USA > Missouri > Greene County > Past and present of Greene County Missouri, early and recent history and genealogical records of many of the representative citizens, Volume I > Part 6
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He represents the lead ores on its northwestern source, which we had partially explored (the James river mines), as very extensive."
LIFE HERE A CENTURY AGO.
From what Schoolcraft has written about Wells and "Teen" Friend, it would seem that both these families must have come to this region earlier, by several years, than 1818, and therefore we should infer that the date of Pet- tijohn's and Patterson's arrival in the White river region was somewhat earlier than Escott, Vaughan and other writers on the early history of this locality have supposed.
William Friend came with his brother Augustine and the Pettijohn family, as before described, and Vaughan, in his "History of Christian County," page 5, states that William Friend later settled the land on Finley ·creek, opposite Linden, in Christian county, in 1828, having evidently moved from the Friend settlement on White river, where Schoolcraft had visited his brother "Teen." Escott, in his "History of Springfield," page 16, states that he was the only one who remained on his farm when the others were forced by the Delawares to move. Therefore, during his lifetime, he was the oldest permanent settler in this portion of the state. His father was a
** "Scenes and Adventures in the Semi-Alpine Regions of Missouri and Arkan- sas," in 1818 and 1819, H. R. Schoolcraft, pp. 105, 125.
* In the book last quoted, on page 105, Schoolcraft, under date of December 13, 181S, describes passing various old camps of the Osages at the head of Swan Creek, and states that "in searching the precincts of one of them, my guides (Holt and Fisher) pointed out a place where the Indians had formerly pinioned down "Teen Friend, one of the most successful of the white trappers of this quarter, whom they had found trapping their beaver in the Swan Creek valley. I thought it was an evidence of some restraining fear of our authorities at St. Louis that they had not taken the enterprising old fellow's scalp as well as his beaver packs."
** A man who had been but a name to us until Schoolcraft made him so well known as a pioneer of this region.
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captain in the Revolutionary war, and he himself had been a soldier in the War of 1812 and was at the battle of Tippecanoe when Tecumseh was killed, so he had no fears in remaining among the red men, especially among this friendly tribe.
Vaughan, on page 3 of his "History of Christian County," states that George Wells finally settled on Finley creek on the place known as the Yochem or Glenn place.
Schoolcraft states in his "Journal," page 22, under date of January roth, 1819, that about two miles above Bear creek, on the White river, "as the shades of night overtook us, a hunter's cabin was descried on the left shore, where a landing was made. It was proved to be occupied by a man named Yochem, who readily gave us permission to remain for the night. He told us we had descended the river thirty miles ( from the mouth of Big Beaver. ) He regaled us hospitably with wild viands and, among other meats, the beaver's tail-a dish for epicures." Yochem was evidently another of those migratory hunters who were attracted by the beauty and fertility of the James river district.
Following, or accompanying, these earliest pioneers, came, it is stated, in the spring or summer of 1822, the Pattersons, of North Carolina, and later of Maury county, Tennessee, the forebears of many of the earlier perma- nent settlers of Greene county. They moved to the North Fork of the White river in 1819. or probably earlier, and later settled on the James in Greene county, in 1822. Escott, on page 15 of his history, says that Thomas Patter- son and his family, who had also lived about three years on the White river, came up the James in 1821 and bought the claim and improvements formerly made by some of the Pettijohn family on the place now (1878) owned by his son, Albert Patterson, without doubt the oldest improvement in this. (Greene) county, although actual settlement was not made upon it until August, 1822.
All of the above corroborates the statements of Williams, before quoted.
Judge Vaughan also describes this place as eight miles south of Spring- field, and "the one now used for picnics." Mr. Alanson Lyman, an old resi- dent of the county, has stated to the writer that this location is about two miles west from the Paine bridge on the Campbell Street road, on the north side of the river.
Escott further says, "Also another Thomas Patterson, a cousin of Albert G., settled higher up on the James, a little above Samuel Crenshaw's place." This place is on the south side of the river, about one mile west of Gates Sta- tion, and now known as the Bingham farm, in Christian and Greene counties. Escott* further states, "A man named Ingle settled, about 1822, where the bridge now stands at the crossing of the James, on the Ozark road, and there
* "History of Springfield," George S. Escott, p. 15.
