USA > Indiana > Jefferson County > Madison > The western address directory : containing the cards of merchants, manufacturers, and other business men, in Pittsburgh, (Pa.) Wheeling, (Va.) Zanesville, (O.) Portsmouth, (O.) Dayton, (O.) Cincinnati, (O.) Madison, (Ind.) Louisville, (K.) St. Louis, (Mo.) , 1837 > Part 22
USA > Kentucky > Jefferson County > Louisville > The western address directory : containing the cards of merchants, manufacturers, and other business men, in Pittsburgh, (Pa.) Wheeling, (Va.) Zanesville, (O.) Portsmouth, (O.) Dayton, (O.) Cincinnati, (O.) Madison, (Ind.) Louisville, (K.) St. Louis, (Mo.) , 1837 > Part 22
USA > Missouri > St Louis County > St Louis City > The western address directory : containing the cards of merchants, manufacturers, and other business men, in Pittsburgh, (Pa.) Wheeling, (Va.) Zanesville, (O.) Portsmouth, (O.) Dayton, (O.) Cincinnati, (O.) Madison, (Ind.) Louisville, (K.) St. Louis, (Mo.) , 1837 > Part 22
USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > The western address directory : containing the cards of merchants, manufacturers, and other business men, in Pittsburgh, (Pa.) Wheeling, (Va.) Zanesville, (O.) Portsmouth, (O.) Dayton, (O.) Cincinnati, (O.) Madison, (Ind.) Louisville, (K.) St. Louis, (Mo.) , 1837 > Part 22
USA > Ohio > Montgomery County > Dayton > The western address directory : containing the cards of merchants, manufacturers, and other business men, in Pittsburgh, (Pa.) Wheeling, (Va.) Zanesville, (O.) Portsmouth, (O.) Dayton, (O.) Cincinnati, (O.) Madison, (Ind.) Louisville, (K.) St. Louis, (Mo.) , 1837 > Part 22
USA > Ohio > Muskingum County > Zanesville > The western address directory : containing the cards of merchants, manufacturers, and other business men, in Pittsburgh, (Pa.) Wheeling, (Va.) Zanesville, (O.) Portsmouth, (O.) Dayton, (O.) Cincinnati, (O.) Madison, (Ind.) Louisville, (K.) St. Louis, (Mo.) , 1837 > Part 22
USA > Ohio > Scioto County > Portsmouth > The western address directory : containing the cards of merchants, manufacturers, and other business men, in Pittsburgh, (Pa.) Wheeling, (Va.) Zanesville, (O.) Portsmouth, (O.) Dayton, (O.) Cincinnati, (O.) Madison, (Ind.) Louisville, (K.) St. Louis, (Mo.) , 1837 > Part 22
USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Pittsburgh > The western address directory : containing the cards of merchants, manufacturers, and other business men, in Pittsburgh, (Pa.) Wheeling, (Va.) Zanesville, (O.) Portsmouth, (O.) Dayton, (O.) Cincinnati, (O.) Madison, (Ind.) Louisville, (K.) St. Louis, (Mo.) , 1837 > Part 22
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23
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434
Western Address Directory.
From Pittsburgh to Gallipolis, Miles 275
ty, in which it was located, Gallia; and their town was called as per caption.
To Guyandott Town, mouth of a river of same name, in Cabell co. (Virg.) 37-315
From this point it is 8 miles to Barboursville, the seat of justice of the county ; thence 41 miles to the mouth of Elk river and the Kena- wha, and 6 miles to the Salt works, adverted to at Point Pleasant.
To Burlington, Lawrence co. (O.) 4, and Cat- lettsburg, Greenup co. (Ken.) 6, ·
10-S25
To Greenupsburg, seat of justice same county (Haverhill opposite) · 19-344 To Wheelersburg, (laid down on the maps Concord,) Scioto co. (O.) ·
10-354
To Portsmouth, * 10 ; Alexandria, 2 ; ·
12-366
Vanceburg, Lewis county, (Ken.) 18-$84 To Manchester, Adams county, (O.) 16-400 To Maysville, Mason county, (Ken.,) Aber- deen opposite,) · · 11-411
This place is as well known by the name of Limestone, to many old inhabitants of the U. States, as Maysville. It is one of the oldest and best landing places on the Ohio river ; has kept on the even tenor of its way, been dis- tanced by some in improvements and manu- factures, while others again have been dis- tanced in their turn. It is a town of much business ; great quantities of merchandize are
*Sce Letter X.
