USA > New York > Jefferson County > A history of Jefferson County in the state of New York, from the earliest period to the present time > Part 58
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The thickness of this rock can not be less than five hundred feet. Its stratification is generally nearly horizontal, and dis- turbances when they occur, are usually quite limited. In some places it contains veins of calcite, and of heavy spar, the latter, in Adams, being associated with fluor spar. This form- ation in Lowville and Martinsburgh, Lewis County, contains metallic ores, in small quantities in veins, that have a general east and west course. The sulphurets of lead, zinc, and iron, occur at the lead mines in Martinsburgh, in lamina or layers, deposited upon each other, of which the succession, counting from the walls of the vein towards the centre, is invariably the same. This gives probability to the theory, that these metals may have been deposited by electrical currents, as it would be difficult on any other supposition, to account for the symmetrical recurrence of the layers. Cavities in fossils are not unfrequently lined with crystals of calcite, and more rarely with fluor spar and tremolite.
542
Trenton Limestone.
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5
1
3
4
10
7
8
9
14a
2
147
15
11
12
1, 3, 4, Plurotomaria lenticularis. 5, P. rotuloides ; base of shell.
2, 6d, 6e, 14a, 14b, 15 species of Murchisonia. 7, 8, 9, Bellerophon profundus (Em.) 10, Leptæna sericea. 11, Orthis striatula. 12, O. testudimaria.
543
Utica Slate.
Resting upon the Trenton limestone, with which, in the bed of Sandy Creek, in Rodman, it is seen in contact, is a soft black slate, readily crumbling to fragments under the action of frost, and divided by vertical parallel seams into regular masses. From its occurrence in the hills north of Utica, it has been called Utica slate. It has not been found applicable to any useful purpose, although experiments have been made to test its value as a lithic paint. Where sulphuret of iron could be procured, the manufacture of alum might be attempted with prospect of success.
5
4
3
2
1
6
1, Calymene Beckii.
3, Orthonota
5, Avicula - -.
2, Modiolopsis anodontoides ? 4, Nucula -? 6, Lingula quadrata.
Fossils are common, but less numerous in this rock than in those below it. Sev- eral of these are com- mon in the rocks above and below this. The trilobite here figured is the only 1 one known in this 3 slate, but is found both above and be- 2 low.
1, Head of Calymene Beckii. 2, Graptolithus, pristis. 3, Trocholites ammonius.
The Graptolithus is numerous both in individuals and species in the shales on the Hudson River. Being often compressed, their true nature was for some time unknown,* and they were classed with plants by some writers. When preserved in cal- careous matter, their true nature becomes more apparent, and show them to have been animals of the lower orders, with a semi-calcareous body and a corticiform covering. In some pla- ces, these fossils are replaced by iron pyrites, that in fresh speci- mens possesses a bright metallic lusture, but which soon tarnish and crumble by exposure. Sulphur springs are of frequent oc-
* Palæontology of New York, i.,. 208:
544
Lorraine Shales.
currence in this rock, and native sulphur is sometimes noticed encrusting the surfaces in ravines, where waters charged with sulphureted hydrogen have been exposed to vegetable action.
Covering this formation, and constituting the superficial rock of Lorraine, Worth, and part of Rodman, is a series consisting of alternating layers of shale and slate, some of which are highly
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2
1, Trinucleus concentricus. 3, Leplæna deltoidea.
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3
2, Leptæna alternata. 4, Modiolopsis modiolaris.
fossiliferous, and others entirely destitute of organic remains. Those that serve to distinguish it from the formations beneath 1 3 are the annexed, which are rea- dily recognized, and almost al- ways present. From the re- markable development of this rock in Lorraine, it has received the name of Lorraine Shales. 2 For a similar reason it is known elsewhere as the Hudson River group, from its forming the highly inclined shales that occur, of enormous thickness, in the valley of the Hudson. This rock 1, Ambonychia radiata. 2, Joint of the Glyptocrinus de- cadactylus, a crinoidean fossil very common. is nearly worthless for any use- ful purpose, although at Pulaski and elsewhere, layers are found 3, Cyrtolites ornatus. that are adapted for building. The mineral springs of Saratoga arise from this rock. Having thus briefly enumerated the lead- ing geological features of the county, some generalizations of the several rocky formations may be made.
545
Lorraine Shales .- General Observations.
