ALL the rivers of the United States, of the first magnitude, have their
sources, either in the Rocky Mountains, or in elevated spurs projecting
from the sides of that range. Many of the rivers which descend from the
western sides of the Alleghanies are of inconsiderable volume, and by
no means remarkable for the rapidity or the directness of their course.
Those which flow from the eastern and southern sides of these mountains
are worthy of extended description, even in the same pages with the
great tributaries of the Mississippi. They afford the advantages of a
good inland navigation to most parts of the states.
I. RIVERS WHICH FLOW INTO THE MISSISSIPPI,
AND THE GULF OF MEXICO.
The _Mississippi_ with its branches drains the great central basin
which lies between the Alleghany and the Rocky Mountains. This river
has its rise in the table-lands within the territories of the United
States, in north latitude forty-seven degrees and forty-seven minutes,
at an altitude of thirteen hundred and thirty feet above the Atlantic,
though the country at its source appears like a vast marshy valley.
Mr. Schoolcraft fixes it in Cassina Lake, which is situated seventeen
degrees north of the Balize on the gulf of Mexico, and two thousand
nine hundred and seventy-eight miles, pursuing the course of the river.
Estimating the distance to Lake La Beesh, its extreme north-western
inlet at sixty miles, we have a result of three thousand and
thirty-eight miles as the entire length of this wonderful river.
Mr. Schoolcraft, in his very interesting Journal of Travels observed
that he believed there was no one then living, beside himself who had
visited both the sources and the mouth of this celebrated stream. As
the description furnished by this gentleman is the clearest and most
complete that we find, we have taken the liberty to transfer it to our
pages, without mutilation:――
‘In deciding upon the physical character of the Mississippi, it
may be advantageously considered under four natural divisions, as
indicated by the permanent differences in the color of its waters――the
geological character of its bed and banks,――its forest trees and other
vegetable productions,――its velocity,――the difficulties it opposes to
navigation,――and other natural appearances and circumstances.’
‘Originating in a region of lakes, upon the table-lands, which
throw their waters north into Hudson’s Bay,――south into the gulf of
Mexico,――and east into the gulf of St. Lawrence――it pursues its course
to the falls of Peckagama, a distance of two hundred and thirty miles,
through a low prairie, covered with wild rice, rushes, sword grass, and
other aquatic plants. During this distance, it is extremely devious as
to course and width, sometimes expanding into small lakes, at others,
narrowing into a channel of about eighty feet. It is about sixty feet
wide on its exit from Red Cedar or Cassina Lake, with an average depth
of two feet; but from the junction of the Leech Lake fork, increases
to a hundred feet in width, with a corresponding increase of depth.
Its current, during this distance is still and gentle; and its mean
velocity may be estimated at a mile and a half per hour, with a descent
of three inches per mile. This is the favorite resort of water-fowl,
and amphibious quadrupeds.
‘At the falls of Peckagama, the first rock stratum, and the first
wooded island, is seen. Here the river has a fall of twenty feet; and
from this to the falls of St. Anthony, a distance of six hundred and
eighty-five miles, exhibits its second characteristic division. At
the head of the falls of Peckagama, the prairies entirely cease; and
below, a forest of elm, maple, birch, oak, and ash, overshadows the
stream. The black walnut is first seen below Sandy Lake river, and the
sycamore below the river De Corbeau. The river, in this distance, has
innumerable well wooded islands, and receives a number of tributaries,
the largest of which is the river De Corbeau, its great south-western
fork. The Pine, Elk, Sac, and Crow rivers, also enter on the west,
and the St. Francis and Missisawgaiegon, on the east. The course of
the river, although serpentine, is less so, than above the falls of
Peckagama, and its bends are not so short and abrupt. Its mean width
may be estimated at three hundred feet until the junction of the De
Corbeau, and below that at two hundred and fifty yards. Its navigation
is impeded, agreeably to a memorandum which I have kept, by thirty-five
rapids, nineteen ripples, and two minor falls, called the Little and
the Big Falls, in all of which the river has an aggregate descent
of two hundred and twenty-four feet in fourteen thousand six hundred
and forty yards, or about eight miles. The mean fall of the current,
exclusive of the rapids, may be computed at six inches per mile, and
its velocity at three miles per hour. In the course of this distance it
receives several small turbid streams, and acquires a brownish hue, but
still preserves its transparency, and is palatable drink-water. A few
miles above the river Corbeau, on the east side, we observe the first
dry prairies, or natural meadows, and they continue to the falls of
St. Anthony. These prairies are the great resort of the buffalo, elk,
and deer, and are the only parts of the banks of the Mississippi where
the buffalo is now to be found. Granite rocks appear at several of the
rapids, in rolled pieces, and in beds; and in some places attain an
elevation of one or two hundred feet above the level of the water, but
the banks of the river are generally alluvial.
‘At the falls of St. Anthony, the river has a perpendicular pitch of
forty feet, and from this to its junction with the Missouri, a distance
of eight hundred and forty-three miles, it is bounded by limestone
bluffs, which attain various elevations from one to four hundred feet,
and present a succession of the most sublime and picturesque views.
This forms the third characteristic change of the Mississippi. The
river prairies cease, and the rocky bluffs commence precisely at the
falls of St. Anthony. Nine miles below it receives the St. Peter’s from
the west, and is successively swelled on that side by the Ocano, Iowa,
Turkey, Desmoines, and Salt rivers, and on the east by the St. Croix,
Chippeway, Black, Ouisconsin, Rock, and Illinois. One hundred miles
below the falls of St. Anthony, the river expands into a lake, called
Pepin, which is twenty-four miles long and four in width. It is, on
issuing from this lake, that the river first exhibits, in a striking
manner, those extensive and moving sandbars, innumerable islands and
channels, and drifts and snags, which continue to characterize it to
the ocean. Its bends from this point onward are larger, and its course
more direct; and although its waters are adulterated by several dark
colored and turbid streams, it may still be considered transparent. The
principal impediments to navigation in this distance are the Desmoines,
and Rock river rapids. The latter extends six miles, and opposes an
effectual barrier to steam-boat navigation, although keel-boats and
barges of the largest classes, may ascend. This rapid is three hundred
and ninety miles above St. Louis.
‘The fourth change in the physical aspect of this river is at the
junction of the Missouri, and this is a total and complete one,
the character of the Mississippi being entirely lost in that of the
Missouri. The latter is, in fact, much the larger stream of the two,
and carries its characteristic appearances to the ocean. It should
also have carried the name, but its exploration took place too long
after the course of the Mississippi had been perpetuated in the written
geography of the country, to render an alteration in this respect,
either practicable or expedient. The waters of the Mississippi at its
confluence with the Missouri, are moderately clear, and of a greenish
hue. The Missouri is turbid and opake, of a grayish white color, and
during its floods, which happen twice a year, communicates, almost
instantaneously, to the combined stream its predominating qualities,
but towards the close of the summer season, when it is at its lowest
stage of water, the streams do not fully incorporate for twenty or
thirty miles, but preserve opposite sides of the river; and I have
observed this phenomenon at the town of Herculaneum, forty-eight miles
below the junction.
‘The water in this part of the river cannot be drank until it has
been set aside to allow the mud to settle. The distance from the mouth
of the Missouri to the gulf of Mexico is one thousand two hundred and
twenty miles, in the course of which it receives from the west, the
Merrimac, St. Francis, White, Arkansas, and Red rivers; and from the
east, the Kaskaskia, Great Muddy, Ohio, Wolf, and Yazoo. This part
of the river is more particularly characterized by snags and sawyers,
falling-in banks and islands, sand-bars and mud-banks; and a channel
which is shifting by every flood, and of such extreme velocity, that
it was formerly thought it could not be navigated by vessels propelled
with sails. Subsequent experience has shown this conjecture to be
unfounded, although a strong wind is required for its ascent. It is
daily navigated in ships of from four hundred to eight hundred tons
burden, from the Balize to New Orleans, a distance of one hundred
miles, and could be ascended higher were it necessary; but the commerce
of the river above New Orleans is now carried on, in a great measure,
by steam-boats. The width of the river opposite St. Louis is one mile;
it is somewhat less at New Orleans, and still less at its disembochure.
