Leaf Hills Moraines

("Gaaskibag-wajiw"), the highest hill of this hill range.

Description

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. In most regions these hills would not be considered mountains, but in generally flat Minnesota they are significant and unique features of the landscape, much more notable than in a really mountainous area.

Geology

The hills are formed by the convergence of the eighth and ninth marginal moraines formed by 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 convert|350|ft|m|0 thick, overlain with thin sandy soil as well as rocks and boulders.cite book | last = Sansome | first = Constance Jefferson | title = Minnesota Underfoot: A Field Guide to the State's Outstanding Geologic Features | publisher = Voyageur Press | date = 1983 | location = Stillwater, MN | pages = 142-43 | isbn = 0 8965 8036 9]

Landforms

The hills' outline is not regular, but erratic, and in many places the range 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.

History

Paleoindians lived in the area at least 6,000 years ago, and perhaps longer, as earlier remains have been found in the general vicinity.cite book | last = Ojakangas | first = Richard W. | authorlink = | coauthors = Charles L. Matsch | title = Minnesota's Geology | publisher = University of Minnesota Press | date = 1982 | location = Minneapolis | pages = 109-10; 211-21| id = ISBN 0-8166-0953-5 ] [cite book |last = Anfinson | first = Scott F. | title = Southwestern Minnesota Archaeology: 12,000 years in the Prairie Lakes Region | publisher = Minnesota Historical Society | date = 1997 | location = Saint Paul | pages = 30-32 | id = ISBN 0-8735-1355-X ] Artifacts from both the "Prairie" and Woodland cultures have been found; most items date from a period starting 900 to 1200 years ago.cite web | title = Park Info | work = Maplewood State Park | publisher = Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | date = 2007 | url = http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/maplewood/narrative.html | accessdate = 2007-09-09 ] In more recent times, the region was held by the Dakota until they were displaced by the Ojibwa in the Eighteenth Century.Citation | last = Breining | first = Greg | last2 = Watson | first2 = Linda | title = A Gathering of Waters | place= Saint Paul, MN | publisher = Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | year = 1977 |pages = 36 | id = Library of Congress Catalog Card # 77-86456 | isbn = ]

Also in the Eighteenth Century, 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.cite book | last = Gilman | first = Rhoda R. | coauthors = Carolyn Gilman & Deborah M. Stultz | year = 1979 | title = The Red River Trails: Oxcart Routes Between St. Paul and the Selkirk Settlement, 1820-1870 | publisher = Minnesota Historical Society Press | location = St. Paul | pages = 61-62, 71-73 | id = ISBN 0-8735-1133-6 ] 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, 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.

References