USA > Indiana > Montgomery County > History of Montgomery County, together with historic notes on the Wabash Valley; gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence, and other authentic sources > Part 29
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The soil of the county is composed mostly of the drift of the glacial epoch, and is, hence, full of all the mineral elements that make the foundation for the most productive fields. Some of the lands of the county have been constantly cultivated for fifty years without perceptible deterioration.
Prof. Collett is of the opinion that Sugar creek once flowed west from a point just above Troutman's mill, where it is crossed by the Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western railroad. He says : "Sugar creek, east of Crawfordsville, has a general trend of south 70°, to 80° west. A few miles west of the city, and near Yountsville, it is sud- denly deflected to the south and southwest. Above this point the valley bottoms are from one to two miles wide, with well-rounded bluffs supported by great beds of gravel and modified drift, which have been subjected to the sorting action of currents of water. Below Yountsville the valley is compressed, rarely exceeding a few hundred yards in width. Its precipitous or overhanging bluffs are often bare and naked cliffs of stone, indicating clearly the recent origin of the chasm through which the stream flows, and the short period during which the bluffs have been exposed to the modi- fying influences of the elements. These facts, without a doubt, demand another and older outlet for Sugar creek; and if the primal direction of the stream was due to the action or results of the first ice-flow, it ought to be found continuing in the original course west from Crawfordsville. Beneath that city, and in an area of several hundred acres west and southwest of it, are beds of coarse gravel and sand, having a thickness of forty to ninety feet, of drift origin, but sorted and re-deposited by fluviatile action. The stream to whose currents its origin was due, at one time must have had its low-water level as high as a terrace on which Craw- fordsville is situated. This was accepted as a hint toward a solution. Starting with this level registered as a datum line on the barometer,. it was found that allowing a range of less than forty feet between high and low water in the ancient river, at least two outlets existed, one leading more directly to Coal creek, the other trending gently southwest to Mill creek. The latter is a broad, well defined valley, now of a somewhat swampy nature, and, as far as pierced by wells,
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
say thirty to forty feet, built up with mucky silt and quicksand, with beds of fine gravel. It seems evident that the ancient river not only could, but actually did, find egress by this way. This presumption is further sustained by the fact that deep wells, and bores in search of coal, have discovered a great system of deeply eroded river channels in the great level plateau in the south part of Fountain county, now entirely filled up with silt and glacial drift, and which are on the pro- duced line in which a river of the early glacial period would be com- pelled to seek the Wabash and western drainage. To these deduc- tions we may add that a few fragmentary rocks, which seem to be like the Medina sandstone of Ontario, and two nuggets, of nearly a pound each, of coarse, octahedral Champlain iron ore were found near the present mouth of Coal creek, in the bed of "Old " Sugar creek, if our theory is correct. These facts, separately. are of little value. Combined, they hint at the solution of an obscure chapter of na- ture's history, and are briefly thrown together to invite full investi- gation rather than a complete solution of the enigma."
Prof. Collett is also of the opinion that the waters of Lye creek once ran through what is known as Lye creek swamp. and passed through Black creek, which empties into Sugar creek about two miles below Crawfordsville. The following from Prof. Collett's report on this subject will be of interest to many citizens of the county : " Lye creek enters near the extreme northeastern corner of the county, and after flowing in a westerly direction for six miles, suddenly turns to the south. The ancient valley is plainly continued through Lye creek and Black creek swamps and Black creek valley. The obstructing agent, a vast bed of modified clay and water-washed sands, is at once detected at the head of Black creek, between Lin- den and Crawfordsville. The discharge of water thus denied, the flow from the east would first be confined, and, after reaching the maximum capacity of the basin. be compelled to find a new line of exit to the south by Sugar creek. The obstructing dam of modified materials is the termination of a north-south ridge, and its modified nature demands the sifting and sorting process of flowing water. A lake, now known as Lye and Black creek swamps, succeeded, origi- nally six miles long and from one to three miles wide. The deepest wells in the basin do not find the bottom of the lacustral silt, quick- sand and muck. In opening ditches, drains, etc., many canoe pad- dles, spears and fishing implements have been found, proving that in modern times it was a constant body of water, and a favorite resort for the Indian fisherman. The present channel of Lye creek, from the point where the southern bend commences to its mouth. is by a
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ALTITUDES ABOVE THE OCEAN.
deep, narrow valley, with steep, precipitous bluffs, which facts indi- cate the recent origin of this outlet."
