Iowa news. [volume] (Dubuque, Upper Mississippi Lead Mines, Wisconsin Territory) 1837-1841, 1837-07-29

tute an imaginary back ground, perfect in its
kind. And then the sunlight constantly chang
ing its position, is received upon such vari-
iety OF angles, and these, too, rapidly varying,
as the breeze rolls over the surface, all gives
to the scene wild and shifting aspect to the
eye, at times, hardly reconcileabe with reality.
AS the sun reached the meridian, the winds
went down, and then the stiffness of such a
scene is indescribable. Not solitary tree to
intercept the vision, or to break the monotony
---not sound to cheer the ear, or relieve the
desolation---not living thing in all that vast
wild plain to tell the traveller that he was not
"Alone, alone, all, all alone.
Alone, OH n wide, wide sea.'
1t is at such season, that the question pre-
sents itself with more than ordinary vehetaence
to the mind---to what circumstance do these
vast praries owe their origin! Amid what ter
rible conyulsion ofthe elements did these great
ocean plains heave themselves into being!
What mighty voice has rolled this heaped up
surface into tumult, and then, amid the storm
and the tempsst, bid the pillows stand, and
fixed them there!
The origin of the prairie has given rise to
much speculation. Some contend that we are
to regard these vast plains in the same light as
|HOuutdluSs SdllG1SS lOicSISs dHu thuoO oluCi
grand features of natures workmanship; and,
it is very true, plains of character not dissi-
milar are to be met with all over our earth--at
every degree of elevation, ofevery extent, and
of every stage of fertility, from the exhaust
! less Secunl;:y ofthe delta ofthe Nile, TO the
barren sterilityy Of the sands of the DESERT
Northern Asia has her boundless pastures and
seppes, where the wild Tartar feeds his focks.
Africa her karroos---South America her grassy
ilunos and pampas---Europe her purple heath
er--lndia her jungles---the southern sections
of our own land their beautiful savannas. and
wherefore not the vast regions of the "Far
Vest the broad rolling prairie. The word
is of French derivation, signifying meadow,
and is applied to every description of surface
destitute of timber and clothed with grass. 1t
was, then, upon their own fair prairies of Ju-
dea and Mesopotamia, that the ancient patri-
archs pitched their tents. The tough sward
of the prairie, too, when once formed, 1t is
well known, refuses to receive the forest; but,
broken into by the plow-share, or by any 9TH
er cause, and protected from the autumnal
flame, and all is soon rolling with green. Such
lis the argument for the natural origin of the
prairie, and its cogency none will deny. But,
assuming for moment dluvlal origin to
these vast plains---as a thousand circumstances
concur to indicate---and the phenomena are far
more satisfactorily and philosophicaly solved.
In soil SO exhaustlcssly fertile. the grasses
and herbs would first secure possession OF the
surface. Even now, whenever the earth Is
thrown up, from whatever depth, j: is i!nme-
diately messed with verdue By the countless
embryos, buried in its teeming bosom---a proof
incontestibly Of secondary origin. After the
grasses succeeded Towering shrub; then the
larger weeds---eventually thickets were form
ed---the surface was baked and hardened by
the direct rays of the sun; and the bosom of
the soil, bound up, as if by bands ofbrass and
iron, utterly refused to receive or nourish the
seeds Of the forest, now strewn over It. This
| is the unavoidable conclusion whatever natu-
raj causes have held their sway. Upon the
borders Of rivers, creeks, and overlooking
streams, or wherever the soil become broken,
this series Of causes was interrupted, and the
result we see in the numerous islands, groves
and in the forests which invariably fringe the
water-courses, great and small. The autumn
nal fires, too, aboriginal tradition informs us,
have annually swept these vast plains, from
an era which the memory OF man iaileth to re-
cord; scathing and consuming every bush.
shrub or thicket, which in lapse of ages might
have aspired to the dignity of tree---a nucleus
around which other trees might have cluster
ed. Here and there, indeed, amid the heav-
inc waste, desolate, wind shaken, flame
hlackened oak rears its naked branches in the
distance: but it is a stricken thing, and only
confirms the position assumed. From con-
currence of fortuitous circumstances, easily
conceived, the solitary seed was received into
a genial soil---the tender shrub, ana the sap
ling, were protected from destruction, ana az
length it had struggled into the upper air, and
deied alike the flames and blasts OF the prai-
RE.
The argument ofanalogy for tho natural ORR
gin of the prairie may also be fairly question
ed, since careful examination of the subject
must convince any unprejudiced mind, that the
similarity of feature between these and others,
with which we are acquainted, is not sufficient
ly striking to warrant comparison. The pam
pas, the steppes, and the sand-plalns, though
not unlike in the more prominent characterls'
tics, are widely different in confgurationr, ex'
tent and soil. The prairie combines charac'
teristics Of each--exhibiting features OF all IN
common, Of no one in particular Who would
institute comparison between the dark rolling
luxuriance Of the North American prairie, anc
the gloomy moor of northern Europe, with its
heavy funeral mantle of heather and ling
Could the rifest fancy conjure up the weiro
sisters, all $50 withered and so wild in then
attire, upon these beautiful plains ofthe peace
full Him! Nor do we meetint the thymc-breath
ing downs Of '.merry England broa1
rich levels Of France---theg rape-clad Highlands
of Spain, or in the golden melowness OF the
Italian campagna, with similarity OF feature
sufficiently striking to identify our own glo.Ii
GUS praries with them. Europe can boast, IN
deed, no popularity of surface assuming sucl
confgur alton, or exhibiting such phenomena
i When, then, we reflect, that Of all those
vast plains which spread themselves out upoI