USA > Indiana > Washington County > Biographical and historical souvenir for the counties of Clark, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Jefferson, Jennings, Scott, and Washington, Indiana > Part 5
USA > Indiana > Harrison County > Biographical and historical souvenir for the counties of Clark, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Jefferson, Jennings, Scott, and Washington, Indiana > Part 5
USA > Indiana > Crawford County > Biographical and historical souvenir for the counties of Clark, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Jefferson, Jennings, Scott, and Washington, Indiana > Part 5
USA > Indiana > Clark County > Biographical and historical souvenir for the counties of Clark, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Jefferson, Jennings, Scott, and Washington, Indiana > Part 5
USA > Indiana > Scott County > Biographical and historical souvenir for the counties of Clark, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Jefferson, Jennings, Scott, and Washington, Indiana > Part 5
USA > Indiana > Floyd County > Biographical and historical souvenir for the counties of Clark, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Jefferson, Jennings, Scott, and Washington, Indiana > Part 5
USA > Indiana > Jennings County > Biographical and historical souvenir for the counties of Clark, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Jefferson, Jennings, Scott, and Washington, Indiana > Part 5
USA > Indiana > Jefferson County > Biographical and historical souvenir for the counties of Clark, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Jefferson, Jennings, Scott, and Washington, Indiana > Part 5
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The ship yard here stands pre-emi- nent with all river men, and more boats are built here than at any other point upon the Ohio or any other river between Pittsburg and New Orleans, and they rank among the finest and best steamers that navigate the west- ern waters.
Steamboat building has been a
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HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.
prominent business in Jeffersonville from its earliest history.
The high river bank, the deep water and the immense forests of the very best timber in the country near by, all afforded facilities for boat building that made it profitable to the builders.
Besides these are large flonring mills, large manufacturing interests connected with the State Prison South, which is located here; two foundries doing a large business, especially that of Sweeney & Bros. extensive coopering establishment.
The manufacture of hydraulic ce- ment, in the vicinity of Jeffersonville, has become a business of great mag- nitude.
There are five companies in active operation, with an aggregate capacity of 120 car-loads, or 8,000 to 10,000 barrels per day. These mills afford employment for over 2,500 men per day, employed in the quarries in get- ting out the stone and transporting it to the mills, manufacturing and hand- ling, in delivering it to the railroads for shipment. The supply of the material is practically inexhaustible.
As a location for manufacturing plants, Jeffersonville could not well be improved. The facilities for trans- portation of the raw materialto or the finished article from here, cannot be surpassed anywhere. With steam- boat transportation on the Ohio river, which lasts the year around, we have railroad transportation in every di- rection, railroads radiating from Jeffer- sonville on the north bank and from
Louisville on the south bank of the beautiful Ohio, like the spokes of a wagon wheel from its hub. With such facilities for transportation it will readily be inferred that raw material for manufactures, whether of wood or iron or textiles, can be had as cheap here as at any other point in the West or Southwest, and this is the great de- sideratum in manufacturing centers.
Beside the excellent facilities now afforded the citizens for crossing over to Louisville every fifteen minutes by the elegant steamers of the Louisville and Jeffersonville Ferry Company, they will in all probability, at an early day, have a bridge spanning the river from Jeffersonville to Louisville with street cars running every few minutes between the two cities. These are some of the promises which Jeffersonville holds out to those seek- ing a location for business investments. They at least are worth considering by all who are seeking locations. But as it has been wisely said that man shall not live by bread alone, and men, in seeking a location for business, also seek for a home, where the highest and purest social relations can be established, with religious influences around them and where the best edu- cational facilities for their children can be had. All these can be had in Jeffersonville. Beside their churches of all denominations, the people boast and with good reason they think, that they have a good system of schools, exceeded by no others in the State.
CRAWFORD COUNTY.
(BY JNO. H. WEATHERS.) 1334570
C RAWFORD County is one of the smallest counties in the sisterhood. Its people have never been very great, "have never risen high to fall," but they have been proverbially loyal and brave. From her borders have gone forth statesmen pure and polished, soldiers heroic and brave. In the last twelve months she has been given an unenviable notoriety by the exag- gerated newspaper reports of what is known as "White Caps." True, as all counties have, she had some law- less men who through their unusual departure from the ordinary path of crime attracted some attention. But let us here remark that it was only the very few who even knew of the or- ganization, the vast majority condemn- ed the course in the severest terms, and glad they are that the last gad has been laid aside and that the of- fended law is dealing with the out- laws as they deserve. "White Cap- pery" is dead in Crawford county and may her fair name never again be smirched by anything so damning.
