' \ 



X I. \iifrs nti tJir Crajuf/t/ miff />'///// ;/v o/' / 

 ///<' \(n-f/n'i'n J'lfifj 



Read February 4th. 1884. 



Having been several times over the lino of the Northern 

 Pacific IJ. K., and through the country bordering tin- ! 

 Columbia and Puget's Sound, and having found some things 

 that were of interest to me, I venture to offer a few notes upon 

 them to the members of the Academy. 



(ming west from Duluth to Brainerd. t''e line of the mad for 

 the most part lies in what is evidently the old deserted hcd of a 

 ward extension of Lake Superior, The ground i<>till 1\\ 

 and swampy, and much of the surface is formed of what is un- 

 mistakably lake sand. 



From Chicago through Wisconsin and Minnesota, the road 

 pamec OTer an almost unbroken sheet of drift, which tlmu^i, ,,f 

 great interest, has been PO fully illust rate<l in the able repor 

 Kferan. Chaniherlin. Winchell and rpham. that nothing furihci 

 need be said here in regard to it. At variou- points the true 

 till is seen, with its striated pebble-; and one <ueli e\; 

 within reach of e\ery traxdcr. ;i t Aiulubon. He\ond thi^. flu- 

 hnulder- Are -cattcred OY6F the BUfl the 



ditches continue a> evidence of t he t ransport of material ' 

 the eastern highlands. About P>:-marck the boulders. th<- 

 fcwcr, are .-till not rare, and are gathered in groups. M elsewhere 

 along the margin of the drift area. Constituting a kind of fringe, 

 and sugge.-ting their transport b\ ice float-. 'I'he last of these 

 boulders is seen at Sims, about .'<> miles from Bismarck, I 

 this jioint to the rros-iiiL' of the Little Mi -s-.ur i. one eon Id hardly 

 find to throu at a hinl. or a shrub big enough ton 



a tooth-pick. This ivi-ion i< an n DOrthward of that 



broader prairie area which I ha\' 



