USA > Minnesota > Goodhue County > History of Goodhue county, including a sketch of the territory and state of Minnesota > Part 21
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183
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.
SEC. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appro- priate legislation.
ARTICLE XIV.
SECTION 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States, and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States ; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
SEC. 2. Representatives shall be appointed among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed ; but when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a state, or the members of the Legis- lature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such state, being twenty-one years of age and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged except for participation in rebellion or other crimes, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such state.
SEC. 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each house, remove such dis- ability.
SEC. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States author- ized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any state shall pay any debt or obligation incurred in the aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any loss or emancipation of any slave, but such debts, obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and void.
SEC. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this act.
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184
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.
ARTICLE XV.
SECTION 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any state, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
SEC. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appro- priate legislation.
HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
GEOGRAPHICAL SITUATION AND AREA-DRAINAGE-SUR- FACE AND TIMBER-GEOLOGY-SHAKOPEE LIME- STONE, DRIFT, MOUNDS, ETC., ETC.
BY PROF. HORACE B. WILSON, A. M.
This county lies on the Mississippi River, and is bounded on the north by Dakota county and the Mississippi River ; on the east by the Mississippi, Lake Pepin and Wabasha county ; on the south by Olmsted and Dodge counties ; and on the west by Rice and Dakota counties. Its area is about 764 square miles, or 488,833.84 acres, according to the township plats of the U. S. Land Office. The townships are twenty-four in number, those bordering on the Mississippi being fractional.
The following table, taken from the records of the Surveyor General's office, gives the number of acres in each township in the county:
Name.
Township N. 113
Range W.
Acres and Fractions. 18,666.69
Cannon Falls
112
17
13,606.31
Central Point
112
12
1,121.42
Featherstone
112
15
22,909.89
Florence
112
13
20,901.67
Hay Creek
112
14
23,055.40
Stanton
112
18
15,375.53
Wacouta
113
14
2,700.47
Welch
113
16
27,132.28
Cherry Grove
109
17
24,537.58
Roscoe
109
16
22,987.22
Pine Island.
109
15
22,996.29
Zumbrota
110
15
22,905.12
Kenyon
109
18
23,006.38
Minneola
110
16
22,827.18
Wanamingo
110
17
24,523.55
Holden
110
18
23,016.70
Belvidere
111
14
22,879.96
Goodhue
111
15
22,853.45
Burnside.
15
186
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Name.
Township N.
Range W.
Acres and Fractions.
Belle Creek
111
16
22,707.41
Leon
111
17
24,498.57
Warsaw
111
18
22,951.36
Red Wing
113
14
4,480.00
Vasa
112
16
26,193.41
Total
188,833.84
RAILROAD ELEVATIONS, C. M. & ST. PAUL R. R.
Low water mark at St. Paul
672.34 feet.
Grade of railroad at St. Paul Depot.
692.84
Hastings Junction H. & D. R. R.
696.31
66
Etter Station.
677.84 66
66
Red Wing Depot.
673.84
Frontenac
707.34
691.84
66
Winona
649.44
Top of Barn Bluff
1008.84
Fort Snelling
820.00
Itasca Lake source of Mississippi
1575.00 66
ANNUAL MEAN TEMPERATURE OF GOODHUE CO.
Temperature in degrees F''hr.
Jan., +13.7, July, +73.4, Average for year, +44.6.
Annual rainfall in inches, 25.84.
The general surface of the county, except the land bordering on the Mississippi, a strip averaging two miles in width, and the valleys of the streams, which have been formed by the erosion of running water, is a plane, or a gently rolling prairie.
DRAINAGE.
· Streams are numerous, and their falls sufficiently rapid to afford excel- lent mill-sites. The surface is drained by the Great and Little Cannon Rivers; the north branch, and the north middle branch of the Zumbro ; the Vermillion River ;* Belle, Prairie, Spring, Hay, Wells, Bullard, Rock
* Sometimes called Vermillion Slough. It is formed, in the main, by an arm of the Mississippi River that puts out from the main channel a few miles below Hastings, and re-unites therewith about six miles above Red Wing. Foote and Warner in their recently published map of Goodhue county designate this body of water as a river; and there is no good reason why it should not be so called. It receives the water of the Vermillion River that comes down from Dakota county, and is always moved by a current.
