It has been styled _par excellence_ the
wheat-growing region of America. Within its limits lie the six
north-western States of the American Union, Ohio, Indiana,
Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, and Wiskonsan (including as States the
two territories of Iowa and Wiskonsan, about to be admitted into
the Union.) These States, exclusive of two hundred thousand
square miles, the title to which is yet mostly in the Indian
tribes, cover an area of two hundred and thirty-six thousand and
eleven square miles. The country is, generally, an undulating
prairie, interspersed with groves of trees, and unbroken by hill
or mountain. The soil commonly rests upon a strata of limestone,
is fertile beyond description, and abundantly watered by the
finest springs and streams. Its climate is clear and salubrious,
and the country as well calculated as any other on the globe to
minister to the support and happiness of civilized man. As
already explained, for an inland country, it possesses
unequalled facilities for foreign intercourse and commerce, by
means of its great lakes and rivers.
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