The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1854-07-01
Che Neuj Gtrritorics.
NEBRASKA.

respondent NJ Ot. LOUIS WHO states not OniF
what he has learned by travcrsing the coun-
try himself but also such information as he
has beci able to derive from the trappcrs and
mountain men whose pursuits constantly
take them over the Territory" Of Nebrss-
ka he writes thus:
The boundaries of Nebraska, as given in the
late act Of Congress, are as follows, viz:
North by the 10th parallel of latitude, scpa-
arating our territories westward from those
of Great Britain; south by the 10th parallels
few miles below the north west corner of the
State of Missouri, cast by the Missouri River,
the western line of Missouri and the western
line Of Minnesota. and west by the main ridge
of the Rocky Mountains.
The face of the country from the Missouri
River westward to the spurs of the mountains
is rolling prairie, but little diversified in its
aspect save by the intersection Its streams.
The soil, for space varying from so to 100
miles west of the Missouri River and the
State line, is nearly identical it'll that of To-
wa and Missouri. Tie highlands arc open
prairics, covered with grasses: the river bot
tom u deep, rich loan, shaded by dense for
erts. From this first district to about the
mouth of Leon qvi Court drumming Wa;,r
Rivcr,) it is one boundcss cxpansc of rolling
prairie. so largely intermixed with sand as to
he almost unfit for ordinary agricultural pur-
poses. The prairics are, however, carpc.cd
with succulcnt grasses; atiorling an mex
haustiblc supply for herds Of cattle and sheep.
The third district is formation Of mari
and earthly limestone, and extends in a belt
of many miles east and west of the Mandan
Village, on the most northern bend OF the
Missouri River, and southwark across the
southern boundary of the Territory. This
soil cannot he otherwise than very productive.
should think it especially adapted to wheat,
rye barley and oats. have SEEN also, very
fine Indian corn along the upper valleys of
the Missouri River. II is in this district that
what are called bhtes by the Canadian French
and cerros by the Spaniards, are profuscly
scattered. Here and there the traveller finds
surfaces varying in diameter from hundred
feet to a mile elevated from fifteen to fifty
feet above the surrounding surface. They
are not hills or knobs, the sides Of which are
more or less steep and covered with grass.
Their sides are nearly perpendicular, their
surfaces flat, and often covered with noun
tain cherries and other shrubs They have
the appearance of having been suddenly Gle
waited above the surrounding surface by some
specific cause. This mari and limestone for
nation is, in many localities, worked into
fantastic picturesque forms by the action
Of the clements In one place, especially.
called by the traders La MWraisc Terfe, (thc
bad ground and about thirty miles in diam
etcr, it has assumed a marvellous variety of
singular forms. From one point Of view ii
assumes the asic.t of an extensive and trown-
ing fertilization: from another, the appear
ancc fan oriental city crowned with domcs
and minnarcts; and from a third, the appear
ance of sterile, broken and unattractive
congregation of incongruous clements. These
dclusivc temperatures arc produced by distance
and the position of the sun.
The wrecks of the diluvian period of gcolo-
gy are spread all over this region. and most
profuscly on that portion north of the Mis-
souri, River. Detached masses of rock some
Of them hundreds of tons i'll weight, wholly
nconnected with the adjacent geological
formations, and evidently allied to those of
the northern Rocky Mountain region, dot the
whole country.
The district which will call the fourth,
lying north of the Missouri River and west of
Minnesota, is a succession of undulating
plains, the soil Of which is quite fertile but
ratl:cr dry. These plains are covered with a
thick, grassy sward, which sustains innu-
mcrable herds of bison, elk and deer.
The fifth district is at the base of the Black
Hills, between that range and the Rocky
Mountains and includes the valley of the yell
low Stone, of the Mara's River and variety
ofothcr small valleys, cilcImvallatcd by an
ampithcater ofmountains and gorgeous noun.
tain scenery. The valley of the Yellow Stone
is spacious, fertile and salubrious. The
streams are fringed with trees, from whence
the valley expands many miles to the noun
tains. The traveller can almost imagine him
self upon the Danube, for the valley is sprin-
killed. over at long intervals with cyclopean
structures ofgranitc closely assimilated nap
pcarancc, from a distant view, to the stern
and solitary castles with which Europe was
covered and guarded during the middle ages.
But these structures exceed those of Europe
in magnitude and grandeur, and the woods
and waters are disposed with taste and
beauty which the highest art must ever toll
after in vain. 1t is encirclcd by rich girdle
Of nights and mountains, the bases and dark
SIDES Of which are Obscurcd in shrubs, and
the submits tuftcd with noble forest trees.
And here is to be the scat of a populous and
powerful community in the far future.
The Missouri River was assembled by Lewis
and Clarke, in canoes, distance of 1900
miles. 1t has been navigated by steamboats,
to the foot of the Great Falls. $500 miles.
Il..,.. IL L.