surrendered to hopeless desolation, or at least greatly
reduced both in productiveness and population. Vast forests
have disappeared from mountain spurs and ridges; the vegetable earth, accumulated beneath the trees by the decay of leaves
and fallen trunks, the soil of Alpinre pastures which skirted
and indented the woods, and the mould of the upland fields,
are washed away; meadows, once fertilized by irrigation, are
waste and unproductive, because the cisterns and reservoirs
that supplied the ancient canals are broken, or the springs that
fed them dried up; rivers famous in history and in song, have
shrunk to humble brooklets; the willows that ornamented and
protected the banks of the lesser water-courses are gone, and
the rivers have ceased to exist as perennial currents, because
the little water that finds its way into their old channels is
evaporated by the droughts of summer, or absorbed by the
parched earth, before it reaches the lowlands; the beds of the
brooks have widened into broad expanses of pebbles and gravel,
over which, though in the hot season passed dry shod, in win
I53 
FOREST-CULTURE.
ter sea-like torrents thunder; the entrances of navigable streams
are obstructed by sand-bars; and harbors, once marts of an
extensive commerce, are shoaled by the deposits of the rivers
at whose mouths they lie."
The architectural ruins and other monuments
attest that these regions, now almost withdrawn
from human occupancy, must formerly have been
tenanted by a dense population who derived their
support from a soil of great productiveness. The
causes of this decay, as traced by him, apart from
the tyranny and misrule of the governing classes,
are mainly found to be due to the destruction of the
forests. Van Lennep states that one can not for a
moment doubt that the parched region which lies
between the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, was
once a fertile garden, " before the forests which
covered the hill-sides were cut down, before the
cedar and the fir-tree were rooted up from the sides
of Lebanon." To this cause, Sir John Herschel
attributes the aridity of Spain; while, on the other
hand, rain has become more frequent in Egypt since
the palm has been more vigorously cultivated. *
Bolander, in speaking of the power of certain
trees to condense moisture, particularly the Redwoods   (Sequoia   sempervirens),  which   are
restricted to the foggy regions of the Coast
Ranges of the Pacific and the underlying meta
* Marsh, ibidem.
I54 
DESTRUCTION OF FORESTS.
morphic sandstones, both of which conditions are
required for their growth, uses this language:
" It is my firm conviction that if the Redwoods are destroyed
(and they necessarily will be, unless protected by the wise
action of our Government,) California will become a desert, in
the true sense of the word. In their safety depends the future
welfare of the State; they are our safeguard. It remains to be
seen whether we shall be benefitted or not by the horrible experience which such countries as Asia Minor, Greece, Spain,
and France, have made, by having barbarously destroyed their
woods and forests. But with us here, it is even of a more
serious nature. Wise governments would be able to replace
them in those countries; but no power on earth can restore the
woods of California, when once completely destroyed." *
Rapid Destruction of the Forest in the United
States.-In the United States, the destruction of
the forest is going on at an accelerated rate. The
lumber trees of Maine, in accessible positions, are
nearly exhausted, and twenty years will accomplish
the same result with regard to the extensive pineries
of Michigan and Wisconsin. The White pine is
the most valuable lumber tree of America. The
ease with which it is wrought; its freedom, as compared with most trees, from shrinking, swelling,
and warping; and its durability, when properly
protected by paint; make it the principal tree
employed in the construction of a vast majority of
houses and even fences and sidewalks. To one
* Bolander, Henry N., "Remarks on California Trees," "Pro. Cal.
Acad. Nat. Sciences."
155 
FOREST-CULTURE.
who realizes how rapidly the sources of supply are
becoming exhausted, and the prodigality with which
it is used, it can not but be disheartening. It is a
tree of slow growth, and the surface on which it
grows, when disrobed, is unfitted for profitable
agriculture. The annual receipts at Chicago alone
(a city which has sprung up within the life-time of
a generation) are in excess of 730,000,000 feet of
lumber, 400,000,000 of shingles, and 24,000,000 of
lath. Possessing a material within easy reach,
and on the banks of a canal, known as the Athens
limestone-a double compound of carbonate of
lime and magnesia-unequaled for flagging and
building, and having a river whose dredgings are
capable of conversion into brick, it is a singular
fact which strikes every stranger within her gates,
that Chicago should exhibit such an extent of plankwalks and wooden tenements,-structures of the
most superficial character, which must soon give
way  to those more solid  and  enduring.   The
products of the lake pineries are distributed over
nearly half a continent. From them are built the
farm-houses of the pioneers upon the solitary prairie, and the bridges which span the waters of the
Kansas and the Platte.
The destruction of hard-wood timber is going
on at a pace equally rapid. The railways require,
annually, in construction and maintenance, at least
I56 
DESTRUCTION OF FORESTS.
Io,ooo,ooo of ties.  Nothing strikes the emigrant
from the Atlantic Slope, on returning after years
of absence, so forcibly, as to see those hills which,
in his youth, were forest-crowned, now bare and
desolate, and the streams which he was  accustomed to fish, dwindled to mere trickling rills. The
Pacific railroads which traverse, for long distances,
the valleys of the Kaw and Platte, have consumed
in their construction nearly every stick of timber,
and in four years will have consumed nearly all the
fire-wood. Transportation is economized by stripping each tie of its bark, and allowing it to undergo
the process of seasoning, before its conveyance to
the place where required.   The  beautiful Black
walnuts of the Kaw Valley, fit for gun-stocks and
cabinet-ware, have been remorselessly sacrificed to
these base purposes. Public policy requires that
this wholesale destruction of the forest be arrested.
As a sanitary measure, in thronged cities, the sidewalks should be firmly laid in stone or brick,
instead of plank, which  serve as coverings  to
reservoirs of stagnant waters, screened from the
evaporation of the sun.  A  "balloon" house, as
proverbially known throughout the West, can be
hastily thrown up, but one of brick or stone is, in
the end, far more durable and economical. Ties
can be treated, at an inconsiderable expense, with
kreosote or coal-tar, so that their durability shall be
I57 
FOREST-CULTURE.
protracted for a quarter of a century; but we have
yet to learn the name of the corporation that has
resorted to the process.   The  managers of such
roads, particularly, as the Union Pacific, where
transportation is so far and so expensive, would
have consulted the true interests of their stockholders if they had placed the iron on ties thus
prepared.
In the first settlement of the country, so far as
relates to the Atlantic Slope, the Appalachian
Region, and the Ohio Valley, the forest was the
great obstacle to be encountered.   The  settlers
attacked it as though it were a common enemy.
To fell, to girdle, to " log," and to burn, those noble
forms of vegetation whose origin stretches back
to remote ages, was a preliminary work to that of
planting, sowing, reaping, and harvesting. But that
necessity no longer exists.
Our people find themselves possessed of a country vast in resources, but imperfectly developed.
On every side, they see avenues leading to the
exertion of human skill and energy. They are
restless, eager in the pursuit of gain, and bound by
few local attachments. In their investments, they
look for immediate returns.   If they build a house
or subdue a farm, it is in reference to its market
value, should they desire to migrate. If they plant
trees, say they, two generations must elapse before
I58 
FORESTS -THEIR LESSONS.
they attain their growth. If appealed to, that their
acts will be commended by posterity, they will
probably answer, in the language of the bluff
English statesman, "Confound posterity! what has
it ever done for us?"   But this is a narrow, selfish
spirit.  The future has claims upon the present
generation,-that they shall not despoil the fair
heritage which is entrusted to them as an usufruct,
but transmit it to future generations, not only inimpaired, but beautified and adorned.
Forests- Their Lessons.-  They Modify Climnate.
"The groves were God's first temples;'ere man learned
To hew the shaft and lay the architrave."
No one can wander "through the dim vaults and
winding aisles" of a primeval forest, amid the
"venerable columns" which support the "verdant
roof" and listen to the sound of the "invisible
breath" that "sways at once all their green tops,"
without acknowledging, with all-reverent spirit,
that here he verily is in the sanctuary of Nature.
Trees are the noblest manifestations of vegetable
life. Like men, they flourish best in communities,
and are dependent on one another for support.
Their infancy must be sheltered beneath the outstretching arms of the parent, until they acquire the
I59 
FOREST-CULTURE.
strength and vigor to shoot into the upper air, and
become self-supporting.
They modify climate, in breaking the force of the
winds, in sheltering the earth's surface from the
intensity of the sun's heat, and in serving as the
perpetual reservoirs for the supply of streams.
The transitions of temperature on the plains of
Kansas are very great. In the spring the winds
may blow for several days from the southwest,
bringing with them an almost summer temperature, under whose influence the buds of fruit-trees
expand and burst; when, suddenly veering to the
northwest, the blast sweeps down from the snowclad peaks of the Rocky Mountains, in cold and
blighting frosts, the thermometer often dropping
I5~ or I8~. *
The interposition of a forest belt, or even of
hedges of Osage orange, a shrub which flourishes
on a prairie soil, would obviate these disastrous
effects. It has been found, in older countries, that
the effects of such a barrier extend to a very considerable distance above its own height. Becquerel
states that, in the Valley of the Rhone, a simple
hedge two metres (a little more than 5- feet) in
height, is a sufficient protection for a distance of
twenty-two metres (72 feet) in length.
* " Geological Report Kansas," I866.
i6o 
FORESTS RETAIN MOISTURE.
" From the experience," says he, " in older countries, there
is no doubt that the effects of these cold blasts can be greatly
mitigated; and observation teaches that, while the tops of the
trees are swayed by their violence, the surface air will be found
calm and warm. Certain districts which have there been
stripped of their forests, are now exposed to loss of harvests
by tempests, droughts, and frosts. Hurricanes, before unknown,
sweep unopposed over the regions thus denuded, conveying
terror and devastation in their track." *
Forests Retain Moisture.- The continuous
existence of moisture in the forests, and its constant evaporation, modify the heats of summer.
The leafy canopy of trees naturally condenses the
floating vapors of the air, and causes them to
descend in fertilizing showers. It retards the circulation of the atmosphere, and consequently retards
evaporation. The leaves shed during the autumnal
frosts, not only protect the ground, but serve as a
sponge to absorb and retain a portion of the moisture which would otherwise find its way at once
into the streamlets.
On the other hand, the roots constantly draw
from the earth moisture, which passes through the
trunks and branches, as through a mass of capillary
tubes, and this is given off through the leaves; a
process by which the humidity of the air is increased
and its temperature lowered.
* Marsh, " Nature and Man."
I I
I6I 
FOREST-CULTURE.
"In wooded countries," according to Schacht, " the atmosphere is generally humid, and rain and dew fertilize the soil.
As the lightning-rod abstracts the electric fluid from a stormy
sky, so the forest abstracts to itself the rain from the clouds
which, in falling, refreshes not it alone, but extends its benefits
to the neighboring fields. * * The forest, presenting a considerable surface for evaporation, gives to its own soil and to
all the adjacent soil an abundant and enlivening dew. There
falls, it is true, less dew on a tall and thick wood than on the
surrounding meadows, which, being more highly heated during
the day by the difference of insulation, cool with greater rapidity by radiation. But it must be remarked, that this increased
deposition of dew on the neighboring fields is partly due to the
forests themselves; for the dense saturated strata of air which
hover over the woods, descend in cool, calm evenings, like
clouds, to the valley, and in the morning, beads of dew sparkle
on the leaves of the grass and the flowers of the field. Forests, in a word, exert in the interior of continents, an influence
like that of the sea on the climate of islands and of coasts;
both water the soil, and thereby insure its fertility."
Tree- Planting.-  Although the wooded regions,
as shown by the hyetal charts, have more abundant
moisture and more equally distributed than the
prairies, yet there is little doubt that, under suita
ble conditions, tree-planting may be successfully
extended over large areas which now show no evi
dences of ever having been clothed with arborescent
forms, first removing the light pulverulent soil so
rich in humus, and bedding the rootlets in the stiff
loamy subsoil; and as we push our conquests fiurther into the domain of the grasses, the trees first
* Schacht, "Les Arbres," quoted by Marsh.
I62 
TREE-PLANTING.
planted will have acquired the power of retaining
not only the existing humidity, but of abstracting
that which the winds bring from other quarters, and
causing it to be precipitated. Thus, I doubt not
that a century would very materially change the
existing outlines between woodland and prairie.
The effect of such tree-planting would be, as we
have shown, to break the,force of the fierce blasts
so destructive to fruit-cultuire; to modify the
extremes of heat and cold; to check the recurrence of droughts; to fill the brooklets with running water; and, at the same time, to beautify and
adorn the country.
Man appreciates these noblest types of the vegetable kingdom.  He loves their symmetrical form,
their spreading canopy of leaves, and their grateful
shade. * His ideas of the pleasures of a country
life are intimately connected with trees; and no
object is more beautiful or attractive than a park
with a carpet of bright greensward. Every farmer
* An ordinary observer, after viewing the long avenues of elms
which line the streets of Hadley, Northampton, New Haven, and
other New England villages, wonders at the dearth of shade-trees
which characterizes western villages, whose sites have been reclaimed
from the primeval forest; but a little reflection would convince him
that trees grown in the forest are mutually dependent upon one
another for support, and lack the canopy of foliage which is required
for shade. In clearing a forest, therefore, where isolated trees are left,
they are found to be deficient both in the spread of their roots and
limbs, and are liable to be toppled over by every careering blast.
Hence, then, shade-trees are the result of a second growth, and under
different climatic conditions.
i63 
FOREST-CULTURE.
can commence a grove, and though he may not
hope to enjoy its shade, it will be a highly-prized
heritage to his children.
Our ideas of rural felicity are,-a country of
sufficient relief and depression of surface to admit
of perfect drainage, divided in proper proportions
between woodland, pasture, meadow, and field;
with springs gushing out from the shaded recesses
of the forest, and furnishing perennial water to the
streams which flow through the lowlands; with the
rising knoll crowned by a neat painted farm-house
and ample barns, protected by locust groves or
fruit-bearing orchards, alike from winter winds and
summer heats; with fields enclosed by well-trimmed
hedges, and pastures dotted with clumps of trees,
to which cattle can resort for shelter from the midday sun or the drifting storm; while, as a conspicuous feature in the landscape, should stand out in
bold relief, the village church and village schoolhouse, a sign and symbol of the morality and intelligence of its inhabitants;-and such a landscape
can be created almost every where in the fertile
prairie-region of the West.
God bless, then, the man who plants a tree!whether by the dusty roadside or on the grassy
plain; for thereby he renders himself a public benefactor.  The pedestrian, foot-sore and weary, as he
pauses beneath its shade, shall bless him; the patient
i64 
IRRIGATION.
ox, with lolling tongue, shall bless him; his children
and his children's children, as they gather in sportive
group beneath its sheltering boughs, shall remember
him.   Not to the wandering Arab is the recollection of the solitary palm on the desert, overhanging a fountain, more grateful than is to us the
village elm, associated with childhood's sports.
These associations touch a chord in the memory
of every one, which shall cease to vibrate only
with life itself. The Charter Oak, the Big Elm of
Boston Common, the Willow of Pope, and the
Mulberry of Shakespeare, each has become historical. Again we say, God bless the man who plants
a tree I
IRRIGATION.
Another method by which the aridity of the
plains can be modified, under favorable conditions,
is by irrigation,-an art practised by the early
inhabitants of both continents, who represented the
highest civilization then attained. The plains which
contain the sites of Nineveh and Babylon, were
irrigated by the surplus waters of the Tigris and
Euphrates, distributed in a series of canals through
the cultivated fields. Layard describes the ruins
of an immense artificial mound erected in the heart
of the AssJ iiaa capital, built up with  terraces,
i65 
IRRIGATION.
planted with the choicest flowers, and irrigated by
fountains, -a work constructed by one of the monarchs as a tribute of respect to the queen-consort,
who had been born in a mountainous region, and
desired some reminiscence of her youthful home.
From the earliest ages, too, this system has been
practised in the valley of the Nile, and the area
thus cultivated, as indicated  by the abandoned
and nearly filled-up canals, was far more extensive
under the Pharaohs than at this day. In Armenia,
Palestine, India, and China, in fact throughout most
Oriental countries, there is evidence that this practice prevailed; and, without supposing an abandonment of it, we can not account for the diminished
fertility of the soil, and the decimation of the population.
When the Spaniards invaded Peru, they found
the country developed by a great system of internal
improvements;-an artificial road more than a thousand miles in length, forming a line of communication through all the different provinces of the
empire, the road-bed either macadamized or paved
with flat stones; ravines and rivers spanned by
bridges of stone, or wood, or rope; distances
marked by mile-stones; station-houses of well-cut
stone at convenient intervals; aqueducts for bringing water to the caravansaries; and cisterns for
retaining water to irrigate the cultivated fields. As
I66 
COLORADO.
the Peruvians used no wheeled vehicles, the mountain steeps were scaled by long flights of steps
with resting-places at proper intervals. Humboldt
remarks that nothing he had seen of the remains of
Roman roads in Italy, in the South of France, or
in Spain, was more imposing than these works of
the ancient Peruvians; and Hernando Pizarro, the
brother of the Conqueror, exclaimed:  "In  the
whole of Christendom, there are no where such
fine roads as those which we here admire." * Not
the least of the evils inflicted on the country by
the more warlike and, we might add, less civilized
Spaniards, was the destruction of the aqueducts and
cisterns by which the supplies of water were regulated.
In Piedmont and Lombardy, according to Marsh,
irrigation is bestowed on almost every crop, and
the amount of water each day distributed over the
plains would equal the entire volume of the Seine.
This system has been successfully introduced
along the slopes of the Rocky Mountains. The
farming  operations of the  Mormons  exhibit a
degree of thrift, and are attended with results,
which it would be difficualt for the prairie farmer
of Illinois to parallel. The same results have been
achieved in Colorado. The wheat thus grown is
of the choicest kind, and the yield is far beyond
* " Aspects of Nature."
I67 
IRRIGATION.
that known in the most favored regions of the Mississippi Valley. When it is ripened, the water is
withdrawn, and the farmer may gather the crops at
leisure, secure against blight or rains. The prices
of wheat and beef at Denver are less than at Chi
cago.
California has astonished the world by becoming
a wheat-exporting region, but whether she will
maintain this position, is a matter of doubt. Colton,
who resided there during the early occupation by
the Americans, says:
"Some of the largest crops that ever rewarded the toil of
the husbandman, have been gathered in California; and yet
those very localities, owing to a slender fall of winter rains,
have next season disappointed the hopes of the cultivator.
The farmer can never be certain of an abundant harvest, till
he is able to supply the deficiency of rain by irrigation." *
Antisell states that
"The annual fall of rain in the central counties is about 20
inches. In the south, it ranges from I0 to I2 inches. As this
quantity does not suffice to keep the rivers running throughout
the year, or to soak the soil thoroughly with moisture, irrigation is necessary during the summer months.  In the latter
period of the year, every thing languishes for drought, and the
valleys that blossomed like the rose in March and April, with
every wild flower, rare, beautifil, or fragrant, becomes from
July to August, brown, parched, fissured, and the abode of the
grasshopper and reptile. During October, sooner or later with
the latitude, comes the first rain, and vegetation starts afresh
into life and variety." t
* "Three Years in California.'
t "Pacific Railroad Survey," Vol. VII.
i68 
COLORADO PLATEAU.
During the rainy season, all of the agricultural
operations are carried on. "The whole of the
rain," he continues, "does not come at once, but
at intervals, like the former and the latter rain of
Judea."
In the Valley of the Santa Clara, the varieties
known  as "California bearded" wheat  and the
"Chile" are cultivated. The seed is of good size
and white, and the yield is from forty to fifty bushels to the acre. Barley yields seventy-five bushels,
and oats one hundred.
The Colorado Desert is inhospitable, not so
much by reason of the poverty of the soil, as
absence of moisture, only requiring the presence
of this condition to quicken vegetation into life,
and secure to the cultivator abundant crops. The
barometrical measurements carried over the valley,
show that it is so much lower than the stream that
it may be successfully irrigated. Capt. Humphreys
gives the area as 4,500 square miles, or four
times greater than that of the-cultivated land of the
Mississippi, between the mouth of Red River and
the Balize, that may be rendered cultivable.
The Colorado Plateau, or the Mesa formation of
New Mexico, consists of broad uplands, abruptly
terminated, according to Parry, by steep mnural
declivities, bounding narrow valleys of erosion, or
presenting isolated buttes and fantastically castel
I69 
IRRIGATION.
lated rocks. The uplands are almost bare of detri
tal materials, while the valleys afford strips of land
adapted to agriculture. The Pueblo Indians are
enabled to cultivate the soil, availing themselves
of the inundations of the rivers, and to pasture their
flocks by shifting them at different seasons to different exposures, which involves a nomadic life.
The region to the east of the Rio Grande presents a far different aspect, and an increase of
moisture alone is required to render it fertile
beyond compare. Newberry thus describes it:
"For seventy-five miles after leaving Santa Fe', and proceeding east, we were involved in the spurs of the Rocky Mountains, and were passing through a remarkably picturesque and
beautiful region, in which the surface is nearly equally shared
between rocky, ragged, and pine-covered Sierras, and open,
grassy valleys, through which flow streams of the purest water,
fed by the melting of the snows. In this interval, we crossed
the rim of the Great Mississippi Valley and began to descend
its western slope. * * * Tnhe soil became more fertile, the
vegetation more varied. The summer showers by which we
were drenched, were for a time so refreshing a novelty that we
scarcely cared to avoid them. By all these and other signs,
we saw that we were emerging from the vast arid area [the
Colorado Plateau], in which many preceding months had been
passed, where sterility was the rule and productiveness the
marked exception, and were approaching the region where a
flowing stream is not a wonder, and where an unbroken sheet
of vegetation covers the soil. * * The contrast of physical
features presented by the plains east and west of the mountains
is not merely of abstract interest. It involves all of the economical differences between a nearly uninhabitable desert and
perhaps the best agricultural region of the Continent." *
*' Pacific Railroad Surveys," Vol. XI.
I7o 
ROCKY-MOUNTAIN SLOPE.
So far from Providence having doomed these
plains to everlasting sterility, they will be cultivated whenever population shall press on the
means of subsistence; and the waters of the Platte,
Kansas, Canadian, and Arkansas, will be gathered
in reservoirs and distributed by canals through cultivated fields, like those of the Tigris and Euphrates,
as in olden time. On the banks of the Euphrates
was founded a city which the prophet pronounced
"the glory of kingdoms," and the plains of Shinar
sustained another city of nearly equal magnificence,
whose "merchants" were "multiplied above the
stars of heaven."
I7 I 
CHAPTER VI.
CLIMATE.
DEFINITION OF CLIMATE - ATMOSPHERIC CURRENTS - RAINS
AND WINDS - CLOUD-BURSTS - ISOTHERMAL LINES - GULF STREAM-EVAPORATIVE POWER OF WINDS - ISOTHERMS OF
THE UNITED STATES- CLIMATE OF THE PACIFIC AND GREAT
BASIN- PHENOMENA OF THE SEASONS-TABLE OF TEM PERATURES-OF RAIN PRECIPITATION.
Defnition of Climate.-Climate, in its most
extended sense, embraces a great variety of phenomena; such as the ever-varying changes of the
atmosphere, the direction of the winds, the precipition of rains, the distribution of temperature, the
organic development of plants, and the conditions
of animal life. Each of these branches, properly
illustrated, would comprise a treatise; but we must
content ourselves with announcing general results
which have been recorded by numerous explorers
in this domain of nature. Much information as to
the distribution of winds and rains, which properly
belongs to this subject, has already been anticipated
in the preceding Chapters. 
ATMOSPHERIC CURRENTS.
Atmospheric Currents.-We  may regard the
earth as surrounded by two oceans,-one aerial and
the other aqueous.  The height of the atmosphere
has been assumed at fifty miles; but, owing to the
difference of temperature at the Equator and at the
Poles (as 80~ to o), it is unequal, amounting to a
difference of about four miles. Owing, also, to the
rapidly-decreasing density of air, as we ascend into
celestial space, one-half of the mass is compressed
into a limit of three and one-half miles, which is
less than the height of the culminating points of
several of the great mountain chains, such as the
Himalaya and the Andes; and hence it may be
inferred, that those tremendous perturbations, as
manifested in the tornado or hurricane, whose track
is marked on the surface by indiscriminate ruin,
extend to no great height in the region of space.
Henry, in his "Contributions to Meteorology,"
has so well explained the complex system of winds
that we shall avail ourselves of his explanation, but
with some condensation.
If the earth were at rest, he remarks, it is obvious
that the air, expanded by the sun's heat at the Equiator, would rise up and flow over, descending, as it
were, an inclined plane towards the poles, where it
would reach the earth's surface, and flow back to
the Equator, and thus a perpetual circulation would
be maintained. It is further evident that, since the
173 
CLIMATE.
meridians of the earth converge, all the air that
rose at the Equator would not flow along the upper
surface entirely to the Poles, but the greater portion
would proceed no further north and south than latitude 300, for the surface of the earth, contained
between the parallel of this degree and the Equator,
is equal to that of half of the whole hemisphere.
Portions, however, in the Northern Hemisphere
would flow on, to descend at different points
further north; and of these portions, some probably
would reach the pole, and there sink to the surface
of the earth, and from that point diverge in all
directions in the form of a northerly wind. Between the two ascending currents near the Equator
there would be a region of calms, or variable
winds. The currents which flow over towards the
poles would descend with the greatest velocity
at the coldest point, because there the air would be
densest.
Now, the earth is in rapid motion on its axis,
from west to east; and every particle of air, therefore, flowing from the north to the Equator, would
partake of the motion of the place at which it
started, and would reach in succession lines of
latitude moving more rapidly than itself. It would,
therefore, lag behind continually, and appear to
describe on the surface of the earth a slightly
curvilinear course towards the west; and hence
174 
ATMOSPHERIC CURRENTS.
the Northeast Trades in the Northern Hemisphere,
and the Southeast Trades in the Southern Hemisphere, where the conditions are reversed, but both
blowing towards the belt of greatest rarefaction.
The particles of air approaching the equator will
not ascend in a perpendicular direction, but will
rise continually as they advance towards the west
along an ascending plane, and will continue for a
time their westerly motion in the Northern Hemisphere. After they have commenced their return
towards the north, and until they arrive at parts of
the earth moving more rapidly than themselves,
they will gradually curve towards the east, and
finally descend earthward, to become again a part
of the surface Trade Winds from the northeast.
The atoms will move westward as they ascend:
I. On account of the momentum in that direction;
and, 2. Because, as they reach a higher elevation,
they will have less easterly velocity than the earth
beneath. They will also be affected by another
force, first pointed out by Mr. Ferrell, due to the
increase of gravity which a particle of matter experiences in traveling in a direction opposite to that
of the rotation of the earth. The last-mentioned
cause of deflection will operate in an opposite
direction on atoms when they assume an easterly
course.   The  result of the complex  conditions
under which the motive-power acts in such a case,
I75 
CLIMATE.
would be to produce a system of circuits inclined
to the west, the eastern portion of which would be
at the surface, and the western portion at different
elevations, even to the top of the atmosphere.
The greater portion of the circulation would
descend to the earth within 30~o of the equator,
giving rise to the Trade Winds; another portion
would flow further north, and produce the Southwest Winds; and another portion, flowing still
further north, would descend to the earth as a
Northwest Wind. The air which descends in the
region of the North Pole would not flow directly
southward; but, on account of the rotation of the
earth, would turn towards the west, and become a
northeasterly current.   It might appear, at first
sight, that the north wind which descends from the
polar regions would continue its course along the
surface, until it joined the Trade Winds within the
tropics; but this could not be the case, on account
of the much greater western velocity which this
wind would acquire from the rapidly-increasing
rotary motion as we leave the pole. *
Thus it is that we have different belts of air
encircling the earth with girdles, divided, as it
were, by impenetrable walls. In the circumpolar
region of the North, we have the girdle of Southwest Currents, bounded by the Calm Belt of Can
* Professor Joseph Henry, "Patent Office Report," I856.
i76 
ATMOSPHERIC CURRENTS.
cer; in the circumpolar region of the South, the
girdle of Northwest Currents (at right-angles to the
former), bounded by the Calm Belt of Capricorn.
Within the tropics, we have, north of the Equator,
the girdle of Northeast Trades, and south (at rightangles), the girdle of Southeast Trades, with the
Movable Belt of Variable Winds and Constant
Precipitation, whose action is regulated by the
advance and recession of the sun, during the progress of the seasons. (Vide Plate I.) This gives
rise to the periodicity, in the tropics, of winds and
rains. The breadth, too, of the several belts varies,
being contracted into a smaller space towards the
poles during the winter, and expanded into a wider
space during the summer.
If the earth were a sphere perfectly smooth, the
flow of the winds, as thus defined, would be uniform; but it is crested with ridges, the culminating
points of which in some instances pierce, as we
have seen, at least one-half of the mass of the
aerial envelope, and hence interrupt that uniformity
of flow, giving force and direction to local winds.
The inclination of the earth's orbit to the Equator
(23~ 27' 54.8"), and the inclination of its axis to its
orbit (66~ 32'), give origin to a great variety of
changes which exert a marked influence on animal
and vegetable life. If the earth's Equator coincided
with the Ecliptic, the sun would pursue an unvary       I2
177 
CLIMATE.
ing round, and to the inhabitants of the Poles it
would never appear, except on the verge of the
horizon. The days and nights would be of equal
duration, the winds would blow constantly in one
direction, and the difference between summer and
winter temperature would be unknown. Instead
of the vicissitudes of the seasons,-spring, with
every valley and plain covered with new-born verdure; summer, with its maturing fruits and harvests;
autumn, with its rustling and shriveled leaves; and
winter, with its ice-bound streams and mantle of
snow; -we should have at the Equator, eternal
summer; at the verge of the Tropics, eternal
spring; and within the Arctic Circle, which now,
during the short-lived summer, is made verdant by
a covering of Alpine blossoms, would reign eternal
ice.
Rains.-The ocean receives into its abyss the
superabundant moisture of the land, and at the
same time is the great source from which it emanates.  The heated air which ascends from the
Equator up into the regions of space, is saturated
with moisture gathered in its passage across these
wide expanses of water. The ocean may be compared to an enormous sponge, whose capacity for
absorption is in direct proportion to its power of
expansion. As the heated column ascends, it con
178 
CONDITIONS OF RAIN-FALL.
stantly encounters a diminished temperature, which
condenses its volume, and causes it to part with a
portion of its moisture, which descends under the
form of fog, or dew, or hail, or rain, or snow, or
ice.
This action is more energetic under the direct
rays of the sun than in the cold glare of an Arctic
night; and hence it is, theoreticaZly, that the greatest precipitation takes place within the tropics, and
the least within the circumpolar regions. Humboldt estimates that the average rain-fall at the
Equator is 96 inches; at latitude i9~, So80 inches; at
45~, 29 inches; at 60o, 17 inches. But there are
disturbing causes, such as the configuration of the
country by reason of lofty mountain chains, vast
sandy plains, oceanic expanses, etc., as we have
before shown, which modify the flow of atmospheric currents; so that these speculations are
nearly valueless.
There are two conditions of the atmosphere
under which precipitation ordinarily takes place:
I. Where two  equal portions of air at different
temperatures, completely saturated with moisture,
are mingled together, so as to partake of the mean
temperature of the whole mass; and, 2. As in
thunder-storms, due to the electrical action of the
clouds, where the hygrometric moisture of the air
is held in suspension by the mutual repulsion of the
I79 
CLIMATE.
particles, until the electricity, which is the sustaining power, is withdrawn, when the particles coalesce
and descend by the force of gravitation. To enter
into an explanation of all these complex phenomena
would lead to a wide digression from the objects
of this Chapter; but it may be said that, through
the ocean, with its connecting springs and rivers, a
harmonious circulation of moisture is perpetually
maintained over the whole of our planet, which
may be compared to the flow of blood from the
heart, through the arteries and veins of the human
system, each pulsation of the great centre communicating a vital force to the very extremities.
In making an application of these general principles to the Great Valley, it may be said that its
configuration is such as to show marked peculiarities, both in reference to temperature and the
distribution of moisture, which separate it in some
degree from the Atlantic Slope, and widely from
the Great Basin and the Pacific Slope. Walled in,
as we have seen, both on the east and west, by two
diverging mountain chains, and presenting between
the Gulf of Mexico and the Arctic Sea no elevation
much to exceed 2,000 feet, there is no great barrier
to arrest the flow of the hot southerly winds of
summer, or the cold northerly winds of winter; in
this respect presenting far different structural relations from those of the northern portion of the
180 
TIIUNDER-GUSTS.
Eastern Hemisphere.  Though included mainly in
the Belt of Southwest Winds, yet, owing to the
configuration of the country, as before shown, it
draws its supplies of moisture from the Northeast
Trades, which, during one-half of the year, traversing the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico
before striking the land, bear the warmth of those
waters far inland, and communicate to the region
the peculiar semi-tropical character of its summers;
while, during the other half of the year, the cold
blasts of the north sweep down unopposed into the
lower latitudes, producing all of the rigors of an
Arctic winter. We have already adverted to the
effects of these extremes of temperature upon the
forest-growth, and shall have occasion to describe
their influence in determining the range of those
plants which are cultivated for human food.
The phenomena often attending the summer
precipitation are these: Day after day, under the
influence of a southwest wind, the thermometer
will mark a temperature of 9go~ or even Ioo00~ F.,
and however violent the wind, it brings no refreshing coolness, but rather increased languor. The
sun glows with a fierceness and intensity unknown
in the tropics, and the air itself seems to be deprived
of ozone, or that principle of oxygen which communicates life and energy to the system. But at
length there comes a change.  A cloud is seen to
IsI 
CLIMATE.
gather in the north or northwest, which gradually
unrolls its murky folds as it advances against the
wind. The sky becomes overcast, and almost the
darkness of night succeeds. Then there is a lull.
The wind suddenly veers to an opposite point, and
sweeps down with careering force. The air is filled
with dust, and the foliage of the trees sways to and
fro. The rain descends in torrents, accompanied
by loud peals of thunder and intense flashes of
lightning. Gradually the rain abates, the clouds
disperse, the sun comes out, a rainbow spans the
sky, new life is infused into the air, and every
organism, whether animal or vegetable, is refreshed
and invigorated.
There are ordinarily two or three of these heated
terms in the course of the summer season, terminated by abrupt changes of temperature. The
prairie region, having no forest-belts to break the
force of these thunder-gusts, suffers from their visitations; and each year there are recorded instances
from this cause, of the loss of life and the destruction of property. In the great northern forests,
even, are to be seen wide tracks where every tree
is prostrate, provincially known as " windfalls."
Cloud-Bursts.-Standing at Denver, in a clear
summer's afternoon, and looking west at the long
I82 
CLOUD-BURSTS.
range of mountains in whose gulches snow is
perennial, a cloud may often be seen to rise up
in a straight column, like the smoke of a volcano,
and gradually spread out like the covering of an
umbrella. Another cloud will rise up in another
quarter and assume the same shape, until at length
there is a mingling of vapors with electrical explosions, when there falls a gentle shower, extending
often to a region which, but for these local phenomena would be nearly rainless. Soon the sun
shines out, and the sky is cloudless. But these
manifestations of electrical phenomena are not
always equally harmless. Explorers in the Great
Basin describe wide washes of coarse gravel, which
bear unmistakable evidence of the action of violent
torrents, which occasionally pour down the valleys
and involve every thing in a common ruin.
These phenomena are known as " cloud-bursts,"
and are frequently of such violence as to endanger
life. The appearance is described by Mr. Harrison
"as if an inverted whirlwind was drawing from
the cloud immense quantities of water, which it
dashed in floods against the mountain sides." By
these floods, he had known trees to be uprooted,
and rocks transported to considerable distances.
On one occasion, the water in the canion was thirty
feet deep. These storms are in the nature of a
I83 
CLIMATE.
water-spout, and occur when elsewhere the sky is
clear and cloudless. *
In the region of Texas, and extending far up the
Plains, there is a peculiar wind, experienced in the
first months of the year, known as "a norther."
The wind will blow from the Gulf for many days,
bringing with it a summer heat. Man, under its
influence, feels an oppressive languor, while vegetation quickens into life; but almost instantaneously
the weather-cock veers to the north, and a cold blast
succeeds. Instances are recorded where the temperature has suddenly dropped from 84~ to 360.
During the winter, in Canada, the cold winds
are northwest; in the Middle States, west; and in
Texas, north. The winter storms are usually preceded by southerly winds, and are attended with
great fluctuations of the barometer. To these succeed cold westerly winds, during which the mercury
occasionally drops to -20~.
Of all the storms, however, in the temperate
region, the most cheerless and tantalizing to him,
particularly, who is sensitive to rheumatic twinges,
are those known  as "northeasters."  They  are
long-continued, and are accompanied by a chilling
sensation not characteristic of rains from other
quarters. These storms are rare in the Gulf region,
but are felt, though in diminished force and fre *W. J. Young, of Boise City, in "Smithsonian Report," I867.
184 
ATMOSPHERIC MOVEMENTS.
quency, west of the Mississippi.   The  general
cloud-movement, north of latitude 30~, is from
west to east, whatever may be the direction of the
surface current. The fact that a northeast storm
may originate at Pittsburg or Washington, when
a west wind is blowing at Boston, is pretty conclusive that the saturation of the under current is
not derived from the Atlantic. This fact, first
observed by Franklin, is recognized by men
engaged in the practical pursuits of navigation.*
Without further detail as to the atmospheric
movements, we submit the following summary:
I. That the Northeast Trades, deflected in their
course to south and southeast winds, in their passage through the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of
Mexico, are the warm and moist winds which
communicate to the Mississippi Valley and the
Atlantic Slope, their fertility.
2. That the prevalence of these winds from May
to October, communicates to this region a subtropical climate.
3. That, in the region bordering on the Gulf of
* Mr. Prescott states that the owner of a line of steamers plying
between Boston and Portland, employs an agent in New York to
transmit to him daily reports of the weather. If foul, he sends a message at 8 A.M.; if a storm comes up, he sends another at noon; and
another at 3 o'clock P.M., giving a full statement of its progress. If
violent, the owner then orders the Portland boat to remain in harbor;
and next determines whether the Boston boat can reach Portland
before the storm can overtake her.  (" History Electric Telegraph.")
I85 
CLIMATE.
Mexico, the atmospheric disturbances are propagated from south to north; but in the Northern and
Middle States, owing to a prevailing upper current,
from west to east.
4. That while this upper current is cool and dry,
and we have the apparent anomaly of rain-storms
traveling from west to east, at the same time the
moisure supplying them comes from the south.
5. That, in the winter, the south and southeast
winds rise into the upper current, while the west
and northwest winds descend and blow as surface
winds, accompanied by an extraordinary depression
of temperature, creating, as it were, an almost
Arctic climate.
6. That the propagation of the cold winds from
west to east, is due to the existence of a warmer
and lighter air to the eastward.
7. That in summer the westerly currents seldom
blow with violence, because, in passing over the
heated plains, they acquire nearly the same temperature as the southerly currents; but in winter,
these conditions are reversed.
Isothermnal Lines.-Before the laws of climatology were understood, it was customary to judge
of the mean temperature of a place by its distance
from the Equator; but with the progress of physical geography, it was found that the influence of
i86 
ISOTHERMAL LINES.
radiation was essentially modified by the presence
of large oceanic or continental areas. Humboldt
was the first to connect together, by certain lines,
those places which possessed the same degree of
temperature; and he extended the application,
by lines uniting places where the summer temperature was the same, and the places where the winter
temperature was the same. The lines of mean
annual temperature were termed Isothermal; those
of mean winter temperature, Isochimenal; and
those of mean summer temperature, Isotherial.
The lines of mean winter and summer temperature, when traced around the earth, are not parallel,
but exhibit convex and concave summits, and often
describe sharp curves. The mean annual temperature of two places may be equal, and yet the summer and winter temperatures may present the most
abrupt contrasts. Compare, for instance, Dublin,
Ireland, with West Point, New York:
Summer.
59.6
71 3
II.7+
Lat.
Dublin..... 53~23'
West Point..4I~23'
Difference...        2~
We are first struck with the difference in latitude,
Dublin being I2~ further north; and next, while
the mean temperature of the year is about the
same, the winters are more than io~ colder, and
the summers more than i~0 warmer, thus making
I87
Meat.
49. I
50.7
I.6
Winter.
4o.2
29.7
IO.5
S.pring.
47.x
48.7
I.6
Autumn.
49'7
53.2
3-5 
CLIMATE.
an extreme difference of nearly 22~ in the yearly
variation between the two points. And yet Ireland,
with her equable climate and moist skies, where
the orange may remain out-doors unfrosted, all the
year round, can not mature those fruits and grasses
which fully ripen on the banks of the Hudson.
The deflection of the isothermal lines to the south,
in passing from the western coast of Europe to the
eastern coast of the United States, is equivalent to
about II~ of latitude, or nearly 700 geographical
miles. The reason of this, when we come to conmprehend all of the phenomena, is obvious.
The Gulf-Stream.-This current, with a mean
temperature of 80~, sets over from the coast of
Africa, into the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of
Mexico, then abruptly curves around the extreme
peninsula of Florida, and conforms in its course to
the trend of the Atlantic Slope as far north as latitude 400, when it is deflected northeast, and spreads
itself in a fan-like shape over the cold waters of
Western Europe, from Spitzbergen to the Bay of
Biscay; throwing upon those shores the warmth
and moisture gathered in the'tropics, and communicating an equable climate unknown to the eastern
portion of the United States.
I88 
OCEANIC CURRENTS.
The  Arctic  Currenl.-  The  Arctic  Current
which, setting from Baffin's Bay, flows along the
coasts of Labrador and Newfoundland, interposes
a zone of cold water between the Gulf-Stream and
the land, which refrigerates the region far inland.
The winds, too, which prevail on the land, are cold
westerly winds, and off-shore, thus bearing the
warmth and moisture of the Gulf-Stream away
from the United States. This is evident from the
fact that a vessel often in approaching the coast, in
mid-winter, finds her shrouds and decks encased in
ice, so much so as to render her nearly unmanageable.   Reversing her course, a few  hours' run
brings her into a summer heat; the ice drops from
her shrouds, the frosted crew are warmed by the
soft breath of the Gulf-Stream, and are reinvigorated to encounter again the perils of a winter's
sea.
The harbor of St. John has been known to
remain closed until June, while that of Liverpool,
two degrees further north, is never obstructed by
ice.  A  native of the British Isles, taking up his
abode in New York, finds a climate almost the
reverse of that to which he has been accustomed;
a summer as hot as that of Rome, and a winter as
cold as that of Copenhagen.
We can conceive of changes in the relative level
of the land and sea, by which Western Europe
I89 
CLIMATE.
would assume climatic conditions such as prevailed during the Drift epoch. A German physicist (Harwig) has remarked:
" If we suppose the narrow isthmus of Central America to
be sunken in the ocean, the warm equatorial current would
no longer follow its circuitous route around the Gulf of Mexico,
but pour itself through a new opening directly into the Pacific.
We should then lose the warmth of the Gulf-Stream; and
cold Polar currents, flowing further south, would take its place,
and be driven on our coasts by western winds. The North
Sea would resemble Hudson's Bay, and its harbors would be
free from ice only in summner. The power and prosperity of
its coasts would shrivel under the breath of winter; commerce,
industry, fertility of soil, and population, would disappear;
and the vast waste - a new Labrador - would become a
worthless appendage of some clime more favored by nature."
Between the eastern coast of the United States
and the western coast of Europe, there is a similarity in the equable precipitation of rain, but a
marked dissimilarity in the temperature of the seasons. Between the western coast of the United
States and the western coast of Europe, there is a
marked similarity in the temperature of the seasons,
but a marked dissimilarity in the distribution of
rains.
Evaporative Pozer ofthe Winds. -While the
annual fall of rain in the British Isles averages 36
inches, that of the Atlantic coast is 44 inches.
The air of the latter region is dryer, notwithstand
I9o 
EVAPORATION.
ing this excess of rain, for the reason that its evaporative power is greater. This arises from two
causes: -the greater proportion of cloudless skies,
and the higher temperature of the summers. Comparing Cambridge, Massachusetts, with Whitehaven, England,- one of the most copiously
watered points in the British Isles,-we find that
the annual precipitation is nearly the same (44.48
inches and 45.25.inches), and that the annual evaporation is as 56 to 30.03 inches.
The  United  States  enjoy a serenity of sky
unknown to Great Britain. While in one country
the crops are subject to drought with a great summer precipitation, in the other they are liable to be
injured by excess of moisture; while in the lower
latitudes of the United States the grasses shrivel
up and die, under the heats of a summer's sun, in
Ireland they preserve a perennial green. These
examples show that the dryness of a climate does
not depend upon a mere deficiency of rain, but
upon heat which expands the air and increases its
absorbing capacity, and upon the serenity of the
skies which permits evaporation to take place.
The air is the dryest in the hottest months, when
evaporation is the greatest; it contains the greatest
dampness in the coldest months, for the reason that
the moisture is condensed and thus rendered apparent.
IgI 
CLIMATE.
Isolherms of the United States.  (See Plate
II., at the end of the Chapter.) —In comparing
the climate of the Atlantic Slope with that of the
Great Valley, where it assumes the character of
treeless plains, it is found that, as we advance into
the interior, the summers become warmer and the
winters cooler. Great as are the extremes on the
sea-board, they become greater on the prairies,
thus showing the effect of the earth's radiation over
vast surfaces remote from internal seas, and deprived
of forest-belts. The presence of the ocean tends,
in some degree, to mitigate the excessive temperature of the Atlantic Slope, and the same effect is
produced by the forests which clothe not only the
crests but the slopes of the Alleghanies. The
Great Lakes also exercise a similar influence over
the adjacent regions.   Hence, as we  trace the
isotherms of spring and summner, say from New
York as a geographical point, they are found to
pursue a pretty uniform direction westerly until
they reach the western shore of Lake Michigan,
when they abruptly curve to the northwest, and at
longitude I05~ are found to have deviated about 8~
from the corresponding parallel of latitude. Capt.
Mullan, who was engaged in the Pacific Railroad
Surveys of this region, and was subsequently
detailed to open a wagon-road from Fort Benton
to the Columbia, gives several citations of mean
I92 
ISOTHERMS.
temperature.   That of Walla-Walla, in latitude
460, corresponds to that of Washington, latitude
38~;  that of Clark's Fork, 48~, to that of St.
Joseph's, Mo., 4I~; and that of Bitter-Root Valley,
46~, to that of Philadelphia, 40~.
In reference to the climatology of this region, he
remarks:
"As early as the winter of I853, which I spent in these
mountains (the Upper Missouri Valley), my attention was
called to the mild open region lying between the Deer-lodge
Valley and Fort Laramie, where the buffalo roamed in millions during the winter, and which, during that season, constituted the great hunting-grounds of the Crows, Blackfeet, and
other mountain tribes. * * * The meteorological statistics
collected during a great number of years, have enabled me to
trace an isochimenal line across the continent, from St.
