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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01076 9005
AN ILLUSTRATED
HISTORY OF
WISCONSIN
FROM
PREHISTORIC TO PRESENT PERIODS
BY CLARK S. MATTESON
THE STORY OF THE STATE INTERSPERSED WITH REALISTIC AND ROMANTIC EVENTS
MILWAUKEE THE WISCONSIN HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY
1893
COPYRIGHTED 1892 BY
WISCONSIN HISTORICAL PUBLISHING CO.
EMBELLISHED BY THE MARR & RICHARDS ENGRAVING CO.
SWAIN & TATE CO., PRINTERS, MILWAUKEE.
1219078 PREFACE.
THE great necessity for a complete history of the state is so apparent, that no apology is essential for the publication of such a work as the author anticipates this will prove to be.
WISCONSIN is entitled not alone to a prominent place in the history of the United States, but to a prominent place in the history of the world, both on account of her pre-territorial his. tory, and on account of her great men who have reflected honor and credit upon the greatest government the world was ever blessed with.
Wisconsin has taken her place in the long line of states as proudly and prominently as any in the union, and will continue to hold it with honor to herself, and credit to the general government.
CLARK S. MATTESON.
FOND DU LAC, WISCONSIN,
September 1, 1892.
05918-122020R
SUBMARINE VULCANOES.
Historical Geology of Wisconsin.
PRE-LAURENTIAN HISTORY.
CHAPTER I.
THE BEGINNING.
THEORETICAL CONDITION OF THE EARTH MATTER .- It is conjectured that the earth, the solar system, and possibly the known material universe, were originally in an elementary gaseous condition .* Prof. Lockyer, and other scientists, have assigned reasons for believing the so-called elements are not atomic, in the ultimate sense, but are com- pounds of matter still more elementary .¡ Scientific speculation thus leads us back into unavoidable chaos.
ORIGIN OF PLANETS .- The nebular liypothesis maintains that when the increase in rate of rotation reached a certain stage, the force reced- ing from the center to the equatorial position, would become so much greater than the force of gravitation, that it would then separate from the rotating mass. The separated portion is condensed like the original body, and becomes a rotating planet. The original mass, meanwhile, continues to contract, and, at intervals, discharge other masses from its exterior, which in time become condensed into planets. Some of these planets, for the same reason, throw off masses which become their satel- lites. "The residual portion of the original whole is supposed to be found in our sun, still hot and condensing." The meteorites and the comets of the solar system are considered miniature planets, or portions separated from the original mass and not yet gathered so as to solidify.
Whether the process was a condensation from a gaseous condition, or a growth of meteoric matter, the newly-formed earth must have been extremely hot. It is generally believed to have been at first a glowing sun with an intensely-heated core, surrounded by incandescent atmos- phere. As the cooling and condensation process continued, the core increased and the atmosphere diminished, until there developed from the molten mass an earth and an atmosphere analogous to the planet we inhabit.
TESTIMONY OF HEAVENLY BODIES .- The light furnished by the sun, moon and stars is sufficient for us to read correctly the origin, matter,
*T. C. Chamberlain's Wis. Geol., 47.
+Compte's Rendus., Dec. 1, 1873. American Journal Science, Feb. '82, 123.
2
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
and motion of our planet. The heavenly bodies differ in color and character of radiance. The whitest being the hottest, while the less brilliant are the coolest. Our sun may be considered as an example of a great mass of matter concentrated and surrounded by a vast glowing atmosphere. The heavens present bodies in all stages of world-making development, from solid spheres to vast irregular masses of gas. The earth and Mars are cool, solid globes, surrounded by cold and gaseous atmospheres, while the moon is in a more-extensive stage of condensa- tion, and, as far as visible, is a solid mass with an absorbed atmosphere.
From meteoric dust which is constantly falling, together with the occasional large masses which fall bodily to the earth, we are informed of the general character of the heavenly bodies. Among all of these elements which have been examined, none has been found which does not exist in the earth.
LAWS OF ROTATION .- Laplace, the celebrated mathematician who originated the nebular hypothesis, accounted for the rotation of the planets in this wise: If a perfect sphere, absolutely uniform in structure and density throughout, were stationary, the radiation of heat would cause the body to contract; then, unless shrinkage were uniform, which is highly improbable, the mass would, with the slightest inequality, cause a rotation in some direction. Rotation once started, further con- traction would, according to well-established physical principles, cause the rotating to become more and more rapid, as the cooling and shrinking progressed. Again, if the sphere were a perfect equilibrium, the attract- ive forces would collect masses, which would disturb its equilibrium, and rotation thus become inaugurated. In other words, rotation is the necessary result of concentration of matter under the varied conditions that characterize the first stages of our universe.
