CHAPTER YI. 



THE GEOLOGY OF FILLMORE COUNTY. 



BY N. II. WINCIIELL. 



This county is shown on plate 10. It is situated next w.est of Houston 

 county and borders on the Iowa state line. Its area, including land and 

 water, amounts to 555,014.44 acres, of which 1,912.54 acres are water. It 

 contains no lakes, this water area consisting of the actual water surface 

 of the larger streams, as meandered by the United States surveyors. The 

 most of the county is suitable for farm tillage. The county seat is Preston, 

 in the valley of the south branch of the Root river. Lanesboro, Spring 

 Valley, Chatfield and Rushford are its other principal towns. 



SURFACE FEATURES. 



Natural drainage. The surface waters of the county are removed almost 

 wholly by the various tributaries of Root river, the only exceptions being 

 in Beaver, Bristol, Harmony and Canton townships, where a few small 

 valleys are drained by the Upper Iowa river, which skirts along the state 

 boundary in this county. Root river, flowing toward the east, spreads out 

 its tributaries toward the north, west and south, like the rays of a fan' 

 crossing the entire county from west to east. Many of these tributaries 

 rise in the counties next west and north, in a tract of country covered by 

 the northern drift. After passing the county line they soon enter canon - 

 like valleys, the drift at the same time becoming much lighter. They then 

 converge toward the main valley, following deeply cut rocky valleys, and 

 leave the county in one volume a little east of Rushford, in the northeastern 

 corner. These streams furnish frequent water-power, and in a number of 

 places this has been improved in the erection of mills. 



Water-power and water-power mills in Fillmore county. 



At Chatfield, T. Dickson's mill has thirty horse-power; twenty feet head ; making forty bar- 

 rels of flour per day. The main mill has a 26-inch Mulligan wheel. There are also one 17j-inch 

 Leffel wheel, 4 run of stone (one for feed| and one set of smooth rollers. John Cozzen's mill has 

 20 or 25 horse-power, with a twelve-foot head, making from fifteen to twenty barrels per day ; has 

 a 40-inch Dayton (Ohio) wheel, one set of smooth rollers and two run of stone, one being for feed. 



