USA > Indiana > Hendricks County > History of Hendricks County, Indiana > Part 23
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ROOK-FORMATION.
The first or original rock is what was first formed as a crust, igne- ous rock, rock without form or strata-a mere slag. The earth, losing heat by radiation and becoming smaller, the crust, in ac- commodating itself to the smaller sphere, must necessarily rise in some places and sink in others, just as by the shrinking of an orange the rind becomes wrinkled. Then the water, having been previously formed as the result of the great world formation, the residue, the ash-heap of the great conflagration, obeying the law of gravity, is gathered together into the depressed areas and thus the dry land, or rather the dry rock, appears.
Now, by the action of winds, rains, waves and the various chem- ical and mechanical agencies, the exposed rock is decomposed, carried to the sea, and deposited in horizontal strata, which, in process of time, becomes stratified rock, just as is being done at the mouths of the rivers and the beach and bottom of the oceans of to-day.
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HISTORY OF HENDRICKS COUNTY.
BASEMENT ROCK.
From the preceding we may conclude that there is everywhere beneath the waters and soil of the earth's surface a basement of rock, sometimes called bed-rock. The outcropping of rock above the surface, the rocky bluffs forming the sides of many valleys, the ledges projecting from the sides of mountains, and the cliffs of the sea-shore are portions of this rock exposed to view. Now, the various strata which compose the stratified rocks of the globe, with their included fossils, are the leaves of that great book which unfolds to us the history of the earth through its incomprehensibly long periods of time. The lowest strata, of course, furnish us the first chapter in that history. In no part of the earth's surface is the record complete, but all have their long blanks-periods in which no strata occur. This is caused by the elevating of the crust above the waters of the ocean, and, when this is continental, finis is appended to the chapter, and the history of the rocks is finished forever.
In North America we have an excellent example of the unfold- ing and development of geological history, and as the continent gradually emerged from the ocean it left us the record almost complete. The following section is a representation of the succes- sive geological ages, with the corresponding formations and periods of the globe, by the side of which is placed that of Hendricks County with its many and immensely long blanks between the Devonian and Quaternary or Psychozoic Ages.
Thus a glance at the section will show us our place in the history of the formation of the globe, not the least interesting part of which is the long blank between the Devonian and Quaternary Ages, showing us conclusively that our soil rests upon the Devo- nian. At the close of the above-named period all Northern Indi- ana and a strip extending through the central part of the State to the Ohio River emerged from beneath the sea and the history of the rocks of Hendricks County was finished forever.
To enable the reader to grasp more readily the rock formation of the globe and of Hendricks County during the six geological periods of the earth's formation-the Quaternary, Tertiary, Rep- tilian, Carboniferous, Devonian and Silurian-we append the fol- lowing carefully prepared diagram:
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VERTICAL SECTION OF THE ROCKS 8
AG.E.S.
PERIODS.
OF HENDRICKS COUNTY. ROCKS.
TERTIARY QUATERNARY.
25 Recent.
24 Champlain.
23 Glacial.
22. Pliocene.
31 Miocene.
20 Alabama.
19 Ligitic.
18 Cretaceous:
REPTILIAN.
17 Jurassic.
16 Triassic.
15 Permian.
CARBONIFEROUS.
14 Carboniferous.
13 Sub. Carboniferous
12 Catskill.
Ir Chemung.
Old Red Sand Stone
of Scotland and Wales.
8 Oriskany.
7 Lower Helderberg.
6 Salina.
5 Niagara.
4 Trenton
3 Canadian.
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DEVONTAN.
10 Hamilton.
9 Corniferous.
UPPER.
BILURIAN.
LOWER
OF THE GLOBE. ROCKS.
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HISTORY OF HENDRICKS COUNTY.
THE DEVONIAN FORMATION,"
so named by Sedgwick and Murchison from Devonshire, Eng- land, where it occurs well developed and abounds in fossils, and its age, the Age of Fishes, so called because in it the first known fishes are found, is in no part of the county exposed to view, neither has it been reached in the sinking of welle; hence all our knowledge of it must be gained from exposed areas and sections in other localities. Omitting the rock formation, because completely hidden from view, we come to the study of that which is apparent to all, that in which the farmer plows, upon which our wagon roads and railroads are builded, and upon which we all depend for our daily bread-the immense superincumbent mass of soil known as
DRIFT.
