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tle, which were thrown into heaps and covered with earth. They are now grown over with grass, and present much the same appearance as the ancient mounds so profusely scattered through the West. Should this story prove true, it may be important, as showing the origin of the ancient mounds. These mounds are near the mouth of Wolf river, or about the head of the Great Butte des Morts lake.

RUSH LAKE is situated near the southwest corner of the county (in township seventeen, range fourteen), is five miles long, and about two wide. The southern extremity of the lake crosses the county line of Fond du Lac county. There are no lakes in this county besides those above described.

MARQUETTE COUNTY,

So named in honor of Father Joseph Marquetta, who first explored this part of the country, is bounded on the north by the Neenah river; on the east by Winnebago and Fond du Lac counties, or the east line of range thirteen; on the south by Dodge and Portage counties, or the south line of township fourteen; and on the west by the Neenah river. Its length from east to west is twenty-nine and a half miles, and its average breadth is thirteen and one-sixth miles, showing an area or superficial extent of three hundred and eighty-eight square miles or sections. This county was set off from Brown in 1836, and organized as a separate county in 1844. The population in 1840 was eighteen, and in 1842 was only fifty-nine; but it is now estimated at six hundred. For all judicial purposes it is attached to Fond du Lac county.

In 1840 there were in Marquette county 5 horses, 45 neat cattle, and 20 swine; 100 bushels of oats, 100 of buckwheat, 320 of potatoes, and 20 tons of hay, were the products of the preceding year.

There is a post-office in this county, at Green Lake. There are three lakes of considerable size in this county,

and six of less importance. The principal are

BUFFALO LAKE, an expansion of the Neenah river, at the northwest angle of the county, commencing nineteen miles below the portage, and extending eleven and onefourth miles. It is narrow, and the water is shallow, being mostly filled with wild rice.

PUCKAWA LAKE is another expansion of the Neenah river, about seven miles long and two broad, and about forty miles, by the course of the river, below the portage. The village of Marquetta is laid out on the south side of this lake; and a Company has been incorporated to construct a canal from this place to Dekorra, on the Wisconsin river, thus avoiding the portage and much circuitous navigation along the Neenah river.

GREEN LAKE lies immediately east of Puckawa; eight miles long by two broad; its waters deep and very clear. The bottom is covered with white pebbles; and wild rice or other vegetation does not grow upon it, as upon most of the lakes about this portion of Wisconsin.

Little Green LAKE lies four miles south of Green lake, one and a half miles long by a mile wide, with a circumference of about seven miles. The water is said to be very deep. "In the middle," says a correspondent of the Green Bay Republican, " it has been sounded to the depth of more than forty feet, and no bottom found: in many places, at a distance of twenty yards from the shore, the water is from eight to twelve feet in depth, and remarkably pure. There is no visible inlet, and but one outlet, which is so inconsiderable that it is in fact only a mere drain. The scenery around is picturesque and beautiful beyond description. On the north side, for more than a mile in extent, the shore is composed of a beautiful white sandstone, rising in some instances perpendicularly to the height of probably seventyfive or eighty feet. This stone possesses all the properties of the best grindstones brought into this Territory; and although some of it can be very readily broken with the hand, yet I struck some parts of the ledge as I passed under

it with a heavy spear, and I am of opinion that it is firm enough for the best of either grind or scythe stones."

This county is bounded on the west and north by the Neenah, and the only stream besides this, of any impor tance, is one whose Indian name is

KEESHAYNIC RIVER. It rises in the west part of Fond du Lac county, and running west through the middle of Marquette county, enters the Neenah about a mile above Lake Puckawa. It is about thirty miles in length, and a short distance above the mouth expands into a long narrow lake.

RICHLAND COUNTY

Was established in 1842, on the north side of the Wisconsin river, to embrace two ranges on each side of the fourth principal meridian, and extending to the north line of township twelve. It lies between the counties of Sauk on the east, and Crawford on the west; is twenty-four miles wide, from east to west, and twenty-four and one-fourth miles average length; containing, therefore, five hundred and eighty-two square miles. This county is not yet organized, but is attached to Iowa.

The topography of this county is quite similar to that of the counties south of the Wisconsin; the surface consisting of a series of dividing ridges running between the principal streams, which send out lateral branch ridges, that form bluff banks along the rivers. They are composed chiefly of sandstone.

The population of this county is not supposed to exceed one hundred, and the propriety of its establishment may well be doubted.

There are three streams running through this county, from north to south, of which PINE RIVER is the principal. This stream is navigable for canoes, and is about thirty yards wide at its junction with the Wisconsin. Six miles

above the mouth, it receives a considerable tributary from the West. There is a cascade about twenty miles above the Wisconsin, where the rocks are said to be united over the water, forming a natural bridge.

The WISCONSIN RIVER is one of the most important in the Territory, especially the lower portion, between the portage and the Mississippi, a distance of one hundred and fourteen miles, by the course of the river. At the portage, it is four hundred yards wide, and it gradually increases in width to the mouth, where it is six hundred yards wide. In Richland county, it has a width of about four hundred and fifty yards. This portion of the river is bordered by high sandstone bluffs, from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet in height-constituting a scenery of great beauty and even grandeur. The water is shallow, and there are numerous islands and shifting sand bars. The current is usually quite rapid. Hence the navigation of the Wisconsin is rather difficult and uncertain; but steamboats, such as usually run on the Upper Mississippi, have ascended to the portage. When the channel is better known to the pilots, it may, however, be navigated in ordinary stages of the water, without much difficulty.

The distances along the river, from the portage, are as follows:

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SAUK COUNTY

Lies on the north side of the Wisconsin, between Richland and Portage counties, being bounded as follows: beginning on the Wisconsin, on the west line of range three east, and running thence north to the north line of township twelve; thence west six miles; thence north six miles; thence east to the middle of the Wisconsin river; thence down the middle of said river, until it intersects the range line between ranges seven and eight; thence south to the middle of the Wisconsin; thence down that stream to the beginning. It is thirty miles long from east to west, with an average breadth of about twenty-eight miles, and an area of about eight hundred and seventy-six square miles. Sauk county was set off from Crawford, in 1839, and was to be organized as a separate county in 1844. Its population, in 1840, was one hundred and two; in 1842 it was three hundred, and it is now estimated at eleven hundred.

The principal settlement in this county is on the river, at a place called "Prairie du Sac," twenty-five miles northwest from Madison. The prairie is about eight miles wide, and extends eighteen miles along the Wisconsin. Its name is given in allusion to its form, being that of a "sack," or bag, and not from Sauk, the tribe of Indians. The Naumatonan, or Honey creek, enters the Wisconsin a short distance below, upon which mills have been erected. On the Baraboo river, a branch of the Wisconsin, that enters a short distance below the portage, a settlement has been commenced. The remainder of the county is usually represented as very rough and broken, and, to some extent, unfit for cultivation and improvement.

In 1840, one year after the first settlement of this county, it contained 30 horses, 148 neat cattle, and 82 swine; and the produce of 1839 was 464 bushels of wheat, 1,795 of oats, 1,235 of potatoes, and 264 tons of hay. There was

one store.

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