USA > Wisconsin > Jefferson County > The history of Jefferson county, Wisconsin, containing biographical sketches > Part 46
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The average elevation of fifteen powers, the first of importance on their respective branches, is about one hundred and fifty-five feet above the surface of the river where it leaves the State, at Beloit. The average fall from these powers to the State line is a little less than three feet per mile.
With these general statements, we will set aside the tributaries, several of which are important, and consider more accurately the main stream between Horicon and Beloit. The collecting area above Horicon is 436 square miles, upon which the annual rainfall, reckoned at 30 inches, would be 30,387,456,000 cubic feet. Allowing one-half for evaporation, filtration and other sources of loss, the theoretical discharge at the outlet of Horicon Marsh would be 15,193,728,000 cubic feet. Reckoned at the lowest rainfall in the last thirty years, the amount would be 10, 114,749,120 cubic feet. Col. Worrall gives, as the result of a careful measurement of the flow at a time when the volume was estimated to be only three-fourths of the average, a supply of 27,651 cubic feet per minute, or 14,533,365,600 cubic feet per annum, from which it would seem that the calculated amount is not far from the truth. From the foregoing data, estimating the accession from tributaries, it is thought to be safe to consider the average flow between Horicon and Beloit. as, in round numbers, 50,000,000.000 cubic feet per annum. The fall from Horicon to the State line is 127 feet. An estimate of the theoretical power generated by the main river shows it to be upward of 20,000 horse power. Of the 127 feet fall, less than 60 feet are utilized, according to the best information at command. The unused portion is mainly between Horicon and Watertown. and between Janesville and Beloit. A portion of this latter may readily be made available at Beloit by means of a race leading from a dam situated above the slack water of the present one. Another power near the State line, can also be utilized to the profit of this place.
SPRINGS.
Jefferson County, in common with other portions of Eastern Wisconsin, has two general systems of springs-those that originate in the drift deposits, and those that flow from the rock. The springs of each group occupy several different horizons, which it will be interesting to notice briefly, as the subject is one of great importanee, it having been abundantly demonstrated that some of the most terrible diseases which afflict mankind are directly attributable to impure water. If unaided nature has provided any means of escape from this prolific source of danger, it is certain to be found in her deep-seated springs.
313
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
There are several reasons why spring-water is more likely to be pure than that of wells. On the average, it comes from greater depth, and has passed through a greater extent of the · deeper strata, which are comparatively free from organic impurities, than has the water of wells, which is usually drawn from the surface of the water-level beneath the location of the wells. Artesian fountains are not here taken into account. The water of wells is usually stagnant, while that of springs is active-is " living water." There are some exceptions to the first part of this statement. Occasionally a well is sunk upon an active, flowing, underground stream, in which case the superior character of the water will usually be very marked. Spring-water is not liable to so many sources of contamination, and accidental impurities are more readily discharged.
The lowest noteworthy horizon from which springs arise is the vicinity of the junction of the Potsdam sandstone and the Lower Magnesian limestone. The water from this source usually has a temperature of forty-eight to fifty degrees, and is clear and comparatively free from organic impurities, but contains a small percentage of the carbonate of lime and magnesia, and, in some cases, a very small percentage of iron, with usually some silica, alumina and chloride of sodium. But the combined amount of these is small, and the water is " soit," and very pleasant to the taste. A small amount of free carbonic acid is usually present, which enhances the grateful effect of the water upon the palate and stomach. There are no springs from this horizon in the county, but the water-bearing bed may be reached by wells.
Above this horizon, springs occur but rarely till we reach the junction of the St. Peter's sandstone with the Trenton limestone. Some shaly, impervious layers mark this division, while the limestone above is fissured and the sandstone below is porous. It hence follows that the springs may arise either above or below the impervious stratum, according to circumstances. (1) Water descending from above may be caught and carried out where the strata are cut across to the proper depth : and (2) water that gained access to the sandstone at some distant and more elevated point may rise from below at places where the confining stratum is removed. So that it is proper to include in this group some that issue from ledges somewhere above or below the junction of the formations. These springs are similar in general character to the last, but usually contain a more considerable percentage of the several mineral ingredients, at least that portion of them that are derived from the limestone, which still retains traces of many of the salts that we have reason to suppose were incorparated with it when it was formed beneath the ancient ocean. To this class belong most of the springs that issue from the rock in the western half of the county.
