Sauk County, Wisconsin - Chapter 4: Sauk Couxty's Wak Record, 1880 (part 2 of 2)

Notwithstanding the persistency of these ever-present " spirits " in flitting from rock to rock and hill-top to hill-top and skipping over the water at all hours of the night, regardless of the weather. Devil's Lake has become a favorite summer resort for large numbers of people from almost every clime. Its popularity is increasing from year to year, and its convenient location - situated on one of the principal railway lines running northwest from the great city of Chicago, the entrepot of America - brings it within easy access. Visitors, to the number of seventy or eighty, can find first-class hotel accommodations at the Cliff House - a structure built in Swiss style, with ample wings and verandahs, and surrounded by groves and walks, both natural and artificial - now under the management of W. B. Pearl, an experienced landlord. At the south end of the lake N. C. Kirk has erected a row of summer cottages with all the appurtenances to housekeeping. Each cottage will accommodate six or eight persons, and, as an evidence of their popularity, they are in constant use during the summer months usually devoted to quiet vacations by "city folk." Bathing, boating and fishing occupy the time of the pleasure seeker, either of these recreative pursuits being conducive to good health and amiable dispositions.

In 1868, a small steamboat, the " Capitola," was placed on the lake, but it soon proved to be too small a craft for the accommodation of visitors, and, in 1873, Capt. Thompson, who has an eye to the comfort of every one, built a larger boat, the " Minnewaukan," capable of conveying 150 passengers. A trip around the lake on the " Minnewaukan " is one of the most pleasant features in the long list of pleasant things with which the visitor meets.

The particular points of interest about the lake can be better seen and more thoroughly appreciated by a pedestrian tour over the bluffs ; though the most striking objects are pointed out from the deck of the "Minnewaukan." The curiosities of the east bluff, aside from the magnificent view, are the Devil's Doorway and Elephant Rock. The Doorway is situated over 400 feet above the lake's level, and is in the form of two well-defined columns of bowlder stone standing side by side, and reaching probably forty feet above the base. The top stone of each column appears to have fallen at the same moment, and, meeting each other over the aperture between, formed an arch or lintel.

Elephant's Rock is a large sandstone bowlder, some fourteen feet long and eight feet high. In form, it represents an elephant lying upon one side, with well-shaped head and ear. It is said that Capt. Thompson appropriated the ivory tusks, and that a Chicago traveling man secured the trunk. There are many other fantastically shaped rocks on the east bluff, which a

The especial features of the west bluff are the Turk's Head and Cleopatra's Needle, the latter being about fifty feet high, and standing out from the face of the bluff-wall in an attitude of perpendicular security. The Needle can scarcely be called an obelisk, which literally means a high, slender monument of one stone. The Supreme Architect has used many stones in the masonry of the Needle. Therefore it would not be a convenient article to transport, and when transported would be very difficult to reconstruct. Should Chicago become ambitious for an obelisk to perpetuate the memory of a wicked woman, as did Gotham, she may go elsewhere than Sauk County for it.

The Turk's Head is a rocky promontory which stands a short distance north of the Needle. The rocks comprising it appear to have been piled one upon the other, or left there when the bottom of the adjacent territory "dropped out." At a distance the huge mass has the outline appearance of the turbaned head of a Turk. The facial complexion is also of the Ottoman hue. The tall pines in front so obstruct the view that we are left in the dark as to whether this particular Turk occupies a sitting posture and smokes the serene nargile. After all, it may be only the head of a Turk severed from the offending body by a God-fearing Russian, or a gory-handed Circassian.

