80 NARRATIVE OF 1853. 
propelled by a double engine, and had been a first class Missouri river packet. She was about 
300 tons burden, had on board the maximum load, and drew about five feet of water. 
The plan of making the survey was as follows: Meteorological observations were taken 
usually at every halt, and astronomical whenever practicable. A topographical sketch was 
made from a point about twenty miles above St. Joseph, Missouri, upwards, for which purpose 
he, with Lieutenant Mullan and Serjeant Collins, alternately performed the work of running 
courses, estimating distances, and mapping. 
Hourly soundings were taken from near the mouth of the Big Sioux to Fort Union. Notes 
were made of all the features of the river and adjacent country, as observed from the steam- 
boat, and all information practicable was obtained from gentlemen of the Fur Company, 
traders, and voyageurs. 
The boat travelled by night as far as St. Joseph’s, and omissions in that part of the survey 
were thus rendered necessary, which, in the maps, are supplied from the surveys of Nicollet, 
Lewis and Clark, and others. 
Owing to the loss of part of his notes, on the way from Olympia to Washington, he was 
unable to give the soundings made above the mouth of the Big Sioux. 
The following is the substance of Lieutenant Donelson’s description of the Missouri from St. 
Louis to Fort Union: 
Below the mouth of the Kansas its banks are almost continuously settled, while all the more 
prominent localities are occupied by flourishing cities, towns, and villages. The soil is of 
surpassing fertility, and the adjacent country rich in coal, iron, and other minerals. Cotton- 
wood is the prevailing growth in the bottoms, while willow is very abundant at the water’s 
edge, and sycamore in the higher bottom lands; but there is also found abundance of oak, 
walnut, ash, maple, elm, and many other trees, principally on the slopes of the immediate 
valley of the Missouri. The average velocity of this portion of the Missouri is a little over five 
miles an hour. From the continually recurring changes to which the Missouri is liable, at nearly 
every bend there is a sand bar or island, and a series of snags and sawyers. These also 
generally occur wherever, from any cause, the water is still or there is a counter current, and 
where there are eddies or whirlpools. The difficulty in navigation is to discover in season an 
unobstructed channel. Concealed snags and sawyers are liable to occur in any part of the river. 
The two ranges of hills which limit the valley are from seven to fifteen miles from each 
other, the river flowing alternately from one to the other in its winding course. Prairie occurs 
on the banks at only one or two places, the rest being heavily wooded. In many instances the 
bottoms may be said to be swamp land, being occupied by numerous marshes, lakes, ponds, 
and sloughs. : 
The permanent obstructions in the river below the mouth of the Kansas are a chain of rocks, 
about twelve miles below St. Charles, and one a little below Sibley. Не could obtain no facts 
as to the effect these now have upon navigation; but they are doubtless of little importance. 
The river is open allthe year as high as Boonville ; above this, to Council Bluff City, it is 
closed with ice for about a month in winter. 
From the Kansas up to the mouth of the Platte, the two ranges of hills which limit the 
valley continue to be from seven to fifteen miles from each other, and are from seventy-five 
to two hundred and fifty feet in height. 