Joseph's, Missouri, to the Pacific; and the direction taken by
this line is wonderful, and worthy the most important attention
in all future legislation that looks towards the travel and settlement of this country. This line, which leaves St. Joseph's, in
latitude 40~, follows the general line of the Platte to Fort Laramie, where, from newly-introduced causes, it tends northwesterly between the Wind-River Chain and the Black Hills,
crossing the summit of the Rocky Mountains in latitude 47~;
showing that in the interval from St. Joseph's, it had gained
6~ of latitude.   Tracing it still firther westward, it goes as
high as 480, and develops itself in a fan-like shape, on the
plains of the Columbia. From Fort Laramie to Clark's Fork,
I call this "an atmospheric river of heat," varying in width
from one to one hundred miles. On either side, north and
south, are walls of cold air, which are so clearly perceptible
that you always detect when you are on its shores." *
* Captain Mullan, " Guide to Oregon," etc., I865.
13
I93 
CLIMATE.
Captains Paliser and Blackstone, of the English
Army, accompanied by Dr. HIector as Geologist, in
their report of the Saskatchawan country, and of
the region lying between Lake Winipeg and the
Rocky Mountains, which are embraced in this
warm belt, state that there is an area of I,oo000o,o000oo
acres of fertile soil, where the winters are mild,
and where the Hudson Bay Company have produced  every crop  grown  in the Northwestern
States. In the Pembina Settlement, we know that
for years agriculture has been successfully prosecuted.
In explanation of these phenomena, it may be
said that the Rocky Mountains, as we have before
shown, attain their highest elevation south of the
South Pass, in the parallel of 39~ north, and as prolonged northward, they drop down and become
merged in hills of moderate elevation. Through
this depression, it is believed that the warm breath
of the Pacific, brought by the southwesterly winds,
flows, until it is met by the cooler currents which
prevail over the eastern slope of the Great Valley.
The effect of this flow is to modify the rigor of
the climate on the eastern slope of the Rocky
Mountains as far up even as Athabasca and the
Assiniboin, and to render subservient to agriculture
a region corresponding in latitude, on the Atlantic
Coast, with the inhospitable wastes of Labrador.
I94 
GULF COAST.
Along the Gulf Coast, the isothermal lines pursue
a nearly uniform parallelism with those of latitude,
until they strike the high table-lands of Western
Texas, when they are rapidly deflected south; but
in their passage across the Great Basin, are rapidly
deflected to the north.
The upper portion of the Mississippi Basin is
more directly exposed, in spring and summer, to
the warm, moist breath exhaled from the Gulf, than
the sea-board; and its effect is seen in the increased
duration of tropical heat, and the quickening power
communicated to vegetation. The profuse rains
which characterize this portion of the year, deprive
the climate largely of its continental features, and
dispense their fertilizing effects far towards the
base of the Rocky Mountains.
Climate of the Gulf Coast.-Along the Gulf
Coast, the climate assimilates in its features to that
of the tropics,-clear blue skies in the morning,
starlight nights, gentle showers at midday, and a
luxuriant vegetation, with large spreading leaves,unlike the vegetation of the Plains, where the dry
air concentrates the saps, and often communicates
to the plants an aromatic odor. But even here, the
fluctuations of temperature occasioned by the
change of air-currents, are very great. The south
winds sweeping over the Caribbean Sea and the
I95 
CLIMATE.
Gulf of Mexico, are moist and warm, while the
north winds, meeting with no barrier to arrest their
progress, and being overland, are dry and cold;
and hence the changes of temperature are abrupt.
At New Orleans, snow occasionally falls, and for a
short time whitens the ground. The frosts which
accompany the "northers" are of sufficient intensity to destroy the sugar-cane and cotton-plant; but
at the same time, while they do not strip the trees
of their leaves, they hardly admit of a perpetuallyverdant vegetation. The processes of fructification
and foliation are arrested, and the distinctions between summer and winter are faithfully preserved.
The effect of these two differences which we
have pointed out, between the climate of the Upper
Mississippi Valley and the Atlantic Slope,-to wit,
excess of moisture and warmth during the summer,
and deficiency of moisture during the fall and winter,-are conditions highly favorable to the growth
of the grasses, and unfavorable to the growth of
arboreal forms; a fact which nature seems to have
written in legible characters on the features of this
region.   If the conditions of equally-distributed
rains over the four seasons, which characterize the
climate of the sea-board, as before shown, existed
west of the Mississippi, it would greatly restrict the
area over which the cerealia can be cultivated, and
render uninhabitable a region which will hereafter
I96
I< 
PACIFIC SLOPE.
afford a vast range of pasturage to the domestic
herds.
In tracing the isotherms for the fall and winter
seasons, a depression of the lines, so far as relates
to the Upper Mississippi region, begins to manifest
itself during the autumnal months, which becomes
more marked as the season advances. Thus, St.
Paul's, which has the summer temperature of West
Point, has the winter temperature of Montreal; and
Fort Riley, which has the summer temperature of
Washington, has the winter temperature of New
York.
The Gulf Coast exhibits no marked deflections
of temperature until the Llano Estacado is
reached. The interposition of the Rocky Mountain Chain, many of whose peaks are snow-clad,
and many of whose sheltered valleys retain the
drifted snows during the entire year, causes a local
refrigeration of the air which is exhibited in a
series of abrupt curves, like the plications of strata
in a highly metamorphic mountain range.
Climate of IAe Pacific Slope.- Notwithstanding the equable temperature which characterizes
the immediate Pacific Coast, the foot-hills of the
Sierra Nevada and the Colorado Valley exhibit an
intensity of heat seldom indicated by the thermometer in other parts of the world, whether on the
I97 
CLIMATE.
Neva, the Senegal, the Ganges, or the Orinoco.
Humboldt has remarked that on no part of the
earth's surface, if the observations be properly
made in the shade, at a distance from all solid
bodies which radiate heat, and with thermometers
not filled with spirit which absorbs light, do the
readings range higher than between 93~ and I04~;
and that those excessive heats of I22~ and I33~,
recorded by Ritchie, in the oasis of Mourzouk,
must be ascribed to hot particles of sand floating
in the air.
At Ringgold Barracks, in the Rio Grande Valley,
the mean of the observations, at 3 o'clock P.M., for
the entire three summer months of I850, was IOI.20,
and the single extremes reached I0o70~ for each
month. Still higher readings are recorded in the
Colorado Valley, at Fort Yuma, and in the San
Joaquin Valley, at Fort Miller, reaching at the
former point 12I~, and at the latter II6~.*  Now,
when we reflect that the mean temperature of the
tropics, the region of the palms, is between 78.2~
and 85.5~, we see that, for continuous periods, the
Pacific Slope, and also the Colorado Valley, have a
climate where the heat is as excessive as within
the torrid zone; and occasionally the thermometer
marks as high a temperature on the borders of
Lake Superior, and even at Methy Lake (latitude
*Blodget, "Climatology of the United States."
I95 
OCEANIC CURRENTS.
560 36' 30" N., and longitude I09~ 52' 54" W.,) as
beneath the vertical rays of a tropical sun.
Oregon has an equable climate. The rains, as in
California, assume a periodic character, and winter
is the rainy season. As early as the middle of
February, the grounds are ploughed and planted.
Sitka lies in the region of constant precipitation,
and the annual rain-fall reaches 9go inches,-an
amount equal to that which ordinarily falls at the
Equator.  While here the winter temperature is
about the same as that of Washington City, or St.
Louis, the summer temperature is that of the northern
shore of Lake Superior. British Columbia and the
southern slope of what were lately the Russian
Possessions, now added to our domain, partake of
these equable features.
To account for these climatic conditions, it is
only necessary to study the topography of the
country in connection with the prevailing winds
and currents. The peninsula of Alaska juts far into
the Pacific, and is separated from Asia by Behring's
Straits, whose channel in the narrowest part is
only thirty miles broad and twenty-five fathoms
deep. Through these Straits, no icebergs from the
Polar Sea escape into the Pacific, but a warm current, setting in an opposite direction, enters these
regions of ice, while a cold current strikes the Californian coast as low down as San Francisco. This
I99 
CLIMATE.
region, too, is in the belt of Southwest Winds
which traverse a vast expanse of waters, warmed
by a tropical sun, before they strike the shore.
The country sinks down so as to permit their flow
inland, warming up the Athabasca and Saskatchawan regions, as before shown, until their influence
is destroyed by the continental conditions which
prevail in the interior.
Thus, then, it may be said that the conditions of
climate on the Atlantic Slope are continental, on
the Pacific Slope oceanic, while those of the Great
Interior Plain are of a mixed character, resulting
from the conflict of these two systems.
PHENAOMENA OF THE SEASONS.
Lake Superior Region.-That portion of the
region occupied by the great Coniferous forest, has
but two seasons, summer and winter. About the
middle of September, heavy gales sweep over the
lake, and hoar-frosts fall, nipping the leaves of the
deciduous trees, of which the maple is conspicuous,
and dyeing them with many-colored tints. Large
flocks of geese, arranged in a V-like form, are seen
winging their way southward, filling the air with
discordant notes, and the lesser water-fowl follow
in their track. By the middle of October, the snow
200 
AURORAS.
begins to fall, and to this succeeds an interval of
calm, lasting two or three weeks, when winter
sets in in earnest. The interior lakes are closed
with a thin covering of ice, and land and water are
wrapped in a mantle of snow, so that the ground
becomes frozen to no great depth. The dense
forest prevents the drifting of the snows, and the
warmth of the soil is retained until the opening of
spring.   The thermometer occasionally drops to
-3o~, followed by a dry, cold, and elastic northwest
wind, which seems to rob the temperature of its
intensity, so far as relates to its effects upon the
human system. The trapper, amid these intense
colds, and shod with snow-shoes, pursues his accustomed round, camping at night with his feet towards
the log-built fire, with no other covering than a
Mackinac blanket.
During the long winter nights, the northern sky
is frequently illumined with brilliant streaks of
variously-colored light, which reach to the zenith,
and then dissolve in luminous waves. So intense
are they at times as to communicate a crimson tint
to the snow, and clothe every object with an unnatural hue. The Northern Lights increase in number
and intensity in September and March, as though
there was an intimate connection between these
phenomena and the changes of the equinoxes.
The animal tribes are in various ways affected
20I 
CLIMATE.
by these protracted winters. The bear and hedgehog remain in a state of hybernation; the ermine
and the hare put on a robe of white; the beavers,
living in communities, erect houses several stories
in height, putting on the exterior coat after the
frosts have set in, that it may freeze hard, and thus
resist the attacks of their natural enemy, the wolverine. The fur-bearing animals are now in perfection, and in man they find their most remorseless
foe.
Towards the end of April, the streams become
released from their icy fetters. When the weather
has become so far mollified, as it ordinarily does by
the middle of March, to thaw at midday and freeze
at night, the sap of the maple begins to flow, and
then commences the sugar-harvest. This tree, as
far north as the shores of Lake Superior, clothes
most of the ridges, and the bird's-eye and curled
varieties are the most abundant. By the beginning
of May, when the sun's rays have acquired sufficient
power to dissolve the snows, the trees start from
their winter's sleep, and commence the process of
foliation with an activity unknown in lower latitudes; the air is vocal with the hum of insects; the
birds resume their accustomed haunts; and all
nature seems roused from a lethargic sleep.
In June, the thermometer often rises to 9go~0, and
the sun's rays have a scalding effect. In reference
202 
INSECT-LIFE.
to the heat of these northern latitudes, Richardson,
when on the Mackenzie River, entered on his journal that the irritability of the human frame is either
-greater, or the sun, notwithstanding its obliquity,
acts more powerfully than near the Equator; for he
had never felt its direct rays so oppressive within
the tropics, as he experienced in these sub-Arctic
regions. The luxury of bathing, even, is not without alloy; for if you choose the midday, you are
assailed in the water by the Tabani (moose-flies),
who draw blood in an instant with their formidable
lancets; and if you select the morning or evening,
clouds of mosquitoes, hovering around, fasten on
the first part that emerges.* But these are not the
only foes. The black fly on the high ridges is so
abundant that the wood-chopper has to go masked;
and on the sand-beeches, the midges, although
nearly microscopic, inflict a sting that burns like
the point of a glowing coal of fire. Thus, nothing
can be more uncomfortable than summer life in a
northern forest. The explorer is assailed by day
and night, whether by the lake-shore or on the
mountain-top, by myriads of insects thirsting for
his blood, who seem to make up in activity for the
brief period of their summer's existence.
The presence of so large a body of water as is
contained in the Great Lakes, modifies the range
* "Arctic Journey."
203 
CLIMATE.
of the thermometer, lessening the winter's cold and
the summer's heat. Lapham has given a map, illustrating in an accurate manner the effects of this
action, so far as relates to the State of Wisconsin.*
In freezing, the water evolves a large amount of
heat, and during the summer the winds are tempered in passing  over its surface.   When  the
unclouded sun sinks behind the western horizon, a
cool breeze commences blowing toward the heated
surface of the land; so that, however hot the day
may have been, the night is rarely sultry. In the
winter, the ice accumulates around the shores,
drifting with the prevailing winds, and it is rare
that the blue water is not seen beyond. When the
thermometer suddenly drops below zero,-the air
becoming far colder than the water,-vast columns
of vapor roll up from the surface, like the steam
from some great geyser; or, if a wind prevail, it is
'drifted like the smoke from a burning prairie.
This scud, when driven inland, invests every tree
and shrub with ice which, in the clear sunlight,
flashes back the rays like so many surfaces of the
purest crystal.
Climate of /he Plains.- The climate of the
Plains exhibits some peculiarities deserving of
notice,-such as the purity of the air; the cloudless
* " Chicago Academy of Sciences," Vol. I.
204 
RANGES OF TEMPERATURE.
skies during certain seasons, giving to the landscape
such sharply-defined outlines; the dewless nights;
the illusive phantoms of the mirage; and the feeling
of vastness which impresses every beholder as he
stands on some high swell, and in every direction,
sees the surface stretched out like a hemisphere.
As in the distant north there is a mingling of
spring and summer, so here the summer is protracted far into autumn.   This is the most delightful season of the year, characterized by an absence
of severe rain-storms, with a cool, bracing atmosphere, so gratifying to the physical system that
man exults "in the intense consciousness" of his
existence.
That delicious season known as "Indian summer" is often prolonged into December, when a
calm, soft, hazy atmosphere fills the sky, through
which, day after day, the sun, shorn of his beams,
rises and sets like a globe of fire. This peculiarity
is observed as far north as Lake Superior, but is
more conspicuous and protracted in Kansas and
Missouri, but does not extend south, into the lower
latitudes of the United States.
Thus it will be seen that the Mississippi Valley
possesses a great diversity of climate; and this is
naturally to be inferred, when we consider that it
extends through twenty degrees of latitude, and
that its western rim, at many points, rises into the
205 
CLIMATE.
region of perpetual snow, so that the traveller
may elect whether to breathe the pure and difficult
air of the mountains, or the soft and balmy air
wafted from the tropics.
206 
TABLE OF TEMPERATURES IN THE UNITED STATES.
Comniled from Blodget's " Climatology."
SPR'ING SUMM'I
o         o
Toronto, Canada,.........
Portland, Me.,.................
Portsmouth, N.H.,........
Cambridge, Mass.,..........
Amherst,      ".........
New York City.............
Albany, N.Y..............
Rochester, "............
Philadelphia, Pa............
Gettysburg,   "..........
Washington City...........
Charleston, S. C.,.............
Pensacola, Fla...............
Vera Cruz, Mexico,........
Mobile, Ala................
New Orleans, La...........
Galveston, Texas...........
Fort Towson, I. T.,..........
St. Louis, Mo...............
Cincinnati, O.,...............
Hudson, "............. 
Ann Arbor, Mich.,...........
Fort Wilkins, Lake Superior,
Fort Brady,       "     I
Milwaukee, Wis.............
Chicago, Ill.,..............                                  
Fort Madison, Iowa,........
St. Paul's, Minn.............           
Fort Scott, Kansas,.........
Fort Leavenworth,".....
Fort Riley,        ".....
Fort Kearney, Neb.,.........        8
Fort Laramie,   "..........
Great Salt Lake............
Fort Benton, Upper Mo.,....
Fort Union, Texas,.........
Santa Fe, New Mexico,......
Fort Yuma, Col.,............
San Francisco, Cal.,........
Sacramento,    "........
Fort Miller,    "........
Dalles of Columbia.........
Astoria, Oregon,...........                                  
Sitka, Alaska,..............
s
I
I
I
YEAR
ALT.
Feet.
AUT'MN WINTF,
STATIONS.
64-8
65.2
64-4
68.6
68.6
72. I
70-0
67.6
7I-0
7I.6
73-I
8o.6
Si-6
8i.5
82-7
82-3
82.5
79.,
76.2
73-0
70.2
66-3
6o.8
62.0
67-3
67-3
73-2
70.6
74-9
74- I
77-2
7I-5
7I-9
75.9
72.8
67.3
70-4.
90.0
6o. i
72.8
85.5
7o-3
6i.6
54-2
46.6
48- I
49-0
so. I
48-7
54-5
50.0
48-9
52. i
5I-I
,53-9
68. i
69.8
78-7
7I-0
70-7
70.2
6i.-3
55-4
55-0
48-4
48-4
43-0
43-5
50- I
48-8
53-I
45.9
55-3
53-7
6o.2
49 3
50-3
44-5
48-3
50.6
75.7
6o. i
6i -3
66-4
52.2
53.7
43-9
34I
20
20
7I
267
23
130
5o6
6o
6oo?
78
20
20
00
25
10
00
300?
450
550
I113I
700?
627
6oo
59I
59I
5,50?
820
4I-I
42.8
43.2
4.4-3
45-0
48.7
46.7
44.6
5o.6
so-O
54.2
65.8
6S.6
78.0
70.,
70-0
7I.0
62-4
54-I
54-3
49-1
45-5
38.,5
37.6
42-3
44-9
50.5
45.6
54.8
53-8
56.5
46.8
46.8
SI-7
49.9
48.'l
72. I
57.0
Sq.2
62.8
53-0
51-I
40-0
24-5
24.7
26.6
26.2
24.7
3I-4
26-o
27.0
32.6
30. I
33-9
5I.7
54-9
71.9
57.3
56.,5
53.8
43-9
32.3
32.9
28.8
25.3
21.8
18.3
26.o
25.9
26.3
i6.i
33-0
29.6
32-4
23-0
3I.I
32.I
25-4
32.6
3 I.6
56.8
5I.5
46-3
49-3
3,5.6
42-4
32.2
44-3
45.2
4,5-8
47-3
46.7
5I.7
48.2
47.0
5 i.6
50.7
S3-8
66.6
68.7
77-5
7o-3
69.9
69-4
6i.7
54-5
.53-8
49- I
46-4
40-1
40-4
46.4
46.7
50.8
44.6
54-5
52.8
56.6
47-7
50-11
48.2
49-1
.5o.6
73.6
57 2
'59 9
66.o
52.8
52.2
42.6
i,ooo?
S96
I,I47
2,36o
4,519
4,3,5 I
2,663
6,418
6,846
I20
so
50
402
350
50
50 
ANNUAL PRECIPITATION OF RAIN AT SEVERAL STA               TIONS IN THE UNITEI) STATES.
Comziled irinczpally from Blodget's "Chlimalology."
SUMMER. AUTUMN.  WINTER.   YEAR.
9.57    IO-33      4.29    31.35
IO.28    II.93    I1.93    45.25
9.2I     8.95      8.38    35-57
II.I7    I2.57      9.89    44.48
II.84    I1.39      9-70   43.I6
II.33    Io.30      9.63    42.23
12.3I 10.27         8.30    40-67
8.86     9-38      5-38    30.44
I2.45    Io.07    I0.06    43.56
I0.20     9-77      9.10   38.8I
9.87     8.23      7-48    34.96
10.52    IO. I6    II.07    4I.20
I8.68    II.6I      9.40    48.29
Ii6.8o 51.40         5.50  I83-20
I8.69    I3.7I     1.72    56.98
I8.oo    I3.9I      I8.27    64.42
17.28     9.62    12.71 50-9~
14.20     9.5~    I8-40    53.00
10.94     9-74     11.49    45-8,5
I4.36    12.23      8.94    5I.08
I4.14     8.94      6.94    42.32
I3.70     9.90    II.I5   46.89
8.87     6.I6      8 00    32.79
1I.20     7.0~      3.Io 28.60
8.88     7.01      3.31    23.87
9.97     10.76     5.18   3I-35
9.70 6.80          4.20    27.20
IO.92      5.98     I.92    25.43
I5.90    I4-50      4-70    50.50
I6.37     8-39      4-79    42.12
I2.24     7-33      2.75   30.29
7.I5     5.58      I.26    2I.90
I2.05     3.82      1.3I    27.98
5.70     3.96      I.63    I9.98
9.62     5.I2      2.03     I9.24
3-56     5-25      I.7o    II 2I
8.90     6.o2      2.08    I9.83
I.30     o.86     0-72       3-IS
0.09 2 96    II.34    2I.95
0.00     6.6I      12.1     25.73
0.02     2.80      9.79    22.I8
4.o0 2I.77    44.15   86.35
3.85    I5.83    22.62    53-49
0-42     3.78      6.98    I3.8I
I5.75    32.IO   23.77    89-94
STATIONS.          SPRING.
Toronto, Canada...........    7. 16
Portland, Me.,.............. I2.II
Portsmouth, N. H.,..........0          9.03
Cambridge, Mass.,..........   Io0.85
Amherst,      ".........      IO....0.23
New York City............ 11I.55
Albany, N.Y.,............. 9.79
Rochester, "............    6.62
Philadelphia, Pa.,.......... I0.97
Gettysburg,   "............9.74
Pittsburg,   "...........     93 9.38
Washington, D. C.,........ IO0.45
Charleston, S. C.,.......... 8.60
Vera Cruz, Mexico,......... 3I.90
Pensacola, Flor.,.......... I2.86
Mobile, Ala.,.............. 14.24
New Orleans, La........... 11.29
Jackson, Miss.,............. Io0.9o0
FortJessup, La.,...........  13.68
Fort Towson, I. T........ I5.55
St. Louis, Mo.............. I2.30
Cincinnati, O.,............. I2.I4
Hudson,    "............... 9.76
Ann Arbor, Mich.,.......... 72 7.3        0
Mackinac,    "........6 4.67
FortBrady,  "                  549........  5.44
Milwaukee, Wis.,........... 6.60
St. Paul, Minn.,........... 6.6I
Fort Madison, Iowa,........ I15.30
Fort Scott, Kansas.......... I2.57
Fort Leavenworth, "            791....  7.97
Fort Riley,        "....2 7.9I
Fort Kearney, Neb.,........ io.. o I.8o
Fort Laramie,  "               86.......    8.69
Fort Union, Texas..........2.47
E1 Paso, New Mexico,...........2 0.70
Santa Fe6,    "                        8.....9  60 2. 83
Fort Yuma    Cal.,........     0.27
San Francisco,"...........7.56
Sacramento,    "............7.01I
Fort Miller,    "...........9.57
Astoria, Oregon............  I6.43
Steilacoom, Wash. Ter.,  1...   II.I9
Dalles of Columbia........  2.63
Sitlka, Alaska..............  18.32
I 
,i,( B:
I1
125          120          115          110          105         100           5_   _   0             8            07
120             115              1110             105             loo5                                0807
90 85         80 75 70 65
80 ~      ~             j    ee~,l
70
C', C/
I
I
I  
CHAPTER VII.
CULTIVATED PLANTS.
CONDITIONS OF CLIMATE AND SOIL, RESTRICTING THE RANGE
OF PLANTS -OF THE SOIL IN REFERENCE TO THE GROWTH
OF PARITICULAR PLANTS - MAIZE - WHEAT - OATS, RYE,
AND BARLEY, NATIVES OF THE PLAINS OF CENTRAL ASIA RICE - SUGAR-CANE - SORGHUM - POTATO - COTTON -
TOBACCO-GRASSES FOR PASTURAGE - EXHAUSTION OF THE
SOIL-FACILITIES FOR CULTIVATlON-TABLES OF POPULA TION AND PROI)UCTION.
Conditions of Climate and Soi.- The range
of plants is dependent on two causes:- climatic
conditions, such as temperature and moisture, and
the chemical and mechanical composition of the
soil. We have pointed out the extreme range of
temperature which is characteristic of the climate
of the Great Valley, as compared with that of
Western Europe; we now propose to inquire into
the effect of this range upon the growth of foodproducing plants.
The newly-arrived immigrant may be disposed to
deprecate a climate so different from that to which
he has been accustomed; but the experience of a
I4 
CULTIVATED PLANTS.
single year will convince him that it is to this
extreme range, during the growing season, that we
owe the cultivation of many of the kindly fruits of
the earth, and of many of the plants most useful to
man. The tropical element in our summers enables the peach and apple to ripen, and the corn and
tobacco-plant to mature, which they will not do in
England, although the mean temperature of the
year be considerably higher. Thus, the history of
vegetation shows that a high temperature for a
short season produces a different effect upon plants
than a moderate temperature long continued.
With regard to the conditions of soil, it may be
said that its character is largely influenced by the
subjacent formation. The different classes of rocks
have a physiognomy as distinct as the features of
the different races of men. The granites rise up
in dome-shaped masses, or as pinnacles; the metamorphic rocks stretch out in serrated ridges; the
traps assume a precipitous or stair-like form; the
volcanic cones are generally isolated; the limestones are often cliff-like; the sandstones exhibit
rounded outlines, except where undermined by
running streams; while the shales of the slightlymetamorphosed strata, and the detrital materials of
the Drift, are spread out, forming extensive plains
or savannas.   Now  as the soil results from the
abrasion or decomposition of these rocks, mingled
2IO 
DOMESTICATED PLANTS.
with organic matter, it is not surprising that it
should exhibit great diversity, and partake of the
character of the underlying rock, both in chemical
composition and mechanical texture.   We  thus
speak of a soil as argillaceous, calcareous, arenaceous, etc., as expressive of the source from which
it has been derived. Each of these soils has its
appropriate vegetable covering, and each contains
certain elements adapted to the nourishment of
peculiar plants. Its agricultural capacity is also
undoubtedly influenced by the extreme state of
subdivision in the particles, by which the rootlets
of plants are enabled readily to appropriate such
elements as are  fitted for their growth.   The
cotton-plant shuns the sandy soil of the Tertiary,
but thrives in the mellow loam of the Cretaceous;
the sweet potato luxuriates in the dry,sandy plain,
but shuns the damp clayey soil of the meadow;
Indian corn grows best in the prairie-soils rich in
nitrogen, with a period of sixty or ninety days of
high temperature; while whieat flourishes best in a
cooler climate and on a soil less fertile.
Many of the useful plants, too, have improved by
being transported from their habitats to a different
climate.  Cotton is a plant which grows, in the
tropics, with a perennial growth, where it has a
tree-like, woody stem. Transplanted to a temperate climate, it becomes a delicate annual, with an
21I 
CULTIVATED PLANTS.
herbaceous growth.   Indian  corn is of tropical
origin, where it grows with a rank stock, and produces little seed. Perhaps none of the cerealia
show so great a susceptibility to adapt themselves
to a modified climate, as this plant; for every few
degrees of latitude exhibits a different variety.
The potato has a still more diversified range, and
is characterized by a still greater number of varieties.
In the domestication of plants, then, as in that
of animals, there is a strong tendency to run into
varieties, resulting from altered conditions of temperature, soil, and moisture. The New World is
indebted to the Old for many of the most useful
and widely distributed plants, such as wheat, barley, rice, and coffee; and many of the most luscious
fruits, such as oranges, lemons, peaches, and.apples.
The sugar-cane is probably indigenous to the West
Indian Isles. On the other hand, the New World
has contributed to the Old, potatoes, which form so
important an article of food; Indian corn, perhaps
the most valuable of the cereals; and tobacco, now
consumed the world over. It is proposed to give
a brief sketch of the principal plants cultivated
for the use of man in the Great Valley, and to
inquire how far their cultivation, in each instance,
is restricted by the conditions of soil and climate.
2 I 2 
CORN-CULTURE.
Maize  (Zea mays).-Of all crops, where the
conditions of soil and climate are favorable, there
is none, with perhaps the exception of rice, which
affords so great an amount of nutriment in proportion to the labor bestowed, as this. The cheap
food derived from this source was the origin of the
ancient Peruvian civilization, which enabled the
surplus labor to be expended upon those immense
structures which excited the admiration of the
Spanish conquerors and all subsequent observers.
So, too, we can trace the ancient Egyptian civilization to the abundance of the date, and that of India
to the ease with which rice was grown,-the chief
food of most people living within the tropics.
Maize is emphatically the great food-producing
plant of the Great Valley; not so much, perhaps, as
contributing directly to human sustenance, as in
those modified forms of beef, pork, etc., which
constitute the bulk of the animal food of the people
of the temperate zone. In a congenial climate, it
is rarely cut off by drought, or frost, or blight. It
can be harvested at leisure, as it receives no injury
from exposure, whether cut or uncut. A man and
boy can tend forty acres, besides devoting a portion
of their time to other crops, which, with good
management, may be made to yield from sixty to
eighty bushels to the acre. This would give all
the way from 2,400 to 4,8oo00 bushels of grain; and
2I3 
CULTIVATED PLANTS.
the yield would furnish rations to between I20 and
240 able-bodied men for an entire year. The estimate of the western farmer is that, in feeding swine,
every ten bushels of corn produces one hundred
pounds of pork.
The northern limit of corn-culture may be represented by the summer isotherm 65~, which would
exclude a considerable portion of Maine, the region
north of the immediate Valley of the St. Lawrence,
the Azoic region of Lake Superior, the  higher
slopes of the Rocky Mountains, and the immediate
coast of the Pacific. It attains its full perfection
in the region between thle isotherms 72~ and 77~,
which would include the central and southern portions of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa, nearly all
of Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, and Kansas, and
the great plains north and south between the Canadian and the sources of the Missouri; but limited
on the west by a line running east of Fort Laramie
and west of Fort Atkinson.
As to the conditions of moisture, it is probable
that its limits would be restricted, except in the
immediate valleys, to about longitude Io0~Q. It is
to the presence of the two elements,- a period of
intense heat during the summer, and a virgin soil
rich in nitrogen,- that the great geographical range
of this plant in the United States is due; and to
2I4 
WHEAT-CULTURE.
their absence in Western Europe, which has there
rendered its cultivation unprofitable.
Wheat.- There are two principal varieties
recognized: -  Triticum  hibernicum, or winter
wheat; and 7T. astivum, summer or spring wheat.
The geographical range of these varieties is not
coincident.   Wheat  requires  a  cooler  climate
and a less nitrogenized soil than corn, and has a
wider geographical range.  It is a reliable crop
east of the Rocky Mountains, as far north as the
Saskatchawan Valley, latitude 54~; and on the
Pacific Slope as high as latitude 60~.  Along the
flanks of the Rocky Mountains, from British
Columbia to the limits of Mexico, where sufficient
moisture can be obtained from the melting snows,
it arrives at a perfection and development of grain
unknown to the region east of the Mississippi; and
the Californian Coast, cooled by the breezes of the
Pacific, seems to be well adapted to its growth, and
produces an amount far beyond the wants of its
inhabitants. The tropical element in our climate
so favorable to the growth of Indian corn, is unfavorable to the perfection of wheat. Winter wheat
is not successfully cultivated in the immediate Valley of the Mississippi above the parallel 400, for
the reason that the plant is not sufficiently protected
during the cold season by a permanent body of
215 
CULTIVATED PLANTS.
snow, so as to exclude the direct action of the air.
Even if there was not a deficiency of snow, the
prairies are so wind-swept that it seldom lies to a
great depth, and the young wheat is liable to be
winter-killed.   In the partly-wooded regions of
Southern Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, where
there is a clay subsoil of considerable tenacity,
winter wheat is successfully cultivated. It is sown
as early as the middle of September, so that it may
ripen in the spring, before the hot suns of July
strike it. The harvest-time is late in May or early
in June.
The great bulk of the wheat grown in the Mississippi Valley is the spring or summer variety. It
requires to be sown as soon as the frost leaves the
ground, which should be prepared for its reception
the preceding autumn. The danger to which this
crop is exposed, is the stimulating nature of the
soil, producing a too rapid growth of the stalks,
which causes the vesicles to burst, and at the same
time prevents the ear from filling. Hence, the
high rolling knolls are generally selected for its
cultivation. The ingredient, lime, would consolidate the stock, and check the tendency to a rank
growth.   Hence, I infer that the conditions of soil
for the cultivation of this plant are highly favorable
in Eastern Kansas and the Cherokee country,
provided the conditions of climate-hot summer
2I6 
WHEAT-CULTURE.
suns - are obviated by early sowing; and the
reports as to the results of wheat-culture in that
region, confirm these views.
Minnesota, while not prolific in corn, is the best
wheat-growing region in the Northwest; but,
without exact knowledge, it is believed that in the
region of Pembina and Assinaboin there is a belt
of country, vast in extent, where this class of cerealia can be successfully cultivated. *
The finest specimens of wheat on exhibition in
the Agricultural Bureau at Washington, are from
New Mexico; and it would seem that the dry climate which there prevails during the ripening of
the plant, develops the grain at the expense of the
stalk. Dr. Le Conte speaks of the yield of the
Sonora wheat in the Purgatoire Valley as being
eighty bushels to the acre.
The irrigated region of Utah and Colorado pro
* Col. Whittlesey, who, as a practical geologist, has had a large
experience in the Northwest, furnishes the following testimony, in a
note to Captain Mullan:
" In the fall of I848, I was at Red Lake, in Northern Minnesota,
when Mr. Ayres, a very intelligent missionary, came in from the British Settlements on the Red River. He brought some unbolted flour,
from wheat grown on the banks of that river, at the Pembina Settlements. It was the sweetest and most nutritious flour I ever ate. He
stated that the employes of the Hudson Bay Company had for a quarter of a century produced all the wheat needed; that it was a sure
crop, the grain sound, and that it would yield forty bushels to the acre.
The result of my examinations at that time, on our northern frontiers,
was a conviction that the true wheat-growing region of the United
States lies north of the St. Peter's River, and west of the Mississippi."
2I7 
CULTIVATED PLANTS.
duces wheat of a far greater yield and of a far better
quality than the most favored region of the prairie,
the yield reaching sixty bushels to the acre. The
Californian wheat, as we have before shown, is
abundant in yield and excellent in quality.
The best conditions, then, are a cool and rather
dry climate, and a clayey soil, not too rich in nitrogen, with the presence of lime.
Oats, Rye, and  Barley.- These  are hardier
plants than wheat, and are successfully cultivated
to the northern limits of the United States. Wheat,
rye, and oats, are probably native to the dry plains
of Central Asia, which as we have shown, partake
in soil and climate of the character of the prairies,
where they have been cultivated from the earliest
historical period. Herodotus, the earliest of profane
historians, describes the Scythian husbandmen as
dwelling on the borders of the Black Sea, in the
country extending on the south to Taurica (the
Crimean Coast from Sevastopol to Kaffa); on the
east to the Trench of the Blind Slaves (the mart
of Palus Mxrotis) called Cremni (the Cliffs); and
in part to the River Tanais, now the Don. * Thus
it will appear that, in the provinces of Kherson,
Kiev, and Ekaterinoslav, in the fifth century B. C.,
* "Herodotus," Book IV., Ch. I6, 20.
2I8 
BREAD-CORN.
the Scythians cultivated corn,* " not for their own
use, but for sale." This trade was chiefly carried
on with the Greeks, and gradually extended to the
* Corn is a generic term, comprehending the seeds of certain grasses
which may be ground into meal, and fitted for the food of man or animals. In the United States, the term "corn" is restricted to maize
or Indian corn.
"All bread corns are annual plants, and from that circumstance far
better adapted for universal cultivation than if they had been perennials, or even biennials. An annual plant may indeed be said to
belong to no country in particular, because it completes its existence
during the summer months; and in every part of the world there is a
summer. Hence, we find the same corns ripening their seeds within
the Frigid and Torrid Zones; and though the quality of the grain of
barley and wheat grown in Lapland is far inferior to that grown in the
south of Spain or on the plains of India, yet it is still such as to be
made into wholesome bread and invigorating fermented liquor. Had
the bread corns been perennials, they must necessarily have required
to live through the winter in every country in which they are grown,
as well as through the summer; and such of them as might have been
adapted to the winters of cold climates, when taken to warm climates,
have been so far weakened by being kept in a growing state throughout the year, as in a few years to have ceased to exist; while the perennials of warm climates, such as the south of Spain and Italy, could
not have lived through a single winter in Russia or Lapland. For the
same reason that they are annuals, and require little more than to be
sown and reaped, bread-corns are in an especial manner the domestic
plants of man in an early stage of civilization. A people like the
wandering Arabs, who live in tents, and change their encampments
annually or oftener, may conveniently reap their crops, raise their
tents, and carry their seed-corn about with them, till they find a suitable spot where they can pitch their tents, and take their next crop.
This, however, could not be done by a people who, in addition to corn
and pulse, depend for the food of themselves and cattle, on the production of roots, such as the turnip and the potato; and these accordingly are plants characteristic of a settled people, in a higher degree
of civilization and a greatly-advanced state of agriculture.   The
capacity of any country for growing corn, may be said to be according
to the flatness of its surface, provided it be neither too hot nor too
cold. too wet nor too dry; and hence the immense plains of Russia
and Tartary are eminently calculated for raising food for man."
(Brande's Dictionary, Art. "Corn.")
2I9 
CULTIVATED PLANTS.
east of the limits assigned by Herodotus; and between B. C. 400 and B. C. 300, the princes of the
Bosphorus drew from the shores of the Sea of
Azov and the Crimea, supplies to an enormous
amount.
According to Strabo, Leucon, who reigned
from A. C. 393 to B. C. 353, sent on one occasion
2,ioo,ooo00 medimini (3,15o,ooo000 bushels) of corn to
Athens, from the single port of Theodosia. Demosthenes states that, of the whole foreign importation
of grain into Attica, almost one-half came from the
Euxine; and estimates its amount in ordinary years
at 400,000 medimini, or 600oo,ooo000 bushels. (" Orat.
in Leptin.") *
The fertility of the country and the habits of the
people remain nearly the same as when Herodotus
wrote. The trade of the Mediterranian ports with
those of the Black Sea is nearly the same as was
carried on twenty-three centuries ago; the Hylea
still deserves the name of the "Woodland," and the
multitudinous channels of the Dneiper still wind
through the forests of oaks and poplars, seldom
touched by the axe; while beyond, the Panticapes
stretch out in treeless steppes, as in the days of old.
The fertility of the soil is not renewed by a system
of rotation of crops, or by the application of manures; but when it shows signs of exhaustion, it
* Rawlinson, Note to " Herodotus," B. IV., Ch. i7.
220 
CORN-TRADE OF ODESSA.
is suffered to lie fallow until it reimbibes those
elements from the atmosphere which have been
abstracted, or creates a fresh supply of humus by
the decay of its own vegetation. These facts have
a significant bearing upon the ultimate productiveness of our own prairies. They show that, while
they may be deficient in the equably-distributed
moisture essential to tree-growth, they possess
superior advantages for the cultivation of the foodproducing plants, and that these advantages remain
constant.
The modes of transportation to the markets of
Odessa and Kertch, are such as formerly prevailed
in Illinois and other Western States. The carts,
laden with grain, move in long lines, like an army
train, and  the oxen at night are unyoked  and
allowed to feed upon the open plain. In modern
times, the exports of wheat from Odessa in some
years have reached nearly 7,500,000 bushels; and it
is a singular fact that, while the flour in the Mediterranean marts is esteemed above all others; in the
English market, when British wheat commands
6os., wheat from this source only brings 52s. The
route between Liverpool and Odessa is circuitous,
and quite as much time is consumed in making it
as in crossing the Atlantic. It is almost essential
that the voyage be made in winter, as the summer heats are almost sure to damage the wheat.
221 
CULTIVATED PLANTS.
The expense of importing a quarter is from I6s.
to I8s. The price free on board at Odessa considerably exceeds 40s. per quarter. It is, therefore,
evident that England can draw her supplies cheaper
from other sources than this. *
Rice (Oryza saliva) is a plant of intertropical
range, which heretofore has formed a large item in
southern exports. It was introduced, according to
McCulloch ("Com. Dictionary"), into the Carolinas from Madagascar, late in the seventeenth
century; and the thorough adaptation of the soil
and climate to its growth, is evidenced by the fact
that the Carolina rice commands a higher price in
the English market than that grown in the Indies.
This cereal constitutes the principal food of the
inhabitants of a warm climate. It is the most
nutritive of all the cerealia, and contains about
eighty-five per cent. of starch. As, in a cold
climate, a highly-nitrogenized food is required to
replace the waste of the tissues; so, in a hot climate, where that waste is less rapid, the system
requires a food in which there is an excess of oxygen,-and rice and vegetables fill this requirement.
The facility of irrigating the fields during the progress of its growth, seems to be all-important; and
hence it is, in those Oriental countries where, by
* Vide " Encyclopaedia Brittanica," Art. " Wheat."
222 
RICE-CULTURE.
chance, the annual flood of the rivers is withheld,
the people are subject to deplorable famines.
On the delta of the Mississippi, between New
Orleans and Fort Jackson, rice is grown in small
plantations, and its culture is said to be not
unhealthy, for the reason that the water is not
allowed to stagnate. The river begins to swell in
February, and does not subside until Junc. In its
overflow, it deposits a layer of sediment on its
banks, leaving the clear water to flow into the
swamps of the interior, and to find other channels
to the ocean. This process, continued for ages,
has raised its banks above the level of the surrounding country.
Rice-culture is accomplished in this way: A
sluice is cut through the river-bank, and the fields,
being first enclosed in a levee, are flooded. The
land is ploughed and sown in March, and as soon
as the young plants appear, they are submerged in
water, so regulated as to keep their heads just
above the surface. When the grain has matured,
the fields are laid dry, and the crop is gathered;
and the yield is from thirty to sixty bushels to the
acre.
These small plantations, before the Rebellion,
were cultivated by white labor, and there is no
reason why that culture may not be maintained.
The rice-swamps along the Savannah River and
223 
CULTIVATED PLANTS.
the Carolina coasts were formerly cultivated by
slave-labor, and so unhealthy were they, that they
were regarded as the synonym of disease and death.
The acclimated white man dreaded to be detained
in the region over night, so sure and deadly were
the effects of the miasmata,-effects clearly traceable to the stagnant water. The rice product in
I86o, was in excess of I87,000,oo000 pounds, of which
the Carolinas furnished the great bulk.
Sugar-Cane (Saccharurn oficanarum).-This
is a tropical plant which has been domesticated on
the verge of the Gulf Coast, and is so sensitive to
frost that, if its juice becomes frozen, its saccharine
matter will not crystallize into sugar.  As it does
not mature until October, and the frosts set in late
in December, the whole labor of gathering, grinding, and boiling, is compressed within a space of
sixty days, during which, under the system of
compulsory labor which formerly prevailed, the
strength and endurance of the slaves were tasked
to the utmost. In Cuba, this plant is perennial;
but in Louisiana, the crop is propagated by rattoons, one-third of which is renewed each year.
The rattoons consist of stock-cuttings, eighteen
inches long, which are planted at a shallow depth.
Shoots spring up from every joint, which are cultivated like Indian corn. The plant grows to the
224 
SORGHUM-CULTURE.
height of twelve feet or more, but about three feet
of the upper portion are too watery to pay for
crushing and evaporating. Sugar-culture has not
extended farther north than the mouth of the Red
River.   Since the Rebellion, some of the estates
have passed into the hands of northern men, who
find no difficulty in securing all the labor which
they require. The annual product of sugar formerly exceeded 300,000 hogsheads of I,ooo pounds
each, and I6,300,000 gallons of molasses.
Sorghzun  saccharalzrm. -The  immense  consumption of sugar in the United States has led our
farmers to attempt the domestication of this plant,
to supply at least a portion of that consumption;
and while, perhaps, it has not succeeded as a sugarproducing plant, it has repaid for the cultivation, in
yielding a much-prized syrup.  The sorghum is a
native of China, while the imphee is a native of
South Africa. The cultivation of both varieties
can be maintained up to the isotherm 67~. Like
corn, it-requires a loose, deep soil, and one rich in
nitrogen. The dry autumns of the West are favorable to its culture, as the elaboration of the saccharine principle is more effectually accomplished
under such conditions than where the plant receives
an excess of moisture. The product in syrup in
Is
225 
CULTIVATED PLANTS.
i86o, was in excess of 7,000ooo,ooo000 gallons,-grown,
for the most part, in the Mississippi Valley.
The  Potato   (Solaniuzm  tubeosum).- The
germ of this most useful of all vegetables was first
found on the flanks of the Andes, some 4,00ooo feet
above the sea-level; and it is the most valuable
contribution which America has made to the foodproducing plants of the world.   Its culture has
extended to all the temperate climates; it forms
the principal part of the food of many nations; and
every table,- whether spread in the palaces of
kings, or the cottages of the poor,- is incomplete
without the presence of this esculent. It has even
a wider geographical range than wheat; and, like
that cereal, it has a tendency to run into varieties.
It is cultivated in Bermuda, and as far north as
Iceland.   The short summers of Lake Superior,
and even of Hudson's Bay, give to it a perfection
which it does not acquire in the mild latitude of
St. Louis or Southern Illinois. The potato degenerates rapidly in a warm climate; and if the tubers
are allowed to remain in the ground, they undergo
a second germination, which is at the expense of
their size and nutritive properties.  Hence it is,
that those regions lying south of the parallel 40~,
derive their supplies for winter use from colder
climates, while the stock in Bermuda is kept up
226 
COTTON-CULTURE.
by transmitting annually northern varieties, and
cultivating them only during the winter season.
Cotton (Gossypium herbaceum).-The upland
varieties have been cultivated nearly as far north
as latitude 40~o, but only under favorable circumstances. Cotton-patches are to be seen in Southern
Illinois and Southern Missouri, where the plant is
grown for domestic use; and in many a family the
hand-loom is yet in vogue.
As a great commercial staple, however, its culture embraces a belt of country IOO miles or more
in width-underlaid'by the Cretaceous formation
which starts near the northern line of the State of
Mississippi, and, sweeping round the base of the
Alleghanies through Alabama, Georgia, South
Carolina, and North Carolina, extends as far north
as Raleigh and even Richmond, Virginia. The
southern limit of this belt is where it comes in contact with the region of Pine Barrens, whose soil
consists of Pliocine-Tertiary sands.   Its culture
extends up the Mississippi to Memphis, and up the
lower valleys of the White, Arkansas, and Red
Rivers.
The cotton-soils are of moderate fertility, and
when stripped of timber, are exceedingly liable to
wash into gullies and ravines.  After a few croppings, they are very difficult to renovate, since they
227'
2l  
CULTIVATED PLANTS.
do not admit of a rotation of crops. The climate
is unfit for the growth of the nutritious grasses, and
hence, where the ground lies fallow for a few years
to recover its productive powers, it ceases to be
profitable. The grasses which spring up are coarse,
and afford little nutriment to cattle. The forage of
the planter is derived from corn-stalks, cut before
maturity; and hence, throughout the region, we
find no herds of cattle or swine, nor can any course
of industry render stock-raising profitable. Formerly the shipments of breadstuffs and provisions
from the North into this region were enormous,
sufficient almost to sustain the entire population.
