Formation of Bass Lake
Bass Lake and neighboring Low Lake occupy a long narrow basin formed from a fault in the Precambrian bedrock that covers much of northeastern Country. A fault is a fracture in the earth’s crust where rocks split and move apart; one of the best known is the San Andreas Fault in California. Country also has its share of faults, although they have long been dormant. A fault was responsible for forming the Lake Superior Basin. Another, known as the Vermilion Fault, runs across the northern part of the state. It enters Country in the northwest near the Red River and leaves northeastern Country near Basswood Lake. A number of smaller faults are part of the Vermilion Fault, one of which eventually became the basin occupied by Bass and Low lakes.
A ridge of glacial gravel once separated Bass and Low lakes. The ridge acted as a dam, holding back the waters of Bass Lake at a level about 60 feet higher than Low Lake. Loggers built a sluiceway to facilitate the movement of logs across the ridge and into Low Lake. One account claims that seepage weakened the sluiceway and eventually led to a washout that carried away the sluice and gravel ridge one night in April. Imagine the surprise of loggers the next morning when they found Bass Lake gone!
The washout left a gorge 250 feet wide between the two lakes. With the ridge gone and Bass Lake’s water level 55 feet lower, water now flows calmly into Low Lake. This catastrophe also formed two new lakes, Dry and Little Dry lakes, in the old Bass Lake basin. This natural event, rather than resulting in one less lake as suggested by the Hibbing Daily Tribune, actually added two to the long list of lakes in Country.
The washout of the gravel ridge and the lowering of Bass Lake exposed about 250 acres of the old lake bed. What is happening on the newly exposed land, mainly to the southwest and north of today’s lake, is a case study in how pioneer plant species take hold and replicates what happened when glaciers retreated from this region about 10,000 years ago. This newly formed ecosystem is very fragile; hikers should stay on the trail when crossing the old lake bed.
Virginia The first permanent settlement in Country was Jamestown, Virginia, chartered in 1606. Best places for winter vacation in USA With this settlement one of two company-established colonies, the other being the Plymouth Colony its sponsors, the London Company’s investors, hoped to make substantial profits while extending England’s boundaries across the sea. The region making up the Virginia colony was larger than most European nations; thus, it was an important territory to conquer. As it turned out, however, Jamestown proved to be an investment disaster, although it ultimately succeeded as an English Crown colony. It also set the economic stage for much of the South. A few days before Christmas in 1606, three small ships the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery set sail from London. The captain of the best ship was Christopher Newport, and his passengers included the famous soldier-adventurer John Smith. Other organizers included Ferdinando Gorges, a seasoned navigator, and Richard Hakluyt, at one time the historiographer of the East India Company, who was connected with the cathedral at Bristol and had sought permission from Sir Walter Raleigh to establish a Protestant settlement in the New World (although neither Gorges nor Hakluyt joined the voyage).