The impressions left upon the minds of those who visit Devil's Lake are naturally very marked. The awe-inspiring hills, with great quartzite bowlders clinging to their sides, and massive piles of sandstone heaped high above the soil-level of the adjacent peaks, are silent though eloquent witnesses of Nature's wonderful work. By what process did the result we see come about ? Let us consult the scientific mind. James H. Eaton, A. M., in a report on the geology of this region says : Running east and west through the center of Sauk County are two parallel ridges, with an average elevation of 400 to 500 feet and a base of two to four miles. The distance between them is three to four miles. The Baraboo River runs in this valley, and empties east into the Wisconsin. A north-and-south valley cuts half-way through the end of the southern ridge, and trends east toward the valley of the Wisconsin. In the north end of this valley lies Devil's Lake. The ridges are compact, crystalline sandstone, without cement, or quartzite. The predominant colors are pink and red, often banded with straight or contorted parallel lines of lighter or darker colors. In some places, the rock is a homogeneous white quartz with distinct and well-formed crystals. Both the nature of the rock and its position give evidence that it is metamorphic Potsdam sandstone. The rock presents all gradations, from the simple sandstone to the perfectly crystallized quartz. The Potsdam sandstone consists of smill, round grains of quartz, and is very loosely cemented. It can easily be crumbled with the fingers. Pieces of the quartzite may be obtained in all stages, from this friable sandstone to that where the grains are apparent and the rock is less friable, to that where the homogeneousness is here nearly approached, but the small grains can still be seen, and finally to the perfect homogeneous quartz. No sharp geographical line of demarkation between the sandstone and quartzite, and no gradation in any direction, is observed. The homogeneousness of the colored quartzite is not as perfect as it appears. Whenever a surface has been subjected to the weather, the small grains come to view again. The bandings of the quartzite are very similar to those in the undisturbed sandstone. These bands sometimes consist of layers of fine grains of sand. Some of the great blocks of quartzite, which have fallen down the sides of the valley, are most beautifully covered with regular ripple-marks. They must have been first made in the moving sands. The layers are nearly as perfect as in the sandstoxiC, and have a dip equal to the inclination of the ridges. The dip on either side can be seen best from the opposite side. The anticlinal ridge on the east side of the lake is removed by the valley, which trends to the east, and on the west by another valley, which comes down to the lake. Vertical joints also lead to the conclusion that the ridge has been formed by the upheaval of the horizontal layers of sandstone. The layers were not traced north and south to determine whether they are continuous horizontally. Both the nature of the rock and its position forbid the idea of aqueous fusion or active volcanic agency. The change must have taken place by the purely wet way of partial solution and crystallization, or by a low degree of heat, working for a long series of years, through the moisture in the sandstone, probably aided by the pressure which lifted the ridges, If the latter, the change and elevation of the rock took place at the same time, and both eflfects were produced with extreme slowness. The ridge must have been raised before the glacial epoch. Abundant proofs of the movement of glaciers over the rock since it has been metamorphosed have been discovered. In many places on the elevated portions, smoothly polished surfaces of quartz of great extent have been exposed by removing the soil. Before the glacial epoch, there seem to be no data for fixing the time of the elevating and metamorphic action. There has, therefore, been ample time for metamorphic action of the most extreme slowness.

Dr. Lapman has advanced the view that the Baraboo River once ran through this valley on its way to the Wisconsin, and was turned from its former course into its present one by glacial drift. If this view is correct, as the facts seem to warrant, this valley may have been made at any time from the Lower Silurian up to the glacial period. It is not necessary to introduce any great convulsion. The regularity of the layers would forbid any sudden and violent upheaval and cracking of the rock. The slowly-acting agencies of the atmosphere and of water can have thrown down the great mass of debris which lies on the south of the valley. The valley is about half a mile wide. The ridges slope up from two hundred to three hundred feet, as steep as the large blocks will lie upon each other, and the remaining height is a perpendicular wall cut by vertical fissures into most fantastic shapes, with natural fortifications and castles, turrets and towers, making one of the most charming bits of landscape in our State. A word in evidence that the Baraboo River formerly ran through the valley and was turned aside by the glacier drift: The surface of the lake is thirty feet above the court house at Baraboo, and one hundred and sixty feet above the Wisconsin River to the south. The lake is more than thirty feet deep, and has a bottom of sand. There is, therefore, a sufficient descent. The valley is a natural course for the river, and running water would have given it some of the features of its present form. In the valley, both north and south of the lake, there is an abundance of drift. In a few hours, a large variety of northern rocks was collected - granite, syenite and Lake Superior rocks. They, with sand, have filled up a deeper valley to such a height that the river finds a new course to the Wisconsin.

There is another point of great interest in this region, which does not appear to be easy of solution. On the top of the ridge, and in lines running north and south, are conglomerated bowlders. These are local, and do not extend far to the south of the southern ridge. They consist of rounded, water-worn pebbles, and large bowlders of quartzite imbedded in friable sandstone. Some of these conglomerated bowlders weigh many tons. They are evidently deposited at a very little distance from the place of their origin. Evidently, in this immediate neighborhood, pieces of quartzite have been for a long time subjected to running water, and have formed themselves in a bed of sand, which has been hardened, and some moving cause has carried them into their present position. The place and time and agencies which have produced these eflfects demand a more careful and close study. There are also signs of a secondary metamorphic action in some of the quartzite. A number of specimens were obtained, which were homogeneous, but contained large numbers of rounded pebbles, of the same quartzite, or of white quartz, firmly imbedded in them.

It is the opinion also of the State Geologist that this valley has been at some time the passage of a largo stream. The large size of the valley, he thinks, suggests that it may have been the passage of the ^Visconsin River, which at the close of the glacial period found its ancient channel obstructed by the great drift heaps that are now to be seen in it. If this is a correct view, he says, the river (the Wisconsin) must have had a passage through what is now known as the Lower Narrows of the Baraboo, "a much wider channel than is needed by that small stream."

