Dane County, Wisconsin - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 2 of those read), 1880 (part 1 of 5)

Chapter with an unread heading (no. 2 of those read)

Aeba and Position of Dane County - Drainage - Topoghaphioal Featuees - Geological Formations - Elevations of Different Points in the County-Rivers - Lakes - Natural Mounds and Sink-Holes - The Verona Cave.

Dane is one of the largest counties in the settled portion of the State, having a total area of twelve hundred and thirty-seven square miles. Its shape is that of an almost perfect rectangle, the northwest corner of which is cut off hy the Wisconsin River. From north to south it measures thirty miles, including the five tiers of townships numbered 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. From east to west it measures forty-two miles, including Ranges 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 east. It embraces thirty-five townships, two of which are fractional (Township 5, in Ranges 6 and 7 east). The county has a position about midway bptween the Mississippi and Lake Michigan, its western line being sixty-three miles from the former, its eastern line fifty-seven miles from the latter. Its southern line is twenty-four miles north of the Illinois State line. On the north of Dane are the counties of Sauk and Columbia ; on the east, the counties of Dodge and Jefferson ; on the south, those of Rock and Green ; on the west, the county of Iowa.

With the exception of an area of about one hundred and twenty square miles in the northwest that drains toward the Wisconsin, the drainage of the whole county is shed southward and eastward, through different channels, into Rock River. This result is due to the fact that nearly the whole area lies on the south side of the limestone dividing ridge that limits the valley of the Wisconsin on the south. This high limestone prairie belt, which separates the systems of the Rock and Wisconsin Rivers, crosses Green Lake County in a south-southwest direction, enters Columbia County on the north line of the towns of Scott and Randolph, crosses the county in a line gradually veering to the west, and enters Dane County on the north side of the town of Vienna, trends thence south of west across the town of Dane, and then, bending more to the south, passes through the adjoining portions of the towns of Roxbury, Berry, Springfield, Middleton and Cross Plains, and leaves the county on the west side of the lastnamed town. The ridge has a general altitude of five hundred to six hundred feet, and a width sometimes of a whole township, but on both sides is rendered quite irregular by erosion, the the northern side especially projecting in long, bold points into the valley of the Wisconsin. The summit of the ridge is largely occupied by prairie - a continuation of the prairie belt that characterizes the same ridge in its passage across Columbia County - and has alwavs, except in the towns of Middleton and Cross Plains, the Lower Magnesian as the surface rock. In these towns it rises into the St. Peter's and Trenton horizons.

In the northern portions of the towns of Middleton, Cross Plains, Berry and Mazomanie, the dividing ridge is cut entirely through by a valley half a mile to a mile in width, eighteen miles in length, and one hundred to two hundred feet in depth, which connects the ground about the west end of Lake Mendota with that bordering the Wisconsin. The highest point of the valley is eighty-five feet above Lake Mendota, and in it are streams running in either direction. Black Earth River, the larger of the two, which runs westward to the Wisconsin, heads within three miles of the lake, and at only eighty feet above its level. It has been suggested that this valley indicates a former outlet, westward to the Wisconsin, of the Four Lakes. It is not impossible that such an outlet may have existed, but there is nothing in the structure of the region to show that we have here anything else than a case where two systems of erosion have approached one another until the dividing ridge has been partially broken down. South of Black Earth River, the high ground comes in again, and, taking a turn westward, to accord with the changed direction of the Wisconsin River, passes out of the county.

To the north and west, in the towns of Dane, Roxbury and Berry, the dividing ridge presents a very abrupt escarpment, which projects in long, bold points into the valley of the Wisconsin. Beyond the escarpment the low ground is occupied by numerous outlying patches of the high country, of varying sizes, similar to those occurring in the adjoining towns of West Point, Lodi and others, in Columbia County.

Southward from the dividing ridge there is a general and much more gradual descent to the south and east, conforming with the descent in those directions of the underlying strata. West of a line drawn centrally north and south through the county, the general descent of both the country surface and strata is southward only. East of such a line, the line of greatest descent veers more and more to the eastward, until, along the northern part of the east line of the county, it is almost wholly in that direction. The drainage system corresponds with this general structure. In the northeast, in the towns of York, Bristol, Sun Prairie and Medina, the drainage is eastward into Waterloo Creek. Farther south, in the towns of Cottage Grove, Deerfield, aud' Christiana, the drainage is also eastward toward Koshkonong Creek, which itself has a general southerly direction. In the central part of the county, the drainage along the Yahara Valley is in a southeasterly direction, whilst farther west the Sugar River system runs almost exactly southward. In minor detail, of course, the directions of the streams are due to other causes.

Topographical Features

The valley of the Yahara, with its chain of lakes, is the central topographical feature of the county. The head-waters of the Yahara are a number of small streams which rise on the south side of the divide, in the towns of Springfield, Dane, Vienna and Windsor, and come together in the southern part of the town of Westport. From here to the junction with the Rock River, the valley has a southeasterly course, a length of twenty-seven miles, and a width, from high ground to high ground, of from four to nine miles. Its surface lies generally at from 260 to 300 feet above Lake Michigan, but is quite irregular, the irregularity being largely due to considerable accumulations of drift, but also to the occurrence of small rock outliers and to the projection into the valley, on either side, of low rock ridges. These have a general northeastsoutheast trend, and tend to divide the valley into more or less separate parallel cross-valleys, which are very marked, and are doubtless to be attributed to the movement over the country of glacier ice, to which cause also is to be assigned the linear nature of the topography of all the eastern part of the county. The several lakes of the region about Madison are expansions of the Yahara Valley into such cross-valleys, the ridges between which here run entirely across the main valley, though not formed throughout of rock material. Lake Mendota occupies two of the cross-valleys, partially separated by the low ridge of Picnic Point and McBride's Point (" Maplp Blufi""). Lake Monona lies in one similar valley, which extends far to the southwestward, aisiS 'holds also the smaller body of water known as Lake Wingra. Further south, the glacial movement had a more nearly southerly direction, and the directions of the cross-valleys correspond. TKere is no prairie in the Yahara Valley proper. Along the head-steams, in the towns of Springfield, Westport and Burke, there are marshes of considerable extent.

Immediately east of the Yahara Valley the country lies higher, hut soon sinks again, descending with the eastward descent of the strata, this part of the county running from 240 to 400 feet in altitude. Here we find a gently undulating surface, the ridges having a flowing contour, and ail topographical features showing the linear direction induced by the glacial movement. Numerous narrow and linear marsh strips are found on the lowest portions, while prairies of some size occur on the highest, being for the most part underlaid by limestone.

On the west side of the valley of the Yahara is a high and hilly belt of country, from 400 to 600 feet in altitude, which extends southward- from the town of Middleton along the adjoining parts of the towns of Verona, Fitchburg, Oregon and Montrose. Crossing the divide, in the Sugar River Valley, we find ourselves in an entirely different looking country, one where all irregularities are due solely to subaerial erosion ; where the ridges are high and bold, and the branch valleys ramifying, narrow and steep-sided. The two main branches of the Sugar River separate on the southern line of the town of Montrose, one setting back in a more westerly direction than the other. Both have numerous branch streams, each of which has its steepsided, flat-bottomed ravine. Here the ridges rise to 500 or 600 feet in altitude, and are nearly always occupied by fertile prairie, while the valley bottoms stand at 300 to 400, are wooded with a growth of small oaks, and show, rarely, narrow strips of marsh.

As to the fertility of soil, Dane County ranks as one of the best in the State. The prairies, found for the most part on the higher ground, owe their special fertility, usually, to the underlying limestone ; but the low ground of the Yahara Valley, though often on the upper sand layers of the Potsdam series, has everywhere an excellent soil, which it owes to alluvial" depositions or to the drift materials. A poor soil is seen only on the low grounds adjoining the Wisconsin River, where the sand comes from the Potsdam sandstone. The St. Peters sandstone rarely affects the soil over any considerable area. East of the drift limit it is buried beneath drift materials, while west of the same line it appears only on the steep sides of ravines. The prevailing timber of Dane County is small oak, occurring in patches or groves, constituting what are known as " oak openings."

The Dane County list of geological formations includes nearly the whole Wisconsin series. The Cincinnati and Niagara, however, occur only on the Blue Mounds, and in the western tier of towns of the county. The Archaean does not come to the surface in the county, but the artesian borings at Madison reached it at some 800 feet below the surface, and 480 feet below the level of Lake Michigan, at which point a dark-gray feldspathic rock is struck. Into this, one of the wells penetrates for 187 feet, reaching a point 667 feet below Lake Michigan and 82 below the level of the sea. The Potsdam sandstone comes to the surface along the valley of the Wisconsin, and along the bottoms of a number of smaller tributary valleys in the towns of Dane, Roxbury, Berry and Cross Plains. It is also at the surface over a considerable area at the head of the Yahara Valley and in the bottoms of branch valleys in Springfield, Westport, Windsor, Burke and other towns ; but in all this area only the uppermost layers of the formation are at the surface. The Mendota and Madison beds are the surface rocks over a large portion of the valley of the Yahara, reaching from the south side of Lake Monona to the south side of Lake Kegonsa. These layers are at surface along some of the valley-bottoms of Northern Middleton, Southern Springfield, and adjoining towns, as also on the flanks of the higher ground and outliers that border the valley of the Wisconsin. The fotal thickness of the two layers in Dane County is about seventy feet. The Lower Magnesian limestone forms the upper part of all the dividing ridges of the north part of the county. It forms, also, the flanks of the high ground on both sides of the Yahara Valley, wlose bottom it becomes in the region south of Lake Kegonsa. It comes up again underneath the low, marshy ground that borders Waterloo Creek in the towns of York, Bristol, Sun Prairie and Medina, its eastern descent having carried it here far bekw the altitudes at which it is found on the west side of the county. It lies also at the bottom of the valley of Sugar River and its numerous branch valleys, crowns the outlying bluffs of the Wisconsin Valley, and occurs also in several small isolated patches within the Potsdam area of the valley of the Yahara.

