ARTICLE III.

From the Records of the Surveyor General's Office, at St. Louis.
Swamp and Overflowed Land.

Immediately after the receipt of the instructions, dated Nov. 21st, 1850, relating to the swamp and overflowed lands in Illinois and Missouri, this subject was taken up, and has progressed with all possible diligence and expedition.

It was evident from the first general investigation of the subject that it would require much time and labor to bring it to completion, and the progress of the work has fully verified this opinion.

Two modes of ascertaining the lands that were assignable to the States under the act were presented, the first by the field notes on file in the offices, the second from the returns made by the authorities of the States. Whichever plan might be adopted would re quire a knowledge of the sales that had been made by the district land offices where such swamp or overflowed land might be found to lie. The former habit of making the returns of sales by the Registers to this office having been suspended or abandoned some years ago, and this information therefore not being in this office, it was necessary to obtain it from the several Registers. As the surest, plainest and most expeditious method of doing this, plain diagrams, copied from the Township plats on file in this office which the field notes indicated to contain land of this character were prepared and forwarded to the Registers with a request that they should mark thereon the sales that had been made, discriminating in a certain manner between the lands sold before and since the passage of the said swamp act, and to return the same to this office. This necessarily involved much labor, first in the investigation of the field notes, and secondly in preparing the diagrams. During the progress of this part of the work the Governor of Illinois and Missouri both informed me that they should avail themselves of the authority confered upon them by the instructions from your office to make the selection of these lands, instead of accepting the assignment that might be made by this office from the field notes, This so far modified the original plan as to cause the returns thereafter made by the agents of the States to be adopted instead of the field notes.

As these returns came in diagrams of such townships and parts of as contained selections of swamp lands, and which had not already been transmitted to the Registers, were prepared and sent to them for the purpose specified. The progress of the work has given rise to much correspondence. In Illinois the returns having been made by the agents through the auditor, it has been chiefly confined to that officer, and the Governor of that State. Generally this official endorsement has caused these returns to be re

ceived as authentic, but in some cases this office has had special reasons to doubt the correctness of these returns, and in these cases their acceptance has been delayed until further information could be obtained.

In Missouri less regularity has occurred; some of the agents for the selection of these lands, in this State, were appointed by the Governor, and some with his approbation by the county courts of the several counties.

In both cases the returns are made directly to this office.

Until recently, no list of the agents appointed by the Governor had been furnished, and consequently it has not always been possible for me to determine whether parties making returns under the authority of the county court might not conflict with others appointed by the Governor.

In one instance, at least, the county court has denied the right of the Governor to appoint an agent for this purpose, and appealed to this office to receive and acknowledge the returns made by its agent. In a few instances the returns were too informal or irregular to be received, and have been necessarily sent back for correction.

When the returns have been such as to raise any suspicion of their correctness, the necessary steps have been taken to investigate them on the ground, Expecting that the funds asked for in my estimates of last year for that object would be allowed by Congress, and to avail myself of the favorable season of the year, I at once detached an agent on this service to some parts of Illinois. He has returned, and from his own examination of tracts returned as swamp lands in certain counties, it will, I fear, become necessary to extend similar investigations to many localities in both States.

An appropriation of $6,000.00 having been actually made by Congress, by the act of the 31st August last, for compensation of surveyors and other agents required in Illinois, Missouri and Florida, to carry into effect the act of 28th September, 1850, granting swamp lands, &c., of which $3,000, the amount requested in the estimates of last year, were allotted to this district, as I am informed by your letter of the 13th ultimo.

I have according to the instructions contained in the same letler appointed on the 28th inst. Dr. Henry King to make certain surveys, and explore the swamp region of South-east Missouri, with a view of examining the tracts returned by some counties as swamp lands, and also to examine the unsurveyed Townships of that region, and report the result to this office in order to enable the Surveyor General to discriminate, as required by you, between those portions of unsurveyed townships, including swamp lands, which should be subdivided for sale, and those portions of the same which will inure to the State under the swamp act.

And lastly, Dr. King is instructed to collect such statistics of the country as may be thought useful to the Department.

The low stage of our western rivers, at the present time, and the general dry weather, are highly favorable to the success of the exploration. Other agents will likewise be sent to such parts of the two States as are likely to need their services.

Returns have been received from all the counties in Illinois except six; of the whole number returned 6 counties are reported as containing no swamp or overflowed lands. When the returns from the remaining six counties shall have been received, there will be little other preliminary work to be completed, or action can be had upon the reports expected from the agents.

In Missouri the work has not progressed so rapidly; only 26 counties have made returns in the State up to the present time. The Governor, in his correspondence with this office, evinces à very laudable desire to expedite the work, but from some cause the counties do not seem generally to respond to this feeling..

It is quite probable that there are many more counties in this State than in Illinois, in which there are no swamp or overflowed lands, but a return to that effect is none the less necessary, as there is no way of determining this in this office, except from the field notes on file, and these can only be used by a withdrawal of the right to make the selections, which has been conceded to the State authorities.