A bar at its mouth prevents ships drawing more than eighteen feet
water from entering. This river is occupied by different bands of
the Chippeway Indians from its sources, to the Buffalo Plains in the
vicinity of the upper St. Francis, the precise limit being a matter
of dispute, and the cause of the long war between them and the Sioux.
The Sioux bands claim from thence to the Prairie des Chiens, and the
Foxes and Sacs to the river Desmoines. From this vicinity to the gulf
of Mexico the Indian title has been extinguished by the United States’
government, either through purchase, treaty, or conquest, and we have
now the complete control of this river and all its tributary streams,
with the exception of the upper part of Red river. The wild rice is
not found on the waters of the Mississippi south of the forty-first
degree of north latitude, nor the Indian reed, or cane, north of the
thirty-eighth. These two productions characterize the extremes of
this river. It has been observed by McKenzie, that the former is
hardly known, or at least does not come to maturity, north of the
fiftieth degree of north latitude. The alligator is first seen below
the junction of the Arkansas. The paroquet is found as far north as
the mouth of the Illinois, and flocks have occasionally been seen as
high as Chicago. The name of this river is derived from the Algonquin
language, one of the original tongues of our continent, which is
now spoken nearly in its primeval purity by the different bands of
Chippeways.’
The navigation upon this river is very great. Ships seldom ascend
higher than Natchez. It is navigable for boats of the largest size
as far as the Ohio. The number of steam-boats upon the Mississippi
is about three hundred. Their size is from five hundred and forty
tons downwards. The passage from Cincinnati to New Orleans and back
has been made in nineteen days. From New Orleans to Louisville the
shortest passage has been eight days and two hours, the distance being
one thousand six hundred and fifty miles, and against the current.
The steam-boats have generally high-pressure power, and many fatal
explosions have happened upon these waters. The first steam-vessel
here was built in 1810.[5]
The _Missouri_ rises in the Rocky Mountains in nearly the same parallel
with the Mississippi, and about a mile distant from the head-waters
of the Columbia. The most authentic information we have yet had of
the sources of this mighty river is from its first intrepid American
discoverers, Lewis and Clarke. What may properly be called the Missouri,
seems to be formed by three considerable branches, which unite not
far from the bases of the principal ranges of the mountains. To the
northern they gave the name of Jefferson, to the middle Gallatin, and
to the southern Madison. All these streams run with great velocity,
throwing out large volumes of water; their beds are formed of smooth
pebble and gravel, and their waters are perfectly transparent. One
hundred and a half miles beyond the forks of the Missouri are the
forks of Jefferson river; two subordinate branches of which are called
Wisdom and Philanthropy, one coming from the north-west, and the former
from the south-east. Wisdom river is fifty yards wide, cold, rapid,
and containing a third more water than the Jefferson; it seems to be
the drain of the melting snows on the mountains, but is unnavigable
on account of its rapidity. One hundred and forty-eight miles farther
up is the extreme navigable point of the river in north latitude
forty-three degrees thirty minutes and forty-three seconds. Two
miles beyond this is a small gap or narrow entrance, formed by the
high mountains which recede on each side, at the head of an elevated
valley, ten miles long and five broad, so as to form a beautiful cove
several miles in diameter. From the foot of one of the lowest of these
mountains, which rises with a gentle ascent of half a mile, issues the
remotest water of the Mississippi. At the source, we are told that the
weather is so cold at the end of August, that water standing in vessels
exposed in the night air has been frozen to the depth of a quarter of
an inch.
After the junction of the three branches before mentioned, the river
continues a considerable distance to be still a foaming mountain
torrent. It then spreads into a broad and comparatively gentle stream
full of islands. Precipitous peaks of blackish rock frown above the
river in perpendicular elevations of a thousand feet. The mountains
whose bases it sweeps are covered with pines, cedars and firs; and
mountain sheep are seen bounding on their summits where they are
apparently inaccessible. In this distance the mountains have an aspect
of inexpressible loneliness and grandeur. In the meadows and along the
shore the tree most common is the cotton-wood, which with the willow
forms almost the exclusive growth of the Missouri.
About forty-seven miles below the spot where the Missouri issues
from the mountains to the plains, a most sublime and extraordinary
spectacle presents itself, emphatically denominated the _Gates of the
Rocky Mountains_. In ascending the stream it increases in rapidity,
depth, and breadth, to the mouth of this formidable pass. Here the
rocks approach it on both sides, rising perpendicularly from the edge
of the water to the height of one thousand two hundred feet. Near
the base they are composed of black granite; but above, the color is
of a yellowish, brown, and cream color. Nothing can be imagined more
tremendous than the frowning darkness of these rocks, which project
over the river, and menace the passenger with instant destruction.
For the space of five miles and three quarters, the rocks rise to the
above degree of elevation, and the river, three hundred and fifty yards
broad, seems to have forced its channel down the solid mass; or, to
use Volney’s expression respecting the falls of Niagara, literally to
have sawed a passage through this body of hard and solid rock, near six
miles in length, being incased as it were, during all this distance,
between two walls of one thousand and two hundred feet high. During
the whole distance the water is very deep, even at the edges; and
for the first three miles, there is not a spot, except one of a few
yards, in which a man could stand between the water and the towering
perpendicular precipice of the mountain.
The river, for the distance of about seventeen miles, becomes almost
a continued cataract. In this distance its perpendicular descent is
three hundred and sixty-two feet. The first fall is ninety-eight feet;
the second, nineteen; the third, forty-seven; the fourth, twenty-six.
Next to the Niagara these falls are the grandest in the world. The
river continues rapid for a long distance beyond, but there is not
much variation in its appearance till near the mouth of the Platte.
That powerful river throws out vast quantities of coarse sand, which
contribute to give a new face to the Missouri, which is now much more
impeded by islands. The sand, as it is drifted down, adheres in time
to some of the projecting points from the shore, and forms a barrier
to the mud which at length fills to the same height with the sand-bar
itself. As soon as it has acquired a consistency, the willow grows
there the first year, and by its roots gives solidity to the whole;
with further accumulations the cotton-wood tree next appears, till the
soil is gradually raised to a point above the highest freshets. Thus
stopped in its course, the water seeks a passage elsewhere, and as
the soil on each side is light and yielding, what was only a peninsula
becomes gradually an island, and the river compensates the usurpation
by encroaching on the adjacent shore. In this way the Missouri, like
the Mississippi, is continually cutting off the projections of the
shore, and leaving its ancient channel, which may be traced by the
deposits of mud and a few stagnant ponds.[6]
During the whole length of the Missouri below the Platte, the soil
is generally excellent, and although the timber is scarce, there is
still sufficient for the purpose of settlers. But beyond that river,
although the soil is still rich, yet the almost total absence of
timber, and particularly the want of good water, of which there is
but a small quantity in the creeks, oppose very powerful impediments
to its occupancy. The prairies for many miles on each side of the river
produce abundance of good pasturage.
Above the mouth of the Osage, the immediate valley of the Missouri
gradually expands, embracing some wide bottoms in which are many
settlements gradually increasing in the number of inhabitants. The
Manito Rocks, and some other precipitous cliffs, are the terminations
of low ranges of hills, running in quite to the river. These hills
sometimes occasion rapids, and opposite the Manito rocks a small group
of islands stretches obliquely across the river, separated by narrow
channels in which the current is stronger than below. This group is
called the Thousand Islands. Some of the channels are obstructed by
collections of floating trees, which usually accumulate about the heads
of islands, and are here called rafts. After increasing to a certain
extent, portions of these rafts become loosened, and float down the
river, covering nearly its whole surface, and greatly impeding and
endangering the progress of the ascending boats.
