Starting From This
Extremity (That Is, The Head Of The Coteau), The Surface Of The
Plateau Is Undulating, Forming Many Dividing Ridges Which Separate The
Waters Flowing Into The St. Peter's And The Mississippi From Those Of
The Missouri.
Under the 44th degree of latitude, the breadth of the
Coteau is about forty miles, and its mean elevation is here reduced to
one thousand four hundred and fifty feet above the sea.
Within this
space its two slopes are rather abrupt, crowned with verdure, and
scolloped by deep ravines thickly shaded with bushes, forming the beds
of rivulets that water the subjacent plains.
The Coteau itself is isolated, in the midst of boundless and fertile
prairies, extending to the west, to the north, and into the valley of
the St. Peter's.
The plain at its northern extremity is a most beautiful tract of land
diversified by hills, dales, woodland, and lakes, the latter abounding
in fish. This region of country is probably the most elevated between
the Gulf of Mexico and Hudson's Bay. From its summit, proceeding from
its western to its eastern limits, grand views are afforded. At its
eastern border particularly, the prospect is magnificent beyond
description, extending over the immense green turf that forms the
basin of the Red River of the North, the forest-capped summits of the
haugeurs des terres that surround the sources of the Mississippi, the
granitic valley of the Upper St. Peter's, and the depressions in which
are Lake Traverse and the Big Stone Lake.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 158 of 188
Words from 42646 to 42898
of 50597
