﻿1 
  86 
  Geological 
  Survey 
  of 
  Louisiana 
  [Sect. 
  

  

  was 
  a 
  general 
  subsidence 
  of 
  a 
  very 
  large 
  tract, 
  including 
  the 
  

   bluffs 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  the 
  bottoms, 
  and 
  that 
  it 
  took 
  place 
  since 
  the 
  

   removal 
  of 
  the 
  Caddo 
  Indians. 
  He 
  says, 
  that 
  a 
  few 
  years 
  ago, 
  

   when 
  a 
  few 
  of 
  the 
  Caddo 
  Indians 
  came 
  back 
  to 
  visit 
  the 
  country 
  

   they 
  told 
  him 
  that 
  they 
  used 
  to 
  cultivate 
  cornfields 
  on 
  land 
  

   adjoining 
  these 
  oak 
  and 
  pine 
  stumps, 
  and 
  now 
  covered 
  with 
  

   water 
  to 
  the 
  same 
  depth, 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  entire 
  country 
  was 
  above 
  

   overflow."* 
  The 
  statement 
  of 
  the 
  Indians 
  is 
  in 
  part 
  substanti- 
  

   ated 
  by 
  a 
  group 
  of 
  mounds 
  in 
  Sec. 
  5, 
  19 
  N., 
  14 
  W. 
  A 
  compari- 
  

   son 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  maps 
  accompanying 
  this 
  report 
  will 
  show 
  that 
  the 
  

   site 
  of 
  these 
  mounds 
  was 
  covered 
  by 
  Sodo 
  lake 
  during 
  the 
  raft 
  

   period. 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Joseph 
  Paxton, 
  in 
  a 
  letter 
  written 
  in 
  1828, 
  gives 
  a 
  similar 
  

   account 
  of 
  Bodcau 
  lake. 
  He 
  says: 
  " 
  Bodcaw 
  prairie 
  is 
  repre- 
  

   sented 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  exceedingly 
  beautiful, 
  and 
  thirty 
  years 
  since 
  

   was 
  the 
  resort 
  of 
  immense 
  herds 
  of 
  buffaloes. 
  It 
  is 
  now 
  a 
  stag- 
  

   nant 
  lake."t 
  These 
  statements, 
  together 
  with 
  very 
  positive 
  

   evidence 
  furnished 
  by 
  the 
  only 
  partially 
  decayed 
  trees 
  in 
  Ferry 
  

   lake 
  shows 
  a 
  very 
  sudden 
  and 
  recent 
  origin 
  of 
  these 
  lakes. 
  

  

  The 
  most 
  common 
  theory 
  of 
  the 
  origin 
  of 
  these 
  lakes 
  is 
  that 
  

   they 
  were 
  formed 
  by 
  the 
  sudden 
  lowering 
  of 
  a 
  portion 
  of 
  land 
  by 
  

   earthquakes 
  ; 
  in 
  a 
  similar 
  way 
  and 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  time 
  as 
  the 
  Sunk 
  

   lands 
  of 
  the 
  St. 
  Francis 
  basin 
  and 
  Reelfoot 
  lake 
  near 
  New 
  

   Madrid, 
  Mo., 
  which 
  were 
  formed 
  by 
  the 
  earthquake 
  of 
  1811-12. 
  

   lyyell, 
  in 
  his 
  Principles 
  of 
  Geology, 
  nth 
  edition, 
  vol. 
  i, 
  page 
  

   452, 
  after 
  quoting 
  Darby's 
  statement 
  that 
  the 
  lakes 
  have 
  been 
  

   formed 
  by 
  the 
  damming 
  of 
  the 
  mouths 
  of 
  the 
  tributary 
  stream 
  

   valleys 
  with 
  the 
  Red 
  river 
  alluvium, 
  suggests 
  that 
  they 
  owe 
  their 
  

   origin 
  in 
  part 
  to 
  earthquake 
  action. 
  Lyell 
  had 
  just 
  visited 
  the 
  

   sunk 
  region 
  about 
  New 
  Madrid, 
  and 
  was 
  greatly 
  impressed 
  with 
  

   the 
  phenomena 
  there 
  shown. 
  

  

  There 
  are 
  several 
  reasons 
  for 
  believing 
  that 
  the 
  lakes 
  do 
  not 
  

   owe 
  their 
  origin 
  to 
  earthquakes. 
  Probably 
  the 
  most 
  satisfactory 
  

   are 
  the 
  results 
  obtained 
  in 
  the 
  borings 
  made 
  by 
  the 
  Cypress 
  

   bayou 
  survey 
  in 
  1892 
  under 
  the 
  direction 
  of 
  Capt. 
  Willard. 
  Of 
  

  

  *43d 
  Cong. 
  1st 
  Sess. 
  House 
  Ex. 
  Doc, 
  vol. 
  2, 
  part 
  2, 
  pp. 
  658-659, 
  1873 
  ; 
  

   An. 
  Rept. 
  Chief 
  Eng. 
  for 
  1873, 
  pp. 
  658-659. 
  

  

  t 
  20th 
  Cong. 
  2d 
  Sess. 
  Senate 
  Doc, 
  vol. 
  i. 
  No. 
  78. 
  p. 
  10, 
  1829. 
  

  

  