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The Delta of the Sand Hill River

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The Delta of the Sand Hill River University of North Dakota UND Scholarly Commons Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects 8-1-1958 The eltD a of the Sand Hill River Kenneth C. Haraldson Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.und.edu/theses Recommended Citation Haraldson, Kenneth C., "The eD lta of the Sand Hill River" (1958). Theses and Dissertations. 516. https://commons.und.edu/theses/516 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects at UND Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UND Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE DELTA 0 THE SAND HILL RIVER by Kennelth 0. Haraldson B#A., State Teachers College, Valley City, North Dakota, 19U0 A Thesis Submittjeji to the faculty of the Graduate School of the Univers3tjy of North Dakota in partial fulfillm ent of lihe requirements fo r Degree of m. C» of Arte Grand ^opks, Nortlji Dakota August 1958 A CRN OWLEDGME S TS The writer wishes to acknowl edge his indebtedness, and express his appreci aft ion to Dr. Bernt L. W ills, head of the Geography Departure ntj and to Dr. Melvin E. Kazeck, Associate Professor of Gjeography University of North Dakota, fo r their frie n dly advise ajnd encouragment in the preparation of this the sis, The writer also wi&hes to es]press his gratitude to the many people in Fe rtile, Minn esota, who have gen- erously given of their t irtte and infiormation that has been of invaluable service in the writin g of this thesis. i i i TAB Li Si OP CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS H i TABLE OP CONTENTS iv LIST OP FIGURES v I INTRODUCTION 1 II GEOLOGICAL HISTO RY 7 III EARLY SETTLE MLJl 1 OF FERTILE AND THE AREA 0[P THE SAND IHILLS 19 IV PRESENT LAND U£E OP THE SAND HILL DELTA 31 V POSSIBLE USE A^nf) DEVELOPMENT OP THE SAND HltlU 43 BIBLIOGRAPHY 52 i v LI ST OF F I GUIDES FIGURE PAGE 1 Aerial View of tqe Sand Hill Delta 2 2 A Sand Blowout 2 3 Map of Fertile Aijea 5 4 Aerial View of the Beach Ridges of Glacial Lake Agassiz 6 Aerial View of the Northernnost Delta of the Sand H ill Region 6 6 Map o f the Sand H ill Delta 8 7 Gravel Pit on TIntah Beach 11 8 Road Crossing Tint|h Beach 11 9 Cross Section of the Sand Hijll Delta 13 10 Sand Blowout 14 11 Water Worn Boulder 17 12 Flour Mill Erected by Sohlei and Kanklle, 1882 25 13 Old Mill Dam Site 25 14 Railroad Bridge Across the Sjand H ill River 28 15 Field of Wheat Inj the Delta Area 33 16 Red River Valley (bH o1c Compsjny, Fertile, Minnesota 36 17 Boy Scout Observation Tower 38 18 Geological Survey Jjiarker, 19|06 40 19 The Gary Pines 48 CjHAPTER I HtTftQDUCTlON The delta of the Sand H ill KLver is lodated about one h alf mile south west of Fertile Minnesota, and ex­ tends westward approximately three n iles. The north south extent is approximately ^ij* miles, 'llhe area to be covered in this study is the section of mos1»1( extensive dune do- velopment covering four Square mileji in area, and is to be found in sections 29, 30, 31, and y \ of Garfield township, Ii , situated on the south cer t|*al border of Polk county, Minne- sota. As seen from trunk highway 32 leading into Fertile from the South the sand h|ills appeaif as a low lying wood­ ed ridge about a h alf mil|e to the we|3t of the road. The average motorist may not pyen not.icel them because of the frequent groves of trees that obscurje the view. This region was fiLfrit brought to my attention shortly after I had moved to Fertile in 1948* I t seemed a favorite place to go fob family pi|onics or hikes, and had a different appeal to everyone daring a ll seasons of the year. The fine white £h}ne sand m|ade an attractive place fo r youngsters to p}.ay. The variety of colors o ffe r- ed by the changing leaves olf the oakl maple, aspens and sumac in the f a l l invited le color ohotographer to try his 1 2 Fig. Aerial view of the Sand Hill Delta. Much of the dune area of the delta is now covered with vegetation. Fig. 2. A sand blowout 3 s k ill. The dimes made vojideri'ul ski and toboggan slopes fo r everyone in the winter. Deer fire plan tiful and dur­ ing the