DEVILS LAKE, NORTH DAKOTA. 



other and smaller remnant, Itnown as Mission Bay, is practically 

 isolated. A study of the accompanying chart shows the diminished 

 area by comparison of the shore line charted by the United States 

 Geological Survey in 1883 with that shown by the present investiga- 

 tions in 1907. The total area of the lake approximates 102.75 square 

 miles, inclosed in a basin 40.5 miles long by 8 miles wide. 



The shore line is very irregular, the character in general being 

 similar to that of a marine littoral, bowlders, wholly or partly in- 

 crusted with a white alkaline deposit, and gravelly or sandy 

 stretches occurring throughout its extent. 



The floor of the lake is practically level, rising from a depth 

 of 25 feet to the shallow portions near the shores or forming sand 

 bars and stony reefs at mouths of bays. In general the deepest 

 area is that of the southern side under the lee of the morainal 

 ridges of Sullys Hill and Fort Totten, while the entire western 

 section beyond La Eose Ferry is but 3 feet deep, with underlying 

 soft black mud supporting an abundance of weeds and inaccessible 

 to all but the lightest draft boats. We^ of Grahams Island the 

 lake is almost dried up, two or three small ponds being the sole 

 vestiges of a once broad expanse of water. The northern ends of 

 Creel and Six-Mile Bay are desiccated and the eastern portion of 

 the main section, at the southern end of Eoque Island and contigu- 

 ous to the railroad trestle, has rapidly shoaled with sand bars and- 

 reefs within 1 or 2 feet of the surface. The narrower portions 

 of the lake are rapidlv contracting and in general it may be said 

 that it is rapidly becoming broken up into detached bodies, these 

 in turn diminishing in size. 



For purposes of this report the lake may be divided into four nat- 

 ural sections as follows: (1) The main section, including the deepest 

 and most important part of the lake, from the narrow pass at La 

 Rose Ferry to the public highwaj^ and railroad trestle of the Great 

 Northern Railroad; (2) the eastern section, from the eastern limit 

 of the main section to Lamoreau Bridge; (3) Lamoreau Bay, the 

 detached extreme eastern portion of the lake system; (4) the west- 

 ern section, comprising all remaining water west of La Rose Ferry 

 to Minnewaukan and Mauvaise Coulee. 



MAIK SECTION. 



From La Rose Ferry to the Great Northern Railroad bridge the 

 main section extends for about 8 miles, and its greatest breadth 

 from the mouth of Creel Bay to the wharf at Fort Totten is about 

 5^ miles, embracing a total area of 34.50 square miles. Into its 

 northwestern end opens Six-Mile Bay, into its mid-northern shore 

 Creel Bay, and into its southeastern end Little Mission Bay. 