LIQUID STAGE .- We are not surrounded by obscure mists of uncer- tainty, when we picture the earth as a molten mass, surrounded by an intensely-heated atmosphere. These great problems, * which for centuries were unsolved, are now axioms.
Formerly, it was generally believed that the cooling process formed a crust over the entire globe, and that the crust thickened, as solidifica- tion progressed, leaving a molten interior, which was the great volcanic reservoir. This plausible and generally-accepted theory has been weakened by scientists, who maintain that the earth, owing to the intense pressure to which the interior was subjected, must have been reduced to a solid condition, notwithstanding its high pressure.
Geologists, by critical examinations of volcanic matter, have con- cluded that the interior of the earth is not in a liquid condition, but in a solid state. Critical examinations have revealed the fact that different volcanoes eject different substances at different times, and that, while
*Geol. Wis., Vol. I., 152.
3
PRE-LAURENTIAN HISTORY.
one volcano may be ejecting water, mud, and other ingredients, an adjacent volcano may be ejecting molten lava. These, with other equally-sound reasons, are conclusive evidences that volcanoes do not have their origin in a common liquid reservoir .*
These great volcanic earth events, of which there are several hun- dred in an active state and thousands of extinct ones, many of which are in the bottom of the ocean, t give us but unsatisfactory evidence of their origin.
CAUSES OF IGNEOUS ERUPTIONS. - Although scientists have delved deeply into the causes of igneous eruptions, yet none of the theories advanced have been generally accepted. The following are the principal theories advanced:
I. That the source of the eruptions is superficial.
2. That the material erupted is not, primordial liquid, either from a liquid interior, or molten lakes, but is formed from the melting of the earth's crust.
3. That such melted portions are local, and that neighboring vents connect with independent reservoirs.
4. That the melted rock was sometimes derived from primitive crust, but generally from melted sediments.
5. That the fusion is due to a certain combination of causes, the most essential of which is, or consists of, great pressure resulting in high temperature, followed by a reduction of pressure, and, consequently, a lowering of the fusion point, resulting in liquefaction before the tem- perature has been correspondingly reduced.
6. That the ejective force is the result of the combined action of pressure, weight of superincumbent rock, expansive force of vapors, and the effect of heat upon the specific gravity of the liquefied rock. }
That the order of eruption is due to the order of liquefaction, 7.
modified by specific gravity and the eruptive force. §
DENSITY OF THE SPHERE .- By different processes, the earth has been weighed and found to be on an average five and a half times as heavy as water, while the surface rocks have an average weight of only two and a half times, or three times that of water. Therefore the exterior of the earth is only about one- half as heavy as the average to the whole. The increase of specific gravity in the interior is supposed to be partially due to the density produced by the enormous pressure occasioned by the weight of the overlying rocks, and partially to its supposed condensation from its nebulous and molten state. It is assumed that the heavier materials collected at the center, while the lighter were arranged in order of specific gravity around them.
*Geol. Wis., Vol. I., 53.
+Harper's Mag., June, 1888.
¿Geol. Wis., Vol. I., 104.
SGeol. of the High Plateaus of Utah.
4
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
FORMATION OF THE OCEAN .- When the earth was in a molten con- dition, or heated to a temperature approaching it, all the water now constituting the ocean, together with the water held in the pores and fissures of the earth, must have existed in a vaporous state. The atmos- pheric ingredients, to an extent, have combined with the earth material. This atmosphere embraces large quantities of oxygen, some nitrogen, and enormous quantities of carbonic acid, that is now contained in lime and magnesia, in the limestone strata, together with that represented by the coals, oils and disseminated carbonaceous material of the sedi- mentary rocks. According to Dr. Hunt, the carbonic acid of the lime- stones would give a volume of gas, the pressure of which would equal two hundred atmospheres .* When the earth commenced to cool it commenced to solidify, and finally reached a temperature which per- mitted vaporous atmospheric elements to condense. It was not neces- sary for the temperature to sink 212º Fahrenheit before the water would begin to be deposited, as the enormous atmospheric pressure would permit its condensation at a higher temperature. It is reasonable to suppose that the shrinkage of the earth at this period was sufficient to cause inequalities on its surface. If this were true, the waters first settling upon the earth gathered in depressions, thereby forming local lakes. As condensation of the vapors increased, the lakes grew into oceans, and soon became a shoreless sea.