7 =
Ohio river-its Settlements, &c. 1837. 435
From Pittsburgh to Maysville, Miles 411
annually sold here, and manufactures in cot- ton bagging, bale rope and cordage are exten- sively prosecuted.
To Ripley, Brown county, (O.) 10-421 To Augusta, Bracken county, (Ken.) . 8-429
The villages of Neville, 7 ; Moscow 7 ; Point Pleasant, 4 ; New Richmond, 7 ; Palestine, 6; and Columbia, 7; all in Clermont county, (O.) are small villages, 38 -- 467
To Cincinnati, * 8-475
To North Bend, Hamilton county, (O.) . 16-491
To mouth of Great Miami, (dividing line be- tween Ohio and Indiana, ) . 6-497
To Lawrenceburg, seat of justice of Dearborn county, (Ind.) S-500
To Aurora, 4; Petersburg, (Ken.) 2; Rising San, (Ind.) 7 ; Bellevue, (Ken.) 2, . 15-515
To Fredericksburg, 18 ; Vevay, scat of jus- tice of Switzerland co. (Ind.) 11, 29-544
To Port William. mouth of Kentucky river, seat of justice of Gantatin co. 8-552
To Madison,t ·
15-567 To New London, 12 ; Bethlehem, Clark co. 8, 20-587 To Westport, seat of justice of Oldham co. (K.) 7-594 To Transylvania, Jefferson co. (Ken.) 15 ; Louisville.+ 12 ; (Jeffersonville opposite,) 27-621 Jeffersonville is in Clark county, in Indiana, immediately on a high bank of the Ohio river, opposite to Louisville. It is laid out on a large
*Scc Letter XIV. t Letter XVIII. #Letter XIX.
.
1
436
Western Address Directory.
From Pittsburgh to Louisville, &c.
Miles 621
scale, designed, in time, to become a town of eminence, as probably it may, as it has many local advantages. Some very handsome steam- boats have been built here, and here are stores, steam mills, iron foundries, &c. and industri- ous inhabitants. The state prison is located at this place.
.
To New Albany, the seat of justice of Floyd co. (Ind.)
3-624
This town is on high ground, contains about 4000 inhabitants, and is a flourishing business place. A number of new brick warehouses, stores, say 40, grace the streets, besides the public buildings, consisting of a courthouse, jail, 5 churches, a bank, iron foundry, steam flour- ing and saw mill, boat yards, &c. and 2 news- paper printing offices. Some first rate steam boats have been built here.
To Bardstown, Harrison co. 12; West Point, (Salt river, Ken.) 10, 22 -- 646 · To Brandenburg, 16; Indian creek, (Ind. ) 21 ; Big Blue river, 9, 46 -- 692 · ·
To Leavenworth, Crawford co. (Ind.) 3 ; Fre- donia, seat of justice, 3, 6-698 To Little Blue river, 4 ; Oil creek, 8 ; Poison creek, 8, . 20-718 · To Stephensport, mouth of Harding's creek, (K) 6-724 To Rome, seat of justice of Perry co. (Ind.) opposite Clover creek, 6-730
To Deer creek, (Ind.) 6; Troy, mouth of An-
21-751 derson's river, 15, ·
3
4
:
t
Ohio River-its Settlements, &c. 1837. 437
From Pittsburgh to Hawsville is
Miles 766
To Rockport, seat of justice of Spencer co. (Ind.)
2-768
Here are precipitous rocks, rising nearly 100 feet in altitude, on the suminits of which vege- tation luxuriates in its season. The town is seated on the elevation, but no higher than the ordinary face of the country in its rear. Here terminates the continuous line of bluffs, and here commences a new geological formation- the country gradually settling down and be- coming more flat and level as it approaches the mouth of the Ohio, except in a few extraordi- nary instances low down in Kentucky, and in Illinois.
To Owensborough, (formerly Yellow Banks,) seat of justice of Daviess co. (Ken.) 12-780 To the mouth of Green river, (and green it is,) 28-808 To Evansville, seat of justice of Vanderburgh co. (Ind.) 8-816 . ·
This village occupies an elevated position just above the mouth of Great Pigeon creek .- It is in lat. 37° 54' N. lon. 87º 12' W. and is on a direct line 150 miles S. W. from Indian- napolis, and 60 S. of Vincennes. Its popula- tion is 800 inhabitants. Besides the public buildings, here is a banking house, (a branch of the state bank,) a church, 3 taverns, 20 stores, a steam mill and distillery, 2 newspa- per printing offices-and no bookstore. The place is healthy ; and as a portion of the state's canals and rail roads are to diverge from this 41
438
Western Address Directory.
