Ironton Village (part 2 of 3)

Another of the favorite and distinguished pioneers of our county, w^hom not to mention and commemorate on this occasion and in this connection, would be an omitted duty and a criminal neglect, is also now among the lamented dead. James S, Alban was the first white man wlio ever pitched his tent and erected his cabin in our county. We all knew him well, atid loved him much. Nestled among a cluster of trees that grew in the southern extremity of the prairie, was his cabin home, which, though rudely constructed and scantily furnished (as a mat ter of course in those days), yet sheltered from the storm and protected from the sun as happy a family as any other. Having been a boarder in his family for many months, I am a good witness to the fact that his wife, the '' Amanda " of his boyish love and the mother of his children, was as fine a specimen of a pioneer matnm as ever administered to the necessities of w^ay-faring humanity. When the latch-string of the cabin door was pulled by either friend or stranger, the incomer was ever saluted with a kind " Come in " and greeted with a smile of welcome. With few of the so-called :iccr.inplisliinents of the modern lady, and with none but a common education, she was eminently adapted to the situation in which Providence had placed her, and her cabin home was as happy as industry, clieerfulness, gentleness and truth could make it. When, blown by the breath of the fell destroyer the lamp went out, and her gentle spirit ascended from her paradise on earth to the paradise above, and her body was 'consigned to the sepulcher at Prairie du Sac, the scalding tears burned hot on the cheeks of all alike - husband, children, friend and neighbor! This sad occurrence broke the family up, and the children were sent to Ohio to be reared and educated by a kind old uncle. He must have discharged his duty well, for the only son of

Amanda is now a prominent young lawyer at Stevens Point, this State, and the eldest girl became the wife of a member of Congress. Mr. Alban, after the death of his wife, became a lawyer, then County Judge, Assemblyman and Senator from the same county, and when the war of the late rebellion broke out became the Colonel of a regiment of volunteers and fell at its head on the bloody field of Shiloh.

In the autumn of 1840, we arrived at Baraboo. Our nearest white neighbors here were on the other side of the Bluffs, six miles. Land on this side of the Wisconsin River was not as yet in market. We made a claim of a mill privilege, and settled near it on one side of the Baraboo River, and claimed a piece of farming land on the other, and got it fenced and a larger part improved ; then my husband left, under the pretense of going to Oregon, and claiming the offers of Government then held forth to actual settlers. From that time, 1 have struggled alone to bring up my little family. Other settlers soon began to come into the place ; i received numerous families into my house, sometimes with seven and eight children, until they could hunt claims, and frequently sent our teams to assist in erecting their houses, all without charge - too glad, you see, to get neighbors. Well, it was a hard place, and we strove hard to live for seven long years, and then the land was thrown into market, and, no money to be got, a great many were deficient in the means to enter their land ; finally, the mill privilege and land that we were residing on was entered from under us by a speculator, and then a drunken man broke into the house and drove us out, and destroyed everything in it that he could, and threw the rest out of doors. I took my children and went to the neighbors, and never lived in the house again. I soon got a board shanty put up on the opposite side of the river, near our improved part of the claim and moved into it. I then went to the land office to try and get a pre-emption on my improvements, but was informed that I must bring proof of ray husband's death, or I could have no pre-emption. I immediately wrote to my parents, residing in York State, requesting them to send money to enter my farm. They sent it, but while on its way hither, a man named Brown, then residing at Whitewater, came here to visit his parents, and, my farm taking his fancy, he immediately went to the land office and entered it. The settlers had previously formed a claim society, and had their officers all elected - Esquire Crawford, President - and a constitution framed and published. One of its articles was, " that if any actual settler had his improvements entered from him, there should be a committee appointed to wait on the purchaser, and endeavor to repurchase." Finally Brown returned to Baraboo, and I had an interview with him. He said I could have it back by paying him |60 more than he gave. I informed him that my money had arrived ; this being Saturday, he said he would call on Monday morning and complete a settlement with me ; and so that same morning our claim society met and chose their committee to wait on him, provided he did not settle with me. The committee waited for him to fulfill his promise until noon, and, learning that he had not called, they went to see him, and found that he had gone to the land office, as was supposed, to enter another claim. They followed and overtook him at Sauk Prairie and brought him back two or three miles toward Baraboo, intending to have him fulfill his promise. He finally voluntarily proposed to go back to Sauk Village, take his money and deed the land over. They concluded to let him do so. Two or three of the committee went back with him for that purpose ; the rest returned to Baraboo.

Brown and the two or three witnesses went before Esquire Leland and got the deed executed. Leland asked Brown if it Avas his own voluntary act. He said yes. If it had not been, he could have just as well said no, as he was before power legally authorized to command the.

peace ; supposing that they had previously had him in duress, there was no compulsion at that time. The witnesses paid my money over to him, and he authorized Leland to take charge of it until he fBrown) called for it - but he never called. Brown wrote to me to go to Leland and get my money, as I could not have the land. He waited two years, until two witnesses to the deed had gone to California, then threw it into chancery to make a forced deed of it ; and after adjournments and appeals for four or five years, our beautiful " Court of Equity" at Madison pronounced it all Brown's - fences, improvements, everything - and mulcted me in the cost of some hundreds of dollars. Now, according to Leland's testimony, there was no force. Their other point, or quibble, was, that he had never received the money. Then, what business had he to put my money into another's possession ? True, Brown had a right by United States law to enter the land ; he had also a right to deed it.

After T lost my improvements, I sold my last cows, at the rate of §12 and $15 apiece, and thereby raised money and bought the piece of land I now live on, and afterward entered some more ; but it was a long time before I got ahead far enough, besides supporting my family, to make improvements on any part of it.

But the robbing is not all done yet, for within the last year I owned a delightful little grove of timber, consisting of about three hundred trees, mostly large forest shades, situated on a beautiful elevated building-let in town, near the banks of the Baraboo River, reserved for my own use, where, if my life was spared long enough, I anticipated building a snug little residence to die in. And during a freshet one spring, some two or three hundred citizens, with twenty or thirty teams, cut the whole of it down, and. without saying " by your leave," hauled and rolled them into the Baraboo River to save a flouring mill, valued at ^25,000 or $30,000, owned by some of our rich capitalists ; and they saved it, and do you think that either of the proprietors, or those who committed the trespass, have called on me to say, " Thank you, madam ? " Not a bit of it. If they had offered me their mill, water privilege and all, at that time, I should have been reluctant to make the exchange, for if I owned a mill, somebody would be sure to steal the grist and toll both. Now this was robbing Peter to pay Paul, with a vengeance. And so my whole life, it seems, thus far has been spent in striving to accumulate for others' benefit; and if T am taxed in future as formerly on what little I do possess, I think, when r leave the world, I shall leave the young Peck - quite independent.

He had, during the summer previous to our arrival, determined to locate in Sauk County, and had abandoned a long, dark hole in the ground that for years had absorbed every surplus dollar and the best years of his life in attempts to secure the leaden treasure which he believed to ' lie just beneath the last stroke of pick and gad. Sauk County was, at this time, only a county in name. Its territorial limits had been fixed; to use a Western phrase, it had been "staked out." but there were scarcely white men enough to fill the usual county offices. Of Indians, there were enough and to spare. Their title to the land had been extinguished, but it was not yet surveyed. Kach emigrant selected such portion of the public domain as seemed to him good, and either staked out the boundaries or marked the dimensions of his claim by "blazing" the trees. In case of dispute between claimants, the matter was settled by a squatter's court, acting under a cf)dp of laws adopted by themselves in mass meeting, from whose decisions there was no appeal, for tho unhappy man who attempted to evade a decision of that court had better never have boon born. My uncle had made a claim at what is now called the Bluff's, seven miles west of Prairie du Sac. The latter was then a village containing one log store, wherein was also a hotel, one blacksmith-shop, one cabinet-shop and four log dwelling-houses. One mile south was Sauk City, then called Haraszthy, iiame«l after the principal proprietor, an Hungarian refugee Count. Itwas a rival village of Prairie du Sac, containing about the same number of inhabitants. The principal business of these two villages was to fight each other, the residents of each believing that all which prevented their village from rivaling New York City was the close proximity of the other, and the inhabitants of each seemed fully convinced that, to attain greatness and prosperity, the first step was to destroy its rival. A more beautiful site upon which to build a city, so far as natural beauty of location is concerned, than that upon which Prairie du Sac is built, is hard to find. In 1840, it was confidently believed that at no distant day the Wisconsin River would bear upon its bosom the commerce of the West ; that at Prairie du Sac, or Haraszthy, would be the grand outlet and market for all that vast and beautiful farming country lying for thirty miles on either side of the river. It was considered very doubtful whether either Madison or Milwaukee would ever amount to much. Baraboo, the present flourishing village and county seat, was then unthought of. It consisted of one saw-mill and two or three shanties.