A large ditch, some fifteen feet deep, is now (1880) being dug through the obstructing dam referred to by Prof. Collett, which, when completed, will drain all the waters of the Lye creek swamp into Black creek, and reclaim a vast body of rich land which has hitherto been unproductive on account of insufficient drainage.
Perhaps the most remarkable features of the topography of Mont- gomery county are the traces of an ancient lake, which, centuries ago, covered a large part of the central region of the county. Prof. Collett has named it " Ancient Lake Harney," in honor of Hon. James F. Harney, of Ladoga, who has given much attention to it, and who first called Prof. Collett's attention to the indications that it once existed. This ancient lake was principally within a circle drawn through Crawfordsville, Brown's valley and Ladoga, and was probably drained by Indian creek and Offield creek into Sugar creek, as the channel of that stream was from time to time gradually cut down through the ledges of rock that constitute its high banks below Yountsville.
The contractors who constructed the Crawfordsville and Whites- ville gravel road, running six miles southeast from Crawfordsville, found beds of fine road-gravel near the shores of this ancient lake.
Another remarkable geological feature of the county is the im- mense number of large boulders scattered over its surface. A heavy line of these boulders stretches from near New Ross, in the south- eastern part of the county, to the Tippecanoe line, above Linden. At some places they are so numerous and so large as to render the fields difficult of cultivation. They were evidently transported hither from the north during the glacial epoch. Prof. Collett says " the earliest glacial flow in America was from the northeast (N. 80º E.), which passed up the St. Lawrence valley, hewing out the basins of lakes Ontario and Erie, and finding discharge by sluiceways into the Ohio, Wabash and Mississippi. A period of intense cold pre- vailed. A mighty mass of solid ice, with its source away toward the pole, many hundreds of miles in width, slowly crept to the south. Its surface was covered with a large amount of angular rocks from overhanging cliffs at the north, and with gravel, sand, etc., such material absorbing warmth from the sun's rays, gradually sunk in the ice, and finally falling through various crevasses and water-ways, reached the bed-rock over which the glacier was pass- ing. The softer materials were ground to powdered clay and sand in this giant mill, while the more obdurate rocks were rounded and
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
polished, and survive as boulders and gravel." These are the con- . clusions of Prof. Collett after a long and thorough study of the sub- ject, and they are concurred in by geologists generally.
An account of the geological features of Montgomery county would be incomplete without mention of the celebrated crinoidal beds in the vicinity of Crawfordsville, on Sugar creek. From these beds have been dug and sold many thousands of dollars' worth of the petrified remains of the crinoida, a genus of ancient radiated ani- mals related to the star-fish. Specimens from this locality now enrich the cabinets of most of the colleges and geological associa- tions of the civilized world.
Those who wish to study the matters here noticed more fully are referred to the Indiana Geological Report of Prof. Cox, state geolo- gist, for the year 1875.
The most noted scenery in Montgomery county is what is called " The Shades of Death," or Pine Bluffs, where two small streams, Indian creek and Clifty, run together, about one-fourth of a mile from Sugar creek, into which their mingled waters flow, about fifteen miles southwest from Crawfordsville. These creeks, for some con- siderable distance, run at the base of cliffs of solid sandstone, from 80 to 150 feet high. At several points the cliffs project almost over the little streams that ripple and murmur in dismal solitude at their base. At the very verge of these cliffs tall, straight pines are grow- ing, with hemlock and cedars, along whose trunks one can see from below as though he were taking sight at the zenith with huge pieces of artillery. The water running down the sides of the cliff's from the surface above has washed out holes of various fantastic shapes. There is one large cavity pointed out to visitors as "The Devil's Fireplace "; another which has a striking resemblance to a huge fish's mouth, wide open. At one point, fifty or sixty feet below the top of the cliff, entirely beyond the reach of man otherwise than by ropes from above, is a large recess, in which eagles used to build their nests and hatch their young ; and parts of a nest are yet visible from below. Of course this has been given the name of "The Eagle's Nest." No human eye has ever seen it from any nearer point than the bed of the stream, a hundred feet below it. To reach it by any means is so difficult and dangerous that no one has ever attempted it. The eaglets reared in it enjoyed absolute immunity from molestation by the hand of man.
