342 Expedition to the 



IV.— 0/" the country situated between the Missouri and Red 

 Rivers, west of th>' Mississippi^ and east of the Meridian 

 of the Council Bluff. 



Although no precise limits can be assigned as the western 

 boundary of this section, yet the meridian above proposed, 

 may be regarded as a line of division between two regions 

 differing in their general character and aspect. It is not pre- 

 tended that the immediate course of the line is marked by 

 any distinct features of the country, but that a gradual change 

 is observable in the general aspect of the two regions, which 

 takes place in the vicinity of the proposed line. The assum- 

 ed meridian is in longitude ninety- six degrees west, ntarlj', 

 and crosses the Platte a few miles above its mouth — the Kon- 

 zas near the junction of its principal forks — the Arkansa 

 about one hundred miles above the Verdigris or seven hun- 

 dred miles from its mouth — the Canadian, about one hun- 

 dred and fifty miles from its mouth, and the Red river about 

 one hundred and fifty miles above the Kiamisha river. 



The section of country under consideration, exhibits a 

 great variety of aspect, the surface being diversified by moun- 

 tains, hills, vallies, and occasional tracts of rolling country. 

 Within the section is an extensive tract of bottom land, de- 

 serving of a particular consideration. It is situated on the 

 Mississippi, commencing a few miles below the Ohio, and 

 extending downward to Red river, uninterrupted by hills or 

 high lands, and subject in many places to inundation from 

 the freshets of the Mississippi. The bottom contains many 

 large swamps, rendered almost impenetrable by a dense 

 growth of cypress and cypress- knees, (the latter of which are 

 conical excrescences springing from the roots of the Cyprus, 

 and shooting up in profusion, to the height of from one, to 

 eight or ten feet.) The most extensive of these swamps 

 commences near the head of the bottom, and passes south- 

 westwardly, back of New Madrid, the Little Prairie, St. 

 Francisville, &c. and terminates near the village of the Post 

 of Arkansa. The Great Swamp, the name by which this 

 extensive morass is designated, is about two hundred miles in 

 length, and is of variable width, from five, to twenty or thir- 

 ty miles. The timber growth of this and of the other swamps, 

 which are of a similar character, but inferior magnitude, con- 

 sists principally of cypress, of a superior quality. But the dif- 

 ficulty of removing it renders it of litde value to the country. 

 Within the bottom are also numerous lakes, lagoons, and 