The farmer boy, as he walks over the meadow with its carpet of green and wanders beside the babbling brook, or, as with sturdy hand he turns the grassy sward, uncultured though he be, asks himself the question, "From whence came all this that is spread out so beautifully around me ? These huge stones which I see ly- ing upon the surface or imbedded within the soil, how came they here? Do they grow? 'The hills, rock-ribbed and ancient as the sun,' how were they formed ? and what is their history?" Ah! It they could speak and tell us what scenes they have witnessed, the story would be of far more interest than that of Belzoni's mummy, for it could tell us of the world not merely as it was " three thou- sand years ago," but, stretching far back into the illimitable past, they could tell much of the Creator's plans in fitting up the earth as the abode of man.
All soil, with the trifling exception of the thin stratum of vege- table mold that covers the ground in many localities, is formed from the disintegration of rocks. Now, there are two great classes of soil, to one of which every kind of soil may be referred, that is, soil formed in situ-in the place where found-and that which has been transported, when formed, to places more or less remote from the parent rock. It is to the latter of these that our soil belongs and hence that which we wish to treat.
* For a description of the rocks of this age, and also of its Life-System, both animal and vegetable, the reader is referred to the three excellent works of Prof. Dana, the " Geological Story," the " Text-Book," and the " Manual," the masterly work of Prof. Le Conte, and to the many and valuable Geological Reports of Ohio and Indiana.
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HISTORY OF HENDRICKS COUNTY.
Strewed all over the northern part of North America, over hill and dale, over field and plain, covering alike, in places, all the country rock to a depth of thirty to three hundred feet, thus largely concealing them from view, and extending in general from the Rocky Mountains eastward, and southward to the fortieth parallel of latitude, is found this peculiar surface soil or deposit. It consists of a heterogeneous mixture of clay, sand, gravel, pebbles, sub-an- gular stones of all sizes, unsorted, unsifted, unfossiliferous. The lowest part lying in immediate contact with the subjacent rock is often a stiff clay including sub-angular stones; hence this is often called the boulder clay or hard pan. "These included boulders," says Prof. Geikie, "are scattered higgledy-piggledy, pell-mell, through the clay so as to give the whole deposit a highly confused and tumultuous appearance." On examining many of these stones they will be found to be angular in shape, but the sharp corners and edges are invariably smoothed away, their faces will be smoothed and frequently grooved with parallel scratches. Indeed in concretionary stones and others having an egg shape often one whole end has been ground off, showing conclusively its history. On the other hand, lying all over this drift soil, in clusters, in iso- lated rocks, and in belts varying in width from a single line to two or three miles, are found many boulders of all sizes; in some lo- calities they are of huge dimensions and weigh hundreds of tons. These unscratched, or erratic, blocks, as they are sometimes called, have attracted the attention and excited the wonder of those in the bumblest walks of life, and since they are composed of materials foreign to the local geology were regarded by them as foreigners which had been brought from a distance and strewed over the sur- face or perched upon declivities in some incomprehensible way. It is now very appropriate to investigate the causes for all this phenomena spread out before us.
Whenever the underlying rock is of sufficient hardness to retain an impression, and for any cause is exposed to view, it is always found to be plowed and planed and grooved with long parallel striæ and ruts. Thus, these scratches, with the superincumbent drift, the boulder-clay, and the surface boulders, furnish for us phe- nomena, the exact counterpart of which is found on a smaller scale in all the glaciated regions of the world to-day-Alaska, Green- land, Switzerland, the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and the Antarctic continent. Given identical phenomena, we must conclude there was an identical cause. Given identical phenomena in the one
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HISTORY OF HENDRICKS COUNTY.
case on a much larger and grander scale, we must conclude there was a cause of far greater and grander proportions. There was. then, a time in the past when for hundreds of years the winters grew steadily both longer and colder; the equatorial current, be- ing pressed southward at Cape St. Roque, was pouring more and more of its waters into the South Atlantic. The moisture was all precipitated as snow, and these all mutually reacting upon each other so that each effect strengthened the cause, brought about the period known as the great Ice Age, and formed an immense con- tinental ice-sheet or Polar Ice Cap which extended in general to the fortieth degree of latitude, with local extensions of its icy fingers down river valleys far to the south ward.
