A Book of the United States; exhibiting its geography, divisions, constitution, and government; ... together with a condensed history of the land, ... the biography of ... the leading men, ... statistical tables, ... engravings, etc

Front matter

A <_ BOOK OF THE UNITED STATES: EXHIBITING ITS GEOGRAPHY, DIVISIONS, CONSTITUTION, AND GOVERNMENT, INSTITUTIONS, AGRICULTURE, COMMERCE, MANUFACTURES, RELIGION, EDUCATION, POPULATION, NATURAL CURIOSITIES, RAILROADS, CANALS, PUBLIC BUILDINGS, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, FINE ARTS, ANTIQUITIES, LITERATURE, MINERALOGY, BOTANY, GEOLOGY, NATURAL HISTORY, PRODUCTIONS. &c. &c. &c. AND PRESENTING A VIEW OF THE REPUBLIC GENERALLY, AND OF THE INDIVIDUAL STATES; [View on the Mississippi.) TOGETHER WITH A CONDENSED HISTORY OF THE LAND, FROM ITS FIRST DISCOVERY TO THE PRESENT TIME. THE BIOGRAPHY ABOUT TWO HUNDRED OF THE LEADING MEN OF A DESCRIPTION OF THE PRINCIPAL CITIES AND TOWNS; WITH STATISTICAL TABLES, RELATING TO THE RELIGION, COMJIBRCE) MANUFACTURES, AND VARIOUS OTHER TOPICS- BDITED BY GRENVILLE MELLEN.

WITH ENGRAVINGS OK CURIOSITIES, SCENERY, ANIMALS, CITIES, TOWNS, PUBLIC BUILDINGS, &i NEW YORK : GEORGE CLINTON SMITH AND CO. 1839. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year ISS9. by GRENVILLE MELLEN. in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts STEREOTYPED BY SHEPARD, OLIVER 4 CO. No. 3, Water Street, Eoalon. Martinson & Co., Printers.

Preface

. In presenting this volume to the American public, the introduc tory remarks in which we shall indulge will be few and general, as the book is one of that kind that speaks with singular plainness for itself, and seems to us to require little upon the prefatory page in the way of explanation, either with reference to its character considered collectively, or in detail. The chief object in preparing this work has been to furnish something which should be found to embrace those subjects which are of abiding interest and importance to all classes. It has been a wish to present such matters, as well as could be done in the com pass allowed, as are of interest to all classes of readers, and an acquaintance with which is desirable for our own citizens especially. Directed by these intentions, it is hoped that the efforts to bring a valuable and attractive volume before the public may have prov ed successful ; and that, viewed with reference to the subjects of which it treats, this may be called, emphatically, a book for this country, exhibiting, at one view, a picture of the Republic in its physical, political, and social conditions, so drawn and colored as to present in pleasant relief its most striking and peculiar features.

Simplicity was a leading object in the preparation of the work. By such object it was natural to be guided, when it was remem bered that the pages were designed for the general eye and for all classes. This quality was allowed to govern, in a great degree, both in the thought and style ; and if, in any case, it may have been carried to a point beyond the fortunate one, it will be believed, we presume, that the fault, if it be such, is upon the better side.

PREFACE.

. In some instances interesting historical accounts are retained and enlarged upon, from a consideration of the universally popular cha racter which such accounts generally possess. It is not known, however, that they are referred to or dwelt upon in such a manner as to induce the charge of credulity beyond that very pardonable de gree which all well disposed and good natured, and we may add, well informed, writers and readers are ever ready to meet. Frequent references are made to able and prominent writers, in connection with the several important subjects which are here introduced ; and such extracts are given, as, it is thought, will best illustrate and enforce them. This course, with most readers, is an acceptable one, and in a work of this nature it is the best that can be pursued, frequently, to accomplish, within reasonable limits, the design of the undertaking.

To enlarge would seem to be useless. The volume must speak for itself, and bear its recommendation within. It is hoped, with the several sketches of the Republic which it intends to present, under its different aspects, it may prove an agreeable and instructive one to the community. We had intended to have annexed a list ofthe writers consulted and extracted from in the course of the volume ; but we believe the references in the pages will supersede the necessity of a more particular notice. It would be unjust, however, not to mention our especial obligation to the excellent Yiew of the United States by Mr. Hinton, of which we have made the freest use throughout the volume. New York, June, 1839. CONTENTS.

