BY A. GIBB MAITLAND, C.E., F.G.S. 3^ 



" about 600ft. in 75 miles east from the meridian of Devil's 

 " Lake and Jamestown, rising in its approach toward the 

 " Silurian, Cambrian, and Archaean areas of Minnesota and 

 '' Manitoba. It may be thus the bed-rock on which the drift is 

 " deposited, beneath extensive tracts in the middle part and on 

 " the western border of the Red River Valley, discharging there 

 " its alkaline and saline artesian water into the permeable beds 

 '-' of gravel and sand in the drift sheet, whence it rises in the 

 " brackish wells of that district.* 



Many natural artesian springs rise through the drift in the 

 Red River Valley, both in North Dakota and in Minnesota, the 

 most notable bemg on the Forest and Park rivers, which on 

 account of the saline and alkaline character of the waters, were 

 at one time called the Big and Little Salt Rivers. 



It may be convenient here to mention that in the autumn of 

 181)0, the well at Huron Waterworks, in Beadle County. South 

 Dakota, showed signs of giving out, or at any rate a considerable 

 diminution in the pressure was noticeable. In consequence of this 

 a series of observations extending over a considerable period 

 were made on wells in the neighbourhood. As a result of the 

 investigations it was found that each of these wells, acting m 

 sympathy, suffered a gradual decline in pressure, which continued 

 until the month of December, when it ceased. From December 

 to May the pressure in each well was gradually augmented to an 

 equal amount, while the maximum pressure was recorded in the 

 middle of June. These observations point to dependence upon 

 the seasonal variations along the flanks of the Rocky Mountains 

 W'here the catchment area exists. 



Having briefly described the structure of the North 

 American artesian water area, it remains to mention a few 

 important conclusions which may be drawn from the somewhat 

 dry details previously given. 



The most important conclusion is that nowhere except 

 possibly Denver, in the area of country w'hich I have described 

 are the water-bearing rocks disposed in the shape of those 

 ideal basins, sections of which have done duty for many years 

 in geological manuals. (Plate 11, , fig. 2). Both on the coastal and 



" Artesian Wells in North and South Dakota. W. Upham, American Geologist, 

 Vol. VI., Oct., 1890, pp. 219-220. 



