USA > Wisconsin > Sauk County > A standard history of Sauk County, Wisconsin, Volume I > Part 6
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"At a previous meeting Dr. Lapham, Secretary of the Academy, advanced in a paper the view that Baraboo river once ran through this valley on its way to the Wisconsin, and was turned from its former course into its present one by glacial drift. If this view is correct, as the facts seem to warrant, this valley may have been made at any time from the Lower Silurian up to the glacial period. It is not neces-
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sary to introduce any great convulsion. The regularity of the layers would forbid any sudden and violent upheaval and cracking of the . rock. During the slow process of upheaval a greater extent than the others, perhaps of nearly the present width of the valley, may have been made. The slowly acting agencies of the atmosphere and of water can have widened the fissure and have thrown down the great mass of debris which lies on the south of the valley. The valley is about half a mile wide. The sides slope up from 200 to 300 feet, as steep as the large blocks will lie upon each other, and the remaining height is a perpendicular wall cut by vertical fissures into most fantastic shapes, with natural fortifications and castles, turrets and towers, making one of the most charming bits of landscape in our state.
THE DEFLECTION OF THE BARABOO RIVER
"A word in evidence that the Baraboo river formerly ran through the valley, and was turned aside by the glacier drift. The surface of the lake is thirty feet above the courthouse at Baraboo, and 160 feet above the Wisconsin river to the south. [These figures are Mr. Canfield's.] The lake is more than thirty feet deep and has a bottom of sand. There is therefore a sufficient descent. The valley is a natural course for the river, and running water would have given it some of the features of its present form. In the valley, both north and south of the lake, there is an abundance of drift. A large variety of northern rocks was collected-granite, syenite, and Lake Superior rocks. They, with sand, have filled up a deeper valley to such a height that the river finds a new course to the Wisconsin.
"There is another point of great interest in this region, which does not appear to be easy of solution. On the top of the ridge and in lines running north and south are conglomerated boulders. They are local, and do not extend far to the south of the southern ridge. They consist of rounded, water-worn pebbles, and large boulders of quartzite, embedded in friable sandstone. Some of these conglom- erated boulders weigh many tons. They are evidently deposited at a very little distance from the place of their origin. Evidently in this immediate neighborhood pieces of quartzite have been for a long time subjected to running water, and have found themselves in a bed of sand, which has been hardened, and some moving cause has carried them into their present positions. The place and time and agencies which have produced these effects demand a more careful and close study, such as it is the object of the Academy to encourage. There are also signs of a secondary metamorphic action in some of the quartzite. A number of specimens were obtained which were homo- geneous, but contained large numbers of rounded pebbles, of the same .quartzite or of white quartz, firmly embedded in them."
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PIONEER SCIENTIST OF THE REGION
Dr. Increase A. Lapham, who died more than forty years ago, was one of the most patient, indefatigable, and brilliant scientists along botanical, geological, meteoric, and archeological lines who ever lived in Wisconsin. He was a resident of Milwaukee for many years, but there was no locality in the state which promised to yield interesting results to which his mild, unobtrusive yet persistent personality did not penetrate. His great specialties were plant life, meteorites, and prehistoric mounds, and the so-called Laphamite Lines have been long accepted by scientists as marking a remarkable discovery in meteoric investigation. A few years before his death he had investigated the history and mapped the position of every meteorite which had fallen in North America, and his "Antiquities of Wisconsin" still forms the basis of all archaeological studies in the state. Doctor Lapham died at his farm, near Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, where his daughter still resides, on September 14, 1875.
In the course of his Wisconsin travels, Professor Lapham explored the Dells and the Devil's Lake region, but it will become evident that his theory then formed as to the origin of the famous Lake of the Hills was not substantiated by later investigations.