Part I. Physical Geography

Page. Chap. I. Mountains 13 Chap. II. Valleys 27 Chap. III. Prairies and Plains . 32 Chap. IV. Rivers ' 38 CHAr. V. Cataracts and Cascades 63 Chap. VI. Lakes 75 Chap. VII. Springs 87 Chap. VIII. Caverns 97 Chap. IX. Islands 108 Chap. X. Capes and Peninsulas ....... 114 Chap. XL Bays, Harbors, Sounds, and Gulfs 116 Chap. XII. Oceans 122 Chap. XIII. Soil 127 Chap. XIV. Climate 140 Chap. XV. Minerals 155 Chap. XVI. Animals 165 Chap. XVII. Botany 235 Chap. XVIII. Geology 249 Chap. XIX. Natural Curiosities 257 PART Hi POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY. Chap. I. Political and Geographical Division 263 Chap. II. Cities and Towns V3 VI CONTENTS. Chap. III. Agriculture . 339 Chap. IV. Manufactures 3o3 Chap. V Commerce 361 Chap. VI. Rail-roads 369 Chap. VII. Canals 379 Chap. VIII. Government . . . . • • •- .387 Chap. IX.

Slavery 405 Chap. X. Indian Tribes 4n Chap. XL American Antiquities 43° Chap. XII. Religion u5 Chap. XIII. Manners and Amusements 4^3 Chap. XIV. Penitentiary System 465 Chap. XVI. Literature and Education 473 Chap. XVII. Fine Arts Chap. XVIII. Banking System ... . . 490 Chap. XIX. Biographical Sketches 49S Chap. XX. History Hall os Representatives.. ..Washington. Bridge and Rapida near Falls of Niagara. BOOK OF THE UNITED STATES.

PART I. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.

Chapter I

— MOUNTAINS. Though embracing in its extent several elevated ranges of great length and breadth, the territory of the United States cannot be considered as a mountainous country. The land along the whole line of the seacoast is level for a considerable distance into the interior. The breadth of this level tract expands from fifty miles in the north-east extremity, gradually, as we advance to the south-west, till in the state of Georgia, it has attained an extent of near two hundred miles. Beyond this the land gradually rises into mountains, which are much more remarkable for their length and breadth, than their height. They sometimes consist of numerous parallel ridges rising successively behind each other ; at other times they run into knots ; and sometimes they recede from their parallel direction into what are called spurs.

These ranges or belts of mountainous country, though receiving a vast number of different appellations, are most usually known by the name of the Alleghanies. The long continuity of this chain has obtained it the name of the Endless Mountains, from the northern savages. The French and Spaniards, who first became acquainted with it in Florida, applied to it through its whole extent the name of Apalachian, which is still retained by a considerable river of that country. The general course of the Alleghanies is about north-east and south west ; east of the Hudson they are scattered in irregular groups, without any very marked direction. The range of the Rocky or Chippewan Mountains divides the waters which flow east into the Missouri and Mississippi, from those which flow west into the Pacific Ocean, and are a continuation of the Cordilleras of Mexico.

Their longitude is about one hundred and twelve west, and they terminate in about seventy north latitude. Along the coast of the Pacific is another range which seems to form a step to the Rocky- Mountains. It extends from the Cape of California along the coast to Cook's Inlet, generally rising to no great height in the southern portion. In the northern part, La Perouse states that it is ten thousand feet high, and at its northern extremity is Mount Elias, eighteen thousand feet high, and the loftiest peak of North America. E00K OF THE UNITED STATES. The White Mountains in New England, largely considered, are th<s principal ranges running north-east and south-west, projecting from the main ridge that forms the boundary of the United States, and separates the waters of the St. Lawrence from those that run south through the Northern States.