In the beginning of the Archæan Age, at the time of the first known continental emergence in the history of the world, there was formed a high mountain range north of the great lakes, ex- tending from Labrador to the Lake of the Woods and thence north- ward to the Arctic Ocean, the degradation of which has furnished the material for the stratified rocks that surround it, and, being especially active in the glacial period, it also furnished the greater part of our drift material. Thus through the lapse of countless ages down to the present time, all the mountain peaks and chains of this Laurentian continent, as it is frequently called, have been removed and carried into the sea, and, as a result, there remain only the truncated bases of the various arches and folds to testify to their former existence and magnitude. Thus we see that these archæan mountains are the means, and the Ice Cap, together with what follows, the melting of the ice, are the agents in performing the final work in fitting up this part of our earth-home. For with its ponderous mass of ice a mile in thickness and constantly increas- ing as it approaches the pole, moving southward, it ground the softer rocks to powder, brought hither our soil, scooped out the great lakes and the multitude of smaller ones in their latitude, and by the retreating of the glacier, the immense floods and the conse- quent hosts of icebergs, the river valleys were hollowed out, the hills and the gravel beds formed, and the surface boulders were dropped by the river's side and over the fields and plains.
The glacier in forming the Erie basin, as is indicated by the fur- rows made at different points, moved from east to west along the line of its way or axis. It plowed up the Huron and Erie shales, in the east end, to a great depth, but moving westward it came upon the hard floor of corniferous limestone and but a shallow basin
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HISTORY OF HENDRICKS COUNTY.
was formed. Here the many beautiful and fertile islands particu- larly testify to the unyielding hardness of the rocks. Thence pass- ing southwest to New Haven and Fort Wayne, and from New Haven on down the Wabash Valley, it determined the valleys of two rivers which would, in turn, one day, through long periods of time, drain the waters of Lake Erie to the gulf and convey to itself all of the waters of the great Maumee basin. Now, by a process the exact reverse of that which produced the glacial epoch, there was brought about a period of much warmer climate known as the
CHAMPLAIN.
This was characterized by melting of ice and snow, a far more extended and higher condition of the great lakes, by multitudes ot icebergs floating southward over these inland seas and dropping their loads of earth, sand, gravel and boulders, by numerous floods which broadened and deepened the river valleys and the pell-mell dumping of gravel and stones over hills and valleys, with the strat- ification of whatever was deposited by the water.
As proof of the greater extent and elevation of the lakes we have, for example, about Lake Erie five successive margins up to the elevation of 250 feet above its present level. Of these, the first and highest passes from Adrian, Mich., through Fayette, Ohio, Hamar, West Unity, Pulaski, Bryan and Farmer Center. From the latter place it passes into Defiance County and is divided into two nearly parallel lines west of Farmer Center, and continues its course southwesterly through Hicksville into the southeast corner of De Kalb County, thence on to New Haven and Fort Wayne. Here it forms parallel lines on the opposite sides of that old river which never had a name and no man ever saw; thence it passes eastward through Van Wert, Delphos and Findley.
A higher and equally continuous ridge lies back of this, passing from Hudson, Mich., on the left bank of the St. Joseph River, through Pioneer, Montpelier and Edgerton to Fort Wayne, and on the right bank of the St. Mary's running southeasterly to Lima and Kenton.
This is not usually regarded as an old lake beach, but rather as a swell of the Erie clay determined by a buried moraine .*
* The formation of the lake beaches and ridges constitute the last scenes in the great geological drame; nor should we look upon them as taking place in rapid succession, but slowly through long periods of time, just as in the near future, geologically speaking, the present margins of Lake Erie will be left far inland by the wearing away of Niagara's rocky bed and the retreating of the Falls.
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262 HISTORY OF HENDRICKS COUNTY.
No official geological survey of Hendricks County has ever been made, owing to the simplicity of its formation, and the fact that it is apparent without it, to the geologist, that no valuable minerals or building stone can be found in the county.
The entire county is covered by the glacial drift formation from 10 to 200 feet in depth. This formation is composed of sand, cal- careons and clayey substances, boulders, fragments of crystalline rocks, remains of ancient animal and vegetable life, and extensive moraines of gravel.
