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•^^^^m^immmfmm 
 
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 OW THl 
 
 SUPERFICIAL DEPOSITS AND GLACIATION OP THE 
 PISTBICT DT THE VICINITY OF THE BOW , 
 AND BELLY RTYEKS. 
 
 By GEORGE M. DAWSON, D.S., F.G.S., F.R.S.G 
 
7?iS4i3K'3CKai-^ " 
 
 .?.ti%>:f^??;'- 
 
// 
 
 ON THE 
 
 ISUPEEFICIAL DEPOSITS AND GLACIATION OF THE DIS- 
 TRICT IN THE VICINITY OF THE BOW AND 
 BELLY RIVERS. 
 
 By GEORGE M. DAWSON, D.S., F.G.S., F.R.S.C. 
 
 (Reprmkd from (he Report of Progress, Geological Survcrj of Canada, 1882-84.) 
 
 The superficial deposits, those materials which, resting indiffer- 
 ently on the worn beds ot the Cretaceous and Laramie, form the 
 actual surface of the district now undei' description, are so largely 
 those of the glacial age that to describe them is practically to outline 
 the history of that very interesting period. In general the older rocks 
 are deeply mantled with these deposits, and it is seldom, except in the 
 neighbourhood of the mountains, that these appear, save in the deep Influence of 
 «l liver-valleys. The superficial deposits have, in fact, not only grea*^^ly 
 modified the apj)eapance of the county as a whole, but have given 
 character to, and impressed a general uniformity on, the nature of its 
 soil. 
 
 The general characters of the several deposits of the glacial period 
 are, however, so similar, that it will not be necessary to enter in great 
 detail into the description of localities. One of the most striking 
 features, indeed, of the glacial deposits of the North-we?t is their 
 extraordinary persistence and similarity of character over immense 
 areas. Compared to their vast extent their thickness is almost infinit- 
 isimal, yet they everywhere characterize the surface in uninterrupted 
 continuity for hundreds of miles. 
 
 As a part of the discussion of the superficial deposits of the plains as Previous notea 
 a whole, in connection with the Boundary Commission exploration, i <>" ^''^o'a'tJon' 
 
 {Page in original report, 139 o) 
 
Pre-irBicial 
 
 condition of 
 the country. 
 
 Old and new 
 river cb mnols. 
 
 General thick- 
 ness of drift. 
 
 Table of 
 deposits. 
 
 Quartzit^i 
 8nin«r!a belcw 
 boulder-clay. 
 
 2 NORTH-WEST TERRITORY. 
 
 have already given such facts as came under observation in the 
 immediate vicinity of the 49th parallel, and while the greater know- 
 ledge of the distinct now obtained enables much to be tdded to these 
 desci'iptions, it does not alter them in their main features.* 
 
 The pre-glacial aspect of the county has been much rougher and 
 more diversified than that which it at present presents. It must have 
 been for a very long time in the later Tertiary periods subjected to 
 denudation, and deeply marked by rain and rivers. The glaciating 
 agents have doubtless planed off many of these irregularities, and the 
 surface has besides been deeply buried in its deposits, to which the gen- 
 eral name of drift has been applied in the preceding parts of this report. 
 These have been laid down in greatest thickness in the pre-existing 
 hollows and low tracts, and the general effect has been a filling up of 
 the asperities, and the production of wide aveas of almost perfectly 
 level prairie. That this has been the case is evidenced by the fact that 
 while some of the higher plateaus and ridges are but scantily covered 
 with drift, the thickness shown in many of the river sections is over 
 two hundred feet. 
 
 Whatever the courses of the pi-e-glacial rivers (and there is no evi- 
 dence that they departed widely from the present Avest-to-eaat system 
 of drainage) the new streams which began to form channels for them- 
 selves when the glacial conditions had passed away, certainly did not 
 follow the old beds. Thia is shown by the fact that while in some 
 cases almost the entire height of the scarped banks along the streams 
 is formed of Cretaceous and Laramie rocks, in others these banks are 
 altogether composed of drift deposits, the base of which lies even 
 lower than the present river-bed. 
 
 As a rough estimate of the importance of the drift deposits in the 
 district, it may be stated that in the region east of the Porcupine 
 Hills, they probably average at least one hundred feet in thickness. 
 
 The following is a list, in descending order, of the supei'ficial deposits 
 developed in the region under discussion : — 
 
 Stratified sands, gravels and silts. 
 
 Upper boulder-clay. 
 
 Interglacial deposit with peat. 
 
 Lower boulder-clay. 
 
 Quartzite shingle and associated beds. 
 
 Besting immediately on the surface of the Cretaceous and Laramie, 
 in a number of widely separated localities, is a deposit of well rolled 
 pebbles or shingle, consisting for the most part of hard quartzites, and 
 
 * See Quart* Joum. Geol. Soo., Nov., li^75, and Geology and Resources of the 49th Parallel. 
 1875. 
 
 (140 C) 
 
 L 
 
 v^' 
 
DAWSON.] SUPERFICIAL DEPOSITS. 3 
 
 derived entirely from the PaliDozoic rocks of the Eocky Mountains.* 
 Limestone is occasionally found in this bed near the mountains, but the 
 shingle as a whole has evidently been subjected to such prolonged wear 
 while on its eastward course, that this and other soft materials have 
 been altogether ground down before attaining any very great distance 
 f''om the place of origin. The pebbles are seldom more than a few 
 inches in diameter, and are often very uniform in size, forming a 
 closely packed bed, in which the stones are arranged with their longer 
 axes parallel to the plane of deposit. 
 
