History of Dearborn County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 6

Author: Archibald Shaw
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1123

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THE MIAMI CLAY LOAM.

This soil, the second in extent in this county, is similar to the Miami clay loam of Ripley county, of which it is merely an extension. In this county, as in Ripley, this soil lies flat. with poor drainage. It is a compact, yellow clay soil, nearly white when dry. In the subsoil there are mottles, and some- times a blue till at the base. This soil bears a marsh vegetation, sweet gum, beech, etc. It is a good grass soil, here as elsewhere, and fairly good for wheat when fertilized. It invariably requires tiling and careful rotation of crops to yield profitable results. The town of Dillsboro. in Dearborn county, is on the line separating the Miami clay from the limestone upland. It is a matter of common remark that east of Dillsboro corn is better than west, while the soils on the west produce better wheat and grass.

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THE WAVERLEY OR BOTTOM SOILS.

The principal development of Waverley soils in this county is in the "bottoms" of the Ohio and the creeks just as they leave the hills for the river plain. In Dearborn county the principal area of Waverley soils has been known for a hundred years as the "Big Bottoms." This comprises a body of about seventy-two hundred acres of land, lying between the Miami river and the Ohio, crossed by Hogan and Tanner's creeks. It is likely that this great alluvial plain is due to deposition of silt from the waters of the Miami, the Ohio and the two creeks in times of high water, when the smaller streams had their currents checked by the back-waters of the Ohio. At any rate, this result follows during every flood, when a thin layer of silt is de- posited over the entire plain. From the fact that the lower parts of this soil contain much sand and pebbles foreign to the uplands, it seems certain that a large part of this bottom land was laid down in the period of the ice in- vasion, and that these Waverley soils are in part due.to glacial floods and in part to the annual flood of the Ohio.

This flat-floored valley, with its hills conveniently near, offered an at- tractive place for settlement to the early emigrants from the East. The first clearing was made in the "Big Bottoms" in 1794, and it has been perma- nently occupied since then. For a hundred years this land was planted in corn, some portions of the valley having certainly been planted to that crop every year of the century. In late years the bottoms have not been so fertile, or, at any rate, the corn crops have not been so large. This is probably due to lack of rotation and can be mended by some attention to that phase of good farming. In one recent summer, while there was a great deal of corn in this valley, probably one-third of the bottoms were in grass, wheat or oats. Physically, no soil could be better. It is fine, loamy, easily plowed and cultivated, deep enough to withstand drought, and fertile beyond most soil. It is close to a good market, and, indeed, has but one danger-that of over- flow. This, however, is in part counterbalanced by the increase in fertility due to the silt left behind, and is the original source of the bottom.

FARMING METHODS.

Agriculture is difficult in such a country as that of Dearborn county in the rough portions. The soil when freshly cleared is usually fertile enough, but incessant care is required to keep it from washing away. In many places this can be prevented by growing such crops as require little plowing and

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loosening of the soil. These slopes have, in the past, been famous for their hay and their small grain, but hay is exhaustive to soil, and the best hay crops are things of the past in this area. Corn is not a good crop, for the looseness of soil necessary for that grain offers too great a chance for the washing of the earth into the valleys. The fact that these hillsides sooner or later become bare has led to a very destructive method of farming in some localities. There is little wonder that the hill country in this county is grow- ing constantly poorer. The worst feature of the case is that there seems to be no remedy, unless the growing of alfalfa will improve matters. In recent summers, however, alfalfa on these hillsides was apparently dying, and if it should turn out impossible to grow successfully here, the case will-be des- perate. Unless some remedy is found it is only a question of time until these farms will have to be abandoned. Residents are free enough in saying that their farms are losing in value year by year. Perhaps the intensive farming methods of Switzerland and mountainous Germany, with their ter- racing and stone walls, might be of service here; but such methods are not to be expected in a country of cheap lands.

In the river bottoms, where the soil is, or was, the equal of any in the country, a near-sighted policy of farming very nearly ruined much of the soil. Corn was profitable in this easily-tilled soil, and much of it was practi- cally tilled to death in corn. Only when much of it was practically exhausted did the farmers awake to the necessity of fertilization. Now one sees a rea- sonable rotation of clover with more exhausting crops, and in course of time these bottoms can be brought to their ancient fertility.

