MOWER COUNTY. 365 



Modified drift Mounds.] 



the country is increased, and the contour is much more rough. North of 

 Austin this belt of gravel and sand extends to Madison, and is sometimes 

 partly composed of stratified clay, as shown by wells in -sees. 20 and 9 in 

 Udolpho. At Dexter the surface consists of a loamy till, and at one mile 

 east of Dexter there is a cut by the railroad in loam showing a thickness 

 of five or six feet, while in the adjoining low land lies a large granite boul- 

 der. In general throughout the northern part of the county the till is 

 found from six to twelve inches beneath the surface. In the valleys of 

 Deer and Bear creeks is found more or less stratified clay, and this has 

 been employed, formerly, in the manufacture of red brick, on sees. 15 and 

 16. Frankford. 



Mounds. There is a multitude of mounds on the high prairies between 

 Grand Meadow and Le Roy, which, were it not for their great number, 

 would be unhesitatingly pronounced artificial. They are first seen sur- 

 rounding a marsh about a quarter of a mile across, about two miles and a 

 quarter south of Grand Meadow. About twenty are here visible, rising 

 each about two feet above the surface. Farther south they increase in 

 number, extending three or more miles toward the south and southwest. 

 Probably five hundred could be counted, some being five feet high. They 

 are scattered promiscuously over the upper prairie. The surface has the 

 appearance of having been poorly drained formerly, and was perhaps cov- 

 ered with shallow water till late into the summer season. These mounds 

 have the popular reputation of being "gopher knolls." It is thought that 

 they occur where the ground is wet and the clay near the surface. Yet, 

 south of the region designated they do not exist, though there is no appar- 

 ent difference in the prairie. The material of which they consist is the 

 ordinary loam of the surface soil. Several of them have been removed, when 

 near the highway, and the material hauled into the street for grading. 

 There is no record or knowledge of any human bones or other relics 

 having been found in them. 



MATERIAL RESOURCES. 



With the exception of the central high prairie portion of Mower 

 county, it is tolerably well supplied with wood for common fuel. On the 

 prairies referred to wood is costly. That portion of the county is thinly 



