USA > Wisconsin > Buffalo County > History of Buffalo County, Wisconsin > Part 4
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Total Thickness of Section 434.
From Vol. IV, " Geology of Wisconsin: "
GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS.
The formations of the territory described in this report are confined to the Lower Silurian age, with the exception of the Quaternary. The following general section, taken from Prof. Dana's Manual, embraces the present received order of geological periods and epochs in North America, and to it is added another
GEOLOGY.
31
column, showing the order of the epochs in the territory under consideration :
PERIODS.
EPOCHS.
EPOCHS IN WESTERN WISCONSIN
Quaternary.
Trenton
Wanting.
Galena, and Blue and Buff limestones.
St. Peter's sandstone.
Wanting.
Lower Magnesian sandstone
Potsdam sandstone.
Primordial or Cambrian
Acadian
Wanting.
Archæan
Archæan
Not exposed.
From the above table it will be seen that there are but seven epochs to be considered, the remainder being either denuded, never deposited, or unexposed. They will be considered in the natural order of their deposition, beginning with the oldest and lowest, which is the Potsdam Sandstone.
Note: In the following descriptions I have been obliged to abbreviate those in the Geol. Survey and have given a prominence to those epochs of which we find examples in this county.
POTSDAM SANDSTONE.
The territory covered by the Potsdam forms a large part of the district examined (Western Wisconsin.) It is found in the val- leys of all the streams, and in the northern part it becomes the surface rock of the entire country.
The strata of the Potsdam emerge from the valley of the Mis- sissippi a short distance above Prairie du Chien, and rise gradu- ally in ascending the river until they attain their maximum ele- vation of 470 feet above the river, between La Crosse and Trem- pealeau. From this point, continuing to ascend the river, the ele- vation diminishes irregularly; being 350 feet at Fountain City, 270 feet at Alma, 320 feet at Buffalo City, 200 feet at Maiden Rock,
Lower Silurian.
Canadian
Recent Champlain Glacial Cincinnati Utica Trenton Chazy Quebec Calciferous Potsdam
Recent.
Champlain. Glacial.
Wanting.
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GEOLOGY.
80 feet at Bay City, 120 feet at Diamond Bluff and sinking below the level of the Mississippi a few miles below Prescott.
Trempealeau Mountain, of which a section is given above, is the most noteworthy specimen of this formation. Of other points as lithological character, stratification and such things it is the place to speak in a compendium on geology, but not here.
One thing alniost escaped my notice. The Geol. Survey, Vol. IV, page 49 gives a sketch of the Cascade in NE & Sect. 7, T. 23, R. 13. The locality is well known in the northwestern part of the county, and presents a very good exposure of Potsdam sandstone. The sketch is only remarkable for its clumsiness and general want of exactness and artistic execution.
The "Economical Products " of this formation are summed up as follows: 1, Iron; 2, copper; 3, building stone; 4, artesian and mineral wells.
1. Iron. This mineral, says the Geol. Survey, is quite abun- dant in the counties of Richland, Crawford and Vernon. But since the publication of the work this mineral has been discovered in many places in Dunn, Eau Claire and Chippewa counties, and, last but by no means least, in several places in Buffalo county. So far, May 1887, we have abundant excitement, but no reported re- sults. If, however, such results should be published before this book has gone through the press, they will be either included in, or annexed to it.
2. Copper. No discovery was ever made of this mineral up to present time.
3. Building Stone. A very good article of building stone is obtained from the dolomite layers of the Potsdam, which are usu- ally found about one hundred feet below the surface of the forma- tion. Numerous quarries exist everywhere in the county, but the exact or chemical nature of the stone has nowhere been ascer- tained up to the present time.
Sand suitable for mortar, plastering, etc., can be obtained readily from any part of the Potsdam formation. The only ob- jection to it is that it is sometimes of too fine a grain. for some kinds of mortar. Much of this sand is perfectly white and very pure and probably adapted to the manufacturing of glass.
4. Artesian Wells and Mineral Waters. Until lately there were no wells of this character in this county. During the year 1886
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GEOLOGY.
some were based upon the bluff between- Alma and Little Wau- mandee, of which I obtained the following two reports:
1. On the farm of John Wilk, on the NE } of the NW & of . Section 16, T. 21, R. 12, in the town of Belvidere.
Clay or drift 17 feet.
