Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1856-02-01
From Life Illustrated
GLIMPSES OF IOWA.

Owen, in his Geological Report to
Congress, speaks in the most enthusiastic
terms of the scenery of Iowa. 1t is his
opinion, as we find it quoted in " Iowa as
1t Is" that the far-famed and classic
Rhine can present nothing which in its
natural features surpasses some of the
river scenery of the West. He says:
90 We have the luxuriant sward, cloth
ing the hiII-slope even down to the wa
ter's edge. We have the steep cliff shoot
ing up through its natural escapements.
We have the stream, clear as crystal, now
quiet, and smooth, and CLASSY, then ruff
fed by a temporary rapid; or whence a
terrace Of rock abruptly crosses it, broken
up into small, romantic cascade. We
have clumps of trees, disposed with an
effect that might battle the landscape
gardener now crowning the grassy height,
now dotting the green slope with partial
and isolated shade. From the hill-tops,
the intervening valleys wear the aspect
of cultivated meadows and rich pasture
grounds, irrigated by frequent rivulets.
that went their way through fields of wild
hay fringed with fourishing willows
Here and there, occupying its nook on
the bank of the stream, at some favorable
spot, occurs the solitary wigwam, with its
scanty appurtenances. On the summit
levelspreads the wide praire, decked with
flowers of the gayest hue; its long, un-
dulating waves stretching away till sky
and meadow mingle in the distant horizon.
The whole combination suggests the idea,
not of an aboriginal wilderness $50 re-
cently), inhabited by savage tribes, but Of
a country lately under high state Of cul-
tivation, and suddenly deserted by its in
ha5itants-their dwellings, indeed, gone,
but the castle-homes of their chieftains
only partially destroyed, and showing, in
ruins, on the rocky SUBMITS around. This
latter feature, especially, aids the delu-
sion; for the peculiar aspect of the ex-
posed limestone, and its manner Of wealth
ering, cause it to assume semblance
somewhat fantastic, indeed, but yet won
derfully close md faithful to the dilapi-
dated wall, with its crowning parapet,
and its projecting buttresses, and its flank
ing towers, and even the lesser details
that mark the fortress of the olden time..' ,"
In few instances, the hills or bluffs
along the Mississippi rise boldly from the
waters edge, or push out their steep
promontories, so as TO change the diree-
ton of the river; but more generally, on
either bank of the river, we see a series
of graceful slopes, swelling and sinking
as far as the eye can reach. The Prairie,
for the most part extending to the waters
edge, renders the scenery truly beauti-
ful. Imagine a stream a mile in width,
whose waters are as transparent as those
Of the mountain spring, flowing over beds
Of rock and gravel; fancy the prarie com
mencing at the waters edge-a natural
meadow Of deep-green grass and beauti-
and fragrant flowers, rising with a gentle
slope for miles, so that, in the vast pano-
rama, thousands of acres are exposed to
the eye. The prospect is bounded by
range of low hills, which sometimes APP
proach the river, and again recede, and
whose submits, which are seen gently
waving along the horizon, form the level
of the adjacent country. Sometimes the
woodland extends along tl.is river for
miles continuously again it stretches in
a wide belt far off into the country, mark
ing the course of some tributary streams :
and sometimes in vast groves, several
miles in extent, standing alone, ike is
lands in this wilderness Of grass and
d..