The thickness of the Lower Magnesian in Dane County seems rarely to be more than eighty feet, whilst its very irregular upper surface brings it often into the horizon of the next formation above. The St. Peters sandstone occupies a large tract on the east side of the Yahara Valley, where it appears to be never more than fifty feet in thickness. It is found, also, forming a narrow band around the Trenton area of the towns of York, Bristol and Windsor. West of the valley of the Yahara, it occupies much of the high ground forming the divide from the valley of the Sugar River. In the last-named valley and its branches, the St. Peters forms the lower part of the blufi" sides, having its full thickness of eighty to ninety feet. It occurs also in several detached areas in the high country north of Black Earth Creek. The Trenton limestone occurs in detached areas, mostly of considerable size, capping the high ground on both sides of the Yahara Valley. Some of the areas, however, are quite large, covering one or two townships, as in Middleton, Christiana and Albion. In the towns of Springdale and Primrose, the narrow ridges between the streams carry the whole thickness of the Trenton limestone, being at times capped by the Galena. For the most part, the Trenton areas of Dane County include only the lower part of that formation. The Galena limestone occurs only as a capping on the higher parts of the ridges of the towns of Springdale and Primrose and in two or three small areas in the town of Christiana.

Chicago, Milwaukee ^ St. Paul Railway. - West line Section 12, Township 8, Range 12 east (Medina), 272 feet; west line Section 11, Township 8, Range 12 east (Medina), 280 feet; Marshall depot, 286 feet; west line Section 10, Township 8, Range 12 east (Medina), 286 feet; west line Section 4, Township 8, Range 12 east (Medina), 278 feet; Deanville depot, 305 feet; west line Section 5, Township 8, Range 12 east (Medina), 295 feet; west line section 6, Township 8, Range 12 east (Medina), 377 feet; west line Section 1, Township 8, Range 11 east (Sun Prairie), 315 feet; west line Section 2, Township 8, Range 11 east (Sun Prairie), 374 feet; west line Section 3, Township 8, Range 11 east (Sun Prairie), 393 feet; west line Section 4, Township 8, Range 11 east (Sun Prairie), 369 feet; Sun Prairie depot, 356 feet; west line Section 8, Township 8, Range 11 east (Sun Prairie), 349 feet; west line Section 18, Township 8, Range 11 east (Sun Prairie), 341 feet; south line Section 13, Township 8, Range 10 east (Burke), 353 feet ; west line Section 24, Township 8, Range 10 east (Burke), 355 feet; south line Section 23, -Township 8, Range 10 east (Burke), 322 feet ; west line Section 26, Township 8, Range 10 east (Burke), 321 feet ; west line Section 34, Township 8, Range 10 east (Burke), 277 feet ; south line Section 33, Township 8, Range 10 east (Burke), 270 feet ; west line Section 5, Township 7, Range 10 east (Burke), 286 feet; East Madison depot, 268 feet; West Madison depot, 275 feet; Lake Monona (Third Lake), 262 feet; Lake Mendota (Fourth Lake), 270 feet.

Middle west line Section 32, Township 5, Range 12 east (Albion), 275 feet ; middle north line Section 31, Township 5, Range 12 east (Albion), 284 feet ; east line southeast quarter

.* The elevatiotis given in this article are altitudes above Lake Michigan. By adding 589 feet to those of any given point, the result will be the elevation above the ocean.

Section 25, Township 5, Range 11 east (Dunkirk), 297 feet; west line southeast quarter Section 25, Township 5, Range 11 east (Dunkirk), 285 feet ; west line Section 25, Township 5, Range 11 east (Dunkirk), 285 feet; north line Section 26, Township 5, Range 11 east (Dunkirk), 272 feet; north line northeast quarter Section 23, Township 5, Range 11 east (Dunkirk), 269 feet ; west line northeast quarter Section 15, Township 5, Range 11 east (Dunkirk), 280 feet; south line southeast qnarter Section 9, Township 5, Range 11 east (Dunkirk), 273 feet; middle west line Section 9, Township 5, Range 11 east (Dunkirk), 279 feet ; Stoughton depot, 279 feet ; south line Section 32, Township 6, Range 11 east (Pleasant Springs), 290 feet ; north line section 32, Township 6, Range 11 east (Pleasant Springs), 294 feen ; north line Section 29, Township 6, Range 11 east (Pleasant Springs), 267 feet ; north line Section 20, Township 6, Range 11 east (Pleasant Springs), 267 feet ; middle west line Section 17, Township 6, Range 11 east (Pleasant Springs), 278 feet ; north line Section 18, Township 6, Range 11 east (Pleasant Springs), 275 ffeet ; west line Section 7, Township 6, Range 11 east (Pleasant Springs), 269 feet; south line Section 1, Township 6, Range 10 east (Dunn), 273 feet; west line Section 1, Township 6, Range 10 east (Dunn), 282 feet ; west line soutlieast quarter Section 2, Township 6, Range 10 east (Dunn), 296 feet; McFarland depot, 289 feet; south line Section 34, Township 7, Range 10 east (Blooming Grove), 292 feet; west line Section 34, Township 7, Range 10 east (Blooming Grove), 276 feet ; west line northeast quarter Section 33, Township 7, Range 10 east (Blooming Grove), 265 feet ; west line Section 28, Township 7, Range 10 east (Blooming Grove), 265 feet ; west line Section 29, Township 7, Range 10 east (Blooming Grove), 265 feet; west line Section 30, Township 7, Range 10 east (Blooming Grove), 270 feet; north line Section 36, Township 7, Range 9 east (Madison), 267 feet ; West Madison depot, 275 feet ; west line northeast quarter Section 22, Township 7, Range 9 east (Madison), 291 feet ; west line northeast quarter Section 21, Township 7, Range 9 east (Madison), 291 feet ; west line Section 16, Township 7, Range 9 east (Madison), 299 feet ; west line Section 20, Township 8, Range 9 east (Westport), 326 feet ; west line northeast quarter Section 19, Township 7, Range 9 east (Madison), 332 feet ; west line Section 18, Township 7, Range 9 east (Madison), 340 feet ; north line Section 13, Township 7, Range 9 east (Madison), 345 feet ; Middleton depot, 34/ feet; west line Section 11, Township 7, Range 8 east (Middleton), 353 feet; west line southeast quarter Section 10, Township 7, Range 8 east (Middleton), 365 feet ; west line Section 10, Township 7, Range 8 east (Middleton), 360 feet ; west line Section 9, Township 7, Range 8 east (Middleton), 352 feet ; west line Section 8, Township 7, Range 8 east (Middleton), 353 feet ; west line Section 7, Township 7, Range 8 east (Middleton), 339 feet ; west line Section 12, Township 7, Range 7 east (Cross Plains), 326 feet ; west line Section 2, Township 7, Range 7 east (Cross Plains), 300 feet; Cross Plains depot, 278 feet; west line Section 4, Township 7, Range 7 east (Cross Plains), 268 feet; center Section 31, Township 8, Range 7 east (Berry), 250 feet ; Black Earth depot, 232 feet.

Central Wisconsin may be said to include portions of four distinct drainage systems - those of the Wisconsin, Black and Rock Rivers, flowing southward and westward to the Mississippi, and that of the Fox River, of Green Bay, flowing northward and eastward to Lake Michigan' and is thus tributary to the St. Lawrence. The direction and areas of these^river systems are more or less directly influenced by the rock structure of the State. Extending into Wisconsin from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and forming the central nucleus of the northern half of Wisconsin, is a great mass of ancient crystalline rocks, which is bordered on all sides by newer and undisturbed formations, whose outcropping edges on the south, east and west succeed one another in concentric bands. The central crystalline mass, probably for the most part never covered by later formations, includes the highest land in the State. It has a general slope to the southward, reaching its greatest elevation - 1,100 feet above Lakes Michigan and Superior - along Its northern edge, within thirty miles of the latter lake. The waters which fall upon it are shed in four different directions - to the north, into Lake Superior ; to the southeast, into Lake Michigan ; to the south, into the Wisconsin, which ultimately reaches the Mississippi, and to the southwest, directly into the last-mentioned river.