Limestone 50
Sandrock 59 ¥
Flintstone (Chert!) 42 66
Limestone. 75
Sandrock
62
Total depth 305 feet.
2. On the farm of George Muehleisen on the SW } of NW } of Sect. 23, T. 21, R. 12, in the same town:
Clay or drift
43 feet.
Hard sandstone.
3
Sand (soft stone or loose) 16
Hard limestone 63 "
Black volcanic rock. (Perhaps Iron?) 15 "
102
Soft limestone
Sandstone. 63
Total depth 305 feet.
Notes :- a. The water does not rise above the surface of the earth, but is pumped up by a windmill.
b. Well No. 1 is on a higher part of the bluff about 2.3 miles northwest of No. 2.
c. The report was made by the owners who are not experts.
d. No. 1 reports 28 feet of water, but nothing of tubing. LOWER MAGNESIAN LIMESTONE.
The composition of the Lower Magnesian is somewhat liable to variation in different parts of the formation. Usually, however, it is a highly magnesian limestone, and its average composition is as follows:
Carbonate of lime. 51. Carbonate of magnesia. 41.
Water, insoluble matter, oxide of iron and alumina ... 8.
Total 100. In the country bordering on the Mississippi, above the Trem-
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GEOLOGY.
pealeau River, the Lower Magnesian does not contain nearly so much chert and other silicious material as in the southern part of the state. Calcite is, however, of more frequent occurrence. In the bluffs near Fountain City, in Buffalo County, (and near Alma also,) it exists in small irregular layers and masses of a few inches in diameter, quite transparent and cleavable, filling cavities of the rock and sometimes giving it a brecciated appearance. The north- ern outcrop of the Lower Magnesian forms an extremely irregular line. Beginning with Township 16, Range 1, East, it may be traced westward nearly to the mouth of the La Crosse River, about 6 miles. From here to the Trempealeau River is a wide tract of country from which the formation has been nearly eroded, and remains only in thin and widely separated outliers.
On entering Buffalo County in its southeastern part, on ac- count of the increased height of the country and the gradual slope of the strata to the northwest, the Lower Magnesian limestone ap- pears in a thickness of from 100 to 200 feet, forming high cliffs and escarpments along the Mississippi from the Trempealeau to the Chippewa River.
The northern outcrop of the formation in Buffalo County lies parallel to the Mississippi and about 18 miles distant from it. (Where?) On approaching this line a marked change is seen in the topography of the country. The valleys are much wider, and the hills not so high or so steep as near the Mississippi. Probably this appearance results from the original thin deposit of the lime- stone near its line of outcrop; which being worn away sooner than in the south part of the county, the subsequent erosive action took effect on the softer Potsdam; thus in the same period of time mak- ing wide valleys in the northern part of the county and narrow ones near the Mississippi where the thickness of the Lower Mag- nesian Limestone was greater. .
THE ECONOMICAL PRODUCTS
of this formation are as follows: 1, Copper; 2, lead; 3, building stone; 4, lime.
1. Copper. There is no known indication of this mineral being present in this county.
2. Lead. The same may be said of this mineral, all rumors to the contrary notwithstanding. This formation, however, is said to contain the lead mines of Missouri.
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GEOLOGY.
3. Building Stone. Wherever the Lower Magnesian is ex- posed, there is always an abundance of good building stone. The lower beds of the formation are usually found in regular heavy ledges, very suitable for quarrying. Quarries of this kind are quite numerous, especially on the western side of the bluffs, so that there is no need for special mention of anyone.
4. Lime. The Lower Magnesian formation affords lime with as much facility as building stone. There are numerous lime kilns all along the bluffs, but the stones for the same are seldom quarried from regular beds, much oftener from large rocks which have come down from the cliffs at some time and been buried more or less in the drift. Those engaged in lime burning usually select the stone by its surface appearance and its fracture, and could not tell to what bed of limestone-formation it belongs.
Owing to the large percentage of magnesia in the Lower Mag- nesian, the lime obtained from it is somewhat hydraulic and slakes slowly. This quality may be regarded as rather advantageous than otherwise.
It is scarcely necessary to enumerate the kilns, but it may be remarked that they are usually of very primitive construction with imperfect mechanical appliances. An exception to this I noticed on the bank of the slough in the upper part of Fountain City, where the stone used for lime also comes from a regular quarry.
