USA > Indiana > Rush County > History of Rush County, Indiana, from the earliest time to the present, with biographical sketches, notes, etc., together with a short history of the Northwest, the Indiana territory, and the State of Indiana > Part 24
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GEOLOGY.
duct; but, when the whole list is taken into consideration, it stands without a rival. The mines of California may be exhausted, manu- facturing may be overdone, banks may break and securities decline in value, but, with proper care, the Rush County farmer need not have any fears for the future. The peculiar adaptability of its soil to the growth of any of the cereals or to stock raising gives a va- riety of resources, that, in all human probability, render a total failure an impossibility.
The general remarks of Prof. Collett on the soils of Indiana are especially applicable to the black land, clay soil and yellow clay subsoil of Rush County. A heavy forest of sugar maples and walnut, supported by experimental evidence, is proof of its calcareous nature and adaptability to the growth of blue grass.
"The surface of the drift was left nearly level, but has since been modified by fluviatile and lacustral agencies, sorting the clays, sands, etc., so as to form, generally, a loose, calcareous loam, deeply covering the gently undulating wood lands, plains and valleys. The great depth of the Drift deposit allows it to act as a gigantic sponge, absorbing excess of moisture in the spring or winter, until the long sunny days of summer, thus insuring against any pro- longed drouth, and constituting a superior grazing district. For the perfect growth of grasses, a rich soil and perennial moisture is required, conditions which do not prevail in many other States. Indiana is the native home of " Blue Grass," Poa pratensis-the glory of our rich calcareous soils- and infallible gold-finder. It forms a permanent sward, thickening with age, so that, within ten or twenty years, the sod will withstand the hoof of heavy bullocks, even in wet weather. It grows slowly under the snow of a cold winter, but bursts into new life with the first genial day of spring, carpets the earth with productive beauty through the summer, and, if reserved for winter, cattle, horses, sheep, etc., may be well kept, except in time of deep snows, on this food alone."*
"Among the blue grass trotters," America over, is understood to mean more than the accidental relationship of the queen of na- tive grasses to the fast horse. Muscle is necessary to the thorough development of the horse; "blood will tell," and the blue grass wood lands tell on the blood. The elastic sward, over which the high-steppers range, gives ease and grace to his proud move- ments, while he is protected from the blazing sun in " pastures green," that are charmingly undulating and invite trials of speed. Everything in nature and the loving care of man conspire to give life and strength to the noble animal. The Blue Bull and Jim
* First Annual Report of the Bureau of Statistics and Geology, Indiana, page 9.
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RUSH COUNTY.
Monroe farms of the late James Wilson, of Noble Township, attest what can be done. These farms have turned out trotters and pacers that take rank with the best in America. The Blue Bull strain has second place in the trotting list for horses that have made better than 2:30; and Monroe Chief, from the Monroe farm, has a trotting record of 2:1634.
It has been remarked that the possession of a fast horse curi- ously gives a kind of vicarious merit to his proprietor; he is esteemed as something of a high stepper and flyer, and as likely to run his factory, his newspaper, or his farm, or whatever it may be, a little better than other people. It is the best advertising medium known. And, in a degree, the same is true of the breeders of all kinds of pedigreed stock. Of the many proprietors who prove the truth of the above in Rush County, that are engaged in stock rais- ing, and especially interested in producing improved strains of horses, cattle, etc., only a few can be mentioned here. Mr. Richard Wilson, of Rushville, and Mr. Samp. Wilson, of Noble Township, as breeders of trotting horses, maintain the well-merited reputation of their father. Mr. John T. McMillan and Mr. Cal. Bates are well known owners of thoroughbred Norman horses. Mr. S. Frazee, of Noble Township, breeds, and exhibits at the State and county fairs, complete herds of full-blooded shorn-horn cattle. Mr. George W. Thomas, of Homer, is another breeder of short-horn stock; and Mr. J. H. Beaubout, of Rushville, of Jerseys. Mr. Leonard McDaniel, of Posey Township, and Geo. W. Mauzy, of Union Township, are well-known producers of full-blooded Cotswold, South Down, Canada, and Merino sheep. Of course, in a county so largely engaged in hog-raising, especial attention is paid to the production of all the leading varieties.
All the various kinds of orchard and small fruits are success- fully grown, but not so extensively as in some of the adjoining counties. A rich sugar tree soil will undoubtedly produce the very best kind of orchard products. Winter-killing seems to be the great draw-back. With care in selecting varieties of trees that are known to be hardy, and good under-drainage, this trouble might be obviated. Wheat, corn, and stock-raising chiefly occupy the attention of farmers, but some fine orchards were seen, show- ing what might be done for the whole county.