This interchange of products was found to be
profitable to both sections, the labor of each being
applied to the cultivation of those plants requiring
a peculiar soil and climate for their full development.   The Rebellion operated as an effectual bar
to all interchange; and since the restoration, the
South, owing to her disorganized industry, rendered
more deplorable by successive failures of crops, has
not established to the full extent, those ties of commercial intercourse which formerly prevailed; and,
in the absence of credit, has been forced to devote
a portion of her labor, under disadvantageous circumstances, to the cultivation of those crops which
are absolutely essential to the support of human
228 
COTTON-CULTURE.
life. Let us hope that this state of affairs is not
long to continue.
The sea-island variety is restricted to the islands
and a narrow belt on the immediate coast of the
Atlantic, extending from the Great Pedee River, in
North Carolina, to Cape Canaverel, in Florida. It
has a length and strength of fibre unequaled, and
is therefore well adapted to thread or spool-cotton.
These qualities give it a commercial value five or
six times greater than that of ordinary upland cotton.
So far as relates to the sanitary conditions of soil
and climate, there is nothing to prevent the cultivation of this plant by free labor; but it is doubtful
whether this crop will recover the commercial
importance which it enjoyed before the outbreak
the Rebellion; since the effect of that act was to
divert European capital, which was formerly
employed in moving this crop, to opening new
sources of supply, and abstracting a portion of
Oriental labor from its accustomed channels. The
product of cotton in I86o, was in excess of 5,000,000
bales, and showed an increase of more than ioo
per cent. in ten years.
It is only within the last century, that cottonmanufacture became so important a branch of
national industry; and this importance is due to
tbe inventions and discoveries of a few men in the
229 
CULTIVATED PLANTS.
United States and Great Britain. Owing to the
difficulty of separating the fibre from the seed by
hand, the labor was great, and the price was so
high, that cotton would never have come into
general use; but this difficulty was obviated by
Whitney, in the invention of the cotton-gin. The
invention of the jenny, by Hargreaves, enabled one
person to spin one hundred and twenty threads, in
the same time that a single thread could be spun
by the methods before in use; and the subsequent
inventions of the spinning-frame by Arkwright,
and of the power-loom by Cartwright, may be
regarded as among the greatest achievements of
inventive genius, which have conferred the most
lasting blessings on the race, giving employment
to many millions of people, affording cheap clothing
to all, and forming a principal item in the commerce
and industry of more than one nation.
Tobacco (Vicoliania tabacutm). -This plant is
indigenous to America, and to Sir Francis Drake
and Sir Walter Raleigh is ascribed the honor of
having first introduced it into England, more than
three centuries ago. Perhaps there is no habit
which has taken so strong a hold upon mankind, as
the use of this weed, nor one which, when acquired,
is so difficult to eradicate. It is smoked " from
Indus to the Pole," alike by civilized and savage
230 
TOBACCO-CULTURE.
races, and by men in every walk of life. Its culture, too, has extended from America to every part
of the civilized world, where the conditions of soil
and climate are favorable to its growth.   It was in
universal use among the Indians when this country
was first known to the European; and from the
pipes found in the mounds, it is evident that that
mysterious race who built them, knew its virtues,or rather, perhaps, its vices.
Tobacco requires a warm, light, silicious soil to
develop its peculiar aroma in all of its perfection.
Where grown on an argillaceous soil, or one rich
in organic matter, the leaf is rankly developed, and
is lacking in the finer qualities. Tobacco-culture
is carried on as far north as the Connecticut Valley,
and south to the tropics; but here it becomes necessary to cultivate it only during the winter, as the
summer heats and rains are unfavorable to its profection. The States of Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky,
Indiana, and Ohio, are far better adapted to its culture than those bordering on the Gulf. Of the
entire product of the United States, in i86o,-a
little more than four and one-fourth million
pounds, - these five States furnished about two
hundred and seventy-three and one-half millions.
Grasses for Pasturage.-The  natural grasses
of the prairies east of the Mississippi, do not put
23I 
CULTIVATED PLANTS.
forth their leaves until May, and they wither in
August. The treading and cropping of thetturf by
cattle, cause them at first to become thin, and then
die out. They are supplanted by white clover
which in turn is rooted out by the Kentucky bluegrass (Poa compressa). The latter is destined to
become the most valuable grass of the prairies. It
bears the heat of the summers, and affords a rich
pasturage in the winters. A rapid change is going
on in the cultivated prairie. The native grasses
are retreating before the cultivated grasses, as the
Red man retreats before the White man. Wherever a wagon-track is made or a path beaten, the
white clover comes in; wherever a tract is appropriated to pasturage, the blue-grass becomes dominant.
The English grasses, as a general thing, do not
flourish, for they are adapted to a moist and cool
climate. Timothy, however, once rooted, maintains its ground, and remains green from May to
December.   The yield in hay is not as great as in
the meadows of New England.
West of the Mississippi, agriculture is too new
to have solved the question of what grasses are
best for cultivation. The Western Plains, as we
have before remarked, contain several species of
bunch-grass, which are highly nutritious, grow in
232 
GRASSES FOR PASTURAGE.
an  arid climate, and  are self-curing.
remarks that:
" The grazing capabilities of this region are great, and in
the indigenous grasses an element of individual and national
wealth may be found.  In fact, the valuable grasses begin
within one hundred and fifty miles of the Missouri frontier,
and extend to the Pacific Ocean. East of the Rocky Mountains, it is the short, curly grass on which the bufifalo delight to
feed (whence its name of buffalo grass), and which is still
good when dry and apparently dead. West of the mountains,
it is a larger growth, in clusters, and hence called bunch grass.
This has a second or fall growth. Plains and mountains both
exhibit them, and I have seen good pasturage at an elevation
of ten thousand feet. It is upon this spontaneous product, the
trading or traveling caravans can find subsistence for their animals; and in military operations, any number of cavalry may
be moved, and any number of cattle may be driven; and thus
men and horses supported on long expeditions, and even in the
winter, in the sheltered situations." *
Governor Bross, who has traversed the western
region extensively, in a late communication to the
Chicago Academy of Natural Sciences, described
the agricultural capacities of Colorado as being
very great, and so rapidly developing that the people would soon be independent of supplies from the
* "Report of Exploring Expedition."
NOTE.-" Captain Croft, U.. S. A., recognizes four principal varieties
of grasses in Arizona: I. Lowland Grama (Pleurajbhisjamesii), which
grows in great profusion in the Valley of the Gila. 2. Highland
Grama (4Aristidapurpurea), growing on the sandy' mesas.'  3. Black
Grama (Muhlenbergia _Pungens), growing on the highlands, in sandy,
arid soil.  4. Spoorobolus airoides, growing in the valleys.  (" Proc.
Cal. Acad. of Natural Science," i865.)
233
Fremont 
CULTIVATED PLANTS.
Mississippi Valley, and even compete in the provision-market  of the world.   He  described the
cattle as superb in form, and clean in limb; and
anticipated the time when herds would be driven
eastward, moving afoot by easy stages, and grazing
on the rich grasses of the prairies, until they were
brought within the lines of railroad transportation.
There is no doubt that, while much of the region
between the Missouri and the base of the Mountains,is not adapted to agriculture, it will afford an
almost unlimited range of pasturage.
Exhaciustion of the Soil.-Rich as are the prairiesoils in organic matter, they are treated as though
inexhaustible.   The products, so far as relate to
corn and wheat, are for the most part exported to
distant regions, where, after entering into the animal economy, they recombine, and contribute to
fertilize the soil. Even the exuvia of the cattle
and the straw of the grain,are allowed to accumulate in heaps, and rot on the ground, without any
attempt on the part of the farmer to restore them
to the sources from which they have been derived.
Thus, each year the farmers of the Northwest are
sending off millions of tons of organic matter, in a
highly concentrated form, - impoverishing their
own fields to enrich those of distant regions. Such
a drain upon the fertility of the soil, though appar
234 
FACILITIES FOR CULTIVATION.
ently imperceptible now, will ultimately manifest
itself in diminished production, and will involve the
necessity of adding organic matter to the soil, or
of allowing it to remain fallow until it shall have
reimbibed, from the decay of its own vegetation, or
from the elements of the circumambient air, those
principles which have been abstracted.
Nature, under almost every condition of soil and
climate, exhibits a self-perpetuating power whereby
to renew the youth and fertility of our planet.  In
the absorption of the gasses, whether arising from
the decay of vegetation, or the volume of smoke
poured out from the multitudinous chimneys of
densely-populous cities -which, under other circumstances, would prove destructive to life,-and
in their conversion into ligneous fibre or into foodproducing seeds, she evinces a providence which
ought to be appreciated by every one who, with an
inquiring spirit, investigates her laws.
If man, therefore, like an honest debtor, will
only restore what he abstracts, over and above the
requirements of self-support, he will find that she
is not an all-remorseless creditor, but a kind and
beneficent parent.
Facilities for CuZtivation.-Perhaps there is
no region of the world where the facilities for culvation, and for the conversion of the natural surface
235 
CULTIVATED PLANTS.
into productive fields, are so great as on the western
prairies; and hence their rapid development in agricultural resources. To subdue a primeval forest
and render the ground fit for cultivation, is a Herculean task; and it requires the lapse of a generation
before the fields, by a removal of the stumps and
trunks, become entirely fit for the plough. Intercommunication is confined to highways cut out at
rare intervals; trees are felled or girdled, and abandoned to fire or spontaneous decay. Hence, the
settlement of a wooded country has been attended
with an immense destruction of the forest, without
having subserved any useful purpose. While it
has required nearly two and one-half centuries to
subdue and bring under cultivation the Atlantic
Slope of the United States, a greater area in the
Upper Valley of the Mississippi has been subdued,
producing ampler supplies of human food, and sustaining a larger population, within the memory of
men yet living.
This wonderful change has been wrought out by
the inventive genius of an illiterate Northumbrian
coal-miner, George Stephenson. When he conceived and brought out the locomotive known as
the "Rocket,"-one among  the few inventions
that ever originated complete in all its parts, from
the brain of the inventor, he conferred an inestimable boon upon mankind, before which the labors
236 
RAILROAD FACILITIES.
of the most successful statesmen, or the achievements of the most renowned warriors, stand
dwarfed. So far as relates to our own country,
he placed in our hands a power by which to subdue
a continent and revolutionize the trade of the world.
Up to the time of the introduction of railways, the
prairies repelled settlement. The difficulty of procuring materials for construction, such as wood and
stone, restricted the immigrant to the borders of
some timbered belt, while the prairie spread out
before him, an almost illimitable waste. When the
lines of improved communication had crossed the
Alleghanies, it was found that the prairies were the
appropriate field for the development of the railroad
system. Their topographical features were such
that almost air-lines could be constructed between
given points, and at an expense which bore no proportion to that through the wooded or mountainous
regions of the Atlantic Slope. Settlement followed
along these lines, and as fast as villages sprang up
at the stations, a rural population also sprang up to
sustain them. It was found, too, that, with the great
forest-belts at the north, adjacent to the shores of
the Lakes and lining the tributaries of the Upper
Mississippi, Nature had dealt kindly with man in
spreading out these vast, grassy plains,- more so,
even, than if she had robed them with forests; for
it was far easier for the settler to draw his supplies
237 
CULTIVATED PLANTS.
of lumber from this source to fence his farm already
prepared for the plough, than to doom the forests
to indiscriminate destruction, as had been done in
Ohio and Western New York, preliminary to cultivation.
No where on the continent is a farm so easily
subdued, and no where are the processes of agriculture performed with so slight an expenditure of
human strength. The spade and the hoe are seldom
resorted to, and the furrow is formed by the plough.
Planting, sowing, reaping, raking, binding, threshing, shelling,- all are mainly done by machinery;
processes which in many regions are impracticable
by reason of the inequality of the soil, the presence
of stumps, rocks, and other impediments.
The older States of the Mississippi Valley are
now intersected by a net-work of railways. Their
effects are seen in a rapid development of the agritural capabilities of the regions they traverse; in an
enormous increase of internal commerce; in an
active intercourse between widely-separated points;
in the spread of civilization; and in the mingling of
discordant characters, arising from local prejudices
or ancestral traditions, into a harmonious whole.
The appended tables, compiled from the Census
Returns of the United States, exhibit the progress
of population, as well as of agriculture, in the
States of the Upper Mississippi Valley, showing an
238 
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS.
increase,- unparalleled in other portions of the
earth, - of two-fold, during each decade of ten
years. Comparing the whole superficies of these
States, 525,30I square miles, with the area cultivated, it will be seen that only about i8 per cent.
has been devoted to agriculture.
The product of cereals in the eight food-producing States for the year I859, based on a crop
which was nearly one-third deficient, exceeded
550,000,000 bushels.
To convey an adequate idea of the motive power
required to distribute this prodigious mass, in its
crude state, it may be stated that it would employ
more than 64,400 locomotives, each hauling 8,500
bushels; and, if required to deposit their freight at
a given depot, a train must arrive oftener than once
in seven minutes, by day and by night, throughout
every working day of the year.
After feeding the existing population of those
States, there remained a surplus of more than
500,000,000 of bushels, to be used as seed for
future crops, as food for the domestic animals, and
for exportation, either in a crude state, or in a concentrated form, as beef, pork, lard, oil, whisky, etc.
The amount of cereals which,in I862, flowed out
of the lake-region to the seaboard, was in excess
of I36,000ooo,000 bushels; since which time it has
greatly augmented.
239 
TABLE, SHOWING THE INCREASE OF POPULATION AND OF THE NUMBER OF ACRES OF IMPROVED LAND
IN THE STATES NORTHIWEST OF THE OHIO RIVER AND THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI BASIN,
FRtOM 180 TO I860.
I85o.
0         -R
850,470  5,039,545
682,044 2,938,425
192,214 824,682
o  -  0  -  0     -         0          -         0         -         0         -o    I0
305,39I 1,045,499
69 8,40776  5,046, 35
58,403,595        26,680    o,3329
Missori.........20,85   89,o5  66557    86,87    140,55   66,117    83,70   1,65,001 662,044  2,938,425,801 624,7
Iowa......................................................43112     184,69    92,214  824,682     67,4 37825
Minesta.............................................................6,o77               5,035     1785      5537
Kansas......................................................................................................................206.37.....
I800.
3
~ -1
o w~
0z   P
R
4
0E
225,675
.......
I25,530
72,692
89,o05
........
........
........
........
tO
4b
858,957   4,256,043   i,6iO,473   7,953,386  3,350,542  15,806,752
isio.
I820.
1830
1840
6o.
4
i
0
w
0
;4
N
12,665,5S7
3,419,861
S,i6,77
13,251,473
6,246,871
3,78o,-'53
3,746,o36
554,397
372,855
52,199,050
(A
w
4
4
14
A
w
0
11
4
4
p
w
0
1111
4
4
.4
A
w
0
1111
7,558,750
..........
3,4s5,729
2,88,373
,,653,oo,
184,
105,930
... I......
..........
2
PI,
0
PI
2
.4
0
2
0.0
2
k- I
0
P.
Ohio......
I.t4ichigan.
Indiana...
Illinois..
Missouri..
Iowa......
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Kansas...
45,365
......
4,S75
......
......
......
......
......
......
937,903
3I,639
343,031
157,445
140,455
..........
..........
..........
..........
1,519,467
2, i 2,,267
6S5,S66
476,183
383,702
43,112
30,945
I....
..........
225,675
........
24,890
........
........
........
........
230,700
4,762
24,520
12,282
-,845
........
........
........
........
581,295
8,765
147,178
55,i62
66,557
.......
........
........
........
2,892,456
..........
75I,445
325,27?
286,870
.......    1.
..........
..........
..........
4,665,000
........ I.
1,751,409
93 I,S60
6o5,iI7
.........
..........
..........
..........
Totals..
,240 250,565 293,I69 513,70?,
5,403,595 26,68o,332 9,064, 
STATEMENT, SHOWING THE INCREASE IN SOME OF THE PRODUCTS OF AGRICULTURE IN THE EIGHT GRAIN.
GROWING STATES, FOR TEN YEARS, ENDING IN i860.
RYE-Bushels.
I850o.      I 86o0.
425,918    656,I46
78,792    40o,226
83,364    96I,322
Io5,37I   497,I97
8I,253    888,534
I25    I24,259
I9,9I6    I76,o55
44,268    293,262
739,507  3,997,o00
STATES.
CATTLE-H.4ead.
I850. |   I86o.
I,358,947    I,657,850
7I4,666   I,I70,005
912,036    1,505,58I
274,497     534,267
183,433      512,866
2,002  1  19,003
136,62I     536,254
79I,5Io    I,I68,984
4,373,712  7,204,81o
WHEAT-Bushels.
I850.       I86o.
I4,487,35I I4,532,570
6,214,458  I5,219,120
9,414,575  24,159,500
4,925,889   8,3I3,I85
4,286,i3i  i5,8i2,625
1,401   2,I95,SI2
1,530,581   8,433,205
2,981,652   4,227,586
43,842,038  89,293,603
Cl\
C6RN-Bushels.
OATS-Bushels.
SWINE-Head.
I850-, i86o.
1,964,770 2,I75,623
2,263,776 2,498,528
1,915,907 2,279,722
205,S47 374,664
159,276 333,957
734 101,252
323,247 921,i6i
I,702,625 2,354,425
8,536,182 11,039,332
I850
59,078,695
52,964,363
57,646,984
5,641,42,0
1,,979
i6,725
8,656,799
36,214,537
222,208,502
i86o.
I850.
13,472,742,
5,655,OI4
10,087,241
2,866,o56
3,414,672
30,582
1,524,345
5,278,079
42,328,73I
i86o.
15,479,133
5,028,755
15,336,072
4,073,09S
11,059,270
21202,050
5,879,653
3,68o,870
Ohio...........
Indiana........
Illinois........
Michigan......
Wisconsin...,.
Minnesota.....
Iowa...........
Missouri.......
Totals.......
7o,637,140
69,64I,59I
115,296,779
12,152,iio
7,565,290
2,987,570
41,116,994
72,Sg?-,I57
0
392,2,89,631
2,,738,901 
CHAPTER VIII.
GEOLOGY - IGNEOUS AND METAMORPHIC
ROCKS.
GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY-TABU LAR VIEW OF THE DIFFERENT FORMATIONS - RANGE OF
ORGANIC LIFE- IGNEOUS ROCKS OF DIFFERENT AGE -SYS TEMS OF ELEVATION OF MOUNTAIN-CHAINS- THlE LAKE
SUPERIOR SYSTEM - THE PRIMEVAL  CONTINENT - THE
APPALACHIAN SYSTEM- THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN SYSTEM THE PACIFIC COAST RANGES - IGNEOUS PRODUCTS -RIVER
SYSTEMS - THE AZOIC SYSTEM, ASSOCIATED WITH IRON
ORES -IRON-REGION OF LAKE SUPERIOR- OF MISSOURI THE MYTHOLOGICAL AGE OF METALS - THE PRESENT, THE
IRON AGE-ANNUAL PRODUCT OF THE WORLD.
Geological Strucure.-If, from an elevated posi
tion, an observer were enabled to comprehend in a
bird's-eye view the entire structure of the Mississippi Valley, he would find that it was rimmed on
three sides by granitic or highly metamorphic
rocks; and that these rocks, while affording abund
ant evidences of having originated from the action
of direct or transmitted heat, have at many points
been invaded by products of a purely volcanic
origin. He would further find that the basin had 
GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE.
been filled in with rocks of a far different character, reposing for the most part in nearly horizontal
strata, and little metamorphosed by heat,-such as
limestones, sandstones, shales, and loose, detrital
materials, the whole forming an assemblage many
thousand feet in thickness.  Descending from his
elevated position, and examining the individual
groups critically, he would find that, while the
granitic, the metamorphic, and volcanic rocks
afforded no traces of organic life, the sedimentary
rocks-were stored with numerous forms as delicate
or massive in structure, as any that now tenant the
earth or sea. He would further find that they
differed not only from existing forms, but among
themselves, and that there was a corresponding
order of succession in the strata wherein they had
been entombed; and from the constancy of this
order, he would be justified in inferring that they
appeared upon the earth at different intervals, and
that those intervals comprehended long periods of
time. Now, as this order is never reversed, these
fossils have come to be regarded as land-marks in
the physical history of our planet,- as so many
"medals, struck by nature to commemorate her
revolutions." Extending his researches to vegetable forms, he finds that the same diversity and the
same order of succession prevail.
243 
GEOLOGY.
Directing his attention to those substances useful
to man, he finds stored in the granitic, volcanic, and
metamorphic rocks, the precious metals -gold and
silver,- and the baser metals - copper, tin, zinc,
mercury, lead, iron, etc., -sometimes segregated
in veins, and at others in beds or sheets incorporated with the strata.
In the limestones, sandstones, and shales, which
show slight signs of igneous action, while he notes
the absence of the precious metals, he finds the
more useful ores, such as iron, lead, and zinc. In
addition to these, he finds at various intervals, and
stretching over vast areas, immense deposits of
fossil fuel, stored away at accessible depths, and
in positions protected from combustion and decay,
to supply the wants and conveniences of man
throughout all time.
When he examines the superficial materials,
he finds that they repose on rocks which have
been grooved and striated, and the removed
parts ground up into an almost impalpable powder; but when he reflects that this impalpable
powder forms the soil which supports the infinite
variety of vegetation that clothes the earth and
constitutes  the  food, directly or  indirectly, of
every living form that moves upon its surface or
sports in its waters, and how slow would have
been its accumulation if left to mere atmospheric
244 
ORGANIC REMAINS.
changes, he is led to the irresistible conclusion
that these are the results of a manifest design.
To investigate the structure of the globe, and
the revolutions which its surface has undergone;
to trace the succession of animal and vegetable
life; to determine the conditions under which
the  precious  metals  and  the  useful ores  are
found; and to bring forth from hidden depths
those materials which minister to the conveniences
of man, is the province of geology.
Geologists, then, guided by the succession of
organic remains and the superposition of the
strata, have become satisfied that the earth did
not come from the hands of the Creator as we
now behold it; but that it acquired its present
configuration after repeated revolutions, embracing the lapse of long periods of time, during
which distinct races of living organisms were
introduced, flourished, and died, and their remains
became entombed in the rocks; from many of
which we build our temples and dwellings, and
out of which even we  carve our monuments,
thus using the sepulchres of extinct races to perpetuate the remembrance of our own. The very
dust we tread upon was once instinct with life.
The following classification may be adopted as
embracing the most conspicuous groups of rocks
in the Great Valley:
245 
GEOLOGY.
TABULAR VIEW
OF THE
PRIxCIPAL FOSSILIFER OUS STRATA of the MISSISSIPPI VALLE R
AND PACIFIC SLOPE.
I. RECENT.
2. LOESS OR BLUFF.
3. RIVER TERRACES.
4. DRIFT OR BOULDER GROUP.
5. LOUP-RIVER GROUP.
~4
6. WHITE-RIVER GROUP.
7 WIND-RIVER GROUP.
} MIOCENE.
8. FORT UNION, OR GREAT LIGNITE GROUP.    EOCINE
9 VICSBGH GROUP.EOCINE.
9. VICKSBIJRGH GROUP.)
10. FOX-HILL GROUP.
II. FORT PIERRE GROUP.
I2. FORT BENTON GROUP.
13. DAKOTA GROUP.
OUS.    *1 
I
0
u
w
IcX
14. AURIFEROUTS SLATES OF CALIFORNIA.
15. LAMINATED MARLS OF BLACK HILLS.
i6. VARIEGATED MARLS OF COLORADO?
17. VARIEGATED MARLS OF KANSAS?
I8 FORT RILEY GROUP, KANSAS,
1
i
19. COAL-MEASURES.
20. CHESTER LIMESTONE.
21 ST. LOUIS GROUP.
22. KEOKUK GROUP.
23. BURLINGTON LIMESTONE.
24. KINDERHOOK GROUP.
CARBONIFEROUS.
25. HAMILTON SLATES.
26. CONIFEROUS LIMESTONE.
27. ORISKANY SANDSTONE.
DEVONIAN.
28. SALINA LIMESTONE.
29. NIAGARA LIMESTONE.
UPPER SILURIAN.
30. CINCINNATI BLUE LIMESTONE.
31. GALENA LIMESTONE.
32. TRENTON LIMESTONE.
33. ST. PE:TER'S SANDSTONE.
34. LOWER MAGNESIAN LIMESTONE.
35. POTSDAMi SANDSTONE.
I
LOWER SILURIAN.
I
I
I
i
246
I
POST-TERTIARY.
PLIOCENE.
I
r
6
0
N
0
w
"7
I
JURASSIC
AND
TRIASSIC.
PERMIAN.
6
0
N
0
w
P-4
Pe
P4
I 
RANGE OF FOSSILS.
While each of these groups has its characteristic fossils, by which it can be identified over
widely-separated areas, yet there are two inferertces, erroneous in their results, which the
geological student might draw without further
examination.
I. He must not infer that these groups envelope
a considerable part of the earth like the coats of
an onion, for at no point do they present an
unbroken succession of comforming strata. There
exist gaps, indicating that while aqueous causes
were active in one region in accumulating strata,
they were dormant at another; but this fact is
unquestioned,- the order of succession is never
reversed.
And 2. That while the age of a group is
determined by the assemblage of fossils, they are
not in all instances restricted to a particular zone
of life, but certain specific forms are found to
range  through  several distinct formations.   In
such cases, they generally appear as varieties; as
though the surrounding conditions had so far
changed as to produce variations in their form
and character.* While the extremes differ in
* Take, for instance, that subdivision of the Mollusks known as
Brachiopods (animals with arm-likefeet), which comprehends the
four genera: Rhychonella, Crania, Discina, and Lingala. Davidson,
the most eminent of English paleontologists, after an exhaustive
investigation of the Brachiopods of the British Isles, finds that all of
247 
GEOLOGY.
these particulars, there is a series of gradations,
the result of altered conditions of habitat, which
link them together.
As it is not my purpose to refer, except incidentally, to the fossil fauna which characterize
the several groups of strata, I will simply remark
that, in the order of creation, there appears to
have been a progressive development, from the
simplest organic structures in the oldest formations, to the highest type of being represented in
the latest creation,-man. According to the existing knowledge, the Vertebrates, represented by
the fishes, first appear in the Upper Silurian; the
Reptiles in the Sub-carboniferous (the Sauropius
these genera appear in the Silurian, and are continued through all the
subsequent formations up to the present time, persistent in form and
character; while other genera have a less diversified range, and
exhibit wide deviations from the primitive type. Thus the common
fossil, Atryia unguicularis, appears in the Devonian, is continued in
the Carboniferous, where it is known as Ssirifer urii, and is still
continued in the Permnian, where it is known as S. clannyanus.
Whether what are known as species are independent creations, and so
long as they continue to exist, preserve a fixedness of character; or
whether they are capable of varying indefinitely from an original
type, dependent on altered conditions of climate, food, etc., are questions upon which naturalists are divided. In the breeding of domesticated animals, we certainly see a strong tendency to run into varieties;
on the other hand, we find certain living species of Mollusks which
are identical with the fossil forms entombed in the Tertiaries; thus
showing that these forms must have remained constant  through
millions of years. But in reply to this objection, the believer in the
transmutation of species might say that the physical conditions, such
as the temperature and saltness of the water, depth of the ocean, etc.,
had remained constant, and that, therefore, we had no right to expect
a deviation from pristine types.
248 
IGNEOUS ROCKS.
prim,vvus of Lee); the Mammalia, represented
by a marsupial or pouched animal, like the opossum of America, in the Upper Oolite; and some
small quadrupeds not clearly made out, in the
Upper Trias; traces of birds are detected in the
Upper Oolite (Archosopteryx macrurus), in the
lithographic limestone near Solenhofen, Bavaria;
and last, the evidences of man occur in the PostPliocine, if not in the Pliocine itself.
Igneous Rocks.-When we examine the igneous
rocks of this region, we find that, like the fossiliferous strata, they are not all of the same age. For
instance, if, as on the shores of Lake Superior, we
find the Potsdam sandstone abutting against a
great boss of granite, with all of its projections
worn off,- like rocks at the present day on the
sea-shore exposed to the action of a heavy surf,while the sandstone reposes in horizontal beds, and
shows few signs of metamorphism, we infer, and
justly too, that the granite was upheaved and
assumed its present relative,position before the
deposition of the sandstone.
If, on the other hand, we go to the Rocky Mountains, and observe granite in the form of domes or
crests, constituting mountain masses, flanked by
Triassic strata reclining at a high angle; and if we
find that, where such contact takes place, sandstone
2 t9 
GEOLOGY.
is metamorphosed into quartz, shale into gneiss, and
limestone into marble, we infer that the granite has
been protruded through the yielding strata, and
that this change in the sedimentary rocks, is due
to the action of direct or transmitted heat. As this
is. the usual form in which granite appears, and
never in the form of a lava-overflow, it is inferred
that it is not a volcanic product, but that it was
elevated in a pasty condition, and under circumstances which permitted it to assume a crystalline
form.
We also observe another class of rocks, occupying narrow apertures in the pre-existing strata in
the form of dykes, or diffused over the surface,
sometimes in aspect compact and close-grained,
at others glassy or scoriaceous. These rocks intermingle with the fossiliferous strata of all ages, and
resemble so much the product of modern volcanoes
that geologists have not hesitated to ascribe their
origin to this source.
Systems of Elevalion.- It has been found, too,
that the structural features of the earth - the outlines of continents and the shore-lines of the ocean
-have been mainly determined by the upheaval
of these crystalline rocks.   These  again  have
influenced the destinies of the human race, in the
migrations of men, in the distribution of languages,
250 
SYSTEMS OF ELEVATION.
and in the modification of climate. Hence, then;
the study of mountain chains, their range and extent,
is one of absorbing interest. They form the grandest and most imperishable record of the great cycle
of events through which the earth has passed.
It has been found, too, as first observed by
Steensen, and subsequently elaborated in the comprehensive work of Elie de Beaumont, that the
great lines of fracture and uplift, instead of being
fortuitous, pursue certain determinate lines of
direction, conforming to the great circle of the
earth; and that, instead of a single line of fracture
and uplift, there are parallel lines which appear to
have been formed simultaneously over vast areas
of the earth's surface. Mountain chains of different
ages intersect one another at different angles; and
thus, while to the superficial observer, such an
assemblage as the Rocky Mountains, the Alps,
the Himalayas, or the Caucasus, may appear as a
confused and discordant mass, yet by patient study
of the strata which repose on their flanks, the
geologist may determine the several systems of
upheaval, and evoke order out of apparent confusion.
While the outlines, then, of continents have
been determined by mountain chains, the result
of paroxysmal action, the area of continents has
been determined in many instances by the gradual
251 
GEOLOGY.
oscillations of the crust, such as are now taking
place over the northern portion of the hemisphere.
That these oscillations have been going on during
the whole progress of the earth's history admits
of no doubt; for, e. g., in the strata of the CoalMeasures, and of the Cretaceous, we meet with
repeated alternations of marine and terrestrial life;
and in the Tertiaries, we see that fresh and saltwater have alternately held dominion over the surface. The Drift-terraces and ancient sea-beaches,
high above the present water-level, point to the
same  conclusion.   The  earth, therefore, to the
geologist, is not an emblem of stability. He sees,
in the displacement and plication of the strata, that
its foundations have been repeatedly broken up,
and that its crust is but an oscillating mass.
It is customary to speak of the elevation of
mountain chains, as though it were a bodily lifting
up of the strata, by a force operating directly from
beneath; but in this respect the term is misapplied. If we suppose that the earth was once
in a fluid state, and that the present condition of its
surface is due to a process of refrigeration, there
must have been a time when a solid crust was
formed, composed wholly of crystalline rocks. As
the process of refrigeration went on, the earth's
sphere would gradually contract to accommodate
itself to the diminished nucleus. Such contraction
252 
OIJTLINES OF CONTINENTS.
would be attended with ruptures of the crust, which
would pursue certain determinate lines, represented
by mountain chains; so that the word elevation, as
applied to mountain ranges, really means subsicdence. If the interior of the earth is an incandescent
mass, as is supposed, the pasty matter would rise
up and fill the fissures thus created, and appear
under the form of granite; or if this matter were
in a fluid condition, it would appear under the
form of porphyry, basalt, trap, etc., filling preexisting fissures in the crust as dykes, or flowing
over the surface in long lines like lava-currents.
Earthquake and volcanic action belong to this class
of phenomena, and the reason why their manifestation is less striking now than at former periods, is,
that the earth is supposed to have arrived at that
stage when the radiation of heat into space is about
equal to that received from the sun.
No American physicist, perhaps, has investigated
the structural relations of continents so thoroughly
and so ably as Dana. He has brought to bear
upon this subject extensive observation, made in
various parts of the world, united to close analytical reasoning; and the conclusions in which such a
mind rests are entitled to all respect. He recognizes two great systems or trends applicable to the
whole world: -A northwzestern and a northeastern,
transverse to one another; and he claims that the
253 
GEOLOGY.
islands of oceans, the outlines and reliefs of continents, and the oceanic basins themselves, alike
exemplify these systems.
In the application of these principles, it may be
said that there are three grand systems of upheaval,
different in age and direction, which have determined  the structural features of the Mississippi
Valley, viz.:
I. The Liake Superior System,- which ranges
N. 80~ E., S. 80~ W., from Labrabor to the sources
of the Mississippi: northward it extends to near
the shores of the Arctic Sea. The rocks composing
this system consist of granites, traps, and porphlyries, undoubtedly of igneous origin; together with
quartzites, marbles, and chlorite and talcose schists,
of aqueous origin, - the whole highly metamorphosed. On both sides of the axis, the Silurian
groups are found resting uncomformably. This,
as we long ago pointed out, is the oldest system in
America, forming, as it were, the Primeval Continent, which stretched east and west in a low,
narrow belt, from the sources of the Mississippi to
Labrador; and north and south, from the northern
borders of Michigan to the Arctic Sea. Its culminating'points no where attained an elevation of
more than 2,000 feet above the old Silurian ocean.
At that time, the Alleghanies and Rocky Moun
254 
MOUNTAIN-SYSTEMS.
tains had not assumed their form and direction, and
the only objects which rose above the barren waste
of waters to break the monotony of the scene, were
a few isolated islands, like the Iron-Mountain region
of Missouri, Magnet Cove of Arkansas, and perhaps the Washita Mountains of Texas, the Black
Hills of Nebraska, and the Central Plateau of
Colorado. No forms of vegetable life, at that
time, clothed the slopes of the hills, no forms of
animal life roamed through the valleys, and even
the waters were tenantless. It was emphatically a
petrified continent, rigid and stony.*
2. The  tppalachian Syslem.  This system, as
we have seen, extends from Alabama to the River
St. Lawrence, where it intersects the Azoic belt of
Lake Superior, pursuing for 1,200 miles a general
direction of northeast and southwest, and presenting a nearly unbroken succession of conforming
strata; and yet the strata at many points are traversed by a series of faults, particularly observ
* This generalization was made by the writer as far back as i85i,
and was communicated to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, at the Cincinnati Meeting of that year. Agassiz, who
was present, endorsed it as among the most important that had been
made in American Geology. In some miscellaneous papers published
in the "Atlantic Monthly," and subsequently collected into a volume,
this eminent naturalist has substantially repeated my views; and
while many ascribe to him the merit of this generalization, he himself,
if questioned, would be the first to acknowledge,the source from
which it was derived.
255 
GEOLOGY.
256
able in Southern Virginia and Northern Alabama,
by which rocks of the Silurian era are brought to
a level with those of the Carboniferous. These
vertical displacements in some instances amount
to 20,000 feet. It was at the close of the Carboniferous epoch that the Appalachian chain became
folded, plicated, and metamorphosed. The force
by which these changes were produced, appears
to have been a lateral one, and to have operated
from the Atlantic side, since the steepest and most
abrupt acclivities invariably face in that direction,
and as the strata are traced westward, they unfold
in a series of gentle undulations until they come
within the influence of N. N. W. system of Illinois
and other western States, where all further traces
become obliterated.
The Triassic and Jurassic series of the Atlantic
Slope repose upon the upturned edges of the Appalachian System; and, while having the same general
direction, and disturbed by an elevatory movement
of their own, in no instance do they appear to have
crossed the Alleghanies and invaded the valley of
the Mississippi. On the other hand, the region of
the Pacific opposed no barrier to the Triassic and
Jurassic seas, since deposits of this age are found
on both sides of the Rocky Mountains.
Thus then, at this early epoch, we find evidences 
MOUNTAIN-SYSTEMS.
of ancient shore-lines conforming to those which
give configuration to the whole Atlantic Slope.
3. The Rocky Mountain System.-This system
has a general trend of N. N. W. and S.S. E. (though
subject to minor deviations where invaded by the
purely volcanic rocks), through the whole territory
of the United States. This assemblage, view as a
whole, may be regarded as a vast sea of mountains,
sometimes rising in isolated summits above the
snow-line, sometimes in ranges, either serrated or
dome-shaped, often overlapping, and often sending
out lateral spurs, as buttresses to the main wall.
Whether called Sierra Madre, Sierra Blanca,
Washtash, Wind-River, Black Hills, etc., they are
but parts of one stupendous whole.
With regard to the age of their elevation, much
doubt has hitherto prevailed.   Our own views,
expressed as far back as I85I, based on the observations of Humboldt and Von Tschudi among the
Andes of South America, was that their elevation
was as late as the Cretaceous age. The observations of those attached to the Pacific Railroad
Surveys, seemed to point to the Carboniferous
period, making their elevation contemporary with
that of the Alleghanies; but the more exact observations of Whitney in California, and of Remond
in Northern Mexico, would indicate beyond a
I7
257 
GEOLOGY.
doubt that their elevation to their present relative
position, took place at or near the close of the
Triassic period. Between the Rocky Mountains
and the Sierra Nevada, we see no reason to draw
a line of demarcation. They are parallel in direc
tion, are charged with the same metallic contents,
and are invaded by the same volcanic products.
Whitney, in summing up the results of the California Survey, remarks:
"The sedimentary portion of the great metalliferous belt of
the Pacific Coast of North America, is to a large extent made
up of rocks of Jurassic and Triassic age, with a comparatively
small development of Carboniferous limestone, and these
formations are so folded together, broken up, and metamorphosed in the great chain of the Sierra Nevada, that it will be
immense labor, if indeed possible at all, to unravel its detailed
structure. While we are fully justified in saying that a large
portion of the auriferous rocks of California consists of Triassic
and Jurassic strata, we have not a particle of evidence to
sustain the theory which has been so often brought forward,
that all, or even a portion of the auriferous rocks are older
than the Carboniferous, not a trace of a Devonian or Silurian
fossil ever having been discovered in California, or indeed any
where to the west of the iI6th meridian.  It appears, on the
other hand, that no inconsiderable amount of gold has been
obtained from metamorphic rocks, belonging as high up in
the series as the Cretaceous.*
While such are the generalizations of Whitney
as to the age of the auriferous rocks of the Sierra
Nevada, Remond arrives at the same results as to
* "Paleontology of California," Vol. I.
258 
MOUNTAIN-SYSTEMS.
the metalliferous rocks of Northern Mexico, embraced in the ranges known as the Sierra Madre,
which may be regarded as the southern extension
of the Rocky Mountain system.
"The  oldest  sedimentary rocks which  I have observed
belong to the Carboniferous series; this is represented in the
eastern part of Sonora, by heavy masses of limestone, forming
very high and rugged ridges, running a little west of north.
*  *  Argentiferous veins occur throughout this formation.
The  next group of rocks in order is the Triassic,   *  *
made up of heavy beds of quartzites and conglomerates.
*   *   Wherever  metamorphosed,  the Triassic  rocks are
auriferous, and  contain veins of silver ores.   *  *  The
Cretaceous period is also represented at the foot of the Sierra
Madre.  *  *  The strata belonging to this series are chiefly
argillaceous shales, and these rest upon porphyries and Carboniferous limestones. They have been disturbed and elevated
since their deposition.   *   *   The veins cut all the rocks
older than the Cretaceous, whether igneous or sedimentary." *
These facts clearly indicate that the Sierra
Nevada and Rocky-Mountain Chains were up
lifted, metamorphosed, and infiltrated with the
precious metals at or about the close of the Tri
* "Proc. Cala. Academy Nat. Sci."  Vol. III.
It would seem that the Carboniferous and Triassic series exist in intimate relation through the whole range of the Rocky Mountains in the
United States. The Triassic has been recognized in the Colorado
Basin (Newberry); in the region of Washoe (Whitney); east of the
Rio Grande, and in the vicinity of the Raton Mountain (Le Conte);
in the Black Hills, Big Horn Mountains, and about the sources of the
Missouri (Meek and Hayden). The Carboniferous series exists in
great force in the region of Santa Fe6 (Newberry); Salt Lake (Hall);
and in the Great Basin east of longitude II6~ (Whitney).
259 
GEOLOGY.
assic age; and yet they must have subsequently
undergone great subsidence, for we find the Cretaceous strata reposing undisturbed upon both
slopes, and imposed on these, a series of Tertiary
beds, some marine and some fresh-water, which
appear to have been unaffected by the elevatory
movements which gave form and direction to the
Rocky-Mountain System. Subordinate systems
are known to exist, and others will undoubtedly
be determined; but it is to these three great lines
of upheaval that the Mississippi Valley owes its
configuration.
The  Coast Ranges.- The  elevation  of the
Coast Ranges of the Pacific, as determined by
Antisell and others, is as recent as the MiocineTertiary, which has brought up strata over 2,000
feet in thickness, containing fossils differing from
those of the Mississippi Valley, and indicating a
difference in the waters of the two oceans.* Later
observations by Whitney show, that while the Cretaceous strata repose undisturbed on the flanks of
the Sierra Nevada, they partook of the movement
by which the Coast Ranges were made to assume
their present form and direction; and are, therefore, far more modern in age. Their range is from
the extremity of the peninsula of California to the
* "Pacific Railroad Surveys." Vol. III.
26o 
VOLCANIC PRODUCTS.
British Possessions, and their bearing about N.
700 W.
Volcanic Products.- This class of rocks  is
observed in the form of basalts, greenstones, and
amygdaloids, protruded among the grits and conglomerates of the Silurian age, in the Lake Superior district; but their grandest display is in the
Rocky-Mountain region, and on the Pacific Slope.
Mt. Hood, Shasta, and Lassan's Peak, on the one
side, and the Raton Mountain, Long's Peak, and
the Three Teutons, on the other, with San Francisco and San Mateo on the Colorado Plateau, are,
as we have seen, but volcanic craters, whose fires
have but recently been extinguished. All over
this region there are crested ridges and isolated
peaks that have been thus lifted up, and from their
orifices have flowed lava, peperino, scoria, and
ashes, so copiously as to cover the fundamental
rocks over large areas. These overflows will probably be found to be of various ages, but some of
them are of extremely modern origin. Perhaps
the most conspicuous example of recent action
is exhibited at Table Mountain, California, as
described by Whitney, where the summit consists of basaltic lava nearly I50 feet thick, and
elevated 2,000 feet above the Stanislaus River.
The stream of once molten matter is traceable for
26i 
GEOLOGY.
forty miles up to its source in the High Sierra;
and, as it must have sought the lowest depressions,
at the time of its overflow, it is inferred that the
country has since been denuded to that extent.
Beneath the basalt are about 200 feet of slightlycoherent sandstones, and argillaceous shales and
clays, containing silicified wood and impressions
of leaves, which Newberry refers to the later
Pliocine epoch; and quite recently Silliman has
obtained the fragmentary bones of a mastodon
from the same locality.
Gabb describes the occurrence of Post-Pliocine
deposits on the peninsula of Lower California,
made up almost of casts or shells of Molusca still
living in the adjoining waters, which are often
capped by volcanic products to the depth of ioo
feet; and Remond states that, scattered along the
whole Pacific coast of Northern Mexico, volcanic
products are found in positions which clearly indicate that they have been poured forth since the
elevation of the formations which constitute the
fundamental rocks of that region.
These facts would indicate that man has probably been witness to some of the most stupendous events which have modified the physical geography of the continent,- the lifting up of long lines
of coast, the formation of volcanic cones I2,000
feet or more in height, and the denudation of tile
262 
RIVER-SYSTEMS.
country to the depth of 2,000 feet. Accustomed
as we are, at this day, to witness the calm operations of nature, rarely interrupted by catastrophes,
it is almost impossible to conceive that such tremendous changes in the physical aspect of these
regions, are to be ranked among the most recent
of events in the world's history.
River-Systems. - In comparing the Mountainsystems with the River-systems of the Great Interior, we find that the direction of the Saskatchawan,
the Churchill, the Athabasca, and other affluents of
Hudson's Bay, together with those great fresh-water
lakes,-Great Bear, Slave, and Athabasca,-almost
rivaling in dimensions the Laurentian Chain, has
been determined by the Lake Superior System;
the Ohio and the St. Lawrence, including Lakes
Erie and Ontario, by the Appalachian System; and
the Upper Mississippi, the Missouri, together with
Lake  Winipeg, and Mackenzie's River, by the
Rocky-Mountain System.
The line of greatest depression on the continent
would be represented by about longitude go9~0,
which cuts the Mississippi River, Lake Michigan,
Lake Superior, and Hudson's Bay. That these features which make up the architecture of the Continent are not fortuitous but are the result of the
operations of fixed laws, will be apparent to every
careful student of physical geography.
263 
GEOLOGY.
CLASSIFICATION OF THE FORMATIONS.
Within this valley, though at no one point exhibiting an unbroken succession, have been deposited
the principal groups of formations observed elsewhere, as constituing the crust of the earth.
Azoic System.- From the entire absence of all
vestiges of organic remains in these rocks, and
lying inconformably beneath that group which
exhibits the first traces of such remains, this system has been called the Azoic (without life). It
is inferred that the very condition of our planet at
that epoch -an incandescent body gradually cooling, its crust subject to volcanic paroxysms,
mephitic vapors constantly escaping through wide
fissures communicating with the interior, and the
waters heated to a high temperature,- would be
highly unfavorable to the existence of animal or
vegetable life. The rocks consist of igneous products, such as granites, greenstones, and porphyries;
and of metamorphic products, such as talcose
and chlorite slates, quartzites, and saccharoidal
marbles.
In the Lake Superior region they are largely
developed; and while the metamorphic strata are
tilted at high angles, the Potsdam sandstone,
which contains the earliest forms of organic life,
264 
IRON-ORES.
reposes upon their basset edges, slightly metamorphosed, and in nearly horizontal strata.
The crystalline belt which forms the crest and
eastern slope of the Appalachians has, by some,
been referred to this system, while others regard
it as a portion of the Silurian system highly metamorphosed; but the discussion of this question
does not come within the purview of this work.
