Fairfield County, Ohio - Chapter 7: Economic Forces, 1912 (part 1 of 2)

Chapter 7: Economic Forces

Geological History of the County - The Three Geologic Periods - Geologic Formations - The Streams and Drainage - The Soil - Botany of Fairfield County - Oil and Gas Fields.

Taking all these into consideration, the geological history of the county thus falls readily into three periods, ( i ) the period when the region lay below the waves of the ocean, during which the rocks were laid down as sands and muds on the ocean floor; (2) a period, beginning with the uplift of this sea bottom, during which the region was land, and during which the hills and valleys were carved; (3) the glacial period in which much of the country was covered by the margin of an ice sheet and during which much foreign material, rock, gravel, clay, etc., was brought into the county, filling many of the deeper valleys which had been formed in the preceding period to depths sometimes of 2(X) or 300 feet.

The changes which mark each of these periods were, to a greater or less degree, continental in extent. That is, they were experienced over large areas extending far beyond the boundaries of Ohio or even of the United States. The events of any one period have been determined by studies carried on by many

The Geological History Of Fairfield County

An account of the geology of an area, such as Fairfield County, is expected to include a description of the rocks which are found within its boundaries and some account of how and when they were formed. But it should include more than that. It is a matter of more or less common knowledge that the rocks, the "hard" rocks, of this county were formed on the floor of an old ocean ; it should include an account of how these rocks became land by an uplift of the continent and the retreatal of the oceans to the present coasts, how the rocks were then attacked by streams flowing over the newly-emerged land surface and how the hills and valleys were carved from them. We know, also, that after the hills and valleys had been developed, almost as we find them at present, the ice cap which at present surrounds the north pole became tremendously expanded, covering most of the North American continent. This ice sheet reached as far south as Kentucky in one place and its margin lay across central Ohio. It altered in many places the landscape which had previously been formed by the streams, scraping ofif the tops men in all parts of North America, working separately or in conjunction with each other. Certain facts may be readily determined at one point, and perhaps at only one, others may be gathered elsewhere; the contributions of all of these workers have been gradually brought together, item by item, until the geological history of North America is now quite well known.

Just as it is impossible to adequately describe the history of the white man's occupation of Fairfield County without treating it as a part of the conquest of the great northwest, just so it is impossible to narrate the geological development without considering it as merely a very small part of the vast areas which have been involved in the development of the continent.

It is true that one might give a list of the geological formations found in the county in the order of their occurrence, with a catalog of their characters and a list of places where they may be seen to advantage. In exactly the same way, one might write the history of the county, by giving a list of all the prominent men who have lived there and the names of the towns and when they were founded and who was elected to county offices and when. But what would such a history be without the name of Sherman, a name which has had little to do with the history of the county because the men who bore it were too big to be interested in local affairs! Or how could tiie history of the county during the Civil War be adequately pictured without the great background of nation-wide strife tentatix'ely understood? Or how could the development of Lancaster be written without the mention of those highways of commerce which extend far beyond the county boundaries, and have kept it in touch with the outside world, first Zane's

Trace, later tlie Zanesville and Maysville pike, then the canal, then the railroads? Just so, the geology of the county can be understood only with the evolution of eastern North America and to understand the succession of events during any one of the three great periods just mentioned, the behavior of large land masses or ocean bodies must be traced.

But just as there are episodes in the history of the human occupation of the county which are of no interest outside of its confines, so there are occurrences in the geology of the county which, in themselves, may often be of no general interest, but of exceptional local interest. These local occurrences or incidents have been controlled and determined to some extent by local conditions, Init in many instances, they have been the result of some much broader condition or change in conditions or force which was active over wide areas, sometimes over much of the northern hemisphere.

The oldest of these, the Pre Cambrian, is made up of very old, highly altered, non-fossiliferous sediments and igneous rocks, which form the floor on which the fossiliferous rocks rest. They are very complexly folded and much remains to be learned about them. None are known in position on the surface within hundreds of miles of Fairfield County, but practically every boulder of the granitic type found in the county was carried from the vast areas of the Pre Cambrian rocks of Canada by the ice sheets of the glacial period, as we shall see presently. On general principles, these rocks must form the floor of Ohio, but the great thickness of limestone, shales and sandstones which are found at the surface in Ohio has never been penetrated by any of the deep wells in the state, with the possible exception of one recently drilled at Waverly.

At the bottom of the Paleozoic system of rocks, when exposed, are found the earliest fossiliferous rocks known, the Cambrian. These contain practically the first trace of life remains which can be detected in the rocks. A number of other large sub-divisions of the Paleozoic are made on the grounds of variation in fossils, as shown by the table just given. .All of these except the Cambrian are found exposed at the surface at one point or another in Ohio, the oldest in the southwestern part, the youngest in the eastern part of the state.

During Paleozoic time, the most of the central and eastern parts of the United States was a great shallow sea, on the floor of which limestone and shales and sandstones accumulated to great thicknesses. Land lay to the eastward, a belt of mountainous country just east of the location of the present Appalachian belt and probably extending well out into the Atlantic. The eastern part of this great sea covered the present Appalachian region.