ST. PETER'S SANDSTONE.
From the preceding pages the reader will find a notice of the occurrence of St. Peter's Sandstone in this county. Its very lim- ited occurrence excuses the neglect to mention any economic pro- ducts derived from it in other localities.
GALENA LIMESTONE.
As there is probably none of this variety in our county, it is barely mentioned here, to complete the discussion of the epochs.
QUATERNARY FORMATION. Glacial Period.
The glaciers mentioned above have left some deposits in their places characteristic of their former presence. Vol. IV of Geo- logical Survey says: "The most southerly glacial . deposit observed (in western Wisconsin) is situated in Buffalo County on he SW quarter of Sect. 14, Town 19, R. 11, at an elevation of 380
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GEOLOGY.
feet above the Mississippi River. It consists of a small isolated patch - not over 400 feet in its longest dimension - of small gravel containing the usual drift materials, such as granite, quartz, trap, etc., but no large bowlders. It lies on the side of a small ravine, near the summit of the ridge, and is exposed for a short distance by a road excavation. A similar deposit of fine gravel is found in SW quarter of Sect. 3 of the same township, on the slope towards Eagle Creek.
From these points northwestward, to the Chippewa River, patches of drift gravel are found at numerous points, but bowlders are rare. Beyond the Chippewa bowlders and larger deposits occur, but the glacial deposits are nowhere in this district very large.
Champlain Period.
It is characterized by the Valley drift of the Mississippi and the Wisconsin River.
There are numerous places in the valley of the Mississippi, on both sides of the river, where heavy deposits are found of materials foreign to the adjacent formations. The deposits consist chiefly of silicious sand, with some clay, and a large percentage of small gravel. The gravel is chiefly composed of smooth rounded pebbles of quartz, granite, trap, and fragments of other Archean rocks. The pebbles seldom exceed a few ounces in weight The deposits are, for the most part, stratified, although this can not always be readily observed. They are not continuous, being found only in such places, where circumstances prevented their removal by the streams. There are, of course, numerous deposits of this kind in the county, but none are specified in the Geol. Survey. Swamps are frequently caused by impervious beds of clay and gravel belonging to this formation. This, however, must not be taken for an assertion, that all swamps rest on such beds, although the same cause is usually expected to produce the same effect.
Recent Period.
During this period, the last, but not by any means so very young a period, there was a general elevation of the country, which resulted in bringing up the Champlain deposits of the river val- leys to their present elevation, gradually increasing the velocity of the rivers and removing the greater part of the drift fillings of
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GEOLOGY
the last named period. Sometimes this was only a change in the distribution of materials, such as is at present constantly progress- ing. I have heard of no scientific section of the country showing the thickness of its layers, and we have so many differences in that matter, that but little would have been gained by one invest- igation. Among the remarkable features of this period there are two, Calcareous Deposits and Sinks. By calcareous deposits are meant those layers of carbonate of lime that are found in caves on the floor or else on the roof or ceiling. These are stalagmites and stalactites. This occurrence in the county is possible and prob- able but not proven.
Sinks we call those almost circular, funnel-shaped depres- sions, often unexpectedly met with on the level summit of most of our bluffs. They very seldom contain any water, even after a copious rain, which, considering that they have usually a diameter of ten to fifteen feet, shows that there must be some rather capaci- ous opening in the deepest spot to let the water escape. This al- ways was the case in the few I ever examined; sometimes there were loose stones between which the water could easily escape. As there must be some place to which the water can descend, it is natural to connect the sinks with caves, but other fissures may answer the same purpose. A close investigation of some large sink might therefore lead to the discovery of a cave, of which we have not at present any instance in this county.
Having now come through the periods, (or rather up) usually accepted by scientific men in such matters it remains to speak of some occurrences going on before our own eyes.
One of them is the undermining of the cliffs on the crest of our bluffs close to the edge of the slope. Wherever the soft sand- stone of the Potsdam formation is exposed we find that the harder ledges are jutting out over the foundation and when we examine the condition of the soil of the slope close to the rock, we find it to consist of the same coarse sand as the foundation. We can also perceive, especially after the winter frosts have thawed out, that the foundation stone is peeling off. This, in course of time, de- stroys the support of the superincumbent rock, and it comes down usually in heavy masses that are horizontally divided, and separate when they strike the ground, and bound down the slope, bury themselves by the force of their weight and momentum in the
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GEOLOGY.
soft debris or reach sometimes the very foot of the declivity. The most considerable of these disruptions must have happened many years ago on the west side slope between Deer Creek and the Nor- wegian road.
