Notes on the geology of the Winnipeg District, Manitoba
Authors: M’Charles A. 
Published: December 2013

I.
Section of Drift at Winnipeg.

1. 2 to 3 feet of very sticky clay. 2. 15 to 40 feet of dark gray clay with chiefly gneissoid boulders. 3. 1 to 3 feet of light drab clay with small stones. 4. 2 to 10 feet of hard pan. 5. 5 to 15 feet of boulders, gravel, and sand. 6. 2 to 4 feet of angular fragments of limestone similar to the bed rock. Average depth of whole, 65 feet.

II.
Rock Outcrops.

1. Stonewall, 18 miles north-west of Winnipeg. Best studied at Major Bowle’s quarry near the station of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The rock when bared shows glacial striæ indicating a south-east direction. At Lake of the Woods, 100 miles east, the striæ are south-west as over the greater part of the continent. The rock is limestone, and is used for building railway bridges. Dips south. Fossils are poor; but got
Palæophycus obscurus
and
Receptaculites occidentalis.
Believed to be of ‶Niagara″ age.

2. Stony Mountain, 12 miles north-west of Winnipeg. Best studied at Macalister’s quarry. Upper bed (‶Niagara″) 40 feet thick, dipping to the east. Striæ south-east. Fossils—
Columnaria alveolata, Endoceras annulatum, Orthoceras, Zaphrentis, Beatricea.
The last (
Beatricea
) now for the first time obtained in the north-west. In making a well for the Manitoba Penitentiary, below the upper bed (40 feet), 10 feet of yellow clay, gravel, and shale were proved, and beneath that another bed of limestone, full of fossils, and believed to be of ‶Hudson River″ age. I got twenty-three species from the lower bed—viz.,
Chætetes lycoperdon, C. rugosa, Retepora incepta, Columnaria alveolata, Streptelasma corniculina, Schizocrinus nodosus, Zaphrentis, Murchisonia bellicincta, Pleurotomaria ambigua, P. umbilicata, P. subconica, P. Laurentina, P. elora, Rhynchonella capax, Rh. fringilla, Orthis testudinaria, O. subquadrata, O. occidentalis, Strophomena alternata, St. nitens, Orthoceras annulatum, O. reticameratum, O. multicameratum.

3. Lower Fort Garry, 18 miles north-east of Winnipeg. On the banks of the river, on the way to Selkirk, a few feet from the surface, I found beds of glacial shells containing
Natica clausa
and
Astarte borealis.
At Lower Fort Garry there are several good exposures of rock on the west bank, and a quarry has been opened there. Fossils are abundant, corals being particularly fine. One cephalopod was 27 inches long. It is certainly a good locality for the fossil collector. List of fossils:—
Receptaculites occidentalis, Stromatopora rugosa, S. undulata, S. mammillata, Halysites catenularius, Columnaria alveolata, Syringopora, Columnopora cribriformis, Zaphrentis
(four species),
Endoceras longissimum, E. annulatum, Orthoceras tenuiseptum, O. Lamarcki, Ormoceras tenuifilum, Maclurea matutina, Murchisonia simulatrix, Ceraurus vigilans, Calymene niagaraensis, Strophomena alternata, Rhynchonella plena, Orthis laurentina, Spirifera sp.

4. Selkirk East, 21 miles north-east of Winnipeg. Bannatyne’s quarry. Beds dip 30° west. Used for fine stone work, and takes a good polish. Very rich in fossils. I collected forty-seven species there. One cephalopod was 5 feet in length. A large
Maclurea,
10½ inches in diameter; also a
Lituites undatus
(or new sp.), 10 inches in diameter. A trilobile, 5½ inches long by 2¾ inches broad. The leading species belong chiefly to the ‶Trenton.″ Found no graptolites nor
Lingula,
but I have reason to believe that I got a larger number of species and finer specimens than any other private collector in the same field. List of species:—
Receptaculites occidentalis, Stromatopora concentrica, S. undulata, S. mammillata, S. sp., Halysites catenularius, Columnaria alveolata, Columnopora cribriformis, Syringopora sp., Lyriocrinus dactylus, Zaphrentis
(four sp.),
Cyrtoceras huronense, Phragmoceras hector, Ormoceras tenuifilum, Endoceras subcentrale, E. longissimum, E. magniventrum, E. sp., Orthoceras tenuiseptum, O. Becki, O. sp., Lituites undatus, Maclurea matutina, M. acuminata, M. oceana, M. magna, Pleurotonaria umbilicata, P. numeria, Murchisonia bellicincta, M. subfusiformis, Ceraurus pleurexanthenius, C. Pompilius, C. vigilans, Lichas Jukesii, Illœnus crassicauda, Isotilus gigas, Amphion Westoni, Remopleurides affinis, Strophomena alternata, Rhynchonella capax, R. plena, Orthis laurentina, O. subquadrata, O. testudinaria.

III.
Saskatchewan Coal.

Has proved to be of much better quality than was expected. It contains 60 to 70 per cent. of fixed carbon. Kindles readily, sends out intense heat, and leaves no clinkers. Four years ago I paid as high as £4, 10s. a ton for imported anthracite, but bought native coal last fall at £1, 10s. per ton, and the economic difference between them is only about 30 per cent. An export trade has already begun with Dakota and North Minnesota in spite of the high duty imposed by the American Government, as neither of these states has any workable coal beds of its own.