Wisconsin River. - This stream, which washes for about ten miles the northwest boundary of Dane County, is much the most important of those which drain the elevated lands of the State. Its total length from its source to its mouth is about 450 miles. It forms, with its valley, the main topographical feature of Central Wisconsin. Rising in Lac Vieux Desert, on the summit of the Archaean water-shed, at an elevation of 951 feet above Lake Michigan, it pursues a general southerly course for 300 miles over the crystalline rocks, and then, passing on to the sandstonea which form its bed for the remainder of its course, continues to the southward some eighty miles more. Turning then westward, it reaches the Mississippi within forty miles of the south line of the State, at an elevation of only thirty feet above Lake Michigan, so that its fall from Lac Vieux Desert is 921 feet - an average of a fraction over two feet to the mile. Like all other streams which run to the south, southeast and southwest from the crystalline rocks, it has its quite distinct upper or crystalline rock portion and its lower or sandstone portion. This river, however, may be regarded as having three distinct sections - the first including all that part from the source to the last appearance of crystalline rocks in the bed of the stream, in the southern part of Wood County ; the second, that part from this point to the Dells, on the south line of Adams and Juneau Counties ; and the third that portion from the Dells to the mouth of the stream. . The first of these divisions is broken constantly by rapids and falls, caused by the descent south of the surface of the Archaean area, and by the obstructions produced by the inclined ledges of rock which cross the stream. The second and third sections are alike in being almost entirely without rapids or falls, and in the nature of the red rock, but are separated by the contracted gorge known as the Dells, which, acting in some sort as a dam, prevents any considerable rise in the river below, the water above not infrequently rising as much as fifty feet in flood seasons, whilst below the extreme fluctuation does not exceed ten feet. The total lengths of the Archaean, upper sandstone and lower sandstone sections of the river are respectively 250, 62 and 130 miles; the distance through the Dells being about seven and a half miles.

The width of the river, where it enters Marathon County, is from three hundred to five hundred feet. It pursues a general southerly course through Townships 29, 28, 27, 26, 25 and 24 north, of Range 7 east, and Townships 24 and 23 north, of Range 8 east, in the southern portion of Portage County. In this part of its course, the Wisconsin flows through a densely timbered country, and has, except where it makes rapids or passes through rock gorges, a narrow bottom land, which varies in width, is usually raised but a few feet above the water level, and is wider on one side than on the other. Above this bottom, terraces can often be made out, with surfaces in some cases one or two miles in width. Above, again, the country surface rises steadily to the dividing ridges on each side, never showing the blufiF edges so characteristic of the lower reaches of the river. Heavy rapids and falls are made at Wausau (Big Bull Falls), at Mosinee (Little Bull Falls), at Stevens Point and on Section 8, in Township 23 north, of Range 8 east (Conant's Rapids). All but the last named of these are increased in height by artificial .'dams. Tw,o miles below the foot of Conant's Rapids, just after receiving the Plover River on the east, the Wisconsin turns a right angle to the west, and enters upon the sparsely timbered sand plains through which it flows for 100 miles. At the bend, the river is quiet, with high banks of sand, and a few low outcrops of gneiss at the water's edge. From the bend, the course is westward for about nine miles, then, after curving southward again, the long series of rapids soon begins, which, with intervening stretches of still water, extend about fifteen miles along the river to the last rapid at Point Bas^, in Southern Wood County.

East' of the river line, between the city of Grand Rapids and Point Bass, the country rises gradually, reaching altitudes of one hundred feet above the river at points ten or fifteen miles distant. On the west, the surface is an almost level plain, descending gradually as the river is receded from. At Point Bass, the gneissic rocks disappear beneath the sandstones which for some miles have formed the upper portions of the river banks and now become, in turn, the bed-rock, and the first division of the river's course ends. The main tributaries which it has received down to this point are, on the left bank, the Big Eau Claire, three miles below Wausau ; the little Eau Claire, on the north side of Section 3, in Township 2-5 north, of Range 7 east, just south of the north line of Portage County ; and the Big Plover, on Section 9, in Township 28 north, of Range 5 east, just at the foot of Conant's Rapids ; on the right bank, the Placota or Big Rib, about two miles below Wausau ; the She-she-ga-ma-isk, or Big Eau Pleine, on Section 19, in Township 26 north, of Range 7 east, in Marathon County ; and the Little Eau Pleine, on Section 9, in Township 25 north, of Range 7 east, in Portage County. All of these streams are of considerable size and drain large areas. They all make much southing in their courses, so that their lengths are much greater than the actual distances from the sources to the Wisconsin at the nearest point; and all of them have a very considerable descent, making many rapids and falls over the tilted edges of schistose and gneissic rocks, even down to within short distances of their junctions with the main river. The streams on the west side head on the high country, along the line of the Fourth Principal Meridian, about forty miles west of the Wisconsin, and at elevations of from two hundred to three hundred feet above their mouths ; those on the east head on the divide between the Wisconsin and Wolf, about twenty miles east, at elevations not very much less. Reaching back, as these streams do, into a country largely timbered with pine, and having so large a descent, they are of great value for logging and milling purposes.

The second section of the Wisconsin River begins at Point Bass, with a width of from seven hundred to nine hundred feet. The next sixty miles of its course, to the head of the Dells, is a southerly stretch, with a wide bow to the westward, through sand plains, here and there timbered with dwarf oaks and interspersed with marshes. These plains stretch away to the east and west for twenty miles from the river bottom, gradually rising in both directions. Scattered over them, at intervals of one to ten miles, are erosion peaks of sandstone, from fifty to three hundred feet in height, rising precipitously from the level ground. Some of these are near and on the bank of the river, which is also, in places, bordered by low mural exposures of the same sandstone. The river itself is constantly obstructed by shifting sand-bars, resulting from the ancient disintegration of the sandstone, which, in the vicinity, everywhere forms the basement rock ; but its course is not interrupted by rock rapids. As it nears the northern line of Columbia County, the high ground that limits the sand plain on the west, curving southeastward, finally reaches the edge of the stream, which, by its southeasterly course for the last twenty miles, has itself approached the high ground on the east. The two ridges, thus closing in upon the river, have caused it to cut for itself the deep, narrow gorge known as the Dells.

In the second section of its course, the Wisconsin receives several important tributaries. Of those on the east, the principal ones are Duck Creek and Ten-Mile Creek, in the southern part of Wood County ; and the Little and Big Roche-a-Cris Creeks, both in Adams County. The two form^ head in a large marsh twenty-five miles east of and over one hundred feet above the main stream. The two latter head on the high dividing ridge, on the west line of Waushara County, at elevations between one hundred and fifty and two hundred feet above their mouths. These streams do not pass through a timbered country, but have very valuable waterpowers. Of those on the west, two are large and important - the Yellow and Lemonweir Rivers. Yellow River heads in Township 25 north, in the adjoining corners of Wood, Jackson and Clark Counties, and runs a general southerly course, nearly parallel to the Wisconsin for over seventy miles - the two gradually approaching one another and joining in Township 17 north, of Range 4 east. The Yellow River has its Archaean and sandstone sections - the former exceedingly rocky and much broken by rapids and falls, the latter comparatively sluggish and without rock rapids. The upper portions of the river extend into the pine regions, and much Jogging is done in times of high water. The water-powers are of great value. The Lemonweir IS also a large stream. Heading in a timbered region in the southeast corner of Jackson County, It flows southward for some distance through Monroe, and, entering Juneau on the middle of its

side, crosses it in a southeasterly direction, reaching the Wisconsin in Section 24, in Township 15 north, of Range 5 east,' having descended in its length of some seventy miles about two hundred feet.

The Wisconsin enters the gorge, already spoken of as the Dells, not far above the southern boundary line of Juneau and Adams Counties. This famous passage, of about seven and onehalf miles, has been often described. 'At its foot, between the counties of Sauk and Columbia, the Wisconsin enters upon the last section of its course, and also upon the most remarkable bend in its whole length. Through the Dells, its general course is southward, but it now turns almost due east, in which direction it continues, with one or two subordinate tarns southward for about seventeen miles, through low sand banks as far as Portage. Here it bends abruptly south again, and, reaching its most eastern point not far below, soon swerves around into the final southwestward stretch to the Mississippi. The cause of this long detour to the east is sufiiciently evident. As the river leaves the Dells, it finds lying directly athwart its course two bold quartzlte ranges, extending east and west through Sauk County for upward of twenty miles, and, crossing into Columbia, finally unite about eight miles east of the county line in a sharp and bold eastwardly projecting point, rising four hundred feet above the river bottom. Above Portage, where the Wisconsin forms the southern boundary line of the town of Lewiston, the ground immediately north is lower than the water in the river - the heads of Neenah Creek, a tributary of the Fox, rising a short distance from its banks. In times of high water, the Wisconsin overflows into these streams, and thus contributes to a totally difierent river. At Portage, the Fox, after flowing south of west for twenty miles, approaches the Wisconsin, coming from the opposite direction. Where the two streams are nearest, they are less than two miles apart, and are separated by a low, sandy plain, the water in the Fox being five feet below that of the Wisconsin at ordinary stages. The greater part of this low ground is overfiowed by the latter stream in times of high water, and to this is chiefly due the spring rise in the Fox River.

After doubling the eastern end of the quartzite ranges, as already said, the Wisconsin, turns again to the west, being forced to -this by impinging on the north side of a high belt of limestone country, which, after trending southward across the eastern part of Columbia County, veers gradually to a westerly direction, lying to the south of the river, along the rest of its course. Soon after striking this limestone region, the river valley assumes an altogether new character, which it retains to its mouth, having now a nearly level, for the most part treeless, bottom, from three to six miles in width, ten to thirty feet in height, usually more on one side than on the other, and bounded on both sides by bold and often precipitous bluffs, one hundred to three hundred and fifty feet in height, of sandstone capped with limestone. Immediately along the water's edge is usually a narrow timbered strip, rising two to four feet above the river, which is overflowed at high water. The line of blufis along the north side of the valley is the northern edge of the high limestone belt just mentioned, which reaches its greatest elevation ten to fifteen miles south of this edge. In front of the main bluff-face, especially in its eastern extension, are frequently to be seen bold and high isolated outliers of the limestone country. , On the north bank, the bluffs are at first the edges of similar large outlying masses, but farther down they become more continuous, the river crossing over the northwestward trending outcrop line of the Lower Magnesian limestone.

