The republic of the United States is by far the most populous,
wealthy, and progressive country of all the New World.
=Location and Extent.=--It occupies the most valuable portion of the
North American continent, the whole of it (with the exception of the
territory of Alaska) lying within the temperate zone, between Canada on
the north and Mexico on the south, and reaching across from the Atlantic
to the Pacific Ocean.
Its boundary toward the Canadian Dominion passes through the Haro, or
northern channel of the Strait of San Juan de Fuca, south of Vancouver
Island, and thence along the forty-ninth parallel of latitude to Lake
Superior; then midway through the center of the Great Lakes to the St.
Lawrence, and down that river to the forty-fifth parallel, and an
irregular boundary which separates New Brunswick from the States of New
York and Maine, terminating at Passamaquoddy Bay.
In the south, the Mexican frontier runs from the Pacific coast,
northward of the peninsula of California, to the Rio Grande del Norte,
which it follows to the Gulf of Mexico.
From Atlantic to Pacific, the breadth of the United States is not less
than twenty-five hundred miles; and from north to south the country
extends nearly seventeen hundred miles.
=Surface.=--The surface of the United States from east to west may be
divided as follows: (1) The Atlantic Plain, which extends from the coast
to the Allegheny Mountains. (2) The Mississippi Valley and Great
Central Plain, which extends from the Allegheny Mountains west to the
Rocky Mountains. (3) The Western Highlands. (4) The Pacific slope, which
extends from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean.
=Mountains and Plains.=--The chief mountain systems are the Appalachian
region in the east and the Rocky Mountains in the west.
THE APPALACHIAN SYSTEM begins in the northern part of New England (in
Maine without the appearance of regular ranges) and New York, and
extends southwestward to Alabama and Georgia, being divided by the
Hudson River valley and Lake Champlain, and that of the Mohawk River
into three distinct sections.
A coast-plain extends from its eastern base to the Atlantic. It is
narrow in Maine, where it terminates in a bold rocky coast indented by
bays, and broken into projecting promontories and islands. South of
Massachusetts the coast becomes lower and more sandy, and the plain
grows gradually wider, with the exception of a narrow belt at New York,
until in North Carolina it attains a width of two hundred miles.
In the southern part of New England it is characterized by hills, and
below New York by a distinct coast region and a more elevated slope.
This higher region, which is in Virginia and thence southward, is marked
by a somewhat abrupt terrace, varies in altitude from a few hundred to
more than a thousand feet, and is known as the Piedmont plateau. The
lower coast region is seldom more than one hundred feet above the sea.
It has a sandy soil, and in many places there are large swamps near the
coast. Much of this swampy country is uninhabitable, but when reclaimed,
as it has been in many parts of North and South Carolina, it makes
valuable rice-land. Many acres of fertile agricultural land have also
been secured in Florida by draining its swamps. The middle elevated
region is diversified by hills and valleys, and has a productive soil.
The dividing line between it and the low coast-plain marks the head of
navigation of most of the streams, and also determines the sites of many
important towns.
The surface of this region today is a series of parallel ranges divided
by fertile valleys. The various ridges are named as follows: The Blue
Ridge, which lies nearest the Atlantic; the Kittatinny Chain; the
Allegheny Mountains, which lie in the western part of Virginia and the
central part of Pennsylvania; the Cumberland Mountains, on the eastern
boundary of Tennessee and Kentucky; the Catskill Mountains, in the State
of New York, which are continued in the Sacondago Chain; the Green
Mountains, in the State of Vermont; the Hudson River Highlands, and the
hills of New Hampshire. There is no peak of marked elevation in the
Appalachian region, the highest point being Mt. Washington, in New
Hampshire, which reaches a height of nearly seven thousand feet.
GREAT CENTRAL PLAIN.--West of the Appalachian system and lying between
it and the western highland is a great central valley, forming part of
the continental depression which extends from the Arctic Ocean to the
Gulf of Mexico. It is almost an absolute plain, rising gradually from
the Gulf toward the chain of Great Lakes in the north, and toward the
mountains on the east and west. The only important departure from its
uniform level character is an elevation of from five hundred to two
thousand feet, running from southern Missouri through northwestern
Arkansas into eastern Oklahoma, and known as the Ozark Mountains.
This great valley occupies about one-half the entire area of the United
States, and the fertile prairies and bottom-lands of the eastern and
central portions make it the most important agricultural basin of the
globe. From an irregular line west of the Mississippi River the land
rises in an almost imperceptible slope till it reaches the base of the
western plateau.
THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN SYSTEM extends a distance of about two thousand
miles. The system is continued in Canada. The Rocky Mountains are not a
single range, but are double and sometimes threefold. These ranges are
the edge of a region of plateaus and hills which extends to the coastal
mountains. The chief mountain ranges belonging to the United States
Rockies are the Bitter Root Mountains, the Blue Mountains, and the Big
Horn Mountains in the north; the Wahsatch Mountains, the Wind River
Mountains, and the White Mountains in the center; and the Sierra Madre
and the Sangra de Cristo Range in the south. In the western part of the
southern Rockies lies the Great Basin of Colorado, with the Wahsatch
Mountains on the east and the Sierra Nevada on the west. This basin is
extremely arid, has suffered much volcanic action.
THE WESTERN OR PACIFIC SYSTEM forms a part of the vast elevation which
extends from the northern to the southern extremity of the western
continent. In the United States it is a great plateau of four thousand
to ten thousand feet surmounted by a complex system of ranges, in its
widest part more than one thousand miles broad. Of this Cordilleran
region the Rocky Mountains form the eastern and the Sierra Nevada and
Cascade Mountains and the Coast Ranges the western border.
In the ranges of central Colorado alone nearly forty of the summits have
an altitude of more than fourteen thousand feet. In the Wind River
Mountains, in Wyoming, are the head-waters of the Colorado, the
Columbia, and the Mississippi, the three great river-systems of the
United States; and in the northwestern corner of the same state is
situated the National Park, famous for its hot springs and geysers as
well as for its magnificent scenery (see Yellowstone).
Between the Wahsatch Range and the lofty masses of mountains in Colorado
is a region of peculiar interest, consisting of level plateaus in which
the changes of elevation from one plain to another are marked by abrupt
descents and steep cliffs. It is furrowed by cañons or gorges, whose
sides are nearly vertical; and the bed of the Colorado is in some places
more than a mile and a quarter below the surface of the plateau. (See
Grand Cañon under Colorado River.)
Between the Wahsatch Range and the Sierra Nevada lies the Great Basin,
an immense tract having at best but little rainfall, except upon the
summits of the ranges by which it is traversed, and none of whose waters
are drained to either ocean. The saline swamps, salt lakes, and sinks of
Nevada indicate the former location of one of these lakes; Great Salt
Lake is all that now remains of the other.
The Sierra Nevada and the Cascade Range are topographically continuous,
and constitute a great mountain-wall, which so far as the height of the
peaks and the grandeur of the scenery are concerned, is one of the most
striking portions of the Cordilleran system. Most of the peaks of the
Sierras are, however, of granite and metamorphic rock, while those of
the Cascade Range are volcanic. The greatest altitude is attained with
Mt. Whitney as the culminating point. The lofty character of the range
is maintained throughout the greater part of California, and the
sublimity of the scenery is justly celebrated. (See Yosemite Valley.)
From this point there extends northward one of the most remarkable
groups of extinct or faintly active volcanoes to be found anywhere in
the world: the lava overflows in this region cover an area of above two
hundred thousand square miles. The most prominent peaks are Mt. Shasta,
in California, and Mt. Rainier, in Washington. In three separate places
rivers have cut a passage through the volcanic portion of the range. The
most notable is the passage of the Columbia River in a grand cañon more
than three thousand feet in depth.
The Coast Ranges of Washington, Oregon, and northern California consist
of numerous and approximately parallel chains, which as a rule pitch off
abruptly toward the sea, leaving no coast-plain. Between the Coast
Ranges and the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Range is a series of broad
valleys, occupied mainly in Oregon by the Willamette River, and in
California by the Sacramento and San Joaquin. In southern California the
mountains of the Coast Ranges diminish in height, but throughout their
whole extent they are interspersed with picturesque and fertile valleys.
=Coast.=--The Atlantic coast has a length of about twelve thousand three
hundred and sixty miles; the Gulf Coast of five thousand seven hundred
and fifty miles, and the Pacific Coast of three thousand two hundred and
fifty miles.
On the coast of the New England states there are many indentations
which, though small, furnish commodious harbors. Long Island Sound adds
greatly to the commercial importance of New York harbor, and farther
south are Delaware and Chesapeake Bays; Albemarle and Pamlico sounds,
and several small indentations, such as those which form the harbors of
Charleston and Savannah. The Chesapeake Bay is the largest indentation
of the Atlantic Coast and runs inland in a northward direction for more
than one hundred and eighty miles, with an average breadth of about
fifteen miles. From Cape Hatteras to Cape Sable, however, the coast is
swampy, and, especially in Florida, fringed with lagoons. The harbors of
this part of the coast are not good naturally. The coast of the Gulf of
Mexico is low and very swampy, but is of special climatic and commercial
importance.
The Pacific Coast of the United States has a very narrow Continental
Shelf, and few bays or capes. With the exception of Puget Sound, the Bay
of San Francisco, and the harbor of San Diego, there is scarcely a
noticeable break in the continuity of the coast line.