 This quartzite shingle bed has been observed on the Old Man Eiver Distribution of 
 below Fort MacLeod, in several places. It is entirely wanting on theshitiKie. 
 upper part of the St. Mary Eiver, appearing for the fii'st time at a 
 point six miles from its mouth. It may be seen on the Belly, on the 
 right side of the valley near the trail-crossing at Coal Banks, and in 
 several other places on its lower course, as at Big Island bend, the 
 north-west angle of Drift-wood bend, and in the north bank opposite 
 Wolf Island. At the last-mentioned locality it is associated with 
 stratified sand and clay beds, a circumstance not elsewhere observed. 
 
 The section here is as follows, in descending order : — 
 
 FHEIT. 
 
 1. Pale yellowish-grey, more or less perfectly stratified W^lfTs^^nd 
 
 boulder-clay, about 100 
 
 2. Purplish, finely-bedded sandy clay, with thin layers of 
 
 ironstone and a lignite bed eighteen inches thick. A few 
 Laurentian pebbles near the base 8 
 
 3. Unstratified boulder-clay, holding stones up to 2' 6'' 
 
 diameter 15 
 
 4. Stratified yellowisli and brownish-yellow sands, with a 
 
 few stone^^ some of which are Laurentian 15 
 
 5. Fine pale purplish-grey clay 4 
 
 6. Stratified yellowish sands 6 
 
 7. Quartzite shingle deposit, without Laurentian fragments, 
 
 becoming clayey and full of derived fragments from, 
 underlying rocks at base (about) 15 
 
 8. Cretaceous shales and sandstones with eroded surface (to 
 
 water) 10 
 
 173 
 On the section formed by the Bow Eiver, the quartzite shingle is ^"ingie wi Bow 
 seen in a number of places. It was first recognised at a point a few ^"^g ^^ "^ ^®®' 
 miles above Highwood Eiver, where it has a thickness of fifteen feet, 
 
 * There is no admixture of Laurentian or Huronian material, to which an eastern or north- 
 eastern origin would have to be assigned. It is possible that a portion of the quartzites and 
 associated rocljs may have been oriRinally derived from portions of the Rocky Mountains range 
 far to the north, but in the absence of any evidence to that efifect, and in view of the fact that the 
 lithological characters— even some of a peculiar and expectional kind— found in the pebbles of 
 the shingle, are precisely those of the rocks of the mountains to the west, it is most probable that 
 they have been thence derived. 
 
 (141 o) 
 
4 NORTH-WEST TERRITORY. 
 
 and is near tho wator-lovol. Below the Highwood it was scon at ono- 
 place near the lower end of Pino Canon at an elevation of sixty foot 
 above the river. At a point, a few miles above the Arrow-wood Creeks, 
 it has a thickness of tiftoon to twenty feet, the base being about twenty 
 feet above the water, and the summit < :ipped by ton to fifteen feet of 
 hard boulder-clay. About three miles above the Blackfoot Crosp'^g it 
 is again well shown. Its existence was also suspected at several 
 points below the Blackfbot Crossing, but could not be proved owing to 
 the extensive slides which have occurred in the banks. It was also 
 I'ocognized by Mr. McConnell at several placoi"* on the Eed Deer River 
 within the limits of the map. 
 
 shin'ie"^ The Origin of the quartzite shingle is a question of groat interest^ 
 
 but at the same time a very difficult one. It at first appeared to be 
 certain that it must have been biought eastwaid from the mountains 
 by rapid streams, of a date immediately preceding the glacial period, 
 and that it must either still occupy the channels of these, or have been 
 spread abroad in some wide body of waters into which they flowed. 
 
 Miocene The discovory in the Cypress Hills, in 1883, by Mr. McConnell, of an 
 
 extensive Miocene formation, the greater part of which is composed of 
 precisely similar shingle more or less cemented together by calcareous 
 matter, must now, however, be taken into account. It is possible that 
 this formation which now caps the high plateau known as the Cypress 
 Hills, at one time spread much more widely, and that its gravels have 
 been re-arranged and spread over the neighbouring plains hy pre-glacial 
 streams as denudation proceeded, and further, that these Miocene beds 
 may have supplied much of the quartzite material which enters largely 
 
 Two sources of i^i^o the composition of the boulder-clay and its derived deposits. The 
 
 supply. fj^g|.^ however, that exactly similar quartzite gravels^can be traced up 
 
 into the foot-hills, in the valleys of some of the streams, forming a thin 
 layer beneath the boulder-clay, where there is no evidence whatever of 
 the existence of any Miocene beds, tends to prove that a poi'tion, at least, 
 of the quartzite gravels here referred to, have been derived imme- 
 diately fi'om the mountains, in times just preceding, or marking the 
 initiation of, the glacial period. The question is one admitting of much 
 additional investigation. 
 
