Mineral Point tribune. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1854-1858, 1854-03-30
VOL. VINO. 90.
From the Report OF Prof Daniels |
LEAD LEGION OF WISCONSIN.

Acy pcfoh5 10 an elephant ana mas
todon. They are in a very fair state
at preservation, and Will be more fully
! described hereafter Two discoveries
of this character have been made at
/ Potosi. OF one | could obtain only
| verbal account, as the specimens had all
/ been destroyed or carried away In the
/ other case succeeded, through the kind
ness of Mr.. Hull, upon whose ground the
/ bones were discovered, in obtaining few
small pieces. Among these was frag-
ment of a tooth, which proved the owner
of the huge bones to have been au ele-
! rhaIit, The bones were so far decaycd
that they crumbled to dust as soon as the
+ dirt was removed from them; otherwise
the entire skeleton of TIE elephant might
nave been secured may remark in this
! connections tlat I have received FROM
LUTHER lGIsH, Esq of SeXtonville, Rich
/ land county, very tne elephants tooth
/ found at that place under similar circum-
+ stances. These discoveries are repletc
with interest, furnishing data from
winch the past history of our State, at Pc
RODS immensely remote. may be construc-
/ ted, They prove beyond question, that
/ the elephant and mastodon once roamed
over its hills and valleys; and that these
gigantic quadrupeGs found favorite places
OF resort upon the very sites Of our now
/ populous towns. 1t was long long ago;
for the lakes and rivers from which they
drank are now dry; and the forests amid
which they wandered aud upon whose
7 luxurious vegetation their colossal forms
were fed, have disappeared forever
The origin Of this surface clay seems TO
have been IN great measure owing to the
decomposition of the rocks, which once
occupied its place. This is proved from
the frequent occurrence in it of flints and
lead ore, which have survived the waste
of the rocks in which they were once i'm.
bedded The peculiar character of the
ciays in the western part Of the district,
however, together with the fossils which
they contain, Indicate that Il large fresh
water lake must ha e once existed there.
y remarkable fact in the superficial de-
posts of this region is the entire absence
of the drift so abundantly represented
over the northwest generally, by bould-
ers, gravel, sands, end clay SO far as
my observation extends. not a single bould-
er or gravel stone can be found over the
whole district The surface material
bears no evidence of distant origin, and
unless some of the clays shall be proven
diiuvlal we have here no traces Of trans
ported drift. Whatever then may have
been the agency which dispersed the huge
masses OF rock, fragments of native cop
per, beds of sand and gravel, so lavishly
over the surrounding country, we know,
that by some popularity of position the
lead region was above its reach Widely
removed as this circumstance may seem
from practical matters, it has nevertheless
most important bearing upon the eco
nomlcal value of the district to which it
relates. For had it been otherwise the
whole surface would have been covered
with loose deposits, often of great thick
ness. burying all Indications of the pres
/ ence of lead veins, rendering discovery
/ exceedingly doubtful, and profitable min
! ing practical impossibility The pre-
else boundary of the district thus desti-
tute of drift. is not yet asccrtained.
| NUMBER .
Next in the order of geological position,
are the beds Of limestone forming tue
/ highest points of tie surface, Gaping the
mounds and table-lands These have been
called tho ''coralinc beds Of the cliff lime
stone" by Mr. OWEN. on account Of the
great abundance of fossil corals which
they contain. The greatest thickness Of
this rock IS about 400 feet Its strata
vary much IN thickness, but arc usually
thin. Its color is light gray. texture
crystalline, and occasional layers Of flint
are disseminated through it, aggregated
into nodules. 1t has been quarried at
SinSinewa and Platte Mounds, and fur
nishes an excellent building material
The fossils are very abundant and we'll
preserved, and usually silic;ous. The
most common forms are the beautiful
cham coral, (catcltPoral J the 3]c7tanserus
o5foHSuS, popularity known as a .'pctrifed
nut; ;" and the fossil coral, known as pet
rlGed honey coub " This formation is
now represented here by few outla yers,
Gaping the mounds, and extending a thin
skirt over the surrounding tab!c-lauds
This slight horizontal development. as
compared with its great thickness, has un-
doubtedly been caused by the wearing
away of these beds from large portion
Of the surface which they once occupied.
The amount Of erosion that the surface
Of the district has suffered, is immense,
and may be seen by reference to section
No ? Reference Is here made to map
accompanying the Report Here the
dotted lines, extending from tie top of
the Blue Mound to Sinsinewa, Indicate
the extent Of this formation before it had
been acted upon BY the agencies of waste
The whole space between these mounds,
and below this line, has been worn away
BY the action Of atmospheric agents and
running water The mounds are merely
remnants or outlayers. Their existence
may be assigned to two causes First,
greater hardness Of texture than the sur
rounding rocks, enabling them longer to
resist The destructive action OF the ele-
ments; Second, an original elevation
above the general level, making them the
centers of drainage from which all the
streams radiate This would relieve them,
in some measure. from the erosion of run
ming water. By which the adjacent levels,
less fayorably located in this particular,
would be worn away around them. The
l..