From Pittsburgh to Evansville is
Miles 816
point, mechanics are " taking time by the fore- lock" and possessing themselves of terra firma before too many competitors oppose them. An unimproved lot, 74 feet by 147, sold last fall for $5,000 ; and shortly afterwards two-thirds of it was sold for $6,000.
To Hendersonville, seat of justice of Hender- son co. (Ken.) ·
This village is situated on a high bank, a fer- tile country in its rear, and it is thought the internal improvements will improve it.
To Mount Vernon, seat of justice of Posey co. · 13-841
(Ind.) ·
Mount Vernon contains about 700 persons. Majority of the houses are frame, but many are of brick; among the latter is the courthouse, though much defaced. Here are from 15 to 20 stores, a steam flouring and saw mill, to which is attached a large distillery. A large number of hogs were slaughtered, and others brought from the interior, for export, from this place, last season. The land is of a blackish cast, very rich, and well adapted to the culture of grain. Corn sells at this time at $8 cents per bushel. New Harmony, formerly more cele- brated in the eastern states than at present, is N. 20 miles ; from thence to Princeton, in Gibson co. 26 ; and from thence, crossing Pato- ka and White rivers, to Vincennes, on the Wa- bash, where the river is 230 yards wide, 26 miles : the Wabash is not of sufficient depth
12-828
i
៛
Ohio river-its Settlements, &c. 1837. 439
From Pittsburgh to Mount Vernon is Miles 841
for the approach of steam boats, unless during a swell, as the rapids near the mouth of White river, 20 miles below, interpose too great an ob- struction. Their arrivals, however, are suffi- ciently frequent for ordinary purposes.
To Carthage, in Union co. (Ken.) 12, and mouth of the Wabash river 7, 19-860
.
The mouth of the Wabash does not vary much from 150 yards in width. The junction of the two rivers has a handsome appearance. The point forms an angle of about 45 degrees. Its lat. is 370 56' N. The trees on the Illinois side are much larger and more lofty, although of the same species, than those on the opposite shore, which can be accounted for, probably, in no other way, than that the land on the Illi- nois bank is higher than that of Indiana, not- withstanding both are alluvial. The Wabash is navigable for steam boats to White river, and up the west fork of that river to Eel, above Bloomfield, in Greene co. Indiana .- Funds have been provided by Illinois and In- diana, for improving this navigation, and in time will probably be applied.
To Raleigh, 5 ; and Shawneetown, Gallatin co. [III.] 6,
11-871 ·
Raleigh, besides its river location, is on the stage road, which passes from the north and north western parts of the states of Ilinois and Missouri, through to Russellville and other parts of Kentucky, and castwardly.
:
:
:
440
Western Address Directory.
From Pittsburgh to Shawneetown is
Miles 871
Shawneetown is stretched along the river in as elevated a position as it can command, and contains about 100 houses : the most prominent of which, is a brick two story, near the western extremity, with the word BANK, showing very conspicuously; but its notes, abroad, with the generality of other western notes, are propor- tionably less in character or value, as the labo- ratory from whence they were issued presented a more imposing appearance than the humble tenements which surrounded it .- To Equality, north west, is 10 miles-and in same direction it is about 150 miles to St. Louis : to Kaskas- kia, 120. A number of other roads concen- trate at Shawneetown.
To the Battery Rock, [Ill. ] about 2 miles be- low Saline river,
· 10-881
Here commences a rocky shore ; Nature hav- ing tried her hand in displaying her works as much by the rule of opposites as possible. - The Battery rock presents a perpendicular front of upwards of 80 feet in height, the line bound- ing the river for half a mile-and on the river above and below, are cultivated farms. This bluff appears to have upreared itself from its family below, for none of its kindred are any where visible for miles above. The formation is of lime stone.
To the Cave-in-Rock,
10-891
This is another similar formation to the fore- going. It is of about the same height, and pre-
-
Ohio river-its Settlements, &c. 1837. 441
Miles 891
From Pittsburgh to Cave-in-Rock is senting much such a front, except towards its base, where there is an entrance, said to extend back from the river to the depth of upwards of 100 feet. In former times it was used by emi- grants, families sometimes camping for weeks at a time, when their travelling had become im- peded. The summit of the rock is clothed with various bushes.