The soft magnesian stone found at the base of the Corniferous group, at Moscow and Milroy, makes a lime that is highly prized by masons and plasterers, and especially by the latter, on account of its working easily and smoothly under the trowel. The Moscow stone, having a considerable percentage of earthy matter, will yield a " cool " lime that slacks slowly; while that produced from the
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GEOLOGY.
Milroy stone, on account of its more crystalline character, will rank as an intermediate between a "cool " and "hot" lime. Typical "hot" lime is produced from the hard Niagara stone. It was formerly thought that the dark, rotten, Corniferous rock, having much the appearance of a decomposing sandstone, that occurs abundantly on the banks of Flat Rock and its tributaries, was utterly worthless for making lime. Experience shows that the darkest stone will burn perfectly white, and that the alumina, or earthy matter, mixed with it, adds greatly to its value for builders' use. The equivalent of the stone under discussion is used in making lime at Adams and Greensburg, in Decatur County, and at Geneva, in Shelby County. The ease with which the Flat Rock stone can be quarried, and the less amount of fuel required to reduce it than the hard Niagara stone, are questions of expense that indicate that the business might be made to pay in this county.
Any of the yellow or blue clay of Rush County, when free from gravel, can be readily moulded and burned into brick or tile. Brick buildings are common in the towns and country; and farmers usu- ally make what they need out of the clay found on the farm. Messrs. Patten and Caldwell, of Rushville, have a steam tile factory and kiln, with a capacity to turn out from 18,000 to 20,000 tile at a burn. There are a number of other factories of less note in the county.
Road gravel,is found in the terrace bottoms of all the creeks, but not abundantly on the smaller streams. In Orange, Anderson, and Noble townships, upland gravel ridges occasionally occur that are free from clay, but the main supply for the county comes from the banks and bars of Big Blue and Flat Rock Rivers.
Bog iron ore, in considerable quantity, has formed on the bor- ders of the marshy tracts of land five miles east of Rushville. These deposits of ore are the result of the organic acids, derived from decomposing plants, acting on the salts of iron that occur in the drift clay, thereby rendering them soluble. By exposure to the air oxidation takes place, generally at the margin of the marsh, and the iron, in the form of hydrated peroxide, is again thrown down. Such accumulations are not infrequent, and some day may have a commercial value.
In 1879 and 1880, the assessors for this county reported more gallons of maple syrup made than were reported from any other county in the State. A soil that supports a mighty growth of sugar maple, Acer saccharinum, will abound in majestic specimens of black walnut, fuglans nigra; yellow poplar, Liriodendron tulip- ifera: white oak, Quercus alba; white ash, Fraxinus Americana; shellbark hickory, Carya alba; dogwood, Cornus Florida; red bud,
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Cercis Canadensis; iron wood, Carprinus Americana; paw-paw, Asimina triloba, etc. Beech, Fagus ferruginca; burr oak, Quercus macrocarpa; elm, Ulmus Americana; swamp maple, Acer dysacar- pum, etc., are the most common varieties of timber growing on the wet, black lands. On the east side of the county, huge yellow poplars were once common; and one cut a few years ago, growing in Union Township, is said to have been the largest reported in the State. The great body of the primitive forest has been removed in preparing the land for the plow, and the wood lands left have been called of their best trees. A casual examination of a Rushville saw-mill yard, containing over three hundred logs, showed only beech, maple and elm.
The artesian chalybeate wells of West Rushville have attracted attention for years, and are curious examples of subterranean streams or sheets of mineral water, held down by the impervious blue clay. The wells are dug in the usual manner, or dug a few feet, and then bored through the clay. The water is found in the fine gravel or white sand overlying the bed rock. Pump logs were placed in some of the wells and tamped with clay until the water was forced through the log. The quantity of water dis- charged was never great, and additional wells seemed to weaken the flow of those previously dug, indicating that the water probably comes from a compact, saturated bed of sand that slowly gives up its superabundant moisture. Other mineral springs of note are found in the vicinity of Homer, and at the Soldiers' Home, south of Knightstown. Small ferruginous springs are rather common in all parts of the county, and, so far as I could learn, are nearly iden- tical in composition. Their chemical nature is shown by the brown or ochery deposit of hydrous peroxide of iron seen near the spring. Before reaching the surface, the iron is held in solution as a ferrous carbonate, that is rapidly changed to the insoluble peroxide by oxi- dation on exposure to the air; hence, to get the medicinal effects of the water it should be used fresh from the spring. It will be found beneficial in all diseases where a mild preparation of iron is indicated.