The Narrows spoken of by the State Geologist bear a close resemblance to some parts of the Dells of the Wisconsin, and this gorge, like the Dells, was in all probability cut through by the action of water foi'cing itself down from the north and v^est - first finding an outlet through the smallest imaginable crevasse^ and gradually wearing away the rocks until the entire stream of water flowing in from above could pass through. The State Geologist offers this explanation of the origin of the valley of Devil's Like as a suggestion only. The Baraboo, he says, may be the stream to which the work should be allotted, " but, if so, we must imagine it to have been a much larger and more powerful stream than now." Very true ; and in all probability it was a much larger stream than now- There is pretty good evidence that at one time the Baraboo River was a much larger stream than the Mississippi is now, and that it covered the entire area now known as the Baraboo Valley. This being true - and the proposition is not only reasonably plausible in the very nature of things, but is substantiated by the testimony of a very large number of learned men in regard to the former size of other rivers - we must accept the theory advanced by Prof. Eaton that the Baraboo did pass through the valley of Devil's Lake, and, further, that the valley was none too large to accommodate it. Accepting this theory, then, leads also to the conclusion that the valley between the point where is now located the village of Baraboo, and what is now the Lower Narrows, was once an inland sea, so to speak, and remained so until the pressure of the water forced an outlet through the rocks (the Narrows). The course of the river then changed from the valley of the Devil's Lake to its present channel.

The Dells

About two miles north of the south lines of the counties of Juneau and Adams, the Wisconsin River, which for many miles above that point is very broad and flows lazily along, metaphorically turns upon edge and rushes with a deep and sometimes deafening roar through a narnow, crooked gorge seven and one-half miles in length. This narrow passage is cut throuD^h high grounds (or, more properly, through a mountain of sandstone), which, after bounding the river valley on both sides for a great distance northward, gradually approach and join. The lower or south end of this gorge terminates a short distance above Kilbourn City, at a point where the north line of Sauk County strikes the Wisconsin River. The stream flows on across the north line of Section 4, in Township 13 north, of Range 6 east, with a course bearing to the eastward, crossing into Section 3, but soon turning back again into Section 4. Here a dam crosses the river. All above this point is known as the " Upper Dells." From this dam is seen Columbia County and the village of Kilbourn City, in the town of Newport, on the right; Sauk County and the town of Delton, on the left ; the river forming the boundary between the two counties. Below the dam - or, what is specific enough, below Kilbourn City - are the "Lower Dells," where the river again turns upon its edge, but less ferociously than before, and continues in this peculiar attitude for another seven miles, the east side being in Columbia County and the town of Newport ; the west side in Sauk County and the town of Delton ; but the general trend of the Wisconsin is toward a southeast course, in the ''Lower Dells." At the point where the river loses its characteristics of a gorge, it is called "the Foot of the Dells."

Just how long the " Old Wisconse " has been traveling through these gorges, no one will pretend to say. There are good reasons for believing, however, that this rock-walled pathway is not very ancient in comparison with the age of the earth. The river, which is believed at one time to have passed to the east of the high grounds referred to, doubtless forced its way through the soft sandstone of these hills by degrees, something after the manner of the Baraboo's passage through the Narrows.

Throughout the whole length of the narrow passage, from the " Upper Jaws " to " the Foot of the Dells," fanciful names have been given to the most striking objects and places. Beginning at the dam and traveling up the river, the first striking feature of the gorge is Angel Rock, situated about one-half mile from the steamboat landing in Kilbourn, on the right-hand side of the river. It is a rugged projection, curiously shaped. This lofty crag a lively imagination can easily transform into a huge angel with outspread wings ; hence the name. It is also called Marble Rock, from the peculiar little round lumps of sandstone found on the ledge and in the river below.

Swallows Rock, or where the swallows live, is a little further along on the same side. In early spring and summer, thousands of beautiful little swallows may be seen here in the brown cliffs, occupying innumerable holes in the rock, safe from danger, and the happiest family to be found anywhere. Their jolly twittering can be heard far out upon the water.

The Jaws of the Dells, or entrance to the Dells proper, are guarded by two immense rocks - High Rock and Romance Cliff - standing like sentinels on duty and sternly looking down in their stately grandeur, as if disputing the right of man to explore the intricate passage beyond.

High ^Rock, on the right, rises from fifty to seventy-five feet above the river. It presents a rugged, rough aspect, with curiously shaped sides, and has a meager growth of stunted pines, birch, and other trees and foliage.

Romance Cliff, on the left, is a grand old pile of stately rocks, covered with a dense growth of trees and shrubbery. It is somewhat higher and more stately than its vis-a-vis, High Rock, and has much more of the curious and wonderful in its make-up and general appearance. It is suggestive of the stately crags and beetling cliffs of the weird and grand scenery of the Rocky Mountains.

Chimney Rock is one of nature's singular freaks, left standing for innumerable ages, formed by the action of the wild waters, looking like the old-fashioned stick and mortar chimney of the days of the forefathers. Standing- out from the cliff behind, it looks as if the touch of a child's finger would topple it into the river. It is on the right, just beyond High Rock.

