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Show • .142 EMIGRANT'S GOlDE. included in the scattered settlements of Arkamaw •. ~hite ) panedo pSlte F ranct.s n'veIrs. n t•u'O ...I. ' th· e white people ue, twt>en Onto -l fld Arkanc;;aw were considered at about fourteen hunureJ ; t tlt'Y. ll < ~ve , no do~bt , greatly increased smce, but their real number at tht~ tlrnc can scarcely be conjectured: . . . . The ob'ects uf culture ot the people of th.ts tract, are cotton. ~a1ze, w h en t , fl aJx. , an J 11 emp • To the tr )roJuctwn uf aDll t·h oseh arttclehs , w h ea t excep t e d , the arahle land is well adrl'o ted.. ur111g l e epo,. c a of the French anu .:ipanish governments, anJ . tn some measure ~n~ce the establishment of the U. S. authority, lud1~n tra~c and hu~lt~n~ retarded the advance of agriculture. More r~tlonal tdeas are_gammb uround anJ will no doubt contribute to hasten the prospenty and ~cure 'the happiness of the inhabitants. . . . Ascendina the Mi sissippi from the mouth o_f Ohto th~rty miles, the travclle; finds Cape Girardeau. Twelve m.IIe~ ~elow t~1e t~wn, the high IanJs reach the left bank of the Mtssi:~;stpjJt f~r~h~ ti~~t tun~, in a distance of 11 Jo miles from the mouth of the M ts:-tss 1 pp1 to tlus place. The left bank is here a high rocky bluff. It h~s . b_een ~bserved that the proJungatrun of this ridge forms the dJvH1_11lg_ htgh )anus between the waters of Arkansaw, _W?it_e, ~nd St. Franc1s r1vers, and those of the Missouri and of the M I!-i~tsstppt abov~ the bluff. . AJvancino- above this distinctive ridge, a uew regwn pre ents tt-e] f in many respects superior to the one we have. had unuer revtew: Th~ surface of the country contiguous to the junctron of the Mts'-~ottn and Mississippi, is less liable to inundati~n than the expans~ west of the J\1is·issippi below the mouth of the Oh10. . The uperfic ies contained within the districts of Cape G1rardP::~~, t. Louis, St. Charles, and St. Genevieve, presents a fine counlr~ dt, ·ersi fied by bill and Jale, w;tbout the_ rugged aspect of the mtul~le :m. J. nor.l heTn, or the dull monotony ot the lower parts of the M1s- SlSStpp1. ' The bottoms and prairies are genera11y level, but are interspersed with rolling woodland. ,. The district of Cape Girardeau extends from Apple cree_k t~l Taw3paty bottom about thirty mile~. The first est3blishment ot thts :-; ettlemcnt was in 1794. In 1803 the population amounted tu <~n_e thousanJ two hunJred ::~nd six; by the censu · of I~ I U, tl1~ inh :.ui ~ tants amounted to three thousand eight hundrt'd aud etglHy ·e•ghL This is one of the most flourishing settlemeut~ on the westt•rn ~aters of the United States Tlte lanJs are various and goo ~.~ . I h.e stap1es arc cotton, flour, tobacco, hemp, and maple !'U~ar. M , t~ z e IS raised for horne consumption, but is frequently exported to Nat."l.le~ and New Orlean~. Beef, pork, lard, and tallow, are also produce for cou ... umption and exportation. . . I The settlemPnts in this district are so far frnm b<?mg confmeJ to t te banks of the Mississippi, that the ~realest number are s~atter~J, ~~:t of Cape GirarJeau. and even exteud t0 the wat~rs ot St.. fr a n~ · ' sixty miles in the rear of the cape ; where the lands are of the first quality. 1 b • ST. GENEVIEVE is bounued southeast by Apple creek, nor~ 1 } }lc Merrimack river, N. E. by the Mississippi: upon .the Jatte~ ll ex· / E1~HGRANT'S GUIDE. 143 tends upwards of one hundred miles; its limits are indefinite to the west. This di~trict contains two regularly built vilJages, St. Gene~ vieve and Bourbon . The land is various, and more hilly than that of Cape Gjrardeau ; perhaps less fertile, but certainly richer in mineral wealth, particularly lead and salt. The settlements extend to St. Francis, whos-e lead streams rige in this district. Between St. Genevieve and Merrimack, the banks of the 1His~is5ippi are in many places high ;md rocky. Borne of tbese blufrs are elevated at least three hundred and sixty fePt, aud have at a distance the appearance of artifici<~l towers. They are soLid masses of hmestone disposed in hori zouta.l strata.*' The agricultural productions of this district are similar to those of the district of Cape Girardeau. The timber consists of oak, pme, cypress, and red cedar. The rwpulation of St. Genevieve, in 1804, amounted to two thousand eight hundred and ::-ev(~nty; in 18 J 0 it amouuted to four thou sand eight hundred and twenty. The population is annually increasing with great rapidity. Lead and salt are the principal staples ; those articles are sent whtrev~r a n~arket ~~ffers. St. Loui~' district has the Mississippi river east. M1ssoun N. \\ ., and the MPrnmack on the outh. The district is w~JI peopled, and has, besides the town of St. Louis two fine viiJages, Carondelet and St. Ferdinand. ' St. Lou~s, the capital of the .Missouri territory, is situated on t11e ":f'st or ngbt bank of the Mississippi river, upon an elevated plain, etgi1tet-u miles by water below the mouth of Missouri, and fourteen auove that of the Merritnack, at 38° 36' N. lat. J 2° 58' W. Jon. from Washington city. ~.,his town was founded in 1764 by son1e Frencl1 traders, as a depot. lor t.raffic with the savages. The sight is bold and elev~te? ; _and bemg ·touuued on a rock, the encrua d~ments of the M·;~·~!llppt are prevented from producing iujurious effects. . 1 he_ town of St. Loui:; ext£-nds along the river about a mile. There IS con~.tde.rab]e. re semiJlance between the uat.ural position of St. Louis anJ . CJ~cmnatl : both are built upon a first and sec!.Jlld bottom. A sloprng 11~11 ri~es behind H1e Jorr~er, anJ ~radually e xtends' into a pla in, upon wh1~~~ •s.an opt>n. prairie. & . Louis is surwuuded with Jelapi.? ateJ fortt~catwns_, which were at no period in a complete conuition. .Tbf' town Is now m a state ol very rapiJ imprQverr.ent. Its situuti<m IS not 0n ly adv~nta.~e,>u , but intere.,ting: occupying a puiut wh<;re so. •~any vast n~ers lillll~le their _streams, an increasing, rapid, and la~t'?~_pruperty IS pron11sed to lbJs town. Inc)u( ing Louisiana, St. Lou1s IS the most central town yet built in the Arm.. rict.~n Union. It ~~y be in the course of human events the seat of empir , and no poSJtum cau be more favourably situated for the accun1U1a£ion of all that f:ompri~;e~ wealth ·and power . . T_he l'ill<ige of Car<;ncfelet is situate<.! on tbe bank of the 1\!issi~- 81PP_' five ntiles below St. Louis: it is an incousiderable plact', but o tbe mcrease. +: ~t~d rd's slcetnhes of r~ouisil\na, r~aP- 217~ |