USA > Indiana > LaPorte County > History of La Porte County, Indiana > Part 34
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3. Haliaetus leucocephalus. (White-headed or Bald Eagle.) This is the chosen symbol of our country. With almost motionless wings, by a series of graceful spiral curves it rises in the air to a great height, and then descends with lightning rapidity.
Family 2. Strigidae. (The Owl Family.)
1. Bubo Virginianus. (The Great Horned Owl.) Itis some- times called the cat-owl, as its tufts, erectile at will, give its head a sinister aspect not unlike the cat.
2. Strix flammea. (The Screech-owl or Barn-owl.) It is of a rusty red color, mottled with white. It utters a dismal cry.
Family 3. Cuthartidc. (The Vulture Family.)
1. Rhynographus aura. (The Turkey Buzzard.) This is a useful scavenger. Its head and neck are featherless, and it is broad of wing and graceful in flight.
Order IV. Columbæ. (Pigeon and Dove.)
Family 1. Columbidc. (The Pigeon Family.)
1. Ectopistes migratoria. (Wild or Migratory Pigeon.) These birds are very common. They come and go in large flocks.
2. Ectopistes Carolinensis. (The Carolina Turtle Dove.) This is a well-known bird. It is often employed as the emblem of innocence, gentleness, and affection.
Order V. Gallina. (The Hen-like Birds.)
Family 1. Pavonidæ. (The Peacock Family.)
1. Pavo cristatus. (The Common Peacock.) This fowl has been renowned for ages for the beauty of its plumage.
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HISTORY OF LA PORTE COUNTY.
Family 2. Numididæ. (The Guinea-fowl Family.)
1. Numida meleagris. (Common Guinea-fowl.) A barn-yard fowl, useful in the protection which it gives by its cry of camac, camac, to the poultry in driving away crows and hawks.
Family 3. Meleagridc. (The Turkey Family.)
1. Meleagris fera. (The Wild Turkey.) Found in the woods, but getting to be somewhat scarce. A noble fowl.
2. Meleagris galloparo. (The Common Domesticated Turkey.) This is one of the most highly prized of the domestic fowls.
Family 4. Tetraonidc. (The Grouse Family.)
1. Bonasa umbellus. (The Partridge, otherwise called Pheas. ant.) This bird, in spring, drums upon a log with its wings, closely imitating distant thunder. Its flesh is excellent game.
2. Tetrao cupido. (The Prairie-hen.) A well-known game bird of the prairies. Perhaps diminishing in number.
Family 5. Perdicida. (The Partridge Family.)
1. Ortyx Virginianus. (The Quail. Bob-White.) A highly prized game bird of excellent quality. Quite common.
Family 6. Scolopacide. (The Snipe Family.)
1. Philohela minor. (The Woodcock.) It is found in the thickest woods, and its flesh is considered a very great delicacy.
2. Ægialites vociferus. (The Killdeer.) This is an aquatic bird closely allied to the plover.
Order VI. Herodiones. (The Heron.) Family 1. Ardeidc. (The Heron Family.)
1. Ardea Herodias. (The Great Blue Heron.) This is an aquatic fowl, frequenting the shores of streams, ponds and other bodies of shallow water, and feeding upon fish.
2. Ardeu cinerea. (The Common Heron.) Found in sloughis and in grass-covered ponds. Makes a loud pumping-like cry.
Order VII. Lamellirostres. (Birds having lamels or dental plates on the beak.)
Family 1. Anatidc. (The Duek Family.)
1. Bernicla Canadensis. (The Canada or Wild Goose.) This is a well-known migratory fowl, migrating to the north in the spring, and to the south in the autumn.
2. Anas sponsa. (The Wood or Summer Duck.) This duck builds its nest in hollow trees. It is not worth very much as game.
3. Anas boschas. (The Domestic Duck.) Its quack, quack, is well known, and needs no description.
4. Anas moschata. (The Moscovy Duck.) A large, fine fowl and considerably sought after as game.
Order VIII. Pygopodes. (Rump-footed Birds.)
