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NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Wood creek valley. The singular trench from Fort Edward to 

 Fort Ann, alluded to on page 77, forming an extension of the 

 Hudson river main trough has already been described. At its 

 northern end it is continued by the valley of Wood creek into 

 union with the Champlain valley at Whitehall. The drainage 

 in both these swampy valleys is now northward into Lake 

 Champlain. 



Asa Fitch 1 ascertained, at the time of the construction of the 

 Champlain canal through the Wood creek valley, a number of 

 details concerning this swampy tract which are here stated in his 

 words. 



On excavating the Champlain canal, it was found that all along 

 the valley of Wood creek, at about 6 feet below the surface was 

 a layer made up of leaves, nuts, sticks, and logs, from whence 

 springs of clear water were everywhere issuing. The nuts were 

 plainly butternuts and beechnuts. Ash and other logs, quite 

 sound, occurred, but no pine. Pine was originally abundant on 

 the uplands each side of this stream, but none grew down in its 

 valley. The trees, in most instances, it was plain to see, had 

 their tops towards the south, that is, upstream. Below this layer 

 of vegetable matter was a stratum of tough blue clay ; above it 

 was sand and loam,«and in excavating for the bed of the canal 

 lock 11 feet beneath the surface, the trunk of a black ashtree 2 

 feet in diameter, and somewhat decayed, was come upon. 



A most important fact in this statement (continues Fitch) is 

 that these buried trees were mostly found with their tops towards 

 the south, showing that when they were lodged here, the current 

 was running in a direction the reverse of what it now docs. 



One mile north of Fort Ann, Wood creek enters the highland 

 region bounding the Fort Edward plains on the east, there 

 plunging into a narrow gorge to pass into a constantly widening 

 valley to Whitehall. This valley is of preglacial date at least 

 with reference to the last ice advance but whether of Prepleisto- 

 cene date in its restricted portion near Fort Ann is not now 

 definitely known. Through it at Fort Ann the ice swept from 

 the northeast as the striae south of Battle hill indicate. 



Throughout the extent of this valley the clays which appear 

 in Hartford and Argyle as well as in the low ground about 



1 A Historical, Topographical and Agricultural Survey of the County of 

 Washington. Assembly no. 175, 1850. p. 879-80. 