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erected the first mill in southwest Missouri." The remains of the old mill- dam are now seen just below the Ozark bridge, south of the town of Gal- loway. Later, the same author says, ** "a man by the name of Marshall X being married to a squaw, with whom he lived until the time of his death, which occurred about the time the Indians were leaving here had taken the old mill, which had previously been abandoned by Mr. Ingle, and removed it down the river to a point near the mouth of Finley creek, where he commenced a plantation."
Between 1823 and 1825 a man named Taggart settled near McCracken's mill, just south of the mouth of Pierson creek. Escott also states that the settlers had a sort of traditionary account of the killing by the Indians of a man of the name of Davis, who settled on the James some time between 1822 and 1825, but there is no record of what the circumstances were or which tribe was charged with the crime.
Although treaties were made by the United States government with the Delawares in 1818, and with the Kickapoos in 1819, by which these tribes were given as parts of their reservations the portions of Greene county before described and outlined on the accompanying map, the Delawares did not begin to permanently occupy their territory on the south half of the county until about the fall of 1822, and then constant conflicts began to arise between them and the early pioneers. To settle such disputes, Thomas Patterson, Sr., was sent, by the few white families of this region, to St. Louis to make inquiry as to their rights, and Escott* tells us that he was there informed, although it is not known to whom he referred the matter, "that the Indians were right, and that the white settlers must give up their claims. On his returning and reporting thus, nearly all the settlers abandoned their claims, some going to the Meramec, sonie to Osage Fork of the Gasconade, some back to Illinois, and some pressing onward still farther south and west."
When, by a later treaty, the Delawares and Kickapoos were removed, in 1829 and 1832, respectively, many of these earliest pioneers returned to their old homes and began the permanent settlements, the history of which will be- given in a succeeding chapter of this work.
UNDER THREE FLAGS.
In closing this chapter, it may be interesting to remember the' fact that Greene county, as a portion of Missouri, was, by right of discovery by De Soto, in 1542, claimed by the Spaniards ; that La Salle, in February, 1682, with twenty-three Frenchmen and thirty Indians, floated down the Mississippi and reached the Gulf of Mexico on the 9th of the following April, where,
** Ibid, p. 17.
* "History of Springfield, Missouri," George S. Escott, p. 16.
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finding a suitable location, he raised a cross, planted the arms of France, and in a proces accentoveré verbal, duly witnessed, took possession of all the region watered by the Mississippi and its tributaries, and named it Louisiana, in honor of his king, Louis XIV.
In October, 1764, the king gave a letter to the Governor d'Abbadie, an- nouncing the gift of Louisiana to Spain, though it was not until March, 1766, that Ulloa, the Spanishi representative, arrived in New Orleans to receive the transfer of the colony. On the ist of October, 1800, France came again into possession of Louisiana. On the 30th of November, 1803, the Spanish au- thorities at New Orleans handed over the colony to Daussat, the French rep- resentative, and on the 20th of December following he, in turn, transferred it to General Wilkinson and Governor Claiborne, of Mississippi, who were au- thorized to receive it on the part of the United States, when the French flag that was floating in the public square was hauled down and replaced by the stars and stripes. This scene was repeated on the 9th of March, 1804, in the then village of St. Louis, and thus we see* that this county has been, suc- cessively, under the Spanish, French, then again the Spanish, French, and, lastly, the American flags.
In closing this chapter, the writer wishes to state that he has consulted every available authority relating to this portion of the state, especially the fine collection of books and pamphlets in the Mercantile and Public libraries, the Missouri Historical Society collections, the Missouri Botanical Garden Library of St. Louis, and the Public Library of Kansas City, as well as his own collection of Missouriana, gathered during the past thirty years. He lias quoted freely from these works, and endeavored conscientiously to give credit, with reference to volume and page, to all the authorities from whom information has been obtained, and he especially wishes to recognize the mas- terly work of Mr. Louis Houck, whose "History of Missouri," in three volumes, is a most exhaustive study of the period covering the early explora- tions and Spanish and French occupations, up to the time of the admission of this state into the Union.