To one accustomed to close and careful observation, the fea- tures of a country and the contour of its hills, afford a reliable means of opinion on the character of the subjacent rock. There pertains to each of these in this county a peculiarity of profile, when exposed in the brow of hills, that is as constant and as unmistakeable as any class of phenomena offered to the observa- tion of geologists ; and these distinctive features arise from the greater or less facility with which the several rocks yield to dis- integrating forces. The shales and slates being easily decom- posed, and offering little resistance to the action of running water, present a rounded outline; running streams have here worn deep, winding gulphs, through which the channels mean- der, washing alternately the right bank and the left, affording a succession of crumbling precipices, often of romantic beauty, and spreading over the plains, where they issue from the hills, the broken materials brought down from the ravines. The rock is every where covered with soil, derived from its own disintegra- tion, and is inclined to clay, from which cause, when level, there is a tendency to the formation of swamps, from the impermeable character of this material. The soil is generally fertile, and es- pecially adapted to grazing. Wherever diluvial action has ex- isted, it has worn, with little difficulty, broad valleys, and re- moved immense quantities of the detritus to other places.
These shales form a ridge of highlands, extending from this county, through Oswego, Lewis, Oneida, and Herkimer counties, being known, in Lewis, as Tug Hill. The margin of this ele- vated tract is worn into deep ravines, but when the head of these is reached, the country becomes level, and sometimes swampy, with frequent beaver meadows. The streams are sluggish and miry, and the water highly discolored, probably from the pre- sence of the black oxyde of manganese, that is of frequent occur- rence in the swamps, and is found coating the bowlders, exposed to running water. The junction between the Utica slate and Trenton limestone, is generally concealed by deep deposits, brought down from the upper formation.
The change, where observed in the bed of Sandy Creek, is well defined, there being no blending of the two rocks. Along the base of the slate is usually a strip of clay, a few rods in width, but continuing for considerable distances. The thickness of these shales in the ridge of highlands extending towards Utica, can not be less than five hundred feet. Local disturbances are but seldom seen, and the stratification is usually horizontal. Pebbles from the lower rocks are occasionally noticed, and ob- scure traces of organic remains, that have not been described.
The limestone occurs in terraces, with steep, but not precipitous margins, the whole of which is covered with a soil, derived from
546
General Observations.
its own decomposition, where not protected by drift. The soil is inclined to be thin, and consequently liable to be affected with drouth, but is extremely fertile, and alike adapted to grass and grain. The richest and best portions of Jefferson county, if not in the state, are underlaid by this rock. Running streams, when small, do not wear ravines, but fall down the slope of the terra- ces, in pretty cascades, broken into foam, and noisy from the numerous points of resistance which they meet.
canon . Je.
Burrville Cascades.
The Burrville Cascades have been noticed on page 240, and are among the most romantic and pleasing which the country af- fords. Streams, if large, and especially if liable to be swollen into impetuous torrents, wear gulphs of short extent into the plains from which they flow, and where these rocks form the bed of streams, the latter have worn channels of sufficient depth to contain the ordinary volume of the stream only; where the sur- face has been protected by a drift deposit, but not often else- where, it presents the marks of attrition of the drift period; springs are of frequent occurrence, oftener near the foot of the terraces, and the water is limpid, but unfit for washing, from be- ing charged with lime.
The calciferous sandstone presents a flat country, with few valleys, and those but a few feet below the level of the adjacent
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547
General Observations.
plains. The rock is covered with a very thin soil, derived from its own decomposition, but one of much richness, from the pres- ence of lime. It seldom descends by a gentle slope into the val- .eys, but presents a shelving ledge, very peculiar to this rock, in this section of the state. Swamps, when they occur, are bordered with this sharp margin of rock, and have a deep soil, as if they had anciently been lakes. When springs exist, they are com- monly hard from the lime which the rock contains.
The Potsdam sandstone generally presents a level surface, but more liable to upheavals, and is covered with soil entirely brought from other formations, and varies in quality with sources from which it has been derived. Where not covered with drift, as occurs near Plessis, it is a barren rock, which, although exposed from time immemorial to the action of the elements, still pre- serves the traces of diluvial abrasion. This rock never presents a fertile slope into the valleys, but is bordered with abrupt pre- cipices, at the foot of which are piled huge masses, that have tumbled from the face of the ledge.