One of the small streams mentioned at one point folds back, as it were, on itself so close as to leave only a narrow wall between the two parts, not more than fifty feet at the base and from four to five
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ALTITUDES ABOVE THE OCEAN.
feet at the top. This gigantic wall rises from 80 to 100 feet high, and to traverse its top is extremely dangerous. It has, however, tempted the daring and adventurous spirit of many a lad and lass without any fatal result. For about a quarter of a mile before the two streams unite they run so close together as to leave only a thin wall between them, which is almost perpendicular on both sides, and more than a hundred feet high. This wall has been named " The Devil's Backbone." To stand upon the top of it, as visitors often do, and look down into the deep chasm below, is a grand but fearful experience. To pass along the top of this huge wall is so dangerous that many who attempt it grow nervous and turn back on reaching the narrowest part. Hundreds of both sexes, however, have gone over it within the last fifty years. It seems almost mirac- ulous that none of them have ever lost their balance and been dashed to pieces on the rocky bed below.
At one point the creek winds in the shape of a horseshoe, with the heels close together; and within this circle, which encloses a green valley of an acre or so of ground, are many beech and spruce trees. The cliff towers high around, except at a single point, and on entering it you feel as though you had wandered into some for- tress, built at a time far back in the past when the earth was inhab- ited by giants. To stand in this valley and look at the tall cliff around you, almost as smooth as masonry, with the great pines and hemlocks growing on its very edge, is to behold as grand a specimen of nature's freaks as can be found in Indiana.
Further down the creek are two other valleys, hemmed in by towering bluffs, and in one of these a cold spring gushes up from be- low, which is always a welcome object to the weary picnickers who, during the summer season, visit this celebrated resort from all parts of the state. The deep and lonely glens in which Sir William Wallace wandered as a fugitive, after his flight from Elerslie, were not more grand and awe-inspiring than are "The Shades of Death" in Mont- gomery county, Indiana. A short distance below the "Shades of Death" is "Silver Cascade," an object of much interest to those who visit this romantic region. A stream of considerable size, named "Little Ranty," flows from the south through a narrow chan- nel fifty feet deep, worn in the solid sandstone, and tumbles in a broad sheet forty-five feet down an almost perpendicular bank into Sugar creek. This beautiful cascade is nestled away in a cove almost 200 feet in diameter, and whose walls are 100 feet high. Upon the rim of this amphitheater tall oaks and pines grow in abundance, and lock their long arms above the gloomy recess where
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
the falling water hums its endless song to the ferns and other wild plants that cover the area below.
The county authorities have recently commenced constructing free gravel roads, under the supervision of an experienced and intel- ligent civil engineer. The first experiment of this kind was the road from Crawfordsville to Whitesville, six miles southeast on the Louis- ville & Chicago railroad. Soon after the completion of this road, in 1878, another was commenced running from the Tippecanoe line in Sugar creek township to the northeastern terminus of the Craw- fordsville and Concord turnpike. This is now finished, and is one of the finest wagon and carriage roads in the state. The Linden and Potato creek free gravel road connects with this six miles east of Linden. Another, running from Crawfordsville to the Tippecanoe line north of New Richmond was completed in the fall of 1880. When this road was first projected it was feared that gravel along the line of it would prove to be scarce; but near where the road crosses Black creek immense beds of the best quality of road gravel, from eight to ten feet thick, were found just under the surface of the ground. Similar beds of gravel are scattered throughout the county and will be opened as the work of road-building progresses into the various neighborhoods.