To Kirksville, Livingston co. (Ken.) mouth of Hurricane creek,
It was in this vicinity where many robberies and murders were wont to be committed, some 25 or 20 years ago, on innocent and unsuspect- ing strangers, whose business led them through the country, by a lawless and reckless por- tion of the human family, who were located here for the purpose. On the summit of the bluff, as Battery rock is approached from above, stands the house of the Sturdevants, with a chimney in the middle, the only building of the kind, where those celebrated counterfeiters car- ried on their extensive operations, for years be- fore they were even suspected, and where they paid the forfeit with their lives, in 1821. Near here, also, (about two miles below Hurricane island, ) is Ford's ferry, where counterfeiting, murders and robberies were committed for years-the owner of the ferry not only escap- ing suspicion, but esteemed an excellent and exemplary man, until a disagreement in opi- nion took place in his family. The male men- 41*
5-896
442
Western Address Directory.
From Pittsburgh to Kirksville is Miles 896
bers of the family are now extinct. The old man, his son, a Simpson, and a Shouse, were the parties. The old man was shot, by some person unknown, while sitting in his house, sup- posed by Simpson, and the latter came to his death in the same way. The son and Shouse were afterwards hung, in 1833.
To Golconda, seat of justice of Pope co. (Ill.) 15-911
This is a beautiful, compact little village, its court house sets it off to excellent advantage. To Smithland,(K.) mouth of Cumberland river, 10-921
This place contains about 1,000 inhabitants; a dozen dry goods stores, and 5 of drugs and groceries-2 or 3 taverns, but no church.
To Paducah, McCracken co. (Ken.) mouth of Tennessee river,
13-954
This village contains from 1,000 to 1,200 in- habitants, has 15 or 20 stores, S taverns, and no place of worship. It is not esteemed heal- thy; and there are some difficulties in the way of its improving, from the variety of claimants, and the difficulty of getting a good title to lots. It derives its name from an Indian woman, who had been taken captive by the Pawnees, and sacrificed, after having had her life pro- mised her.
.
To Belgrade, ( III.) 6; Fort Massac 2, 8 -- 942
Massac is contracted from the word Massa- cre, which was the name given to the post, af- ter a bloody massacre committed by the Indians on the French, in their early possession of the
-------.
Ohio river-its Settlements, &c. 1837. 443
Miles 942
From Pittsburgh to Fort Massac, country. Two or three Indians, as a decoy, had provided and wrapped themselves in bear- skins, and gambolled in front of, and a short distance from, the fort. The garrison, not sus- pecting, a few sallied out to attack bruin, while a large body of Indians, in ambush, took ad- vantage of the opening of the fort and the un- guarded condition in which they expected to find the remainder of the garrison, and put the whole to death :.
To America, 25; Trinity, 5; mouth of Ohio, 4, 34-976
The forest wood, which skirts the banks of the Ohio, is generally ash, beech, oak of different kinds, but not in abundance, sycamore, walnut, elm, gum, maple, buck- eye, some hickory, dogwood, willow, &c .- these are found on the upper Ohio, above Louisville; and below it, especially as the land becomes more level, some of the softer woods are to be met with, the harder qualities rather giving place to them. The willow, linden, hack- berry and cotton wood, the latter of rapid growth, are to be found in every direction near the Mississippi. Not a tree, however, but of deciduous foliage, is to be seen on the banks of this river, nor is there one to be found within its vicinity, unless an exotic.
At the junction of the Ohio with the Mississippi, the land is quite low, and cannot be inhabited or cultivated. Willow-point appears like an island ; and is often, with the other low lands, entirely inundated.
On ascending the Mississippi, a stranger cannot re- frain from a peculiar kind of feeling, especially if he has ever heard and thought much about this noble river ; but to be upon it, borne over its turbid waters, opposing &
;
444
Western Address Directory.
three or four, and perhaps a five-knot current, making five miles head-way each hour-having an elevated po- sition, with a clear sky, and nothing to break the river but lands of alluvial formations, heavily wooded, with now and then a cabin-dwelling, which would be consi- dered an indifferent shed for cattle in improved sections of the country -- cornstalks remaining among the trees -- piles of wood upon the banks, corded up for steam boats' use -- old drift wood on an opposite shore, and a sawyer hanging on the edge of the channel, against which is lodged a quantity of drift wood, pressing it down, and giving it a firmer holding-ground, until a foundation is laid for a new island, which becomes in time, by conti- nual accumulation, attached to the main land, and thus forming a jettec, as it were, setting the channel in another direction, or leaving the island to itself, as is the case with Elk island, 7, and Dog Tooth island, 15 miles up the Mississippi river.
