Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1882-11-23
EXTENT OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY,

The Mississippi is not only the longest river
in the world, but the valley or basin which
it drains is the greatest. 1t occupies the
whole central portion of this continent, from
the Rocky Mountains, on the one side, to the
Alleghanies or the Blue Ridge, on the other,
covering an area of 1,23S, GAP square miles,
considerably larger than the area of the 13
original States and exceeding the combined
areas of England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland,
France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria,
Italy and Turkey. Nearly every acre of it is
good and fertile land. There are no sterile
mountains here, no deserts, no arid, rainless
plains. Nowhere in the world is there So
much good land lying in one body. The basin
| of the Amazon, which alone equals it in size,
falls far short of it in fertility, for there are
innumerable barrens and wilderness border
ing the great stream of South America, where
as. with the exception of the most western
portions of the Arkansas and Red river val
leys all the basin of the Mississippi is susceptl-
| bic of cultivation. 1t is believed that the
aridity of the staked plains and alkali plains
| of the far West is exaggerated, simply because
no such thing as the cultivation of crops has
been attempted there, and that they will
be found, when emigrants reach them, to be
| like the celebrated 'barrens' of Indiana, now
the most productive portion of that State.
But, of the Mississippi valley. This term
naturally includes all the country drained by
our great river In their speeches on this
subject the orators have been geographically
very incorrect. 1t has been the custom to
estimate this valley by States and Territories,
and to declare that it included 81 States, rs,
for instance, Ohio, Wisconsin, Indiana, etc.
This is not fair or proper estimate. A large
portion of Ohio lies in the Mississippi basin,
but not all of it, and it is great mistake to
credit all the population and production of
the ''Buckeye State'' as belonging to the val
ley. Cleveland, Toledo, Sandusky, and the
fertile region lying along Lake Erie belong to
an entirely different section, to the Lake regi-
on They have no connection with the Mis-
sissppi, and their interestsare as different from
those of the valley as the interests of Buffalo
and Boston.
In the same way all Wisconsin is usually
included in the Mississippi valley, although
the most populous portion of that State, lying
on Lake Michigan, does not, in any sense be-
long to it.
The only proper way to estimate the Mis-
sissippi valley is by the drainage basin Of the
great river. This gives the exact extent
of country tributary to the Mississippi val
ley.
Estimated on this basis, the Mississippi
valley contains either all or part of % States
and 'Territories-New York, Pennsylvania
Maryland, West Virginia, North Carolina
Georgia., Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Ken
lucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana
Alabama, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Ar
kansas, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Col
orado, and the Territories of Wyoming
Montana, Dakota, New Mexico and the In
dian Territory.
The country embraced in this is of thu
most diverse character, now mountainous
now plain, now semi-frigd, now torrid. 1t:
every crop known in this country.
The Mississippi valley is naturally divided
into six sub diysions-the basins of the Ohio
Upper Mississippi, Missouri, Lower Mississip
pi Arkansas and Red.