Family 1. Colymbidc. (The Loon Family.) 1. Colymbus torquatus. (The Great Northern Diver.) This fowl can hardly walk on the land, moving only by a succession of
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awkward tumbles, but in the water it is a rare swimmer, and a most expert diver. If it sees the flash of the gun, it will dive and dodge the bullet. It is not very plentiful, only one now and then being seen.
Class 3. Reptilia. (Prostrate Animals,-moving on the belly or on short legs.)
Order I. Testudinata. (Shelled-Reptiles.)
Family 1. Testudinidæ. (The Land Tortoises.)
1. Cistudo Virginiana. (Box Tortoise.) This tortoise, having feet for walking, never goes into the water. It lives on soft plants and mushrooms.
Family 2. Emyditc. (The River Tortoise.)
1. Chelydra serpentina. (The Snapping Turtle.) This turtle is very common, found in almost every stream and body of water.
Order II. Ophidia. (Reptiles without exterior mem- bers.)
Family 1. Crotalidæ. (The Rattlesnake Family.) 1. Crotalus durissus. (The Rattlesnake.) This snake is poi- sonous, and is known by the horny substance on the tail which, when shaken, makes a rattling noise.
2. Trigonocephalus contortrix. (The Copperhead.) This ven- omous snake is sparsely found. It is also called copper-bell and red viper.
Family 2. Colubridæ. (Non-poisonous Snakes.) 1. Coluber constrictor. (Black-snake.) A few specimens of this snake are still found.
2. Coluber aqua. (Water-snake.) This harmless snake is still found in the streams, ponds and sloughs. It cannot live without the water. All of the Colubrida are perfectly inoffensive, and they do some good by destroying noxious insects.
Class 4. Amphibia. (Animals which can live both in water and on land.)
Order I. Anura. (Tailless Amphibians.) Family 1. Ranidæ. (The Frog Family.)
1. Rana pipiens. (Common Bull-frog.) This amphibious an- imal is found in great numbers, and their spring concerts are any- thing but the choicest of music. They hybernate during the winter.
Family 2. Bufonide. (The Toad Family.)
1. Bufo Americanus. (The Common Toad.) Found in gardens, yards, etc., and feeds upon insects, which it is very expert in catching.
Class 5. Pisces. (Fishes.)
Order I. Teleostei. (Perfect-Bone Fishes. ) Family 1. Percidc. (Dark-colored Fishes.)
1. Labrax rufus. (The Common Perch.) This fish is found still in the streams, and is highly prized for the table.
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HISTORY OF LA PORTE COUNTY.
Family 2. Siluridæ. (Scaleless Fishes.)
1. Pimelodus catus. (Cat-fish or Horned-pout.) This fish has a naked skin, and the month is surrounded by tentacles. It sometimes attains to a good size.
Family 3. Salmonidæ. (The Salmon Family.)
1. Salmon salar. (The Common Salmon.) A most excellent fish. It is quite strong, and has been known to ascend waterfalls 10 or 12 feet high.
Family 4. E'socidæ. (The Pike and Pickerel Family.) 1. Esox lucius. (The Pike.) This fish is excelled hardly by any fish in American waters. It is quite a game fish, and requires some skill to successfully catch it.
Family 5. Cyprinida. (The Carp Family.)
1. Cyprinus auratus. (The Gold-fish.) This fish, originally from China, has become a pet of the parlor and the fountain.
2. Labrax lineatus. (The Striped Bass.) This is another of the most important fishes of the waters of the county.
SUB- KINGDOM. ARTICULATA. (Animals which are jointed.) Class 1. Insecta. (Articulates which divide into three portions.)
Order I. Hymenoptera. (Membrane-winged Insects.) Family 1. Apidæ. (Honey Makers.)
1. Apis mellifica. (The Common Honey-bee.) This insect is found both in domestic culture and wild in the woods. 2. Apis bombus. (The Bumble-bee.) A large bee which is found in stubble fields, meadows, pastures, etc. They raise their young in colonies under the ground.
