any kind in the county. The soil in both timber and prairie land is very rich and fertile, yielding all the usual crops (as will be seen by the following statistics), and with comparatively little labor to the farmer. Among the timber are found oak, walnut, hickory, lynn, or basswood, sugar maple, cherry, ash, iron-wood, quaken-aspen; and grapes, wild plums, and crab apples, grow in some parts of the county, in abundance: On the river bottoms there are also found the soft maple, elm, and birch; on the bluffs, the cedar and white pine. The woods abound in game, and the streams in fish.

The census of 1840 shows that there were then 17 furnaces in this county, producing annually six millions twenty thousand three hundred and fifty pounds of lead, and giving employment to eighty-six men. There were 5,735 horses and mules, 4,197 neat cattle, 463 sheep, 8,645 swine, 32 stores and groceries, 2 lumber yards, 1 brewery, 2 flouring mills, 3 grist-mills and 11 saw-mills. The products were 10,796 bushels of wheat, 3,246 of barley, 65,400 of oats, 13 of rye, 1,059 of buckwheat, 100,055 of Indian corn, and 74,629 of potatoes; 3,912 tons of hay, 100 pounds of tobacco, 1,355 pounds of maple sugar, 63,657 pounds of soap, and 9,742 pounds of tallow candles.

Post-offices have been established at Cassville, English Prairie, Fair Play, Hazel Green (Hardscrabble Diggings), Hurricane, Jamestown (Menomonee Diggings), Lancaster, Paris, Patch Grove, Plattville, Potosi, Sinsinawa, and Wingville.

CASSVILLE is situated on the Mississippi river, in section twenty-six, in township three north, and range five west. It was commenced as early as 1835, but very little permanent improvement was made until within the past one or two years. The scenery about here is represented as very

beautiful.

POTOSI is considered by many as the most important place on the Mississippi in the mineral country, and destined

ere long to be the shipping point for much of the lead trade that finds its way down that river. It consists of the towns of Lafayette, Van Buren, and Dublin, united, and it is situated at the mouth of Grant river, in a romantic and picturesque valley, with a stream of pure water running through it. This valley, sometimes called Snake Hollow, is three miles long, and varies from one hundred to three hundred yards in width. Improvements were commenced here in 1836; and this is the point usually considered as the most proper for the termination of a railroad from Lake Michigan:

This town is now incorporated; and efforts are making to improve the channel which connects it with the Mississippi. A grant of one section of land was made by Congress, in 1844, for this purpose.

SINIPEE on section six, township one, range two west, is also spoken of as destined to become an important point for the shipment of lead. The town stands on the edge of the water, which is deep near shore, affording a convenient landing for the largest steamboats.

PLATTEVILLE is the largest of the interior towns, situated on section fifteen, in township three, range one west, in the immediate vicinity of some extensive mineral diggings. It is five miles west from Belmont, on a small branch of the Little Platte river. The village was incorporated in 1841. It has an academy, which was incorporated in 1839.

LANCASTER, the seat of justice, is also a flourishing town, situated on section three, in township four north, and range three west, being near the centre of the county. It has a court-house of brick, and there is here a newspaper, published weekly.

WINGVILLE is situated on the main ridge road, near the line between the counties of Grant and Iowa, forty miles from Prairie du Chien. The Blue River Diggings are at this point. Limestone is found, and also a stone suitable for building, and easily dressed.

Some other towns in this county are perhaps deserving

of notice, and some are mere “ paper towns," as Brooklyn, New Cincinnati, Gibraltar, Grant, Hudson, Osceola, Sutherland and Van Buren (or Blue river).

The large prairie lying in range five west, is usually called BLAKE'S PRAIRIE; and the long narrow one, extending from Lancaster nearly to Potosi, is called BoIS PRAIRIE. ENGLISH PRAIRIE lies at the northeast corner of the coun ty, extending into Iowa.

PLATTE RIVER (Moschoca, "always full," of the Indians,) is the largest stream within the county, running principally in range two west, and entering the Mississippi two miles above Sinipee. It is said to be navigable for steamboats for six miles. Its tributaries are Little Platte, French creek, Huglan's creek, and Block House creek. GRANT RIVER is said to be navigable twelve miles above its mouth, at Potosi. It has numerous small branches, among which are Bois Creek, Pigeon creek, and Rattlesnake creek.

