W. Upham—Minnesota Valley in the Ice Age. 37 
ite Falls, 150; at Minnesota Falls, 165; thence to Redwood 
Falls, Fort Ridgely and New Ulm, 165 to 180; at Mankato, 
200 to 225; at Saint Peter and Ottawa, 220 to 280; at Le 
Sueur and Henderson, 210 to 225; at Belle Plaine and Jordan, 
about 230; and at Shakopee, 210 to 220. The morainic hills 
through which this valley extends below Shakopee are 225 to 
250 feet in height. The expanse of till ‘through which this 
channel is eroded slopes from 1125 feet above the sea at Big 
Stone Lake to 975 at Mankato, in 140 miles; and thence it 
descends to 925 at Shakopee, in 50 miles. This channel or 
valley of the Miunesota River lies nearly midway between the 
belt, on its northeast side, of medial and terminal moraines, 
that extends from Lake Minnetonka 150 miles northwest to 
the Leaf hills, and the Coteau des Prairies on its southwest 
side; toward each of which, some fifty miles distant from this 
river, there is a gentle ascent, sufficient to cause drainage to 
follow this central line. 
The height of Lake Traverse is 970 feet above the sea; the 
lowest point in Brown’s Valley between this and Big Stone 
Lake is only three feet above Lake Traverse; Big Stone Lake 
18 962 feet above the sea, or eight feet below Lake Traverse ; 
and the mouth of the Minnesota River is 690 feet above the 
sea, the descent from Big Stone lake to the mouth of the river 
being 272 feet. 
