TOPOGRAPHY. 



117 



a few miles back is very good ; and a man who wishes to see 

 the handsomest timber in the territory, must go to the forks 

 of the Maquoketa or Makwaketa ; and upon its south fork 

 are some of the finest prairie and prairie farms. The north- 

 ern part of Jackson county, between this river and Dubuque, 

 is generally well-timbered and well-watered, and is a very 

 inviting tract for settlement. This is also one of the best 

 watered tracts in the territory. Makwaketa River, Tetes des 

 Morts, Deep, Brush, and Bear Creek, and smaller streams, 

 drain the country— some of them having fine water power. 

 Twenty-two miles above Charleston is Bellevue, also in this 

 county, situated on a fine plateau, well elevated above the 

 river. Andrew, in the centre of the county, is laid out for 

 the county seat. Between the Wabesepinicon and Makwa- 

 keta Rivers, is a region furnished very abundantly with iron. 

 At Bellevue, a striking change takes place in the geological 

 formation; the line of the lead mineral commencing here, and 

 passing up to the northwest through the counties of Dubuque 

 and part of Clayton, and thence east into Wisconsin, defines 

 perhaps the richest lead deposit in the world. It is of the 

 kind called Galena, or sulphuret of lead. The river marks 

 a remarkable division in the character of the " diggmgs," 

 those on the east side being clay " diggings," in which the 

 mineral is found in the clay, within a few feet of the surface, 

 while on the west side the mhier is obUged to sink his shaft 

 through the rock more than one hundred feet. It is thought, 

 however, that the greater abundance of the mineral in the 

 rock deposit is more than a counterbalance to the case of 

 obtaining it in the clay. 



Dubuque, situated in a bay of the river, upon a sandy 

 alluvion, in the centre of these " diggings," is the second 

 town in the territory in population and business. The rough 

 character of the country upon the river bank, which, as 



