gig THE GEOLOGY OF MINNESOTA. 



[Elevations. 



Elevations, Brown's Valley branch, St. Po.ul, Minneapolis & Manitoba railway. 

 From profiles in the office of C. A. F. Morris, engineer, St. Paul. 



Miles from Eeet above 

 St. Paul. the sea. 



Johnson 177.6 1127 



Graceville 184.6 1107 



Hilo 190.5 1105 



Beardsley 177.8 1096 



Top of the bluff east of Brown's Valley, grade 201.4 1096 



Depression at foot of this bluff, surface 204.3 973 



Brown's Valley 204.7 978 



Minnesota river, water 204.7 970.5 



Lake Traverse, one mile north 970 



The hight of the Minnesota river at ordinary low water, along the boundary of Big Stone 

 and Lac qui Parle counties, is approximately as follows: 



Feet above 

 the sea. 



At the village of Brown's Valley, about a half mile north of the northwest cor- 

 ner of Big Stone county 970.5 



Big Stone Lake 962.5 



At the mouth of Pomme de Terre river 934 



Lac qui Parle 926 



At the mouth of Chippewa river, close below the east line of Lac qui Parle county 913 



Big Stone county, excepting the valley of Big Stone lake and the Min- 

 nesota river, is mostly about 1,100 feet above the sea. Its highest land ap- 

 pears to be a rolling tract, 1,125 to 1,175 feet in elevation, crossed by its 

 north line four to seven miles east from Brown's Valley. The most prom- 

 inent swells along a belt that extends thence southeastward, crossing the 

 central part of the county to the vicinity of Artichoke lake, have nearly 

 the same altitude. Odessa and Akron have considerable land less than 

 1,100 feet in hight, their southern portion, next to the Minnesota valley, 

 being about 1,050. Making the reduction required by this valley, which is 

 125 feet lower than the general level, the mean elevation of Big Stone 

 county above the sea is estimated to be very nearly 1,090 feet. 



The highest land in Lac qui Parle county, about 1,400 feet above the 

 sea, is at its southwest corner, on the foot-slope of the Coteau des Prairies, 

 nearly 500 feet above its lowest land, on the shores of Lac qui Parle and 

 the Minnesota river. From the top of the bluffs bordering the Minnesota 

 valley there is a gradual ascent of about 250 feet in the distance of twenty- 

 five miles southwest to the foot of the Coteau. These bluffs rise 100 to 1 25 

 feet above the river, being highest northwestward, and their elevation 

 above the sea is from 1,075 or 1,100 to 1,025 feet, descending to the south- 

 east with nearly the same slope as the valley. The base of the Coteau is 

 about 1,300 feet, and the east side of the Antelope valley 1,200 to 1,225 feet 



