USA > Missouri > Bates County > History of Bates County, Missouri > Part 9
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All through luncheon Auguste talked in a delightful, easy manner of his pleasant, sunny France and told Degninon of his good, heart- broken mother, mentioning here and there, as they occurred to him, many incidents of his own life.
All this had the eager attention of Degninon.
The passion that bounded in her simple, innocent heart, was thrill- ing the heart of Auguste. And before the fragments of the lunch had been gathered up, and really without premeditation, urged on by every hope in his soul, forgetful of the indescribably beautiful scene stretched out before him, oblivious to all else earthy, Auguste gave expression to the secrets of his heart and laid before Degninon the hope of his life- that she would become his wife and go with him to his mother in southern France and there be with him son and daughter to her in the disappointments and sorrows of her old age. No word escaped Degninon's lips. Her heart was throbbing. She felt for the first time the tumult of passion. Her simple, natural love had been awakened. She was radiant with the exaltation of the purest sentiments known to the human heart. And Auguste gazing into the depths of her speaking eyes knew the "beautiful squaw" of whom Madame Papin had spoken-his "vision" of Halley's Bluffs-was his forever.
No cruel doubt, no disquieting fear came into Degninon's heart.
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HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
The response of her soul was so complete that nothing could have con- vinced or persuaded her that her love was not in accord with the wishes of the Great Spirit of her mother's people.
That night, in their wigwam, Degninon sat close beside her mother and frankly, innocently told her all. Her mother wept as she realized what it all meant to herself. The memory of Degninon's father was fresh in her soul. And her unfaltering love for the "handsome hunter" who had gone from her never to return was pleading in behalf of sweet Degninon then and there. She caressed and fondled Degninon as if she were indeed a little pappoose again in her arms. She gave a mother's blessing and Degninon dreamed that night in her mother's arms, in fact, as when a pappoose, and oh! such sweet, peaceful sleep came to rest her surcharged soul.
Underneath the stately trees near the dwelling of the Papins, with the flecking moonlight all about them, Auguste had a long son-like talk with Madame Papin, and the next day while on their way to visit a sick neighbor some distance down the Osage she told Melicourt the story of Auguste and Degninon. On their return he congratulated Auguste and offered his services in building the boat for his return voyage to France, now determined upon. For the next ten days Meli- court and Auguste were very busy men; but Auguste found time to spend his evenings with Degninon at her wigwam or at the hospitable home of the Papins. These delightful evenings are passed without comment. The reader is left to fill in the story at this point. It was merely the re-enactment of the old, old story.
By and by the boat for their voyage down the Osage, the Mis- souri, out into the Mississippi, thence to New Orleans, was ready, good and stout.
Auguste had secured the necessary proofs of the death of the Mar- quis, his father, and the day for the wedding and departure was settled. Melicourt had spoken to the Rev. William B. Montgomery, one of the good missionary preachers at the "Mission."
At the appointed time Auguste and Degninon stood within the rude walls of the first school house erected by the missionaries at Har- mony, and there in the presence of the Papins, the mother of Degninon, a few Osage "squaws," and all that little band of devoted missionary workers the Rev. Montgomery repeated the simple words and took the responses that made them one forever in life and love and in the laws of God and man.
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HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
It did more than that-it made Degninon a Marchioness of France : for upon the death of Ignatius Letier his only child. Auguste, succeeded to the father's estate and title.
The marriage of a Marquis of France to beautiful Degninon, was a great event in the annals of Harmony Mission and it has its place in the history of one of the first efforts to Christianize and civilize the Indians on the western frontier.
We shall not follow the Marquis and Marchioness Letier on their romantic bridal tour down the rivers to New Orleans, thence to the far-away sunny France. Our story is told. It may be said in passing that they reached their home in France in due time, where they were received by the good mother as lost, loved children returned, and where they lived to a ripe age, as devoted to each other as when their hearts were united on that day in June beneath the great white oak on the summit of picturesque and eternal Halley's Bluffs and that today there flows in the veins of some of the greatest and grandest men and women of Republican France the blood of Madame Papin's "beautiful squaw."
CHAPTER VI.
TOPOGRAPHY.
