122 OTTA QUECHEE AND WHITE KIVEKS. 



as worthy of notice in the formation of the large lateral terraces, the latter would all be a combination 

 of lateral and delta terraces. For they were formed by the combination of these two forces, the current 

 of the main stream, and the delta deposits of the smaller streams and occasional brooks. 



TEKRACES UPON OTTA QUECHEE RIVEE AND WHITE RIVER. 



The Otta Quechee Kiver rises in Sherburne, passes through Bridgewater, Woodstock, Hartford, and 

 unites with the Connecticut at North Hartland. Above Woodstock Court House, as the map shows, the 

 traces of a former glacier mostly occupy the valley, in the form of embossed rocks and moraines. At the village 

 of Woodstock there is quite an expansion of the first terrace, with perhaps one or two others : but hardly of 

 sufficient account to be a very well marked basin. At Quechee village, however, there is a very distinct basin. 

 Southeast of the village, near Dewey's Factory, on the southeast side of the stream, there are seven very 

 perfect terraces, and four upon the opposite side. They are perhaps gorge terraces, as they are at the mouth 

 of quite an extensive gorge and waterfall. In this very interesting region, there is an old bed of the river 

 upon the east side. But no one of the Geological corps has examined this region for terrace phenomena, 

 and therefore we shall be unable to state definitely any facts concerning this region. Between Woodstock 

 and Quechee village we know, however, that there are scarcely any terraces, and we have presumed that 

 between Dewey's Factory and the mouth of the Otta Quechee, the banks are mostly rocky, as both ends 

 are rocky. If so, we might look for some other outlet for this river, either above, or below, as it is generally 

 the case with rivers, that terraces are the best developed near their mouths, and that unless the existing 

 stream shows them, they are to be found upon some former course of the river. The Connecticut is a fine 

 example of this statement, as before given. We should be unwilling to suggest any former course of the 

 Otta Quechee, as we are unacquainted with the face of the adjoining country. 



This river has, however, at its point of union with the Connecticut, modified the terraces of the latter 

 stream, as the section in Fig. 58 will show. It has also carried away a large portion of the Connecticut's 

 terraces at North Hartland. The river falls over strata of clay slate near its mouth, at least four times, 

 and the amount of fall is from sixty to seventy feet. Near the town line between Bridgewater and Sher- 

 burne, the Otta Quechee passes through a gorge, which is cut across a high range of hills. This range is 

 nearly straight, with a north and south course, and between Stockbridge and Ludlow there is no interrup- 

 tion in it except this gorge. The valley west of this range is unusually prominent, although in the north 

 part of Plymouth it forms a dividing ridge between waters which flow into Black Kiver and into Otta Que- 

 chee River. This watershed is only 320 feet above the Otta Quechee, at the entrance of the gorge. Hence, 

 we have supposed that instead of crossing this range, the waters of the Otta Quechee formerly flowed through 

 this prominent valley into Black River. 



There has been a blocking up of the gorge on the Bridgewater line at some time during the alluvial period: 

 for the accumulations of rather coarse materials at its head in Sherburne are very great. One of these hills 

 of modified drift arrests attention by its striking appearance. It occupies the middle of the valley like an 

 island in a lake, and is probably an outlier. Probably the bottom of this valley was filled a hundred feet 

 or more with detritus, when the river flowed into Black River instead of coming to Woodstock ; and it is 

 likely that this outlier is only a remnant of that deposit. There are some falls in the Otta Quechee in this 

 gorge, of about 30 feet altitude. 



We come next to White River, which is a large stream. The principal branch arises from the Green 

 Mountains in Hancock, Rochester and Pittsfield, passes through Stockbridge to Bethel, where it joins the 

 other branch coming down from Roxbury ; both then follow the route of the Vermont Central Railroad to 

 White River Junction. The upper part of the west branch is filled with the marks of former glaciers, viz., 

 in Hancock and Rochester. No terraces of any account are found upon the north branch between Roxbury 

 and Randolph. At the latter place a stream from Brookfield, passing over a route formerly contemplated 

 for the Vermont Central Railroad, joins this north branch, and seems to have been the chief producer of 

 the terraces. It is somewhat difficult to state the precise number of basins upon White River, as they are 

 comparatively small, and quite numerous. 