Crawford county lies on the Ohio river nearly midway from east to west where the "La Belle Riviere" makes
that grand sweeping circle called Horse Shoe Bend. It has a river border of twenty-four miles ; Harrison county on the east, Washington and Orange counties on the north, Dubois and Perry counties on the west. Big Blue river forms the eastern boundary except for a short distance. The Gen- eral Assembly on Feb. 10th, 1831, es- tablished the permanent boundary of the county as follows: "That all the district of country included within the following boundaries shall form and constitute the county of Crawford, to-wit: Beginning on the Ohio river at the mouth of Big Blue river, thence up the same with the meanders there- of until it strikes the line dividing sections twenty-six and twenty-seven, in the township three south and range two east, thence north with said sec- tional line until it strikes Big Blue river, with the ineanders thereof until it strikes the line of Harrison and Washington counties; thence west with said line to the corner of Wash- ington county; thence south to the east and west sectional line dividing sections twenty-nine and thirty-two in township one south of range two east;
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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.
thence west with said sectional line to the line dividing range two and three west ; thence south with said range line nine miles to an east and west line, four miles north of the line divid- ing townships three and four south ; thence east six miles; thence south four miles: thence east six miles to the meridian line ; thence south with the meridian line to the Ohio river: thence up the same with the meanders thereof to the mouth of Big Blue river, the place of beginning." The superficial area of the county is three hundred and four square miles, com- prising one hundred and ninety-four thousand five hundred and sixty acres. Population in 1860 was eight thou- sand two hundred and twenty-six; in 1870, nine thousand eight hundred and fifty-one; in 1880, twelve thou- sand three hundred and fifty-six: in 1889 (estimated ) fifteen thousand one hundred and ninety.
The surface of the county is broken and hilly. The soil in the river and creek bottoms is very fertile, while that on the hills is thinner, more adapted to pasturage and raising of fruit. The eastern half of the county is situated in the limestone belt with red clay subsoil, making excellent wheat land. Crawford county was originally one of the best timbered counties in the State. Heavy forests of walmt, poplar, ash, hickory, oak and beech stood thick upon the ground. Nearly all of the wahint and poplar has been manufactured, but the oak timber is still plentiful and is a source of con-
siderable revenue to the people. There are still many fine groves of sugar and maple trees from which large quan- tities of maple sugar are manufactured. The bluffs of the Ohio river are gener- ally steep or precipitous, rising three hundred to five hundred feet above the bottom lands. The rocky expos- ures in this county belong to the car- boniferous age and comprise the lower or conglomerate member of the coal measures and the Chester and St. Louis groups of the sub-carboniferous period. Borings and deep wells cut through the Keokuk and Knobstone groups and have pierced the black slate or upper member of the Devon- ian formation. The recent geology shows the energetic erosive denuding agencies at work since the surface was first elevated as a great, nearly level plain, above the surface of the Paleo- zoic sea. A little north of the center and especially in the vicinity and east of Mount Prospect, and thence in the direction of Pilot Knob the Kaskaskia is the only limestone present; the other limerocks and the massive ledges of sandstone are replaced with soft mud shales. The sandstone division is well developed in the outerop on the river bluff west of Leavenworth at Indian Hollow. Many of the strata are heavy bedded or massive. It is an excellent building stone and fresh from the quarry it works soft, hardens on exposure and may by skilful work- men be broken or split in cubes or blocks of any shape and any desired
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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.
size. It is superior grit stone and should be utilized.
