USA > Indiana > Tippecanoe County > Past and present of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, Volume I > Part 14
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MOUND BUILDERS.
There is no doubt to the mind of the student that this country was in- habited by a semi-civilized, if not higher people than the North American In- dian. For the use of a name and growing out of their universal custom, they have been termed "Mound Builders." This county has abundant evidences of their presence and work in the long-ago centuries of time. Who they were, what they were, and where they originated is an unsolved problem, but that they lived and wrought here must be admitted by the implements found in their burying places. Drills, spear-heads, arrow-heads, stone axes. scrapers, pes-
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tles, mortars, gorgets, pottery, copper bracelets, copper beads and many other articles have been found in different sections of Tippecanoe county. One fine public collection of such relics of the long-ago forgotten people is in the pos- session of Purdue University, while many other rare and interesting articles from these mounds are in private collections.
In the vicinity of the Tippecanoe Battle Ground. and on Pretty Prairie. north of Battle Ground, these ancient made mounds are quite numerous. South of the Wabash, near Buck Creek Station, may be seen other mounds. In Washington township there is one mound twelve feet high, elliptical in shape. Its longest diameter is forty feet, while its other diameter is about thirty feet. Two others. on the same farm, are nearly circular and twenty feet across, while in height these are about eight feet.
On the old Major Van Natta farm, two miles east of Battle Ground, and just at the edge of Pretty Prairie, is an interesting series of mounds. These are located near the mouth of the Tippecanoe river, and just to the west of the banks of that stream. They overlook a commanding view of the Wabash and Tippecanoe rivers for miles in every direction. The largest of these eleven mounds is about sixty feet in diameter and when measured in 1890 was about fifteen feet high. It was opened in the latter part of the eighties and a large number of stone and copper implements taken out of it, including pipes, axes, arrow-heads, copper bracelets, beads of copper, rings, and among other rare specimens, a copper vessel resembling a pitcher. Through neglect, carelessness and ignorance some of the choicest of these relics have been lost and destroyed.
There are many mounds scattered over the surface of Pretty Prairie -- some in groups and some in straight lines, while others are isolated. Skele- tons of American Indians were frequently found as late as 1888, near the surface. In at least two instances, stone vaults were unearthed at the bottom of the mounds, and these contained skeletons, bevond doubt of Mound Build- ers' origin, but when brought to the surface and exposed to the atmosphere soon crumbled to dust. Bones of Indians were frequently plowed up by the farmers in tilling the soil. These pre-historic people generally buried their dead on a high knoll and seldom more than two or three feet below the sur- face. Such bones are usually in a good state of preservation.
Many localities in this county might be mentioned where such relics have been, and are still being found, but nothing has yet come to the observation of the student of archaeology to throw even one additional ray of light on the true history of the race, which is only known by the few articles made of metal and stone left in the "Mounds" as connecting links between the dim
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and uncertain past of the human race and the North American Indian, as he was discovered when this continent was first found by white men. The im- plements found in Tippecanoe county, as well as in the entire western country, consist of weapons as were used in wars, or the pursuit of game.
It was the written opinion of Professor Gorby, of Wabash College in 1885 (and he had opened and examined twenty-five mounds) that the Mound Builders were of the Indian race, though perhaps more civilized, yet very brutal and warlike-possibly cannibals. To this same conclusion, came the great archaeologist, Professor Alexander Winchell, of the State Univer- sity of Michigan.
GEOLOGY OF TIPPECANOE COUNTY.
As a general rule, the geological chapter in any county or other local history is not an interesting subject, and hence is seldom read, save by those especially interested in such a science. For this reason in this history of Tippecanoe county, the subject will be greatly abridged and only those points touched upon which will be of general local interest to the average reader. showing as it will the simplest and most striking features of the make-up of the surface and sub-strata of the earth at this point. It will be assumed that the reader who is enough interested in the science of geology, will trace the origin of the formation of soils and rocks, as depicted herein, back through the ages in which the science teaches that they were formed in, by books of a technical character, and thus be benefited.