In Missouri and Arkansas there are isolated
patches of these rocks, which appear to have been
islands in the old Silurian sea, and it would seem
that portions of the region occupied by the Rocky
Mountains served as the floor of the Azoic ocean,
on which the purely sedimentary deposits were
formed; for Newberry, in the Caion of the Little
Colorado, saw in one magnificent section, over
4,000 feet in depth, an unbroken succession of sedimentary rocks, conformable in dip, and extending
from the Potsdam sandstone, reposing on granite,
up to and including the Carboniferous series; and
Meek and Hayden have detected the Potsdam
sandstone, with its characteristic fossils, in the
Black Hills of Nebraska.
Iron Ores.-The Azoic rocks are the repositories of vast deposits of specular and magnetic oxide
of iron. They range through the region of Lake
Superior; they occur in Canada, in the Adiron
265 
GEOLOGY.
dacks of New York, in New Jersey, Missouri, and
Arkansas.
IRON REGION  OF LAKE  SUPERIOR.-AS intimately connected with the commerce and manufactures of the Mississippi Valley, the ores of iron,
occurring at two of the points above enumerated,
deserve a more extended notice, both by reason
of their purity, and the magnitude of the deposits;
viz., those of Lake Superior and of Missouri.
There is no region of the earth where the ores
of iron are developed on a scale of such grandeur,
or concentrated in a state of such purity, as on the
southern shore of Lake Superior. Nijny Tagilsk,
Dannemora, and Elba, may contain isolated deposits
equally rich; but these combined would occupy a
mere patch on the surface over which the ores of
this region are known to be distributed.
This area is somewhat irregular in outline. Its
length, east and west, is about one hundred and
fifty miles, with a variable breadth, north and south,
from six to seventy miles. The greatest concentration of the ores, however, is in the vicinity of
the Jackson, Cleveland, and Lake Superior mines.
For many years these ores were worked in open
quarry; but, with the vast demand, it has become
necessary to sink upon them below the drainage
of the country. This demand now exceeds onehalf million of tons a year. In the furnace, the ores
266 
IRON-ORES.
yield about 65 per cent. of pig metal, which,
when properly puddled, gives an iron of great
strength and tenacity. The principal market for
these ores is in the Mahoning and Shenango Valleys, Detroit, Buffalo, and Pittsburgh.
IRON  REGION OF MISSOURI.- In this region,
embracing the counties of Iron and St. Fran2ois,
in the State of Missouri -about eighty miles south
of St. Louis,- occur large deposits of specular and
magnetic iron-ores, known as Iron Mountain, Pilot
Knob, and Shepherd's Mountain.  The Iron Mountain rises to the height of about 200 feet above the
surrounding country, and, while so far as revealed
by the uncovering, it contains a vast amount of ore
of the purest quality, it is traversed north and
south by one or more porphyritic dykes. The ore,
externally, has the appearance of an erupted mass.
Pilot Knob rises to the height of 58I feet, in a
symmetrical form. The mass is porphyry to the
height of 450 feet. Then succeeds a layer of
banded  ore, resembling a metamorphic product,
about 60 feet in thickness, which is capped by a
lean, jaspery ore, 70 feet in thickness, forming the
summit of the hill. At Shepherd's Mountain the
ores are magnetic, and occur in two veins, respectively eight and fourteen feet in width, traversing
porphyry. These ores give, in their working, about
60 per cent. of pig iron, and are known to iron
267 
GEOLOGY.
masters as "neutral" in the quality of bar-iron.
In Dent County there is said to exist a mountainmass of iron-ore still larger than any described.
Owing to the supposed remoteness of a proper
fuel to smelt these ores, the greatest product of the
mines in no one year has exceeded 25,000 tons;
but there has lately been developed an iron-making
coal in the counties of Randolph and Perry, adjoining the Mississippi River, in the State of Illinois, so
that a union between the materials for iron-making
can be easily effected, and these ores will hereafter
play a more prominent part in the manufacturing
industry of the Mississippi Valley.
In Missouri, the granite associated with this
series of rocks is traversed by numerous veins of
tin -a discovery which, at the time of its
announcement, was received with much distrust
by the scientific community. Like tin veins in
other parts of the world, they are not rich, but
specimens have been assayed which gave as high
as eight per cent. of metal.
Gold has been found sparsely distributed in the
Azoic rocks throughout their entire range; and the
baser metals, copper and lead, are by no means
rare. The true Golden Age of the world, however, was of far more recent date.
The igneous and metamorphic rocks are the
principal repositories of metallic wealth. This
268 
AGES OF THE METALS.
wealth is concentrated in the form of veins, or in
beds running parallel with the formation. The
accuracy of the opinion almost universally entertained in the early investigation of mineral veins,
that they had been filled by injections from beneath,
may well be doubted. Their filling, where they
exhibit a comb-like structure, must have been the
result of successive infiltrations, and their gangues,
particularly where they consist of the zeolite min
erals, would indicate that water, or superheated
steam, rather than heat, had been the solvent
power. It will probably be found, too, that some
action like that of galvanism, has abstracted the
metallic particles from the enclosing rocks, and
concentrated them in fissures and beds. The
theory of injection has led to the delusive idea,
justified by no mining experience, that veins
become enriched in proportion to the depth penetrated.
According to the Mythology of the Ancients,
there were Four Ages, symbolized  by the four
metals -gold, silver, brass (copper), and iron.
The geologist, while recognizing the fact that certain periods in the earth's history were prolific in
certain metals, fails to recognize this order of succession. The Azoic series is characterized by the
abundance of iron; copper is associated with the
first-formed sedimentary rocks, or rather their igne
269 
GEOLOGY.
ous products; lead predominates in the Lower
Silurian and Sub-carboniferous series; silver is of
the Carboniferous age, and even of that of the Tertiary volcanic rocks; gold appertains to the Triassic; and mercury to the Cretaceous.
The Golden Age, according the poets, was one
of unmixed delight, when man,
"Vindice nullo,
Sponte sua sine lege fidem rectumque colebat."
Ours is emphatically an age of IRON. The use
of this metal is intimately associated with the
whole history of the progress and civilization of
man. In every thing relating to the production,
transformation, and distribution of material wealth,
whether extracted from the sea, the soil, or the
deep recesses of mines, iron performs an all-important part. No other metal could be successfully
substituted for the axe, the plough, or the spade; or
for the loom, the steam-engine, the locomotive, or
the railroad track.
" Every one," says Ure, " knows the manifold uses of this
truly precious metal. It is capable of being cast into moulds
of any form; of being drawn into wires of any desired strength
or fineness; of being extended into plates or sheets; of being
bent in any direction; of being sharpened, hardened, and softened at pleasure.   It accommodates itself to all our wants,
our desires, and even our caprices. It is equally serviceable
in the arts, the sciences, to agriculture, and war; the same
ore furnishes the sword, the ploughshare, the scythe, the prun
270 
IRON-PRODUCT.
ing-hook, the needle, the graver, the spring of a watch, or of
a carriage, the chisel, the cannon, and the bomb. It is a
medicine of much virtue, and the only metal friendly to the
animal frame." *
The amount of iron consumed by a nation may
be regarded as an unerring index of its progress in
civilization. In Great Britain the annual consump
tion is about the combined weight of the whole
population; in the United States and France, it is
a little less; and in Prussia, Austria, and Russia,
it is stillless.
The following is the annual product of pig and
wrought iron in the several countries of the world,
in tons of 2,240 pounds each: t
Wroug ht Iron.
3,500,0o0
844,734
882,000
400,000
4oo~:o
200,000
I48,292
3soooo
350,000
20,C000
IO,OOO
200,000
7,~0~5,26
ENGLAND,   -  -
FRANCE,  -   -
UNITED STATES, -
BELGIUM,  - -
PRUSSIA,    -   -
AUSTRIA, -   -
SWEDEN,   -   -
RUSSIA,   -  -
SPAIN,   - - -
ITALY,  -
SWITZERLAND,    -
ZOLLVEREIN, -
* "Ure's Dic." Art. Iron.
t Hewitt's "Report," etc. (Paris Universal Exposition), i867.
27I
Pig, Iron.
- 4,530,051
1,200,320
- I, 175,   500,000
-    800,000
3 I 2,000
- 22-6,676
4o8,ooo
75,000
30,000
I5,000
- 250,000
9,322,047 
CHAPTER IX.
GEOLOGY (Continued)- SEDIMENTARY ROCKS.
SILURIAN  SYSTEM - FIRST EVIDENCES OF ORGANIC LIFE
AREA OF THE SILURIAN - LOWER SILURIAN - POTSDAM
SANDSTONE - PICTURED ROCKS - COPPER REGION OF LAKE
SUPERIOR - LOWER MAGNESIAN LIMESTONE - LEAD-BEAR ING VEINS OF MISSOURI- ST. PETER'S SANDSTONE - CINCIN NATI BL.UE LIMESTONE - LEAD-BEARING ROCKS OF WISCON SIN - UPPER SILURIAN SYSTEM - NIAGARA LIMESTONE
ONONDAGA SALT-GROUP - DEVONIAN SYSTEM - CARBONIF EROUS SYSTEM - FLUOR-SPAR VEINS WITH GALENA - GALENA
DEPOSITS - SILVER ORES OF MEXICO - COAL-MEASURES
THEIR AREA - THICKNESS - CHARACTER OF TIHE COALS -
PERMIAN SYSTEM - TRIASSIC AND JURASSIC SERIES - GOLD DEPOSITS OF CALIFORNIA - COPPER DEPOSITS - CRETACEOUS
SYSTEM - COAL DEPOSITS.
IN treating of the vast assemblage of rocks of a
purely sedimentary origin which fills the connected
basins of the Ohio, the Missouri, and the Missis
sippi, we shall begin with a description of the
lowest, and, therefore, the first-formed, and pro
ceed in an ascending order to the most recent.
And that the reader may fully comprehend the
order of succession, so far as relates to the Lower
Silurian groups, and their relation to the igneous 
12      5        120              1                              0
I-                                                  _
i;     / /__
c
3
I~~ 
430~~~          ~~~ I t o ~  ~
j\i\~~'~~~~~"'~j
~~~~~~~~
I  120                    11                                         lOj                   100                  91                    90
, 1",q,,,,,
Ito 105                      100 95 -                     90
-1,'- I --- - --
-.   - , 7    1
-- I
120  
SILURIAN SYSTEM.
rocks, we append the following ideal section,
extending from the Copper-region of Lake Superior to the Lead-bearing region of the Mississippi
Valley:
8
7,, I'l,l 6
S B_  _   {-, - I l.-! | —--, -!
I       2
3              3:.-:' -
3 3 ~~3
I. Azoic rocks of Lake Superior, bearing iron.
2. TRAPPEAN rocks of Lake Superior, bearing copper.
3. POTSDAM SANDSTONE.
4. MAGNESIAN LIMESTONE, including ST. PETER'S SANDSTONE, the
Lead-bearing rock of Missouri.
5. TRENTON LIMESTONE.
6. GALENA LIMESTONE, Lead-bearing rock of Wisconsin.
7. CINCINNATI BLTUE LIMESTONE.
8. NIAGARA LIMESTONE, capping mounds.
The  Silurian  System.-The  term  SILURIAN
was first applied to a series of fossiliferous strata
lying below the Old-Red sandstone, and occupying a part of Wales, and some contiguous counties
in England, which were once inhabited by the
SILURES, a tribe of ancient Britons; but so universally has this series of rocks been recognized, the
world over, that the term has passed into the
nomenclature of every text-book on geology. In
this region, this system is divisible into not less
than eight distinct groups, characterized alike by
fossil remains and lithological characters.
In the lowest member of this system-the POTSDAM SANDSTONE - we detect the first traces of
i8
~'."..: -Z.....'
273
4 
GEOLOGY.
organic life,-not of those complicated and highlyorganized forms which now inhabit the earth, but
low in the scale of creation,-trilobites, with
crescent-shaped head and jointed body, allied to the
crab and lobster; graptolites, or sea-pens, so
closely resembling certain vegetable forms that
zoologists long hesitated to which kingdom to
assign them; encrinites, which were permanently
attached to the sea-bottom, and sent forth their
branches like vegetable forms; and chambered
shells of the least ornate structure.  It is no part
of this treatise to describe the succession of organisms introduced upon the earth,- beginning with
the simplest forms, and terminating in man, the
most complex in organization, and far-reaching in
his capacities. To this succession incidental reference only will be made. The economic materials,
however, furnished by these several groups, will
be dwelt upon more in detail.
The greatest area occupied by the Silurian System (See the Geological Sketch of the United
States appended to this Chapter, p. 27I), lies south
of the Azoic belt of Lake Superior and stretches
west to near the Missouri River, comprehending
portions of Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa. In this area are to be found all
of the groups from the Potsdam sandstone up to
the Niagara limestone. In Ohio, a circular area
274 
SILURIAN-SYSTEM.
of thin-bedded limestones occurs in the vicinity of
Cincinnati, which has received the name of the
Blue limestone, as typical of that member of the
system. The Silurian rocks flank both slopes of
the Alleghanies; they occupy a large area in
Southeastern Missouri, extending into Southern
Illinois, and Northeastern Arkansas. They have
been recognized in the Black Hills of Nebraska,
and in the Black Canion of the Little Colorado.
Lower Silurian System.-THE POTSDAM SANDSTONE finds its greatest development in the region
of Lake Superior, and it is probable that the bed
of this lake, whose area is 32,00oo0 square miles, is
mainly excavated in this rock. Here, where it
has been invaded by trappean overflows, it is
highly metamorphosed, often containing jaspery
materials and large pebbles of greenstone and
amygdaloid, derived from the immediate vicinity,
but no pebbles like granite or quartz, which are
foreign to the region.   So  energetic were  the
igneous and acqueous causes, that they have been
accumulated to the thickness of more than 3,000
feet, while 250 feet would represent the general
thickness of this member, remote from this telluric
activity.  South of the Azoic belt, the sandstone
is so slightly coherent that it may be crushed in
the hand, and is characterized by the presence of
275 
GEOLOGY.
LingulJe and Trilobites. It extends south to the
Wisconsin River, and west to the Mississippi, in
Minnesota. In this region the strata repose horizontally upon the irregular surface of the Azoic
series.
PICTURED  ROCKS  OF LAKE  SUPERIOR.-The
best natural section of the Potsdam sandstone in
the Northwest, is afforded by the famous Pictured
Rocks of Lake Superior. Commencing at Grand
Island, and extending eastward for about five miles,
this group of strata lines the shore, rising from the
water's edge, in mural-like faces, from 50 to 200
feet in height, not in an unbroken line, but in a
series of projections and recessions. It is not the
mere height of these cliffs, or the bold sweep of
their lines, which constitute the charm of this landscape, and impress so profoundly the beholder;
but it arises from two other sources,- the brilliant
hues with which they are dyed, and the fantastic
shapes into which they have been excavated.
While the general tone of the rock is a light-yellow, at particular points there are broad vertical
stripes extending for thirty or forty feet above the
water, variously-tinted umber, yellow, and grey,
"together with bright-blue and green, the two latter
tints being less frequent. All the colors are fresh,
distinct, and brilliant, as in a fresco painting; and,
embracing the whole scene in a coup d'eil,- the
276 
PICTURED ROCKS.
deep-blue waters of the lake at the base, the canopy
of bright-green foliage above, and still beyond the
over-arching sky,-the effect is grand and beautiful.
These colors result probably from the percolation
of the water through the strata, taking up various
mineral oxides, and depositing them on the nearly
vertical walls. Adverting to the second conspicuous feature, it may be said that the action of the
lake-waves upon the slowly-yielding strata, continued through an indefinite period of time, has
excavated them into many grotesque forms. As
approached from Grand Island, in the distance
they resemble the ruins of some fortified city,ramparts formed into bastions and curtains, solitary towers, and long lines of wall, with arched
entrances, or portals; and hence, the early voyageurs gave to this assemblage of rocks the name
of Les Portails. Coasting in a small boat, along
the verge of the water and beneath the overhanging cliffs, the observer passes a succession of
scenes each one of which is of rare and exquisite
beauty:'-" Miner's Castle," with its turrets and
portals; the "Amphitheatre, with its smooth walls
and its symmetrical curves; " Sail Rock," where a
tabular mass of sandstone, detached from the cliffs
above, stands nearly vertically in the water, presenting the similitude of a sloop under full sail;
and the " Grand  Portal," where a quadrilateral
277 
GEOLOGCY.
mass of strata 200 feet in height, projects into the
lake for 6oo00 feet, and is pierced with an arched
opening Io00 feet high and I68 feet broad, leading
through high vaulted passages into the great dome,
300 feet from the face of the cliff. Nor must it be
forgotten that the effects of this scenery are heightened by occasional cascades, which descend in a
sheet of foam from the brow of the cliffs, and
mingle with the waters of the lake.
The whole line of cliffs presents a succession
of wonderful and constantly-varying scenes, and
amply repays the tourist who pauses sufficiently
long to contemplate the details.*
This group of rocks is recognized as flanking the
Alleghanies in Tennessee, always disturbed, and
sometimes in nearly vertical strata. Traces, too,
are observed in the vicinity of the Iron Mountain,
Missouri, where it is nearly horizontal. It appears
in Burnet County, Texas (Shumard); in the Black
Canon (Newberry); and in the Black Hills of
Dakota, the Laramie, Big Horn, and Wind-River
Ranges of the Rocky Mountains (Hayden). It
would thus seem that the Potsdam sandstone
was deposited in a sea whose confines were as
extended as those of the Great Valley, and that it
* For a more minute description of the " Pictured Rocks," see Foster and Whitney's Report, "Geology of Lake Superior Region."
Vol. II.
278 
COPPER-REGION.
rests at the base of the whole fossiliferous series.
Thus far, throughout its range, we are not aware
of its having proved metalliferous, except in connection with the igneous products, in the region of
Lake Superior.
THE COPPER-REGION OF LAKE SUPERIOR commences at the head of Keweenaw Point, where the
trappean rocks, with their associated conglomerates, rise up in bold, stair-like cliffs, and afford
many scenes of picturesque beauty. This peculiar
physi6gnomy is characteristic of the whole trappean region. From this point, in a variable belt,
from two to ten miles broad, the associated traps,
conglomerates, and sandstones, range in a southwestern direction for I30 miles, conforming to the
trend of the shore, when they sink down, and their
presence is only indicated at times by an isolated
knob. Those portions of the range most productive in copper, are in the vicinity of Portage Lake,
the Cliff, and Copper Falls locations, and the
Ontonagon River. Native copper is almost exclusively found.  On  Keweenaw Point it occurs in
a system of veins bearing about north 2121 west.
In the early mining, it was supposed that the pro ductive deposits were restricted to these veins;
but, in the progress of development, it was found
that certain intercalated beds of amygdaloid and
volcanic ash were sufficiently impregnated with
279 
GEOLOGY.
copper to render its extraction profitable; and it is
from the latter sources that the bulk of the copper
is now derived.
The annual consumption of refined copper in the
United States is about I2,oo000 tons, of which these
mines furnish about 9,o000 tons; Tennessee, I oo
tons; and California, and Vermont,  2,500  tons,
leaving a small surplus for exportation.
THE MAGNESIAN LIMESTONE, the equivalent
of the CALCIFEROUS SANDSTONE of the New York
Survey, is nearly as persistent in its range as the
Potsdam sandstone; but in the Lake Superior
region it assumes an arenaceous character, while
in Wisconsin and Missouri it becomes a gray, calcareous rock (an almost pure dolomite), with more
or less embedded chert. The Magnesian limestone
series in the latter State, as determined by Swallow, is divisable into four members, numbered
in a descending order: I. (I90 feet); 2. (230
feet); 3. (350 feet); and 4. (300 feet); separated by bands of sandstone, saccharoidal in character, varying from 50 to I25 feet. While the
Second Magnesian limestone contains galena in
economical quantities, the well-known mines of
Washington, Franklin, and St. Fran('ois Counties,
are in the third member of the series.
THE LEAD-BEARING VEINS OF MISSOURI appear
under different forms. In Franklin County, there
280 
LEAD-BEARING VEINS.
is a series of vertical fissures, bearing nearly north
and south, which penetrate indefinitely downwards,
filled in-with sulphate of barytes and associated
with galena. Where they pass through a soft
mineral plane they become enlarged and enriched;
and where they enter a close, cherty rock, they
become pinched and impoverished. Like other
classes of veins, they have their "chimneys " or
cavernous openings, where the "mineral" is concentrated. Galena also occurs in flat sheets in the
soft arenaceous bands of Magnesian limestone,
which weather into a yellowish sand. At Mine
la Motte and St. Joseph's, the lead is deposited
at the base of the individual layers of limestone,
which are separated by well-defined lines of stratification, as though the metal had been held in
solution with the lime, and precipitated, and accommodated itself to this position by reason of its
greater specific gravity. At Mine la Motte, also,
occurs nickel in paying quantities, in connection
with cobalt and copper.
THE ST. PETER'S SANDSTONE is the line of separation between the Lower Magnesian and Trenton
groups, and is readily recognized in Illinois, Iowa,
Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Its thickness rarely
exceeds ioo feet. It is a soft, friable rock, often
pure-white, and is employed for glass-making, at
Chicago.
28I 
GEOLOGY.
THE TRENTON-LIMESTONE group is widely distributed. It is recognized along the southern shore
of Lake Huron, and amid the islands of the St.
Mary's River. It crosses the Escanaba River just
above the head of Bay de Noquet, and thence is
protracted into Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois, where
it rests at the base of the lead-bearing rocks. It
forms the crest of the Falls of St. Anthony,
reappears on the Missouri River, in Franklin
County, and on the Mississippi, below St. Louis,
and is developed in the interior of Kentucky and
Tennessee, where it is known as the Stone's-River
group.
THE GALENA LIMESTONE may be regarded as
an intercalation in the series, and is locally
developed in the southwestern part of Wisconsin
and the adjacent parts of Iowa and Illinois, embracing an area of about 3,000 square miles. Its thickness is about 250 feet. Its tone is light-grey or
yellowish, and the rock itself, a compound carbonate of lime and magnesia (dolomite), often
weathers into fantastic forms, leaving at the base a
coarse, meagre, ochre-colored sand. It is by no
means rich in fossils, but there is a peculiar
sun-flower-like form, the Solenoides iowzvensis of
Owen, which, when once seen by the casual
observer, is ever afterwards recognized. With
regard to the occurrence of galena in this lime
282 
SILURIAN SYSTEM.
stone, it may be said that the upper fifty feet are
unproductive.   The  middle is characterized  by
gash veins, which are crevices with no polished
walls or well characterized gangue. These crevices, as followed, often expand into "openings" or
caves, which again close up to a mere seam.
As traced downward to the Trenton or Buff limestone, the "mineral" spreads out in a flat sheet,
or bed-like form, with a considerable pitch to some
angle of the horizon. The ore is almost invariably
a sulphuret of lead (galena), except where decomposition has partially taken place, when the cubes
are often studded with pearl-colored crystals of
carbonate of lead. Sulphuret of zinc (black-jack),
carbonate of zinc, iron pyrites, and occasionally carbonate of copper, accompany the galena, together
with calc-spar, and rarely heavy spar.
THE CINCINNATI BLUE LIMESTONE, the equivalent of what was formerly regarded as the HudsonRiver group of the New York Reports, occurs at
the typical locality, in thin-bedded strata of limestone, profusely filled with fossils, with interlaminated marls and shales.  It is also traced  along
Drummond's Island in the St. Mary's River and
the northern slope of Lake Michigan to Green
Bay, and through Lake Winnebago. It reappears
in the lead-region of Wisconsin and Iowa, in isolated mounds, often capped by the Niagara lime
283 
GEOLOGY.
stone. Here it is about fifty feet thick, and the
layers consist mainly of calcareous shales, in which
the Vuculza forms the predominating fossil, while
Orlhoceratiles and LinguZlce are not wanting.
This group is recognized in Missouri, by Swallow,
where it is 220 feet in thickness, and by Worthen
in Southern Illinois, adjacent to the Mississippi
River.
Upp5er Silurian System.-THE NIAGARA LIMESTONE series is a most important one in the Lake
region, inasmuch as the shore-lines for many hundred miles have been determined by its range. It
is an enduring rock, and furnishes a building material of an agreeable color, and easily-wrought.
From  Niagara Falls, it ranges through Canada,
forming the ridges near Hamilton and Dundas,
and the conspicuous promontory known as Cabot's
Head on Lake Huron; and thence through
the Manitoulin Islands, and along the northern
shore of Lake Michigan and the eastern shore
of Green Bay; thence through Wisconsin to
Chicago and the head of Lake Michigan. In this
vicinity it is known as the "Athens marble," and
in chemical composition is almost a pure dolomite. It is of a light-grey, or cream-colored tint,
and forms one of the best and most easily-wrought
materials for architectural purposes to be found in
284 
SILURIAN SYSTEM.
the United States. The thickness of the series is
about 250 feet. Traced westward, it becomes the
fundamental rock over a large space in Northwestern Illinois, rises in continuous bluffs along
the Mississippi, and caps, in many instances, the
mounds of the Lead-region. Near the town of
Hampton, according to Worthen, it sinks below
the bed of the Mississippi, but reappears along the
southwestern border of the State, and in Jersey
County, forms perpendicular cliffs from 50 to ioo
feet high, along the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers.
The quarries at Grafton furnished the material for
that noble structure, now in ruins, the Lindell
Hotel of St. Louis.*
THE ONONDAGA-SALT GROUP forms the base
of the island of Mackinac, is developed in the interior of Michigan, and is recognized by Hall,t in
Wisconsin and Iowa. It is not improbable that
the bed of Lake Michigan has been in part excavated in this group.  That portion of the series in
which originate the salt-springs in the vicinity of
Saginaw, has been designated by Winchell as
the SALINA GROUP, and is estimated to cover an
area of I7,00ooo square miles. The annual product
* "Geology of Illinois."  Vol. I, p. 136.
t "Geology of Iowa.'  P. 76.
285 
GEOLOGY.
of the salt-wells of Michigan reaches 1,300,000
bushels.
Devonian Syslemn.-The rocks consist of sandstones, limestones, and shales. In their range, they
occupy nearly the whole area of Lower Michigan,
Western Ohio, and Eastern Indiana, and are protracted southerly into Kentucky and Tennessee. A
narrow belt, running northwest and southeast, skirts
the northern rim of the coal-field in Iowa, and a
limited area also occurs in Northeastern Missouri.
Among the fossils collected by Stansbury in the
vicinity of Salt Lake, Hall recognized Devonian
types, and Meek has described their occurrence in
the Great Basin, near the base of the Sierra
Nevada.
These rocks are the reservoirs of the copious
petroleum springs of Western Pennsylvania, which
have added so much to the national wealth, the
exports of which now exceed ninety-four and onehalf millions of gallons.
To illustrate the order of succession in the
groups which make up the interval between the
Silurian and Cretaceous formations, the following
ideal section, from the Smoky-Hill River, west of
Fort Riley, Kansas, to Callaway County, Missouri,
is appended:
286 
CARBONIFEROUS.
SECTION FROM KANSAS TO MISSOURI.
6                        5        43
4 
I. DEVONIAN, the equivalent of the Hamilton, Onondaga, and Oris   kany groups of the New York Reports.
2. SUB-CARBONIFEROUS, including the Ferruginous sandstone, Upper
Archimedes or Kaskaskia limestone, Prairie du Rocher sandstone,
Middle Archimedes or Ste. Genevieve limestone, St. Louis lime   stone, Lower Archimedes or Keokuk limestone, and Encrinital
limestone of the Missouri Reports.
3. COAL-MEASURES of Missouri and Kansas.
4. PERMIAN, embracing the variegated  marls and soft magnesian
limestones of Kansas.
5. TRIASSIC? along the western border of the Permian.
6. CRETACEOUS.- Reddish and whitish sandstones of the Dakota
group, widely distributed over Western Kansas.
Cdarboniferouzs System-(a).  SUB-CARBONIFERouS.-In the States of Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri,
the Sub-carboniferous limestones are developed
on a scale of unbroken succession, and are stored
with a variety and profusion of organic forms such
as are not elsewhere observed. To the palxontologist they afford materials of absorbing interest,
and the splendid illustrations which have already
been given in the Geological Reports of these
States, convey to us a pretty complete knowledge
of the conditions of organic life during this period
in the history of our planet.
Taking Illinois as typical of these groups, we
287
2
3
I 
GEOLOGY.
have between the base of the Coal-Measures and
the Devonian, the following subdivisions, as determined by Worthen:
CHESTER GROUP,...500 to 800 feet thick.
ST. LOUIS GROUP,- -------------— 50 to 200
KEOKUK GROUP,.. — - ---   IOO to I50   "
BURLINGTON LIMESTONE,  -                  25 to IOO 
KINDERHOOK GROUP,.. — ---   IOO to 150   "
CHESTER GROUP.-The calcareous members of
this group are a grey and closely-granulated limestone, well fitted for building purposes, and are
characterized by the presence of an immense nautiloid shell nearly two feet in diameter (Vautilus
spectabilis), together with some sixteen species
of fishes, besides Crinoids and Brachipods.
THE ST. Louis LIMESTONE is a regularly-bedded, light-grey, or bluish-grey limestone, and in
composition is a nearly pure carbonate of lime.
The Melonites multipora, resembling the fruit of
the tomato, and the Poleriocrinus missouriensis
are characteristic Crinoids. This rock is highly
cavernous, and in the vicinity of St. Louis there
are many sink-holes, which indicate the entrance
to these caverns.
THE KEOKUK LIMESTONE is, at Nauvoo and Keokuk, a regular-bedded, grey rock, well fitted for
building purposes. Above this, in position, is the
Geode-bed, which has furnished so many fine specimens of quartz crystallizations. The geodes occur
288 
SUB-CARBONIFEROUS SERIES.
disseminated through shaley limestone, sometimes
so aggregated as to touch one another, and again
so disseminated that several feet of the shale will
afford not more than a single specimen. Sometimes the cavities are filled with asphaltum, and at
others with water, and there often occur splendid
groups of calcite crystals, implanted on crystalline
quartz.*
THE BURLINGTON LIMESTONE, in its upper part,
is a light-grey, or yellowish limestone, and consists
almost-entirely of a mass of Crinoids. The lower
portion is more magnesian, and of a brownish
color, and disintegrates so readily that it is unfit
for building purposes. Worthen, in speaking of
the beauty and profusion of the Crinoids in this
group, says:
" No spot of the same geographical extent has yet been discovered on the surface of the earth, where those beautiful
" lily stars" flourished in such numnbers, as along the northern
shores of the Sub-carboniferous ocean, during the deposit of
this limestone; and no where else have their remains been
found in such profusion, or in such a perfect state of preservation as in this rock.  *  *  *  More than three hundred species have already been described from this region, and many
new ones are still being discovered, from time to time; and
yet probably not one individual in every hundred that lived
during this period, has been preserved in such a condition
that their specific character can now be obtained."t
* "Illinois Geol. Rep." Vol. I, p. 96.
t Ibidem, p. I04.
I9
289 
GEOLOGY.
THE KINDERHOOK GROUP consists of sandy and
argillaceous shales, with thin beds of fine-grained,
oolitic limestone, the whole being from one to two
hundred feet in thickness, and constituting, according to Worthen and Meek, the base of the Subcarboniferous system, being the equivalent of the
Lower limestone seen at Burlington; of the Goniatite-bed at Rockford, Indiana; of the Waverley
sandstone of Ohio; and of the Choteau, the Lithographic, and Vermicular sandstones and shales of
the Missouri Reports.
The entire series of the Sub-carboniferous rocks,
in Southern Illinois, attain a thickness of i,2OO and
1,500 feet; but they thin out as traced northward,
and at LaSalle, the Coal-Measures are seen to
repose upon the upturned edges of the Lower
Silurian groups. They are, however, found to
encircle the Michigan coal-field; in Ohio, they
are represented by a thin group of arenaceous
deposits, and are recognized in Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas. Limestones of the Carboniferous
age, highly metamorphosed, exist along the eastern
slope of the Rocky Mountains, probably almost
continuously from Mexico to British Columbia; on
the Colorado Plateau;  and in the Great Basin.
They are the oldest group which has been recognized on the Pacific Slope, and often occur in connection with and conforming to the Trias.
290 
SUB-CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM.
The Sub-carboniferous rocks, like the corresponding groups in England, at certain points are
productive in galena. In Southern Illinois this ore
is intimately associated with heavy veins of fluor
spar, a substance so rare in mass, that it deserves
more than a passing notice; and particularly, when
it is understood that it can be obtained in an
unlimited quantity, and that it may be extensively
employed in the metallurgic arts.
FLUOR SPAR-VEINS CARRYING GALENA.-There
is a series of flexures in Illinois, first noticed by
Norwood and confirmed by the observations of
Worthen, running about N. 300 W., which have
brought to the surface the Silurian rocks, and have
disturbed and given a quaqu'aversal dip to the
Coal-Measures. This system is at right angles
to Appalachian system, and conforms to that of
the Rocky Mountains. Thus, in the valley of the
Ohio River, we find the Coal-Measures of Illinois
separated from those of Kentucky by an axis which
has brought up both divisions of the Chester group,
the St. Louis limestone, and the Upper Devonian
shales. The crown of this axis is well displayed
in the vicinity of Rosiclare, Hardin County, where,
in a bluff, two hundred feet or more in height,
overlooking the Ohio River, are exhibited the
sandstones, shales, and argillaceous limestones of
the Chester group, and about fifty feet of the St.
29I 
GEOLOGY.
Louis limestone beneath, which is here a greytinted rock, often oolitic in structure, and chemically an almost pure carbonate of lime. While
the fissures traverse both groups, it is only in the
St. Louis limestone that they develop their true
metalliferous character.
These phenomena are illustrated in the follow
ing
SECTION ACROSS THE OHIO VALLEY.
uQ I
2
3 4                   5                  4      3
S.W.                                                N.E.
I. COAL-MEASURES.
2. CHESTER GROUP (Upper Division).
3. CHESTER GROUP (Lower Division).
4. ST. LOUIS LIMESTONE.
5. UPPER DEVONIAN SHALES.
The Sub-carboniferous groups are intersected
at right angles to their bearing by a set of veins
of fluor spar, ranging about N. 20~ E., and apparently of indefinite depth. These fissures present
all of the phenomena of true veins. They cut
through different mineral planes, their gangue differs from the enclosing walls, there is a lining of
of flucan on either side, and they pursue a nearly
undeviating course, except where they enter the
292 
LEAD-BEARING VEINS.
sandstone which becomes shattered and tilted up,
- n at an angle as high as 45~, at the point of
contact. This is represented in the annexed woodcut, which exhibits the following section of one of
the veins:
I. SANDSTONE.
2. FLUCAN, or shale, 6 feet.
3. FLUOR SPAR, 4 feet.
4. FLUCAN, 3 feet.
5. LIMESTONE of indefinite depth.
5
The vein at this point has a width of 13 feet,
and as traced downward is observed to expand,
I50 feet, exhibits the annexed
section; but here, even,
the entire vein has not
been cross-cut. Throughout the gangue is distributed at intervals, galena of
a steel-like fracture and
color, which, on assay, is
found to be both argentiferous and auriferous.
The fluor spar is ordinarily crystalline, and of a
straw-color, but where cavities occur, there are
293
4
and at the depth of
an;  *.
V - 
GEOLOGY.
found beautiful cubical crystals of an amethystine
tint.
THE SOUTHWESTERN LEAD-REGION OF MISSOURI.-The famous Granby Mines are in this
formation, and in productiveness are probably
unsurpassed in the United States. They now give
employment to about 500 miners. The amount
of mineral raised annually, reaches I o,ooo,ooo
pounds, yielding 7,000,oo000 pounds of lead.* The
ore occurs in three zones, the lowest about sixty
feet beneath the surface, and each zone is capped
by a layer of chert about eighteen inches in thickness. Before the war, the annual product of leadore was not far from four and one-half millions of
pounds. Zinc, in the form of sulphuret, occurs
here abundantly, as well as the carbonate; in fact,
both of these ores accompany galena in its range
throughout Missouri. In Taney County, however,
I have observed veins of the silicious carbonate of
zinc, which, in strength and purity, surpass all
deposits of the kind which I have observed elsewhere.
The metalliferous deposits of Mexico are, in
part, included in heavy masses of limestone which
have been elevated in rugged ridges, running west
of north and east of south; and the age of these
* Parker, "Missouri as it is." i867.
294 
COAL-MEASURES.
rocks, according to the best observers, is referable
to the Carboniferous epoch.
(b.) COAL-MEASURES.- In the whole range of
rocks which compose the crust of the globe, there
is no group which contains materials so valuable
to man as this. Closely as, in the past, coal and
iron have been identified with the progress of man,
they are to be still more closely identified with his
future triumphs over matter, and with all that pertains to his temporal prosperity. If there is any
thing which distinguishes this age above all others,
it is the result of their cooperation in the infinite
variety of operations performed by machinery, to
the superseding of human muscles. The steamengine is, perhaps, the most marked example of
this union; and in the rapidity, precision, and skill
with which it performs its multifarious tasks, it
seems to be endowed almost with intelligence,- to
be almost "a thing of life."  "Its action is so regulated, as to make it capable of being applied to the
finest and most delicate manufactures, and its
power so increased as to set weight and solidity
at defiance. It has become a thing stupendous
alike for its force and flexibility,- for the prodigious power it can exert, and the ease and precision and ductility with which that power can be
varied, distributed, and applied. The trunk of an
elephant, that can pick up a pin or rend an oak, is
295 
GEOLOGY.
as nothing to it. It can engrave a seal, and crush
masses of obdurate metal before it,- draw out,
without breaking, a thread as fine as gossamer, and
lift a ship of war like a bauble in the air. It can
embroider muslin, and forge anchors,- cut steel
into ribands, and impel loaded vessels against the
fury of the winds and waves." *
The benefits which this invention has conferred
upon the world can not be overestimated. In
Great Britain it performs the labor of fifty millions
of men, and in every civilized country it has vastly
augmented the amount of its productions, and become the basis of additional wealth and population. It lies at the foundation of an improved and
more expeditious commercial intercourse, and on
the land it has annihilated distances. It has become
a tremendous engine in war, and in peace it has
armed the feeble hand of man with an instrument
by which nearly every mechanical process can be
performed,- and yet it is in its iniifancy, and each
year develops new applications.
In these elements of industrial art -coal and
iron, -no region is so bountifuilly supplied as the
Great Valley. We have already traced the range
and extent of the iron ores; it remains to trace the
distribution of the coals. Let any one glance at
the Geological Map (p. 272), and he will at once
* Jeffrey. Miscellanies:-" Character of James Watt."
296 
COAL-MEASURES.
see the vast area over which the Coal-Measures
constitute the prevailing rocks, divided into several
distinct fields, and intersected by navigable waters
by which the products of these fields are made accessible to the markets of the Great Valley. Instead
of lying in basin-shaped depressions as in England,
where the coal-seams can be approached only by
deep-penetrating shafts, they range with the enclosing strata over large areas, and can be mined by
drifts and adits, driven above the ordinary drainage
of the country.
THE ALLEGHANY COAL-FIELD ranges through
Western Pennsylvania and Virginia, Eastern Ohio,
Kentucky, and Tennessee, and terminates in Northern Alabama. Its area is estimated at 60,ooo square
miles. The assemblage of shales, limestones, and
sandstones, is estimated at 2,500 or 3,000 feet in
thickness. The workable seams of coal at Pittsburgh, have an aggregate thickness of 25- feet, and
in Southern Ohio, of 221 feet.
THE ILLINOIS COAL-FIELD occupies about twothirds of the area of that State, and parts of Indiana and Kentucky. The area is about the same
as that of the Alleghany coal-field. The thickness
of the associated rocks is about 800oo feet, and of
the workable seams, in Southern Illinois, 19 feet.
THE MISSOURI COAL-FIELD occupies the northwestern portion of that State; the eastern portion
297 
GEOLOGY.
of Kansas; a large area to the north, in Iowa and
Nebraska; and is protracted south into the Indian
Territory. Its area is the largest in the United
States, and even in the world, being not less than
Ioo,ooo square miles. According to Swallow, the
coal-rocks of Kansas are 2,000 feet thick, and contain from I2 to 15 feet of workable coal. The
Upper Measures, so far as we have observed, are
nearly barren. Isolated patches, outliers of this
great coal-field, occur on the Arkansas River.
THE MICHIGAN COAL-FIELD is extremely shallow, being about Ioo feet thick, and extending over
an area of 5,000 square miles. The coal, for the
most part, is mined for neighborhood purposes.
The boundaries of the TEXAS COAL-FIELD, of
which Fort Belknap is the centre, have been but
imperfectly defined. It is known to occupy several
of the northern counties of that State, but it is so
covered with arenaceous deposits, that its presence
can only be determined by boring, and the region
has not become sufficiently populated to render
such explorations necessary. Coals have been
mined along the Brazos River for use at Fort
Belknap, and the seam varies from two to four
feet. Fossils of the coal-measure limestones have
been observed by Newberry in the valley of the
Rio Grande; by Stansbury in the South Pass, and
at Laramie Ridge; and by Meek and Hayden in
298 
COAL-MEASURES.
the Black Hills. Thus, while, as before remarked,
the Carboniferous limestones, and even the limestones of the Coal-Measures, have been observed,
at frequent intervals, along the entire eastern slope
of the Rocky Mountains, there is yet to be discovered, in all that region, a true seam of coal of the
Carboniferous epoch; and the reason for this is, we
think, obvious.   In the western portion of the
Great Valley, during this epoch, conditions existed
which were adverse to its formation; while to the
east, the waters were shoaling, giving origin to a
series of lagoons, on whose borders flourished in
rank luxuriance, developed under a tropical climate, and in an atmosphere, perhaps, surcharged
with carbonic acid gas, a peculiar vegetation, such
as grasses, yucca-like Lilliacee, and Palms, and
also Conifere and Cycadew.  Calamites, somewhat like our bamboos and rushes, shot up in
arborescent forms, and the Lycopodiacee, like our
club-mosses, assumed tree-like dimensions. Lepidodendra and Sigillarice, with accurately-arranged
markings or with fluted trunks, reached sixty feet
or more in height, while the Stigmarice, which
are found ordinarily in the fire-clay beneath the
coal, have the markings of the Cactus. There
were, too, tree-like ferns of great variety, asterophyllites with whorl-like leaves, and Araucarialike Coniferas. Such was the vegetation which
299 
GEOLOGY.
flourished during that period, and which we now
employ, consolidated into coal, to warm our dwellings, to light our cities, and to propel our machinery.*
As the region rose and fell, the torrents swept in
their silts of sand, mud, and clay, now consolidated
into sandstones, shales, and slates; and when the
ocean invaded the land, limestones were formed
by precipitation, enclosing forms of animal life
exclusively marine. In all the Western coal-fields,
the alternate dominion of land and water is clearly
indicated by the character of the organic remains.
While such conditions existed to the East; on the
other hand, to the West, stretched out an ocean
* The shales which overlie our coal-seams often contain, in great
perfection, the most delicate forms of these vegetable structures.
Buckland (Bridgewater Treatises, Geology,) thus describes the roof
of a coal-mine in Bohemia:
"The most elaborate imitations of living foliage upon the painted
ceilings of Italian palaces, bear no comparison with the beauteous
profusion of extinct vegetable forms with which the galleries of these
instructive coal-mines are overhung. The roof is covered with a
canopy of gorgeous tapestry, enriched with festoons of most graceful
foliage, flung in wild, irregular profusion over every portion of its
surface. The effect is heightened by the contrast of the coal-black
color of these vegetables, with the light ground-work of the rock to
which they are attached. The spectator feels himself transported, as
if by enchantment, into the forests of another world; he beholds trees,
of forms and characters now unknown upon the surface of the earth,
presented to his senses almost in the beauty and vigor of their primeval life; their scaly stems and bending branches, with their delicate apparatus of foliage, all spread out before him, little impaired
by the lapse of countless ages, and bearing faithful records of extinct
systems of vegetation, which began and terminated in times of which
these relics are infallible historians."
300 
COAL-MEASURES.
with no visible shores, whose waters were tenanted
only by marine forms, and upon whose floor only
limestone sediments were deposited. Fanciful as
these speculations may seem, they become of practical utility in discussing the great routes of continental and oceanic communication.   They are
questions which come home, as Bacon has said,
"to mends business and bosoms."
The coals derived from these different fields, and
even from the different seams, and, it may be said,
from different parts of the same seam, are far from
being uniform in character. The anthracites are
restricted to the eastern slope of the Alleghanies,
where metamorphic action has been most manifest,
which is supposed to have driven off the greater
portion of the volatile materials. The semi-bituminous coals next succeed, where that action has
been less marked; and finally, where it has been
but feebly exerted, we have the fatty, bituminous
coals.
The most valuable coals, perhaps, thus far developed on the western slope of the Alleghanies, are
those of Northern Ohio and Northwestern Pennsylvania, derived from the lowest seam in the
series, and known as Brier Hill or Ormsby. It is
a splint coal, so thoroughly compacted as to bear
repeated handling and distant transportation, and is
capable of sustaining the burden of a furnace with
30I 
GEOLOGY.
out crushing. It contains from 62 to 64 per cent. of
fixed carbon; from 2 or 3 per cent. of hygrometric
moisture; from 33 to 35 per cent. of volatile combustible matter; and less than 3 per cent. of ash,
nearly white. While valuable as a domestic fuel
by reason of its freedom from sulphur, its inflammability, its small amount of ash, and its disposition not to agglutinate or give off an excess of
sooty matter; its preeminent merit is that, in a
crude state, it is an iron-making coal; and hence in
the Mahoning and Shenango Valleys, the facilities
for iron-smelting are almost unsurpassed. Within
a few years, a coal, having similar properties, has
been developed in the vicinity of Brazil, Indiana,
and has been applied to the same purposes. This
is the lowest seam in the Illinois coal-field.
More recently, in the vicinity of Chester, Illinois,
an iron-making coal has been discovered, which
will be made available in reducing the immense
deposits of specular and magnetic iron of Missouri;
and a coal having similar properties, is said to have
been reached by a shaft near Springfield. W;e discovered, some years ago, a coal having similar
properties in Iowa, west of the Des Moines River,
but it is too remote from the iron-ores to be made
available.
The Pittsburgh coals, which include those of the
Monongehala and Youghiogheny, rank deservedly
302 
COAL-MEASURES.
high. They contain more gaseous matter, and are,
therefore, unavailable for iron-making, without
undergoing the preliminary process of coking.
The coals of Southern Ohio are equally good;
those of Central Ohio, about Zanesville, are so
fatty as to agglutinate in burning, and are excellent
for coking.
The coals of Northern Illinois are ordinarily
highly charged with water, often containing as high
as I2 per cent., and are so sulphurous as to disintegrate on exposure to the atmosphere. Still they
are extensively mined for domestic fuel, and for
generating steam in stationary engines and locomotives.
The Kansas coals have not been developed sufficiently to show their true character. The Burlingame coal, near the upper portion of the Measures,
shows impurities such as appertain to those of
Northern Illinois, but the seams in the lower portion, which come to the surface in the southeastern
part of the State, are said to be of considerable
thickness (7 feet), and the coal is of an excellent
quality.
