MISSISSIPPI (ante). In 1539 Fernando de Soto, with a hand of Spanish adventu rers, penetrated into that part of the state now known as the Great Yazoo bottoms, remaining more than a year. It was not until 1673, a hundred and thirty-two years later, that the French explorers, Joliet and Marquette, passing down the Mississippi river, landed at several places within the limits of the state. In 1682 De la Salle and the cheva lier de Tooth made their appearance among the Natchez Indians, and remained for some time. It was not, however, until 1699 that the first attempt to found a colony was made by lberville, who brought immigrauta from France toile eastern. sho,re of the bay of Biloxi. The Was called Biloxi, and it Was the germ of the' gubiiequeut settlement.
of New Orleans and of the dominance of the French in that quarter. MerylIle, after returning to France, came back in 1716 with Bienville and the chevalier de Tonti, a large body of immigrants, and alitary force, and ascended the Mississippi to the pres ent site of Natchez, where they founded a colony named Rosalie, in honor of the countess of Pontchartrain. It flourished for a little while, but in 1718 it fell with the whole region under the sway, for a time, of the Scotch speculator, John Law. Afterwards, when the "Louisiana bubble" had burst, the whole territory of Orleans fell into the hands of the Company of the Indies, and the small colonies in Mississippi grew but slowly. Thenville, the governor of the province, was so fortunate as to keep on good terms with the powerful Indian tribes, but his successor, Perrier, incurred the hostility of the Choctaws, and a conspiracy was formed by that tribe with others to expel the French from the whole region. The attack was made first upon Rosalie, Nov. 29, 1729, but the other settlements were assaulted nearly at the same time. At fort Rosalie 200 persons were killed, and more than 500 taken prisoners, while in the smaller settlements many were tortured and ruthlessly butchered. But a swift retribution followed. The French commander at New Orleans pursued the Indians to their strongholds, killed many, destroyed much property, released the captives, and took 427 prisoners, among them several chiefs. These prisoners were sent to San Domingo and sold for slaves. The Company of the Indies having abandoned the territory to the king of France, Bien ville, iu 1733, was again made governor. He found the colony at war with the Chicka saws, and the conflict continued several years. Then there was a peace, followed in 1752
by another Indian war, instigated, it was said, by English adventurers. The French commander sought to retaliate, but without much success. In 1763 the whole region was ceded by France to England, after which immigrants flocked thither in considerable numbers from the English colonies on the Atlantic coast. In 1798, the United States having succeeded to all the rights of the English in this region, the territory of Missis sippi, embracing all the region between the 31st and 35th parallels, was organized. In 1811 the portion of Mississippi below the 31st parallel, being a portion of the Louisiana purchase, was added to the territory. In 1817 Alabama was set off from Mississippi, and the latter was admitted to the union as a state in December of th!it year.
A broad, low ridge, running nearly n. and s. through the center of the state, divides the waters flowing into the Mississippi from those which find their way to the Atlantic through other channels. This ridge has a lateral extension westward to Vicksburg on the Mississippi, where it terminates in high bluffs. The country east of this water-shed consists of broad, gently rolling prairies, which produce heavy crops of cotton and corn; while on the w. the land is broken into valleys and ridges, extending at right angles from the longitudinal ridge, and falling gradually off to the great basin of the Yazoo delta, a region embracing 4,000,000 acres of the very best cotton land in the state. The land in the central ridge, which is partly cultivated and partly covered by heavy forests, is roll ing, and of a lighter, but yet productive, surface soil on a clay foundation. The s.e. corner of the state, below the railroad from Meridian to Jackson, is a rolling, sparsely settled country of open pine woods, stretching down to the Mexican gulf, and valuable mainly for pasturage, timber, and turpentine. There is not a mountain in the state, and the highest ridge has no elevation of more than 800 feet. The Yazoo 'basin, with an exception of some 200,000 acres, is subject to overflow at times of extreme high water. The valley areas of the n. section are fertile, while those of other. parts of the state are often of an inferior quality. The bottom lauds in some cases are clayey and wet, and portions of the prairies are not very fertile.