In this last section of its course, the Wisconsin is much obstructed by bars of shifting sand, derived originally from the erosion of the great sandstone formation which underlies the whole region, and to whose existence the unusual amount of obstruction of this kind in, the river is due. The altitude of the water surface of the Wisconsin at Lac Vieux Desert above Lake Michigan, is 951 feet ; at Wausau, above dam, 623 feet ; at Knowlton (high), 638 feet - (low), 523 feet ; at Stevens Point, 485 feet ; at Conant's Rapids, 468 feet ; at 'GrandlRapids - railroad bridge, 420 feet; at Kilbourn City - railroad bridge, 233 feet; at Portage, 211 feet; at Merrimack, 182 feet; at Sauk City, 165 feet; at Spring Green bridge, 134 feet; at Muscoda, 115 feet; at the mouth of the stream, 34 feet. The average velocity of the river below Portage is remarkably uniform, and is just about two miles per hour. The daily dis- charges of the river at Portage, in times of extreme low water, is about two hundred and fifty-nine million cubic feet. The average fall of the water surface of the river below Portage is one and one-half foot per mile. This rapid fall, were it not for the great amount of sand in the riverbed, would make the stream a series of pools and rock rapids.

Bock River. - The Rock River, by its tributaries, drains, as we have already shown, all of Dane County, except its northwest part. This last-mentioned portion of the county - only onetenth, in fact - is drained by the Wisconsin and its affluents. Rock River has no part of its main channel within the limits of the County - though Lake Koshkonong, which is but an enlargement of the stream, extends westward into a small portion of the town of Albion. Two of the principal western tributaries of Rock River are themselves rivers - Sugar River and the Yahara.

Sugar River. - This stream drains by two principal branches, as previously mentioned, a large part of the southwest portion of the county. The river proper, after leaving Dane and running through Green County, passes into the State of Dlinois, discharging itself into Rock River, in Winnebago County.

The Yahara. - This stream (formerly known as the Catfish) crosses almost the entire width of the county from north to south. Its first course is a little to the southwest, until it reaches Lake Mendota. Passing through this lake, it takes a southeasterly direction, connecting it with Lakes Monona, Waubesa and Kegonsa. It then pursues the same general course until it enters Rock County from Section 35 of the town of Dunkirk., It empties into the Rock River on Section 19 of the town of Fulton, in the last-mentioned county.

There are a number of lakes in Dane County, but the principal, and those most attractive are "The Four Lakes," lying in the valley of the Yahara, and nearly in a direct line from northwest to southeast.

Mendota. - This is the uppermost and the largest of the four lakes. The larger part was formerly in the town of Madison, and the remainder in the town of Westport ; but " the entire surface, to the shores at high- water mark around it," is now included in the limits of the city of Madison. Its most northern shore is eleven miles south of the northern boundary of the county.

Monona. - This is the next lake below Mendota, and lies to the southeast of it, at a distance, in one place, of only 180 rods from it. Monona is also wholly within the limits of the city of Madison, though the larger part was formerly in the town of Blooming Grove, and the remainder in the town of Madison.

Waubesa. - This lake, the one next belowi Monona, and lying to the southeast of it a short distance, has its larger part in the town of Dunn, and the residue in the town of Blooming Grove.

Kegonsa. - The lowest of the four lakes is Kegonsa, distant from Waubesa, in a southeast direction, nearly three miles. It is seven miles north of the south line of the county, and lies in the towns of Dunn and Pleasant Springs.

Each lake is surrounded by a broad valley, which, with the bottom lands bordering upon the numerous small streams flowing into them on all sides, forms a portion of an agricultural country of great fertility.

The water of all these lakes is cold and clear. Their bottoms, which are visible at a considerable depth, are composed of white sand, interspersed with granite boulders. Their^banks, with few exceptions, are bold. A jaunt upon them affords almost every variety of scenery - bold escarpments and overhanging cliffs, elevated peaks and gently-sloping shores, with occasional strips of meadow land between, affording magnificent views of distant objects of interest.

TiT^^"^ ^^° visited these lakes during the Black Hawk war, in 1832, gives this account of them : ^' It may not be uninteresting to the reader to give a small outline of these lakes. From a description of the country, a person would very naturally suppose that those lakes were as little pleasing to the eye of the traveler as the country is. But not so. I think they are the most beautiful bodies of water I ever saw. The first one that we came to [Monona] was aboiit ten miles in circumference, and the water as clear as crystal. The earth sloped back in a gradual rise ; the bottom of the lake appeared to be entirely covered with white pebbles, and no appears ance of its being the least swampy. The second one that we came to [Mendota] appeared to be much larger. It must have been twenty miles in circumference. The ground rose very high all around ; and the heaviest kind of timber grew close to the water's edge. If these lakes were anywhere else except in the country they are, they would be considered among the wonders of the world. But the country they are situated in is not fit for any civilized nation of people to inhabit. It appears that the Almighty intended it for the children of the forest. The other two lakes [Waubesa and Kegonsa] we did not get close enough to for me to give a description of them ; but those who saw them stated that they were very much like the others."

Could this writer now revisit these lakes he would see what a half-century has accomplished ; he would conclude now that "the country" these bodies of water "are situated in" is eminently fitted "for any civilized nation of people to inhabit."

The numerical names of the Four Lakes - " First Lake," " Second Lake," " Third Lake," "Fourth Lake" - by which they were formerly known,, had their origin in this wise: When the county was surveyed by the General Government, the surveyors numbered the lakes upon their plats in consecutive order. The survey having been commenced on the Illinois State line and carried north, the lower lake was the first one reached, and was noted as " First Lake ;" the next one above was marked as " Second Lake ;" and so on. The first map of the Four- Lake country having the lakes marked upon it with any degree of accuracy, was compiled from these surveys, and the numbering of the lakes was retained as found upon the Government plats. Other maps were soon published, having these bodies of water designated in the same manner, and they were, as a consequence, so distinguished by the early settlers.

This use continued general until 1849. Whether or not the Indians had separate names for the lakes is unknown. Collectively, they called them " Ty-co-be-rah ;" that is, The Four Lakes ; hence, the Indians were spoken of as living, not on any particular lake, but at " The Four Lakes " - Tycoberah.

"In 1849," writes Simeon Mills, "I employed a young man from Philadelphia by the name of Frank Hudson, to survey and plat what is known as the University Addition to Madison. Mr. Hudson was very fond of reading, devoting much time to such works as gave accounts of the habits and customs of the natives. While thus engaged, he found, in some Indian legends, the names Monona and Mendota, and at once suggested these appellations as suitable to the lakes which then limited, on either hand, the boundary of Madison. This suggestion was generally approved - Mendota being applied to the Fourth Lake, and Monona to the Third Lake."

" Some years later," continues Mr. Mills, " the subject of giving Indian names to all the lakes was brought up. The names Kegonsa and Waubesa were found and adopted by Gov. Farwell and others then taking an interest in the matter, as appropriate for the other two lakes - Waubesa for the Second Lake, and Kegonsa for the First Lake."

To make the naming of these lakes such a formal and public matter as to give it dignity and command respect, the following act was introduced into the Legislature, and became a law February 14, 1855 :

An Act to change the names of the "First," "Second," "Third" and "Fourth" Lakes in Dane County and the Catfish River. The people of the State of Wisconsin, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

Section 1. The " First" Lake, in Dane County, shall hereafter be known as Lake " Kegonsa." Sec. 2. The "Second " Lake, in said county, shall be known and designated hereafter as Lake " Waubesa." Sec. 3. The "Third" Lake, in said county, shall be known and hereafter designated as Lake "Monona." Sec. 4. The " Fpurth " Lake, in said county, shall be known and hereafter designated as Lake " Mendota." Sec. 5. The stream now designated and now known as the " Catfish," shall be named and hereafter be known as the " Ya-ha-ra."

The Four Lakes have awakened enthusiasm abroad as well as at home because of their beauty. Poets sing rapturously of these lakelets " strung like jewels on a cord of silver." Henry W. Longfellow, under date of January 20, 1876, writes :

V. Lakes, forests, prairies, "beaked promontories," Delight the eye, bright in their summer glories. And on yon height, those domes and spires, Up-pointing, glow like altar-fires ; Above its groves, and overhead, The bluest heaven of June is spread,

Charles George Mayers, of Madison, has completed three of a series of " Songs of the Lakes," from one of which the following extract, describing a young Indian hunter's first successful shot upon the banks of the Yahara, is taken. The scene is laid on the upper river, in the town of

The Four Lakes and the river which drains them, were surveyed in 1839, by Capt. T. J. Cram, under authority of the General Government. In his report, Capt. Cram says :

" The Fourth Lake, which is the summit lake, has a periphery of 19J miles, and covers an area of 15-j^^^ square miles. Its longest diameter bears due east and west, and is 6 miles in length ; and the transverse diameter, perpendicular thereto, is 4 miles long. The water in this lake is cold and pure, and of depth sufficient for all purposes of navigation by small steamers. The land bordering upon it is hilly, undulating, and in many places broken. On the north side it is well timbered, chiefly with hard wood, and lime and siliceous stone are found in abundance ; the quality thereof, however, has not been sufficiently tested to enable one to form a just estimate of its value for building purposes.

