NARRATIVE OF THE EXPEDITION. 199 



grains, and it is one of the most favored parts of the Mississippi 

 Valley; the climate has a delightful serenity, and it must, as soon 

 as the Indian title is extinguished,* become one of the most attrac- 

 tive fields for the emigrant. To the ordinary advantages of an 

 agricultural market town, it must add that of being a depot for 

 the commerce between the northern and southern sections of the' 

 Union, and a great thoroughfare for strangers, merchants, and 

 travellers. 



The Milwaukie clays to which I have adverted, do not extend 

 thus far, although the argillaceous deposits found, appear to be 

 destitute of the oxide of iron, for the bricks produced from them 

 burn white. There is a locality of bituminous coal on Fox River, 

 about forty miles south. Near the junction of the Desplaines 

 River with the Kankakee, there exists in the semi-crystalline or 

 sedimentary limestone, a remarkable fossil-tree.f ' 



• This was done in 1821 ; having been, myself, secretary to the Commissioners, 

 Gov. Cass and Hon. Sol. Sibley, who were appointed to treat with the Indians. Vide 

 Indian Treaties, p. 297. 



f Fossil Flora or the West. — Of this gigantic specimen of the geological flora 

 of the newer rocks of the Mississippi Valley, I published a memoir in 1822, founded 

 on a personal examination of the phenomena. Albany, E. and E. Hosford, 24 pp. 

 8vo. This paper ( Vide Appendix) was prepared for the American Geological 

 Society, at New Haven. See American Journ. Science, vol. 4, p. 285; See also, vol. 

 5, p. 23, for appreciating testimony of the value of geological science (then coming 

 into notice), from Ex-Presidents John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madi- 

 son, to whom copies of it were transmitted. 



