USA > Wisconsin > Grant County > History of Grant County, Wisconsin > Part 51
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"Future investigations will undoubtedly bring out a close connection between the structure of the Lake Superior Valley and the glacial movements south of it. Even the facts now at hand seem to point toward some interesting conclusions. Projecting from the south shore of Lake Superior, we find two great promontories, Keweenaw Point and the Bayfield Peninsula. Both of the projections have a course somewhat transverse to the general trend of the lake, bear- ing some thirty degrees south of west. Both have high central ridges or backbones, which rise 1,000 to 1,500 feet above the adjacent lake, and are made up of bedded igneous rocks, sand- stones, and conglomerates of the copper series. Both of these ridges continue far westward on the mainland, having between them a valley, partly occupied by the lake, which is a true syn- clinal trough ; the rocks of the two ridges dipping toward one another. North of the Bayfield Peninsula, and again south of Keweenaw Point, we find two other valleys running in from the lake shore in the same direction. In all probability each one of these valleys has given direc- tion to a glacier tongue. An inspection of a good map of the northern part of Wisconsin, Min- nesota and Michigan, will serve to show that the almost innumerable small lakes (which are far more numerous than are shown in the best maps) of these regions, are concentrated into three main groups, each group corresponding to a great development of morainic drift, and lying in the line of one of the three valleys just indicated. I suppose that each of the lake groups is a moraine of the glacier which occupied the valley in whose line it lies. The main ice-sheet com- ing from the north met, in the great trough of Lake Superior, over 2,000 feet in depth, an obstacle which it was never ahle to entirely overcome, and so reached south ward in small tongues composed perhaps of only the upper portions of the ice. These tongues being deflected westward by the rock structure of the country, and having their force mainly spent on climbing over the water- shed, left the region further south untouched. The eastern part of the Lake Superior trough is not nearly so deep as the western, and the divide between Lake Superior and the two lakes south of it, never attains any great altitude, so that here the ice mass, having at the same time perhaps a greater force on account of its nearness to the head of the ice movement on the Lau- rentian highlands of Canada, was able to extend southward on a large scale, producing the glaciers of the Green Bay Valley, and of Lake Michigan.
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HISTORY OF THE LEAD REGION.
" Although quite crude in its details, I am convinced that the main points of the explana- tion thus offered for the existence of the driftless region in the northwest will prove to be cor- rect. To obtain a full elucidation of the subject, much must be done in the way of investigation, not only in Wisconsin, but over all of Minnesota and the States south, in order that the details- of the ice-movement for the whole northwest may be fully understood.
"4. The stratified drift of the valleys (in the drift-covered regions) owes its structure and distribution to the water of the swollen streams and lakes that marked the time of melting of the glaciers.
"5. The depth below the present surface of the rock valleys appears to indicate a greater altitude of this part of the continent during the Glacial period than at the present time."
TOPOGRAPHY AND SURFACE GEOLOGY OF THE LEAD REGION.
Mr. Moses Strong, in his report of 1877, says : " Unlike most regions which nature has selected for the reception of metallic ores and useful minerals, the lead region bears no evidence of any sudden disturbances or violent action of physical forces. The effects produced by igneous and eruptive agencies are wanting. Faults and dislocations of strata are nowhere found. The only irregularities are slight upheavals or bending of the strata (and these never of great extent), producing changes of but a few feet from the normal dip. Between the geological condition and the general surface contour of the country, there is no direct correlation. The existence of al hill or a valley on the surface is not due to a subterranean elevation or depression of surface, as is by many supposed, and whatever irregularities exist must be chiefly attributed to the milder natural agencies now constantly at work, such as running water, frost, winds, etc., acting through an immensely long period of time.