=Islands.=--There are many small rocky islands along the coast of Maine,
and on the southern New England Coast is a group to which belongs Long
Island, the largest of the islands of the United States. Farther south,
off the Atlantic Coast, and also in portions of the Gulf of Mexico, are
many low sand-spits lying parallel to the coast and having behind them
shallow channels, lagoons and swamps. On the Pacific Coast there are no
islands of importance except the Santa Barbara group off the southern
coast of California.
=Rivers.=--The rivers of the Atlantic Plain rise in the Appalachian
system, and are comparatively short. In many cases they are too rapid to
be of much value for navigation, but are valuable for supplying water
power. These rivers almost without exception have good harbors at their
mouths. The chief are: the Hudson, the Delaware, the Susquehanna, the
Potomac, the James, and the Savannah.
THE GREAT CENTRAL PLAIN is drained by the Mississippi-Missouri river
system, the basin of which covers half the area of the United States,
and is equal in area to about one-third the area of Europe.
The Mississippi rises in Lake Itasca, in Minnesota, at about fifteen
hundred feet above sea-level. After flowing for about one hundred miles
in an easterly direction it turns south, and is joined by numerous
tributaries. The chief are: St. Peter’s River, which joins the main
stream nine miles above St. Anthony’s Falls; the Missouri, which enters
the Mississippi just above St. Louis; the Ohio, which joins the main
river at Cairo; the Arkansas, the Wisconsin, the Illinois, and the Red
River.
The Mississippi-Missouri has made a broad flood plain, varying in width
from thirty to sixty miles. This plain is subject to severe inundations,
for it slopes very gently away from the river bed, which is in many
parts of the river above the level of the surrounding plain. The river
carries a vast amount of silt, which it deposits at its mouth, thus
forming a delta which stretches a series of long, narrow, tentacle-like
arms seaward.
Other rivers falling into the Gulf of Mexico are the Mobile and the Rio
Grande. The Mobile, which enters the gulf at the town of Mobile, is the
union of the Alabama and the Tombigbee. The Rio Grande forms the
boundary between Texas and Mexico.
The rivers flowing into the Pacific are comparatively short, owing to
the nearness of the coast ranges to the sea. The Colorado River flows
into the Gulf of California, after crossing an arid plateau. (See
description below.)
The San Joaquin and the Sacramento rivers unite and flow into the harbor
of San Francisco; these and the Columbia are the only important rivers
entering the Pacific.
The Great Basin of California is largely an area of inland drainage. The
rivers flow into lakes with no outlets to the sea.
=Colorado River= (Spanish for “red” or “reddish”), is a remarkable river
formed by the union of the Grand and Green Rivers, and flowing through
the great plateau region. Below the junction of the Green and Grand, the
main affluent in Utah is the San Juan, which drains an interesting
region in the southwest of Colorado and the northwest of New Mexico. In
Arizona the main affluents are the Colorado Chiquito or Flax River, the
Bill Williams, and the Rio Gila, all from the left. The only important
affluent the Colorado receives from the right is the Rio Virgen. From
the junction of the Grand and Green the general course of the stream is
to the southwest through the southern part of Utah and northwestern
Arizona; and it afterwards separates Arizona from Nevada and California.
The lower part of its course is in Mexican territory, where it flows
into the northern extremity of the Gulf of California.
The most striking features of the Colorado basin are its dryness, and
the deeply channeled surface of the greater part of the country. Almost
every stream and watercourse, and most of all the Colorado itself, has
cut its way through stratum after stratum of rock, until now it flows in
a great part of its course, at the bottom of a deep trench or cañon.
THE GRAND CAÑON.--The main stream, for nearly four hundred miles below
the mouth of the Colorado Chiquito, thus makes its way through a great
plateau, forming what is called the Grand Cañon of the Colorado, the
most extensive and marvelous example of the kind anywhere known.
Throughout the upper part of the great cañon the walls are from four
thousand to seven thousand feet in height, and are often nearly
perpendicular. Frequently they are terraced and carved into a myriad of
pinnacles and towers, tinted with various brilliant colors. At some
points the walls on either side rise sheer from the water; at others
there is a talus of fallen rock, or occasionally a strip of fertile
soil, on one or both banks. There are two main trails by which the
bottom of the cañon may be reached. The Bright Angel Trail is seven
miles down from the rim to the river and requires three hours for the
descent. The Grand View Trail is somewhat longer and more difficult.
This over-drained river basin has an area of two hundred and twenty-five
thousand square miles. The whole course of the river below the junction
is about nine hundred miles; to its remotest sources it is over two
thousand miles. Navigation is possible for light-draft steamers for over
six hundred miles. The river is subject to vast and frequent changes of
volume, and except where confined by cañon-walls, the river channel
shifts to and fro in a very remarkable degree.
=Hudson River=, one of the most beautiful and important in America,
rises in the Adirondack Mountains, four thousand three hundred and
twenty-six feet above the level of the sea, where its head-streams are
the outlets of many mountain-lakes. At Glens Falls it has a fall of
fifty feet, and soon after, taking a southerly course, runs nearly in a
straight line to its mouth, at New York City. It is tidal up to Troy,
one hundred and fifty-one miles from its mouth, and magnificent
steamboats ply daily between New York and Albany.
Below Newburg, sixty miles from New York, the river enters the
highlands, which rise abruptly from the water to the height of sixteen
hundred feet. Here historical associations add to the interest of varied
scenery of singular beauty and grandeur: here was the scene of Arnold’s
treason and of André’s fate; and at West Point, the seat of the United
States military academy, eight miles below Newburg, are the ruins of
Fort Putnam, built during the War of Independence.
Emerging from the highlands the river widens into a broad expanse called
Tappan Bay, which is four and one-half miles wide and thirteen miles
long. Below, on the right bank, a steep wall of trap rock, called the
Palisades, rises from the river’s brink to a height of three hundred to
five hundred and ten feet, and extends for nearly twenty miles to the
upper portion of the city of New York.
The river from here is known as the North River, and is from one to two
miles wide; and after passing between New York and Hoboken and Jersey
City, it falls into New York Bay. Its whole length is about three
hundred and fifty miles, and its principal tributaries are the
Sacondaga, Mohawk, and Walkill.
The Hudson has valuable shad and sturgeon fisheries, and has large
commercial value. It is connected by the Erie Canal with Buffalo and the
Great Lakes, while the Richelieu Canal connects it with Montreal. The
Hudson River Railroad, connecting New York with Albany, runs along the
east bank.
The river is named for the English navigator who explored it in 1609.
Robert Fulton’s first successful experiment in steamboat navigation was
made on this river in 1807.
=The St. Lawrence=, issuing from Lake Ontario, flows northeast for some
seven hundred and fifty miles--part of the way forming the boundary
between Canada and the United States--and falls into the Gulf of St.
Lawrence by a broad estuary. But in its widest acceptation the name
includes the whole system of the Great Lakes and their connecting
streams, with a total length from source to mouth of two thousand miles,
and a drainage basin of five hundred and sixty-five thousand two hundred
square miles. It pours more fresh water into the ocean than any other
river except the Amazon.
This mighty artery rises, under the name of the St. Louis, on the
spacious plateau which sends forth also the Mississippi toward the Gulf
of Mexico, and the Red River of the North toward Hudson Bay. Lake
Superior (six hundred and two feet above sea-level), the next link in
the chain, finds its way to Lake Huron through St. Mary’s River, whose
rapids have a fall of twenty and one-half feet. Below Lake Huron, which
receives Lake Michigan from the south, St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair,
Detroit River, and Lake Erie, maintain pretty nearly the same level
(there is a fall of some eight feet, however, in Detroit River) till the
river Niagara descends three hundred and twenty-six feet to Lake
Ontario, which is itself still two hundred and forty-seven feet above
the sea-level.
The St. Lawrence proper, with a number of lakelike expansions (such as
the Lake of the Thousand Isles, of St. Francis, St. Peter, etc.),
presents the character first of a river, and then of an estuary, down to
the gulf. What is known as the Lake of the Thousand Islands contains
about seventeen hundred islands, big and little, many of them extremely
picturesque. This is a famous tourist region, with numerous hotels and
other resorts as well as many fine private estates.
Prior to 1858 only vessels drawing not more than eleven feet of water
could pass up the river above Quebec, but since then a channel has been
made in the shallow parts of the river, three hundred feet wide and
twenty-seven and one-quarter deep, which permits the passage up to
Montreal of large vessels.
Between Lake Ontario and Montreal there are several rapids, which,
however, may be all avoided by means of canals that have been
constructed at a very great expense. Immediately above the island of
Montreal, the St. Lawrence is joined by its principal auxiliary, the
Ottawa, from the northwest; and a little more than half-way between this
confluence and Three Rivers, the highest point of tidal influence, the
Richelieu from the south brings in the tribute of Lake Champlain. Other
principal tributaries are the St. Maurice, the Saguenay, and the
Batiscan. The width of the St. Lawrence varies from less than one to
four miles; the estuary at its mouth is above one hundred miles across.
During winter the river is frozen over and navigation closed.
=Lakes.=--Of the Great Lakes of North America, Lake Michigan lies within
the United States, and the southern shores of Lake Ontario, Lake Erie,
Lake Huron, and Lake Superior are United States territory. These lakes
were formed by the action of the glacier which once covered the
continent as far south as the forty-second parallel, roughly speaking.
They are remainders of much larger lakes and are of the utmost
importance as waterways.
