CHAPTER III. 



THE PRAIRIES, PLAINS OF THE WEST, AND PASSES OF THE 

 ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 



[0 obtain, however, a still more correct notion of the 

 appearance of the continent, we must take another 

 glance over it. We shall discover, to the north, and 

 throughout the eastern portion where civilized man has not 

 been at work clearing away the trees, ajlensely -wooded region. 

 Proceeding westward, as the valley of the Mississippi is ap- 

 proached the underwood disappears, and oak openings pre- 

 dominate. These OAK OPENINGS, as they are called, are groves 

 of oak and other forest trees which are not connected, but are 

 scattered over the surface at a considerable distance from one 

 another, without any low shrub or underbrush between them. 



THE PRAIRIES. 



Thus, gradually, we are entering the jjrairie country, which 

 extends as far west as the Grand Coteau of the Missouri. This 

 prairie region is covered with a rich growth of grass ; the soil . 

 is extremely fertile, and capable of producing a variety of 

 cereals. Over the greater portion of the prairie country, 



indeed, forests of aspens would grow, did not annual fires in 

 (297; 4 