Transportation facilities are poor for a great part of this county, hauls of eight to ten miles to market being not uncommon. Ten miles through these hills are equal to fifteen miles in smoother country. For this reason and for the further reason that such crops need little stirring of the soil, it has been suggested that an attempt be made to grow fruit extensively in this region. Even with the little care now given to fruit trees, exceptionally fine peaches and apples grow here. and it is possible that the fruit crop will one day be the salvation of these hillsides.

CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF WAVERLEY SANDY LOAM IN THE BOTTOM LANDS OF LAUGHERY CREEK.

Moisture at 105º C 2.63

Total soil nitrogen.

.160

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DEARBORN COUNTY, INDIANA.

Reaction of soil to litmus

Acid

Volatile and organic matter 5.940

Insoluble in Hcl (1.115 sp. gr.)

. 85.270

Soluble silica

.071

Ferric oxide (Fe-O.).

3.047

Alumina (Al.O.)

3.253

Phosphoric acid anhyd (P,O.)

.275

Calcium oxide (CaO). 1.162

Magnesium oxide (MgO).

.437

Sulphuric acid anhyd (SO-)

.050

Potassium oxide (K:O)

.321

Sodium oxide (Na O)

.171

Total

99.997

CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF THE UPLAND SOILS OF NORTHERN DEARBORN COUNTY. MIXTURE OF MIAMI CLAY AND DECAYED SHALES.

Moisture at 105º C. 4.73

Total soil nitrogen .116

Reaction of soil to litmus Very faintly acid

Volatile and organic matter 4.353

Insoluble in Hcl (1.115 sp. gr.).

.78.695

Soluble silica .076

Ferric oxide (Fe.O.)

5.370

Alumina (AI.O.)

8.588

Phosphoric acid anhyd. (P.O.)

.210

Calcium oxide (CaO)

.764

Magnesium oxide (MgO):

.859

Sulphuric acid anhyd. (SO.)

.036

Potassium oxide (KO).

.726

Sodium oxide (Na:O)

.252

Total

99.929

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CHAPTER III.

INDIANS AND THE MOUND BUILDERS.

The mysterious people called, for want of a more definite name, "The Mound Builders," must have inhabited Dearborn county at some period in its past. The evidences left by them would lead us to believe that the county must have been as thickly, if not more thickly, settled than it is now. On nearly every commanding position, the county over, may be found mute, but certain, evidence that these people lived here. The hillsides are not the only places, however, for in the valleys of the creeks, on every knoll that is elevated a little above the surrounding country, are mounds showing that a people have lived here. Who these people were, has so far been a mystery. Many hold that they were the early Indian race, who have degenerated into the nomadic conditions, by years of war with each other. Some believe they were the Aztecs of Mexico, who, after years of war with the Indian, as we know him, was either destroyed or compelled to. emigrate to the South. Still others there are, who think they were people who had come originally from Asia and were akin to the Chinese. Others hold that at one time, many thousand years ago, there was a true Atlantis; that Europe and Africa were connected with this country by an unbroken, continuous continent, that was sunk under the ocean by some awful cataclysm. However, whatever theory is correct, if any, the evidences of the existence of some pre-historic race can be found on every hand.

One of the most extensive evidences of the existence of this pre-historic people can be found on the hilltop overlooking the mouth of the Big Miami. and immediately overlooking Lawrenceburg Junction, on the Chicago, Cin- cinnati, Cleveland & St. Louis railway. It encloses some twenty or more acres of ground and a bank of earth, plainly visible, can be traced about the whole enclosure. At the most eastern point there seemed to have been a gateway or entrance of some kind; at the western part, there is a mound or redoubt,. just outside of the wall. At some places the bank is yet some six or eight feet in height. Large trees are growing on the earthworks or were, some of it having been cleared. The timber is just as large on the inside of the inclosure as on the outside, and on the bank, in places, are trees just as large as any in the woods. Samuel Morrison at one time made a survey of the inclosure and

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DEARBORN COUNTY, INDIANA.

drew a map of it which can be found in some of the early histories of the Ohio valley. One thing is distinctly noticeable, namely, that some of the mounds along the river are placed in such a position that other mounds can be seen from them, and it is the theory advanced by some, that these are in- tended as signal mounds. It is claimed by some archaeologists that there is a system of signal mounds extending along the Ohio from Pittsburgh to Cairo.

