CONTRIBUTIONS OF N. H. WINCHELL TO THE GEOL- 

 OGY OF THE IRON RANGES OF MINNESOTA 



By W. H. Emmons 

 Professor of Geology, University of Minnesota 



The establishment of the Minnesota Geological and Natural 

 History Survey was brought about by a law drafted by Pres. 

 W. W. Folwell, and introduced by Sen. J. S. Pillsbury, which 

 passed the legislature of Minnesota on March 1; 1872. The pur- 

 poses of this Survey were to carry on a geological and natural 

 history survey of the state, and to prepare a geological map of 

 the state on which the various geological formations should be 

 shown. Prof. N. H. Winchell was appointed State Geologist 

 in July, 1872, and his service began September of that year. 

 On December 31, 1872, the first annual report appeared and in 

 it was presented a brief summary of the then existing knowl- 

 edge of the geology of Minnesota. Following this for 24 years, 

 begun 1872, and ended 1895, annual reports, in all 24, were 

 issued. Besides these reports, bulletins were issued as follows : 

 No. 3, botanical, in '86 ; No. 2, on petrology and No. 4 on aphidae, 

 in '87; No. 5, on natural gas, in '89; No. 6, on the iron ores, in 

 '91 ; No. 7, on Minnesota mammals, in '92 ; No. 8, on igneous 

 rocks, in '93; No. 9, botanical, in '98; and No. 10, on the geology 

 of the Mesabi Range, in '94. 



Along with the series of 24 annual reports and the 10 bulle- 

 tins, six great quarto volumes were issued, entitled the Final 

 Report of the Geological and Natural History Survey. Of these 

 Vol. 3, on Paleontology, was divided in two parts; Part 1, 474 

 pages and Part 2, 607 pages, both illustrated with plates and 

 figures. While the annual reports and bulletins treated all parts 

 of the state and some of them the geology as a whole, the Final 

 Reports included a regional treatment of groups of counties. 



Material for the first report was gathered from 1872 to 

 1882 and the report, Vol. 1, was issued in 1884. This treated 

 about three tiers of counties along the south border of the state, 

 including Houston, Winona, Fillmore, Olmsted, Mower, Dodge, 



83 