As I have before stated, Indians were numerous ; they were not only numerous but troublesome. Their visits to the settlers were made without reference to the rules of etiquette, the night being generally selected as the time to make them, and they were usually successful in carrying away with them as souvenirs any little useful articles found lying around, especially " kokcosh," " wahampra " and " washcobra."* If the man of the house was temporarily absent, the family were sure of receiving a visit from one or more of them. At the time of which I am writing, the Black Hawk war had so recently taught them lessons of prudence that they did not dare make any open attack upon the settlers. Still, their numbers so greatly predominated over the whites that they plundered us whenever occasion served, believing we would submit to little annoyances rather than attempt to punish them, and by so doing provoke hostilities. And, upon general principles, they reasoned correctly.

Our nearest neighbor on the north, or up the river, was Mr. Garrison, whose family consisted of himself and wife. The latter belonged to one of the first families in New Brunswick, and had been accustomed to good society. Mr. Garrison had been compelled to leave his wife alone while he made a visit to Mineral Point on business. The Indians soon discovered that there was no man about the premises, and determined to take advantage of the situation. Durinsr the first night of Mr. Garrison's absence, they visited the cabin used as a storeroom, which was adjoining the dwelling-house, and carried away the major part of the provisions intended to supply the family during the summer, or until they could harvest the first crop. The next morning, Mrs. Garrison discovered her loss, and in the flour the Indians had spilled upon the floor moccasin tracks were plainly discernible. Unlike many ladies, who, in her situation, would have abandoned all and fled to the nearest neighbors for protection, Mrs. Garrison determined to stay and defend her property. There was a double-barreled shotgun in the house, and plenty of ammunition, but she lacked the skill to load it. Fortunately, about this time "Bob,"t then a boy of thirteen years, came along upon his regular morning errand of hunting the cows. Mrs. Garrison called him in and showed him the tracks in the flour. She told him of her loss, and asked him to load the gun for her.

"I don't care ; we might as well be murdered outright as to starve for want of provisions they steal from us. Put in a good big load. Bob," she continued.

Accordingly, Bob loaded the gun heavily with powder and "bouble B " shot, and, having finished the op°eration, wended his way toward the prairie. He had been gone about an hour, when, just as he came in sight of the house upon his return, he heard both barrels of the gun discharged almost simultaneously, and at th« same instant saw an Indian, near the house, spring into the air and fall upon his face in the road, evidently badly wounded if not killed. Two other Indians, his companions, caught him up and ran with him toward their camp. To say that Bob was frightened, was no name for it. He fully expected that the Indians would retaliate, and perhaps destroy the settlement before night. He ran at once to the house, and upon his arrival found Mrs. Garrison just struggling to her feet, rubbing her shoulder and moaning with pain. The recoil of the gun had thrown her violently to the ground, and almost dislocated her shoulder. "Good heavens," exclaimed Bob, "what have you done, Mrs. Garrison? " "I really don't know. I wish he had been at ray end of the gun. I believe my shoulder

" Why," said she, " I had started to the pig-pen with a pail of swill, and what should I see but three great strapping fellows in the pen taking out one of my best shoats. I called to them to j^uckachee [go away], but they called me a squaw and laughed at me. I dropped the swill and brought the gun. When they saw me coming with that in my hand they dropped the pig and ran around the stable. I ran to the upper side, and, putting the gun over the fence, got a good rest, and when they came in sight, I took the best aim I could and pulled both triggers at once - I was afraid one barrel might miss - and the recoil of the gun knocked me nearly a rod, I should think, by the way my shoulder feels. But, Bob, do you really think I killed him ? "

" What I go away and leave all these things to be stolen, and the animals to die of starvation ? I shall do nothing of the kind ; and if they come, the dogs and this gun will hurt some of them. I don't believe they will trouble me again."*

I was, at the time, living with William Farnum, Sr., on the prairie near the Bluffs. Some time in the night, Albert Jemison waked us up and told us that Mrs. Brewster, who lived between Baraboo River and the Bluffs, had come over the Bluffs barefooted and out of breath, bringing the news that old Richard Clark had been killed by the Indians, and his house burned, and that the savages were coming this way. We asked him what we should do, and he said that every one must take care of himself. Then he left, and I, wishing to do something for myself and country, went to John Hoover's, near by, and told him that the Indians were coming, and that we must do something for the people. So I took a small pony of his and started over the prairie to give the alarm. I called first on Uncle Bill Johnson, telling him the story as Jemison had told me. He asked me what we were to do, and I said, as Jemison had done, that every one must take care of himself. I then called on Philo Barber's brother, waked him up and told him that the Indians were upon us. The strong man trembled like an aspen, and faltered, " What shall I do ?" Again I gave Jemison's advice : " ' Take care of yourself.' " I next called on Thomas Tabor and family, and the same question was asked, " What shall we do ? " with the same response given. I had now reached the lower part of the prairie settlement. The Tabor men concluded that discretion was the better part of valor, and asked to go with me back to the Bluffs. There was a terrible confusion by this time. Wagons could be heard going in every (liroctioii, and voices everywhere were asking, " What shall we do ?" Thomas Tabor made some pruvisioiis for his wife to make her esca])e - in some wagon, I think - to where they were thinking of making a place of defense. Then one of the Tabors got on that wee pony behind me. Both would have done so had there been room on its back, but two were all that could squeeze on. When we got to the BlufiFs, we learned that all the people were collecting at Uncle Bill Johnson's for self-protection. Some came in wagons, some on horseback and others on foot. They brought all the old guns and pitchforks that they could get in the hurry, and such treasures as they possessed. I believe that Uncle Teel brought his cook-stove. There were about one hundred and fifty persons in all. It was arranged that the women and children should go into the cellar, and the men stand battle. While waiting for the attack, the women were running bullets, and all was bustle and confusion, some asking and others advising what to do. * *

We had been in suspense all night, and still no signs of the Indians ; and we held a council of war, and concluded to send a scout to reconnoiter the grounds in the neighborhood of Uncle Clark's house. But not a soul dared to act as scout except John Grey. He took a horse (a gray one) and started alone on his mission. An hour and a half passed, and he did not return, whereupon we became more and more alarmed, and a company of men, headed by David Baxter, started out to find what had become of him. They went about a mile and met Johnny returning. They heard his story, and then put spurs to their horses and rushed back, crying " The Indians are upon us !" What a consternation and confusion they created I The women and children fled to the cellar, and stout hearts stood still in terrible anticipation. But from John Grey we learned the true story. He had been to Uncle Clark's house. It was not burned, and Uncle Clark had no remembrance of having been massacred. In fact, he had seen or heard no Indians. Baraboo slept peacefully, undisturbed by the war-whoop of the savage. The people now concluded to disperse, and, as a closing scene, word was given to take aim and fire. But, lo our amusement, and consternation likewise, only one gun went off. By the time daylight began to break, the fort was vacated.

It seems, from what I can learn, that Mrs. Brewster had started barefoot over the Bluffs to Sauk Prairie on business, and had met an Indian, who frightened her. Uncle Clark had that day been burning some brush heaps, and the great smoke led Mrs. Brewster to believe that the house was burning. Her imagination did the rest.

It was my privilege to be one of those inevitable men on the frontier, a Methodist itinerant preacher, as early as the spring of 1841. I was not, however, the first of my class to visit Sauk County. That honor, I think, belongs to Rev. James G. Whitford, now of Volga City, Iowa. It has been suggested to me that, possibly. Rev. John Crummer preceded him, but of this I have no knowledge suflicient to form a belief Mr. Whitford, after spending a number of years of widowerhood, part of them near St. Paul, as an Indian and frontier missionary, very naturally desired to find a fellow-sufferer of the gentler sex, hoping, as many do, that by uniting their sorrows they could bear them more joyfully. Mrs. Sarah Sayles, the widowed daughter of Henry Teel, who had removed to the Bluffs on Sauk Prairie in 1840, attracted him. During his visits here, he preached to the few settlers that gathered for the purpose, and, I believe, formed the first class in Sauk County ; but of the date, and of all the names, he has no record. The class was formed at the house of Father Teel, still standing at the foot of the bluffs, which, for several years, was the place of meeting. Mr. Whitford and Mrs. Sayles were united in marriage by Rev. Mr. Simpson on the 15th of August, 1841, and this was probably the first marriage in Sauk County. My first record relating to this county mentions meeting Rev. Henry W. Reed, now of Epworth, Iowa, Presiding Elder of the Dubuque District, and J. G. Whitford, on their way to Sauk Prairie, May, 1841, to hold a quarterly meeting. Mr. Reed was then Presiding Elder of the Platteville District, Rock River Conference, which embraced all this region of country, and Mr. Whitford was stationed at Mineral Point, associated with this County Circuit. I was his assistant. They left an appointment for me a few weeks from that time, and promised the people a preacher for the next year. I reached the Prairie on the 23d of June, 1841. The only road there from Mineral Point was by way of Blue Mounds, and the only vestige of habitation between Bri^ham's tavern and the river at about where the Lower Bridge now is, was Mr. Thomas' Station, near Cross Plains. All the supplies for the Upper Wisconsin pioneers were drawn on the niilitarv road leading to Fort Winnebago, now Portage City. Mr. Thomas had established a way station for teamsters and travelers. From this road, a way was opened from about the present Alden Corners to the river. The crossing at Lower Sauk Village was the only ferry then between the Fox River and the shot-tower at Helena. I copy the entry in my journal, as made on my first visit <m tiie above date :

-- .Vfter riding through a heavy rain-storm on a very bad road, I crossed the river and got to Father Teel's, at the Bluffs, just at dark. I have often heard of this prairie, but, like the (,>ueen of the South, I can say "- The half has never been told me I' It is on the west bank of the Wisconsin River, eight miles long and four wide, being about eighty-five miles from the mouth of the river. The lower part of it is about ten feet above high- water mark, and it gradually rises until the northern part is fifty or more feet high. The soil is in places sandy, but very productive and uU adapted to cultivation. This was once the great headquarters of the Sac nation of Lidians, and large fields of their corn-hills are yet plainly visible. These were driven hence bv the Wiimebagoes, and subsecjuently they gave place to the Avhites, some of whom first settled here about two years ago. There are now about two hundred and seventy inhabitants on the prairie. A flourishing little village is commenced on the river."