* See American Commonwealth Series, "Missouri." Carr. p. S0.
CHAPTER II.
GEOLOGY OF GREENE COUNTY-LOCATION AND TOPOGRAPHY.
By Edward M. Shepard.
Greene county is situated on the great Ozark plateau, in the southwestern part of the State of Missouri, about forty miles from the Arkansas line on the south, and about sixty miles from the western boundary of the state. It is bounded on the north by Polk and Dallas counties, on the west by Law- rence and Dade, on the south by Christian, and on the east by Webster county. In outline, it is nearly square, the east and west measurements being a little greater than those from north to south. Its dimensions are about twenty-three by thirty miles.
Springfield, the county-seat, and the fourth largest city in the state, has an altitude, at the railroad tracks just north of the corner of Commercial street and Benton avenue, of 1,345 feet. The altitude at the Mill street sta- tion is 1,268. The United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, about 1885, determined the latitude as 37° 13' 15.96" and the longitude as 93º 17' 17.58", erecting a small monument over the point of observation, northwest of Fair- banks Hall on Drury College campus.
The Ozark Mountains,* so-called, consist of a large plateau covering the greater part of southern Missouri and the northern part of Arkansas, and reaching an elevation of about 1,700 feet near Cedar Gap, the highest point reached by any railroad in the Missouri Ozarks.
The surface features of Greene county are due almost entirely to the erosion of streams, modified, to some extent, by folds, or flexures. The rocks are very largely limestones with intercalated beds of chert and impure flint, and some sandstones and shales, all of which vary greatly in hardness, crystalline structure, texture and chemical composition. They are variously acted upon by such agencies as flexures, which produce shattering, and this render the breaking down of the formations more easy; by frost, which still further facilitates this process; by the chemical and erosive action of perco- lating waters ; and by the weathering out of soft layers, with the consequent . undermining of superincumbent beds. These physical agencies help to modify the topographical features of the country, and each formation, according to
* The origin of the name "Ozark" is given by Featherstonhaugh in his book entitled "Excursions through the Slave States in 1834 and '35, p. 63. He says: "It was the custom of the French Canadians to abbreviate all their names. If they were going to the Arkansas Mountains, they would say they were going 'aux arcs.' a term which American travelers have converted into 'Ozarks.'"
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its peculiar structure, exhibits special characteristics, due to the action of one or more of these agencies, as will be seen in the particular description of each horizon.
The main great divide, or watershed, of the Ozark uplift, which, in gen- eral, is followed by the St. Louis and San Francisco railroad, divides Greene county into two slopes. The waters on the north flow into the Missouri river : those on the south side of the slope find their way into the Mississippi through the White river. This divide is quite narrow in the eastern end of the county, falling away rapidly on both sides, forming the broken area around the headwaters of the Pomme de Terre and James rivers. To the west. it rapidly broadens into a wide, rolling plateau. The narrow eastern portion of this plateau is rough and rugged where it falls abruptly to the headwaters of the Pomme de Terre and Sac rivers on the north, and to the tributaries of the James on the south. In general, the rock strata of the county dip southwesterly, a condition modified, locally, by slight flexures. To the west of the town of Strafford, and toward Springfield, is a beautiful, rich farming country which extends, constantly broadening, to the western limits of the county. The Kickapoo Prairie stretches southwesterly from the town of Nogo, and forms a broad plain between Wilson creek and the James river. This area, with Grand Prairie to the west, is the finest farming land in the county and one of the most fertile areas in the Southwest.
WATERCOURSES.
Surrounding and penetrating this district on all sides, from the Sac and James, are small streams and branches, usually heading in springs or swampy uplands. When a low enough level is reached to allow. of the escape of sub- terranean waters, springs of various sizes abound, always increasing in volume in approaching the lower beds of the Upper Burlington formation. The mar- velous system of underground drainage in this cavernous limestone, and its striking effects upon the topography of the country, is still further indicated by the numerous sink-holes, which are usually associated in groups, having the same general trend, and usually marking the course of subterranean streams. These sinks occasionally have small streams appearing at one end, flowing through the center and disappearing at the other end, as is seen, for example, on the McDaniel farm, south of Springfield, in the southwest quar- ter of section 12, township 28, range 22; also in the city of Springfield, at the southeast corner of Cherry and Dollison streets, where a large sink- hole was formerly used by the city for the conveyance of the sewage of the neighborhood. This system of underground drainage is further illus- trated by the great streams that flow from small caves in the Upper Burling- ton formation around the limits of this district.