In Tippecanoe county there is a range of geological formation from the Devonian. in the northeast corner of the county, to the Conglomerate of the lower coal measures along the western boundary. Near Porter Station about six miles west of Lafayette, is an exposure of limestone belonging to the Keokuk group, and on Flint creek, near West Point, there are exposures of St. Louis and Chester groups. In boring the artesian well at Lafayette, the first rock reached was the Devonian shale. The bore terminated in the Niagara rocks. Vast erosions ages ago were followed by immense deposi- tions of sand, gravel, bowlders and clay over the surface of the entire county. The greatest depth of this "drift" in this county, so far as positively known today, is three hundred and fifty feet.
It is highly probable that if the "drift" was removed from the northern half of Indiana, an immense system of great river channels and scooped out basins would be revealed that would put to shame the shallow streams and puny lakes that are seen on the surface of this country today.
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From all that has been done in the way of geological explorations in this county, it has been determined that there is no possible show of obtaining either coal or petroleum, at any point within Tippecanoe county. It is pos- sible, however, that a paying amount of natural gas may be discovered.
"PETRIFIED MOSS.'
The springs flowing out of the low bluffs along the Flint creek are strongly impregnated with lime. At many points along this stream small caves have been formed in the bluffs by this disintegrating and dissolving pro- cess. Upon reaching the atmosphere the lime, held in solution, combines with the carbonic gas of the air and is precipitated upon the surface, forming beautiful concretions of carbonate of lime. These concretions projected from the roofs of the caves, in the form of icicles, are called stalactites. They form on the floors like water freezing as it drops steadily at one point upon the ground, and are called stalagmites. In many cases the walls of these low bluffs are covered with a thick growth of beautiful green inoss. The water trickling down through this delicate green robe deposits its pure white crys- tals of lime on stem and branch, and leaf. The moss continues to grow, and the concretions continue to form, till finally they are great masses of this calcareous tufa that perfectly preserve the form of leaf and stem of what is termed "petrified moss." Beautiful specimens of such moss may be obtained any time from these "Caves." on the old Turner farm, near the mouth of Flint creek. There are three of these caves and only a short distance apart. These caves are very small and aside from the beautiful concretions that are continually forming around them, they possess few interesting features. The first of these caves is a room about ten by twenty feet : the second, fifteen by thirty feet and the third is twelve by thirty feet. The height of these caves, or rooms is about seven feet.
The water is continually dropping from the roofs of the caves. The floor is hollowed out in them. and thus quite a pond is formed. The water dropping from the roof makes a continual splash in the water beneath.
Flint Bar, in the Wabash bottom, about one mile below the mouth of Flint creek, and just over the line in Franklin county, is a great mass of silicious deposits. This stone lies in ledges four to eight inches thick. It is evenly bedded, and the exposed layers have the appearance of compact si- licious limestone, but they lack tenacity. A single blow with a light hammer will break a block one by two feet in size into a hundred or more pieces. The "bar" covers many acres, and the whole surface is covered with small
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angular fragments of these broken flints. The pieces are usually in small flakes from one inch to four and five inches in length. No better material is found anywhere for highway purposes or street improvements. This de- posit is practically inexhaustible. The streets of Lafayette as long ago as 1885 had been largely paved with this material. It packs evenly and is almost indestructible. This deposit lies between the limestones and shales exposed on Flint creek. Amos Welsch, of West Point, was for many years the sole owner of these singular and valuable beds.
Near West Point is found the best and most easily quarried limestone in the county.
Geologists cannot well jump at any conclusions, but must be guided by long years of study and thoughtful research before hoping to unfold the deep mystery wrapped up in the bowels of the earth, so intricate and uncer- tain is the science which they seek to master. It has been stated by pro- fessors of geology that no single county in the United States affords a more varied and puzzling problem of deposits than that found in Tippecanoe county.