PROFESSOR LAPHAM'S FIELD NOTES
Some years ago Miss Julia A. Lapham, of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, sent to the Sauk County Historical Society the field notes made by her father when he traveled through the Dells and Sauk County, from October 22 to November 1, 1849. Professor Lapham was the author of the first history of Wisconsin and a number of works of a scientific nature. The field notes were given to the Sauk County Historical Society in 1912, and were read by Mrs. J. E. English. The field notes are illustrated and make a valuable addition to the manu- seript collections of the society. Mr. Lapham was accompanied by Samuel Linconde, taxidermist, and Henry O. Hubbard, a scientist and historical writer. In part the description runs as follows: "We arrived at Dell creek, near the foot of the Dells, just at night, but were much struck with the difference in the character of the sand- stone here from that observed farther east. It undoubtedly belongs to the lower or older portion of the formation, being the True Potsdam sandstone of the New York geologist. The rock has a greater hard- ness and a somewhat regular stratification. The different degrees of hardness, and consequent power to resist the action of the elements, have given rise to many fantastie shapes in the cliffs. At the place where the ferry boat leaves the shore on the cast side of the river we . observed the layer of diagonal and curved strata which is so con-
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spicuous a feature above. It is here about three feet thick, but gradually becomes thicker as we ascend the river from this place.
THE DREADFUL DELLS
"The next morning our eagerness to see the dreadful Dells induced us to leave our beds at 5 o'clock and drive four miles to the Dell house, situated at the foot of the steep rock gorge. The river is now unusually low, so that the current is not as rapid as usual. In this respect we were very fortunate, as we were able to find a man who was willing to paddle us up through the gorge in a small boat. When the water is high, about fifteen feet above its present level, the narrow- ness of the passage causes it to rise and rush through with great force and velocity. At such times it would be impossible to ascend with a boat. The constant flow of water has worn away the rocks on each side, so that the river is wider at the water level than a little higher up. The width of the gorge in the narrowest place is about fifty feet, so that the, story recorded on some old maps that one could jump across is without foundation in truth. At this place a bridge is con- templated, for which a charter has been granted by the legislature of the state. The general width may be stated as from fifty to one hundred feet.
"It is related that a stick of timber thirty-two feet long was slid down the hill and precipitated over the bluff endwise into the water; that it went down and remained for some time out of sight. It may be supposed to be fifty feet deep.
"The Dells may be considered as extending from near the mouth of the Lemonwier, ten miles above the Dell house, to the mouth of Dell creek, four miles below, having, therefore, a length of about fourteen miles. Most of the way the gorge is not so narrow as the point visited by us.
"As we paddled along against the current we occasionally crossed from one side to the other, to take advantage of eddies and places where the water runs less swiftly. When passing some points of rock the force of three paddles was required to stem the rapid current. Our guide at one place directed the boat into an opening in the cliff just sufficiently large to admit us; and we passed for some yards through this wide channel and again emerged from another opening above the first. At another point we entered a large fissure which extends thirty feet from the edge of the water. It gradually diminishes the width above until it was nearly closed at the surface of the ground high above our heads. We noticed many other smaller fissures.
"As we ascended along the margin of the river we had a good view of the strata on the opposite side, and we could observe that the curved layers gradually increased in thickness, though it was always
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placed between horizontal layers, both above and below. We soon came to where the curved strata were more irregular, resembling the banks of sand, gravel, and clay in the drift. This is said also to be the character of the sandstone on Lake Superior, forming the Picture Rocks.
"No trace of fossils was discovered. The navigation of the Dells is very difficult, requiring mueh skill and experience to guide the rafts of timber through without striking against numerous projecting rocks.
FLORA ABOUT THE DELLS
"Vegetation about the Dells presents some peculiarities. We find here the white, yellow, and scrub pine, the hemlock and cedar. Among the shrubs we notice comptonia, asplenoids not before eredited to Wisconsin.
GEOLOGY AROUND ADAMS AND LYONS
"From the Dells we passed south over a prairie to the little town of Lyons, situated on the Baraboo, one mile above Adams, the county seat of Sauk county. About one mile north of Lyons we found a ledge of rock similar to that found at Portland, in the southwest corner of Dodge county. It has the same quality, character, and is evidently the same geological formation. Looking about, we found large frag- inents of conglomerate apparently of the same kind of rock, the pebbles of various size, usually less than an inch in diameter. A mile below Adams the sandstone is quarried in the high bluff. Limestone is also found, and lime is burned for the use of the people of Adams, some seven miles from the village.
