Narrow terraces in the Town of Passumpsic expand and form a basin. The fourth terrace on the west side of the river is part of the next basin, which is in St. Johnsbury and Lyndon. St. Johnsbury Village is on this high terrace which is called "St. Johnsbury Plain". The base of the terraces at St. Johnsbury is composed of clay. The same terrace occurs on both sides of the river valley beyond Lyndon. There are lower terraces at intervals. Lyndonville has a high terrace. This may have once extended across the valley to form the end of a basin. Its lower strata are clayey, and are folded and curved. West of this terrace the level is lower. There is the course of a former river bed which ran towards the east. At the upper village of Lyndon the first terrace is about wide. There is a lot of sand and fine gravel adjoining. Every stream from either side of the valley has its large terraces to correspond with those of the Passumpsic River. It is a characteristic of these terraces that they are large while their quantity is small. The count never exceeds five which is unusual. The third basin includes the east branch of the Passumpsic River which runs through the Town of Burke. In East Burke there are several terraces. Near the village there are four on the west side, and two on the east side. Above East Burke the valley rises so that its bottom appears like a terrace. Its steep slope crosses the valley at right angles. There are indistinct terraces on its sides. Since the valley seems to be too wide to correspond with the size of the river, the valley may have been formed by water from unknown sources in prehistoric times. Hydroelectric power The Passumpsic River sustains several dams that produce hydroelectric power for the region. Central Vermont Public Service (CVPS), operates the Passumpsic, Pierce Mills, Arnold Falls, and Gage dams. Great Falls Dam and Vail Dam are locally owned by the town of Lyndonville, VT. In 2006, the Passumpsic Valley Land Trust was given a grant by the federal government to remove the East Burke Dam from the eastern branch of the Passumpsic. History Major Rogers led his rangers to the mouth of the Passumpsic on their retreat from the attack on the Abenaki Indians at St. Francis, Quebec in 1759.