This drift in Hendricks County rests upon a stratum of Devonian sandstone, known to geologists as the Marshall or knob sandstone. It is soft, brittle and shaly, and unfit for economic uses. Speci- mens of this stone may be seen in the bed of White Lick, near Mr. Enos Hadley's, and at Plainfield, in the railroad cut west of Clay- ton, in the stream south of Danville and Rock Branch, in Eel River Township.
This sandstone ceases near the eastern line of the county, and it is probable that in the southeast corner of the county, the black state of the Hamilton group, which underlies the Marshall sand- stone, may be found. And near the western border of the county, sub-carboniferous limestone overlaps the Marshall sandstone, and may extend in places into this county.
The drift formation is composed of a disintegration and decom- position of almost every variety of rocks, soils, the remains of ancient animal and vegetable life, and everything that assists in making a soil rich and a subsoil practically inexhaustible. The soil of Hendricks County, being composed of this variety of mineral elemente, is well adapted to the successful cultivation of every pro- duction suited to the climate.
And this rich variety of mineral elements is not confined to the surface of the ground, but it is found that earth taken from considerable depth is, after exposure to the action of the atmos- phere and rays of the sun, almost as productive as that of the sur- face.
From this short sketch it may be seen that Hendricks County has been, by the liberal hand of our most beneficent Creator, abun- dantly and especially blessed in the possession of all the conditions, geographical, geological and climatic, necessary to make it a happy, prosperous and healthful abode for him who was created in His own image, and that it is only necessary for man to raise his arm in his own behalf and strike the bosom of Mother Earth for it to
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HISTORY OF HENDRICKS COUNTY. 263
pour forth from its unwasting storehouse an abundant supply for all his temporal wants.
ZOOLOGY.
Although no large body of water exists within or near the bor- ders of Hendricks County it formerly had a respectable number of both species and individuals of the animal kingdom. It afforded the Indian and the pioneer an abundance of wholesome wild meats, and in great variety, as well as a plentiful supply of useless or mischievous animals. According to the rule the world over, the larger animals disappeared first before the advancing tread of hu- man occupation, and then the next in size, and so on, down to the raccoon, opossum, etc., which still exist, though in diminishing numbers. The buffalo and elk were the largest, and they disap- peared on the very first approach of the white man, with his deadly rifle and indefatigable hound.
ANIMALS.
The common deer, which was abundant in pioneer times, is now very scarce in Indiana, being occasionally seen in some of the wildest portions of the State. The last one known to be in Hen- dricks County was killed as much as twenty years ago.
The panther (Felix concolor) and two species of wild cat (Lynx Canadensis and rufus) used to infest the woods, and render travel- ing somewhat dangerous to the early settler, but the last seen in the county were about a third of a century ago.
The black bear, porcupine and beaver have not been seen here for a still longer period.
Minks, weasels and skunks, once common, are diminishing. Twenty to thirty years ago there was a brisk trade here in their furs and other peltry which perceptibly thinned out the fur-bearing animals.
Fox and gray squirrels keep up their proportion with the dimin- ishing forest. The gray species is the most numerous, among which a black specimen is occasionally met with. Flying squirrels are still here, but as they are entirely nocturnal in their habits they are seldom seen. There are also ground squirrels in abundance. Moles, rabbits and bats are of course still common.
No otters have been seen for many years, though they were fre- quent in early days. There are still a good many muskrats.
Occasionally there is a gray fox met with, but no red foxes have been seen for a long time.
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264 HISTORY OF HENDRICKS COUNTY.
Wolves, of the large gray ."timper" species, were plentiful in early times, and more annoying and mischievous than all other animals put together ; but they are now, of course, extinct.
Ground hogs, or " woodchucks," were never plentiful, and are 60 scarce now that seldom can one be found.
" Wild hogs," or domestic hogs escaped and running wild, were abundant in pioneer times. In a few generations these animals became as furious and dangerous as wolves.
BIRDS.
Of the 250 species of birds found in Hendricks County, either constantly or occasionally in emigration, the group of singers ex- ceeds in number all others, though the really excellent musicians among them number but fifteen or twenty. The most numerously represented division, the wood warblers ( Tanagrid@) are not fine singers. The best songsters of the forest belong to the thrush and mocking-bird family.
