The ground occupied by the town is elevated and uneven, rising from the river to the height of 50 to 100 feet, and affording beautiful situations for residences, commanding a full view of the river, the bay, the lake, and the body of the town itself.

The Bay of Milwaukie is an elliptical indentation of the lake shore against the town of about three miles in depth, and extending about six miles between its north and south points or capes, sufficiently separated from the body of the lake to protect the shipping from the effect of all the storms or gales of wind except such as come from the east, which here seldom occur. The river enters this bay about half a mile below its centre, and the whole distance between the mouth of the river and the commencement of the town is occupied by a low, impassable marsh, by some supposed once to have been a part of the bay.

This place, for one of such rapid growth, is finely built. From a certain quality of the clay which abounds here, the bricks made from it, instead of being of the usual red, are of a light yellow or cream color, which gives to the warehouses and solid portions of the town, where this material is used, a peculiarly bright and beautiful appearance. Steamboats ply continually between this place and Buffalo, in the season of lake navigation, and also to connect it with Chicago and other ports south, on Lake Michigan, and with the termini of the Michigan Central and Southern Railroads. Plank roads are rapidly extending from this point into the interior; a railroad is in progress to the Mississippi, and one is proposed to Chicago.

IOWA.

Iowa, recently a dependency of the United States, is now an admitted member of the Federal Union. Until 1832 the country was held in undisputed possession by its rude and roaming Indian inhabitants, of whom it was then purchased; and settlements were soon thereafter commenced by civilized emigrants. In 1838, having been set off from Wisconsin, it. was organized under a distinct territorial government; and in 1846 the territory was duly elevated to the position of a free and independent American state.

BOUNDARIES AND EXTENT.

Iowa is bounded north by the Territory of Minnesota; east by the Mississippi River, which separates it from the States of Wisconsin and Illinois; south by the State of Missouri; and west and north-west by portions of the Territories of Nebraska and Minnesota, from which it is separated by the Missouri and the Big Sioux Rivers. The country lies between 40° 30′ and 43° 30′ north latitude, and extends from 90° 30' to 96° 30' west longitude; reaching some 200 miles from north to south, with an average extent of over 220 miles from east to west, and comprehending about 51,000 square miles.

RIVERS.

No state in the Union is more bountifully supplied with water than Iowa; being bounded on the east by one of the finest rivers in the world, the Mississippi, and on the west by the Missouri; the interior of the state being traversed in every direction by noble, and in many cases navigable, streams; many of them running parallel to each other, from 12 to 20 miles apart, skirted with timber of from one to five miles in width. Western rivers have not the rapidity of the New England streams, nor the depth and sluggishness of those of the south; but are clear, fresh, and healthy, of gentle current, and capable of furnishing water power for all purposes.

The rivers that are directly tributary to the Mississippi are the Upper Iowa, Turkey, Maquoketa, Wapsipinnicon, Cedar, Iowa, Fox, Checaque, (commonly called Skunk,) and the Des Moines. Those running into the Missouri are Floyd's, Little Sioux, Inyan Yankee, Soldier, Boyer, Nishnabotna, Big Tarkeo, and Nodaway.

Some of these streams are navigable for a great distance, and the day is drawing nigh when the quiet of their banks shall be broken, and the shrill whistle of the heavily-laden steamer reverberate from shore to shore when many of these streams shall have become thoroughfares for the transportation of the rich productions of this most fertile and most prosperous state. "The untold powers of some of these waters will soon

be utilized for mechanical purposes; and but a short time will elapse ere the thunder and clatter of the ten thousand wheels of machinery will break upon that solitude which now echoes only to the harvest song or the notes of the sweet warblers of the forest. Extensive works are already commenced upon more than one of these rivers, which will stamp our greatness and convince the world that' progress' is our watchword."

Besides those mentioned are their tributaries— the creeks, branches, or rivulets, penetrating every portion of the interior of the state; springs of clear, cold water also abound in all parts of the state.

CLIMATE.

This state is located in the healthiest latitude of our continent; reaching only to latitude 43° 30' on its northern boundary. Its winters are comparatively mild and pleasant, and its summers free from the long scorching rays of a southern sun and the epidemics so common in such climates. By the medical journals, Iowa is ranked as second only in point of health; and no doubt it will be first, when she has a settled and acclimated population, as free from toil, privations, and exposure as other states.

There is generally an unbroken winter from the middle of November till January, when there is almost invariably a "January thaw;" after which the weather is generally mild, and gradually merges into spring. The country is free from the sudden changes of New