" From information derived from His Excellency, Gov. Dodge, it is inferred that a canal, having the Fourth Lake for its summit reservoir, might be easily constructed between this lake and the Wisconsin River. The Indians are said to have made the passage through, with their canoes, in time of high water. It would be well to examine the ground along this route, with a view to test the feasibility of opening a suitable canal ; and, if found practicable, plans and estimates of the cost of construction should be made.

" The channel between the Fourth and Third Lakes is 1 mile in extent, and varies in width from 60 to 100 feet ; immediately at the outlet, the width, however, is but 35 feet ; and the current is proportionately strong, the depth not exceeding two feet. This shoal extends 1,000 feet into the lake, and about 500 feet down the channel, before giving a depth of 3 feet. The total fall in this one mile of channel is approximately estimated at 22 inches. At the entrance to the Third Lake, a shoal occurs of a similar character to the one just described.

" The method of improving this channel would be to deepen it, and clear out the sunken timber and brush found in it, and to construct a lock of suitable lift at the entrance of the Third Lake, in a manner, however, not to produce stagnant water in the channel above.

" The Third Lake is 12J miles in circumference and covers 5-j^ square miles. Its longest diameter is 3J miles in extent, and bears north 41° east, and the diameter perpendicular thereto is 1t^^ miles long. The water is pellucid, and has a depth along the usual boat track of more than 10 feet. The shores are hilly and undulating, bearing a scattered growth of burr and white oak. *

" The channel through which this lake is discharged, has a depth of 9 feet immediately at the outlet, with a muddy and sandy bottom ; but the depth soon decreases to 4 and finally down to 2 feet, where the bottom becomes gravelly, with numerous sand and lime rocks for an extent of f of a mile ; these rocks, however, can be easily removed.

"The water is sometimes so low that the rocks are seen projecting above its surface, when the depth cannot exceed 12 inches. After leaving this bed of rocks, the channel carries from 3 to 6 feet depth to the entrance of the Second Lake; at this entrance there occurs a bar of 150 feet width, having from 3 to 3 J feet of water over its summit ; after passing the summit, however, the water attains a depth of 1 fathom in a distance of 150 feet. The length of the channel, between the Third and Second Lakes, is ^^ of a mile, and its breadth averages not less than 350 feet, and its current is quite gentle. The method for improving its navigation is so obvious that description is not necessary.

" The Second Lake has a periphery of ^y^-^ miles, and a surface of 4/^ square miles ; its greatest diameter bears north 17° east, and is S^ miles long. The diameter transverse and perpendicular thereto is Ixttt fniles long. The water in this lake is likewise pure and carries a depth along the boat track of one and a half fathoms. On the north and east the shore is marshy, with a low, gravelly bank intervening between the marsh and the water's edge ; on the southern and western shores the land is elevated, undulating, presenting high knobs and bluffs.

" The length of the channel between the Second and First Lakes is 3J miles ; at the outlet of the Second there are many rocks in the bed of the stream, which, however, can be removed without blasting. At a short distance below the outlet, a rapid occurs, having a total fall of rVinr of ^ foot, in a distance of 800 feet, where there is but eighteen inches depth of water; below this rapid the depth soon increases to three feet, and the bottom becomes sandy. About one mile lower down a second rapid occurs for an extent of 660 feet, in which the total fail is Tnnnr of a foot, and depth from 22 to 30 inches ; after which Ihe depth increases to three and four feet. At a point about 1,200 feet further down, the stream expands into a breadth of four-tenths of a mile, and has a depth which varies between the limits of thi'ee and six feet; after attaining the last limit, the depth suddenly decreases to two feet, where a third rapid commences, whose total fall in 1,200 feet is Tthrs of a foot. In this rapid the depth is but 12 inches, and several large rocks appear above the surface of the water, where an old Indian fish-dam crosses the stream. Immediately below the third rapid, the stream has a depth varying from 20 to 30 inches, and farther down from two and a half to three feet, with numerous rocks in its bed. Succeeding this, the stream is reduced to two feet in depth ; then attains to three and a half feet, and holds this last depth to the entrance of the First Lake, excepting where two bars occur, over which the depth is but two feet.

" The method that appears to be suitable for the improvement of the channel (between the Second and First Lakes) is to erect a dam at the foot of, the third rapid, to produce slack water between it and the Second Lake, of suiBcient depth to cover all the intervening obstructions, which, in all probability, might be done without overflowing much valuable land ; and to deepen the channel between the foot of said rapid to the entrance of First Lake, so as to give sufiicient depth quite over the bar into this lake.

" The First Lake has a circumference of 9| miles, and contains 5 square miles of surface; its longest diameter points due east and west, and is 3J miles in extent ; and the north-andsouth diameter is 2 miles long. The water is as pellucid as that of the other lakes, and carries a depth along the boat track varying from 7 to 10 feet, excepting near the outlet, where, as usual, there is a bar over which the water is but 2 feet deep. The shores, with few exceptions, are good; in some places they are rolling and uneven, being broken by bluifs and interspersed occasionally with small. marshes. The timber is scanty and of inferior quality.

" From the outlet of the First Lake to the head of the Dunkirk Falls, the distance, by the river (called the Catfish), is 9 miles. The average breadth of the stream is about 130 feet, being occasionally reduced to 60 feet at the short bends, where the depth is usually at least 5 feet; at other places it was found not less than 2 J feet, and generally from 2f to 3»feet. The fall in these 9 miles is so uniform, and the current so gentle, that dams are deemed to be unnecessary ; and all that would be required for the improvement would be to deepen the channel in a few places, and, perhaps, dredge ofl" a point of ground occasionally, where an elbow occurs.

" From the head of Dunkirk Falls to the entrance into Rock River is 12J miles. There is a continued succession of short rapids, with intervening pools, wherein the current is gentle.

" The banks of the river are high and generally bordered.by hills, varying in altitude from 30 to 40 feet. They are generally favorable for the erection of dams."

Besides the Four Lakes, there are numerous others of smaller size in Dane County, the principal one being Lake Wingra, in the town of Madison. The following are noted on the

Natural Mounds And Sink-Holes

In Southwest Wisconsin there are no mountains, and the nearest approach to them are the natural mounds - the Sinsinawa Mound, in Grant County ; the Platte Mounds, in La Fayette County; and the Bliie Mounds, in Iowa and Dane Counties. The Sinsinawa Mound is a very conspicuous object in the southern part of Grant County, near the village of Fairplay. It is composed for the most part of the Cincinnati group, capped with a small amount of Niagara limestone. The Platte Mounds are three in number, about a mile apart, the middle one being very small in comparison with the other two. The large ones, the east and west mounds, are about the same elevation, and are capped with a very hard Niagara limestone, to which they doubtless owe their preservation in the general washing away of the surrounding country. The ground slopes away from them so gently, and blends so gradually with the surrounding highlands, that it is impossible to define exactly where the mounds begin. The Blue Mounds are two in number ; one, the West Blue Mound, being in Iowa County, and the other, the East Blue Mound, being in Dane County. The top of the West Mound (which is the higher of the two) consists of a hundred feet of very hard flint, or chert rock, somewhat resembling quartzite ; below this .is the Niagara limestone. This cap of chert seems to have been removed from the East Mound, the top of which is a flat table-land under cultivation. These mounds are very conspicuous, and can be seen from any moderately high land for many miles around. The East Blue Mound is mostly in the town of Blue Mounds, in Sections 5 and 6, in Township 6, of Range 6 east.

The Blue Mounds, like the others mentioned, owe their origin to erosion, and not elevation. They are the outlines of an ancient world, landmarks of ages too remote to be computed by years - boundaries which remain to prove the existence of a former surface over all Southern Wisconsin, of which in the lapse of epochs more than six hundred feet have been dissolved and carried away by the action of the elements. The Blue Mounds, being the highest, dominate all the others. Sharp-cut valleys and ravines radiate from their hoary sides in nearly every direction ; springs break out along the margins of the successive layers, and streams run to the four points of the compass. The West Blue Mound rises to a height of 1,151 feet above Lake Michigan, and 1,729 feet above the ocean, and is the most elevated point in Southern Wisconsin. There are other natural mounds in Dane County, serving as striking features of the locality where they exist; but they are small in comparison with the East Blue Mound.

Very remarkable features in the vicinity of the Blue Mounds are the numerous sink-holes found near their base, and frequently quite far up their sides. These sinks are usually in groups of three or four, and invariably in nearly an east-and-west line. One group is near the former residence of Ebenezer Brigham, at the foot of the East Blue Mound, in the town of Blue Mounds, in the southwest quarter of Section 5, in Township 6, of Range, 6 east. There are about a dozen of them, nearly round, varying in diameter from ten to twenty feet, and about five feet deep, all in a line, bearing about 10° north of west. It is probable that the water, percolating through the earth into crevices beneath, has in the course of time carried so much of the soil with it as to cause a falling in of the surface, leaving the sinks as the result. Sinks do not appear to be confined to the Galena limestone, but seem to be quite as frequent at the Blue Mounds, in the Niagara formation. They have been observed in many other localities in the lead region.

