582 GEOLOGY OF CENTRAL WISCONSIN. 



two principal branches, the southern one setting back westward nearly parallel to the 

 Wisconsin, and only about six miles from it, the other coming from the south side of the 

 divide in the town of Westfield. Between the wide valley of the south branch and the 

 Wisconsin, is a long line of limestone-capped bluffs, which present a bold front, 200 to 

 oOO feet high, along the north shore of the Wisconsin. North of the Westfield divide 

 the various head streams of Narrows creek are found running northward, with narrow 

 und sharply defined intervening ridges. Narrows creek itself runs in a level valley two 

 to three miles wide. North of it, again, the same narrow limestone-capped ridges are 

 found, until the still broader valley of the Baraboo is reached in the northern part of 

 Reedsburg. Beyond this again the ridgy topography continues, the ridges now alto- 

 gether of sandstone, and leading up to the high ground which forms the southern rim 

 of the sand plain of Juneau and Adams counties, and through which the Wisconsin 

 passes at the Dalles. On the slope towards the Dalles, in the northeastern part of Sauk 

 county, the small tributary streams of the Wisconsin cut down through narrow rock- 

 walled canons, similar to the Dalles, though on a smaller scale. The valley of the Bar- 

 aboo, between the quartzite ranges, is generally higher than the country outside the 

 ranges, and is considerably roughened in surface by the wash from the enclosing ranges 

 towards the Baraboo. The streams watering the district west of the Wisconsin are 

 much larger than those on the east side of that river. The largest of these is the Bara- 

 boo river, which, entering Sauk county on the northwest, traverses it in an easterly direc- 

 tion, passing between the two quartzite ranges, and reaching the Wisconsin at the ex- 

 treme eastern point of its great bend, having in this distance a fall of about a hundred 

 feet. Its numerous tributary streams, dividing into many smaller branches, drain the 

 country for a width of ten miles on each side of the river. South of the southern quartz- 

 ite range and of the limestone divide in Westfield, the only streams of importance are 

 Honey and Otter creeks. The former is much the larger; separating into numerous 

 small branches, each with its own ravine, it drains an area of about 185 square miles. 

 Otter creek drains a considerable portion of the southern slope of the main quart-ate 

 range in the town of Sumpter, and then, taking a due south course towards the Wis- 

 consin, sinks into the sand when within two miles of the river. Except on and about 

 the quartzite ranges, the soil and timber of the district west of th^ Wisconsin follow the 

 same rule as observed east of the river, i, e., on the lower levels, loose sandy soils, whilst 

 on the higher limestone ground, the soil is clayey and excellent. Good land, however, is 

 sometimes found on the lower levels, as, for instance, on Sauk prairie, where it is due 

 partly to drift materials; in the town of Honey Creek, where stream detritus forms 

 much of the soil, and in the northern part of Excelsior, where no such causes can be 

 assigned. Occasional pine groves are interspersed amongst the ordinary oak timber, 

 whilst amongst the quartzite ranges there is a heavy growth of hard wood, largely maple. 

 The list of geological formations represented in Sauk and Columbia counties in- 

 cludes all of the Central Wisconsin formations, from the Archtoan to the Drift, except 

 the Galena limestone. The Potsdam sandstone is the surface rock over all the lower 

 levels along the Wisconsin and its many tributaries, besides forming considerable por- 

 tions of the slopes of the outliers and higher lands. On all sides of the quartzite ranges it 

 is found attaining very considerable altitudes, apparently rising into the horizons of the 

 higher strata, whilst within the circuit of the ranges it occupies all levels, limestone being 

 found in one or two small patches only. Farther north again, in northern Sauk and 

 northwestern Columbia, it occupies all levels, having attained now a much increased al- 

 titude by virtue of its general northern rise. The Mendota and Madison beds occupy 

 parts of the slopes, or else cap the summits of many of the outliers that flank the lime- 

 stone escarpment in Columbia county, and of the ridges of western and south western 

 Sauk. They also form the surface rock along the slope of the western edge of the lime- 

 stone country of Columbia county, occasionally, as in the towns of Lowville and Spring- 