" Drainage .- The most marked and persistent feature of the lead region is the long divid- ing ridge, or water-shed, which, commencing near Madison, continues almost directly west to the Blue Mounds, a distance of about twenty miles. Here it takes a slight bend to the south- west for fifteen miles until it reaches Dodgeville, where it resumes its westerly course until it terminates in the bluffs at the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers. Its total length is about eighty-five miles. Two points are noticeable-one is its general uniform direct- ness of ontline (it being subject to but few and unimportant flexures), and the other is its paral- lelism with Wisconsin River so long as the latter holds an approximately westerly course, the summit of the ridge being always about fifteen miles from the river. The divide maintains an average elevation of about six hundred feet above Lake Michigan, and is seldom less than five hundred or more than seven hundred, except at the Blue Mounds, where it gradually rises east and west for several miles until it attains an elevation at the west mound of one thousand one hundred and fifty-one feet. This, however, is an extreme case, and, in fact, the only marked exception to the general level. In the town of Mount Hope, a slight decrease of elevation is about four hundred and thirty feet at a point within a mile of both the Mississippi and Wiscon- sin Rivers. There are also two main branches or subdivisions of the water-shed. Of these, the western is the ridge which separates the waters that flow into the Platte and Fever Rivers from those which flow into the Pecatonica. It leaves the main divide in the town of Wingville, and, passing through the townships of Bellmont and Shullsburg in a southeasterly direction, passes out of the State in the town of Monticello. The ridge is not so conspicuous as the main water- shed, either for the directness of its course or the uniformity of its elevation. The most con- spicuous points on it are the. Platte Mounds, which appear from a distance to be very high. but their height is only relative, their actual elevation being about seven hundred feet above Lake Michigan. The ridge appears to slope somewhat in its approach to Illinois, its average eleva- tion there being about five hundred feet.
" The easterly subdivision is that which separates the waters of the Pecatonica and Sugar Rivers. It may be said to begin at the Blue Mounds or a couple of miles east of them, and, pursuing quite a devious course through the townships of Primrose, Washington and Monroe. it crosses the State line in the town of Jefferson. This ridge is characterized by a much greater
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HISTORY OF THE LEAD REGION.
want of uniformity in its general course and its very irregular elevation. It is much narrower than either of the others, more abrupt in its slopes, and contains quite a number of hills and low places. These are the principal elevations of the country affecting the drainage. There are, of course, many minor ones.
" Streams .- The present situation of the streams was probably never modified nor influenced by drift or glacial agencies. Premising this, it follows that the location of the streams must have depended upon the natural configuration of the country and the superior advantages of cer- tain strata in certain positions predisposing them to become the beds of streams. Other things being equal, surface waters would naturally form a channel first in the more soft and easily eros- ible strata lying along the line of strike of some soft formation, and would cause a river to con- form its first channel to its outcropping edge. Simultaneously, its tributaries would shape their channels approximately at right angles to the river, under the following conditions: When the gen- eral slope or drainage of the country is not contrary to the geological dip of the formations, which, in the lead region, does not appear to have been the case, the tributaries on one side of the river thus forined would conform themselves to the natural dip of the underlying strata, sloping toward the main river, and would be found wherever there were depressions or irregularities in the surface suitable to their formation. These would, at their inception, approximate to their final length and course, and future changes in them would be confined to the deeper erosion of their beds and widening of their valleys, the formation of lateral branches, the division of the head of the stream into several smaller sources, and, finally, the gradual recession of all the sub- ordinate parts.
" With the tributaries on the other side of the principal river, a different order would pre- vail as regards their position and growth. They would at first be the merest rivulets, and increase only from erosion, and their beds would lie across the edges of the strata. There would be only a very limited extent of country tributary to the river on this side, the great volume of its water being derived from the tributaries of the other side. The dividing ridge would thus be very near the river, and a second set of long streams tributary to some other river would here take their rise and flow away.
"In the process of time the main river would slowly cut its way through the soft formation, in which it had its original bed, into and through those which underlaid it. This might, at first, be accompanied by a slight recession parallel to the line of strike. Such a movement, however, could not be of long duration, but would become less as the valley became deeper, because any such recession would necessitate the removal of all the overlying formations. Finally, the small streams flowing across the strata would cut their valley back from the river, the dividing ridge would recede, and their sources would, from the position of the strata, be in steep and pre- cipitous ravines. Such, in brief, is the theory of the formation of the streams in the lead region.
