PARK SITES ALONG DES MOINES VALLEY 



573 



is fairly steep and well wooded and below town the west wall 

 is quite rugged and is heavily timbered. It seems that along 

 much of its length in Emmet county the west wall of the valley 

 formed the eastern margin of a belt of rough, glacial morainic 

 country. This condition, aided by post-glacial erosion of the 

 valley wall, has made for exceedingly picturesque scenery, which 

 should be preserved for all time. Beyond the distance of a mile 

 or two below towi\ the timber is scattering and for many miles 

 the walls are nearly treeless, except in sheltered spots. In Palo 

 Alto county, too, the belt of rough county leaves the river, hence 

 the valley is shallow and the slopes are gentle. At Emmetsburg, 

 however, Art is assisting Nature in making beauty spots of a 

 long, narrow, rather shallow pool known as Medium lake, around 



]S5. — The valley of the West Fork at Humboldt. 



wiiose southern end the town has grown. This already is a 

 credit to the foresight of the townspeople and is destined to be 

 of increasing beauty and utility. 



Just aibove Bradgate, at the western edge of Humboldt county, 

 the river, which has been following a post-glacial valley, enters 

 on older, interglacial watercourse. This is deeper and is 

 bounded by steeper walls than the younger valley, hence attrac- 

 tive points and beauty spots are more abundant. Just south 

 of Bradgate the steep bluff is clothed for a mile with a fringe 

 of timber which with care would make a pretty spot and which 

 is easy of access from the town. At Humboldt again the bluff 

 rises sixty or seventy feet above the rocky channel, which re- 

 minds one, to use President Macbride's phrase, of "some New 

 England mountain channel, rather than the quiet creeping river 