The immense gravel deposits of Wea Plains, and the corresponding terrace on the opposite side of the river. embracing more than one hundred square miles of territory, at every point observed show clearly that the whole mass is distinctly stratified ; that it is in layers as evenly and uniformly placed as the solid rock deposit beneath it. Wherever the gravel is solidly cemented together these lines of stratification may be followed the full length of the exposure. Excavations made in the gravel beds to procure material for road making always have revealed the same facts. On Indian creek. Wild Cat and Wea creek-wherever this cemented gravel, sand and bowlers are exposed-the same uniform and western dip is seen. The conclusion is that these gravel and sand deposits, forming terraces adjacent to the river, sometimes called "alluvial terraces," are not river terraces at all, but that they were formed by the same agencies that made all the wide plains of Indiana long ages before the Wabash river traced its serpentine course across the surface. The Tippecanoe basin was filled with clay, sand and gravel and bowlders at a period far remote from that in which the Wabash began wearing a channel through the hills and rocks to find its way to the sea.
In the south and southeastern parts of this county the character of the "drift" changes. Soil, yellow clay and blue clay occur in regular order. with more or less sand and gravel. The total depth of the "drift" in this
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part of the county is not fully known, as no wells have been bored through it. Water is usually found here in sand and gravel veins from twenty to forty feet from the surface.
THE MARL BEDS.
In the vicinity of Indian creek there are a number of marl beds. There are also some on Flint creek. These marl beds seem to have derived their lime from disintegrated and decomposed limestones in the immediate vicinity. Along the Indian creek marl beds there is no outcrop of limestone nearer than the exposure of the Keokuk limestone, two miles to the north. but it is evident that the same rocks are but little below the surface in the vicinity of the marl beds. This marl is of a whitish gray color, and effervesces freely on the application of acids. A ditch through a bed of this material shows a depth of more than four feet of pure marl. The thickness of the deposits may be even deeper, as the ditch did not reach the bottom of it when the test was made.
Extensive beds of marl are found near West Point-the material being eight feet in thickness in many places. This marl is a whitish, soft and easily obtainable material, as it lies just underneath the surface. It is readily burned into a poor quality of lime. In its natural state it makes the best of fertilizer, being a valuable addition to a soil lacking in lime.
Peat beds also occur in many of the swamps of Indian creek. In this locality it has been procured and used for fuel to some extent. but the labor of preparing it is greater than its fuel value, practically speaking.
Iron ore is found in many of the swamps. In the opening of a big ditch in the vicinity of Montmorency, large quantities of iron were brought to the surface. Many of the blocks of this bog-ore weighed upwards of a hundred pounds.
WILD FRUITS, WILD FLOWERS AND WILD ANIMALS.
When the first white men invaded this goodly kingdom, now known as Tippecanoe county, they found Nature had left its impress in the way of hills, dales, forests and prairies, grottoes, rivulets and rivers checkered and diversified in its every nook and corner. The reader is indebted to San- ford Cox, from whose writings we have taken occasion to quote before, as lie was a living witness to many of the early-day scenes of this county, when all was "one green glad solitude," and his observations will count for far more than those coming from a present-day writer, who only sees the culti-
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vated side of the territory within the confines of the county. While not quoting literally from his descriptions, his thoughts and observations will be the base for all statements herein made concerning the wildness of things included in this article on wild flowers, wild birds, wild fruits and wild animals.
The Wabash river was lined with the richest verdure. Wild flowers intermingled with the tall grass that nodded in the passing breeze and all nature seemed as if clad in her bridal robes of purity and beauty. Blossoms of the wild plum, hawthorn and red-bud made the air redolent. The notes of the blackbird and blue-jay mingled with the shrill cry of the king-fisher. river gull and speckled loon. On the points of the islands cranes and herons were carrying on piscatorial adventures among unwary minnows that had ventured into the coves that indented the islands. Large flocks of wild geese, brants and ducks occasionally passed over head, or perchance alighted in the bayous and there held a general carnival. It was indeed rare sport for the young Nimrods of the neighborhood to fix up their "blinds" around the duck ponds, and thus bag more game than they could possibly carry home at one trip. Schools of fishes-salmon, bass, redhorse and pike-swam close along the rippling shores. These fish would snatch at the blossoms of the red-buds and plums that floated down by them on the water that was so clear that thousands of the finny tribes might have been seen darting hither and thither amidst the limpid element, turning up their silvery sides as they sped out into deeper waters to devour the sweet blossom they had secured near the shore.
