The history of Wells County, North Dakota, and its pioneers : with a sketch of North Dakota history and the oregin [sic] of the place names

• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: North Dakota State Library
• Subjects: Glacial Lake; Gulch; Hudson; Hudson Bay; Indian; James River
• Online Access: http://cdm16921.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/ndsl-books/id/40789

And Its Pioneers 9 base in laying out townships, when surveying government lands in the United States. Their adoption is necessitated at certain intervals by the convcrgance of the meridians and the statute requirements that the townships be square. There are three rivers : the Pipestem, which rises in the Co- teaus southwest of Heaton, and the James and Sheyenne, which rise nearly side by side in the Coteaus near the Wells and Sheridan line and flow in an easterly direction for many miles before separating. The waters of the James eventually reach the Gulf of Mexico while those of the Sheyenne flow on to Hudson Bay. Their impulses are very emblematic of the course pursued by many families of the human race. In the east central part of the county is a creek called Rocky Run and the village of Cathay is situated on its south bank. It is a small tributary of the James River and extends in a westerly direction nearly half way across the county. It was named in 1882 by Edmund Spokesfield, the name being suggested by the vast accumulation of rocks on its banks. The height of land is found in the narrow stretch of land between the James and Sheyenne River valleys. When Glacial Lake Souris overflowed, its waters reached the Sheyenne River through the Big Coulee and Girard and Buffalo Lakes. A well marked channel, a half mile in width, leads across from the Sheyenne to the James River in the vicinity of Heim- dal. This old channel is now a "Dry Waterway." In time of high water, there is a stream in the bottom, flowing toward the Sheyenne. The valley of the Sheyenne is deeper and larger than that of the James. Pony Gulch is another old channel of the Glacial Period. The Coteaus are a range of low hills dotted with small lakes. Wells county is situated in the "bowl of the grain belt" and "cream can" section of North Dakota, and is one of the very best agricultural, stock raising and diversified farming counties of the state. It is in the upper James and Sheyenne River regions. The territory embraced in the county was long included in the hunting grounds of Indian tribes. The French Voyageurs were early visitors there in the long ago. Its grounds were hunted over by Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited with Multi-Page TIFF Editor.