34 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 



is 576 feet. The intervening space between these two mea- 

 sured spots is the rock point on which the fort stands, and a 

 grassy bottom, the w4iole measuring 1263 feet. The mean 

 height of the plain supporting Fort Snelhng and the Indian 

 Agency is 106 feet above the common low water of the two 

 rivers, and the height of the Pilot Knob above the same level, 

 262 feet." — Ih., p. 67, et seq. 



Lake Pepin, about 110 miles below St. Peter's, excels all 

 other points on the Missisippi, below St. Anthony's, in the 

 beauty and majesty of its scenery. It is an enlargement of 

 the Missisippi, in some places three miles wide, and averag- 

 ing about two and a half, filling the whole space from bluff to 

 bluff, except at two points, where a small meadow appears, 

 and extending in length tw^enty-one miles upon the river. Its 

 greatest width is at the southern extremity. The rapid cur- 

 rent of the river here settles mto an almost stagnant pool, and 

 the lake presents a smooth and nearly motionless expanse of 

 water without a single island, though the river, in its whole 

 course, has a great many, dotting and diversifying the water 

 scenery at short distances. The majestic bluffs of limestone 

 that wall in the lake, stretch with more regularity, and rise to 

 a height more nearly uniform than in other parts of the river. 

 The Lake is at times considered dangerous when ruffled by 

 storms. " Le lac est petit, mais il est malin," said Major 

 Long's interpreter. On the eastern bank, about midway on 

 the Lake, the rocky bluff rises to a height of 450 feet, the 

 superior 150 feet being perpendicular, and the remaining 

 portion below very abrupt. It forms a point projecting into 

 the Lake, with a small estuary on cither side. This point 

 has received the name of the jMaiden's Rock, from an incident 

 which is related by Major Long. 



In the band of Wapasha inhabiting the village of Keoxa 

 was a young Indian maid called Winona, " the first-born." 



