Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1925-08-12


noticed the kettle-like formations
that extend from Lake Geneva for
nearly 100 miles north! This is
the Kettle MOraine, one OF WiscOn-
sins odd geological formations.
The story following describes
the formation OF this section. Had
it not been for the glaciers, Wis
cOnsin would not have been bleSt
with its hundreds OF beautiful
lakes.
The Glacier that visited Wisconsin
did not advance with one great even
front. It moved very slowly where it
met a high obstruction and its pro
gross was less retarded where it found
an unobstructed lowland The front
of the ice sheet was series of great
protruding lObes with re-entrants be-
tween One prOdigi0us lobe plOWed
its way along the bed of Lake Michi-
gan. Another, a smaller one, pushed
down the next great depression to the
west, the northern part Of which is
now occupied by the waters of Green
Bay and Lake WinnebagO. The third
immense lobe moved sOuthWestWard
LuIOuSn LLlG J1OQSAL VI 44StlAC NOIAE'NlA w
and on into Minnesota.
100 Miles OF "KettIes"
At the junction of the ice tongue
which pushed down Lake Michigan,
with the one which moved down
Green Bay, there was deposited
along the higher land between them
one Of the most impressive glacier
built range of hills on the continent
the great Kettle MOraine. This ex-
tends from close to the southern
boundary of the state, near Lake
Geneva, for a hundred miles north
ward. 1t is a broad belt of most if
regularly deposited material-humps
and hollows, boulder strewn slopes
and serpentine ridges, small lakes
and marshes, and here and there a
stream twisting back and forth in an
apparently hopeless attempt to find
it's way out of the maze.
No road can follow straight course
in this Kettle Moraine, and no travel
er can predict the prospect that will
be disclosed by the turn in the roads
a hundred yards ahead. 1t may turn
abruptly about a "kettle" full of wa
ter-a lakelet too small to make even
a dot on the map or it may disclose
a hillside pasture with herd of
Guernseys or Holsteins. A few hun
dred yards farther it may enter sun
ny open wooded area, and wind
through it on ever changing levels
for a mile or two.
Kettle Moraine is not range of hills
that stand up in marked elevation
about the surrounding area. The ele-
vations are all moderate. Hills with a
vertical distance much more than a
hundred feet from base to summit are
uncommon. Much of the material used
by the glaciers to build up these hills
is gravel. Again the comparison of the
ice sheet to a great milestone comes to
US In the grinding process the softer
materials of the rocks were ground fin
est and only the harder and better
stone was left as pebbles and bOWld-
ers. Thus this prehistoric milestone
was working for the Wisconsin of to-
day and piling up great stores of grav-
Ell of selected quality-ready prepared
building material, which is now used
in great quantities in building roads and
concrete structures.
Work of Master Sculptor.
1t was a mastery task that the glac-
l6T Accomplished. II 10 ulIIICulL W p1C-
ture to oneself when driving over this
broad, gently rolling area dotted with
farm homes and villages, that here
once was a preglacial valley, now
buried to depth of 500 or 600 feet, or
that a mile away the old rock wall in
the valley comes to within fifty feet of
the present surface. The glacier did
not always complete its work. Some
of the old valleys it only partially fill
ed, depositing a little material at one
spot and piling it high at another.
Some master of design must have
guided this erratic workmanship since
it resulted in the most attractive feat
ures of the landscape-the thousands
of lakes that dot the whole glaciated
portion of the state. The low places
in the old valleys filled with water and
the higher glacial deposits were the
dams which held it back.
The charm of the famed Four Lake
district about the state capitol owes
its existence to this work of the ice
sheet-to four of these great glacier
built dams that crossed the old valley
above which were formed the beautiful
lakes with the Indian names, Mendoza,
Monona, Kegonsa, and Waubesa. These
dams vary in width up to three miles
and rise to heights of about 200 feet
above the old valley bottom