"At a point just below Mingo swamp, the end of the Bloomfield ridge is but two and a quarter miles from the St. François, and the side of the bluff comes close to the river on the west side, the intervening bottom between the ridge and the river being but three feet below high-water mark. We would propose throwing up an embankment across this two miles of bottom to a height of about six feet, and throwing a low dam across the river sufficiently high to throw all the water through Mingo swamp into the Castor division, except so much as the banks will contain at the point indicated as near Chalk Bluff, after stopping some of the narrow gullies which the river has cut, through which the water escapes, and clearing the river of its rafts of drift. This could be done at a moderate expense, a mere trifle compared with the benefits to be derived in both Missouri and Arkansas.

"The water that flows over the west bank of the St. François in floods nearly all runs into Arkansas west of Croly's ridge, and, as before demonstrated, is equal to thirty per cent. of the drainage of 1250 square miles; during, however, only the time that the water is at its maximum height, which is the most important time, especially north of the Missouri line. Black River could then be easily kept within its banks, and the fine body of rich land west of it, embracing about five townships, would be fit for settlement.

"Castor Division.-Having shut the Mississippi out by the embankment across Cape Girardeau inlet, we have only the draining of the Ozark slope to contend with through White, Castor, and St. François Rivers, the body of water from the latter being greatly increased by the improvement already suggested below Mingo swamp. Thirty per cent. of the whole volume of water at its maximum height in the St. François having been diverted by the proposed improvements, and as forty-five per cent. before flowed through Mingo swamp from the same river, this gives seventy-five per cent. of all the water in the St. François, when at its extreme height, as passing through Mingo swamp into Castor division.

"To compensate for diverting thirty per cent. of the St. François into this division, we would propose throwing up a dike from the north end of the inlet dike to the point where White River enters the swamp, a distance of about twelve miles. It is presumed that this may be done at a moderate expense, making it near the ends of the ridges where the overflow is not so deep, and raising the bed of the stream by a dam across the old channel where the river enters the swamp.

"White River drains 590 square miles of the Ozark slope, and the

distance to the head of the longest fork is forty-seven miles, it being about the same with Castor River, which drains 548 square miles, and to the head of the longest fork from the swamp is fifty-three miles.

"It will be seen that the proposed improvement of diverting White River would carry more drainage off from the Castor division than the surplus portion from the St. François brought in by the proposed change, even supposing that this surplus be brought in during all the stages of the water, which is not the case.*

"The improvements suggested for the Castor division, then, are the shutting out entirely the Mississippi River and the White River, to compensate for thirty per cent. of the St. François during its highest stage let in through Mingo swamp; and as it is fair to assume that a river heading among mountain ranges, like the St. François, with its longest fork only 105 miles in length, would remain at a maximum in flood but a few hours at once, and as the White River drains more country than the Castor River, we think it might be safe to assume that four-tenths of the drainage is diverted by the proposed improvement, in addition to that most important of all suggestions for this and the Black River divisions, the shutting out of the mighty volume that escapes from the Mississippi.

"By the figures shown on the map, and by looking at the profile, it will be seen that the high-water mark of the Mississippi River at New Madrid is sixteen feet above the high water in the swamp, ten miles directly west of the same point. The high-water marks are presumed to be correct, having been shown at different points by people who professed to understand them, and the height of different places do not materially conflict.

"The country below New Madrid we know nothing of from observation. The fall of high-water mark from Cairo to New Madrid is twenty-nine feet by our levels, and the distance by map is sixty-two miles by the river, making the fall of the water average five and sixtenths inches per mile. Assuming that the fall is the same for some distance below New Madrid, then to fall sixteen feet, we go thirtyfour miles by the river below New Madrid, which gives an elevation of high-water mark equal to the elevation spoken of west of New Madrid, and consequently the Mississippi River can have no outlet of importance in this distance, which we are informed is true, by those acquainted with the country; and, in fact, we have been told that no

* As will be seen, no account is taken of the greater velocity which rivers have near the surface of the water in floods. This would augment our estimate of the percentage that washes over the west bank of the St. François, as well as our estimate of the proportion that does now run into the Castor, and the surplus which would be thrown in by the construction of the proposed dam, etc.

outlet occurred on the west bank of the river from New Madrid to Memphis.

known as having been Where once was high,

"The country west of New Madrid is well sunk several feet by an earthquake in 1811. timbered land is now covered with standing and running water, being the discharges of Castor and White Rivers, which here form one stream which is called Little River.

"The route to Memphis, as shown on the map of this division, runs mostly on land said to be above overflow. The first ten miles south of the point where it crosses the Bloomfield ridge, we know from observation on the ground, is some fifteen feet above overflow, and is there mostly a sandy prairie which is said to continue much the same to the Arkansas line.

"Mississippi Division.-On this division the overflow from the Mississippi River must be kept out by a system of levees, but the position of these must be determined by more extended surveys than those made by us with only a railroad route in view. Much of the ground is now above overflow. Long prairie and Matthew's prairie are both extensively settled, and contain some of the finest farms in Southeast Missouri.