The primitive rocks of the county present a constant succession of abrupt rounded ridges, scantily covered in the state of nature with timber, and, when cleared, with a thin soil, with intervening valleys of considerable fertility, that have received their soil from the wash of the hills. The nature and amount of soil varies with the rock, and is abundant and fertile, where limestone and feldspar abound, as its constituents, but much less so, where the chief element is quartz. It was observed by Mr. Wright, when surveying the townships of St. Lawrence County, and the same fact is observable to some extent in this, where from its less ex- tent, but few opportunities are afforded for observing it, that the south slope of the hills is more abrupt than the north, as if they had been more upheaved. The prevailing dip of the strata of gneiss is towards the north or north west, where observed in this county.
Drift deposits occur promiscuously over rocks of every age, covering them unequally with transported materials, and when occurring in hills, presenting that rounded and conical outline often seen in snow drifts. Having been deposited in moving water, wherever a sheltered point or conflicting currents favored, they were subject to all the dynamic laws which modify the motions of solids moving in fluids. These deposits may be distinguished from soil underlaid by rock, by the endless variety of rounded outline which they present, and are invariably covered with vegetation.
About a third of the county, in its central part, lies in the valley of Black River, the remainder being drained by Sandy Creek, In- dian River, and the minor streams running into the lake and
548
Black River.
St. Lawrence. E. H. Brodhead * estimated its volume at low water, at 94,000 cubic feet per minute; that of the Oswegatchie being 20,000, and of Indian River 3,000 .; The river descends 480 feet between Carthage and the lake, giving a power equal to 135,360 horses, working eight hours a day. In this distance, at the present time, the water passes over thirteen dams, at none of which the entire amount of water is used; and at most of them but a very small portion is employed. Although Indian River, and several of its tributaries, and the two branches of Sandy Creek, and other streams of less note, afford at many points eligible sites for hydraulic purposes, yet their aggregate is far below that afforded by Black River, which, at a future time, will doubtless be improved to an extent infinitely surpassing the most sanguine anticipations of the present age. This river has proved somewhat subject to floods, which requires the exercise of care in locating buildings upon its banks; but from its bed being generally rock, ample means are available for the security of dams which have been seldom or never swept off.
From the extent and number of the lakes that exist near the sources of this river, and its tributaries, in the primary region of Lewis and Herkimer counties, no apprehension need be felt that the opposite extreme of drouth will necessarily occur in future, for, by constructing dams and sluices at the outlets of these lakes, they may be cheaply converted into immense reservoirs to retain the spring floods resulting from the melting of winter snows, and equalize the discharge through the dry season; thus serving the double purpose of preventing excessive freshets, or extreme drouth.
The greatest freshet known, occurred in the spring of 1807, from the melting of spring snows. In 1818, in May, 1833, in 1839, 1841, and 1843, were heavy spring floods.
Lake Ontario has many features in its geology of engaging interest. Its length is 172 miles, and greatest breadth 59} miles. According to the chart of Captain A. Ford, U. S. N., its greatest depth is 95 fathoms, and its elevation above tide being but 234 feet,į it would still be a lake, if the outlet was deepened so as to allow the tide to flow up to it. The east end of the lake is, to some extent, bordered by low sand hills, behind which, are marshes; the south shore is moderately elevated, the north and north-west more elevated, and much of the way rocky. Its wa- ters are subject to changes of level, that occupy several years, but appear to be governed by no other causes than the unequal sup- ply from tributaries. Low water is said to have occurred in
* Report of Black River Canal extension, Assem. Doc., 1840, No. 233, p. 36, 40. tlb. p. 36.
# On Burr's State Map, the height of the lake is stated to be 234 feet; the Canadian rail road surveys give 238} feet.
549
Lake Ridges.
1803, 1804, 1808 to 1811; 1822 to 1828; 1844 to 1850. High water is mentioned in 1798, 1805 to 1807; 1812 to 1819; 1829 to 1831; 1837 to 1839; 1852, 1853. Middling height in 1820, 1821, 1832 to 1836; 1840, 1841, 1851. The change of level is about five feet.