Precisely how long ago I would not asscrt, but that oaks and other trees grew between the horizontal fissures of such rocks, can be seen in traveling along the Alma and Durand road. One rock, sandstone, is split in two parts by the roots of a birch, which stands upon it, the roots reaching down into the soil for nutrition. The fissure is widening from year to year, and will continue until one day one or both of the two pieces will fall, or break near the ground.
The last occurrence of a similar disruption was the coming down of the pinnacle on the northwest corner, of the once cele- brated Twelve Mile Bluff, at Alma, right opposite to the turn of the river to the southwest, and above Lane's sawmill. The impres- sion made by the detached piece on the ground where it fell was 124 feet long; the top piece, measuring about 15 feet in the three main directions came nearly down to the road, the remainder scat- tered, but did not roll very far away from the steepest part of the slope.
Excavations bring out some of the rock, and reveal the depth of the drift or detritus lying over it. At one place in the city of Alma in an excavation of about 26 feet down to the level of Main Street, the detritus consists of about 16 feet of mixed gravel and clay, with a great many blocks of stone, sandstone and limestone, and possibly some other material, as granitic and sim- ilar bowlders. The two former kinds are of any possible shape, small and large, and but little, if any, worn. At some place, about a mile below town, we find coarse gravel, pebbles and bowlders, largely of the granitic character. Along the Mississippi, and, (so I have heard) along the shores of Lake Pepin, and especially at the mouth of the Chippewa River, Carnelians of very good qual- ities, also rounded pebbles of white quartz are found, intermixed with many different other kinds, of red, or reddish color, some translucent others dull, also some pudding stones, and some stones showing on the surface the cavities in which other material once must have been contained. Several times I noticed when digging on the surface of the prairie, where the soil belongs to the
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GEOLOGY.
most recent period, splinters or small rounded pebbles of very translucent reddish color, probably small carnelians, without veins. All these finds are accidental, but where did the material come from? To answer these and a few other questions which have been asked in the course of this geological description, I would have to write and the reader would have to peruse a com- pendium, or perhaps several, on geology, mineralogy, and litho- logy, a task which we will defer into eternity.
As a supplement to what has been said in the foregoing geo- logical sketch I have to add the following report made by Mr. L. P. Hunner of Alma, one of the incorporators of the Buffalo County Mining Company.
IRON MINES.
The iron was discovered May 25th, 1887. The mines are located on Sections 19 and 20 of Township 23 North of Range 13 West. So far nine shafts have been suuk varying in depth from 10 to 50 feet. The successive layers of material above the iron are: Sandstone, Limestone, Soapstone, Kaoline, and Clay. Daven- port Fisher, chemist in Milwaukee, gives the following analysis of the specimen of ore sent from these mines: Iron 62.72 per cent., Manganese 3.04 per cent., Silica 2.91 per cent., Phosphorus .035 per cent. (July 11, 1887.)
Remarks .- Being no expert in this matter I refer the reader to page 613, part III of Vol. I of the Geology of Wisconsin, where he will find a full and correct description of ores and a general scale of their relative values. The presence of iron in the locality described in the above report was surmised some years ago by Mr. Berlinger, the proprietor, who informed me of it when I sur- veyed his land. Rumors of the discovery of Iron in many other · localities in this county were diligently circulated for a while, but actual investigations have only been carried on in the locality in- dicated. The conclusion that, because Iron has been found in one bluff of our very similar formations, there may be some in other bluffs, is not unnatural, but, of course, by no means incontrover- tible. The operations are not yet extensive enough to warrant any decisive judgment as to the commercial value of the mines, whether favorable or otherwise, and so I will dismiss the matter with the wish that those engaged in the enterprise and the com- munity at large may be benefited by the new discovery.
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GEOLOGY.
