THE _Valley of the Mississippi_ is the largest in the world;
and differs from any other of very great extent, in the peculiar
distinctness of its outline. It is bounded south by the gulf of Mexico,
west by the Rocky Mountains, north by the great lakes of British
America, and east by the Apalachian Mountains. Its general surface
may be classed under three distinct aspects; the thickly timbered,
the barren, and the prairie country. This valley extends from the
twenty-ninth to the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude, and
exhibits every variation of temperature from the climate of Canada to
that of Louisiana. It is a wide extent of level country, in which the
various rivers, inclosed between two chains of mountains three thousand
miles apart, find a common centre, and discharge their waters into the
sea by a single channel. Geologically considered, this immense valley
presents every where the aspect of what is called secondary formation.
Its prevailing rocks are carbonate of lime, disposed in the most
regular lamina, masses of limestone, in which seashells or organic
remains are imbedded, retaining their distinct and original form. At
every step, is presented the aspect of a country once covered by lakes
or seas. The soil, stones, and exuviæ of lake or river formation, are,
to all appearance, of comparatively recent origin. In the alluvial
soils, to the depth of from twenty to an hundred feet, are found
pebbles, smoothed by the evident attrition of waters, having the
appearances of those masses of smoothed pebbles that are thrown on
the seashore by the dashing of the surge. Leaves, branches, and logs
are also found at great distances from the points where wood is seen
at present, and at great depths below the surface. In the most solid
blocks of limestone, split for building, deers’ horns and other animal
exuviæ are found incorporated in the solid stone.
‘From its character of recent formation,’ says Mr. Flint, ‘from the
prevalence of limestone every where, from the decomposition which it
has undergone, and is constantly undergoing, from the prevalence of
decomposed limestone in the soil, probably, results another general
attribute of this valley――its character generally for uncommon
fertility. We would not be understood to assert, that the country is
every where alike fertile. It has its sterile sections. There are here,
as elsewhere, infinite diversities of soil, from the richest alluvions,
to the most miserable flint knobs; from the tangled cane brakes, to the
poorest pine hills. There are, too, it is well known, towards the Rocky
Mountains, wide belts that have a surface of sterile sands, or only
covered with a sparse vegetation of weeds and coarse grass. But of
the country in general, the most cursory observer must have remarked,
that, compared with lands, apparently of the same character in other
regions, the lands here obviously show marks of singular fertility.
The most ordinary, third rate, oak lands, will bring successive crops
of wheat and maize, without any manuring, and with but little care of
cultivation. The pine lands of the southern regions are in many places
cultivated for years, without any attempts at manuring them. The same
fact is visible in the manner in which vegetation in this country
resists drought. It is a proverb on the good lands, that if there
be moisture enough to bring the corn to germinate, and come up, they
will have a crop, if no more rain falls until the harvest. We have a
thousand times observed this crop continuing to advance towards a fresh
and vigorous maturity, under a pressure of drought, and a continuance
of cloudless ardor of sun, that would have burned up and destroyed
vegetation in the Atlantic country.
‘We have supposed this fertility to arise, either from an uncommon
proportion of vegetable matter in the soil; from the saline
impregnations mixed with the earth, as evidenced in the numberless
licks, and springs of salt water, and the nitrous character of the
soil, wherever, as in caves, or under buildings, it is sheltered
from moisture; or, as we have remarked, from the general diffusion
of dissolved limestone, and marly mixtures over the surface. In some
way, spread by the waters, diffused through the soil, or the result
of former decomposition, there is evidently much of the quickening and
fertilizing power of lime mixed with the soil.’
The greatest length of the _Valley of the Missouri_ is twelve hundred
miles, its greatest breadth seven hundred. In the direction of the
western rivers, the inclined plain of the Missouri extends eight
hundred miles from the Chippewayan Mountains, and rather more than
that distance from south to north, from the southern branches of the
Kansas, to the extreme heads of the northern confluents of the valley.
Ascending from the lower verge of this widely extended plain, wood
becomes more and more scarce, until one naked surface spreads on all
sides. Even the ridges and chains of mountains partake of these traits
of desolation.