The foregoing are all derived from rocks that were laid down under the ancient Silurian ocean, rocks whose ages are to be reckoned by myriads of years, and from which there has at least been a liberal allowance of time for the removal of whatever soluble matter may have been originally incorporated in them ; and yet, we find in all that have been analyzed varying quan- tities of the oceanic salts.
The remainder issue from loose material of much more recent origin, formed by the agency of ice and fresh water, so far as the evidence goes ; and yet, as this material was derived from the preceding oceanic formations in great part, the same ingredients may and do occur in the water. They are, as a class, more superficial than the preceding, and more liable to contamina- tion from surface impurities, and, for a like reason, their temperature is often less constant and their flow less regular. To this class belong those springs that issue from the drift.
ARTESIAN WELLS.
The term artesian is frequently applied to deep wells, without regard to whether the water flows at the surface or not ; but it will here be applied to flowing wells, without regard to depth. Flowing wells depend upon these requisite conditions : There should be an impervious stratum to prevent the escape of the water below ; a previous water-bearing stratum upon this, to furnish the flow of water ; a second impervious layer upon this, to prevent the escape of water above. it
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
being under pressure from the fountain-head. These must dip, and there must be no adequate outlet for the water at a lower level than the well. There must also be a sufficient collecting area or reservoir in connection with the porous stratum, and it must have sufficient elevation to act as a fountain-head.
Wells of this description in Eastern Wisconsin are divided into six different classes: (1) those that derive their flow entirely from the drift; (2) those that derive their flow from the junction of the drift with the indurated rocks below ; (3) those that originate in the Niagara limestone ; (4) those that arise from the Galena and Trenton limestones ; (5) those from the St. Peters sandstone ; and (6) those from the primordial zone. To the fourth and fifth classes belong the Watertown fountains ; the one which includes the greater number rising from Trenton lime- stone; the other embracing the deeper wells from the St. Peters sandstone. The first class vary in depth from 18 to 100 feet ; the second, from 100 to 215 feet. One of the most interesting of the latter class is located near the shops of the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company. to whom it belongs. The following is the record of this well :
Depth of soil 50 feet
Depth of limestone 57 feet
Depth of sandstone
108 feet
Total
215 feet
Water began to flow when a depth of 107 feet was reached, and could be raised ten feet above the surface. Two additional records will sufficiently illustrate this (fifth) class :
Drift .. 10 feet 15 feet
Limestone.
93 feet .. 103 feet
Sandstone. - feet 23 feet
Total
103 feet 141 feet
If we assume that the flow of the railway well was from the surface of the St. Peters sand- stone, the upper face of the sandstone will be 107 feet. 103 and 118 feet, respectively, below the surface at the three wells, facts which may be of service in sinking others. The first one (that belonging to the railway company) is 243 feet above Lake Michigan ; hence, its bottom is 28 feet below the lake level.
The source of supply for both classes (fourth and fifth as previously mentioned) of these wells seem to lie to the west of north, where, both near and distant, occur many depressions entrapped between limestone and drift ridges, giving abundant superficial reservoirs, while in this direction also may be found the out-cropping edge of the sandstone. This sandstone like- wise comes to the surface to the west of Watertown. but the low elevation in that region seems to indicate that the flow is not from that quarter. The western edge of the sandstone where it comes to the surface, follows the east bank of the Crawfish River, from Lowell to Aztalan, and at no point between those places has it an elevation much greater than the railroad junction at Watertown. It is not to be expected then that fountains can be obtained from the St. Peters sandstone, which will flow at a much greater elevation than that already attained, namely, 253 feet above Lake Michigan. By penetrating the Potsdam sandstone there is a reasonable proba- bility that a flow competent to rise to a higher elevation could be obtained. The following is an analysis of the water of one of these fountains :
Grains in 1 gal.
Bicarbonate of soda.
1.838
Bicarbonate of magnesia.
5.818
Bicarbonate of lime 12.094
Bicarbonate of iron.
0.100
Sulphate of potassa
0.1 54
Silien ..
0.305
Organic matter
0.346
Total.