Echo Cove. - A most pleasing echo can be heard here. It repeats everything, and is a beautiful place for bathing and enjoying a quiet hour in a cool, pleasant retreat.

The Dell House, "a wild, rambling old rookery," on the left, is one of the first frame houses ever built on the river above Portage. It was erected in the year 1837-38, by Robert V. Allen, and for many years was used as a tavern.

Chapel Gonje is the next point on the right hand, and nearly opposite the Dell House. It is a beautiful, shaded glen, and is named from the peculiarly shapen rock at its entrance, resembling a chapel or place of worship. The Gorge is pleasant and shady.

Boat Gave is just beyond the Chapel, on the same (east) side of the river. It should always be visited to be appreciated, although a general idea may be had from the steamer's deck. It is one of the most peculiar formations, showing the action of the water upon the soft sandstone. It can only be traversed in a small boat. Beginning with a perfectly arched doorway, only large enough to admit an ordinary skiff, it opens out in a vaulted chamber in the solid rock of the cliff, then turns at right angles and, through another hall with a water floor, ends in a large door farther up the river.

Circle Bend is the next place of interest in ascending the stream, where the river and rocks form a half-circle. The rocks are high and bold, presenting a cliff of solid masonry, formed and carved and hewn and worn into a wall of adaitiant by the action of the whirling waters. Its top is covered with a dense growth of cedar, hemlock, pine, birch, oak and all the many varieties of ferns and shrubbery that so abundantly abound throughout the Dells.

Sturgeon Rock, on the left, is a bold, projecting rock, resembling a sturgeon. Here we enter upon the looked-for wild grandeur of the Dells.

Navy Yard is on the left of Sturgeon Rock, and is one of the most picturesque and wonderful formations on the river. Here the imagination pictures huge stone vessels of war, with prows and sides and ribs so solid and stanch that for ages they have withstood the battles and warring of the waters, and, as time has rolled on, they have become more complete and shapely in form and build. Bold guardians are they of the Narrows.

Fjdtiin Grotto is a long, deej) opening - a rift in the face of the cliff from top to bottom - extending back some forty feet into the rugged wall of rock. It is on the opposite side from the Navy Yard.

Gates Ravine, also on the right, is a few hundred yards further up the stream, and extends back from the river nearly a mile. It is a delightful place for a ramble, and is filled with beautiful furns and flowers, tall cliffs, rugged crags and sparkling streams.

Skylight Cave is a very similar opening to that of Eaton Grotto, and is just at the head of the Navy Yard, on the same side of the river as the latter. Here, with a small boat, one can seek the deep recess of the rock for upward of a hundred feet, lighted only by a little rift in the rocks overhead. It is a delightful place to visit.

The Narroivs. - Here the river suddenly narrows to the width of only fifty-two feet, and the water is eighty feet in depth. The river is now running upon its edge, hemmed in on either side by ponderous rocks. In low water, the current is nearly as calm and placid as at any point on the Dells, but when the river is up, the raging waters come pouring through this narrow gorge with great force.

The Old Bridge. - In the year 1850, Schuyler S. Gates erected a substantial bridge across the Narrows. This was the first bridge ever built across the Wisconsin, and was used for a number of years. Thousands of teams and passengers paid toll here. It was carried away by the high water of 1866.

Black Hawk's Cave can now be seen on the left hand. It was here (the legend hath it) where the old chief hid safe and secure in the days of the Black Hawk war.

Notch Rock. - This is (to raftsmen) the dread of the Narrows. It is a square, bowlderlooking rock, on the left, and is known as Raftsmen's Terror, on which in high water, rafts are sometimes broken, and lives lost. It can be seen close down to the water's edge.

Artist's Grlen. - This is one of the most beautiful ravines on the river. It is on the right, nearly opposite Rattlesnake Rock. This glen is delightful for picnic grounds, and has a large number of fine butternut and other trees, aflFording an elegant retreat.

Sliding Rocks are here upon either side of the stream, and are so called from their peculiar formation, the sides being oval-shaped and sliding inward, throwing the water to the center of the stream.

The Ancient River-Bed is seen as a sand bank on the left. In an early day, the river divided here, and a part ran around, coming out and uniting with the main river at or below the Dell House, forming a large island.