To show what sad havoc thirty years will make with a man's opinions of taste, and, if you look at me as I read tliis. witli his personal appearance, I continue the quotation:

'' There is here an Hungarian Count - so he calls himself^ - who claims to have large quantities of money, and is e.xpending it liberally in improvements. There is also an Englishman here who claims to have been a lord in the old country. He is in partnership with the Count. They both look like savages, wearing a long beard above as well below the mouth. And they are the great men of the place, and others adopt their customs and make themselves as ridiculous as possible."

On Thursday evening, June 24, I preached at the Bluffs, from 1 Cor., xiii, 13; Friday evening, at the Lower Village, in an unfinislied schoolhouse, from Rev., iii, 20 ; Sunday, A. M., at the Bluffs, and in the evening, again at the village. At the Rock River Conference held at Platteville. closing September 2, 1841, I was appointed to Muscoda Mission, in Platteville District, Rev. Henry W. Reed, Presiding Elder. The mission embraced all the settlements on both sides of the river, from Muscoda to Fort Winnebago. Before the close of the year, I had appointments at Muscoda. Blue Mounds, then known as Centreville, near Meeker's lead furnace, Helena, I Highland, four miles north, was not even thought of then), Ridgeway, Blue Mounds, Sauk Village, Honey Creek Mills, Bluffs and Baraboo. It required three weeks to make my round, involving a travel of over 200 miles, for there were scarcely any roads. My first appointment at Honey Oeek Mills, where several families had settled, was September 10. and the text was James, iv, H, the meeting being at Mv. Gould's, and there were eighteen present. At this point we afterwanl held the meetings at a Mr. Grain's, Avhose wife was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Finding the distance so great to go and return by way of the Mounds, I crossed the river at Helena ( NL-. Alva Culver, who boarded the shot-tower men, keeping a scow for the purpose), on the .'lOth of September, and went up to Sauk on the old Indian trail. This route I traveled eight or ten times during the year. The trail was circuitous, bearing out from the river and crossing several wet marshes, where my little Canada pony could not bear me up. To avoid the inconvenience of dismounting in a quagmire nearly knee deep and wading twenty rods, as I often did, T sought a better route. Sometimes I went up the river bank, but logs and gorges, to say nothing of the bluffs, coming to the water's edge, made that a diflicult road. I tried several times to vary the former track, to split the difference between the impassable river bank and the swampy trail, but, like almost all bargains on splitting the difference, I found myself badly sold. I settled down at last to the conviction that it is safe to follow the trails of Indians until eivili/ed highways are made. There wore no settlers in this country, west of Honey Creek, till the fall of 1S41 or the spring of 1<S42. Mr Wilson, the shot-tower cooper, moved his family to the mouth of Wilson's Creek in the latter part of 1841. He was a well-informed Scotchman, and had a family of well-posted children. I stayed with him one night, when I was informed it was an established family order that, by turns, one should read history or some other solid work - of which he had a good library - each night, while all the others worked and listened. Hence, the intelligence of the children was remarkable for a frontier family. Soon after, a Mr. Turner settled about where Spring Green now is, and several young men took claims on the prairie. On the 30th of May, 1842, I preached in Mr. Turner's house to the family and three young men who came in. My text was. " The time is short ; " 1 Cor., vii, 29. That was undoubtedly the first attempt at preaching in Spring Green. In 1841, there was a temporary bridge built across Honey Creek at the mill, which saved me trouble. Before that, I had made m\ pony swim the creek at the crossing of the trail, and had taken my baggage across on a log. Sometimes my pony concluded it was as easy for me to walk and carry my luggage as it was for him to carry that and me too. Once I walked immediately behind him for about seven miles. West of this bridge a Canadian, Mr. Brisset. with a young Yankee wife, settled in 1842 ; I spent one night in their little cabin. Still west of him a mile or two, in a beautiful valley, after the burning of the grass, I saw a field of several acres of parallel ridges, about five feet apart, very nearly straight, that must have been used many years before, for large white-oak trees grew all among them. They were more artistic than any remains of Indian cultivation I have ever seen.

My first visit to Baraboo Mills was October 5, 1841. Notice of my coming had not been given, and we therefore had no meeting. At that time, the saw-mill had been repaired, a new dam put in and some men employed. An old man, Mr. Draper, a member of the Baptist Church, was some way interested in the mill, and it was called Draper's Mill. He invited me to come and establish meetings there. A Mr. Hill, from one of the New England States, had built a log cabin about ten or fifteen rods east of the mill, and boarded Mr. Draper and the hands. This mill was not far from half a mile above the ford on the Baraboo River. On the 16th of October, Tuesday evening, I preached in Mr. Hill's house to eleven persons, from 2 Cor., v, 20 ; which was certainly the opening of the Gospel for the first time in Baraboo Valley. None of those present professed to be Christians, save Mr. Draper. After that, my appointments were regularly filled there, except once, when the roads were impassable. On Sunday, February 6, 1842, I formed a Methodist class at Baraboo Mills, consisting of Solomon Shaffer, leader, Ollie Shafi'er and Parmelia Gibson, all of whom were Methodist immigrants, recently arrived. Mr. Shaffer was the mill blacksmith, and lived in a house newlv built south of the mill. Mrs. Gibson and family had settled about a mile above the river, on the north side. Before I left the circuit, there were one or two families moved in above the Gibsons, I think about five miles up the river. I visited them once, but have no record of the names. My impression is that one of them was Jones. On the 10th of April. Mrs. Mary J. Hill, the woman of the house where our meetings were held, joined the class. She was the first convert to religion in the valley, having made a profession in the early spring of 1843. The unfinished schoolhouse at Lower Town, as Sauk City was then called, was very uncomfortable as a place of meeting ; besides, the people therewere chiefly Germans, and had little sympathy with our forms of religion. Early in the winter of 1841 - 42, we got the privilege of holding our meetings at the house of Mr. Skinner, and thereafter had no services at Lower Town. About the 1st of April, 1842, Rev. Phillip W. Nichols came with his family to Upper Town as a Presbyterian Home Missionary, under the auspices of the American Board of Commissioners for the Home and Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church. He had formerly been a Methodist itinerant preacher, but, for reasons satisfactory to himself and his church, his connections with that body was dissolved. He had connected himself with the Congregational body: but at that time in Wisconsin Territory, under what is known as the " L^nion," a minister of either the Congregational or Presbyterian Church could serve the other without change of ecclesiastical relations. So he was a Presbyterian Pastor, but a Congregational minister. The scattered Presbvterian friends here had received him as a missionary, with an appropriation from the mission fund of $400, they agreeing to furnish him a dwelling, fuel and provisions for one year as their part. He was the first regular Pastor for Sauk exclusively ; for, although I preceded hira, my parish embraced Grant, Iowa, Dane and Richland Counties, besides Sauk, and all the settled regions beyond. Again, his salary equaled 3700 or more, while mine could, according to our law, be no more than $100. He had $100 missionary funds ; I but $50, aside from which I only received during the whole year 92 cents. He had a pleasant home with his family ; I boarded round like tiie schoolmaster of the times. He was a man of years of experience in the ministry, and knew the inconveniences of Methodist pioneering ; I was inexperienced in both. It is therefore no wonder at our first interview at the house of Mr. Skinner after I had preached and called on him to close, he gave me and the audience to understand that he thought I had vast room for improvement. We first met April 13, after which we alternated in holding meetings at Upper Sauk. My principal home during the year was at Father Teel's. I spent nearly a week there once in three weeks, and myself and horse shared the best they had. The family consisted of two old persons and George, about seventeen, and Charles, about twelve. Mother Teel was more than a mother to me, for she saved my life once, at least, by her skill in treating a dangerous disease successfully. No poor itinerant ever met with more generous hospitality than I did at that " Methodist Tavern," and my home there is among the most cherished memories of my life.

