USA > New York > The natural, statistical, and civil history of the state of New-York, v. 1 > Part 23
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Slate underlay's the plain through which this beach runs. It is seen all along the lake shore, in shelving ledges and in cliffs. It is also seen in the beds of all the torrents that rush down the side of the Chatauque ridge, and fall into the lake after having crossed this plain.
This beach, it is probable, was formed before the Niagara had levelled the barrier at Black Rock and hereabouts. It will be remembered that the southern steep or ledge crosses the river hereabouts, and stretches eastwardly across the country almost to Genesee river.
1.
Inland Seas, Lakes, &c.
Before the waters of the inland seas had broken down their barriers, and while large portions passed off by the St Law- rence and Mohawk, at Fall Hill, the great plain noted as well as the plains west of Niagara strait, must have been covered with sedentary waters, to the height of from two to four hun- dred teet, and lakes Ontario, Erie, Huron, Michigan and Su- perior must have formed but a single expanse. All the low countries around and between these lakes, must have been sub- merged, and nothing must have appeared but a liquid plain, except the few eminences we now see rising above these low lands, which then appeared as so many islands. At that time the waters discharged by the St. Lawrence and Mohawk drains, must have been vastly larger and more' voluminous than they now are. Other inland seas or lakes must have existed below this, such as that of the Hudson, and that of the lower St. Law- rence, united by Lake Champlain. The Highlands at West Point, and the mountains in the vicinity of the city of Quebec must have been the barriers which separated them from the ocean, while the Nose and Fall Hill, on the Mohawk, and similar barriers on the upper St. Lawrence, separated them from the preceding. The ocean, at that time, must have come up to the feet or sides of the lower barriers. Lake Champlain, at this
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day, has an elevation of only eighty-six feet above the tide wa- ters of the Hudson, at Troy, and not over one hundred above those of the St. Lawrence, at Three Rivers, where the tide ·ceases to flow. The summit between Hudson's river and Lake Champlain, is only fifty-four feet higher, making in all but one hundred and forty feet. An accumulation of water, at this day, in the St. Lawrence and Hudson basins, to the height of only one hundred and fifty feet, would more than suffice to unite them together, and form a lake of three hundred and fifty miles or upwards in length. '
It is not improbable but that considerable bodies of water were formerly discharged by the drain on the side of Lake Champlain. For whoever examines the narrow bed of that lake, from Crown Point southwardly to White Hall, at its head, and the valley through which Wood creek from Fort Ann flows, will find abundance of proofs corroberative of this fact. The lake itself is a mere straight or river, so very narrow in some parts that a man can throw a stone across, and appears rather to have been delved out by waters than otherwise. Add to this the water-worn cavities in the rocky barriers along the valley of Wood creek, fifty or sixty feet above its present bed, and it seems to be demonstrated to an almost certainty. From these facts it seems then that in the latter ages of the lake, the water must have flown off both ways, that is by Wood creek and the narrow strait of Lake Champlain, and through the Highlands at West Point. The waters of Lake Cham- plain have obviously subsided since its separation from the Hudson and St. Lawrence basins; that is, since the waters of . those basins stood so high as to meet and constitute but a single lake. Mr. Williams, in his history of Vermont, has these re- markable words: " There are many marks and indications that the surface of this lake was formerly thirty or forty feet higher than it is now. The rocks in several places appear to be marked and stained with the former surface of the lake, many feet higher than it has been from its first discovery by M. Champlain, in 1608. Fossil shells, the limbs and bodies of trees are frequently found at the depth of fifteen or twenty feet
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in the earth ; this is the case not only along the shores, but ia the low lands, at the distance of two or three miles from themn. The soil in many places along the shore is evidently of the same factitious kind as the intervals formed by the rivers. These and other circumstances have left no doubt in the minds of the inhabitants along the lake shore, that the waters of it were formerly much higher, and spread to a much greater ex- tent than they now are."
