A twentieth century history and biographical record of Elkhart County, Indiana, Part 2

Author: Deahl, Anthony, 1861-1927, ed
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Publ. Co.
Number of Pages: 1044

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On the whole, in giving definite shape to the surface of Elkhart county, nature employed her smoothing plane more often than her chisel. With many small lakes and numerous water courses, the landscape escapes the monotony of a level plain, and yet the undulations are gentle and picturesquely graceful ; as though the creative forces, as they passed over this region, were not blustering and tempestuous, but persuasive and peaceful. Interesting as the geologic history of this county might be, only enough space may be here allotted to the subject to throw some light on the configurations of landscape which are most evident to the ordinary observer.

Elkhart county, in common with Indiana's three northern tiers of counties, is of glacial origin. There was a time when nearly the whole of this North American continent, at this longitude nearly as far south as the Ohio river, was one vast region of ice fields. Huge glaciers were formed in the north by the melting and compacting of snows. The glaciers filled the spaces between the mountains and hills, the ice melted at the bottoms and sides and lubricated the track, and gravity slowly pushed the great masses of ice southward. On the way great rocks were broken off and rounded by the steady grinding, soil

HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY

was gouged out and tumbled over upon the ice, and a vast mass of material was added to the sides of the glacier. The material thus formed is called a moraine. Sometimes two glaciers moved out of their valleys and united; and then, of course, in the larger glacier thus formed there was a large mass of material in the center as well as at the sides. Slowly the glacier made its way southward until finally there came a change and it melted. While its accumulated matters and sub- stances were being deposited, and the water was running down over them, there was a segregation or sifting of materials. The finest and softest were filtered through the rest and formed beds of clay, and wher- ever a huge piece of ice made a dent in the clay, like the fist in a piece of putty, there the ice melted and left an inland lake. Other material which was coarser and harder was washed together and formed beds of sand. There were gravel outwashes formed of stony materials rounded off and reduced to greater or less fineness by the grinding and washing of ages. Elkhart county is covered with this glacial drift. The great Valparaiso moraine, extending in a more or less northwest- erly direction, and several miles in width, crosses the southwestern part of the county (its course being readily observed between Nappa- nee and Wakarusa), and the crest of this is the dividing line of the watershed between the north and the south. Owing to this feature of the topography, nearly all the drainage of the county is into the great lakes, via the St. Joseph river, while a small division of land about Nap- panee drains into the Kankakce and thence into the Mississippi river. It is said that one street of Nappanee forms the dividing line between the waters which flow into Turkey creek and those which go south into the Kankakee. Such are some of the vagaries which nature has com- mitted in her evolution of this earth into a mortal dwelling place. Sci- entists claim that at some distant age all the waters of Lake Michigan flowed off into the Mississippi river; then, at a later period, came the immense glaciers, throwing up a barrier for the stoppage of the south- ern outlet and turning the lakes eastward and up the St. Lawrence. Thus does the modern science of geology

"Find tongues in trees, books in running brooks, Sermons in stones, and good in everything."

In Volume XXV of the Indiana Geologic Reports, we find the fol- lowing statement: "In common with all the counties in which lakes occur, the surface of Elkhart county is wholly covered with drift, the

HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY

thickness known at three points: Elkhart, Goshen and New Paris, 122, 162, 90 feet, respectively." Some years ago a well was sunk at Elk- hart to a depth of one hundred and twenty-five feet, with hope of secur- ing an artesian flow, but the drill coming in contact with boulders, further drilling discontinued. The material passed through for the first twenty-five feet was gravel, and all the succeeding one hundred feet was "hard-pan. " or indurated glacial clay with occasional thin strata of quicksand. Continuing, the above report says, " The surface of this drift is more level than in counties to the east and south, an area of about two hundred square miles in the northwest and southeast parts being of extensive gravel plains. The uplands consist of till plains, with an area of 125 square miles in the southwestern part of the county, and of morainic belts, more broken, in the south and west parts. The elevation in feet above tide of some railroad stations is: Bristol, 783; Dunlaps, 747: Elkhart, 725-755: Goshen, 796; Millersburg, 885; New Paris, 813: Vistula, 808. The gravel plains in general are below 800 feet level. uplands mainly between 800 and 900 feet. and several above 900." The surface of Lake Michigan is reckoned as six hundred feet above ocean level, from which it is seen that certain points in this county are from two hundred to three hundred feet higher than the lake.