I finished my year on July 20, having traveled about 3,500 miles, besides visiting generally about the settlement, preaching nearly 200 times to congregations ranging from two, the lowest, to thirty, the highest, averaging eight. I could count my congregation every time for the w^hole year without making a mistake. The people were generally poor, consisting in most instances of newly married couples, just beginning life for themselves. But they were exceedingly kind, and I may add, patient, for I was often ill, and at best, could poorly interest, much less profit them. Hut it was a valuable year to me, rich in privations, trials and opportunities, and one I can never forget, because of its pleasures. At the Conference of 1843, held at Chicago, Seymour Stover succeeded me on the Muscoda Mission, while I was sent far hence to the Gentiles : that is, among the Chippewa Indians at the head of Lake Superior. Mr. Stover is still living near Chicago. His connection with the Sauk County people did not prove very happy. At the end of his year, the mission was left off the minutes. In 1844, it was again favored with mention, but not called " Sauk Prairie" and left "to be supplied," being yet in Platteville District, Benjamin T. Kavanaugh being Presiding Elder. Being far away, I have no knowledge as to who was the supi)ly for that year, but he probably was a Badger.

Topography And Geology

Sauk County is situated midway between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River, in the center of the south half of the State. Upon its south, southeast and northeast sides, sweeps the rapid current of the Wisconsin River, one of the largest tributaries of the " Father of Waters," into whose channel every stream in the county eventually finds its way. The county is bounded on the north by Juneau, on the west by Vernon and Richland, on the south by Iowa, southeast by Dane, and east and northeast by Columbia County.

The soil embraces every variety, found frequently in strangely close proximity. Stiff clays are sometimes found terminating abruptly in beds of sandy loam, or gradually intermixing with them, so that a single farm often embraces many varieties. Marshes occur along the watercourses, sometimes of considerable extent, though rarely of a swampy character. Rich bottom lands occasionally hem in the streams, while fertile prairies, for the most part of quite limited dimensions and skirted with timber available for farm purposes, greet the eye of the traveler in nearly every portion. The largest of these is Prairie du Sac. But one of the greatest glories of Sauk County is her extensive and heavily timbered lands, lying nearly midway between her northern and southern limits, and running the entire length from east to west.

The largest branch but one of the Wisconsin River is the Baraboo, a stream of perhaps one hundred miles in length and running through the county from east to west. Directly south of this stream lie the famous Baraboo Bluffs, a range of hills with occasional subranges shooting off. which also stretches entirely across the county. Upon this range, and its offshoots, are located the large supplies of timber. The east end of the Baraboo Bluffs is geologically very interesting. Here nature has cut many freaks. The bluff is from three to four miles wide, and for this distance has but few spurs, but is indented here and there with small streams, in the valleys of which there seems to have been a general tear-up. The redeeming feature of this locality is the abundance of timber. Passing from this mountain-like end of the Baraboo Bluff, which averages from four hundred to six hundred, and at some points eight hundred, feet above the Wisconsin River, to the line of Range 4, we leave the flinty or vitrified sandstone and come upon the Lower Magnesian limestone and the lower sandstone. Here the top of the divide softens down to good farming land of a clay loam - white-oak soil. The top of the ridge, being wide enough for a farm and in some places two abreast, thus forms a solid chain of farms, not only on the main ridge, but for some distance on the spurs. As we pass into Range 3, in Town 11, the Baraboo Bluff meets and unites with other ranges, which radiate off to the south, northeast and north, the main bluff passing out of the county to the nortliwest. These " divides " form broad, elevated tables of excellent lands, well timbered with red and white oak and poplar. There is but little rough land.

The basin of the Baraboo River has an area of over six hundred square miles, extending, of course, without the county. The stream itself is about two hundred feet wide at its mouth, and has a volume of water, made up mostly from the flow of springs, of between 15,000 and 20,- 000 inches, as calculated on the edge of a dam. It passes through two ranges of bluffs, forming the Upper and Lower Narrows, the latter being an opening in the Wisconsin River bluffs about ten miles from the mouth of the Baraboo. At this point, the valley is but sixty to eighty rods wide and upon either side the bluff is from three hundred to four hundred feet high, presentincT in some places, a face of perpendicular rock, and, in others, rugged slopes covered with . Dine r^'ed cedar and oak firraly rooted in the broken debris. This pass, or gorge, is half a mile in length the river being very shallow along its entire extent. It was a favorite fordmg-place for Indian's in primeval times. Below the Narrows, the Baraboo and Wisconsin River bottoms soon unite and form a large tract of variegated soil. The Wisconsin River being the most rapid stream, the floods that collect here soon discharge through its broad channel. In these bottoms, there are patches of marshes, but a good share of it can be plowed and cereals grown. From the Upper to the Lower Narrows, a distance of fifteen miles by six or seven wide, the country is interestinty from its peculiar geological features, which are referred to in another part of this work. It forms a distinct basin from the other part of the Baraboo Valley. It coritains about one hundred s(iuare miles, and the Baraboo Rapi<ls seem to have been designed as its business center. There is but very little poor land in it, and the river is the dividing line between two distinct soils. That upon the south side is mostly a heavy clay subsoil, with a vegetable loam surface soil, being timbered with lime, maple, oak, elm, walnut, hickory, ash and cherry. That upon the north side has a similar subsoil, but more sand with the surface soil. In contradistinction with the cherry timber of the south side, the north side comprises openings, marsh and prairie, nearly equally divided. The rapids are some two miles and a half in length, and have a fall of fifty feet. The land being so well divided between timber, oak openings, prairie and marsh, well watered with springs and runs, and very healthy withal, time will give it credit for more advantages than are here rehearsed.

Narrows Creek breaks through the Baraboo range about two miles west, and flows at its base to the river. The gorge is very narrow, having a little more than enough width for the creek bed and a road. Here there is a natural fall over rapids of about ten or twelve feet, makinf' a good water-power with from five hundred to one thousand inches. The opening for the river is still narrower. The quiet stream in this narrow dell, with rocks wildly arranged to the height of three hundred to four hundred feet, the absence of sunshine, the hemlock and pine, with their " music of a thousand harps,'" lead us to thoughts of nature's wonders. Above this range of bluffs, the basin of the Baraboo River is in unison with the country previously described, with the exception of some variations in soil. The great physical features of the Upper Baraboo country are the prairies dotting the heavily tiinbered districts. The area of these prairies is from one acre to several hundred. Some of the largest have names - such as Narrows, Ball's, Blakeslie's, Ilubbell's, Kerstetter's, Stead's, Ribock's, etc. Narrows Creek Valley is quite eijually divided between timber, marsh and prairie. It has a large basin of country, containing from forty-five to fifty square miles, and is a rich valley of land.

Passing from Narrows Creek over a divide capped in several places with limestone, we come into the valley an<l basin of Babb's Creek, which is the largest of the timber-inclosed prairies above described, and lies thirty to fifty feet above the creek. The arms of the prairie extend in several directions into the heavy timber, and upon the main body there are several '* timber islands," making the whole aspect a very pleasant one. Upon its east side is the Baraboo River, and here, in early days, was an Indian ford, the bottom of the river for a short distance being rock. Now upon this rock bottom the river is dammed, and near by is the village of Reedsburg.

Seven or eight miles further up, we come to the beautiful valley of the Little Baraboo, containing nearly forty square miles, one-fourth of which is in Richland County. The Little Baraboo Hiver fiiniishes, at its mouth, probably 12,0()() inches of water, and is a ver^r permanent stream. Further on is the valley of the main river, which, upon the southwest side, is rather rolling, but not rougii, the soil being very rich. Next come the Kerstetter, §tead and Ribock Prairies, :ind then we find ourselves in the Plum \ alley, which is about one-third the size of the liittle Baral)oo, with similar characteristics. Across the river, on the northeast side, are the remains of the famous "Old Pinerv," whence came so manv "drives'" of loors in the earlv history of this wonderful valley. The town of Lavalle, and especially the Ox and Big Creek Valleys, is not inviting to the lover of prairie land. Turning southward into the town of Winfield, we enter the narrow valley of Twin Creek, surrounded by rich-soiled table-lands, which lie from seventy-five to one hundred feet above the creek bottom, and are well timbered with oak. In the eastern part of Winfield, there is an excellent country, in the edge of the Irish settlement formerly called Sligo. Nearer Reedsburg, in the Copper Creek Valley, the soil is light and sandy .^ Not far from the mouth of Copper Creek is a copper mine, which at one time created considerable excitement. The ore was rich, and several tons were taken out, but it seemed to run out and was abandoned. In sinking shafts or making excavations anywhere in this region, a sheet of clay is found strongly impregnated with verdigris.

Dell Creek enters the Wisconsin River near the foot of the Little Dells, and furnishes about one thousand inches of water. The area of this basin is sixty-five square miles. This is very large for the size of the stream, owing, probably, to there being but few hills or elevated lands, which always furnish an abundance of water. With the exception of some country in the neighborhood of the Dells, and a few isolated mounds, such as Hay Rick, Rattlesnake Bluff, Haystack and Prospect Hill, the basin is an unbroken level. The lower part of the basin is of a light, sandy soil, with black-oak openings and pine groves. There are, however, places in this region, equal to about a third part of it, that have a stiff clay soil, with white-oak openings. Interspersed through this light soil are occasional marshes. In the upper part of the valley, and lying at the foot of the ridge that divides it from the Baraboo Valley, is a strip of country equal to about half a township, which is second to none in the county in productiveness. The soil is a deep, rich clay loam, lying on a shelf about fifty feet higher than the rest of the valley. This vicinity is well supplied with timber.