Perhaps no country ever produced more wild fruits and especially ber- ries. The wide fertile bottom-lands of the Wabash, in many places, pre- sented one continuous orchard of wild plum and crabapple bushes, overspread with arbors of the different varieties of woods grapes, wild hops, and honey- suckles fantastically festooned together. One bush, one cluster of bushes, often presented the crimson plum. the yellow crabapple, the blue luscious grapes, festoons of well matured wild hops, mingled with the red berries of the clambering sweet briar, that bound them all lovingly together. Goose- berries and strawberries were first gathered by the early settlers. They were soon succeeded by the blackberries, dewberries and raspberries, which grew thickly in the fence corners, in the woods, and in the vicinity of clearings of fallen timber. In more sterile, sandy regions the huckleberry, whortle- berry, and in the wet, marshy districts the cranberry grew in great profusion. Pond Grove, in this county, became by the time of the Civil war, famous for its production of large, marketable cranberries which yielded a rich return
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to its owner and was sought for by the best families and the best hotels in this section of Indiana.
Then there was the endless variety of nuts-the black walnut, butter nut, hickory and hazel nuts. A few persimmon bushes and apple trees, no doubt planted by the early French settlers and Indians, who mingled with them and learned their value from them.
The gopher and the prairie-hawk, the wolf and the rattlesnake, with the many other drawbacks that surrounded the pioneer homes must also here be mentioned, for they have come to be almost a thing of the past. Black, grey and prairie wolves were quite numerous, and in many localities it was next to impossible to raise sheep or pigs until they had been hunted out. The legislature authorized the granting of a bounty on the scalps of such pests and in this way many thousands were killed off. Wolf hunts were then a common thing and participated in by neighbors far and near, and were conducted usually in the following manner : The territory to be hunted over was circumscribed by four lines far apart enough to enclose a proper area. To each line was assigned a captain, with his own orderlies. The men were properly stationed along the line, and at the hour agreed upon the line ad- vanced toward the center of the arena. The lines all charged simultaneously toward the center, on horseback, with dogs, guns and clubs, thus completely investing whatever game was within the lines, and scaring it from the ad- vancing lines toward the center, where the excitement of the chase was greatly heightened, and the greatest carnage ensued. Often from two to ten wolves and as many deer were taken in a single day at these hunts, and wildcats, foxes, and catamounts in great numbers. Horses and dogs soon became fond of the sport of the chase, entering into the true spirit, even almost as much as did the men themselves. Solomon Slayback lost a fine horse in one of these wolf hunts. He was thundering along far in advance of the other men and horses, when the animal fell into a half concealed wolf hole and broke his leg. The rider was not badly injured, but was thrown several yards. The horse could not be saved and he was humanely killed to put him out of his great sufferings.
"The snake in the grass" was another pest that had to be contended with by the Tippecanoe pioneer band, and as no law was enacted to lessen their numbers, all had to be worked out by the settlers themselves. These reptiles and snakes were of all sizes and of an almost endless variety. Be- sides the rattlesnake, adder and viper, the blood-snake, etc., there were a great many blue-racers and green snakes in the prairie districts that always seemed delighted to give chase to every newcomer, and frighten them by
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their hostile attitude. If a person was to retreat they would follow after them, but if one was to give them battle or chase them, they would soon turn and retreat themselves in great haste. These snakes, last named, were per- fectly harmless, but served by their annoyance to put the settlers and their children onto their daily, hourly guard as against other varieties of snakes that were deadly poison.
William Robinson, Esq., during the county's early settlement on the Wea, was bitten by a rattlesnake, and although every known antidote was employed, he died from the effects of the poison. William Key, who resided in Wabash township, west from Lafayette, was also bitten by a rattlesnake, but was cured by the use of the common antidote-good whisky and plenty of it at the right time.