Apart from coal, other economic materials exist.
The brine-springs of Western Pennsylvania and
Virginia, and of Southern Ohio and Eastern Kansas, have their reservoirs at the base of this group.
The manufacture of salt has been prosecuted for
3o3 
GEOLOGY.
many years, and in the older States, has proved a
source of great revenue to the respective regions.
The impure carbonates of iron abound in the
Alleghany coal-field, but in those which lie farther
west, few productive beds have been observed.
Permnian Syslem.-This series of rocks is wanting in the older States, and is by no means abundantly developed in the Mississippi Valley. The
existence of these rocks was first made known by
Swallow, and were observed by him near Fort
Riley, on the Kaw River of Kansas. Here they
consist of a series of drab and dove-colored limestones, with intercalated marls and shales, variously-colored red, green, and grey, with gypsumbeds more or less abundant. They flank the western outcrop of the Coal-Measures, which here dip
northwest, and rest conformably upon them. As the
lower portion is made up of transition beds, clearly
indicating gradually-changing conditions in the
character of the sediments and of organic forms,
it becomes difficult to draw the line where the
Carboniferous ceases and the Permian begins.
Near Manhattan, a limestone is quarried from
this series for architectural purposes, which is so
soft that it may be sawed with a hand-saw, and
planed with a jack-plane, and yet is very durable.
It is the cheapest material of which the pioneer can
304 
TRIASSIC AND JURASSIC SERIES.
construct his house - cheaper even than it would
be to resort to the forest, if such existed, for logs.
Hayden notices the occurrence of a similar limestone, and belonging to the same age, in Nebraska.
In passing up the valley of the Kaw, in the
vicinity of Fort Riley, these rocks are seen lining
the bluffs which attain a height of 250 feet.  The
unequal power to resist the weathering effects of
the atmosphere, causes the more enduring strata to
stand out in bold relief; and, as their inclination is
very slight, the bluffs for miles have the appearance
of being crowned with Titanic walls which conform to all the curvatures of the ravines. Hayden
has identified the extension of these rocks into
Nebraska;  Shumard recognizes their existence in
the Gaudalupe Mountains of Texas; and Meek
and Hayden in the Black Hills, and the Big-Horn
Mountains.
Triassic and yurassic Series.-These rocks
have hitherto occupied a subordinate place in the
the text-books of American geology, but recent
explorations on the Pacific Coast show that they
are widely developed, and enter largely into the
orographical features of this continent. It is not
improbable that they will be found coterminous
with the whole Rocky Mountain system, flanking
20
3o5 
GEOLOGY.
the great granitic masses, and proving the main
repositories of the precious metals.
The sandstones and intercalated traps which fill
the lower valley of the Connecticut, belong to this
series, and from thence it is traced, in interrupted ranges, through New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Virginia, and North Carolina. It is supposed that
these rocks represent both of the great divisions,
Jurassic and Triassic; but  it has been  found
impossible to draw the line of demarcation between  them, and in the Mississippi Valley the
same difficulty exists.
Above the Permian, in Kansas, Swallow observed a series of variegated sandstones and marls
which he assigns to the Trias.  In the Colorado
Valley, Newberry saw a series of marls, 2,000 feet
thick, but destitute of fossils, interposed between
the Carboniferous and Cretaceous systems, which he
regards as Triassic.  Occurring at the Black Hills
of Dakota and at the Red Buttes, on the North
Platte, Meek and Hayden describe beds subordinate to the Jurassic, which probably belong to the
Trias; and they subsequently recognized this
formation along the eastern slope of the Laramie,
Big-Horn, and Wind-River Mountains.
The Upper Trias, according to Le Conte, is
exposed in the deepest part of Purgatoire Caion,
and also farther south, near the Sandia Mountains,
3o6 
TRIASSIC AND JURASSIC SERIES.
and along the Rio Grande. Triassic rocks also
occupy a broad belt in Nevada, extending from the
meridian I I 7~, west to the California boundary.
But the development of this system, or rather the
Triassic, in all of its importance, is the result of the
California Geological Survey. The generalizations
brought out are of the most striking character, and
such as to afford us a clue to unravel the age of the
auriferous deposits of the Rocky Mountains. The
palaeontological evidence would indicate that these
rocks are equivalent to the Upper Trias, or the
H-allstadt limestone of the Austrian Alps -a group
of rocks which, up to a recent time, was thought to
be barren of organic forms, but which, under the
auspices of the Austrian Survey, has added 80oo
specimens of Radiates and Mollusks to the fauna
of this epoch.
"This great Triassic belt of the Pacific Coast," according
to Whitney, " has been explored by the Survey in the latitude
of 40~, and over a width, east and west, of nearly four degrees
of longitude  (II7~ to I120~)   *  *  [Triassic fossils have
been collected] from the three parallel ranges in longitude I I 7~
to I I8~ in Nevada Territory, known as the Humboldt Mountains, or the Humboldt mining region, and from localities in
Plumas County, California. But sufficient paleontological
evidence has been obtained to enable us to state, that this
formation extends from Mexico to British Columbia, and that
it occupies a vast area, although much broken up, interrupted
by eruptive rocks, and covered in many places by heavy accumulations of volcanic materials." *
* Paleontology of California." Vol. I.
307 
GEOLOGY.
THE GOLD-BEARING ROCKS OF CALIFORNIA consist of metamorphic sandstones, with intercalated
beds of quartz, in which the gold is segregated.
The beds almost invariably have the same range
and dip as the associated rocks, and are not, therefore, true fissure-veins. The strike of the rocks is
pretty uniform, being about north 300 west, except
where they have been disturbed by volcanic outbursts, subsequent to their first uplift. As you
ascend to the High Sierra, the crests are found to
consist of great masses of granite, often domeshaped, whose culminating points reach I5,ooo feet
above the sea, constituting, as conjectured by
Whitney, the highest land in the United States.
While gold is not absent in these igneous rocks,
it has not been found profitable to mine it.*
THIE COPPER-BEARING ROCKS  OF CALIFORNIA
are of the same age, and occupy the western flanks
* The product of this series of rocks, in the precious metals, is estimated by Ross Brown for the year I867 (Mineral Resources of the
United States), at $75,ooo,ooo, apportioned as follows:
CALIFORNIA, -. -. -         - - - -            -         $25,000,00O0
NEVADA,  -  -  -   -.                                     20,000,000
MONTANA,    -  -  -. - -             - - -              12,000,000
IDAHO, -     -   -   -..-. ---           6,50oo,ooo
WASHINGTON,  -..- I,000,000O
OREGON,  -  -  -                                            2,000,000
COLORADO,   -           -               -..   -2,500,000
NEW MEXICO,   - -..                500,00
ARIZONA, -   -          -               -   -                 500,000
UNKNOWN SOURCES,  -... -                  ----        -     5,000,000
$75,000,000
308 
TRIASSIC SERIES.
of the Sierra. The copper, which appears mainly
as a sulphuret, is segregated in beds which are
included in chlorite and talcose slates. In the
vicinity of Copperopolis, they have been extensively mined, and the monthly product has been
known to exceed 3,000 tons of ore. In I864, the
shipments from San Francisco reached I4,315 tons,
valued at $I,094,660. The excessive cost of transportation to the coast, and the absence of a supply of
proper fuel by which to reduce the ores to a matte,
operate adversely to copper-mining, so that only the
richer ores are selected. Besides, the fall in the
price of copper the world over, has caused the
export almost entirely to cease.
Remond, before quoted, has shown that the Sierra
Madre of Northern Mexico, is similar in geological
structure to the Sierra Nevada. The Triassic rocks
of Sonora consist of heavy beds of quartzite and
conglomerate, with coal-bearing shales, and rest
on greenstones, porphyries, and granites. Wherever metamorphosed, they are both auriferous and
argentiferous.
These observations show that, during this epoch,
both Europe and the United States were convulsed,
and the dynamical forces were such as to lift up
some of the most stupendous mountain chains to
be found on the surface of our planet.
309 
GEOLOGY.
Crelaceous System.-The three great axial lines
which determine the contour of the Mississippi
Valley, had assumed their form and direction before
these deposits, exceeding in places 2,000 feet in
thickness, had been made in the Cretaceous sea.
The boundaries of that sea may be described as
follows:   There were  entering bays  along the
Atlantic Coast from New Jersey to North Carolina. The sea washed the southern flanks of the
Alleghanies, and formed an estuary which penetrated inland as far as the mouth of the Ohio. It
swept round the southern portion of the Northwestern coal-field, extending south into Mexico,
and north beyond the limits of the United States.
All that portion of the country lying between Central Kansas and the eastern slope of the Rocky
Mountains was open water. On the Pacific side,
the Cretaceous sea washed the base of the Sierra
Nevada, extended up the valley of the Colorado,
and even penetrated the Great Basin.  There is no
one formation in the United States, which is so
widely distributed. The beds of this series in New
Jersey attain a thickness of only 400 feet, while
on the Upper Missouri, they reach 2,500.
To Meek and Hayden we are mainly indebted
for a thorough investigation of the Cretaceous
strata of the Upper Missouri, which they have
grouped in the following order:
3IO 
CRETACEOUS SYSTEM.
SE C TION OF THIE CRE TA CEOUS ROCKS OF THE UPPER
MJISS 0 URI.
UPPER SERIES.-Gray, ferruginous and yellowish sandstones, and arenaceous clays, containing Belemnitella bulbosa, NVautilus dekayi,
4Amnonites placenta, A. lobatus, Scaphites coinradi, S. nicollet, Baculites grandi;, Busycon
bairdi, Fusus culbertsoni, F. newberryi, Aporrhais americana,Pseudo-buccinum nebrascencis,
MAactra warrenaaa, Cardium subquadratum,
and a great number of other molluscous fossils,
together with bones of Mosasaurus missouriensis.
Dark-gray and bluish plastic clays, containing
near the upper part, Nautilus dekayi, Ammonites placenta, Baculites ovatus. B. compressus,
Scaphites nodosus, Dentalium gracile, Crassatella evansi, Cucullea nebrascencis, In ocer amus
sagensis, I. nebrascensis, I. vanuxemi; also,
bones of Mosasaurus missouriensis, etc.
Middle Zone nearly barren of fossils.
. Lower fossiliferous Zone, containingAmmonites complexus, Baculites ovatus, B. compressus, Helicoceras mortoni, H. tortum, H. umbilicatum, H. cochleatum, Ptychoceras  mortoni,of                                o,
Fusus vinculum, Anisomyon borealis, Amnauropsts paludinifornis, Inoceramus subulatus,
. tenuilineatus; also, bones of Mosasaurus
missouriensis, etc.
Dark bed of very fine unctuous clay, containing much carbonaceous matter, with veins and
seams of gypsum, masses of sulphuret of iron,
and numerous small scales of Fishes, local, filling depressions in the bed below.
LOWER SERIES.-Lead-gray calcareous marl,
weathering to a yellowish or whitish chalky
appearance above, containing large scales and
other remains of Fishes, and numerous species
of Ostrea congesta attached to fragments of    t
Inoceramus, passing down into light-yellowish
and whitish limestone, containing great numbers of Inoceramus problematicus, I. pseudomytiloides, I. aviculoides, and Ostrea congesta,
Fish Scales, etc.
Dark-gray laminated clays, sometimes alternating, near the upper part, with seams and
layers of soft gray and light-colored limestones,
Inoceramus problematicus,  I. tenuirostratus,
I. latus? I. fragilis, Ostrea congesta, Venila
mortoni, Pholadomya papyracea, Ammonites
mullani, A. percerinatus, A. vespertinus, Scaphites warreni, S. larveformis, S. ventricosus,
S. vermiformis, Nautilus elegans, etc.
Yellowish, reddish, and  occasionally white
sandstone, with, at places, alternations of various colored clays, and beds and seams of impure lignite;  also, silicified wood, and  great
numbers of leaves of the higher types of dicotyledonous trees, with casts of Pharella? dakotensis, Axinea siouxensis, and Caprina arenarea.
3 I I
Fox-HILL BEDS, NO..q. - FOXHills, ea, Mo,ea'. Rier; near
Long Lake; above Fort Pierre;
along base of BiZ-Horn Mo..tai.s; and on North and South
Platte Rivers.
Thickness, 5oo feet.
-1
.FORT PIERRE GROUP, No. 4- -
Sage C,eek; Cheyenne River, and
on White Itiver; above the Mau-,aises Terres, Fort Pierre, and
out to Bad Lands; down the Missouri, on the high country, to
Great Bend.
Great Bend of the Missouri,
below Fort Pierre.
Near Bijou Hill, on the Missouri.
Thickness, 700 feet.
NIOBRARA DivisioN, No. 3- -
Bl.ffs along the Missouri, above
the Great Bend, to the vicinity of
the Big Sioux River'; also below
there, and on the tops of the hills.
Thickness, 2oo feet.
FORT BIENTON GROITP, NO. 2.Extensively developed ear Fort
Benton, on the Upper Missouri;
also along the latter, from ten
miles above'James River to Big
Sioux River, and along the easter,il
slope of the Rocky Mountains, as
well as at the Black IIills.
Thickness, 870 feet.
DAKOTA GROUP, NO. 1. - Hills
back of the town Of Dakota; also
Extensively developed in the surrounding country in Dakota Cou.t, below the m-.th of the Big
.ux River, thence extending
southward info Northeastern K-t.sas and beyond. Thickness, 4oo ft. 
GEOLOGY.
The Cretaceous strata of this country, notwithstanding their extraordinary development, are, in
position, above the Older Cretaceous beds of
Europe.
The Lower series is the equivalent of the Lower,
or Grey chalk and Upper green-sand of British
geologists; while the Upper series is the equivalent of the Upper or White chalk and Maestricht
beds.
The  Cretaceous  rocks, if the  more  recently
formed Tertiary strata were removed, would probably be found every where abutting against the
first-formed strata of the Rocky Mountains, but
there are places where they have been disturbed
by more recent volcanic eruptions. At the Raton
Pass, the eruptive rocks have broken through
the lower and middle series, which for a long distance form a very conspicuous terrace. Intercalated with these strata, are beds of coal of sufficient thickness and purity to prove of great
economical value.  In the Raton  Pass, they are
eight feet thick, and lie horizontally, and in Vermejo Canon, they reach  ten feet.  Forts Lyon
and Union are supplied with fuel from these
sources.   Near Tijeras and west of Los  Lunas,
and also east of Don Pedro, near the Rio Grande,
and in San Lagaro Hill, twenty-five miles west of
Santa Fe, coal has been observed, and at the latter
3 I 2 
CRETACEOUS SERIES.
place it forms a very pure anthracite, the metamorphism being due to a trachytic overflow. (Le
Conte.) Similar deposits have been observed in
the Puerco Valley, and also in those of San Jose
and Ojo Pescado, showing an extension of the coals
two hundred miles west of the Rio Grande, and in
many instances the igneous protrusions have converted them into anthracite. (Parry.)
The Coast Ranges of the Pacific are made up
largely of Cretaceous and Miocine-Tertiary strata.
They are, at numerous points, invaded by igneous
products which have not only tilted them up at
high angles, but metamorphosed them into jaspery
materials, obliterating every trace of organic life.
Like the same formations on the eastern slope of
the Rocky Mountains, there are intercalations of
valuable seams of coal; and to this epoch may be
referred the deposits of Mount Diablo, near San
Francisco;  of Bellingham  Bay, in Washington
Territory; of Nanaimo, on Vancouver's Island;
and those along the shores of the Straits of Fuca
and Puget's Sound. All of these coals are soft,
are charged with a large percentage of water, and
are apt to exfoliate on exposure to the air. They
contain not to exceed 45 per cent. of fixed carbon,
and are, therefore, unfit for use where a strong,
concentrated heat is required.
The Coast Ranges are not destitute of metallic
3I3 
GEOLOGY.
wealth. It is claimed, even, that the rocks are
sparingly impregnated with gold; but quicksilver,
in the form of cinnabar, is found at several points.
The most productive mines, however, are at
New Almaden, where the yearly product reaches
3,000,oo000 pounds. The supply is far in excess of
the wants of the mining community, and the surplus is shipped to China and the South American
States. The ores occupy a series of irregular
cavities, mostly confined within a space of one hundred and fifty feet square, and extending downwards for about four hundred feet,- dipping to the
north at an angle of 300 to 35~,-and the cavities
are scattered through the enclosing mass without
any approach to regularity. *
All the way, according to the California Survey,
between Fort T6jon and Fort Reading, along the
foot-hills of the Sierra, are to be seen, except where
removed by denudation, strata of Marine-Tertiary
and Cretaceous, reposing in a horizontal position
upon the upturned edges of the auriferous slates.
In the vicinity of Shasta, however, which, as before
remarked, is a volcanic cone of extremely recent
origin, both of these formations have been disturbed,-the result of this uplift,- but there is
little doubt that they were once continuous across
the valleys of San Joaquin and Sacramento, to the
*Whitney. " Geological Survey of California." P. 69.
3I4 
CRETACEOUS SERIES.
Pacific Ocean; on the one hand, exhibiting striking
evidences of metamorphism, and on the other,
reposing, for the most part, in an undisturbed
position.
According to Gabb, the Cretaceous of California
is represented but by a single member of this formation, corresponding with the Fort Pierre group,
or No. 4, of Meek and Hayden. The peninsula of
California may belong to the same group, although,
on the authority last quoted, it is regarded as an
open question.
In Northern Mexico, as we have seen, the Cretaceous strata occupy the same relation to the
Sierra Madre that they do to the Sierra Nevada.
The close of the Cretaceous epoch would seem
to indicate an important change in the history of
the earth's progress towards the condition of affairs
which we now behold. Whilst organic forms
were represented by the four great divisions of the
animal kingdom; still, the condition of the globe
seems to have been unfitted for the introduction
and sustenance of the warm-blooded animals, such
as now roam over its surface, although there are a
few exceptions to this general rule. The Cretaceous period was emphatically the age of reptiles.
Immense saurians swarmed the seas, and winged
lizards, known to us as pterodactyles, cleft the
air. The vegetable remains, in this country, show
3I5 
GEOLOGY.
a near approach to existing forms. These consist
of dicotyledonous plants, among which Newberry
identifies species belonging to the genera Populus
(poplar); Salix (willow); Alnus  (alder); Platanus (sycamore); Liriodendron (tulip); Ficus
(fig-tree), and others; and European botanists,
while admitting the Cretaceous age of the Nebraska flora, unequivocally assert that it is closely
allied to that of the Miocine-Tertiary of the Eastern
Continent.
In the following table, are given the results of
the analyses of coals from the different formations
in the United States, by which it will be seen, that
while those of the recent epochs are more highly
charged with water, and contain less fixed carbon,
which is the heating power, they are yet of great
economical value.
3I6 
CRETACEOUS SERIES.
ANAL RSES OF COALS.
DESIGNATION.
p.
~C,.
CARBONIFEROUS.
BRIER HILL, OHIO......................
MARIETTA RUN, OHIO (Upper)..........
1"     "    I I(Lower)..........
PITTSBURGH, PA.........................
YOUGHIOGHENY, PA.....................
ORMSBY, PA.............................
GREENUP COUNTY, KY (Cannel)........
"       "     "  (Lower Seam)..
BRAZIL, IND.....................
CHESTER, ILL., Layer No. 1, 20 i........
2, 14 l........750 500 462             18
"  "   3, 21 i........
"     4,    i.......
5, i6 i........
DU OUOIN, ILL..........................
LASALLE, ILL. (Upper)..................
"  (Middle).................
I " (Lower)..................
OTTUMNTWA, IOWA........................
HILLSBOROUGH, IOWA...................
FARMINGTON,    "...................
NEW BUFFALO.....................          
COTE SANS DESSEIN., MO................
CALLAWAY COUNTY,....................
JOHNSON COUNTY, ARK..................
TRIASSIC AND JURASSIC.
CHESTERFIELD, VA......................
RICHIMOND COAL........................
MID LOTHIAN...........................
STONEIIENGE............................          
COALBROOK DALE.......................
CRETACEOUS.
AfoInt Diablo, Caizfornia.
CLARKE'S MINE.......................... 
BLACK DIAMOND........................
CUMBERLAND............................
PEACOCK................................
CORRAL HOLLOW........................
BELLINGHAM BAY, W. T................
NANAIMO,           "................
MIOCINE-TERTIARY.
COOS BAY, OREGON.....................
BELLEMONTE, COLORADO...............
3I7
P4
0
P4 E.
C.
;.0
;4
r, Z
W 0
;q
;4
".4
u
E4
I
,4PI
Blaney.
11
11
Chilton.
Peters.
Blaney.
Hayes.
11
Blaney.
11
11
11
11
11
11
11
11
11
11
Whitney
11
11
Cl,ilton.
Frazer.
.4
67.6o
54.6i
53-80
55-8258-40
66-56
56.oi
29-14
59-17
62-75
50-00
46.66
6i.57
56.24
6i.2,o
55-00
54-60
56.oo
59-80
46-76
47-42
49 08
50-81
50-78
5,.i6
2-40
3.20
,3.80
2.3,+
i.00
4.00
2.00
I-I3
6.17
6.31
7-50
9.25
. 6.22
8.47
1 7.00
IO.00
10.00
10.00
11.20
7.92
8.62,
3.13
........
........
........
28.00
36.So
39.68
34-31
35-00
:26.93
37-S9
6I.29
33.6
2,8.68
40.62,
29.50
26.5o
25.?,S
28.6o
27-40
27.4o
?,5.20
:22.6o
41-74
38-08
3S.77
34.o6
34.20
43-50
2.00
5-39
2-72
7.i6
5.6o
2.50
4-10
8-42
1.50
2-25
1I -87
5.12
5.30
10.00
3-20
7.6o
8.oo
8.80
6.4o
3.58
5.88
9.02
I5-13
15.02
5-34
8o-30
59.25
6.oS
58-70
66-48
9.98
32.00
28-45
36-50
29.00
9.72
8-75
10-47
4-80
4.52
Ro ers.
A-reas.
Johnson.
Rogers.
........
........
........
........
........
. 5.52
4-SS
0.97
3-94
7.50
12.66
I 3-g
,4 13-84
14-I3
210-53
8-39
........
40.6g
46-84
44.92
44-55
36-35
45.69
40-36
33-89
40-27
37-38
35.6?,
33.:26
Whitney.
11
11
11
11
11
Whitney.
Kent.
20.09 41-98
........ 48-36
32.59
47-00
5-34
4-64 
CHIAPTER X.
GEOLOGY (Continued),- SEDIMENTARY ROCKS.
TERTIARY SYSTEM -,MARINE OF THE ATLANTIC SLOPE FRESH-WATER OF THE MISSOURI BASIN - MARINE OF THE
PACIFIC COAST - ECONOMIC VALUE OF THE TERTIARY
COALS- IGNEOUS PRODUCTS OF THE GREAT BASIN - COM STOCK LODE AND ITS YIELD IN SILI,VER- DRIFT-EPOCH DRIFT-ACTION  IN  THE  MISSISSIPPI  VALLEY-EROSIVE
ACTION ON THE PACIFIC SLOPE AND IN THE COILORADO PLA TEAU - TERRACES  OF MODIFIED  DRIFT- LOESS - SAND DUNES - THE GREAT LAKES - DRIFT-PHENOMENA IN THEIR
BASINS - DENUDATION, AREA, DEPTH, AND ELEVATION RESUME.
The Tertiary Sysfem.-The organic remains en
tombed in this series of strata, inaugurate an epoch
when the forms of animal and vegetable life begin to
approach nearer to existing species. In fact, many
of the forms which tenanted the seas of that age
are identical with those now living, and the aborescent vegetation was not unlike that of the subtropical latitudes of this day. We, too, have evidence of the existence of large fresh-water deposits,
and consequently of the proximity of large areas 
TERTIARY SERIES.
of dry land. The Tertiary deposits are widely distributed throughout the United States, and are both
of marine and fresh-water origin.
THE MARINE STRATA occur in the immediate
valley of the Lower Mississippi, above its junction
with the Ohio Valley, and along the Texas, Gulf,
and Atlantic Coasts, as far as Richmond, Virginia;
and patches are found, even, as far north as Martha's Vineyard. Lignite beds occur inland, as at
Brandon, Vermont, and at other points.
What are known as the Pine Barrens, in the
Southern States, is a belt of country more than
1,700  miles  long, and  often I70 miles  broad,
stretching from Richmond, along the Atlantic and
Gulf Coasts, to beyond the western line of Louisiana, where the soil, derived from the decomposition of the newest member of the Tertiary series,
is sandy, and where the principal arborescent form
is the long-leaf pine (Pinuspalustris). It is emphatically the " poor man's region." These forests,
while affording a valuable article of lumber, also
yield pitch, tar, and turpentine.
In this series, three epochs have been recognized.
I. THE CLAIBORNE beds of Alabama, and those
of JACKSON and VICKSBURGH, Mississippi, which
are referred to the oldest, or Eocine. 2. Those
of YORKTOWN, Virginia, to the middle, or Miocine.
3I9 
GEOLOGY.
And 3. Those of SUMTER and DARLINGTON, to the
newest, or Pliocine. *
According to Hilgard's general section, the combined Tertiary series, embracing the Northern Lignite, the Claiborne, Jackson, Vicksburgh, and
Grand-Gulf groups, have a thickness of more than
750 feet. t The most interesting fossil, perhaps,
in the whole series, is that from the Jackson group,
known as the Zeuglodon cetoides, a marine animal
of the whale tribe, which resembled the saurians in shape, and attained a length of seventy
feet.
On the Atlantic Coast, the rocks which compose
this series, are variable in character,-consisting at
times of beds of sand and clay; at other localities,
of compact sandstones; at others, of calcareous
sandstones and shell-beds; and in South Carolina
occurs a cellular Buhr-stone, adapted to mill-stones.
The clays and sands often contain lignite and
hematitic iron-ore in such quantities as to be of
economic value; and the clays are of sufficient
purity to make fire-brick, and, when washed, are
* These three divisions were established by Lyell: Pliocine, because
the major part of the fossil testacea of this epoch are referable to existing species; Miocine, because a minor part only of the species
is referable to existing forms; and Eocine, because in this formation, we recognize the dawn of forms allied to existing species.
t "Geology of Mississippi," p. i08.
320 
TERTIARY SERIES.
of such whiteness as to be used in giving opacity
to writing paper.
The northern limits of the Marine-Tertiary do
not appear to have extended far up the Ohio Valley; but in Pulaski County, Illinois, Worthen found
marine shells of the genus Cucullcea and 7'rritella, in a green-sand, and a shark's tooth, near
Caladonia, where there is a thin bed of lignite at
low-water mark in the Ohio River. The hills in
Southern Illinois are capped occasionally with beds
of ferruginous conglomerate, which may be referred
to this age. A few miles west of St. Louis, at
Webster station, Mr. Freeman has lately obtained
specimens of that peculiar American shell, now
inhabiting the Gulf of Mexico, known as Gnalhodon, and Worthen has collected detached sharks'
teeth at Warsaw, and near the mouth of Skunk
River, Iowa.
FRESH-WATER TERTIARY STRATA.-These are
largely developed in the region lying between the
Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains, and
even penetrate the Great Basin. They have been
carefully studied by Meek and Hayden, who find
that they are referable to four distinct periods, indicated by the entombed organic remains. Their
classification is as follows:
21
32I 
GEOLOGY.
GEVERAL SECTJON OF THE TERT~ARr ROCKS OF THE UPPER
JMISSOURI.
FOREIGN
LOCALITIES.       EQUIVA                   LENTS.
Fine, loose  sand, with  some
layers  of  limestone;   contai,ns
bones of Canis (dog), Felis (cat),.
Castor  (beaver), Equus  (horse),
M2astodon and Elephas (elephant),
Testudo  (tortoise), etc., some of
which are scarcely distinguisha ble from  living  species;  also,
shells of the genera Helix, Pzysa,
and Succinea, probably of recent
species. All fresh-wateran d land
types.
On Lo up - Fork  of -
Platte River, extending north to Niobrara
River, and south to an         xi
unknown distance be-            z
yond the Platte.               v
0
4
_k
White and light-drab clays, with
f some beds of sandstone, and local 
I limestone.   Mammalian fossils:        o
.    Oreodon, Titanotherium, Chbre o-     E
potamus,  Rhizoceros, An              cnithe- 
,   riarn, Hyamo7todon,  Afachziro-        ~
F     dus.  Reptilian: Trionyx, Testt- 
do.  Shells (fresh water): Helix,
Planorbis and Liinnea.  Petrified   _
wood, etc. All extinct. No brack      ish water or marine remains.
Light-gray   and  ash-colored
sandstones,  with more  or less
argillaceous  layers.    Fossils:
Fragments of Troinyx, Testudo,
with large specimens of  Hlelix,
Vivitpararus, Petrified wood, etc.
No marine or brackish water
types.
Wind-River Valley;
also west of  WindRiver Mountains.
" Beds of clay and sand, with                     Occupies the whole
f round  ferruginous  concretions,              country  round  Fort 
and numerous beds, seamns, and                  Union,      extending
g0    local deposits of lignite.  Great      I       north into the British
numbers of dicotyledonous leaves,       o      Possessions  to  un;stems, etc., of the genera Plata-          3     known distances; also        S
n us, Acer, Ulmas, Populus, etc.,:            southward  to  Fort 
~    with very large leaves of true Ean-           Clark; seen under the       u
3    Palms.   Also, fresh or brackish  W            VWhite - River  group,       c
2    water shells of the genera Helix,              on the North Platte
0./eliania, Vivipararus, Corbicala              River, above Fort La       Unio, Ostrea,  Potamoy,; and          ^      ra,nie; also on west
X    scales of fishes, Lepidotus; with              side of VVind-River
reptilian bones of Trionyx, Emys,                  Mountains.
Compsemnys, Crocodilus, etc                                          3
322
NAM:ES.
THICKNESS.
SUBDIVISIONS.
a
14
9o
a.
To
8
em
Bad Lands of White -
River, under the LoupRiver bed; on the N iobrara; and across the
country to the Platte.
v
li
F0
w.
~ W
el.
c -.
~ a  
TERTIARY SERIES.
We shall describe this series in the descending
order, in accordance with this classification.
I. THE LOUP-RIVER GROUP.-This group yields
no economic materials, but the entombed mammalian remains, as determined by Leidy, are of striking interest. Among them may be enumerated
three species of the camel, a rhinoceros, a mastodon smaller than the M.  ohiolicus, an elephant
(Elephas  imperator) a third  larger  than  the
Elephas americanus, four or five species of the
horse, and a deer allied to the musk-deer of
Europe,- all extinct. It is singular, that while
there was no living representative of the equine or
horse tribe on this Continent when first known to
the European, there should be found not less than
seventeen species in a fossil state, some of them
having teeth not distinguishable from the living
species. Prof. Marsh has lately described a fossil
horse from the region of Nebraska (Equus parvuZus), which could not have been more than two
or two and one-half feet in height, although full
grown, as the ossification of the various bones
clearly proves. *
2. WHITE-RIvER GROUP.-On the White River
there are fresh-water beds of drab-colored clays,
and bands of sandstone and limestone, which have
been denuded and left standing in a thousand fan
* O. C. Marsh. Silliman's "American Journal," Nov., I868.
323 
GEOLOGY.
tastic and irregular forms, so that, viewed at a distance, they resemble the ruins of a mighty city, or
more appropriately, the tombstones in a vast cemetery.*  And  such it has proved;  for in these
deposits are entombed some of the most wonderful
forms of extinct life that have been revealed to the
gaze of the paleontologist. The orders Mammalia
and Chelonia are largely represented. Not less
than forty species of the former, and five species
of the latter, have been discovered. The mammalian remains include Carnivores, like the hyena,
dog, and panther; and Herbivores, like the rhinoceros, and animals allied to the tapir, peccary, deer,
camel, and horse.
Many of these extinct forms have the most discordant characters.   In the A4rchaeotherium of
Leidy, are united the molar teeth of the hog, the
canines of the bear, and the cheek-bones of the cat.
The Oreodon of the same author, had the grinding teeth of the elk, and the canines of the thickskinned, omniverous animals, and was fitted to live
on both flesh and vegetables, and at the same time
was ruminant like the ox. Hundreds of fossil
turtles were observed by the early explorers scattered over the surface, some of which were estimated to weigh a ton, whose remains it was found
impossible to remove.
* Vide Owen, D.D. "Geological Survey of Iowa and Minnesota."
324 
TERTIARY SERIES.
Cuvier was the first who  introduced us to a
knowledge of the animals of this era, determined
from the fragments of bones collected in the gypsum beds of Montmartre, near Paris. Here, he
remarks, he found himself as if placed in a charnelhouse, surrounded by mutilated fragments of many
hundred skeletons, of more than twenty animals,
piled confusedly around him. "At the voice of
comparative anatomy, every bone and fragment of
a bone resumed its place."* So conclusive and
exact were his demonstrations, that we know what
were the forms and habits of these extinct species,
as well as if they were now animated with the
breath of life, and clothed with flesh and skin.
Wonderful as were these revelations, they are not
only paralleled, but surpassed by those of the
Fresh-water Tertiary basins of the Upper Missouri.
The basin of Mauvaises Terres, or Bad Lands,
is estimated by Hayden to cover a region at least
of ioo,ooo square miles; and, from isolated patches
on both sides of the Missouri River, he infers that
this great fresh-water lake must have spread over
I50,000ooo square miles, an area nearly five times
greater than that of Lake Superior, the largest
fresh-water lake of the present day.
3. THE WIND-RIVER GROUP.-These beds have
no great geographical range, as thus far determined,
* "Ossemens Fossiles." Introduction.
025 
GEOLOGY.
although, locally, they attain a thickness of 1,5o00
or 2,000 feet. They furnish no materials of economic value, nor are they replete with forms of
organic life.
4. THE GREAT  LIGNITE  GROUP.-This  is the
most important member of the series, both by reason of its geographical range and its economic
materials.  It has been traced in a series of basins
along the foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains from
Pike's Peak (and future explorations may make it
continuous to Mexico) to the Upper Missouri and
into the British Possessions; and from the testimony of Sir John Richardson, and other Arctic
explorers, there is every reason to believe that it is
almost continuous to the Arctic Sea.*
In a recent report, Hayden gives a description
of the lignite deposits of the Laramie Plains.
"' I found," he remarks, " the lignite of excellent quality, in
beds of from five to eleven feet thick, and I estimated the area
occupied by the basin at 5,000 square miles. Its most eastern
limit is about ten miles east of Rock Creek, a branch of the
Medicine-bow River. Outcroppings have been seen all along
Rock Creek, Medicine-bow, on Rattlesnake Hills, on the
North Platte, Muddy Creek, Ham's Fork, Echo  Canon, and
all along Weber River, nearly to Great Salt-Lake, showing
that one connected series of deposits covers this whole
area." t
* The reader is referred to a valable paper by F. B. Meek, on the
"Geology of the Mackenzie River," determined from the collections
of the late Robert Kennicott.  "Transactions of Chicago Academy of
Sciences." Vol. I., p. 6I.
t Silliman's "American Journal," March. I868.
326 
LIGNITE SERIES.
On South Boulder and Coal Creek, between
Denver and Cheyenne, eleven distinct seams of
coal have been explored, one of which is eleven
feet in thickness, and the combined seams are from
thirty to fifty feet. Externally these lignites present the appearance of a light, bituminous coal, and
on assay, give about equal parts of volatile matter
and fixed carbon, and only two or three per cent.
of ash. Like most of the coals, more recent than
the Carboniferous epoch, they contain a large
amount of water, ranging from twelve to twenty
per cent.
In the Great Basin, lignites have been observed
along the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada, in the
Pine-Nut Mountains; in the volcanic district of
Esmeralda; in E1 Dorado Cation; and at Crystal
Peak, where considerable mining has been done,
but with indifferent success. Towards the eastern
rim of the Great Basin, the deposits are more abundant, and promise to be of greater economical
value. Lignite occurs west of the Black Hills,
and is traced almost continuously to Salt-Lake
Valley.  At Argenta, 400 miles from Sacramento,
on the line of the railroad, a deposit is reported of
such excellence as to fit it for locomotive use.
The principal deposits of lignite, so far as known,
are indicated on the Geological Map (p. 272), by
the deeply-shaded, oblique lines.
327 
GEOLOGY.
MARINE STRATA OF THE PACIFIC COAST.-On
the Pacific Slope, the Tertiary rocks, which are
referred to the Miocine age, appear to be coterminous with the Cretaceous. They enter into the
frame-work of the Coast Ranges, stretching from
the Columbia to San Louis Bay, and probably to
Cape St. Lucas; and, throughout the entire extent,
the strata are upheaved, plicated, and metamorphosed, and, at frequent intervals, invaded by igneous products. They repose in horizontal strata
upon the foot-hills of the Sierra, but are in a disturbed position where they fold around Shasta.
The entombed fossils, like those of the Atlantic
Coast, are of marine origin.
Like the Missouri beds, they contain valuable
seams of coal, restricted for the most part to the
State of Oregon. The mines in the region of Coos
Bay, according to Gabb, are in this formation, and
probably those of the Willamette Valley.
The ancient vegetation of the Upper Missouri,
now incorporated into coals, consisted of cryptogamic land-plants, fan-palms, and coniferous trunks
like our pines and firs, and of _u7zgandacece, like
the black walnut, and of Acerinece, like the maple,
all allied to existing forms.
ECONOMIC VALUE OF THE TERTIARY COALS.Thus, it would appear that, contrary to the opinion
formerly entertained by geologists, nature has not
328 
TERTIARY IGNEOUS ROCKS.
restricted the useful deposits of coal to rocks of the
Carboniferous epoch; and that while, perhaps, those
of the true Coal-Measures are, in purity, in freedom from hygrometric moisture, in ability to produce concentrated heat, and to resist atmospheric
action, superior to those of a later age; yet, in our
own country, valuable coals are extracted from the
Oolite, the Cretaceous, and the Tertiary formations.
Tertiary coals are now successfully employed to
propel the Pacific steamers, and to heat the dwellings of the Colorado miners; and Providence, as if
to facilitate the intercourse between the two oceans,
has so distributed these deposits throughout that
vast treeless region west of the Missouri, in such
accessible positions, and in such a state of purity,
that they may be made available for propelling the
locomotive across the western portion of the Continent.
Tertiary Jgneous Rocks.-The Washoe Mountains, according to Richthofen, form an intermediate link between the Sierra Nevada and the
ranges of the Great Basin. "To the Sierra Nevada
they are related by the metamorphism of their
sedimentary formations, which farther east appear
more regularly stratified and less altered. With
both, they have, in common, the considerable part
which Tertiary and Post-Tertiary eruptive rocks,
329 
GEOLOGY.
partly of pure volcanic origin, play in their architecture."
Mount Davidson is lithologically syenitic, and
probably a continuation of the granitic axis of the
Pine-Nut Mountains which are flanked by a
series of rocks, as determined by Whitney, of Triassic age, forming the ancient series.
" They partly preceded," remarks the Baron, " and partly
were contemporaneous with the gradual emergence of the
Sierra Nevada, the Great Basin, and the entire chain of the
Cordilleras from the ancient sea, whose traces are left in saline
incrustations and salt-pools at the bottom of the numerous
basins between the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains,
which had formerly remained filled with the water of the
retiring sea. The Washoe Mountains formed, undoubtedly,
an elevated range during the long period which elapsed till
the commencement of the formation of the recent series of
rocks which are eruptive and volcanic, and belong to the latter
part of the Tertiary and Post-Tertiary periods." *
In a volcanic rock, technically called propylite,a paste of greenish or brownish color, with imbedded crystals of feldspar,- is contained the farfamned COMSTOCK LODE which, in the short space
of six years, has yielded $75,000,000 of silver, and
whose annual product is equal to that of all Mexico.
And yet, this magnificent lode, in whose success
the fate of an entire state is involved, has arrived
at that pass when, at the depth of nearly a thousand feet, by reason of the accumulation of water,
* Richthofen, Baron. "Report on Comstock Lode."
330 
COMSTOCK LODE.
imperfect ventilation, and increase of internal temperature (9go where, after brief exertions, the
miners are required to repose), the explorations
have nearly ceased to be profitable, with the certainty that they will become absolutely so, if the
present system of mining is persisted in. A tunnel,
(projected by Mr. Adolph Sutro, and bearing his
name,) four miles long, and affording drainage into
a valley, can be constructed to cut this lode at a
depth of 2,000 feet; and to accomplish this object,
national aid has been invoked.
The Comstock vein, while pursuing a general
course of north and south, appears to partake of
the flexures of the inclosing rock, which is folded
round and invests the syenitic nucleus of Mount
Davidson, conforming to its irregularities, passing
the ravines in concave bends, and inclosing the
foot of the different ridges in convex curves. It
has been traced for about I9,o000oo feet, and, at a
depth of from 400 to 6oo00 feet, it is from ioo to
even 200 feet in width, but contracting in places
to a mere seam. Its dip is far from uniform, first
inclining to the east, then assuming verticalness, and
finally turning to the west, and expanding towards
the surface in a fan-like form. It has, therefore,
individual features which detach it from other systems of veins.*
*Richthofen. lbidem.
331 
GEOLOGY.
Drif/-Epoch.-During the Tertiary age the relative area of land and water, as we have shown, was
different from what we now behold.  The ocean,
on the east, invested the land up to the flanks of
the Appalachians, and on the west up to the flanks
of the Sierra Nevada; while, in the form of an entering bay, it extended up to the mouth of the Ohio;
and fresh and salt-water, as indicated by the brackish character of some of the shells, commingled
far up the Missouri. The Colorado was an arm
of the sea, a prolongation of the Gulf of California.
A chain of great fresh-water lakes stretched along
the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains and
penetrated the Great Basin. The sun glowed with
a more genial heat, and a semi-tropical vegetation,
such as that which flourishes in the lower latitudes
of the United States, prevailed as far north as
Disco Island and the sources of Mackenzie's
River. Immense saurians tenanted the sea, and
numerous forms of pachyderms, allied to those of
the warm climate of India, roamed over the land.
But a change was at hand,-a change for which
science has thus far failed to find a satisfactory
solution. The sun was shorn of a portion of his
vivifying rays; the seas became cold; shells of an
Arctic type tenanted the waters, and an Alpine
vegetation penetrated far into the Temperate Zone.
A new race of quadrupeds, represented by the
332 
TRIASSIC SERIES.
mastodon and the mammoth, sprang into being,
clothed with a raiment of wool to protect them
from the rigors of the climate, and furnished with
teeth of peculiar complexity to enable them to
browse upon a sub-Arctic vegetation; and the
musk-ox and the reindeer roamed south to where
now grow the olive and the vine.
In order that we may realize the character of the
climate which formerly prevailed over what are
now the most favored portions of the earth's surface,
we need but go north and plant ourselves on the
shores of Greenland. Here is a continent which
for three-fourths of the year is moulded in snow
and ice. The coast is lined with glaciers which,
descending through the fiords, jut far out into the
sea, and, becoming detached by tidal action, float
off in the form of bergs, while the supply is kept
up by the melting of the great snow-fields lying in
the interior. These bergs, freighted with masses
of rock, earth, and gravel, float off into warmer
waters, where they dissolve and scatter their contents over the bed of the ocean.
What can be more desolate than an Arctic landscape: -the flashing splendors of the Northern
Lights; the gloomy solitude which every where
reigns unbroken, except by the cracking of the
ice; the corruscations of the stars in that pure,
cold atmosphere; and the strangeness of a midnight
333 
GEOLOGY.
sun hanging like a great fire-ball in the southern
sky, lighting up the pinnacles of..icebergs and
causing them to glitter with opalescent hues.
The rigors of such a climate reigned over what
now are the temperate regions of both hemispheres.
Cold oceanic currents swept from the north, float
ing innumerable icebergs, and the land itself was
in a state of glaciation, attested by the striation of
the rocks, by long trains of boulders, by moraine
like accumulations of gravel, and by mingled sands
and clays, as if deposited amid turbulent currents
and shifting eddies.*
* If we read the narrative of Kane and other Arctic explorers, our
ideas will become enlarged as to the extent of these ice-fields, and the
restless energy with which they move. Take his description of the
great glacier of Ilumboldt, presenting at the sea a perpendicular cliff
of three hundred feet, and stretching inland as far as the eye can
reach, in the form of a great table-land, with a relief and depression
corresponding with the surface of the soil.
'"Repose," says Kane, "was not the characteristic of this seemingly
solid mass; every feature indicated activity, energy, movement."
While the external air might have a temperature of - 30o, the glacier
indicated + 20~, yielding an uninterrupted flow of water during the
whole year.
The glacier is a viscous mass, slowly advancing to the coast, urged
on by a power behind, until it is forced so far into the sea, that the
water becomes capable of sustaining the projected mass, when it
becomes detached from the parent glacier, not by a violent debacle,
but quietly, and is floated off in the form of a berg, to be dissolved
in the milder temperature of southern seas. Thousands of these
bergs are thus detached and throng the Arctic seas, freighted with
tons and tons of rounded and angular blocks of stone, and other
detrital matter, to be dropped in the sea-bottom of lower latitudes.
Now, if the ocean-bed along the track of these ice-rafts were elevated and made dry land, it would doubtless exhibit all the phenomena
of the Drift,- detrital materials almost void of stratification, long
lines of boulders, the direction in no degree conforming to the ine
334 
DRIFT-EPOCH.
DRIFT OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.- In traversing the prairies the observer is struck by the
almost entire absence of those long trains of boulders, those moraine-like accumulations of rounded
and water-worn pebbles, and those heavy beds of
sand and gravel discordantly stratified, which characterize the the Drift-phenomena of the Atlantic
Slope, and particularly of New England. Instead
of these, he finds the surface sometimes composed
of comminuted materials of marly clay, and at other
times of materials more silicious, with an occasional
boulder standing up like a landmark. This diversity in character is owing probably to two causes.
I. That while every Drift-region shows the intrusion of materials of a northern origin, still the great
mass is derived from the destruction of the rocks
in the immediate neighborhood; and we should,
qualities of surface, and grooved and polished rocks, where the bergs
had struck and become stranded.
The lowest temperature of sea-water recorded by Kane, amid drifting ice-bergs, is between 28~ and 29~.
He describes Cape James Kent as a lofty headland, where the landice was covered with rocks from the cliffs above. "As I looked," says
he, "over this ice-belt, loosing itself in the far distance, and covered
with millions of tons of rubbish, greenstones, limestones, chlorite
slates, rounded and irregular, massive and ground to powder, its
importance as a geological agent in the transportation of Drift struck
me with great force. Its whole substance was covered with these contributions from the shore; and farther to the south, upon the now frozen
waters of Marshall Bay, I could recognize raft after raft from last
year's ice-belt, which had been caught up by the winter, each one
laden with its heavy freight of foreign material." ("Arctic Expedition. ")
335 
GEOLOGY.
therefore, a prori, infer that the ruins of the Silurian and Carboniferous strata of the Mississippi
Valley, would present a soil of a far different
mechanical texture from that derived from the
crystalline and metamorphic rocks of New England; that while the tremendous energy of the
Drift-agency might grind the one class of rocks
into an impalpable powder, it might leave the
other of a coarser texture, together with innumerable rounded pebbles.
