HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 85 which will avoid the interminable lawsuits which a different method has caused in other countries to the posterity of the first settlers. "We have constructed cabins and a store- house for provisions, etc., and we are making gardens and clearing one hundred acres of land in the most beautiful meadow in the world, in order to sow corn, hemp, flax, cot- ton, tobacco, and potatoes. "The timber here is different in some kinds of trees from those in the central states of America. However, we have found white oak, high and straight, of extraordinary size, as well as black oak, mulberry, ash, white poplar, persimmon, and apples in abundance, and larger than those which we have hitherto seen. Also hickory, walnut, etc. The sassa- fras, very straight and of extraordinary size, is commonly 24: inches in diameter. The shrubs are principally cane and spice-wood. "The timbers unknown to you gentlemen, are the cypress, pecan, coffee (sic), cucum- ber, and some others. The cypress grows on the lowlands at the edge of the river; its quality is equal to that of white cedar. We have a fine grove of these trees in our neigh- borhood which Colonel Morgan has had di- vided into shares of a suitable size, in order to assign them to each farm. "We are satisfied with the climate, and we have reason to congratulate ourselves that we have at last found a country which conforms to our most ardent desires."
- Slorgan gives this account of the way the
town is laid out and the manner in which lots are to be disposed of: "The first six hun- dred persons appl.ying for city and out lots, who shall build and reside thereon one whole year, or place a family who shall so reside, shall have one city lot of half an acre, and
- Houck, "Spanish Regime," Vol. I, p. 137.
one out lot of five acres, gratis; paying only one dollar for each patent. All other city and out lots shall be reserved for sale, to fu- ture applicants according to their value. In the choice of the city and out lots the first applicant shall have the first choice of each; the second applicant shall have the second, and so on. Forty lots of half an acre each shall be reserved for public uses, and shall be applied to such purposes as the citizens shall from time to time recommend, or the chief magistrate appoint ; taking eare that the same be so distributed in the different parts of the city that their uses may be general, and as equal as possible. There shall be two lots of twelve acres each laid out and reserved for- ever ; viz. : one for the King, and one for pub- lic walks, to be ornamented, improved and regulated by or under the direction of the chief magistrate of the city, for the time be- ing, for the use and amusement of the citizens and strangers. So soon as these lots shall be laid off, the timber, trees and shrubs, now growing thereon, shall be religiously pre- served as sacred ; and no part thereof shall be violated or cut down, but by the pei-sonal direction and inspection of the chief magis- trate for the time being, whose reputation must be answerable for an honorable and generous discharge of this trust, meant to promote the health and pleasure of the citi- zens. There shall be a reserve of one acre at each angle of every intersection of public roads or highways, throughout the whole ter- ritory, according to the plan laid down for settlement of the country ; by which means, no farm house can be more than two miles and a half from one of these reserves, w^hich are made forever for the following uses, viz. : one acre on the northeast angle or the use of a school ; one acre in the northwest angle for a church; one acre on the southwest angle
