Page:A Topographical Description of the State of Ohio, Indiana Territory, and Louisiana.djvu/69

61 some beautiful groves, or copses of large trees. Near the fort, and along the banks of the river there are a number of settlers, who have well cultivated gardens and fields, which are very productive. At a small distance below, is Wilkersonville, situated on a bluff, formerly called Cedar Bluffs, but has very few inhabitants.

On the river Mississippi, the first settlement of any note in the Indiana Territory, is the village Kaskaskia. It is an ancient French town, about ninety miles above the mouth of the Ohio, situated on the Kaskaskia river, at the distance of five miles from the Mississippi. The village contains about one hundred houses, and the inhabitants principally French. In the vicinity of this village the land -is excellent and highly cultivated. The river Kaskaskia is navigable about one hundred miles, and drains an extensive tract of level country. There is a road leading from Saint Vincennes to the Kaskaskia village, nearly in a west direction. This road passes through almost one continued prairie for about two hundred miles, there being only scattered copses of wood, which have the appearance of small islands, in a wide extended bay. These natural meadows are covered with a tall grass, and the sun appears to rise and set in the grass. On this road there are few settlers, and the traveller is obliged, for several nights, to lodge in the grass or copses of wood. In this prairie, large herds of buffaloe, elk, and 6