^82 GEOLOGY OF CENTRAL WISCONSIN. 



two pi-incipal branches, the soutliem one setting back westward nearly parallel to the 

 Wisconsin, and only about six miles from it, the otlier coming from the south side of tlie 

 divide in the town of Westfield. Between tlie wide vaUey of the south branch and the 

 Wisconsin, is a long line of hmestone-capped bluffs, which present a bold front, 200 to 

 300 feet high, along the north shore of the Wisconsin. North of the Westfield divide 

 the various head streams of Narrows creek are found running nortliward, with narrow 

 ;lnd sharply defined intervening ridges. Narrows creek itself runs in a level valley two 

 to three miles viddc. North of it, again, the same narrow hmestone-capped ridges are 

 found, until the stiH broader valley of the Baraboo is reached in the noraiem.pait^ 

 Reedsburg. Beyond this again the ridgy topography continues, the ridges now alto- 

 gether of sandstone, and leading up to the high ground which forms the southern rim 

 of the sand plain of Jimeau and Adams counties, and through which the Wisconsin 

 passes at the Dalles. On the slope towards the Dalles, in the northeastern part of Sauk 

 county, the small tributary streams of the Wisconsin cut down through narrow rock- 

 walled canons, similar to the Dalles, though on a smaller scale. The valley of the Bar- 

 aboo, between the quartzite ranges, is generally higher than the country outside the 

 ranges, and is considerably roughened in surface by the wash fr'om the enclosing ranges 

 towards the Baraboo. The streams watering the district west of the Wisconsin are 

 much larger than those on the east side of that river. The largest of these is the Bara- 

 boo river, which, entering Sauk county on the northwest, traverses it in an easterly direc- 

 tion, passing between the two quartzite ranges, and reachuig tlie Wisconsin at the ex- 

 treme eastern point of its great bend, having in this distance a fall of about a hundred 

 feet. Its numerous tributary streams, dividing into many smaller branches, drain the 

 country for a width of ten miles on each side of the river. South of tho soutliem quartz- 

 ite range and of the limestone divide in Westfield, the only streams of importance are 

 Honey and Otter creeks. The former is much the larger; sepai-ating into numerous 

 small branches, each with its own ravine, it drains an area of about 185 square miles. 

 Otter creek drains a considerable portion of the southern slope of the main quartrite 

 range in tlie town of Sumpter, and then, taking a due south course towards the Wis- 

 consin, sinks into the sand when within two miles of the river. Except on and about 

 the quartzite ranges, the soil and timber of the district west of the Wisconsin foUow tho 

 same rule as observed east of the river, i. e., On the lower levels, loose sandy soils, whilst 

 on the higher hmestone ground, the soil is clayey and excellent. Good land, however, is 

 sometimes found on the lower levels, as, for instance, on Sauk prairie, where it is due 

 partly to drift materials; in the town of Honey Creek, where stream detritus fonns 

 much of the soil, and in the northern part of Excelsior, where no such causes, can be 

 assigned. Occasional pine groves are interspersed amongst the ordinary oak timber, 

 whilst amongst the quartzite ranges there is a heavy growth (rf hard wood, largely maple. 

 The list of geological formations represented in Sauk and Columbia counties in- 

 cludes all of the Central Wisconsin formations, from the Archtean to the Drift, except 

 the Galena Hmestone. The Potsdam sandstone is the surface rock over all the lower 

 levels along the Wisconsin and its many tributaries, besides forming considerable por- 

 tions of the slopes of the outUers and higher lands. On all sides of the quartzite ranges it 

 is found attaining very considerable altitudes, apparently rising into the horizons of the 

 higher strata, whilst within the circuit of the ranges it occupies all levels, limestone being 

 found in one or two small patches only. Farther north again, in northern Saulv and 

 northwestern Columbia, it occupies all levels, having attained now a much increased al- 

 titude by virtue of its general northern rise. The Mendota and Madison heds occupy 

 paris of the slopes, or else cap the summits of many of the outHers that flank the hme- 

 stone escarpment in Columbia county, and of the ridges of western and southwestern 

 Sauk. They also form the surface rock along the slope of the western edge of the hme- 

 stone country of Columbia county, occasionally, as in the towns of Lowville and Spring- 