Whenever, therefore, the original lake became disparted by the subsidance of the surface, Lake Champlain communicat- ed with the St. Lawrence basin ; that is, the lake, which oc- cupied the flat country along that, river. At first the commu- nication or drain must have been short, and its bed much more elevated than it is now. As the surface of the lake however, along that river sunk, and its limits became more contracted, the Champlain drain lengthened and deepened, and the lake's sur- face also sunk and became more contracted. Hence the de- pression and contraction spoken of by Mr. Williams. Hence the emergence of those low lands in which fossil shells, the limbs and bodies of trees are found buried at the depth of fif- teen or twenty feet. Hence the origin of the factitious soil, re- sembling that along rivers, and which has not had time to ac- quire consistence and firmness.
The banks of the St. Lawrence, from the city of Quebec to the head of St. Francis' lake, are in general low, and in some places marshy and swampy ; the country in rear of the banks, for some distance, is also low, and often wet, swampy and marshy ; no hills, no mountains of magnitude appear, a few iso- lated instances excepted. In this extent there are still three lakes remaining through which the river runs. The first is St. Peter's, and is twenty-one miles in length, with an average breadth of ten or twelve miles-the second is lake St. Louis, and is sixteen miles long and from two to seven broad-the third is lake St. Francis, and exceeds thirty miles in length and . four in breadth at a medium. The two latter are divided by a a strait, about six miles long. The country from Montreal to Lake Champlain is an almost uniform level. On the left bank
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of the Sorel, immediately after its exit out of Lake Champlain, there is a swamp of great extent, the country however, rises very gently on that side. The whole country between the Sorel, above Mount Belisle and the St. Lawrence, and thence , up and down that river, within the limits we have mentioned, and we might add a large tract along the Ottouwas, from its mouth, upwardly some way, have every mark and appearance of having once been the bottom of a vast lake. The extend- ed levels, the lowness of the lands, their wet, swampy and marshy aspect, the fragments or remains of a great lake, the looseness, and want of firmness in some of the soils, their alluvial character, are all demonstrations of the previous existence of a Jake, and these combined with the appearances of the subsidance of Lake Champlain, and the water-worn traces in the cliffs . along Wood creek. all go to show that it was connected with that along the Hudson, whose drain was at West Point.
The retrocession of the waters of the inland seas must have been gradual. The seas at first must have been salt, and their waters must have afterwards freshened slowly by saline depo- sits, discharges at their drains and renewals from the streams of fresh water which were constantly falling into them. The process was very much like the dilution of milk, or the reduc- tion of spirits by water. A constant discharge of water will dissipate milk or spirits. So constant discharges of fresh water into these seas or lakes would have weakened and dissipated the salt water, unless they had had the same means of renova- tion which those of the ocean have.
. In the retrocession and subsidance of the inland sea, which covered the great plain of the west, the Oneida and Seneca vale, and the tracts of land contiguous to Lake Ontario and the other great lakes, we think we can discover five distinct periods.
The first of these periods was the time when the barriers on the upper St. Lawrence and that at Fall Hill, on the Mohawk, were entire, and acting as mounds, kept the waters level with the lowest parts of their summits. Then all the country within these levels was one large sea.
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In the course of time, and from the constant action of the waters which flowed off at these parts, the beds deepened, and the surface sunk below the level of some part of the table land, now between lakes Erie and Ontario, whereby those lakes be- come disparted. The southern steep must have formed the line of demarcation between them. The beds of salt were partly deposited during this period.
The second of these periods was the time when the waters of Lake Ontario occupied all the country southwardly to the foot of the southern steep. During this period they retired in con- sequence of the farther deepening of the drains, and the lower- ing of the surface, as far as the northern steep. We mean the steep east of Lock Port, and south of the canal.
It was during the second period that the beds of gypsum, found on the north side of the limestone ridge, and sometimes as at ('ayuga lake, and some other places, where it dips, were deposited. These beds are almost every where below the lime- stone, and are of posterior formation.
The completion of the salt depositions happened in the early part of this period.
Beds of gypsum are now forming in Lake Ontario, out of the calcareous and argillaceous matters carried down by the Ni- ' agara.
'The third of these periods was the time when the waters oc- cupied the space between the south side of the ridge road, and the northern steep.