In the spring of 1868, when stage travel was interrupted by the washing out of bridges on the route of travel between Red Wing and Hastings, the mail and passengers were carried from Red Wing to Hastings by the steamboat Tiger, Captain David Hancock in charge. On one occasion, he tried the experi. ment of shortening the distance and saving time, by leaving the main channel of the river, and going up through the slough. He made the trip, up, but followed the main channel on the return trip. That is believed to have been the first and only time a steamboat glided through its waters.
Lake City
Above the Ocean.
187
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
and Clear creeks. These streams belong to three main paths by which the water that falls upon the surface of the county is conveyed into the Mississippi. The southern portion is drained by the Zumbro and its tributaries ; the northern and western by the Great Cannon and its several branches; and the interior and eastern by Spring, Hay and Wells creeks, and their numerous branches. Besides these, Vermillion River, after draining a large portion of Dakota county, separates Prairie Island, which forms parts of the townships of Burnside and Welch, from the main land. There are no lakes in the county, and but few ponds.
Living springs of cool, pure water, of the very best quality, abound in nearly every section. They are most common on the south or west sides of bluffs, where the green shale of the Lower Trenton Limestone is the surface rock. Good water is also easily procured in all sections of the county, by sinking wells to a reasonable depth, except on the top of the Magnesian Limestone bluff's bordering the Mississippi. This formation contains so many seams and fissures between the different layers, that there seems to be an absence of living water in such locali- ties, within ordinary striking distance of the surface.
SURFACE AND TIMBER.
The following information in reference to the surface and timber of the several townships of Goodhue county, was obtained from Mr. Stephen A. Hart, who has for many years filled the office of county surveyor, and is, perhaps, more familiar with the general topography of the county than any other resident of it.
Pine Işland .- (T. 109 N., 13 W.)
There is timber in the northeast corner of the township which covers about four sections, viz., section 8, } of 9, 2 of 17, and the south } of 18. Also section 31 and part of section 32. The growth consists of red and and burr oak, aspen, basswood, maple, and a few scattering pine. The north middle branch of the Zumbro, extends through the S. W. corner of the township. In the N. E. corner the surface is somewhat broken. The soil is excellent. Magnetic variation, 9º 28'.
Cherry Grove .- (T. 109 N., 17 W.)
Parts of sections 33, 34 and 36, and all of. 35, are covered with burr and red oak, aspen and maple. Surface rolling, with soil of an extra good quality. Magnetic variation, 7º 35'.
188
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Roscoe .- (T. 109 N., 16 W.)
Section 36, the south } of 25, parts of sections 32, 33, and all of sec- tions 34 and 35, are timbered with white, red and burr oak, sugar maple, and aspen. Surface rolling. Soil of excellent quality. Magnetic variation, 9º 5'.
Kenyon .- (T. 109 N., 18 W.)
The north branch of the Zumbro River runs through the N. W. corner of the township. There is timber on the north } of section 3, north 4 of section 4, south } of 5, south & of 8, and the south } of 7 and 18. The timber consists of white, red and burr oak and aspen. This is a prairie township, the surface generally level, and possessing a most excellent soil. Magnetic variation, 7º 54'.
Zumbrota .- (T. 110 N., 15 W.)
The north branch of the Zumbro runs through the S. W. corner of the township. There is a small grove of scattering burr oak on section 24. This township consists of gently rolling prairie, with soil of first-rate quality. Magnetic variation, 9º 20'.
Minneola .- (T. 110 N., 16 W.)
The north branch of the Zumbro also extends from west to east nearly through the center of the township. Soil, good. Surface, rolling prairie. Timber, scattering burr oak. Magnetic variation, 9° 30'.
Wanamingo .- (T. 110 N., 17 W.)
The north branch of the Zumbro River runs through the southern part of the township. Sections 5, 6, 7 and parts of 8, 9 and west } of 18, and also parts of 27 and 28 are timbered with red and burr oak and aspen. The northwest corner of the township is broken along a branch of the Little Cannon. The central portion is smooth prairie. In the eastern part there are many scattering burr oak. The soil is of the very finest quality. Magnetic variation, 8º 5'.
Holden .- (T. 110 N., 18 W.)
The Little Cannon River rises in the western part of the township. The surface in the N. W. corner is broken. The rest consists of rolling prairie. The soil is of an excellent quality. There is timber on sec- tions 1 and 2, part of 12, and the south } of 34 and 35. Magnetic variation, 7º 55' .
Belvidere .- (T. 111 N., 14 W.)