 Irregularity in The level of theso prc-glacial gravels, often differs very consider- 
 
 distribution of , , , . ^ ° * , . . , , , ,, , 
 
 shingle. ably in the river sections, as compared with the water-level oi the 
 
 modern rivers. The gravels, however, tend generally to characterize 
 the lower parts of the district, and are, for example, quite wanting 
 along almost the entire course of the St. Mary. They are by no means 
 universally spread even in the parts of the district which they char- 
 acterize, a fact which may be due either to an original irregularity in 
 distribution, or to their subsequent partial removal and mingling with 
 
 (142 c) 
 
 i 
 
DAWSON.] SUPERFICIAL DEPOSITS. 5 
 
 tho /fonoi'Jil substance of tlio drift of the j^laciul period. No glaciated 
 stones wore anywhere found in these gravels, find the line between them 
 and tho boulder-clay is usaally a perfectly distinct one. The only 
 section which shows u blending with the base of the bouldcr-cIay is 
 that already quoted at Wolf Island, apart from which the shingle might 
 be legarded as a deposit refei-able to the last stage of the Tertiary.* 
 
 The boulder-clay, which constitutes by far the most important Tho boulder- 
 member of the tlrift doi)Osits, is very variable in thicl^ness, having in 
 some places a volume of nearly two hundred feet, while in othe?"s it is 
 quite thin. It presents the usual characters of this deposit, being, as a 
 rule, a hard sandy clay, containing a vaiiabie and often very considera- 
 able proportion of Laurentian and Huronian eri-atics, mingled with 
 fragments of quartzites from the Rocky Mountains, and sandstone blocks 
 from the Cretaceous or Larumie. The mass of its tiner components, 
 however, usually appears to have been derived from the l»eds underly- 
 ing it at no great distance, and has been formed of these materials 
 ploughed up jmd kneaded together. In consequence of this circum- colour, 
 stance its colour varies considerably, ranging from dark blackish- or 
 bluish-gre}'- to lighter tints of the same, and often becoming yellowish- 
 gre; or fawn-coloui*ed, especially wliere weathered. On th(^ St. Mary, 
 it was observed to have in some places a distinctly reddish tint, duo to 
 the colours of the neighbouring reddish cla^'s of the Willow Creek sub- 
 division of the Laramie. Where shown in good sections, it is generally lowtfriJii'rts, 
 divisible into an upper and lower part, the latter being more compact, 
 and though not without strati tication planes, showing them in a less 
 marked manner, while the former is, as a rule, not only more distinctly 
 stratified but also less compact. This feature is specially well shown 
 on the BellyRiver below Coal Banks, and between the upper and lower 
 boulder-clays the i-emarkable sedimentaiy deposits, described in a 
 succeeding paragraph, here occur. 
 
 The bouldei"-clay, from its massive character, frequently weathers in Distribution. 
 
 • Since the above was written, Mr. .T. B. Tyrrell, in the CDurse of the geological examination of 
 the country north of the Red Deer River, hn.s found gravels or incoherent conglomerates cap- 
 ping the Hand Hills, precisely like those of the Cypress Hills. These have yielded no fossils 
 but there can be little doubt that they are like those of the Cypress Hills, of Miocene age. This 
 
 • -discovery appears to show that tho Miocene shinglo-beds may have been much more widespread 
 and important than previously supposed, though but occasional remnants of them, capping the 
 higher plateaus, are now found. It may even be, that in the distribution of the quartzite gravels 
 above described as underlying tho boulder-clay, we have a general definition of the area of the 
 Miocene formation, the immediately pre-glacial gravels having resulted from its waste, and accu- 
 mulated in the valleys of streams which ran through the old Miocene area. It must still, how- 
 
 ; -ever, be admitted that similar gravels underlie the boulder-clay near the mountains, and that 
 these have probably no connection with the denudation of Miocene beds, but have been derived 
 -directly from the mountains. The question of the mode of transport of so great a quan- 
 tity of coarse gravel to such a great distance from its source in the mountains, and its deposition on 
 
 ^ the soft beds of the plains in Miocene times, without any evidence of ice action, is a very difficult 
 «ne. 
 
 (143 0) 
 
: 
 
 Int.crglacial 
 beds. 
 
 Section at 
 
 Drift-wood 
 
 Bond. 
 
 Intei'glaeial 
 peat. 
 
 6 NORTH-WEST TERRITORY. 
 
 rivoi'-cliffrt into prihimatic uiul columimr Ibi-ms, and it is thin deposit which 
 is concerned in most of tko houvy land-slides which occur along the val- 
 leys of the st reams. It may be regarded as entirely covering by far the 
 larger part of the surface of the district, but on approaching the base 
 of the mountains is replaced by morainic accumulatiotjs due to local 
 glaciers. Certain tracts characteri/ed by the presence of a great thick- 
 ness of boulder-clay have already been alluded lo in the general descrip- 
 tion of the river sections, it .usts often directly on the Cretaceous and 
 Laramie rocks, oven in the immediate neighborhood of localities where 
 the intei'vening shingle deposit was observed well developed, and its 
 base is often below the level of the water, oven in the deeper river- 
 valleys. 
 
 The intercalated finer beds, above alluded to, are well shown in the 
 section at Wolf Island (p. 141 c). They are seen also in a number of 
 places on the Belly between Wolf Island and Coal Banks, and the body 
 of water in which they were laid down must have been a very extensive 
 one. On the east side of Drift-wood bend, seven miles west of Woir 
 Island, the following section occurs : — 
 
 FEET. 
 
