DEVILS LAKE, NORTH DAKOTA. 5 
other and smaller remnant, known 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 Rose 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. West 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 Roque 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 rapidly 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 highway 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 Coulée. 
MAIN 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 
53 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. 
