P K OTUZOI C R 0 C K S 



74 



The shell-beds, with some alternations of marly clays, form the base of these 

 singularly shaped hills, capped with harder, more magnesian, and less fossiliferous 

 layers. 



SYMMETRICAL FORM OF HILLS, TURKEY It I V E R. 



Below the principal forks of Turkey River, the fossiliferous strata appear only 

 in low mural exposures, a few feet above the river, while the higher magnesian 

 beds protrude from out the grassy slopes above in a variety of curious and fantastic 

 shapes, and often in the buttress-like form represented on the opposite page. 



The heights of Fort Snelling command an extensive prospect, both up the valley 

 of the St. Peter's River, over the surrounding country towards the Falls of St. 

 Anthony, and on the opposite side of the Mississippi. In all directions, as far as 

 the eye can reach, a vast stretch of gently undulating prairie is in view, supporting 

 a calcareous soil, which for upland is of excellent quality, and remarkable for the 

 heavy crops of oats which it produces. While the greater portion of this soil is 

 based on lower ledges of the limestone formation under consideration, with more 

 or less thickness of drift intervening, other limited tracts rest upon a white shell 

 marl and other infusorial earth, possessing fertilizing properties. 



Timber is scarce on this part of the Upper Mississippi, being limited chiefly to 

 narrow belts along the water-courses; the country adjacent to the Mississippi 

 could, however, easily be supplied with wood, procured higher up on this river ; 

 or, if inhabited by a provident people, plantations would soon spread over the face 

 of the country. 



