495 TERRITORIES OF THE 



are the two oldest settlements on the Mississippi, and are about 55 

 miles apart. They were commenced at the same time with the 

 French Canadian settlements, and were once quite populous. The 

 latter is said to have contained 7000 inhabitants. It had a large col- 

 lege of Jesuits, the traces of which are now visible. Various causes 

 induced the French to-forsake these places and cross the Mississippi 

 into the Spanish government, where they built St. Louis opposite to 

 Cahokia, and St. Genevieve opposite to Kaskaskias. Among these 

 causes were the conquest of their country first by the British and 

 afterwards by the Americans, and the prohibition of slavery north- 

 west of the Ohio by the ordinance of congress of 1787. Rich and 

 fertile lands are taken up by settlers eastward of the American bot- 

 tom, above the bluff, and proceed parallel with it almost the whole 

 length, in width from 15 to 20 miles. Scattering settlers then con- 

 tinue down the Mississippi to its junction with the Ohio ; then up 

 the Ohio on the whole south line of the territory to the mouth of 

 Wabash, then up the Wabash nearly or quite to Vincennes. Some 

 settlers are found on every considerable stream or creek in all this 

 route, from the mouth of the Illinois to the place last mentioned ; 

 also on the principal roads, which, however, are but few. But the 

 interior of the territory still remains for the most part an unsettled 

 wild of woods and prairies. On the Ohio side, Shawanoetown is at 

 present the principal settlement. It is a town of log cabins, 10 miles 

 below the mouth of the Wabash, and is the grand depot of the salt made 

 at the United States' saline. From this circumstance, as well as from 

 the richness of the country in its rear, and its being the first practi- 

 cable site for a town below the mouth of the Wabash, and central 

 between Green River and the Cumberland, it must become an import- 

 ant place, notwithstanding its liability to occasional inundations. 



Kaskaskias, in Randolph county, is the seat of government of this 

 territory. The supreme court is held here. Each of the counties has, 

 a court of common pleas. 



MISSISSIPPI TERRITORY. 



Situation, extent, and face of the country. ...This territory, 

 which was formerly the western part of Georgia, is situated between 

 31° and 35° of north latitude, and between 84° and 91° of longitude 

 west from London. It is bounded on the east by Georgia; on the 

 north by the state of Tennessee ; on the west by the Mississippi, 

 which separates it from the state of Louisiana and Missouri territory; 

 and en the south by West Florida and the gulf of Mexico; being in' 

 length from east to west about 320 miles, and in breadth north and 

 south 578, containing an area of about 9.0,000 square miles. A great 

 this extensive region is still the property of the Creek, Choc- 

 Ciiikesaw, and Cherokee Indians, two other potent tribes, the 

 Yazoos and Natches, having been destroyed by wars, or having re- 

 tiree! further into the western forests. 



The first European settlement in this country was made by the 



French, from New Orleans or Florida. As long since as the year 



1727, there was a colony of Frenchmen settled at a place called the 



ches, but they were mostly massacred by the natives. In the 