In the southern portion of the county the aspect changes. Leaving Harrisburg and passing in a southwesterly direction, the traveler finds himself in the little valley of Wilson's Creek, so called in honor of John Wilson, a Scotchman, who settled there in 1840. In passing down the Wisconsin River, about four miles from Wilson's, the bluffs recede from the river at Sauk, and for the first two or three miles the basin is timbered with white and burr oak openings, and has a very fair soil. From this we pass to a prairie dotted with patches of sand. About three miles from Spring Green and five miles from Lone Rock, Big Hollow opens out upon the prairie. This hollow, or canyon, is about three miles long, and its soil is an excellent clay loam.

Honey Creek empties into the Wisconsin River some two and a half miles below Sauk City, and is nearly forty feet wide. It flows along the south end of Sauk Prairie four or five miles, above which it has the appearance of being lost among the bluffs, or rather coming abruptly and almost mysteriously out of them. These high and formidable-looking bluffs, presenting in very many places perpendicular faces to the south and capped with red cedars, are mere walls - for their base is as nothing compared with their height - that stand from 100 to 150 feet high, and scarcely thick enough to support themselves. The valley of Honey Creek is from two to three miles wide, and almost level. It is divided up between marsh, prairie, openings, tamarack swamp, thickets, oak brush, etc. It is emphatically a valley of " pockets," varying from ten acres to a section of land in size, nearly inclosed by these high bluff walls. The soil has a clay base and is generally of a durable nature. Excellent quality of buildingstone is found in the foot-hills. This locality is somewhat famous for its caves, which, in cold weather, emit steam like furnaces. They are penetrated with considerable difficulty. In one of these caves have been found some very beautiful stalactites.

Bear Creek Valley, with its branches, is properly a grazing country, as there is more meadow or marsh land than grain land. The soil is considered rich, and is well watered by li4;tle rivulets coming from the adjacent rocks. There are no bold-fiiced rocks and picturesque hills here as in Honey Creek Valley, though the bluffs are equally high. The narrow ravines near the heads of the streams wind around in a most singular manner, and those unacquainted with the face of the country thereabouts will do well to take along a guide when they make exploring expeditions.

The unevenness of the surface of Sauk County has frequently attracted the attention and scientific observation of geologists. Among the most instructive minor characteristics of the topography of the county are the elevations of a number of different points of its surface above the water-level of Lake Michigan. These are given in feet. By adding 589 feet to those of any given point, the result will be the elevation above the ocean. Following are the highest and lowest topographical points in the various towns mentioned :

Town of Troy, northwest corner Section 2, Township 8, Range 4, 130 feet ; top of bluff, northwest quarter Section 14, Townshij; 9, Range 5, 500 feet.

Town of Greenfield, road-bed on Section 26, Township 12, Range 7, 215 feet ; point near the middle west line of Section 15, Township 11, Range 7, 900* feet.

The Baraboo Quartzite Ranges

It will be interesting to consider those isolated areas of Archaean rocks which are found protruding through the surrounding horizontal Silurian strata, at points widely scattered over the Central part of the State. Besides doubtful isolated areas, which may be somewhere connected with the main Archiraii region without intervening horizontal strata, there are many others whicli occur as]much as fifty or one hundred miles within the region of the Lower Silurian rocks. All of the scattered patches are but points of tlie universal Archioan basement, upon which all the later strata are built, having earned their especial immunity from complete burial by virtue of the resistant nature of their materials. They are, properly, buried mountains, and were high islands and reef-ledges in the early Paleozoic seas. All the areas, except the one, or rather the group, ineluiliiig the l^araboo ranges in Sauk County, are of small size, generally occupying much le.ss than a. square mile of area. With the same exception, they are all mound-like in form, rising, usually, .somewhat abruptly from the surrounding country, which is frequently level, and showing, always, considerable rock exposures on the flanks and summits, being often almost all bare rock. They reach heights of from 50 to 250 feet, but are usually lower than the surrounding outlying bluffs of the horizontal strata. The Baraboo group, unlike the others, constitutes a series of bold ridges, one of which reaches elevations of 800 and 900 feet above Lake Michigan, and a length of over twenty miles. The nature of the rocks composing the several areas is not always the same. The large areas in Sauk County, and a few others, are chiefly of quartzite ; a number are of quartz porphyry ; still others of granite, which is different in different cases ; and yet others, occurring in Jackson County, and close to the main Archaean area, are of ferruginous quartz schist. Except in the cases of the granitic areas, these rocks are generally quite distinctly bedded, and are usually tilted at high angles.

The Baraboo quartzite ranges occupy much the largest extent of territory, and are at the same time much the most striking and most important as influencing the topography of the State of any of the isolated Archaean areas that occur within the region of the Silurian rocks. Their bold character, and the dissimilarity between their rocks and those of the country around, have drawn to them the attention of the State Geologists as well as of other scientific men. Percival regarded the quartzites composing the ranges as resulting from a metamorphism of the Potsdam sandstone of the surrounding region. Hall refers them, correctly, to the Archaean, making them Huronian, but his detailed examinations were not published. Alexander Winchell calls them " Lower Potsdam," on the evidence of some fossils belonging to the Middle Potsdam, and found in the sandstone lying against the quartzite. This he regards as proving the " Lower Potsdam ". age of the quartzite, losing sight of the fact that the latter is unconformable with the sandstone, and projects upward into the horizon, not only of the Middle Potsdam, but even far above, into that of the St. Peter's. The Archaean age of the quartzite was first definitely proved by the State Geologist in 1872, and this conclusion has since been abundantly confirmed by the work of other geologists, and also by his own further researches in the region.

The Baraboo Bluffs constitute two east-and-west ranges, extending some twenty-five miles in length through the towns of Caledonia, in Columbia County, and Greenfield, Merrimack, Sumter, Baraboo, Honey Creek, Freedom, Excelsior and Westfield, in Sauk County. The southern one of the ranges is much the bolder and more continuous, and the two are not exactly parallel, but diverge as they are traced westward. At their eastern ends, in Columbia County, they unite in a bold point, rising abruptly from the low ground of the Wisconsin River, at the easternmost point of the great bend which the quartzite ranges compel it to take. Tracing them westward, we find the two ridges, about midway in their lengths, some four miles apart, and at their western ends a mile or so more than this. Here a bold, nearly north-and-south cross-ridge, also with a quartzite core, unites the two, thus finishing an entire cordon of bluffs around a depressed interior. All around the outside of this circuit of hills, except beyond the western cross-ridge, the country is comparatively low, and often quite level, so that the ridges rise very boldly, forming, for a non-mountainous country, quite a striking feature of the landscape. The southern quartzite range is broken down in only one place, the gorge in which lies the Devil's Lake, and, as seen from the low ground of the Wisconsin River on the south, presents a continuous wavy crest, often with large areas of bare rock, and with elevations of from 500 to 700 feet above the river, and of 700 to 900 feet above Lake Michigan. Its higher portions have a width of from one to four miles, the outline being quite irregular on account of the deep and very anciently eroded valleys that indent its sides. The great anti(iuity of these valleys is evinced by their showing, on their sides and bottoms, layers of horizontal sandstone, clinging to the underlying quartzite. The sandstone has evidently been deposited in valleys which were originally formed long before its deposition, and have been carved out anew in the same places, on account of its friable and non-resistant nature. The country on top of the range is heavily timbered, presenting, in this regard, as also in its almost universal heavy clay soil, a marked contrast with the lower country around. This clay soil has caused the making of many excellent farms on top of the range. It occurs alike on the quartzite and the high-level sandstone. In the eastern extension of the Bluffs, it might be regarded as of glacial origin, but to the

The northern range is much less pronounced than the southern. Jbor about seven miles west from the junction of the two, in Columbia County, it forms a continuous ridge some 300 or 400 feet in height, but generally much less than a mile' in width. Further west, its height lessens for long distan'ces, the Archaean rocks forming its core, at the same time becoming covered by the overlying horizontal sandstones, through which they appear here and there in small outcrops. Further wes? still, this range rises again, and where it joins the cross ridge at its western extrem- . ity has become again bold, with a height of 200 to 30'0 feet. Although thus indefinite in its middle portions, the higher ground never entirely disappears along the line of the range, except at the three points where the Baraboo River and one of its tributaries cut through in deep gorges. The depressed area within the circuit of quartzite bluffs is, for the most part, somewhat higher than the surrounding outside country, and toward its eastern and western extremities rises rather rapidly up to the inclosing ridges. In Columbia County, much of the area between the rant'es is as high as the northern range itself, and is underlaid by a great thickness of sandstone, which fills in tlie canoe-shaped trough of the uniting quartzite belts. At one time, the rest of the valley between the ranges was filled in a similar manner, and has since been partially recarved in the friable sandstone wliich still forms its bottom. This valley is now traversed longitudinally by the Baraboo River, which enters and leaves it, by deep gorges, through the northern ridge, having a fall between the gorges of about seventy feet. '*