The great agent in developing the topographic features of the county
.
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have been the remarkable system of underground watercourses, which has formed the sinks, so characteristic of the plateau, as well as the narrow gorges and ravines that penetrate deeply on all the borders of the district. A study of the sinks shows that they are the beginning of these gorges, which are so abundant.
South and east of the great divide, before described, is another and smaller divide, lying between the James and Finley rivers, in Christian county. In Washington township, in the southeast corner of Greene county, it forms a narrow plateau presenting somewhat different aspects from those character- izing the main divide. The drainage is poor, and the surface of the country is mostly an elevated plain, with a slightly rolling surface covered by post- oak flats. The highest point in this township is just south of Harmony church, where the altitude reaches about 1,540 feet. The divide narrows toward the west, forming abrupt slopes and bluffs toward Finley on the soutlı, with more slopes toward the James. On the plateau of this divide are many sink-holes, marking underground streams, and forming one of the best examples of Karst* topography found in the state. The plateau is generally marked by an absence, in this township, of continuous valleys. The sink-holes are frequently greatly elongated, and simulate portions of valleys, which they really are-that is, valleys in process of formation. It has been stated that there is a general dip of the rocks to the southwest throughout Greene county. A broad bed of the hard, compact Lower Burlington lime- stone forms a water-table tilting to the southwest and underlying the Upper Burlington, which is a much softer, more porous and easily eroded layer. Surface water from the Lower Burlington contact has formed solution cham- bers to the west and south through the base of the Upper Burlington, and where the roof of these channels falls in. as is the case in many places. elon- gated sink-holes are formed. Of several channels of the kind in this region, two may be mentioned. The first begins about two miles west of Rogersville. where the Rogersville road crosses a large sink-hole pond, in which a more or less permanent body of water is found. To the west, in the north half of section 20, township 28, range 20, is an elongated sink-hole, three-quarters of a mile long and from one-quarter to one-half mile wide, in which two cave- openings are found. The opening to the southwest is connected with an un- derground stream which comes to the surface in the Vaughan spring, three miles to the west, in section 24, township 28, range 21. The latter flows on the surface for some distance, passes the Mentor cemetery, from which it re- ceives the drainage, then sinks to reappear in the Russel spring, in section
* So named from the Karst mountains in Austria, where this peculiar type of topography was first studied by the geologist, Albrecht Penck. See, "Uber das Karstphanomen Vortrage des Vereines zur Verbreitung naturwissen schaftlicher Kent- nisse." in Wien XLIV, Jhargang, Heft I, 1903.
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22, township 28, range 21. After running for half a mile, it sinks again, to come out as a spring in section 28, township 28, range 21, a part flowing along the surface and disappearing in a cave-sink in section 29, township 28, range 21, making its final appearance where the spring at Camp Cora empties into the James river. The course of this drainage has been worked out by a series of careful chemical examinations, which were conducted not only to show the continuity of underground drainage, but the danger of spring pollu- tion in regions where the Karst topography prevails. Typhoid fever cases from various points along this route can be traced to the Mentor cemetery.
A second line of drainage branches off from the big sink-hole in section 20, township 28, range 20, on the Everly farm. Its underground course may be marked by the sink-holes found on the Kelley place, in the southwest of section 17; three large sink-holes in section 18, township 28, range 20; and, following the course westward, four more along the middle of section 19; a large one in the north half of section 14; two to the west in section 15, and the outlet of all these in the Big Boiling spring, on the Winoka Lodge property.
