354 COUNTY AND REGIONAL GEOLOGY. 



is a little more than twenty-two miles across, from its 

 northern to its southern boundary, and about twenty-six 

 miles from east to west across its widest part. Its outlier 

 is a little more irregular than that of any of the other 

 counties before described, on account of the meandering 

 course of the Missouri river which forms its western 

 boundary. It is estimated to contain about five hundred 

 and twenty-four square miles or three hundred and thirty- 

 five thousand three hundred and sixty acres. 



Drainage and Surface Characters. The greater part of the 

 county is drained by the JSTishnabotany and its branches, the 

 Missouri river itself draining the remainder, which is only a 

 small portion. The last named drainage consists of ravines 

 and small creeks which reach the great flood-plain from the 

 uplands through the bluffs that border the flood-plain 

 throughout the whole extent. All these creeks and ravines 

 pour their waters out upon the flood-plain, and none of 

 them, not even the largest, reach the river except by per- 

 colation through the earth, for they sink away and become 

 lost soon after leaving the bluffs, although water may remain 

 running in their beds among the bluffs during the whole year. 



A very large part of the surface of Fremont county is 

 prairie, but yet it possesses quite enough woodland to furnish 

 all necessary wood to the inhabitants for fuel and fencing. 



That peculiar lacustrine deposit described in another part 

 of this report, under the name of Bluff Deposit, occupies 

 almost the entire surface of Fremont county, except the 

 bottoms of its valleys, constituting all its soil except 

 that of its flood-plains, and even enters largely into the 

 composition of the latter also, including that of the great 

 flood-plain of the Missouri river. This remarkable deposit 

 gives character to the entire surface of the county, which 

 differs considerably, even in physical aspect, from any of 

 those counties hitherto described. The bluffs which border 

 the broad flood-plain of the Missouri river, form the most 

 conspicuous feature of its surface, and they extend from 

 its northern to its southern boundary. They reach a height 