Council Bluffs, the seat of an important military establishment of the
United States, about six hundred miles up the Missouri, is a remarkable
bank, rising abruptly from the brink of the river to an elevation of
one hundred and fifty feet. From the hill tops, a mile in the rear
of the Bluffs, is presented a most extensive and beautiful landscape.
On the east side of the river, the Bluffs exhibit a chain of peaks,
stretching as far as the eye can reach. The river is here and there
seen meandering in serpentine folds along its broad valley, chequered
with woodlands and prairies, while, at a nearer view, you look down on
an extensive plain, interspersed with a few scattered copses or bushes,
and terminated at a distance by the Council Bluffs.
Taken in connection with the Mississippi into which it flows, this
river is the longest on the globe.[7] Its whole course, from its mouth
in the gulf of Mexico to its source in the Rocky Mountains, is four
thousand four hundred and twenty-four miles, including its windings;
and for four thousand three hundred and ninety-six miles of this course
it is navigable. From the point of its confluence with the Mississippi
to fort Mandan, it is one thousand six hundred and nine miles; to
the foot of the rapids at Great Falls two thousand five hundred and
seventy-five miles; two thousand six hundred and sixty-four to where it
issues from the mountains; two thousand six hundred and ninety to the
Gates of the Mountains; three thousand and ninety-six to the extreme
navigable point of Jefferson river; and three thousand one hundred
and twenty-four miles to its remotest source. In this immense course
it receives upwards of fifty large rivers, and one hundred and fifty
smaller streams. Its principal tributaries are the Roche Jaune, or
Yellowstone, the Kansas, Platte, Osage, Gasconade, Little Missouri,
Running Water, Charaton, White, and Milk rivers.
The _Yellowstone_ is the largest of these tributaries. Its sources are
in the Rocky Mountains, near those of the Missouri and the Platte, and
it may be navigated in canoes almost to its head. It runs first through
a mountainous country, but in many parts fertile and well timbered; it
then waters a rich, delightful land, broken into valleys and meadows,
and well supplied with wood and water, till it reaches near the
Missouri open meadows and low grounds, sufficiently timbered on its
borders. In the upper country its course is said to be very rapid,
but during the two last and largest portions, its current is much
more gentle than that of the Missouri. On the sand-bars and along the
margin of this river grows the small leafed willow; in the low grounds
adjoining are scattered rose bushes three or four feet high, the
red-berry, service-berry and redwood. The higher plains are either
immediately on the river, in which case they are generally timbered,
and have an undergrowth like that of the low grounds, with the addition
of the broad leafed willow, gooseberry, purple currant and honeysuckle;
or they are between the low grounds and the hills, and for the most
part without wood, or any thing except large quantities of wild hyssop,
a plant which rises to the height of about two feet, and, like the
willow of the sand-bars, is a favorite food of the buffalo, elk, deer,
grouse, porcupine, hare, and rabbit.[8]
The _Platte_ is in fact much more rapid than the Missouri, and
drives the current on the northern shore, on which it is constantly
encroaching. At some distance below the confluence, the Missouri is two
miles wide, with a rapid current of ten miles an hour in some parts,
the rapidity increasing as we approach the mouth of the Platte; the
velocity of which, combined with the vast quantity of rolling sands
which are drifting from it into the Missouri, renders it completely
unnavigable, unless for flats or rafts, though the Indians pass it in
small flat canoes made of hides, and the Americans have contrived to
navigate it by means of keel-boats, which, being constructed to draw
but little water, and built upon a small keel, are remarkably well
adapted for sailing up rapid and shallow streams. The Platte runs a
course of fifteen degrees of longitude, from west to east, or more than
eight hundred miles.
The _Kansas River_ has a considerable resemblance to the Missouri,
but its current is more moderate, and its water less turbid, except
at times of high floods. Its valley, like that of the Missouri, has a
deep and fertile soil, bearing forests of cotton-wood, sycamore, and
other trees, interspersed with meadows; but in ascending, trees become
more and more scattered, and at length disappear almost entirely, the
country at its sources being one immense prairie.
The _River Osage_, so called from the well known tribe of Indians
inhabiting its banks, enters the Missouri one hundred and thirty-three
miles above its confluence with the Mississippi. Its sources are in
the Ozark Mountains. Flowing along the base of the north-western slope
of a mountainous range, it receives from the east several rapid and
beautiful tributaries. In point of magnitude this river ranks with
the Cumberland and Tennessee. It has been represented as navigable
for six hundred miles, but this Major Long considers an exaggeration,
on account of the great number of shoals and sand-bars in its current.
In the lower part of its course it traverses broad and fertile
bottom-lands, bearing heavy forests of sycamore and cotton trees.
_Charaton River_ is seventy-five yards wide at its mouth, and
navigable at high water one hundred and fifty miles. Half a mile from
its confluence with the Missouri, it receives the _Little Charaton_,
also a considerable stream, and navigable for many miles. The Charaton
has its source near the De Moyen river of the Mississippi, and
traverses a country which is of great importance, both on account
of the fertility of its soil, and its inexhaustible mines of gold.
The _Arkansas River_ rises in the Rocky Mountains in north latitude
forty-two degrees, near the borders of the territory of the United
States and Mexico. It is about two thousand miles in length, running
in a direction east south-east. Tributary streams are little known;
they are remarkable for being deeply impregnated with salt. That part
of Arkansas that traverses the Missouri territory is skirted, in great
part, by extensive prairies. Spurs of the Masserne Mountains often
reach the river. It may be remarked as singular, that to the extent of
upwards of three hundred miles in the lower part of the Arkansas, its
valley is confined merely to the stream of the river; the waters of the
Washita on one side, and White river on the other, rising almost from
the very margin of the Arkansas. The land upon the Arkansas, in the
Missouri territory, is in great part alluvial; and where not subject to
overflow, excellent. The timber corresponds nearly to that of the state
of Mississippi, in similar relative situations.
_Red River_ rises about one hundred miles north-east of Santa Fé, in
Mexico, at the base of a range of the Rocky Mountains, called the Caous,
and after a very serpentine course of about two thousand five hundred
miles, enters the Mississippi in thirty-one degrees fifteen minutes
north latitude. There are many streams rising in the same mountains,
flowing separately for three or four hundred miles, and then uniting to
form the Red river. Of the regions in which the upper waters of these
streams lie, but little is known. They are principally inhabited by
the Pawnees. When the river enters Louisiana, its south bank is for
a long distance the boundary between the United States and Texas. A
great part of its course is through delightful prairies of a rich red
soil, covered with grass and vines which bear delicious grapes. About a
hundred miles above Natchitoches commences what is called the _Raft_; a
swampy expansion of the alluvion to the width of twenty or thirty miles.
The river divides into a great number of channels, many of them shallow;
and for ages these channels have been becoming clogged with a mass of
fallen timber carried down from the upper parts of the river.
At this place its navigation is effectually obstructed, except in a
high stage of water, when keel-boats of ten or fifteen tons burden
may pass it through devious channels, or bayoux, and ascend several
miles above. That part of the river situated above the Raft is rendered
impassable for boats of burden, by shoals and sand-bars in a moderate
stage of water.[9]
The _Washita_, tributary to Red river, is navigable many miles.
That portion of it situated within the valley of the Mississippi,
denominated Black river, admits of constant navigation for boats of
burden. White river is navigable in a moderate stage of water between
three and four hundred miles. Of the rivers tributary to the Missouri,
it is remarkable, that their mouths are generally blocked up with mud,
after the subsiding of the summer freshet of that river, which usually
takes place in the month of July. The freshets of the more southerly
tributaries are discharged early in the season, and wash from their
mouths the sand and mud previously deposited therein, leaving them free
from obstructions. These freshets having subsided, the more northerly
branches discharge their floods, formed by the melting of the snow, at
a later period. The Missouri being thus swollen, the mud of its waters
is driven up the mouth of its tributaries. These streams having no more
freshets to expel it, their mouths remain thus obstructed till the
ensuing spring.[10]
The _St. Peter_ has its rise in a small lake about three miles in
circumference, at the base of a remarkable ridge, distinguished by the
name of Coteau des Prairies. It enters the Mississippi nine miles below
the falls of St. Anthony. Its length in all its windings is about five
hundred miles. Its course is exceedingly serpentine, and is interrupted
by several rocky ridges, extending across the bed of the river and
occasioning falls of considerable descent. During the times of spring
freshets and floods, this river is navigable for boats from its mouth
to the head of Big Stone Lake about fifteen miles from its sources.