The northern portion of the township, along the margin of Wells
189
THE HISTORY OF GOODIIUE COUNTY.
Creek, is broken. The surface of the south & is a gently rolling prairie. Soil excellent. Magnetic variation, 9° 25'.
Goodhue .- (T. 111 N., 15 W.)
The surface consists of rolling prairie. The soil is generally good, except the north { of section 6, which is timbered with burr oak. Mag- netic variation, 9º 4S'.
Belle Creek .- (T. 111 N., 16 W.)
The surface of the township, in many places, is covered with scatter- ing burr oak. The N. W. corner is broken. The south & consists of smooth rolling prairie ; soil excellent. Magnetic variation, 9º 35'
Leon .- (T. 111 N., 17 W.)
The south { of sections 3, 4, 5, and the west } of 10, 17, 18, 19, 20, and also the north { of 29 ; all of 30, 31 and 4 of 32, and the south & of 33 are covered with timber, consisting of white, red, and burr oak, aspen, white ash, basswood, black cherry and red elm. The surface of the N. W. portion of the township is broken. The balance rolling prairie ; soil good. Magnetic variation, Sº 30'.
Warsaw .- (T. 111 N., 18 W.)
The surface of the eastern portion of the township, bordering on the Little Cannon, is broken. The rest is mostly rolling prairie of the very finest quality for farming purposes. There is timber of good quality on part of section 1 ; on the east parts of 12 and 13; on the west part of 24; on nearly the whole of 26; the west part of 36; the whole of 34. It is principally burr oak and aspen. The soil is first rate. Magnetic variation, 8° 12'.
Central Point .- (T. 112 N., 12 W.)
The bluff known as Sugar Loaf is situated on section 31. The surface of the rest of the township is generally level. The soil is only second rate; the timber scattering, and mostly burr and red oak. Magnetic variation, 9º 35'.
Florence .- (T. 112 N., 13 W.)
The surface is much broken; the soil generally good, except in the valley of Wells Creek, which is quite sandy, with a gravelly subsoil. The timber is scattering burr oak. Magnetic variation, 9º 45'.
Hay Creek .- (T. 112 N., 14 W.)
Both the eastern and western portions of this township are broken
190
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
The surface of the central part is rolling prairie. The soil of the N. W. corner is sandy ; the rest is of good quality. It has but little timber. Magnetic variation, 8º 35'.
Featherstone .- (T. 112 N., 15 W.)
The surface of the eastern section of this township, bordering on Hay Creek, is a good deal broken ; also the northwestern, along the margin of Spring Creek, where it is intersected by the secondary ravines drain- ing that portion of the town into the latter. The central and southern parts are rolling. The soil is of excellent quality ; and the farmer gets a rich return for his labor. There is scattering burr oak in the eastern and northern portions. Magnetic variation, 8° 56.
Vasa .- (T. 112 N., 16 W.)
The surface is broken except in the middle and southern portions. Belle Creek runs through the township, and the Great Cannon River separates it from the town of Welch. Most of the timber of this town- ship is on sections 16 and 25, on the Cannon River bottom. The soil is good. Magnetic variation, 9º 35'.
Cannon Falls .- (T. 112 N., 17 W.)
The northern part is broken, with scattering burr and red oak. The southeastern part is covered with burr oak thickets, and groves of aspen. Cannon River bottom, from one-half to a mile in width, has gravelly soil. The middle and western has thin, sandy soil. In the southeastern the soil is good. Magnetic variation, 9º 5'.
Stanton .- (T. 112 N., 18 W.)
There is timber on sections 35 and 36, and a grove on 32. It consists of sugar maple, elm, red and burr oak. The soil is generally of good quality. Magnetic variation, 8° 45'.
Wacouta .- (T. 113 N., 13 and 14 W.)
The surface is bluffy and uneven; the soil sandy; timber, scattering burr oak and cottonwood. Magnetic variation, 9º 5'.
Red Wing .- (T. 113 N., 14 W.)
The surface is bluffy and uneven. The soil second rate, portions of it very sandy. Timber scattering burr and red oak. Magnetic variation, 9º 21'.
191
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Burnside .- (T. 113 and 114 N., 15 W.)
The southwestern portion is broken. The Cannon River bottom, from three-fourths to a mile wide, is covered with timber, consisting of elm, soft maple, cottonwood, white ash and hackberry. The soil on the high land is good. The low land is generally marshy and underlaid with blue clay. Magnetic variation, 9º 5'.
