THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY

Its Physical Geography, Including Sketches of the Topography, Botany, Climate, Geology, and Mineral, Resources, And of the Progress of Development, in Population and Material WealthWith regard to the capacities of the region lying between the eastern rim of the Great Basin and the Missouri River, and known as the Plains, the vaguest ideas prevail. Some theorists, little versed in the laws Of climatology, and over-sanguine as to the expansibility of our country, have anticipated the time when population would flow, in an un broken wave, to the base of the Rocky Mountains, while others, more cautious, drawing their conclu siors from sources not less erroneous, have been disposed to regard this region as an irreclaimable desert. It is neither. While God has doomed certain portions of the surface to everlasting sterility, the greater portion will forever afford vast ranges for pasturage, and much of it, under a suitable sys tem of irrigation, can be reclaimed and made to rival the ancient fruitfulness Of the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates.The phenomena Of forest-growth, Of grassy plains, and arid wastes, it is believed, result from laws as constant and harmonious in their opera tion as those which regulate the planetary move ments.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.