 1. Boulder-clay, with traces of stratification, to top of bank .... 4U 
 
 2. Finely stratified, pale-grey sand, with irrejrular lenticular 
 
 masses of soft ironstone, a few inches thick 15 
 
 3. Brownish-grey, earthy, sandy clay, distinctly stratified, with 
 
 carbonaceous layers, which in places become impure lig- 
 nite ; small selenite crystals and concretions. 3' or more 
 (variable.) • 3 
 
 4. Grey, fine sand with ironstone concretions, (like No. 2) . . . . 15 
 
 5. Massive boulder-clay with large stones and bould' rs, some- 
 
 times distinctly glaciated. Laurentian and qnarteite 
 fragments (to foot of bank) 80 
 
 153 
 
 Four miles further up the Belly, at the north-west angle of Drift- 
 wood bend, the same beds are again shown, but the carbonaceous layers 
 have here coalesced to form a distinct bed, about a foot thick, of imper- 
 fect lignite or indurated peat. A specimen collected here has been 
 examined by Mr. C. Hotfmann. It is very strongly acted on by caustic 
 potash, affording a dark-brown liquid. On analysis by the method 
 adopted for the Cretaceous and Laramie fuels it yielded the following 
 results : — 
 
 Hygroscopic water 7*74 
 
 Volatile combustible matter 23-13 
 
 Fixed Carbon 2205 
 
 Ash 4708 
 
 100 -00 
 (144 c) 
 
 
 fecT 
 
 L 
 
DAWSON,] SUPERFICIAL DEPOSITS. *f 
 
 In the approximate oquality ot'voluiile combu8til)lo matter and fixed 
 carbon, and its percentage of water (vvlion allowance is made for the 
 largo proporti(m of ash) this material resembles a poor lignite or good 
 quality of peat. 
 
 Overlying the boulder-clay are wide-spread stnititied deposits, the PoposUs 
 
 . over I villi? 
 
 distribution of which assists materially in giving uniformity to the boulder-clay, 
 tracts of level plain. It is, indeed, quite exco|)tional t '-^d the surface 
 soil consisting of bouldor-elay disintegrated in place, r i ' s occurs only 
 on the slopes of plateaus, or in hollows formed by Ueiiudation. That 
 the beds overlying the bouldor-cIay have not been merely formed by its 
 re-arrangement in water without the addition of new material, is indi- 
 cated 1)y the fact that in many places erratics much larger than those 
 chararterizing the boulder-clay of the locality are found strewn over 
 the surface of the country.- The beds observed in river sections and 
 elsewhere to ovorlio the boulder-clay are generally gravels or sands 
 below and sandy or clayey loams above. The latter form the subsoil 
 over most of the region, and are generally rather pale brownish- or 
 yellowish-grey in colour. 
 
 Along the base of the Eocky Mountains, moraines, in a more or less ,'i["t"if,'j'„fshed 
 degraded condition, are al>undant, and evidently due to considerable local J.'["'" oou'der- 
 glacioi's which debouched from the present valleys of the range. The 
 material of these moraines, when seen in section, ditfers considerably from 
 the boulder-clay proper, not only in the fact that the included fragments 
 are entirely of Rocky Mountain, or local origin, but in its greater degree 
 of hardness, the greater roughness and angularity of the stones, and so 
 far as observed the complete absence of bedding. 
 
 On . .e Waterton River, moraine material of this kind was fii-st seen Moraines near 
 about ten miles from the base of the mountains. West of the i-iver, for 
 some miles below the lake, a ridge which has evidently been a lateral 
 moraine of the Waterton Lake glacier, occurs ; and several hills of the 
 same character, with large blocks derived from the mountains protrud- 
 ing from and scattei'cd over them, are found about the lower end of the 
 lake and opposite the valley of tl ) South Kootanie Pass. For about thirty 
 miles north wai'd along the base of the range, moraines are of constant 
 occurrence, and can easily be recognized owing to the sparsely wooded 
 character of the foot-hill belt in this region. Each little valley now 
 giving issue to a brook, has formerly contained a glacier, and the old 
 lateral moraines, sometimes still very well preserved, run off from the 
 base of the mountains lnvC spurs. 
 
 The Bow River valley in correspondence with the large area of Bow valley 
 
 , • . •! . j^ -^ .1 111 , . „ . glaciers. 
 
 mountains tributary to it, appears to have held a glacier of larger size 
 
 than any elsewhere originating in the mountains in this district. In 
 
 several places some miles up the pass the rocks bear traces of heavy 
 
 (145 0) 
 
^iij 
 
 NORTH-WEST TERRITORY. 
 
 ii! 
 
 Terraces nnd 
 planes of 
 denudation. 
 
 Highest 
 terraces. 
 
 Terraces in 
 Bow Valley. 
 
 Terraces in the 
 mountains. 
 
 Laurontianand 
 
 Huronian 
 
 boulders. 
 
 Western limit. 
 
 glaciation, and at " the Gap " the limestone is deeply grooved and fluted 
 by the passage of ice. Near and above Morley, portions of lateral 
 moraines of this glacier project thi-ough lerraces of later date as ridges, 
 parallel to the direction of the valley. 
 