Welch .- (T. 113 and 114 N., 16 W.)
The surface in the southern part is broken. The middle, rolling prai- rie, having excellent soil. The northern part of township 113 is broken, soil good ; section 36, parts of 25 and 26, timbered. Town 114, which is a part of Welch, consists mostly of Prairie Island, bordering on the Mississippi and Vermillion rivers. It is wooded along the river bot- toms. The soil is poor and sandy. Magnetic variation, 9º 35'.
GEOLOGY.
There has never been a full and systematic geological survey of Goodhue county. Dr. David Dale Owen, U. S. Geologist, in his report of a geological survey of Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota, and inciden- tally of Nebraska Territory, made under instructions from the Treasury Department, published in 1852, speaks somewhat generally of the geological formations of the country bordering on the Mississippi River. He gives profile sections of the rock formations from Prairie du Chien to the Falls of Saint Anthony. The following quotation is taken from Mr. Owen's report :
" Lake Pepin is a mere expansion of the channel of the Mississippi, produced, in a great measure, by the eroding and undermining action of its waters, combined with atmospheric agencies, scooping out and carrying away the inferior soft sandstones.
" A little below the Red Wing village, near the northern extremity of Lake Pepin, is a remarkable headland, which has the appearance of a hill split down the middle. Here the Lower Magnesian Limestone forms about one hundred and fifty feet of the upper portion of the hill. The base, for one hundred and eighty feet, is chiefly sandstone."
Dr. B. F. Shumard, assistant to Dr. Owen, gives the following meas- urement of a section of La Grange Mountain (Barn Bluff,) made on the river-side from the water level. He says :
" At La Grange Mountain, near the head of Lake Pepin, is an inter- esting exposure of Lower Sandstone and Lower Magnesian Limestone. The whole height of the bluff is about three hundred and fifty feet, (accurately three hundred and thirty-five feet,) of which the Lower
192
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Magnesian Limestone constitutes one hundred and eighty-five feet." The following is his measurement from the base of Barn Bluff upward, his base line being the level of the river :
1. Soft green and yellow sandstone, containing Lingulas and Orbic- ulas. 26 ft.
2. Alternations of green and yellow sandstone, and Schistose sand- stone, with green particles disseminated 5 ft.
3. Brown dolomitic layers, containing Orthis, Lingulas, and col- umns of Crinoideoe 4 ft.
4. Brown, white and green sandstone, with Schistose dolomitic intercalations. 26 ft.
5. Yellow and ash-colored Argillo-calcareous rock, containing Dikelo- cephalus, Minnesotensis, Lingulas, and Orbiculas. 4 ft.
6. Alternations of brown, yellow sandstones, surmounted by thick- bedded white and brown sandstones 50 ft.
7. Slope covered with soil and vegetation 135 ft.
8. Lower Magnesian Limestone. 150 ft.
Total 400 ft.
It is presumed these measurements were barometrical; hence, they are but an approximation to accuracy.
From Red Wing to Minneiska, the Lower Magnesian Limestone appears in perpendicular walls, forming the upper portions of most of the bluffs.
The next good section, showing the members at the junction of these two formations is about two miles below the head of Lake Pepin. At this locality, yellow and green sandstone is seen twenty-five feet above the level of the lake; and extending up the slope are thicker beds, white and brown sandstone, supporting the Magnesian Limestone.
The entire area of Goodhue county is undoubtedly underlain by rocks, belonging to the period of the formation of earth's crust, known to geologists as the Lower Silurian. So far as observations have hitherto been made, there is no rock in place, within the limits of the county, of a more recent date. The green sandstone forming the base of Barn Bluff, and which underlies the streets of the city of Red Wing, and probably the whole county, is believed to belong to the same age as the Potsdam Sandstone, in the State of New York. This conclusion is based upon the fact of its containing the same fossils.