Coldwater Canyon. - This canyon requires a full half-day to explore thoroughly. It is one of the grand features of the Dells. You proceed through a rocky defile and under frowning crags - a glory of cavern and valley. Far-distant archways are seen overhead. Here one scrambles and slides, between towering chasm walls so near together that both sides can be reached at once by the hands. In this canyon fourteen varieties of ferns are found, including one that is fragrant. Finally, you come to the

DeviVs Jug. - In a moment you reach a deep, wild, narrow gorge, walled in with rocks, which are in some places almost vertical, and in others overhanging the pathway. The gorge is 80 narrow that we do not see the Jug until we step inside of it, and look around with wondering curiosity upon its splendid curves and magnificent proportions. It is, of course, a broken jug, the ravine extending through and beyond it for a considerable distance, and on one side the lines are imperfect, owing, doubtless, to the unusual hardness of the rocks ; but the other side is hollowed into a perfect resemblance of the inside of an immense jug, as smoothly fashioned as if turned upon a potter's wheel. The entire width of the jug is about thirty-five feet at the bottom, and its height is not far from seventy feet. The rift at the top is quite narrow, admitting light enough to see with tolerable distinctness, but leaving the upper part of the cavern in twilight gloom. The gorge beyond the Jug is passable for some distance. A ramble through this vast caijyon, and a visit to the Jug will afford a world of pleasure. All the many varieties of ferns and mosses may be gathered here.

The DeviVs Arm Chair. - You will wonder why his Satanic Majesty should perch his chair in such a place, unless he, too, is an admirer of the wonders of nature. It is on the left and but a short distance up the river from Coldwater Canyon. The next place of note is the

Clam Banks, in which nothing is to be found except the name to remind us of the delicious bivalves gathered on the shores of Narragansett Bay, unless, in imagination, a collection of prodigious stones is converted into clams.

Ruffle Rocks are upon each side of the stream, and would look well on the shirt fronts of the giants of olden days. They adorn with becoming grace the river's sides for a longdistance.

Chameleon Cave is a seam in the bank, and can only be visited by climbing a ladder from the steamer's deck, f^oing to the high bank, and then down into the earth. You will need the light of a lantern and guide to reach the bottom. It contains beautiful changing mosses. It is on the right just above Steamboat Rock.

Steamboat i2oc^ challenges especial attention. It stands on an island in a curious circular cove, and resembles, from some points, a huge ocean steamer, without smoke-stack and wheel-house. It is about 2.50 feet long by 100 feet wide and some 40 to 50 feet in height,' with perpendicular, rugged sides and covered with pine, oak and shrubbery.

Rood's Grlen. - This is just beyond Steamboat Rock, on the right. It is a large cavern, and if it were near a large city would be made useful as a lager-beer hall.

Arch Cove is a delightful place for picnic parties. It is here one can get the best view of the many islands at the head of the Dells, and of the river for a long distance. The Cove is a beautiful, shady recess, and contains an elegant spring of pure, fresh water. It is on the lefthand side of the river. Nearly opposite, on the right side of the river, at the upper jaws of the Dells, is the

Witches' Crulch. - At the head of the Dells, on the right, extending three-quarters of a mile from the shore, will be found this remarkable gulch. The precipitous rocks tower aloft on either side to the height of perhaps a hundred feet, their sides being worn smooth and their ragged edges rounded off by the long-continued action of the water. One can almost touch with outstretched arms both sides of this gloomy gorge, which surpasses in grandeur anything hitherto seen in the Dells. The rocks overhead are in many places shelving and rounded into immense scallops. The stream through this wild pass is in many places waist-deep. It contains many curious points - a miniature waterfall, Phantom Chamber, Fairy Grotto, and hundreds of other remarkable features.

The Islands. - From the head of the Dells, or " Upper Jaws," a fine view of the river, bluffs and islands, is had for a long distance. This view is often compared to a similar scene in Lake George. Above the Dells the river " spreads itself" all over the country, as it were, and is full one-half mile in width and very shallow, the water in summer being not over one or two feet in depth. About three-fourths of a mile above Witches' Gulch, are seen on the left bank, a number of interesting points.

Hornets' Nest has the shape, and at a short distance the general appearance of an immense hornets' nest. It serves as a pillar in front of a natural portico, the rock having in the course of time been washed out, leaving a flat roof overhead, with the Hornets' Nest as its principal support. Passing through the archway formed by this singular rock, we ascend and follow the hillside for a few rods, and presently stand in

Luncheon Hall. - The waters have at some remote period swept through here with great force, wearing a passage through and under the rocks, and leaving the flat rocks which formerly stood at the " top of the heap," as a natural roof for the hall, which is of considerable extent. The roof has a single break, a few inches wide ; otherwise it is perfect ; and the rocks which support it furnish convenient seats and tables. Located on the top of a ridge, the hall presents a grand appearance to the spectator at a distance, and commands a fine view of the river. Once within its massive portals, awe gives place to curiosity, and the visitor finds pleasure in observing the odd shapes which the rocks have assumed under the slow but persistent action of the current which once swept the Wisconsin Valley, leaving its impress on every hill, and cut- ting its way through the rocks until it formed the romantic channel through which the river now runs. A short distance from Luncheon Hall, is found the wonderful

Stand Rock. - To reach this, one must ascend the bank a short distance and follow along the edge of the ridge, coming to the rock upon the upper side. The top of the rock - a large sandstone slab - is nearly as level as the floor, and its superficial area is about 18x24 feet. A pathway leads to the foot of it, and the view from below is more interesting than that from above. The water-rounded column which supports the super-poised tablet is of rather irregular shape and is sixty-two feet high. With the neighboring rock, a sort of arch is formed, somewhat resembling the cavernous opening at Luncheon Hall. All around is a scene of beauty. The hills are covered with trees clothed with magnificent summer foliage ; a fine farm, trees and shrubs spread out up-riverward, and the glen is full of ferns and flowers in great profusion.