Approximated estimate of cost of carrying out the proposed system of drainage for Southeast Missouri.

47,000 yds. embankment, No. 1, below Mingo swamp, at 25 cents

Stopping the gullies when St. François breaks out at sundry points, say....

10,000 00

$25,950 00

162,000 yards embankment, near Cape Girardeau, 3 miles long and

Leveeing divide between Castor and Mississippi divisions........ Leveeing 50 miles of the Mississippi River, averaging $4000 per mile.........

5,000 00

200,000 00

$431,450 00

Engineering, contingencies, surveys, etc., etc..........

43,150 00

$474,600 00

"We would repeat here that the above remarks are only intended to give what information we had collected in progress of survey, and not as a matured plan. They may be useful in either confirming or suggesting other plans."

OUTLINE HISTORY.

"The man who is ignorant of the transactions of former times, is condemned to a perpetual state of childhood."-Cicero.

THE valley of the Mississippi was first discovered by HERNANDO DE SOTO, appointed by the Emperor Charles V. of Spain, as Governor of the Island of Cuba, and President of Florida. He explored the Lower Mississippi, as far north as the mouth of the Arkansas, in 1539, and passed up White River, crossed the Ozark ridge, and spent the winter of 1541-42 on the plains (or prairies) beyond-probably in the western part of this State. (See Vernon. County.) He named the country "Florida."

After describing the Ozark hills in Missouri, Schoolcraft says: "Through these Alpine ranges De Soto roved with his chivalrous and untiring army, making an outward and inward expedition into regions which must have presented untoward hardships and discouragements to the march of troops. To add to these natural obstacles, he found himself opposed by fierce savage tribes, who rushed upon him from every glen and defile, and met him in the open grounds with the most savage energy. His own health finally sunk under these fatigues; and it is certain that, after his death, his successor in the command, Moscoso, once more marched entirely through the southern Ozarks, and reached the Buffalo plains beyond them. Such energy and feats of daring had never before been displayed in North America; and the wonder is at its highest, after beholding the wild and rough mountains, cliffs, glens, and torrents, over which the actual marches must have laid. Some of the names of the Indian tribes encountered by him furnish conclusive evidence that the principal tribes of the country, although they have changed their particular locations since the year 1542, still occupy the region. Thus, the Kapahas, who then lived on the Mississippi, above the St. François, are identical with the Quappas, the Cayas with the Kanzas, and the Quipana with the Pawnees."

In 1673, the Mississippi valley was further explored by FATHER MAREQUETTE and M. JOLIET, from New France, (Canada,) who entered the Mississippi River at the mouth of the Wisconsin, and continued down the stream to the mouth of the Arkansas River,

which point they reached in 1673. Thus it will be seen that that portion of the Mississippi forming the eastern boundary of this State was discovered by the last-named French explorers, who were the first white men that had floated upon the Mississippi for a period of 130 years or since the disastrous voyage of Louis de Moscoso, with the remains of De Soto's expedition, in the year 1543. Returning from the mouth of the Arkansas, they passed up the Illinois River, and discovered all that country in July, 1674.

In 1680, ROBERT CAVALIER DE LA SALLE fitted out an exploring expedition, consisting of FATHER LOUIS HENNEPIN and M. DUGAY, with six others, to advance to the head waters of the Mississippi. Hennepin went no farther north than Saint Anthony's Falls, which name he gave them in honor of his patron saint, St. Anthony, of Padua. Thence they descended the Mississippi to the mouth of the Arkansas, and from there returned to Green Bay.*

In 1682, La Salle made a tour of exploration through the valley of the Mississippi, and to the "great river" he gave the name of St. Louis, and the country traversed by it Louisiana, both in honor of the King of France; and to the Missouri River he gave the name of Saint Philip. Continuing down the "St. Louis," on the 7th of April, 1682, he planted the colors of France near the Gulf of Mexico, and formally and solemnly claimed the Territory for France, giving it the name of Louisiana; he soon after returned to France, to make arrangements for colonizing Louisiana, which he had accomplished by July, 1684, when his fleet of four vessels left Rochelle, France; failing to recognize the mouth of the Mississippi, as they passed it, the fleet landed at the Bay of the Matagorda. His subsequent history is full of melancholy interest.

The discovery of the Mississippi by the Canadian French gave to France a conventional claim to navigate the great river and its principal tributaries, and to occupy and settle in the country traversed by them.

The further exploration of the Lower Mississippi was interrupted by the war between the Iroquois Indians and the British Colonies, against the Province of Canada, from 1689 to 1696. But the settlements formed in the Illinois country (east of the Mississippi) by Father La Salle were annually on the increase, by the accession of Canadian adventurers, who had heard of the fertile lands and the more temperate climate. Before the close of the seventeenth century "Old Kaskaskia" was known through not only all the Illinois country,

* Monette.