New England has very many smaller lakes, which are also the result of
glacial action. The largest lake of the United States apart from the
Great Lakes is the Great Salt Lake of Utah. The extremely low rainfall
of this region and the intense evaporation consequent upon the high
temperature are responsible for the salinity of the waters of the lake.
=The Great Lakes.=--The five Great Lakes cover a total area of over
ninety thousand square miles, forming the largest collective mass of
fresh water in the world.
LAKE SUPERIOR.--The northern shores of Superior are mostly precipitous
cliffs ranging from three hundred to one thousand feet in height. On the
southeast sandy coasts prevail. The coast on the south and southwest is
composed largely of sandstone cliffs, rich in iron and other metal
deposits. The bed of Superior is supposed to be an ancient volcanic
crater. Its depth of one thousand and eight feet represents a depression
extending four hundred feet below sea-level. Superior is, therefore,
distinct in origin from the other lakes of the group, whose beds
represent ancient river systems and date from the glacial period. The
basin of the lake, closely circumscribed by the Mississippi and Hudson
Bay watersheds, receives many streams, but all of them short.
LAKE HURON, the second of the Great Lakes, is bounded north, east and
south by the Province of Ontario, and south and west by the State of
Michigan, including Georgian Bay (five thousand six hundred and
twenty-six square miles), and North Passage, one thousand five hundred
and fifty-six square miles. It is connected with Lake Michigan by the
Straits of Mackinac, three and one-half miles broad and one hundred and
thirty-five feet deep.
The discharge of Lake Huron is about two hundred and seventeen thousand
cubic feet per second. By reason of evaporation and rainfall, the level
of the lake varies annually between four and five feet, but much greater
local variation is caused by the strong winds. The densely wooded
northeast is broken by many low islands of limestone and glacial débris.
Elsewhere the shores are almost unbroken and low, except when cliffs of
one hundred or one hundred and fifty feet high rise from the northeast
border and afford good sites for the many Canadian towns and villages.
Nearly all the harbors on this coast are protected by breakwaters.
LAKE MICHIGAN.--The area of Lake Michigan includes Green Bay on the
northwestern shore, and Grand Travers Bay directly on the eastern shore.
Many islands lie in the lake between these two breaks in the shore,
which elsewhere is low and unbroken.
About the southern and eastern borders are immense heaps of sand which
have been piled up by waves and currents, and drift inland by the winds,
sometimes, as at Sleeping Bear bluffs, completely burying the heavy
forests.
The level of Michigan varies, but not as greatly as does that of Huron,
according to the direction and force of the winds, the changes in
rainfall, evaporation, atmospheric pressure, etc. Except when caused by
protracted gales blowing steadily in one direction, this variation
rarely exceeds one and three-tenths feet. The lake has a lunar tide with
accompanying variation of from one and one-half inches neap to about
three inches spring tide, and the water is warmer than the air in winter
and cooler in summer, and visibly ameliorates the climate of the shores,
as may be shown in the quantity and rich quality of the Michigan fruits.
Like all the Great Lakes, Michigan abounds in fish, such as whitefish
and trout.
LAKE ERIE has a northeast and southwest direction, bounded on the entire
upper shore by the Province of Ontario, and on the southern and eastern
shores by Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. At its southwestern end it is
connected with Lake St. Clair by the Detroit River. At its northwestern
end it discharges into Lake Ontario through the Niagara River. It is
connected by the Welland Canal with Lake Ontario and by other canals
with the Hudson and Ohio Rivers, making it thus a link in the waterway
from east to west.
Besides the drainage from the Lake Superior system, Lake Erie receives
the Grand River, the Maumee from the west, and the Sandusky and Cuyahoga
from the south. The west coast is broken by the islands of Put-in-Bay.
LAKE ONTARIO is the most eastern, with a northeast and southwest
direction, like Lake Erie. It is the lowest of the Great Lakes, and has
naturally the largest discharge, three hundred thousand cubic feet per
second. The shores are flat, except in the Bay of Quinte, which extends
on the northeast fifty miles inland. There are many harbors and
flourishing ports. The waters have a surface current, due to the fact
that the larger axis of the lake coincides with the direction of the
prevailing westerly winds. This, added to frequent violent storms, keeps
the lake from freezing, except a few miles in width along the shores.
Lake Ontario is connected with the Erie Canal and Hudson River by the
Oswego Canal and with the Ottawa River by the Rideau Canal.
=Great Salt Lake=, in Utah, stretches along the western base of the
Wahsatch Mountains, about four thousand two hundred feet above the sea,
forming a principal drainage center of the Great Basin. Well-marked
shore-lines on the mountains around, reaching one thousand feet higher
than the present level, show that the lake had formerly a vastly greater
extent; this prehistoric sea has been named Lake Bonneville. Great Salt
Lake is over eighty miles long and from twenty to thirty-two broad, but
for the most part exceedingly shallow. It contains several islands, the
largest Antelope I., about eighteen miles long. Its tributaries are the
Bear, Ogden, Jordan and Weber, the Jordan bringing the fresh waters of
Lake Utah; but Great Salt Lake has no outlet save evaporation, and its
clear water consequently holds at all times a considerable quantity of
saline matter in solution. Several species of insects and a brine-shrimp
have been found in its waters, but no fishes; large flocks of
water-fowls frequent the shores.
The first mention of Great Salt Lake was by the Franciscan friar
Escalante in 1776, but it was first explored and described in 1843 by
Fremont.
=Champlain= is a beautiful lake separating the states of New York and
Vermont, and penetrating, at its north end, about six miles into the
Dominion of Canada. Lying ninety-one feet above sea-level, it is one
hundred and ten miles long, by from one to fifteen broad, empties itself
into the St. Lawrence by the Richelieu River, and has communication by
canal with the Hudson. The lake, now an important trade channel, was the
scene of several incidents of the French and Indian revolutionary wars;
and here a British flotilla was defeated by the Americans September 11,
1814. It was discovered by Champlain in 1609, and in 1909 tercentenary
celebrations of its discovery were held along its shores.
=Natural Wonders.=--Of the great natural wonders the chief are the
Niagara Falls, the Grand Cañon of Colorado, and Yellowstone Park. The
Sequoia, General Grant and Calaveras Parks--all reservations of the
famous big trees, many thousands of years old, have also great scenic
interest. Mt. Ranier Park, in Washington, encloses the noblest and most
interesting mountain of our Pacific Coast. The chief feature of Crater
Lake Park, in southern Oregon, is a lake two thousand feet deep,
occupying the crater of an extinct volcano on the summit of the Cascade
Range, with walls one thousand to two thousand feet high. The latest
addition is Glacier Park, in northwestern Montana. It is named from its
glaciers, of which there are over sixty within an area of five square
miles, and contains numerous snow-capped peaks seven thousand to twelve
thousand feet high. It also contains Lake McDonald, one of the most
beautiful alpine lakes. Among the national monuments are the petrified
forests in Arizona.
[Illustration: =GARDEN OF THE GODS, COLORADO,=
is a tract of land about five hundred acres in extent, thickly strewn
with grotesque rocks and cliffs of red and white sandstone. Among the
chief features are the Cathedral Spires, the Balanced Rock, etc. The
Gateway of the Garden of the Gods consists of two enormous masses of
bright red rock, three hundred and thirty feet high and separated just
enough for the roadway to pass between.]
=Garden of the Gods=, a region in Colorado, is noted for its view of
Pike’s Peak, and its weird and grotesque rock pinnacles, needles, etc.,
some of which receive descriptive names such as Cathedral Spires. The
region is about five hundred acres in extent, and in 1908 was presented
to Colorado Springs city.
=Grand Canyon.=--See under Colorado River.
=Mammoth Cave=, in Kentucky, is eighty-five miles by railroad southwest
of Louisville. The cave is about ten miles long; but it is said to
require upwards of one hundred and fifty miles of traveling to explore
its multitudinous avenues, chambers, grottoes, rivers and cataracts. It
is the largest cavern in the world. The main cave is only four miles
long, but it is from forty to three hundred feet wide, and rises in
height to one hundred and twenty-five feet. Lucy’s Dome is three hundred
feet high, the loftiest of the many vertical shafts that pierce through
all the levels.
It is estimated that there are more than four thousand sink-holes and
five hundred open caverns. Some avenues are covered with a continuous
incrustation of the most beautiful crystals; stalactites and stalagmites
abound.
There are several lakes or rivers connected with Green River outside the
cave, rising with the river, but subsiding more slowly, so that they are
generally impassible for more than six months in the year. The largest
is Echo River, three-fourths of a mile long, and in some places two
hundred feet wide. The air of the cave is pure; the temperature keeps at
about fifty-four degrees.
Among the most striking facts which exploration has revealed are the
following: there is a pit, named the Bottomless Pit, one hundred and
five feet deep, besides Scylla, one hundred and thirty-five feet deep.
Crevice Pit, with Klett’s Dome, which forms a part of it, is one hundred
and fifty feet in total vertical measurement. Cleveland Avenue is two
miles long, Silliman’s one and one-half miles and in places two hundred
feet in width. Large stretches of water have been christened Dead Sea,
Lake Lethe; also there are the Styx, and Roaring and Echo rivers. In the
outer galleries of the cave millions of bats are congregated. There are
also blind fish, crayfish, crickets, and other abnormal insect
inhabitants of the cave.
