PLATE XVII. 



FARIBAULT COUNTY, 1884. WARREN UPHAM. . 



This is another of those prairie counties within the limits of which there is not 

 a single natural outcrop of the underlying rocks, and it does not present many 

 exceptional features requiring mention. 



Its flat or undulating surface is broken by two areas of more rolling or morainic 

 character, one of which is a spur from the southwest corner of Freeborn county, 

 running northwestward nearly across Faribault county, having an average width 

 of about two and a half miles, the most marked part of which is the Kiester hills 

 in Kiester township, which rise from 100 feet to 200 feet above the lowlands, the 

 highest points being about 1,400 feet above the sea. The other rolling tract is 

 in Pilot Grove and Elmore townships, and extends into Iowa and westwardly into 

 Martin county. It is more subdued in contour, the hills rising from forty to sixty feet. 



Faribault county shared in the glacial lake that covered parts of Blue Earth 

 county. The level of this lake was approximately 1,150 feet above the sea, and its 

 depth, in the north part of Faribault county, was 50 to 125 feet; on the west line of 

 Waseca county about 75 feet, and in the north part of Blue Earth county about 200 

 feet. The lake was of comparatively short duration and had its outlet by way of the 

 Des Moines river, through the "big slough," in Kossuth county, Iowa. The valley 

 connecting the Des Moines with the most southern branch of the Blue Earth river 

 resembles that connecting the valley of the Red River of the North with the Minne- 

 sota valley, through which was the outlet of lake Agassiz. 



Timber of large and dense growth usually occupies the bottom lands and bluffs 

 of Blue Earth river, and of its east fork to a distance of fifteen miles above its mouth. 

 It also forms groves or narrow belts on the borders of nearly all the lakes and creeks. 



The county has numerous artesian fountains in the vicinity of Wells. These 

 are from 110 to 120 feet deep, and the water, which is of excellent quality, rises from 

 five to fifteen feet above the surface. The source or head of this water is supposed 

 to be in the morainic elevated land in Freeborn county lying northward from Albert 

 Lea. The water seems to be confined by the till sheet, and to be contained in a 

 porous sandstone, the upper portion of which is strongly cemented by iron rust. 

 Other similar artesian fountains are obtained from gravel and sand beds in the 

 glacial till at varying depths. They are frequent in Dunbar, Minnesota Lake and 

 Lura, extending into Mapleton and Sterling, in Blue Earth county. They are also 

 in Emerald and in Pilot Grove. 



This is strictly an agricultural county, but possesses many natural elements that, 

 like Blue Earth county, allow a wide range of agricultural industry. N. H. w. 