From Red Wing north, along the Mississippi, the rock strata dips quite rapidly to the north, so that by the time one reaches the mouth of the Vermillion River, back in the bluffs west of the Mississippi, the sandstone can no longer be seen, and the Lower Magnesian Limestone extends from the water level to the height of two hundred feet. Still
193
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
ascending the river above Prairie Island, the strata takes a local rise, so that above Hastings the sandstone again emerges from beneath the water, and rises to the height of 12 or 15 feet above low water mark. It then sinks again, and at Red Rock, eight miles below Saint Paul, there are only ledges of Lower Magnesian Limestone, twelve feet thick. It soon dips under the river, and is overlaid by the White Saint Peter sandstone before arriving at Saint Paul. This white sandstone at the latter place attains a thickness of some fifty or sixty feet; and at Fort Snelling, of eighty to one hundred feet. At St. Paul, this is capped by the Trenton Limestone, which is at this place about fifteen feet thick. This Trenton Limestone is mostly used there for building purposes, and is generally quarried as the cellars are excavated.
Leaving Red Wing by the Zumbrota or Featherstone roads, the traveler soon ascends above the Potsdam Sandstone, and climbs over the Lower Magnesian Limestone. Having reached the level of the prairie, this last named formation lies below his horizon. As he again descends into the valley of Hay Creek, on section 18, township of Hay Creek, he sees an exposure of the Lower Magnesian Limestone. After winding through the valley of Hay Creek, as he ascends to the level of the prairie, towards Goodhue Center, he first sees an exposure of the Shakopee Limestone, the upper stratum of the Lower Magnesian forma- tion. Reaching the level of the prairie, by the Featherstone road, leading to Hader, the last named stone is seen no more in that direction in the county. Before leaving the township of Featherstone, on section 29, there may be seen an exposure of the Saint Peter Sandstone. The surface material of the soil of the Potato Mound prairie was formed principally by the disintegration of the Saint Peter Sandstone. White Rock, on section 33, township of Vasa, is an outlier of that formation, which once covered all that neighborhood. When this soft porous stone is not capped by the shell Trenton Limestone, it is easily dissolved by the action of frost and rain, and its materials spread over the adjacent country.
The southern limit of the Lower Magnesian Limestone, in Goodhue county, is marked by a line extending in a northwest and southeast direction, at a distance of from five to eight miles from the Mississippi. It is the surface rock in the towns of Welch, Burnside, Red Wing, Wacoota, Florence and Central Point, and in the northern portions of Hay Creek, Featherstone, and Vasa. The Vasa prairie is above the Lower Magnesian. Belle Creek, however, as it winds its course along through the township has cut itself a channel through that hard compact formation of a hundred feet in depth. At the point where the Red
14
194
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Wing and Cannon Falls road crosses the stream, there is an exposure of a perpendicular escarpment along the western margin of the stream, for a half mile or more. The current of the stream has worn down and swept away the barrier on the east side to a distance of several hundred yards. At this point a grist mill is located-the water power being ample.
Ascending the prairie towards Cannon Falls, evidence is soon exhib- ited of passing over a region where sandstone is the outlier. Before reaching the village of Cannon Falls, the white St. Peter Sandstone is seen in the slopes of the bluffs, on either side of the Cannon River, capped with its covering of Trenton Limestone. In this locality the Saint Peter Sandstone has been worn down by erosion, forming the valleys of the Little Cannon and the Great Cannon, above the village of Cannon Falls. The material once forming this stratum may be seen in the deep sandy road which the traveler encounters for four or five miles before reaching that place. The Saint Peter Sandstone furnishes the soil with little or no sustenance to support vegetation. The hills formed of this stone are round and mound shaped ; the stone is easily eroded, and the mounds bear a striking resemblance to the tumuli of an ancient burying place of the mound builders.
Around the village of Cannon Falls the bluffs are capped with shell limestone, the depth of which is nowhere greater than sixteen feet. The rock underlying the town is a hard calcareo-arenaceous schist, the topmost stratum of the Lower Magnesian Limestone, wholly desti- tute of fossil remains. The topmost layers of the shell limestone cover- ing the bluffs surrounding the village are filled with fossils; among which may be mentioned forms of corals, orthidiform brachiepods and tentaculites.
Some two miles above the village of Cannon Falls, on the Great Can- non River, is the site of the falls which give name to both the village and the township. Some two years ago, the writer, in company with Frank Ives, Esq., and S. J. Hasler, of Red Wing, made an accurate measurement of the rock strata in the south bank of the river at this locality. The result showed the bluff to be one hundred and seventy feet high, and composed of the following strata, viz., thirty-eight feet of Lower Magnesian Limestone, counting from the level of the water of the river, one hundred and twenty feet of dark brown ferru- ginous Saint Peter Sandstone, and twelve feet of Shell Limestone, forming the cap of the last named rock.
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