The celebrated valley called the _American Bottom_ extends along the
eastern bank of the Mississippi to the Piasa Hills, four miles above
the mouth of the Missouri. It is several miles in width, and has a soil
of astonishing fertility. It has all the disadvantages attending tracts
of recent alluvion, the most valuable parts of it being liable to be
swept away by the current of the Mississippi. ‘But the inexhaustible
fertility of its soil,’ says Major Long, ‘makes amends for the
insalubrity of the air, and the inconvenience of a flat and marshy
situation, and this valley is undoubtedly destined to become one of
the most populous parts of America. We were formerly shown here a
field that had been cultivated, without manure, one hundred years in
succession, and which when we saw it, (in August, 1816,) was covered
with a very luxuriant growth of corn.’
The _Ohio Valley_ is divided by the river into two unequal sections,
leaving on the north-west side eighty thousand, and on the south-east
one hundred and sixteen thousand square miles. The river flows in a
deep ravine five hundred and forty-eight miles long in a straight line,
and nine hundred and ninety-eight by the windings of the stream. In its
natural state the Ohio valley, with the exception of the central plain,
was covered with a dense forest. Open savannahs commence as far east
as the sources of the Muskingum. Like the plain itself, those savannahs
expand to the westward, and on the Illinois open into immense prairies.
This valley may be regarded as a great plain inclining from the
Apalachian system of the north-west, obliquely and deeply cut by the
Ohio and its numerous confluents, into chasms from an elevation of four
hundred feet to nearly the level of the streams. On the higher parts of
the valley, the banks of the river rise by bold acclivities which wear
almost a mountainous aspect. This boldness of outline imperceptibly
softens in descending the Ohio, and on approaching the Mississippi, an
extent of level woodland bounds the horizon. Ascending the rivers of
the south-east slope, the scenery becomes more and more rugged, until
it terminates in the ridges of the Apalachian chains: if the rivers
of the north-west slope are followed, on the contrary, we find the
landscape broken and varied near the Ohio, but around their sources
flat and monotonous.
The _Valley of the Hudson_ varies extremely in its width, being in
some places contracted to the immediate neighborhood of the stream;
in others extending forty miles. On the borders of the river the land
is generally elevated. The _Mohawk_ is bordered by two long ranges of
hills presenting little variety of aspect. In the early part of its
course it flows through extensive flats. The valleys of the Susquehanna
and its branches are remarkably irregular. These streams traverse the
whole width of the Apalachian chain of mountains, sometimes flowing
in wide valleys between parallel ranges for fifty or sixty miles in a
direct course, and at other times breaking through the mountain ridges.
The valleys between the different ranges of the great chain extending
throughout Pennsylvania are often twenty or thirty miles in width with
a hilly or broken surface.
Illustration: Valley of the Mohawk.
The only large valley in North Carolina lies between the Blue Ridge,
and a parallel range called the Iron, Bald, and Smoky Mountains. It
runs north-east and south-west, is one hundred and eighty miles in
length, and from ten to forty in width.
The valleys of the small rivers of Tennessee are singularly beautiful
and fertile, surpassing all others of the same description in the
Western States. The valleys of the Cumberland and Tennessee differ
little from the alluvions of the other great rivers of the west.
The _Valley of the Connecticut_ is one of the most celebrated valleys
of the United States for its fertility and beauty. It is a large tract
of land extending from Long Island sound to Hereford Mountains in
Canada, five miles beyond the forty-fifth degree of latitude. In the
largest sense, it is from five to forty-five miles in width, and its
surface is composed of a succession of hills, valleys and plains. The
interval lands begin about twelve or fourteen miles from the mouth
of the river. These are formed by a long and continued alluvion. The
tributary streams of the Connecticut run every where through a soft and
rich soil, considerable quantities of which, particularly the lighter
and finer particles, are from time to time washed into their channels,
by occasional currents springing from rains and melted snows. Wherever
the stream moves with an uniform current these particles are carried
along with it; but where the current is materially checked, they
are in greater or less quantities deposited. In this manner a shoal
is formed at first, which afterwards rises into dry land; this is
almost invariably of good quality, but those parts which are lowest
are commonly the best, as being the most frequently overflowed, and
therefore most enriched by successive deposits of slime. Of these parts,
that division which is farthest down the river is the most productive,
consisting of finer particles, and being more plentifully covered with
this manure. In the spring these grounds are almost annually overflowed.