Those mountains had not yet been formed. Land also lay to the northward over much of what is now Canada, the northern shore of the sea falling, in general, somewhere just north of the present Great Lakes. The western shore was probably, on the whole, no great distance west of the present Mississippi River, although it varied greatly in position from time to time.

From time to time, portions, or even the whole of this great basin, were drained, and became land, but only for short periods. Thus, it is apparent that the shores of one geological moment need not necessarily be the same as those of the next, but were continually shifting. However, it was a marine basin most of the time, and its bottom must have sunk very slowly in order to allow the accumulation of such thicknesses of sediments as were formed - 30,000 feet are known in the Paleozoic of the Appalachian belt.

At the end of the Paleozoic occurred one of the most profound periods of mountain formation that the earth has witnessed. Of the several ranges formed at that time, the Appalachian System is the only one of interest to us. The Appalachians were formed by the lateral compression, folding, and upward squeezing of the very thick sediments which had been accumulating in the eastern part of the interior Paleozoic sea. In places the old ocean floor, which lay near sea level, was forced upward to an elevation of over five miles. The remainder of the basin was uplifted, became land and has largely remained so since. So far as is known no part of Ohio has been below the ocean's waves at any subsequent time.

had accumulated in horizontal beds, were also These ten formations from the top downward tipped slightly toward the east and southeast are as follows :f so that the rock formations dip in that direction, on the average, 20 or 30 feet to the mile. The present surface of the land bevels across these tipped beds in a much more nearly horizontal position (neglecting irregularities of topography) and thus exposes the older (formerly deeper) rocks in the western part of the state and the younger ones in the eastern part.

The Rock Formations of the County.* Ten geological formations are readily recognized in the county and one of these, the Cuyahoga, is composed of four distinct members which are, however, obscure and complicated in their relationship to each other, hence no attempt is here made to subdivide it.

The information used was largely gathered in connection with the work of the Geological Survey of Ohio and is to be published more elaborately in a bulletin of the Survey. The names Vinton, Allensville and Byer are here used as the names of geological formations for the first time. However, their formal proposal and definition must be reserved until the appearance of this bulletin. While such practice is not usual, it is held to be desirable in this case although to be regretted.

+The naming of geological formations is a matter in which those only casually interested in the science are not in sympathy with the professional geologist. The number of distinct sedimentary formations now known in the United States is very great. There are over so in Ohio exclusive of coal seams which have been named. These are all distinct, yet they are almost wholly limestones, sandstones and shales. It is readily apparent that to call a formation a sandstone, as a yellow sandstone, or by any purely descriptive term does not distinguish it from many other sandstones which may exist. To obviate the confusion which would necessarily arise, each formation is designated by a geographical name, the name of a town or river or even a state where it is especially well shown, and once such a name is used it is never again used intentionally for any other formation, no matter where in North America it may be, or of what age. In accordance with this plan, some of the older, non-geographical names are being dropped, as for example "Coal measures." This is a name which is generally familiar to people not especially interested in geology. But there are half a dozen coal-bearing formations in North America of different ages, each equally eligible to be called "Coal measures." Hence the name is being replaced by the purely geographic name, Pennsylvanian. It is utterly impossible for the geologist to use the simple, non-geographical expressions which have frequently become ingrained into the common language of the people, hence, since the mountain will not come to Mahomet, the laiety must adapt themselves to the usage of the geologist.

on the outcrop. It owes its color to the presence of a large content of carbonaceous material, in fact, it is so rich in this that elsewhere in the state outcrops have been known to take fire and burn slowly for weeks.

This formation is quite thick. It is usually about 700 feet in the gas wells in central Fairfield County but it thickens rapidly to the eastward and at Marietta is over 2,500 feet in a deep well, the bottom not having been reached. The outcrop of this formation extends across the state in a belt from the Pennsylvania line to the Ohio river in Adams County. If present on the surface in Fairfield County it will be found only in the northwestern part. One-half mile south of Canal Winchester it is exposed under the bridge over Little Walnut Creek, and probably it is present in the angle -of the county one and one-half miles northwest of Lithopolis.

The conditions which prevailed when the Ohio shale was formed are not very well understood, but probably the water was of considerable depth with much floating plant life, mostly sea weeds, just as in the Sargasso Sea of the North Atlantic today. This floating sea weed by dropping to the bottom or shedding its spores, furnished the abundant organic material which characterizes the formation. The water must have been quiet, for there are no sands in the formation in central Ohio.

2. The Bedford fonuafion. This overlies the Ohio shale and is also found outcropping entirely across the state, the Bedford belt lying just southeast of the Ohio shale belt. The formation is about 100 feet thick and usually consists of gray, chocolate or reddish shales, which are quite soft in outcrops. It is exposed at several points in the northwestern part of the county within a mile and a half west and southwest of Lithopolis and very near the county line. The outcrops are all low banks in the beds of streamlets. A very good exposure can be seen half a mile southeast of Waterloo and two miles southeast of Canal Winchester in the south banks of Little Walnut creek above the bridge.