Tlie rock constituting the great body of the Baraboo ranges is a quartzite of a non-granular (usually fiaky) texture, and of a color from nearly white, through gray, pink and amethyst, to purplish-red and even brick-red, the gray and deep red being the most common, the white the least 80. Very rarely a distinct granular texture is seen. The quartzite is frequently very distinctly laminated, the lines of lamination being contorted in a remarkable manner, and marked by alternating light-colored and dark-colored lines. There is never any cleavage parallel to the lamination lines. Next in abundance to the regular quartzite, and merging into it, are heavy beds of a fine metamorphic conglomerate, usually of a grayish to amethystine color, in which the matrix and pebbles are alike quartzite, and not always very well defined from one another. Forming thin layers between the thick layers of quartzite, is in many places to be seen a peculiar greasy surfaced quartz schist, the lamina3 of which are composed of quartzite like that of the regular (juartzite layers, seamed and covered on the surface with a soft, lilac to white, talc-like mineral. This slate or schist usually exhibits the true slaty or transverse cleavage. The soft mineral pervading it is suspected to be always, as it certainly is sometimes, aluminous rather than magncsian. It occurs occasionally, forming slaty layers with but little quartz admixture, and, in small seams, even entirely pure. It then has rather the physical characteristics of a compacteil clay, and this appearance is borne out by the analyses given beyond, which show that the pure clay like kinds are probably not distinct minerals, but rather a mixture of a clayey substance with fine silica. In both physical properties and chemical composition, this material is closely allied to the pipeatone of Southwest Minnesota, from which it differs only in color. Other quartz schists of quite a different character have been observed forming the lowest layers of the north (juartzite range, both at the Lower Narrows of the Baraboo and at the Upper Narrows oi the same stream. Those are white to straw-colored, distinctly granular in texture, the quartz grains being of translucent, glassy quartz. The whole rock is more or less pervaded by a soft, clayey material, and splits out in large thin sheets. On the northernmost portions of the north range, at the Lower Narrows, and also for a short distance to the westward, a great thickness of - pinrtz porphyry is also to be observed. This porphyry resembles that of the several small porjiliyry areas of the adjoining portions of Columbia, Marquette and Green Lake Counties, and proves at once that we must regard these areas as part of the same formation that appears in the Baraboo ranges.

In the quartzite, milk-white veins and nests are frequently to be seen. In some places, as at the Upper Narrows, the white quartz veins show, frequently, geodic cavities lined with quartz crystals of great clearness and beauty, and not unfrequently of very large size, though usually small. In the veins at the Upper Narrows, such crystal-lined cavities are exceedingly numerous. Along with the crystals, sometimes compacted over them, sometimes loose in the cavities, and again in thin seams by itself, is to be seen a soft, white mineral. This is often pulverulent, at times gritty, at others a nearly impalpable powder, and is shown by analysis to be essentially a silicate of alumina. AYith the white quartz, in nests of some size, is often to be observed brilliant specular iron in large crystalline surfaces. It occurs also in some of the layers of quartzite in fine scales. Titanic iron is also reported. These, with the peculiar aluminous silicate alluded to in connection with the quartz schists, are the only minerals known to occur in the Baraboo rocks.

The quartzites and associated rocks are quite distinctly bedded, though the bedding is not unfrequently obscured by cross-jointing, which is often to be observed on a grand scale. The dip, wherever observed, is toward the north through the whole extent of both ranges, but varies much in amount. In the southern range it is usually quite low, as low sometimes as 15° in the middle and broadest portions. In the northern range, the dips are always much higher, running from 55° to 90°. The rocks of the two ranges appear, however, to be parts of a continuous series, the quartz porphyry beds of the northern range constituting the uppermost layers.

Beginning the detailed descriptions at the best known, and at the same time one of the most remarkable, points about the quartzite ranges, we note, first, the occurrences in the vicinity of Devil's Lake, in Township ] 1, Ranges 6 and 7. Here the southern range is cut entirely through by a deep quartzite walled valley or gorge, 500 feet in depth, and three-fourths of a mile in width. In its northern portion, this valley trends due north and south for about a mile ; turning then abruptly at right angles, it extends eastward two miles and a half. In the north and south part lies Devil's Lake, with a length of something more than a mile, and a width onefourth less than this, its surface being about one hundred feet above the valley surface at the eastern end of the gorge, more than one hundred feet above the Baraboo River at Baraboo, and more than two hundred above the Wisconsin at Merrimack. It is held in this elevated position by two immense raorainic heaps of glacial drift lying at either end of the lake, and rising more than one hundred fe^t above its level. The lake has a nearly level sandy bottom, except near the shores, and is, over most of its area, some thirty feet in depth. It has no outlet and but one small stream running into it. It is thus, probably, fed chiefly by springs, and maintains its level by evaporation and by filtering through the heaps of gravel and sand which hold it in place. Near the northwest corner a small stream, running into the Baraboo, passes within a few rods of the lake, and, possibly, carries with it some of the lake water. On its west and south sides, the lake washes the bases of the bounding cliffs of the gorge. Both east and west cliffs are highest near their southern ends, toward which they rise gradually from the north, following, roughly, the dip-planes, which also rise southward, and the edges of which can be seen, quite well marked, on eitiher wall of the gorge. By aneroid measurement, the highest point of the west bluff" is 475 feet above the lake level, or 800 feet above Lake Michigan, and the southern portion of the east bluff" but little lower. In their upper portions, the cliff"s are vertical, sometimes for as much as two hundred feet or more, but their lower parts are clothed with a heavy talus or " ankle," composed of great blocks of the quartzite that have fallen from the cliff"s above. These masses are often as much as twenty feet on a side, with a somewhat regular shape imparted by the powerful ioints that everywhere traverse the quartzite, and cut it into blocks only needing to be slightly dislodged in order to fall down the cliff". For the greater portion of their lengths both east and west bluff"s are quite narrow, being backed by deep ravines opening northward. The northern end of the east bluff", especially, is q. mere crest, having behind it one of the ancient, sandstonelined ravines that have before been mentioned.

In its east and west extension, the valley preserves the same characters as above described, the cliff" on the north side being the highest a,nd boldest, and retaining for a long distance the height it attains at the corner where the valley bends. Along the face of this cliff", the heavy quartzite beds are seen on the strike, and present, therefore, an appearance of horizontality when viewed from the valley below. At the mouth of the valley (southeast quarter Section 20, Township 11, Range 7 east\ the northern cliff is of horizontal sandstone, behind which the quartzite passes, while the south cliff terminates in a sharp, rocky point, known as the Devil's Nose. Doubling the Nose, we are on the south side of the range, with Sauk Prairie in front, and the high bluff with its roches-montonees surfaces of quartzite behind. These surfaces rise in rude steps, which are due to the gradual northern dip.

Near the top of the sides of the ravine, on the southwest corner of the lake, horizontal sandstone and coarse conglomerate occur, the pebbles of the conglomerate coming from the quartzite against which it lies. Nowhere else along the sides of the valley, until we reach its eastern end, are there any indications of its ever having been filled with sandstone, and, consequently, of its equally great antiquity with other ravines about the quartzite ranges. This occurrence itself is not, necessarily, any such indication, for the sandstone is found only at a high level, and may, therefore, have been introduced from the northward, quite independently of the valley of Devil's Lake, which, we are thus led to believe, is of more recent origin than the Potsdam period.

This valley has evidently been, at some time, the passage of a large stream. We cannot suppose that it has been produced by any other process than that of erosion, and such an erosion as could only be effected by the agency of running water. Confirming this view, we find, high up on the cliff sides, within 150 feet of the summit, remnants of large pot-holes, several feet in diameter, presenting smoothed surfaces, and having about them many small pebbles and smoothed bowlders, which may have been engaged in the work of their formation. The large size of the valley suggests that it may have been the passage of the Wisconsin 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. and was forced to find its way eastward to the valley of the great river that for long ages before the Glacial period drained the whole basin of the Wolf and Upper Fo.x, through the valley of the Lower Wisconsin to the Mississippi. This valley, which the deflected river reached at Portage, and which it subsequently appropriated as its own, passes altogether to the eastward of the eastern extremity of the quartzite ranges. If this is a correct view, the river must have had a passage through the northern range also, and this passage would be found in the Lower Narrows of the Baraboo, a much wider channel than is needed by that small stream. This explanation of the origin of the Devil's Lake Valley is offered as a suggestion only. The Baraboo may be a 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. Only ten miles above on its course, the gorge through which it passes the northern range presents no such proportions as seen about the Devil's Lake Valley.

