THE GLADSTONE BEACH. 463 



Gladstone shore-line runs northward through Minnesota, mostly at a dis- 

 tance of about If) miles east of the Red River. It crosses the Red Lake 

 River near the head of the Grand Marais, aboi;t a mile northwest of Fisher. 



Thence northward for a distance of more than 25 miles to Warren 

 there is frequently found along the contour line of 840 feet a somewhat 

 more rapid descent from east to west than on the adjoining- surface of tine 

 clayey silt at each side. This may be due mainly to erosion by the waves 

 of great storms, especially when the lake surface was lowered a few feet 

 on account of the diminished rate of melting of the ice-sheet during win- 

 ters. In part, however, there appears to have been formed along this 

 course an offshore deposit several feet thick, rising nearly to the lake level. 

 Such a broad ridge, with crest at 838 to 841 feet, runs northward through 

 the center of section 15 and the west half of section 10, Tabor, having a 

 descent of 1 to 3 feet eastward and of 3 to 5 feet westward within a third 

 of a mile from its toj). Wells on this swell obtain good water at the 

 depth of 10 to 12 feet, in layers of sand from a quarter of an inch to 1 

 foot thick, inclosed in the fine stratified silt which, excepting these sandy 

 beds, is almost impervious to water. 



In the northern part of Kittson County the old St. Paul trail, lying 12 

 to 14 miles east of the Red River, ran for 6 miles south-southeastward from 

 the international boundary on and near to the Gladstone beach, whose crest 

 there has a height of 858 to 863 feet above the sea. It is a ridge of gravel 

 and sand 10 to 30 rods wide, resting on till, to which its eastern slope falls 

 2 to 3 feet and its western slope 5 to 8 feet. 



Through North Dakota the Gladstone shore has been mapped approx- 

 imately, passing from Belmont north-northwesterly by Merrifield, Kelleys, 

 and Voss, lying about 4 miles west of Grafton, 2 to 3 miles west of Auburn, 

 St. Thomas, and Glasston, about 4 miles west of Hamilton and Bathgate, 

 and 5 miles west of Neche. In this distance of 100 miles the shore rises 

 from 845 to 857 feet, approximately, above the sea. Only small portions 

 of its course have been examined, these near Merrifield and 2 miles east of 

 Ojata being marked by slight erosion in the lacustrine and alluvial silt over 

 which it asses. 



