History of La Porte County, Indiana, Part 30

Author: Chas. C. Chapman & Co
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : C.C. Chapman
Number of Pages: 930

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by animated nature, every one imbued with the spirit and love of the truth is compelled, with the poet, to exclaim,

"An undevout philosopher is mad."

-Sketches of Creation. p. 98.

THEORETICAL GEOLOGY.

If one could take a station on one of the highest peaks. of the Alleghany mountains and see the vast countries lying to the west as they appear in their various conformations and configurations, doubtless he would see them as a wide extended area with a well- defined, low-swelling elevation passing from his feet into the north- ern part of Ohio and thence with a grandly sweeping curve down into the central part of Ohio and back again, erossing in an irreg- ular way the northern part of Indiana, and thence sweeping around the western shore of Lake Michigan. This elevation he would at once discover divided the vast area of country into two great valleys,-the Ohio and Mississippi valleys on the south and west, and the St. Lawrence valley on the north, which includes the chain of the great Northern lakes and the St. Lawrence river.

It is on the crest of this elevation that La Porte county is to be found; the highest part of it passing through the county from east to west near its center. This "ridge " gives Indiana its highest elevation above the sea level; hence La Porte county is a part of the highest portions of Indiana, as related to the ocean level. When, in the course of the geological periods, the great continent was being lifted bodily out of the superineumbent waters of the Atlantic ocean by the gigantic powers and forces that were prepar- ing it for the habitancy of men, this portion of the State was the first to appear above them,-this ridge protruding through the waters like the back of some great monster, and gradually becom- ing larger and larger.

The upper crust of the country which we now desire to specially notice is what is called in geological language "drift," and is 200 feet and more in thickness. To give a proper idea of this layer of drift, we extract the following from the American Cyclopedia:

" Diluvium, or drift. the superficial deposits of elay, sand, gravel, and boulders which in both hemispheres are spread more or less uniformly over the land of the polar regions and the adjacent portions of the temperate zones. Geologically this deposit is very recent, and is found overlying strata of tertiary or pliocene age. Inasmuch as great portions of the material of which it is composed seem to have been transported or at least acenmulated in their present position by some violent action, the name of diluvium was given to it by the earlier geologists. In the northern hemisphere the drift is found alike in Europe, Asia, and America, extending from the polar regions toward the equator, and disappearing on the continent of America about latitude 38; while in Europe all traces of it are said to be lost in the countries bordering on the

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Mediterranean. *

% * This drifted or diluvial material is divided into diluvium proper, or unstratified drift, and stratified or modified drift, which is the result of a rearrangement of the latter by water. Unstratified drift is met at considerable elevations over the present sea level-3,000 feet above the Baltic, and at a height of 4,000 feet in tlie Grampians of Scotland. It is everywhere characterized by loose masses of rock, more or less rounded, which in many cases have evidently been transported for considerable distances from their parent beds. As already described in the article Boulders, they are often of great dimensions, and increase in size as the deposit is traced toward its source to the northward. * * Such is the unstratified diluvium, or boulder clay, as it is sometimes called; while in allusion to its supposed accumulation by the agency of ice, it is often called glacial drift."

It is this drift which formas the upper crust or deposit of the surface of La Porte county, and as stated above, it is from 200 feet and upward in thickness. It seems to be both of the unstratified and stratified diluvium. It has been very much affected by water, at least in portions of the county. This is especially true of that part of the county which borders on Lake Michigan. In this part the diluvial deposit has been changed in its characteristics some- what, probably through the action of the water of the lake as it has receded either through the actual lowering of its surface or the gradual upheaval of the land. At least through some agency, and it is most likely that it was by the action of water, there has been some peculiar markings and configurations produced in the declina- tion of the county to the northwest. These configurations have been called "lake ridges," because of their conformity to the shore of the lake; they are nearly parallel with it as it is at present. Geologists have told us that "these ridges of sand mark the ancient shore lines of the lake, where its subsidence was arrested for a greater or less period of time." Of these " lake ridges," Prof. Cox has this to say:

" The first ridge, along the present shore line, rises above the water level from 30 to 85 feet. This is broken at irregular inter- vals by valleys at oblique angles; and occasionally a tall peak rises many feet above its fellows. A space of half a mile succeeds this ridge, having an elevation of 15 or 20 feet ;- on this is built the city of Michigan City. The top of the second beach or ridge is 50, and the half-mile valley beyond is 35 feet above the water. The third beach is 45 feet, the fourth is 95, and the fifth is 225 feet above the lake. It may be remarked that the fourth beach line contains considerable amounts of gravel, perhaps indicating a fixed water level for a comparatively long period of time.