[Illustration: =BIG TREE, CALIFORNIA=
The Mariposa Grove of Big Trees (six thousand five hundred feet),
so-called from its situation in Mariposa (“butterfly”) County, occupies
a tract of land four square miles in area, reserved as a State Park, and
consists of two distinct groves, one-half mile apart. The Lower Grove
contains about two hundred and forty fine specimens of the Sequoia
Gigantea, including the “Grizzly Giant,” the largest of all, with a
circumference of ninety-four feet and a diameter of thirty-one feet. Its
main limb, two hundred feet from the ground, is six and one-half feet in
diameter. In ascending to the Upper Grove, which contains three hundred
and sixty big trees, the road goes through a tunnel, ten feet high and
nine and one-half feet wide (at the bottom), cut directly through the
heart of a living Sequoia, twenty-seven feet in diameter. (See
illustration.) About ten of the trees exceed two hundred and fifty feet
in height and about twenty trees have a circumference of over sixty
feet, three of these being over ninety feet. The Calaveras Grove has
taller trees than any in the Mariposa Grove, but the latter has those of
greatest circumference. At Santa Cruz there is a grove which contains
about a score of the genuine Redwood with a diameter of ten feet and
upwards. The largest is twenty-three feet across; one of the finest,
named the Giant, has a circumference of seventy feet. Here is a large
hollow tree in which General Fremont camped for several days in 1847.
Another stump is covered with a platform, which holds twelve to fourteen
people.]
=Niagara Falls.=--See under Famous Waterfalls.
=Yosemite Valley= is the name of a cleft in the west slope of the Sierra
Nevada, about the center of California, and one hundred and forty miles
east of San Francisco. The name Yosemite is an Indian word which
signifies “large grizzly bear.” This celebrated valley, noted for the
sublimity and beauty of its scenery, is about six miles long and from
one-half to nearly two miles in breadth, and is traversed by the Merced
River. The beholder is awed and impressed by the massiveness of its
mountain elevations, the nearly perpendicular granite walls, from three
thousand to six thousand feet high, by which it is shut in throughout
its entire length, and the grandeur of its waterfalls, which are in some
respects the most remarkable in the world.
At the lower end of the valley stands the striking cliff known as El
Capitan, three thousand three hundred feet high, while from near its
lower corner the Virgin’s Tears Fall descends one thousand feet. But the
eye turns from it to the remarkable fall opposite, happily named the
Bridal Veil, which leaps from the brow of a cliff nine hundred feet
high, and descends in a broad sheet of spray and finally mist, swaying
in the wind and constantly changing its form of fleecy beauty. Farther
up the valley are Cathedral Rock (two thousand six hundred and sixty
feet), the Three Brothers (three thousand eight hundred and thirty
feet), Sentinel Rock (three thousand and forty-three feet), and directly
opposite it the grand Yosemite Falls. (See Famous Waterfalls.) Above the
falls are the North Dome (three thousand five hundred and sixty-eight
feet) and the vast Half Dome, nearly one mile (four thousand seven
hundred and thirty-seven feet) high, whose summit can now be reached by
a long climb. Two miles above the great falls the stream enters the main
valley in two arms, coming out of two canyons. In that of the south fork
is the Illilouet Fall, some six hundred feet high; in the main canyon
are Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall, the latter one of the finest in the
world.
(See Famous Waterfalls.)
The country surrounding the valley and constituting the National Park is
a rolling and hilly region varying from eight thousand to ten thousand
feet above sea-level. There is little soil or vegetation except a
scattered forest growth. Small glaciers still remain near the summits of
some of the adjacent mountains. Bare granite peaks rise still higher
from this surface.
=Yellowstone National Park= comprises a tract of land originally
comprising three thousand five hundred and seventy-five square miles in
northwestern Wyoming, set apart by act of Congress in 1872 as a national
park to preserve from destructive molestation the most wonderful group
of natural features and phenomena known within the boundaries of the
United States. It is readily reached over the Northern Pacific Railroad,
which has a branch from Livingston to Gardiner, just outside the north
park boundary, thirty-six hours’ ride from St. Paul; or it may be
reached from the Oregon Short Line R. R. from the west side by a more
difficult stage connection.
The whole park plateau lies between six thousand and eight thousand feet
above sea-level. The mountains rise in great grandeur upon this plateau,
giving evidence of their volcanic origin, though now extinct, by their
form, and their rock structure, and the many evidences of pent-up heat
that one sees in the hot springs and geysers for which the locality is
justly famous. Twenty-four peaks rise over ten thousand feet, several
over eleven thousand. Electric Peak on the border is eleven thousand one
hundred and fifty-five feet. Many have been glaciated. Just outside the
Teton Range peaks rise to nearly fourteen thousand feet. It is a part of
the continental divide and from Two-ocean Pond the waters may flow into
either the Atlantic or the Pacific. The Yellowstone, Snake and Madison
rivers are fed by the waters from this area.
The surface of the park is dotted with lakes, the largest being
Yellowstone Lake, standing seven thousand seven hundred and forty-one
feet above sea-level, ten by twenty miles in average dimensions, the
largest body at so great elevation in the United States.
The streams contain numerous falls and rapids, twenty-five of special
interest, some as picturesque as the Falls of the Yellowstone, though
not on such a grand scale, and some far removed from the usual routes of
travel. The falls and canyons of the Yellowstone are considered among
the most wonderful in the world. The canyon is cut more than two
thousand feet deep into the lavas and sediments, exhibiting the most
fantastic carvings of erosion, modified by an exquisite blending of
colors. Into it plunges the river by two great leaps, the Upper and the
Lower Falls, one hundred and twelve and three hundred and ten feet high
respectively, and then flows on as a narrow ribbon scarcely more than
one hundred and sixty to two hundred feet wide for twelve miles of this
wonderfully beautiful chasm.
Yellowstone Park includes within its borders the largest geysers in the
world. There are about seventy in all, included in six groups or geyser
basins. Norris, Upper, Middle and Lower basins, ten to fifteen miles
apart, are on the headwaters of the Madison, here called Five Hole
River. The Upper is most active and is called the Great Geyser Basin. A
group is also found at Shoshone Lake, at the head of Snake River, and
another group at Heart Lake. Fifty geysers spout water and steam from
thirty to two hundred and fifty feet into the air. Some spout from open
bowl-shaped basins, and others have built cones or tubes by their
deposits. Extinct geysers are marked by the remains of these cones,
among which is Liberty Cap. Excelsior geyser is the largest of all. It
has a bowl-shaped opening two hundred by three hundred feet, flows four
thousand gallons of boiling hot water per minute, and throws a
fifty-foot column of water and steam seventy-five feet to two hundred
and fifty feet high. Giant throws a five-foot column over two hundred
feet high for an hour. Old Faithful, so named because of its exceptional
regularity, every sixty-four to sixty-five minutes without a failure
within the memory of the oldest observers, discharges a column one
hundred and fifty feet high amounting to one and a half million gallons
of water at each eruption. There is every gradation in size and violence
and periodicity.
In the Mammoth Hot Springs area, near the northern boundary, where there
are fifty active springs within an area of one hundred and seventy
acres, there is a travertine accumulation of one thousand feet. Others
deposit silica in similar manner, both types aided much by algous plant
growth in the mineralized warm waters. In some places sulphur has been
deposited.
Nine-tenths of the whole area is forest. The tree limit varies from nine
thousand four hundred to nine thousand seven hundred feet. Few of the
plateau localities are bare. Pine, poplar, balsam, cedar and spruce grow
abundantly and many to large size. In the spring and geyser localities
the trees are often covered by deposits and buried. Whole forests have
been thus entombed. Petrified trees are common. Wild animals are wholly
unmolested. Deer, elk, buffalo and bear may be seen and approached near
enough to photograph. Trout abound in the waters throughout.
[Illustration: =NATURAL BRIDGE OF VIRGINIA=
The Natural Bridge of Virginia (one thousand five hundred feet above the
sea) is a huge monolithic limestone arch, two hundred and fifteen feet
high, one hundred feet wide, and ninety feet in span, crossing the
ravine of the Cedar Creek. It seems to be a remnant of a great
horizontal bed of limestone rock that entirely covered the gorge of the
brook, which originally flowed through a subterranean tunnel. The rest
of this roof has fallen in and been gradually washed or worn away. The
bridge is finely situated in a beautiful amphitheater, surrounded by
mountains, on land originally granted by George III. to Thomas
Jefferson, who built a cabin here for the use of visitors. Among the
names upon the smooth side of the archway is that of George Washington
(west side, about twenty-five feet up), which was the highest of all
until a student named Piper actually climbed from the bottom to the top
of the arch in 1818.]
The first white man to attempt an exploration of the region was a
trapper named Coulter, who in 1805 traversed a part of this district.
His tales were disbelieved, but were confirmed thirty years later by the
discoveries of Bridger. In 1870 the first official survey was made, and
in 1871 Hayden’s famous expedition revealed the glories of the
Yellowstone district.
=Climate and Irrigation.=--The United States, stretching over such a
vast area and having such great tracts of mountain and plain, must
necessarily present a great variety of climate. The mean annual
temperature ranges from under forty degrees to seventy-five degrees. The
isotherm of fifty-five degrees mean annual temperature crosses the
center of the country from east to west, passing through St. Louis. The
mean annual rainfall for the whole country is about thirty inches, but
there is a great difference in this respect between different parts. The
rainfall is most abundant on the northwest Pacific Coast, on the Gulf
Coast, and on the higher mountain ranges. On the great plains it is only
ten to twenty inches, and there are large desert stretches in the Rocky
Mountain region with a rainfall of less than ten inches.