first few days cf hunting season the sand h ills is the first place the lobal hunters go for their deer. and they are usually sue cessful, Ifuring the la tte r part of spring and in early summed the Sand Hill river is often more rewarding fo r the f iSherman th|an near by lakes, Sev- eral prize winning northern, pike ha ve been taken from this relatively small stream ay anglers who are persistant enough to fight the bruai along its banks to jfind the deep- er holes that hide the "dig ones". The University of Minnesota las frequently sent field trips into the san h ills to study its i>lant and animal l i f e . A habitat gi+oup of tha Sand H ill Crane on exhibit in the Minnesota Museum of Natural History was a result of some of these Excursions. The Chamber of Commerce in tlie village of Fertile, the American Legion and various other civic and service groups have attempted to get the State of Minnesota to designate this area as a state park, however at this w rit- ing they have been unsuccessful in their atttempts. While taking a course at the University ox' Horth Dakota on the conservation of naturf.l resources I came across a map labeling thi s region of sand dunes as a del- I } ta of the Sand H ill Rive rj I immediately recbgnized the sim ilarity between this region and the delta bf the Shey- enne River in North Dakofc a, and my interest was aroused to the point where I wanft4d to know more about its geo- logical history* Through the informa tion gained in the class on conservation I bids further convinced that some better use should be madia of the lap d than it is at the present time. I was enc j^raged to nake this study the topic of ray thesis, and .isve attempt ed to outline the geological history of ths delta, this history Of its early settlement, its present ide, and its possible future de- velopment. 6 Fig. i|.. Aerial view of the beach ridges of Glacial Lake Agassiz. Fig. 5. Aerial view of part of the northernmost delta of the Sand Hill region. CHAPTER I I GEOLD0ICAL HISObRY Whan glacial Lake Agassiz was at Its highest point it left Its mark bfcr depositing a gravel ridge along Its shores called Herman beach. This beach extends through sections 33# 28, 21 and 16} of Garfield township of Polk county as shown on the Blip on flgurs 1, This rid ; e is very marked whore it passes through the sastern edge of the vfl.ll- age of F ertile, Minnesota. Basements that are dug on the ridge expose the fine sand and gravel that has been deposit­ ed there through action of the wind and waves.u This sand is In sharp contrast to ;hJe clay found when digging base- ments in other sections of the village. The Sand H ill riv^r was formed at about this per- iod In geological historj by the me],ting of the huge glac- . I ie r that s t i ll covered the northern part of Minnesota. The leading edge of this glacier had carried with it an enormous amount of foreign matter, d irt, sand, boulders, and the lik e, that was embedded in the Ice. Bart of this load was deposited In moialnic hill* that run from the northwest side of Maple lake at an easterly angle through Erskine and McIntosh, Minnesota, Tie remainder of the material was carried down the Sand B ill river into Lake Agassiz where, upon entering the lake, It settled to the 7 Highway 32 bottom, gradually building up a del ta .1 The mouth of the Sand H ill River must hav3 been a fe w rods east of the point where highway 32 crosses the ri/er in the northwest comer of section 28 (seja figure 3) Occasionally rivers would fo rm on the surface of the ice sheet carrying sinjt with it towards the lake. Such must have been the se in the formation of the small delta, or sand dune area in the north part of section 16,2 as there Is no trace of old rive r bed In that area, nor 1 any possibility that the Sand H ill River could have at one time flowed that far nor tit* The VQ ry limited area of dunes would also indicate that the river must have had a relatively short period of existanc It is interesting o note that of all if the rivers and streams that emptied i|nto Lake Agassiz, odly five of them deposited deltas.3 There are three on the North Dakota side of the Red Ri^er.
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