TECHNICAL DISCUSSION UNCALLED FOR-SOIL SURVEY-HON. JAMES WILSON- HON. DAVID A. DE ARMOND-SURVEYORS-LOCATION, ELEVATION, AND EXTENT OF TERRACES-EROSION-RANGE IN ELEVATION-ALTITUDE- CHANNELS-STREAMS-UNDERSTANDING OF RIVERS OF IMPORTANCE- DRAINAGE.
An elaborate and technical discussion of the topography of Bates county is not called for in a work of this kind; but a brief review of its principal features will not be out of place. In 1908, a soil survey of this county was made under authority of Congress by the Bureau of Soils, Department of Agriculture. Milton Whitney, chief of bureau, in his letter transmitting the manuscript report and map to Hon. James Wil- son, Secretary of Agriculture, says :
"U. S. Department of Agriculture, "Bureau of Soils. "Washington, D. C., January 25, 1910.
"Sir: Work in the state of Missouri was continued during the field season of 1908 by the survey of Bates county. The selection of this area was urged by the late Hon. D. A. De Armond.
"Soil survey work in Missouri is being carried on in co-operation with the State Experiment Station, which concurred in the importance of selecting Bates county for survey at this time."
This was among the first surveys made in Missouri, and we are indebted to Hon. David A. DeArmond, who represented us in Con- gress at the time the survey was made, for the selection of Bates county among the very first to be surveyed in Missouri, although the report was not made until some time after his unfortunate death in the fire which destroyed his home in Butler, November 23, 1909. This survey was made by Charley J. Mann, Allen L. Higgins, and Lawrence A. Kolbe, and it is the best and most complete authority available on the subject ; and we make free use of it so far as seems of general interest to the average citizen.
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HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
"Topographically, Bates county consists of three terraces, each of which is more or less dissected by valleys. The lowest terrace is in the southeastern part of the county and the highest in the northwestern part. The average elevation of the lowest is about 650 to 700 feet, the middle one about 800 to 850 feet, and the upper one about 1,000 feet above sea level. The highest one has the smallest extent and the middle one the greatest. In fact, by far the larger part of the county is included in the latter. Its eastern boundary runs from Rich Hill nearly eastward to a point two and a half miles south of Pleasant Gap, thence northeastward to the offset in the county line at the southwestern corner of Henry county. Its western boundary runs from the Kansas line near Amsterdam northward to Merwin, thence about eastward to near Adrian, thence northwestward to the northern boundary of the county, about six miles east of the northwest corner. At its eastern boundary this terrace drops rather abruptly about 150 feet to the lowest terrace, and its western boundary is the abrupt rise of about 150 feet to the highest terrace. The eastern border of this middle terrace is much dissected by deep valleys of streams that flow from it out into the lower terrace. The cut is much deeper into it than into the lower terrace, because it is so much higher than the latter. Westward and northwestward from the eastern boundary the valleys are more and more shallow, until along the northwestern border of the terrace there is a belt that is barely cut by valleys at all. In fact, there are consider- able areas along it that are not well drained.
"Only the northwestern part of the lower terrace lies in Bates county, the rest of it lying to the eastward. The whole of this area is therefore smooth. Its valleys are very shallow, even that of the Marais des Cygnes river it is a gently undulating plain. Only the east- ern border of the third terrace lies in this county. The most of it is a high dissected plateau. It is like the eastern border of the middle terrace in roughness, but is higher.
"As there has been no faulting or folding of the rocks, the surface features of Bates county are the direct result of erosion. This has acted in proportion to the relative resistance of the interbedded shales, sandstones, and limestones composing the region and has left low, well- marked terrace lines and mounds which form the only prominent topographic features of the area. Except for an occasional sandy knoll or low ridge, the numerous and extensive shale horizons are charac- terized by level or undulating topography, which gives way to more'
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HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
rolling relief where the underlying limestone has been exposed. Along the streams, particularly in the limestone region, the land is usually quite broken and rough, though there are occasional long gentle slopes in which it is frequently difficult to determine the limit of overflowed land.
"There is a total range in elevation of over 300 feet. The lowest point where the Marais des Cygnes river leaves the county at the south- east corner is less than 700 feet and the highest, which is in the north- west corner, is over 1,000 feet above sea level.
