CHAPTER II. 



RfiSUME OF LITERATURE. 



The Vermilion district has been studied from a geologic point of view 

 only since the first quarter of the nineteenth centmy. A number of years 

 before this, however, portions of it had been visited by fur traders. The 

 well-known international boundary canoe route passed part way along its 

 northeast and northern boundary, and has been used since time immemorial. 

 Some of the early, fur traders and explorers kept journals of their travels, 

 and these make mention of this route. The first few pages of this 

 chapter are devoted to a very brief description of the main canoe routes 

 of the district, and of the methods of travel and customs of the fur traders 

 along the boundary route when this northwest country was first opened. 

 The remainder of the chapter consists chiefly of abstracts of articles dealing 

 with the geologic character of the Vermilion district. In this abstract the 

 author of each paper has been allowed, in most cases, to speak for himself. 

 Where, for various reasons, this was not considered best, the attempt has 

 been made in every case to give exactly the author's meaning, although 

 his precise words may not be used. While innumerable details have been 

 of necessity omitted, it is believed that the salient j)oints of the papers 

 reviewed have been noted and that each author's views have been correctly 

 represented. Should it be found in any case that the author's views have 

 not been correctl}^ stated, the fault is due to error in interpretation. In 

 stating the views of the various writers, comments are for the most part 

 refrained from, as discussions of their statements will be found at the proper 

 places in the descriptive part of the monograph. 



Throughout the abstracts the writer has followed the spelling of the 

 proper names given in the original article. The great variation in the 

 spelling of these names will be clearly seen if one follows the name through 

 a number of the reports. 



In some cases a report or an article may have been preceded by one 

 or more papers discussing the bearing of some of the facts presented in 

 the final report. In such cases the final paper has been abstracted, and 

 references only have been given to the others. 