The highest ridge is that called the White Mountain Ridge in New Hampshire, running from south to north, the loftiest sum- White Mountains. mits of which are Monadnock, a hill of an abrupt and striking character, Sunapee, Kearsarge, Carr's Mountain, and Moosehillock. Towards the north of the state, these eminences rise to a much higher elevation, and are known specifically by the name of the White Mountains. White Mountains, These are the loftiest mountains in the United States, east of the Missis sippi. They lie between the Connecticut and Androscoggin rivers od the north-east and west, and the head-waters of the Merrimack on the strath sixty or seventy miles from the coast ; yet their white summits toe visible from many miles at sea. They extend about twenty miles from south-west to north-east, and their base is eight or ten miles broad.

Mount Washington is the highest of all the White Mountains, being six thousand two hundred and thirty-four feet above the level of the sea. Next to Mount Washington in height is Mount Adams, then Jefferson, then Madison, all more than five thousand feet high ; there are several besides these, though none so elevated. The country around and among the mountains is very wild and rough, and the mountains themselves are difficult of access. The east side of Mount Washington rises at an angle of forty-five degrees. The lower part of the mountain is covered with thick woods of spruce and fir trees, with deep beds of moss beneath. Heavy clouds of vapor often rest upon the mountain, and fill the moss with water, which cannot be exhaled or dried up by the sun on account of the woods, and therefore it breaks out in numerous springs which feed the streams from the mountain.

The trees are short and stunted higher up the mountain ; soon there are only bushes ; then instead of bushes are vines ; the last thing that grows is winter grass mixed with moss ; the summit is entirely bare of vegetation. There is a plain from which the last height of Mount Washington rises to the height of fifteen hundred feet. This elevation or pinnacle is composed of huge grey rocks. Reaching the top much fatigued and out of breath, the traveller is instantly master of a boundless prospect, noble enough to pay him for his lc^or. The Atlantic dimly seen through a distance of sixty-five miles, the Vermont Mountains on the west, the southern and northern mountains of New Hampshire, Lake Winnipiseogee, ponds, streams, and towns, without number, all form a great impressive picture. The road from the seaqoast to the mountains passes along the head stream of the Saco, which rises among these mountains, and breaks through them at a place known by the name of the Notch, a narrow defile extending two miles in length between two large cliffs, apparently rent asunder by some vast convulsion of nature. ' The sublime and awful grandeur of this passage baffles all description.

Geometry may settle the heights of the mountains ; and numerical figures may record the measure ; but no words can tell the emotions of the soul, as it looks upward, and views the almost perpendicular precipices which line the narrow space between them ; while the senses ache with terror and astonishment, as one sees himself hedged in from all the world besides. He may cast his eye forward or backward, or to either side ; he can see only upward, and there the diminutive circle of his vision is cribbed and confined by the battlements of nature's ' cloud-capped towers,' which seem as if they wanted only the breathing of a zephyr, or the wafting of a straw against them, to displace them, and crush the prisoner in their fall. Just before our visit to this place, on the 26th of June, 1826, there was a tremendous avalanche, or slide, as it is there called, from the mountain which makes the southern wall of the passage.

An immense ■mass of earth and rock, on the side of the mountain, was loosened from its resting place, and began to slide towards the bottom. In its course, it divided into three portions, each coming down, with amazing velocity, into the road, and sweeping before it shrubs, trees, and rocks, and filling up the road, beyond all possibility of its being removed. With great labor, a pathway has been made over these fallen masses, which admits the passage of a carriage. The place from which the slide, or slip, ws.S loosened, is directly in the rear of a small, but comfortable dwelling-house, owned and occupied by a Mr. Willey, who has taken advantage of a narrow, a very narrow interval, — where the bases of the two mountains seem to have parted and receded, as if afraid of coming into contact, — to erect his lone habitation : and, were there not a special Providence in the fall of a sparrow, and had not the finger of that Providence traced the direction of the sliding mass, neither he, nor any soul of his family, would ever have told, the tale.

They heard the noise, when it first began to move, and ran to the door. In terror and amazement, they beheld the mountain in motion. But what can human power effect in such an emergency? Before they could think of retreating, or ascertain which way to escape, the danger was passed. One portion of the avalanche crossed the road about ten rods only from their habitation ; the second, a few rods beyond that ; and the third, and much the largest portion, took a much more oblique direction. The whole area, now covered by the slide, is nearly an acre ; and the distance of its present bed from its former place on the side of the mountain, and which it moved over in a few minutes, is from three quarters of a mile to a mile. There are many trees of large size that came down with such force as to shiver them in pieces ; and innumerable rocks, of many tons' weight, any one of which was sufficient to carry with it destruction to any of the labors of man.