"This western prairie region is noted for its many stream channels. The greater part of the drainage of the county is carried by Miami creek, which rises in the northwest corner and flowing southeast empties into the Marais des Cygnes river in the south-central part of the county. This river enters the county three miles south of the middle of the west county line and receives nearly all the drainage of the south- western third of the county. Two and one-half miles south of Papins -. ville it is joined by the Little Osage river."
From the confluence of these two rivers eastward it is the Osage river, sometimes called the Big Osage to distinguish it from the Little Osage, and it is the line between Bates and Vernon counties from the junction of the east lines of said counties. The Marmiton branch flows into the Little Osage river some four or five miles above the conflux of the Little Osage and the Marais des Cygnes, and nowhere touches Bates county. The Marmiton come's out of Kansas from the south- west, coming near Fort Scott in its course. The Little Osage comes out of Kansas, its general course being nearly straight east to its junc- tion with the Marais des Cygnes, which latter river comes down from north-central Kansas in a general southeast course. So it should be stated that the head of the Osage river is at that point on the south county line where the Little Osage and the Marais des Cygnes unite, and thus form it. There is no Osage river in Bates county, and never was, notwithstanding the statements of alleged history and the show- ing of both old and new map-makers. A proper understanding about these rivers will become vital in our chapter on early settlements of the county. Most of the northern part of the county is drained by Mormon Fork creek, a tributary of the Grand river which forms part of the north county line. The east-central part is drained by Deep- water, North Deepwater, and South Deepwater creeks and their many tributaries.
CHAPTER VII.
SOILS.
MEANING OF TERMS-NON-GLACIATED PORTION-RESIDUAL UPLAND SOIL-ROCKS -SHALE, LIMESTONE, SANDSTONE-HORIZONTAL STRATA-EROSION-TOPOG- RAPHY-SOIL SERIES-RESIDUAL SOILS-SOIL TYPES-OSWEGO SILT LOAM -SUMMIT SILT LOAM-BATES SILT LOAM-CRAWFORD SILT LOAM-BATES LOAM-BOONE FINE SANDY LOAM-OSAGE CLAY-OSAGE SILT LOAM.
The term soil as here used means the "top stratum of the earth's crust, whence plants derive their mineral food. It also contains a certain proportion of humus substances derived from the decayed organic matter of plants which have grown on it." There is no pur- pose to discuss the geology of the county in this chapter or under this subhead. But in order to understand somewhat about our soil it is necessary to keep the meaning of the word "soil" and the word "silt" clearly in mind. "Silt" means "a fine mixture or deposit of clay and sand from running or standing water; or fine soil deposited from water -mud, slime, sediment." With these definitions of soil and silt you may intelligently follow the experts on soil as they have found it in Bates county. The glacial forces which moved and deposited soils over wide territories to the north of us barely crossed the Missouri river, but did not reach this county. But that is the story of geology.
Bates county lies within the non-glaciated part of the Western prai- rie region. Its upland soil is therefore residual, or derived from the imme- diately underlying rock. The rocks of this region belong to the Penn- sylvania division of the Carboniferous age and consist of interbedded shale. sandstone and limestone. Shale is the predominating rock and may vary from argillaceous to arenaceous in the different beds or even in the same stratum, while the layers of limestone and sandstone are com- paratively thin and uniform. Faulting or folding of these rocks is nowhere in evidence, the strata lying nearly horizontal, with only a slight dip to the northwest. It is apparent that were the present sur- face level the soil would be practically the same all over the county. Such a condition, however, has been prevented by erosion, the result being that with the differences in elevation the different strata of rock
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HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
have been exposed to the processes of weathering and soil formation. As the different kinds of rock give rise to widely varying soils, it is easily seen that topography is a very important factor in the location of any particular kind of soil.
Soils of different texture-that is, composed of different propor- tions of sand, silt, clay, etc., but closely related through source of material, method of formation, coloration, and other characteristics- constitute a soil series. Some of the soils of the area are of rather local occurrence and of questionable relationship and are given local names.
A distinction is made between the residual soils, according as they are derived from shales and sandstone or from limestone. The shale and sandstone have entered more largely into the soils of the county than the limestone and have given rise to soils of three series and to one miscellaneous type more or less closely related thereto. The Boone silt loam and the Boone fine sandy loam are characterized by very light gray surface soils, the Bates silt loam and Bates loam by gray surface soils, and the Summit silt loam and Summit clay by dark- gray or nearly black surface soils. The distinguishing feature of the Oswego silt loam is the presence of a so-called hard-pan in the subsoil. The limestone gives rise to the Crawford silt loam previously mapped in Kansas.
