NARRATIVE OF 1853. 8I 
The timber on the banks diminishes in quantity from Fort Leavenworth to near the Platte, 
while the hills are thinly wooded with oak, elm, and ash, and the river banks skirted by a belt 
of cotton-wood and willow, varying in width from a few hundred yards to two miles; the space 
between this belt and the foot of the hills consists of prairies that are level and bare of timber. 
Ponds, sloughs, and marshes continue, but to a less extent. 
Above St. Joseph the steamboat ceased to travel at night on account of the increased diffi. 
culties of navigation; but this necessity will be obviated when the dangerous obstructions are 
removed, and a more thorough knowledge of the river gained. 
Opposite St. Joseph the growth was observed to consist of cottonwood, elm, ash, box-elder, 
maple, basswood, mulberry, dogwood, and oak. By rough measurement, the width of the 
river just above St. Joseph was four hundred and sixty yards, and the velocity of the current 
three miles per hour; the main channel was near the left bank, and there the velocity was 
much greater. The tortuous course of the river here is shown by the fact that the distance 
from Weston to St. Joseph by land is twenty-eight miles, by water sixty. Above this it is 
straight, and widens to from seven hundred to one thousand yards. 
From the Platte to Fort Pierre, the distance on the river is, according to Nicollet's maps; 
638 miles. "The banks of the river might be almost continuously settled as far up as the north 
of L'Eau qui Court; above this point some twenty-five per cent. of them are available; and in 
the whole distance the valley gradually becomes less fertile. The river varies in width from 
four hundred to a thousand yards, and the shoals and rapids (of which there are eight between 
the Platte and Sergeant's Hill) make that portion of the river up to the mouth of the Big Sioux 
the most dangerous for navigation. Above the mouth of the Sioux the current became much 
more rapid, and the crew were compelled to cordelle the steamboat for about half a mile. 
From Fort Pierre to the White Earth river obstructions are comparatively few, and naviga- 
tion safe. Above the White Earth the river has an exceedingly tortuous course, and is 
impeded by an unusual number of snags and bars. The boat was partially unloaded at the 
fort, and now only drew 31 feet of water, by which the ease and speed of travel were increased. 
At Fort Pierre the bluffs are about four miles from each other, and equally distant from the 
-river. There are many points suitable for settlements, having а tolerably rich poil and pro- 
ducing fine grass. The banks are in many places well timbered with cottonwood interspersed 
with ash; cedars occur in small numbers in the ravines. This tree, first seen near the L'Eau 
qui Court, becomes very important on the Upper Missouri, as it grows where other kinds will 
not, and furnishes the best of fuel, as well as very durable timber. Several islands are covered 
with it. and named from that circumstance. Timber of all kinds is quite insufficient for the 
supply of steamboats, and on several days it was necessary to use the remains of abandoned 
trading posts. ! 
The width of the river varies from one hundred and fifty to three hundred yards; at Fort 
Union it has been found to be three hundred paces wide, measured on the ice in winter. 
Great bends occur near Forts Pierre and Berthold; the first eight miles across and twenty- 
five around, the second twelve across and forty around. 
At Fort Clark the Indians cultivate, with tolerable success, corn and some vegetables. At 
Fort Berthold and above. the bluffs rise to a height of from one hundred and fifty to three 
hundred feet, and are Dora of vegetation; and from the variety of colors imparted to them by 
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