DEVIL'S LAKE DESCRIBED
"About three miles south of Adams lies a small lake which is sunk deep in a group of very high, rocky hills. From the high bluffs a mile east of Adams the valley of this lake may be seen forming a sudden break in the hills, and it is apparent to the eye that the hills are higher at this place than on either side. This lake is vulgarly called Devil's Lake, from the wild, rocky place in which it is found. It is at most inaccessible except at one point for teams. It has no visible outlet on the surface, the surplus water being carried off by subterranean passages into a small branch of the Baraboo. From the . stories I had heard about this little lake, I was prepared to find it one of much interest, perhaps the crater of an extinct volcano.
"Passing directly south from Adams, we soon began to aseend the hills and found the roads diffienlt on account of the numerous stones
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and sharp ascents. About three miles from Adams we found, although we had ascended very considerably, we had a much higher hill on our left, between us and the lake. We halted opposite the south end of the lake and, upon approaching the bank, found a perpendicular escarpment of this rock, 250 to 350 feet high, reaching directly down to the water.
"The lake is not entirely surrounded by these rocks. There are three prominent cliffs, separated by narrow valleys. A large body of broken fragments have accumulated along the edge of the water, making it very difficult to walk along the shore; yet two of our party made the circuit of the lake, jumping from rock to rock as best they could.
"This rock appears to have a dip from the lake, as indicated by the distant view of the hills. We may, therefore, suppose this valley or notch to owe its origin to a violent uplift of the rocky strata, perhaps at the time they were altered by the volcanic heat which converted the sandstone into a quartzite rock. Such an uplift would naturally form a chasm and leave the strata inelining from it in different directions."
IRON REGIONS OF SAUK COUNTY
The following fair summary of the nature and industrial utiliz- ation of the iron ores mined in Sauk County is from Ellis B. Usher's recently published "History of Wisconsin":
"An iron district which it is thought was visited by Dr. James Gates Percival, the first geologist of the state, as early as 1856, is in the quartzite region of Sauk county. In 1882 Prof. T. C. Chamberlin made the following statement: 'In the Baraboo region of Sauk county large bunehes of brilliant specular iron in veins of white quartz are often met with, but no indication of the existence of ore in quantities in the Huronian of this region has been observed. It is a matter of great interest that while we have in the Penokee and Menominee Huronian the same kinds and succession of rocks as in the iron district of Marquette, in the Baraboo country and to the northeast from there, I find a great development of the porphyry, so characteristic of the Huronian district of Missouri. It is wholly within the possibilities that iron ores may yet be discovered in the Baraboo Huronian.'
"Iron had been known in this county prior to 1850, and between 1850 and 1880 an iron deposit at Ironton furnished sufficient ore to successfully operate a small furnace." Prof. Samuel Weidman, in
* Smith's Furnace (John F. Smith). One stack, thirty by eight feet, built in 1857; warm blast; open top; steam and water power; annual capacity, in 1876, 2,000 net tons. Smith's and all the other furnaces of Wisconsin started at an early day were charcoal-burning plants. Vol. 1-3
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his bulletin upon the Baraboo iron-bearing district, says that this Ironton deposit of ore occurs 'in the Potsdam sandstone, and thus in quite a different formation from the iron-bearing rock in which the iron ore at North Freedom occurs.'
"At North Freedom, as at Ironton, considerable surface ore was obtained before the discovery of the ore at a greater depth by W. G. LaRue. This surface ore was largely used for paint. At one time the business was so prosperous, and the excitement was so great, the name of the village of North Freedom was changed to Bessemer. After- wards the former name was restored.
NORTH FREEDOM IRON MINES
"The mine which was opened by the International Harvester Com- pany was abandoned after being operated but a short time.