 Between Morley and Calgary on the Bow, a deposit more closely 
 resembling boulder-clay than true morainic matter was observed in 
 several places, but the stones in it are entirely those of the mountains 
 or sandstone blocks from the underlying beds. 
 
 Terraces are prominent features in some parts of the rivej'-valleys in 
 this district, but are generally clearly due to the action of the river itself 
 at a former period. The extensive tracts of almost perfectly level 
 prairie which occur, afford evidence of water action of some duration, 
 and may be regarded as wide terraces. The eastern face of the Porcu- 
 pine Hills appears from a distance to be viery distinctly terraced, but 
 this aspect was found to be due to the outcrop of the nearly hoi'izontal 
 sandstone beds. On approaching the mountains, howerei', true terraces 
 of a more significant character present themselves in many places. 
 Terraces in the entrance to the South Kootanie Pass at a height of 
 about 4,400 feet have already been described in mj" Boundary Commis- 
 sion report. In the valleys of Mill and Pincher Creeks, and those of the 
 Forks of the Old Man, east of the actual base of the mountains, wide tei-- 
 races and terrace-flats are found, stretching out from the ridges of the 
 foothills, and running up the valleys of the various streams. Actual 
 gravelly beaches occasionally mark the Junction of the terraces with the 
 bounding slopes, and they have no connection with the pj-esent 
 streams, which cut through them. The level varies in dift'erent local- 
 ities, but the highest observed as well characterized attains an eleva- 
 tion of about 4,200 feet. 
 
 In the Bow Valley near Morley, and thence to the foot of the 
 mountains, similar terraces are found which are quite Independent of 
 the modern river ; and in the wide mouth of the valley of the Kan- 
 anaskis Pass a series of terraces wei-e seen from a distance, which 
 must rise to an elevation of at least 4,500 feet. 
 
 In the Bow and Crow Nest Passes, within the first range of the 
 mountains, terraces are in many places well developed, but as local 
 conditions, such as the stoppage of these valleys by transverse glaciers, 
 may account for the existence of water at the elevations they mark, 
 they do not possess so much interest as those above described. 
 
 The occurrence of Laurentian and Huronian fragments in vast num- 
 bers as erratics over the district now described, at such a greot distance 
 from the nearest points of outcrop of the parent rock, and at elevations 
 so considerable, is a matter of much interest. The westei-n limit of the 
 Laurentian and Huronian drift may be said to reach the base of the 
 
 (146 c) 
 
DAWSON.] SUPERFICIAL DEPOSITS, 9 
 
 Eocky Mountains, in the vicinity of the 49th parallel, for fragments of 
 these rocks were found on the Waterton Kiver two miles below the 
 lake, within three miles of the actual edge of the Pabvozoic rocks, and 
 at an elevation of 4,200 feet. Northward, on the head waters of the 
 Old Man, Laurentian drift is found, though sparingly, as far west as 
 the mill on Mill Creek, at a height of 3,800 feet, and a single Lauren- 
 tian boulder was seen about half a mile west of Garnett's, near the trail 
 leading to the Crow Nest Pass, at a height of about 4,200 feet. I did not, 
 however, observe any Laurentian drifton the North Fork of the Old Man, 
 and it is probable that it is absent or nearly so in the district sheltered 
 by lihe higher parts of the Porcupine Hills. On the Bow Eiver no 
 Laurentian oi* Hui'onian erratics were seen west of Calgary, and even 
 after their first appearance they are very scarce for some distance. As 
 the height of the Bow River at this point is only about 3,300 feet, the 
 western limit of the Laurentian drift cannot conform strictly to any 
 contour-line of the present surface of the country. 
 
 South of the 49th parallel, the country travelled over fi-om Fort P'"iJ^;}epo8''8 
 Benton, on the Missouri, by the MacLeod trail, is all more or less Montana, 
 thickly strewn with Laurentian erratics. South of the Marias River, 
 the stones were observed to be chiefly quartzites of var^'ing colours 
 and doubtless of Rockj'' Mountain origin, but with these are mingled 
 in larger or smaller proportion, granitic, gneissic and schistose 
 Laurentian rocks, and these occur equallj'^ in the I'iver-valleys and on 
 the highest portions of the plains crossed by the trail. There is also, 
 however, particularly in the vicinity of the Missouri, a proportion of 
 granite boulders wiMi flesh-purple felspar and bluish, rather opalescent 
 quartz, which I did not recognise as Laurentian, and which maj^ be 
 derived from some not far remote mountain region. North of the 
 Marias the conditions continue similar, and are, in fact, practically 
 identical with those of the region more especially treated in this 
 report. 
 
 In this entire distiict there is no possibility of confounding theNocrj;staiiino 
 Laurentian and Huronian erratics with those from the Rocky Moun- mountains. 
 tains, which do not attbrd any granitic or gneissic rocks or crystalline 
 schists. 
 