The Verona Cave

" On the northeast part of Section 5, in the town of Verona, is the ' Great Cave of Dane County.' About eleven miles distant, and a little southwest of Madison, near the crest of th* dividing ridge which separates the lake region from the valley of Sugar River, there exists the basin of an ancient pond or lake, covering about four thousand acres, whose waters have long since departed, and whose drainage is directly into the face of a bluff. This inlet, a quarter of a century ago, was penetrated nearly two thousand feet, and yet has never been fully explored or its mysterious depths examined by mortal eye. It is about five hundred feet above the level of the four lakes, and the openings apparently tend to the west. Sugar River is about one and a half miles distant, but no evidence has ever been discovered to warrant the belief that these waters anywhere enter or make a part of that stream. All indications, indeed, point to the certainty that it is an entrance to that vast subterranean river system known to permeate the lead region at a great depth, and whose unknown outlet may be hundreds of miles away. Early explorers always halted from fatigue or lack of adequate preparation to proceed, and not because the way was not open ; and nothing like an end has ever been reached.

" The deposit in which this immense grotto exists, is the cliff or Upper Magnesian limestone, which at this point is known to be underlaid by a sandstone formation, whose thickness is probably forty or fifty feet. That the channel has been cut down to this more friable material, at some point of its course, is not doubted, and hence it is naturally concluded that, if followed to the line of junction, the dimensions of the cave would swell to colossal proportions. As it exists at present, there are four narrow entrances, badly choked by the debris fallen at the mouth, or material carried in by currents. The two most southern openings unite at the distance of some fifty or sixty feet, whence cavern succeeds cavern, so far as known, for thousands of feet. Once within this rocky chamber, there v^as forii^erly no serious obstacle to progress ; but the present difficulty of entrance has kept thousands from the spot. It has also had the effect of keeping the walls of the interior openings in a much damper condition than they otherwise would be, by preventing the draft of outer air, which passes steadily through the whole known extent of the cavern. The far inner rooms have all the usual characteristics of the most noted caves in the country. Pendant stalactite has its corresponding stalagmite, at present much discolored by the newly added sediment. The walls are worn into strange and fantastic shapes, and everywhere exhibit the erosive power of rushing water. Long corridors and halls, whose smooth, rocky sides would seem to bid defiance to any power, connect the numerous vestibules and chambers, some of which are from twenty to thirty feet in height and of great and almost unknown depth.

'' That the cave consists of several stories, is evident from numerous indications, both exterior and interior. It is proved by the sound of voices when large parties are exploring the numerous ramifications ; by variations in level ; and more particularly by a whirlpool in seasons of flood, outside the entrance, which proves that the ancient channel has been choked by fallen rocks, and underlies the whole cavern thus far examined. It is still further proved by the clean-cut bank of the outside water-course, whose bottom is several feet below the present entrance - an impossible achievement if they were the natural inlet. Still further, no pond or water ever remains in front of the cave, in the basin below the existing entrance level, which would be impossible if it did not have a subterranean escape. Once cleared of accumulated debris, and instead of one or more, there would probably be found a cave of several stories, the lower of which would amply suffice to drain the region, leaving the others ordinarily dry and intact. Until this is done, the full extent and beauty of this mighty freak of nature will never be fully known or appreciated. ' Parties living close at hand give wonderful accounts of the phenomena witnessed after great and sudden floods, when the waters, dammed back by the choked entrance, rise ten or fifteen feet against the face of the cavern, compressing the inner air, which escapSS' through small fissures, to the crest of the hill, with a hiss and a roar somewhat akin to the shriek of a steam whistle. At one spot, indeed, the conversation of parties deep in the cave can be heard directly overhead, showing that if extra ventilation were ever needed it could be easily provided for. Anything like floods, in this elevated basin, however, are extremely rare, and could only occur after longcontinued rains, or the sudden melting of great and heavy bodies of snow. No rain-fall from May to November has ever been known large enough to send any water into the opening, nor does any enter during the months of winter.

The First White Woman In Baraboo Valley

" It is greatly to be regretted that drift--wood and other material have been allowed access, and to accumulate in such quantities as to preclude thorough explorations. Fossil remains of the mastodon, the mammoth and the elephant, as well as of other extinct species, have been found in deep fissures in various parts of the lead region ; and there is every reason to suspect their existence here. These cavities originated from a common cause, and have a natural relation to each other. Science had much to anticipate from the revelations of this vast subterranean tunnel. Its buried chambers, of curious form and magnificent proportions, would have been the delight of future generations, if rendered accessible. Possibly the entrance rubbish of the lowest cavity may yet be removed, and by that means the upper chambers be cleansed and restored. In any event, the spot will be visited by the curious, as it is unlike any other cavern in the country, and the only one whose entrance is at its source, and not the mouth. The darkness that hides its interior secrets covers a great mystery."*

"A mystery hangs around the cave which has, perhaps, been intensified by the recollection of an adventure that occurred to two citizens of the town of Verona when in it, and, though it might have proved fatal, it could not possibly have occurred had a little more care been taken in providing enough lights to carry with them. The mouth of the cave is under a ledge of rocks that hangs over a small valley, of which it is the terminus. Before the rains had washed so much debris as- now exists around its entrance, there was a large enough opening for any person to pass in and out conveniently.

" James Waddell and a Mr. Goodrich started one tnorning on horseback to examine the cave. Providing themselves with candles, they entered the cave and proceeded to investigate the interior, previously tying their horses outside. The fascination of desiring to continue their search farther than they had provided lights for, led them so far that their last candle was nearly exhausted before they thought it prudent to return. Unable to retrace their steps, however, before it gave out entirely, one of them, taking off his shirt, tore it into strips, and, lighting them, made some progress in the direction from which they had come. The cotton strips becoming exhausted, they were left in the solitude of the unknown cave, and, sitting down, felt themselves worse than lost - buried alive.

" Meanwhile, one of the animals that had been tied to the trees broke loose, and, going home, created considerable anxiety to the wife and brothers of Mr. Waddell. The two brothers, John and Walter, knowing that James had gone to the cave, immediately supplied themselves with a rope and candle, and proceeded in search of him, dreading that some choke-damp had destroyed his life. Arriving at the cave, they cautiously entered, and, lighting their candle, one stood near the mouth and held the rope, while the other took one end of it, and, with the light, started farther in, calling his brother by name. Repeated shouting brought no answer, until mental anxiety getting the better of both, they dispensed with the rope, and proceeded together farther in, repeatedly calling as they went. At length a faint response was heard in a distant part of the cave, and, as each hurried to the other, the sounds grew more distinct, and finally brought the two lost men to their side, overjoyed at their fortunate escape from a living tomb.

" The four men now endeavored to return, but it seemed evident, for some time, that it was impossible. The intricate passages on every side of them seemed to bafiie every effort to retrace their steps, while their nearly exhausted candle gave them but little hope. Seeking for the outlet, Walter discovered on a number of the pillars supporting the arches, a portion of the rock assuming the shape of a spear or arrow-head, and always pointing one way. Concluding to follow these marks, they finally found them point toward the mouth of the cave, where they arrived in safety, although very late in the evening. With deep gratitude for their fortunate deliverance and second escape, they made all possible haste to relieve the anxiety of those at home, feeling satisfied that the deep and intricate passages of the cave were no longer a myth to them.

" It is supposed by some that the marks on the pillars were caused by the action of the water as it rushes through the passages during the heavy rain-falls ; but these men were of the impression that they gave evidence of having been cut by human hands, perhaps by Indians, and that at one time the cave was known to them in all its intricate windings by these marks. " The Wrst white man known to have entered the cave was John MacDonald, Jr., who in 1845, went in about 8 o'clock in the morning and, losing his way, was unable to make his escape until far on in the afternoon of the same day. His intention was to go no farther than he could observe the rays of light reflected from the mouth, and which he endeavored to keep steadily watching, by walking in a half-turned position from the mouth to the interior. Finally thinking he had lost the light, he started back, and was only able to extricate himself after the lapse of time above stated. His case would have been a hopeless one, had he been unable to find his way out, as none of his friends knew of his intention ; indeed, it was only a thought of the moment with himself.*

Ancient Eaethworks - Indian Occupancy - Was John Nicolet in Dane County in 1634 'i - FiEST White Men in Dane County - Eakly Fkench Explokees - Jonathan Cabyer's Visit in 1766 - The Wisconsin Kiyer an Early Highway - The Winnebago War.

Perhaps no county in Wisconsin is more prolific of ancient earthworks - traces of the so-called Mound-Builders - than Dane. Indications of the former occupancy and industry of a people long since passed away, are seen on every hand. The United States Surveyors, when they surveyed the different townships of the county into sections in 1832, 1833 and 1834, noted many of the mounds. Early visitors to "the Four Lake Country" also noticed them. A writer in 1838, says:

" The [ancient] earthworks which have been constructed in the shapes of animals, abound in the Iowa District [county] of Wisconsin. They occur, mixed with the other varieties, in great numbers around the highlands which skirt the 'Four Lakes,' forming a species of alto relievo of gigantic proportions. This district appears to have been originally much resorted to by the early tribes, whose relics we here behold, mixed with those of the modern Winnebagoes. At one spot alone, probably, at least one hundred tumuli may be counted. The Indian path, along which we passed, has, for near half a mile in length, a series of these, mixed with circular mounds, in tiers several deep, on both sides ; forming a cemetery in magnitude of itself sufficient, one would imagine, for the chiefs and warriors, and their descendants, of a whole tribe, if such was the original design of these earthworks. On the summit of some might be seen the recent graves, protected by palisades, of the last Indian possessors of the soil.