Of this glacial drift, covering the county at such varying depths, a comparatively very thin layer at the surface has, by the well known processes of nature which are continually taking place before our eyes, been transformed into "soil," from which the animal and vegetable kingdoms have for centuries drawn their sustenance. In few counties of the state could there be found greater diversity of soil than in Elk- hart county: often a restricted area of a few square miles will contain several varieties of land, adapted to various agricultural products. Thus it is impossible to classify, otherwise than roughly, the different qualities of land and their extent. But an attempt at classification would result nearly in the following: Sandy soil, timber loam, prairie loam and some vegetable loam. The first named prevails most generally in the northeastern quarter of the county, in Washington and York townships. It will not produce wheat as abundantly as other kinds of soil, though the quality of what is produced is excellent. But it is warm, and espe- cially adapted to the production of the potato and of fruits, especially small fruits. In some places on the hills the soil is a strong clay. The timber loam, which prevails over a large part of the central and south-

HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY

ern areas of the county, is of great depth and richness, and has fully rewarded with abundant harvests those who have persevered in clear- ing it and subdning the natural obstacles to cultivation. The prairie loam, peculiar to the prairie belts, which formed only a minor portion of the county originally, may be described as a sandy loam resting on a subsoil of gravel and sand with some clay, and is exceedingly pro- ductive. It is well adapted to raising all sorts of cereals as well as horticultural products. What has been termed the vegetable mold is found in more restricted areas in this county than in some other dis- tricts of northern Indiana. It is composed of decayed vegetable matter. formed in extinct lakes and marshes, being in fact a peat bed, and where not cultivated is covered with a rank growth of marsh grass and flowering plants. By drainage and proper treatment it is rendered ex- ceedingly fertile.

Discussing these aspects of the county, a state report says: " \ part, perhaps a third. of the surface of the county at the time of first settlement was covered with a growth of very large trees and a dense undergrowth of bushes and shrubs; the remainder is mostly "burr-oak openings" and prairie, while a small per cent is covered with peat bogs, lakes and marshes. The soil of the "openings" is a sandy loam, with clay subsoil, and highly esteemed for its large yield of wheat and grass ; after years of successive croppings this is promptly restored to its origi- nal productiveness by turning under a crop of clover." The strong clay soil of woodland is very productive, especially of corn and grasses. The black, peaty loam of prairies and drained swamps is famous for corn and grass, except during seasons of long drought.

The report of state geologist in 1904, relating specifically to the clays of Elkhart county, indicates some features of the earth's surface.

"The wells sunk in the vicinity of Elkhart," says the report. "pene- trate a thick stratum of blue clay and obtain water in a coarse gravel near the bottom of the drift At Goshen a stratum of blue clay nineteen feet in thickness underlies a two to five foot layer of surface sand. In the southwestern part of the county the surface yellow clay runs six to ten feet thick, below which is sand or gravel and then a thick stratum of blue clay.

"Along the St. Joseph river west of Elkhart are found extensive deposits of plastic blue-gray marly clay. At the Jolin C. Boss yard, three miles west of Elkhart, this clay occurs eighteen to ninety feet in thickness beneath six to eight feet of sand and gravel. It is here

HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY

used extensively for the making of light colored building brick. The upper four feet of the elay has been used in recent years as a slip clay for glazing stoneware. At Goshen two yards are making soft mud red brick from a 'tough yellow surface clay.' The latter runs eighteen or more feet in thickness, but only the upper two to six feet can be used on account of lime pebbles. Mr. Geo. Bemenderfer, owner of one of the Goshen yards, writes: "\ well on our yard, two miles north of Goshen, shows the following section :