 The actual heights at which Laurentian and Huronian erratics are Great elevation 
 found are in some instances very great. A few of the more striking a|,d'Huronian 
 cases may be noted. The heights given are probably trustworthy to '''"'""*'°^" 
 within fifty feet, having been worked out by comparison with the 
 regular barometric observations at Fort Benton, which have been 
 kindly supplied by General Hazen. — At the summit of the high ridge 
 forming the southern continuation of the Porcupine Hills, which is 
 crossed by the road between Fort MacLeod and Pinchor Creek at an 
 
 (14*7 0) 
 
10 
 
 NORTH-WEST TERRITORY. 
 
 No drift on 
 8ummit of 
 Rooky Spring 
 Plateau. 
 
 i 
 
 elevation of 4,390 feet, Laurentian stones were found, though not 
 abundant. In 1883 several indubitable Laurentian boulders, represent- 
 ing three varieties of g)*anitic and gneissic rocks, were found ahout 
 twenty miles north of the i9th parallel, at an elevation of 5,280 I'eet. 
 They occur on the summit of a high ridge, which is evidently of 
 morainic origin, within a few miles of the Palaeozoic rocks of the 
 mountains, but for the reasons elsewhere givea they can not have 
 been derived from these mountains, and their origin must be sought 
 with that of those so numerous at lower levels, to the east or north- 
 east. This is the highest point at which Laurentian boulders have 
 been found in the district. Numerous similar erratics are found on 
 the high country near the Milk Eiver, and between that stream and 
 the St. Mary Eiver, about the intersection of the 49th parallel and 
 113th meridian, at an elevation of about 4,200 feet. 
 
 A few miles south of the 49th parallel, on the MacLeod-Benton trail, 
 the Rocky Spring plateau is crossed. The south-eastward front is a steep 
 escarpment facing a comparatively low plain, and is very thickly strewn 
 with Laurentian and Huronian erratics as though it had at one period 
 constituted a shore-line. Northward, the plateau slopes gradually down 
 from its greatest elevation of 4, 176 feet. The highest point of the plateau, 
 crossed by the trail, is, for a mile or more, quite without drift deposits 
 or erratics, but before any considerable descent is made to the north, 
 erratics become abundant, though not large, and much resemble the 
 remains of au old beach deposit. The height of the Laurentian drift 
 here is about 4,100 feet. From othei- observations it is certain that 
 this elevation does not constitute the limit in height of the Laurentian 
 material, and it seems possible that the summit of this plateau was occu- 
 pied by a snow-field during glacial times which prevented the accumu- 
 lation of the deposits elsewhere found. 
 
 The Three Buttes, forming isolated high summits in the centre of a 
 iru^s^mifs^^"*^^^^® plain, offer peculiar facilities for the determination of the highest 
 points attained by the glaciating agent and Laurentian erratics. 
 Much more time might profitably be employed in the investigation of 
 the facts here than I was able to spare. In 1881 an examination of the 
 western flanks of the West Butte, however, proved that Laurentian 
 boulders of small size, with cream-coloured limestone resembling that 
 of the Winnipeg basin, are abundant at an elevation of 4,600 feet, while 
 the highest observed Laurentian fragments attained a height sixty feet 
 greater. 
 
 Vei-y large boulders were noted in a few places in the district. A 
 remarkable group of these, composed of Huronian quartzites, occurs 
 near the lower part of the Waterton Eiver, and it is notable generally 
 that some of the heaviest boulders are found not far from the western 
 
 (148 c) 
 
 OAW 
 
 Erratics on 
 
 Occasional 
 great size of 
 boulders. 
 
 I 
 
[oAwsoN.] SUPERFICIAL DEPOSITS. 11 
 
 limit of the Lauretitian and Huronian drift. One of these erratics is 
 42X40X20 feet, a second 40X30x22, and both are partly bm-ied in 
 the soil. The height of this point was not exactly determined, but 
 must be between 3,200 and 3,300 feet. In common with all the larger 
 boulders of the district these are surrounded by a shallow saucer-like 
 depression, caused by the pawing of the butt'alo, and their angles are 
 worn quite smooth and glossy by the rubbing of these animals upon 
 them. 
 
 While the main river-valleys whether on the area of the plains or in the Post-glacial 
 foot-hills and Porcupine Hills, evidence very considerable post-glacial 
 erosion, the general surface of the plain country east of the Porcu- 
 pines seems to have suffered very little in this respect since the waters, 
 (which under any hypothesis must have covered it at least at the close 
 of the glacial period), left its surface. In the numerous lakes and 
 pools occupying shallow depressions and without defined outlet, in the 
 entire absence over considerable areas of drainage channels, and their 
 general infrequency, evidence appears to be given that the rainfall of 
 the eastern portion of the district hus been continuouslj^ very small 
 since the glacial period. Wherever the surface has locally been con- 
 siderably lowered by denudation, gi-eat numbers of bouldei'S appear, 
 and their comparative rarity over great portions of the plains can be 
 due only to the persistence of the finer surface covering since glacial 
 times. 
 