"The iron ore of the North Freedom District was first discovered in April, 1900, by W. G. LaRue, although explorations had been started as early as 1887 by the Douglas Iron Mining Company. This company expended considerable money in development, and the best material obtained averaged about 35 per cent. Since that time the principal mine of the district was first acquired by the International Harvester Company, and from that ownership passed into the hands of the United States Steel Corporation, which, after a season of development and operation, has closed it, and the impression has gone abroad that it was found unprofitable to operate. There seems to be little doubt that the iron is of good quality and in considerable quan-
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tity, but, because of its depth, the large area and thickness of Potsdam sandstone and water overlying it, and the cost of transportation, it is predicted that it will remain idle, and at least await higher prices for iron ore than rule at present. But, even at higher prices, it will be an expensive and somewhat perilous bed of ore to work, because no one can estimate the area of water above the limestone strata, which is said to be seventy feet thick, which will make very heavy pumping a precedent to reaching and mining the ore."
The principal development in the North Freedom iron field was made through the Sauk County Land and Mining Company, com- posed of Messrs. H. Grotophorst, W. G. LaRue, and Benjamin Dean. The original discovery of commercial ores is given to the father of F. T. Brewster, but it was not until these gentlemen commenced to practically promote the enterprise that anything tangible resulted. In 1909 they leased various properties a short distance southwest of North Freedom to the Oliver Mining Company, and in the following year engine houses, dumps, and other elements of a mining plant were erected, and the ore was actually mined and shipped over the Chicago & Northwestern lines to Milwaukee and other markets. Cottages were erected for workmen, and for several years the hopes of the promoters were intermittent. The Iroquois mine had been abandoned, it is true, but the Oliver people pumped the water from the old shafts, as well as from quite a large area in the vicinity. This, of itself, proved to be an expensive undertaking, and as the amount of ore finally mined did not come up to expectations and, as the work progressed, the deposits did not promise a rich future, the enterprise was finally abandoned. In May, 1914, the Oliver mine was wrecked, and no concerted attempts have since been made to revive mining operations at North Freedom.
Although many thousands of dollars have been spent in exploring the Baraboo region from the Caledonia Hills to the western part of the county, and in opening mines, ore is now being shipped from but one place-the Cahoon mine. This mine is located on the eastern slope of the terminal moraine, about a mile south of the City of Baraboo. The ore is brought from a depth of about 400 feet and shipped to Mayville and other places. For about three years from ten to twenty cars a day have been forwarded during the warm season. In the winter it is impossible to ship the ore, because it freczes in the cars, making it very difficult to unload. A. W. Rohn is the superintendent of the mine.
During the period of exploration by a number of mining com- panies it was found that ore underlies a greater portion of the region. Some is of low grade and may never be mined, but there are some rich deposits, and these have been purchased by a number of companies. Greater development of this industry is expected in future years.
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THE WISCONSIN PINERIES
Sauk County was well within the region of the Wisconsin River pineries, which in the early '50s yielded twice as much lumber as any other in the state. But the lumbering industries of the great valley had comparatively little effect upon the development of the country ; they were rather a passing show, although there were some busy rafting days along the waterfront of old Newport. Sawmills were also built on the Baraboo and other streams tributary to the lower reaches of the Wisconsin, but the pine was scattering and none of the minor water courses of this region had enough timber to last long, so that the running of logs from the interior streams of Sauk County was soon found to be impracticable.
Hunt's Gazetteer for 1853 contains the first and ouly attempt to publish the early statistics of the lumbering of the state that is avail- able, and, as it gives some names of mill owners, as well as output, it is, though incomplete, of permanent interest and worthy of preserva- tion. Hunt's introductory paragraph is more intelligent and compre- hensive than was usual among the contemporary writers of the day. It is as follows: "To the lumbermen, the pineries of Wisconsin pre- sent inducements for investment and settlement which can be hardly overrated. That of the Upper Wisconsin and its tributaries is the most extensive; and distinguished still more for the fine quality, than the inex- haustible quantities of its timber. The other localities of the white pine and other evergreens are mainly on the Wolf, the great northern affluent of the Fox, and the tributaries of Green Bay, and on the La Crosse, the Black, Chippewa, and the St. Croix branches of the Upper Mississippi.
"The rapids of these streams furnish abundant water for the manu- facture of lumber, and on the annual spring rise, and occasional freshets at other seasons of the year, the yield of the mills is floated from the Wolf into Lake Winnebago, and the lower Fox; and from most of the other streams into the Mississippi.
