54 THE GLACIAL LAKE AGASSIZ. 



over cobbles aud bowlders, but having no abrupt falls. The height of the 

 banks and of the adjoining country, which has a flat or slightly undulating 

 contour, is generally 30 to 40 feet above the river; bixt in the vicinity of 

 Red Lake Falls this sti'eam and the Clear Water River, an important tribu- 

 tary to it from the southeast, have eroded their channels to the depth of 

 nearly 100 feet. The range of these rivers from low to high water at Red 

 Lake Falls is only 5 feet, and tlie descent of each is about 40 feet within 



2 miles. 



Red River. — The Red River of the North, so named to distinguish it 

 from the Red River of Louisiana, has its source in a small lake about 1,550 

 feet above the sea, 13 miles west of Lake Itasca. It fii-st flows south about 

 60 miles, measured in a direct line, passing in succession tkrough Elbow, 

 Many Point, Round, Height of Land, Little Pine, Pine, and Rush lakes 

 to Ottertail Lake, this portion being- commonly called Ottertail River. In 

 this distance it descends to 1,315 feet above the sea. The contour of the 

 adjoining country is rolling or hilly northward and undulating or flat 

 southward. 



Below Ottertail Lake this stream is called the Red River by this 

 report, following the example of Owen and the prevailing popular usage; 

 but it is still occasionally spoken of as Ottertail River to its junction with 

 the Bois des Sioux River at Breckenridge and Wahpeton, 42 miles west of 

 Ottertail Lake.^ The descent in this distance is 372 feet, or about 5 feet 

 per mile, following the course of the stream. It is most rapid in the 

 vicinity of Fergus Falls, amounting to 80 feet in 3 miles, from 1,210 to 

 1,130 feet above the sea. Because of the numerous large lakes on the 

 upper part of the stream, its volume along this descent to Breckenridge is 

 not greatly affected by either heavy rains and snow melting or dry seasons. 

 At Fergus Falls the range from its lowest to its highest stage is only 2 or 



3 feet. Its banks and bed are the hard, stony clay of the glacial drift, 

 affording a good foundation for dams and canals. From Ottertail Lake 

 to the border of Lake Agassiz, 9 miles southwest from Fergus Falls, the 



'The Ojibways, according to Rev. J. A. Gilfillan (1. c, p. 463), thus apply the name Ottertail 

 River as far as to the Bois des Sioux ; and the Red River thence northward is called by them Kitchi- 

 zibi (Great River). 