Water Supply .- There is a wide-spread belief among physi- cians as well as the laity, that sheets of water found in or confined to the sand or gravel beneath the clay are continuous, and that the pollution of one well will contaminate many. That there is some truth in this, I am free to admit, but not to the extent generally be- lieved. That the water supply of the city of Rushville has nothing to do with the level of Flat Rock River has already been shown. The varying depth of wells to water, and failures to find water, are proof that the water-bearing sand under the city is not contin-
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GEOLOGY.
uous, nor on a common level. Two wells were put down just west of Main Street and north of Ruth Street, respectively twelve and eighteen feet to water; and two others near by, one on the west twenty-seven feet deep, and the other on the east thirty-seven feet deep, and no water. Southeast of the latter well, in court-house square, water was found at eighteen feet. Mr. J. C. Parker's well, north of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Indianapolis depot, was put down fifty-eight feet, no water; another, near the point where the Jeffersonville, Madison & Indianapolis road crosses Main Street, failed to find water at eighty-seven feet; while water was found in the triangle formed by the Jeffersonville, Madison & Indianapolis Railroad, Main Street, and the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Indianapolis Railroad, at thirty-eight feet. These differences in depth are not due to inequalities of the surface, as the city is built on comparatively level ground.
Throughout the county, potable water for culinary and drink- ing purposes is almost wholly obtained through wells, and, as might be expected, springs rarely occur in a country so uniformly level. Wells sunk to the gravel or sand stratum, under the blue clay, reach an abundant supply of water; in localities where the clay rests on the country stone, a vein has to be found in the rock, or the well proves a failure-failures, however, are not common. Well water contains more or less mineral matter, even where it percolates through sandstone, and the water found in or beneath the calcareous drift deposits is universarily "hard." That this hard- ness is not wholly due to calcic and magnesic carbonates is shown by its not being rendered "soft" by boiling, that changes the bicarbonates held into solution into insoluble carbonates, with con- sequent precipitation. The hardness remaining after boiling is probably due to calcic sulphate. Notwithstanding a hard water does not answer for all kinds of household use, it is perfectly health- ful, sparkling and delicious.
The Rivers' Pollution Commissioners of England, in their sixth report, make the following classification of water in respect of wholesomeness and general fitness for drinking and cooking: Wholesome-(1) Spring water; (2) deep well water; (3) upland surface water. Suspicious-(1) Stored rainwater; (2) surface water from cultivated . land. Dangerous-(1) River water to which sewage gains access; (2) shallow wells. In this county wholesomeness and safety lie in the use of water from deep wells that reach the glacial sand or gravel or a vein deep in the stone. Some facts have come to my attention indicating that the well water may be unwholesome that has percolated through the ancient forest bed or buried muck and carbonaceous soil. Especially does this 3
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seem to be true where the stratum rests on the native stone, and the water supply comes from it or from the stone just beneath. Organic matter in water, no difference what the source may be, supplies the conditions necessary for the development of microzymes. Every source of organic contamination should be rigidly excluded by digging deep, and protecting the mouth of the well from surface wash or soakage. A supply of soft water is had by storing rain and snow water in cisterns that are easily made in the clay.
Archeology .- Burial mounds of a race of people who lived prior to the advent of the modern Indians not infrequently occur, and, so far as reported, are most common in the southern part of the county. I visited the site of a large mound on the farm of Mr. Louis J. Offutt, northeast quarter of 'Section 21, Township 14, Range 9, that, in the early settlement of the country, is said to have been 106 feet in diameter and 15 feet high, and connected with a smaller mound, on the northeast, by a ditch. Fifty-three years ago, the large mound was covered with a heavy growth of beech timber, some of the trees measuring IS inches in diameter. Since the timber has been cut away and the mound ploughed into, it has been nearly leveled with the ground. A few years ago Mr. Offutt dug into the larger one, near the center, and found parts of several skeletons, copper bands encircling the bones of the arms, wrists and ancles, bone beads, and two curiously perforated pieces of jawbone with a single, tusk-like tooth. The perforations were cut through the bone into the hollow of the tusk, and gave it some- what the appearance of a whistle, but its use is not very evident.