=Irrigation.=--As far as lack of rainfall is concerned in the so-called
rainless regions of the United States, this has been notably offset by
great works of irrigation that have been steadily going forward.
Agriculture, horticulture and vitaculture are, therefore, no longer
dependent on chance but science, as the National Irrigation Congress
expresses it.
Modern irrigation in the United States began in 1750 with the watering
of the gardens in the hills and deserts of the coast of California by
the adventurous missionaries from Mexico. Irrigation by English-speaking
people had its origin in Utah one hundred years later. There the
Mormons, separated by one thousand miles of untrodden desert from all
cultivated land, found in irrigation their only means of escape from
starvation.
In 1870 there were twenty thousand acres under irrigation, followed by a
rapid development of small ditches, until in 1880 there were one million
acres irrigated. Today (1917) upward of fifty million acres are included
in reclamation projects, and it is estimated that there are upward of
four hundred and fifty million acres still awaiting the scientific use
of water.
The diversity of methods used in irrigation in the United States is
remarkable. Practically every system to be found in the world can be
seen in some part of the arid west. This is due to the fact that many of
the irrigators have come from distant parts of the world and each seeks
to introduce on his farm customs and practices of his old environments.
This is particularly noticeable in California, where the Chinese
irrigate their truck gardens in Chinese fashion, and Italians, Spaniards
and Mexicans imitate for a time at least the practices of their
forefathers.
Upward of one hundred and fifty thousand miles of irrigation canals,
with reservoirs and supplementary works, have been built at a cost of
more than six hundred million dollars. These projects are distributed
through the States of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas,
Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon,
South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. The most notable
among them are: the Truckee-Carson Canal and Reservoir, in Nevada; the
Minidoka project, in southern Idaho; that of the Uncompahgre Valley, in
Colorado; the Roosevelt Dam, in the Salt River Valley, Arizona; the
Klamath Reservoir, on the Oregon-California boundary; the Boisé project,
Idaho; that of Yuma, on the Arizona-California boundary; North Platte,
on the Nebraska-Wyoming boundary; and the gigantic Elephant Butte
Reservoir, in New Mexico--the second largest in the world.
=Political Divisions.=--Under its present organization the United States
comprises fifty-one political divisions. Of these forty-eight are states
enjoying the full privileges afforded by the federal constitution. The
three territories--Alaska, Hawaii and Porto Rico--all are organized but
not yet admitted to statehood. The Philippines have a modified
territorial government.
(See Tables appended.)
It is worthy of remark that the center of population advanced westward
during the ten decades since 1790 in a nearly uniform line along the
thirty-ninth parallel of latitude.
=THE CENTER OF POPULATION=
======+=============================================+==============
CENSUS| | FROM POINT
YEAR | |TO POINT IN
| APPROXIMATE LOCATION BY IMPORTANT TOWNS |DIRECT LINE[9]
------+---------------------------------------------+--------------
1790 |Twenty-three miles east of Baltimore, Md. | ...
1800 |Eighteen miles west of Baltimore, Md. | 40.6
1810 |Forty miles northwest by west of Washington, |
|D. C. | 36.9
1820 |Sixteen miles north of Woodstock, Va. | 50.5
1830 |Nineteen miles west by southwest of Moore- |
|field, W. Va.[10] | 40.4
1840 |Sixteen miles south of Clarksburg, W. Va.[10]| 55.0
1850 |Twenty-three miles southeast of Parkersburg, |
|W. Va.[10] | 54.8
1860 |Twenty miles south of Chillicothe, Ohio | 80.6
1870 |Forty-eight miles east by north of Cincin- |
|nati, Ohio | 44.1
1880 |Eight miles west by south of Cincinnati, Ohio| 58.1
1890 |Twenty miles east of Columbus, Ind. | 48.6
1900 |Six miles southeast of Columbus, Ind. | 14.6
1910 |In the city of Bloomington, Ind. | 39.0
------+---------------------------------------------+-----------
[9] Movement in miles during preceding decade.
[10] West Virginia formed part of Virginia until 1860.
=Public Lands.=--The United States originally owned nearly all the area
of the states, with the exception of the original thirteen. Homesteads
have been given, or sold at a nominal price, to all bona fide settlers.
Vast areas have been given to railroad companies and in aid of
education. The country’s Indian wards have been provided with ample
reservations. The government has established great national parks, and
it has reserved more than seventy-two thousand square miles of forest
land.
The following tabulations give numerous important facts concerning the
states and territories:
=TABLE OF STATES AND TERRITORIES OF THE UNITED STATES=
=====+======================+======================+======================
DATE | STATE OR TERRITORY | SETTLEMENT | CAPITALS AND
OF | ORIGIN AND | WHERE, WHEN, BY WHOM | POPULATIONS
AD- | MEANING OF NAME | |
MIS- | | ORIGINAL TERRITORY | CHIEF PRODUCTIONS
SION | AREA AND POPULATION | FROM WHICH DERIVED | OF STATE
INTO | | |
UNION| MOTTO AND MEANING | |
-----+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------
1819|=Alabama= (Indian-- |Mobile Bay, 1702, by |Montgomery: Pop.
|Here we rest). |the French. |38,136.
|51,998 sq. miles. Pop.|From Louisiana, |Corn, oats, wheat,
|2,138,093. |Georgia, Mississippi |rice, cotton, sugar,
|Motto: _Here we rest._|and Alabama territo- |iron, lumber, manufac-
| |ries. |tures, potatoes.
| | |
1867|‡=Alaska= (_Al-ay- |Three Saints, 1784, by|Juneau: Pop. 1,864.
|eska_, meaning “the |the Russians. |Seals, salmon, gold,
|great country”). |Purchased from Russia |copper, silver,
|590,884 sq. miles. |in 1867 for |lumber, tin, lead,
|No motto. |$7,200,000. |coal.
| | |
1911|=Arizona= (Indian-- |Tucson, 1580, by the |Phoenix: Pop. 11,134.
|Sand Hills). |Spanish. |Copper, gold, silver,
|113,956 sq. miles. |From New Mexico terri-|alfalfa, fruits, live
|Pop. 204,354. |tory. |stock, wheat, barley.
|Motto: _Ditat deus_ | |
|(Founded by God). | |
| | |
1836|=Arkansas= (From a |Arkansas Post, 1685, |Little Rock: Pop.
|tribe of Indians). |by the French. |45,941.
|53,335 sq. miles. Pop.|From Louisiana, |Cotton, lumber, corn,
|1,574,449. |Missouri and Arkansas |oats, wheat, fruits,
|Motto: _Regnat populi_|territories. |wool, coal, tobacco.
|(The people rule). | |
| | |
1850|=California= (From an |San Diego, 1768, by |Sacramento: Pop.
|old Spanish romance). |the Spanish. |44,696.
|158,297 sq. miles. |From New Albion, Upper|Gold, silver, copper,
|Pop. 2,377,549. |California. |lead, petroleum,
|Motto: _Eureka_ (I | |borax, lumber, fruits,
|have found it). | |wine, olives, beet
| | |sugar.
| | |
1876|=Colorado= (Spanish-- |Auroria, 1859, by the |Denver: Pop. 213,381.
|Red, or Ruddy). |Americans. |Gold, silver, coal,
|103,948 sq. miles. |From Louisiana and |copper, vegetables,
|Pop. 799,024. |Mexican cession. |fruits, live stock,
|Motto: _Nil sine |Colorado territory. |wheat, beet sugar,
|numine_ (Nothing with-| |oats, corn.
|out providence). | |
| | |
*1788|=Connecticut= (Indian |Windsor, 1636, by the |Hartford: Pop. 98,915.
|--Long River). |English. |Manufactures, woolen,
|4,965 sq. miles. Pop. |From North Virginia, |cotton, notions;
|1,114,756. |New England. |tobacco, iron,
|Motto: _Qui transtulit| |granite, cereals.
|sustinet_ (He who | |
|transplanted still | |
|sustains). | |
| | |
*1787|=Delaware= (In honor |Wilmington, 1637, by |Dover: Pop. 3,720.
|of Lord De La Warr). |the Swedes. |Corn, wheat, tomatoes,
|2,370 sq. miles. Pop. |From New Sweden, New |fruits, manufactures,
|202,322. |Netherlands, three |leather, iron, steel,
|Motto: _Liberty and |lower counties on the |machinery.
|independence._ |Delaware. |
| | |
1791|=District of Columbia=|Rome, 1663, by the |Washington: Pop.
|(In honor of Colum- |English. |331,069.
|bus). |Ceded to government by|Flour mills,
|70 sq. miles. Pop. |Maryland and Virginia.|manufactures.
|331,069. | |
|Motto: _Justitia | |
|omnibus_ (Justice to | |
|all). | |
| | |
1845|=Florida= (Spanish-- |St. Augustine, 1565, |Tallahassee: Pop.
|Blooming). |by the Spanish. |5,018.
|58,666 sq. miles. Pop.|From Florida territo- |Fruits, vegetables,
|752,619. |ry. |tobacco, rice, cotton,
|Motto: _In God is our | |lumber, turpentine,
|trust._ | |resin, fish, phos-
| | |phate.
| | |
*1788|=Georgia= (In honor of|Savannah, 1733, by the|Atlanta: Pop. 154,839.