The colluvial class of soils is represented by the Sedgwick black clay loam, which in its material is closely related to the Summit soils.
The bottom land or alluvial soils are related to each other in the source of their material and the manner of their formation, but differ in respect to color, position, and elevation in the bottoms.
The Osage silt loam occupies the creek bottoms and higher eleva- tions along the larger streams, while the Osage clay occupies the depres- sion in the wider bottoms and belongs to a series characterized by the dark color of the soils. Very little sandy material or loam was found in these alluvial deposits and the loam type was not recognized, though certain phases of the Osage silt loam approximated a soil of lighter texture. There are along some of the streams areas locally called sec- ond bottom. There is every reason to believe, however, that the materials here are not of alluvial origin and the soils are therefore grouped with the upland types. Along some of the smaller streams there exist a few areas of true terrace deposits, but these were so limited that they could not be shown in the map of the scale used.
The reader's attention is here called to the evident fact that the
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HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
soil experts or surveyors referred to the river Marais des Cygnes and its bottoms rather than to the Osage river proper, which river forms only about ten miles of the south line of Bates county. What is said by them doubtless applies to the bottom soil on the north side of the Osage river in Bates county as well as to the bottoms of the Marais des Cygnes, which they apparently treated as the Osage, or the con- tinuation of it. With this explanation you can understand what is meant by "Osage silt."
The following table gives the name and extent of each of the types of soil found in Bates county :
Soil
Acres
Per Cent.
Oswego silt loam
200,192
36.1
Summit silt loam
152,512
27.5
Osage silt loam
71,808
12.9
Bates silt loam
50,880
9.3
Osage clay
23,232
4.2
Bates loam
21,888
3.9
Summit clay
14,976
2.7
Crawford silt loam
11,072
2.0
Sedgwick black clay loam
2,496
.5
Rough stony land
2,240
.4
Boone silt loam
1,984
.3
Boone fine sandy loam
960
.2
Total
.554,240
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Oswego silt loam .- The characteristics by which the Oswego silt loam is easily distinguished from the other types of the area are its prairie vegetation, gray color, ashy feel, level surface, and the sharp line of demarcation between soil and subsoil. The surface soil consists of eight to ten inches of dark-gray, rather loose structural silt loam, which when wet becomes a very dark gray or almost black but when dry is very much lighter colored. It is locally known as "white ashy land." The subsurface soil from ten to eighteen inches is always lighter colored, contains very much less organic matter, and has a slightly higher clay content than the surface soil and as a consequence tends to clod consider- ably. It also becomes quite compact and hard when dry. Immediately below this material lies the heavy, compact, somewhat tenacious silty clay subsoil which extends to a depth of thirty-six inches where it becomes
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HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
friable and crumbly, decreasing in clay content. From eighteen to twenty- eight inches this material is usually much darker than the overlying soil, frequently being almost black, and rapidly changes to a grayish yellow with a faint greenish tinge.
The soil type consists of two distinct phases that are universally recognized not only by the student of soils but by the farmers who occupy it. The difference between the two phases is one of structure rather than texture, yet it is one of great importance in the agricultural utilization of the soil. One phase is the flat-land phase and the other the rolling-land phase. In both the surface soil is a gray silt, and in both this is underlain by a darker, tougher, more clayey substance. In the flat-land phase, however, the boundary between the surface and sub- surface is a very sharp one; in the other it is more indefinite. In the former the subsurface is a hard, tough, dark brownish-clay with some red mottlings. In the latter it is a dark brownish-gray silty clay, usually without the red mottling and usually neither so hard nor so tough as the former. In the former the subsoil is a yellowish-gray to bluish-gray silty clay, with a yellowish to brownish mottling, but considerably less tough than the subsurface. In the latter the subsoil is a yellowish-gray silty clay much more nearly uniform in color than that of the former phase.
The rolling-land phase has much better surface drainage than the other and its underground drainage is also better. Its color also is usually somewhat darker.
The rolling-land phase constitutes much the larger area of this type in the county. Practically all of the type in the southwestern corner of the county belongs in it and all the eastern part of the great area of this soil that lies west and northwest of Butler.