BLUE RIVER is a stream about twenty miles in length, in the northeast part of the county, tributary to the Wisconsin. Near its sources are some valuable mines of lead and copper, known as the "Blue River, Diggings."

SINSINIWA CREEK runs south, through township one, range one west, and is a tributary of Fever river, in Illinois. The Sinsiniwa Mound, from which this creek derives its name, is one of those isolated, conical elevations so remarkable in this country, situated near the State line, five miles from the Mississippi. The Menomonee creek runs between this mound and the river.

CRAWFORD COUNTY,

One of the oldest in the Territory, is now reduced to within the following boundaries: begin at the mouth of Buffalo river, on the Mississippi, thence up the main branch of Buffalo river to its source, thence along the dividing ridge between the waters of Chippewa and Black rivers

until it reaches the head waters of Black river, thence east to the boundary of Portage county, being the line between ranges one and two east, thence south to Richland county; thence west and south by the boundaries of that county, to the Wisconsin river; thence down the Wisconsin and up the Mississippi, to the place of beginning. But a very small portion of this county has been surveyed, and consequently but little can be known of the exact course of the streams, or position and the extent of the lakes.

Crawford county was first established by the Legislature of Michigan, October 16, 1818, and then included all the country west of a line drawn north and south through the middle of Wisconsin portage. As now limited, its area is supposed to be about seven thousand square miles. The population, in 1830, was six hundred and ninety-two; in 1836, it was eight hundred and fifty-four; in 1838, it was one thousand two hundred and twenty; in 1840, it was one thousand five hundred and two; and in 1842 (omitting officers and soldiers at Fort Crawford) it was one thousand four hundred and forty-nine. It is now estimated at three thousand.

In 1840, there were 366 horses, 808 neat cattle, 666 swine, 2 lumber yards, 1 grist-mill and five saw-mills. The crops raised were 2,092 bushels of wheat, 32 of barley, 9,299 of oats, 497 of rye, 104 of buckwheat, 5,257 of Indian corn, 7,522 of potatoes, 553 tons of hay, and twentyseven thousand eight hundred dollars worth of skins and furs.

The south part of Crawford county consists of a ridge running north and south, on which the waters of the Mississippi and Upper Wisconsin take their rise. For a distance of eighty or a hundred miles, this ridge is not broken by any valley. The bluffs along the Mississippi appear to be the termini of lateral spurs of this ridge, extending down between the smaller streams. Near the falls of Black riv

er, are the Iron Mountains, (see page 83 of this work) and other high points. "The scenery from these high ridges," says Mr. Bronson, "is the most picturesque imaginable: natural columns, pillars, towers, mounds, &c., are frequently seen, varying in height from twenty to one hundred feet; their summits oval, spiral, or inclined, and with more or less perpendicular sides. They show the lime, sand, and quartz formations with which the whole country abounds." Excellent materials for mill-stones are found here. On the Kickapoo river, these naked knobs often assume shapes resembling, rudely, the figure of some animal, or ghost, and are held in great veneration by the Indians.

This portion of the county it is supposed may prove valuable as a mining district, many indications of the existence of veins of copper having been recently discovered.

The northern portion of the county is more level, abounding in lakes and streams, more or less filled with wild rice.

PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, the seat of justice of the county, and the only village of much size and importance in it, is situated on the Mississippi, about four or five miles above the mouth of the Wisconsin, on a level plain or prairie, about six miles long and two miles wide. This prairie is bordered on one side by the Mississippi, and on the other by high rocky bluffs, with scattered trees. The name was given from an Indian, who formerly resided here, called "the Dog." It is one of the oldest of the French settlements, or trading posts; but the first permanent settlement was commenced in 1783. Fort Crawford is located here, near the south part of the "new town" of St. Friole, as it is sometimes called, to distinguish it from the more ancient or “old town," which lies a mile and a half above, and is separated from it by an arm of the Mississippi called the "Grand Maris de St. Friole." Below the fort, the "City of Prairie du Chien❞ has been laid out, but the city is much smaller than the town. Prairie du Chien is about five hundred and forty miles above St. Louis.