p. 21

Rivers

The Wisconsin is navigated as far as the Portage by small steamboats at certain seasons of the year; and they have been up Rock river as far as Aztalan in Jefferson County, but these streams are comparatively of little value for the purposes of navigation. All the principal rivers are, however, navigable for canoes.

Their waters usually originate in springs and lakes of pure and cold water. Many of them, especially in the northern or primitive region are precipitated over rocky barriers forming beautiful cascades or rapids and affording valuable sites for mills and manufactories of all kinds. The Falls of St. Anthony on the Mississippi seven miles above the mouth of the St. Peters are only surpassed by the great Niagara, in Picturesque beauty and granduir, and are now becoming a place of fashionable resort for summer tourists. The rivers