Summary Narrative of an Exploratory Expedition to the Sources of the Mississippi River, in 1820: Resumed and Completed, by the Discovery of its Origin in Itasca Lake, in 1832Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe
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Summary Narrative of an Exploratory Expedition to the Sources of the Mississippi River, in 1820: Resumed and Completed, by the Discovery of its Origin in Itasca Lake, in 1832
Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe
Great Lakes (North America); Mississippi River -- Sources; Northwest, Old -- Description and travel
DETROIT FLUVIATILE CLAY.--The argillaceous stratum of Detroit extends
along both banks of the river to its head; passes around the shores of
Lake St. Clair, and up the River St. Clair to Fort Gratiot--a distance
of seventy miles. In this distance there are some moderate elevations
and depressions in the surfaces of the soil, but no very striking
changes in its general character and composition. The boulder stratum is
prominent at Gros Point, at the foot of Lake St. Clair, where the shore
exhibited some heavy blocks of granite, and other foreign rock.
ST. CLAIR FLATS OF PLASTIC CLAY.--At the mouth of the River St. Clair,
the current is divided into several channels, and spread over a
considerable tract of low ground, which is covered with grasses and
aquatic plants. These channels have worn their way through beds of tough
blue clay, called the flats, over which there is sometimes not over
seven feet eight inches of water in the ship channel. They consequently
form an impediment to commerce. The depth is, however, always increased
in the spring season, when twelve inches more may be generally relied
on. Frequently, during the droughts of summer, a change of wind, and its
steady continuance for some time, will allow ships to pass without
lighters. The permanent removal of this bar is, however, an object of
national importance, which cannot but be felt, as the tonnage of the
lakes increases.
ANCIENT DUNE; A BURIED FOREST.--The principal spot where the lands, in
the immediate vicinity of the water, assume any considerable or abrupt
elevation, is included between Black River of the St. Clair and Lake
Huron. Here the outlet of the lake, which is rapid, washes the base of a
ridge, or ancient dune, elevated fifty or sixty feet above the water.
Fort Gratiot occupies the upper part of this elevation. The lower part
consists of the blue clay stratum, corresponding in character with that
found in the wells of Detroit. It is overlaid by a deposit of sand,
forming two-thirds of the entire height. This elevation is crowned with
a light forest of oak and other species. At the line of junction
between the sand and clay, a number of trees are seen to be
horizontally imbedded, projecting their roots and trunks in a striking
manner above the water. These trees, on inspection, are merely
preserved, not petrified. They appear to have been exposed to view, in
modern times, by the wearing away of the bank. Certainly, none of the
old travellers mention them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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