Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1921-02-16
Nelson BLY,, when I was a child.


Public reservation parks are being
surveyed and adopted as treasured re-
sorts. The drifters area, is in its en-.
tirety, a park sacredly sublime in its
expressive everla sting hills and eroded
bluffs and valleys.
There is a practical side to this
section of the state for in the depths
of the mounds and underneath the
cliffs lie rich beds of lead and zins
ores. In 100 LIE Seur assembled the
Mississippi river from New Orleans,
to st. Peters river (now Minn.) in
quest of ores. Philip Blanche published
map in 1852 locating the lead re.
gion Of the upper Miss. river. Mr.
Guettard mentions theses mines in the
Historic lie Academic Royale des
Sciences 1852 on pages 1920 stat
ing they are exceedingly rich. In 1888
the first mining was done by native
of Canada named Julian Dubuque. He
obtained a grant of land from the Sac
and Fox Indians. This grant was
seven leagues on the West bank OF
the Mississippi river from the mouth
of the Little Maquoketa to the Tetes
des Morris and three leagues deep. 1t
includes most of the productive crew.
ces. 1t is said that the wife of Peosa
Fox discovered lead here in It'll.
The lead and zinc region of the
upper Mississippi, extends a distance
east and west for So miles and north
and south for fifty miles. Deposits OF
sand, clay, pebbles, and boulders are
found all around the drifters area
but there are no glacial deposits of
any kind throughout the region it.
self. The most conspicuous features
are the outliers or mounds, some of
which rise to a height of 500 feet and
most of which are capped by Niagara
limestone. They are the result of the
denuding agencies that have been at
work since the land surface was
elevated above the sea.
Sheriff. mound, 600 feet, and Table
Mound, 472 feet, in Dubuque County
are we'll known examples of these
outliers. Sinsinawa Mound, Wisconsin,
and at which a Convent school has
been located is another notable ex-
ample.
The strata has a dip to the South
west, so that the series are success
lively met with, the Trenton limestone
being only few feet above the level
of the river The underlying st. Peters
sandstone is exposed few feet above
water level at Gutenberg. st. Croix
or Cambrian sandstone lies next lower
800 feet of it being exposed at Lam
sing. Then the Oneonta limestone.
The two latter alternate in beds
from rs feet to 81 feet in
thickness. ebert and inso1uble quartz
are found in small quantities. In some
places the Oneonta is fine grained
and of light cream, or almost white
color
Lead and zinc are associated ores |
There is but one mine, the Lansing,
IN Allamakee county. The ore lies
between sheets Of clay in rock cervi-
'es that extend in a northerly and |
outherly direction. These ores likel
ound their source in the primitive
rocks which formed the
lorthern land mass. The materials
we're washed into the Silurian sea, the
waters thus charged with metallic
alt deposited them along with the
The world is a labratory
itself. No doubt the organic life
this time aided in the precipitation
the metals. Sulphurated gases rose
rom the death and decay of the null
tudes of brachiopods, mollusks, etc.
hus metallis sulphides and sediments
ere deposited together.
The cavaties and crevices were
'rmed by contraction by movements
the earth's crust producing fold
lg, crumpling and undulating strata.
is belived that the Iowa ores were
'rmed by surface waters teaching the
mestone and depositing it in the
revices and assures. The Galena ore
in the form Of cubes and is pure.
he lead and zinc mines can produce
ON eight to ten thousand tons an
ually.
Winnishiek county furnishes large
lantities of road and concrete ma
trials. Beds and banks of sand and
ravel are formed in the valleys of
le Oneonta and upper Iowa rivers.
The test holes sunk by the Upper
WA Power Company expose strata
| the following order. black dirt,
10 feet, gravel 1-6 feet, sand clean
nd fresh in streaks and pockets Z
,et, clay in streaks, boulders and
ravel mixed, and bed rock. These
aterials form a terrace thirty feet
depth. Six feet Of gravel are found
ear Freeport. 1t is overlaid by finer
md which contains some coarser
aterial and pebbles.
Ft. Atkinson is built upon a bench
coarse rusty Buchanan gravels.
In Canoe Township there is large
eposit of red sand which is weather.
and partly indurated. The bank at
pillville contains one foot of fine
andy, gray soil, one foot of soil with
parse red sand, and one foot Of hard
xidized gravel that breaks with diff
Guilty. There is also one foot of fine
ellowish, incoherent sand, one and
half feet of hard red gravel with
ome layers of fine sand and three
let Of gravel and sand in alternating
Iyers and coarse material both local
nd foreign.
There are several gravel beds in
ackson and Washington Townships,
ne of which is two hundred yards
extent and six feet in depth. The