Charlevoix, in 1721, noticed a periodical flux and reflux of the lake, recurring at intervals of a few minutes, and by him ascribed to springs at the bottom of the lake, and the shock of rivers discharging into it. This flow is probably caused by the prevalence of distant winds, that at times create a swell at one end of the lake when it is calm at the other. It is further noticed, that long prevailing gales from the west, from the friction upon the surface, cause the waters to rise several feet at the east end. It was from a similar cause, that a serious inundation occurred on Lake Erie, at Buffalo, in the fall of 1844.
Water spouts have been often seen on the lake, usually in the summer or fall, and in showery fickle weather. They are ac- companied by black clouds and a roaring sound. When they strike the land, they prove to be tornadoes, tearing up the trees and strewing their track with ruin.
The mirage is a phenomenon, frequent in bright, sunny weather in summer and fall, elevating distant objects by refraction, and bringing them nearer. Some remarkable instances have been noticed. The most common form of this illusion, consists in raising distant objects a little into the air, the sky seeming to extend under them.
That the lake once flowed over a large portion of the county, at a very recent geological period, is proved by the elevated lake ridges, which extend from Oswego County, through Ellisburgh, Adams, Watertown, and Rutland. Mr. William Dewey, in sur- veying the rail road route, in 1836, thus mentions them: " We found the summit of the highest ridge to be about 400 feet [more exactly 390 feet] above Lake Ontario .* Its formation offers a curious subject for geological investigation. It is remarkably uniform, and is supposed, in past ages, to have constituted the shores of some great inland sea, whose surface lay far above those mighty forests and fertile plains that now form some of the rich- est portions of our state. Frequently, three or four successive ridges are plainly developed, varying in level from fifteen to twenty
feet. * * In the course of our explorations, from possess- ing a knowledge of their elevation, these ridges were a sure guide to determine the relative heights of different points that occurred on the route. A more beautiful site for the location of
* The author is indebted to C. V. R. Horton, of Chaumont, for these inquiries.
35
550
Lake Ridges .- Queries.
a rail road could not be desired, than the summit of these ridges, were not the uniformity of their course frequently broken by sharp angles, and interrupted at intervals by deep gullies, caused by the action of small streams carrying away the very light ma- terial of which they are composed. The slope from the ridges, in many places, is regular and gradual, until the elevation is re- duced to 300 feet above the lake, when it becomes broken and unsuitable for our purpose. This ridge, we found to extend on the line of our survey about thirty miles from the point where we were first enabled to avail ourselves of its advantage."
Along the brow of the first hill, in going east from Watertown, this ridge is cut through in making the plank road, and the beach, with its piles of bowlders below it, may be traced each way from this place very easily. Along the side of the slope of limestone rock, which approaches Black River, below the village of Lockport, may be seen, plainly marked, the traces of an ancient beach, at two or three different levels. The lime- stone must here have formed a bold shore to the lake.
A curious occurrence of red cedar timber on a small hill in Pamelia, about three miles north of Watertown, was mentioned to the author by Mr. John Felt, who ingeniously suggested that, as the margin of the hill was a bed of smooth gravel, and as this timber occurs on islands in the lake, and almost nowhere else in the country, that this spot might then have been an island.
Endless speculations might be made on the extent of this form- er lake, and the causes that have wrought the change. The subject is too extended for our discussion; but the following ques- tions at once arise, and would need to be first settled. Rome is on a summit, from whence the waters flow by Wood Creek and the Mohawk, in opposite directions. It is but thirty-two feet higher than Watertown. The lake ridges are 232 feet above Water- town. Queries. Did the lake then flow through the Mohawk Valley? Did it then cover the country down to the Noses, on the Mohawk, and the highlands of Quebec?
Earthquakes have several times occurred in this section of the country. One is recorded in Canada, February 5, 1663, and is related as most terrific and awful. The ice in the St. Lawrence was broken up, the earth was violently shaken, houses thrown down, and such was the tumult of the elements, that many be- lieved that the end of the world was coming. Several times, since the settlement of the country, slight shocks have been felt. On the 12th of March, 1853, at 2 o'clock A. M., a shock occurred that was felt in Lewis and parts of Jefferson Counties. It com- menced with a rumbling sound that lasted about a minute and a half, and was attended with a deep rolling thunder. It is credi- bly related that, in Champion, the snow, then covered by a strong crust, was found broken into fissures by the movement.
551
Valleys .- Drift Agencies.