A short distance north of the vil- lage of Mifflin is a boldly escarped outerop of conglomerate sandstone projecting far enough to form a wide rock house cave which from the ashes, flint and stone implements found within has been used as a shelter by Indians. This Rock House is three hundred feet long and averages fifteen feet deep. The Indians' use of this house is indicated by the great num- ber of flint chips, broken knives, sera- pers, etc. Pilot Knob, which is situ- ated northeast of the center of the county, was an island in the ancient lake, in the bed or on the side of which the Loess was deposited. The animal and vegetable remains found upon it indicate a tropical tempera- ture. The Knob from its isolated and elevated position affords a highly in- teresting view from its summit. The Muldraugh hills of Kentucky are seen like cones piercing the sky twenty- eight miles distant. There are out- croppings of coal at Wickliffe, Eng- lish, Magnolia and other places, with seams from four to ten inches thick. It is not found in sufficient quantities to pay for working it. There are fine indications of lead in the county. West of Alton about one mile there are large deposits of lead. It is told by the early settlers that the Indians visited this region for years after they were driven west, for the purpose of procuring lead. R. H. Willett and Jno. H. Weathers, the present pro-
prietors of the land, will in a short time have the vein opened and proceed to work it, if found in paying quantities. Evidences of silver have been found in the county, and in 1888 a large number of mining leases were taken by companies for the purpose of smelt- ing silver ore. Chemists of national reputation have assayed specimens sent from this county with the most favorable results. Lime is made from the native limestone in abundance. Vast numbers of kilns are burned each year. All kinds of kilns of an- cient and modern pattern are found in the county. Crawford county lies in the natural gas belt of Indiana. Gas indications are found in many places. Wells have been bored in various sections for salt and petroleum, and during the boring of each, gas in small quantities has been found. At Benham's salt well it was struck a distance of one hundred and thirty-five feet. A vast number of farms have been leased to natural gas companies. Among those inter- ested in these ventures are J. B. Speed, Esq., of Louisville, Ky., and Win. Everdon, a prominent merchant of Leavenworth. Salt was formerly made at the Ott and Benham wells. The brine was rich, producing twenty bar- rels of salt per day, and the salt was pure, but not in sufficient quantity to defray expense of manufacturing. Boring to a greater depth will not in- crease the quantity of brine, but prob- ably reduce the strength by dilution and decomposition. Petroleum has
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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.
been found on the surface at springs, and seeps in small quantities at more than twenty localities. During the oil excitement from 1864 to 1868 ten wells were bored in this county, and almost every one yielded "a show of oil," but in no case could a yield of more than a pint a day from either well be obtained.
The county is drained by the Ohio river, together with its two principal tributaries in this section, viz: Big Blue river and Little Blue river. Big Blue river forms almost the entire eastern boundary and drains that part of the county. Its principal tributa- ries are Whiskey Run, Dry Run and Slick Run. Its main tributary is Whiskey Run which rises in the west- ern part of Liberty township, flows almost directly east past Marengo, where it is joined by Brandywine and a few miles further on by Cider Fork and thence into Big Blue about one mile north of Milltown. Little Blue river drains the larger part of the county running entirely through the county from north to south. Its prin- cipal feeders are Otter Fork, West Fork, Camp Fork, Stinking Fork, Clear Creek, Turkey Fork and Mill Creek.
The Patoka and Anderson rivers have their rise in the north-south ridge of conglomerate table lands, with drainage to the west and empty their waters into the Wabash and Ohio rivers. Each of these streams have their beds in narrow canon like valleys with steep precipitous bluffs from one
hundred to four hundred feet. The water supply is largely in excess of local necessities and many valuable sites are unoccupied, and those on Big Blue river are worthy of examination by millers and manufacturers. The river is fed by cave springs, hence the summer stream is reliable and the pure water is admirably adapted to the manufacture of white paper and chemical products. The river and creek bottoms are very fertile but the hillsides and uplands suffer much from washing especially by spring freshets. These streams are all full of fish and those who delight in "casting the line" for the game fish, find sport along their banks. Pike, perch, bass, cat, salmon and sun-fish are among the more numerous classes.
In one thing at least, Crawford county excels all her sisters in the State, and that is in the number, size and beauty of her underground cham- bers. Rough, rugged and jagged upon her surface, it seems that nature has doubly repaid her in the grandeur of her caves. Under almost the entire county there are numberless caverns of unrivalled extent and beauty. The eastern part of the county lies in the sub-carboniferous limestone belt, which belt extends across the Ohio river and down through Kentucky, and it is in this same belt we find the celebrated Mammoth Cave of that State. A short description of the more noted, will not we trust be amiss.
In the northern part of the county about one mile from Marengo, is a
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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.
small cave that has only been explored a short distance. It is called Indian's cave. In it have been found a number of skeletons of Indians or Mound Builders. On account of some pecu- liarity of the atmosphere the bones do not seem to have decayed. They appear to have been coated over with something like the balm of the ancient Egyptians which defies the destroying hand of Time. No doubt in this cave, situated upon a high hill, might have been a burying place of some of the tribes of the aborigines. This cave is locally noted on account of a tradition. It is said that about fifty years ago an old Indian returned to the neighbor- hood of this cave and after making some search for marks upon trees and stones, took from them the direction to this cave. What he did there tra- dition sayeth not, but he informed some men who lived near and who were kind to him that there was a large amount of treasure secreted near this cave and that they should be guided to it by certain rocks, notable among which was a triangular shaped rock in which he said was cut a cres- cent. After he had gone, considerable search was made and strange to say the stone with the crescent cut into it was found, but the other links of the direction have been lost and the treasure is still undiscovered.