" The shallow portions of the present lake, near the shore, are uniformily floored with sand, but in the deep central areas the bottom is composed of stiff, tenacious clay, intercalating partings or pockets of sand, from whence, probably, comes the supply which is constantly being filled up and drifted about the shores by the

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wind. It may be inferred that the ancient lake was governed by a like law, as the railway cuts which traverse these wide, descend- ing shore lines, frequently discover beds of clay (the Erie clay of Canadian geologists), and wherever this clay is pierced by wells, the supply of water is found in the sand partings.

"No continuons sand ridges are found beyond the fifth from the lake, though for some distance further inland the valleys and hollows are more or less floored with this wave-washed material. The lakes in the vicinity of La Porte are south of the water-shed, and no evidences are traceable of their having been a part of ancient Lake Michigan since the subsidence of the glacial sea."

The deposit of diluvium in other parts of the county has not, perhaps, been affected so much through the ageney of water as this, and is, therefore, more nearly the pure unstratified drift.

Beneath this deposit, the first rocks found are the Niagara lime- stone. Of these rocks, the following will give sufficient explanation as to the geologic periods to which they belong and the locations where they may be found !:

"The first period of the Upper Silurian was that during which the Niagara limestone was accumulated-a formation through which, with others, the Niagara river has cut its way. * From the falls of Niagara, the ont-cropping belt of this limestone rnns in lines parallel with those just traced (the supposed geologic sea-coast lines). It forms the promontory of Cabot's Head, and the peninsula separating Georgian bay from Lake Huron. At this point the formation has succumbed to the attacks of the waves, and disappeared in its northwestward trend beneath the water of the lake. Cropping out again, it forms the remarkable chain of the Manitoulin islands, in the northern part of Lake Huron, including Drummond's island. Beyond St. Mary's river it forms a ' point' and a peninsula, the counterparts of Cabot's Head and the penin- sula south of it. Running westward, and then southwestward, it establishes a continuous barrier to Lake Michigan along the north- ern and western borders, constituting the rocky ridge which iso- lates Green bay and Bay de Noquet from the greater lake. It follows the shore of Lake Michigan to Chicago, and even to Joliet, when it bends westward and northwestward, and loses itself beneath the accuinulations of a later period. The quarries at Lockport, New York, and many others in that vicinity, are located in this important limestone. In the same formation are those at Milwau- kee, Wankesha, Chicago, Lamont and Joliet. The so-called ' Athens marble,' so extensively employed in Chicago, is quarried from this formation. It much resembles the famous 'Kentucky marble,' from which the beautiful monument and statue to Henry Clay, at Lexington, is built-though the latter comes from the Trenton group, in the Lower Silurian." -- Sketches of Creation.

This Niagara limestone is overlaid with the Clinton group, Medina sandstone, and the Oneida conglomerate rocks of the Upper Silurian era. Beneath these are found the Hudson River group, and Utica shale of the Hudson period; the Trenton, Black River,

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and Birdseye limestones, and the Chazy limestone, of the Trenton period; and the Calciferous sand-rock, and Potsdam sandstone, of the Potsdam period, of the Lower Silurian age. Beneath these are the rocks of the Azoic age in which there are no traces of life found, especially of animal life.

From this it will be seen that there will not be found in the county any beds of the Corniferous limestone (that limestone from which the lime of the market is burned), for it is a formation of the Devonian age, and crops out far to the south,-the northern croppings of this formation being in the southern part of Newton county, the northern parts of White and Cass counties, etc., the Niagara limestone dipping far beneath them.

Neither will there be found any coal deposits; for the coal measures belong to the Carboniferous age, the formations of which rest far above either the Corniferons or the Niagara limestone for- mations; and the outcroppings of the coal strata are still farther to the south than those of the Corniferous limestone. The various strata of rocks which intervene between the lowest coal stratum and the Niagara limestone,-the uppermost of La Porte county rocks, -are the following: The Millstone grit, and the Sub-carbon- iferous or Mountain limestone, of the Carboniferous age; the Cats- kill red sandstone, of the Catskill period; the Chemung group, and the Portage group of the Chemung period; the Genesee slate, the Hamilton group, and the Marcellus shale, of the Hamilton period; the Upper Helderberg limestones, the Schoharie grit, and the Cau- dagalli grit, of the Corniferous period; the Oriskany sandstone, of the Oriskany period, of the Devonian age; the Ludlow group, and the Amestry limestone, of the Lower Helderberg period; and the Saliferons beds, of the Salina period, of the Upper Silurian era,- this latter resting upon the Niagara limestone. This enumeration of the various strata of rocks will show the utter inutility of look- ing for coal or Corniferous limestone formations in this part of the State, unless coal is to be discovered in rock strata in which it has never been discovered.