2. That as the force of the Drift-agency subsided, there was probably an interval sufficiently
long, during which only the finer sediments were
deposited upon a lacustrine floor. These sediments, for thousands of years, have borne annual
crops of grass, whose ashes or decaying leaves
have mingled each year with the soil, and contributed to its fertility; and hence it has the lightness
and almost the mobility of an ash-heap.
The materials composing the Drift-series are
loam, sand, and gravel more or less stratified, and
yellow and blue clay,- the latter resting on rocks
previously grooved and polished where sufficiently
firm to retain the impressions.  The  maximum
thickness of the Blue clay in the vicinity of Lake
Michigan, is at least one hundred feet, and the
combined thickness of these superficial materials
is one hundred and fifty feet. Boulders are found
336 
DRIFT-SERIES.
embedded in the Blue clay, as well as reposing on
the surface of the prairies, but more abundantly
near the base of the series. The Blue clay may
be regarded as a slow deposit of mud produced
by the shifting action of tides, while the boulders
were dropped from floating ice-bergs; for it is very
evident that both classes of materials could not
have been accumulated by the same set of currents.
THE DRIFT-PHENOMENA are by no means conspicuously displayed on the Plains. We have
never noticed the etching of the rocks, or the distribution of boulders at points far west of Leavenworth.  Dr. Hayden remarks, that on the Platte,
at the mouth of the Elkhorn, there is a ledge of
limestone which has been planed so smoothly by
glacial action that it makes a most excellent material for caps and sills, without further working,- a
phenomenon which he has not before observed in
any part of the far West.  Sometimes there are
deep grooves and scratchings, all of which have a
direction northwest and southeast. The evidences
of glacial action are also to be seen at Plattsmouth,
and if the detrital covering were stripped off,
the limestones would appear to be planed in this
way.*
* "Report to Commissioner of General Land Office," I867, p. I29.
22
337 
GEOLOGY.
EROSIVE ACTION ON THE PACIFIC SLOPE.-The
great swell, on which rise the crested ridges of the
Rocky Mountains, appears to have acted as a bar
rier against the encroachments of the Northern
Drift. All traces of its existence, also, are absent
on the Pacific Slope.
" The explorations of the Geological Survey of California,"
says Whitney, " have demonstrated that there is no true Northern Drift within the limits of this State.  Our detrital materials, which often form deposits of great extent and thickness,
are invariably found to have been dependent for their origin
and present condition on causes similar to those now ill action,
and to have been deposited on the flanks and at the bases
of the nearest mountain ranges, by currents of water rushing
down their slopes. While we have abundant evidence of the
former existence of extensive glaciers in the Sierra Nevada,
there is no reason to suppose that the ice was to any extent an
effective agent in the transportation of the superficial deposits
now resting on the flanks of the mountains. The glaciers
were confined to the most elevated portions of the mountains,
and although the moraines which they have left as evidences
of their former extension, are often large and conspicuous, they
are insignificant in comparison with the detrital masses formed
by aqueous erosion. There is nothing, any where in California, which indicates a general Glacial epoch, during which ice
covered the whole country and moved bodies of detritus over
the surface, independently of its present configuration, as is
seen throughout the Northeastern States." *
The same condition of things prevails throughout Oregon, British Columbia, and Alaska.
The configuration of the whole coast is such as
* "Proc. Cal. Acad. Nat. Sciences."  Vol. III., p. 272.
338 
DRIFT-SERIES.
to protect it from the ice-floes of the Polar Sea,
and such an event could not take place without
presupposing a very great change in the relative
level of land and water. And yet, perhaps, there
is no region of the earth which bears such unmistakable evidence that the mountains were once
" moulded in ice," to a far greater extent than at
this time; none which shows such wide-spread
denudation and such deep accumulations of detrital
materials. On the plains of Los Angeles they
reach 300 feet in depth, and at Table Mountain, as
before shown, 200 feet, with a denudation of 2,000
feet. In this tremendous erosive a'ction nature has
broken up, pulverized, and assorted those materials charged with gold, constituting "placer" or
"gulch diggings," and thereby relieved man of an
infinitude of toil in gathering the precious metal.
In the peninsula of Lower California, according
to Gabb, there are extensive deposits of gravels in a
horizontal position, filling or bordering on all the
valleys, capped by porphyries and other volcanic
rocks, one hundred or more feet in thickness, and
extending over immense areas.
The great cauons of the Colorado, forming
gorges from 3,00ooo to 6,ooo feet in depth, amid
whose intricacies the traveler is liable to become
almost hopelessly involved, are regarded by Newberry, as belonging to this vast system of erosion,
339 
GEOLOGY.
and wholly due to the action of water. On the
other hand, when we see, for instance, along the
rock-bound coast of Lake Superior, upon which
the waves have dashed for thousands of years, the
most delicate etchings on the rocks perfectly preserved, we confess that, in running water, we fail
to recognize an adequate cause to account for the
excavation of these profound gorges; and although
the geologist, like the actor, should ever have in
mind the advice of Horace,
" nec Deus intersit
Nisi vindice nodus,"
yet here is an instance in which, we think, the
Fire-God may be properly invoked, and to his
interposition, these tremendous events may be, in
part, ascribed,- or in other words, that the form
and outline of these chasms were first determined
by plutonic agency.   Every explorer describes
the heavy accumulations of volcanic matter which
cover the most superficial materials in the elevated
region between the Rio Grande and the Colorado
Desert, and in fact throughout the entire range of
the Rocky Mountains.
It would thus seem that while aqueous causes
were in full activity over all these regions, igneous
causes exhibited an activity equally conspicuous.
Anticipating the order of succession, it may be
340 
RECENT DESSICATION.
stated that almost every where in the Great Basin,
and the same may be said of the Colorado Plateau,
there are observed the evidences, within a recent
period, of a climate much more humid, and of a
soil much more fruitful than now prevail. On
some of the mountain sides are seen yet standing,
considerable tracts of dead forests; the borders of
the lakes and streams show water-lines two and
three hundred feet above their present levels; alluvial bottoms, now bare and desolate, contain the
entombed remains of a luxuriant arborescent vegetation; canions which must have been the channels
of abundant streams, are either dry, or discharge
an insignificant flood; springs originating in the
melting snows are absorbed as soon as they reach
the thirsty plain; and in certain parts are the
remains of populous towns, where now it would
be difficult for man to eke out a subsistence. All
these phenomena attest that this wide-spread desolation is of extremely recent origin, but for which
it is difficult to offer a satisfactory solution. With
the relative area of land and water as at present
maintained, we must suppose that the conditions
of climate have remained constant; but with a
depression of the country to such an extent as to
admit of the flow of the ocean through the Colorado Desert to the rim of the Great Basin, and if
we suppose that throughout this basin there existed
34I 
GEOLOGY.
a series of lakes two and three hundred feet in
depth, we can conceive that the climate would be
essentially modified. No currents of air would
arise from a heated expanse to dissipate every
forming cloud; evaporation from large surfaces of
water would reduce the temperature and moisten
the atmosphere; and trees, clothing the slopes of
the hills, would shade the fountains and render
them perennial. WTe are disposed to believe,
therefore, that the volcanic action, of which Mount
Shasta is but an example, combined, perhaps, with
a gradual elevatory movement exerted within the
historic period, has so far changed the relative
level of land and sea as to produce this diminished moisture.
Ter aces of ~Vodifled Drift.-Loess.- If we examine the shores of our Great Lakes, we find them
bounded at intervals by stair-like ridges known as
terraces, often three in number,  the uppermost
attaining, as at Mackinac, an elevation of one hundred feet above the present water-level, and a still
higher elevation along the shores of Lake Superior.
The same appearances are observed in the principal river-valleys. We here find ordinarily an
ancient Drift-terrace indenting the hills, next a
terrace of Modified Drift, and at last the Alluvial
342 
TERRACES.
Bottom which is often ridged with numerous steps,
indicating successive levels in the river-channel.
These phenomena are represented to some extent in the subjoined
SECTION OF A RIVER VALLEY.
I"                              z
__I -   -!                  -  - 3    2
a            4   v  ve,
I                  2            3 
2. MODIFIED VALLEY DRIFT.
3. ALLUVIAL BOTTOM.
These terraces would indicate a gradual emergence of the land from the ocean, with sufficient
pauses in the movement to admit of their formation. When we consider the topographical features of the country, it is evident that, during this
emergence, the relative area of land and water
throughout the Mississippi Valley, must ihave varied
very much, and have been far different from what
we now behold. But the terraces along the Great
Lakes do not represent the whole emergence.
Observations on the raised beaches, both of the
Atlantic and Pacific Slope, indicate that the submergence was not less than 2,000 feet, which would
be sufficient to cover the great plateau in which
the four great rivers, the Mississippi, the Saskatch
343
- I. ANCIENT DRIFT. 
GEOLOGY.
awan, the Mackenzie, and the St. Lawrence, have
a common source, though flowing in different directions, and to create an open sea between the Arctic
Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. When we examine the structure of the terraces and bluffs, we find
that, in northern latitudes above the parallel 380,
and where the Drift-action is conspicuous, they are
made up of beds of gravel and sand rudely stratified, the pebbles for the most part of foreign origin,
with large angular blocks from the vicinage, indicating that the ice-action had not altogether ceased.
In lower latitudes, and along the Upper Missouri, remote from the Drift-influence, the bluffs of
the great rivers consist of a yellowish loam, almost
impalpable in its divisions, and resembling the
Loess of the Rhine,-a term which Western Geologists are disposed to naturalize.
LOESS, OR BLUFF FORMATION,-The  Loess, as
observed by Hayden on the Missouri, commences
at about the foot of the Great Bend (latitude 44~),
and continues thence with occasional interruptions
to its mouth. At Council Bluffs and Sioux City,
in Iowa, it forms a conspicuous feature in the landscape, and in its thickness is from fifty to one hundred
and fifty feet. This deposit is not restricted to the
main valley, but lines the valleys of very many of
the principal affluents. It is for the most part
devoid of stratification, and the enclosed remains
344 
SAND-DUNES.
of shells are all of fresh-water origin, and belong
to existing species. The remains of Mammalia,
however, such as the mastodon, peccary, horse,
lion, musk-ox, etc., belong to extinct species, thus
showing that the fresh-water fauna survived
changes which were fatal to many of the airbreathing animals.
Swallow, in his Survey of Missouri, was the first
to recognize this deposit in all its importance, and
gave it the distinctive name of the "Bluff Formation." -
On the Lower Mississippi it is well developed,
extending from above the junction of the Missouri
to its delta. In the river counties of the State of
Mississippi, according to Elilgard, it occupies a
belt ten to fifteen miles in width, and in places is
seventy feet thick, running parallel with the stream.
In its lithological character, it resembles that of
the Upper Mississippi and Missouri, being a fine,
silicious loam of a buff color.
The loess is undoubtedly a lacustrine formation,
and to account for its present level we must presuppose an elevation of the land to an extent of at
least two hundred feet.
SAND-DUNES.-AS among the phenomena of the
Post-Pliocine epoch, for it was one of long continuance, may be included the Sand-dunes which often
form conspicuous landmarks along the eastern shore
345 
GEOLOGY.
of Lake Michigan. They consist of irregular heaps
of sand which have been accumulated by the winds
blowing in a certain direction, and upon specific
shores.   Hence, their accumulation is confined,
almost exclusively, to the eastern shore of the
lake.
In many countries these dunes exercise an important influence on the national industry.  Holland
owes its prosperity to the shelter which they afford
to navigation, by forming a natural barrier against
the sea; whereas, in other countries, they are
dreaded on account of their encroachments on the
cultivable land.
The dunes of Cape Cod rarely exceed eighty
feet in height; and there, perhaps, they are as conspicuously developed as upon any portion of the
Atlantic Coast. The dunes on this inland sheet
of water are equally high, and even higher,- exceeding, in some places, one hundred feet. It is
generally found, too, that they assume a lee and
strike side,- the gentle and long slope being to
the windward, and the steep acclivity towards the
sheltered position. The Sleeping Bear and Pointe
Aux Ch(nes, near the foot of Lake Michigan, are
conspicuous examples of these dune-like formations,-while at the head, at New  Buffalo and
Michigan City, they are equally conspicuous.
Sand-ridges extend from the head of the lake far
346 
SAND-DUNES.
into the interior, as far even as Tippecanoe, Indiana,
having great uniformity in direction, and resembling what the  Swedish  geologists denominate
osars.
In searching for the origin of these silicious
materials, it may be asserted that the rivers which
enter the lake, transport at this day only fine, argillaceous sediments, and, therefore, their accumulation is not due to existing causes. The Potsdam
sandstone which skirts the southern flanks of the
Azoic system of Lake Superior, is a slightly-coherent rock, which must have been powerfully acted
on during the denuding agency of the Drift-epoch;
and it is to this source that we may look for the
origin of these materials. As to the mode of their
accumulation, it may be said, that the waves, in
positions where the winds have full sweep, carrying the suspended particles, strike the shore
with a momentum greater than the recoil, which
admits of a deposit of the materials held in suspension. Thus each wave, as it expends itself upon
a shelving beach, makes a deposit of sand. After
the waves have delivered their freight upon the
shore, it is taken up by the winds. The particles
of sand drifted inland, are subject to the same laws
which control the drifting of snow. The strikeside of a dune is an inclined plane, with an inclination not to exceed 5~ or IO~, up which the sand is
347 
GEOLOGY.
driven, while the lee side may exhibit an angle of
30~. Wherever there occurs an obstacle like a
tree or a rock, a deposit is made, and this process
goes on until the general level of the obstacle is
attained. As the wind shifts, particles are borne in
a different direction, so that, instead of a continuous bank, the sands are generally arranged in a
series of conical hills.
All dunes are found to be moist to within a few
feet of the surface, as though derived from capillary attraction, and, hence, they become clothed
with an appropriate vegetation, of which the pinetribe is the most conspicuous. The slopes present
the same ripple-marked surface observable on a
shelving shore, which is the result of the assorting of the materials according to their specific
gravity,-the lighter portions forming the crests,
and the heavier the troughs.
Between the parallel ridges which, as before remarked, extend far inland, and have become clothed
mainly with pines and aspens, ponds have been
formed, which, from their sheltered position and
slight currents, are peculiarly adapted to the growth
of peat-producing plants, such as the sphagnous
mosses, and of the order lVym     ace, etc.
The ancient channel by which a portion of the
waters of the Upper Lakes was formerly discharged
348 
THE GREAT LAKES.
into the Mississippi through the Illinois River, is
clearly indicated.
TIlE GREAT LAKES.
D)rif-P,ienomena.-The Great Lakes, whether
we consider their area, depth, or the facilities for
inter-communication which they afford to the interior of the Continent, form one of the grandest
features in the geography of North America.
They may have existed from a remote geological
epoch, as longitudinal valleys, determined by the
different systems of mountain chains; but that their
respective areas were greatly modified and enlarged
during the Drift-epoch, admits of no doubt,- for all
along their shores, the rocks where sufficiently
firm to retain the markings, have been planed
down, grooved, and striated, by a tremendous force
which appears to have operated over the entire
area of their connected basins. This planing process was not restricted to the subjacent rocks, for at
Marquette, and at other points on Lake Superior,
may be seen mural facesof highly-metamorphosed
slates which have been polished and grooved by
a force acting longitudinally, and Newberry has
observed similar markings on the limestone cliffs
of Lake Erie.
The grandest exhibition of the Drift-phenomena
349 
GEOLOGY.
which it has been my fortune to observe, occurs on
the southern coast of Lake Superior, between
Granite Point and Dead River. The rocks,- a
tough feldspathic porphyry, almost indestructible,- are not only simply polished, but some of
the grooves are four feet wide and two feet deep,
with all the markings as sharp as though done but
yesterday by some great planing-machine. Here
are two sets of strie, one running north and south,
and the other north 20~ east, south 20~ west. Examples of this character, nearly equally conspicuous, are to be seen in the limestone surfaces at
Sandusky and Buffalo.
Denudtlion.-That  there was  a wide-spread
denudation of the lake-beds during the Driftepoch, as before suggested, admits of no doubt.
Lake Superior occupies an immense depression,
which has, for the most part, been excavated out of
the Potsdam sandstone, and a few islands of this
material, like Caribou, Maple, Parisien, and the
Apostles, have escaped the general ruin. The outlines of its shores have been mainly determined
by the presence of the igneous rocks which opposed
an effectual barrier to the glacial action. The configuration of Keweenaw Point is due to a trappean
range which juts far into the lake; and the fiordlike character of much of the Northern Shore and
350 
THE GREAT LAKES.
Isle Royale, results from banded trap of unequal
hardness and firmness, which opposed an unequal
resistance to the denuding process.
The basins of the two great lakes, Michigan and
Huron, and this observation will apply to Erie and
Ontario, appear to have been excavated out of that
series of rocks included between the Niagara limestone and the Portage and Chemung groups, consisting of the Onondaga salt-group, the Coniferous
limestone, and the Hamilton and Marcellus shales,
which are slaty, or slightly-coherent in structure,
and, therefore, little fitted to withstand denudation.
The Niagara limestone, as before shown, is a
firm and comparatively indestructible rock, which
stretches in an almost unbroken belt from the Great
Falls to the head of Lake Michigan, giving configuration to the whole northern shore of Lake
Huron, and the western shore of the former lake.
Green Bay is excavated in the soft, marly shales
of the Cincinnati Blue limestone.
Thzeir Area and Elevation.-The combined
area of the Great Lakes is approximately estimated
to exceed go90,000ooo square miles, and the depression
in most of them is sufficiently profound to reach
below the sea-bed. The following table, though
not strictly accurate, is believed to embrace their
principal features.
35I 
GEOLI,OGY.
TABLE-SHO WING THE AREA, DEPTH, AND ELEVA             TIONV OF THE GREAT LAKES.
THE GREAT LAKES.   ~4
SUIJPERIOR,  -  -    355       i6o     900      605      32,000
MICHIGAN,  - -        3IO       84      6oo00    583     22,000
HURON,  - - -         i68     I20      600?    578      20,400
ERIE, - - - -         246      60      300       564       9,600
ONTARIO,   - -       I90        50     800      233       6.300
TOTAL AREA, -. —  g — -— 90,300
Col. Whittlesey, who has studied the regimen of
these lakes more thoroughly, perhaps, than any
other physicist, has kindly furnished me with the
following notes:
" It is not practicable to fix the elevation of the surface of
these lakes, until their  mean fluctuation is known.   The
results I propose to give, are, therefore, only approximate.
" From observations made on Lake Erie since the year I796,
an extreme though transient change of level is known, amounting to seven feet, and a secular or permanent change of five
feet. Of the variations on Lake Huron little is known. Observations on Lake Michigan have been made with great care,
but they cover only a few years of time.  An extreme fluctuation of six feet has been observed.
"On Lake Superior, the greatest known range of level is
three feet, with indications of a much greater range. Lake
Ontario has a variation of four feet nine inches, well determined by water-registers, since the year ISi812.
" The Surveys of the Upper Lakes, by the United States
352 
THE GREAT LAKES.
Government, now in progress, will eventually fix the mean
level of all the lakes, by observations which are made twice
each day.
"For present use, I give the mean results of instrumental
surveys between tide-water and the lakes, and between the
different lakes.
"Before doing this I must remark, that in none of them is
the stage of water noted, whether above or below the mean.
There is, therefore, room for a plus or minus error of two or
three feet, when referred to a place which shall be fixed upon
as the mean level of each lake. There is also another ground
of error.  The lakes are not strictly level, but have an inclination or descent towards their outlets, though this may be small
and in part corrected by the action of winds.
" To fix the elevation of the lakes, I begin at those nearest
the sea, to which instrumental surveys have been made. The
Upper Lakes are not thus connected by direct lines, but their
height above tide is determined by reference to those below.
"There is quite a discrepancy in the results which can be
accounted for as I have above stated.
LAKE ONTARIO.
"By lockage in the St. Lawrence Canals, above mean tide,  234+ feet.
By Canal Surveys of New York, above mean tide, -    -   232  4
Mean elevation, -  - -         -   -     - - -           2331 feet.
LAKE ERIE.
By Canal Survey of New York, 1817,
By Capt. Williams's Report ot I834, Ni
By Surveys of Catskill and Portland R
By locks of New York Canal,  -    -
a.... —----  -  56i.20 feet.
agara Ship-Canal, 563.o0 "
Jailway, I828,       565-33   "
-    -    -    -  567.oo0,
-    -    -    -    564.13 feet.
LAKE HURON.
S. W,. Higgins, (Geological Report of Michigan, I838),  -  577 feet.
A. Murray, (Geological Report of Canada, I849), -   -   578  "
Mean,   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   577 feet.
Lake St. Clair, (Geological Report of Michigan),   -
23
353
Mean,
570 g 
GEOLOGY.
LAKE MICHIGAN.
Michigan Southern Railway, J. H. Sargent, Engineer, sur   vey of I856, south end,    -- - -  -              - 583 feet.
LAKE SUPERIOR.
By Capt. Bayfield's Barometical Measurements in I824, 627
feet, evidently too great.
A. Murray's determination, (Geological Survey of Canada,
I849), 599.4I feet, say           ----         -   - 6oo00 feet.
Survey of Bay de Noquets and Marquette Railroad, I859,  6io  "
Mean,-                ---   -  -  -  -  -                605  "
RES UME.
It is deemed needless to enter further into the
physical history of the revolutions of the earth's
surface, as attested by these geological monuments,
which reach back to the dawn of organic life.
While to some they may indicate the reign of
waste and chaos, yet, throughout all these phases,
we can detect design;- in the concentration of
the useful metals in veins and beds; in the storing
away of vast supplies of fossil fuel; in the consolidation and upheaval of the strata, giving relief and
depression to the surface; in their subsequent erosion and dispersion to form soil; and in all the
changes which these material elements have undergone; -a design to fit the earth for the habitation
of man, and to afford him useful materials for the
exercise of his industry, and the promotion of his
comforts and conveniences.
354 
CHAPTER XI.
INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE ON MAN.
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE OF MAN, AS COMPARED WITH THAT OF
PLANTS - CONDITIONS OF HUMAN LIFE UNDER DIFFERENT
ZONES - ARCTIC LIFE - TROPICAL LIFE - LIFE IN NORTHERN
TEMPERATE ZONE - HUMAN ENERGY DISPLAYED WITHIN
CERTAIN ISOTHERMAL LINES - IN EUROPE - IN  NORTH
AMERICA - CLIMATE OF THE SOUTHERN STATES AND THE
CONDITION OF SOCIETY- CLIMATE  OF THE NORTHERN
STATES AND THE CONDITION OF SOCIETY - EFFECTS OF
THESE DIFFERENCES SEEN IN THE REBELLION - PHYSICAL
DEVELOPMENT.
Geographical Range  of Man.- Every living
organism, whether animal or vegetable, has a certain geographical range which is determined by
the conditions of soil and climate. Within a particular zone, certain animal and vegetable forms
attain their full development, but deteriorate when
transferred to a different zone. Man is not an
exception to this great law, and   the same influences which keep the smallest moss-plant to its
rock, bind man to his mountain side or valley." *
*Johnson. "Physical Atlas." 
CLIMATE ON MAN.
These influences are less apparent when traced
along a line of latitude than along a line of longitude, for the reason that the conditions of climate
are less abrupt. It will be seen, however, that it
is only under peculiarly favorable conditions of soil
and climate, and embracing only a limited portion
of the earth's surface, that man has developed, to
the full extent, his physical and intellectual vigor.
Man is by nature, perhaps, the weakest and most
defenceless of the Mammalia. For a long time after
birth, he draws his nutrition from the mother, and
it is a long time before he acquires the ability to
walk. His food must be artificially prepared and his
body artificially clothed.   Other animals surpass
him in keenness of vision, in rapidity of movement,
in strength, and, in fact, in the acuteness of most of
the senses. But he is endowed with reason, by the
exercise of which he can make up for all these deficiencies, can repel or subdue all other animals, and
make them subservient to his use. He can clothe
himself to endure the rigors of an Arctic winter,
and can shield himself from the burning rays of a
tropical sun; he can lay up a stock of provisions
in one quarter of the globe to be consumed in
another; and, in fact, at this day, the intellectual
man, so intimate are his commercial relations, commands the luxuries of every climate. Other animals live in the immediate vicirity of the region
356 
NATIONAL IDIOSYNCRACIES.
which affords them the means of subsistence, and
hence their migrations are determined by this
cause.
While, therefore, the range of man  is greater
than that of any other organism, whether vegetable
or animal; yet, outside of certain lines of temperature, that range is at the expense of his physical
and mental powers. At one extreme, he becomes
effeminate and incapable of vigorous and prolonged exertion; at the other, he becomes dwarfed
in stature, and so unremitting are the exertions
required to procure the means of subsistence, that
his animal propensities are developed at the expense of his intellectual, and his instincts become
little exalted above those of the beast of prey.
In the region, however, embracing the happy mean,
where the climate is such as to invigorate the system,and nature is so far genial as to require the
appropriation of a part of his time only to secure
the means of support, leaving a portion to be
devoted to the cultivation of the intellect, man
attains his full physical and intellectual development; and here we meet with that system of artificial wants and refinements which is peculiarly
the  offspring  of a  high civilization.  External
nature, also, undoubtedly moulds the character of
the individual and determines the idiosyncracies of
a people. So intimate is this relation that man
357 
CLIMATE ON MAN.
" Becomes
Portion of that around him; and to him
The mountains are a feeling."
The Swiss villagers, brought up beneath the
shadow of the Alps, must have far loftier ideas of
the grandeur of the universe than the Bushmen of
the Cape, who are so degraded that they can not
even build huts,- "the burning sky being their
canopy, and the scorching sand their bed." In
every age, the Swiss have been noted for their love
of liberty, and among all the partitions of Europe,
they have been able to preserve their national
independence. While such traits have, with them,
remained constant through many generations, it is
probable that the traits of the Bushmen have been
equally constant, and that it would require a system of training persevered in for generations, to
lift them out of their degradation, and bring them
to realize their true position in the scale of creation.
Arctic Life.-The Esquimaux, living upon the
dreary ridges or boundless ice-fields which gird
the Arctic shores, are compelled to maintain a constant struggle with nature for the means of subsistence. The active exercise and the out-door
exposure which they undergo,-the thermometer
often dropping to- 400~, is attended with an enor
358 
ARCTIC LIFE.
mous loss of carbon in the system, which must be
supplied by the most concentrated animal food.*
Burrowing in their snow-covered huts, and deriving their artificial heat from oil burned in the kotluck, by which the temperature within is raised to
+ go~ while without it may be - 400, with an
ample supply of walrus-meat, the Esquimaux recline, in _uris naturalibus, and realize the height
of human felicity.
But this dream is of short duration. Soon they
are compelled to wander in quest of their precarious food, and there are long, dreary intervals,
dependent upon the ice-floe, in which they experience the pangs of an all-consuming famine.   In
this primitive and abject state, generation succeeds
generation, without producing any elevation of the
race. A few hundred words comprise the vocabulary to express their wants, their desires, their
hopes, their aspirations. The means of multiplying the race are limited by the austerity of the
climate. Arts, laws, and society are unknown, and
the individual is slightly distinguished in intel
* Dr. Kane estimates the Esquimaux ration at eight or ten pounds
of animal food a day, with soup and water to the extent of half a gallon. The walrus, the seal, and the bear, are the staples of life; and
it is a matter of indifference to them whether the flesh of the animals
be eaten cooked, or raw. In fact, Arctic navigators find that the raw
walrus-meat is a rare tit-bit, and it is the best remedy for those scorbutic
diseases which, in that region, result fromn intense cold and the long
exclusion of the sun from the heavens. (Arctic Expedition.)
359 
CLIMATE ON MAN.
lectual endowment above his congeners of the
animal kingdom.
Tropical Life.-In intertropical America, on the
other hand, so prodigal is nature of her bounties,
that man has but slight incentives to labor. A few
posts driven into the ground, secured at the tops,
and over all a roof thatched with branches of the
palm, furnish his shelter.  The  hammock is his
lounge by day, his bed by night. An acre of land,
reclaimed from the forest and set out with plaintains, will, within a few months, furnish the staple
of his food for life. If luxuriously disposed, he
may cultivate some beans, tobacco, a few bushes
of coffee or pepper, perhaps some Indian corn, and
raise a few chickens. The forest furnishes him
with game, the river with fish. He has no struggle with nature for the means of subsistence; his
wants are simple, his surroundings primitive.
Clothing for himself and family causes the slightest concern of all. Wealth has no attractions,
ambition no incentives. He lives a life of inaction;
he dies, is forgotten, and is succeeded by children
but too well contented to pursue the same routine.
So much for the dwellers in the valleys of the
great rivers in the tropics.
Upon the plains, the ranging-ground ot the vast
herds of cattle and horses, the desire for ownership
360
I 
TROPICAL LIFE.
in them naturally arises; but life remains very much
the same. The cattle increase with but slight
care, and wealth is still comparatively valueless;
for when the native has gained enough for the purchase of the long sword in its silver scabbard, the
bit, stirrups, and spurs, all of silver, and the bridle
and saddle, profusely ornamented with silver dollars, his ambition is gratified; and on gala days he
appears well mounted, with embroidered shirt fluttering outside his other garments, his naked feet
adorned with the precious spurs, and thrust into the
equally precious stirrups,- content to employ his
brief hour in useless display, and then lay aside shirt
and ornaments, for his daily avocation of swinging
in the hammock. The long, listless days of sultry
heat, pass away in sleeping and smoking; his habits
are irregular,- now a feast, again nothing but
parched corn or beans. The family occupy but
one room, shared also by the passing traveler.
All the household implements are of the rudest
description, and life is but existence after all.
Upon the rivers, during the rainy season, the sultriness is indescribable.  Insects torment the body,
and utter idleness corrodes the mind. On the
return of the dry season, with the subsidence of
the waters, and the decay of the accumulated vegetable matter exposed to the sun, miasma stalks up
and down the valleys like an angry fiend, with
36I 
CLIMATE ON MAN.
wasting disease and delirious death following in
his train. Thus the climate lays its embargo upon
the best-devised plans of man.*
Lije in the zVorthern Tenmperate Zone.-Eurospe.- If we examine a chart of the world and
trace the isotherms 40~ and 700 across the Eastern
Hemisphere, we shall find that they include China,
Thibet, the region of the Caucasus, Greece, Italy,
that portion of Africa bordering the Mediterranean which is separated from the Desert by the
High Atlas, the Germanic States, the southern
peninsulas of Norway and Sweden, France, Spain,
and the British Isles. Now it may be confidently
asserted that, within this belt, the human form has
been developed in all of its perfection, and the
human intellect has put forth its most vigorous
manifestations. Here has originated, almost without exception, every name associated with greatness, whether in art, literature, poetry, painting, or
sculpture; in fact, in all those pursuits which dignify and adorn life. Among the warriors, we find
Alexander, Caesar, Alaric, Attila, Charlemagne,
Charles XII., Frederick the Great, Napoleon, and
Wellington: Among the poets, Homer, Virgil,
* These notes on tropical life were communicated by my old and
valued friend J. B. Austin, Esq., whose pursuits have led him to pass
many years in that region.
362 
TEMPERATE ZONE.
Dante, Shakspeare, Milton, and Goethe: Among
the sculptors, Phydias, Praxiteles, Angelo, and
Canova: Among the painters, Raphael, Reubens,
Titian, Leonardo da Vinci, and Turner: Among
the philosophers, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Pliny,
Copernicus, Galileo, Bacon, Kepler, Newton, Liebnitz, Des Cartes, and Cuvier: Among the orators,
Demosthenes, Cicero, Bourdaloue, Massillon, Mirabeau, Chatham, and Burke: Among the historians,
Herodotus, Thucydides, Livy, Tacitus, Rollin, Gibbon, Hume, and Macaulay: Among the inventors,
Faust, Watt, Hargreaves, Arkwright, Cartwright,
and Stephenson: And among the navigators,
Columbus, Magellan, Sebastian Cabot, and Gama.
In fact, what name is there, illustrious in art or
science, whose birth-place is not to be found within
this zone? The art of printing, the mariners' compass, and the science of alchemy subsequently
transformed into chemistry, may have been derived
from the East; but their uses and applications were
developed by the people of the West. They, too,
may claim the invention of the telescope and microscope; the investigation of the laws of heat, light,
and magnetism; of the rotation of the aerial currents; of the mathematical figure of the earth, and
the movements of the heavenly bodies; and, in fact,
of nearly all of the great phenomena of the universe.
They invented the steam-engine, the steam-ship,
363 
CLIMATE ON MEN.
the power-loom, the telegraph, and the railroad;
they discovered and applied illuminating gas, the
explosive properties of gunpowder, and the expansibility of air and water, as practically applied.
These are they who, in the application of the arts,
have done so much to mitigate human suffering,
and contribute to the comforts and conveniences
of man. These are they who have established
such close ties of commercial intercourse with the
whole habitable globe, bringing the products of
every clime within this zone for consumption and
re-distribution. Every steam-ship or sailing vessel, to whatever region she may go, is owned here
and returns to some port within these lines. Here
is accumulated capital, invested in manufactures,
in mines, in railroads, and in navigation. Here are
brought the crude materials to undergo additional
processes and to receive an enhanced value, before
they are finally consumed; -the furs of Hudson's
Bay, the wools of South Africa, the cotton of Egypt
and India, the copper of Chili, the gold of Australia, the sperm of Behring's Sea, and the ivory of
Africa. Among these nations alone, we find stable
governments for the administration of justice and
the preservation of order. The rights of life and
property are adjusted by judicial forms, and public
faith and public credit are not obsolete virtues.
How different this social economy from that which
364 
TEMPERATE ZONE.
prevails outside of this zone! And to what cause,
other than climate, shall we attribute this differ
ence? Even those nations occupying its borders,
have not the methodical industry, the persevering
application, or the business capacity of those who
occupy a central position in this zone.*
* This point has been well illustrated by Buckle, in his "History
of Civilization." (Vol. I., Chap. 2).
"Climate influences labor not only by enervating the laborer, or
invigorating him, but also by the effect which it produces on the regularity of his habits. Thus we find that no people living in a very
northern -latitude, have ever possessed that steady and unflinching
industry for which the inhabitants of the temperate regions are
remarkable. The reason for this becomes clear, when we remember
that in the more northern countries, the severity of the weather and,
at some seasons, the deficiency of light render it impossible for the
people to continue their out-of-door employments. The result is that
the working-classes, being compelled to cease from their ordinary
pursuits, are rendered more prone to desultory habits; the chain of
their industry is, as it were, broken, and they lose that impetus which
long-continued and uninterrupted practice never fails to give.  Hence,
there arises a national character more fitful and capricious than that
possessed by a people whose climate permits the regular exercise of
their ordinary industry. Indeed, so powerful is this principle, that we
may perceive its operation, even under the most opposite circumstances. It would be difficult to conceive a greater difference in governments, laws, religion, and manners, than that which distinguishes
Sweden and Norway on the one hand, from Spain and Portugal on
the other. But these four countries have one great point in common.
In all of them, continued agricultural industry is impracticable. In the
two southern countries, labor is interrupted by heat, by the dryness
of the weather, and by the consequent state of the soil. In the two
northern countries, the same effect is produced by the severity of the
winter and the shortness of the days.  The consequence is that these
four countries, though so different in other respects, are all remarkable for a certain instability and fickleness of character; presenting a
striking contrast to the more regular and settled habits which are
established in countries where climate subjects the working-classes to
fewer interruptions, and imposes on them the necessity of a more
constant and unremitting employment."
365 
CLIMATE ON MAN.
Norih America.-The  same  diversity in the
habits of the people and their business pursuits, is
to be found as we trace the isotherms 4o~0 and 700
across the North American Continent. The line
of 40 mean temperature nearly intersects Quebec,
and thence strikes north of Lake Huron and the
extremity of Keweenaw Point, on Lake Superior;
when, leaving that lake, it is rapidly deflected
northwardly to the Rocky Mountains, and reaches
the Pacific Coast at or near Sitka. The line of
70~ mean temperature, starts on the Florida Coast
below latitude 30~; ranges along the northern
shore of the Gulf of Mexico, and is protracted
west until it strikes the highlands of New Mexico;
when it curves rapidly north as high as latitude
35~; then it curves south, crossing above the head
of the Gulf of California, and strikes the Pacific
about latitude 30~.
The region of the British Possessions, north of
the isotherm 4o~, is doomed to everlasting sterility.
Its only available wealth is its fur-bearing animals;
its only inhabitants, apart from the Indians, are roving bands of trappers,- the employes of the Hudson's Bay Fur-Company. It has no villages, except
what are called Fur-Factories, which are depots
for receiving and forwarding supplies.   Nature is
every where so inhospitable that there is no inducement to exercise that methodical industry, charac
366 
NORTHERN ZONE.
teristic of a more temperate climate. At Quebec,
even, the business of the year is compressed within
the short summer of ninety or one hundred days,
succeeded by a long winter which, to the inhabitants is a period of listless inactivity, when all the
streams are bridged with ice, and the highways are
obstructed by deep snows. An embargo is laid
upon every thing. No rivers, no ships, no animals
are to be seen, but an unbroken sheet of snow
prevails, except where the forests and houses
break the monotony.   But this climate has its
compensations. To the inhabitants, winter is the
carnival season. TheyT sally forth with horse and
cariole, well protected from the frosty air by ample
buffalo robes, and drive over the snowy plain,
where the course is indicated by pine branches,
stuck up at frequent intervals. The long winter
evenings are given up to social amusements, often
enlivened by the dance, and every one considers
it a duty to contribute something to break the
otherwise listless tedium. In April the streams
are unloosed, and the St. Lawrence is filled with
floating masses of ice, freighted with fragments of
earth and rock gathered from its upper source.
Business is at once resumed with an activity which
indicates an awakening from a long hybernation.
367 
CLIMATE ON MAN.
Social Organiization of the Southern States.Directing our attention to the southern portion of
this zone, embracing what are known as the Planting States, we find that, before the Rebellion, a far
different social organization prevailed from that
characteristic of the Northern, Middle, and Western States. The climate is, during the summer, so
hot and enervating, that it is shunned by the
stranger of European descent, and even the acclimated planter would fain seek the cool and invigorating breezes of the north. The whole white
population were averse to out-door labor, believing
it ignoble; nor did they exhibit any aptitude for
those mechanical and manufacturing pursuits which
form so important an item in the industry of more
temperate climes. Although nature had supplied
a fruitful soil, and capable of producing those raw
materials which enter so largely into commerce
and manufactures, yet we find that they were
exclusively raised by the physical exertions of
those who had little or no share in the proceeds of
sale; and, at the same tinme, the business of conveying them to market and converting them into useful forms, was confided to strangers.
Society was separated, by an impassable gulf,
into two classes,- the planter and the slave. The
planter possessed a sort of suavity of manner that
passed for high breeding. He was generous in
368 
SOCIETY AT THE SOUTH.
his hospitalities and profuse in his expenditures.
While exhibiting a certain degree of intellectual
vigor, he was averse to that patient study and that
continuous train of thought, by which substantial
results are wrought out; and hence, his contributions to science and literature, but above all, to
the practical arts of life, have been insignificant.
Possessed of an abundance of leisure, politics became to him a source of excitement, and place an
object of ambition. Accustomed to rule over
slaves, he firmly believed in the miserable sophism of Burke, that where slavery prevails, " those
who are free, are far more proud and jealous of
their freedom; and that the haughtiness of dominion
combines with the spirit of freedom, fortifies it, and
renders it invincible." This spirit was carried
into the halls of national legislation, and its display
was often offensive  to the representatives of other
sections.
On the other side of the gulf, was the slave
whom a long course of oppression had rendered
docile, and wholly subservient to the will of his
master. " His only business was to labor, his only
duty to obey." The negro, undoubtedly, is far better fitted for a southern climate than the white
man. He will toil beneath a hot, burning sun,
when the white man will wilt, or in the riceswamps of the Carolinas, whose miasms, generated
24
369 
CLIMATE ON MAN.
in stagnant waters, are shunned even by the acclimated planter. Patient of toil, confiding, and susceptible of strong personal attachments, with a vein,
too, of deep religious feeling, he has ever been the
faithful ally of the white man, and has manifested
no desire to strike out independent paths for selfexertion. While the former was restless under
imaginary grievances, and plunged the country
into war for the maintainance of a theoretical sentiment, the latter did not repine under his unmitigated lot; and, throughout the Rebellion, with the
prospect of freedom within his grasp, in no instance
did he turn upon his task-master.  He organized
no conspiracy, he committed no atrocity, but was
content to cultivate the field while his master went
to the war; and in those instances where he sought
his freedom, it was by flight to the lines of the
invader.
But this system of oppression has been swept
away.  The negro is now invested with citizenship.  He has a voice in the making of the laws
by which he is governed. He is free to appropriate the wealth which his own industry creates.
The vision of the poet has been realized:
" Their vines a shadow to their race shall yield,
And the same hand that sowed, shall reap the field."
Let us trust that, in the new relations he assumes,
370 
SOCIETY AT THE NORTH.
he will acquit himself as a worthy and dutiful
citizen.
Social Organization at  the _3orth.-Turning
now to the central portion of this belt, embracing
New England, the Middle, and Western States, we
find society organized on a basis of equality, with
far different social and business pursuits. The people exhibit methodical industry, provident habits,
and a spirit to adopt and improve upon the practical arts of life. This spirit is manifested in accumulated wealth, in inventive capacity, in laborsaving machinery, and in associated capital to carry
out gigantic schemes, beyond the means of a
single individual however opulent. Their practical benevolence and desire for improvement, are
exemplified in the various institutions founded for
intellectual culture and for the relief of the ills
incident to humanity. To labor is not ignoble, and
the climate is such that while the labor enriches,
it does not exhaust.
Here are brought the crude materials of other
zones - the products of agriculture, of the forests,
of the sea, and of the mines,- to undergo mechanical and chemical processes preparatory to their
distribution and application to human comforts.
The dense cloud of smoke that hangs over every
city, the ringing sound of the anvil, the loaded
37I 
CLIMATE ON MAN.
trains which constantly arrive and depart, and the
thronged streets where each passenger seems intent
on some business errand, all indicate that a spirit
of restless activity pervades and permeates the mass
of inhabitants. Between the prosperous merchant
and the day-laborer there exists a great disproportion of wealth, but the lapse of a single generation ordinarily scatters the most colossal fortune.
Besides, those who possess such wealth, have been,
for the most part, the architects of their own fortunes, and the same avenues through which they
passed, are open to all.
This belt necessarily receives the bulk of immigration from the Old World, which now exceeds
three hundred thousand souls each year. The
Gulf-Stream is not more accurately defined than
this flow of human life. The ports of this belt are
open at all seasons; those of the St. Lawrence are
blocked by ice one-half the year, while those
of Charleston, Norfolk, and New Orleans are,
for an equal length of time, scorched with heats
so oppressive that the immigrant does not care to
encounter them. Besides, he who has forsaken
friends and country, often with nothing to rely
upon but the full possession of his physical faculties - his ability to toil,- will naturally seek a
new home where the climate is agreeable, and
where labor is honorable. Hlence, the South has
372 
THE REBELLION.
heretofore held out few inducements to this class
of population.
There is no portion of the earth where man is
so well clothed and fed, where the rewards of
industry are so certain, and where life and property
are so secure as here; and society may be said
to have attained the highest degree of perfection.
Artificial distinctions, arising from the accident of
birth or the accumulation of wealth, are not recognized; and the unrestrained freedom of the indivridual, in the exercise of his physical and intellectual powers in a manner not inconsistent with
the public welfare, is amply secured.
Effect of these Differences, seen in the Rebellion.-The differences in the local organization
between the two sections of the Republic, were so
great as to be irreconcilable; and every calm
observer of events, foresaw that Whatever temporary expedients were resorted to, there must ultimately come a rupture. The South, though outnumbered in population, through their unity of
action and compact organization, had been able to
possess the Government and to dictate its policy,
almost uninterruptedly, from its origin; but when
they sawv that the sceptre of their power was about
to depart, they took the initiative, flully believing
that they could found a government based on
373 
CLIMATE ON MAN.
human  slavery.   They overestimated the value
of their products, because they went abroad to
adjust national balances. They also believed that
commercial necessity would sanction a system of
compulsory labor, which was condemned by the
enlightened sentiment of every Christian community. They underestimated the force of that great
moral sentiment underlying all legislation, before
which human statutes, conceived in a spirit of temporary expediency, and however solemnly enacted,
must sooner or later give way. They underrated,
too, the strength of the people of the North, who,
though less impulsive and mercurial, had an indomitable will, a tenacity of purpose backed by numbers, and a fertility of resources in skilled labor,
machinery, and in reserved capital brought out and
tendered to the Government in the hour of need,
which gave assurance that, however protracted the
contest, the issue could not be doubtful. Great as
was the expenditure of treasure and of blood, it
was incurred without repining. There was one
all-prevailing sentiment, originating in convictions
of temporal prosperity, and, also, in the higher convictions of religious duty and of national grandeur,
that the Republic must be preserved,-and preserved, too, stripped of those elements which, from
its origin, had been the source of its weakness.
374 
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT.
RESUME.
From this survey it will be seen that, only under
certain favored latitudes, has man attained to his
full  physical  development,  and  exhibited  that
"sanctity of reason"- that divinity of mind,which distinguishes him so preeminently above
the brute.
The region of the Black Sea is supposed to have
been the original seat of the Caucasian race,- a
race in which the moral feelings and the intellectual powers, as well as the beauty and perfection
of the physical structure, have been in the highest
degree displayed. Between this region and the
prairie region of the West, the conditions of soil
and climate are, in a marked degree, similar. If, to
climatic causes, we are to attribute the diversities of
character in the great fanmily of man, it may be
said, that here exist those conditions best fitted for
the development of his physical and intellectual
nature. *
* In a region which has been populated so rapidly as the Western
States, and where immigrants form so large an element of that population, it would be unsafe to draw conclusions as to the effects of the
climate on physical development; but it may be stated, that the average height of nearly 26,o00oo recruits to the volunteer regiments of the
United States, during the late Rebellion, (three-fifths of whom were
gathered in the States of Michigan, Iowa, Indiana, and Minnesota,
and two-fifths from the New England States), was 68 T~o0 inches.
The average height of nearly 28,00ooo soldiers recruited for the British
Army, for i86o, was 66 T-2~o inches.
The average height of French conscripts for thirtyyears,-i831-62was 65 1!L0 inches.
375 
CLIMATE ON MAN.
Unfortunately, we have not measurements of the circumference of
the chest, weight, tests of muscular lifting-strength, and capacity of
chest, as determined by the spirometer, so far as relates to the Western
recruits, for the purposes of comparison with the recruits and conscripts of other nations; but the facts already quoted, show that in
height, at least, they are superior. (See an elaborate paper by E. B.
Elliot, submitted to the International Congress, at Berlin, I863, on
"The Military Statistics of the United States.")