The rock in the vicinity of Devil's Lake, omitting reference now to the Silurian conglomerate and sandstone, is nearly altogether the typical quartzite of the region, as above described. It generally shows some shade of red. On the weathered surface of some of the large fallen raas.ses in the edge of the lake, a distinct tendency to a granular texture is perceptible, while a fresh surface shows generally no traces of it. Fine lines of lamination are nearly everywhere to be seen, and are generally quite strikingly marked, but there is never any structure parallel to them. They are nearly always bent into sharp angles, or curved and contorted, presenting often the irregularities seen in the bedding of sandstone. While many of the bendings in these lines may be due to original irregularities of deposition, or to contortion at the time of disturbance and alteration, there are surfaces where they present such a peculiar knotty and concentric appearance as strongly to suggest a concretionary origin. The lines are alternatingly light and dark red. In a few places white quartz veins with geodic ([uartz crystals are seen, but these do not characterize any considerable portion of the rock. All about the Devil's Lake Valley the bedding of the quartzite is quite distinct, and is made apparent by the existence of large dip surfaces, often beautifully ripple- marked. At the northern ends of both east and west bluffs of the lake many such surfaces occur. Others are seen on the sides of the railroad track about raidway the length of the lake. These all give an inclination to the north of 15° to 25°, the higher figui'e being seldom reached, and a strike of north 80° east. The quartzite layers are many feet in thickness, showing no internal structure whatever parallel to the general dip direction, but being affected everywhere by the curved and bent lamination alluded to. Between the quartzite beds occur layers of greasy quartz slate, usually but a few inches in width. Such a layer is well exposed on the side of the railroad track on the east side of the lake, the laminse dipping north 37°, or transverse to the bedding planes. The slate is quartzite, like that of the surrounding beds, but is penetrated by a soft, greasy mineral, and affected by slaty cleavage. As the cleavage planes of the slate approacli the surface of the adjoining quartzite, they curve toward and penetrate it to a short distance. Large surfaces of quartzite, which have had one of these slaty layers removed from above them, show a peculiar ridgy appearance, evidently due to the passage into them of the slaty cleavage planes.

At the summit of the east bluff, near its southern end, indications of a somewhat lower dip than elsewhere are seen, while at Devil's Nose, surfaces occur slanting as much as 29° northward. At the latter place, many cross joints obscure the bedding, nearly all of the planes, however, sloping northward. Some very large ones were noted, with as high an angle as 82°, covered with a shining, soft, greasy film. In seams and nests in the quartzite, in this vicinity, occurs a compact, but soft, clay-like substance of a lilac color, which is penetrated by fine white strings, and contains : Silica, 62.16 ; alumina, 29.67 ; iron oxide, 4.17 ; lime, 0.16 ; water, 2.50 - 99.36. This substance appears to be the same as that which pervades and gives character to the quartz schists of the region, and is closely allied to the red " pipestone," that occurs with the quartzite of Barron County, and again in southwest Minnesota.

On the summits and sides of all the cliffs about the lake and valley, two sets of very marked vertical cross-joints are to be seen, the more prominent and persistent set trending north 45° west. These joints have produced, on the upper portions of the cliffs, a striking columnar appearance, the separate columns of quartzite, twenty to forty feet in height, often standing entirely detatched by joint cracks from the main cliff. In some cases, intervening masses of quartzite have fallen, and left entirely isolated needles at a distance from the cliff face.

As in the ravine at the southwest corner of the lake, so also in many other places on the north bank of the ridge, horizontal ledges of sandstone and very coarse conglomerate occur, abutting against, and unconformably overlying, the quartzite. At the northern point of the east bluff, the contact of the two formations is beautifully exposed. Here the ends of columnar, joint-detached masses of the quartzite are surrounded and filled between by the horizontal sandstone, the whole capped with a heavy layer of a conglomerate composed of angular, subangular, and rounded masses of quartzite, embedded in a coarse, friable, sandy matrix, which is occasionally cemented by the brown oxide of iron, and is not unfrequently almost altogether excluded by the included bowlders. The quartzite of the bowlders and pebbles is the same as that of the ledges further up the bluff. Places also occur where the sand and quartzite pebbles are wedged down into the joint-cracks of the quartzite.

Eastward from the mouth of Devil's Lake Valley, in Section 29, Town 11, Range 7, the southern face of the quartzite range continues high and bold on the right hand, as far as Section 25, Town 12, Range 8, in Columbia County. On Mr. Fitzsimmon's place on Section 22, Town 11, Range 7, Sauk County, near Parphrey's Glen, and only a short distance from the south slope of the ridge, one of the highest points on the whole range of bluffs occurs, the elevation being nearly one hundred feet greater than that of the Devil's Lake bluffs. The point is in use by the United States Coast Survey, as a Signal Station. North from the Signal Station, the quartzite range has a width on top of nearly three miles. As far as Section 3, Town 11, Range 8, Columbia County, the south face of the range, except at the higher levels, where large surfaces of bare quartzite occur, is composed of sandstone, with some coarse conglomerate, which flanks the quartzite in horizontal layers. These flanking sandstones are well exposed at the mouth of the Devil's Lake gorge; in Parphrey's Glen, on the line between Sections 23 and 22, Town 11, Range 7, and again in Dorward's, or St. Mary's Glen, on the line of Sections 18 and 7, Town 11, Range 8, Columbia County. In all these places, the sandstone layers appear to possess a small dip, about 5° away from the quartzite core. At Dorward's Glen, the quartzite is to be seen at the north end of the gorge, and lying upon and against it sixty feet of horizontal sandstone and bowlder conglomerate. These are exposed on the wall of the gorge, the conf^loraerate forming the base of the cliif and the stream-bed, with a thickness seen of four feet. The^bowlders of the°conglomerate are largely irregular, angular masses, reaching up to eight inches in size, and are almost entirely without surrounding matrix. The quartzite at the head of the glen is non-granular, pinkish-gray to red, and without plain bedding. East of Section 3, Town 11, Kange 8, as far as the end of the range, the flanking sandstone appears to be wantin<», outcrops of ([uartzite in places extending from summit to base of the southern face of the ram'e. Such a place occurs on the northern side of Section 3, and southern side of Section 34, Town 12, Range 8, near Mr. Fleming's house. Here the quartzite bluff rises immediately from the north side of the Portage road, showing for the first steep ascent of 250 feet, large loose masses and rough exposures rf a metamorphic conglomerate, in which matrix and pebbles are both of (piartzite; the pebbles being very small, and in no way different from the matrix. From the top of this slope, a gradually rising wooded steep is crossed for about a third of a mile to a second nearly precipitous rise of over a hundred feet. The summit is of bare rock, and is a mere crest, others similar to it occurring east and west along the range. The bedding of the (juartzite is distinct, the strike being north 63° east, and dip 60° north.

On Sections 34, 35, 26 and 27, Town 12, Range 8, numerous other large quartzite exposures occur. On the southeast quarter of Section 27. large outcrops on the road-side show pinkish-grav opa(iue quartzite with very fine greenish-black streaks (mica ?).

The eastern end of the quartzite range is on Section 25, Town 12, Range 8, where the two ranges unite in the bold point that has been heretofore alluded to. On the north side of the j)oint, the horizontal sandstone begins again to flank the quartzite. On the northwest quarter of Section 25, the road ascending the bluff shows sandstone, with a slight slant eastward, nearly to the top. Near by, on the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 26, are large rounded exposures {roches-montonees) of quartzite, showing on the top glacial furrows and scratches, and also several large smoothed pot-holes, the largest two feet wide and one .foot deep, witli connecting furrows. Occurring where no stream could now possibly run, these pot-holes are of interest, as showing the great erosion the quartzite must have undergone since their formation.

Along the northern side of the north range and westward from the eastern extremity, the Hanking sandstone continues nearly to the county line. On the south side of Section 23, well up on the bluff, a steep ravine has laid bare the sandstone and quartzite nearly in contact. The (juartzite here is a fine metamorphic conglomerate, in which the matrix of pinkish-white quartz embraces darker-hucd pebbles one-sixteenth inch to one-quarter inch in diameter. The pebbles are very firmly attached to the matrix, and are not always well defined from it. Nests and veins of white quartz occur in this rock.

On the northeast quarter of Section 22, Township 12, Range 8, a deep ravine shows a great thickness of sandstone, with a bed of bowlder conglomerate, dipping northward, or away from the (|uartzite. Further westward, along the road from Portage to Baraboo, which follows the foot of the bluff, sandstone is seen in numerous places. On the northwest quarter of Section 21, high up on the blulT, a well goes through ten feet of sandstone and then into quartzite. It is (juite probable that the (juartzite core is in places along here entirely covered by sandstone. The core does not extend, however, beyond the southern line of Sections 10, 20 and 21, for here wells pass through over 170 feet of sandstone. After passing the county line, the north slope of the (piartzite is again free from its sandstone mask, and is to be seen in small outcrops dipping north 60°.