Family 2. Formicidae. (The Ant Family.)
1. Ponera grandis. (Giant Ant.) Quite common, large and black.
2. Formica sanguinea. (The Red Ant.) Housewives will know this little pest without further description.
Order II. Lepidoptera. (Scale-winged Insects.) Family 1. Papilionida. (The Butterfly Family.)
1. Papilio machaon. (Butterfly.) Butterflies are but cater- pillars dressed up in Sunday clothes. They are diurnal, and pro- duce caterpillars again, which are destructive to vegetation.
Order III. Diptera. (Two-winged Insects.) Family 1. Culicidae. (The Gnat Family.)
1. Culex pipiens. (The Common Mosquito.) This insect is very numerous in some parts of the county, especially on the marshes. Its young at first are " wiggle-tails, or wrigglers."
Family 2. Muscidæ (The Fly Family.)
1. Musca domestica. (The Common House-Fly.) This little insect is not in very high repute, but civilized man owes more to
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it than can readily be estimated. It is a most faithful scavenger, and is likely to be needed for centuries to come yet.
Family 3. Pulicidæ. (Wingless Dipters.)
1. Pulex irritans. (The Common Human Flea.) This is a most troublesome little insect, and very strong. It can jump 200 times its own length, and draw 100 times its own weight.
Order IV. Hemiptera. (Half-winged Insects.) Family 1. Cicadidæ. (The Harvest-fly Family.)
1. Cicada septendecim. (The Seventeen-year Locust.) These insects return every seventeen years, that is, they come to the sur- face of the ground and take wing only once in seventeen years.
Order V. Orthoptera. (Straight-winged Insects.) Family 1. Locustida. (The Katydid Family.)
1. Cyrtophyllus concavus. (The Katydid.) A musical insect at night. Its notes are produced by the friction of the bases of the wings together.
Family 2. Gryllida. (The Cricket Family.)
1. Gryllus domesticus. (The Common Cricket.) It is character- ized by its chirping noise. It used to be a comfort to sit by the old chimney fire and hear the cricket chirp its comfortable song.
2. Gryllus viridissimus. (The Grasshopper.) This insect has four joints to each foot, and transparent wing-covers that drop down on each side, under which the wings are folded in plaits like a fan. It feeds on leaves and grass.
Order VI. Neuroptera. (Nerve-winged Insects.) Family 1. Libellulidc. (Devil's Darning-needle.)
1. Libellula depressa. (Dragon-fly.) A large insect having compound eyes, feeding upon mosquitoes and flies, etc. It is repu- ted to be a "snake-feeder."
Class 2. Myriapoda. (Ten-thousand-Footed.) Order 1. Chilopoda. (Lip-footed.)
Family 1. Scolopendrida. (The Centipede Family.)
1. Scolopendra gigantea. (The Centipede.) A venomous myriapod, found in places where it may secrete itself under pieces of bark, old logs, fence-rails, etc.
Order II. Diplopoda. (Double-footed.) Family 1. Julidæ. (Down-like.)
1. Julus Canadensis. (The Thousand-leg Myriapod.) This is harmless and beneficial in destroying dead vegetable matter. When it is alarmed, it coils its body in a ring, with the tail in the center and the feet entirely concealed. It is found in like situations with the centipede.
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HISTORY OF LA PORTE COUNTY.
Class 3. Arachnida. (Spider-like.) Order I. Aranec. (Web Spinners.)
Family 1. Araneida. (The Spider Family.)
1. Epeira diadema. (Garden or Geometrical Spider.) It re- ceives its name from the regularity of the radiating and circular lines of the web which it spins for taking its prey, and furnishing it with habitation.
Order II. Acarina. (Mouth for either Sucking or Bit- ing.)
Family 1. Acaridae. (The Itch-mite Family.)
1. Sarcoptes scabiei. (The Itch-mite.) It is not known whether this is prevalent in La Porte county or not. It burrows in the flesh, multiplies rapidly, and produces a loathsome disease, which gives it its name.
