532 THE GEOLOGY OF MINNESOTA. 



[Peat. Springs. Mounds. 



DewalA. "Land of B. S. Langdon, sec. 4. Here a turf-peat occurs, about 14 inches in 

 thickness, lying on a side-lull or gentle slope, having a springy character when trod on. It is 

 underlain by a black mud, which has been mistaken for non-fibrous peat. Of the turf several 

 cords (perhaps a hundred) have been taken off, preparatoiy to excavating the rich(?) peat below, 

 when it was discovered that it would not burn, but when placed in the fire turned out hard and 

 heavy like burned clay. The turf itself will make a fuel that will compare well with any turf- 

 peat discovered." 



Bigelow. "Peat, eight or ten inches thick, exists on the railroad land, sec. 27, of a turfy 

 character, but good quality. It lies over an acre or two, but may be taken out, probably in other 

 places along the different creeks that unite here." 



'At Bigelow, there is a considerable thickness, perhaps two feet, of half-carbonized, pulpy, 

 vegetable silt, lying entirely below the water of a lake, made up of decaying sedges and grasses 

 and their roots. It is torn in pieces by the waves in the lake, and gathers about the shores and 

 under the bog-turf, driven most abundantly to the side that faces the prevailing winds. It is 

 often intermixed with fine mud and shells, especially near the bottom. It will probably furnish, 

 if dry, a combustible material that would answer well for fuel, if it should prove obtainable in 

 sufficient quantities, and especially if it were to be pressed and molded. It has not the necessary 

 origin nor nature to be styled peat." 



Indian Lake. " John Haggard takes out turf in a low patch on sec. 4. It occurs partly 

 on state swamp land, partly on railroad land, and partly on the claim of Charles Peterson. It is 

 in nature and position similar to the turf on B. S. Langdon's land, northwest of Worthington. 

 Mr. Haggard takes it out with a spade, about a foot in depth, in large blocks. Then drawing it 

 to the house he cuts it into convenient smaller blocks, and spreads and piles it for drying. After 

 drying about five or six weeks it is fit for burning. It burns quickly but leaves considerable 

 ash." This peat, according to an analysis by Prof. S. F. Peckham, contains when air-dried 11.93 

 per cent, of hygroscopic water; 33.48 of organic matter; and 54.59 of ash. A hundred pounds of 

 it are estimated to be equal in value to forty-four pounds of oak wood. 



Springs of excellent, cool water issue at many places from the lower 

 part of the bluffs of the Des Moines river, and of Chanarambie, Champep- 

 adan and Kanaranzi creeks. On the narrow bottomland of Plum creek, in 

 the N. W. J of section 15, and the N. E. | of section 16, Holly, the most 

 northeast township of Murray county, are several chalybeate springs, 

 which have formed mounds of ochery mud, one or two feet high, and ten 

 or twenty feet in diameter. Other interesting mineral springs, supposed to 

 be impregnated with both iron and sulphur, occur on the N. E. ^ of section 

 12, of this township, three miles south of Walnut Grove. 



ABORIGINAL EAETHWOKKS. 



An artificial mound, of the usual rounded form, about fifty feet across and three feet high, 

 lies on the farm of L. Aldrich, close southwest of his house, in the north part of section 7, Mur- 

 ray, at a distance of about forty rods from the southeast shore of lake Shetek. Also, in the south 

 part of the S. W. } of section 8, several similar mounds occur, two to three or four feet high; and 

 there are two others in the S. E. ^ of the X. E. J of section 18, all these being in Murray town- 

 ship, within two miles northwest from Currie. 



North of lake Shetek, two or three of these aboriginal mounds, two to four feet high, were 

 seen upon the top of swells, which rise 30 to 40 feet in night, east of lake Fremont, and one upon 

 a similar rounded hill west of this lake, these being in the west part of Shetek township. 



In Nobles county, such circular mounds, from one and a half to three feet high, are found 

 in the N. W. J of section 18, Hansom; and also in the south part of Little Hock. 



