Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 7, No. 43, May, 1861 by Various

V >> Various >> Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 7, No. 43, May, 1861

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In the spring of 1831, Black Hawk, a Sac chief, dissatisfied with the
treaty by which his tribe had been removed across the Mississippi,
recrossed the river at the head of three or four hundred warriors, and
drove away the white settlers from his old lands near the mouth of the
Rock River. This was considered an invasion of the State, and Governor
Reynolds called for volunteers. Fifteen hundred men answered the
summons, and the Indians were driven out. The next spring, however,
Black Hawk returned with a larger force, and commenced hostilities by
killing some settlers on Indian Creek, not far from Ottawa. A large
force of volunteers was again called out, but in the first encounter the
whites were beaten, which success encouraged the Sacs and Foxes so much
that they spread themselves over the whole of the country between the
Mississippi and the Lake, and kept up a desultory warfare for three or
four months against the volunteer troops. About the middle of July, a
body of volunteers under General Henry of Illinois pursued the Indians
into Wisconsin, and by forced marches brought them to action near the
Mississippi, before the United States troops, under General Atkinson,
could come up. The Indians fought desperately, but were unable to stand
long before the courage and superior numbers of the whites. They escaped
across the river with the loss of nearly three hundred, killed in the
action, or drowned in the retreat. The loss of the Illinois volunteers
was about thirty, killed and wounded.

This defeat entirely broke the power of the Sacs and Foxes, and they
sued for peace. Black Hawk, and some of his head men, were taken
prisoners, and kept in confinement for several months, when, after a
tour through the country, to show them the numbers and power of the
whites, they were set at liberty on the west side of the Mississippi. In
1840 Black Hawk died, at the age of eighty years, on the banks of the
great river which he loved so well.

After the Black-Hawk War, the Indian title being extinguished, and the
country open to settlers, Northern Illinois attracted great attention,
and increased wonderfully in wealth and population.

In 1830, the population of the State amounted to 157,445; in 1840, to
476,183; in 1850, to 851,470; in 1860, to 1,719,496.

* * * * *

Situated in the centre of the United States, the State of Illinois
extends from 37 deg. to 42 deg. 30' N. latitude, and from 10 deg. 47' to 14 deg. 26' W.
longitude from Washington. The State is 378 miles long from North to
South, and 212 miles broad from East to West. Its area is computed at
55,408 square miles, or 35,459,200 acres, less than two millions of
which are called swamp lands, the remaining thirty-three millions being
tillable land of unsurpassed fertility.

The State of Illinois forms the lower part of that slope which embraces
the greater part of Indiana, and of which Lake Michigan, with its
shores, forms the upper part. At the lowest part of this slope, and of
the State, is the city of Cairo, situated about 350 feet above the
level of the Gulf of Mexico, at the confluence of the Ohio and the
Mississippi; hence, the highest place in Illinois being only 800 feet
above the level of the sea, it will appear that the whole State, though
containing several hilly sections, is a pretty level plain, being, with
the exception of Delaware and Louisiana, the flattest country in the
Union.

The State contains about twenty-five considerable streams, and brooks
and rivulets innumerable. There are no large lakes within its borders,
though it has some sixty miles of Lake Michigan for its boundary on the
east. Small clear lakes and ponds abound, particularly in the northern
portion of the State.

As to the quality of the soil, Illinois is divided as follows:--

First, the alluvial land on the margins of the rivers, and extending
back from half a mile to six or eight miles. This soil is of
extraordinary fertility, and, wherever it is elevated, makes the best
farming land in the State. Where it is low, and exposed to inundations,
it is very unsafe to attempt its cultivation. The most extensive tract
of this kind is the so-called American Bottom, which received this name
when it was the western boundary of the United States. It extends from
the junction of the Kaskaskia and Mississippi, along the latter, to the
mouth of the Missouri, containing about 288,000 acres.

Secondly, the table-land, fifty to a hundred feet higher than the
alluvial; it consists principally of prairies, which, according to their
respectively higher or lower situations, are either dry or marshy.

Thirdly, the hilly sections of the State, which, consisting alternately
of wood and prairie, are not, on the whole, as fertile as either the
alluvial or the table-land.

There are no mountains in Illinois; but in the southern as well as the
northern part, there are a few hills. Near the banks of the principal
rivers the ground is elevated into bluffs, on which may be still found
the traces left by water, which was evidently once much higher than
it now is; whence it is inferred, that, where the fertile plains of
Illinois now extend, there must once have been a vast sheet of water,
the mud deposited by which formed the soil, thus accounting for the
great fertility of the prairies.