As the cooling process continued, the earth shrunk, which caused great inequalities in its surface, while other portions of the earth depressed, thereby drawing the waters into the basins. t
The early ocean was both hot and acidulous, as the condensed vapors absorbed acid ingredients from the atmosphere, thus arming itself to combat the solid materials of the earth's crust.
Then commenced the long battle between the sea, armed with its acidulous weapons, and the land, with its crusted armor. Copious rains descended over the whole surface of the earth, thence flowing into the sea, carrying down silt and soluble material. Thus the shores were being continually eaten away by the sea, and the land cut down by the rains, which sediments filled up the ocean beds.
EARLIEST KNOWN LAND .- The earliest known land, in this part of the globe, is in the form of the letter "v", and embraces within its limits Hudson's Bay, and extends northeasterly to the coast of Labrador, and south to the great lakes, and northwesterly to the Arctic ocean. Į
South of Lake Superior arose an island which formed the nucleus of the state of Wisconsin and the northern part of Michigan.
*The Am. Jour. Sci., Feb., 1882, 133.
+Mallet has estimated the earth's diametrical contractions to have been miles, "so that the primitive surface may be conceived as passing miles over our heads." Cham- berlain's Wis. Geol., 61.
#Page 2 of Chamberlain says that the present date makes this a Laurentian island, which was probably connected with the mainland.
PRE-LAURENTIAN HISTORY.
5
A
KNOWN
LAND
OPEN
ISLE WISCONSIN
SEA
EARLIEST KNOWN LAND.
6
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
The state of Illinois and a large area south of Illinois was a bound- less sea for centuries after Wisconsin was land. The sedimentary washings of the whole country lying north of Illinois helped fill up that great basin and form its substructure. It is conjectured that all of the land south of the early "v"-shaped land, originated from the sediments of these early or more primitive lands.
CHAPTER II.
LAURENTIAN AGE.
WHEN nature, that grand architect of innumerable worlds, builded Wisconsin upon a granite foundation, she recorded the history of thou- sands of centuries in her series of rock structure.
Geologists have divided the respective ages, from the period called Pre-Laurentian to the present time, in the following order:
Laurentian-Age of Zoöphites, followed by an interval.
Huronian-Age of early Interbrates and Plants, followed by an interval.
Cambrian- Age of Trilobites, followed by an interval.
Lower Silurian-Age of Mollusks.
Upper Silurian-Age of Mollusks.
Devonian-Age of Fishes.
Carboniferous-Age of Coal and Plants.
Reptilian Age.
Tertiary-Age of Mammals. Quaternary-Age of Ice. Human Age.
DEFINITION. FORMATION .- The name Laurentian is derived from the Laurentide Hills of Canada. The rocks of this formation are of the metamorphic class, principally gneisses, and generally termed granitic. The strata are folded and contorted, and occupy a large area in Wisconsin and northern Michigan.
ORIGIN .- The Laurentian formation originated from sediments, but whether from the original crust will ever remain a debatable question. The sedimentary materials which composed this formation were prin- cipally clays and sand, intermixed with silicia, alumnia, lime, magnesia and potash .* The waves, after successfully battling with the earth, assorted and piled away the sediments for future rock strata. The wind, waves and tide piled up and arranged these sediments into layers,
*Hunt's Chemical and Geological Essays, pp. 22-95.
LAURENTIAN AGE.
7
Ages. Human Age . .. Quaternary. Age of ice ...
Periods. Industrial
Glacial . ...
Pliocene ...
Tertiary. Age of Mammals.
Miocene ...
Eocene ...
Cretaceous
Reptilian Age.
Jurassic ...
Triassic ..
Permian ...
Carboniferous. Age of coal plants.
Carbonifer- ous. . .. ..
Sub-Car- boniferous
Devonian. Age of Fishes ....
Corniferous (Hamilton)
Upper Silu- rian. Age of Mollusks . . ..
Niagara ...
Lower Silu- rian. Age of Mollusks. Interval .....
Trenton ...
Interval.
Cambrian. Age of Trilobites
Potsdam ..