Dr. S. H. Riley, of Milroy, has assisted in opening several mounds in the county, and reports that they all contained ashes, charcoal, and red or burnt clay. Relics were found in three of them. In one (Section 12, Township 13, Range 9), were found an arrow point, copper needle, beads, and block of mica of an oval shape, 7 by II inches in diameter and 38 of an inch thick. Two nearly perfect skeletons and parts of a third were found in another (Section 27, Township 12, Range 9), buried with the heads turned toward a common center; also copper and bone beads. Some bones and copper bracelets were found in the third one ( Sec- tion 12, Township 13, Range 9). A large mound in Section 27, Township 12, Range 9, about 10 feet high and 40 feet in diameter, has not yet been explored. From the fact that shells peculiar to the Atlantic Ocean, copper from the shores of Lake Superior, and mica from the mines of South Carolina have been found in the mounds along the banks of Little Flat Rock Creek, it is presumed that the commercial relations of their builders were much more extensive than their limited means of travel would seem to indicate.
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INDIAN HISTORY.
CHAPTER II.
BY JOHN ARNOLD, M. D.
INDIAN HISTORY -- EARLY TRIBES -THE DELAWARES -- TREATY CEDING RUSH COUNTY TO THE UNITED STATES-MISCELLA- NEOUS ITEMS.
PON the first introduction of Europeans among the primitive inhabitants of this country it was the prevail- ing opinion among the white people that the vast domain since designated as the American Continent, was peopled by one common family, of like habits, and speaking the same language. The error, however, was soon dispelled by observation, which at the same time established the fact of great diversity of characteristics, language and physical development, the diversity sometimes arising from one cause and sometimes from another. The principal division known at this time is the Algonquin, embracing among other powerful tribes, . the Miamis, recognized as one of the most powerful types and one of the most extensive on the continent. Next in rank to the Miamis, if, indeed they are not entitled to precedence, are the Delawares.
Prior to the settlement of this county, all eastern and central Indiana, from White River on the northwest to the Ohio on the south, was occupied by the Delawares. They were a numerous and warlike tribe, very hostile to the whites, and not without good and sufficient cause. They had their home, originally, on the shores of the Atlantic and on the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers and their tributaries. Here it was that that peaceful hero and truly just man, William Penn, found them and made his first treaty with them in 1632. They were a powerful nation, but lived on terms of peace and friendship with the whites, for, during Penn's life, they were treated justly and honorably. After his death, things were changed. Sometime before 1736, the powerful confederacy of the Six Nations had waged a successful war against one of the divi- sions of the Delaware tribe, and had compelled it to acknowledge its supremacy. Claiming that, by right of conquest, they had ac- quired the ownership not only of the lands belonging to the con- quered portion, but of the whole territory belonging to the Dela- ware tribe, they made a treaty without the knowledge or consent of the rightful owners of the soil, transferring their pretended title to the whites.
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Six or eight years afterward, the Delawares were driven from their homes, and, passing beyond the Alleghany Mountains, they built their wigwams on the River Mahoning, in western Pennsyl- vania. Here they sojourned until about the year 1784, when they were again compelled to leave their homes and push farther west. Their next stopping place was eastern and central Indiana and part of Ohio. Here they remained until, by treaties made from time to time, they had extinguished their title to all the rich domain, and agreed to go beyond the Mississippi River. In a treaty made Jan- uary 15, 1819, at St. Mary's, in the State of Ohio, between Jona- than Jennings, Lewis Cass and Benjamin Parke, Commissioners of the United States, and the Delaware Nation of Indians, the following articles were agreed to :
Articles of a treaty with the Delawares at St. Mary's in the State of Ohio, between Jonathan Jennings, Lewis Cass and Ben- jamin Parke, Commissioners of United States, and the Delaware Indians.
ARTICLE I. The Delaware Nation of Indians cede to the United States, all their claims to land in the State of Indiana.
ARTICLE 2. In consideration of the aforesaid cession, the United States agree to provide for the Delawares a country to reside in upon the west side of the Mississippi, and to guarantee to them the peaceable possession of the same.
ARTICLE 3. The United States also agree to pay to the Dela- wares the full value of their improvements in the country hereby ceded, which valuation shall be made by persons to be appointed for that purpose by the President of the United States, and to fur- nish the Delawares with 120 horses not to exceed in value $40 each, and a sufficient of pirogues to aid in transporting them to the west side of the Mississippi, and a quantity of provisions propor- tioned to their numbers, and the extent of their journey.
ARTICLE 4. The Delawares shall be allowed the use and occu- pation of their improvements for the term of three years from the date of this treaty if they so long require it.
