Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1841-1853, 1846-07-02

Agricuturaly the value of the country is great !;
and to understand it in all its extent, this large coun
try should be contemplated under Its different divisions
tile threcfold natural geogra phica divisions under
which II presents itself: the maritime, The middle,
o md the mountain districts.
The Inritiine regio-the fertile part of it's the
long valley between the Cascade and the coast ranges
of mountains, extending from the head of the Wall
lah-math, the latitude of AZ degrees, to the
stras of Fuca, near latitude 40. In this valley lies
the rich tde-water region of the Columbia, with the
Wah-laI-math river the SOUTH and the Coweliske,
and the Olympic district on the north. II is valley
of near i've hundred miles long, north and south, and
above one hundred miles wide rich in SOIL grass,
and timber-sufcent of itself to constitute respect
able State and now the seat Of the British commercial
and military post of Vancouver, and OF their great
farming establishment of Nisqually.
The middle district from the Cascade range to near
the base of tie Rocky mountains, is the region called
desert aud which. in the imag nations of many, has
given character to the whole country. In some re-
spects il is desert-barren of wood-sprlnkled with
sandy plains-melaneholy under the sombre aspect
Of the gloomy artemsia-and desolate from volcanic
rocks through the chasms of which plunge the head
long streams. But this desert has Its redeeming
poInts-much water-grass-many oases-mouDtalns
capped with snow, to refresh the air, the land, and
the eye-blooming Valleys clear sky, pure air. and
supreme salubrity. Ii is the home of the horse !!
found there wild in all the perfection Of his first
enduring, and a4Iectionate General Clark has told
me that of the one hundred and seventy horses which
he and Lewis obtained in this district he had never
seen the match in any equal NUMBER and he had seen
the finest which the sporting course, or the wariike
parade, had exhibited in Virginia. 1t Is the home OF
that horse-the horse of Pers;a-which gallops his
eighty miles day-swimming the rivers as he comes
to then--nds his food at night, the hoof scrap
ing away the snow when il hides the grass--gallops
his eighty miles again the next day; and so on
through long and healthy life carrying his master
in the chase or the fight, circumventing the game,
and pursuing the foe with the intelligence Of reason
and tie fidelity Of friendship General Clark has in
formed that it necessary to keep a scout
ahead to drive away the elk and buffalo, at the sight
of which all the horses Immediately formed for the
chase, the loose dashing off 10 surround and cir
cumyent the game. The old hunters have also told
me their marvellous stories about these horses, and
that in war and hunting thew had more sense than
people, and as much courage, and loved it as well.
The country that produces such horses must also pro-
duce men, and cattle, and all the inferior animals,
and have many benehccnt attributes to redeem IT
from the stigma OF desOlaton.
The mountain division has Its own peculiar fea-
lures and many of them as useful picturesque. At
the base of the mountain long, broad and high beach
is seen--thrce hundred miles lung, fifty miles wide
the deposite of abraded mountains of and YER
dure through thousands of years. Lewis and Clark
thus describe this great bench of land, which they
twice crossed in their expedition to and from the Pa
clhc ocean:
"The county along the Rocky mountains. for several
hundled miles length and about fifty wide, high level
plain in all its parts extremely fertile, and in many places
covered with growth Of tall csfed pine This plain
chiefly interrupted the of water where the
hills steep and lofty but the soil is good, being
numbered by much stone, and possesses more timber than
the country Under shelter Of these hs the bottom
skirt the margin Of the rivers and though narrow and
confined still fertile aud rarely Inundated. Nearly the
whole Of The widespread tract covered with pofusion
of grass and plants, which at this time May high as
Among these variety of escuant plants and
roots acquired without much difficulty and yielding not
ly nutcous, but very agreeable food The air
and dry the climate quite mild II not milder, than the
same parallels of latitude in the Atlantic States and
equally healthy, for all the disorders which have Wit
messed may fairly be imputed more to the nature oil the diet
than TO any inemperance Of climate. This general obser
qualified since in the tract Of
country degrees of the combination of heat and cold
obey the Of situation. Thus the rains oil the low
grounds camp, SHOWS in the high plains and
" shines with intense heat the confined bot
TOMS the plains enjoy much colder air and the vegetation
retarded at least fifteen days. while at the foot of the
nains the still many feet in depth so that
within twenty miles Of observe the gos Of
winter cold the cool air Of spring. and the oppressive heat
of midsummer Even on the plains however, where the
has fallen, it do but little injury to the
and other plants which, though apparently tender and
ceplibe, still blooming, at the height OF nearly eighteen
inches through the In hot this district affords many
advantages settlers and properly cultivated would yield
object necessary for the subsistence and support OF
civilized man."
frequently seen, inviting the farmer to make his
healthy nabitation and fertile field upon it.
Entering the gorges of the mountains, and n sue
ceSsion of everything is found which is in the
alpine regions of Switzerland glaciers only excepted
Magnificent mountain scenery-lakes-grassy valleys
-snow-capped mountainS-cear streams and foun-
talns-coves and parks-hot and warm springs
mineral waters of many vareties-salt in the solid
and fluid sate-salt lakes and even hot salt springs
wood COAL and iron Such the Rocky noun
ains in the long and broad section from the head oil
the Rio Grande del Norte, of the sunny South, TO the
head of the Athabasca, Of the Frozen ocean. This
ample rich, and elevated mountain region Is deemed
by those unacquainted with the Farthest West, TO be-
and to be forever the desoate and frozen dominion Of
the wild beast and the savage. On the contrary,
view it as the future seat Of population and power
where is to appear in all the moral, intellectual
and physical endowments which ennoble the noun.
tain race and where liberty, independence and love
of virtue, TO make their last stand on earth.
Thus, agriculturally, and as producing the means
of human subsistence-as sustaining a population
and supplying the elements of wealth and power as
derived from the surface and the bowels Of the earth
Il look upon the region drained by the waters of the
Columbia one of the valuable divisions of the
North American continent.
No reason to undcrvalue it on the score of com.
But this branch of her advantages is attacked
through another cbannel-in the supposed unfness
of the mouth of the Columbia for the purposes of
port, commercial or naval. An expedition of own
Captain Wikes) has foStered this opinion; but for
tuuatey furnishes the correction to its own error
The narrative of the expedition condemns the port
the chart that accompanies it proves it to be good
This chart was constructed upon the seventy days
labor of three young gentlemen, midshipmen in the
expedition, whose numerous soundings show the dill
gence and the accuracy Of their work-their names
are, Knox, Reynolds. and Blair. | read what was
written in the narrative: it differed from all that
boJ &c, / cd he rpf