VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPI.—This name has been given to the vast tract of country which is watered by the Mississippi river and its numerous tributary streams, and which
is included between the Alleghany and the Rocky Mountains. Mr Flint, in his volume descriptive of this large and important part of North America, also includes in it those portions which are watered by the comparatively small rivers Mobile, Pearl, and others of West Florida on the east side, and the Sabine, Brassas, and Colorado of Texas on the west side. If we include the minor valleys traversed by these streams, the great valley of the Mississippi is bounded on the south by the Gulf of Mexico, and extends on the south-east to Cape Florida. Running along that cape in a northerly direction, the boundary on the east passes those table elevations which separate the waters of the Mobile and Tombigbee from those of the rivers of East Florida; thence it proceeds through what has been designated the country of the Indian nations, and touching the north-western extremity of Georgia, it reaches the Alleghany Mountains, which constitute the eastern boundary. On the north no mountain ridges indicate the line of demarcation between this valley and the basins of the lakes, or between the waters of the Mississippi, and those which flow northward into Lake Winnipeg, Hudson's Bay, and the Arctic Ocean; but the valley is generally considered as terminating on the north where it begins to receive its waters. The Rocky Mountains define the western boundary; and one of the southern ridges of this chain divides the waters of Arkansas and Red Rivers from those of the Rio del Norte, and traverses Coahuila and Texas to the low grounds on the Gulf of Mexico. The valley of the Mississippi thus stretches over twenty degrees of latitude, exclusive of Cape Florida, and about thirty degrees of longitude.
No other valley on the globe, with the exception of that which is drained by the river Amazon, can be compared in extent with that of the Mississippi; and it probably surpasses all others in the richness and variety of its soil, and in its general adaptation to the support and comfort of civilized men. In extent it resembles a continent; and in beauty and fertility it is the most perfect garden of nature. It is, however, unnecessary to enter into a particular account of it as a whole, the individual states into which it is divided being all described separately. The history of its settlement, although interesting, would stretch this article to an unreasonable length. It is given generally in that on America, to which the reader is referred; and also more particularly under the heads of the various states embraced within the limits of the great valley.