PHYSICAL AyD CLIMATIC SETTING 7 



River) proceeds eastward overland to a stream enter- 

 ing Saginaw Bay, bisecting the peninsula. 



The glacial drift left by the retreating ice has 

 been heaped up, windrowed and scoured, until the 

 surface presents a succession of ridges, hills and 

 depressions — the remains of ancient water-courses, the 

 outlets of glacial waters seeking the sea by strange 

 paths unknown to the geographies of today. Most 

 considerable of these glacial rivers was the "Grand 

 Eiver Outlet," whose ample valley extends from 

 southern Gratiot County to a point below Grand 

 Eapids; and its affluent, the "Imlay' Channel, whose 

 course may still be traced on a line from Owosso 

 and Ovid to Maple Rapids. Relatively tiny streams 

 now trickle down the beds of these once mighty 

 waterways. 



In flood time, there is a quick expansion and 

 drowning of the old valley floor, and a quick reces- 

 sion to the restricted channels of the present, after 

 a deposit of fluvial silt has been left to enrich the 

 fertility of the soil.' On the other hand, while Michi- 

 gan has no true mountains, there are points in both 

 peninsulas wdiich bear this designation because of 

 their prominent position in the landscape. Thus 

 Mount Judah, six miles north of Pontiac, has an 

 elevation of 1,180 feet above sea-level, and Bald 

 Mountain in the same locality is 1,195 feet high. 



There are numerous other hills and kames in the 

 southern counties of the State from 1,000 to 1,200 

 feet in elevation. The morainic country near Cadillac 

 reaches an elevation of 1,500 feet. The eastern 