"The Wisconsin River, from the eastern limit of Iowa County to its mouth, is a conspicu- ous example and illustration of the foregoing theory.
" Although the surface of the country, in its present condition, does not permit the accurate delineation of the foriner lines of outcrop of the paleozoic formations, yet a sufficient number of others remain to show that they must once have covered the country far north of where they are at present found. The existence of Niagara limestone in a thickness of about one hundred and forty feet at the Platte Mounds, and probably the full thickness of the formation at the Blue Mounds, warrants us in supposing that the former outcrop of the underlying Cincinnati group was at least as far north as the present bed of the Wisconsin River.
"The valley now occupied by the river, from Mazomanie to Blue River, is very nearly that of the present line of strike of the Lower Silurian formation, and, although from there the strike of the lower members (of which outliers still remain) appears to bear rather more to the northward, yet observations on the dip of the Cincinnati group, in such occasional outliers as remain, lead us to believe that its original strike was approximately in a southwesterly direction, from Blue River to the Mississippi.
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HISTORY OF THE LEAD REGION.
"Assuming, then, that the Cincinnati group once had its northern outcrop where the river now runs, or in a line parallel to it in that vicinity, the surface waters would easily erode a channel in the soft and friable shales which, to a great extent, compose this formation.
"In fine, the whole process of formation previously described would take place. On the north side it had, as now its principal tributary streams, the Kickapoo, Knapp, Eagle, Pine and Bear, in their present localities, and approximately their present length. On the south side of the river, however, the principal water-shed already referred to was probably quite near the river, from which position it has receded to the place it now occupies. The Green and Blue Rivers and Otter, Mill and Blue Mound Creeks were small and insignificant streams, which, by the gradual process of erosion, have increased to their present size and length; but even now are small when compared to the northern tributaries.
"A further effect was to shorten the Grant, Platte and Pecatonica Rivers by the gradual southwesterly recession of the water-shed and the lowering of the latter by the denudation of the Niagara limestone and Cincinnati groups ; except in such localities as were protected by a superior hardness of some part of the formation, as in the case of the Blue Mounds.
"The result of the denudation has been to divide the country into two parts, each differing widely from the other in its topographical features. The streams flowing southward from the water-shed have eroded the country into gently undulating slopes. This is probably due to the direction of the streams conforming in a measure to the dip of the strata. Abrupt cliffs and steep ravines are the exception, and not the rule, never being found in the immediate neighbor- hood of the water-shed, but rather confined to the small lateral branches. On the other hand, to the north of the water-shed the panorama of bluffs and precipitous ravines is almost moun- tainous in its aspect. In fact, nothing can be more striking than the contrast which presents itself from certain points on the divide in looking from north to south. In nearly all of the ravines leading northward the fall of the first quarter of a mile is not less than one hundred feet; and, in general, it is true of the streams running north ward that three-quarters of the fall takes place in the first quarter of the distance from their sources to their mouths.
" It seems not improbable that these sudden declivities are due to the streams flowing over the edges of the strata, rather than lengthwise, along their dip. Again, the streams flowing to the southward become comparatively sluggish in their course as soon as they cease to be brooks. They have usually a soft, muddy bottom, while those tributary to the Wisconsin are clear, rapid streams, flowing over a sandy or gravelly bottom, their valleys being narrow and their sides very steep.
" The streams tributary to the Platte, Grant and Pecatonica Rivers do not exhibit any marked characteristics on one side that are not shared equally by the other. It may be re- marked, however, that the short streams which flow into the Mississippi River present very much the same topographical characteristics as are seen in the southern tributaries of the Wis- consin, narrow and deep ravines and valleys being apparently the rule in Grant County.
" It is remarked that there has been a gradual diminution of water in the lead region since the early mining days. The larger streams contain much less water than hereto- fore, within the memory of living men. It is probable that cultivation of the land is the chief cause of this decrease, as a much greater amount of surface is thus exposed, and evaporation takes place more rapidly and in larger quantities. Removal of the timber is, without doubt, another cause of this decrease. The soil of the timbered land contains more moisture than that of the prairie ; and in all countries the removal of the timber has always been followed by a marked decrease of the water supply.