ECONOMICAL GEOLOGY.

From what has already been said, it will appear that there is no element of wealth in La Porte to be found in its rock strata, -all its wealth must come from the "glacial drift." This, however, fur- nishes as fine surface soil as can be found anywhere (which has been noticed elsewhere), out of which grow immense crops of the cereals, roots, fruits and grasses. This diluvium deposit contains abundant beds of yellow clay, from which building bricks are burned. The boulders which this drift contains may be turned to good account, as they are in many places.

The only mineral, as has been noticed elsewhere, that has been found in any considerable quantity is that of bog iron ore in the marshes of the Kankakee river. Whether this can be turned to a good account remains to be seen.

CHAPTER II.

BOTANY.

THE PRE-SETTLEMENT LANDSCAPES.

For hundreds of years, and perhaps for thousands of years, before the advent of either the white or red man to make an abode upon its rich soil, the landscapes of northern Indiana, including of course those of La Porte county, wasted their beauty and their fragrance in dead loneliness of undisturbed nature. It was doubtless of con- ditions like these that the following couplet was written, the poet linking these with the complement of his figure:

Full many a rose is born to blush unseen, And waste its fragrance on the desert air.

The flora of these primal years must have been grand indeed. The carpet of green rising in undisturbed tranquillity, flecked here and there with the handsome wild flowers that arose above it, was doubtless more delicate in beauty than the most finished Turkey ingrain or brussels that now softens the tread in our handsomest parlors. A vision like this no doubt,-a vision seen in nature real, or in imagination, -- inspired the following verse:

A billowy ocean with green carpet spread, Which seems almost too neat for man to tread, With glittering stars of amaryllis white, With violets blue and roses red and bright, With golden cinquefoil, star-grass, buttercups, With dazzling cardinal flowers and painted cups, And lone but cheerful meadow larks to sing, This grassy sea appeared in smiling spring. In summer came the stately compass-plant, As if to guide the wandering immigrant. Then asters, golden-rods, and wild sunflowers O'erspread the vales in labyrinthine bowers. Thus nature, clad in vesture gold and green, Brought autumn in and closed the floral scene.

The red man came, and these landscapes continued to increase in beauty; the white man came, and year by year they have changed continually until they are now superseded by the waving, " golden grain " of our harvest fields. It is now impossible to give the flora of these pre-settlement landscapes, but we are informed by those who saw the landscapes that just preceded the days of first settlement that they were rich beyond description.

No other country but the western continent can exhibit such a forest as covered the northern portion of the county. But this

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forest, as well as the prairie, has undergone many changes at the hand of the hardy pioneer. Its umbrage, cast down cool and dark upon the ground, has given way to the cheerful sunlight. The prairies have lost much of their original flora. Now both timber and prairie are largely under cultivation or pasturage, and blue grass, white clover and a large number of introduced weeds from the East have taken the place of the original flora. Industrially this change is a very great gain, but poetically it is as great a loss. Only in the most retired situations can many interesting plants be found now which used to be abundant; and perhaps some are lost entirely. Several species of prairie clover, wild indigo, rosin-weed, etc., have almost disappeared with the original condition of the prairie; while a few of the modest strawberry and some other plants still remain to stir in us sweet remembrances of the past.

Nearly all of the plants which are now growing spontaneously in cultivated or waste ground are " introduced " plants; that is, they have been brought here by white settlers,-unintentionally with reference to most of the weeds, of course.

Before they were settled by the whites, the prairies were mostly covered with two or three kinds of grass,-several other kinds grew in isolated places here and there, notably the Indian grass and the blue joint, which grew very tall. In wet places grew the well known " slough grass" (and this is found still very largely in the Kankakee marshes), and golden-rods, asters, and wild sunflowers abounded in many places, which in the latter part of summer and the early part of autumn formed waving yellow patches on the prairie, and which were peculiarly charming.

THE FLORA OF THE UNITED STATES.

There are within the United States about 2,300 species of plants and about 140 different kinds of trees, of which more than 80 attain the height of 60 feet and upward. The most characteristic form which distinguishes an American forest from others are the Hick- ories (Carya), the Tupelos (Nyssa), the " Poplar" or Tulip-tree, the Taxodium or American Cypress, the Locust (Robinia), and a few others. The American forest is further remarkable for the numerous Oaks, Ashes, Pines, the several Magnolias, the Plane tree (usually called in America, Sycamore), and the two kinds of Walnuts which it possesses.

