St. Mary's beacon., 1854-05-25

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U .|EpRE 4 Aap crNET
sf''a I'D zliaoss perpetual snow. Tho
FL sar'es p e eliaeze. siuch of il
= excellent, while other poriions arc
composed Of nothing bat sand, suttiss
fz< 5seat American Desert. in the CEN
portion Of the territory. The east
portion i generally prairie, which,
l's ! Re tracts en- fhe numerous rivers,
4 pdnctise- tits generally agreed that
u country mustbe chiefly an agricul-
6|I:; one. Manufactures may flourish
TsAklw - s.rt-. :. = s~a.d oe-
al, as Il Is far from oceans. and has ~
great lakes leading thereto.
The agricultural powers ofths country
may be somewhat inferred from the re-
turns of the crops of the four tribes of
christian Indians-the Dclawares, Kick
spoos, Shawnees, and Stockbridges--all
living north and south of the Kansas. The
number of these Indians is 2,702. They
are mostly supported by agriculture, and
these returns are for single year. The
number of acres cultivated were over A.
600. They raised over $4,000 bushels of
corn, 1880 bushels of wheat, IL, 900
bushels of oats. They kept over six hum
dred working oxen, and large number
of horses. Of melons of all kinds they
raised over 200, 900, and 1000 hogs
TIE value of their products is put down
at Ss1, 900. -
Among these Indians Civilization and
Christianity have much advanced, as
will be further indicated by the statistics
that bllow. They have 6 schools z
teachers and 200 scholars. Their Sab
bath schools are 5, and their churches
the same OF professors of religion
there are 372, nearly half being males,
or much larger portion than is usual in
New England. The Nebraska. the Kan
sas, and the Arkansas the taree riv'
ers. The first two flow from vest te
east, and empty into the Missouri, seve'
raj hundred mil es above its mouth. The
branches or forks of these rivers are
! fniang .F.ha, - il------.- .i5vs irr tiIr west
ern portion of the Territory, and flow
southeast, and empties. after crossing
the state, of the same pane, into tn,
Mississippi. The Nebraska Rirver is from
to 8 miles broad. 1t is filled with island
covered with cotton wood. willow ant
shrub. Col. Long says that "only fourty
miles is open to steamboat navigation.
The great emigrant route to Californi;
and Oregon follows the north folk of thi
riyer. The Fremont route of 1843 wa
upon thesouth fork of this river. Th'
Kansas river is navigable for 80 mile
from ITS mouth, for steamboats,.
l. All accounts agree that this Territor,
is not well wooded, or at least il not ;
timber country. Many trees that art
found in our forests, such as elm,; birch
maple, white oak, willow and pines arr
found there. 7sf..s sst ,ff
Much of the country is high, table ant
prairie land, elevated from 1000 to 6, ,O0'
feet above the sea. The climate is term
ed very dry. Wild animals abound ther'
such as buffaloes, deer. elk, antelopes
prairie dogs, mountain sheep, wolves
wild horses, turkeys,&c. Occasionally
the grlzzly bear crosses the track Of th<
traveller. Those who journey through
this territory snbsist much npon the meat
Of the buffalo, the meat of the cows be-
ing much preferred to that of the bulls
Deer are much used for food, as also :
plant called the milk plant, much eaten
by the Indians.
Fremont's account OF his giving chase
to the buffaloes. in company with I'll
Carson and others, Is exciting in the ex-
irene. One must be good deal Of .
horseman. as well IS marksman, to en-
gage in that hazadous sport. s
This vast region is now almost an un-
broken wilderness. As the territory is
not organized, the emigrant hasinot yet
fixed his eye upon il, except with the
hope of fxiag his abode there as soon as
the word goes forth from Washington.
It IS not too much to say, that the people
are impatiently waiting to have, this new
and magnificent field opened for their.
enterprise. Whenever it shall thus be
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t-f 4.lk--I 49,