Family 2. Ixodidae. (The Tick Family.)
1. Ixodes bovis. (Cattle Tick.) These ticks infest the cattle, and are said to be a producing cause of the Texas fever.
2. Ixodes canis. (Dog Tick.) These ticks fasten themselves on dogs,-abont their ears, etc., so firmly that they can scarcely be pulled off.
The foregoing is the fauna of the county as far as we have space to give it. It is incomplete, however; but it will, it is hoped, fur- nish a basis for some one else more thoroughly to construct a list. Whoever does undertake it will find the same difficulty which we have met, and that is, a great deal of the fauna is migratory, and it is very difficult, sometimes, to distinguish between this migra- tory fauna, or the fauna which belongs equally to the limited locality and the surrounding country, and that which is permanent. Ani- mals have the power of locomotion and plants have not. Because of this fact it is much more easy to give the flora of a county than it is to give the fauna.
It is to be hoped that in the partial catalogues of the flora and fauna which have been given above will be found a sufficient interest to set some one to this work.
CHAPTER IV.
ARCHEOLOGY.
THE LOCAL AND ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE WRITTEN IN MOUNDS OF EARTH.
Having now given the Geography of the county, with its surface presentations; its Geology, with its formations and underlying strata; its Botany, with its flora and soil products; its Zoology, with its higher manifestations of animal life, there yet remains to be given its Archæology,-the remains which it has of an inhabit- ancy and civilization anterior to the advent of the European races, and even so far anterior to the Indian race which the European found in possession when he came, that there is no memory nor reliable tradition of their origin. There are within the county but few of these remains,-some in New Durham township, some in Union township, and some in other parts of the county. But these are sufficient to give the county a most intensely interesting archiæological history. These are but the foot-prints left "on the sands of time," by a former and mighty race,-a race which inhab- ited this whole country, and by these remains have revealed their former existence, but in such a way as to successfully obscure their history-their enlightenment and civilization, their art attainments and religion, etc., which, if known, would give satisfaction to an already aroused curiosity. Who built these remains? When were they piled up? and For what purpose were they constructed? are questions which are much more easily asked than answered. But from these it is evident that this county has a history which reaches far back of that period which we shall presently.detail under the head of "Early Settlements," and which is written, as far as we have that history, in these archaeological remains. A little study of these may not, therefore, be unprofitable, as all history is val- uable if it be properly used.
THESE REMAINS AS FOUND ELSEWHERE.
To read the meaning of these remains,-the chapters of history which they contain,- - it will be necessary to link them with like remains elswhere-remains which have evidently been constructed by the same race of people. Then by putting these together, and applying them to the unsolving of the mystery of these remains, we may be enabled to read something of the history of this archæ- ological period as it is connected with the especial locality of which we write.
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HISTORY OF LA PORTE COUNTY.
When Cartier visited Canada, and Capt. John Smith came to Virginia, and when the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts and the French settled in Western New York, they all found the Indians, which were then in possession of the country, constructing defenses, of which there are still numerous remains. And likewise Coronada found in New Mexico as early as 1540 the casas grandes, those singular edifices of fort-like dimensions and numerous stories whose remains are still found in that country, in perfect condition and in actual use. And Cortes in Mexico, Grijalva and Montejo in Yucatan, Alvarado in Guatemala, and Pizarro and his captains in Peru, all found vast and imposing structures, the work of the actual inhabitants whom they found in the respective countries, the ruins of which are still to be seen. These works are not to be included in those which constitute " American antiquities," and to which we are inviting attention. Under the head of " antiquities," strictly speaking, we can only include such monuments as were really regarded by the aborigines themselves as antiquities, concern- ing the origin of which they were wholly ignorant, or possessed of an unsatisfactory traditionary knowledge. The most of those earthworks and mounds on the terraces of the Mississippi valley, and in the forests bordering on the Gulf of Mexico, and among which are the remains of which we write, possess these character- istics of antiquity. We make mention in this connection of the ruined pyramids of Teotihuacan and the crumbling edifices of Mitla, in Mexico; the still more elaborate structures and sculptured monoliths of Palenque and Copan; and the vast enigmatical monuments of Tiahuanaco on the southern shores of Lake Titicaca in Bolivia, and the bewildering remains of Mansiche or Grand Chimu in Northern Peru. The study of these and the other remains of our own country, and the linking of them together with the remains of which we write, will enable us to partially read the treasures of history which they contain.