|George II.). |English. |Cotton, corn, rice,
|59,265 sq. miles. Pop.|One of the original |oats, tobacco,
|2,609,121. Motto: Ob- |thirteen states. |oysters, peaches,
|verse: _Wisdom, | |melons, marble, clay;
|justice, moderation._ | |cotton goods, lumber,
|Reverse: _Agriculture | |fertilizers, tar.
|and commerce._ | |
| | |
----|‡=Hawaii= (From the |Honolulu, 1820, by the|Honolulu: Pop. 52,183.
|native Owhyhee). |Americans. |Sugar, fruits, rice,
|6,449 sq. miles. |From Sandwich Islands.|coffee, hides, wool,
|No motto. | |honey, sisal.
| | |
1890|=Idaho= (Indian--Gem |Coeur d’Alene, 1842, |Boise City: Pop.
|of the Mountains). |by the Americans. |17,358.
|84,313 sq. miles. Pop.|From Oregon, Washing- |Gold, silver, copper,
|325,594. |ton and Idaho territo-|lead, lumber, flour,
|Motto: _Salve_ (Hail).|ries. |wheat, oats, barley,
| | |live stock.
| | |
1818|=Illinois= (Indian-- |Kaskaskia, 1682, by |Springfield: Pop.
|The Men). |the French. |51,678.
|56,665 sq. miles. Pop.|From Northwest, Indian|Corn, wheat, oats,
|5,638,591. |and Illinois territo- |potatoes, hay, live
|Motto: _National |ries. |stock, wool, meat,
|union, state sover- | |manufactures.
|eignty._ | |
| | |
1816|=Indiana= (Indian’s |Vincennes, 1702, by |Indianapolis: Pop.
|Ground). |the French. |233,650.
|36,354 sq. miles. Pop.|From Northwest and |Corn, wheat, tobacco,
|2,700,876. |Indiana territories. |vegetables, fruits,
|No motto. | |wool, coal, clay,
| | |flour, machinery.
| | |
1846|=Iowa= (Indian--Drowsy|Dubuque, 1833, by the |Des Moines: Pop.
|Ones). |Americans. |86,368.
|56,147 sq. miles. Pop.|From Louisiana, |Corn, wheat, oats,
|2,224,771. |Missouri, Michigan, |potatoes, hay, live
|Motto: _Our liberties |Wisconsin and Iowa |stock, butter, coal,
|we prize and our |territories. |lumber, poultry.
|rights we will main- | |
|tain._ | |
| | |
1861|=Kansas= (Indian-- |Leavenworth, 1854, by |Topeka: Pop. 43,684.
|Smoky Water). |the Americans. |Corn, wheat, hay, live
|82,158 sq. miles. Pop.|From Louisiana, Kansas|stock, fruits, coal,
|1,690,949. |territory. |petroleum, salt,
|Motto: _Ad astra per | |meats, Kaffir corn.
|aspera_ (To the stars | |
|through difficulties).| |
| | |
1792|=Kentucky= (Indian-- |Boonesboro, 1769, by |Frankfort: Pop.
|Dark and Bloody |the English. |10,465.
|Ground). |From Virginia. |Tobacco, hemp, wheat,
|40,598 sq. miles. Pop.| |cotton, live stock,
|2,289,905. | |lumber, coal, sorghum,
|Motto: _United we | |flour.
|stand, divided we | |
|fall._ | |
| | |
1812|=Louisiana= (In honor |New Orleans, 1718, by |Baton Rouge: Pop.
|of Louis XIV.). |the French. |14,897.
|48,506 sq. miles. Pop.|From Louisiana, Terri-|Cotton, corn, rice,
|1,656,388. |tory of Orleans. |sugar, lumber,
|Motto: _Union, jus- | |oysters, salt,
|tice, and confidence._| |sulphur.
| | |
1820|=Maine= (The Main |Saco, 1623, by the |Augusta: Pop. 13,211.
|Land). |English. |Hay, grains, dairying,
|33,040 sq. miles. Pop.|From New England, |potatoes, wool,
|742,371. |Laconia and Massa- |granite, ice, lumber,
|Motto: _Dirigo_ (I |chusetts. |apples, paper.
|direct). | |
| | |
*1788|=Maryland= (In honor |St. Mary’s, 1632, by |Annapolis: Pop. 8,609.
|of Queen Henriette |the English. |Wheat, hay, corn,
|Maria). |From one of the |vegetables, fruits,
|12,327 sq. miles. Pop.|original states. |oysters, coal, wool,
|1,295,346. | |canned fruits,
|Motto: _Fatti maschii,| |vegetables.
|parole femine_ (Manly | |
|deeds, womanly words).| |
| | |
*1788|=Massachusetts= (The |Plymouth, 1620, by the|Boston: Pop. 670,585.
|Place of Great Hills).|English. |Manufactures (woolen,
|8,266 sq. miles. Pop. |From North Virginia, |cotton), boots, shoes,
|3,366,416. |New England, Massa- |fish, tobacco,
|Motto: _Ense petit |chusetts Bay. |granite, marble.
|placidam sub liberate | |
|quietem_ (With the | |
|sword she seeks calm | |
|peace under liberty). | |
| | |
1837|=Michigan= (Indian-- |Sault Ste. Marie, |Lansing: Pop. 31,229.
|Great Lake). |1668, by the French. |Corn, wheat, oats,
|57,980 sq. miles. Pop.|From Northwest, |hay, fruits, vege-
|2,810,173. |Indiana and Michigan |tables, iron, copper,
|Motto: _Si quaeris |territories. |clay, lumber, manu-
|peninsulam amoenam, | |factures.
|circumspice_ (If you | |
|seek a beautiful pen- | |
|insula, behold it | |
|here). | |
| | |
1858|=Minnesota= (Indian-- |St. Paul, 1838, by the|St. Paul: Pop.
|Cloudy Water). |Americans. |214,744.
|84,682 sq. miles. Pop.|From Louisiana and |Corn, wheat, oats,
|2,075,708. |Northwest and |barley, flaxseed,
|Motto: _L’étoile du |Minnesota territories.|wool, live stock,
|nord_ (The star of the| |flour, iron,
|north). | |lumber, dairying.
| | |
1817|=Mississippi= (Indian |Biloxi, 1699, by the |Jackson: Pop. 21,262.
|--Great River, or |French. |Cotton, corn, wheat,
|Father of Waters). |From Louisiana and |oats, potatoes, rice,
|46,865 sq. miles. Pop.|Georgia, Mississippi |tobacco, oysters,
|1,797,114. |territory. |shrimps.
|No motto. | |
| | |
1821|=Missouri= (Indian-- |St. Genevieve, 1755, |Jefferson City: Pop.
|Great Muddy). |by the French. |11,850.
|69,420 sq. miles. Pop.|From Louisiana and |Corn, wheat, oats,
|3,293,335. |Louisiana and Missouri|rye, cotton, swine,
|Motto: _Salus populi |territories. |honey, zinc, lead,
|suprema lex esto_ (The| |tobacco, meats.
|welfare of the people | |
|is the supreme law). | |
| | |
1889|=Montana= (Spanish--A |Yellowstone River, |Helena: Pop. 39,165.
|Mountain). |1809, by the Ameri- |Wheat, wool, live
|146,572 sq. miles. |cans. |stock, fruit, oats,
|Pop. 375,053. |From Louisiana and |barley, lumber,
|Motto: _Oro y plata_ |Nebraska, Idaho, |copper, lead, silver,
|(Gold and silver). |Dakota and Montana |coal.
| |territories. |
| | |
1867|=Nebraska= (Indian-- |Bellevue, 1847, by the|Lincoln: Pop. 43,973.
|Shallow Water). |Americans. |Corn, wheat, oats,
|77,520 sq. miles. Pop.|From Louisiana, |live stock, hay,
|1,192,214. |Nebraska territory. |chicory, sugar beets,
|Motto: _Equality be- | |fruits, potatoes.
|fore the law._ | |
| | |
1864|=Nevada= (Spanish-- |Genoa, 1850, by the |Carson City: Pop.
|Snow-covered). |Americans. |2,466.
|110,690 sq. miles. |From Upper California |Gold, silver, copper,
|Pop. 81,875. |and Utah and Nevada |zinc, wool, live
|Motto: _All for our |territories. |stock, lumber, borax.
|country._ | |
| | |
*1788|=New Hampshire= |Portsmouth, 1623, by |Concord: Pop. 21,497.
|(Hampshire, England). |the English. |Hay, corn, potatoes,
|9,341 sq. miles. Pop. |From North Virginia, |oats, apples, granite,
|430,572. |New England, Laconia. |mica, manufactures.
|No motto. | |
| | |
*1787|=New Jersey= (In honor|Elizabethtown, 1617, |Trenton: Pop. 96,815.
|of governor of Jersey |by the Dutch. |Market garden crops,
|Island). |From New Netherland. |cereals, fruits,
|8,224 sq. miles. Pop. | |fisheries, manufac-
|2,537,167. | |tures, textiles,
|No motto. | |machinery.
| | |
1911|=New Mexico= (From Old|... |Santa Fe: Pop. 5,072.
|Mexico). | |Gold, silver, fruits,
|122,634 sq. miles. | |vegetables, live
|Pop. 327,301. | |stock, wool, lumber,
|Motto: _Crescit eundo_| |copper, coal,
|(It increases by | |turquoise.