Many persons in various parts of the county, besides a still larger number of horses and cattle, during every summer, suffered from these ven- omous reptiles. Early in the spring and late in the autumn time, certain locali- ties seemed to teem with these snakes, while other portions seemed quite free from them. This induced the belief that they must take up their winter quarters near these places where they assembled late each fall. Strict search was instituted and in the spring of 1827 and 1828 two snake dens were dis- covered in the vicinity of Lafayette-one in a deep ravine west of the city, where the road ascended the hill going to Kingston, and the other on the north side of the Big Wea creek, near Bears' spring, a half mile northeast of Forseman's mill. As soon as it was certainly known that these snake dens existed, word was sent throughout the different neighborhoods for the citizens to meet at these dens with spades and crowbars, mattocks, etc. If the clefts in the rocks were such that the snakes could be dug out, they went to work, and after breaking through the subterranean citadel brought out scores of reptiles of the most poisonous varieties, rattlesnakes being the most common, and their heads were then bruised to a jelly, and left for the hogs to eat. Some of the fattest were taken home and gallons of oil were extracted from their bodies while their glittering skins were saved. to cure rheumatism and other chronic disorders, for which they were at that day deemed a wonderful specific. If the digging process was not found practica- ble, stakes were driven in the ground close to each other, and three or four feet high, enclosing a sufficient area around to admit of a large egress from the hole where the family of snakes were supposed to be hiding. Then one end of a pole was placed on a line of picketing, while the other end of this hori- zontal shaft formed a right angle with another short perpendicular shaft, the lower end of which was placed immediately over the hole in such a man-
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ner that upon hoisting the other end of the longer lever, by pulling on a long grapevine, attached to the end of the same, this sharpened perpendicular shaft was thrust into the hole. stopping it up as completely as a cob would a jug.
After setting their trap, the snake hunters left with the understanding that all hands were to meet at the den the first warm day. At the time appointed the inhabitants for many miles around met at the selected spot. If the weather had been sufficiently warm and balmy to draw out a large number of snakes to bask in the sun, the grapevine was pulled, the lever sprung, the hole stopped, and the snakes belabored with hoop poles prepared for the occasion, and thus hundreds of snakes were trapped and killed in a single day.
A few years of snake killing in this wholesale manner comparatively rid the county of dangerous serpents, until today there is but an occasional rattlesnake found in Tippecanoe county.
THE PASSING OF THE FORESTS.
A great majority of the lands within present Tippecanoe county were, when first settled by the white race, covered with a dense growth of excellent timber, but which has with the passing of the decades been ruthlessly cut off until today timber is scarce within the county. What is true here is also true all over the state of Indiana. The question has come to be a serious one to the thoughtful man who has the interests of the coming generation at heart. To become a treeless state is what Indiana is coming to unless some speedy measure is adopted. Native timber that now stands should be care- fully cared for and young trees planted and cultivated as rapidly as possi- ble, in order that our state may have a sufficient growth of timber to carry on her future industries, as well as to reclaim the weather and climatic condi- tions which were once our pride and joy. With more timber our streams would again flow with more water : our climate would be better. crops would be better and prosperity would be insured to those who come after us.
A scientific writer on this subject recently writes as follows:
"Forests prevent droughts and disastrous floods by attracting moisture and holding the excess rainfall in the porous soil beneath the trees. The water is retained just as a blotting paper holds it. and instead of being left to flow away unchecked, as is the case where forests do not exist. is allowed to seep gradually into the streams that have their sources in the woods.
"Forests mitigate the extremes of climate as well as maintain the level
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of underground water. This latter fact has been demonstrated in Indiana by lowering of the underground water level through the clearing away of the forests and the drainage of the swamp lands. It is an exceedingly short- sighted policy that will permit the present generation to use up all the avail- able and merchantable timber, thereby robbing the oncoming Americans of their rightful heritage. Still the ruthless destruction of this great bounty from nature goes on.
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