Commencing then with the remains which are found in the dif- ferent parts of the United States, we find in the Mississippi valley a succession of earthworks, manifestly defensive in character, extending from the lakes south to the gulf. They generally crown the summits of steep hills, and are constructed with an embankment and an outside ditch, which vary in size, and with approaches which are sometimes artfully covered. One of these is Fort Hill, on the banks of the Little Miami in Ohio. Its entire line of circumval- lation is nearly four miles; and it embraces several hundred acres of area. The height of this embankment is fromn ten to twenty feet, according to the weakness or strength of the place it was to defend. Many of these defensive works consist of a line of embank- ment and ditch, or several of these lines one within the other, crossing from the bank of a stream at one point to another where it has made a great bend, thus enclosing a peninsula whose bluffs and headlands afforded natural strength. And associated with these defensive works are structures which are evidently connected
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HISTORY OF LA PORTE COUNTY.
with religious ideas and ceremonies. The ground for this conclu- sion is that these have ditches on the inside and not on the outside of the embankment, that they are of regular outlines-in squares, in circles, in octagons, and in other geometrical figures. A notable instance of this kind of work is at Newark, Ohio, where it covers an area of more than two miles square, and a line of embankment from two to twenty feet high, and upward of twelve miles in length. In connection with these are cthier works, doubtless of sacred or religious origin. These are mounds of earth and stone of various
sizes, but always of regular shapes. They are oftenest squares, terraced and ascended by graded ways. Sometimes they are six- sided, sometimes they are eight-sided, and sometimes their tops are smooth and level as if they were pyramids with their tops cut off; and they are ascended by spiral paths instead of the graded way. On the top of these were altars, symbolical in form, on which, no doubt, the priests offered up sacrifices, and paid adoration to the solar god. The geometrical accuracy, the great size, and the alti- tude are noted characteristics of some of these. One of these, on the plain of Cahokia, in Illinois, opposite the city of St. Louis, is 700 feet long by 500 feet broad at the base, and 90 feet high. It covers upward of eight acres, and has 20,000,000 cubic feet of contents.
But the most common monuments in the Mississippi valley, however, are those which are incontestably places of sepulture. They are, probably, memorials raised over the dead, and speak in some way the importance of the personage while yet living over whose remains they are reared. One of these, near Wheeling, in West Virginia, is seventy feet in vertical height. Another, at Miamisburg, in Ohio, is sixty-eight feet high; and another, near Delphi, in Indiana, not far from the Wabash river, is of like dimen- sions. Smaller monuments of this character are to be found almost everywhere.
But there are still more remarkable earthworks than these. They are those which are most commonly found in Wisconsin and in Iowa; a few are found, also, in Ohio. These bear the outlines of men and animals, constituting huge bas-reliefs on the surface of the earth. One of these, on the banks of Brush creek, in Adams county, Ohio, is in the form of a serpent. It is 1,000 feet in length, and extends in graceful curves, and terminates in a triple coil at the tail. The neck of the figure is stretched out and slightly curved, and its mouth is opened wide, as if in the aet of swallowing or ejecting an oval figure, which rests partly between the distended jaws. The oval, which is thus resting in the opened jaws, is formed of an embankment which is four feet high, and is perfectly regular in ontline, its two diameters being, the one 103 feet, and the other 39 feet. This representation is constituted of an embankment which is five feet high by 30 feet base at its center, and slightly diminishing toward the head and tail.
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HISTORY OF LA PORTE COUNTY.