In this period the waters had became freshened. It is there- fore to this period we must attribute the formation of the water limestone, &c. and many of the marly deposites found in the Oneida and Seneca vale. The water limestone is a fresh water formation.
It was towards the latter part of this period that the lake which covered the Oneida and Seneca vale, became detached, and constituted a separate lake. :
The fourth period was the time when the waters of Lake Ontario covered the space between the ridge road and the pre- sent shore of the lake. In the early part of this period, the
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beach, improperly called the ridge road, was thrown up. lo after times the waters retired gradually within their present barriers.
The fifth of these periods comprises the time since the waters of the lake were confined within their present brim. Here there was a natural offset, or dip ; so there were at the northern and southern steeps.
The retrocession an I subsidance of the waters of this inland sea, and of the lakes formed out of it, must have been more rapid in the first. second and third periods, than they have been since, because the barriers, at the drains, had less breadth than they have since had. The volumes of water discharged during those periods, must also have been much larger than they have been since, owing to the surfaces being greater, and the beds of the out ets lowering faster.
The discharge, during the fourth period, must have been more considerable than since, as the barriers are annually widening and presenting greater obstacles. ·
We shall limit the remaining remarks to the subsidance of the waters of Lake Ontario, commencing with the topography of the country around it.
We have already observed that the country between this lake and Erie is a plain, divided into three parts, by two steeps, which extend lengthwise through it, from west to east. The upper steep crosses the Niagara river at Black Rock, and its vicinity.
The lower steep crosses the river, about fourteen miles lower down, at Queenstown and Lewistown. It is the highest and and of greatest extent, environing nearly two-thirds of the lake. In travelling westwardly, it is first seen a little west of Geneste river, and about nine miles south of the lake. From thence. it extends westwardly, to the extreme part of Burlington bay, at the head of the lake: here it bends around to the north and northwest, for thirty-eight or forty miles, where it turns and pursues an easterly direction, to Trent river, near the head of the bay of Quiinty a distance of one hundred and sixteen miles-it then runs up that river, some miles, and crosses it. This steep, at the distance of eighteen or twenty miles, from where it takes an
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easterly course, separates into two parts, which stretch in parallel lines, keeping from three to six or seven miles apart. The southern, in its progress eastwardly, approaches the lake by degrees, so that, at the river Trent, it is distant only two or three miles. Both are very uniform. The country, from the late to the base of the first, is a champaign or flat, so from its summit to the foot of the second-the third plain is quite level. This plain slopes towards Trent river and Lake Huron-these steeps, whether on the north or south side of the lake are prolonged in hills and rises, eastwardly on one side, and east northeast on the other, to the lower part of the thousand isl- ands, where they approach the St. Lawrence, forming a kind of basin, which comprises nearly or quite double what the ' present lake does. Almost every where within this basin the land is low and flat, and rises gently from the lake shore to the foot of the steep, and the eminences and hills. From Niagara river, to Big Sandy, in Jefferson county, this plain fluctuates between two and nine miles. At Niagara it is seven, at Ro- chester nine, and at Richland in Oswego two. After it passes Big Sandy, it widens.
That the limits of this lake have been restricted, scarcely admits of a doubt. The ancient beach, which still exists in part, appears in many places .- Between Niagara and Genesee rivers, a dis- tance'of more than seventy miles, it is almost entire, and between the latter stream and Oswego river, so much of it remains that it can be easily traced. The deposites of argillaceous and cal- careous marls and shells leads to this conclusion. The aspect of the country has every appearance of having been submerged by waters, which have subsequently abandoned it. If we go back to the more ancient period, when the waters of the lake covered the Oneida and Seneca vale, we may find abundance of facts corroberative of it. The plain on which the village of Rome stands, and the adjacent swamps, are mostly alluvions. The subsoil was brought by waters, and deposited, and proba- bly about the time the lake hereabouts became shoal.
