p. 340

360 Richland Co.

its junction with the Wisconsin. Six miles above the mouth it receives a considerable tributary from the east. There is a cascade about twenty miles above the Wisconsin where the rocks are said to be united over the water forming a "natural bridge".

The Wisconsin river is one of the most important in [Wisconsin] the Territory, especially the lower portion, between the Portage and the Mississippi, a distance of one hundred and twelve miles by the course of the river. At the portage it is four hundred yards wide, and it gradually increases in width to the mouth where it is six hundred yards wide. In Richland county it has a width of about four hundred and fifty yards. This position of the river is bordered by high sandstone bluffs,-from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet in height-constituting a scenery of great beauty and even granduer. The water is shallow, and there are numerous islands, and shifting sandbars. The current is usually quite rapid. Hence the navigation of the Wisconsin is rather difficult and uncertain; but steamboats