20,615
While these facts are still in mind, it will be convenient to speak of the Palmyra " oil well." Although a failure as a source of oil. this well has proved of some value in demonstrating the
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
possibility of Artesian wells in that and similar situations. It was begun about 250 feet above Lake Michigan and 828 feet above the sea. The following is its record :
46 feet Drift-struck limestone.
feet Hard sandstone, 3 feet.
176 Limestone, supposed to be " blue limestone."
480 Gray sandstone.
229
= Water.
482 Soft sandstone.
235
Slate and sand
489 Hard sandstone.
255
" Good show of oil" (!).
507 Soft sandstone.
257
' Big show of oil (! ! ). Struck sand rock.
263
Great flow of water.
600
Gray sandstone.
283
Metal 2 inches (iron ore ?).
615
Red sandstone.
412
White sandstone.
687
66 Gray sandstone to bottom of well.
455 Red sandstone.
461 Black sandstone.
These may be distributed as follows :
46 feet Drift.
93 feet St. Peters sandstone.
130
Galena limestone.
62 “ Lower magnesian limestone.
81 Trenton limestone.
338 " Potsdam sandstone.
The flow of this well is derived from the St. Peters sandstone. It cannot have its source in that formation directly to the West, since the outerop is lower than the surface of the well. The fountain-head is probably in the same region as that of the Watertown wells of its class.
There are three extensive areas over which there is a reasonable presumption that fountains may be obtained : (1) A belt adjoining Lake Michigan ; (2) Green Bay Valley, from Fond du Lac northward ; and, (2) the Valley of Rock River. In the last-mentioned vallev an eleva- tion of 250 feet must be taken as the upper limit of favorable chances. The St. Peters sand- stone is available for only a portion of the area that falls below that altitude, since, in some parts of it, this formation is deeply eroded by the streams and its fountain-forming possibilities des- troyed. Success in these portions will be chiefly dependent on the Potsdam sandstone. As the majority of the deep-seated wells of Eastern Wisconsin derive their flow from the St. Peters sandstone, it is important to know at what elevation the upper face of that formation outerops. The following list will supply the requisite data for Jefferson County : Lake Mills, Section 3, northwest quarter, 319 feet; Section 4, northwest quarter, 330 feet. Milford, Section 7, south- west quarter, 251 feet ; Section 33, northeast quarter (estimated) 257 feet. Oakland, Section 18, southeast quarter, 246 feet ; Section 16, northwest corner, 264 feet ; Section 28, middle east line (estimated) 233 feet ; Section 30, northwest quarter, 253 feet. Sumner, Section 18 (esti- mated) 202 feet; Waterloo, Section 31, county line (estimated) 323 feet ; Section 35, south- east quarter (estimated), 277 feet.
GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS.
The northern part of the State is occupied by the oldest formations that are definitely known to geologists by observation, though theoretically there are older ones. These dip down 'beneath the sandstones and limestones that constitute the upper formations in the southern part of the State. They pass beneath Jefferson County at a depth of more than a thousand feet, and may be looked upon as forming the great rock floor upon which the later formations repose. There lies upon this floor first a great bed of sandstone, to which the name Potsdam has been given. The thickness of this is somewhat irregular, but is sometimes nearly, or quite one thou- sand feet. It does not appear at the surface anywhere in the county, but was penetrated by the Palmyra "oil well." Upon this sandstone, there lies the Lower Magnesian limestone. This is likewise irregular in thickness, varying in Eastern Wisconsin from about sixty feet to one hundred and fifty feet, while in the western part of the State it is sometimes two hundred and fifty feet thick. The most southerly point in Eastern Wisconsin at which the Lower Mag- nesian limestone appears is at Waterloo. Along the stream below the lower bridge, at the
587 Red sandstone.
350 Supposed lower magnesian limestone. Cal- ciferous sand rock.
660 Drab or cream-colored sandstone.
683 Soapstone or shale.
421
Gray sandstone.
750 Bottom of well, being 500 feet below Lake Michigan, 78 above the sea.
316
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
village, a low ledge presents its rough, weathered face to view. It consists of a coarse, cherty, buff, silicious dolomite, in medium beds of rough, uneven texture, owing in part to the irreg- ular cavities and granular porous spots, and in part to the presence of nodules of chert. The inequality of structure is exaggerated by the effects of long weathering, giving the surface a very ragged aspect. The exterior of the chert is usually white and rather soft, while the interior is dark or reddish, hard, translucent and flint-like. The outerop represents the upper portion of the formation.