In excavations made in the plain and swamps, since the settling of the country, the branches and bodies of trees have
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been found at various depths, and some at even thirty feet. Now the inference to be drawn from these, is, that the bottom was where these logs are found at the time they were brought, and that the covering happened afterwards. There are no streams at this day hereabouts which could have had any agency in furnishing materials to cover them.
In the deposites around Onondaga lake, the trunks and branches of trees have been found. On opening a new drain to this lake, in order to lower its surface, whole cedar trees were discovered in the marl bed, extending from the lake to Seneca river. Some were six or seven feet below the surface, while others were not over one. The logs in the bottom of the drain must have been found by the waters where covered. Few, or none bear marks of having been brought from any consi- derable distance.
Nearly the same deposites exist around the head of the lake, and it is probable along its western margin, and up Nine Mile creek two or three miles. The whole flat is swampy and marshy, and owes its origin to successive depositions and low- erings. In these deposites logs and branches of trees have been found. No regular layers are in general met with, since marl is sometimes at the bottom, and at others clay, mud, or some other earthy substance.
Deposites are of very frequent occurrence in different parts of the Oneida and Seneca vale, and constitute no inconsider- able portion of the whole.
Inexhaustible beds of mar!, abounding with shells, are found in Manlius alluvions, a few miles east of Salina.
Extensive beds are found west of Otisco, or Nine Mile creek, on the line of the Erie canal.
Marl occurs in the swamp south southwest of Rome.
In the vicinity of Richland, in the county of Oswego, up- - wards of two miles from Lake Ontario, there is a slaty ledge, which contains myriads of small shells. The bed of Salmon river, which is in sight, and which is seventy or eighty feet lower, "is a blackish slate. The ledge containing the shells, reposes on the latter rock. The shells are entire. From a review of the
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facts, the conclusion seems to be that the waters of the lake came up to this place, and that the prototypes of these organic remains lived and died where found, and that the rock was after- wards formed. 1
What now constitutes the ground of the ledge must then have been mud; and this mud must have been augmented by the waters which probably rolled over this place, and the shells must have been covered from time to time. 1 ' ' The waters of Seneca lake, since they became detached from the inland seas, and lakes, which once existed, have subsided and left considerable tracts of land bare. The marsh, at the south end, and the grounds at the north end, afford examples. This lake, we have reason to believe, had two drains before it had fallen to its present level. These drains appear to have commenced above the village of Waterloo, and about three miles and a-half below the present outlet, and to have diverged. The presen: outlet occupies one of these drains-the other is dry, and crosses the road a little above the village. When the waters flowed off by these.drains, the lake was many feet higher than it now is. The outlets must have been at the divergence ; and the plain westwardly to Geneva, must have been covered with water. The lands bordering the river, from this point, up to the lake, are low, flat and marshy. Cultivation may, in some measure, render them suitable for meadows. The river, or outlet as it is called, is deep, and very sluggish, and bounded by low banks. .
The county, on the north side of Seneca outlet, and on the south side, for a short distance, is a plain.
Cayuga lake has sunk since its detachment from the lake, which anciently stood over the Seneca and Oneida vale. The vale of Ithaca, and the Montezuma marshes. are evidences of the sinking. The former is at the head, and the latter are at the foot of the lake. The marshes are twelve or fourteen miles long. In the spring they are covered and form part of the lake. Sind the abrasion of the rocks at Jacks reefs below Cross lake, by which the bed of Seneca river has been deepened, the surface of the lake has lowered so much that it does not now include the marshes, except in the spring.
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The lakes and ponds which are situated in the middle part of the basin of the Hudson, are the ruins of the lake which covered the country between the Highlands and the summit level, between Wood creek and the Hudson, near Sandy Hill. Sara oga lake, which is the largest, is al out eight miles long, and from two to three broad.
Before the waters of Genesee river had formed the ra- vine, from Rochester to Carthage, and while they still flowed , on the summit of the plain, there must have been a lake above the former place. This lake must have commenced not far from the foot of the Alleghany hills, and extended 'down- wardly to the vicinity of Rochester, and occupied the lowest part of the plain through which the stream now makes its way. This lake, which had no great depth was destroyed by the lowering of the drain at and near Rochester, and the accumu- lation of alluvial matters brought down by the streams which fell into it. The extensive bottoms along the banks of the river owe their origin to deposites. These, in some places, are two miles broad ..