"Searcely ten years have elapsed since the Alleghany pine of western New York and Pennsylvania had undisputed possession of the market, not only of the Ohio valley, but of the Mississippi and its tributaries, above New Orleans, at which point it competed with the lumber of Maine and New Brunswick.
"The course of the lumber trade may now be considered as per- manently changed. The pineries of Wisconsin now control, and will hold exclusive possession of the market of the valleys of the Mississippi and its great western affluents.
"The amount of pine lumber estimated to be sawed in Wisconsin annually, is as follows:
Black River
15,000,000
Chippewa
28,500,000
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Green Bay
21,000,000
Manitowoc
24,500,000
St. Croix
20,000,000
Wisconsin
58,500,000
Wolf
25,500,000
Total number of feet.
193,000,000
RAFTING ON THE SAUK COUNTY RIVER FRONT
J. T. Huntington, of Delton, an old lumberman of Newport and several years ago bookkeeper of the Wisconsin State Senate, contributes the following paper, "Rafting on the Wisconsin When Newport Flourished":
"Those who now visit the Wisconsin river find only pleasure boats where formerly the lumber raft was very much in evidence. Just when the sending of lumber to market by rafts on the Wisconsin river com- menced is not known to the writer, but undoubtedly by or before 1840. By 1855 there was almost a constant run of rafts from soon after the
OLD STYLE SAW MILL
going out of the ice, until the latter part of summer or early fall. The most of this lumber was cut above the mouth of Lemonweir river. Large amounts were cut at Neeedah on the Yellow river. Grand Rapids, Stevens' Point, Wausau, Merrill and other points along the Wisconsin, were noted lumbering points. No considerable amount of logs were run down the Wisconsin below Grand Rapids. Some logs were run to New- port and Kilbourn from the Yellow river.
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"It is now many years since a lumber raft passed down the Wisconsin river to market and it is safe to say that that method has passed forever.
"In early days the lumbermen started in late summer or early fall for the woods, camps were established, roads cut out and often much timber cut before the advent of snow made it possible to haul the logs to the bank; this banking being on the shore of some of the various streams tributary to the Wisconsin.
"Spring comes, rains melt the snow, the small streams become tor- rents, the ice breaks away and goes out and with it goes also the logs on their way to the mills. The loggers become drivers. Often extra men were employed for the drive, and do not think that the drive was a pleasure trip. The weather was yet cool if not cold; men were wet all day, sometimes day and night; some lost their lives. Logs were to be kept from lodging on shallows, jams were to be broken and altogether it was a strenuous life. At the mills when the lumber was being cut these loggers and drivers became rafters and rivermen.
"The first part of the raft was the 'erib'. The crib was a square of the length of the lumber and made from 16 to 24 boards deep, held together at the corners by pins known as grub pins. Seven of these cribs formed a single string; two or three single strings made a raft. Three strings made a full Wisconsin river raft.
"At dangerous points these rafts were uncoupled and the run made by single string. The dangerous points were the various falls, dams and the Dells. The most talked of dam up the river was known as Cliret's dam.
"The dam at Kilbourn, built about 1855 or 1856, proved very destruc- tive to lumber and life and was soon removed by the up-river lumbermen.
"The Dells was also a dangerous point for rafts at high water-and if the water was very high they could not be safely run. Then the rafts were tied up at the head of the Dells until such time as there was falling water.
"There were many men who earned the title of Dell Pilot, but the only one who left a permanent record was LeRoy Gates. Visitors to the Dells may see his name cut in the rocks at the Narrows, and there it will remain until some upheaval destroys the rocky banks of the Wis- consin at the Dells."
DEVIL'S LAKE STATE PARK
A substantial groundwork has been laid for one of the grandest and most fascinating state parks in the Middle-West, with Devil's Lake as its nucleus. In his report for 1916 F. B. Moody, the state forester, makes the following reference to Devil's Lake Park, in comparison with the other tracts in Wisconsin which the state commission, appointed for the purpose, is preserving from private encroachment and destruction :
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