This good work, so auspiciously begun, will doubtless be contin- ued until first-class free gravel roads connect every part of the county with the county seat. These roads are constructed under a general statute, by means of a tax levied upon all the lands within two miles thereof which are benefited by the roads, in proportion to the rela- tive benefits to the several tracts, which is ascertained by viewers sent out by the county commissioners for the purpose. The plan has proved highly satisfactory, and will no doubt result in a system of county roads equal to any in the country. These roads cost from $1,000 to $1,500 per mile, and are kept in repair by a tax levied on the county. Besides these free gravel roads, there were made, years ago, turnpike or toll roads, as follows: The Crawfordsville and Alamo turnpike, running from Crawfordsville southwest six miles; the Crawfordsville and Fredericksburg turnpike, running from Craw- fordsville to Fredericksburg, six miles southeast; the Crawfordsville and Shannondale turnpike, running from Crawfordsville to Shannon- 'dale, ten miles east; the Crawfordsville and Darlington turnpike, running six miles northeast from Crawfordsville; the Crawfordsville and Concord turnpike, running from Crawfordsville, a little east of north, six miles ; the Crawfordsville and Waynetown turnpike, run- ning from Crawfordsville through Waynetown, ten miles to the
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EARLY HISTORY.
county line ; the Crawfordsville and Parkerburg turnpike, extending from Crawfordsville south to the line between Union and Scott town- ships, six miles ; and the Crawfordsville and Yountsville turnpike, running southwest through Yountsville, and on in the direction of Alamo about seven miles. A proposition has long been discussed to have the county buy all these roads and make them a part of the free gravel road system of the county, and this will probably be done before many years. The people seem willing to bear the necessary taxation, but the obstacle in the way is the lack of a law directly authorizing the purchase. This will likely soon be supplied.
EARLY HISTORY.
Sixty years ago the territory which now constitutes Montgomery county was a wilderness, with no sound but the rippling waters of its streams and the ceaseless patter of its cascades. Wild animals, such as deer, bears, foxes, wolves and wild cats crept through the dense and tangled undergrowth, in its great forests of walnut, oak, beech and sugar-maple. Owls peered by day from their retreats in its deep shades, and sallied out at night in search of food ; venom- ous reptiles coiled in the green grass of its fertile prairies ; luxuri- ous grape-vines in autumn, black with fruit, hung in festoons from the tall trees ; the delicious paw-paw grew in abundance on almost every square mile ; wild plums turned purple in the summer sun- shine, and nuts of various kinds rattled down year after year on its carpet of fallen leaves. Sometimes the wild animals shared these luxuries of nature with the savages who roamed in search of game, but until the year 1821 no civilized being had gained a residence in what is now Montgomery county.
In February of that year, according to well-authenticated tradi- tion, William Offield with his wife and one child came from a settle- ment on White river, not far from the present town of Martins- ville, in Morgan county, and settled a few rods from the mouth of the little stream which flows into Sugar creek, some five or six miles southwest of Crawfordsville, and which now bears the name of Of- field's creek. His cabin, which was only 12×15 feet, was on the south side of Sec. 16, T. 18 N., R. 5 W. Mr. Offield moved from the settlement on White river in a single wagon, in company with Thomas Johnson, father of Hon. Archibald Johnson, of Mont- gomery county, Jubal Dewees and John Sigler. All except Mr. Offield stopped in Putnam county, near where Greencastle now stands. A son of John Sigler, named Andrew, accompanied Mr. Offield to Montgomery county for the purpose of taking back the
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
wagon which the latter had borrowed from some one in the White river settlement to transport his household goods to his new home. The whole country through which they traveled was covered with undergrowth, in some places so thick that Mr. Offield had to cut it ont with his axe to enable the wagon to pass. In going down a steep hill Mr. Offield would construct a brake by cutting down a bushy-topped sapling, making the butt-end fast to the hind axle of the wagon and leaving the top to drag on the ground. Mr. Offield came to the White river settlement from Tennessee in 1819, and raised a crop of corn there in 1820.