Miller's Cave lies about two and one-half miles from Milltown. It is in the side of a high bluff overhanging Whiskey Run Creek. It has never been explored to any great extent.
It has some large rooms and pretty formations. The cave is the home of a number of red foxes that infest that neighborhood and to which they fly for refuge when pursued. Salt-petre Cave is situated about half a mile from the celebrated Wyandotte Cave, and takes its name from the fact that in the early times salt-petre was manufactured by the settlers. One of the lixiviating troughs is still to be seen in the cave. It has one room which is of gigantic size and reaches upward into an immense "steplike" dome. But the cave that is most wonderful, the one that rivals the Mammoth in the size of its rooms, that excels the Grotto of Antipharos in the beauty of its scenery ; that is entitled to take its place among Fin- galls and the other celebrated caverns of the earth, is Wyandotte. This cave takes its name from the tribe of In- dians that formerly roamed through the surrounding forests or crouched in stealth along the quiet valleys. In the chambers of this beautiful under- ground palace were held the wild dances of war and through its halls resounded the fierce eloquence of "Big Foot" inciting his people to valor. The Wyandottes are gone, but they have given their name to this cave that will be yet in the youth of its discovery when their last bow-string is snapped. No written description can convey an adequate idea of the grandeur, gloom, and beauty of the cave. The visitor wanders on mile after mile through superb passages
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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.
quarried out of solid rock by the mighty forces of nature into magnifi- cent chambers, whose lofty ceilings are veiled in darkness; along rocky walls whose rugged faces are wrought by the subtle chemistry of nature into forms of rarest beauty. One knows not which to admire most, the delicate tracery of snowy gypsum upon the walls, or the mighty power that has cleft asunder great hills of solid rock and lightly tossed the huge fragments into fantastic heaps. Whoever visits the Wyandotte Cave let him go rever- ently, for the Master's hand has been at work there. Wyandotte is said to be far richer in stalactite ornamen- tations than any other. The stalactites are of the fine grained transmicent kind often called alabaster which much re- sembles the Mexican onyx. For un. told ages the finger of Time has been at work to form its glories and beauties. Wyandotte Cave is situated half a mile from Big Blue river, eight miles from Milltown and five miles from Leaven- worth. The entrance is almost at the summit of a high hill one hundred and fifty feet above the bed of Blue river. It is two hundred and seventy feet above low water mark of the Ohio river and five hundred and seventy three feet above the level of the ocean. From the top of the ridge to the river we have the following section. Cov- ered slope, 20 ft. Buff sandstone with stems of fossil plants, so ft. Arch- imides limestone, 5 ft. Shale and brown limestone, 35 ft. Gray lime- stone, 20 ft. Limestone fine grained
oolitic 50 ft. Gray cherty, 230 ft. Bed of Blue river, 230 ft.
The geologieal position of the Wy- andotte Cave is precisely similar to that of the Mammoth Cave in Ken- tucky. It is in the same sub-carbon- iferous strata which is so favorable to the formation of caverns, sink holes and basin-shaped pits. It lies above the valleys and in its course eonforms to the general direction of the ridges, that is, north-east and south-west. The length of the Cave including all the avenues is twenty-three miles, and is divided into the New and Old Cave. It was formerly known as the old Indiana Salt-petre Cave. One Dr. Adams, first pre-empted the land and during the war with England, 1812 to 1:15, he manufactured salt- petre, after which time he relin- quished his elaim. One of the old salt-petre kettles is yet on the farm, a curious relic of the metallurgic art of a century ago. Up to 1850 the cave was not mueh visited, and in fact it was the subject of legislative enaetment, as we find that the Legis- lature enacted a law in 1843 compel- ling the owner to fenee up the en- trance and prevent cattle from lick- ing the epsom salts. But in that year some gentlemen discovered a small opening at the end of "Bandit's Hall" which when enlarged led through "Fat Man's Misery" to the extensive New Cave. This aperture might have been passed for a thousand years and not have been noticed. The discoverers were surprised to
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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.