I. Soil, one foot.

2. Tough yellow clay, eighteen feet.

3. Sand, six feet.

4. Blue clay, twenty + feet.' "

Elkhart county is fitly described as having a rolling surface. It was therefore with admiration and delight that the pioneer, having struggled through many miles of forest and crossing over numerous swells of land from one high horizon crest to another, viewed such a beautiful level expanse as Elkhart Prairie presented. AAnd then also there were Pleasant Plain, a little oasis south of the present city of Elk- hart, and Two-Mile Plain, directly east of the same city and extending along the course of the St. Joseph. The prairies were eagerly sought by the early settlers, who all concurred in describing these virgin spots as of surpassing loveliness, the ground being covered with thrifty and luxuriant grasses and embellished with flowers of every hue.

But apart from these few level areas the country in all directions rose and fell in gentle undulations, as though at the crisis of its forma- tion the earth had been rolling in long, smooth billows, and then had been suddenly stayed by the hand of the Creator and hardened and fixed in the manner which all the races of mankind have beheld it. In the northeastern part of the county, following on the south side of the Little Elkhart. nature has left a monument of her original efforts more conspicuous than the ordinary. This is the picturesque ridge, or range of hills, which forms the most prominent feature of the landscape, in this part of the county, forming the barrier between the drainage areas of the Big and Little Elkhart streams. This ridge forms one of the highest points in the county. From the highest point overlooking the vil- lage of Middlebury the view extends for many miles, and on a clear day, and when the line of vision is not hindered by foliage, the town of White Pigeon in Michigan may be clearly seen. This ridge is, no doubt, one of the great moraines left from the glacial period. To the south and

HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY

southwest of this landscapic configuration nature seems to have mod- eled the county without a view to boldness, until one reaches the valley made by the meandering Turkey creek. Here again the hills come out with a relief which is by no means lacking in beauty and natural charm and that enchantment so inseparable from distance of perspective. The eye of the artist and nature-lover would find many scenes within the borders of this county to refresh and stimulate the imagination, and it is not strange that a much-traveled and wide-experienced pioneer such as Col. John Jackson should have been attracted to this county, not alone for its fertility and adaptability as a permanent abode but also by the many natural beauties which the landscape possessed in his time not less than in our own.

The topography of Elkhart county presents several natural divis- ions formed by its larger water courses. Practically the entire county is the valley of the rapid-flowing St. Joseph river. But from the northeast corner to the southwest may be discerned three distinct basins, two of them formed by tributaries of the St. Joseph and one by the Kankakee. The valley of the Little Elkhart seems as distinctly parti- tioned off from the rest of the county as though nature had intended it to be the abode of a different people. But civil boundaries and modern geography-makers disregard such seeming intents of nature, and civili- zation in its progress overrides and breaks down every barrier not only between such adjacent localities but also between most dissundered na- tions and races. Nevertheless, and notwithstanding that the railroad has burrowed its way over and through the enclosing ridges, this beau- tiful and fertile region along the Little Elkhart retains its own individ- uality in the topographic outlines of Elkhart county. The division of the county comprising the area drained by the Elkhart river and its principal tributary, Turkey creek, is much more extensive, reaching from the prominent ridge southeast of Bristol to the great Valparaiso moraine which we have already described as forming the crest between the water sheds of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi. Then there is the very small division of the county in the southwest corner whose waters are banished by decree of nature from ever flowing to the north and into the lakes and which must finally mingle with the Gulf stream.

Besides the inviting agricultural regions which spread out before the early settlers, there were other equally attractive natural resources which only awaited the directing hand of ingenious man to become the motive power behind immense industries. The waters of Elkhart county

HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY

form no inconspicuous feature in the development and progress of the county, and their influence and usefulness are adverted to elsewhere in this volume. The largest stream in the county is the St. Joseph river, which enters from Michigan about six miles west of the northeast cor- ner of the county and flows. southwesterly, into St. Joseph county. Its principal tributaries are the Elkhart, Little Elkhart and Christiana rivers, and these with many other smaller streams and lakes water every part of the county's surface. The fall of the streams is such that liy- draulic power has been easy to obtain in many places, resulting in the building of mills and factories from the years of pioneer history to the present time. Turkey creek is a considerable stream, and, now that its channel has been straightened by dredging, carries off the drainage of a large area in a current almost as rapid as a mill race. Historic through its surroundings and the advantages it has conferred, is Rock Run, the small but beautiful streamlet that joins the Elkhart west of Goshen. Rock Run afforded power for one of the earliest mills in the county, and along its banks are still located numerous industries.