Nearly opposite the latter island is the little village of Commerce, the first above the Ohio, and is in Scott co., Missouri. It has a population of about 150 inhabitants, and contains 4 stores.
Farther up, 14 miles, is Power's, sometimes called En- glish, island, in the same county, containing abouc 8,000 acres. The land is heavily wooded, and large grape vines, 5 to S inches in diameter, three or four feet from the ground, appear to be entwining every trec to the very tops. The wild pea grows here in abundance, and affords a more nutricious food for hogs than the mast in the eastern sections of the country. Vegetation is now (early in March) presenting itself, and the inhabitants say there have been only two snows, and those light, du-
5
4-15
Scenes on the Mississippi, 1837.
ring the winter. This island has a tolerably dense popu- lation, a family within two or three miles of each other, along the bank, most of whom are from Tennessee or North Carolina.
Cape Girardeau is 16 miles farther up, in a county of the same name, and contains about 500 inhabitants, 10 or 12 stores, 2 taverns, a pottery for a peculiar kind of ware, a newspaper office, and 2 mills, each of which is put in motion by a spiral or screw kind of shaft, resem- bling somewhat an Archimides pump, when divested of its external casing. These screws lie on the surface of the water, alongside the river's bank; one end of either is connected to the gearing by an iron spindle, which de- scends from the mill house, a part of which projects over the river; and the other end, in which is fixed a . pivot, with a line extending from, and made fast to, some object on shore, by which means the rise and fall of the river does not affect the position of the shaft, but keeps it, by the action of the current upon its screw- formed threads, (about 6 or 8 inches deep,) constantly turning, thereby extending its powers to the machinery of the mills, which it puts in operation. I think, however, it is a failure. Cape Girardeau is built on the side of a gently sloping hill over a substratum of rocks. It was much agitated by the great earthquakes in 1811 and '12; some of the chimneys were thrown down, and others in- jured-traces of the repairs in the latter instances are yet perceptible. Iron ore and other minerals are found in the county; and this place, which has been subject to some vicissitudes, is again assuming a commercial cha- racter, and considerable business is doing with the back country. It has a steam mill, for sawing, in operation.
446
Western Address Directory.
To Bainbridge, in Union co. (III. ) is 10 miles, and the mouth of Muddy river 15. From thence it is about 5 miles to the Grand Tower, which is estimated at 75 miles from the mouth of the Ohio.
Here are materials, within the space of ten to fifteen miles, sufficient to form a large volume, if fully and scientifically managed. These rocks and low lands, and channels with, and channels without water, are not as they originally came from the hand of the Supreme Architect; but they are evidences that a large body of water once overflowed this section of country, in ages long gone by, probably during the diluvian era, and that it found an outlet, into the Gulf of Mexico, at this pass. These rocks, or bluff's, as they now present themselves, were then the tops of islands, peering above the surface of the lake, in the manner of the reefs along the coast of Florida; but the great accumulation of water drained from every pore of the earth, as far as the height of land which extends along the vicinity of the lakes, N. and N. E., to its junction with the Allegheny mountains in New York, and the water, insinuating itself through a sili- cious mould and the fissures of subterranean rocks, until it came in contact with certain mineral substances, em- bowelled far below, it produced a chemical effect, as is often the case even now in this mineral region, and the shock was so great as to burst asunder the barriers, and thereby enabled the waters to pass off to seek their level, as other waters do, when they have the power and incli- nation. In process of time, matter assumed a kind of settled form ; but it is yet subject to changes, and must continue so as long as water flows. The great earth- quakes of 1811 and ' 12 shook this whole western region;
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Scenes on the Mississippi, 1837. 447
some of the finest lands in Missouri were in New Madrid county, which is not exceeding 30 miles in distance from Cape Girardeau county; and " so great were its ravages, (says a writer, ) that at least one-half of the present county has been sunk from one to four feet, leav- ing that portion (a large portion of which was, previous to 1811, the most fertile land in the west,) now covered with water."