find that this part of the cave had been occupied, including the spacious areas of "Bat's Hall," "Sandy Plain," and Rothrock Cathedral. Hundreds of poles, six to twelve feet long and from one to two and a half inches in diameter, were found scattered in all parts, probably used for carrying burdens of food or skins, or for ag- gressive or defensive purposes. Sig- nificant, too, of the Stone Age, the poles were of such soft brittle wood as sassafras, poplar and paw-paw, as might be readily obtained by break- ing, many having been twisted off at the ground, others torn from the earth with part of roots attached, while a few had been cut with some dull implement, indicating the use of stone axes and flint knives. It was not a house of darkness; the charred remains of torches made of shell-bark hickory, tell of the mode of illumina- tion. The ceilings are still black and sooty from the smoke of flambeaux and fires for cooking. Beyond the Augur Hole were found by the ex- plorers the tracks of one large man, two smaller men or women and three children. The imprints of the moc- casined feet were in the plastic clay on the floor. These tracks or Indian foot-prints were there in good con- dition. They appeared to have been on an exploring tour, as they pro- ceeded close to the north side of the route and examined every crevice, re- turning on the south side. The lapse of time since these tracks were made may be approximately inferred from
the fact that there being no other known entrance, they must have gone in the "Augur Hole" which, to have admitted a full grown man of average dimensions, must have had an area of twelve by eighteen inches. White men found this closed to a space of ten by five inches ; now the deposit made by water, holding lime in solution, on the same spot since the opening in 1850, a period of twen- ty-eight years, is a mere film, not one hundredth of an inch in thick- ness, so that more than one thousand years must have elapsed since these tracks were made. We may very properly infer from this data and from the finding of stone hammers and grinding pestles there, that what is now known as the "New Cave" was occupied or at least visited by men of the Stone Age. The atmosphere of the cave is remarkably pure and exhilarating and persons can undergo an unusual amount of physical exer- tion.
The temperature is uniform through- out the year, being about fifty-six de- grees winter and summer. The cave is the home of numbers of animals, in- sects and fishes. In it you will find skeletons of foxes, rabbits, turtles, rac- coons and other surface abiding animals that go into the cave for refuge throughout the day and when their hour of demise draws near they creep into its sombre solitudes to die. In some of the outer halls vast numbers of bats congregate in the winter sea- son, where they hang in immense
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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.
bunches from the roof. There are also blind craw-fish and blind beetles and eyeless fishes found in the. pools. There are a vast number of rooms all celebrated by some peculiarity of formation.
First, Faneuil Hall, which is two hundred feet long and fifty feet wide. A short distance further we come to Columbian Arch, resembling a railway tunnel and symmetrical as if it were the work of an artisan. This leads to Washington Avenue, at the end of which stands the celebrated statue called Wyandotte Chief, waiting, seem- ingly, to gloat over the death of some daring pale face. Next is " Bandit Hall" at the end of which is the june- tion of the old and new caves. Turn- ing to the right, only a few yards, is "Fat Man's Misery," a narrow passage twenty feet in length which leads to " Bats' Lodge." A short distance on we come to "Rugged Mountain," an elevation of forty feet, on the summit of which is the Rotunda, a circular room over one hundred feet in diam. eter. In this room, epsom salts, spark- ling, pure and white and white gypsum is found in abundance. Leaving the Rotunda, passing through Hanover Chapel, Bassinite Avenue and Coons' Council you enter a high room forty feet wide and one hundred and twenty feet long, with circular walls and smooth ceiling, encircled near the top by a belt of blue flint six inches thick, giving it the appearance of a curiously wrought cornice; this is called the Dining Room. Taking the left divis-
ion we go but a short distance to "Creeping Avenue," a passage of two hundred feet long and twenty feet wide, about three feet high, at the end of which is " Pillared Palace." This is a room five or six feet high, fifty feet wide and several hundred feet in length, the ceiling of which is, a com- plete fringe of stalactites, while the floor is thickly set with stalagmites uniting in many places. They form the grandest pillars ever seen, transparent as crystal and ring like silver bells when stricken by a slight blow. Thence through Genii Bower, Caliope's Bower, Purgatory, Fairy's Grotto, General Scott's Reception Room, Hall of Representatives, we are led to Mon- ument Mountain, one hundred and seventy-five feet high, while seventy- five feet above it is Wallace's Grand Dome of which Rev. Hovey says :
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