For a distance of about forty miles on the lower part of the river,
it is from sixty to eighty yards only wide, and navigable for pirogues
and canoes in all stages of the water; higher up, its navigation is
obstructed in low water by numerous shoals and rapids. The aggregate
descent of the St. Peter may be estimated at about one hundred and
fifty feet, the general level of the country at its source having
an elevation of about fifty feet above the river. The chief of its
tributaries is the Blue-earth river, which flows in from the south a
hundred miles west of the Mississippi by a mouth fifty yards in width.
It is chiefly noted for the blue clay which the Indians procure upon
its banks, and which is much employed in painting their faces and other
parts of their bodies. The river St. Peter’s enters the Mississippi
behind a large island, which is probably three miles in circumference,
and is covered with the most luxuriant growth of sugar-maple, elm,
ash, oak, and walnut. At the point of embouchure it is one hundred and
fifty yards in width, with a depth of ten or fifteen feet. Its waters
are transparent, and present a light blue tint on looking upon the
stream. From this circumstance the Indians have given it the name of
Clear-water river.
_Red River_ of the north rises near the sources of the St. Peter’s; and
by a northern and winding course runs nearly two hundred miles in our
territorial limits; and then passes into the British dominions of Upper
Canada, and empties into Lake Winnepeck. Its principal branches are Red
Lake river and Moose river, the latter of which streams rises within
a mile of fort Mandan on the Missouri. Red river is a broad, deep, and
very interesting stream, abounding with fish, and the country along its
banks with elk and buffaloes.
The name _Ohio_ is an Indian appellation, signifying ‘the beautiful
river.’ This epithet is not bestowed upon it for the whole of its
course, but commences at the confluence of the two principal streams,
at Pittsburg; above the junction it is called the _Alleghany_. The
remotest source of the _Alleghany_ is in the state of Pennsylvania,
in north latitude forty-one degrees and forty-five minutes, and west
longitude seventy-eight degrees. It is composed of two small streams.
At Pittsburg, the Alleghany being joined by the _Monongahela_, the
confluent stream receives the appellation of the Ohio. The Monongahela
is formed by the confluence of two streams, both rising from the
Alleghany chain, in the north-west angle of Virginia, and running
parallel to each other for sixty miles in a direct line. The absolute
course of the Monongahela is more than two hundred miles, but not above
one hundred and thirty in a direct line from south to north. It seems
a larger and deeper stream at Pittsburg than the Alleghany, which
in the dry season has not above seven feet water where deepest. The
waters of the Alleghany are always clear and limpid, while those of
the Monongahela, on the contrary, become muddy and turbid, whenever
there are a few days of successive rain in that part of the Alleghany
Mountains where it rises. Each of the streams is four hundred yards
wide at the conflux; and after the junction, the united stream is more
enlarged in depth than in breadth.
The Ohio, formed by the junction of the Monongahela and Alleghany,
appears to be rather a continuation of the former than the latter,
which arrives at the confluence in an oblique direction. From Pittsburg
to the mouth of the Ohio is one thousand and thirty-three miles by the
course of the stream. It receives a vast number of tributary streams on
both sides, in its progress to the Mississippi. For the space of three
hundred miles below Pittsburg, the Ohio runs between two ridges of
hills, rising from three hundred to four hundred feet in height. These
appear frequently undulated at their summits, but at other times seem
to be perfectly level. They sometimes recede, and sometimes approach
the banks of the river, and have their direction parallel to that of
the Alleghany chain. These ridges gradually recede farther down the
river, till they disappear from the view of those who descend the Ohio.
It is not till this river has burst its passage through a transverse
chain, at the rapids, near Louisville, that it rolls its waters,
through a level and expanded country, as far as the Mississippi.
The general appearance of the river is beautiful, placid, gentle and
transparent, except in the times of high water. There are two seasons
of periodical inundations; namely, winter and spring. According to
some, the vernal inundations of this river commence in the latter end
of March, and subside in July; and, according to others, they commence
early in February, and subside in May. It must be observed, however,
that this period is forwarded or retarded as the rivers thaw sooner or
later, which may reconcile these apparently discordant statements.
The Ohio is then swelled to a prodigious height, varying in different
places, as it is more or less expanded in breadth. It is a favorable
circumstance for the country in the upper course of the Ohio, that it
has very high and steep banks; having gradually hollowed out for itself
a deep and comparatively narrower bed, being, like all its southern
tributary streams, inclosed as it were in a groove between them, which
prevents the general level of the land from being overflowed for many
miles, and thereby rendered marshy and unwholesome, as in the lower
Missouri, and in the lower part of the Ohio. Yet high as these banks
are, the Ohio is both a dangerous and troublesome neighbor to the towns
which are not sufficiently far removed from them. That part of the town
of Marietta situated at the junction of the Muskingum with the Ohio,
though elevated forty-five feet above the ordinary level of the stream,
has been twice inundated, and consequently abandoned by the inhabitants.
The town of Portsmouth, at the mouth of the Great Sciota, and two
hundred and eighteen miles below Marietta by water, though elevated
sixty feet above the usual surface of the river, is also subjected to
the same misfortune, which has materially affected the prosperity of
the place. At Cincinnati, the breadth of the river is five hundred and
thirty-five yards, and the banks fifty feet in perpendicular height,
yet these are annually overflowed. The winter floods commence in
the middle of October, and continue to the latter end of December.
Sometimes, in the course of the summer, abundant rains fall among the
Alleghany Mountains, by which the Ohio is suddenly raised, but such
occurrences are rare. In the times of these two periodical floods,
which taken together last for near half the year, ships drawing twelve
feet water may sail with perfect ease from Pittsburg to New Orleans, a
distance of near two thousand and two hundred miles. In these seasons
the passage to the falls may be accomplished in nine or ten days, but
it is generally effected in twelve days. The difficulty of navigating
the Ohio during the dry season, is only confined to the upper part of
its course, or between Pittsburg and Limestone, a space of four hundred
and twenty-five miles by water; and this, not so much owing to the
shallowness of the stream, as to its being divided by islands; for
the depth of the Monongahela branch of the Ohio alone, at Pittsburg,
is twelve feet. Michaux counted no less than fifty of these islands
in the distance of three hundred and ninety miles; some of them only
containing a few acres, and others exceeding a mile in length.
The _Tennessee_ rises in the Alleghany Mountains, traverses East
Tennessee, and almost the whole northern limit of Alabama, re-enters
Tennessee, and crosses almost the whole width of it, into Kentucky,
and passes into Ohio, fifty-seven miles above its junction with
the Mississippi. It is near twelve hundred miles in length, and is
the largest tributary of the Ohio. It has numerous branches, and is
navigable for boats one thousand miles; most of the branches rise among
the mountains, and are too shallow for navigation, except during the
floods, which take place occasionally, at all seasons of the year, and
admit flat boats to be floated down to the main stream.
The Muscle Shoals are about three hundred miles from its entrance into
the Ohio. At this place the river spreads to the width of three miles,
and forms a number of islands. The passage by boats is difficult and
dangerous, except when the water is high.
From these shoals to the place called the _Whirl_ or _Suck_, two
hundred and fifty miles, the navigation all the way is excellent, to
the Cumberland Mountain; where the river breaks through. This mountain
is sometimes so steep, that even the Indians cannot ascend it on foot.