During ordinary rains, as there are no trunk-valleys in this topography, water is drained into these great sink-holes, from which it runs down into the under-channels and is conveyed away. During floods, or exceptional rainfall, these surcharged channels are incapable of carrying away the water, and the sink-holes fill up, many of them covering forty acres or more. In the case of the Everly sink, a beautiful transient lake of 120 acres is formed. One of nearly eighty acres is formed on the Hooper place, in section 14, township 28, range 21. The road, which passes through this sink, is so deeply sub- merged temporarily that the water covers the tops of the telephone poles.
To the north and east of the great divide, stretching in a northwesterly course from Strafford, toward the junction of the Big and Little Sac waters, lies an area which gives us another very striking topographic structure. A great fold of the strata, extending from Northview, in Webster county, through Greene, to Graydon Springs, in Polk county, is abruptly faulted on the northern slope, with a more gentle inclination to the southwest. The summit of this fold is made up, largely, of long, narrow patches of level, unproduc- tive land, covered with post-oak. Except in the driest season, when it has an ash-colored, powdery soil, it is a damp, clayey, frequently cherty, upland.
Northeast from Strafford, on the Marshfield road, a narrow ridge of sandstone, capped by river conglomerate, is found. This peculiar bluff rises to a height of 110 feet above the stream. A series of these ridges, or mounds, extends in a northwest course through the county. The one near the town of Fair Grove forms quite a striking feature in the landscape. An interesting mound of circumdenudation is found near Presley Hill, in section 27, town- ship 30, range 22, a feature that will be more fully described on another page. The protecting influence of a harder, over a softer stratum of rock, can be
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GREENE COUNTY, MISSOURI.
seen near the Matherly place, section 24, township 21, range 23. The rocks here rise to a height of 120 feet above the bottom land, and the softer layers of the magnesium rock form a vertical wall, capped by a harder silicious bed which, in some places, projects twenty feet beyond the wall below.
HYDROGRAPHY.
As already stated, the great divide, or water-shed, of this region runs diagonally through the middle of Greene county, the drainage on the north side being mainly into the Sac river and Pomme de Terre, finally reaching the Missouri through the Osage river. South of the divide, the James river and its tributaries constitute the chief drainage system, the water ultimately find- ing its way through White river into the Mississippi.
James River-The territory drained by this stream and its branches em- braces, virtually, all the country south of the great divide. The James has its origin some fifteen miles to the east of Greene county in Webster county, in section 24, township 29, range 17, from where it pursues a northwesterly course toward Northview, in Webster county, and where it was, at one time,. an extension of the Pomme de Terre-a most interesting example of river capture. The elevation of the great fold from Northview to Graydon Springs, before referred to, cut off the head waters of the then Pomme de Terre, which were captured by the smaller stream, the James, and added to its volume.
Through Greene county, the James is fed by numerous large springs. Pierson creek, one of its largest tributaries, drains the country east of Spring- field and south of the great divide. Galloway creek is the only tributary of any size in Clay township. It flows south, receiving the waters of Sequiota. (Fisher's) cave. This township is noted for its caves and sinks, and the sys- tem of underground drainage more fully described under the subject of Karst topography.
Wilson creek drains the largest area of any of the branches of the James. On account of receiving the sewage from the city of Springfield, the waters of this stream are very impure and turbid. In dry weather this creek dis- appears a number of times along its course, exhibiting a more advanced stage of Karst topography than that described in another part of the county.
The Sac river drains about the same amount of territory in the north- west part of the county that the James does in the southeast. It empties into the Osage just west of the town of Osceola, in St. Clair county, and is mainly made up of the West, Main and North Sac branches. The West Sac is formed by the union of Pickerel, Pond and Clear creeks, which drain the cen- ter of the west portion of Greene county. Main Sac is made up of Asher creek, North Dry Sac, Sims branch and South Dry Sac. The river has its source in the Norton, Piper and Dishman springs, in Jackson township.
GREENE COUNTY, MISSOURI.
North Dry Sac has its source in the Headlee springs. Asher creek drains the greater part of townships 30 and 31, range 23, running nearly through the middle of these townships.
Pomme de Terre River-This stream drains the extreme northeastern corner of Greene county, and empties into the Osage five or six miles above. the town of Warsaw.
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