The distribution of the various species of trees, as well as of the humbler plants, in the United States, for convenience of description has been divided into two geographical divisions,-the first extend- ing from the northern limit of the United States to the 35th parallel; the second extending from latitude 35° to latitude 27° in Florida, beyond which it is said the character of the North Ameri- can vegetation merges into that of the Tropical.

In order to get the flora of La Porte county as it is connected with the flora of the surrounding country, for it is principally the

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same, it is necessary to notice only the first division; for it is to that that our flora belongs. The following description of this division we have extracted from the "Encyclopedia of Geography." While this description is given very largely in the technical botanical names of the plants, we have not scrupled to use it, for the reason that in giving the local flora, which must to a large extent be extracted from this, we shall give both the technical and the common names, and hence each of these species can be easily identified.

"In the northern district of the United States, the forest is characterized by. the appearance of numerous Oaks, Hickories and Ashes, by the Liriodendron, Liquidambar, the two Nyssas, the Platanus occidentalis, the two Walnuts, the Red Birch, Celtis occidentalis, the White Cedar, and the Red or Virginia Juniper; several Pines, the Tilias, the Black Sugar and the White Maples, the Negundo or Ash-leaved Maple, Ostrya Virginica and Carpinus Americana, the Persimmon, and Ilex opaca. The underwood con- sists of the Cornus florida and Cercis Canadensis, so conspicuous in spring, the one for its white, and the other for its purple, blossoms; Button-bush, Laurus Sassafras and Benzoin, Quercus Banisteri and chinquapin, three Alders, the Wax-Myrtle, the Comptonia, the Witch-Hazel, which puts forth its flowers at the very close of the season; numerous species of Vaccinium, Cornus, and Viburnum; the Sambucus Canadensis, the American Hazel, Staphylea trifolia, Zanthoxylum fraxineum, Ceanothus Ameri- canus; Rhus typhina, glabra, copallina and venenata; numerous Cratægi, the Wild Crab, Aronia arbutifolia, the Itea, several Andromedas, two Azaleas, Hydrangea arborescens; Dirca palus- tris, our only species of Thymeleæ; the Kalmias, three species of Enonymus, the Papaw, Clethras, Chionanthus Virginica, and Magnolia glauca. Most of the trees and shrubs mentioned under the last region (that of Northern North America) have disappeared, or are found only on the mountains. The Willows have become much less numerous, both in species and individuals. It is in the northern borders of this region also, in New York, New England, and on the mountains of Pennsylvania, that the autumnal foliage so celebrated for its varied tints, acquires its highest degree of magnificence; where the Red Maple, the Scarlet Oak, Yellow Birch, and the Purple Nyssa, are brought into contrast with the dark green of the Pines. Climbing plants now make their appear- ance, as various Grapes, Ampelopsis hederacea, Rhus radicans, Celastrus scandens, Clematis Virginiana, Menispermum Cana- dense, the Apios and Amphicarpæa, Dioscorea villosa, Mikania scandens, Gonolobi, and some Phaseoli, Polygonum scandens and cilinode, and especially the different species of Smilax, which form the underwood into tangled thickets.

Herbaceous Plants are found in great variety. In the spring, Houstonia caerulea, the Podophyllum and Sanguinaria, Diclytra cucullaria, Thalictrum anemonoides. Ranunculus fascicularis, the