The Lower Dells

The river here is broader and the banks present a greater diversity of bluff" and bottom than in the Upper Dells, but the character of the rock composing the banks is the same, and a similar, though varied, succession of curious and pleasing forms is presented. The rocks have been worn and hollowed and rounded into every imaginable shape. In some places, great shelves, with stalwart young pines growing upon their very edges, overhang the dark waters ; elsewhere, perpendicular walls loom up like the front of some vast fortification, and, a little further on, a similar wall is supplemented with coigns, bastions, projecting towers and covered archways ; again, the recks are rounded at their bases, so as to resemble the sterns of small vessels - much inferior in size and appearance to the ponderous hulks at the Navy Yard in the Dells above. Then the rocks slope gently downward to the green, grassy vale, where a pretty farm gives charming variety to the panorama, and on the opposite side to the broad bottom, where the village of Newport once stood in her pride, now interesting in her remarkable decay.

Farther down the river are more noted objects. The lofty banks here, as above the dam, are crowned with a luxuriant growth of trees, shrubs, plants and grass. The first attraction after leaving the dam, going down the river, is Taylor's Glen, on the left - a wild half-cavern and half-vale, which winds around and under the village of Kilbourn City.

Echo Point. - Standing upon the rocky cliff" where the tunnel from Taylor's Glen comes out under the railroad, any unusual elevation of the voice brings a prompt and distinct response from the massive, smooth-faced cliff" opposite, every word and tone being repeated with surprising clearness and accuracy. Persons curious in such matters (and who is not ?) may easily reach Echo Point by walking a few rods down the railway, to the river bend, and descending the pathway to near the mouth of the tunnel, where the benches of the rock aff"ord good standing-places.

Bears Cave is on the same side, a few rods below, and is a hole in the rock, with a cleft extending out to the edge of the cliff", and thence downward to the water's edge, the cave forming a recess near the top.

Chimney Rock is a little further down, on the same side, and in size is less than the one up the river, but greatly resembling it in situation and appearance.

Then comes the Pulpit, standing near the water's edge, and shaped like the sacred desk in some sanctuaries. Below this on the river, but above it in height, is

Stultz Rock, a terror to raftsmen, whose rafts are sometimes drawn into the eddy and whirled to destruction thereon. Steering clear of this treacherous place, and turning a point, we have in front of us

Signal Peak, upon which the red man, it is said, used to light his signal fires to warn his brethren up and down the river when there were enemies around. Swinging around the bend, we soon come to the

Sugar Bowl, which stands out in the stream, as cleverly molded as one could wish. The shape of this singular freak of nature is as true to its name as that of anything up the river, though it is hardly so striking as the interior of the Devil's Jug.

The Inkstand next claims attention. At first first view it seems a counterpart of the Sugar Bowl, but we soon perceive a difference. The rock, entire at the top, parts a little way down, and the passage, tapering gradually, is at the water wide enough to admit a small canoe. It bristles on the top with small pines.

Lone Rock stands in massive majesty mid-river, smiling with its summer chaplet of verdure upon the tawny flood that washes its feet. It is a broad oval in shape. As we approach we find that its sides are perforated with caverns, into the largest of which, the

Cave of the Dark Waters, or, as the Indians call it, the place of the Nah-huh-nah, we push our boat and rest awhile. From the other side, a few straggling gleams of light reach us through

Eeflection Arch. - Nothing in this vicinity is more curious and wonderful than this rock, the outer walls and internal caverns of which show the abrading effects of different currents and eddies of water. Leaving this romantic spot, we head up stream along the south side of the river, to

Grotto Rock. - This is formed by an immense flat rock, and is supported by massive jambs of the same material. It is quite spacious, and is surmounted and surrounded by the luxuriant arborescence and verdure, which throw a graceful charm over all the scenery oft his region, and form a lovely setting for many a striking or quaint and curious picture.

Places of interest in the Lower Dells besides those already mentioned, are Falls of the Dam, Coldwater Spring, Earle's Cave, The Ovens, Hawk's Bill, Bald Hill, Cobble Stone Cove, and many others.