In one place, particularly, near the summit of the mountain, there is
a remarkable ledge of rocks, of about thirty miles in length, and two
hundred feet high, with a perpendicular front facing the south-east,
more noble and grand than any artificial fortification in the known
world, and apparently equal in point of regularity. The Whirl, as it
is called, is about latitude thirty-four degrees. It is considered a
greater curiosity than the bursting of the river Potomac through the
Blue Ridge.
The river, which above is half a mile wide, is here compressed to one
hundred yards, or eighteen rods. Just at the entrance of the mountain,
a large rock projects from the northern shore, in an oblique direction,
which renders the channel still narrower. This causes a sudden bend, by
which the waters are thrown with great force against the opposite shore.
From thence they rebound about the point of the rock, and produce a
whirl of eighty yards, or two hundred and forty feet in circumference.
By the dexterity of the rowers, canoes drawn into this whirl have
sometimes escaped without damage. In less than a mile below the whirl,
the river spreads to its common width, down to Muscle Shoals; and
thence runs in a regular and beautiful stream to its confluence with
the Ohio.
The _Wabash_ rises in the north-eastern part of Indiana, and flows
south-westerly nearly across the state, when it turns to the south, and
flows into the Ohio, forming towards its mouth the western boundary.
Its length, from its mouth to its extreme source, exceeds five hundred
miles. It is navigable for keel-boats, about four hundred miles, to
Ouitanon, where there are rapids. From this village small boats can
go within six miles of St. Mary’s river; ten of Fort Wayne; and eight
of the St. Joseph’s of the Miami-of-the-lakes. Its current is gentle
above Vincennes; below the town there are several rapids, but not of
sufficient magnitude to prevent boats from ascending. The principal
rapids are between Deche and White rivers, ten miles below Vincennes.
White river and Tippecanoe river are branches of the Wabash.
The _Cumberland_ rises in the Cumberland Mountains in Kentucky, and
after a course of nearly two hundred miles in that state, passes into
Tennessee, through which it makes a circuit of two hundred and fifty
miles, when it re-enters Kentucky and falls into the Ohio, about fifty
miles above the entrance of that river into the Mississippi. From the
source of this river to its conflux with the Ohio, the distance in a
direct line is three hundred miles, but by the course and windings of
the stream, it is near six hundred miles, five hundred of which it is
navigable for batteaux of fourteen or fifteen tons burthen.
The _Muskingum_ rises in the north-eastern part of Ohio, and flows
southerly into the Ohio river. It is two hundred miles in length, and
is navigable for boats one hundred miles. It is connected by a canal
with Lake Erie. The _Sciota_ rises in the western part, and flows
southerly into the Ohio. It is about two hundred miles long, and is
navigable one hundred and thirty. There are rich and beautiful prairies
on the river, and its valley is wide and fertile. A canal passes along
this valley, and extends north-easterly to Lake Erie. The _Licking_ and
_Kentucky_ rivers take their rise in the Cumberland Mountains, and flow
north-westerly into the Ohio. They are each about two hundred miles in
length. The latter is navigable for one hundred and fifty miles, and
has a width of one hundred and fifty yards at its mouth. The current
is rapid, and the shores are high. For a great part of its course, it
flows between perpendicular banks of limestone. The voyager passing
down this stream experiences an indescribable sensation on looking
upwards to the sky from a deep chasm hemmed in by lofty parapets. Among
the other tributaries of the Ohio are the Great and Little Miami,
Saline,[11] Green river, Big Sandy, Kanhawa.
The _Illinois_ rises in the north-eastern parts of the state of that
name, not more than thirty-five miles from the south-western extremity
of Lake Michigan, and interlocking by a morass with the river Chicago,
which empties into that lake. Its two main head-branches are Plein and
Kankakee. Thirty miles from the junction of these rivers, enters Fox
river from the north. Between this and the Vermilion, enter two or
three inconsiderable rivers. The Vermilion is a considerable stream,
which enters the Illinois from the south, two hundred and sixty miles
above the Mississippi. Not far below this river, and two hundred and
ten miles above the Mississippi, commences Peoria lake, which is no
more than an enlargement of the river, two miles wide on an average,
and twenty miles in length. Such is the depth and regularity of the
bottom, that it has no perceptible current whatever. It is a beautiful
sheet of water, with romantic shores, generally bounded by prairies;
and no waters in the world furnish finer sport for the angler.
On the north side of the Illinois, the rivers that enter on that shore
have their courses, for the most part, in mountainous bluffs, which
often approach near the river. For a great distance above its mouth,
the river is almost as straight as a canal; has in summer scarcely a
perceptible current, and the waters, though transparent, have a marshy
taste to a degree to be almost unfit for use. The river is wide and
deep; and, for the greater part of its width, is filled with aquatic
weeds, to such an extent, that no person could swim among them. Only
a few yards width, in the centre of the stream, is free from them. It
enters the Mississippi through a deep forest, by a mouth four hundred
yards wide. Perhaps no river of the western country has so fine a
boatable navigation, for such a great distance; or waters a richer and
more luxuriant tract of country.
_Rock River_ is one of the most clear and beautiful tributaries of the
Mississippi. It has its source beyond the northern limits of Illinois,
and in a ridge of hills that separates between the waters of the
Mississippi and those of Lake Michigan. On its waters are extensive
and rich lead mines. Its general course is south-west, and it enters
the Mississippi, not far above the commencement of the military bounty
lands. Opposite the mouth of this river, in the Mississippi, is the
beautiful island, called from the name of the river, and on which is a
military station of the United States.
_Kaskaskia River_ rises in the interior of Illinois, nearly
interlocking with the waters of Lake Michigan. It has a course, in a
south-west direction, of between two and three hundred miles, for the
greater part of which course, in high stages of water, it is boatable.
It runs through a fine and settled country, and empties into the
Mississippi a few miles below the town of the same name.
The _Ouisconsin_ is the largest river of the North-West territory
that flows into the Mississippi. It rises in the northern interior of
the country, and interlocks with the Montreal of Lake Superior. It has
a course of between three and four hundred miles, has a shallow and
rapid current, which is, however, navigable by boats in good stages
of the water, and is eight hundred yards wide at its mouth. There is
a portage of only half a mile between this and Fox river. It is over
a level prairie, across which, from river to river, there is a water
communication for periogues in high stages of the water. _Fox River_
has a course of two hundred and sixty miles. It runs through Winnebago
lake. It has a fine country on its banks, with a salubrious climate.
_Chippeway_ is a considerable river of the Mississippi, and enters it
just below Lake Pepin. It is half a mile wide at its mouth, and has
communications by a short portage with Lake Superior. The other chief
rivers of this territory, tributary to the ‘father of waters,’ are
St. Croix, Rum, St. Francis, and Savanna.
Among the smaller tributaries to the Mississippi are the Obian, Forked
Deer, Big Hatchet, and Wolf rivers, all of which flow into it from
Tennessee; and the Yazoo and Big Black, from the state of Mississippi.
The last named rivers are only navigable for boats.
Beside the rivers which flow into the Mississippi, and are thus emptied
into the Gulf of Mexico, there are a few small streams which disembogue
immediately into the gulf. The _Alabama River_ rises in the mountainous
parts of Georgia, in two head-streams named the Coosa and Tallapoosa,
and running south-westerly through the centre of the state of Alabama,
unites with the Tombeckbee; both the streams then take the name of
Mobile, and flowing south for a short distance fall into Mobile Bay.
