Lansing Ploistoccnc Geology. — IVincJicU. 285 
present and its pre-Wisconsin condition, or 10 any supposed 
earlier floodplain, between its present and its pre-Wisconsin 
floodplain, the same is true — i.e., all those stag'es and flood- 
plains were events witnessed by the antecedent valley in which 
the creek now lies from its nfouth to an indefinite distance 
toward its source. 
21. This remarkable statement, if the waiter understands 
it. is so far at variance with what is known of existing chan- 
nels, outside the area of Wisconsin glaciatioii, and especially 
within the loess-covered areas, that, in the opinion of the 
writer, the truth would be nearer the exact opposite. There is 
certainly not a stream entering- the Mississippr within Minne- 
sota, from St. Paul to the Iowa state line, that does not flow 
in a valley that far ante-dates the Wisconsin glaciation, and 
probably the lowan. especially at its entrance upon the Mis- 
sissippi's great gorge. 
If, however, reference is not intended to the general stream 
valley (which, still seems to be the fact by reason of allusion 
to the "creation of the Missouri river b}^ the union of many 
antecedent rivers") but to the present channels of the streams 
concerned as thev make their shifting ways through the flood- 
plains, it nuist be granted that such channels have no stability, 
and are likely not to be the same for any length of time. They 
are subject to the floods and droughts of the seasons; and es- 
pecially is that true if comparison be made between the present 
floodplain channels and those that preceded the Wisconsin 
glaciation. But such alternative seems not to have any bearing 
on the main question and further, it contravenes the principal 
hypothesis, which ma*Us back to the time of the "creation of 
the Missouri." (Compare No. 18.) 
22. The glacio-fluvial deposits of the Wisconsin epoch 
may be wanting at the Concannon farm. We have mentioned 
some considerations (Nos. 5 & 13) leading to the belief that 
they never existed there in the form of fluvial terraces. If as 
supposed by professor Chamberlin they have been removed, 
their existence at some points, in some of the bayous or in 
some of the mouths of the tributaries, should still be recog- 
nized. The Wisconsin terraces, if they ever existed along a 
river like the Missouri, are never obliterated, so far as ob- 
served bv the writer, so as to leave nr) trace through long dis- 
