Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1888-02-16
The Pictured Rocks Of Lake
Superior.

On the southern slSre of Lake Su.
perior and some seventy miles west of
Whiteiish Point and short distance
east Of Munising arc the famous pic
tured rocks. These may be described
rs u series of sandstone bluffs, rising
in many places abruptly out of the
water 10 height varying from fifty to
TWO hundred feet Two features inn
part TO the scenery its remarkable APP
pearancc; the one. the strange style Of
the cliff excavations. worn away by the
action of tho lake. and the other the
gu te as strange way in which large
portions of the surface have been col
orcd by bands OF brilliant colors. To
the first is TO be- ascribcd the name
Giles Portails") given 10 the rocks by
the French voyageurs. and to the many
hucs which the series of bluffs hold so
boldly is 10 DO traced tho American
name of Pictured Rocks. 1t Is not
now known when this term was first
appl ed to them. The denuding effects
of the water upon these cliffs are
shown for distance of about five miles
along The shore. There is no beach,
the cliffs sing vertically out Of the
water. In visiting the rocks two
ways arc taken; by passing them in a
steamer, and in taking boat at some
of the nearest points, as Muntsing.
Tho steamers run near enough in good
weather for tourists to obtain pass
ing Wow. In going from east to west
we notice II few OF the most important
objects. The chapel is vaulted apart
mcnt in the rock. thirty or forty feet
above the lake level; an arched roof of
sandstone rests on four columns of
rock so rs TO leave an apartment about
forty feet in diameter and the
same in length; within are pull
pit and altar. West, short distance of
tho chapel. IS the Chapel river. which
falls over rocky ledge fifteen feet high
into the lake. The Grand Portal is the
most imposing feature of the series.
1t is 100 feet high by l6S broad at the
water level. and the cliff it Is cut in
rises above the arch, making the whole
height lS5 feet. The great cave, en-
tered through The portal, extends back !
in the shape of vaulted room. the
arches of the roof built of yellow lime
stone. and the sides frcttcd into fantas-
tic shapes by storm-driven waves.
About II mile west is Sail Rock, group |
of detached rocks, which bear resem-
blancc 10 the mainsa and jb of a sloop;
The height of this is about forty feet.
NJ ncr's Castle. five miles west of the |
chapel. and just west of Miners river.
is the western end of the Pictured |
Rocks. and resembles an old turreted |
castle with an arched portal;the height |
of the advanced mass in which the |
Gothic gateway may be recognized is |
seventy feet and the height of the |
main wall forming the background is
LAG feet. In regard to another part of
the Pictured Rocks. writer says:
In one place there stands II majest- |
ic profile looking towards the north-a
woman's face, tho Empress of Lakes.
1t is the pleasure of her royal highness
to visit the rock only b. night, Diana
of the New World. In the daytime
search in Va n; she will not reveal her.
self; but when the low down moon
shines across the water, behold. she APP
pears! She looks to the north. not sad |
~, not sternlr, like the Old Man of the |
White Mountains. but nign of aspect
and so beaut full in her rounded wom-
AMY curves, that the late watcher falls
into the dream of Endymion; but when
he wakes in the gray down he finds
her gone, and only shapeless rock
glistens in the rays OF the rising sum-"
-B0StoH YranScri