The Newtown bee., 1878-10-31
WISCONSIN,.
UPPER ST. GROIN LAKE, WIs.,
 lcl ltlh laI9


 .Eda0r of THE BEE:
 some of the readers of yourpaper may ba interested in q few items from this section of thc country, it being situated outside of the direct lines of travel, and difficult of access.
 In June of the present year all appro- pr!allon was made aL Washington for an exploring survey of the head waters of the St. CrOiN River and it's tributaries to detcrMinc the practicaljility of erecting Jams VI different points, and thus create reservoirs of wafer which could be used ttl assisting navigation on the Sl. Croix and Mississippi Rivers, during the Sum ntor months, when the water is ata very low stage This being the object of the expedition, l may briefly state we left St. Paul about Aug. 18th for Saltwater via the West Wisconsin R. R. Saltwater is Il lively town, and owes It's rapld increase inWsa!th to Ec lumber trade, which ap- pears to centre at this point. Here we
 
 boats, SO conluon on the western rivers, Had ;,fts great deal of patience on our part, and perseverance on the part of tue 9tcamboatmen we reached Iuylor's l Falls; not however without getting aground dozen times, and at each place it seemed to us impossible to go ahead, but the Captain was equal to the emer- gcnry, and pulled us over the sand bars Wherethe water Was only two feet deep, by mealIS of a rope attached to a span, which is stuck in the sand in the bed of ] the river tho end of tho span farthest from the boat being held down by half a dozen men. Taylor's Falls is at the head of navigation on the St. Croix River, situ- atcd oil {; rocky bluff high above the river. IL is one of the oldest towns in northern Wisconsin, but at present but little larger than village The famous, "DalIe5" of the St. Cr0iX are only mile below this place, and the boat in reaching it passes throu+ h them-thc water is very deep apd tie passage between the perpendictl- lar rocky bluffs is extremely narrow. On the top of the bluffs hundreds of feet above the river, may be seen large circu- lar hOlas'in the rock, some of them 12 feet in dlaneter and 20 feet deep, formed by 1 ths swift current and rocks, which could not socape after once falling i'll, similar to those in the Shepaug River at Roxbury Falls. Having exhausted locomotives and steambOats, We were reduced to llm- Der wagons, and as the party numbered Is carrying two months supplies with tents and baggage, iiyeWaSons were necessary. Two days brought US to Grantsburg, ;l small village OH the bOarders of the i wilderness hers we took our lest look of ciVili. ,+tiOn for some months. From this point the wagon trail leads over des- oiato sandy barren, covered with jack pine which is useless for lumber, and very little account for camp fire. Clear run- met, and on the latter were large hocks of ducks. Five days ofslow tedious travel brought us to the Big Dam" on the St. Croix River, so named by the lumberm sn to distinguish it from smaller one which they cut away every spring to al- low the logs to escape. The dams are simply wooden cribs built with logs and filled with stones, a gate or sluiceway of logs serve when down, to retain the water and thus raise the river, and when up allaw the logs to escape. Two miles below Big Dam," and near the mouth of the Moose River a suitable place for q dam Was found, and the survey from this St Croiy, have established the fact that the water can be raised 9 feet at the pro- posed dsm and thus flood valley nearly two miles in width and 9 in length. The St. Croix River has numerous rapids i'll which the skill of an Indian comes in play, and which require him and his birch bark canoe to traverse ill safety. Me are eneamped sn the west side of Upper Lake. St. Croix, a beautiful sheet of water flve miles in length by threa-guarters iii width. an uai roken surface with the exception of small island near the south end. Over the lake floats the Bsld-headed Eagle, eyeron the alert, and on it's sur as you approach and come to the surface nearly one-fourth of a mile distant. and at night their moarnful cry disturbs your slumbers, even though they may be miles away White birch, pople. Norway and white pine, cover the banks river and lake. while the ground under the trees is thickly co1ered winter green, the red ber- ries being in the greatest profusion.
 All the lakes and rivers are well stocked with pickerol. bass and trout. Ithreu in the line ali one of the dams, and in less than twenty-five minutes had four black bass on the hook. weighing from 1 l-2 to , 1-2 los. and succeeded in landing three of them. Piekerel grow very large; one Eof our men caught one feet inches in length, and an told that they are caught weighing 90 iiJs.
 The Bios Brule River. which runs into Lake Superior and rises about one huT- dred feet from the st. Croix. has the rep utation of being the 1nest trout stream in America. 1.5e9 were caught Iy two mon in day. and in passing ever 1t hundreds of them can lse seen at q time under the canoe- Those who take pleasure in fish ing can find all the game they wish here, from the moose down to the rabbit and ipartridge- Bear and deer arc very nu- merosls. Well-beatsn 1a:hs made hy