The New "American Encyclopedia" claims that none of these monuments is less than two thousand years of age. This, however, is assumed from their best judgment of the erosion that would occur in that time. But it must be admitted that it is difficult to form any judgment of the length of time since these mounds were built. The elements are so destructive that in a few days the work of years may be effaced; then, for years there might be no perceptible difference in the erosion. But "by whom built, whether their authors mi- grated to remote lands under the combined attractions of a more fertile soil and more genial climate, or whether they disappeared beneath the victorious arms of an alien race, or were swept out of existence by some direful epidemic or universal famine, are questions probably beyond the power of human investi- gations to answer. History is silent concerning them and their very name is lost to tradition itself."

Gen. William H. Harrison took a deep interest in these works. "The work at the mouth of the Great Miami (Fort Hill)." he wrote to Samuel Morrison, "was a citadel more elevated than the Acropolis at Athens, although easier of access, as it is not, like the latter, a solid rock, but on three sides as nearly perpendicular as could be, composed of earth. A large space of lower ground was, however, inclosed by walls uniting it from Miami river to the Ohio. The foundation of that being of stone, as well as those of the citadel that forms the western defence, is still very visible where it crosses the Miami, which, at the period of its erection, must have discharged itself into the Ohio much lower down than it does now. I have never been able to discover the east- ern wall of the enclosure, but if its direction from the citadel to the Ohio, was such as it should have been, to embrace the largest space with the least labor, there would not have been less than three hundred acres enclosed. The same land at this day, under the best cultivation, will produce from seventy to one hundred bushels of corn per acre. Under such as was then probably bestowed upon it, there would be much less, but still enough to contribute to the support of a considerable number of people, remarkable beyond all others for abstemiousness in their habits."

There are a number of mounds about Aurora and there was said to have

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been quite a large one within the city limits which has been almost entirely removed by excavations in grading. Jonathan B. Gerard, a citizen of Hart- ford, some thirty years ago opened a mound near the mouth of Laughery creek which was about one hundred feet in diameter and fifteen feet high. Hu- man bones, one whole earthen pot and a great many fragments of pottery were all that was found. In the same mound two more pots were found afterwards. It is no uncommon thing to find, where the water of the Ohio has caved the bank, ancient fireplaces, where mussels and other things could be cooked with- out attracting attention. Among the most interesting things found are the utensils, implements, weapons and personal ornaments of pre-historic times. Some of these, no doubt, belonged to the Indian tribes, but the greater number were contemporary with the mounds and other evidences of the earlier race. Not long ago, in grading some lots in Greendale, on the lands of Warren Tebbs, a copper chisel was found in a good state of preservation. Stone pipes are frequently found, thus showing that these people were tobacco users.

At the state line, near the monument erected to mark the line between the states of Ohio and Indiana, on the farm of Thomas and Joseph Fitch, there seems to be a burial ground. In excavating for a barn foundation graves were found at regular intervals of about thirty inches, in rows, the bodies lying with their heads to the west, facing the east. They were all of the same character, with the exception of one grave, which had two bodies in it, one with its cheek on that of the other, and on their chests was a bowl or pot made of shells and clay, pieces of which material are strewn over the top of the ground thereabouts. It seemed, according to the judgment of the physicians who examined them, that the upper skeleton was that of a female. In other places adjacent, in a space of two or three acres, skeletons are found wherever any ex- cavating has been done. The same is true in Greendale and other places where the soil is gravelly and high above the river. It is evident from the number of buried that the country must have been thickly populated about the mouth of the Miami, and close to all the streams, at least. But who they were, what their history, where they went, or how they came to disappear, is a closed volume. . If the American Indian ever made Dearborn county a place of permanent residence, it must have been long before the advent of the white man. The earliest traveler gives no word of finding Indians along the Ohio in this locality, except in hunting or war parties. There are no relics in this vicinity, nor traditions of any Indian villages ever existing within the borders of Dearborn county, except temporarily when out hunting or en route to hunt- ing grounds or to attack an enemy.