The main flat-land areas are in a belt running northeast and south- west through Adrian, along the foot of the third terrace, in the south- eastern corner of the county:
The farmers will admit that the flat-land phase is "hard-pan" land, but they will not admit that the rolling-land phase can be correctly desig- nated by that term.
The Oswego silt loam is the most extensive soil type in Bates county, occurring in every township. It is the predominating type in the north- western two-thirds, where it occupies many entire sections. It also occurs extensively in the southwestern and southeastern townships. The area of its least development lies from Pleasant Gap northward to the county line.
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HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
The type is intimately associated with level or undulating topog- raphy and is always limited by a rolling surface whether that surface lies above or below the general level of a given area. It occupies the wider divides, gentle slopes, and the rather low-lying so-called "second bottoms" along the rivers. The last named position is the lowest level at which the type is developed and includes elevations in the uplands from below seven hundred fifty feet to something over eight hundred feet. Its highest elevation reaches more than one thousand feet in the northwest corner, and the remainder of the type from a little below eight hundred fifty feet to more than nine hundred feet above sea level.
Though perfectly flat areas are not frequent and there is apparently fall enough to afford good surface drainage, the damage done to crops by excess of moisture is very great. The heavy subsoil is to some extent accountable for this, as it greatly retards the downward movement of drainage waters. This trouble can be largely relieved by tile drains, which, though results might not be immediate, would ultimately break up the close structure of this material naturally loose and crumbly when exposed to the air. Narrow, open ditches or even furrows would be effective in draining many of the small depressions in which corn is a failure in wet seasons. There is sufficient fall in almost every case for the proper construction of drainage systems. In a few instances where tile drains have been installed they have given good results.
The formation of the Oswego silt loam is not clearly understood in its details. It is evidently connected with shale formations, as it is underlain at greater depth by silt shale rock and it would seem that the subsoil at least was derived therefrom. But the formation of the eight- een inches of light soil can hardly be explained by residual processes alone, because of the great difference between it and the underlying sub- soil and the sharp line of demarcation between the two. The dark color in the upper portion of the subsoil suggests that it may be due to an accumulation of organic matter at a time when it was the surface soil and that the overlying material is a later deposit. But the differences in elevations at which the type is found would preclude the theory of water deposit and the material is somewhat different from that hereto- fore recognized as loess or windblown. It is possible to account for it by translocation or gradual movement of the finer particles from the surface to the subsoil, though the sudden change in material almost refutes that theory. That the subsoil is largely residue material from the underlying shale seems fairly certain but that there has been some
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HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
other process involved in the surface and subsurface soil is also plain, but what it is is still a matter of conjecture.
The original vegetation of this type was prairie grass, which grew very rank. Timber growth was probably prevented by prairie fires. All the general crops of the area are grown extensively on this soil. Corn is the leading crop, and more white corn is grown than yellow, it being the general impression that white corn will yield better than yellow on the "thinner" soils.
Besides drainage, two main factors controlling crop production on this soil are the maintenance of a supply of organic matter and the con- servation of moisture. When the prairie sod was first broken an abun- dance of organic matter had accumulated from the roots of the prairie grass. The soil was then loose and open, but through many years of constant cultivation the original supply of humus has been largely depleted, and, as a consequence, the soil particles have become more or less compact, thus indicating rapid capillarity and the loss of soil mois- ture at a time when it is most needed. The deficiency of humus is also largely responsible for the cold, soggy condition sometimes found in the type. In other ways, the loss of humus has been detrimental to crop production, and the addition of vegetable matter will do much toward improving this type. The humus content can best be increased by applying stable manure or by plowing under cowpeas, clover, manure or any green manuring crop. The deeper this can be incorporated in the white subsurface soil the better will be the results. Because of its effect upon the soil drainage, the heavy subsoil is usually regarded as a detriment, but it may really be advantageous in that it prevents leach- ing. An examination has been made of a field which had been fallowed and a dust mulch constantly maintained, and during the driest part of the summer, when the crops were suffering for moisture, it was found that the soil and subsoil were so moist that the change from subsurface to subsoil was scarcely discernable. In this connection it is strongly recommended that the cultivation of corn be continued with one-horse shallow cultivators beyond the time when it is usually "laid by" and well into the season, thereby conserving moisture for the crop at a time when it needs much and usually gets little.
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