Wine hell Memorial 91 



His work on "The Recession of the Falls of Saint An- 

 thony," for which Prof. Winchell justly received much praise, 

 was read as a paper before the Geological Society of London in 

 1878, and it is very fully presented in "The Geology of Hen- 

 nepin County," in Final Report, Vol. II, 1885. General G. K. 

 Warren had pointed out in 1868 that the Minnesota valley was 

 the channel of a glacial river at the end of the glacial period. 

 That Saint Anthony Falls was receding was well known. Prof. 

 N. H. Winchell put a logical interpretation upon the whole mat- 

 ter, however. By determining the rate of recession of the falls, 

 men the distance through which the falls had receded, he cal- 

 culated the age of the falls and the time in years of the end of 

 the glacial period. Excepting in some details this work has not 

 been questioned and has needed little revision in 40 years. Fol- 

 lowing his example geologists have calculated the recession of 

 Niagara Falls and quite remarkably the most complete results 

 there now agree closely with the results as given for Saint An- 

 thony Falls here. 



In "The Geology of Carlton County'' (Final Report Vol. IV, 

 1899), his knowledge of "Glacial Geology" was again employed. 

 He wrote very pertinently of many details regarding the drift 

 there, and of glacial rivers and glacial lakes. I think, however, 

 his interest in the subject was not great at that time since his 

 work is neither complete as to observation of phenomena nor 

 accurate in interpretation. 



Since the closing of the State Survey, Prof. N. H. W r in- 

 chell's ready knowledge of Glacial Geology enabled him to write 

 several papers or addresses on phases of the subject. One of 

 these, the "Glacial Lakes of Minnesota" (Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 

 Vol. 12, p. 109, 1901), is a very suggestive, speculative article, but 

 unlike his earlier work it follows rather than leads in the ad- 

 vance of science. I consulted with him to some extent during 

 his preparation of that paper. Not having been taught by him as 

 student, nor employed in the Survey of which he was director, 

 my personal acquaintance with him came chiefly from such 

 occasional informal conferences. Familiarity with his Final 

 Reports and other writings on my part made scientific discus- 

 sion or personal conferences on glacial, — or other geology in fact, 

 — a very easy matter. His persistent deep interest in science 



