Page:A Topographical Description of the State of Ohio, Indiana Territory, and Louisiana.djvu/77

69 hundred miles. These falls were first visited by Father Louis Hennipin, a French Missionary, about the year 1680, who was the first European ever seen by the natives, and who gave them the name of Saint Anthony's falls. The country adjacent approaches to a plain, with some swelling hills. At the falls the river is two hundred and fifty yards wide, and the perpendicular descent of the water about thirty feet. Near the falls the prospect is said to be highly picturesque and delightful. This widely expanded sheet of water may be seen several miles below, where the eye of the beholder is struck with pleasing admiration, and views, with rapture, this romantic scene. At these falls a large factory is established, where many of the western bands of Indians bring their furs and peltry, to exchange for various kinds of merchandise.

About ten miles below the falls enters the large river Saint Peters, from the westward. The mouth of this river is one hundred yards wide, and the current deep. It is said that it holds its depth and width very nearly for two hundred miles. Further up, several branches come in; the head waters of some of which are said to take their rise near the streams which run into the Missouri. On this river and its branches are several trading posts, where Indians who reside on the Missouri frequently resort for commerce.

At a small distance above the mouth of the river Chippeway, is a lake, about twenty miles in