The Wilmingtonian, and Delaware advertiser., 1826-04-20

iouee proposed, after leaving &
Louis ana passing generally on the Nor,. 81
sac OF the Missouri River, strikes tb. o'.n NJ.
Piatte short distance above its ;nno,;er rser
WIN the Missouri; then pursues the st,on wat"..
Oh the riatte to their sources, and. in contna
ation' crosses the head waters of wha. hl"u Gaa
Ashley believes to be the Rio Colorada sn ~
the West, and strikes, for the first t;ms VI
ridge, or single connecting chain of monnts;,s
running from north to south. This. ho~amH
er presents no difficulty, as a wide q,n "
found apparently prepared for the pSrpo', Srp -
OF passage. After passing this can ,bs
route proposed falls directly on river ~, s|s
led by Gen. Ashley, the Bucnaventu.a sr., sas
runs with that river to the Pacific Ocean a"u
The face ofMe country, in the general j..
continuation of high, rugged, and barrsa b',sa
mountains, the sumits of which are ;h.n e;.hsD
timbered with pine, quakingasp, or, cedar. s,.
or, in fact, almost entirely destitute Of ve-a. '
alton. Other parts are hilly and undplasSn.
and the valleys and table lands, (excent as
the borders of water courses. which .'N oA
more or less timbered with cotton-wood anS
wiilows,) are destitute of wood; but tb;s 'u u
dispensable article is substituted by an hsrh,
called by the hunters, wild sage, WIKI
grows from one to five feet high, and is fonud
in great ablndancein most parts of the conn
try.
SoR--The sterility of the country ssr
orally, y almost incredible. That part of;,
however, bounded by the three principa, r,n'
ges OF mountains; and watered by the soprcs,
ofthe supposed Buenaventura, isles ster;ls'
yet the proportion of arabic land, even w,S
IN those limits is comparatively small; and M
district OF the country visited BY General
Ashley, OF Of which he obtained satsfactors
information, offers inducements to ciyi,ss
people, sufficient to justify an expectation Of
permanent settlements.
RiUers.-Ihe river visited by Gen Asb.
ley, and which he believes to be the Rio Cnl.
RADIO OF the West, is at about fifty miles from
its most northern source, eighty yards wild.
At this point, General A. embarked and de-.
scended the river, which gradually increased
in width to $50 yards. In passing through
the mountains, the channel is contracted ia
fifty or sixty yards, and so much obstructed
by rocks as to make its descent extremely
dangerous, and its ascent impracticable.-
Alter descending this river about 400 miles.
General a. shaped his course northwardly
and tell upon what he supposed to be the
sources OF the Buenaventura; and represents
those branches as bold streams, from 90 to
1 ooyarus Wlue, forming aJunction few miles
below where he crossed them, and then emp
ties into large lake, (called the Grand
Lake, represented by the Indians as being
40 or so miles wine, and 60 or 70 miles long
This information is strengthened by that Of
the white hunters, who have explored parts
of the Lake. The Indians represent, that
at the extreme, western end of this Lake,
large river flows out, and runs in west
wardly direction.
Gen. A. when on these waters, at first
thought it probable they were the sources
OF the Multnomah-but the account given
by the Indians. supported by the opinion Of
some men belonging to the Hudson Bay
Company, confirms him in the belief that
they are the head waters of the river, rep
resented as the Buenaventura To the north
and northwest from Grand Lake, the coun-
try is represented as Astounding in Salt.
The Indians, west of the mountains, are
remarkably well disposed towards the cit
zens OF the United States; the Eutaws and
Flat-heads are particularly SO, and express
great desire that the Americans should
visit them frequently.