|going). | |
| | |
*1788|=New York= (In honor |New York, 1614, by the|Albany: Pop. 100,253.
|of Duke of York). |Dutch. |Market garden crops,
|49,204 sq. miles. Pop.|From New Netherland. |fruits, corn, wheat,
|9,113,614. | |dairying, manufac-
|Motto: _Excelsior_ | |tures, clothing,
|(Higher). | |textiles, books,
| | |magazines, papers.
| | |
*1789|=North Carolina= (In |Albemarle Sound, 1653,|Raleigh: Pop. 19,218.
|honor of Charles II.).|by the English. |Cotton, corn, tobacco,
|52,426 sq. miles. Pop.|From Albemarle colony.|wheat, shad, oysters,
|2,206,287. | |lumber, mining.
|Motto: _Esse quam | |
|videri_ (To be, rather| |
|than to seem). | |
| | |
1889|=North Dakota= (Indian|Pembino, 1859, by the |Bismarck: Pop. 5,443.
|--Allied). |Americans. |Wheat, oats, barley,
|70,837 sq. miles. Pop.|From Louisiana, |flaxseed, live stock,
|577,056. |Minnesota and Nebraska|wool, minerals.
|Motto: _Liberty and |and Dakota territo- |
|union, now and for- |ries. |
|ever, one and in- | |
|separable._ | |
| | |
1803|=Ohio= (Indian-- |Marietta, 1788, by the|Columbus: Pop.
|Beautiful River). |Americans. |181,548.
|41,040 sq. miles. Pop.|From Northwest terri- |Corn, wheat, oats,
|4,767,121. |tory. |hay, potatoes, fruits,
|No motto. | |tobacco, live stock,
| | |wool, dairying, coal,
| | |petroleum, salt, iron,
| | |steel, machinery,
| | |flour.
| | |
1907|=Oklahoma= (Indian-- |Guthrie, 1890, by the |Oklahoma City: Pop.
|Beautiful Land). |Americans. |64,205.
|70,057 sq. miles. Pop.|From Indian and |Corn, wheat, oats,
|1,657,155. |Oklahoma territories. |cotton, flax, live
|Motto: _Labor omnia | |stock, petroleum,
|vincit_ (Labor con- | |minerals.
|quers everything). | |
| | |
1859|=Oregon= (Spanish-- |Astoria, 1811, by the |Salem: Pop. 14,094.
|Wild Marjoram). |Americans. |Lumber, live stock,
|96,699 sq. miles. Pop.|From Oregon territory.|wheat, hay, fruits,
|672,765. | |hops, wool, salmon,
|Motto: _The union._ | |gold, silver, paper
| | |making.
| | |
*1787|=Pennsylvania= (Latin |Chester, 1638, by the |Harrisburg: Pop.
|--Penn’s Woods). |Swedes. |64,186.
|45,126 sq. miles. Pop.|From original state. |Manufactures, steel,
|7,665,111. | |machinery, textiles,
|Motto: _Virtue, liber-| |coal, coke, petroleum,
|ty and independence._ | |natural gas, iron,
| | |grains, wool, leather.
| | |
----|‡=Philippines= (In |Cebu, 1565, by the |Manila: Pop. 250,000.
|honor of Philip II.). |Spanish. |Cocoa, coffee,
|115,026 sq. miles. |From Archipelago de |tobacco, cotton, hemp,
| |San Lazaro. | cocoanuts, corn,
| | |sugar, rice, timber,
| | |dyewoods.
| | |
----|=Porto Rico= (Spanish |San Juan, 1510, by the|San Juan: Pop. 50,000.
|--Rich Port). |Spanish. |Coffee, sugar,
|3,435 sq. miles. |Ceded by Spain. |tobacco, cotton,
| | |citrus fruits,
| | |bananas, pineapples,
| | |salt.
| | |
*1790|=Rhode Island= |Providence, 1636, by |Providence: Pop.
|(Rhodes, an island in |the English. |224,326.
|the Ægean Sea). |From Providence and |Manufactures, worsted,
|1,248 sq. miles. Pop. |Rhode Island planta- |cotton, jewelry,
|542,610. |tions. |machinery, rubber,
|Motto: _Hope._ | |minerals.
| | |
*1788|=South Carolina= (In |Ashley River, 1670, by|Columbia: Pop. 26,319.
|honor of Charles II.).|the English. |Cotton, wheat, corn,
|30,989 sq. miles. Pop.|From Carteret colony. |oats, tobacco, rice,
|1,515,400. | |oysters, turpentine,
|Motto: _Dum spiro, | |lumber, phosphates.
|spero. Spes_ (While I | |
|breathe, I hope. | |
|Hope). | |
| | |
1889|=South Dakota= (Indian|Southeast part, 1859, |Pierre: Pop. 3,656.
|--Allied). |by the Americans. |Corn, wheat, oats,
|77,615 sq. miles. Pop.|From Louisiana, |flax, potatoes, live
|583,888. |Minnesota and Nebraska|stock, wool, gold,
|Motto: _Under God the |and Dakota territo- |silver, tin, dairying.
|people rule._ |ries. |
| | |
1796|=Tennessee= (Indian-- |Fort Loudon, 1757, by |Nashville: Pop.
|River with the Great |the English. |110,364.
|Bend). |From North Carolina, |Corn, wheat, cotton,
|42,022 sq. miles. Pop.|territory south of the|potatoes, tobacco,
|2,184,789. |Ohio River. |live stock, coal,
|Motto: _Agriculture, | |iron, marble, lumber.
|commerce._ | |
| | |
1845|=Texas= (From tribe of|San Antonio, 1692, by |Austin: Pop. 29,860.
|Indians). |the Spanish. |Cotton, corn, oats,
|265,896 sq. miles. |From Mexican cession. |wheat, rice, sugar,
|Pop. 3,896,542. | |live stock, wool,
|No motto. | |fruits, lumber,
| | |petroleum, coal.
| | |
1896|=Utah= (Indian-- |Salt Lake City, 1847, |Salt Lake City: Pop.
|Mountain Dwellers). |by the Americans. |92,777.
|84,990 sq. miles. Pop.|From Mexican cession, |Gold, silver, copper,
|373,351. |Utah territory. |lead, coal, vege-
|Motto: _Industry._ | |tables, fruits, sugar,
| | |wheat, oats, live
| | |stock, wool.
| | |
1791|=Vermont= (French-- |Fort Dummer, 1724, by |Montpelier: Pop.
|Green Mountain). |the English. |7,856.
|9,564 sq. miles. Pop. |From New Netherland, |Hay, cereals,
|355,956. |New Hampshire grants. |potatoes, lumber,
|Motto: _Freedom and | |marble, dairying,
|unity._ | |maple sugar, manufac-
| | |tures, wood pulp.
| | |
*1788|=Virginia= (In honor |Jamestown, 1607, by |Richmond: Pop.
|of Elizabeth, the |the English. |127,628.
|virgin queen). |From South Virginia. |Corn, wheat, oats,
|42,627 sq. miles. Pop.| |tobacco, potatoes,
|2,061,212. | |cotton, oysters, coal,
|Motto: Obverse; _Sic | |iron, cotton, manu-
|semper tyrannis_ (Ever| |factures.
|so to tyrants). Re- | |
|verse: _Perseverando_ | |
|(By perseverance). | |
| | |
1889|=Washington= (After |Columbia River, 1811, |Olympia: Pop. 6,996.
|George Washington, |by the English. |Lumber, coal, wheat,
|first president). |From Oregon and |barley, oats, fruits,
|69,127 sq. miles. Pop.|Washington territo- |salmon, live stock,
|1,141,990. |ries. |minerals.
|Motto: _Al-Ki_ (Bye- | |
|bye). | |
| | |
1863|=West Virginia= (From |Berkeley County, 1726,|Charleston: Pop.
|Virginia). |by the Americans. |22,996.
|24,170 sq. miles. Pop.|From Virginia. |Corn, oats, hay,
|1,221,119. | |wheat, fruits, cattle,
|Motto: Obverse: | |sheep, lumber, coal,
|_Montani semper | |petroleum, natural
|liberi_ (Mountaineers | |gas, mining.
|are always free men). | |
|Reverse: _Libertas et | |
|fidelitas_ (Liberty | |
|and fidelity). | |
| | |
1848|=Wisconsin= (Indian-- |Green Bay, 1745, by |Madison: Pop. 25,531.
|Wild Rushing Channel).|the French. |Corn, oats, barley,
|56,066 sq. miles. Pop.|From Northwest, |wheat, hay, potatoes,
|2,333,860. |Illinois, Michigan and|fruits, beet sugar,
|Motto: _Forward._ |Wisconsin territories.|dairying, iron,
| | |lumber.
| | |
1890|=Wyoming= (Indian-- |Cheyenne, 1867, by the|Cheyenne: Pop. 11,320.
|Extensive Plain). |Americans. |Wool, lumber, coal,
|97,914 sq. miles. Pop.|From Louisiana (chief-|copper, petroleum,
|145,965. |ly), Nebraska, Dakota,|minerals.
|Motto: _Equal rights._|Idaho, and Wyoming |
| |territories. |
-----+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------
* Original Thirteen States. ‡ Organized Territories.
=Cities.=--In January, 1917, three cities of the United States, New
York, Chicago and Philadelphia, had a population of over one million.