Oil Sections 23 and 26, Township 12, Range 7, the Baraboo River passes the north quartzite range in a gorge known as the Lower Narrows of the Baraboo. The passage is nearly half a mile in width, the level bottom extending to the foot of the cliffs on either side. The cliffs rise 400 feet above the river, and show finely the great beds of quartzite and associated strata. The gorge is much wider than needed bv the small stream that now occupies it, and may, as already suggested, have been at one time used by the Wisconsin, as the valley of Devil's Lake seeras to have been. It is unlike the latter valley, in having been in part, at least, formed first before the Potsdam period, as indicated by the way in which horizontal sandstone and conglomerate ledges occur around the heads of steep ravines that extend down the cliff toward the main gorge. It is a combination of a paced section made along the west line of Sections 23 and 26, and of another not so carefully measured, made about forty rods further west. The first follows closely the edge of the cliff, where the quartzite beds are exposed, to the southern edge of the ridge ; the other runs a little west of north from the Garrison place, in the northeast quarter of Section 27, and passes for a long distance over horizontal sandstone and conglomerate layers filling an old ravine in the quartzite.

Beginning with the north end of the section, we find, forming the north face of the range, in bold, northward-sloping ledges, quartz porphyry about 600 feet in width. This porphyry is for the most part dull red to pinkish on the weathered surface, which is a good deal altered, often iron-stained, and has generally a whitish undercrust. The least-altered specimens show a brownish-pink matrix, through which are scattered, very thickly, large facets, up to an eighth of an inch in diameter, of bright-red cleavable feldspar, and, more sparsely, minute facets of a white kind. In nearly all specimens a few small greenish-black blotches, apparently composed of fine mica scales, occur, as also small iron-stained cavities, which often show linings of minute quartz crystals. The porphyry is very distinctly bedded, showing an east-west strike, and a 'dip of 58° to 60° north. Toward its lowest portions, and higher up on the bluff, it becomes gradually more slaty in character, the feldspar facets, though very numerous, becoming at the same time less well defined, and the surface of the laminae becoming covered with a soft, greasy mineral. This finally changes to a distinct schist, about eighty feet wide, containing a large proportion of the soft mineral, and allied to the greasy quartz schists occurring at Devil's Lake, but without transverse cleavage. Continuing the ascent of the bluff southward, quartzite is seen lying immediately underneath the schist, and forming the body of the ridge to the foot of its southern slope. At first this quartzite is much veined and seamed with reticulating veins of white quartz, in which fine specular iron is occasionally to be seen. At the summit of the hill, this character is less marked, and the rock is a dark reddish-purple quartzite, with a distinct tendency to a granular texture, the individual grains being vitreous and translucent, but the rock as a whole having a dull, opaque appearance. The bedding of the quartzite is not everywhere very plain. Toward the north the layers appear to conform to the directions noticed in the overlying porphyry, but further southward the inclination is much steeper, and on the south slope, near the end of the ridge, beautifully ripple-marked vertical surfaces are seen. Interstratified with the quartzite in places are some greasy-surfaced schistose layers. At the foot of the hill, near the Garrison place, the lowest member of the series is seen in a peculiar white to strawcolored quartz schist or slate. This slate occurs in regular smooth-faced, brown-tinted layers, one-sixteenth inch to three or four inches in thickness, and has a fine granular texture, the grains being of more or less angular quartz. Surrounding the grains and pervading the mass is a fine white pulverulent matrix, which renders the rock soft, and has a highly argillaceous odor when breathed upon. Only about fifteen to twenty feet are exposed. The northward dij) is very plain, the edges of the layers in places being much bent out of the true inclination, which, as seen in the old shaft near by, is as much as 60° to 70°. The whole thickness of the metaraorphic rocks represented in this section is not far short of 5,000 feet.

A short distance westward, and a few feet above the quartz schist just described, horizontal sandstone is quarried. Further up the bluff, this is succeeded by a great thickness, probably a hundred feet, of a horizontally bedded, coarse bowlder conglomerate, the bowlders chiefly of red quartzite from the rocks near by, and the matrix usually a loose, friable sand. The conglomerate rises nearly, or quite, to the summit of the ridge.

The east bluff of the Narrows does not present so fine a section as the one just described ; the exposures are, however, very large. At the south point of the cliff, the elevation is 310 feet above the Baraboo, and the rock a very compact, red-tinged, slightly vitreous quartzite.

Near the middle of the cliff, a very steep ravine indents its face. On the south side, and around the head of the ravine, are horizontal ledges of a conglomerate of quartzite pebbles up to six inches in diameter, for the most part without matrix. What matrix is present appears in many places to be almost as much of a quartzite as the pebbles themselves, though in others it is sandy and friable. On the north side of the ravine, semi-translucent, amethystine quartzite is seen, unconcealed by conglomerate. Further northward, the steep north 70°-dip of the quartzite is very plain, the dip Surface being often laid bare for a great distance, and giving a very steep slope to the north side of the ridge. The east cliff of the Narrows does not extend so far north

West from the Narrows, for about two miles, the north face of the range trends north ot west, continuing to show all along beds of quartz porphyry. Since the strike throughout is eastwest', the existence of a very much broader belt of porphyry than shown in the Narrows section is indicated. On the south side of the southeast quarter of Section 16, the porphyry reaches its northernmost point, showing in a- bold, rocky projection. The rock hert presents a dull, brownisii appearance on a weathered surface, and is much fissured by weathering, the surfaces of the fissures showing generally a brownish iron stain. A schistose structure is apparent in places, and the bedding is plain, with an east-west strike, and dip of 55° north. A fresh fracture shows a compact, flaky matrix, of dark-brown to nearly black, sometimes grayish, color, the last being characteristic of" altered portions. The color is not quite uniform, but is mottled with fine strings and specks of whitish or pinkish color, and of indefinite outline. This matrix fuses easily to a black glass. In altered specimens it is easily scratched by the knife ; in unaltered ones* the knife makes almost no impression. Sparsely scattered through it are minute white and pink feldspar facets, and still fewer large brick-red ones. In this regard the rock is quite different from that of the Narrows section.

About one eighth to one-fourth of a mile eastward from this rocky point, in the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 21, the porphyry is seen again in a large exposure, showing the same weathered appearance and bedding structure. Specimens from this place resemble the rock last described, having somewhat more numerous feldspar fiicets, and containing - silica, 71.24; alumina, 12.20; iron peroxide, 1.71 ; iron protoxide, 5.44; lime, 0.98; magnesia, 0.13; manganese oxide, 0.97 ; potash, 1.86 ; soda, 4.29 ; water, 0.81 - 99.63. The large content of soda, as compared with potash, is noteworthy.

The ((uartz porphyries have thus been traced along the north flank of the range from the Baraboo Narrows, in Section 23, to the south side of Section 16. Judging from the bedding directions, their whole width cannot be less than three-fourths of a mile, nor their actual thickness short of 3,200 feet. They are found nowhere else in the Baraboo region. From the description and analysis given, it will be seen that these rocks have a matrix too silicious to be purely feldspathic, through which are scattered crystals of orthoclase, possibly also of a soda feldspar, the porphyritic quartz crystal generally characteristic of quartz porphyry being absent. They are evidently nearer to true quartz porphyry, however, than to the non-silicious porphyrites.

Further west again, and until we reach the Upper Narrows of the Baraboo, in the town of E.xcelsior, the (juartzite exposures along the north range are only occasional, as on the low ridge north of Baraboo, and on the northeast quarter of Section 23, Township 12, Range 6.

On Sections 28 and 29, Township 12, Range 5, in the town of Excelsior, the Baraboo River breaks southward through the north ([uartzite range in a narrow gorge, 200 feet in depth and sonit'thing more than half a mile in length, known as the Upper Narrows of the Baraboo. For most of its length the ravine is just wide enough to a^lmit of the passage of the river, railroad and a wagon-road. Here the quartzite core of the north range is finely shown, flanked on cither side, and even overtopped by the horizontal sandstone and conglomerate.

At the southern end of the section - the jaws of the Narrows - horizontal sandstone layers, alternatingly hard and (juartzitic, and soft and friable, are seen abutting against and overlying heavy beds of northward-sloping, pinkish-gray, dark-gray and purple, vitreous quartzite. The exact contact of the two formationa is finely exposed, the sandstone filling the cracks between the layers of quartzite and including large detached masses of the latter rock. A short distance northward, along the wall of the gorge, this quartzite is terminated by a steep ravine, on the north side of which comes in the veined quartzite that forms the body of the ridge. This curiously veined rock may be described as a light to dark-reddish, sometimes purple, usually somewhat vitreous quartzite, which has been shattered throughout into small, sharply angular fragments, and these cemented together again by milky-white vein quartz, the numerous cavities in which are lined with small, brilliant, and very perfect quartz crystals. The extensive Assuring to which this rock lias been subjected is indicated not only in the interlacing veins of white quartz, which often make up half the mass, but also in the frequent juxtaposition of different-looking fragments of the quartzite. Certain portions of the rock are more fissured than other neighboring portions, and then appear like wide veins into which numerous fragments of the wall rock have fallen. In some of the crystal-lined cavities, a soft white coating is noticed in the crystals. The same material is seen sometimes lying loose in the cavities, and again filling cracks in a more compact condition. According to Prof. Daniels' analysis, it contains silica, 58.15 per cent, and alumina, 45.09 per cent, the balance being water. The bedding of the veined quartzite is indistinct. It appears to stand at a high angle to the northward.