ARTICLE 5. The United States agree to pay to the Delawares a perpetual annuity of $4,000, which, together with all annuities which the United States by former treaty agreed to pay them, shall be paid in silver at any place to which the Delawares may remove.
ARTICLE 6. The United States agree to provide and support a blacksmith for the Delawares, after their removal to the west side of the Mississippi.
ARTICLE 8. A sum not exceeding $13,312.25, shall be paid by the United States, to satisfy certain claims against the Delaware Nation. ** *
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INDIAN HISTORY.
ARTICLE 9. This treaty after it shall be ratified by the Presi- dent and Senate, shall be binding on the contracting parties.
In accordance with this agreement, all that remained of the once powerful, proud and brave Delaware Nation resumed its journey toward the setting sun. Even beyond the mighty Father of Waters they have found no permanent resting-place. The resistless tide of American progress has still pursued them. The command to move farther west has again and again sounded in their ears, and the last lone warrior of the Delawares will probably sing his death- song to the wild music of the winds and waves of the Pacific Ocean. It is sad to contemplate the extinction of a brave though savage and untutored race; but that result is sure and inevitable when it stands in the way of a highly-civilized people. Nor can we really regret it when we consider how vastly the amount of happiness in the world is increased. An Indian requires thousands of acres to support his family; on the same territory, a hundred happy families of the Caucasian race will find their homes.
In speaking of these Indians, I, of course, have called them by that English name given them by the first settlers on our Eastern shores. The Delaware River received its name from an English nobleman, Lord De La War, who had an extensive grant of land from King James the Second on that stream, and the Indians inhab- iting its banks became known as the Delaware Indians. They were, in the Indian tongue, called the Lenni-Lenappes, and some- times the Chihohockies. Their principal villages in this county were in Union Township, on the farm now owned by myself, and known as "Arnold's Home." As I have heretofore written a sketch of these Indians and the tragic fate of their old chief, I will here insert it. It was the first number of a series of papers con- tributed by me and published in the Rushville Republican, entitled "The Reminiscences of an Old Settler":
" At the time they came to this country, Ben Davis, with a con- siderable band of followers, located himself on the pleasant banks of the creek which now bears his name, but which ,the Indians in tender remembrance of their former home, always called Mahon- ing. And I must here say that I think it a pity that the euphonious Mahoning has been thrown away, and the harsh and unpoetic Ben Davis used instead. Here, within 200 yards from where I write, stood their wigwams, and here were enacted the various phases of savage life. Here, the braves, to barbaric music, per- formed their war-dance, chanting their deeds of daring on the bat- tle-field: or, smoking their pipes, recounted their successful hunts of the swift-footed deer, the sturdy bear or the fierce panther. Here the patient squaw nursed her papoose and dreamed pleasant
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dreams of the possible future of her offspring. Here, the gallant youth wooed and won his dusky bride, and enjoyed the perfect bliss, the satisfying rapture of knowing that the heart of her who is dearer to him than life is all his own. Here, the boys threw the tomahawk, wrestled, run and engaged in various athletic sports, to fit them for their future career in life. Hundreds of beech trees near their encampment bear the numerous scars inflicted by the stroke of the tomahawk. On many other trees are outlined the figures of men or animals; but the most characteristic memento was the scalp-tree. It was a large, tall tree, on whose smooth bark was recorded the number of scalps taken. The number was over thirty; the marks were one above another, beginning about two feet from the ground and running up twenty or twenty-five feet. The emblem for a man was a round skull-cap; that for a woman, the cap surmounted by a roll (to represent the twisted hair) ; that for a child, was a broad, horizontal line. This tree was a great cu- riosity to strangers, and was calculated to excite deep interest, as it was not only the memorial of the hard fought battle, but also of the lonely cabin surprised at the dead hour of night, and all its inmates ruthlessly butchered. This tree is no longer to be seen; it was prostrated by a violent wind, many years since, much to my regret. " Personally, Ben Davis was a large and powerful Indian war- rior, a deadly foe to the whites; and he had frequently led his braves on raids into the dark and bloody ground - the debatable land of Kentucky. In most of the battles for the possession of the present States of Ohio and Indiana, he had taken an active part. He was true to his friends, implacable to his foes, fond of fire water, and when under its influence, regardless of his surround- ings, would boast of his prowess and the number of scalps he had taken. In short, he was a representative man of his race, a fair type of the brave, crafty and boastful Indian warrior.
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