The spot on the mountain, from which the slip was loosened, is now a naked, white rock ; and its pathway downward is indicated by deep5 channels, or furrows grooved in the side of the mountain, and down one of which pours a stream of water, sufficient to carry a common saw-mill. ' From this place to the Notch, there is almost a continual ascent, generally gradual, but sometimes steep and sudden. The narrow pathway pro ceeds along the stream, sometimes crossing it, and shifting from the side of one mountain to the other, as either furnishes a less precarious foothold for the traveller than its fellow. Occasionally it winds up the side of the steep to such a height, as to leave, on one hand or the other, a gulf of ■unseen depth ; for the foliage of the trees and shrubs is impervious to the sight.

The Notch itself is formed by a sudden projection of rock from the mountain on the right or northerly side, rising perpendicularly to a great height, — probably seventy or eighty feet, — and by a large mass of rock on the left side, which has tumbled from its ancient loeation, and taken a position within twenty feet of its opposite neighbor. The length of the Notch is not more than three or four rods. The moment it is passed, the mountains seem to have vanished. A level meadow, over grown with long grass and wild flowers, and spotted with tufts of shrubbery, spreads itself before the astonished eye, on the left, and a swamp or thicket, on the right, conceals the ridge of mountains which extend to the north : the road separates this thicket from the meadow. Not far from the Notch, on the right hand side of the road, several springs issue from the rocks that compose the base of the mountain, unite in the thicket, and form the Saco river.

This little stream runs across the road into the meadow, where it almost loses itself in its meandering among the bogs, but again collects its waters and passes under the rock that makes the southerly wall of the Notch. It is here invisible for several rods, and its presence is indicated only by its noise, as it rolls through its ruo-o-ed tunnel. In wet seasons and freshets, probably a portion of the water passes over the fragments of rock, which are here wedged together, and form an arch or covering for the natural bed of the stream. ' The sensations which affect the corporeal faculties, as one views these stupendous creations of Omnipotence, are absolutely afflicting and painful. If you look at the summits of the mountains, when a cloud passes towards them, it is impossible for the eye to distinguish, at such a height, which is in motion, the mountain, or the cloud ; and this deception of vision pro duces a dizziness, which few spectators have nerve enough to endure for many minutes.

If the eye be fixed on the crags and masses of rock, that project from the sides of the mountains, the flesh involuntarily quivers, and the limbs seem to be impelled to retreat from a scene that threatens impendent destruction. If the thoughts which crowd upon the intellectual faculties are less painful than these sensations of flesh and blood, they are too sublime and overwhelming to be described. The frequent alterations and great changes, that have manifestly taken place in these majestic masses, since they were first piled together by the hand of the Creator, are calculated to awaken " thoughts beyond the reaches of the soul." If the <; everlasting hills" thus break in pieces, and shake the shaggy covering from their sides, who will deny that " This earthly globe, the creature of a day, Though built by God's right hand, shall pass away ? — The sun himself, by gathering clouds oppressed, Shall, in his silent, dark pavilion, rest ; His golden urn shall break, and, useless, lie Among the common ruins of the sky ; The stars rush headlong, in the wild commotion, And bathe their glittering soreheads in the ocean ?" ' Reflection needs not the authority of inspiration to warrant a belief, that this anticipation is something more than poetical.

History and philosophy teach its truth, or, at least, its probability. The melancholy imaginings which it excites are relieved by the conviction that the whole of God's creation is nothing less " Than a capacious reservoir of means, Formed for his use, and ready at his will ;" and that, if this globe should be resolved into chaos, it will undergo a new organization, and be re-moulded into scenes of beauty, and abodes of hap piness. Such may be the order of nature, to be unfolded in a perpetual series of material production and decay — of creation and dissolution — a oiagnificent procession of worlds and systems, in the march of eternity.'* A few weeks after the slide mentioned in the above description, a disaster occurred which occasioned the destruction of the interesting family to which allusion is there made.

