68 THE GEOLOGY OF MINNESOTA. 



[Nicollet, 1839. 



well if the methods of Nicollet could have been adhered to in the further 

 surveying and mapping of the western territories. Their geography would 

 have been less rapidly developed, but it would have been done more cor- 

 rectly. Nicollet' s map embraces a multitude of names, including many new 

 ones, which he applied to lakes and streams. These are not represented on 

 the general historical map, but may be seen on referring to Nicollet's map 

 as reproduced. 



Mr. Nicollet makes but few references to the geology and natural 

 history of the region he surveyed, his main purpose being geographical 

 information. Lieut. J. C. Fremont was his principal aid. He also employed 

 Mr. Charles Geyer as a practical botanist, whose collections were named by 

 Prof. John Torrey. His fossils were named by himself, or by the assistance 

 of Vanuxem and Conrad of the New York Geological Survey, then lately 

 instituted. 



MR. NICOLLET ON THE COTEAU DES PKAIRIES. 



The basin of the upper Mississippi is separated in a great part of its extent from that of the 

 Missouri, by an elevated plain, the appearance of which, seen from the plain of the St. Peter's, or 

 that of the river Jacques, looming as it were a distant shore, has suggested for it the name of Coteau 

 des Prairies. Its more appropriate designation would be that of plateau, which means something 

 more than is conveyed to the mind by the expression, a plain. 



Its northern extremity is in latitude 46, extending to 43 ; after which it loses its distinctive 

 elevation above the surrounding plains, and passes into rolling prairies. Its length is about two 

 hundred miles, and its general direction N. N. W.and S. S. E. Its northern termination, (called 

 Tete du Coteau, in consequence of its peculiar configuration,) is not more than fifteen to twenty 

 miles across ; its elevation above the level of the Big Stone lake is 890 feet, and above the ocean 

 1916 feet. Starting from this extremity {that is, the head of the Coteau,) the surface of the plateau 

 is undulating, forming many dividing ridges which separate the waters flowing into the St. Peter's 

 and the Mississippi from those of the Missouri. 



Under the forty-fourth degree of latitude, the breadth of the Coteau is about forty miles, 

 and its mean elevation is here reduced to 1450 feet above the sea. Within this space its two slopes 

 are rather abrupt, crowned with verdure and scolloped by deep ravines thickly shaded with 

 bushes, forming the beds of rivulets that water the subjacent plains. 



The Coteau itself is isolated, in the midst of boundless and fertile prairies, extending to the 

 west, to the north, and into the valley of the St. Peter's. 



The plain at its northern extremity is a most beautiful tract of land, diversified by hills, 

 dales, woodlands and lakes, the last abounding in fish. This region of country is probably the 

 most elevated between the gulf of Mexico and Hudson's bay. From its summit, proceeding from 

 its western to its eastern limits, grand views are afforded. At its eastern border, particularly, 

 the prospect is magnificent beyond description, extending over the immense green turf that forms 

 the basin of the Bed river of the North, the forest-capped summits of the hauteurs des terres that 

 surround the sources of the Mississippi, the granitic valley of the upper St. Peter's, and the 

 depressions in which are lake Traverse and the Big Stone lake. There can be no doubt that in 

 future times this region will be the summer resort of the wealthy of the land. * 



The other portions of the Coteau, ascending from the lower latitudes, present pretty much 

 the same characters. This difference, however, is remarkable : that the woodlands become 



