The Leaf Hills Moraines , sometimes called the Leaf Mountains , are a range of hills in west-central Minnesota . The land does not exhibit many characteristics of mountains, but nevertheless rises typically to a height of 100 to 300 feet (30 to 91 m) above the surrounding farmland, occasionally reaching higher than 350 feet (107 m). The name of this range of hills is translated from the Ojibwe Gaaskibag-wajiwan , which was interpreted by Gilfillan as “Rustling Leaf Mountains.” The name is also shared by Leaf Mountain Township , the two Leaf Lakes (" Gaaskibag-wajiwi-zaaga'iganan "), and the Leaf River (" Gaaskibag-wajiwi-ziibi "), all named for the hills. In turn, the hills in Ojibwe are named after Inspiration Peak (" Gaaskibag-wajiw "), a prominent hill in this area.
16-498: The hills are described by Upham as "running southeast from Fergus Falls to the south line of the county and thence east and northeast to East Leaf Lake, a distance of 50 miles." Through their full extent in Otter Tail County , the hills have steeply sloped sides covered by prairies and deciduous forests, primarily maple and oak . The hills are formed by the convergence of the eighth and ninth marginal moraines formed by
32-736: Is broken by rivers, streams, and Minnesota's famous lakes. Only a few of the many high points of the range have received names. Prominent among them are Indian Hill and Inspiration Peak . Higher terrain is located about five miles northeast of Inspiration Peak. Pekan Peak (unofficial name) in Section 32, Folden Township, Otter Tail County, Minnesota , discovered by John Sandy in February 2022, at coordinates 46°11′54.744″ N 95°30′4.248″ W (DMS), Latitude 46.19854 Longitude -95.50118 (DD), has an elevation of 1,800.05 feet (548.66 meters), measured by LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology. Paleoindians lived in
48-704: The U.S. Geological Survey from 1885 to 1895. Upham's first major report on Lake Agassiz was published in 1890 by the Geological Survey of Canada , but the main product of his many years of study ("The Glacial Lake Agassiz") was published in 1895 as Monograph 25 of the U.S. Geological Survey's monograph series. Upham graduated from Dartmouth College in 1871 and worked under Minnesota state geologist Newton H. Winchell . The Minnesota Historical Society published his landmark 735-page volume on place name origins, Minnesota Geographic Names: Their Origin and Historic Significance in 1920. A revised and enlarged third edition
64-662: The University of Michigan and received a Master of Arts degree in 1867. He then did geological studies in Michigan, Ohio , and New Mexico . Winchell settled in Minnesota in 1872 when he was appointed to direct the Geological and Natural History Survey of Minnesota. At the same time, he taught courses in geology , botany , and zoology at the University of Minnesota . He had a reputation for "great diligence and honesty" (Merrill, 1964) and
80-509: The Wadena and Des Moines lobes of the Wisconsonian glaciation . This moraine forms an arc about ten to twenty miles (16 -32 km) wide and 200 miles (320 km) long. It is composed of a huge volume of morainic drift up to 350 feet (107 m) thick, overlain with thin sandy soil as well as rocks and boulders. The hills' outline is not regular, but erratic, and in many places the range
96-791: The Geological and Natural History Survey of Minnesota , which was prepared by Winchell and his assistants. A bibliography of his publications by Warren Upham in the Bulletin of the Geological Society of America (volume 26, pp. 27–46) contains almost 300 titles. Born in New York State , the younger brother of geologist Alexander Winchell , Newton Horace Winchell attended public school in Connecticut and then taught school in Connecticut and Michigan . While teaching in Michigan he graduated from
112-559: The area at least 6,000 years ago, and perhaps longer, as earlier remains have been found in the general vicinity. Artifacts from both the Prairie and Woodland cultures have been found; most items date from a period starting 900 to 1200 years ago. In more recent times, the region was held by the Dakota until they were displaced by the Ojibwa in the eighteenth century. Also in the eighteenth century,
128-590: The area became a source of pelts for the fur trade . In the 1840s, the mountains were pierced by the Woods Trail and skirted by the East Plains Trail , two of the Red River Trails between Fort Garry (modern Winnipeg ) and Saint Paul, Minnesota . These trails opened up the area to settlement in the last half of the nineteenth century. Due to their steepness and the abundance of fieldstone and boulders,
144-527: The evident candor and truthfulness of all his statements". Winchell's geological examination of the Kensington Runestone has been adduced to suggest that the stone is authentic, though most scholars now believe it is a forgery. Winchell married Charlotte Sophia Imus and had six children: Horace Vaughn (who also became a geologist), Ima Caroline, Avis (Mrs. Ulysses Sherman Grant ), Alexander Newton, and Louise. Winchell Trail in southeast Minneapolis
160-576: The hills were found by pioneers to be generally unsuitable for plowing but well suited for raising and grazing livestock . Part of the region has been preserved in Maplewood State Park and another part is preserved in Inspiration Peak State Wayside Park. 46°9′N 95°35′W / 46.150°N 95.583°W / 46.150; -95.583 Warren Upham Warren Upham (March 8, 1850 – January 29, 1934)
176-434: The stone and the location of the find. Winchell made three trips to Kensington , examining the discovery site and the similar glacier -carried boulders in the area, and interviewing Olaf Öhman (the finder of the stone), his neighbors, and the townspeople. Winchell recorded his observations, sketch maps, and interviews in a pocket field notebook. He wrote in his notebook: "I had a long talk with Mr. Ohman, and am impressed with
SECTION 10
#1733092612686192-556: The time occupied by the gorge erosion, which is likewise the approximate measure of the time that has passed since the closing stage of the Ice Age or Glacial period, when the border of the waning ice-sheet was melted away on the area of Minnesota. When he accompanied the Custer expedition to the Black Hills of South Dakota in 1874, Winchell prepared the first geological map of that area. He
208-593: Was also one of the founders of the Geological Society of America , a chief organizer of the Minnesota Academy of Sciences , and the president of several societies, including The Geological Society of America in 1902. The Minnesota Historical Society, led by Winchell as Minnesota State Geologist, investigated the Kensington Runestone from 1909–1910. They were most interested in the physical aspects of
224-529: Was an American geologist, archaeologist, and librarian who is best known for his studies of glacial Lake Agassiz . Warren Upham was born in Amherst, New Hampshire and attended Dartmouth College . He married Addie M. Bixby in 1885 and they had a daughter. Upham worked as a geologist in New Hampshire before moving in 1879 to Minnesota to study the resources and glacial geology of that state. He worked for
240-642: Was considered "an honest, very competent geologist" (Thrapp, 1990). Among the many investigations that Winchell published during the forty-five years of his active work as a scientist, author, and editor, the most widely influential was his study and estimates of the rate of recession of the St. Anthony Falls, cutting the Mississippi river gorge from Fort Snelling to the present site of the falls in Minneapolis. This investigation, first published in 1876, gave about 8,000 years as
256-724: Was published by the Minnesota Historical Society in 2001. He was a member of the Geological Society of America , the Boston Society of Natural History , and the Archaeological Society of America . Warren Upham died in Saint Paul, Minnesota on January 29, 1934. Newton Horace Winchell Newton Horace Winchell (17 December 1839 – 2 May 1914) was an American geologist chiefly notable for his six-volume work The Geology of Minnesota: Final Report of
#685314