" Springs and Wells .- The Lead Region is one of the best watered tracts of country in the State. Springs are very numerous about the sources of streams, and frequently in their banks. They are found in all the geological formations, but with the greatest frequency and of the largest size between the bottom of the Galena limestone and the top of the St. Peters sandstone. Such springs are usually found flowing along the surface of some layer of clay, and finding a vent in the outcrop of an 'opening.' The clay openings most favorable to
2. Bene Barber (DECEASED) LANCASTER .
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HISTORY OF THE LEAD REGION.
their formation are the 'upper pipe-clay openings,' situated on the top of the blue or Trenton limestone, and separating it from the Galena limestone; the 'glass-rock opening,' separating the blue and underlying buff limestone, and the 'lower pipe-clay opening,' situated in the lower part of the buff limestone; the latter, however, does not seem to be so persistent a bed as the other two. Springs are by no means confined to these three openings, but occur in many of the beds of the Galena limestone, as well as in the lower formations ; usually, however, flow- ing over an impervious bed of clay, or some layer of rock, too compact to admit of the passage of water through it."
The springs which flow from the Blue Mounds are clearly not of igneous origin, as they are not hot, but are logically accounted for by the excess of rainfall over the amount of water carried off by the streams or by evaporation.
Water is easily obtained where springs do not burst out, by digging or drilling not to exceed sixty feet.
"Nearly all the water in the region holds in solution a small portion of lime and magne- sia, and a still smaller quantity of sodium, iron, alumina and silica. The presence of these salts usually gives the water what is called a hard taste, which is more noticeable in the lime- stone than in the sandstone springs, and not infrequently induces persons to believe them pos- sessed of medical properties.
" Prairie and Forest .- The prairie area of the lead region is comparatively small, and seems to be chiefly a continuation of the great prairies of Illinois. The most extensive prairie is that found in the southern part of Grant and La Fayette Counties, comprising the townships of Jamestown, Hazel Green, Benton, New Diggings, Shullsburg, Seymour, Monticello and Gratiot. From this there is a branch extending in a northwestern direction (corresponding to the eastern subdivision of the water-shed previously alluded to), until it unites with the main water-shed ; here it branches to the east and west. The western extension forms a prairie in the towns of Glen Haven, Patch Grove, Little Grant, and some parts of Fennimore and Wingville. The eastern prairie follows the main divide already described, the prairie being from six to ten miles in width. Between the east and west branches of the Pecatonica there is a prairie, including most of the towns of Fayette, Waldwick and Wiota. Small patches of prairie are to be found in other localities. The original timber of the woodland has been mostly cut off, and is replaced by second-growth black, white and burr oak, maple, hickory, poplar and elm, the trees being gen- erally of small size, not exceeding one foot in diameter.
" Mounds .- The elevations in the lead region most worthy of note are : The Platte Mounds, in La Fayette County ; the Blue Mounds, in Dane and Iowa Counties, and the Sinsinawa Mound, in Grant County. The former are three in number, about a mile apart, the middle one being very small in comparison to the other two. The east and west mounds are about the same elevation, and are capped with a very hard Niagara limestone, to which they doubtless owe their preservation, in the general denudation of the country. The ground slopes away from them so gently, and blends so gradually with the surrounding high land, that it is impossible to define exactly where the mound proper begins. The Blue Mounds are two in number, one being in Iowa County and the other in Dane. The top of the west mound (which is the higher of the two) consist of over a hundred feet of very hard flinty rock, somewhat resembling quartzite, or gran- ular quartz ; below this is the Niagara limestone. This cap of quartz rock seems to have been removed from the east mound, the top of which is a flat table-land under cultivation. These mounds are very conspicuous, and can be seen from any moderately high land in the region. The Sinsinawa Mound is also a very conspicuous object, in the southern part of Grant County, near the village of Fairplay. It is composed, for the most part, of the Cincinnati group, capped with a small amount of Niagara limestone.
