It Is Deemed Navigable With Small Hunting Canoes For
Between Five Hundred And Six Hundred Miles; But Below Otuhuoja, It
Will Float Much Larger Boats.
The shores of the river are generally
tolerably well wooded, though only at intervals.
Along those portions
where it widens into lakes, very eligible situations for farms would
be found." The same explorer says, the most important tributary of the
Jacques is the Elm River, which "might not deserve any special mention
as a navigable stream, but is very well worthy of notice on account of
the timber growing on its own banks and those of its forks." He
further observes (Report, p. 46) that "the basin of the river Jacques,
between the two coteaux and in the latitude of Otuhuoja, may be laid
down as having a breadth of eighty miles, sloping gradually down from
an elevation of seven hundred to seven hundred and fifty feet. These
dimensions, of course, vary in the different parts of the valley; but
what I have said will convey some idea of the immense prairie watered
by the Tchan-sansan, which has been deemed by all travellers to those
distant regions perhaps the most beautiful within the territory of the
United States."
The middle and northern part comprises an elevated plain, of average
fertility and tolerably wooded. Towards the south it is characterized
by bold undulations. The valley of the Missouri is narrow; and the
bluffs which border upon it are abrupt and high. The country is
adapted to agricultural pursuits, and though inferior as a general
thing to much of Minnesota, affords promise of thrift and properity in
its future. It is blessed with a salubrious climate. Dr. Suckley, who
accompanied the expedition of Gov. Stevens through that part of the
West, as far as Puget Sound, says in his official report: "On
reviewing the whole route, the unequalled and unparalleled good health
of the command during a march of over eighteen hundred miles appears
remarkable; especially when we consider the hardships and exposures
necessarily incident to such a trip. Not a case of ague or fever
occurred. Such a state of health could only be accounted for by the
great salubrity of the countries passed through, and their freedom
from malarious or other endemic disease."
Governor Stevens has some comprehensive remarks concerning that part
of the country in his report. "The Grand Plateau of the Bois des Sioux
and the Mouse River valley are the two keys of railroad communication
from the Mississippi River westward through the territory of
Minnesota. The Bois des Sioux is a river believed to be navigable for
steamers of light draught, flowing northward from Lake Traverse into
the Red River of the North, and the plateau of the Bois des Sioux may
be considered as extending from south of Lake Traverse to the south
bend of the Red River, and from the Rabbit River, some thirty miles
east of the Bois des Sioux River, to the Dead Colt hillock. This
plateau separates the rivers flowing into Hudson's Bay from those
flowing into the Mississippi River. The Mouse River valley, in the
western portion of Minnesota, is from ten to twenty miles broad; is
separated from the Missouri River by the Coteau du Missouri, some six
hundred feet high, and it is about the same level as the parallel
valley of the Missouri." (Report, ch. 4.)
M. Nicollet was a scientific or matter of fact man, who preferred to
talk about "erratic blocks" and "cretaceous formations" rather than to
indulge in poetic descriptions. The outline which follows, however, of
the western part of the territory is what he considers "a faint
description of this beautiful country." "The basin of the Upper
Mississippi is separated in a great part of its extent from that of
the Missouri, by an elevated plain; the appearance of which, seen from
the valley of the St. Peter's or that of the Jacques, looming as it
were a distant shore, has suggested for it the name of Coteau des
Prairies. Its more appropriate designation would be that of plateau,
which means something more than is conveyed to the mind by the
expression, a plain. Its northern extremity is in latitude 46 degrees,
extending to 43 degrees; after which it loses its distinctive
elevation above the surrounding plains, and passes into rolling
prairies. Its length is about two hundred miles, and its general
direction N. N. W. and S. S. E. Its northern termination (called Tete
du Couteau in consequence of its peculiar configuration) is not more
than fifteen to twenty miles across; its elevation above the level of
the Big Stone Lake is eight hundred and ninety feet, and above the
ocean one thousand nine hundred and sixteen feet. 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.
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