 Theoretical conclusions as to the mode of glaciation of this district Mode of 
 
 • 111 1 (jlaciationof 
 
 have, as tar as possible, been excluded from the foregoing summaiy of the Groat 
 
 the facts. Apart from the local glaciers of the Eocky Mountains, it is 
 evident that it has been accomplished by some agent moving westward 
 or south-westward from the Laurentian axis which bounds the region 
 of the Great Plains to the east. This agent has carried with it great 
 quantities of Laurentian and Huronian material, which in the vicinity 
 of the 49th parallel reaches at its extreme limit a point over 700 miles 
 distant from the nearest exposures of the parent rock, and to an eleva- 
 tion moi-e than twice as great as that attained by any part of the 
 Laurentian area. To explain this latter fact it seems now almost cer- 
 tain that we must assume that the western region was, in glacial times, 
 relatively to the Laurentian area more depressed than at present. As ' 
 
 I have elsewhere, in the publications before referred to, discussed at 
 some length the question whether a glacier or floating ice best accounts 
 for the facts, it is not here proposed to recapitulate the a -guments. 
 Two theories only, however, seem tenable. Etilier a great confluent 
 glacier, occupying the Laurentian highlands or passing over them from 
 the Hudson's Bay region, stretched continuously to the slopes of the 
 Rocky Mountains, or such a glacier, extending but a limited distance 
 
 (149 c) 
 
12 
 
 NORTH-WEST TERRITORY. 
 
 !i!i 
 
 SiKnificanco of 
 old drainage 
 channels. 
 
 l:i 
 
 *l: 
 
 from tho.se highlands, supplied numerous and massive icebergs which 
 floated in a great inland sea occupying the present position of the 
 plains. 
 
 I still believe that the latter supp(»sition best accounts for the facts of 
 the glaciation and glacial deposits of the plains. 1 would, howevei-, point 
 out one circumstance which seems to give some colour to the former 
 hypothesis. This is the existence of a number of wide, old, abandoned 
 water-channels, which may be supposed by this theory to have carried 
 the drainage of the county, and water produced by the melting of a 
 great glacier of the kind implied, round its front at different periods in 
 its retreat. The existence of these I ari unable otherwise satisfactorily 
 to explain, ex ^pt on the supposition c considerable relative changes 
 of level of different parts of the district in post-glacial times. Mr. 
 Warren Upham has lately traced a number of such channels in Dakota 
 (hypothetical!}^ extending his reasoning also to western Manitoba), 
 for which he accounts by the first-mentioned or great-glacier theory. 
 ■Great couides. In the southern part of the district of the present report, and par- 
 ticularly in the country south of the Belly River, great old channels of 
 the kind above referred to are displayed in a very striking manner in 
 Verdigris, Etzi-kom, POrkow-ki, and Chin Coulees and their tributaries. 
 These resemble old river-valleys long disused and now carrying little 
 or no water. I am inclined to regard rhem as a portion of the earliest 
 drainage system of the plains, out ined at the time at which the waters 
 which distributed the stratified m 'crials overlying the boulder-clays 
 first subsided, and when the lainluii of the I'egion was considerably 
 greater than at present. That these first channels have not, in the par- 
 ticular part of the region nowrefei-red to, continued to be the drainage- 
 channels of the country, is perhaps in part due to the much greater 
 depth and importance rapidly attained by the valleys carrying copious 
 and perennial streams derived from the mountains. In the entire 
 obliteration of the original south-eastward slope of the valleys of 
 Verdigris and Pa-kow-ki Coulees, and other peculiar cii'cumstances 
 referred to, in a previous part of this report (p. 14 c) in connection with 
 their present aspect of Milk Eiver, as well as in several local details 
 respecting the relations of the present drainage and the old channels, 
 we appear to find evidence of a greater amount of elevation of the 
 southern as compared with the northern part of the district.* So far 
 as it has affected these old drainnge-channols this must have occurred 
 in immediately post-glacial times, and may have been a continuation 
 of the same process which has resulted in the present much greater 
 elevation of erratics in the southern as compared with the northern 
 part of the region. 
 
 • See also Geology and Resources of the 49th Parallel, p. 264. 
 
 (150 c) 
 
 Their probable 
 origin. 
 
 ■Greater 
 post-glacial 
 elevation to the 
 south. 
 
 I 
 
awson] superficial DEPOSITS. 13 
 
 Unless explained by relative ditterences in level during the glacial 
 pei'iod, such as those above suggested, between the Bow River country 
 and that near the 49th parallel, the absence of Laurentian erratics, 
 over the region west of Calgary can only be accounted for by the 
 existence of Rocky Mountain glaciers of sufficient size in this 
 region to fend off the eastern glaciating agent. It is not improbable 
 that such glaciers obtained, and if they can be proved to have existed, 
 it would also prove, in the most convincing way, the approximate con- 
 temporaniety of action of the glaciating agents of the Rocky Mountains 
 and Laurentian region. It is certain, however, that the glaciers of the 
 mountains had somewhat decreased before at least the final period of 
 dispersion of Laurentian eri-atics, for these have been found overlying 
 distinct morainic material of Rocky Mountain origin. 
 