Minor Pleasure Resorts

The Peewit's Nest. - Two and a half miles west of Baraboo is located the romantic Skillet Creek Falls, better known, perhaps, as the " Peewit's Nest." Skillet Creek derives its name from a skillet-shaped rock which exists near the falls. The name of Peewit's Nest is attached to the place for the reason that large numbers of the species of bird commonly known as peewit, or peewee, build their nests among the rocks, A road leads within a few rods of the spot, which is a gorge but a few feet in width, but of great depth, comparatively, formed by Skillet Creek in passing through rock of different degrees of hardness. For a quarter of a mile above the " Nest " the water is still and deep, imperceptibly moving in a channel probably twenty-five feet wide. Then comes the dam, a structure half-natural, half-artificial, of twelve or fifteen feet span, but hanging thirty-five feet above the water below. Before the dam was built, the water, after collecting to a depth of twenty feet or more, ran in a trickling stream over the thin rock which formed the foundation for the artificial portion, erected in 1856 by John R. Shoards. No swelling flood will ever carry out this dam until rock shall rot and mortar mold, for it is literally " dovetailed " into the solid rock, extending fully fifteen feet higher than water has ever flowed. Immediately below the dam, the gorge opens, and on the north side is the Peewit's Nest proper. It consists of a perpendicular opening, shaped like a horseshoe, about fourteen feet the longest way, with its open side nine or ten feet across, the walls on the side opposite the stream being slightly overhanging. Across its throat, some twelve feet above the water, rests a sill, the remnant of the floor of a retired blacksmith's shop, commonly believed to have been of the bogus order, which was in full blast as early as 1845. William Brown, of Baraboo, at that time having a plow which needed mending, took it there for repairs, and only succeeded in landing it in the shop by letting it down with a rope from the overhanging cliff forty feet above. From this circumstance, the extent of the blacksmithing operations there may be guessed. Ill-natured persons surmised that the building was thus peculiarly located, being over a pool twenty-five feet deep, in order to scuttle any disagreeable-looking dies or molds in case of a sudden visit from " the powers that be," or, rather, that were. Below the " Nest," the stream speedily contracts to a width of about eight feet, and here, probably, is the only mill-wheel in the world whose axles rest in sockets of solid rock. The wheel is itself thirty-four feet in diameter, with a face of about four feet breadth, and bearing on a five-inch axle. This wheel once furnished power for a small saw-mill, situated at the mouth of a gorge, and admirably contrived so that one man performed all the necessary labor for running it. Here, in early times, Mr. Shoards sawed about 200,000 feet of lumber per year. This wheel utilized 99 per cent of the force of the water, a greater portion than any other pattern then in existence ; and the necessity for this economy in force is apparent on looking at the stream a little lower down, where it trickles no faster than a thirsty cow could drink. Yet this little stream has performed the wonderful work of cutting its way through the solid rock to a depth, in places, of seventy-five feet.

While upon the subject of counterfeits, it will be in place here to say something of another mysterious spot, said to be located in Section 33, town of Franklin. Ine arly times, it was known as "Bogus Camp," and is thus described by a gentleman who visited it over twenty-one years ago. "It is situated in a sly-looking pocket of natural formation in the rocks, overhung with high bluffs. In front is located a pretty grove of oaks and maples, and near by a refreshing spring leaps from the hillside. When I visited the place in 1858, in company with several gentlemen, we found an old trough, about thirty feet long, which conducted water into a log cabin, which was then partially decayed. Within the cabin was a dilapidated forge, and, it is said, an old pistol and other trinkets had been found there before. Near by was a powerful press, constructed of trees. A rock maple, eighteen inches in diameter, had been felled in front of a sturdy old oak. The maple, for a space of six feet opposite the oak, had been hewn down, and in the flat surface was sunk a groove two inches wide, three inches deep, and about six feet long, intended probably to receive a bar containing counterfeiting dies. In the standing oak had been mortised a hole, perhaps six inches square, and deep enough to receive the end of a lever ; and near by we found the lever, a red elm, seven inches in diameter and seventeen feet long. Here, doubtless, fifty years ago, a gang of outlaws carried on their nefarious work uninterrupted."

The Upper and Lower Narrows. - Near Ableman Station, in the town of Excelsior, the Baraboo River has cut through the high range of bluff's, making a wild and ragged gorge nearly a mile in length. For most of the distance the revine is just wide enough to admit of the passage of the river, railroad and a wagon road. At some points the overtopping walls are 200 feet high. The place is known as the Upper Narrows of the Baraboo, and is an interesting spot, very convenient of access. It was at the south end of this gorge that Col. S. V. R. Ableman, recently deceased, finally decided to locate, in the belief that it was the only place a railroad could pass up the Baraboo Valley. And he was right. Here can be procured the finest specimens of the quartzite rock and the most beautiful conglomerates found in the State.

On Section 31 of the town of Excelsior is another gorge, known as the Narrows of Narrows Creek. In its structure and rock occurrences, it is similar to the Narrows of the Baraboo, the veined quartzite, however, being less developed than at the latter place.

