The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1875-03-18
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TAE PROPOSED RESERVOIRS FOR
b. REGULATING THE WATER
OF THE RIVER.

REGULATING THE WATER
OF THE RIVER.
SURVEYS AND ESTIMATES FOR THE
PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS.
We take the following Interesting
extractssfrom the preliminary report
Of Major F. N. Farquhar to the Sec,
rotary of War relative to the coustruc.
ton Of reservoirs opsthe headwster<
of the Mississippi Rt-Ef, Nr 'the lpur.
pose Of regulating the depth Of water
in the river during dry seasons. By
the plan proposed, q depth Of water
can b. maintained at all times; suffi-
cient for purposes Of navigation from
the source to the mouth"of the river:
a This examination was made by a
party under the charge of Assistant
J.bD. Skinner, who, Notwithstanding
the shortness Of tie season and the
great difficulties Of the ground, by his
Intelligent working and energy, was
enabled to gather all the necessary
data called for by Congress, and
leaves no doubt that large reservoirs
may be constructed which will retain
the waters which prove often disas-
trous during freshets, and will furnish
water at times when usually there is
too little for navigation it is to be re-
GREETED that no observations have been
carried on to determine actually the
annual rainfall in the region above,
and discharge Of the river at, Pokega-
ma Fahs. The nearest post at which
any continuous records Of rain and
snow fall have been kept is Fort Rip
ley. 1t is believed, however, that the
rainfall above Pokegama Falls is in
excess of that taken ~ the basis for
the computations.
HEAD-wATERs OF THE MISSISSIPPI
RIVER.
The Mississippi has its sources near
Lake '1taska in BeItramfi county,
Minnesota.
From thence it flows northerly, and
commences = great bend until it en-
ters Cas- Lake from the northwest,
1876 miles from Lake Itascs;a in which
distanceit falls 173 feet
The river runs through many small
lakes, and its banks are generally
wooded. Cass Lake is an irregular
sheet Of water, l 1913 feet above the
sea, and has an area of 31.6 square
miles. The banks are from ten to
twenty feet high. From Cass Lake
to Winnibigoshish Lake the distance
is about twenty miles, and the river
falls ten feet. Lake Winnibigsshish
is a round sheet of water, surrounded
generally by high banks covered with
timber. 1t has a surface area OF
seventy-eight and one.half square
miles. Just below its outlet the river
flows between high banks only 1000
feet apart-a very favorable location
for q dam. About two miles below
Winnibigoshish Lake the river
widens out into Little Winnibigeshish
Lake, which is about one and one
half miles long and three fourths Of a
mile broad. From Little Winnibi-
goshish to the junction with the Leech
Lake River, the river fows through
a broad savanna from 1000 to
5000 feet wide, and is very torturous.'
There are no distractions to naviga-
ton, except four miles below the out
let of Little Winnibigoshish, where
there are a few powders in the river
between Winnibigoshish and Pokega-
ma Falls. There is fall 11.2 feet
from the lake to the junction of
Leech Lake River, distance by
river of twenty-five miles. From the
junction to Pokegama Falls, dis
lance Of forty-five miles, the river
falls only thirteen and two-thirds
feet, and flows through high reeds and
rice fields in most tortuous way. At
White Oak Point the banks of the
river separate to a width of more
than two, miles, and the space not
filed by the current Of the river is a
vast reed field. Leech Lake is an ir-
regular sheet Of water with a surface
area of 1875 square miles. It lies Just
south Of S;Cass and Winnibigoshish
Lakes, aud is separated f from then. by
. ridge 80 feet high. Its outlet is the
Leech Lake River, which connect" it
with the Mississippi.
SITES FOR REsERvo1Rs.
In considering the sites for reser.
voirs, IwiA commences at Pokepama
Falls and consider the several availa.
bic ones in their. order, proceeding
up stream.
1. Pokegama Fall..-The height to
which dam may be built at Rokegas
ma Falls l. regulated BY that the
water shed between its tributaries and
the Mississippi below it. On Z exam e,al n.
lining the general map Of the country;
it will be seen that the lownessof the
dividing ridge atothe southcast end 81
Pokegama4 Lake i will prevent T. any
high dam from being built at Pokeg:
anna Falls.
A dam raising the water at Pokeg-
ANA Falls 7 feet would flow back:
water over an area of 1851 square ia Re
miles, with an average depth of 5.81