The effect of scenery upon the mind of man has often been noticed and much has been written about it. Illustrations of this are generally drawn from the historic lands and from the ancient people of the East. The civilized races, such as the Greeks, Romans and other nations who formerly dwelt on the coast of the Mediterranean, are taken as examples. The Greeks are said to have owed their peculiar character and their taste for art to the varied and beautiful scenery which surrounded them. Their mythology and poetry are full of allusions to the scenes of nature. Mountains and springs, rivers and seas all come in as the background of the picture which represents their character and history. The same is true of the Romans, Egyptians, Phenicians, Syrians, Hebrews, the ancient Trojans and Carthaginians. Each one of these nations seems to have been affected by scenery. They were all, with the exception of the Carthaginians, confined within the limits of a narrow territory, and remained long enough in it to have partaken fully of the effect of their surroundings.

The Romans were warlike at the beginning, and bore the air of conquerors, but their taste for art and literature resembled that of the Greeks. The Egyptians were sensuous and luxurious people. Their character bore the stamp of the river Nile with its periodical overflow, its rich soil and mild climate. The type of their religion was drawn from the gods who inhabited the same river valley. The Phenicians were a maritime people; they were the first navigators who reached the great seas. Their gods resembled those of the Assyrians and Chaldeans, but their character resembled the seas over which they roved; they did not originate, but they transported the products and inventions of the ancient world.

The Hebrews had a national character which seemed to have been narrowed down to a small compass by their isolation and by their history, but their religion was as grand as the mountains of the desert, and their poetry as beautiful as the scenery along the river Jordan, which ran as a great artery through their land. It was a holy land which gave impress to the Holy Book. The effect of scenery upon human character is also illustrated in the case of the ancient inhabitants of America. This land was isolated from the rest of the world for many centuries - perhaps for thousands of years. It is supposed that up to the time of the discovery the tribes were permanent in their seats.

Each tribe had its own habitat, its own customs, its own mythology and its own history. The effect of scenery must be considered, if we are to understand the peculiarities which mark the different tribes. Some imagine that the Indians are all alike, that they are all cruel savages, all given to drunkenness and degradation and only waiting their opportunity to wreak their vengeance upon helpless women and children. Those who know them, however, are impressed with the great variety which is manifest among them, and are especially convinced that much of this comes from the scenery amid which they have lived. The Eastern tribes may have had considerable sameness, yet the Algonquins, who were the prairie Indians, and the Iroquois, who dwelt in the forest and amid the lakes of New York, differed from one another in almost every respect, and the Sioux and Dakotas, who were also prairie Indians, differed from both of these. They were great warriors and great hunters, but had a system of religion which differed from that of any other tribe.

The Sioux were cradled amid the mountains of the East, and bear the same stamp of their native scenery. They resemble the Iroquois in many respects. The same is true of the Cherokees, who were allied to the Iroquois in race and language. They were always mountain Indians; but the Southern tribes were very different from either. They were a people who were well advanced in civilization so far as the term can be applied to the aborigines. Their skulls are without angles and differ greatly from the keel-shaped skulls. They were dolichocephalic rather than kumbocephalic. They resemble the Polynesians, while the northern tribes resembled the Mongolians. Whatever their original home was, their adopted habitat was in accord with their tastes and character. It did not change them but rather made their traits more permanent and stable.

The tribes of the northwest coast were seafarers; they inhabited the forest and worshiped the animals which were peculiar to the forest and took as their totems the eagle, wolf and raven, but they drew their subsistence in great part from the sea. They worshiped the animals of the seas, such as the shark, the whale and the sculpin. Their skill and courage as navigators have never been equaled. Taking their families and the few articles of commerce gathered from the forest they entered the symmetrical and beautifully carved canoes and breasted the storms and waves of the great sea near which they lived. There was a wildness in the waves which just suited them. The sea brought out the best traits and developed the heroic character. They were the "sea kings" of the Northwest. They were great navigators and great hero worshipers.

The tribes of the interior, the Pueblos, the Zunis, differed from all other tribes. They were surrounded by wild tribes, such as the Apaches, Comanches and Navajoes. Whatever their origin, they had remained long enough in this territory to be affected by the scenery and surroundings. They were mild, luxurious, given over to religious ceremonies, made much of mythology and had many secret societies. They built their terraced houses, taking the cliffs and mesas as their patterns, and made them so similar to the rock and cliffs that it was difficult to recognize them at a distance. They did not mould the mountains into villages as the Mayas did, but they made their houses to conform to the mountains, and took the mountain gods and their nature divinities as chief objects of worship.

The contrast between the ancient tribes of this region and the wild tribes which intruded upon them was very great. The Navajoes were a mountain people and drew their religion from the mountains. They borrowed many myths and customs from the ancient Pueblos, and like them, settled down to an agricultural life; but their sand paintings and their ceremonies reveal a taste for art and a poetical imagination which are very remarkable. The lone Indian who places his wigwam in the midst of the mountains seems to be always a stranger. The scenery has no effect upon him. It makes his spirit sad and his music plaintive, for he breathes out his spirit in his music. He never has had and never will have the character which some of his ancestors cultivated amid the wild scenes. His race is doomed; his fate is sealed. He can never catch up with the progress of the time.

The railroad is bound to take the place of the Indian trail; the miners' cabin must supplant the Indian wigwam. Great cities will rise near where ancient villages stood, but the savage fails to appreciate the thought or the character of the people who have supplanted him. The wigwam amid the mountains is a symbol of what he is, but the locomotive at its side is an emblem of progress and of promise to those who will use their opportunities. The mountains are in the background - they suggest the possibilities which are before the settler. They interpose barriers, but the barriers themselves are fraught with good influences. Freedom has always dwelt among the mountains. Reverence for the Almighty has also prevailed. The leveling process must cease and man become more elevated in his thoughts as he rises to the altitude of these great heights. - The American Antiquarian.