St. Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (St. Charles City [Charles City], Iowa) 1857-1861, 1858-07-08
Communication.


Mr.. MEACHAM, ILL.,, June is.
MESsEs. EDS. lNTELLiGEyCER AS the
article in your oath No, by your cor
respondent, DIR. Smith, interested me
much, by ailording SO explicit and yet
concise II history and description of
your section of the State of Iowa. |
am prompted to rcciprocatc the exam
pie by skctchiug in a cursory manner
some Of the leading features of this
portion of Illinois. This, have felt
assured would not prove unacccpta-
bic, nor indeed wholly unintcrcstng
since a knowledge of the various ppr.
tions Of our rising country is eagerly
sought by all men of enterprise, and
the friends Of progress and inn
provemcnt. With the history Of that
section our State known as the Mill
tary Tract you are doubtless familiar
1t is, as is generally known, situated
between the River of Men," or Hi
nois River, on the East, and the Great
Father of Watcrs,' on the West. \
junction of the two being formed near
the town of Grafton, about twenty
miles above Alton, and divcrging
towards their source, forms the tract
of country lying between them into a
kind Of hat-iron shape, or triangle.
ProdwdiOHS and oI-Pcrhaps the
soil Of the Military Tract" is not sur
passed by any other section in this
State, or any other State of the West.
OF the staple, Indian corn, there is an
excellent yield at all times, except in
seasons of extreme drouth, or cXccs-
sivc rains Nor is it deficient in the
other grains, such as wheat, oats, buck
wheat, and the usual vegetables. |
think it is not so natural for apples rs
many other countries north and east.
Peaches, for the most, thrive well, and
the fruit is of excellent flavor. Stone
and coal abound in quantities sutli-
cicnt for all practical purposes, and
arc easily obtained. The prairies are
not extensive, being intcrsperscd with
groves of timber, and forests skirt
along the borders of all the considera-
BILE streams. Properly husbandcd there
is no lack of timber for family pur-
poses, for fuel, or for building mate
rial, Of its quality and kind.
In the timbcred rcgins the fruit OF
the oak, black-walnut, hickory and
buttcrnut, are 50 abundant about
every two years as to supply the place
of corn in porking, when the latter
crop fails, as is the prospect the pres
cnt year.
THE health Of this country is perhaps
not surpassed by any other section oi
the Great West Bilious intcrmit.
tents and Typhoid fevcrs, it is true,
prevail some seasons. But they are
not the periodical attendant of every
year. Dyscntcrics also occasionally
occur, but arc not Il common cpide,
mic.
Character Of The pople,-This is much
diversified. The greater portion Of
the earlier settlers immiSratcd from
Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia
More recently, however, many have
come in from New York and New Eng
land, with quite number from Penn
sylvania. This motley group renders
the social relations less cordial witt
those that are not frcm the same sec
tions respectively, and who entertain
strong sectional feeling. But it meets
admirably with the views and feelings
of philosophers and philanthropist:
whose doctrines teach them to know
no sectional peculiarities and to NEE
| all men upon one common level and il