Geology

Information of the origins and meanings of names was received from the "Illustrated Album of Biography of Pope and Stevens Counties," 1888, having pages 145-364 for Pope county; and from Ole Irgens, county auditor, Casper T. Wollan, a pioneer merchant, and his brother, M. A. Wollan, president of the Pope County State Bank, each of Glenwood, the county seat, interviewed during a visit there in May, 1916.

LAKES AND STREAMS.

Excepting its eastern border, this county is drained by the Chippewa river, which is fully noticed, for the origin of its name, in the chapter of Chippewa county. Its tributaries in Pope county are the Little Chippewa river, Outlet creek, which flows from Lake Minnewaska and through Lake Emily, and the East branch, from which Chippewa Falls and Rolling Forks townships are named, flowing into Swift county.

Signalness creek, tributary to Outlet creek from the north side of the Blue mounds, and a small lake crossed by the south line of section 14 in Blue Mounds township, were named in honor of Olaus Signalness, a pioneer farmer in the northwest quarter of that section. He was born in Norway, November 12, 1851; came to the United States in 1864, with his parents, who settled in Wisconsin; and in 1869 they removed to this county, being the first settlers in this township.

Mud creek flows from Lake Johanna township southwestward to the East branch.

Grove lake, having a grove beside it, which gives its name to a township, and McCloud lake, closely adjoining its west end, are at the head of the North fork of Crow river, flowing east into Stearns county. These lakes were on the route of Woods and Pope, for the latter of whom this county is named, in the expedition to the Red river in 1849, and their party camped here during a week, from June 27 to July 3; but they were then named Lightning lakes, referring to a severe thunderstorm, with "a stroke of lightning, which tore in pieces one of the tents, and prostrated nearly all the persons who were in the camp.,, The name of the Lightning lakes, however, although clearly shown by Pope's journal to belong to the Grove and McCloud lakes, has been transferred to two other lakes much farther west on their course, in Grant county and southwestern Otter Tail county.

Westport lake, in the township of this name, is the source of Ashley creek, which flows into Stearns county and is a tributary of Sauk river.
The other lakes of Pope county, including many named for pioneer settlers, are noted as follows, in the order of the townships from south to north, and of the ranges from east to west.

Lake Johanna township, with the large lake of this name, has several of small size not yet named on published maps.

Gilchrist township has Lakes Gilchrist, Linka, Nilson, and Johnson, Scandinavian lake, and Goose and Simon lakes. Lake Linka was named in honor of the wife of Rev. Peter S. Reque, a Lutheran pastor.

Rolling Forks township has Lakes Hanson, Helge, Anderson and Rasmusson. The first named, which is the largest, was formerly called Woodpecker lake.

Langhei has Lake Benson and Swan lake.

Hoff, the most southwestern township, and Bangor, the most eastern of the townships numbered 124, have no lakes.

Chippewa Falls township has Round lake and Lakes Swenoda and Anderson. The second is a composite name, for its adjoining Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish settlers; and Swenoda township, 25 miles distant to the southwest, in Swift county, was named in the same way.

Barsness has Lakes Stenerson, Gilbertson, Ben, Mary, Celia, Nelson, and Edwards.

Lake Emily, on Outlet creek in Blue Mounds and Walden townships, quite surely commemorates the wife or daughter of a pioneer; but her surname, as for other feminine names of lakes in this county, remains to be ascertained for a more definite historical record.

Grove Lake township, beginning the tier numbered 125, has Lake Lincoln and Mud lake, with Grove and McCloud lakes, which earlier had been named Lightning lakes, as before noted.

Lake Alice is mainly in section 12, Glenwood, and Camp lake is crossed by the west line of its sections 30 and 31.

Minnewaska township, with its large and beautiful lake of this name, has also Pelican lake.

White Bear Lake township has Lake Malmedard, crossed by its north line, named for Christian Malmedard, a pioneer Norwegian farmer there; and several smaller lakes are mapped without names.

On the west line of New Prairie township are Lakes Charlotte and Cyrus, the latter being close southwest of Cyrus village.

In Westport, the most northeastern township, Westport lake, as before mentioned, is connected southward by a strait with the wider Swan lake.

Leven has a series of four lakes, the most southern being Lake Amelia, the source of the East branch of the Chippewa river; Lake Villard, next northward, adjoining the village of this name; and Lakes Leven and Ellen. Rice lake, close west of Lake Villard, is named for its wild rice.

In Reno township, with its lake so named, are Lakes Ann and John, Mud lake, crossed by its north boundary, and a dozen unnamed lakelets.

Ben Wade township has Lake Jorgenson, but its six other small lakes are nameless on maps.

Nora, the most northwestern township, has Pike lake, named by Woods and Pope in 1849 for many pike fish caught there; and in this township are also ten lakelets that have no names.

HILLS .

The Blue mounds, before mentioned for the township named for them, are overtopped by the great highland of Langhei, also before noted in the list of townships. The very massive Langhei hill and the deep basin and high bluffs of Lake Minnewaska are undoubtedly due to the contour of the bedrocks, though no outcrop of them is seen because of their concealment under the glacial drift.

The above was contributed fro the works of Keith Gulsvig, noted Pope County Civil War Historian, Formerly of Glenwood.