 That the elevation of the western as compared with the eastern partPryof «f.8i"eat 
 of the, plains, was relatively much less in glacial times than at present, wostem region 
 seems a reasonable supposition, but must bo regarded no longer as merely 
 an hypothesis, for the position of the interglacial materials in the 
 boulder-claj'' offers a strong positive argument in its favoui'. It must 
 be supposed that these beds, from their finely stratified character and 
 I evidences of tranquil deposit, were laid down, not along the gradually 
 J retreating edge of a lake, but ip the bottom, and at depths not very pianc (/■ 
 ' considerable. This being the case, the deposits give us the means of deposits. 
 recognizing a surface — that of the lake bottom — which was at least 
 proximately horizontal during the interglacial period at which they 
 were formed. From Wolf Island to Coal Banks, the two points furthest 
 apart at which the deposits were observed, is a distance of forty-five 
 miles in a direct line, on a bearing of about S. 70" W. The height 
 above the river of the deposits at the former locality is seventy feet, at 
 the latter, one hundred and five feet, giving a slope eastward of 0'77 feet 
 per mile in addition to that of the present river bed. The l.'itter may 
 be assumed as indicating that of the present surface of th3 country, as 
 a whole. 
 
 The elevation of the beds in the intermediate Drift wood bend seution 
 is about ninety-six feet, but the locality is onl* about six miles westward 
 on tho same line, and the resulting slope per mile is 4*3 feet, in addition 
 to that of the river, in the same easterly direction, a rate of fall locally 
 much greater than that above determiiied for the whole distance. 
 
 The rate of fall of the Belly River, by its course, between Coal Banks 
 and its mouth, is G'8 feet to the mile, but on the line above defined (which 
 is that of its general direction) between Wolf Island and Coal Bank, 12 
 feet to the mile. Adding the general slope previously ascertained for 
 the intercalated beds, we find their eastward inclination to be 12'77 
 feet to the mile. 
 
 (151 c) 
 
3 
 
 14 
 
 NORTH-WEST TERRITORY. 
 
 Distribution of 
 placer gold. 
 
 OeneraKeast- The general eastward slope of the plains from the base of the moun- 
 j'lains^produoed tains to that of the Laurentian region at Lake Winnipeg is about 5 feet 
 times.'***'"' to the mile, but the elevation increases more rapidly westward 
 and in the region now considered ; and if the intercalated beds referred 
 to were again brought bad: to horizontal ity, the plains between the 
 mouth of the Belly Kiver and Coal Banks would become nearly hori- 
 zontal also.* V 
 
 Besides the effect of the glaciation of the country on its soils an>^ 
 general features, a further result of economic importance in coruection 
 with this period is the distribution of gold. Dr. Selwyn in 1874t 
 expressed the belief, based on an examination of the country near 
 Edmonton, that the gold found in the rivers of the Great Plain.' has 
 been derived from the Laurentian and Huronian region to the east, 
 and not from the Rocky Mountains. The facts met with in the district 
 now reported on conclusively pi'ove the correctnens of the above state- 
 ment. In favourable spots on all the streams of which the banks and 
 beds show abundance of Laurentian and Huronian drift, fine gold may 
 be obtained, while beyond the edge of this drift in the immediate 
 vicinity of the mountains, I have never been able to detect a " colour." 
 It would be premature to state positively that none of the streams 
 in tlfki mountains yield gold. It is .possible that local auriferous 
 deposits may occur, though from the nature of the rocks so far observed 
 in the eastern ranges, not very ])robable. The genei*al auriferous 
 character of the rivers of the plains depends, however, on the distri- 
 bution of gold, usually in a very tine state, which has been derived 
 from the old crystalline rocks of the Laurentian and Huronian. In 
 the Bow and Belly district no systematic attempt has yet been made 
 to work the placer deposits on the rivers. 
 
 ♦ In tlie region west of the Missouri, the present inclined posif'on of the Pliocene beds shows 
 that since the time of their disposition that part of the region in the vicinity of the Rocky 
 Mountains has been greatly elevated. It may well bo that the eastward slope of the portion of 
 the plains here treated of may have been produced as a result of the same great movement, and 
 if so the facts above recorded would assign it a date subsequent to that of the glacial period. 
 
 t Report of Progress, 1773-74, p. 58. 
 
 L 
 
 (152 c) 
 
iiiiitliiiMiiiiw.i 
 
 O _ 
 
 r — 
 
 "3- — t , ■ Upper boulder-olay 100' 
 
 > — 
 
 !5l(p!l»..«llM||p,',,v 
 
 ,^ o 
 
 « 
 
 — O — °_. 
 
 ■ • o — 
 
 6 . -r, 
 
 
 Upper boulder-olay 40', 
 
 Purplish sandy clay with iron- 
 stone and lignite 8' 
 
 Lower boulder-olay 15' 
 
 Yellowish & brownish sands 15' 
 
 Purplish olay 4' 
 Yellowish sands 6' 
 
 Quartzite shingle 15' 
 
 Cretaceous shales lO" 
 Water level 
 
 > 
 
 Q- 
 
 Q 
 
 « m 
 
 - . ^ 
 
 
 . - - »_ 
 
 - ., a 
 o .' • - 
 
 — 4 
 
 Grey sandi with ironstone 15' 
 
 Brovmish sandy olay, 
 carbonaceous layers 3' 
 
 Grey sand, with ironstone 1 
 
 Lower boulder-olay 80' 
 
 Section at Wolf 
 Island (p. 141 o.) 
 
 Section on east side 
 Drift-wood Bend (p. 144 0.) 
 
 SECTIONS ON THE BELLY RIVER ILLUSTRATING RELATIONS OP UPPER AND LOWER 
 BOULDER-CLAYS, INTBRGLACIAL DEPOSITS AND QUARTZITE SHINGLE.