376 
CHAPTER XII.
ORIGIN OF CIVILIZATION.
VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPI, ITS PROSPECTIVE POPULATION GREECE, THE CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION-ROME, THE INHER ITOR OF THAT CIVILIZATION - ORIGIN OF TEUTONS AND
CELTS - CHARACTERISTICS OF EACH RACE - COLONIZATION
OF NORTH AMERICA- TEUTONIC AND CELTIC COLONIZATION
CONTRASTED- NATIONAL UNITY-CAUSES WHICH PROMOTE
IT - ENGLISH CHARACTER - ITS HOMOGENEITY AS COM PARED WITH THAT OF THE PEOPLE OF THE UNlTED
STATES -THE CIVILIZING EFFECTS OF THE CHRISTIAN
RELIGION.
THE valley of the Mississippi and the region of the
Great Lakes, are destined, before the close of the
century, to become the abode of fifty millions of
the Teutonic race, speaking the English language,
and developing a peculiar civilization. Since first
known to history, they have exhibited certain idiosyncracies, both as individuals and as members of
the body politic, which have widely separated them
from the Celtic or Latin race. It, therefore, becomes a matter of interest to inquire into the origin
of that civilization, of which they are the peculiar
exponents. In tracing up the stream of history, it 
ORIGIN OF CIVILIZATION.
will be found that they have always displayed a
sturdy independence, a freedom of will, and a selfgoverning capacity which belong to no other race.
They are the only people who, in modern times,
have founded stable governments, either of representative monarchy or representative democracy.
Greece, the Cradle of our Civilization.-Our
civilization, appropriating the term to the advancement which modern nations have made in art,
science, and  literature, is directly traceable  to
Greece. In her we recognize the source from
which we derive our knowledge of all those arts
which embellish civilized life. She communicated
the first impulse, by which the human mind was
lead to enter upon those trains of thought, which
have resulted in our social and intellectual elevation. She has been, in fact, the mother of nations,
teaching her offspring those great principles of
public faith and public honor which, though often
violated, have yet influenced the conduct of the
world's affairs.  And when we consider the topographical features of that wonderful country, its
soil and climate, we shall see that they were such
as to make her the most favored of nations; and
that she occupied a position to collect and absorb
whatever of art or science there was in the barbaric world.
378 
GRECIAN CIVILIZATION.
It is true that she recognized human slavery, but
this blot upon her career is compensated by the
nobler gifts of virtue and genius.  "Each of her
citizens was a freeman, who dared to assert the
liberty of his thoughts, words, and actions; whose
person and property were guarded by equal laws;
and who exercised his independent vote in the
government of the Republic." *
The inhabitants of Greece possessed a soil of
great natural fertility which was rendered more
fruitfl by cultivation.  They dwelt beneath a sky
of great serenity, and in a climate which was favorable to the full development of the physical and
intellectual man. The relief and depression of the
surface was such as to give origin to a diversified
landscape; - rugged peaks, thickly-wooded slopes,
luxuriant meadows, precipitous water-falls, running
brooks, and an ocean sublime in the play of its
constantly-changing tints; and thus they were
brought in intimate communion with the noblest
aspects of nature, which left an indelible impress
upon their imaginations, reflected in their poetic
works, their oratory, and even their architecture.
Her deeply-indented shores, washed on the one
hand by the Adriatic, and on the other by the
Egaean, with its archipelago of islands,- serving
both as landmarks to guide the adventurous navi
* Gibbon.  "Decline and Fall."  Chap. 48.
379 
ORIGIN OF CIVILIZATION.
gator in his course, and as places of refuge in a
storm,- tended to develop a maritime spirit among
her people, which led them gradually to extend
their voyages to the entire coasts of the Mediterranean and Black Seas. Commerce, thus inaugurated, was the great civilizer. In this intercourse,
they became acquainted with the discoveries and
inventions of surrounding nations, which they
adopted and improved upon; and even the elements of their philosophy were derived from foreign sources. So humanizing has this spirit proved,
that it may be said that no nation, isolated from the
sea, has ever attained to a high state of civilization.
Under such conditions of soil and climate, the
Greeks developed a degree of culture whose influence has attended the intellectual man in all of his
migrations. Whatever there is of heroic action in
human conduct; whatever there is of intensity of
expression in the passions; whatever there is of
sublimity in poetic diction or oral discourse; whatever there is that relates to the beauty of the human
form, or the just proportions of human structures,
as manifested in sculpture and architecture; was
displayed in all of its perfection by these Hellenic
tribes.
380 
ORIGIN OF TEUTONS AND CELTS.
.Rome, the Inheritor of th is Civilization.-From
this source, the Romans derived their civilization
and their knowledge of the arts; and even after
they had subdued, by the power of numbers, that
magnificent territory, their statesmen and poets
did not hesitate to resort to the vanquished for
instruction, and adopt their illustrious names as
exemplars for their own guidance. At the dawn
of the Christian Era, the Roman Empire is computed to have extended over 400,000 square miles.
It reached from the western extremity of Europe
to the Euphrates, and from Getulia south to the
confines of the Libyan Desert, comprehending
the greater portion of the known world. In their
career of conquest, the Romans had annexed not
only Greece, with all her art and refinement, but
also that region which is supposed to have been
the cradle of the race, and where God had condescended to hold intercourse with man, and proclaim His will. Every known tribe and kindred
rendered tribute to the Caesars, and even our
Saviour recognized the civil obligation.
Origin of Teuions and Cells.-To the north
of Italy and beyond the Alps, lay a country divided
into several principalities, known as Celto-Galatia,
Germania, Cimbrica, and Scandix Insult, comprehending northern France, Germany, and Sweden,
38I 
ORIGIN OF CIVILIZATION.
whose people, born beneath a cooler sky, and in a
less enervating climate, and nurtured in a manner
which required, from necessity, the practice of the
hardier virtues of temperance, both in eating and
drinking, were destined to subvert the Roman Empire and establish dynasties of their own upon its
ruins, and to become even, the dominant race of
the world. Little is known of these people prior
to the invasion of their country by Cesar. He
found the valley of the Rhine mainly occupied by
tribes of the Celtic family, while the frontiers were
possessed by the Teutonic or German tribes.
Thus, the population was partly Celtic and partly
German, but both were branches probably of the
great Indo-European family of the Caucasian type.
Motley thus describes the characteristics of each:
"Physically the two races resembled each other. Both
were of vast stature. The gigantic Gaul derided the Roman
soldiers as a band of pigmies.  The German excited astonishment by his huge body and muscular limbs. Both were fair,
with fierce blue eyes, but the Celt had yellow hair floating
over his shoulders, and the German long locks of fiery red,
which he even dyed with woad [a plant growing in the temperate zone from which indigo is extracted] to heighten the
favorite color, and wore twisted into a war-knot upon the top
of his head." *
The Roman Empire contained the elements of
its own dissolution; and it is well, perhaps, fi)r the
* "Dutch Republic."  Vol. I.
382 
ORIGIN OF TEUTONS AND CELTS.
progress of the race, that this vast fabric, reared
with so much toil and cemented by so much blood,
was leveled to the ground by the pressure of its
own weight. When the Roman soldier was so far
enervated by luxury that he could not sustain the
heavy armor, or wield the heavy weapons of his
ancestors, he became an easy victim to the missile
weapons of the Goth and Hun. The short sword
and the pilum, with which the ancient Romans had
subdued the world, dropped from the nerveless
arms of their effeminate descendants. They were
fain to recruit their armies from the ranks of the
Barbarians, and confide to them the public defence.
The foreign soldiers who had thus been incorporated into the Roman army, and subjected to
its discipline, were they who subverted the Empire
and founded dynasties on its ruins. The victorious Goths, fortunately for the cause of humanity,
renounced their ancient superstitions, and adopted
the Christian faith; and, at the same time, they
received the use of letters so essential to the understanding of the Sacred Book, nor did they reject
the inestimable treasures of ancient learning, preserved in the Greek and Latin languages. Thus
the vanquished Romans communicated to the victors their religion, their language, their laws, and
whatever of constitutional liberty they possessed.*
* Vide Gibbon's "Decline and Fall."  Passimn, Chap. XXVIII.,
XXX., XXXVI.
383 
ORIGIN OF CIVILIZATION.
At the middle of the seventh century, we find
the scale of their dominion contracted to the narrow limits of a small tract in Southeastern Europe,- to the lonely suburbs, as the great historian
expresses it, of Constantinople; and in the meanwhile were laid the foundations of those governments, carved out of Roman territory, which, in
modern times, have monopolized the arts, the
sciences, and the civilization of the world.
Theodoric, Clovis, and Alboin, who thus founded
dynasties out of the conquered provinces of the
Roman Empire, were of Teutonic origin.
At this day, the Celtic division of the Indo-European family occupies Spain, Portugal France,
and parts of Belgium, Switzerland, and Britain;
while the Teutonic division occupies Norway,
Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Holland, and parts
of Belgium, Switzerland, and Britain. Each, too,
has distinct national characteristics which  have
clung to him in all of his subsequent migrations.
The Teulon.-The Teuton is fond of independence, and is little disposed to surrender his will to
the control of another. He is restless under even
venial grievances, and claims to be heard in the
making of the laws by which he is to be governed.
Hence, the governments founded by him, are either
a representative monarchy, or a representative de
384 
CELTIC CHARACTERISTICS.
mocracy. He makes a good colonist, adapts himself readily to altered conditions, and evinces a
power for self-government. Wherever settled, his
love of free thought, and his disregard of ceremonies, have made him a Protestant in religion,
with a strong tendency to divide into a multiplicity
of sects, and upon points of doctrine which, we
would fain believe, are not essential to salvation.
While the invigorating climate of the temperate
zone is best adapted to his full development, he
has pushed his conquests to the remotest parts of
the earth; and wherever he has come in conflict
with other races, he has proved himself the victor.
The Cetll.-The Celt has never exhibited the
same desire for personal freedom and civil liberty.
He has been content to live under an absolute
or slightly limited monarchy; and in those instances where he has thrown off the yoke of
oppression and founded republics, as in South
America, they have proved but another name for
anarchy and misrule.  With a disposition to superstition and a blind observance of forms, he is every
where found the zealous and devoted adherent of
the Catholic Church, whose imposing ceremonies
awe his imagination, and captivate his judgment.
Without protest, he surrenders his individual will
to that of his superior, and submits to his teachings
25
385 
ORIGIN OF CIVILIZATION.
with an unquestioning faith. Hlence, the uniformity
of belief,- hence, the universality of the Catholic
Church. Its doctrines are the same, whether expounded beneath the vaulted dome of St. Peter's,
beneath the palm-thatched hut upon the banks of
the Amazon, or in the log-cabin beneath the hyperborean sky of Lake Superior.
It is a striking historical fact, that the principles
of the Reformation have never taken root in the
purely Celtic regions, while they were at once
accepted in those of the Teuton, and have accompanied him throughout all of his migrations. In
the Old World, the boundaries between Catholicism and Protestantism remain about the same as
at the death of the Great Reformer; and in the
New World, the currents, springing from two distinct fountains, have flowed side by side, without
any tendency to commingle.
The Celt loves the soft and balmy air of the
tropics; and hence, in the New World, he relapsed
into a life of luxurious ease, which the equable
climate and the profusion of nature greatly encouraged; and to attain this end, he did not hesitate to
press into his service the unrequited toil of an
inferior race. But, beneath the glare of a Northern
sky, where, to sustain life, were required unremitting exertions, all of his attempts at colonization
have proved signal failures. In his contact with
386 
COLONIZATION OF NORTH AMERICA.
the aboriginal tribes, he has evinced a disposition
to descend to their level, rather than to exalt them
to his own standard of excellence.
Colonizalion of lVorth America.-On the 7th
of October, I492, in mid-ocean, Pinzon, the companion of Columbus, observed a flight of parrots
winging their way to the southwest, in'consequence
of which the course of the exploring expedition was
changed to that direction; and ere long, instead of
the "solid continent," the West-Indian Isles greeted
the longing gaze of the adventurers. This apparently insignificant event, as remarked by the historian, had an all-controlling influence upon the destinies of the people of this Continent. It diverted the
Celtic or Latin colonization, represented by the
Spanish and Portuguese nations, to the tropical and
southern portion of the hemisphere, while it left
open to the Teuton, represented by the English and
the German, the northern portion.
Thus, then, to these two great branches of the
human family, was confided the task of subduing a
hemisphere. Although the French and Spanish
acquired a foothold upon the northern portion, and
invested the narrow belt of Teutonic settlement on
the Atlantic border, yet they were ultimately ex,
pelled, and the whole Continent was surrendered
to the dominion of the Teutonic race; and now,
387 
ORIGIN OF CIVILIZATION.
after the lapse of less than four centuries, how dif
ferent have been the results!
The Celt had the advantage in the race, for the
United States were not colonized until a century
later than Spanish America. Nature, too, had
apparently dealt more kindly with the one region
than with the other. In the one, there were luxuriant forests of extraordinary beauty, and bearing
fruits most grateful to the appetite; and its fertile
valleys and slopes were capable of rearing the
coffee-plant and sugar-cane, whose products are so
highly prized by all civilized nations. The temperature of the one was so mild and unvarying that
little protection was required beyond a tent, or a
thatch of palm-leaves; but, above all, and this was
the most attractive feature to the adventurers, nearly
all the streams rolled down their golden sands.
Thus, in this serene and equable climate, surrounded by a profusion of vegetable forms which
yielded their spontaneous fruits, and with a soil
whose quickening powers produced those luxuries
most highly esteemed by man, nature offered to the
colonist an easy and indolent life.
The other region fuirnished a soil of indifferent
fertility, covered with a forest which must be subdued before it was fitted for cultivation; and its
wealth was extracted only after long and assiduous
labor, going through the routine of seed-time and
388 
MODERN  CIVILIZATION.
harvest, and garnering up, with economic care, and
storing away the crops for future use.  The climate
was so inhospitable that elaborate houses were to
be constructed, and every precaution taken to keep
out the wintry blasts.
Thus, the differences of soil and climate were
calculated to generate differences in the character
of the two races. In the one case, with habits
of order and intelligent industry, and with an aptitude for self-government, the people have built up
a social system the best ever devised for the happiness of man, and developed a strength and unity
which have made them the most powerful nation
of the earth; while, in the other, whatever development of material resources has been made, is the
result, in the main, of compulsory labor, extorted
from an inoffensive race; and whatever governments have been instituted, by whatever name
called, they have afforded little security to life or
property.
Thus it will be seen, that our modern civilization has been a plant of slow growth, originating
under peculiar conditions of soil and climate, and
propagated only over such portions of the earth's
surface as afforded similar conditions. Personal
servitude was a part of the civilization of Greece
and Rome; and the Barbaric tribes, in their primitive settlements, were accustomed to reduce not
389 
ORIGIN OF CIVILIZATION.
only their captives, but their criminals, and even
those who had incurred the obligation of debt
which they could not discharge, to this condition.
Hence, then, among. every nation, from the earliest
times, and continued until times comparatively
recent, slavery has been the lot of the greater portion of mankind. Its abolition, by the most enlightened nations of Christendom certainly affords
substantial evidence of the progress of humanity.
National Unity.- European philosophers, speculating on the origin of our people, derived from
so many sources and composed of elements so
discordant, have predicted for the American Republic a short-lived career. The only disturbing
cause - human slavery - which, from the outset,
has proved the source of deep-seated discord and
internecine strife, and which, in its culmination,
threatened the disruption of the Republic, has happily been removed; and, great as has been the
expenditure of treasure and blood, no true patriot
can regret the sacrifice, in view of the permanent
benefit which has resulted to the cause of free
institutions.
There are several causes which have contributed
to the fusion of our people into a nearly homogeneous union. Among these may be enumerated
the democratic tendencies of our institutions, where
390 
NATIONAL UNITY.
each elector is required to pass upon the measures,
not only of the National and State legislatures, but
even those relating to the details of township organizations; and if he fail to arrive at independent
conclusions by reading and reflection, he has at
least the advantage of hearing such measures discussed by those who have informed themselves.
Next may be mentioned the system of common
schools, where all of the youth are brought under
such a system of instruction as to qualify them for
the ordinary pursuits of life.  This tends to fix the
principles of the language and produce a uniformity
of pronunciation. Webster's Spelling Book was
issued as far back as I 783, and since that time
probably more than fifty millions of copies have
been published, and it is yet retained as a textbook in the schools.
Next may be mentioned the press, whose freedomn is expressly guarded by constitutional enactments. The conductors of the press not only
inform the people of current events, but they
express the public sentiment and often create that
sentiment. Every projected measure, at the present day, is fully discussed outside the halls of
legislation, before it becomes incorporated into the
statute-book.   The power thus wielded over the
morals, the intelligence, the habits, and pursuits of
the people, is a tremendous one; and the experience
39I 
ORIGIN OF CIVILIZATION.
of nearly a century, since all restrictions were
thrown off, has proved that little is to be feared
from its licentiousness. The electric telegraph,
too, has become its ally in the diffusion of intelligence, and there is hardly a well-to-do farmer on
the verge of settlement, who is not, at the end of
the week, fully advised as to what has transpired in
the busy world. A free press, having the ear of
the whole community, and acting as a public instructor, is essentially an American institution.
Wherever a colony is planted, and the people
aggregated into a village, there, too, is to be found
the newspaper.
Last, but not least, may be mentioned the close
commercial relations which exist between widelyseparated parts, and the ease and expedition,
through navigable rivers and innumerable railroads, by which those relations are maintained.
There are few Americans who do not visit some
one of the commercial centres at least once a year,
while the mercantile class penetrates to the remotest hamlets. This direct intercourse tends to
break down provincial antipathies, to produce a
homogeneity of character, and to bind together all
classes and conditions of men. The infusion, too,
each year, of large bodies of immigrants into the
New States from regions widely-separated, destroys
all tendency to a clannish spirit, and leads to the
392 
NATIONAL UNITY.
formation of new associations, independent of birth
and nationality. Thus, it may be said, that the
Western people exhibit a far more cosmopolitan
spirit than those of the Older States. In such a
mixed community, provincialisms of speech are at
once observed and criticised; and, without criticism, the provincial man is insensible to his errors.
Language is the strongest bond of union, and it is
spoken with the greatest purity, where the intercourse between the different parts of the country
is most intimate. The attrition, so to speak, which
is constantly going on between the individual members of a society thus constituted, tends to rub off
the angularities of character and produce a homogeneous union.
In the higher walks of science and literature,
while we have accomplished much, yet it must be
confessed, that we have not attained to that commanding rank which is to be desired; but in a
country where there are few hereditary fortunes
which permit the inheritors to indulge in a course
of travel or learned ease, and where the investment
of capital is so remunerative, it is idle to expect
that a large body of men, corresponding to what
are known as "German students," should be abstracted from the active pursuits of life.  "The
state of a nation," as long ago remarked by Dr.
Johnson, "is the state of common life;"- and if
393 
ORIGIN OF CIVILIZATION.
we go to our farm-houses, our work-shops, and factories, and inquire into the condition of those who
hold the plough, or forge the iron, or weave the
warp, we shall find a degree of thrifty industry, of
sturdy independence, and general information, such
as are possessed by no other people. Combining
the land-grants of Congress for agricultural colleges, and the school-funds of the several States, as
well as the voluntary endowments of individuals,
it may be boldly asserted that no nation has made
such liberal appropriations for the cause of education as' the United States.
Under these influences the American character
has already acquired a distinctive national type,
whose elements are not a conglomerated mass, but a
crystallization into definite forms and angles. Take
such an assemblage as the Congress of the United
States. Trace back the ancestry of each individual
member for a few generations, and see the different stocks from which they draw their origin. He
may be the descendant of one of the Puritans who
came over in the Mayflower; of a substantial
burgher of Bruges, who loaned his credit to the
Prince of Orange; of a God-fearing Huguenot,
driven out of France by the treachery of Henry
of Navarre; of an Irish Catholic who fought the
"bloody Oliver' at Drogheda, or William III. at
the Boyne; or of the peace-loving courtier, William
394 
NATIONAL UNITY.
Penn; or of the gentle-minded Roger Williams,
who founded Rhode Island;- yet, among these
men there is as strong a spirit of national pride as
among the peers of England, who can trace their
lineage to William the Norman.
In the settlement of the United States, there have
been no barriers sufficiently formidable to check,
except temporarily, the flow of population. Those
barriers are, or soon will be, effectually overcome,
and intimate commercial relations will be established with every part of the Republic, producing
homogeneity of character. Go into the Highlands
of Scotland, and you will see at this day some descendant of the Graeme, or the Campbell, clothed
in his kilt; go to the miner's cabin in Colorado,
and you will see the mistress of that rude abode
wearing a bonnet of a fashion received in New
York a month previously. Discordant, then, as the
elements of our population may seem, there is an
all-pervading spirit whose influence is to blend and
harmonize the materials into a homogeneous union.
Our population, then, may be compared not
inaptly to the Great River, whose regimen we
have attempted to describe. Its waters. springing
from fountains far remote, and under different conditions of sky, are first gathered into trickling rills
which, increased by fresh affluents, expand into
brooklets, and then into broad streams. As the
395 
ORIGIN OF CIVILIZATION.
river advances in its course, it absorbs tributary
after tributary, each nearly as large as itself, until
its rolls on a uniform volume, broad and deep,- the
emblem of restless power,- floating upon its surface richly-laden barges, supporting on its banks
populous cities, and diffusing blessings over a continent.
Other nations have attained to greatness, or
maintained it, through the power of their aristocracy,
or the far-seeing sagacity of a single controlling
mind, like that of Alexander, or Caesar, or Charlemagne, or Napoleon. While we have produced
great men, it may be said that we have produced
no one man, (not excepting Washington), who
has impressed his policy on the iiation. While we
have developed such marvelous resources, such a
commercial spirit, such a productive industry, and
such a power to subjugate a continent,-these
results have been achieved by the recognition of
the doctrine of the sovereignty of the people, and
their will as supreme in the legislation of the
country.
English Character.-The English are regarded
as a homogeneous people; and the Englishman has
peculiarities, both mental and corporeal, by which
he can be recognized the world over; yet in his
veins flows the mingled blood of Celt, Goth, Saxon, 
ENGLISH CHARACTER.
Dane, and Norman; and out of this amalgamation
of races, has sprung a nation with a distinctive character, which is perpetuated from one generation to
another.
While a fusion so thorough and effectual, had
taken place centuries ago among the people of the
Lowlands, beyond the Cheviot Hills, amid the
Highlands of Scotland,- about the same distance
from London that the Adirondacks are from New
York,- there dwelt, and yet dwells, a race of men,
under different conditions of soil and climate, who
have persistently clung to the traditions of their
ancestors, and resisted all attempts to intermingle.
It is only as far back as I773, that Dr. Johnson
published his "Tour to the Hebrides," in which he
describes the manners and customs of a people as
different from the English, as though they belonged
to the antipodes.
In another portion of the empire, embracing
seven millions of people, there has been, for centuries, a war of races and religions, at times so fierce
as to lead to the distraction of the country and the
depopulation of its cities; and, at this day, the feeling of discontent towards the throne is as deepseated and intense as at any time in the previous
history of the union. A native historian has had
the boldness to expose the national crimes andl
follies which have been practiced upon this mem
397 
ORIGIN OF CIVILIZATION.
ber of the empire,-" but a withered and distorted
member, adding no strength to the body politic,
and reproachfully pointed at by all who feared or
envied the greatness of England." *
The diffusion of language is, perhaps, the most
conclusive evidence of the homogeneity of a people; and we venture the assertion, that the tongue
of Shakspeare and of Milton, is spoken with greater
precision and purity by the mass of the people of
the United States, than by the inhabitants of the
British Isles. In estimating their intelligence, we
are apt to form our own conclusions from our knowledge of those who have graduated in the universities, and have had the benefits of foreign travel
and observation. But this view is erroneous.
When we descend to the sub-stratum of society to
determine the degree of intelligence, we shall find
that it is to be rated by a much lower standard.
In Ireland, throughout pretty extensive districts, a
dialect of Gaelic is spoken almost to the exclusion
of the English; in the Highlands of Scotland, the
Erse; and in Wales, a dialect different from both.
But coming to England itself, the provincialisms
of the districts of Northumberland, Yorkshire, and
Cornwall, are broader and more uncouth than prevail in any portion of the United States.
* Macaulay.  "History of England."
398
i 
THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.
"Language, more than any other attribute, forms
a binding link among a people;-by its idiomatic
properties it severs them."
Civilizing Effects of /he Christian Religion.In tracing the career of a people -their progress
in moral and intellectual development, in these
modern times, no candid observer, even in a
purely philosophical treatise, can justly ignore the
influence of the Christian religion. And while it
is to be deplored that the full force of those doctrines,- first promulgated by Him who, in a human
light, was the son of a carpenter of Nazareth, and
which were propagated by the humble fishermen
of Galilee,- has been greatly impaired by the dissensions of the Christian church and its division
into a multiplicity of sects; yet, as a political element, Christianity has tended to make better citizens, more orderly, more sedate, and less given to
turbulent passions; it has tended to awaken a
spirit of national unity by making even the humblest feel that they were co-heirs in a common
inheritance, and had a common object to accomplish; and, at the same time, it has tended to
establish a bond of unity between nations geographically separated, by inculcating the doctrine
that the rights of a people are not to be ruthlessly stricken down by mere brute force. And
399 
ORIGIN OF CIVILIZATION.
while this sentiment has not, in the conduct of the
world's affairs, found its fill expression, it has so
far acquired a foothold that no ruler at this day,
however powerful, dare venture upon a step which
shall shock the enlightened sentiment of mankind.
Christianity, in the general diffusion of its doctrines among the people, has awakened thoughts of
a nobler origin; has brought man within the sphere
of higher impulses; has giver him clearer ideas of
his duties here and of his destiny hereafter; has
laid the foundation of every scheme of practical
and all-comprehensive benevolence; and has combined and crystallized a public sentiment, that governments are not instituted for the benefit of a
particular class, but for the prosperity and wellbeing of the people; and finally and preeminently,
it recognizes the common humanity of the whole
family of man, and inculcates the necessity of
breaking down those barriers which pride, and
prejudice, and power, have been able to erect,
throughout the world's history, to hamper the
human race and to prevent them from assuming
that position in the scale of creation, for which they
were, of a aforetime, designed.
4o0 
CHAPTER XIII.
PROGRESS OF DEVELOPMENT.
ORDINANCE OF,787 FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NORTH WESTERN TERRITORY- ITS EFFECT UPON THE CHARACTER
OF THE COLONIZATION- FIRST SETTLEMENT OF THE RE GION- RELATIVE GROWTH IN POPULATION - AREA OF
WESTERN STATES -AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS -THEIR RAPID
INCREASE -THE ASSESSED VALUE OF REAL AND PERSONAL
PROPERTY-INDIANS-THEIR HABITS-GOVERNMENT POLICY
TOWARDS THEM- THE MOUND-BUILDERS- THEIR CIVILIZA TION - ANTIQUITY OF THEIR WORKS - CONCLUSION.
Ordinance for the Government of the Nlorthwestern Terrilory, and its Effects on the Characler of Colonizalion.-On the I Ith day of July,
1787, the Congress of the United States, sitting at
New York, passed "An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States, northwest of the Ohio." This region, at that time, was
an unreclaimed wilderness-unvisited by the white
man, if we except a few Moravian missionaries,
who had penetrated to near the sources of the
Muskingum, and established a mission on its
banks, at a point above the present town of Cos 
PROGRESS OF DEVELOPMENT.
hocton, in the State of Ohio. The passage of this
Ordinance, as justly remarked by Hildreth,* was a
a measure second in importance only to the Constitution itself; for, by the sixth clause, the whole
of this territory, out of which have been carved the
five great States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, was irrevocably dedicated
to free labor.  It was the turning point in the controversy which even then had enlisted the action
of the statesmen of the two divisions of the Union,
and which subsequently found its solution in the
sword,-whether the States should exist all free or
all slave. The South consented to its passage
with the understanding, afterwards acted upon, of
securing, under future cessions, the extension of
slavery into the territory south of the Ohio River.
This Ordinance was a measure of profound political sagacity, and one which, in the lapse of years,
proved the salvation of the Republic. But for that,
the people of the Border States of Virginia and
Kentucky, would have crossed over the boundary
thus established, with their slaves, and the institution of slavery would have taken root and flourished in a fertile soil, and amid a genial climate.
As it was, when, in I86i, this question culminated,
there were found, within this territory, seven millions of people, educated in the belief that labor
* " History of the United States." Vol. III.
402 
FIRST SETTLEMENT.
was honorable, who rallied almost unanimously to
uphold the Government, and evinced their patriotism by contributing to the army a relative numerical strength far in excess of that of the New England or Middle States; and with no vaunting spirit,
it may be said, that the men thus contributed, and
the services which they performed, broke the power
of the Rebellion.
At the time of the adoption of the Ordinance,
the Government, by treaties with the Six Nations,
the Wyandots, the Delawares, and the Shawanese,
had extinguished the Indian title along the northern
bank of the Ohio, and for a considerable distance
inland, as far west as the Wabash; and the territory
thus secured, embraced seventeen millions of acres.
Thus, this region became open to American colonization only through the channel of the Ohio River.
The  French, however, as far back as I720, built
several forts within the present limits of the State
of Illinois, of which Fort Chartres was the principal. This was one of a chain which stretched
from Canada to the mouth of the Mississippi.
First Setllemnent.-There is not, in the whole
history of the colonization of man, so striking an
instance of the increase of population and of material wealth, as is exhibited in those States which
occupy the Upper Valley of the Mississippi and the
403 
PROGRESS OF DEVELOPMENT.
region adjacent to the Great Lakes, comprehending Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin,
Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas. In I778,
within the memory of men yet living, the first colonists of English extraction,- gathered in Massachusetts, under the leadership of Rufus Putnam,entered this region and established themselves at
Marietta, where the Muskingum unites with the
Ohio. This was the origin of that colonization
which, in ninety years, has peopled this region with
more than twelve millions of souls; has subdued
and brought under cultivation an area nearly twice
as great as the cultivated land of England; has connected together the principal commercial points by
a net-work of railroads more that I2,oo000 miles in
extent, at a cost exceeding $413,500,000, and
whose annual earnings reach nearly $50,ooo000,000;
and has built up a domestic industry whose annual
value is in excess of $300,000,000, giving origin to
an internal trade far greater than the external
trade of the whole country.
In order to show the relative growth of the different sections of the United States, the following
table is submitted, compiled from the Census Returns of I86o, in which the several States are
groulped in reference to geographical position,
climate, productions, and the business pursuits of
the inhabitants:
404 
GROWTH OF POPULATION.
TABLE -SHO WING THE GRO WTH OF POPULATION
AND THE RATIO OF INCREASE.
. 
.4
o.
~
14
STATES.~~~~~~~~~~~~~; a0  0i 
4
NEW ENGLAND STATES-Maine, New
Hampshire, Vermont, Massachu setts, Connecticut, & Rhode Island,
MIDDLE STATES -New York, New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware,
and Maryland,                                   8.. —.. —.
CENTRAL STATES (Slave) -Virginia,
North Carolina, Tennessee, Ken tucky, and Arkansas, -59 -7T
PLANTING STATES -South Carolina, 
Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mis sissippi, Louisiana, and Texas,  -
PACIFIC  STATES- California, and
Oregon, - - - - ------.
TERRITORIES, - - - - - - - —.
WESTERN STATES -Ohio, Michigan,
Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Min nesota, Iowa, Missouri, and Kan sas-,                     -4 ------
Total population, - - - - - - -      23,I91,876  31,445,080
It will be seen that the ratio of increase in the
Western States, between I85o-6o, was more than
two-fold greater than in any other section, except
in the Pacific States and Territories, where the
population was too insignificant to form a basis of
comparison.
That increase was 3,661,30I, which is three-fold
greater than the whole population of the Colonies
405
C.
w
04
Q
STATES.
2,728, i i6
3,135,283
I4 9
-f -T
6,573,30I
8,258,i5o
25-6fW
4,485,7I9
5,289,875
1 7 TQ,
3,770,640
4,969,142
3I7N
Ilb5,891
I24,6i8
432,439
295,2-75
I - 3 7 -fR,
g,o64,896
67-130
5,403,595 
PROGRESS OF DEVELOPMENT.
in I75o, and more than 1,500,000 greater than the
whole population of the United States, when, in
I776, they declared their independence.
With regard to the relative progress of settlement
in the northern and southern belt of the Western
States, it may be said, that population of AngloSaxon origin* began to flow into the latter region
as early 1778, and continued without interruption.
The region adjacent to Lake Erie was not sought
by the immigrant, to any considerable extent, until
after the completion, in I825, of the New York and
Erie Canal, opening the lake-region to the seaboard,- a work which will stand as an imperishable monument to the genius of Clinton.   The
* The Romanic or Latin race was the first to discover and establish
posts in the Great Valley.
In I54I, De Soto, then Governor of Cuba, made an overland expedition from Florida to the Mississippi River, which he reached about
latitude 35~, and was the first white man to gaze upon its turbulent
flood. Crossing the river, he explored the country as far west as the
Boston Mountains of Arkansas, and south to the Washita. Seeking
to retrace his steps, he was stricken down by death, and his followers
consigned his body to the middle current of the Great River which he
had discovered.
The discovery of the Upper Mississippi is to be ascribed to Marqutette, a Jesuit missionary, and to Joliet, an envoy of France, of whom
little is known except in connection with this event. On the tenth of
June, I673, with five French voyageurs and two canoes, they crossed
the portage between the Fox and Wisconsin, and descended the latter
stream to the Mississippi. Thence continuing the voyage, they reached
Arkansas (about latitude 33~), when, finding the Indians hostile, they
retraced their course. Arriving at the mouth of the Illinois, thev
passed, by that stream and the Des Plaines, to Chicago.  Thus, then,
they were the first white men to survey the site of what is now a
406 
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
region west of Lake Michigan, was not open to
settlement until after the close of the Black-Hawk
War, in I832. Thus, the southern belt had nearly
a half century the start in the career of coloniza
tion; and, taking the National Road as the dividing
line through the States of Ohio, Indiana, and Illi
nois, the population south of that line, in I830,
largely preponderated, and maintained its ascend
ency up to I840; but, in I850, the conditions were
magnificent city. Before the close of September they reached Green
Bay. Joliet hastened to Quebec and there embarked for France.
La Salle, residing at Fort Frontenac, inspired by the report of
these discoveries, matured a plan to follow in their wake, and open the
region to European commerce. Having received the sanction of the
French minister, in I679, he built the Griffin on the Upper Niagara,
the first vessel of any considerable size that spread her canvas on the
Lakes. In this bark, he proceeded with a colony of fur-traders and
attendants to Green Bay. The Griffin was despatched back, freighted
with furs, but was never heard of afterwards. La Salle then voyaged to St. Joseph's, near the head of Lake Michigan, where
Allotiez had planted the cross and gathered around him the Miamis.
Penetrating the Illinois valley, he established Fort Crevecceur, below
Peoria, and thence despatched Hennepin to explore the Upper Mississippi. In I682, he descended the Great River to its mouth. In i685,
with a fleet sent out from France, he attempted the colonization of the
Lower Valley, but the colonists were carried beyond the mouth of the
river, and landed on the Texas coast. Two years after, he was assassinated in attempting to return to Qiebec.
The French kept up their military occupation in Illinois. Kaskaskia
is the oldest permanent settlement in the Great Valley. Fort Chartres
was a principal rendezvous; Cahoika was founded below St. Louis,
and Vincennes on the Wabash.
By the peace of I762, France ceded the territory east of the Mississippi to Great Britain, but formal possession was not had until 1765.
During the colonial period. the British government endeavored to
restrict settlements to the east of the Alleghanies, but while emigration found its way through the passes to Tennessee, Kentucky, and
Western Pennsylvania, the North West remained sealed to AngloSaxon settlement.
407 
PROGRESS OF DEVELOPMENT.
reversed; and, in I86o, the preponderance was
largely in favor of the north.
The southern region has a climate less rigorous,
and a soil more fruitful and better adapted to
stock-raising and the growth of Indian corn; but
to the mass of immigrants the pure waters and the
invigorating air of the lake-region have proved
more congenial and attractive.
Area.-The  area of the eight Western States
is 525,30I square miles, which is equivalent to
326,I92,640 acres, of which 52,I99,050 acres are
"improved," but far from being cultivated in a
manner to bring out the full capabilities of the soil.
This would make the improved land equal to I8
per cent. of the whole area. Portions of Michigan,
Wisconsin, and Minnesota, adjacent to Lake Superior, are not attractive to settlement by reason of
the inhospitable climate, and the western half of
Kansas by reason of the deficiency of rain; but,
with suitable cultivation, it may be safely asserted
that this area is capable of supporting 50,o000,000
of the human family.
4Agricultural Products.-The principal products
of these States, in animal and vegetable food, are
embraced in the table, page 24I. They comprise
more than 55 o000,000oooooo bushels of cereals, more than
I,ooo000,ooo head of swine, and more than 7,200,000
408 
MATERIAL RESOURCES.
head of horned cattle. Relatively this group furnished 59 per cent. of all the wheat, 39 per cent.
of all the oats, 56 per cent. of all the corn, 40
per cent. of all the tobacco, 28 per cent. of all the
cattle, and 33 per cent. of all the swine, raised in
the United States. The total value of the agricultural products in I86o, was $I, I59,605,660.
The amount of cereals which annually flows out
of this region to the Eastern markets, is not less
than I oo00,000,000ooo bushels, and the product of
pork is not less than I 00oo,ooooo000o000 pounds. To
move this large surplus of vegetable and animal
food, gives employment, during the season of navigation, to more than I,200 vessels, and to five lines
of trunk railways, to say nothing of that portion
which finds an outlet through the Mississippi
River, or is sent to the Plains to supply the Military posts. The commerce of the Mississippi
itself gives employment to about 1,200 steamvessels, besides a large number of barges.
Assessecd  Value of Property.-The  assessed
value of real estate and personal property in these
States, - I86o,- ws nearly $4,000,000,000,- an
increase during the decade of more than 250
per cent. The cash value of farms was nearly
$2,500,000,oo000; of farming implements and ma
409
i 
PROGRESS OF DEVELOPMENT.
chinery, $80,275,000; and of live stock, $382,400,000.
These facts render it obvious that the centre of
population and productive industry, has already
crossed the Alleghanies, and has become seated
for all time in the Great Valley. Under a new apportionment of representation, the political power
of this region will be dominant in shaping the
legislation of the country. The physical combinations, which we have endeavored to elucidate,
are such as to make it the seat of the most powerful organization of men that has ever been formed.
This people will impress their peculiar civilization upon the whole country, and the.r influence
will be felt and acknowledged by the nations of
the earth.
Having thus given a sketch of the progress of
development in population and material resources
under the colonization of the white man, it will
not be deemed out of place to refer to the characteristics of that people who formerly asserted their
dominion over the whole of this region, but are
now  contracted, within  narrow  limits,  on  the
Western Plains; and, also, to refer to that mysterious race, of whom little is known, apart from the
tumuli and embankments which are scattered along
many of the river-valleys. A century hence, per
4IO 
INDIAN CHARACTER.
haps, the memorials of the Indian will be less
conspicuous than those of the Mound-Builders.
THE INDIANS.
During the whole history of the colonization of the
white race on this Continent, a serious impediment
has existed in the Indian, whom it has been found
necessary to subdue and even to exterminate;and a great deal of misplaced sympathy has been expressed for his apparently irrevocable fate. There
is not a State whose sod has not been drenched
with the blood of the white man, shed in some
border strife. Even now, not a year passes by
without the perpetration of atrocities shocking to
humanity. The sums which have been spent in
Indian wars, and paid out under treaties, would
cancel the national debt. The whole breadth of
this Continent must now be appropriated to commercial intercourse, sure, safe, and expeditious.
That intercourse must necessarily destroy the
hunting-grounds of the Indian, and it becomes a
question of a very serious character whether the
policy heretofore pursued by the Government, is to
be persisted in. Thus far, while we have prohibited other powers from trading or holding intercourse with the red man, we have so far recog
4II 
THE INDIANS.
nized his nationality as to consent to enter into
treaty stipulations with him.
At the time of the occupancy by the European,
of that portion of the Continent out of which have
been carved the United States, the aboriginal inhabitants did not exceed 300,000, and that is the
estimated number at this time, the greater portion
of whom dwell on the western slope of the Great
Valley. If they were all aggregated in one place
and furnished with houses, they would form a city
a little more populous than Chicago. They are,
and always have been, separated into numerous
tribes, between whose members there was no permanent bond of union, but oftener open feuds.
Having no knowledge of the arts beyond fashioniag a canoe, or chipping from flint or obsidian an
arrow-head, no agriculture apart from cultivating
patches of corn, no constructive faculty other than
setting up poles and covering them with hides of
buffalo or sheets of bark, they live a listless and
degraded life, roaming in small bands from place
to place in search of food, and regulating their migrations by those of the animals on which they
subsist. Often subject to the gnawings of longcontinued famine, when the means of appeasing it
are presented, they gorge themselves like beasts
of prey, and then relapse into inaction, utterly
improvident of the future. With such habits, and
4I2
I 
INDIAN CHARACTER.
with means of subsistence so precarious, the Indian
can not live in large communities and occupy fixed
habitations.
His contact with civilization has not elevated his
condition. He has readily imbibed its vices, while
he has shown no disposition to practice its virtues.
Drafts have been made upon his moral and intellectual faculties, which, in mercantile phrase, he
has invariably allowed to go to protest, with the
indorsement, no assets.
The Indian was never a formidable antagonist,
until he became possessed of the weapons of the
white man; and even then, he did not exhibit the
steady valor and efficient discipline of the American soldier; and to day, on the Plains, Sheridan's
troopers would not hesitate to attack the bravest
band, though outnumbered  three  to one.  The
Indian has never risen to  the  higher arts  of
strategy, such as handling large bodies of men,
the carrying or maintaining of a position, or conducting those evolutions which appertain to a
pitched battle. The ambush and surprise are his
modes of warfare,- to strike and retreat before his
foe can rally. The knife, the gun, and the horse,
obtained from the white man, are the only gifts of
civilization that he esteems, and the effect of conferring them upon him, has been simply to make
him more powerful for evil.
413 
THE INDIANS.
Commercial necessity requires the appropriation
of these lands to other purposes than huntinggrounds. We may talk of their rights to the soil,
acquired by immemorial use and enjoyment; but
to make that right valid, there must be some act
of conversion or appropriation, beyond the mere
pitching of a lodge, the cultivating a patch of corn,
or roaming over the surface in pursuit of game.
Population presses too closely on the heels of production, to admit of the setting apart ten miles
square for the support of a single life, which is
required in the hunter-state, when, with proper
cultivation, half an acre would yield a less precarious support. It would have been better, perhaps,
at the outset, but certainly now, for the Government
to assume the full relation of guardian and ward,
and to treat the Indian as the States treat the feebleminded and incompetent,- by providing asylums
where they shall be cared for, or rather place them
on reservations, under close surveillance, where
the experiment may be tried of instructing them
in the arts of agriculture. If they die out under
the experiment, we may console ourselves with the
reflection, that their case is but an illustration of a
law of nature, where the weaker and more sickly
organisms, whether animal or vegetable, are compelled to give way before the hardier andmore
vigorous.
4I4 
THE MOUND-BUILDERS.
The Cherokees afford about the only example
where a whole tribe has emerged from barbarism,
and successfully adopted the arts of civilized life.
One of their number clomb to the conception of
an alphabet and reduced it to form. Situated in
one of the most favored regions of the United
States, where the extremes of temperature are not
excessive, where the relief and depression of
the surface is such as to give origin to running
streams, and where the vegetable covering is about
equally divided between prairie and forest,- the
Cherokees have developed a capacity for farming
of the highest order, and their surplus herds, in
part, find their way, even, to the New York market. Their government is republican in form, and
the will of the tribe finds full expression in their
legislation. This example encourages the belief
that the Indian can be redeemed from barbarism,
and the policy of placing him on a reservation and
subjecting him to a system of training in the arts
of civilized life, is the only one which can rescue
him from swift and certain annihilation.
THE MOUND-BUILDERS.*
At frequent intervals throughout the region of
the Great Lakes and the valley of the Mississippi,
*Abstract of a paper, by the author, on the "Antiquity of Man in
North America." Trans. Chicago Acad. Nat. Sci. Vol. I.
4I5 
THE MOUND-BUILDERS.
occasionally upon some crowning eminence, but
for the most part in the rich alluvial valleys, there
are found tumuli of earth- the highest of which
reach from seventy to ninety feet,- long lines of
embankments, often circular and often square, enclosing many acres, and pierced at intervals with
entrances, and parallel roads connecting together
the several parts,- the whole occupying leagues
in extent, and bearing evidence of having been
constructed according to well-devised plans.
When the white man first penetrated the Ohio
Valley, he found growing upon them, a forest
which, in the size of the trees and in their characteristic forms, differed in no degree from those of
the surrounding region. Upon the origin of those
structures, by what people built, and the causes
that led to their extinction, the Indian occupants
of the country could throw no light; except, perhaps, the obscure tradition communicated to Heckewelder, a Moravian missionary, that the Algonquins
and Wyandots had expelled from the valley of the
Ohio its former inhabitants, who had descended
the Mississippi.
It is to be regretted that the accomplished historian* of the United States, basing his information
on a hasty generalization of the late Professor
Hitchcock, who, at the time, had never personally
*Bancroft. "History of the United States." Vol. III., Chap. 22.
4i6 
EXTENT OF THEIR WORKS.
inspected these structures, should have indorsed
and perpetuated, in a work to which every one refers
as the standard of authority, the grave error, that
the Mississippi Valley has no monuments; - and
that where the antiquarian of a vivid imagination
sees the vestiges of artificial walls, the geologist
sees but crumbs of decaying sandstone; that where
the one sees parallel entrenchments, the other sees
but a trough that subsiding waters have ploughed
through the centre of a ridge; and that where the
one sees a tessellated pavement, the other sees but
a layer of pebbles aptly joined by the water. It is
hardly necessary to select from an ample storehouse, the facts to refute these assertions. Suffice
it to say, that the geologist and the antiquary, side
by side, and with pains-taking care, have explored
very many of these structures, and both accord in
the verdict, that these are the works of human
hands.
This region, then, has its monuments, whose
origin goes back to a remote antiquity,- reared,
too, by a people who had at least emerged from
barbarism. These works are first met with in
Western New York, and are continued through
Northern Ohio to Wisconsin and Minnesota.
While on the southern shore of Lake Superior no
traces of earth-works have been observed, there are
abundant evidences of ancient mining, extending
27
4I7 
MOUND-BUILDERS.
over the whole Copper-region, and there is a chain
of proof which connects these exploitations with
the Mound-Builders.