In the months of March and April, the snows, which in the northern
parts of New England are usually deep, and the rains, which at this
time of the year, are generally copious, raise the river from fifteen
to twenty feet, and extend the breadth of its waters in some places
a mile and a half or two miles. Almost all the slime conveyed down
the current at this season, is deposited on these lands, for here,
principally, the water becomes quiescent, and permits the earthy
particles to subside; this deposit is a rich manure; the lands dressed
with it are preserved in their full strength, and being regularly
enriched by the hand of nature, cannot but be highly valuable. Nor are
these grounds less distinguished by their beauty. The form of most of
them is elegant; a river passing through them becomes, almost of course,
winding; the earth of which they are composed is of a uniform texture,
the impressions made by the stream upon the border are also nearly
uniform; hence this border is almost universally a handsome arch, with
a neat margin, frequently ornamented with a fine fringe of shrubs and
trees.
Nor is the surface of these grounds less pleasing; their terraced
forms and undulations are eminently handsome, and their universal
fertility makes a cheerful impression on every eye. A great part of
them is formed into meadows which are here more profitable, and every
where more beautiful than lands devoted to any other culture; here
they are extended from five to five hundred acres, and are every where
covered with a verdure peculiarly rich and vivid. The vast fields also
which are not in meadow, exhibit all the productions of the climate,
interspersed in parallelograms, divided only by mathematical lines,
and mingled in a charming confusion. In many places, large and thrifty
orchards, and every where forest trees standing singly, of great height
and graceful figures, diversify the landscape. Through its whole extent
this valley is almost a continual succession of delightful scenery.
The Connecticut is one of the most beautiful rivers in the world;
the purity, salubrity and sweetness of its waters, the frequency and
elegance of its meadows, its absolute freedom from aquatic vegetables,
the enchanting elegance and grandeur of its banks, sometimes consisting
of a smooth and winding beach, here covered with rich verdure, there
fringed with bushes, now crowned with lofty trees, and now formed by
the intruding hill, the rude bluff, and the shaggy mountain; these are
objects which no description can equal.
GENERAL REMARKS ON VALLEYS.
Valleys are formed by the separation of chains of mountains or
of hills. Those which are formed between high mountains, are
commonly narrow and long, as if they had originally been only
fissures dividing their respective chains, or for the passage
of extensive torrents. The angles of their direction sometimes
exhibit singular symmetry. In the Pyrenees there are said to
be valleys whose salient and re-entrant angles so perfectly
correspond, that if the force which separated them were to act
in a contrary direction, and bring their sides together again,
they would unite so exactly that even the fissure would not be
perceived. There are some highly situated valleys containing
rivers and lakes which have no outlets or streams. Most high
valleys have their surface upon a level with the summits of the
secondary mountains in the neighborhood. The lower valleys widen
as they recede from the secondary mountains from which they
originate, and gradually lose themselves in the plains. Their
opposite angles correspond regularly, but are very obtuse.
The sort of narrow passage by which we enter into these high
valleys is called a pass or defile. Between Norway and Sweden
is one of these passes, formed by several masses of rock cut
by nature into the shape of long parallelograms, and which have
between them a passage shut in by perpendicular walls. This
pass is near Skiærdal; another of the same kind is at Portfeld,
or the Mountain of the Gate. These openings exactly resemble
those by which the Hudson passes through successive chains
of mountains, which seem desirous of checking its course. The
Cordilleras of the Andes present the most stupendous passes of
this kind that are known; they are from four to five thousand
feet deep.
The valleys of the Hudson and Connecticut are equalled by few
in the old world for natural beauty and romantic scenery. Of
the valleys of Europe, that of the Rhine is most celebrated;
and is only more interesting than the Hudson on account of
its old historical associations, its populous cities, and the
picturesque ruins and massive monuments of architecture which
frown upon its banks.