CHAPTER III. 



BEAVER DAMS. 



Remarkable Beaver District — Number of Beaver Dams — Other Works — 

 Cliaracter of the Region — Beavers now Abundant — Map of Area — Object 

 of Dams — Their Great Age — Of Two Kinds — Interlaced Stick-Dam — 

 Solid Bank Dam — Great Beaver Dam at Grass Lake — Its Dimensions — 

 Surrounding Landscape — Mode of Construction — Lower Face — Water 

 Face — Great Curve — Mode of discharging Surplus Water — Artistic Ap- 

 pearance of this Dam — Necessity for Continuous Repairs — Measurements 

 — Cubic Contents — Photograph — Manner of taking same — Relation of 

 Dam below — Same of one above — Manner of Repairing Dams. 



The particular beaver district which I have selected 

 for presentation is situated upon the summit level of 

 the coast range of hills that skirt the southwest shore 

 of Lake Superior, immediately west of Marquette. 

 It is the district shown upon the map. In length, 

 from east to west, it is eight miles, and six miles 

 broad, from north to south. This area is traversed by 

 a small stream, known as Carp River, which empties 

 into Lake Superior, and also by the Ely Branch of 

 the Esconauba^ River, which rises in this area and 

 flows southward into Lake Michigan. It is, therefore, 

 seen to embrace a portion of the dividing ridge that 

 separates the drainage of the two great lakes, with 

 slopes in both directions. Within this district are 

 situated the three remarkable hills of rock iron ore, 

 now so well known throughout the country as the 

 Jackson, Cleveland, and Lake ^ Superior Iron Mines, 



* Ish-ko-nau-ba. 

 (78) 