Interval.
Interval.
Keweenaw· an .. .....
Huronian. Age of earlier in- vertebrates and plants ?
Interval.
Huronian ..
Interval .....
Interval.
Laurentian. . Age of Zoo- phytes ? . ..
Undeter. mined ..
IDEAL GEOLOGICAL COLUMN.
Helderberg
8
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
whose attitude changed according to the action of the elements, which caused the oblique and discordant stratification.
THICKNESS .- The thickness of these sedimentary formations was enormous. According to the original Canadian measurements, it was estimated at 30,000 feet, but, as yet, the base has not been exposed, and its depth is unknown .* It is hard to account for so enormous an amount of material required for such a rock series. It is estimated that if the Appalachian mountain range were reduced to sediments, and strewn over an equal area of the Atlantic bed, it would make but a diminutive formation.
According to standard estimates, if the entire continent of North America were worn down to the sea level, it would not give more than twice the material of the paleozoic sediments of the Appalachian region. t
PERIOD OF UPHEAVAL .- After the long period of sedimentation, an extraordinary transformation took place. Originally, the sands and clays were in horizontal beds, but now we find them folded and contorted in the most intricate manner. It has been observed that the force did not come directly from underneath the strata, as the folds indicate that the sides have been forcibly pressed against each other and pushed over to one side, so as to leave an angle.
It is conclusive that the strata received an immense but slow side force, the resisting of which caused compacting and wrinkling in the manner described.
WAS THERE LIFE ?- As yet the existence of either vegetable or animal life during this period has not been established. No fossil remains have been found in Wisconsin, and no organic rock, such as limestone and graphite, which indicate the presence of life. It has been suggested by geologists, however, that the large ingredients of potash found in the Laurentian rocks are an indication of an important era of vegetable life which preceded all animal life.
INTERVAL BETWEEN LAURENTIAN AND HURONIAN PERIODS .- Lauren- tian sedimentation only drew to a close by the elevating forces which heaved the beds up from the bottom of the ocean. No sooner had these beds been raised from the depths of the sea, than the atmospheric ele- ments and the adjacent sea commenced their work of cutting down and returning the sedimentary elements to the sea, to help form new beds which, in time, became the Huronian formation. This long period of" wash and wear slowly cut down the mountainous land, and was the inter- val between the Laurentian and Huronian ages.
*This estimate includes beds now known as the Huronian series.
+Geol. of Wis., Vol. I., 70.
CHAPTER III.
HURONIAN AGE.
SCIENTISTS have, by the light of knowledge, dispelled the darkness which separated the mysterious past from the present, and by untiring researches have transformed chaos into order.
DEFINITION. DESCRIPTIVE .- The name Huronian is derived from Lake Huron, upon the north side of which the formation is well developed. This formation is pronouncedly known in Wisconsin and adjacent Michigan as the great iron-bearing formation. It is believed to embrace all of the great iron deposit of Missouri, New York and Canada.
FORMATION .- The Huronian formation consists of metamorphosed sediments, including quartzites, limestones, clayslates, micaceous, horn- blendic, carbonaceous and magnetic schists, dioretes, and porphyries of questionable origin.
The strata are arched, folded and contorted, like the Laurentian, and the diameter is estimated at 13,000 feet. They constitute the Penoka, Menominee and Black river iron ranges, the quartzites of central Wis- consin, together with the quartzite of Barron and Chippewa counties.
ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY .- The sea advanced upon the Laurentian lands and separated therefrom a large island within the northern bound- aries of the present state of Wisconsin, and two or three smaller ones in adjacent Michigan. Geologists have called the larger of these islands Isle Wisconsin, and the smaller ones Michigan islands. The nucleus of both Wisconsin and northern Michigan was these islands, the growth of which was occasioned by sedimentary accumulations. The waters flowed southward, containing large quantities of sediments, which were impeded by these islands, so that, after unknown centuries had passed, these sediments became the land that is now the fertile and picturesque northwest.
UPHEAVAL .- After the period of Huronian sedimentation, there was an era of upheaval and metamorphism, similar to the upheaval that occurred at the close of the Laurentian period, but considerably less extreme in its effects. None of the original deposits now remain in their primitive condition. The great sand deposits were transformed into quartzite, while the iron ores, associated with schists, are now in the form of magnetite or its derivations. The finer silts, clays and mixed sediments were changed to slates and schists. The whole series was in fact, to some extent, chemically transformed and crystallized.
