88 PUBLIC PARKS OF IOWA 



forests being narrow strips along the streams. The average elevation of 

 the county as a whole is about 1,100 feet. Along the Des Moines river, 

 which crosses the county from north to south, the forest fringe varies 

 from a quarter of a mile to more than three miles in width and is made 

 up of such trees as oak, hickory, elm, ash, basswood and the like. Both 

 branches of Lizard Creek are wooded and Soldier Creek and most of the 

 other streams have more or less of woods along them. The larger part of 

 the surface of the county is open rolling prairie with a soil of "Wisconsin 

 Drift" for the most part with a few moradnic hills of coarse gravel, most 

 noticeable in the northern parts of the county, but some Isolated mounds 

 in the south part are very striking. 



"The natural drainage system of the country is quite young and the 

 stream systems are comparatively simple. As a result of these conditions 

 marshes, ponds and sloughs of considerable area abound, although these 

 areas are now being reclaimed by ditches. 



"In the southern part of the county the Des Moines and its tributaries 

 flow through the Coal Measures Sandstones and their valleys are bounded 

 by abrupt escarpments of the sandstone, with steep cliffs from forty to 

 one hundred feet in height. 



"Another element which perhaps enters into the conditions producing 

 such an abundant and varied series of plants here, is the fact that the 

 portion of the country about Fort Dodge, in the central part of the county, 

 is underlaid by beds many feet thick of gypsum or land plaster, and while 

 it has been contended that these underlying beds have no direct influence 

 on the vegetation of this section, the fact still remains that the area near 

 the exposure of the gypsum beds, viz.: the valley of Two Mile Creek, or 

 as it is more familiarly known Gypsum-Hollow, and the Des Moines valley 

 near Blanden's Mill have an entirely distinctive flora from any other 

 points, not only as to species but as to relative density of growth." 



Mr. J. F. Ford, of Fort Dodge, in a letter to the writer makes the fol- 

 lowing state: "I can appreciate fully the sentiment that moves Mr. Price 

 to call your attention to the scenic beauty as well as to the scientific value 

 of Woodman's Hollow, just east of Otho. 



"I have been a little backward myself in calling the attention of the 

 board to this and other "places in this locality from the fact that there 

 might be a tendency to criticise the board for selecting territory in the 

 immediate vicinity of the homes of the members of the board. Neverthe- 

 less, after seeing all of the territories that we have gone over in the past 

 few weeks and hearing them described in the glowing terms that I have 

 heard, I feel that I have something in this locality to show the members 

 of the board that has not been surpassed in any of the territory gone 

 over up to this time. One thing I am certain of, that without going out- 

 side of the corporate limits of the city I can show the members of the 

 board a view or vista, as it is termed, that is second to none on the Des 

 Moines river in the state of Iowa. 



"Personally, there are a few places that I would like to have included 

 in our recommendations and before our work would be considered finished 

 I should like very much to go over the territory referred to by Mr. Kelso 

 in Jackson county, and I would like to have the opportunity of showing the 