The afternoon had been rainy, and the weather continued so till eleven o'clock in the evening, when it cleared away. About the same hour, a great noise was heard, at the distance of several miles like the rushing down of rocks and much water from the mountains. The next morning, the people, at Conway, could perceive that some disaster, of no ordinary * J. T. Buckingham. 3 2* character, had happened, by the appearance of the mountains cm each side of the road. On repairing to the spot, they found the house of Mr. Willey, standing near the Notch, unhurt, but destitute of any of the family. It is supposed that they left it in their fright, and were instantly swept away, and buried under the rocks and earth which were borne down by the freshet. This family consisted of Mr. Willey, his wife, five children, and two hired men, all of whom were suddenly swept from time to eternity, by this lamentable disaster.

Had they remained in the house, they would probably have been safe. The central and western parts of Maine are mountainous. The highest mountains are the Katahdin, situated near the centre of the state, the Speckled, Bald, Bigelow, and Ebeeme mountains. The range between the rivers Hudson and Connecticut, and this last and lake Champlain, is called the Green Mountains, an appellation which it has received from its perpetual verdure, being covered on its western side with hemlock, pine, spruce, and other evergreens. These mountains are from ten to fifteen miles wide, much intersected with valleys, and abounding in springs and streams. Vegetation decreases on approaching their summits ; the trees diminish in size, and frequently terminate in a shrubbery of spruce and hemlock, two or three feet high, with branches so interwoven as to prevent all passage through them.

The sides of the mountains are generally rugged and irregular ; some of them have large apertures and caves. Their tops are coated with a compact and firm moss, which lies in extensive beds, and is sometimes of a consistency to bear the weight of a man without being broken through. These mosses absorb a great deal of moisture, and afford wet and marshy places, which in the warm season are the constant resort of water fowl. The loftiest summits are Killington Peak, near Rutland ; Camel's Rump, between Montpelier and Burlington, and Mansfield Mountain, a few miles farther north, all which are more than three thousand five hundred feet above the level of the sea. Ascutney, a single mountain near Windsor, is three thousand three hundred and twenty feet in height. The range called Green Mountains in Vermont, enters the west part of Massachusetts from the north, and forms the Hoosac and Tagkannuc Ridges, which run nearly parallel to each other south, into Connecticut.

The most elevated peaks of the Tagkannuc Ridge are Saddle Mountain in the north, four thousand feet high, and Tagkannuc Mountain in the south, three thousand feet. No summits of the Hoosac Ridge much exceed half these elevations. Mount Holyoke, in the neighborhood of Northampton, commands a prospect ofthe highest beauty; the waters of the Connecticut wind about its base, giving fertility and wealth of vegetation to the surrounding country. On its top a shanty is erected, in which refreshments are kept for the visitors who at favorable seasons make this excursion in great numbers. There are two distinct chains belonging to the Alleghany range in the state of New York, the Catskill and the Wallkill. The Catskill, which is the most northern, is the continuation of the proper Alleghany or western chain ; the eastern is called, by some geographers, Wallkill.

A visit to the Catskill is a favorite excursion of northern travellers, and several days may be spent very agreeably in examining the grand and romantic scenery of the neighborhood. Pine Orchard is a small plain, {.wo thousand two hundred and fourteen feet above the Hudson, scattered PHi'SICAL GEOGRAPHY. 19 with forest trees, and furnished with an elegant house of great size. Im mediately below is seen a wild and mountainous region, finely contrasting with the cultivated country beyond, which presents every variety of hill and valley, interspersed with town, hamlet, and cottage. The hills of Weehawken are on the west side of the Hudson, nearly opposite the city of New York. Weehawken. The Highlands of the Hudson, or Fishkill Mountains, which first appear about forty miles from New York, are marked for their sublimity and Highlands. gTandeur, and interesting from their connection with many great events of the revolution.

This chain is sixteen miles in width, and extends twenty miles along both sides of the Hudson. The height of the principal has been estimated at one thousand five hundred and sixty-five feet. The Peruvian Mountains consist of a lofty tract in the northern part of New York, being round the sources of the Hudson, and separating the waters of Lake Champlain from those of the St. Lawrence. They received their name from the supposition that they contained mineral treasures. Their loftiest summit, called Whiteface, is about three thousand feet above the level of Lake Champlain. The Apalachian chain in Pennsylvania spreads to its widest limits, and covers with its various ranges more than one half of the state. The greatest width of the chain equals two hundred miles. It consists of parallel ridges sometimes little distant from each other, and at other times with valleys twenty or thirty miles broad lying between them.