If this delay, then, should continue an undue length of time, it may be necessary to request the Governor to notify all delinquent counties, that if returns are not made by a certain day, it will be assumed by this office that there are no swamp or overflowed lands therein, and that in making the assignment required by law, I shall proceed to act upon that presumption. A diagram of Missouri, marked E., and another of Illinois, marked C., accompany this report from which the progress and present condition of this branch of the work of this office can be readily seen.

The letters in each township are explained by the margined

notes.

All of which is respectfully submitted.

To JOHN WILSON, Esq.,

Signed: M. LEWIS CLARK,
Surveyor General.

Commissioner of the General Land Office,
City of Washington.

South East Missouri.

By an act of Congress approved 28th September, 1850, "the whole of those swamp and overflowed lands made thereby unfit for cultivation," which remained unsold at the passage of the act, were granted to each of the States of the Union in which they might be situated, to enable the individual States "to construct the necessary levees and drains to reclaim the swamp and overflowed lands therein."

On the 21st November, 1850, the Com'r of the General Land Office, at Washington, addressed a letter to the Surveyor General, at St. Louis, with instructions to designate those lands which had been transfered in this District. The instructions were promptly pursued; but the difficulties encountered were numerous, and the work is not yet done.

By an act of the Legislature of Missouri, approved 13th February, 1851, an incipient provision was made "for the reclamation and sale of overflowed and swamp lands in the south-eastern portion of this State."

And by another act approved March 3d, 1851, it is declared that "all said lands in this State are hereby donated to the counties in which said lands respectively may be situated, except so much of said lands as are situated in the counties of Scott, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Mississippi, Cape Girardeau, Stoddard, Dunklin, Ripley, Butler and Wayne," and by the 6th section of this act it is further declared that "the nett proceeds of the sales of all such lands, after defraying the expenses of draining, reclaiming, surveying and selling the same as herein provided, shall be paid into the county treasury, and become a part of the common school fund of the county."

Thus the title to the undisposed of swamp and overflowed lands situated in the ten above mentioned counties of South East Missouri remains in the State. The State appropriated $50,000 for the purpose of reclaiming these lands. A system of levees and drains has been commenced. The plan is to build a levee along the Mississippi river, and to clean out Black river in the region of the lands to be reclaimed.

Here we would introduce a few suggestions connected with some additional important facts, for the considera ion of the people of South East Missouri in particular and of the whole State, the owner of the lands in question, as also of every one interested in the Mississippi Valley Railroad.

The report of the United States survey for a railroad beginning at St. Louis, and passing near the Iron Mountain, and through South Missouri, made 1st November, 1851, discloses this important fact, that from near the mouth of Mingo to the base of Chalk Bluff, from

the northern to the southern limit of Butler county, through what is termed the Swamp District, along the line of the route, which was 30 miles, the fall was 30 feet. This is an average fall of one foot per mile, which is twice as great as the descent of the Mississippi river from St. Louis. The report of the survey also discloses the additional fact, that along the railroad route, this average descent of one foot per mile continues in Arkansas 80 miles to the mouth of Black river.

Croley's Ridge rises at Chalk Bluff, on the west bank of the St. Francois river, runs south, and is fifty feet and more above high water mark.

These facts being fixed, it is clear that if the surplus waters of the swamp lands north of Pemiscot and Dunklin counties can be turned into Black river, these lands will be reclaimed from all ordinary inundations, and the lands of Pemiscot and Dunklin counties be relieved from their inundation, if not also entirely reclaimed. Can these waters be turned into Black river? If a large canal were dug from Cape Girardeau to the mouth of Mingo, 50 miles, where nature has already done half of the work, the waters of Hubble's creek, White Water and Castor rivers, which, during freshets, mutually flow into one another, and into the St. Francois along this natural half-canal, might be intercepted and turned into a canal dug along the side of the bed of the Mississippi Valley Railroad, through Butler county. Thus the northern portion of the swamp lands would be relieved from their inundations.

But how can the main body of the lands be relieved from the wa`ters that fall from the clouds, and which are now drawn off chiefly by exhalations returning to the air?

Let another canal, equally large, be dug from New Madrid to the point where the Mississippi Valley Railroad crosses Monocolet slough. The length of this canal would be about 40 miles. This canal would run mainly along the line between townships 22 and 23, the cnly line that ever has been surveyed from the Mississippi river, west, across the body of the Swamp District. The bank of this canal would protect the lands of Pemiscot and Dunklin counties from any inundations from the North, and the reclaiming system of Arkansas may effectually drain them from the South.

Missouri and Arkansas should co-operate, with their swamp land system as well as with their railroad system.

By turning the waters above mentioned into Black river, it will necessarily be made more navigable, and consequently more valuable to Arkansas. The advantages to be thus derived by Arkansas and Missouri may be mutual.