74 THE GEOLOGY OF MINNESOTA. 



[Nicollet, 1838. 



Further, in reference to La Hontan river : when the French were in possession of the 

 country it was known by the name Riviere aux Canots or Canoe river, as it was there that the 

 traders were in the habit of concealing their canoes. Its present name of Cannon river is evidently 

 a corruption of the French one. The one which it bore among the Sioux in 1700, when Le Sueur 

 ascended the Mississippi (and which it still bears) was Inyan-bosndata, or Standing Rock. 



CASTLE ROCK, LONE BOCK AND CHIMNEY ROCK. 



This Indian name (Inyan-bosndata) is that of a natural obelisk which occurs on a low and sandy 

 plain four miles to the north of the crossing place, on the "north fork of La Hontan river."* This 

 heap of disintegrated sandstone rock is thirty-six feet high. It is a curious specimen of the 

 weatheiing of the sandstone of the west, that may be compared to the earth pillars left behind by 

 workmen to mark the extent of their excavations, and is possibly a relic of the thickness of the 

 formation previous to the devastating agency of the elements, that has altered the original level of 

 the surface of the country. My friend, the Viscomte de Montmort (then an attache to the French 

 legation at Washington, who accompanied me in this excursion), has furnished me with an 

 admirable drawing of it, as well as of the natural monument next to be mentioned. 



Twelve miles north of the natural obelisk which I have just described, near the crossing 

 place of the Vermilion river, there are other evidencesf of the great denudation of the surface that 

 has taken place in this region. One of them is also remarkable by its symmetrical outlines, 

 bearing the appearance of a dilapidated castle of feudal times, such as are seen in the Alps and 

 other places ; hence its name. I have thought it of sufficient importance to indicate their situa- 

 tions on my map. These natural monuments are mentioned by Mr. Featherstonhaugh upon infor- 

 mation received from others, but he did not visit them. 



THE DBS MOINES CONNECTED WITH THE MINNESOTA. 



Mr. Nicollet called attention to the hydrographical relations of the 

 Des Moines river with the Blue Earth, the Minnesota and the Mississippi 

 rivers. The point of geographical interest is found in latitude 43 45', lon- 

 gitude 95 12', where there is a lake very near the Des Moines, called Tclian 

 shetcha or Dry Wood lake. The Blue Earth river, by means of its tributary, 

 the Watonwan, has one of its sources in this lake, and the land separating 

 it from the Des Moines is not more than a mile or a mile and a half in 

 width. Thus a short canal would bring the Des Moines into communica- 

 tion with the Minnesota. This interesting fact was formerly taken advan- 

 tage of by the Indian fur traders, who, after spending the winter on the 

 headwaters of the Des Moines, tound it convenient to bring their peltries 

 by water communication through the Watonwan valley and the Blue Earth 

 to the mouth of the Minnesota river. 



* Chub creek in Dakota county. 

 t Lone rock and Chimney rook. 