But these discoveries, though certainly new, were by no means the first of their kind in this county. As early as 1855 there was mining for ore in the neighborhood of the old schoolhouse at Fountain City. Mr. John G. Kammueller, now deceased, who had been a foreman of miners in an iron mine in the Grand- duchy of Baden, and his three sons William, Frederick and Leopold, who had also from boyhood been employed at the same business, were even at that early time convinced that metals would be found in our bluffs. Being, however, like most settlers of those early times, without the necessary means for the required investigations, they had to give up their diggings, although signs for ultimate success appeared to be favorable. The following year, 1856, the above named gentlemen, in company with John Martin and Lud- wig Martin again tried their fortune with a new mine. This time they began to dig upon the bluff north of Fountain City, upon the Northeast Quarter of Northeast Quarter of Section 8 of Township 19, Range 11, where the depression, left after the caving in of the shaft, can still be seen. They dug down about 100 feet and found different metals. Towards spring they built a furnace, and smelted out about eight hundred pounds of metal. During the thaw in spring heavy rains prevailed, and the water flowed into the shaft, partly ruining it, so that it was impossible to descend into it. In this enterprise they had received some aid from such citizens of Fountain City as were well inclined towards the matter. During the process of smelting there was considerable excitement in the neighborhood, and everybody went to have a look at it.
Mr. William Kammueller, who is still living in that neighbor- hood, holds to the opinion, that if they could have persevered, they would have found lead. The misadventure of their shaft tumbling in, burying their tools, etc., prevented further attempts ever since. For this information I am indebted to Mr. Jacob Meili of the Town of Milton, who is a son-in-law of Wm. Kammueller. The reader has already been directed to the study of such sources of geological information, as are now accessible and certainly of more weight and authority than any opinion of mine.
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NATURAL HISTORY.
NATURAL HISTORY.
The following sketches or rather enumerations can not be ex- pected to be scientifically accurate or complete. Indeed it may. be objected by some people that they are too systematic and dry for many readers, but it must be observed that the description of Buffalo County could not have been complete without this chapter, and that we should not reject any object of fact or history merely because it is dry. The chapter on Natural History may, moreover, serve for reference with those who do not have the time or much inclination to investigate such matters closely, and would probably not have thought of buying a separate work on natural history. I am convinced that there are a great many such who, nevertheless have a latent desire to learn something of it, especi- ally what may relate to their own surroundings. This should be encouraged especially among young folks. It was not considered necessary to add anything on Mineralogy, since all the materials. of that branch of natural history had to be discussed under the head of Geology, to which the reader is hereby referred.
ZOOLOGY.
It goes without contradiction that a book like this, though it aims at an accurate and somewhat minute description of the country and its natural productions, can not go any further in the latter part than an enumeration of those productions, which are indigenous, that is, existed without and before settlement and cul- tivation. This is especially the case with animals of all kinds, or the province of Zoology, the description of the Animal Kingdom. The following lists, which I made up from those given in Vol. I of the Geological Survey of Wisconsin, have been submitted to the inspection of Prof. F. H. King of the Normal School in River Falls, and corrected according to his suggestions. The list of Birds may be said to be his work entirely, as he indicated by numbers corresponding to those in his exhaustive article on the same subject in the volume of the survey above stated, what birds he considered likely to occur at the different seasons of the year
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NATURAL HISTORY.
in this neighborhood. Perhaps it is not my particular vocation to make up some of these lists, as I am no hunter, nor a fisher, but I tried to do as well as circumstances permitted.
MAMMALS. Cats :
Panther. None killed since settlement.
Lynx (Canada). Scarce since settlement.
Wild Cat, (Red Lynx.) Frequent and injurious. Dogs :
Prairie Wolf. Not yet extinct.
Red Fox. Not very frequent; small. Weasels :
Weasel, (white and little.) Frequent in these parts.
Mink. Not very frequent.
Skunk. Rather numerous of late.
Otter. Possibly on sloughs and Mississippi.
Badger. Rather scarce, unless the ground hog be its represen- tative.
Bears :
Black Bear. Scarce, but not extinct.
Racoon. Not rare; sometimes tamed.
Deer:
Elk. Formerly quite frequent, but now extinct. Common Deer. Not rare, nor very frequent. Moles :
Common Mole. Common, but owing to habits not frequently seen. Shrews :
Similar to moles, and sometimes called such; probably present, but not frequent.
Bats : Common Bat. Said to be of eight species, which are not usually distinguished.
Mice :
The name is significant of habit and structure. Common Mouse. Very frequent. Rat, black and brown. Very frequent. Prairie Mouse. Likes prairies, but may occur in this county. Muskrat. Quite frequent in swamps and small streams.
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