Ariel articles on 1888 Taylor's Falls Trip

Not long since the Senior class decided on a geological expedition to Taylor Falls and vicinity. This is a record of their journey as given by several eye-witnesses:

In the early morning of a clear November day, the class well equipped with geological tools and some with more deadly weapons for “bar” and other game, left the “Soo” depot enroute for the land “whose stones are iron and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.” Prof. and Mrs. Hall accompanied the party and left nothing undone which could add to the general comfort. A special car had been secured which the company had kindly fitted up with more than ordinary conveniences. There was nothing indeed to mar the occasion and the class seemed individually and collectively happy as they rode towards their destination that morning. It was too the most delightful time of the year. The many lakes, which here and there dotted the landscape, reflected back the soft, hazy blue of the autumn skies, and the hills had donned their richest coloring. 

About two miles below Osceola, the train stopped at the entrance of a deep cut and the scientific portion of the party alighted with fossil bags and hammars, the car with the rest of the party going on to Osceola. In this cut the strata of Cambrian sandstone had been freshly exposed giving excellent opportunity for studying the characteristics of the oldest of the Paleozoic rocks. In stratification these beds are nearly horizontal and show no trace of metamorphism since their deposition. They rise from the level of the St. Croix river several hundred feet and are overlaid with the glacial drift. These rocks contain multitudes of shells of Lingula and Orbicula species. Trilobites rarely occur. Percolating waters charged with iron have left beautiful tracings in the white sand; some very fine specimens were taken away. Travertine occurs in large deposits and had been extensively burned for lime. For some reason the kilns are now idle and the sheds of the workmen lie buried beneath the debris from the cliff. All along the way were abundant opportunities to note the eroding power of water. Many a romantic glen has been deeply carved out by the streams which dash merrily along in their tree-covered beds, now leaping in sheer wantonness to join the river below. 

Before we arrived at Osceola an aspiring member climbed the face of a bold cliff and carved in the white stone the cabalistic number ’89. Other romantic members were said to have discovered a mammoth cave in the vicinity. 

Our car was now reached and dinner eaten with a zest known only to tramps. The afternoon was spent in an exploring tour through the town, shocking the inhabitants thereof, and in viewing some of the beautiful places along the St. Croix river. Osceola is the county-seat and boasts of about 400 inhabitants, the usual number of churches, lawyers, and saloons, and a very fine trout hatchery, said to be the finest in the Northwest. It is a village of comparative antiquity, its oldest grave-stone bearing the date of 1856. High cliffs of Cambrian stone rise on either side. Eagle Point is at the right; at its summit a tall, gaunt pine-tree marks the eyrie of its royal occupant. The most interesting feature is the exquisite falls of Osceola creek; as beautiful as Minnehaha, they only need the poet’s touch to make them as famous in song and story. In the evening we gave ourselves up to pleasure; some went on rambles; some read aloud in the cozy car; others serenaded. About eleven o’clock the car was attached to a through train and carried on to Dresser Junction. The ladies of the party were then conveyed by hack to Taylor Falls four miles distant, while the gentlemen camped in the car for the night. 

The second day was spent at Taylor Falls and St. Croix Falls. A remarkable out-crop of Trappean rocks at this point forms the picturesque and grand Dalles of the St. Croix. About St. Croix Falls, trap occurs in the channel and on both sides of the river. A mile below, the river enters the Upper Dalles, where for three-quarters of a mile it is walled on both sides by bold, nearly vertical, ragged cliffs, 75 to 150 feet high, of tough nearly black, massive trap. High basaltic columns stand here and there in weird outline and huge staring faces many be traced out at different points. The river, within the Dalles, is some 200 feet deep and it is probable that the whole gorge has been cut by the river, the excavation being aided by nearly vertical joints. Some fifty feet above the present water level, the ledges of very hard trap are surprisingly water-worn with many pot-holes of all sizes from those a few feet in diameter and six or more feet in depth to the “devil’s caldron” twenty feet in diameter and ten feet deep. Into one of these wells a pole has been thrust down thirty feet. 

These rocks are also well worth studying from an artistic point of view. Mr. Edwards, an artist of some note, who showed the party the various points of interest, claimed that they are as picturesque as any in the world. 

The origin of the formation appears to have been by overflow of molten rocks poured out from fissures in the earth’s crust. Between the dike and the Cambrian sandstone, which here overlaps the Keweenawan trap, a band of conglomerate has been formed, where heat or chemical agency has welded together pebbles of all shapes and sizes.

Exploration for copper and silver has been made in these rocks and several shafts have been sunk. One shaft of the Taylor Falls Mining company reached a depth of 120 feet, following a vein 8 to 10 feet wide containing both copper and silver. These ores however do not occur in paying quantities. Gold is reported to have been found. One man, we were told, had been washing gold for several years, but since – in the words of our informant – “he don’t never tell nobody nothing,” it cannot be stated with what success. 

In may be mentioned in passing that a toll-bridge spans the river at Taylor Falls – this in the latter part of the nineteenth century and not fifty miles from Minneapolis. It was to most of us a veritable curiosity; with wide eyed wonder and some mild ecrations we paid our three cents a head and passed thoughtfully across. It is said to be the best paying institution in the county. 

This day was one of hard work. Many geological problems were presented and many bold theories were advanced. In fact during the entire day we were so scientifically inclined that none had thought or desire beyond learning everything possible while we had so fine an opportunity. The time for departure came long before we had finished our explorations. But our train was due and betaking ourselves and specimens to the car we were soon speeding Minneapolis-ward through the gathering darkness, all voting the trip a success both from a scientific and pleasure point of view. Our advice to all future classes is ‘go and do likewise.”