Several remarkable valleys occur in the county, that must be attributed to causes that have long since ceased to operate. That of Rutland Hollow, parallel with Black River, has been no- ticed .* It is continued across the towns of Watertown, Hounds- field and Henderson, by way of Smithville, to the lake, having both of its sides composed of Trenton limestone. It is probable that it was formed by the same agencies that have removed the Trenton from over the lower limestones, north of Black River; transported vast quantities of loose materials from the distant primary regions, and deposited them as bowlders, gravel, hard- pan, sand and clays, promiscuously over the other formations. The surface rock, where of sufficient hardness to resist decay, or where protected by superficial deposits, often presents a po- lished and grooved appearance, and at no locality is this more wonderfully shown, than at the rail road bridge, below Water- town Village. The grooves are here widened and deepened into troughs, that obliquely cross the bed of the river, having their surfaces polished and scratched, showing that the rock was then as firm and unyielding as now. These furrows are from one to three feet deep, and from five to ten feet wide.
MINERAL LOCALITIES.
Anthracite has been observed in minute quantities, glazing the surface and lining the cavities of fossils in the Trenton lime- stone at Watertown. In minute quantites and thin seams it has also been noticed in Utica slate, in the south-western border of the county.
Apatite (phosphate of lime) is rarely found in small crystals near Ox Bow, in white limestone, with pargasite, &c. On But- terfield Lake it occurs massive. It is also found near Grass Lake, in Theresa. A most remarkable locality of this mineral occurs in Rossie, near this lake. When in quantity, it is prized as a fertilizing agent, being in chemical composition analagous to burnt bones. It is also used in assaying gold and silver.
Azurite (blue carb. copper) occurs with the green carbonate (coating copper pyrites and staining other minerals) on an island in Muscalunge Lake, Theresa.
Calcite (carbonate of lime), besides forming a principal constit- uent of white and secondary limestone, occurs often crystalized in groups of great beauty, at Ox Bow, and on the banks of Vrooman Lake. Huge crystals, some nearly transparent and tinged of a delicate pink, were found on the farm of Mr. Benton, many years since, and the locality here still affords many inte- resting forms. This mineral, crystalized, is common throughout the district of the white limestone, usually occupying cavities in the rock; and it has been observed that those of the same locality, present striking points of resemblance in modification.
* See a notice of this valley on page 240.
552
Mineral Localities.
Veins of white spar are common in fossiliferous limestones, and the cavities of fossils are very often lined with crystals. It occurs also in minute veins in shale. Tufa is found in a few limestone springs, and agaric mineral abounds in the caves in Pamelia, opposite Watertown. Marl occurs in Pleasant Lake, Champion. Satin spar occurs near Ox Bow, not far from Pulpit Rock.
Celestine (sulphate of strontia) is said to occur in Trenton limestone, in disseminated nodules. The quantity must be small, and its existence is somewhat uncertain.
Chalcodite. Under this name has been described, by Professor C. U. Shepard, of New Haven,* a mineral which had previously been considered cacoxene .; It occurs in minute globular and stellar groups, on surfaces of specular iron ore, of a yellow color, fibrous texture, and so slightly coherent as to be easily broken by contact with a solid body. Surfaces covered with this mineral are frequently obtained at the Sterling iron mine, in Antwerp, at which locality alone, in this section of the state, it has been found. It is interesting for its rarity more than its splendor. Sometimes it occurs of a delicate green and brown color.
Chondrodite has been observed in small quantities, with spi- nel, in Antwerp.
Chlorite has been detected in bowlders, but is not common.
Copper pyrites has been found at several localities in Ant- werp, adjacent to Vrooman Lake, and near the Ox Bow, and also about three miles from Natural Bridge, in Wilna, where it was wrought to some extent, late in the fall of 1847, by a Bos- ton company. It was examined chemically by Professor C. T. Jackson, of Boston, and is said to have yielded a small per cent- age of tin. Besides this, it was mixed with iron pyrites 10 a considerable extent. This mineral has not hitherto been found in sufficient quantities to pay the cost of mining in this section of the state.
Dolomite occurs often disseminated in white limestone, where, from its ability to resist solution, it remains in relief upon the weathered surface, in prominent masses. Pearl spar is found at Ox Bow, coating crystals of calcite. Ankerite has been attrib- uted to the iron mines of this county, but we have never been able to distinguish it from spathic iron.
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