His wife's maiden name was Jennie or Jane Langhlin. A second child was born to ;them while they lived in the cabin on Offield's creek. An old Indian squaw officiated as doctor on the occasion, there being no doctor or white woman nearer than thirty miles at the time. This was undoubtedly the first white child born in the terri- tory which now constitutes Montgomery county. Mr. Offield is repre- sented by persons now living, who were well acquainted with him sixty years ago, as a man low in stature, broad and strong, with sandy hair and blue eyes, possessed of great coolness and courage, and strong common sense. Some have reported that he was extremely fond of hunting, and often found in the woods with his rifle and dog. But other accounts, from persons who lived in the family, say he was also an industrious husbandman, with horses, cattle, hogs and sheep, and that his attention was largely given to the care of his stock and the growing of grain, which latter must have been, of course, on a very small scale. as the country about him was mostly covered with thick woods. He was undoubtedly fond of a lonely backwoods life, and had little taste for the ways of a cultivated community. There is reason to believe that he was well educated, for he was elected a member of the first board of county commissioners, and his signa- ture yet appears on the records of the board in a plain, smooth, busi- ness-like hand. While yet a member of the board of county com- missioners, in the beginning of 1824, he, together with his family, disappeared from the county. He is known to have remained in the county up to January 1, 1824. In May of that year Henry Ristine was appointed to fill a vacancy on the board of commissioners, the record reciting that the vacancy had been occasioned by the removal of William Offield from the county. So it is rendered certain that he left the county between January 1 and May 1, 1824. It is conjectured by some that he became dissatisfied with the growing civilization of the county, and went toward the setting sun in search of new hunting- grounds, where he could continue to gratify his supposed passion
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EARLY HISTORY.
for the chase and the solitude of the wild woods. There are stronger reasons, however, for believing that he quietly packed his scanty supply of household goods in a wagon and wandered back to Tennessee in the same manner in which he came from the White river settlement to Montgomery county. It is remarkable that not even tradition has preserved the least account of his departure from the county. What his immediate destination was, how he went, or why he went, will probably remain forever hidden from the popu- lous community which has grown up around the site of his cabin, on the banks of the little stream which perpetuates his name in the county. It appears' from the public records that on July 4, 1822, more than a year after his arrival, he entered the E. ¿ of N. E. } Sec. 4, T. 18 N., R. 5 W., which lies about half a mile north of Younts- ville, and that on December 31, 1823, he and his wife, Jane Offield, conveyed this land to Jonas Mann. The name of his wife, as at- tached to the deed, is without the cross-mark so often met with in the early deed records of the county. This fact shows that she knew at least how to read and write, accomplishments by no means common with the women of her day in the backwoods regions of Indiana. The consideration stated in the deed is $307.50, which in- dicates that Mr. Offield must have considerably improved the land, having entered it for $100 the year before. It is known that he built a cabin on it, to which he removed from his first location near the month of Offield's creek.
But whether Mr. Offield removed back to Tennessee, or went farther west when he left the county, it is certain that at some time between 1824 and 1841 he went to the wild country beyond the Ozark mountains, in the southwestern part of Missouri, not far from the Arkansas line, perhaps in what is now McDonald county ; for in the latter year Christopher C. Walkup, now a citizen of Montgom- ery county, was traveling in that country, and found Mr. Offield liv- ing in a rude cabin in the woods, such as he built at the mouth of Offield's creek in 1821. Mr. Walkup staid over night with Mr. Offield, who related to him the circumstances of his settlement on the banks of the little stream below Crawfordsville, and the birth of his second child there ; and also told him of an unfortunate mistake of his which occurred shortly before Mr. Walkup's visit, and which resulted in the death of one of his best neighbors. He was out hunting, and mistook for a deer the neighbor. who was dressed in deer-skin pants, with the harry side out. Seeing only a small part of him through the thick undergrowth, he shot and killed him dead on the spot. Mr. Offield greatly regretted the occurrence, and said it would be a
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
source of sorrowful reflection to him as long as he should live. Mr. Walkup represents Mr. Offield as a man of more than ordinary intel- ligence, and seemingly about sixty-five years of age. But as he was only about thirty years old when he came to Montgomery county, he could not have been over fifty at the time of Mr. Walkup's visit. His constant outdoor life in the backwoods had probably given him the appearance of being older than he really was.
The year following the advent of Mr. Offield quite a number of families came to the county, and in a little while there were several small settlements or neighborhoods on Sugar creek, not far from where the city of Crawfordsville now stands, and a few in other parts of the county.
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