[102] Carver's Travels, p. 30.
[103] Mr. G. W. Featherstonehaugh, in his Geological Reconnoissance, in 1834, landed at the location of these antiquarian remains, and is disposed to recognize their authenticity.
[104] American Antiquities. As the tumuli and earthworks of the Mississippi Valley are more closely scrutinized, they do not appear to denote a higher degree of civilization than may be assigned to the ancestors of the present races of Indians, prior to the epoch of the introduction of European arts into America. Certainly there is nothing in our earthworks and mounds, to compare with the Toltec and Aztec type of arts at the opening of the 16th century; while the possession by our tribes of the zea maize, a tropical plant, and other facts indicative of a southern migration, appear to denote a residence in warmer latitudes. The distribution of the Mexican teocalli and pyramid is also plainly traceable from the south. Neither the platform nor the solid conical mound has been traced higher north than Prairie du Chien; nor have the earthworks (adopting Carver's notices) reached higher than Lake Pepin. There are no mounds or earthworks at the sources of the Mississippi nor in all British America to the shores of the Arctic Seas. We cannot bring arts or civilization from that quarter.
[105] This term, unknown to geology at the period, has been subsequently introduced by Sir Roderic Murchison.
[106] These distances are reduced by Ex. Doc. 237, respectively to 260 and 542 miles.
[107] This officer entered the army in 1812, serving with reputation. He rose, through various grades of the service, to the rank of Lieut. Col. of the 6th infantry. He lost his life on the 25th April, 1838, by the explosion of the steamer Moselle, on the Ohio River.
[108] It was at this spot, one hundred and thirty-seven years ago, that Marquette and M. Joliet, coming from the lakes, discovered the Mississippi.
[109] Now the site of Cassville, Grant County, Wisconsin. It is a post town, pleasantly situated, with a population of 200.
[110] Fondness for melons, and annual vine fruits of the garden, is a striking trait of the Indians. Some curious facts on this head are published in the statistics.—Indian Information, vol. iii. p. 624, 1853, Philadelphia, Lippincott & Co.
[111] This is now (1854) the site of the city of Dubuque, State of Iowa, which is reputed to be the oldest settlement in that State. This city is eligibly situated on a broad plateau, between limestone cliffs. The soil rests on a rock foundation, which renders it incapable of being undermined by the Mississippi. Its streets are broad and laid out at right angles. It has several Protestant churches, a Catholic cathedral, a public land office, two banks, four printing offices, and by the last census contains a population of 7,500, the county of which it is the seat of justice, has 10,840. Two railroads have their terminal points at this place. At the time of my visit, in 1820, the house which had been built by Mr. Dubuque, had been burnt down; and there was not a dwelling superior to the Indian wigwam within the present limits of Iowa. The State of Iowa was admitted into the Union in 1837. By the 7th U. S. census, the population of this State, in 1850, is shown to be 192,214. The number of square miles is 50,914. No Western State is believed to contain a less proportionate quantity of land unsuited to the plough, and its population and resources must have a rapid development.