" The site of a singular group of mounds, where are seen the effigies of at least six quadrupeds ; six mounds in parallelograms ; one circular tumulus ; one human figure ; and one circle or ring - is about eighteen miles west of the Four Lakes, and seven miles east of the two remarkable hills called the Blue Mounds. The great Indian trail or war-path which leads from Lake Michigan, near Milwaukee, to the Missisippi, above Prairie du Chien, passes along the edge of this chain of works, and is now for many miles adopted as the route of the military to the latter fort [Crawford]. We pursued this route for a great distance along the dividing ridge between the northern and southern waters [that is, between the waters of Rock River and those of the Wisconsin] ; and we continually saw memorials of the character above described, along its borders.

"What animals were intended to be represented by these rude monuments of earth, now covered with the rank prairie grass, is not altogether apparent. If of the horse, the design is somewhat doubtful. We were rather inclined, however imperfect the representation, to attribute the intention of the constructors to be that of exhibiting the figure of the buffalo, an animal which had here the finest pasturage and almost boundless range, within one of the most ample hunting-grounds, and was exceedingly numerous at the time of the first exploration of the country by the French. It is nevertheless to be admitted that the hump, a remarkable characteristic of the buffalo, which it would seem unlikely to have been omitted in the representations of that animal, is never seen in these figures, which are distributed over the surface of so many hundred square miles of this country.

"The respective dimensions of these animal effigies in the group before described, are 90, 100, 102, 103, 120 and 126 feet in length ; all of them apparently represent the same description of animal. Figures having precisely the same proportions in their outlines, may be seen at very short intervals throughout the Territory of Wigponsin, being generally from 90 to 120 feet and extending to 150 feet long. This form, although the most prevalent, is by no means the only one. In the midst of the group before mentioned, and forming a very important portion of it, we have now to notice the representation of a human figure, lying in an east-and-west ; the head toward the west, and the arms and legs extended. Its length is 125 feet and it is 140 feet from the extremity of one arm to that of the other. The body or trunk is thirty feet in breadth, the head twenty-five feet, and its elevation above the general surface of the prairie is about six feet. Its configuration is so distinct that there can be no possibility of a mistake in assigning it to the human figure.

" There is nothing remarkable about the oblong mounds. The circular tumulus in the center is the highest and overlooks the whole group. Whether all or any of these earthworks contain bones, we bad no opportunity of determining. They probably all do.

" The site of this interesting series is an elevated open prairie on the dividing ridge between the waters of the Wisconsin and Rock Rivers. These monuments are covered with the same green carpet of prairie grass, intermixed with bright and brilliant flowers, as the prairie itself There is an intervening space near the center of the group, now overgrown with bushes, which probably conceals some unnoticed mounds. Half a mile westward of this remarkable group, and on the same elevated prairie, occurs a solitary mound about ninety feet in length, representing an animal in all respects like those we have described, but with the head toward the southwest.

"Along the space of twenty miles from this position, extending to the Four Lakes eastward, similar monuments, intermixed with plain tumuli, are seen almost every mile, in the lowest situations as well as crowning the highest swells of the prairies ; and they are still more numerous all around those beautiful but almost unknown lakes.

"An effigy ninety feet long, in form resembling the animal outlines previously described, is placed nearly at the foot and at the point of a remarkable picturesque, perpendicular bluff of coarse friable sandstone, fronting a rich meadow, the favorite resort, no doubt, of numerous buffaloes in olden times. In front of this bluff, and inclosing the mound or effigy, is a long earthwork in an exact straight line, about 200 yards in length, having an opening -in the center opposite to the animal. The position of this earthwork indicates its having been designed for the purposes of defense or fortification against an enemy ; perhaps as an outwork to the stronghold in the rear, formed by the bluff itself. The great Indian road to which we have already referred, skirts along the outer or southern side of this embankment.

"The same path passes between a ccuple of animal-shaped mounds, at a distance of six miles west of the Four Lakes. One, if not both, of these figures, represents a different species of animal from those already described. They are resp'ectively 120 and 102 feet long."*

" The path we were upon was an ancient Indian trail, holding its course steadily fi'om the waters of the Mississippi to Tycoberah, or the Four Lakes ; and, as if all things rare in their nature had here gathered together to enhance the interest which was inspired by this romantic country, we came to some Indian [prehistoric] monuments of a very remarkable character.

" These were figures of animals and men, formed of the soil, upon the surface of the ground, about six feet high, in alto-relievo, all of them perfectly distinct, and covered with a sod that appeared to be coeval with that of the prairie itself. 'Not one of them appeared to have been opened ; and this circumstance, with the novelty of the spectacle, could not fail to detain me until I had examined, measured and sketched these interesting objects. They were very numerous, and extended more than half a mile on each side of our road, which, as before mentioned, was an ancient Indian war-path, leading from the waters of the Mississippi, in the direction of

*Adapted from " Notes respecting certain Indian mounds and earthworks, in the form of Animal Effigies, chieily in the'Wiscouflin Teiritory, U.S.; by Richard C. Taylor, Esq." - SiKiman'i JoumoJ.Vol. XXXIV - July 1838, pp. 88-91.

"At a point very near to the trail was a figure of a man, amid some oblong mounds ; his arras extended north and south, his head lying to the west, and his legs to the east ; east from this figure, about 200 feet, was a round tumulus, sufficiently high to overlook everything around ; and about 600 feet east from it was a line of seven buffalo mounds, each representing distinctly, the head, horns, neck, foi-e and hind legs, body and tail, of that animal. Each of these animal mounds measured, from the nose to the tip of the tail, about 120 feet, of which the tail alone measured thirty-six feet. The figure of the man was about 150 feet long, from one extremity to the other ; the limbs twenty feet apart at the east, and all the parts stood in bold relief, about six feet high from the face of the pvairie. To the left of the trail was a circle about 60 feet in diameter. ^

"As we proceeded westward, we found other mounds of a similar character ; a few, however, diflFered from them, and appeared rather to take the form of a beaver, as others, in distant parts of the Wisconsin Territory, did that of the turtle. At one point near to the trail was a large animal mound embossed upon the prairie betwixt a rampart of earth at least 200 yards long and a vertical escarpment of incoherent sandstone, of the same quality with the friable sand-rock I had seen on the banks of the Wisconsin, which underlies the metalliferous limestone.

" From the great abundance of mounds of various kinds which exist in this fertile territory, it is evident that it must have been in ancient times a favorite abode of powerful tribes remarkable for their ingenuity. We know that, having separated into tribes, the buffalo, the turtle, the beaver and other animals became the totems or badges of the Indians, and that, after their rude and simple manner, they used them as heraldic symbols. Among the various Indian nations, of which we have any knowledge, in the continent of America, we find its principal beasts and birds selected by them to designate their races, just as those objects in nature, the lion, the eagle, the horse, have been adopted in various parts of the old world ; and it deserves notice that the presumption that the horse was not indigenous to America is strengthened by the fact that no Indian tribe has ever taken that animal for its totem or badge, and that no ancient name for it is to be found in any of their languages.

" That these mounds, whatever form has been given to them, are deposits of the dead, has been proved upon numerous occasions. Some of them, of all kinds, have been opened, and have uniformly been found to contain human bones. Nor is each mound the tomb of one individual, for bones are found distributed throughout, and in such a manner as to show that layers of bodies have been placed side by side, then covered over by earth, and another layer deposited. I can speak with certainty of this, having been present at the opening of more than one of them. A collection of such mounds, then, is to be regarded as an Indian cemetery, placed near one of their great war-paths ; while those representing men may really have been so figured in honor of some conspicuous warrior, whose tomb, thus situated, could seen and honored by all who passed up and down the war-path."*

A figure on Lake Monona, at the intersection of Wilson street with Wisconsin avenue, in the present city of Madison, was that of a man, but different, in some respects, from other effigies representing the human form, in having a neck and proportionately smaller body. Like most mounds of this general character, it had its head directed toward the water. It occupied high ground, having a gentle slope toward the lake, and was very near the steep, broken cliff'. Its total length was 318 feet; length of head, 33 feet; length to first pair of legs, 63 feet; length to second pair of legs, 105 feet; breadth of head, 27 feet; breadth of neck, 21 feet; breadth of the body, 40 feet ; diameter of two mounds near by, 42 feet.

On Section 22, in the town of Madison, formerly, but now within the limits of the city, and north of Lake Wingra, there was once a row of artificial mounds. The row was irregular, being accommodated to the shape of the ground. Two quadrupes, one bird, one mound with lateral projections, five oblong and twenty circular tumuli made up this group.

