INDIAN TERRITORY. 



373 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. INDIAN TERRITORY. 



1. Boundaries and Extent. The Indian or Western Territory, as it is generally called in 

 official papers, is an extensive region, which has been set aside by the general government as a 

 permanent home for the Indian nations, whose removal beyond the limits of the States has been 

 going on for several years. The tract thus appropriated, extends from the western boundary of 

 Arkansas and Missouri to that of the United States, lying between the Red River, on the south, 

 and the Punca and Platte or Nebraska, on the north ; it is about 600 miles in breadth, from 

 north to south, by from 700 to 750 in extreme length ; the southern part, however, not being 

 more than one half that length. The area may be roughly stated at about 225,000 square 

 miles. 



2. Face of the Country. In the southeastern corner, between the Arkansas and Red River, 

 the country is mountainous, being traversed by the Ozark range. Beyond this, it spreads out 

 into wide expanses of a slightly undulating surface, or into extensive plains, over whose dead 

 level the eye wanders to the verge of vision. In the western part of the northern belt, succes- 

 sive groups of isolated table-lands, or elevated platforms of no great height or extent, and regu- 

 lar but not lofty ranges of hills, mark the approach to the foot of the Rocky Mountains. The 

 base of these mountains is about 3,000 feet above the level of the sea, a:;d James's Peak rises 

 to the height of 11,500 feet ; further north, near the sources of the Platte, some points attain a 

 much greater elevation. 



3. Rivers. This region is traversed by several large rivers, all of which rise in the Rocky 

 Mountains, and reach the Mississippi and Missouri. They have the common character of rivers 

 of a desert, flowing through tracts of sand, with wide but shallow beds, obstructed throughout 

 by sand-bars and banks, sometimes so scantily furnished with water as to form merely a succes- 

 sion of stagnant pools, and sometimes even presenting dry channels. The .A'\braska, Plalic, 

 or Shallow River, although it has a course of nearly 1,000 miles, and is in many places sevei nl^ 

 miles in width, is so shoal, that it may be forded at almost any point in moderate stages of the 

 water, and can scarcely be said to be navigable for any considerable length of time. In the 

 lower part of its course, its banks and islands are covered with cotton-wood and willows, which, 

 however, soon disappear, as you ascend, and for several hundred miles scarcely a tree or shrub 

 is to be seen, until, on approaching the mountains, it is again lined with straggling groups of 

 stunted trees. The Kansas, or Konzas, is also a large stream, and it receives several conside- 

 rable tributaries, called the Republican Fork, Solomon^s Fork, Smoky Hill Fork, and Grand 

 Saline Fork ; in high stages of the water, it may be navigated for a distance of nearly 200 

 miles, but is beset with numerous shoals. The .jirkansas is, however, the principal river of 

 this region ; rising in the Rocky Mountains, near the heads of the Rio del Norte, it forms for 

 several hundred miles the boundary between New Mexico and this Territory, which it trav- 

 erses, passing into Arkansas. It affords few facilities for navigation, being shallow, and in 

 some parts entirely disappearing. Steamboats ascend to Fort Gibson. From the north, it 

 receives the Verdigris, the JYeosho or Grand River, and the Illinois ; and from the south, the 

 jyegracka, A''esukctonga or Salt Fork, and Canadian. The last mentioned rises in the Mexi- 

 can Mountains, and has a course of nearly 1,000 miles, but its channel is shallow, and some- 

 times cjuite dry, the waters being rapidly absorbed by the sands. The Red River is better sup- 

 plied with water ; and since the removal of the great raft in Louisiana, steamboats come up into 

 this Territory. Its largest tributaries from the north, are the Washita, or False Washita, 

 Blue Water, and Kiamesha. 



4. Soil. The western part of the Territory forms a portion of the Great American Desert, 

 which extends along the eastern foot of the Rocky Mountains, with a breadth of about 500 

 miles, far beyond the limits of the Territory. The soil is arid, sterile sand, almost destitute 

 of trees and even shrubs. Vast tracts consist of bare rocks, gravel, or sand, and others are 

 covered only with yuccas, cactuses, grape-vines, and cucurbitaceous plants ; nearly the whole 

 region is either destitute of water during a part of tin year, or presents to the wayworn and 

 exhausted traveler only a brackish and bitter draft ; in many places the surface is whitened by 

 saline efHorescences, and all wears the aspect of desolation. This region is unsusceptible of 

 cultivation, yet it does not exhibit the naked aspect of the African deserts ; in certain seasons 

 it is traversed by full streams, and in some parts it affords pasture for large herds of bison, droves 

 of wild horses, and other animals. It is frequented bv wandering bands of savages, who roam 



