COTTON \\OOI) AND JACKSOX COCXTIES. 493 



Natural drainage. 



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this name; Bingham lake, one mile long from northeast to southwest, close north of the town 

 to which its name is given; Clear. Cotton wood, Wolf, Surr.mit and Glen lakes, one-third to two- 

 thirds of a mile long, ii> the west and southwest portions of Lakeside, one to three miles eastward 

 from Windom, beautiful lakes of clear water, divided by irregular hilly or rolling areas of prai- 

 rie, and skirted by narrow woods; Fish lake, nearly two miles long from northeast to southwest, 

 and one-fourth to two-thirds of a mile wide, crossed by the south line of Lakeside and having 

 about half its area in Jackson county; the Spring lakes, reaching two and a half miles from north 

 to south, four miles west of Windom; the Three lakes, and Swan lake, each about one mile long, 

 in Dale: Rat, Long, Eagle and Maiden lakes, from one-third to one mile long, in the south half 

 of Carson; lake Augusta, about one and a half miles long and a half mile wide, in Amo; Hurri- 

 cane lake, move than a mile long from north to south, lying in section 31, High water, and section 

 6. Storden; Double lake, of similar extent and trend, in sections 23 and 26. Westbrook; Berry 

 and Twin lakes, with others, varying from a quarter of a mile to about one and a half miles in 

 length, trending to the south or southeast, in Rose Hill : Oaks lake, one and a half miles long 

 from north to south, but narrow, lying in section 32, Rose Hill, and sections 5 and 8, South Brook; 

 and Talcott lake, in sections 19 and 30, South Brook, a mile long from north to south, with the 

 Des Moines river flowing through its northern end. 



Jackson county is partly drained by Elm creek to the Blue Earth and 

 Minnesota rivers ; partly by the Des Moines river, which crosses Iowa and 

 enters the Mississippi at the southeast corner of that state ; and partly by 

 the Little Sioux river, which joins the Missouri thirty-eight miles north of 

 Omaha. 



About 90 square miles of northeastern Jackson county are tributary 

 to the Minnesota river by Elm creek, which flows east through Martin 

 county and enters the Blue Earth river after a course of forty miles. Its 

 sources, in Belmont and Christiana, are only two to four miles east of 

 the Des Moines river. 



About 420 square miles of this county lie within the basin of the Des 

 Moines, which flows, after leaving Cottonwood county, in a south-southeast 

 course. Its only important affluent in these counties is the outlet of Heron 

 lake, which comes into it nine miles west of Windom. 



Some 210 square miles on the southwest are in the basin of the Mis- 

 souri, being drained by the head-streams of the Little Sioux river. 



.Lakes ii< Jackson county. East of the Des Moines river the only notable lakes in Jackson 

 county are Fish lake, about two miles in length, on the north line of Christiana, half of it being 

 in Cottonwood county; lake Otto and Independence lake, each about a half mile long, respect- 

 ively on the east and south boundaries of Christiana; and Lower's lake, of similar size, near the 

 center of the township. 



West of the Des Moines, the largest body of water in this county and in all southern Minne- 

 sota is Heron lake, eleven miles long, with a width of two and a half miles in its central part 

 diminished to a half or a fourth of a mile at each end. giving it an area of about fourteen square 

 miles. This lake, reported to be only from five to fifteen feet deep, is mainly clear, but has some 

 portions that are reedy, with marshy shores, affording a paradise to ducks, herons and blackbirds. 

 Other noteworthy lakes in this pan of Jackson county are lake Carroll, a half mile long from 

 northeast to southwest, in northern Delalield: Minneseka lake, a mile long from east to west 



