New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1856-12-16

Ofall the Territory belonging to the United States
there is none as to which our information Is so in
complete as that great basin Of the upper waters OF
the Missouri, hardly inferior in extent to the four
great central States of New-YOrk, Pennsylvania,
Ohio and Virginia. Geographers undertook, till
very lately to interpose between this region and tho
southern course of the Missouri, barricade of i'm
imaginary mountains to which they gave the name
of the Black Hills. These Hills Of late diligently
sought, are no where to be found; bus though this
wall Of separation has thus been removed, the re-
Qion beyond remains almost terra incogs,td. 1t
is visited, to be sure, every year by considerable
number of white adventurers connected with the
fur trade. Steam vessels ascend high up its
two great rivers, the Yellowstone and the moro
northern branch of the Upper Missouri. We have
also military posts on its borders and treaties with
it's Indian inhabitants and recently one Of the sur
veys for Pacific Railroad has been carried through
the northern part of it. But for all this we still
remain exceedingly ignorant on the subject of main
interest whether or not it has the capacity to sup
port civilized population.
Were we to Judge BY comparison with other
regions in the same latitude Of which We
know more our opinions of it wo1ld not be
favorable. The banks of the ST. Lawrence below
Quebec and the shores Of Lake Superior have q
very severe climate, and this territory has the ad
ditOnal disadvantage of much greater elevation
above the level of the sea. On the other hand, it
is certain that the climate of the western half Of
the American Continent differs very essentially from
that of the eastern part As we begin to 60 west
from Lake Superior although the level constantly
rises, the mean temperature also rises; so that,
after all, there is probably nothing in the climate Of
this region, far as heat and cold are concerned,
that upfits it for the habitation of civilized man.
Some interesting statements on this subject will
be found in letter which we publish elsewhere
drawn out by some recent remarks of ours respect
ing the territory Ct the Hudson's Bay Company.
The ssme mdness of climate also charscterizes the
territories of that Company, stretching along the
eastern foot of the Rocky Mountains from the
sources of the Nil souri, to the shores almost Of the
Polar Sea. The writer insists that settlement and
cultivation are feasible in that part of America,
even beyond the sixteth degree of north latitude,
large tracts Of fertile land being found on both
boundaries Of the Upper Saskatchewan and on the
Athabasca as far north as the Great Slave Lake if
not beyond it.
Tie difficulty as to climate would seem to be
disposed of-but there still remains another as to
which our information is lees certain. If beyond
the 9eth degree of west longitude marked auelio-
ration of climate begins to show ITSELF there also
at the same time appears, at least in that more
southern portion Of this region, of which We have
yet no very definite information, another change
less remarkable ard of much less satisfactory char
acter. The annual quantity of rain becomes very lin.
tied, and this limited quantity still continues to de-
crease as the country rises to the westward. 1t is
this deficiency of moisture that makes the whole
western interior of the continent south Of AZ degrees
of north latitude, and on both sides Of the Rocky
Mountains, incapable Of producing crops, except
on those small portions Of it which can be irrigated
by means of the streams and rivers running down
from the Rocky Mountains. Nor does the de6cien.
cy of rain disappear till after the Sierra Nevada of
California is passed and the Pacific is almost in
eight. We know, further, that this same lack of
moisture characterizes the whole interior of Ore
son on the west side Of the Rocky Mountains lying
in the very same ATTITUDES with the country on the
east ride Of those mountains, watered BY the Vel
lowstone and the north branch of the Upper Mis-
souri,. The essential question, then, that remains
to be settled, is, what is the character in that
re'pect Of this Upper Missouri country, and of the
territories Of the Hudson's Bay Company lying to
the north Of 1T