ST. PETERS SANDSTONE.
Upon the Lower Magnesian limestone, there rests the St. Peters sandstone, which is also uneven in thickness, the average being, perhaps, seventy-five to one hundred feet. In this sand- stone, in the town of Waterloo, occur organic remains. It there has sufficient compactness to serve as a building-stone, but usually it is too soft. The latter fact. however, permits its exten- sive use as sand for mortar and similar purposes. At most localities, it can be dug with pick and shovel-the mere handling being sufficient to reduce it to sand. On account of its clear- ness, it is much superior to most drift sand.
TRENTON LIMESTONE.
Upon the St. Peters sandstone, there lies the Trenton limestone. It has been divided by the State Geologist into four subdivisions, These are the Lower Buff, the Lower Blue, the Upper Buff and the Upper Blue beds. All of these beds are more or less buff near the sur- face, so that the color is not a wholly reliable guide. Their thickness is as follows : Upper Blue beds, 15 feet; Upper Buff beds, 55 feet; Lower Blue beds, 25 feet, and Lower Buff beds, same thickness.
At the lower quarry, belonging to Mr. Krump, near Fort Atkinson. the upper portion of this formation (Trenton) is shown. About two miles below Jefferson, on the west side of Rock River, a little stream has cut down to dark mottled, fine grained, rather thick beds that are capable of receiving an excellent polish. Their lithological affinites are with the upper half of the formation. Near Aztalan are several quarries showing the junction of the Lower Buff layers and those above. The surface of the rock is beautifully polished and striated by glacial action. On the north side of Red Cedar Lake, in the town of Oakland, and in the vicinity on the west, the lower beds are displayed, showing a somewhat less firm rock than usual. The most inter- esting exposure of the Trenton limestone, in the town of Waterloo, is at the quarry of David Crump, in Section 35. The lower four feet are of thick bedded, very serviceable rock, above which lies one foot of thin shaly stone, succeeded by six feet of somewhat irregular layers of medium thickness, upon which are two feet of even bedded stone, overlaid by two and a half feet of thin, greenish, shaly material. The lower portion is to be regarded as representing the Lower Buff layers, and the upper ones the Lower Blue limestone.
THE GALENA LIMESTONE.
Upon the Trenton limestone, there rests a closely related formation known as the Galena limestone, from the fact that it is the main formation that bears galena or lead ore in the lead region of the southwestern part of the State. It differs from the Trenton limestone in being thieker bedded and having a more irregular texture, so that it weathers into rough, craggy forms and often has a rotten appearance. It is usually a deeper buff than the Trenton beds. Passing by several minor exposures in Jefferson County, we find, about two miles southeast of Fort Atkinson, quarries situated in the lower portion of this (the Galena limestone) formation ; and a little to the north, on the southeast quarter of Section 10, in Township 5 north, of Range 14 east, a quarry in the Upper Blue limestone. The rock from the former furnishes a good lime and an ordinary building stone. On the west side of Rock River, in the towns of Jefferson
317
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
and Oakland, are several patches of Galena limestone, forming the nucleus of the promi- nent hills of that region. On the east side of the river, the heavy drift accumulations effect- ually conceal the formation.
THE GLACIAL FORMATIONS OR DRIFT.
Long after the above formations had been deposited by the Silurian ocean, and had been lifted from the water and eroded into hills and valleys by the elements, the region was subjected to the action of ice and glacial waters, by which a covering of clay, sand, gravel and bowlders was deposited over the face of the region, well-nigh concealing all the strata beneath. This constitutes the drift, or glacial, or quaternary deposits that prevail at the service. They are composed of rounded frrgments and the ground-up material of various kinds of rocks. When carefully studied, it is found that all these fragments were derived from formations lying to the northward and northeastward, and that a great many of them came from the Lake Superior region and beyond, as, for instance, the copper that is occasionally found, sometimes in quite large lumps.