The Lower Narrows has its romantic features as well, and must be seen to be appreciated. Geologically, it is an interesting locality. Prof. Daniels thus wrote of it twenty-two years ago : " The lower part of the Baraboo Valley is one of the most interesting portions of the State. In variety and picturesque beauty of scenery it cannot be surpassed in the West. The Potsdam Sandstone has here been violently disturbed, and in some cases changed from a soft, crumbling state into a very hard quartzite, usually of a red color, but often gray, or banded with red and white. Ranges of this quartzite extend often several miles, and form lofty hills with precipitous escarpments. The high blufis of the Baraboo at the Narrows, at Spirit Lake and at Garrisonville, are mainly composed of quartzite. At the latter place, just back of Mrs. Garrison's house, the quartzite forms the top of the bluflf, while at the base the sandstone seems only slightly changed, and furnishes a building material of excellent quality. On the opposite bank of the river the rock is unchanged, but a band of limestone occurs in it so pure and extensive as to be quarried and burnt for lime. This is located on land owned by Mr. Eiky, and is the only instance of the discovery of good lime in the Potsdam Sandstone of this State."

Parphrey s Grlen. - Eastward from the mouth of the valley of Devil's Lake, Section 29, town of Merrimack, the southern face of the quartzite range continues high and bold. On Mr.

Fitzsimraons' place in Section 22, near what is known as Parphrey's Glen, a favorite resort for pleasure seekers, one of the highest points on the whole range of bluffs occurs. _ This point is in use by the United States Coast Survey as a signal station. Parphrey's Glen is the objective point for tourists and others seeking a view of nature's beauties. There was once a grist-mill at this place, and the oldest settlers whisper that previous to that time a distillery flourished there and corn was made up into juice ; but of course no one will believe such a slander. The ruins of the pond and mill now form a romantic place of special interest. The dam Avas built across the mouth of a canyon which is walledin by sandstone, some fifty to seventy-five feet in height, worn out far back into the rock at the lower side, walls nearly touching at the top. After proceeding up this channel some thirty rods, you are surprised and pleased on turning a point to see a series of beautiful cascades. Very fine ferns and mosses abound here in profusion. After you have taken your picnic lunch, you can drive two miles farther and visit

Borward's Gorge, in the town of Caledonia, Columbia County. This beautiful dell is the ancient bed of a small lake, no doubt. The different stages of water are marked by the erosions in the rock and the terraces washed up at the several boundaries. At one point, the creek has worn a bed through solid rock, and the south shore is a perpendicular wall, most beautifully covered with mosses, kept continually moist with the drip from a spring at the top of the bluff. It is called "Weeping Rock."

Mirror Lake. - Situated between the Dells and Devil's Lake, as connecting links, as resting-points on the way, are several beautiful scenes. They are located upon Dell Creek, a small river emptying into the Wisconsin at the ruins of Newport. The water is very pure, consequently shadow pictures are one of the principal features of this pretty locality. Mirror Lake isthe name given to about three miles of Dell Creek, along whose shores are glimpses of a narrow canyon with its moss-covered walls from seventy-five to one hundred feet in height; the beautiful fern-clad Dell, with its sparkling spring brook, and shady seats; the mossy grotto to whose ragged out-lines cling the exquisitely tendriled vine, and ever-varying shaded lichen ; the overhanging crag, bare of all foliage, as if fearing to risk its life at such a dizzy height. On the left as you go up the creek you find

Tlte DeviVs Postoffice, situated at the outlet of a small ravine ; the shelving letter-boxes, deliveries, etc., are all there. Imagine the Postmaster and call for your mail. Next, on the same side, is

The Bee-Hive is on the left. It resembles an old-fashioned bee-hive, the base about half way to the top of the bluff, the apex reaching to the top. At the terminus of the creek is situated

Fern Dell. - This is one of the neatest little places in this whole region. Is a valley hemmed in by overhanging rocks, about seventy feet high, a mass of verdure clinging to their sides.

Congress Hall. - This is on the east of the village of Delton, a short distance from Mirror Lake. Is evidently an old bed of Dell Creek. At ordinary times, but little water is found - in the shape of a small rivulet formed by springs, which winds its way through. The Hall is an eroded canyon, in the soft yellow sand-rock, wildly broken and distorted in its windings. Some places where the rock is harder, the passage is quite narrow, and then widens into large, spacious rooms. These views as they develop are quite pleasing and somewhat different from all others in this section. It is well worth a visit. The Dell Creek is noted for its excellent fishing - mostly pickerel and black bass.

It is confidently believed that no county in the State, or any section of equal size in the State, can successfully compete, in point of variety of scenery, with " Old Sauk " as a pleasure resort. And there is certainly no part of Wisconsin that approaches it as a vast schoolroom for the study of nature's wonders.