* * * * *

As we have said, the entire area of Illinois seems at one period to
have been an ocean-bed, which has not since been disturbed by any
considerable upheaval. The present irregularities of the surface are
clearly traceable to the washing out and carrying away of the earth. The
Illinois River has washed out a valley about two hundred and fifty feet
deep, and from one and a half to six miles wide. The perfect regularity
of the beds of mountain limestone, sandstone, and coal, as they are
found protruding from the bluffs on each side of this valley, on the
same levels, is pretty conclusive evidence that the valley itself owes
its existence to the action of water. That the channels of the rivers
have been gradually sunken, we may distinctly see by the shores of the
Upper Mississippi, where are walls of rock, rising perpendicularly,
which extend from Lake Pepin to below the mouth of the Wisconsin, as if
they were walls built of equal height by the hand of man. Wherever the
river describes a curve, walls may be found on the convex side of it.

The upper coal formation occupies three-fifths of the State, commencing
at 41 deg. 12' North latitude, where, as also along the Mississippi, whose
banks it touches between the places of its junction with the Illinois
and Missouri rivers, it is enclosed by a narrow layer of calcareous
coal. The shores of Lake Michigan, and that narrow strip of land, which,
commencing near them, runs along the northern bank of the Illinois
towards its southwestern bend, until it meets Rock River at its mouth,
belong to the Devonian system. The residue of the northern part of the
State consists of Silurian strata, which, containing the rich lead mines
of Galena in the northwest corner of the State, rise at intervals into
conical hills, giving the landscape a character different from that of
the middle or southern portion. Scattered along the banks of rivers, and
in the middle of prairies, are frequently found large masses of granite
and other primitive rocks. Since the nearest beds of primitive rocks
first appear in Minnesota and the northern part of Wisconsin, their
presence here can be accounted for only by assuming that at the time
this region was covered with water they were floated down from the
North, enclosed and supported in masses of ice, which, melting, allowed
the rocks to sink to the bottom. A still further proof of the presence
of the ocean here in former times is to be found in the sea-shells which
occur upon many of the higher knolls and bluffs west of the Mississippi
in Iowa.

Illinois contains probably more coal than any other State in the Union.
It is mined at a small depth below the surface, and crops out upon the
banks of most of the streams in the middle of the State. These mines
have been very imperfectly worked till within a few years; but it is
found, that, as the work goes deeper, the quality of the coal improves,
and in some of the later excavations is equal to the best coals of Ohio
and Pennsylvania, and will undoubtedly prove a source of immense wealth
to the State.

The two northwestern counties of the State form a part of the richest
and most extensive lead region in the world. During the year 1855, the
product of these mines, shipped from the single port of Galena, was
430,365 pigs of lead, worth $1,732,219.02.

Copper has been found in large quantities in the northern counties, and
also in the southern portion of the State. Some of the zinc ores are
found in great quantities at the lead mines near Galena, but have not
yet been utilized. Silver has been found in St. Clair County, whence
Silver Creek has derived its name. It is said that in early times the
French sunk a shaft here, from which they obtained large quantities of
the metal. Iron is found in many parts of the State, and the ores have
been worked to considerable extent.

Among other valuable mineral products may be mentioned porcelain and
potter's clay, fire clay, fuller's earth, limestone of many varieties,
sandstone, marble, and salt springs.

* * * * *

Illinois has an average temperature, which, if compared with that of
Europe, corresponds to that of Middle Germany; its winters are more
severe than those of Copenhagen, and its summers as warm as those of
Milan or Palermo. Compared with other States of the Union, Northern
Illinois possesses a temperature similar to that of Southern New York,
while the temperature of Southern Illinois will not differ much from
that of Kentucky or Virginia. By observations of the thermometer during
twenty years, in the southern part of the State, on the Mississippi, the
mercury, once in that period, fell to-25 deg., and four times it rose above
100 deg., Fahrenheit.

The prevailing winds are either western or southeastern. The severest
storms are those coming from the west, which traverse the entire space
between the Rocky Mountains and the Atlantic coast in forty-eight hours.

There are on an average eighty-nine rainy days in the year; the quantity
of rain falling amounts to forty-two inches,--the smallest amount
being in January, and the largest in June. The average number of
thunder-storms in a year is forty-nine; of clear days, one hundred and
thirty-seven; of changeable days, one hundred and eighty-three; and of
days without sunshine, forty-five.