In the town of Avon there is a pond nearly two miles in length, which is not yet filled up. This pond is situated in the Genesee flats.
A small lake once existed at Schenectady, and its vicini- ty. Some traces may be seen in a small pond, situated about three-quarters of a mile north northwest from the city. The foot of the lake must have been three or four miles below the city, and the head six or seven above. Its breadth was two miles in some places. The broadest part was in the vicinity of the city. During its existence, the greater part of the alluvial matters composing the flats' hereabouts, were brought down and deposited in its waters, where they subsided. The bottom, by these accumulations, gradually rose, and as the outlet sunk by the abrasion of the rocks, it became entirely disengaged, leaving nothing but a course for the river. The river, for seven or eight miles, presents a smooth stretch of still water.
A blackish shistic rock underlay's the river and flats. The
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soil of the dats is composed of fine alluvial earth, of extreme fertility.
The pond shows an imperfect filling up, and is entirely out of the course of the stream.
The Mohawk now, as in former times, brings down consider- able earths.
All the flats, or bottom lands, along the Mohawk, have been formed by earthy matters transported by the streams. The oldest compose the clays, gravels and sauds, and the newest the rich alluvions. The former were mostly deposited while its valley was composed of lakes, connected by short straits. The blue clay derived its colour from the water in which it was deposited. It was at first mud. The blackish vegetable earths have been formed on the spots where now found from grass and timber which succeeded each other-the alluvions are finer as we descend the stream.
Split Rock.
In the town of Essex, in the county of Essex, on Lake Champlain, there is a curious split rock. The whole coast of the lake, for a number of miles is formed by rude and rocky mountains, which seem to hang over the water, and threaten the passing sailor. From one of these cliffs, a rocky promontory projected about fifty yards. By some violent convulsion of nature, it has been broken off and removed from the main rock, about twenty feet. The opposite sides exactly fit each other, the prominences of each corresponding perfectly with the cavi- ties of the other. The point broken off contains about half an acre, and is covered with wood. The height of the rock above the water on each side of the fissure is about twelve feet.
GEN. WOOLSEY.
In the town of Cobuskill, in the county of Schoharie, there is a small stream which sinks beneath the fissures of calcareous rocks, and after a subterraneous course of about four miles, emerges in a large basin, eighteen or twenty rods in circumfer-
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ence. From this basin, a stream issues, on which are mills at the distance of twenty rods. The basin is about a mile and a- half east of the meeting-house. The identity of the emergent stream, being the one that sinks, is proved by its disgorging saw-dust and other things which it had ingulphed.
Chyle.
The Chyle is in the town of Springfield, in the northern part of the county of Otsego, about two miles westwardly of the springs which form the Osquake creek. It is on the summit of the limestone formation, stretching from Coeymans, in the county of Albany, westwardly into Upper Canada. The country, in its vicinity, is beautifully diversified with moderate swells and ridges, while in the back ground to the south, the hills of Otse- go are seen swelling into grandeur. The Chyle is a kind of tunnel, of an oval form, measuring about eighty yards in circuit at the top of the brim. It slopes inwardly, and is not far from twelve feet in depth. Its bottom and sides are limestone, par- tially covered with earth. There are two or three small orifices or crannies in the former, which serve to conduct away the waters of a small stream that falls into the basin after heavy rains, or the melting of the snow-the discharge of water into this basin is such as to fill it, and occasionally cover two acres of ground around it. The water, when the basin is raised, has a gyratory motion. 'The issue, from the subterraneous passage, is unknown.
About half a mile northwest of Little Falls, there is a hole several yards in circumference, in the limestone rocks, which in- gulphs a stream.
Caves.
In Brownville, in the county of Jefferson, opposite to the village of Watertown, there is a cave. The entrance is about ten rods from the falls nearly northwesterly. The aperture leading into it, is on the surface of the earth, and is about four
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