River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1925-06-18

the glaciers came down from the
north. Here and there a hill of
hard quartzite stood five hundred
to thousand feet above the valley,
like Rib Hill at Wausau--the high
est point I'M the state-but these
We're rare. Here also the glaciers
filled the valleys, and in most cases
they buried the hills as well, cover
ing the whole country with a mantle
of glacial debris that probably aver
ages between a hundred and fifty
and two hundred feet in thickness.
In the old valleys that were only
partly filled, numerous lakes and
marshes were formed. Here is
found the justly famous Lake region
of northern Wisconsin, the delight of
the fisherman, the camper and all
others who love the out-of-doors.
Lakes Fill Large Area
There are two main groups OF
lakes in northern Wisconsin, those in
the north central part of the state
and those in the northwestern part
of the state There are many hun
dreds of lakes in each group. In
few parts of the world do lakes oe-
cupy a greater portion of the total
area. The only groups at all worthy
to be compared to these are those in
Minnesota, in the Province of On
tario, and in part of Finland east Of
the Gulf of Bothnia.
Most of the lakes are small, close
to one another, irregular in outline
and connected by streams which
twist sinuous course between them.
The $50 lakes in Villas county oc-
cupy lao square miles, or over fiji
teen per cent of the area of the
county which itself is nearly as
large as the state Of Rhode Island.
These lakes are the favorite fishing
grounds of the Middle West, abound
ing in many species of game fish,
and the habitat of that "wolf of the
waters" the muskellunge.
The many marshes in the lake re-
gion, called ''muskeg" by the In
dians, offer an ideal refuge for
birds. Most of the surrounding
country is covered with a second
growth of timber and all through
this area is the favorite deer hunt
ing grounds in the fall months.
Writing in 1879, the geologist, F. H.
King, thus wrote of the lakes in this
section of Wisconsin.
Noted for Charming Lakes
"They are beautiful sheets of
water, clear, soft and deep, encircled
by bold, fantastic rims and dotted
with tree-clad island cones of such
varied beauty in the autum season,
that as one tolls in unexpectedly up
on them up the rapids of the narrow
shaded rivers, he forgets his fatigue
and revels in an exquisite garden OF
foliage plants. Sometimes a fringe
of white cedar lies upon the waters
edge; higher up wreath of white
birch, then a belt of poplar, and
Gaping the rounded hilltops, maple
and yellow birches through all of
which there is a generous setting of
rich green white and Norway pines"
III many places in this northern
country the streams uncover rock
lodges and beautiful waterfalls re-
suit. The Falls of the Black River,
south of Superior, is the highest
waterfalls in Wisconsin, a cascade
which tumbles over lodges of an
cient lava flows for drop of 100
feet. Many of the falls Of the larger
streams have been harnessed and set
to such prosaic tasks as lighting the
cities or grinding pulp wood to
spread slight" in a different way,
by means of the newspapers of the
land.
Just as Wisconsin was the meet
ing place of the early Indian tribes,
SO it became the camping ground of
settlers from all parts of the coun-
try. Hotchkiss and Cannon show in
next weeks issue of The Journal how
the state was settled and how the
early settlers made their laws and
the states constitution.