* * * * *

The vegetation of the State forms the connecting link between
the Flora of the Northeastern States and that of the Upper
Mississippi,--exhibiting, besides the plants common to all the States
lying between the Mississippi and the Atlantic Ocean, such as are,
properly speaking, natives of the Western prairies, not being found
east of the Alleghany Mountains. Immense grassy plains, interlaced with
groves, which are found also along the watercourses, cover two-thirds of
the entire area of the State in the North, while the southern part is
garnished with heavy timber.

No work which we have seen gives so good an account of the Flora of the
prairies as the one by Frederick Gerhard, called "Illinois as it is." We
have been indebted to this work for a good deal of valuable matter, and
shall now make some further extracts from it.

"Before we finally turn our backs on the last scattered houses of the
village, we find both sides of the road lined with ugly worm-fences,
which are overtopped by the various species of Helianthus, Thistles,
Biennial Gaura, and the Illinoisian Bell-flower with cerulean blossoms,
and other tall weeds. Here may also be found the coarse-haired
_Asclepias tuberosa_, with fiery red umbels, the strong-scented _Monarda
fistulosa_, and an umbelliferous plant, the grass-like, spiculated
leaves of which recall to mind the Southern Agaves, the _Eryngo._ Among
these children of Nature rises the civilized plant, the Indian Corn,
with its stalks nearly twelve feet high."

"Having now arrived at the end of the cultivated lands, we enter upon
the dry prairies, extending up the bluffs, where we meet the small
vermilion Sorrel _(Rumex acetosella)_ and Mouse-ear, which, however, do
not reside here as foreigners, but as natives, like many other plants
that remind the European of his native country, as, for instance, the
Dandelion _(Taraxacum officinale)_; a kind of Rose, _(Rosa lucida,)_
with its sweet-scented blossoms, has a great predilection for this dry
soil. With surprise we meet here also with many plants with hairy,
greenish-gray leaves and stalk-covers, as, for instance, the _Onosmodium
molle, Hieracium longipilum, Pycnanthemum pilosum, Chrysopsis villosa,
Amorpha canescens, Tephrosia Virginiana, Lithospermum canescens;_
between which the immigrated Mullein _(Verbuscum thapsus)_ may be found.
The pebbly fragments of the entire slope, which during spring-time
were sparingly covered with dwarfish herbs, such as the _Androsace
occidentalis, Draba Caroliniana, Plantago Virginica, Scutellaria
parvula,_ are now crowded with plants of taller growth and variegated
blossoms. _Rudbeckia hirta_, with its numerous radiating blossoms of a
lively yellow, and the closely allied _Echinacea purpurea_, whose long
purple rays hang down from a ruddy hemispherical disc, are the most
remarkable among plants belonging to the genus _Compositoe_, which
blossom early in summer; in the latter part of summer follow innumerable
plants of the different species,_Liatris, Vernonia, Aster, Solidago,
Helianthus, etc."_

"We approach a sinuous chasm of the bluffs, having better soil and
underwood, which, thin at first, increases gradually in density.
Low bushes, hardly a foot high, are formed by the American Thistle,
_(Ceanothus Americanus,)_ a plant whose leaves were used instead of tea,
in Boston, during the Revolution. Next follow the Hazel-bush, _(Corylus
Americana,)_ the fiery-red _Castilleja coccinea,_ and the yellow
Canadian Louse-wort; the _Dipteracanthus strepens_, with great blue
funnel-shaped blossoms, and the _Gerardia pedicularia_, are fond of
such places; and where the bushes grow higher, and the _Rhus glabra,
Zanthoxylum Americanum, Ptelea trifoliata, Staphylea trifolia,_ together
with _Ribes-Rubus Pyrus, Cornus, and Cratoegus,_ form an almost
impenetrable thicket, surrounded and garlanded by the round-leaved,
rough Bindweed, _(Smilax rotundifolia,)_ and _Dioscorea villosa_, the
Climbing Rose, _(Rosa setigera,) Celastrus scandens_, remarkable for its
beautiful red fruits, _Clematis Virginiana, Polygonum, Convolvulus, and
other vines, these weedy herbs attempt to overtop the bushes."

"We now enter upon the illimitable prairie which lies before us, the
fertile prairie, in whose undulating surface the moisture is retained;
this waits for cultivation, and will soon be deprived of its flowery
attire, and bear plain, but indispensable grain. Those who have not yet
seen such a prairie should not imagine it like a cultivated meadow, but
rather a heaving sea of tall herbs and plants, decking it with every
variety of color.