The range nearest the coast is called the South Mountain, and is a continuation of the Blue Ridge of Virginia. This, however, is hardly a distinct ridge, but only an irregular series of rocky, broken eminences, sometimes disap pearing altogether, and at others spreading out several miles in breadth. These eminences lie one hundred and fifty or two hundred miles from the sea, and their height does not exceed one thousand two hundred feet above the surrounding country. Beyond these are the Kittatinny or Blue Moun tains, which extend from Maryland to New Jersey across the Susquehanna and Delaware. Farther westward are the ridges bearing the names of the Sideling Hills, Ragged Mountains, Great Warrior Mountain, East Will's Mountain, till we come to the Alleghany Ridge, the highest range, and from which this whole chain has in common language received the name of the Alleghany Mountains.

The highest summits are between three and four thousand feet above the level of the sea. West of the Alleghany are the Laurel and Chesnut Ridges. These mountains are in general covered with thick forests. The Laurel Mountains are overgrown on their eastern front with the tree from which they are named. The wide valleys between the great ridges are filled with a multitude of hills, confusedly scattered up and down. The tops of the ridges sometimes exhibit long ranges of table land, two or three miles broad ; some of them are steep on one side, and extend with a long slope on the other. These mountains are traversed by the great streams of the Susquehanna chain, and the head-waters of the Ohio. The Wallkill, which crosses the Hudson at West Point, forty miles below the Catskill, is the continuation of the Blue Ridge, or Eastern Chain, which is the most general appellation for the extensive ridge which fronts the Atlantic.

The eastern and western ranges run parallel to each other, south-west, till on the frontiers of North Carolina and Virginia they unite in a knot which has been called the Alleghany Arch, because the principal chain embraces there in a curve all its collaterals from the east. A little farther to the south, but still in North Carolina, a second knot unites all the collateral ridges from the west, and forms a culminating point of heads of rivers. The second bifurcation stretches south-west and then west, and the name of the * Cumberland Mountains through the whole state of Ten- * Among the Enchanted Mountains, a name given to several spurs of the Cumber land Ridge, are some very singular footprints marked in the solid limestone rock. These are tracks of men, horses, and other animals, as distinctly marked as though but yesterday impressed in clay or mortar.

Their appearance often indicates that the feet which made them had slidden, as if in descending a declivity of soft clay. The riessee, while the proper Alleghany Chain, left almost alone, continues its course to the south-west, and completes the boundary of Georgia and the two Carolinas. From the Alleghany Arch, there are three principal ridges or ramifications of the Alleghany, running north-east and nearly parallel to each other, namely, the Alleghany Proper, the North Mountain, and the Blue Ridge. Of the last ridge the highest summits are the Otter Peaks. The elevated district of South Carolina presents seven or eight mountains running in regular directions, the most distinguished of which is the *Table Mountain. Mr. Jefferson, with peculiar felicity of illustra tion, called the range of the Alleghanies the spine of the United States ; separating the eastern from the western waters, and the whole of the terri tory from the Mississippi to the Atlantic into three natural divisions, materially differing from each other in climate, configuration, soil, and produce ; namely, the coast, the mountains, and the western territory.

In extent, in elevation, and in breadth, the Rocky Mountains far exceed the Alleghanies of the Eastern States. Their mean breadth is two hun dred miles, and where broadest, three hundred. Their height must be very great, since, when first seen by Captain Lewis, they were at least one hundred and fifty miles distant. On a nearer approach, the sublimity of the prospect is increased, by the appearance of range rising behind range, each yielding in height to its successor, till the most distant is mingled with the clouds. In this lofty region the ranges are covered with snow in the middle of June. From this last circumstance, these ranges have been Table lands at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. sometimes denominated the Shining Mountains — an appellation much more appropriate than that of the Rocky or Stony Mountains, a property human feet have uniformly six toes, with the exception of one track, which is th to be that of a negro.