THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 17 
ground. As this northward rise continues up the Mississippi until 
the underlying granite is brought to the surface about St. Cloud it 
is probable that in the past the St. Peter sandstone and associated 
beds extended farther northward than at present. They were, how- 
ever, worn away by the weather, the streams, and the ice, until now 
the railway passes over their beveled edges onto lower and lower 
formations toward the north, as shown by figure 2. 
The Great Northern and Northern Pacific railways operate the 
line from Minneapolis to St. Cloud jointly. At Coon Creek a branch 
of the Great Northern turns nearly due north and 
Coon Creek. joins a line of the same system from St. Cloud to 
-- ©@=3=—sS Duluth. In this part of the valley the surface is 
St. Paul 23 miles. 
composed largely of sand and grevel washed out 
from the glacier when its front lay a short distance to the north- 
west. The fine part of this material when dried was picked up by 
the west winds and carried over the country to the east, forming 
sand dunes which, with intervening marshes, still characterize this 
part of the country, as 
shown on the map. 
The succession of 
events during the several 
invasions of this country Ficure 2—Diagram showing northward rise of the rocks in 
by the ice and the various the vicinity of Minneapolis, Minn. 
materials deposited by the ice sheets are described in the footnotes 
on pages 26-30. 
For nearly 100 miles the railway follows the valley of the Missis- 
sippi, here a broad and flat depression much of which has the appear- 
ance of a level plain; but in places the low hills on 
Anoka. both sides approach the river and the valley is con- 
Elevation 904 feet. fined by fairly definite bounding walls.. About 
St Paton Anoka the floor of the valley consists of a gently 
undulating plain. The river has cut its channel but 
little below the general surface, and it seems to wander over the plain 
without plan or purpose, except to discharge its waters southward. 
The valley is well cultivated, and the glacial hills and wooded banks 
of the river are just sufficient to break the monotony of its even 
surface. 
Although no rocks are exposed about«GLaska, deep drilling for 
water has shown that the glacial drift there is about 80 feet thick and 
that the underlying rock is probably a part of the Dresbach sand- 
stone. (See footnote on p. 9.) About Anoka flowing wells obtain 
water from this sandstone, and in the southeastern part of Anoka 
County millions of gallons are pumped from it daily to St. Paul for 
the city supply. 
95558°—Bull, 611—15——_2 
