St. Charles Republican intelligencer. (St. Charles [Charles City], Iowa) 1856-1857, 1857-05-14
WESTERN PRAIRIES.

the Great Western Valley are the
Prairies, which are found in every di-
rection over the face of its vast terri
tory. They are of two kinds, the
swelling or rolling, and the level or
fiat. The former consists of undula-
ting fields, broken into swells or
reaches of various lengths and
breadths, extending sometimes to an
altitude of sixty or seventy feet. Be.
tween these swells are sloughs, or
"sloos," which are generally marshy,
and III many instances contain small
lakes or pools, and some, which are
dry, exhibit the appearance of tunnels
and answer similar pupose in carry
ing off water into the caverns beneath
the existence of which is sufficiently
indicated by the soil above. The fla,
prairies are plains of rich alluvion,
grown with long lank grass, and oc.
casionally presenting lake, and often
studded here and there with groves of
the wild crab-apple, and clusters of
forest trees, that look like emerald
isles in sea of waving green.
The prairies are of various extent,
from one mile to hundreds of miles,
The largest are in the far-off West,
the home of the buffalo and the red
hunter Wherever they arc partly
cultivated, as most Of them are, in the
States" and where the annual fires
are discontinued, they soon grow up
with timber. The soil is, with a very
few exceptions, entirely alluvial, and
yields immense crops of Indian corn
and other coarse grain. When they
exist in the neighborhood Of settle
ments, they afford excellent pasturage
for horses and cattle, and fine ranges
for swine, and are traversed by herds
Of deer, the number of which increas-
es near the plantations, when not in too
close proximity, as their greatest ene-
mics, the black prairie wolves, decrease
as cultivation advances. Wild tur-
keys, ducks, prairie fowls or grouse,
and quails and rabbits, also abound
on the prairies, and afford great amuse-
ment to sportsmen. Numerous other
animals, as the gopher, the opossum,
the raccoon, etc, are found in them,
or on their borders.
The wayfarer over these wide sa-
vannahs will sometimes be startled by
q sound as of hounds on the hunt, and
anon noble buck of ten times +"
will leap past him, followed by pack
Of hungry wolves, yelping as they run
in hot pursuit but he will look in
vain for the sportsman of the field he
can but fancy that invisible hunters,
horsed on the viewless couriers of
the air." are tracking their game, and
urging on the wild chase. Some the
orists believe the prairies to have
.asen very anciently the beds of lakes
or of the sea. This opinion finds ar
guments in the alluvious character of
their soil, and in the marine shells.
which are invariably found embedded
In the limestone Of the adjacent bluffs.
When the grass is thoroughly ripe,
in the autumn, towards the close of
November, most of the prairies are
burned. The fires sometimes origi-
nate by accident, but more often from
the design of the hunters, to facilitate
them i'll the destruction Of game. The
dry grass, which then is often as high
as the head of a man on horseback,
burns with fierce and terrible rapid
ty, and extends the flames for miles in
a few minutes, impressing the behold
er with the idea of a general confa.
grafton. If the wind chances to be
high, tufts of the burning material
dart like flaming meteors through the
air and as far as the eye can reach,
a pail Of black smoke stretches to the
horizon and overhangs the scene, while
all below is lighted up, and blazing
with furious intensity /; and ever and
anon, flaming wisps of grass fash up
revolving and circling in the glowing
atmosphere, and lending to the imagi
nation a semblance of convictspirits
tossing in lake of FIRE. Tho birds
startled and bewildered, scream wild
ly, anftumble and roll about above
the flames !; the affrighted deer leaps
from Ill covert and courses mAdly
aWas ID the tar fed wof, fargstfhl
Of t6 ase, runs howlinG, - a I'd
verse EsiGion.
= wi an experisnced hnnter tiRdl
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