On account of the circumstances of their origin as well as their present condition, the lakes of Elkhart county are among the most inter- esting subjects that can be included in this brief nature study of the county. Their origin, flora, fauna, deposits, and the causes of their diminution are known to comparatively few. Yet some of them are of charming beauty and are fruitful subjects for study. Says an emi- nent authority : "The lakes of northern Indiana are the brightest gems in the corona of the state. They are the most beautiful and expressive features of the landscape in the region where they abound." Says State Geologist Blatchley, "The original bottom of these is composed of an impervious clay or mixture of clay and gravel, which is probably no- where less than one hundred feet in thickness."

There is no evidence that these lakes were ever a part of the great lakes. When the ancient glaciers melted and retreated, many low basins were left which might have become lakes, but their bottoms were com- posed of sand, gravel or other porous material, and they would not hold the water. Many a huge piece of glacier lay bedded in the clay, and when it melted the water remained where it was, and forms the lake of to-day. Other lakes were formed by the washing of the great streams as they poured down from the melting glaciers. These streams washed out channels in the clay and dammed themselves up therein. and have remained until the present time. After the drift material had

HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY

been deposited and settled and the lake was formed, surface water from the surrounding hills flowed down into the lake: and water from the subterranean veins, following the course of least resistance, broke through the clay bottom from below and fed the lake by springs, and in these two ways the loss of evaporation was counterveiled.

A brief examination is all that is necessary to convince one that this description as to origin applies to the lakes of Elkhart county. With only one or two exceptions these lakes are "dead" lakes-that is, they are without natural outlet. In fact the difficulties which would be en- countered in draining some of these natural ponds are insurmountable in consideration of the value derived from the operation. The waters. ages ago, were dammed in on all sides by ridges of earth, and, isolated there, have remained to the present age or long since have died through evaporation. For these lakes were born to die, and began to die as soon as born. The surface water from the surrounding hills, and the fountains from below, deposited in the lakes other material than water. Aquatic plants began to grow and decay on the bottom and fill the lake with muck, and this is the most important cause of the extinction of the moraine lakes. The muck beds are usually found on the south and west shores of the basins of the lakes. There the waters are least disturbed by wave action. Muck also forms quickly in the bays and channels for the same reason. In the words of Dr. Dryer, in his studies in Indiana Geography, "The lakes are literally being filled with solidi- fied air : the great bulk of the solid material which composes the plants being absorbed from the gaseous ocean above, and consigned to the watery depths below." All green plants, whether aquatic or terrestrial, are continually absorbing carbon and building it into their own tissues. On this account many lakes in the county have already become extinct and are now merely beds of muck. And as the water recedes more and more into the center, exposing the muck soil to be dried by the sun and wind, the enterprise of the agriculturist at once takes possession of the new land and plants corn and other crops on the bed of the former lake.

The largest of these inland lakes are in Osolo township. Simonton lake is several miles north of Elkhart, is about a mile and a half long from east to west, and half a mile wide. Nearby is the cultivated bed of what was once "Mud" lake, which has been drained. A ridge sepa- rates this lake bed from Cooley lake, which also is approaching extinc- tion. Heaton lake is another well known body of water in this town-

HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY

ship. Northeast of Goshen are several small lakes. Wolf lake being especially picturesque by reason of its mirror-like surface and dense sur- rounding foliage. In Harrison township, east of Wakarusa, is an ex- cellent example of a lake in the general features which have been de- scribed. Here we see as it were a deep basin set in the ground to a depth of perhaps a hundred feet below the general surface; shut in on all sides, and draining only a limited area of country; without visible outlet, covered in summer by rank aquatic growth, and, though by al- most imperceptible degrees, gradually disappearing into the soil and air. The bog and water have been penetrated to a depth of seventy- five feet, but the unstable muck in places seems without ascertainable depth. When the Wabash railroad was built through this part of the county the line had to be deflected to the south of the first survey be- cause no piling let down into the quagmire could reach a firm bottom and consequently no trestle be constructed of sufficient strength to up- hold a heavy train.

