270 DESCRIPTION OF 
any great distance, without greatly increasing or diminishing in thickness. They 
often thin out in the distance of a few yards, and a stratum of considerable thick- 
ness at one point, will frequently allow the beds above it and below it to come 
together at others, giving to them the appearance of “dove-tailing.” The irregular 
stratification and frequent cross lines of deposition, together with the ripple-marked 
surfaces of the beds, go to show that they were deposited at no very great depth 
below the surface of the waters, and were constantly subjected to the modifying 
influences of currents, tides, and other disturbing causes. Some of the beds appear 
to have been deposited on an irregular rolling bottom. 
The Lake shore, for the entire distance between the mouth of the Bois Brulé and 
the “ Entry,” is a clay bank, varying in height from six to forty feet, and without 
any exposure of the red sandstone; which is met with, however, on all the small 
streams that come into the Lake between those two points, and maintains, through- 
out, the general dip to the southeast, at a small angle; never exceeding 4° at any 
point noticed by me, except in the immediate vicinity of trap dikes, and then only 
for short distances. 
Nine miles beyond the mouth of the Bois Brulé, Poplar River comes in. About 
eight miles from its mouth, it is crossed by a trap dike, bearing nearly east and 
west, and, a few miles further south, another broken trap range crosses it. Owing 
to the numerous rapids on it, Poplar River is not navigable for canoes. Nine miles 
east of the “Entry,” or mouth of the St. Louis River, Spawn River enters the Lake. 
On this river a vein of copper ore has been discovered by Mr. C. H. Oakes, of La 
Pointe. It is, however, below low water mark. 
The mouth of St. Louis River is narrow, with a sufficient depth of water, how- 
ever, to admit boats of large size to pass the bar at all times.* It lies between two 
narrow strips of land, which run from the highlands on either side to the “ Entry,” 
and divide the waters of the Lake from a small bay formed by the widening of the 
river. On the north shore, the hills are from four to five hundred feet in height, 
and approach very nearly to the Lake. On the south side, they are distant several 
miles, and not over two hundred and fifty feet high. On the south side of the 
small lake within the “ Entry,” Left-hand River comes in. On one of its tributaries 
copper ores have been discovered in considerable quantities, and several locations 
have been made, which will be described in the notice of the geology of Black 
River. 
From the “ Entry” to the Fur Company’s Post, a distance of eighteen miles, St. 
Louis River is wide, and of sufficient depth to admit the passage of the craft which 
ply upon Lake Superior. It runs through a rich alluvial bottom, from one to three 
miles in width, which is partly timbered and partly covered with natural meadows. 
It is somewhat crooked, with reaches from a quarter of a mile to a mile in length, 
and contains numerous islands, some wooded and others covered with excellent 
grass. The banks on either side, as well as the islands, are composed of clays and 
* In 1850, the propeller Manhattan, Captain Caldwell, entered this river without difficulty, and pro- 
ceeded as far up as Fond du Lac Village. The river at the time was not above its ordinary stage, and at 
the lowest part sounded there was over six feet water in the channel. This brings the steam navigation 
on Lake Superior within thirty-five miles of the Mississippi at the mouth of Sandy Lake River. 