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In the division of lands among the Indian tribes in their western confed- eracy, the lands in this part of Indiana were supposed to have been allotted to the Shawanese. They never resided in Dearborn county permanently, but hunted over it, considering it their exclusive territory, and would make forays here during their hunting season. It was on account of the rich alluvial bot- toms and dense forests on the uplands, that it was known as fine hunting grounds. Then, too, the licks, or places where springs abounded, and which were impregnated with salt, drew the wild animals to these places, where the hunter could easily ambush the game.

Whatever of claim the Indians had on the lands lying within Dearborn county, were all rendered void by the terms of Wayne's treaty and thereafter there was no contention about it. The Great Miami was one of the streams used by them a great deal, both in war and in their hunting excursions. Ken- 'tucky was claimed by all the adjacent tribes as their hunting grounds and the tribes whose residence was on the upper tributaries of the Miami and White- water would float down these rivers into the broader Miami, and thence out into the Ohio, then down to the Kentucky, which they would ascend to the locality in which they desired to hunt. In war, when opposing the Cherokees, Creeks or other Southern tribes, they would take the same routes.

In June, 1780, the most formidable invasion Kentucky ever suffered from the Indians and British occurred. Colonel Byrd, a British officer, accompanied by six hundred Canadians and Indians, floated down the waters of the Big Miami, ascended the Ohio to the Licking and marched up the valley of the Licking, to attack the little outposts. They appeared before what was called Riddle's Station, on the south fork of the Licking river, on the 22nd day of June. The British had several cannon with them and the place could not hold out against such weapons. Marshall's Station, on the same stream was also captured; then, much to the relief and surprise of the settlers, the expedi- tion, for some reason never understood, retreated. They had come from De- troit, thence by lake to the Maumee and over the portage into the headwaters of the Miami. This was perhaps, the largest body of men that ever floated on the bosom of that stream at one time and must have made a formidable ap- pearance. Six hundred men would require more than fifty boats and the cannon and provisions would call for many more.

The encroachments of the settlers were resented and the struggle for the supremacy lasted from the close of the Revolutionary War until the treaty fol- lowing Wayne's victory. One of the things that illustrate the fierceness of the struggle, that forced the Indians to give up the valley of the Ohio and re-

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tire to the high uplands, is the names of the little streams that empty into the Ohio. Nearly all are named for some person or persons who lost their lives in engagements with the Indians, on the banks of the streams. Laughery is named for the commander of the force that engaged in the battle at the mouth of that stream. Hogan creek is supposed to have been named for two brothers by the name of Hogan, who lost their lives in an engagement with the Indians at the mouth of that stream. A like tradition is given for the name of Wil- son creek, and Tanner's creek is named for the son of the man who founded Tanner's station (now Petersburg, Kentucky). Two of his little boys were captured at the mouth of that stream while hunting. One succeeded in escaping, but the other lived the rest of his life among the Indians. No other engage- ments were ever fought within the confines of the county-at least, no record of any has been handed down to the present generation. And, year by year, the redmen roamed among the whites, exchanging their trinkets for powder and rum, and trinkets grew more and more uncommon, until they ceased to be seen entirely.

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CHAPTER IV.

EARLY GEOGRAPHY-CONQUEST OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

Dearborn county is the most southeastern county in the state of Indiana. It is bounded on the north by the county of Franklin, from which it is sepa- rated by the north line of congressional township 7, ranges 1 and 2, and con- gressional township 8, range 3, west of the principal meridian. It is bounded on the east by Hamilton county, Ohio, from which it is separated by the first principal meridian, which was run from the mouth of the Big Miami by Israel Ludlow in 1798. It is bounded on the southeast by Boone county, Kentucky, from which it is separated by a low water mark on the northerly side of the Ohio river. On the south it is bounded by Ohio county, Indiana, from which it is set apart by the center line of Laughery creek. On the west, it fronts on Ripley county, Indiana, from which it is separated by the old Indian boundary line, which was run from a point on the Ohio river opposite the mouth of the Kentucky river northeast, through Ft. Recovery on the Mau- mee river, to the south line of Canada, in accordance with Gen. Anthony Wayne's treaty with the Indians.