The _Tombeckbee_ is formed of two main branches rising in the mountains
of the Mississippi. It has a boat navigation in the lower part of its
course. The Alabama has a boat navigation for one hundred and fifty
miles from the bay. _Pearl River_ rises near the centre of the state of
Mississippi. A number of branches unite to form the main river, which
is afterwards increased by the Chuncka and other streams. It passes
through a pleasant and fertile country, and derives much importance
from being one of the chief points of communication between the state
through which it flows and the Gulf of Mexico. The _Pascagoula_ rises
in latitude thirty three degrees, and after travelling for two hundred
and fifty miles a tract of pine country, broadens at its mouth into
an open bay, on which, at a town of its own name, is a resort for the
inhabitants of New Orleans during the sickly months. Most of the rivers
of Florida which flow into the gulf have their sources in Georgia. The
most important of these is the _Appalachicola_. The topography of this
country is as yet very imperfect, and the very numerous streams which
intersect it have borne a variety of names. Most of them are barred at
their mouth with sand.
II. RIVERS WHICH FLOW INTO THE ATLANTIC.
The _River St. Croix_ forms a part of the eastern boundary of Maine,
and is little navigable except by rafts; most of it consists of a chain
of small lakes. From Calais to the sea, thirty miles, its navigation is
unobstructed.
The _River Penobscot_ is the largest in the state of Maine. It rises in
the highlands separating Maine from Lower Canada. Between the junction
of its two upper branches is Moosehead lake, about forty miles long,
and fifteen wide. From the _Forks_, as they are called, the Penobscot
Indians pass to Canada, up either branch, principally the west, the
source of which is said to be not more than twenty miles from the
waters which fall into the St. Lawrence. The whole navigable course of
the river for sloops, is forty-six miles from the head of the bay, to
near the head of the side; and from the Forks to the sea is one hundred
and thirty-four miles. This river has very numerous branches, navigable
by rafts and abounding in mill sites.
The _Saco_ rises in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, enters Maine
at Fryeburg, and flows in an irregular course south-east to the sea;
it is one hundred and sixty miles long, and has numerous falls which
afford excellent mill sites and manufacturing stations.
The _Androscoggin_ rises in Umbagog lake, among the highlands which
form the north-west boundary of Maine, and descending through a
succession of lakes enters New Hampshire at Errol; it re-enters Maine
at Gilead, and flows east and south till it joins the Kennebec at
Merrymeeting bay. Its length is one hundred and forty miles; the whole
course is broken by rapids and falls, which prevent the transportation
of any thing except timber and logs.
The _Kennebec_ also rises in the highlands, near the sources of the
Androscoggin, and flows nearly south to the sea; falls and rapids
render the navigation difficult above the tide at Augusta, from
which place it is navigable for vessels of one hundred tons, and from
Hallowell and Gardiner for ships to the sea. The country watered by the
Kennebec generally consists of excellent land; it is one of the best
grazing districts in New England; and there are upon the banks of the
river a number of flourishing and handsome towns.
The _Merrimack_ rises in New Hampshire, and has two principal branches:
one of them being the outlet of lake Winnipiseogee. The north or longer
branch is called the Pemigewasset, and has its source near the Notch of
the White Mountains. At its junction with the outlet of the lake this
stream takes the name of Merrimack, and flows south seventy-eight miles
to Chelmsford, where it enters Massachusetts, through which it runs
east to the sea. Its whole course is about two hundred miles. There are
numerous falls in the New Hampshire portion. Though not equal to the
Connecticut for fine scenery, the Merrimack is a noble and beautiful
stream. Its waters are pure and salubrious, and on its borders are
many flourishing towns. Its name in the Indian language signifies a
_sturgeon_. Its width varies from fifty to one hundred and twenty rods;
it receives many minor streams and rivers, which form the outlet of
several small lakes. Its obstructions have been partly remedied by
locks at different places, and there is a good navigation for vessels
of two hundred tons to Haverhill. Two chain bridges cross the river at
Newburyport, and Salisbury.
The _Piscataqua_ has its rise and its whole course in New Hampshire.
It is formed by the junction of several small streams in a wide and
deep bed; the longest of these streams is Salmon Fall river, which
forms part of the boundary between New Hampshire and Maine.
The _Connecticut_ is the largest river of the New England States.
It rises beyond the high-lands which separate the states of Vermont
and New Hampshire from Lower Canada. It has been surveyed to the head
spring of its northern branch, about twenty-five miles beyond the
forty-fifth degree of latitude, from which to its mouth it flows
upwards of three hundred miles through a well inhabited country. Its
navigation is much interrupted by falls. It receives several rivers, as
the Chicapee, Deerfield, Miller’s, and Farmington. At Hartford it meets
the tide, whence it passes on in a winding course, till it falls into
Long Island sound, between Saybrook and Lyme. This river is navigable
for sloops, as far as Hartford, fifty miles distant from its mouth; and
the produce of the country, for two hundred miles above it, is brought
thither in flat-bottomed boats, which are so light us to be portable in
carts.
The _Hudson_, or the _North River_, is formed by the confluence of
the _Hudson proper_ and the _Mohawk_, which unite below Waterford,
ten miles above Albany. The Hudson takes its rise in the forty-fourth
degree of north latitude, from the foot of the mountains which separate
the waters of the St. Lawrence from those of Lake Champlain, and the
Mohawk in the table-land surrounding Oneida lake. The Mohawk river
rises to the north-east of Oneida lake, about eight miles from Sable
Water, a stream of Lake Ontario. It runs first twenty miles south to
Rome; then south-east one hundred and thirty-four miles; and, after
receiving many tributary streams in its course, falls into the Hudson
by three mouths. It is a large stream of water; and is now navigable
for boats from Schenectady to Rome, one hundred and four miles distant.
From Albany to Schenectady is a portage of sixteen miles, on account of
the falls and rapids, which render the river unnavigable. These falls
and rapids, denominated the _Cohoes_, are three miles from the junction
of the Mohawk with the Hudson. The river is one thousand feet wide
at these falls; the rock over which the stream descends is forty feet
perpendicular height; and the whole height of the cataract, including
the descent above, is seventy feet. Properly speaking, the North river
is no other than a narrow gulf of the sea, entering inland at New York,
and penetrating across the double chain of the Alleghany Mountains, as
far as the confluence of the above mentioned streams, one hundred and
seventy miles from the sea. This is what distinguishes the Hudson from
all other rivers in the United States. In no other does the tide ascend
beyond the first range; but in the North river, it crosses the first
chain at West Point, sixty miles north of New York; and the second
at Catskill, after having burst the beds of granite which opposed
its passage, and cut them into a thousand different shapes. Hence the
deep valley of the Hudson has derived a most singular and magnificent
aspect; the western bank being, in some places, five hundred feet of
perpendicular height above the level of the river.[12]
Along the shore of the Hudson, a mural precipice extends twenty miles.
It commences at Weehawken, four miles north of the city of Jersey,
gradually rising towards the north, and mostly occupied by forests. It
is known by the name of the Palisadoes.
Illustration: Palisadoe Rocks.
_Raritan River_, in the northern part of New Jersey, is formed by two
branches which unite about twenty miles above New Brunswick. It becomes
navigable two miles above that city, at a place called Brunswick
Landing. Flowing by New Brunswick, and gradually becoming broader and
deeper, it passes Amboy and then widens into Raritan bay, which is
immediately connected with the ocean. It is navigable for sloops of
eighty tons as far as New Brunswick, seventeen miles.
The _Delaware_ issues by two streams, called the _Coquago_ and the
_Rappadon_, the union of which, forty miles in a direct line from their
sources, form the Delaware, from the Katskill Mountains, in the county
of Delaware, state of New York. Running first south, it next turns to
the south-east, forming, for the space of sixty miles, the boundary
between Pennsylvania and New York; and thence, forms again the line of
separation between the former state and that of New Jersey, for upwards
of one hundred miles more to Trenton, where there are falls, but of no
great height. Thence, with increased breadth, it pursues a course of
thirty-six miles farther, to Philadelphia, where it is a mile broad.
Thence it proceeds to Newcastle, forty miles below Philadelphia, where
it is two miles broad. Thence it spreads out into a spacious bay, and
falls into the Atlantic seventy miles below Newcastle, by an outlet
of twenty-five miles. The whole course of the river, from the Atlantic
to its source, is three hundred and fifty miles; and two hundred
and eighty from the head of Delaware bay, including the windings. Its
two chief tributary streams are the _Lehigh_ and _Schuylkill_. The
navigation betwixt the Delaware and Chesapeak is now improved by means
of a canal.
