Iowa territorial gazette and advertiser., 1842-09-24


Moines. shall he taken; but will read
4 from the report Of Capinin Gulon. an Of
/ fear Of tnc United States army, whomaGe
reconnaissance Of that river in the latter
part of III, wear 1910. untiar the direction
Of the Typographical Bureau. He says
The chief characteristics OF this rive
are great decI,nation in the plane Of il:
he'd. causing. in time o! floo.i. Il very swli
cufrent; unusual uniformity in ihe deptl
OF W; Ter in the channel; great sinnoslts
Of course; and a 'esse amount Of obstruc
tions IN the upper than in he lower parts
These obstruciions consist Of sighi rapas
termed by the boa'men riffs. (ripples,
and a small number Of snags aud trees
which have fallen from the banks
These rapids are ali very short. vary
ing from eighty TO three hundred yards
in length" '''The removal Of the project
ling rocks. for space vide enough TO ad
nit the free passage Of boats. would ren
der the channel singolarly uniform in
depth, and, with the destruction OF the
snags, logs, and a few overbearing trees
would seem to be all that should be done
| for, in many Of the intervals between tbs
rapids, where the current is more gentle
and the bottom fine sand, the depth O
water is not greater than upon them
"But the practicabili'y of its navigation
is placed beyond a doubt by the fact. tha,
the American Fur Company have repea
tedly transported their supplies 10 theiI
principal depot-in Steamboat Of the size
ordinarily used on the upper Mississippi
in low water: and that Il heavily laden
keelboat has been takenfup nearly TO the
mouth Of the .Raccoon Fork"
In further Illustration of the subjec,
will also read an extract from the able
and 'oGisal repor, OF the Committee or
The Territories 1t is sfoiows:
s.Congress acted with singular precis
ion and emphasis in rela, ion 10 ali the 9TH
er lines Of this State. by connecting them
with striking natural objects of great no
torieiy and magnitude appropri-
ate 20 define the boundary of u member
ofsthis4grea, Contederacy. 1t is 1pt a
rapids in,'. but ahe rapids Of the river
Des Moines. which was thought worthy
10 be associated with those other conspic.
uous and everlasting ,nonu,aea,s of divis
ional Sta,eziines. Even conceIing tina,
these rapids were ia this river;- which
Of the inelre shall be nolc CHOSEN? Both
the first in ascending, and the most con
!, siderable IN extent. would claim superi.
or consideration to those a. the Great
Bend: and the one is far 10 the north oi
any point to which MiSsnri has ever
claimed; whilst the other is in the exact
ldirection OF the parallel ot' la,i.ud" pass
ing through 'the Des Moines rapids of,he
Mississippi There are still several oth
! er rapas that might be placed ia success
| ful competition with those al the Grea,
Bend; bu which .; the dozen should be
recognized, would be an inexplicable pro
blsm The mind, however, is uncon.
yineed. and rejects the proposition that
Congress, contemplated any object in TIL,
rirsr On which to affix this parallel Of lat
itude. II would not have been left float
ing vaguely and indefinitely between
twelve different and distant objects, though
thew were, in truth, rapids. But there
are no rapids in .he Des Moines- they
are all T;pp1es merely. and ofno create
number or magnitude Than are to be fount
in,he Western rivers generally and are
quite too Insignificant for any one ofthen
TO have attained to the destinv OF defni ,s
parallel nf latitude for any purpose
much less the important one to which
those sought have been appropriated
There are othor views which strongl,
for,ify this conclusion
also wish Ia cali the attention Of thu
House to a. extract from the report o
Mr. lie. the commissioner appointed up
ON the part OF the United States, which
was made in l838.un4er the provision,
!. of the law Of Congress which cited i,
the commencement Of my remarks. to as
certain and mark the southern boundary
Of Iowa, &c 1t is as follows:
i "Of line NJ. Sin case that neithe
4 Of the two first lines should be dee,ni1
the true one, the question ofthe boundar
would be reduced to the determination {
what is meant by the phsase .the rapid
! of.ths river Des Moinasl
..The Des Moines rapids in the Miss
issippi riyer-beginnibg about thre
miles above the mouth Of the Des Moine
} river, and extending bout fourteen mile
i up the riyer-have been noted as a gre5
, obstruction tori.s navigation, ever sine
the country was first explored. The
: are named 1rom. their vicinity to th
!, mouth Of the Des oines river; as tn
rapids in the Mississippi, about the san
J distance above the linlth of Rock rive
J are cailed Rock river rapids Whe
the French first settled the valley of d!
\ Mississippi. they named the one les RAJ
= des Go "a rivlere silesv. .sMoines.a and. It
oher.le> rapides Do IA tiviefe della Roche
4 When the Anericans:,o took possession
the country they generally retained Ii
I French nanassof pIaesss. merely transla
d ing em into English. In formal doc
J. ,nents, especially, the names ot place
\ were usual' ysst translated literally; al
1 hence the name % .rapides de IL 8.iviel
i Dss Monsss' no. :ther rapids Of Il
} river Dss precise wore
y ing the nori6e!! plefy Of Nissoul
: In contirmationsssSEs Eecountssi ihe
i names, refer you tA the SEfinsxsd.s sxtra
J. (marked H) from the records in the Off
l. of the United States recorder Of land
J. ties at ST. Louis. and to reports made
}, Messra Clayton aud Hunts,nan to II
. Senate apd House Of Representative
al reSnectiv,.ivs IN -thp vf,ar 183fs an I