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Dentarias, several Violas, Claytonia Virginiana, Saxifraga Virgin- iana, Phlox subulata, Erigeron bellidifolium Erythronium, and Senecio anreus, come into flower. These are succeeded by the Epigea, some Helianthemums and Lecheas, the Solea, several Polygalas and Hypericums, Oxalis violacea, Stylosanthes elatior, numerous Desmodinms and Lespedezas, Triosteum perfoliatum, Campanula Americana, the blue Lobelias, various species of Asclepias, three Apocynums, Obolaria Virginica, Polemonium reptans, Pulmonaria Virginica, the Monardas, Cunila Mariana, Collinsonia Canadensis, the Pycnanthemums and several Scutel- larias, the Phryma, Hyssopus nepetoides and scrophulariifolius, the yellow Gerardias, Pentstemon pubescens and lævigatum, Epiphagus Virginiana and two Orobanches, Asarum Canadense, Arum dracontium and triphyllum, Cimicifuga racemosa, two Ascyrums, Baptisia tinctoria, Chimaphila maculata, Sabbatia gra- cilis and angularis, Aristolochia serpentaria, three Corallorhizas, the Aplectrum, a single Orchis, Spiranthes tortilis, Triphora pendula, Malaxis liliifolia, four Cypripedinms, Uvularia perfoliata and sessilifolia, the Gyromia, Smilacina racemosa, Tephrosia Virginiana, a few Umbelliferæ, Helonias erythrospermá, Aletris farinosa, Lilium Philadelphicum, Hypoxis erecta, Tradescantia Virginica, a Sisyrhynchium, Verbena hastata and urticifolia, a single Antirrhinum, the Sarothra, some ŒEnotheras, Silene stellata, several Eupatoriums and some species of Liatris, Senecio hieraci- folius, the varying-leaved Nabali, Lactuca elongata, some species of Cnicus, Cacalia atriplicifolia, three or four Hieraciums, Krigia amplexicaulis and Virginica, Gnaphalium polycephalum and purpureum, some Erigerons, Lysimachia ciliata and quadrifolia, Linum Virginianum, Hypericum punctatum, Anychia dichotoma, Onosmodium hispidum, Leptandra Virginica, Polygonum Virgin- ianum, Corydalis aurea, Crotolaria sagittalis, some species of Phlox, Cuphea viscosissima, the Hydrastis, Buchnera Americana, Aralia racemosa, Polygonella articulata, Spermacoce tennior, the Mitchella, Comandra umbellata, various Galiums, two Ammanias, Parietaria Pennsylvanica, Kuhnia eupatorioides, and an Elaphantopus :-- and in the low grounds by the Euchroma coccinea, Decodon verticillatum, Proserpinaca palustris and pectinata, the Saururus, Gratiola aurea and Virginica, Elodea Virginica, Lysimachia hybrida and racemosa, three or four Hypericums, Ludwigia alternifolia, Penthorum sedoides, Lilium superbum, Hibiscus moscheutos, the scarlet Lobelia, the Florkia, Oxycoccus macrocarpa, Asclepias incarnata, Mimulus alatus and ringens, Justicia pedunculosa, Bœhmeria cylindrica and the semi-pellucid Urtica pumila, Pogonia ophioglos- soides and the Calopogon, the beautiful tribe of the Habenarias, Helonias dioica, several Polygonums, the genera Xyris and Eriocaulon, Iris versicolor, some Sparganiums, and Caladium Virginicum. The autumn is ushered in with a profusion of Asters and Solidagos, more conspienous perhaps in the northeast, the Chrysopsis Mariana, Rudbeckia laciniata and Heliopsis lævis, a

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few Helianthi, Cassia Marylandica and chamæcrista, Acalypha Virginica, Trichostema dichotoma, Bidens bipinnata :- the low grounds are sometimes all golden with the flowers of the Bidens chrysanthemoides and trichosperma; or in other places the purple heads of Vernonia Noveboracensis become conspicnous, the Whorl- ed-leaved Eupatoriums and Eupatorium perfoliatum, Helenium au- tumnale, Ambrosia trifida, Chelone glabra, the purple Gerardias, Polygala cruciata and purpurea, Spiranthes cernua, and above all the beautiful blue Gentiana crinita.

" Many fine-flowering aquatics are found in this region: The Nymphæa odorata and Nuphar advena, the Villarsia, the Hydro- peltis, the Orontium, Pontederia cordata, Heteranthera reniformis, the Schollera, various singular Sagittarias, numerous Utricularias, Hypericum angulosum, Vallisneria Americana, Udora Canadensis, Sparganium fluitans, the Fucoid-like Podostemon, Bidens Beckii, the curious Hottonia inflata, Eriocanlon flavidulum and an unde- scribed species; and among gramineous plants, Eleocharis subter- minalis and Juncus militaris, besides the large and beautiful Zizania aquatica. Of other gramineous plants, many interesting grasses, including some peculiar forms, make their appearance; Carices still prevail in the marshes, though less exclusively than in the north, giving place to Rhynchosporas, Cyperi, the Dulichium, the numerous articulated Junci, and even some Sclerias; but the Eriophorums have mostly disappeared, except Eriophorum Virgin- icum, and are replaced by brown Trichophorums. The Ferns, notwithstanding the minuteness of their seeds, which seems to admit of their transportation by the winds to great distances, are found to be nearly all different from those of the eastern conti- nent: among the more remarkable are, a climber, Lygodium palmatum, reminding us of the tropics, two Botrychiums and Osmundas, a Struthiopteris, numerous Aspidiums and Aspleniums, four species of Pteris, two Woodwardias, the Onoclea, Adiantum pedatum, and a minute Schizea.

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History of La Porte County, Indiana, Part 30

Author: Chas. C. Chapman & Co Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : C.C. Chapman Number of Pages: 930

Author: Chas. C. Chapman & Co
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : C.C. Chapman
Number of Pages: 930