The River _Susquehannah_, of all those of the eastern states, most
resembles the Mississippi and the St. Lawrence, on account of its
numerous and distant branches. The north-east branch, which is the
remotest source, is formed by the junction of two small streams that
issue from the lakes of Camadebago, Ustavantho, and Otsego, in the
state of New York. It runs south and south-west in such a winding
course, (receiving in its progress the _Unadilla_ and _Chenango_
rivers from the north,) that it crosses the boundary line between New
York and Pennsylvania no less than three times. It forms a junction
with the _Tioga_, in forty-one degrees and fifty-seven minutes north
latitude; and thence pursues a south-east course of seventy miles
to Wyoming; whence, making a sudden bend at a right angle, it runs a
south-west course of eighty miles, and unites with the west branch at
Northumberland. The river, now increased to the breadth of half a mile,
flows south through the mountains, a course of forty miles, to its
junction with the _Juniata_, when, turning to the east for ten miles,
it emerges from the mountains above Harrisburg, and after a south-east
course of eighty miles, falls into Chesapeak bay. The western branch
of the Susquehannah is formed by many streams, beyond the Alleghany
Mountains; and its most southern source is within a very few miles
of the _Conemaugh_, or _Kiskeminitas_, which falls into the Alleghany
a little above Pittsburg. After running a very winding course of two
hundred miles, principally among the mountains, it joins with the
east branch at Northumberland. The _Juniata_ rises in the Alleghany
Mountains, and, pursuing an eastern and very serpentine and mountainous
course, falls into the Susquehannah, after running two hundred miles.
The whole course of the Susquehannah, from Chesapeak bay to the head of
the north-east branch, is four hundred and fifty miles; and, including
all its branches, it waters a tract of forty thousand square miles.
Where it falls into the sea it is fully a mile broad; at Harrisburg it
is nearly of the same breadth, and from three to five feet deep. There
are seven falls in this river, which, with the numerous islands and
rocks, render it navigable only for a few miles by large vessels.
The _River Potomac_ rises on the north-west side of the Alleghany
Mountains, and after running a north-east course of sixty miles to
Cumberland, is joined eighteen miles below, by a branch coming from the
south-west. Thence fifty-four miles farther, it receives the waters of
_Licking Creek_, and passes the north mountain into a fine limestone
valley, which it waters in a very winding course of forty-five miles
in a south-east direction. Here it receives a considerable number of
tributary streams, particularly the _Conecocheague_ at Williamsport,
and the _Shenandoah_ at the extremity of the valley, and just above the
Blue Ridge, through which the combined stream has effected a singularly
magnificent passage. About thirty miles farther, it descends one
hundred and forty feet in the course of eight or ten miles, to the
level of tide-water, which it meets at Georgetown. It is here a quarter
of a mile wide; but expands to a mile opposite Washington, and enters
the Chesapeak bay by a passage seven and a half miles broad. This is
one of the most important of the Atlantic rivers. It is navigable for
vessels of any burden to Alexandria, one hundred miles distant; and
from thence, for ships of considerable burden, to Georgetown. A lock
navigation has been constructed round the first falls, of which there
are four in the whole. The largest of these falls is at Matilda, six
miles above Georgetown, where the stream, nine hundred feet broad,
after flowing through a valley skirted with hills wild as those of
the Rhone in Vivari, (says Volney,) falls at once, like the Niagara,
from the height of seventy-seven feet, into a deep chasm of solid
micaceous granite. From this it escapes, several miles farther down,
by a widening of the valley in the lower country. The whole course of
the Potomac is three hundred and forty miles.
Illustration: Passage of the Potomac through the Blue Ridge.
_York River_ is formed by the junction of the _Mattapony_ and _Pamunky_.
Beyond the junction, the Mattapony is navigable for seventy miles; and
thirty miles higher up is its source in the Blue Mountains. The Pamunky
is formed by the junction of the _North_ and _South Anna_ rivers, which
rise in the north-west about fifty miles distant. The mouth of this
river is three miles wide; and at high tide there is four fathoms water,
twenty-five miles above Yorktown, where it is a mile and a half wide in
the wet season, but has a channel of only seventy-five fathoms in the
dry season.
_James’ River_ is one of the most important rivers in the state
of Virginia. It rises in the Alleghany Mountains, near two hundred
miles to the west of Richmond; and, after widening and contracting
alternately in a very winding course, it enters Chesapeak bay fifteen
miles west of Cape Henry; its whole length being three hundred miles.
Its principal tributary streams are the Rivanna, the Appomatox,
the Chickahomany, the Nansemond, and the Elizabeth, on which last
is situated the town of Norfolk. This river, anciently called the
_Powhatan_, affords harbor for vessels of any burden, in Hampton Road,
seventy miles below Richmond. Vessels of two hundred and fifty tons may
go up to Warwick; and those of one hundred and fifty to within a mile
of Richmond.
The _Roanoake_ is formed by the junction of the _Dan_ and _Staunton_.
It runs one hundred and twenty-five miles south-east till it enters
Albemarle sound. Its whole course is two hundred miles. It is navigable
by sloops sixty miles; the low lands on the banks are subjected to
annual inundations.
_Cape Fear River_ is the largest in North Carolina. It rises one
hundred miles above Fayetteville; and thence running two hundred miles
eastward, falls into the Atlantic ocean at Cape Fear, where it is three
miles wide, and eighteen feet deep at high tide. It is navigable by
vessels drawing ten feet water, up to Wilmington, a little below the
confluence of its two principal streams.
The _Great Pedee_ rises in the Blue Mountains, on the borders of North
Carolina and Virginia, where it has the name of _Yadkin_ river. Its
whole course is upwards of three hundred miles, half of which is in
North Carolina. It is navigable by ships to Georgetown; and for smaller
vessels, one hundred miles higher up.
The _Santee_ is the largest river in the state of South Carolina, and
is formed by the junction of the _Congaree_ and _Wateree_ rivers. The
whole course of the Santee, including that of the Catawbaw or Wateree,
is three hundred and fifty miles. It is navigable up to the point of
junction by ships of burden.
The _Savannah River_ which forms the boundary between South Carolina
and Georgia, is a bold and deep stream, and is formed by the junction
of the _Keowee_ and _Tugeloo_, two small streams issuing from the Blue
Ridge, two hundred and fifty miles from the sea. It runs in a straight
south-east course all the way to its mouth, seventeen miles below
Savannah. It is navigable for ships of any burden to within three miles
of Savannah; for vessels of two hundred and fifty tons to Savannah; and
for boats of one hundred feet keel, to Augusta, above which the rapids
commence; after passing them, the river can be navigated in small boats,
eighty miles higher, to the junction of the tributary rivers.
III. RIVERS OF THE PACIFIC AND THE GREAT LAKES.
The waters that rise on the western declivities of the Rocky Mountains
flow into the Columbia, the Multnomah and the Lake Bueneventura.
_Columbia_ or _Oregon_ river rises within a mile of the head-waters
of the Missouri. It collects its tribute for a wide extent along the
western dividing ridges of the mountains, and on emerging from them
becomes at once a broad and deep stream. After receiving Clark’s and
Lewis’ rivers, each a large stream, from the east, it widens to nine
hundred and sixty yards, and forms a great southern bend through the
second chain of mountains. One hundred and thirty-six miles below, are
the great falls, where the river descends in one rapid, fifty-seven
feet. Below these falls, it winds first to the north-west and then to
the south-west, and passes through the third chain of mountains, where
it is again compressed to the width of one hundred and fifty yards.