There are many other phases of Mother Nature which might be studied with profit as they are found in Elkhart county; but the true lover of nature will find and observe them without the aid of this chap- ter. which is necessarily only suggestive and can by no means exhaust the great treasury of natural life which is all around the inhabitants of this county. Of never-failing interest are the mound springs about Wakarusa. In these the water bubbles up from the ground, and from the long-continued precipitation of bog iron about the opening has arisen a mound, from the top of which the water has channeled a course. There are several springs of mineral water in various parts of the county. The State Geologic Report of 1901-02 speaks of the Lam- bert mineral well of saline-carbonated water in the south part of Elk- hart. The well was started some years ago in search of oil or gas. At two hundred and ninety feet below the surface a strong vein of mineral water was found, which arose to within ten feet of the top. This wa- ter is strongly impregnated with common salt and when pumped has a temperature of 54 degrees. It is very clear and sparkles with car- bonic acid gas which it holds in solution. It is without odor and has a salty but not disagreeable taste.

Hopes have always been entertained that oil or gas might be found in this county, but the discoveries up to date do not justify including gas and oil wells among the natural industries of the county. In the vicinity of Wakarusa much prospecting has been done. In 1902 a

HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY

bore was made to a depth of 1,200 feet, and a day or so after the drill- ing had ceased the hole was found to contain about thirty barrels of crude oil. Many bottles of this fluid were carried away by the citizens and several bottles may be found in the town to-day. The St. Joseph Valley Gas, Oil and Mining Company exploited the discovery, leasing about two thousand acres of land and issuing stock, but nothing has ever come of the enterprise, and the chief evidence of the agitation may be found in the old derrick, a few bottles of oil and some worthless stock certificates. There may be oil and even gas in this county, but it has not been demonstrated to be present in sufficient quantities to pay from a commercial standpoint.

Such are some of the natural aspects of the region which we know as Elkhart county, one of the brightest stars in that galaxy of counties which constitute the state of Indiana. And in the main we can touch only upon those features which characterize the county of to- day: the etchings that time and man have wrought upon this part of the world are reserved for other chapters, and few indeed can realize what this county was, as, fifty years hence, few can picture what our surroundings are now. Change is the law of nature, but the law of compensation is not less universal. The great forests which our fore- fathers knew have gone, but we have fertile fields in their stead; and when the lakes are gone and the multiple other forms of nature are touched by the transmuting hand of time and disappear or change en- tirely, there will be compensation in some form, though we cannot tell what. The streams will still seek their level, the prairies will still stretch away in undulations, beautiful groves will still dot the meadows, the birds will sing, the flowers will bloom, and " while the earth remaineth. seedtime and harvest. cold and heat, and summer and winter and day and night shall not cease."

HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY

CHAPTER II. ORIGINAL INHABITANTS.

Lo! the big thunder canoe, that steadily breasts the Missouri's Merciless current ! and yonder, afar on the prairies, the camp fires break. Gleam through the night: and the cloud of dust in the grey of the day Marks not the buffalo's track, nor the Mandan's dexterous horse race ; It is a caravan, whitening the desert where dwell the Comanches ! Ha! how the breath of these Saxons and Celts, like the blast of the east wind, Drifts evermore to the west the scanty smokes of thy wigwams! -LONGFELLOW.

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of Elkhart County, Indiana, Part 2

Author: Deahl, Anthony, 1861-1927, ed Publication date: 1905 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Publ. Co. Number of Pages: 1044

Author: Deahl, Anthony, 1861-1927, ed
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Publ. Co.
Number of Pages: 1044