Historical highlights of Bottineau County

• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: North Dakota State Library 2014
• Subjects: Canada; Glacial Lake; Hudson; Hudson Bay; Kramer; Minot; glacier*; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: http://cdm16921.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/ndsl-books/id/11011

PHYSICAL FEATURES OF BOTTINEAU COUNTY Before the last great ice sheet moved down from Canada, the area in which Bottineau County lies was nearly level. During that time there occurred a period of erosion in which the area we think of as the Souris loop (from the Turtle Mountains west and southwest to Minot) lost huge amounts of material to the rivers flowing through it. The Turtle Mountains were not greatly affected by this erosion, leaving them as a cut-off remnant of the old high plain. As one goes westward to the Missouri escarpment beyond the Souris loop, the same underlying material is encountered as that found under the Turtle Mountains. The last glacier covered all of Bottineau County, extending on down to a point just beyond the Missouri River. This tremendous mass of ice had vast quantities of soil and rock particles which had been carried down from the north. As the glacier began to melt, glacial lake Souris was formed. It covered the central and southern parts of the county and extended up into Canada. The southeastern, northeastern and western parts of the county were shoreline and beach of old lake Souris. The deepest part of the lake was around the Omemee, Gardena and Kramer areas. Those parts of the county that were neither flooded nor beach have a mantle of glacial till overlying them. (This includes the Turtle Mountain area.) This is the material that was churned up into the ice, and it simply remained after the ice melted. It is a mixture of various size soil particles, pebbles, stones and boulders. Soils as we know them today develop from their parent material and from the result of climatic conditions. Bottineau County is a cool, semi-arid area in which grass was the predominant vegetation before the land was cultivated. (The Turtle Mountains are an exception to the rest of the county. They were forested.) The soils developed in the county belong to the great group of soils known as chernozems. They are dark grayish brown to black in color. The county lies on the western edge of this great soil group. To consider the soils in greater detail, there are principally four main types of soil in the county. Of these, the Barnes type is the predominate one and is probably the most desirable type. It is found wherever the land was not covered by the glacial lake or shoreline, thereby placing it primarily in the north, northeastern and southwestern part of the county. The topography is rolling. Many potholes are found. The topsoil is medium textured and dark brown in color. It becomes lighter brown down through the subsoil. The permeability (ability to take in water) of this soil is good. It is usually called loam. The next three soil types of major importance in the county have been affected markedly in their development by glacial lake Souris. The first of these we shall consider is the Gardena soils. These were developed from material that settled out of the shallow portions of the lake. They are about the same texture as the Barnes series, but have no stones in them. They are usually higher in organic matter than Barnes, and the subsoil is darker brown. These soils are found on gently sloping land. They have good permeability. Fargo clay is found in what was the deepest portions of the old lake. It is very heavy. It can hold great amounts of water, but it is slow to take it in. The topography is nearly level. The topsoil is dark grayish brown. It generally is high in organic matter and quite productive. Because these soils are nearly level and are slow to take in water, flooding problems often exist after periods of heavy rains or fast snow melt. The Ulen soil types are light textured, sandy soils, brown in color. Permeability is very rapid, but water storing capacity is poor, making these soils quite droughty. These soils are found along the old beach lines of the glacial lake, or where streams have entered the lake, mainly in the southeastern The Souris Lake Bed. portion of the county, and around Maxbass and west of Westhope. In the Turtle Mountain area the soils are more or less heavy textured. Bottineau clay loams and Rolette clays are the main soil types. The drainage of Bottineau County is entirely within the Hudson Bay system. The Souris River empties into the Assiniboine River, which in turn empties into the Red River of the North, and thence into the Hudson Bay. The drainage system of the county is peculiar in that all the streams flowing into the Souris River have somewhat of a southerly direction of flow, but the Souris River flows north. A portion of the streams have their source in the Turtle Mountains. During periods of high rainfall and heavy snow melts, the water comes rushing out of the mountains with a great velocity. As these crests approach the level prairies below, the stream channels become less defined and the water spreads out over large areas. These floods cause considerable damage to the soil and private property. During periods of dry weather the undefined stream channels are formed in certain areas. The drainage pattern, especially in the more level central area of the county, is incomplete in that there are many large, level slight depressions which have no drainage outlet. MINERAL RESOURCES In reference to the natural resource report of North Dakota published January 4,1937, Bottineau County did not produce coal of any kind. Gold was discovered in parts of Bottineau County in 1934. The expedition was conducted by the School of Mines of the University of North Dakota. As a result it was determined that there was not enough gold to justify commercial operations. This gold was carried into Bottineau County by glaciers from the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The Mineral Resources Report to the Governor and the 25th Legislative Assembly, State of North Dakota, January 4, 1937 determined that Bottineau County was not rich in minerals and only had few traces of gold and oil. Since that time (1937) numerous oil wells have been developed. The exploration period is still on. Exact extent of oil resources is not know, but it appears to be of considerable amount. WATER FEATURES The two main rivers are the Souris and Deep rivers. The Souris divides the county on a north-south line running through the center of the county. The Deep River cuts through the northwest corner. In the Turtle Mountains in the (5) Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited with Multi-Page TIFF Editor.