8 DEVILS LAKE, NORTH DAKOTA. 



WESTERN SECTION. 



This broad section formerly extended from La Rose Ferry, at the 

 eastern end of the United States reservation on Grahams Island, 

 westward to Minnewaukan, 11 miles distant. The area to the west 

 of Grahams Island is now dessicated and covered by a growth of wild 

 grass and weeds, with a narrow channel, not deeper than 3 feet, run- 

 ning northerly to the northwestern extremity of the island toward the 

 old course of the Mauvaise Coulee. The drying up of the straits at 

 Spaldings Ferry and at a point midway between there and the mouth 

 of the coulee forms two small detached bodies of water, the remnant 

 of the tributary arm of this section. Only skiffs or gasoline launches 

 with a draft of 18 inches or less can pass through this portion of 

 Devils Lake. The bottom consists of soft black mud, 2 to 3 feet deep, 

 sustaining a growth of weeds that continually entangled the pro- 

 peller, forcing frequent halts. The greatest depth found was 7 to 8 

 feet, the average 3 feet. 



The shores along the southern margin of Grahams Island consist 

 of wide mud flats, in many localities over 50 feet in width, but the 

 southern shore presents a narrower stony littoral and a nearer ap- 

 proach to the conditions found in the main section. The average 

 density of water was 1.005 and temperature 74,3° F. 



AVATERS ADJACENT TO DEVILS LAKE. 



To determine the conditions obtaining in neighboring lakes relative 

 to the character of the water, fauna, flora, and other factors impor- 

 tant in the study of fish life, brief examinations were made of the fol- 

 lowing : 



Court or Spring Lake. — This is a small sheet of fresh water sit- 

 uated one-eighth mile from Little Mission Bay beyond the roadway 

 and its western bank and inclosed on all sides by wooded hills which 

 protect it from storms that sweep Devils Lake. Its area is approxi- 

 mately one quarter section. No bottom soundings could be made, but 

 a depth of 8 feet and over was found by one of the members of the 

 party swimming about and " sinking." A muddy bottom was found 

 in the center. Small stretches of sandy shore here and there alter- 

 nate with the rushes and aquatic plants that protect the littoral. 

 Shrubbery and woods approach the water's edge and uncultivated 

 land surrounds this beautiful sheet of water hidden among the hills. 

 The temperature found July 25, 1907, at 11.30 a. m., was 73.5° F., the 

 density being 1.000. 



No recession of the water was noted, and there were no evidences 

 of the conditions obtaining in the big lake situated but a few rods 

 away. The lake is fed by bottom springs, its level is 20 feet above 