The Hon. Lewis F. Linn, of the U. S. Senate, from this state, says, " this memorable earthquake, after shaking the valley of the Mississippi to its centre, vi- brated along the courses of the rivers and valleys, and, passing the primitive mountain barriers, died away along the shores of the Atlantic ocean. In the region now under consideration, during the continuance of so ap- palling a phenomenon, which commenced by distant rumbling sounds, succeeded by discharges, as if a thou- sand pieces of artillery were suddenly exploded, the earth rocked " to and fro ;" vast chasms opened, from whence issued columns of water, sand and coal, accom- panied by hissing sounds, caused, perhaps, by the es- cape of pent-up steam, while ever and anon flashes of electricity gleamed through the troubled clouds of night, rendering the darkness doubly horrible. The current of the Mississippi, pending this elemental strife, was driven back upon its source with the greatest velocity for several hours, in consequence of an elevation of its bed. But this noble river was not to be stayed in its course. Its accumulated waters came booming on, and, o'er-topping the barriers thus suddenly raised, carried every thing before them with resistless power. A few days' action of its powerful current sufficed to wear
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448 Western Address Directory.
away every vestige of the barrier thus strangely inter- posed, and its waters moved on in their usual channel to the ocean. The appearances that presented themselves after the subsidence of the principal commotion, were such as strongly to support an opinion heretofore ad- vanced. Hills had disappeared, and lakes were found in their stead; and numerous lakes became elevated ground, over the surface of which vast heaps of sand were scattered in every direction, while in many places the earth for miles was sunk below the general level of the surrounding country, without being covered with water, leaving an impression in miniature of a catastro- phe much more important in its effects, which had, per- haps, preceded it in ages before. One of the lakes formed on this occasion is sixty or seventy miles in length, and from three to twenty in breadth. It is in some places 'ery shallow; in others from fifty to an hundred feet leep, which is much more than the depth of the Missis- sippi river in that quarter."
A section of country extends along the western side of the river, commencing at what is called Tywapety bottom, in the vicinity of Cape Girardeau, and termi- nates 5 or 6 miles above the Grand Tower, which abounds with potters' clay of snow white, and unctuous; and be- comes plastic on mixing with water. The stratum varies in thickness from one to ten feet, and rests on sand- stone, covered by shell lime-stone, and contains veins of flint. Tywapety bottom and creek are celebrated points in the topography of Missouri.
The Grand Tower juts out from the western shore in an isolated column of lime-stone, about 50 or 60 feet high, and of like diameter at the base. Its sides are
:
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449
Scenes on the Mississippi, 1837.
perpendicular, and by attrition, probably, as a strong current sets constantly against it, have become as smooth as if they had been operated on by the hand of man .- Its top is apparently flat, but is coated with soil which sends forth some small shrubbery.
About S or 4 miles higher up, a point projects from the eastern, or Illinois shore, shewing a front of rock of 50 or 60 feet in height, and at the distance of as many yards in front of it, is a fragment of the same rock, weighing probably 50 or 60,000 tons, the interstice containing a dwelling house and garden spot. Owing to some peculiar formation about this rock, it is called the Devil's Bake oven.
To Chester, mouth of Kaskaskia river, in Randolph co. [III. ] is 18 miles, a small village, situated on the de- clivity of a ridge, from which to the ancient town of Kaskaskia, on the river, is 6 miles. The two rivers ap- proach each other at this latter point to within about two miles. At the mouth of Kaskaskia commences the .Ame- rican Bottom, a body of alluvial land, which extends, varying in width from five to eleven miles, as the rocky bluffs are separated which bounds it, a distance of ninety miles northwardly, until intercepted by another similar barrier, at Alton.
The alluvial formations along the Mississippi, bear evidence of something like periodical overflowings, but what length of time intervened between the periods, we have no data. I observed in several instances, where we had occasion to stop, the different deposits, divided by a horizontal strata of decomposed vegetable matter, ex- tending downwards from the edge of the bank of the river, where it had recently fell in, nearly to the surface 42
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:
450
Western Address Directory.
of the water ; the upper strata were more strongly mark- ed, until at length after counting twelve to fifteen, the " lights and shades" became so interwoven, that it could not be any further ascertained where began one or ended the other. These deposits of mould were, in some places, of a dark brown, and in others of a kind of dun color, but both rich ; mixed sometimes with clay, but oftener with sand, and were in depth from eight to ten inches -the vegetable matter averaging probably an inch in thickness. The land was heavily timbered with cotton wood, ash and other trees of rapid growth, the bodies of the trees 20 inches through, and others which had fallen, apparently as large as any standing, so far decomposed as just to have sufficient tenacity to keep the particles to- gether.
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