The Iowa patriot. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1839-1839, 1839-06-27
Written for the Patriot
BURLINGTON, 10. June, lsaa

/ AS propose to give you, in a few l.,
tiers, some facts, serving for inform,,;,
only, relating to this territory, YOU mo-,
be prepared to expecta dull perusal, b,v
ling no more interest than your curios;,r
on the subject may impart to it,
The strip on the eastern border Of A..
territory which includes tssettIed oo,,;o,
frequently called SCOTS Purchase. the !,
dian title having been extinguisbed h, .
treaty concluded by Gen Scott on Il.
part Of the U. S. contained by The sr
purchase about so miles in width VA.
from the Mississippi, forming an elbow
about 200 miles in length. The inter;o,
angle of the elbow has been since 6no,
by farther cession included by lns
drawn with slight angle toward the f.,
mer, thus adding long triangular s.,;n
called the thew purchase" exceeding a
miles i'll width in the centre and r,,nn;or
to a point north and south. This nor
ton is watered by nearly all the river,
which | mentioned as falling into the ,yi,.
sisslppi. heir course is very uniformly
from northwest to southeast and serve,
collectively to form an important feature
in the geology and agriculture Of the
country as | shall have occasion after.
ward to mention in referring to those sub.
jects. | shall therefore now content nv.
self with stating that these rivers, withhs
smaller streams, here commonly called
creeks, and the branches Of both, are lin.
ed with a body of timber varying from
one to three miles or more in width and
that the remainder of the country is prsi.
RE. These streams, being so numerous
and near, confine the limits of the prairie
which, In so many directions indenad
with what are called points of timber, no
where expand to an announcement size.
This distribution of timber and prairie
so well arranged that wood for fuel fen.
ces and building is thus brought near 10
every mans door and it will in cona.
quence allow the occupation of the coun.
try by dense population.
The wood consists Of many varietiesof
oak, maple, several species of ash; wal
nut bearing the fruit which is SO common
in the eastern markets, here called hicko.
ry, walnut bearing a fruit the same as
or similar to what is called English wal.
nut, butternut, elm, red mulberry, cotton
wood, tree called here linden but very
differentfrom the line, linden or bassWood
which is used as an ornamental tree III
some parts of the country, black; yellow
and honey locust, &c. The soili is Of three
kinds, prairie, the upland wooded coun.
try, commonly called timber land, and
the river bottoms. Both of these last
bear timber equally, and are generally
what is called well timbered.
The territory is at present divided into
20 counties the lines follow ing as near'
possible the township lines of the gov
eminent surveys, and including generally
from ls to % townships. They are Lee
Van Buren,, Des Moines, Henry, Jefer.
son, Louisa, Washington, Muscatlne'
Johnson, Scott, Linn, Clinton, Jackson
Jones, Clayton, Fayette, Dubuque, Des.
ware, Cedar, Buchanan.
The whole population now inhabltns
the territory may be computed at 4OOOu'
though some persons add IS per centunl
to this estimate. At the taking Of the cen
sus year ago, the whole population VI
$4,000 Of which half inhabited t's
four southern counties. This proportion
probably still holds, and five elgnur'
Of the present population, or 90
900 may be set down as residing so'lu
of the Iowa River: being about eight z
square mile.
On the Mississippi the banks IN SOU, :.
places rise at once in precipitous buns :
the height of 100 or $50 feet. ms "
vation forms the level of an lslps''',
plain, which is attained by the whole ''p'i
at various distances from the river accolu
ing to the width Of the bottom; oel.lps
which in other cases the ascent Degu''
and wood and prairie extend themssns
alike on this equal footing Of rePuol''.
fellowship, uninterrupted except wne'e
river or deep rayine marks its pas'ss
through the timbered region. NO arD,
tious mountain rises above his neigu0',