"In the summer, the yellow of the large _Composite_ will predominate,
intermingled with the blue of the Tradescantias, the fiery red of the
Lilies, (_Lilium Philadelphicum_ and _Lilium Canadense_,) the purple of
the Phlox, the white of the _Cacalia tuberosa, Melanthium Virginicum,_
and the umbelliferous plants. In spring, small-sized plants bloom here,
such as the Anemone, with its blue and white blossoms, the Palmated
Violet, the Ranunculus, which are the first ornaments of the prairies in
spring; then follow the Esculent Sea-Onion, _Pentaloplius longiflorus,
Lithospermum hirtum, Cynthia Virginica,_ and _Baptisia leucophaea_.
As far as the eye reaches, no house nor tree can be seen; but where
civilization has come, the farmer has planted small rows of the quickly
growing Black Acacia, which affords shelter from the sun to his cattle
and fuel for his hearth."

"We now enter the level part of the forest, which has a rich black soil.
Great sarmentous plants climb here up to the tops of the trees: wild
Grapes, the climbing, poisonous Sumach, (_Rhus toxicodendron,_) and the
vine-like Cinque-foil, which transforms withered, naked trunks into
green columns, Bignonias, with their brilliant scarlet trumpet-flowers,
are the most remarkable. The _Thuja occidentalis,_ which may be met
with in European gardens, stands in mournful solitude on the margins of
pools; here and there an isolalod Cedar, (_Juniperus Virginiana_)
and the low Box-tree, (_Taxus Canadensis_) are in Illinois the only
representatives of the evergreens, forests of which first appear in the
northern part of Wisconsin and Minnesota."

"Flowers of the most brilliant hues bedeck the rivers' banks; above
all, the _Lobelia cardinalis_ and _Lobelia syphilitica_, of the deepest
carmine and cerulean tinge, the yellow _Cassia Marilandica_, and the
delicate _Rosa blanda_, a rose without thorns; also the _Scrophularia
nodosa_."

"On the marshy ground thrive the _Iris versicolor, Asclepias incarnata_,
the Primrose-tree, Liver-wort, the tall _Physostegia Virginiana_, with
rosy-red blossoms, and the _Helenium autumnale_, in which the yellow
color predominates. In spring, the dark violet blossom of the _Amorpha
fruticosa_ diffuses its fragrance."

"Entering a boat on the river, where we cannot touch the bottom with the
oar, we perceive a little white flower waving to and fro, supported
by long spiral halms between straight, grass-like leaves. This is the
_Vallisneria spiralis_, a remarkable plant, which may be also met with
in Southern Europe, especially in the Canal of Languedoc, and regarding
the fructification of which different opinions prevail."

"Nearer to the land, we observe similar grass-like leaves, but with
little yellow stellated flowers: these belong to the order of _Schollera
graminea_. Other larger leaves belong to the Amphibious Polygony, and
different species of the _Potamogeton,_ the ears of whose blossoms rise
curiously above the surface of the water. Clearing our way through a
row of tall swamp weeds, _Zizania aquatica, Scirpus lacustris, Scirpus
pungens_, among which the white flowers of _Sparganium ramosum_ and
_Sagittaria variabilis_ are conspicuous, we steer into a large inlet
entirely covered with the broad leaves of the _Nymphaea odorala_ and the
_Nelumbium luteum_, of which the former waves its beautiful flower on
the surface of the river, while the latter, the queen, in fact, of
the waters, proudly raises her magnificent crown upon a perpendicular
footstalk. On the opposite bank, the evening breeze lifts the triangular
leaves and rosy-red flowers of the Marsh-Mallow, overhung by Gray
Willows and the Silver-leaved Maple and the Red Maple, on which a flock
of white herons have alighted."

In all the rivers and swamps of the Northwest grows the Wild Rice,
(_Zizania aquatica,_) a plant which was' formerly very important to the
Indians as food, and now attracts vast flocks of waterfowl to feed upon
it in the season. In autumn the squaws used to go in their canoes
to these natural rice-fields, and, bending the tall stalks over the
gunwale, beat out the heads of grain with their paddles into the canoe.
It is mentioned among the dainties at Hiawatha's wedding-feast:--

"Haunch of deer, and hump of bison,
Yellow cakes of the Momdamin,
And the wild rice of the river."

The Fruits of the forest are Strawberries, Blackberries, Raspberries,
Gooseberries, in some barren spots Whortleberries, Mulberries,
Grapes, Wild Plums and Cherries, Crab-Apples, the Persimmon, Pawpaw,
Hickory-nuts, Hazel-nuts, and Walnuts.

The Timber-trees are,--of the Oaks, _Quercus alba, Quercus macrocarpa,
Quercus tinctoria, Quercus imbricaria,--Hard and Soft Maples_,--and of
the Hickories, _Carya alba, Carya tomentosa, and Carya amara_. Other
useful timber-trees are the Ash, Cherry, several species of Elm, Linden,
and Ironwood (_Carpinus Americana_).

