- diana, and contains about 200,000 square miles, exclusive
of the waters of Lake Superior and Michigan.
The meadows on the river Illinois are very extensive. The aspect of the river is expansive and gentle; and at its confluence with the Mississippi, it is about four hundred yards wide. The other principal rivers in this territory, are the Ouisconsin, and Fox rivers. The former runs very near Fox river, which enters Lake Winnebago. This Lake is the nearest average point of communication between the waters of the St. Lawrence, and the Gulf of Mexico. On the Illinois river, there is pit coal, salt springs, and in other parts of the territory, lead and copper mines. Between the rivers Kaskaskias, and Illinois, there is an extensive tract of rich land, which terminates in a high ridge. In this fertile vale are a number of small French villages.[134]
There is a communication, between the Illinois river and Lake Michigan, by the way of Chicago river, and two small portages.[135] The Illinois strikes the Mississippi about twenty miles above the Missouri, and its principal branch runs in the direction of Detroit.[136]
The principal towns in the Illinois Territory are Kaskaskia, Cohokia, and Goshen.[137] Shawne town {186} lies on the Ohio, and is an inconsiderable place.[138] Here are