IRON ORE ORIGIN .- The iron ore of this period occurs in thin layers, or frequently, in lenticular masses, a few inches in thickness, inserted irregularly among laminations of schists and in scattered particles dis-
IO
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
seminated through the rocks. It is largely magnetic ore in the present form, although the specular variety is present.
The most plausible theory of the origin of the massive iron ore beds in general is, that the meteoric water, charged with organic matter, filtering through the soil and surface rocks, changed its iron ingredients from the insoluble to the soluble, until it was finally borne into some adjacent body of water. Here the drainage reoxidized by contact with the atmosphere and thus accumulated into beds .*
BOG ORE is now accumulated in this manner, and the ores of the Clinton and the coal periods are attributed to similar action. The ingredients of low lands or marsh vegetation, it is thought, would produce the same conditions.
LIFE .- No direct evidence of vegetable or animal life as yet has been discovered, although some obscure organic remains in the region of Michigant have been discovered, which, together with the existence of large deposits of limestone, carbonaceous material, and iron ore, create the strongest presumption that there was life.
INTERVAL .- The interval between the Huronian sedimentation and the Keweenawan eruption appears to be indicated by the beds of the latter which repose unconformably upon the former.į It is believed that sedimentary deposits must have been in progress during the slow upheaval.
*Geol. Mich., Vol. II., 5. +Geol. Wis., Vol. I., 89.
¿Prof. Selwin, director of the Canadian Geol. survey, does not recognize any inter- val between the Huronian and the Keweenawan series.
It is suggested by Prof. Chamberlain that what appears to be a moderate interval in the Wisconsin series, is bridged by the Continental series in the eastern region.
CHAPTER IV.
KEWEENAWAN PERIOD.
NAME. FORMATION .- The name of this period was derived from Keweenaw Point. The formation is also called the copper-bearing or cupriferous series, and consists of unstratified, igneous, and sedimentary beds, the former principally diabases while the latter are conglomerates, sandstones and shales, derived from igneous rocks. The beds are tilted, but are neither contorted nor metamorphosed.
THE GREAT PERIOD OF ERUPTION .- The magnitude of the eruptions during this period in the Lake Superior region exceeded that of all other periods. The flow of melted rock, spread out in successive horizontal sheets, covered an area of 300 miles in length and 100 miles in width. The fiery flows of melted rocks followed in quick succession at first, and afterward at longer intervals, depositing layer after layer, until the thickness was enormous.
Vivid imagination, in order to satisfy sensational appetites, has pictured this as the period of the greatest of internal convulsions, and the most violent of upheavals, but the evidence will hardly bear such exaggerated coloring. The great movements of this period were of a quiet but gigantic character. The igneous eruptions were of a quiet nature and came welling up through the great fissures in the earth's crust, then flowed in broad fiery sheets over a large expanse of territory. These fiery flows, upon reaching the waters of the Lake Superior basin, caused magnificent vaporous displays of great magnitude. The opening of the fissures through which the molten sheets flowed was undoubtedly attended by earthquake tremors, which were only locally violent.
THICKNESS .- The greatest thickness of these deposits is estimated at 45,000 feet, of which 15,000 feet is said to be sedimentary, while the balance is igneous.
ORIGIN OF COPPER .- Scientific investigation has established the fact that the copper was not deposited in a molten state in the positions in which we now find it. Its association with calcite and other minerals, its scattered condition, the leaf-like form it assumes, and its existence in fissure veins, which were formed at a time later than the igneous period, are convincing evidences of its deposit being non-molten.
All doubts have been dispelled by the occurrence of native unal- loyed copper and silver in the same lumps. The generally-accepted theory is that copper and silver were originally constituents of the rocks, and that they were chemically extracted by percolating waters which concentrated the unknown ingredients in porous belts or fissures of the formation, thus giving rise to the rich deposits which are now so famous.
I2
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
The concentration of copper is the slow result of chemical action, inaugurated when the rocks were first formed, and so continued through- out the countless centuries.
DEPOSITS .- The copper of this formation is found in the igneous and sedimentary rocks. In the sedimentary rock the metal is scattered through conglomerates, sandstone, and shales, in nuggets, flakes, leaves, and fine particles. In some instances little seams in the sandstone or shale have been filled with the metal, forming metallic vinelets.
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