Below this rapid, at one hundred and eighty miles from the sea, it
meets the tide, beyond which it has a broad estuary to the sea. Sixty
miles below the rapids, _Multnomah_, a very large and unexplored
tributary, falls in from the north-east. The mouth of the river is in
latitude forty-six degrees and twenty-four minutes, and the tide there
rises eight feet and a half. The Columbia and its tributaries abound
in the finest salmon, which is said to form the principal food of the
savages west of the Rocky Mountains. Seals and other aquatic animals
are taken in this river in great numbers, and the skins shipped to
China constitute the chief article of trade from this great river. A
number of the head streams of the Missouri interlock with the waters
of the Columbia. The whole course of the river is about one thousand
five hundred miles. As this river waters an immense territory which
has recently become a subject of great interest, we have subjoined, in
a note, a partial account of its navigation, from the interesting work
of Mr. Ross Cox.[13]
The rivers which flow into the great lakes are, for the most part,
small and unimportant. A permanent communication between their waters
and those of the Mississippi might be formed by means of a short canal
from the Fox or Chicago rivers, both of which empty into Lake Michigan.
The _Fox_ river rises near the _Ouisconsin_ branch of the Mississippi,
and afterwards flows within one and a half miles of its channel,
separated from it only by a short portage over a prairie. During the
season of high water, the intervening ground is overflowed, so that
loaded boats may pass over it.
_Saganaw River_ is a large and deep stream, with bold shores, and
numerous tributaries, which water a large extent of very delightful
and fertile country. The banks of this stream are inhabited by detached
bands of Chippeway and Ottaway Indians, who have long derived an easy
subsistence from the abundance of game and fish to be found in their
neighborhood. The Saganaw empties into a fine bay of the same name,
which is by far the largest of the numerous inlets which indent the
very irregular shores of Lake Huron.
The _Gennessee_ rises in Pennsylvania, and runs north across the west
part of New York into Lake Ontario. Five miles from its mouth, at
Rochester, are falls of ninety-six and seventy-five feet in descent;
above these falls the stream is navigable for boats nearly seventy
miles, where two other falls occur, of sixty and ninety feet, one of
which is formed by the slope of land which extends from Lewiston on
Niagara river. _Black River_ receives its name from the color of its
water. It rises in the highlands, north of the Mohawk, and its branches
interlock with those of the Hudson; it pursues a northerly course
of one hundred and twenty miles, and falls into Lake Ontario, near
its outlet. It is a deep but sluggish stream, and the navigation is
interrupted by falls; a series of which, called the _Long Falls_,
extend fourteen miles. The land upon this stream is generally a rich,
dark colored mould. The _Oswegatchie_ consists of two branches, which
unite four miles above their entrance into the St. Lawrence. The east
branch is about one hundred and twenty miles long, and the west nearly
one hundred; they are very crooked streams. The _Oswego_ issues from
Oneida Lake, and runs north-westerly into Lake Ontario; it is about
forty miles long and is a rapid stream; its navigation is assisted
by locks and canals. The _Maumee_ rises in the north-eastern part of
Indiana, and flows through the north-western part of Ohio into Lake
Erie; it is broad and deep, but has an obstruction from shoals and
rapids thirty-three miles above its mouth. The _Sandusky_ rises in the
northern part of Ohio, and flows northerly into Lake Erie; it is one
hundred miles in length, and is navigable.
GENERAL REMARKS ON RIVERS.
The beds of rivers are the lowest parts of great chasms, formed
by the same revolutions which produced the mountains. Running
waters unceasingly wear away their beds and banks in places
where their declivity is very rapid; they hollow out and deepen
their channels in mountains composed of rocks of moderate
hardness; they draw along stones, and form accumulations of
them in the lower part of their course; and thus their beds are
often gradually elevated in the plains, while they are deepened
and depressed in the mountains. But these changes, though
continually going on for thousands of years, could only give
form to the banks of rivers; they in no wise created the banks
themselves. Many great rivers flow with an almost imperceptible
declivity. The river of the Amazons has only ten feet and a
half declivity upon two hundred leagues of its course, making
one twenty-seventh of an inch for every thousand feet. When a
river is obstructed in its course by a bank of solid rocks, and
finds beneath them a stratum of softer materials, its waters
wear away the softer substance, and thus open for themselves a
subterraneous passage, more or less long. Such are the causes
which have formed the magnificent Rock Bridge in Virginia, an
astonishing vault uniting two mountains, separated by a ravine
two hundred and seventy feet in depth, in which the _Cedar
Creek_ flows. In Louisiana, trees, or rather whole forests,
have been observed to fall on a river, covering it nearly with
vegetable earth; and thus giving rise to a natural bridge which
for leagues has hid the course of the river.
Rivers in running into the sea present a great variety of
interesting phenomena; many form _sand-banks_, as the Senegal
and the Nile; others, like the Danube, run with such force into
the sea, that one can for a certain space distinguish the waters
of the river from those of the sea. The waters of the little
river Syre in Norway are discernable for a considerable distance
in the sea. It is only by a very large mouth, like that of
the Loire, the Elbe, or the Plata, that a river can peacefully
mingle with the sea. Rivers even of this nature, however,
sometimes experience the superior influence of the sea, which
repels the waters into their bed. Thus the Seine forms at its
mouth a _bar_ of considerable extent; and the Garonne, unable
to discharge with sufficient rapidity the waters which it
accumulates in a kind of gulf between Bordeaux and its mouth,
exhibits this aquatic mountain, stopped by the flow of the tide
rolling backwards, inundating the banks, and stopping vessels
in their progress both up and down. This phenomenon, termed the
_Mascaret_, is only the collision of two bodies of water moving
in opposite directions. The most sublime phenomenon of this kind
which presents itself is that of the giant of rivers Orellana,
called the river of the Amazons. Twice a day it pours out its
imprisoned waves into the bosom of the ocean. A liquid mountain
is thus raised to the height of one hundred and eighty feet;
it frequently meets the flowing tide of the sea, and the shock
of these two bodies of water is so dreadful that it makes all
the neighboring islands tremble; the fishermen and navigators
fly from it in the utmost terror. The next day, or the second
day after every new or full moon, the time when the tides are
highest, the river also seems to redouble its power and energy;
its waters and those of the ocean rush against each other like
the onset of two armies. The banks are inundated with their
foaming waves; the rocks drawn along like light vessels, dash
against each other, almost upon the surface of the water which
bears them on. Loud roarings echo from island to island. It has
been said that the Genius of the River and the God of the Ocean
contended in battle for the empire of the waves. The Indians
call this phenomenon _Pororoca_.
COMPARATIVE VIEW OF THE RIVERS OF THE WORLD.
NORTH AMERICA.
_Names._ _Length._
Missouri 4,400
Mississippi 3,000
Arkansas 2,100
St. Lawrence 2,000
Mackenzie 2,000
Del Norte 2,000
Nelson 1,500
Columbia 1,500
Red River 1,500
Platte 1,500
Ohio 1,350
Kansas 1,200
White River 1,200
Tennessee 1,100
Alabama 650
Savannah 600
Potomac 550
Connecticut 410
Hudson 324
Delaware 300
SOUTH AMERICA.
Maranon 4,500
La Plata 3,000
Madeira 2,500
Orinoco 1,800
Tocantins 1,800
Ucayale 1,600
St. Francisco 1,500
Paraguay 1,400
Xingu 1,400
Topajos 1,300
EUROPE.
Volga 2,040
Danube 1,710
Don 1,050
Dnieper 1,080
Kemi 780
Rhine 670
Elbe 570
Loire 540
Vistula 500
Dniester 480
Tagus 580
Dwina 480
AFRICA.
Nile 2,687
Senegal 950
Orange 900
Gambia 700
ASIA.
Yangtse Kian 3,300
Lena 2,470
Amour 2,360
Obi 2,260
Yenisei 2,150
Ganges 2,040
Burrampooter 2,040
Irrawaddy 2,040
Cambodia 2,000
Euphrates 1,820
Hoang Ho 2,900
Meinam 1,600