Three centuries ago the above, which is the present geographical descrip- tion of Dearborn county, would not have been in any way accurate. In the year 1609, King James I of England granted a charter to the colony of Virginia and granted territory for "four hundred miles along the sea and extending up into the land throughout, from sea to sea." Thus it will be seen that what is now Dearborn county was included in this territory and that it was a part of Virginia. During a period of one hundred and sixty years no attempt was made by Virginia to exercise the authority she possessed over the western frontier. But in 1769 the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing the county of Botetourt, with the Mississippi river as its western boundary. Fincastle, Virginia, was designated as the seat of justice of this extensive domain. Nine years later an act was passed providing that "all the citizens of the commonwealth of Virginia, who are already settled, or shall hereafter settle on the western side of the Ohio, shall be included in a distinct county, which shall be called Illinois county." Col. John Todd was appointed

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by the governor of Virginia to serve as civil commandant and lieutenant of Illinois. He served as such until his death, at the battle of Blue Lick, in 1782.

FRENCH CLAIMS.

Largely because of the explorations and settlements established by La Salle in 1679, the French claimed the territory east of the Mississippi. La Salle had come down from Canada, crossed the Great Lakes and descended the Illinois river. The Indians living in that country did not oppose his inva- sion and he pushed forward rapidly, sending exploring parties in all direc- tions. Their only mode of travel was by canoes and these were carried over portages, one from the St. Joseph river to the Kankakee, the other was from the Maumee, near Ft. Wayne, to the Wabash. Missions were established along the route of travel to the mouth of the Mississippi. The French claim to this land opened by La Salle was continually disputed by the British and was finally settled in 1763 by the treaty of Paris, in which the French relin- quished their claim to land east of the Mississippi. This removal of dispute and contest for the title to the land proved a great boon to adventurers and frontiersmen. Dating from that time, the great Middle West began to be populated. In this year Daniel Boone, the renowned pioneer and woodsman. made his first trip into Kentucky in quest of adventure and bent on discovery. So great did the spirit of adventure take root, that enterprises were set afoot that would seem foolhardy in their daring and recklessness. A General Lyman, with about four hundred families, passed down the Ohio and founded a settlement at Natchez, Mississippi. And the post established by these ad- venturers had something to do with the United States finally gaining posses- sion of the Louisiana Territory in 1803.

Retrograding a few years, the great extent of Botetourt county, reaching, as it did, to include what is now West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Mich- igan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, made it necessary for the passage of many. curious acts for its government. Among them is the following provision :

"And, whereas, the people situated on the Mississippi, in the said county of Botetourt, will be very remote from the court house, and must necessarily become a separate county as soon as their numbers are sufficient-which prob- ably will happen in a short time: Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid (House of Burgesses) that the inhabitants of that part of said county of Botetourt, which lies on said waters, shall be exempted from the payment of any levies to be laid by the said county court, for the purpose of building a court house and prison for said county."

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ORDINANCE OF 1787.

The county of Illinois remained intact from October, 1778, until July 31. 1790, when Knox county was formed by a proclamation from Gen. Arthur St. Clair, then governor of the Northwest Territory. This great territory was formed by act of Congress in the summer of 1787 and comprised what are now the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and a part of Minnesota. The act itself is best known as the Ordinance of 1787. General St. Clair entered upon his duties as governor of the territory at Marietta in 1788. There was no fixed capital and whatever laws were found to be neces- sary were passed by the governor and judges when they happened to meet. Some of these laws were enacted at Marietta, some at Cincinnati, and some at Vincennes.

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History of Dearborn County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 6

Author: Archibald Shaw Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1123

Author: Archibald Shaw
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1123