Box 15, Folder 6: Geological Survey 1873

Above the limestones around Waukesha there is a layer of Drift, either in its original condition as left by the old "continental glaciers" when our country had the climate of Greenland, or in a condition modified by subsequent causes.

These glaciers left their marks upon the surface of the rocks, precisely like the grooves & scratches of the glaciers of the Alps. The grooves show that the motion of the glaciers was towards the south=west, or down the valley of the river. In the beds of this drift are found pebbles & boulders of nearly all the different kinds and qualities of rocks; and we may suppose that they also by their decay and solution, aid in supplying the mineral ingredients of the Waukesha springs.

Remains of coniferous wood have been found in digging wells near Waukesha, at great depth below the surface; and the discovery of a tooth of the fossil elephant (mammoth) has shown that at one time the woods & prairies around were enlivened by that huge & uncouth animal.

5.

Next following the now long= extinct mammoth and mastodon were an ancient race of men almost as strange, and about whom as little is known. The turtle mound, (now destroyed) left by them near the site of the cout=house was one of the first of those strange animal shaped Earth-works to attract the attention of the curious. Implements of stone and copper with remains of pottery further attest the former existence of these people & give but a faint knowledge of their habits.

Accumulations of marl & peat are found under the larger marshes, which have been formed in modern times=indeed are still in the process of formation.

We have then at Waukesha as matters of geological interest 1st the Waukesha Limestone 2d The Racine Limestone, belonging to the Niagara group of Silurian age; 3d The Glacial Drift; 4th the modified Drift; 5th the age of mammoths & mastodons; & 6th the age of pre=historic man; Each a fruitful subject for study by the thoughtful; each affording opportunities for investigation and elucidation.

I.A. Lapham.

[u.d.]

Masses of rock falling from the cliffs near the top of a high mountain with steep slopes would naturally seek the lowest points in the valleys, The torrents annually flowing down these valleys would carry these rocks a considerable distance rolling & tumbling along in such manner as soon to reduce them to the rounded & smooth condition of boulders. It must be remembered that the steeper the slope the greater will be the velocity of the current & at the same time the less force will be required to move the rocks, for a body may be moved down an inclined plain with less force than on a level.

[Notes and Calculations-Scratched Out].

331.

Coal from Michigan- A specimen about 3 inches square and one inch in thickness, brought in by an Indian is intensely black, very hard, rather light, has a [slaty] apparently something of a slaty structure, and is undoubtedly a bituminous coal of the best quality. One surface is highly polished and shining through very irregular; the other is made up of those fibrous masses supposed to be impressions of the leaves &c. of the plants which gave origin to the coal.

It is almost entirely free from sulphuret of iron or other impurities and does not soil the fingers on handling. The fractured surface of the edges of the layers exhibit occasional smooth & polished places but is mostly very irregular, and with a shining lustre. There are no irridescent reflections.

Good for making illuminating gasAlso for steam engines About 3 percent of carbes Burns with much flame-approaching Cannal Coal-