Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1864-06-18
From the Wisconsin State Journal.
The Gulf Region.


Mexico is not well understood at the North.
Our impressions have been obtained from de-
scriptions of the alluvions of the Missls-
sippi or the low plains adjacent the Gulf.
The popular notion of these is, that it is a
region of mere marsh and lagoon-a sea OF
mud. covered over with jungle, in whose
slimy ooze the pestilence is ever breeding,
whose air is weighted with death-especially
tn Northern men-whose climate is one OF
burning heats. spaced into periods of parching
drouths deluging rains, or sickening vapors;
and that it possesses little that pleasant or
enticing and nothing desirable to those whose
lives have been passedin temperate climates.
These impressions have been the parent OF
much error. The Gulf region is properly the
local southern slope of the continent, every
where bordered by high lands or mountains
few hundred miles inland. 1t is terraced
region rising from the level of the waters to
the interior axis. The low plains are the
mere wash of the high lands, the outer rim
of the interior reliefs; and they are continu-
GUS, except in the immediate valley OF the
Mississippi. whose waters have apparently
torn AWAY and br ken through the ancient
barrier. Tg.
The very general impression that this sec
ton of the Union is vast marsh originated,
doubtless, from the Leveeing or walling in the
river. The idea of overflow, carried with 1t
the farther notion of partial or total sub
mereence as the level of the country was
known to be below that of the river in floods;
and how was this surplus water to escape
It is the purpose of this writing to throw
some light on the subject, as well as of some
other matters which will be treated of in
their place.
The floods of the Mississippi are not regu-
lar or annual. They are exceptional-the
accidents or incidents of time. During more
than ten-twelfths of every year the central
channel is from ten to twenty feet below the
level of the land, SO that draining might take
Mace towards, instead of from, the river. But
the adjacent banks are always higher than
the country in the rear. Why?-Simply be-
cause in each former overflow the heaviest
material was deposited nearest the channel
the lightest most remote. If there were no
other outlets the country would necessarily
have become great lake. But there were
innunerable outlets-and the river has never
drained it's own borders. The drainage has
always been independent of the great drain.
Innumerable lagoons and streams do this work,
and have their own outlets to the Gulf
Thus New Orleans, 140 miles inland by river,
is thirty three feet above the Gulf and twelve
feet above Lake Ponchartrain, eight miles
distant Its drainage is all from the river
The ship canal from the Lake to the City
could not be connected with the Mississippi,
because during one portion OF the year the
water would flow from the river to the lake,
and during the balance of the season, from
the lake to the river. 1t is very absurd to
suppose this great tract of low lands cannot be
generally drained. When settlements are
more dense, and more system is introduced,
there is very little of the country that will
not be reclaimed
There are many evidences of geological
changes along the river. 1t is not unfrequent
to see two or three tiers of cypress stumps
often directly over each other, in the crum-
bling banks. Their roots show they have
never been disturbed. They are the remains
of former forests growing from ten to TWEEN
ty or thirty feet below the present level of
the country, and that level must have once
been above the foods Periods of elevation
and submergence are not only indicated, but
must have been frequent.
The soil of all this low country is of course
a combination of every element of fertility
upon the continent. The Rocky Mountains
and Alleghanies have each contributed of
their kind. "Deep calls to Deep" and plain
to plain in the contribution of generous mud.
Its capacity is endless and exhaustless. A
fresh covering to every plantation can be OBJ
tanned at the option of the planter, annually.
What must be the value of an acre of such
soil in such a climate compared with the best
acre in any northern States? Sugar at the
rate of 400 pounds average per acre is the
natural product Some tracts are also given
to rice. 1t is too rich for cotton. That is
grown upon the higher terraces.
The climate of this sectionis, also, equally
Inexperienced. The deadly vapors are the
myth of newspaper writers-the burning
heats" are cooler than at the North at the
same season. 1t is neither as hot nor as cold
as the temperate zone. At New Orleans,
96o is the highest range of the thermometer,
and 26 Q about the lowest while upon the
Gulf itself it never exceeds $50. The frost
line is stern winter in that section. A damp
winter wind comes in from the Gulf, suf-
fciently chilly for the most ultra Northman.
The clothing ON the Gulf and in Wisconsin do
not differ. Heavy flannel is indispensable in
both during most of the season. Except
along the river and over bodies of inland
water, fogs are rare. Nor is it a rainy re-
gion, but rather the reverse for upon the
western end of the Union, in Texas, it is
rainless. Rain storms are not frequent, but
the fall of rain is much greater in a given
time than with us. In general terms, winter
in this section is the equivalent of May and
June in the northwestern States-bright
skies, cool braciDg air, with intervals of hot
| weather. The summers are long, and debili-
tate not so much by quantity as by continu-
ance of heats. Nights near the Gulf are al
ways cool. There is no period of the year
properly answering to spring and autumn
Summer and winter blend too intimately for
that. This description of the climate will
not apply at any great distance inland, where
the summers become hotter and winters
colder, as at the North.
The products of the country and within
reach of New Orleans, and comprise every
thing of tropical or of temperate climates.
The West Indies and Central America are
about as near as Wisconsin. The most deli
cate tropical fruits are to be met in the mar
ket, side by side with the indigenous banana,
orange, lemon and fig, and on the same stand
every seasonable product of the North. The
winter gardening of that region, which COM
mences in November, produces, if enough
cold prevails, very tolerable sized potatoes,
cabbage, asparagus, peas, beans, onions, rad
ishes, etc., which are in use from January to
March, by which time strawberries, black
berries, &C., are ripe. After that the pro-
ducts are sub-tropical.
The estuaries and bays along the coast, fur
nish in profuse abundance, the oyster, crab,
schrimp, and the fish of warm seas-some va
reties quite equal to those from cold water
Innumerable water-fowls cover every pond
and BAYOU; and with the cattle of Texas, it
may be truly said that nothing in the way of
fish, flesh, fowl or creeping things is lacking
in that country, or any form Of vegetable