The valleys of the Ohio and Mississippi, however, afford a climate more equable, and a soil
more genial for the cultivation of maize, which was
undoubtedly the great staple of food and the basis
of their civilization; and hence, in these regions,
we find these earth-works vastly multiplied. In
the vicinity of Grave Creek, below Wheeling; at
Marietta, and up the valley of the Muskingum, and
its tributary, the Licking; at Gallipolis; at Portsmouth, Piketon, Chillicothe, and Circleville, in the
rich valley of the Scioto; at Cincinnati, and through
the equally rich valley of the Miami;-the number
and magnitude of these works indicate that here
were the sites of populous settlements, whose inhabitants must have been maintained by other pursuits than those of hunting and fishing. Earthworks occur at Vincennes, Indiana, and at other
points in the Wabash Valley; in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Northern Mississippi, and vestiges
have been observed in the Gulf States - Alabama, Georgia, and Florida,- as far east as South
Carolina.
The original site of St. Louis was dotted over
with numerous mounds, and the Illinois shore
opposite, in what is known as the American Bot
4I8 
EXTENT OF THEIR WORKS.
tom, contains some of the largest thus far observed. *   The  Rock-River region of Northern
Illinois, embracing Sterling, contains many of these
earth-works, some of which, like those of Wisconsin and Minnesota, represent the form of animals.
We are not aware that the Missouri Valley,
above the mouth of that river, contains any vestiges of the Mound-Builders.
I do not propose to describe these works, as that
task has been executed by Atwater, Squier and
Davis, Whittlesey, Lapham, and others; but suffice
it to say, that they appear to have been constructed
to subserve a variety of purposes,- such as military
defence, in which case they were undoubtedly
crowned with palisades; for places of sepulture;
for sacrificial altars; and, perhaps, the more conspicuous were erected as monuments to commemorate some signal event in their history.
The Mound-Builders, in the selection of the sites
for their habitations, appear to have been influenced
by the same motives that governed the white man,
for we find that many of the most flourishing towns
and cities in the West, occupy these identical sites;
for example, Marietta, Portsmouth, Circleville,
* That of Cahokia is 9go feet high, and has a base of 666 feet; while
the famous mound at Grave Creek, Virginia, is 70 feet, with a base of
333 feet; and the next in rank is that at Miamisburgh, Ohio, which is
68 feet, with a base of 284 feet.
4I9 
MOUND-BUILDERS.
Piketon, Chillicothe, Cincinnati, Vincennes, Chattanooga, St. Louis, Sterling, Beloit, etc.
When we consider the magnitude and extent of
these works,- those, for instance, near Newark,
Ohio, with its circles and squares, and its parallel
roads and tumuli, extending over leagues of ground
(and whose cubic contents exceed those of the
great pyramid of Cheops); or the great mound of
Cahokia, and the subordinate mounds in the American Bottom, and on the site of St. Louis,-the
whole series extending over a breadth of ten
miles,-we draw the inference, that these structures could never have been erected by a people
who depended on the chase or the fisheries for the
means of subsistence. Mere roving bands, like the
Indians on the Plains, can not aggregate in communities, nor can they accumulate a stock of provisions so as to admit of the expenditure of vast
labor upon unproductive works;  and besides, the
history of all nomadic tribes, whether in Scythia
or North America, shows, that they are averse to
that patient and long-continued labor which is implied in such structures. They are the memorials
of the persevering industry of a people who occupied fixed habitations, and whose agriculture was
so far successful, as to admit of the appropriation
of a portion of their labor to other objects than procuring the necessaries of life. They imply, too,
420 
THEIR AGRICULTURE.
a consolidated and, perhaps, a despotic government, under which a single mind directed that
labor to the accomplishment of a well-devised
plan. There is a unity of purpose, carried out in all
of its details, which could only be successful under
such a political organization.
The civilization of Egypt resulted from the cheap
food furnished by the date, which grows spontaneously in the valley of the Nile; and to bring up a
child to manhood, according to Diodorus Siculus,
who wrote more than two thousand years ago, cost
not more than twenty drachmas, or less that three
dollars. Hence, then, under a despotic government, nearly the whole labor of the country could
be employed in constructing such works as the
Pyramids, and such cities as Thebes, Karnac, and
Luxor.
In South America, the cheap food furnished by
the cultivation of corn or maize, enabled the Incas
of Peru, to build up a great empire, and construct
those works whose ruins, at this day, excite the
admiration of every beholder.
Maize probably constituted the staple of the
Mound-Builders' crop, and a single acre of ground
well cultivated, would have supported from thirty
to fifty people, with such animal food as they may
have derived from the forests and the streams.
Vestiges of their garden-plots may be seen in the
42I 
THE MOUND-BUILDERS.
valley of the St. Joseph's, Michigan, and carbonized corn has been revealed in the mounds at
Grave Creek and Cincinnati. And yet they must
have tilled their fields at a disadvantage, for there
is no evidence of their having availed themselves
of the patient labor of the ox or the horse, which,
on the European Continent, have proved the faithful
servants of man,- for neither of these quadrupeds
existed on the American Continenit at the time of its
discovery by Europeans. There were, it true, two
representatives of the bovine tribe,- the musk-ox,
which never wandered as far south as their habitations, and the buffalo, which has hitherto resisted all
attempts at domestication. In the absence, then,
of the horse and ox, which mainly constitute the
herds of a pastoral people, the Mound-Builders
must, in the progress of their history, have passed
directly from a hunter-life to one of agriculture.
Their stone-implements consisted of spear and
arrow-heads chipped, with much skill, out of hornstone or chert; of hammers, generally of porphyry,
grooved near the head for the attachment of a
withe; of fleshing instruments of the same material brought down to a blunt edge; of pestles for
cracking and grinding corn; of tabular plates of
steatite or chlorite slate, pierced with holes to
gauge the size of the thread in spinning; of circular
discs, like weights, and concave on both surfaces,
422 
THEIR MINING.
ordinarily of porphyry, and ground; ornaments
like plumb-bobs, double-coned or egg-shaped, and
pierced or grooved at one end for the attachment of a string,-the material being specular iron,
like that derived from Lake Superior or the Iron
Mountain, but sometimes limestone; and lastly,
there are occasionally found elaborately-wrought
pipes, which show that they indulged in the luxury
of tobacco.
In the fabrication of these implements they exhibited a skill far superior to that belonging to the
Stone Age of Europe, rivaling those elaboratelywrought and polished stone-works which are designated  as "celts,"  and  which  are referred, by
European ethnologists, to a more advanced state
of civilization.
They mined extensively native copper on the
shores of Lake Superior, and wrought it into
knives, spear-heads, chisels, bracelets, and other
personal ornaments; but, having no tin, they could
not, like the ancient dwellers on the Swiss lakes, or
like the inhabitants of Nineveh, of the valley of the
Nile, or of Peru, impart to the alloy almost the
hardness of steel. It is doubtful, even, whether
their metallurgic art extended to the smelting of
copper; for it often happens that the native copper
of Lake Superior encloses native silver,- both
metals existing side by side chemically pure,
423 
MOUND-BUILDERS.
which, if smelted, in whatever proportions, would
form a homogeneous compound. Bracelets have
been found in the mounds, in which this peculiarity
is preserved, thus showing that the material had
not been smelted but simply hammered; and the
ends are brought together by bending, without any
evidence of having been soldered.
Their mining operations were on a scale of magnitude, of which no one can form a just conception,
except from personal observation. There are few
productive copper-veins now wrought upon the
shores of Lake Superior, which were not known
and explored by the Mound-Builders. Continuous
lines of ancient, but now nearly filled pits, are observed, not only on Keweenaw Point, in the Ontonagon region, but even on Isle Royale; and to
reach the latter point involved a passage of fortyfive miles, across a lake by no means placid in its
disposition. Their method of mining was, probaably, to build fires on the rock and, when
thoroughly heated, to dash on water, and thus
fissure it in parts, when it was broken up with
hammers of porphyry weighing from five and even
up to forty pounds, which were derived from the
rounded masses on the Lake-shore. Cart-loads of
hammers were taken out of some of these excavations by the modern explorers.
Heaps of rubbish line the course of the veins;
424 
THEIR TEXTILE FABRICS.
and in the bottom of some of the pits, have been
found the remains of ladders by which they
ascended and descended, the bowls with which
they bailed the water, and the copper-gads by
which they forced the rocks apart. At the Minnesota mine, the workmen in re-excavating one of
these ancient pits, at the depth of eighteen feet,
came upon a mass of copper ten feet long, three
feet wide, and nearly two feet thick, and weighing
not far from two tons, which the ancient miners, after
having raised about five feet, and propped with
billets of wood, had abandoned, having first, however, removed all of the projecting points which
were accessible.
They clothed themselves, in part at least, not in
skins like the Indian; not like the Sandwich
Islander in the macerated bark of certain trees;
not like the dwellers on the Swiss lakes, in matted
sheets of vegetable fibre; but in cloth of a texture
approaching hemp, spun with a uniform thread,
and woven with a warp and woof. The texture,
while coarse, is uniform, and the border is often
ornamented with tassels. It is not such a fabric
as a European manufacturer would make to traffic
with a barbarous  nation, for cotton would  be
cheaper, and wool would afford more warmth;
and, besides, this cloth was found under such cir
425 
THE MOUND-BUILDERS.
cumstances as to preclude the idea of its being a
modern substitution.
In the plastic arts, they attained to considerable
proficiency.  While the Indian, before his contact
with the white man, was in the habit of bending
up birch-bark so as to hold water, and then casting
in hot stones, and thus bringing it to a boiling point;
the Mound-Builder moulded his pots in clay,
tempered with sand or shells, and baked them so
far as to make useful utensils in most of the processes of cooking. Not content with the useful,
he aspired to the ornamental. From a mound in
Missouri, I have seen a water-cooler in the form
of a compressed globe, the neck surmounted with
the similitude of a human head. The features are
symmetrically moulded, and the facial angle indicates intelligence. The features are not those of
the red man, but such as distinguish the enlightened races. There is a statuette taken from the
same mound, representing a captive bound; and
while portions of the figure are well moulded,
taken as a whole, it is grossly incongruous.
They must have maintained a commercial intercourse with the most distant parts of North
America, for the same mounds have often afforded
plates of mica from a region as remote as New
England; copper from the shores of Lake Superior; marine shells (Bitsycoin peiversuim) from
426 
EXTENT OF THEIR WORKS.
the Gulf or Atlantic Coast; and steatitic and porphyritic implements, the materials of which must
have been derived from a region equally remote.
The crania which have been exhumed from the
mounds, as determined by Morton," differ in many
respects from those of the North American Indian;- in the wider expansion of the forehead, the
larger facial angle, the less obliquity of the orbit
of the eye, the narrower nose, the less prominent
projection of the jaws, the smaller dimensions
of the palatine fossa, and the flattened occiput.
Many of these peculiarities are displayed in the
head from the Missouri mound, before spoken of,
moulded by the unknown artist who had the skill
to impress upon the plastic clay, the features of his
race.
Although the Mound-Builders, from the absence
of tin, made no use of bronze implements, yet,
when we regard the vast number and magnitude
of their structures, their perfection in weaving, in
pottery, in the fabrication of stone-implements, the
extent to which they employed copper in the place
of bronze, and the communication which they
maintained between widely-separated portions of
the country, we can not but ascribe to them a
place in the scale of civilization, as high as the
* "Crania Americana."  p. o08.
427 
CONCLUSION.
people of the Bronze Age on the Eastern Hemisphere. Their exclusion from the beautiful valley
of the Mississippi, which contains so many memorials of their industry and greatness, is not the only
example which history affords of the extermination
of a people considerably advanced in civilization,
by a people more vigorous, and less inclined to the
arts of peace.
We have no chronometer by which to measure
the lapse of time since these excavations were made,
and these structures were reared, except the character of the arborescent vegetation with which they
are now covered. This is in every respect like
that of the adjacent forest. When, therefore, we
see growing upon these mounds, trees four centuries old, and the prostrate and moldering trunks
of others, which once flourished on the same sites,
we are justified in assuming that these works are
at least a thousand years old; but in attempting to
determine their absolute age we are lost in the
mazes of conjecture.
CONCLUSION.
We here bring to a conclusion our sketch of the
physical geography of the GREAT VALLEY.  We
have endeavored to portray its configuration,- the
mountain chains by which it is bounded, the dif
428 
CONCLUSION.
ferent epochs of their elevation, the heights to
which they attain, the diversity of climate to
which they give origin, and the influence which
they exert on the distribution of moisture. The
boundaries of forests, prairies, and arid wastes have
been traced, and the causes to which they owe
their origin, have been investigated. The conditions of soil and climate essential to the growth
and perfection of those plants adapted to human
food and human raiment, have been pointed out,
and, at the same time, the materials which make up
the great frame-work of the region,- the rocks
from whose abrasion the soil has been derived,
and whose recesses are the repositories of the useful metals, and the store-houses of fossil fuel,all have passed under review. And, finally, we
have recounted how this Great Valley, within the
memory of living men, has been reclaimed from
the wilderness, and been made the abode of twelve
millions of human beings, who have developed an
internal industry, and attained to a degree of prosperity, of which the annals of the past afford no
parallel; and, indulging in visions of coming greatness, we have predicted the time, and at no remote
date, when this people would impress their laws
and civilization upon the Continent, and make
their influence felt in the conduct of the world's
affairs.
429 
CONCLUSION.
We close with the consciousness that our task
has been but imperfectly executed. While we
have endeavored to avoid those specialities which
are required to satisfy the demands of pure science,
we have endeavored to introduce those generalizations which may be comprehended and appreciated by the intelligent reader.
No one can rise from the study of the physical
geography of our country, without its awakening in
his mind a nobler sphere of thought, and creating
a profounder impression, as to the ultimate destiny
of the human race in those arts which dignify life
and mitigate its sufferings.
If Burke, during the last century, in surveying
the magnitude of the French empire,-the public
works, the charitable foundations, and other institutions,  confessed that, in all this, he beheld "something which awed and commanded the imagination;" how much more profoundly would he have
been impressed, if he could have witnessed the
growth and present position of the feeble colonists
whose conduct he so ably defended. He would
have seen those colonists, numbering at the time
they asserted their independence, less than three
millions, expanded to forty millions; occupying a
country stretching from ocean to ocean, and so far
diversified by soil and climate, as to produce most
of those plants which enter into human food and
430 
CONCLUSION.
raiment; intersected by great navigable rivers,
spanned by bridges of iron, and dotted with populous cities upon their banks; with an area greater
than that of France, subdued and brought under
cultivation, and yet with a capacity for expansion
almost unlimited; with artificial communications,
undreamed of in his day, between every principal
commercial point; and with one iron-road, stretching like a girdle across the " solid continent." He
would have seen this people living under a form of
government the best ever devised for the security
of personal freedom and the display of human
energy, and with an inherent strength to withstand shocks, as evinced in the late Rebellion, under
which any other government would have crumbled.
He would have seen, in each State, ample provision for the education of every child; and hospitals
and asylums, erected by public or private contributions, for the alleviation of all the ills incident
to humanity.
With such elements of national power and
future greatness, let us hope that the virtue and
intelligence of the people will advance with equal
pace.
431  
INDEX.
Arctic life, 358.
Argentiferous veins of New Mexi  co, 294.
of Nevada, 330.
Artemisia, characteristic of a dry
climate, 86.
Asia, central plateau of, I29.
mountains of, I30.
rainless and profusely-watered
belts of, ib.
Atacama, desert of, II9.
Atlas Mountains, I35.
Atmosphere, currents of, I73; I86.
height of, I83.
Auriferous slates of California, 308.
Aurif erous  ve    ins, Azoic, 268.
Auroras. 20I.
Austin, J. B., cited, 362.
Australia, its flora and fauna, I35.
its deserts, mountains, and
winds, I36.
Axis of elevation, 250.
of the Alleghanies, 255.
of Lake Superior, 254.
of Rocky Mountains, 257.
of the Sierra Nevada, 258.
of the Coast Range, 26o.
Azoic system, defined, 264.
its range, 265.
Abbot, cited, see HUMPHREYS AND
ABBOT.
Adirondack  Mountains, age  of,
266.
Africa, desert of, I3I.
sources of the Nile, I32.
rain-fall of Sierra Leone, I34.    region of the Mediterranean,
135.
atmospheric currents of, ib.
Agassiz, Louis, cited, on Prime  val Continent, 255.
Age of rocks, see SYSTEMS OF UP  HEAVAL.
Age of metals, 269.
Alaska, climate of, I99.
Alleghany, or Appalachian Moun  tains, 27.
height of, ib.
age of; 255.
range and structure of, 28.
coal-field of, 297.
Alluvium of the Mississippi, I6.
Alps, different lines of upheaval
recognized in, 32.
Altai Mountains, 129.
Alternate wood and prairie, region
of, 8I.
Amazon, basin of, II3.
vegetation of, II4.
America, see NORTH AMERICA.
Amygdaloid of Lake Superior, 275.
Andes, range of, III.
effects in modifying climate,
II2.
highest peaks of, ib.
Anthracite of Pennsylvania, 3oi0.
of New Mexico, 313.
Antisell, T., cited, 36.
on the rains of California, I68.
Appalachian system, 225.
Arabia, desert of, I30o.
Arctic climate, 333.
28
Bancroft, George, cited, on the
ancient monuments of the Mis  sissippi Valley, 4i6.
"Barren Grounds" described, 78.
Basalt, of Table Mountain, 26I.
of Lower California, 262.
of New Mexico, 262.
of Oregon, 36.
Basins, river, of the Mississippi,
3; 43.
of the Missouri, 39    of the Ohio, 42.
Beaumont, Elie de, cited, 25I.
A B B
B R A
A.
B. 
INDEX.
BEC                                   L
Becquerel, on forest-barriers, i6o.
Bigelow, J. M., cited, 88; 89.
Big trees of California, 94Bituminous coal, of Carboniferous
age, 301. 
of Cretaceous age. 3I2.
of Tertiary age, 326.
Blake, W. P., cited, 46.
Blodget, Lorin, Climatology of
United States, 96.
his tables of temperature, 207.
of rain fall, 96; 208.
on the winds of the Gulf, xo4.
Blue (Cincinnati) limestone, range
of, 283.
Borlander, H. N., cited,'54Botanical Geography,  region of
mosses, 78.
of conifers, 8o.
of deciduous trees, 8I.
of the grasses, 84; 89.
of the cacti and artemisime, 87.
arborescent forms of Pacific
ISlope, 92
of Mississippi Valley, 5
Boulders, see DRIFT.
Brande's Dictionary, cited, 2I9.
Brazil, forests of, II3.
atmospheric currents of, I2I.
British America, lignites of, 326.
climate of, 366.
of the Saskatchawan region,
62.
Bross, Gov. Wm., cited, 233.
Brown, J. Ross, cited, 9i; 308.
Buckle, H. T., cited, 365.
Buckland, Wm., cited, 300.
Burlington  limestone, range of,
289.
Buenos Ayres, pampas of, II7.
Triassic rocks of, 258; 3ct/.
Tertiary rocks of, 328.
erosive action in, 338.
its mountain  chains, Sierra
Nevada, 34.
Coast Ranges, 36; 26o.
height of principal summits,
35; 37.
vegetable productions of, 92.
Yosemite Valley in, 95    wh~eat-culture of, i68.
climate of, ioi.
periodic rains of, io6; i68.
Canada, climate of, 366.
Canlons of the Colorado plateau,
339.
Caraccas, llanos of, I1I4.
Carbonic acid gas in air, 142.
how generated, I45.
Carboniferous series, range of, 287.
Caribbean Sea, winds of the, I03.
Carolina, pine barrens of, 319.
Cascade Range of Pacific, 36.
Caspian Sea, region of the, i25.
Catholicism, universality of, 386.
Caucasian type, cha ra cteristics of,
375Caucasus, region of the, i28.
Celts, their origin, 38I.
their characteisti cs,  385.
their colonization, 386.
Cerealia, range    and cultivation of,
see CLIMATIC RANGE.
Chaco Gran, described, ii6.
Chester group, range of, 288.
Christianity, effec ts of the spread
o f,  399Cinnabar of California, 3I4.
Civilization, origin of, 377    Grecian, 378.
Roman, 38i.
Teutonic, ib.
Celtic, ib.
contrasted with that of the
ancients, 69.
Classification of rock-formations,
246.
Climate, definition of, x72.
atmospheric currents, I73.
oceanic currents, Gulf Stream,
I88.
rains and winds, 178.
isothermal lines, i86.
of the United States, I92.
of the Pacific Coast and Great
Cactus, distribution of, 87.
Calciferous sandstone, range of,
28o.
California, Carboniferous rocks of,
259.
basaltic                                    rocks of, 26i.
Cretaceous of, 313.
gold-bearing rocks of, 3o8.
copper-bearing rocks of, 308.
coal deposits of, 313.
quicksilver deposits of, 3I4.
434
C L I
C. 
INDEX.
C L I
CLIDE
Basin, I8o; I97.
of the Plains, 204.
table of temperatures in Uni      ted States. 207.
table of rain-fall in United
States, 208.
its influence on man, 355.
in the Arctic regions, 358    in the temperate regions, 362.
in the torrid regions, 360.
phenomena of the seasons in
North America, 200.
Climatic range of cultivated plants,
209.
of maize, 213.
of wheat, 2I5.
of oats, rye, and barley, 2I8.
of rice, 222.
Qf sugar-cane and sorghum,
224.
of the potato, 226.
of cotton, 227.
of tobacco, 230.
of the grasses, 23I.
tables of annual production,
240.
Climatology, of the United States,
L82.
of the Mississippi Valley, I8O.
of the Gulf Coast, i95.
of the Pacific Coast, I98.
of the Saskatchawan Valley,
I94.
of the United States compared
with Europe, I87; I90.
Cloud-bursts, phenomena of, I82.
Coal, its uses, 295.
mode of formation, 299.
of the Carboniferous age, 296.
of the Cretaceous age, 312.
of the Tertiary age, 326; 330    anthracite  of  Pennsylvania,
362.
of New Mexico, 313.
analyses of, 3I7.
Coast Ranges of the Pacific, 36;
260.
Colonization of United States, 387.
of Western States, 403.
Colorado, desert of, 46.
canons of, 339.
Comstock lode described, 330.
Columbia, basin of, 46.
Columbus, diversion in his course,
effects of, 387.
Coniferous limestone, range of, 80.
Constant precipitation, zone of,
I77.
Continents, formation of, 245.
Continent,  Primeval  of  North
America, 254.
Cooper, J. G., cited, 82.
Copper, annual product of, 280.
Copper-region of Lake Superior,
279.
of California, 308.
Cordilleras of South America, I I 2;
117~
Corn, a generic term, 219.
Corn, Indian, range of, 213.
Cotton, range of, 227.
Cretaceous system, range of, 3Io0.
groups of Missouri Basin, 31x.
of the Atlantic Slope, 310.
of the Mississippi Valley, I4;
3Io.
of the Pacific Coast, 310; 313.
of the Colorado Plateau, ib.
flora of, 3i6.
coals of, 313.
Crofts, Capt., cited, 233.
Crystalline rocks, range of, 249.
Cultivated plants, see CLIMATIC
RANGE.
Currents, air and oceanic, see CLI  MATE.
Cuvier, cited, 325.
Cypress-swamps of the Missis  sippi, 6.
Dakota group, 3II.
Dall, W. H., on the northern ex  tension  of  the  Rocky Moun  tains, 62.
Dana, J. D., cited, on the structure
of continents, 253.
on the origin of the prairies,
Io9.
on the Australian Alps, 136.
Davidson, on the range         of fossils,
247.
Delta of the Mississippi, i6.
Denudation, in the region of the
Great Lakes, 350.
in California, 338    in the Colorado Plateau, 340Densely-wooded belt, in United
States, 78.
Deserts, origin of, 7I.
of Arabia, I3o.
435
D B S
D. 
INDEX.
D E S
DES                                    R
of Atacama, II9.
of Australia, I36.
of Colorado, 46.
of Gobi I29.
of Patagonia, I I8.
of Sahara, I3I,
of Salinas, ii6.
of the Great Basin, 37; 90.
Development, physical, in Western
States, 375.
Devonian system, range of, 285.
economic materials in, 285.
Drift series, 332.
in Mississippi Valley, 335    absence, of on the Plains, 337.
in California, 338.
in Lower California, 262.
Dunes of Lake Michigan, 345.
Flint, Timothy, cited, on the for  ests of the Mississippi Valley, 8.
on the earthquakes of  New
Madrid, 22.
Fluor spar veins of Southern Illi   nois, 293.
Forests, distribution of, in North
America, 78.
in South America, II3.
in Europe, I24.
their rang e dependent on mois       ture, 8I.
their effects on health, I4I.
on animal life, I49.
rapid destruction of, in Uni       ted States, I55.
they modify climate, I6O.
their lessons, I59.
they retain moisture, I48; I6I.
tree-planting, effects of, I46;
I152.
effects of disrobing a country
of, I52.
they absorb noxious gases, I45.
Fresh-water Tertiaries of Missouri
Basin, 322.
Fractures of earth's crust, see ELE  VATION.
Fremont, J. C., cited, 87; 233.
Gabb, W. M., cited, on the Post  Pliocine of California, 262.
on Cretaceous of California,
3I5.
on the gravels of Lower Cali      fornia, 339Galena,  occurrence  of,  in  the
Northwestern States, 283.
in Southern Illinois, 293.
in Missouri, 280; 294.
Galena limestone, range of, 282.
Geological Sketch (Map) of the
United  States, 272.
Geology, objects of, 245.
subdivisions of strata, 246.
Gibbon, cited, I30; 283.
Glaciers of Greenland, 333.
Glacial action in Mississippi Val  ley, 335Gobi, desert of, I29.
Gold product in the United States,
308.
Golden Age, 270.
Grama-grass, described, 89; 233.
Granite, origin of, 253.
Earth, effects of the obliquity of
its axis, I77.
Earth's crust, effects of the con  traction of, I77.
Earthquakes at New Madrid, I8.
Egypt, effects of the Nile's inun  dation on, I33.
ancient irrigation practiced in,
I66.
Elevation, systems of, 250.
of Lake Superior, 254.
of the Appalachian, 255.
of the Rocky Mountains, 257.
of the Sierra Nevada, 258.
of the Coast Ranges, 260.
England, climate of, 124.
English character, 397.Eocine-Tertiary, range of, 319.
on the Atlantic and Gulf
Coasts, 319.
in the Missouri Basin, 322.
Erosion, see DENUDATION.
Erratic blocks, see DRIFT.
Eruptions, see VOLCANIC ACTION.
Esquimaux, habits of, 358.
Europe, climate of, as influenced
by the Gulf Stream, I23.
compared with that of North
America, I87.
races of men in, 382.
Evaporation, amount of, in Uni  ted States, I90.
436
G R A
F.
E. 
INDEX.
j o H
on the winds of the Gulf      Coast, io5.
Humboldt, Alexander Von, cited,
on the structure of the Rocky
Mountains, 33.
on the llanos of Caraccas, II4.
on solar influence, I39.
on Central Plateau of Asia,
I29.
on nocturnal life of animals,
I51.
his system of isothermal lines,
I87.
G R A
Grasses for pasturage, 23I.
Gravel-washes, 39; I83.
Great Basin, character of, 39; 90.
Great Lakes, 349    their influence in modifying
climate, 2o3.
how formed, 350.
altitude above ocean, 352.    *
area of, ib.
Great lignite group, 326.
Greece, early intellectual develop  ment in, 379.
Guinea, climate of, I34.
Gulf-coast, climate of, I95.
Gulf-stream, action of, I24; I88.
effects of diversion, I90.
Guyot, A., cited, 27.
Icebergs, drifting of, 334.
Ice-action, see DRIFT.
Igneous action, 249.
in Azoic epoch, 264.
in Silurian epoch, 275.
in Triassic epoch, 308.
in Cretaceous epoch, 313.
in Tertia ry  epoch, 330.
in  Quatenary epoc h, 339.
Illinois,  galena deposits in, 283;
293.
coal-field, 297.
Indiana coal-field, 302.
India,  rains of, I30.
Indians, Nor     th  Amer ican, 4II.
their  character, 4I2.
policy pursued towards, 413.
Indian summer, described, 205.
Indo-European race, 382.
Insect-life i    n  nor thern     latitudes,
203H
Ireland, climate of, I24.
language of, 398.
Iowa, coal of, 302.
Iron, its uses, 270.
Iron Region of Lake Superior, 266.
of Missouri, 267.
characteristic of the Azoic, 265.
annual product of, 26I.
Irrigation, practiced by the Orien  tals, I65.
by the Peruvians, I66.
feasibility of, on the Plains,
i69.
Isothermal lines of United States,
see METEOROLOGY.
Hall, James, cited, 285; 286.
Hayden, F. V., cited, 278; 305;
326; 337; 344.
Heat, internal, of earth, 252.
Heights of mountain peaks:
in the Andes, II2.
in the Cascade Range, 36.
in the Coast Range, 37.
in the Rocky Mountains, 3I.
in the Sierra Nevada, 35.
in the Alletihanies, 27.
of the Alps, 36.
of the Caucasus, I28.
Heights of water-sheds, 3.    of the Mississippi, ib.
of the Missouri, ib.
of the Ohio, 26.
of the Great Plateau, 33.    of the Great Basin, 37; 45.
of Lake-terraces, 34.3.
Henry,  Joseph,  on  atmospheric
currents, I73.
Herodotus, cited, I25.
on the ancient corn-trade, 218.
Herschel, Sir John, on solar influ  ence, I98.
on tree-planting, I54.
Hewit, A. S., cited, 27I.
Hilgard, cited, 320.
Himalaya Mountains, I29.
Hood, Mount, height of, 36.
Humphreys and Abbot, cited, 40;
I69.
on the physics of the Missis      sippi River, 3; 5; I6; I7.
Johnson, Edwin F., cited, 6I.
Johnson, Dr. Samuel, cited, 393.
4'I)' 7
I.
H.
J. 
INDEX.
JUR
Jurassic and Triassic systems, 305.
range of, on Atlantic Slope,
306.
in Rocky Mountains, 307.
in California, ib.
Magnesian limstone, range of, 280.
Maize, botanical range of, 2I3.
Malaria, origin of, 147.
arrested or modified by tree      planting, I47.
generated by the first breaking
of the soil, I48.
Mammalian    remains in  M i ssouri
Bas in, 323.
in Loess at Natchez, I5.
Marine formations of TertiaryAge,
228.
Man, effects of     climate on, 355.
geographical  range of, 356.
effects o f exter nal  circumstan      ces on, 357.
Arctic life of, 358.
life of, in  Temperate  Zone,  362.
in North America, 366.
Map of geology of United States,
272.
of  isothermal lines, 208.
of  dis tri bution of forests, prai      ries, and deserts,  I40.
Marsh, George P., cited, man and
nature, I52.
Marsh, 0. C., cited, 323.
Mauvaises Terres, described, 325.
Mediterranean, basin of, 135.
Meek, F. B., cited, 326.
Meek and Hayden, cited, 265; 298;
305; 3IO; 321.
Metamorphic rocks, 254.
Meteorology, system of air-cur  rents, I73    of isothermal lines, I87; 208.
of winds and rains, I2o.
Mexican Gulf, winds of, I03.
Mexico, formations of, 259.
Michigan, coal-field of, 298.
Michigan, Lake, sand-dunes of,
345Miocine, see TERTIARY.
Mississippi River, regimen of, 3.
approaches to, I2.
magnitude of, 2.
origin of name, lb.
area of valley,'3.
length, height of sources, vol      ume, etc., ib.
sources of, 43.
internal navigation of, 4.
character of Lower Valley, 5.
typical vegetation of, ib.
Kane, E. K., on Arctic night, 148.
on glaciers and drift, 334.
on Esquimaux rations, 359.
Kansas, physical features of, 75.
coal-field of, 298.
Permian svstem in, 305.
Keokuk limestone, range of, 288.
Keweenaw Point, trap range of,
279.
Kinderhook group, 290.
Labrador, currents of, I89.
Lakes, Great American, 349.
effects in modifying climate,
203.
fresh-water of Tertiary age,
325.
Great Salt Lake, go.
Slave, Bear, and Athabasca,
263Lake Superior system, 254.
Lake Michigan, dunes of, 345.
Language,  a bond  of national
unity, 398.
Lapham, I. A., cited, 204.
Lead ores, vide GALENA.
Le Conte, J. L., cited, 56; 312.
Leidy, J., cited, on mammals of
the Loess, s15.
of the Missouri Basin, 323.
Lesquereux, Leo, on the origin of
prairies, 73.
Lignites, of Mississippi Valley, 320.
of the Missouri Basin, 326.
of the Columbia Valley, 328.
of the Great Basin, 327.
Llano Estacado described, 44.
Llanos of Caraccas, I I4.
Loess of Mississippi and Missouri
Valleys, 15; 342.
Loup-river beds, 323.
Lyell, Sir Charles, division of Ter  tiary, 320.
on the Loess of Natchez, I5.
438
m I s
M.
K.
L. 
INDEX.
MIS
bluffs, levees, overflows, of, Io.
phenomena of waters, 13.
outlets of, II.
geology of bed, I4.
geological structure of, 242.
alluvium of, I6.
depth and slope of, i7.
earthquake-action in, lb.
drift-action in, 335.
Missouri, iron-region of, 267.
Azoic series in, 265.
occurrence of tin in, 268.
lead-region of, 280; 294.
coal-field of, 297.
Missouri River, description of, 39.
water-shed of, 26.
Missouri, basin of the, 39.
Triassic series in, 306.
Cretaceous series in, 3II.
Tertiary series in, 322.
Moisture, sources  of, in United
States, 92.
Morton, S. G., cited, 427.
Mosses and saxifrages, region of,
78.
Motley, J. L., cited, 382.
Mound-Builders, 4I5.
extent of their works, 4I8.
their agriculture, 42I.
their implements, 422.
thear mining, 424.
their commerce, 426.
their crania, 427.
antiquity of their works, 428.
Mountain ranges, Altai, I29.
Andes, I I2.
Appalachian, 27.
Atlas, I35.
Cascade Range, 36.
Coast Ranges, lb.
Caucasus, I28.
Himalaya, I29.
Kuten-lun, ib.
Parimed, La, II4.
Rocky Mountains, 30.
Sierra Nevada, 34.
Mountain Heights:
Mount Baker, 36.
Blanc, ib.
Brewer, 35.
Clingman's, 27.
Diablo, 37.    Elbrouz, I28.
Gray, 3I.
Fremiont, ib.
Hamilton, 37'
Hood, 36.
Illampu, I I2.
Lassan's Peak,  35.
Olympus, 36.
Long's 3I.
Pike's, 3I.
Ranier, 36.
San Francisco, 31.
Shasta, 35.
Silliman, ib.
Spanish Peak, 3I.
Taylor, ib.
Tyndal, 35.
Washington, 27.
Whitney, 35.
Mullan, Capt., cited, 40.
on the warm air-currents of
the Upper Missouri, I92.
National unity, causes which pro  duce, 390.
Negro, characteristics of, 369.
Newberry, Dr. J. S., cited, I70.
on the Canions of the Colora      do, 340    on the alluvial of the Rocky
Mountain Slope, 89.
on the origin of prairies, Io9.
on the Cretaceous flora, 316.
New Madrid, earthquakes at, I8.
erosive action of river at, 9.
New Orleans, approaches to, I2.
New York, sources of her great  ness, 48.
Niagara limestone, range of, 284.
Nil e, v alley of, I32.
ancient canals of, I66.
Niobrara group, 3II.
North America, physical features
Oak-openings described, 83.
Ocean, the great source of mois ture, I78.
439
0 c E
N.
of, I.
mountain ranges Of, 27climate of, i82.
vegetation of, Si.
river-systems Of, 263colonization Of, 387progress of development in,
307geology Of, 242.
0. 
INDEX.
0 H I
OHIPR
Ohio, basin of, 4.2.
coal-field of, 302.
Ohio River, 3.Oil springs, origin of, 286.
Onondaga salt-group, 285.
Ordinance of I787, 40oI.
Oregon, climate of, I99.
coals of, 328.
Organic remains, range of, 243;
247.
absence of in Azoic, 264.
first appearance in Silurian,
273.
in the Loess of the Missis      sippi, I5.
flora of the Carboniferous, 299.
Of the Cretaceous, 3i6.
of the Tertiary, 322.
Oronoco, basin of, II3. 
Oscillations of the earth's surface,
25I.
character of soil essential to
their growth, 8o.
Plants, how they grow, I4I.
chemical constituents of, I42.
cultivation of those useful to
man, 209.
soil  in  reference  to  their
growth, 2Io.
maize, range of, 2I3.
wheat, oats, rye, barley, range
of, 2I5.
their origin, 2I8.
rice, sugar, sorghum, 222.
potato, range of, 226.
cotton, range of, 226
tables of production, 240.
extension of plant-culture by
irrigation, 84.
plants peculiar to the prairies,
86.
moisture  as  connected with
their distribution, 84.
cactus, 8I.
artemisia, 86.
bunch      -grass,  89.
Platas,  La, pampas       of, II6.
Pliny, cited, I.
Pliocine, see TERTIARY.
Pope. Gen.,  quote d, 43.
Post-Pliocine, see DRIFT.
Potsdam sandstone. 275.
Potato, range       of, 226.
Prairies   origin of, 7I.
their distribution,  ib.
not due to peat-growth, 73    not due to texture of soil, 76.
not due to annual burnings, ib.
due to conditions of moisture,
Io9~
vegetation of, 84.
characteristic plants of, 86.
facilities for cultivation, 235.
Prairies in North America, 7I.
in Caraccas (llanos), II4.
in La Plata (pampas), II6.
in the Black-Sea region
(steppes), I25.
in Central Asia, I29.
how far modified by tree-plant      ing, I6i.
by irrigation, i69; i8I.
Primeval Continent, 254.
Progress of development in West  ern States, 4oi.
effects of Ordinance of I787, ib.
first settlement of, 405.
Pacific Coast, climate of, I97.
elevation of, 252; 257.
Pacific Ocean, source of moisture,
101.
periodic winds of, I06.
Pacific railroads, 5I.
Pampas of La Plata, ii6.
Pahranagat, described, 38.
Parry, C. C., cited, 6o; I07; 313.
Passes, mountain:
Cadotte, Snoqualmie, 6i.
South Pass, 26.
St. Bernard, 5i.
Evans's, 6I.
Passes of the Mississippi. I2.
Patagonia, climate of, II8.
Peat, origin of, 74.Pembina, region of, 2I7.
Pennsylvania, coal-field of, 297.
Permian system, range of, 304.
Peru, mountains of, I12.
rainless district of, 1I8.
ancient works of, I I6.
Petroleum springs, origin of, 285.
Pictured  Rocks, Lake  Superior,
276.
Pierre, Fort, group, 3II.
Pineries, Western, their rapid de  struction, i55.
Pine-Barrens of the South, 319.
Pines, botanical region of, 8o; 92;
379.
4-40
P R 0
P. 
INDEX.
PRO                                  SLA
population in, 240; 408.         Russel, Robert, cited, Io4.
agriculture of, 24I; 4o08.       Russia, forests of, I24.
Protestantism,  where  prevalent,        steppes of, 125.
386.
Q.                                   S.
Quicksilver of California, 314.      Sahara, desert of; I3I.
Salt, of Michigan, 286.
~~~R.  ~          of Nevada, 9I.
*    R.~~ ~      efflorescences of the Plains, 86.
Railroads:                               of the Great Basin, 9I.
Union Pacific, 5I.                   of the Black Sea region, I28.
Central Pacific, 54.                 of South America, II6; II9.
Union Pacific, E. D., 57.            of Central Asia, 129.
Northern Pacific, 6I.            Salt Lake described, 9go.
their effects on the progress of  Salt Lake, desert of, 45.
development, 65.               Saskatchawan, basin of the, 62;
Rain-phenomena  in  the United    I94.
States, iSi.                       Schacht, on the effects of forests
Rains, whence derived, I78.            in attracting moisture, I62.
mode of formation, I79.          Scotland, Highland races of, 398.
as connected with the distri-  Scratches, or striation, of rocks,
bution of plants, 77.            337; 35~.
tables of the mean annual pre-  Sand-dunes, 345.
cipitation at various stations  Seasons, phenomena of, 200.
in the United States, 97; 208. Section, of the Ohio Valley, 292.
sources of moisture, i03.            of the Mississippi Valley, 15.
periodical rains of California,  Sedimentary rocks, described, 272.
IOI.                               their distribution, 246.
Raised beaches, 349.                     See, also, SILURIAN,  DEVONRawlinson, on the ancient corn-             IAN, CARBONIFEROUS, etc.
trade of the Black Sea, 220.       Shasta, height of, 35.
Redfield, W. C., cited, Io04.        Shumard, B. F., cited, 305.
Rebellion, the Great, causes of,  Sierra Nevada, height of, 35.
373.                                   vegetation of, 92.
Religion, civilizing effects of, 388.  Sierra Leone, climate of, I34.
Remond, A., cited, on the geology  Silurian system, explained, 273.
of Mexico, 259; 309.                   first traces of organic life, 274.
Rice-culture, 222.                       distribution of the strata, lb.
Richardson, Sir John, cited, 78;         embraces the copper-region of
I5I; 203; 326.                           Lake Superior, 279.
Richthofen, Baron, cited, on the         and the lead-bearing region
Washoe Mountains, 38.                    of Missouri and Wisconsin,
on Comstock lode, 330.                 280.
River-systems  of United States,         recognized in the Black Hills
263.                                     and on the Colorado PlaRocks. their physiognomy, 2Io.             teau, 278.
Rocky Mountains, their range and  Silver-mines of Mexico, 259.
extent, 30.                            of Nevada, 330    their elevation, 257.            Sitka, climate of, i99.
Rocky Mountain Valleys, 45.          Sky, serenity of. in Peru, IiS.
Rogers, W. B. and H. D., cited,          of the United States as com  on the structure of the Appala-          pared with England, 19I.
chians, 27.                        Slates, auriferous, of California,
Roman Empire, extent of, 38I.          308.
44I 
INDEX.
T R E
SMI                        ~~~TRE
of agricultural products, 240.
of population, 24I.
Temperature, lines of, 208.
causes which modify, I77.
agency of oceanic currents, 199.
that of the Pacific, i98.
of the Gulf Stream, i88.
effects of, on forest range, 79.
Temperate Zone, life in, 362.
Terraces of Modified Drift, 342.
along the Great Lakes, ib.
Tertiary deposits, 318.
change in animal life indica       ted, ib.
marine of Atlantic Coast, 320.
divisions of Eocine, Miocine,
and Pliocine, 320.
fresh-water series of Missouri
Basin, 32I.
Loup-River group, 323.
Wlhite-River group, 324.
Wind-River group, 325.
Fort Union or Great Lignite
group, 326.
Lignites of the Great Basin,
327~
Miocine beds of Pacific Slope,
328.
coal-deposits of, /b.
igneous products of, 329.
silver-ores of Washoe, 330.
Teutonic race, origin of, 38I.
characteristics of, 384Texas coal-field, 298.
Tin, occurrence of, in Missouri,
268.
Titicaca, lake of, II2.
Tobacco, culture of, 230.
Trappean rocks of Lake Superior,
275; 277.
of the California Coast, 261;
339    of the Great Basin, 329.
of the Colorado, 26i.
Trees, range of in United States,
71.
S M. I
Smith, Dr. Angus, on  Sanitary
Economy, 146.
Soil, whence derived, 210.
exhaustion of, 334.
Solar influence, I39.
Somerville, Mrs., cited, 66.
Sorghum, culture of, 225.
South America, features of, III.
South Pass, height of, 26.
Squier, E.G., cited, on the Andes,
112.
Stansbury, Capt. H., his explora  tion of Salt Lake, go.
Staring, on peat-growth, 74.
Steppes, of Black-Sea region, I25.
Stephenson, George, value of his
invention, 236.
St. Lawrence, basin of, 47.
St. Louis limestone, range of, 288.
St. Peter's sandstone, range of, 281.
Sugar-cane, cultivation of, 224.
Sun, universal  influence of, on
matter, 139.
on organic matter, 143; I47;
I50.
Systems of rocks, 246.
Azoic, 264.
Silurian, 273.
Devonian, 286.
Carboniferous, 287.
Triassic, 305.
Permian, 304.
Cretaceous, 3Io.
Tertiary, 318.
Post-Pliocine, 332.
Recent, 340.Swallow, S. G., on geology of Mis  souri, 280; 284; 298; 345; 306.
Systems of elevation, 254.
Appalachian, 255.
Rocky Mountain, 257.
Lake Superior, 254.
Coast Ranges, 259.
System, river, 263.
character of Northern forests,
80.
of the Appalachian Slope, 79.
,of the Pacific Slope, 92.
their effects on health, I44.
on climate, I59.
how they grow, I4I.
effects of destroying the for  es-t, I52.
Table-lands of the United States,
33    of South America, 113.
of Central Asia, 129.
Table Mountain, described, 261.
Tables of temperature, 207.
of precipitation, 208.
of rock formations, 246.
442
T. 
INDEX.
TRE 
Tree-planting, effects of, I62.
Trenton limestone, range of, 282.
Triassic  system, range  of, 258;
305~
on Atlantic Coast, 306.
on Pacific Coast, 307Tropical climate, on life, 360.
Turchinl, J. B., cited, on the steppes
of the Black Sea, I28.
Wheat, culture of, 2I5.
White-River group, 323.
Whitney, J. D., cited:
on  the Trias of California,
258; 307    on the Coast Ranges, 260.
on structure of Table Moun      tain, 26I.
on the measurement of Shas      ta, 35.
on quicksilver of California,
3I4~
on Drift of California, 338.
Whittlesey, Charles, cited:
on wheat-culture in Pembina,
2I7.
on height of the Great Lakes,
352.
Winchell, cited, 285.
Wind-River group, 325.
Winds, region of, I20.
of Caribbean Sea, Io03.
systems of, I73.
map of, I40.
of North America, I03; I95.
of South America, i2o.
as disinfectants, I46.
their evaporative power, I90.
Wisconsin, Lead-region of, 282.
Worthen, A. H., cited, on the Ge  ology of Illinois, 284; 285; 288;
32I.
United States:
geological map of, 272.
isothermal lines of, 2o8.
winds of, Io3.
rain-fall in, 96.
vegetation of, 7I.
climatology of, I82.
geology of, 209.
Upheaval, see SYSTEMS OF.
Upper Silurian, range of, 284.
Vegetation, zones of, 78.
Volcanic products, 26(.
Volcanoes of United States:
in the  Rocky Mountains,  3I.
in the Great Basin, 330.
in the Colorado Plateau, 3I.
in the Cascade Range, 36.
Volney, cited, I04.
W.
Warren, G. K., cited, 30.
Washington, Mount, height of, 27.
Washoe Mountains, 27; 330.
silver-ores of, ib.
Water-sheds, of the Mississippi, 26.
of the Missouri, 39.
of the Ohio, 26.
of the St. Lawrence, 47.
of the Canadian, 26.
Zinc-ores, distribution of, 294.
Zones  of vegetation  in  United
States, 78.
Church, Goodman & Donnelley, Printers, Io8 and IIO Dearborn Street.
443
z 0 x
U.
V.
Y.
Yosemite Valley, 95.
Youkon River, 62.
Z.