The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1882-08-12
HEFATHER OF WATERS.

est River Scenery III America
For the Free Trader.
"Onward rolls the Royal River,
Proudly sweeping TO the sea;
Dark and deep and grand, forever
Wrapt in myth and mystery.
Still like some huge monster wlnang
Downward through the praried plains;
Seeking rest but never finding
Till the tropic gulf he gains
Fields Of corn and feet of cities
Lo! the mighty river laTes,
Where the Saxon sings his dltties
Ger the swarthy warriors graves.
Deeds of death and deeds OF daring
On his leafy banks were done,
Women loved and men went Warrlhg
Ere the siege OF Troy begun"
IL l.. Goyylan's "LegendS Of the N0r"'oc't
The grandeur of the upper Misslssippii has
always been subject of enthusiastic praise
by every lover of nature. It's picturesque
beauty and wonderful scenery surpasses every
other river in the world. 1t Is romantic To
a degree, and IN admlrlng it we can easily
credit the veneration of the red man for the
noble "Father of Waters" The Hudson has
its charms, and its grandeur is appreciated by
the thousands that daily travel along its
picturesque banks But the ride is short and
tame compared to the Mississippi, whose
shores from Quincy, or | might say Alton, to
st. Paul. and beyond nearly 800 miles IN all,
is one glorious panorama Of ever changing
grandeur Thousands Of Americans go an.
nually to see the Rhine, and never seem to
know or care anything about the magnificent
Mississippi, or the beautiful Hudson. They
will write glowing accounts OF their travels
and draw rosy pictures OF tns Rhine and other
rivers telling US there Is nothing in the
world to equal their wonderful scenery (D,'
and yet, the probabilities are, that these same
writers who give us such glowing comparl-
sons, never saw either of these great rivers IN
their own country, or even know the geogra
ply of their own state. at Is curious fact"
says writer IN the Chicago Trib1ute, that
natives of Europe in search OF the picturesque
are more charmed with the Mississippi than
Americans of the same class are, Perhaps the
reason of this is because We dlspise that with
which we are familiar; consequently prophets
are without favor in their own country, and
the Father OF Waters suffers neglect at the
hands OF his own children. Americans have
seen SO much woods and have worried SO
much against them that many Of them can
hardly look at n tree without wishing tor an
axe to cut it down. And so we never learn
TO care for anything we are accustomed to and
are ever hankering for whatever is unattaln-
able" know nothing of the Rhne-Ame.
rican rivers are grand enough, and long enough
for me, and | want to see all of them first
but from descriptions that have read should
imagine that the Rhine is very beautiful in
places, but those places are "very few and
far between while the greater course of
that stream Is as tame and undressing AZ it
Is possible for river to be. at hardly pays"
says some writer, "ior tourists to go thousands
OF miles to see the castlcd crags of Drachen-
Ieis or the irownlng fortress of Ehrenbret.
stein, when TO reach such charming spots
he WILL he goes on Rhine steamer, have
to travel hundreds of miles through a country
utterly devoid OF scenic charms"
The scenery of the Mississippi begins at
Quincy, but its real grandeur docS not present
itself until above McGregor, and reaches the
acme ofits perfection between Prairie du Chen
and Winona. "AHyone that has an eye for
scenery" says Parkman IN his great West,
will see here the young Mississippi fresh
from its northern springs, unstalned as yet
by the unhallowed union with the riotous
Missouri, flowing calmly on amid strange and
unique beauties; wilderness clothed with
velvet grass forest shaded valleys, lofty
heights whose smooth slopes seemed levelei
with the scy'hc, domes and pinnaclcs, ram
parts and ruined towers, the work of no HUI
man hand
ION no other part of the globe, perhaps, says
prominent writer, "is the power of running
water so clearly shown rs along the Missis.
slppi." ! do not pretend to have much
knowledge either of geology or physical re.
ography, but ii always seemed mystery to
me that more has not been written by scIcntl.
iic men about the physical geography Of the
centre OF this continent, rs revealed by the
courses Of our lHo great Western rivers, the
NJ assippl and Missouri. 1t would he inter
estng TO know what theories have been
formed as 10 what caused the decrease OF the
waters of both these streams The ranges of
bluffs that begin at Alton are traceable to
Quincy and from that on to ST. Paul. They
are from two to three miles apart, and in
many places are $50 feet above the level of
the river They were evidently formed by
tie river, for Ut their very submits they
bear trace s OF the action of running water
Traces Of tie action of running water are found
on the rocks at the tops Of the bluffs which
IN some places are miles apart, and over 400
feet above the river at high water would in.
some period IN the past compared with which
the Amazon would be only rIll But these
arc questions Tor Socialists to ponder over,
and tell what became of the water and yvh.r.