We note the fact, also, that in these remains many relics of art have been discovered, exhibiting greater skill than was known to exist among the aboriginal Indian tribes. Elaborate carvings in stone; pottery, often of elegant design; articles of use and orna- mented in metal,-silver, and native copper from Lake Superior; mica from the Alleghanies; shells from the gulf of Mexico; and volcanic glass, and probably porphyry, from Mexico; these are all found side by side in the same mound.
Now, for the time being, leaving these and taking a hasty flight down through New Mexico, Mexico, Central America, United States of Colombia and Peru, let us see what we shall find which will enable us to read between the lines as they are written in the remains,-the historical monuments of this extinct people,-which are found in this county. In New Mexico we shall stand in the midst of the casas grandes, both of the latter and more antiquated structure, and shall see evidences of skill and intelligence above that of the birch-bark canoe and skin-covered wigwam. If we stand in the spire of the cathedral in the present city of Mexico, which occupies the site of the pyramid and teoculli of Montezuma and Guatimozin, our eyes may descry the ruins of the most ancient of all the hundreds of ancient monuments found in Mexico, the pyra- mids of Teotihuacan on the plains of Otumba. These are built of cut stone, square, with four stages and a level area at the top. Humbolt says the larger is 150 feet high, and the smaller 145; but Mr. Glennie affirms that the larger is 221 feet high. It is 680 feet square at the base, covering an area of 11 acres,-nearly equal to that of the great pyramid of Cheops in Egypt. Now, the great teocalli of Cholula, not far from the city of Pueblo, taken in con- nection with these will serve to show the greatness of these ruins and the skill which it required to construct them. According to Latrobe, this latter teocalli (temple) is 177 feet high, and 1,425 feet square at the base, covering an area of 45 acres.
As we pass on down into Central America, we may stop a moment at Palenque to examine its ancient pyramidal temple, within some of the chambers of which have been found tablets which were covered with artistic sculpture and hieroglyphics,- evidences of skill and enlightenment. Passing on down into Honduras, we shall stop at Copan where will be found remains greatly resembling those already noticed, in structure, vastness, and perpetuity of workmanship, and doubtless for the same purpose; but associated with these are grand monoliths, most intricately carved and some of them covered with hieroglyphics, additional evidences of superior intelligence. As we pass through the United States of Colombia on the way to Peru, we shall find many minor relics of antiquity, such as figures of divinities and objects worked in gold and stone, and also a few considerable monuments consist- ing of structures which seem to have been supported by columns of large size and just proportions. But we will not stop until we stand among the most ancient monuments of Peru (or rather of
HISTORY OF LA PORTE COUNTY. 395
Bolivia, formerly Upper Peru), -- those at Tiahuanaco, on the shore of Lake Titicaca. Their origin is lost in obscurity, and they are supposed by many writers to be the work of a race anterior to the Incas, denoting perhaps a more advanced civilization than the monuments of Palenque. These remains are wonderful, equaling and challenging in interest any remains of the old world, stirring up a longing desire to know the full story that lies hidden in them. The archaeological interest which clusters around Nineveli and Babylon is great, but it does not surpass, if indeed it equals, that which belongs to these veritable remains of a great but now extinct and, if it were not for these, forgotten people. In describing these ruins, and especially the great temple at Cuzco, the early Spaniards exhausted every superlative of their language. Standing with all these ancient monumental remains at our back, what troops of queries and interrogatories come thundering down the highways of the mind in search of solution? Standing upon the elevation which these will afford, it must be apparent to every mind that this whole country, from the Laurentian highlands on the north down through these regions until the greatly elevated Lake of Titicaca is reached in the south, was once densely populated with an intelligent and enterprising people, very much superior in every way to those who were aboriginal when the European races began to come. Can it be realized as a fact that, thousands of years ago, the beautiful prairies of La Porte yielded as now to the busy tread of a restless population; and that its groves, first temples of praise, resounded to the songs of devout worshipers? that this world of humanity sickened and died and thus became a finished page in the history of men? The archaeological remains of this county attest this truth; there is no other satisfactory solution of this problem.
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