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D E SCRIPTION 0 F 



any great distance, without greatly increasing or diminishing in thickness. They 

 often thin out in the distance of a few yards, and a stratum of considerable thick- 

 ness at one point, will frequently allow the beds above it and below it to come 

 together at others, giving to them the appearance of " dove-tailing." The irregular 

 stratification and frequent cross lines of deposition, together with the ripple-marked 

 surfaces of the beds, go to show that they were deposited at no very great depth 

 below the surface of the waters, and were constantly subjected to the modifying 

 influences of currents, tides, and other disturbing causes. Some of the beds appear 

 to have been deposited on an irregular rolling bottom. 



The Lake shore, for the entire distance between the mouth of the Bois Brule and 

 the " Entry," is a clay bank, varying in height from six to forty feet, and without 

 any exposure of the red sandstone ; which is met with, however, on all the small 

 streams that come into the Lake between those two points, and maintains, through- 

 out, the general dip to the southeast, at a small angle; never exceeding 4° at any 

 point noticed by me, except in the immediate vicinity of trap dikes, and then only 

 for short distances. 



Nine miles beyond the mouth of the Bois Brule, Poplar River comes in. About 

 eight miles from its mouth, it is crossed by a trap dike, bearing nearly east and 

 west, and, a few miles further south, another broken trap range crosses it. Owing 

 to the numerous rapids on it, Poplar River is not navigable for canoes. Nine miles 

 east of the " Entry," or mouth of the St. Louis River, Spawn River enters the Lake. 

 On this river a vein of copper ore has been discovered by Mr. C. H. Oakes, of La 

 Pointe. It is, however, below low water mark. 



The mouth of St. Louis River is narrow, with a sufficient depth of water, how- 

 ever, to admit boats of large size to pass the bar at all times.* It lies between two 

 narrow strips of land, which run from the highlands on either side to the " Entry," 

 and divide the waters of the Lake from a small bay formed by the widening of the 

 river. On the north shore, the hills are from four to five hundred feet in height, 

 and approach very nearly to the Lake. On the south side, they are distant several 

 miles, and not over two hundred and fifty feet high. On the south side of the 

 small lake within the " Entry," Left-hand River comes in. On one of its tributaries 

 copper ores have been discovered in considerable quantities, and several locations 

 have been made, Avhich will be described in the notice of the geology of Black 

 River. 



From the " Entry" to the Fur Company's Post, a distance of eighteen miles, St. 

 Louis River is wide, and of sufficient depth to admit the passage of the craft which 

 ply upon Lake Superior. It runs through a rich alluvial bottom, from one to three 

 miles in width, which is partly timbered and partly covered Avith natural meadows. 

 It is somewhat crooked, with reaches from a quarter of a mile to a mile in length, 

 and contains numerous islands, some wooded and others covered with excellent 

 grass. The banks on either side, as well as the islands, are composed of clays and 



* In 1850, the propeller Manhattan, Captain Caldwell, entered this river without difficulty, and pro- 

 ceeded as far up as Fond du Lac Village. The river at the time was not above its ordinary stage, and at 

 the lowest part sounded there was over six feet water in the channel. This brings the steam navigation 

 on Lake Superior within thirty-five miles of the Mississippi at the mouth of Sandy Lake River. 



