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NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



strongest channel, about 2 \ miles long, heading in the south edge of 

 Sheridan township, at 1260 feet altitude, and debouching at the 

 delta as low as 1000 feet. The uniform slope facing northwest and 

 lying 4 miles east of Fredonia is entirely denuded of drift and 

 strongly terraced by stream work, similar to the slope south of Fre- 

 donia. The highest stream work noted lies above the Laona chan- 

 nel, at altitude over 1300 feet, and the lowest is the broad, smooth 

 scourway facing the Whittlesey beach at altitude about 840 feet. 

 Theoretically there must have been westward flow of water on this 

 slope at 1400 feet, or just inferior to the outlet across the divide to 

 the Conewango, at the head of the Walnut creek valley with ele- 

 vation of 1420 feet; and such flow is indicated on plate 3. 



West and southwest of Forestville the land slope has more 

 irregular surface and the stream cuttings are intricate. From the 

 Walnut valley, where the waters were ponded in a lake which we 

 will call the Walnut lake, the waters escaped westward between low 

 hills forming a series of scourways with oblique directions, as shown 

 in plate 3. The lowest is at the foot of the hill west of Forestville 

 and not much above the Whittlesey level. South of Sheridan 

 station a portion of the Go wanda, or Forestville moraine lies land- 

 ward of the beach for a stretch of 3 miles, and the lowest stream 

 work cuts the moraine. On the north and south road south of the 

 station two narrow channels intersect the moraine. The detritus 

 carried by the streams along this section helped to make the delta 

 deposits south of Fredonia and the massive beaches northeast of 

 the town. 



Forestville to Gowanda [pi. 3]. This section of the land slope 

 swings around into the Cattaraugus valley with change of face from 

 northwest to northeast. The earlier waters were the overflow of the 

 Cattaraugus lake into the Walnut lake. The stream cutting is 

 complex and the reader should consult the maps. Northeast of 

 Forestville and east and west of Smiths Mills the channels are 

 strong and deep cuts in the rock. 



The highest flow on the northeast slope can not be over 1300 feet, 

 since the Persia outlet [see p. 17] of the Cattaraugus lake was not 

 much over that hight. The highest stream work noted is close to 

 Perry sburg, at elevation by the contours of 1300 feet. Local waters 

 in the Walnut basin cut channels southeast of Forestville as high as 

 1400 feet. As in other regions already described the slopes show 

 little morainal drift, this having been carried away by the glacial 

 streams. 