Near the south angle of Lake Monona were also, formerly, remains of the Mound-Builders. ihe rows presented more the appearance of order and system than is usual in works of this character. Around the east end of the lake are other interesting earthworks. On the shores of Lake Waubesa and Lake Kegonsa are numerous works; so, too, in other parts of the county. Along the northern shore of Lake Mendota, many ancient works may be found. The animalmounds represent bears, deer and squirrels, also animals that are now extinct ; while a few are made in the form of birds, some of which are very large. Three of them are located very near each other, and resemble eagles with expanded wings. The largest of these birds has a body of 100 feet long, whose expanded wings measure 800 feet on either side of the body, while the tail is 40 feet wide. The head is quite perfectly formed ; the outline of the beak is 15 feet in length. The form of a deer, about 3 feet high, is found near the left wing of the gigantic bird. The body measures 65 feet and the legs are 14 feet long; the head measures 12 feet from- the tip of the nose to the origin of the antlers. These latter are each 10 feet long, and have a branch extending at right angles from their center. Near the left wing of the other bird, there is the form of a bear, with a well-defined body, head and legs.

While many animal -mounds are found near Lake Mendota, there are also circular and oblong mounds. Their elevation varies from 93 to 96 feet above the lake, and on some of them trees are growing, measuring 5J feet in circumference. The largest circular mound of this group measures 188 feet in circumference, and 85 feet from the base to its summit. It is the highest mound, and from its elevated position could have been used for observation and as a means of communication by signal with other mounds in the adjacent country. From its summit you have an extended view of the surrounding country for many miles in all directions.

Indian Occupancy

As early as the year 1615, Samuel Champlaio heard of a tribe of Indians living many leagues beyond Lake Huron, called the Fire Nation, better known at a later date as the Maseoutins. Their homes were upon the Fox River at that time, as it is believed, and here they were visited by civilized man a little less than a score of years after. It is presumed that their villages were located within the present limits of Green Lake County, somewhere on Fox River, between Berlin and Lake Puckaway. Tbe nearest tribe to the Mascoutins, down the Fox River, was the Winnebagoes, whose homes were at the mouth of that stream. To the south, extending perhaps as far north as the Wisconsin and well up Rock River, was the territory of the Illinois. In the immediate neighborhood of the Mascoutins (but in what direction is uncertain) were the Kickapoos and the Miamis.

The Illinois, who lived in a country '' where was a quantity of buffaloes," were afterward driven beyond the Mississippi, but subsequently returned to the river which still bears their name. Meanwhile, there commenced an emigration of the Mascoutins and their kindred, the Kickapoos and Miamis, to the southward, as' far at least as the south end of Lake Michigan. Their place was taken by the Foxes, and their relatives, the Sacs ; and, in time, probably near the close of the Revolution, these also emigrated, but not to the southward ; the course taken by them was to the west and southwest. It is certain the Foxes claimed for a time the country now forming Dane County, as well as much circumjacent territory. Then came the Winnebagoes from below, that is, from the head of Green Bay, moving up the Fox River by degrees, having outlying villages on the shores of Winnebago Lake and in the valley of Rock River. They finally reached the " portage," and their territory extended down the Wisconsin. This brings us to the time when the United States began making treaties with them. The first of these was held at St. Louis, June 3, 1816, with that portion of the tribe residing on the Wisconsin. This treaty (held soon after the war with Great Britain, in which the Winnebagoes engaged on the side of the British) was one for peace only, no cession of land on the part of the Indians being made to the United States. In 1820, the Winnebagoes had five villages on Winnebago Lake and fourteen on Rock River. In 1825, the claim of this tribe was extensive, so far as territory was concerned. Its southeast boundary stretched away from the sources of Rock River to withip forty miles of its mouth, in Illinois, where they had a village. On the west, it extended to the heads of the small streams flowing westward and southward into the Mississippi. To the north- ward, it reached as far as Black River and the Upper Wisconsin ; in other words, to the Chippewa territory ; but did not extend across the Fox to the lands of the north side, although the tribe contended for the whole of Winnebago Lake. Within their territory, then, in 1825, was the whole of the present county of Dane.

Early in 1829, a provisional boundary was established between the Indian lands, strictly such, and those belonging to, or expected soon to be purchased by, the United States. By this line, white people could settle in the western part of what is now Dane County without being trespassers upon the domain of any tribe, the boundary being a line drawn from the Wisconsin River nearly due south until it reached a point a little east of the East Blue Mound, when it turned and ran a southeast course to the head of that branch of the Pecatonica Creek, which runs near the " Spotted Arin's Village." All east of this line still remained Indian territory.

By a treaty held with the Winnebagoes on the 1st day of August, 1829, at Prairie du Chien, these Indians relinquished, among much other territory, all of their land in what is now Dane County, lying west of a, line drawn along Sugar River, from its mouth to the source of the eastern branch thereof; thence due north to the road leading from the Eastern Blue Mound, by the most northern of the Four Lakes, to the crossing of Duck Creek, in what is now Columbia County. Three years later, at a treaty held at Fort Armstrong, Rock Island, the residue of the Winnebago lands lying in the present County of Dane - that is, all east of the line just mentioned - was ceded to the United States. This treaty was proclaimed February 13, 1833, and on that day all of what had been before that time, in what is now Dane County, the lands of the Winnebagoes, belonged to the General Government.

West of the Wisconsin was still a part of Winnebago territory ; but, in November, 1837, this nation ceded to the General Government all their lands east of the Mississippi. Not an acre was reserved.

It will be observed that the Winnebago occupation of the Four Lakes and adjacent country was not of very long duration. At the time this tribe ceded all of its lands east of the Mississippi to the United States, there were two divisions of its people ; the headquarters of the one were at Prairie du Chien, and of the other at Fort Winnebago - that is, it was at these places the Indians were paid their annuities by the General Government. The principal villages of the last-mentioned division (those who were paid at Fort Winnebago) were at Lake Winnebago, Green and Fox Lakes, the Barribault (now written Baraboo), Mud Lake (in the present Dodge County), the Four Lakes, Koshkonong (White Crow's village), and Turtle Creek (now Beloit).

During the occupation of the country of the Four Lakes, the Winnebagoes had, at different times, villages in what is now Dane County ; one on the north side of Lake Mendota, one at the mouth of Token Creek, a third on the south side of Lake Monona, a fourth on the southeast side of Lake Waubesa, and a fifth on what is now the south boundary of the town of Primrose, on the south line of Section 36.

When, in 1837, the Winnebagoes disposed of all their land to the United States east of the Mississippi, they stipulated that, within eight months, they would move west of the great river. This arrangement was not carried out fully, and many of the Winnebagoes were afterward forcibly carried beyond the Mississippi. They were in Dane County in considerable numbers at times until 1840, when force was first used to induce them, wherever they could be found, to migrate ; but, after their last treaty (that of 1837), they had no particular abiding-place in the country of the Four Lakes. As late as 1873, there was a forcible removal of a party of them from the State. Not a single Indian of any tribe has now a permanent home in Dane County.

The question is no longer an open one as to whether John Nicolet was the first white man who^et foot upon any portion of what is now Wisconsin. It has been definitely settled. It is

" Sir. Shea avers, and Parkman twice repeats, that Nicolet partly descended the Wisconsin Butteitddl^intSZf "l""" '1°°" ^"°^ OountyJ." Collections of the State Hist. Soc. of Wis., Vol. VIII, p. 188. This article by Mr. "uiierneia is introduced to show that snch was not the fact. - Pub.

also quite as well determined that his explorations and discoveries were made in the great West during the last half of the year 1634 - ^only fourteen years after the landing of the Pilgrims on Plymouth Rock - and the first half of the following year. He, therefore, who would read understandingly the first chapter in the history of Wisconsin bught to investigate the life-historv of that remarkable man. He will find him, at an early age, leaving his home in Normandy for the New World, landing at Quebec in 161^, and immediately starting for the Ottawa River to immure himself in the dark forests of the Algonquins, sent thither by the Governor of Canada to learn their language. He will see how the young Norman applied himself to his task "in the midst of those hardships which may be readily conceived if we will reflect what it must be to pass severe winters in the;wood3 under a covering of cedar or birch bark ; to have one's means of subsistence dependent upon hunting ; to be perpetually hearing rude outcries ; to be deprived of the pleasant society of one's own people ; and to be constantly exposed, not only to derision and insulting words, but even to daily peril of life." He will note how the youthful Frenchman followed the Indians in their wanderings ; how he partook of their dangers, their fatigues and their privations ; how, finally, having become familiar with their language, he entered into their frequent councils.

The return of Nicolet to the St. Lawrence and civilization, after a half-score years of savage life, an excellent interpreter of the Algonquin language, was followed, in 1634, by his being sent to smoke the pipe of peace with nations beyond - far beyond - the Ottawa. So he started upon his perilous voyage. He visited the Hurons, upon the Georgian Bay of Lake Huron. With seven of that nation, he struck boldly into wilds to the northward and westward never before visited by civilized man. He paddled his birch-bark canoe up the St. Mary's Strait to the falls. He floated back to the waters of Lake Huron, and courageously turned toward the west, passing through the Straits of Mackinaw out upon the broad expanse of Lake Michigan. He then entered Green Bay and Fox River. It is claimed that he ascended the last-mentioned stream as far as the "portage," now the city of Portage, Columbia Co., Wis., and descended the Wisconsin River a considerable distance, thus re-discovering the great valley of the Mississippi. The term " re-discovering " is used, for no one will call in question its discovery by De Soto in 1541, although its existence seems soon to have well-nigh faded from the recollections of men - to have been almost' wholly forgotten.