Taken altogether, this is one of the most puzzling formations known to geologists; and, although the explanations worked out by the recent geological survey in Wisconsin are prob- ably the most satisfactory that have ever been given, it would far transcend our limits to attempt to reproduce them here. Indeed, we can only mention one important resource to Jefferson County, springing from the drift-the manufacture of cream-colored brick, several millions of which are annually produced. Concerning the depth of this drift, or the ridges or belts formed of it, reference may be had to recent volumes of the Geology of Wisconsin.
SOIL OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
The Soil, the latest geological formation, was produced by the disintegration of the drift and of the rock where it approaches the surface. The surface of Jefferson County, west of the Rock and Crawfish Rivers, is generally covered (where cultivation has not changed it) with oak openings, with a small portion of prairie, and a larger part occupied by marshes-natural wet meadows. The upland is generally wooded with white, burr, and black or red oaks, that is. it was so wooded before cultivation began, with a soil varying with the vegetation found upon it in a state of nature. The prairies have an alluvial surface soil of great depth, from eight inches to two feet, with a clay subsoil slightly mixed with sand and lime pebbles. The marshes possess an alluvial soil of great depth, varying from two to ten feet, composed of vegetation in different stages of decomposition, and are underlaid generally with a strata of fine-washed beach sand, overlaying elay or rock. The burr-oak openings occupy a large portion of this region. They are characterized by a dark, alluvial surface soil, mixed with sand, and varying to quite sandy, the substratum less tenacious than that of the prairies, and varying to gravelly clay, rarely to sand and gravel. Next, the black or red oak openings have a surface of sandy loam, with a tenacious subsoil, varying to sandy. White-oak openings, generally occupying the most elevated portions of the west part of the county, have a tenacious soil, like the subsoil of the prairies.
East of Rock, but south of Bark River, a large portion of the county is burr-oak openings, characteristics of which are the same as those west of the first-mentioned stream, with the exeep- tion that the land covered by them is rather more sandy, and pretty freely sprinkled with granite bowlders. The white-oak openings also occupy the most elevated portions of this part of the county, as they do to the westward.
East of Rock, but north of Bark River, the soil is generally sandy, or elay loam covered with leaf mold, with all the variety of subsoil before described as existing in the west portions of the county, interspersed with marshes and tamarack or lareh swamp, easily susceptible of improvement by ditching and seeding with timothy or red-top. The upland was originally nearly all covered with a dense growth of miscellaneous timber, including the sugar maple, from
318
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
which, at an early day, nearly all the sugar used by the inhabitants was manufactured. The same description answers for the larger portion of the tract lying between the Rock and Craw- fish Rivers. The sub-stratum is generally composed of less compact materials than other por- tions, giving the roots of grasses access to the subsoil.
CLIMATOLOGY.
The climate of Jefferson County has its counterpart, nearly, in all the southern counties of Wisconsin. It is subject to about the same climatic conditions. What is true of one is quite true of all, especially of those located at some distance from Lake Michigan. The mean tem - perature for the year is not far from 45° ; for winter, 22°; for summer, 69º. The average rainfall for the year is 32 inches.
POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY.
Jefferson County is bounded on the north by the county of Dodge, cast by Waukesha County, south by Walworth and Rock, and west by the county of Dane. Its eastern boundary is about thirty-five miles west of Lake Michigan ; its western boundary nearly one hundred and eight miles east of the Mississippi. It covers an area of about five hundred and seventy-six square miles. This territory, with all the Northwest, was claimed by France from 1671 to 1763, when it was surrendered to the British. By the " Quebec Act" of 1774, the whole was placed under the local administration of Canada. It was, however, practically put under a despotic military rule, and so continued until possession passed to the United States. Before the last- mentioned event, and during and after the Revolution, the conflicting claims of Virginia, New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut to portions of the country were relinquished to the Gen- eral Government. All these claims were based upon chartered rights, and Virginia added to hers the right of conquest of the "Illinois country " during the Revolution. As early as Octo- ber, 1778, she declared, by an act of her General Assembly, that all the citizens of that commonwealth who were then settled, or should thereafter settle, on the western side of the Ohio, should be included in a distinct county, which should be called Illinois. No Virginians were then settled as far north as what is now Wisconsin ; and, as none thereafter located so far north before she relinquished all her rights to the United States, it follows that no part of our State was included in Illinois County, and that she never exercised any jurisdiction over any portion of Wisconsin : nor did she make claim to any portion of it by right of conquest.
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