194 GEOLOGY OF THE SECOND DISTRICT. 



ESSEX COUNTY. 



Surface and Mountain Ranges. 



Tlie county of Essex contains 11C2 square miles. On the east it is bounded by Lake 

 Champlain, along which it extends 43 miles, from thence to the west 41 miles. It embraces 

 a large portion of that tract of country which gives origin to the Hudson river, flowing south, 

 and to the Ausahle, which flows northeast into Lake Champlain, and finally into the Gulf of 

 the St. Lawrence. It is probably well known at the present time that it is a mountainous 

 district, and that about the sources of the Hudson river are situated the highest lands in the 

 State. These facts arc presented in the strongest light, when I state that all the mountain 

 chains of much importance north of the Mohawk valley, cross this county in a succession of 

 high and sharp mountain ridges from southwest to northeast. 



The first range, the Luzerne mountains, barely touches upon Essex, and terminates in Ti- 

 conderoga, in the southeast corner of the county. The second range, rising in Mayfield, passes 

 in an oblique course through Schroon and Crown-Point, the highest part being in Schroon, 

 whose principal elevation is called Pharaoh's or Bluebeard mountain. The third range tra- 

 verses the northwest angle of Schroon, Moriah, Elizabethtown and Willsborough, where it 

 terminates upon the lake. The fourth, which is the great chain, and which takes its origin 

 to the north of Little-Falls, passes nearly centrally through the county, entering it at the north- 

 west angle, and terminating upon the lake at Port Kent. The whole range is called the 

 Clinton chain, and the central part, which consists of several mountains, the Adirondack 

 group: this portion gives origin to the Hudson river, and is situated at the culminating point 

 of the range, from which it declines in all directions. Mount Marcy is the highest mountain 

 in the group, attaining an elevation of 5467 feet. 



Of these several ranges, the highest peaks all fall within the bounds of Essex county. 

 Pharaoh's mountain in Schroon, Dix peak in the West-Moriah chain, and Mount Marcy in the 

 Adirondack group, are respectively the highest peaks in the ranges in which they are situated; 

 and as usual in all mountain chains, there is a gradual and sometimes rapid declination from 

 the point of highest elevation in every direction. In these ranges this is the fact, and it brings 

 a very great proportion of the high land within the territory of one county — the county of 

 Essex. 



Exploration of the IV^ountains of Essex. 



During the early part of the survey, I deemed it important to explore the high lands of the 

 northern counties, particularly those of Essex. At this period nothing had been published, 

 and probably very little was known, in relation to this mountainous tract, especially as it 

 regarded the actual heights of the principal mountains. During the survey, many of these 