Of Medicinal Plants, we find _Cassia Marilandica, Polygala Senega,
Sanguinaria Canadensis, Lobelia inflata, Phytolacca decandra,
Podophyllum peliatum, Sassafras officinale_.

Various species of the Vine are native here, and the improved varieties
succeed admirably in the southern counties.

The early travellers in this region mention the great herds of wild
cattle which roamed over the prairies in those times, but the last
Buffalo on the east side of the Mississippi was killed in 1832; and now
the hunter who would see this noble game must travel some hundreds of
miles west, to the head-waters of the Kansas or the Platte. The Elk,
which was once so common in Illinois, has also receded before the white
man, and the Deer is fast following his congener. On the great prairies
south of Chicago, where, fifteen years ago, one might find twenty deer
in a day's tramp, not one is now to be seen. Two species of Hare occur
here, and several Tree Squirrels, the Red, Black, Gray, Mottled, and the
Flying; besides these, there are two or three which live under ground.
The Beaver is nearly or quite extinct, but the Otter remains, and the
Musk-Rat abounds on all the river-banks and marshes.

Of carnivorous animals, we have the Panther and Black Bear in the wooded
portions of the State, though rare; the Lynx, the Gray and Black Wolf,
and the Prairie Wolf; the Skunk, the Badger, the Woodchuck, the Raccoon,
and, in the southern part of the State, the Opossum.

Mr. Lapham of Wisconsin has published a list of the birds of that State,
which will also answer for Northern Illinois. He enumerates two hundred
and ninety species, which, we think, is below the number which visit the
central parts of Illinois. From the central position of this State,
most of the birds of the United States are found here at one season or
another. For instance, among the rapacious birds, we have the three
Eagles which visit America, the White-Headed, the Washington, and
the Golden or Royal Eagle. Of Hawks and Falcons, fourteen or fifteen
species, among which are the beautiful Swallow-tailed Hawk, and that
noble falcon, the Peregrine. Ten or twelve Owls, among which, as a rare
visitor, we find the Great Gray Owl, (_Syrnium cinereum_,) and the Snowy
Owl, which is quite common in the winter season on the prairies, preying
upon grouse and hares. Of the Vultures, we have two, as summer visitors,
the Turkey-Buzzard and the Black Vulture.

Of omnivorous birds, sixteen or eighteen species, among which is the
Raven, which here takes the place of the Crow, the two species not being
able to live together, as the stronger robber drives away the weaker. Of
the insectivorous birds, some sixty or seventy species are found here,
among which is the Mocking-Bird, in the middle and southern districts.
Thirty-five to forty species of granivorous birds, among which we
occasionally find in winter that rare Arctic bird, the Evening Grosbeak.
Of the _Zygodachyli_, fourteen species, among which is found the Paquet,
in the southern part of the State. _Tenuirostres_, five species. Of the
Kingfishers, one species. Swallows and Goat-suckers, nine species. Of
the Pigeons, two, the Turtle-Dove and the Passenger Pigeon, of which the
latter visit us twice a year, in immense flocks.

Of the gallinaceous birds, the Turkey, which is found in the heavy
timber in the river bottoms; the Quail, which has become very abundant
all over the State, within twenty years, following, it would seem, the
march of civilization and settlement; the Ruffed Grouse, abundant in the
timber, but never seen on the prairie; the Pinnated Grouse, or Prairie
Hen, always found on the open plains. These birds increased very much in
number after the settlement of the State, owing probably to the increase
of food for them, and the decrease of their natural enemies, the prairie
wolves; but since the building of railroads, so many are killed to
supply the demands of New York and other Eastern cities, that they are
now decreasing very rapidly, and in a very few years the sportsman will
have to cross the Mississippi to find a pack of grouse. The Sharp-tailed
Grouse, an occasional visitor in winter from Wisconsin, is found in the
timbered country.

Of wading birds, from forty to fifty species, among which the Sand-Hill
Crane is very abundant, and the Great White or Whooping Crane very rare,
although supposed by some authors to be the same bird in different
stages of plumage.

Of the lobe-footed birds, seven species, of which is the rare and
beautiful Wilson's Phalarope, which breeds in the wet prairies near
Chicago.

Of web-footed birds, about forty species, among which are two Swans and
five Geese. Among the Ducks, the Canvas-Back is found; but, owing to the
want of its favorite food in the Chesapeake, the _Vallisneria_, it is,
in our waters, a very ordinary duck, as an article of food.

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