Thrush Family. - The superior singing bird of Hendricks County is the superior singer of the world, namely, the wood- thrush. It is really more entertaining than the famous nightin- gale of Europe. Its melodious, flute-like tones are altogether "too sweet" for description. They are grouped into short tunes of eight, ten or twelve notes each, and there are six or eight tunes sung by this bird, with intervals of five to six or seven seconds be- tween them. Next to this prima donna of the forest are the olive- backed (or Swainson's) thrush, Wilson's thrush, the northern mocking-bird (or cat-bird), the brown thrush and the robin. These are all migratory birds, spending the summer here but the winter in the South. The robin sometimes remains all winter. The her- mit and the olive-backed thrushes are more common in the spring and fall. The robin and the cat-bird frequent the orchards and gardens, nesting about the door-yards, and prefer these places to the woods probably because of greater security from birds or other animals of prey. The brown thrush is found in the thickets of hazel-brush, briers, etc., which skirt old fences and the edge of woods, and generally nests in brush heaps. The remainder of this family is confined to the woodland. Their food consists of beetles, grasshoppers, snails, spiders, caterpillars, etc., together with small fruits and berries.
Bluebird Family .- The bluebird is the only representative of this family in the county. It is common from spring to fall, nest-
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HISTORY OF HENDRICKS COUNTY.
ing in bird-houses, fence-posts, decayed trees, and feeds on winged insects, worms, grasshoppers, spiders and a scant proportion of berries.
Kinglets .- The ruby crowned and the golden-crowned kinglets and the blue-gray gnat-catcher are all common during the spring and fall. The first-mentioned is frequently found in winter, and the gnat-catcher is abundant during the summer. These are con- fined to the woods. The kinglets nest in the lake region, but the gnat-catcher nests here, building a wonderful structure high up on the oaks. It is somewhat purse-shaped, and often at the extremity of a bough, so as to sway with the wind, secure from enemies. It is placed in a concealed sitnation, and artistically, as well as sub- stantially, finished.
Chickadee .- The titmouse, or black-capped chickadee, the only member of this family here, feeds upon insects, seeds, berries, crumbs, meats, etc., and generally nests in the woods, where it makes its home most of the year, but during the winter it is seen near the house, feeding upon sweepings from the table.
Nuthatches .- The white-bellied and the red-bellied nuthatch are common, especially the former. These birds are found in wood- lands and orchards. Their nests are built in holes in trees. Food- ants, eggs of insects and seeds.
Brown Creeper .- A common spring, fall and winter resident, and a woodland bird, is to be mentioned in this connection.
Wren Family .- The Carolina wren is a very rare straggler from the South. The house wren is common locally. The winter wren is a common spring and fall visitor, often remaining during the open winters. The long-billed marsh wren is a common summer resident of the marshes, building a large globular nest of coarse sand-grass, suspended to reeds or flag stems. The short-billed marsh wren is a common summer resident, generally found on low meadow lands. The wrens feed on insects only.
Lark Family .- The horned lark is a winter resident, but some- times breeds here. It frequents barren and gravelly fields, feed- ing on seeds and insects. When the ground is covered with snow they may be seen feeding upon the droppings of stock about the farm.
The Titlark is an abundant migrant in late fall and early spring, frequenting the same localities and subsisting on the same food as the preceding. There are sometimes large flocks of this species of bird.
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266 HISTORY OF HENDRICKS COUNTY.
Warblers .- These are numerous. The black and white creeper is a common summer resident, nesting on the ground, generally beside a fallen log. The blue yellow backed warbler, a rare mi- gratory bird, is sometimes found in the tree-tops of the wild forest. The blue-winged yellow warbler is rare. The blue golden-winged warbler is common in spring and fall. The Nashville and Tennes- see warblers are very common. The orange-crowned warbler is rare. . The yellow, the black-throated green, the black-throated blue, the blue, the yellow rumped, the blackburnian, the black- poll, the yellow red-poll, and the chestnut-sided warblers are all common-some of them abundant; all migrants. The bay-breasted, the Cape May, the prairie, the yellow-throated and Kirtland's war- blers are rare. The golden-crowned thrush (Soiurus auricapillus) is a common summer resident, frequenting low, open woods. The water thrush (S. naevius) is rare, but breeds here. The large- billed water thrush is common in swampy timber lands. The Con- necticut warbler is rare, out may become common. It is a fine songster. The Maryland yellow-throat is found occasionally. The black-capped fly-catching warbler is common during the spring and autumn. Canada fly-catching warbler, common. Red start, very common.
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