St. Louis, Boston, Cleveland, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Detroit had each
over 500,000. Buffalo, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Milwaukee,
Cincinnati, Newark, New Orleans, Washington, Minneapolis and Seattle had
over 300,000. Forty-seven others had populations ranging from 100,000 to
300,000; while altogether there were one hundred and ninety-eight above
30,000.
The following table gives the approximate population of all cities in
excess of 100,000.
=POPULATION OF CITIES HAVING OVER 100,000 IN 1917=
====================+=========
|Est. Pop.
=Cities= | Jan. 1,
| 1917
--------------------+---------
Akron, Ohio | 106,000
Albany, N.Y. | 110,000
Atlanta, Ga. | 191,000
Baltimore, Md. | 590,000
Birmingham, Ala. | 182,000
Boston, Mass. | 757,000
Bridgeport, Ct. | 150,000
Buffalo, N.Y. | 469,000
Cambridge, Mass. | 112,000
Camden, N.J. | 105,000
Chicago, Ill. |2,498,000
Cincinnati, Ohio | 411,000
Cleveland, Ohio | 674,000
Columbus, Ohio | 215,000
Dallas, Tex. | 135,000
Dayton, Ohio. | 130,000
Denver, Col. | 261,000
Des Moines, Iowa | 106,000
Detroit, Mich. | 572,000
Fall River, Mass. | 130,000
Fort Worth, Tex. | 100,000
Grand Rapids, Mich. | 141,856
Hartford, Ct. | 145,000
Houston, Tex. | 148,000
Indianapolis, Ind. | 272,000
Jersey, City, N.J. | 306,000
Kansas City, Mo. | 298,000
Los Angeles, Cal. | 504,000
Louisville, Ky. | 239,000
Lowell, Mass. | 111,000
Memphis, Tenn. | 160,000
Milwaukee, Wis. | 437,000
Minneapolis, Minn. | 364,000
Nashville, Tenn. | 135,000
Newark, N.J. | 408,000
New Bedford, Mass. | 113,000
New Haven, Ct. | 150,000
New Orleans, La. | 372,000
New York City |5,603,000
Oakland, Cal. | 192,000
Omaha, Neb. | 166,000
Paterson, N.J. | 126,000
Philadelphia, Pa. |1,710,000
Pittsburgh, Pa. | 580,000
Portland, Ore. | 296,000
Providence, R.I. | 255,000
Reading, Pa. | 107,000
Richmond, Va. | 157,000
Rochester, N.Y. | 257,000
Salt Lake City, Utah| 125,000
San Antonio, Tex. | 125,000
San Diego, Cal. | 100,000
San Francisco, Cal. | 464,000
Scranton, Pa. | 150,000
Seattle, Wash. | 349,000
Spokane, Wash. | 125,000
Springfield, Mass. | 102,103
St. Joseph, Mo. | 101,800
St. Louis, Mo. | 758,000
St. Paul, Minn. | 247,000
Syracuse, N.Y. | 155,000
Tacoma, Wash. | 108,094
Toledo, Ohio | 192,000
Trenton, N.J. | 110,000
Washington, D.C. | 364,000
Worcester, Mass. | 164,000
Youngstown, Ohio | 118,000
--------------------+---------
=Atlanta= (ăt-lăn´tȧ), =Ga.= [The “Gate City”; the name Atlanta was
suggested by its geographical position, immediately on the dividing
ridge, separating the Gulf and Atlantic waters.]
It is situated at the base of the Blue Ridge, near the Chattahoochee
River; has an elevation of over one thousand feet, and a remarkably
healthful climate.
Atlanta is laid out in the form of a circle, with the Union Depot as its
center. A little to the south of the old Union Station is the State
Capitol, which contains a library of about sixty thousand volumes and an
interesting geological collection. A little to the northwest is the New
Court House; and farther to the north, beyond the railway, are the
Custom House and the L. & N. Freight House, an enormous concrete
structure. The City Hall, the Chamber of Commerce, the Opera House, the
Carnegie Library (of white marble), the Century Building, the Empire
Building, the Equitable Building, the Jewish Temple, and the First
Methodist Church are notable edifices. Among the chief educational
establishments are the Georgia School of Technology, the Atlanta
University (for colored students), the Agnes Scott Institute, and the
Clark University (colored students). The finest private houses are in
Peachtree Street.
Several railroads, converging at Atlanta and leading to other important
Southern cities, greatly facilitate the city’s extensive and rapidly
increasing trade. It has a large export trade in tobacco, cotton,
horses, and mules, its mule market being one of the most important in
the United States. Its manufactures include implements, fertilizers,
cotton goods, other foundry and machine products.
Atlanta was first settled in 1830. In 1843 it was incorporated as a
town, and called Marthasville. In 1845 changed its name to Atlanta, and
two years later secured a city charter. It was an important city in the
Confederacy and the objective point of General Sherman’s campaign. The
battle of Atlanta (July 22, 1864) was fought southeast of the city. In
September the city was made a military camp by Sherman, and in November
he left the city in flames, and started on his “march to the sea.” The
city was almost entirely destroyed, but recovered rapidly after the war,
and in 1878 became the capital of Georgia.
=Baltimore= (bôl´tĭ-mōr), =Md.= [The “Monumental City”; named for the
proprietor of a large tract of land in Maryland, Cecil Calvert, Lord
Baltimore, who settled the province in 1635.]
It is situated on an estuary of the Patapsco River, at the head of
navigation, about fourteen miles from Chesapeake Bay, and is on the
Baltimore and Ohio, the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, and
other railroads. A good harbor and fine geographical situation give
Baltimore unusual trade advantages, and it has become one of the great
export centers of the United States.
The city is roughly divided into two nearly equal parts by a small
stream, Jones Falls, which flows entirely through the city. The portion
of the city northeast of the stream is called “Old Town.” Baltimore
Street is the chief longitudinal thoroughfare.
The natural center for the visitor is Mt. Vernon Place, a small square,
prettily laid out and suggesting Paris in its tasteful monuments and
surrounding buildings. In the middle rises the Washington Monument, a
column one hundred and thirty feet high, surmounted by a colossal statue
of George Washington.
At the northeast corner of the square is the handsome Mt. Vernon
Methodist Episcopal Church; at the southeast corner, Peabody Institute,
for the encouragement of science, art, and general knowledge.
On the south side of the square is the house of Henry Walters, connected
by an overhead bridge with a new picture-gallery containing the
celebrated Walters Collection, one of the finest private collections of
art in America.
Charles Street, one of the chief thoroughfares of the city, leads to the
north from the Washington Monument past the Union Station, near which,
at the north end of the B. & O. tunnel, is the Mt. Royal Station.
Following Charles Street to the south we pass (right) the First
Unitarian Church and the back of the Roman Catholic Cathedral, which
faces Cathedral Street. The latter is surmounted by a dome one hundred
and twenty-five feet high, and contains some interesting paintings.
Adjacent is the residence of the Cardinal.
Farther on Charles Street passes the Masonic Temple, intersects
Baltimore Street, the chief business street of the city, and is
continued to South Baltimore. In East Fayette Street, to the left, is
the Court House, a handsome white marble building, and the Post Office,
in front of which rises the Battle Monument, erected in 1815 in memory
of the struggles of the war of 1812-1814. The interior of the Court
House is adorned with admirable mural paintings. To the east of the Post
Office is the City Hall, a large and handsome building, with a dome two
hundred and sixty feet high.
To the south of the City Hall, in Gay Street, between Water and Lombard
Streets, is the imposing new Custom House, which was damaged by the fire
of 1904, but has since been repaired and completed.
A little to the west of Mt. Vernon Place, between Howard St. and Eutaw
St., are the unpretentious buildings formerly occupied by Johns Hopkins
University, one of the foremost institutions of learning in the country.
It was endowed with over three million five hundred thousand dollars by
Johns Hopkins, a Quaker. In 1902 a suburban site about two miles north
of the Washington Monument was secured for this famous university, and
the first of a fine group of buildings was occupied by it in 1914.
The Johns Hopkins Hospital, opened in 1889, is also due to the
liberality of Mr. Hopkins, who bequeathed over three million dollars for
its foundation.
Both as a scientific and charitable institution, this hospital is an
important adjunct to the University; and in the completeness of its
equipment and excellence of its system, it ranks with the foremost
hospitals in the world. The buildings of the Medical School of Johns
Hopkins University adjoin the hospital.
Druid Hill Park, a pleasure-ground of about seven hundred acres, owes
its beauty in great part to the fact that is has been preserved as a
private park for one hundred years before passing into the hands of the
city. Its hills afford beautiful views. Druid Lake, one-half mile long,
is one of the reservoirs of the city waterworks.
Baltimore is an important center of the traffic in breadstuffs, and is
also the seat of extensive and varied industries--cotton and woolen
goods, flour, tobacco and cigars, beer, glassware, boots and shoes, iron
and steel (including machinery, car-wheels, iron bridges, stoves,
furnaces, etc.), clothing, pianos, organs, and the canning of oysters.
Shipbuilding has become an important development, and Sparrows Point,
with its immense Bessemer steel plant, is a place of great industrial
activity.
The construction of the first important line of railway in the United
States was begun at Baltimore in 1828 and carried on by private
enterprise, and the first telegraph line was constructed to, and the
first message received in, Baltimore. In 1904 Baltimore was visited by a
fire which consumed fifty million dollars’ worth of property.
[Illustration: =SOME VIEWS IN BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: RIVER FRONT, PARKS
AND NOTABLE BUILDINGS=