" Sinks .- Very remarkable features in the vicinity of Blue Mounds are the numerous sink- holes found near their base, and frequently quite high up on their sides. The sinks are usually in groups of three or four, and invariably in nearly an east and west line, in both Dane and Iowa Counties. On the center line of Section 1, Township 6, Range 5 east, is a well-defined line of
0
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HISTORY OF THE LEAD REGION.
them, extending for about a quarter of a mile on each side of the center of the section. There is another range of them near the center of the southwest quarter of Section 1, and a third line near the quarter-posts of Sections 1 and 12. The largest of these sinks is an isolated one near the center of the southeast quarter of Section 1, which is as much as fifty feet in diameter and twenty feet deep. In this one the wall rock of the fissure could be very planly seen on the south side. The difference is that these sinks mark the line of large open crevices in the rock beneath them. No prospecting for ore has been done in them, although the suggestion has been reason- ably made that the indications are favorable. The sinks are not confined to the Galena lime- stone, and an exceptional one in the St. Peters sandstone is noted on the southeast quarter of Section 14, Township 5, Range 2 west, although less notable ones occur in the Niagara limestone. "Soil and Subsoil .- The quality of the soil of the lead region is chiefly dependent on the character of the subjacent formation. The subsoil appears to be derived directly from the decay and disintegration of the strata, of which it is the residuum. South of the principal water-shed, the subsoil is clay, almost without exception, having a thickness of from three to six feet, depending on the configuration of the underlying rock formation. This is the average thick- ness, on comparatively level land ; on side hills it is usually much thinner, the greater part hav- ing been washed down in the valley below. The clay soils and subsoils appear to consist chiefly of those portions of the overlying Galena limestone, and earthy Cincinnati shales, which being insoluble in water were not removed by the gradual process of denudation.
"The amount of lime, magnesia and alkaline earths in the subsoil and soil, together with the vegetable mold in the latter, constitute a soil, which, in its virgin state, is unsurpassed for rich . ness and fertility. The number of successive wheat crops which have been raised, without regard to rotation, on some of our prairie farms, attest its native strength ; as, also, the marked decline in fertility of the soil when this has been done, shows the inevitable retribution which follows the practice. Exceptions to the clay soil, usually found in the country covered by the Galena limestone, are found in the eastern part of La Fayette and frequently in Green County, where the soil is quite sandy, owing to the disintegration of calcareous sand layers frequently found there in that formation. A few localities are cited below, where the sand was so abundant that the formation might have been considered a sandstone, were it not for the occasional outcrops of Galena limestone in place.
"The agencies of the glacial period do not appear to have had anything to do with transport- ing the component meterials of the soil, and although a slight transportation has taken place, it is always merely local. For instance, in the valleys of the creeks which lie in the St. Peters- sandstone, the soil is usually a rich clay loam, richer in fact than that of the adjacent ridges, because the best parts of the upland soils have been washed down and distributed over the sur- face of the valley.
" A similar transportation may be observed in passing up any l'ong and moderately steep hill, which includes several formations, such hills being very common north of the principal water- shed. Let us suppose one, whose summit is composed of Galena limestone, and whose base lies in the Lower Magnesian. Scattered about the base will be seen many loose pieces of Lower Mag- nesian limestone, mixed with less numerous bowlders of St. Peters sandstone; still less numer- ous and smaller pieces of the buff and blue (Trenton) limestone, while fragments of the Galena limestone will be comparatively rare. On ascending the hill and arriving at the St. Peters, fragments of Lower Magnesian will no longer be seen, while those of the upper formation will become larger and more numerous. On arriving at the buff limestone, the fragments of St. Peters sandstone will also have disappeared ; fragments of blue limestone will be very numer- ous and easily recognized by their white color and their general rounded and worn appearance. On reaching the summit of the hill, no fragments of stone will be found, except such as are derived from the subjacent Galena limestone. One prominent feature of the soil will be the prevalence of flints, which are nearly indestructible, and often form a large component part. From the arrangement of the surface soil and fragmentary rock, it is evident that the rock of any formation is never found above the level from which it was detached.
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