CHAPTER II.

DESCRIPTIVE AND GEOGRAPHICAL.

NAME.

The name Missouri is derived from the Indian tongue and signifies muddy.

EXTENT,

Missouri is bounded on the north by Iowa (from which it is separated for about thirty miles on the northeast, by the Des Moines River), and on the east by the Mississippi River, which divides it from Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee, and on the west by the Indian Territory, and the States of Kansas and Nebraska. The State lies (with the exception of a small projection between the St. Francis and the Mississippi Rivers, which extends to 36°), between 36° 30’ and 40° 36’ north latitude, and between 12° 2’ and 18° 51’ west longitude from Washington.

The extreme width of the State east and west, is about 3.48 miles; its width on its northern boundary, measured from its northeast corner along the Iowa line, to its intersection with the Des Moines River, is about 210 miles; its width on its southern boundary is about 288 miles. Its average width is about 235 miles.  The length of the State north and south, not including the narrow strip between the St. Francis and Mississippi Rivers, is about 282 miles. It is about 450 miles from its extreme northwest corner to its southeast corner, and from the northeast corner to the southwest corner, it is about 230 miles. These limits embrace an area of 65,350 square miles, or 41,824,000 acres, being nearly as large as England, and the States of Vermont and New Hampshire.

SURFACE.

North of the Missouri, the State is level or undulating, while the portion south of that river (the larger portion of the State) exhibits a greater variety of surface. In the southeastern part is an extensive marsh, reaching beyond the State into Arkansas. The remainder of this portion between the Mississippi and Osage Rivers is rolling, and gradually rising into a hilly and mountainous district, forming the outskirts of the Ozark Mountains.

Beyond the Osage River, at some distance, commences a vast expanse of prairie land which stretches away towards the Rocky Mountains.  The ridges forming the Ozark chain extend in a northeast and southwest direction, separating the waters that flow northeast into the Missouri from those that flow southeast into the Mississippi River.

RIVERS.

No State in the Union enjoys better facilities for navigation than Missouri. By means of the Mississippi River, which stretches along her entire eastern boundary, she can hold commercial intercourse with the most northern territory and State in the Union; with the whole valley of the Ohio; with many of the Atlantic States, and with the Gulf of Mexico.  

Ay, gather Europe’s royal rivers all-

The snow-swelled Neva, with an Empire’s weight

On her broad breast, she yet may overwhelm;

Dark Danube, hurrying, as by foe pursued,

Through shaggy forests and by palace walls,

To hide its terror in a sea of gloom;

The castled Rhine, whose vine-crowned waters flow, The fount of fable and the source of song;

The rushing Rhone, in whose cerulean depths

The loving sky seems wedded with the wave;

The yellow Tiber, chok’d with Roman spoils.

A dying miser shrinking ‘neath his gold;

The Seine,’ where fashion glasses the fairest forms;

The Thames that bears the riches of the world;

Gather their waters’ in one ocean mass,

Our Mississippi rolling proudly on,

Would sweep them from its path, or swallow up, Like Aaron’s rod, these streams of fame and song.” By the Missouri River she can extend her commerce to the Rocky Mountains, and receive in return the products which will come in the course of time, by its multitude of tributaries.  The Missouri River coasts the northwest line of the State for about 250 miles, following its windings, and then flows through the State, a little south of east, to its junction with the Mississippi. The Missouri River receives a number of tributaries within the limits of the State, the principal of which are the Nodaway, Platte, Grand and Chariton from the north, and the Blue, Sniabar, Lamine, Osage and Gasconade from the south. The principal tributaries of the Mississippi within the State, are the Salt River, north, and the Meramec River south of the Missouri.

The St. Francis and White Rivers, with their branches, drain the southeastern part of the State, and pass into Arkansas. The Osage is navigable for steamboats for more than 175 miles. There are a vast number of smaller streams, such as creeks, branches and rivers, which water the State in all directions.  Timber. - Not more towering in their sublimity were the cedars of ancient Lebanon, nor more precious in their utility were the almugtrees of Ophir, than the native forests of Missouri. The river bottoms are covered with a luxuriant growth of oak, ash, elm, hickory, cottonwood, linn, white and black walnut, and in fact, all the varieties found in the Atlantic and Eastern States. In the more barren districts may be seen the white and pin oak, and in many places a dense growth of pine. The crab apple, papaw and persimmon are abundant, as also the hazel and pecan.

Climate.

The climate of Missouri is, in general, pleasant and salubrious. Like that of North America, it is changeable, and subject to sudden and sometimes extreme changes of heat and cold; but it is decidedly milder, taking the whole year through, than that of the same latitudes east of the mountains. While the summers are not more oppressive than they are in the corresponding latitudes on and near the Atlantic coast, the winters are shorter, and very much milder, except during the month of February, which has many days of pleasant sunshine.

Prairies.

-Missouri is a prairie State, especially that portion of it north and northwest of the Missouri River. These prairies, along the water courses, abound with the thickest and most luxurious belts of timber, while the “ rolling” prairies occupy the higher portions of the country, the descent generally to the forests or bottom lands being over only declivities. Many of these prairies, however, exhibit a gracefully waving surface, swelling and sinking with an easy slope, and a full, rounded outline, equally avoiding the unmeaning horizontal surface and the interruption of abrupt or angular elevations.  These prairies often embrace extensive tracts of land, and in one or two instances they cover an area of fifty thousand acres. During the spring and summer they are carpeted with a velvet of green, and gaily bedecked with flowers of various forms and hues, making a most fascinating panorama of ever-changing color and loveliness. To fully appreciate their great beauty and magnitude, they must be seen.

Soil.

The soil of Missouri is good, and of great agricultural capabilities, but the most fertile portions of the State are the river bottoms, which are a rich alluvium, mixed in many cases with sand, the producing qualities of which are not excelled by the prolific valley of the famous Nile.

South of the Missouri River there is a greater variety of soil, but much of it is fertile, and even in the mountains and mineral districts there are rich valleys, and about the sources of the White, Eleven Points, Current and Big Black Rivers, the soil, though unproductive, furnishes a valuable growth of yellow pine.

SUMMARY.

Males ———— 1,126,424
Females ——— 1,041,380
Native ———— 1,957,564
Foreign ———— 211,240
White ———— 2,023,568
Colored^{2 —————} 145,236