DR. B. F. SHUMARD'S REPORT. 



CHAPTER I. 



DETAILED OBSERVATIONS ON THE ST. PETER'S AND ITS TRIBUTARIES. 



All preliminary arrangements having been made, we commenced our ascent of 

 the St. Peter's or Minnesota River on the morning of the 31st of May, 1848. 



Our starting-point, the Bluffs of Fort Snelling, consist, as shown elsewhere by 

 local sections, of fossiliferous limestones, F. 3, A, reposing on soft white sandstone, 

 F. 2, c. This formation continues in view only for half a mile above the mouth. 

 Beyond this the rocks are hidden from view for many miles by drift and soil, but 

 the contour of the hills indicates the existence of the shell limestone as their nucleus 

 for some distance beyond its last outcrop. 



The alluvial lands near the mouth of the river are rather low and wet, and are 

 overflowed in periods of high water. They form, however, excellent meadows, and 

 support a growth of good grass. The St. Peter's winds through the flats to Ewing's 

 Trading-Post, about ten miles above the mouth. At this point the hills have an 

 elevation of one hundred feet above the river, and seem to be composed chiefly of 

 transported materials of sand, gravel, and small boulders. The alluvial bottoms 

 are from half to three-quarters of a mile in width, and from four to eight feet above 

 the ordinary stage of water ; on either side the upland prairie rises in graceful 

 swells from seventy-five to one hundred and fifty feet above the river, the soil of 

 which, though rather arenaceous, is of good second-rate quality, well adapted for 

 the growth of oats. 



Six miles above the mouth, Credit River, a small stream flowing from the south, 

 enters the main river, and one mile farther, on the left, is a range of gently sloping 

 drift-hills, covered with a luxuriant greensward. 



Eight miles above this point, and, by estimate of our voyageurs, twenty-five miles 

 from Fort Snelling, is Shacopee's village, inhabited by a band of Sioux Indians. 



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