The change from the conditions of the Ohio shale sea to those of the Bedford must have been marked. Whatever the source of the organic material in the former, it disappeared entirely, for only soft muds with no carbonaceous matter were formed in the central Ohio Bedford sea.

3. The Berea grit marks the institution of a yet more profound change in the conditions of the sea. It is a sandstone which is found extending in outcrop across the state from the northeast corner to the Ohio river and varying from a few feet to 150 feet in thickness. Furthermore, its presence beneath all of eastern Ohio and into West Virginia has been proved by the drill of the oil man. The bottom of the old sea must have been uplifted so that the water was very shallow for the sandstones show abundant evidence of shallow water conditions, such as ripple marks. While this statement must suffice for the present needs, it is certain that the series of events was much more complex at this period than a simple shoaling of the water and probably much of the old basin became land temporarily; certainly some of it did in northern Ohio. There is very good reason to believe that the northwestern part at least of Fairfield County was above the waters for a short time just before the Berea was formed.

This horizon is as well known to the oil and gas well drillers of Fairfield County as the Clinton gas sand itself, but it will probably be a surprise to many to know that it is found out-cropping in the county. Such is, however, the case. It is well shown at several points in the runs southwest of Lithopolis, notably on the S. E. Hartman and Smith farms, having been quarried in a small way on the former. On the Smith farm it directly overlies the Bedford shale just described and both are well shown. It is also well shown in Quarry Run at Lithopolis, half a mile below the quarries and at the north end of the village.

The Berea in this vicinity is thinner than at any other point in the state, from two to six feet. As found here, it is a moderately fine grained sandstone of a pleasing, light bluish gray color, but wholly worthless for building stone because badly broken by bedding planes and because it discolors rapidly. Ugly reddish brown stains frequently mask its natural color entirely in the outcrops. The bed gradually sinks below the surface of the land in passing southeastward and in central and eastern Fairfield County is found only at a depth of several hundred feet.

4. The Siaibitry shale marks another great change. It is a black carbonaceous shale e.xactly like the Ohio shale but never over 25 or 30 feet thick. It is found everywhere overlying the Berea grit, and it can be seen at several points near Lithopolis. The best one is in Quarry Run at tlie north end of the village where a bank of it 15 or 20 feet high rests on the Berea sandstone. Careful search in the lowermost beds of the shale at this point will reward one with several varieties of fossils belonging to the general Lingiila, (the elongate, rather oblong forms) and Lingiilodiscina (the circular forms marked with concentric rings). These are quite sufficient proof that the bed was formed in the ocean, as the nearest living relatives of these forms cannot live anywhere else.

This bed means that after the Berea was formed and long ages after the Ohio shale epoch had closed, exactly the same conditions were resumed which had prevailed then but at no intervening stage. But they did not last long, and were quickly succeeded by the sandstone and clayey shales of the Cuyahoga, which overlie the Sunbury.

The three formations just described, the Bedford, Berea and Sunbury, and the Ohio shales of which the top is probably barely represented, are known only at the surface of this county in the vicinity of Lithopolis, south of Little Walnut Creek. They dip toward the eastward and pass below drainage within two and one-half, or at the most three miles, east of Canal Winchester. Northeast of Canal Winchester, over the whole northwest corner of Violet township, the streams cut low enough that all of these formations ought to be traversed, but the writer has seen no outcrops in his very limited experience in that direction. All the streams appear to flow on drift, that is, over the clay and gravel brought down by the glaciers during the ice invasion, as will be explained presently.

5. The Cuyahoga Foniiation. This, too, extends entirely across the state but is much more variable than the others. It varies in thickness from 300 to 600 feet and was laid down under conditions which differed widely from place to place. Typically it is a clay shale with occasional thin sandstones scattered through it, but under the influence of local conditions, such probably as sand-laden streams which flowed into the old ocean, it may be made up almost wholly of sandstones.

In the southwestern part of Fairfield County, between Wyandot Junction and Tarleton on Salt Creek, there are many banks, some of them 20 or 30 feet high, which show the shale phase of the formation very well, but over most of the county it is made up largely of sandstones. Mt. Pleasant at Lancaster is composed wholly of sandstones which are Cuyahoga in age, and it requires considerable elas- ticity of imagination to believe that the massive, coarse, pebbly sandstones found here were deposited simultaneously with the shales on Salt Creek. Such is, howexer, the case. The coarse sandstones which form the ledges in all the hills of the southern and central part of the county, well shown for example at Jacob's Ladder, Christmas Rocks, Kettle Hills, and thru the ravines east and southeast of the Boys' Industrial School to the cliffs in the hills about Sugar Grove, all of the stone in these ledges belongs to the Cuyahoga formation. Or, to state it somewhat differently, Fairfield and Hocking counties owe their magnificent rock scenery to the massive sandstones and conglomerates of the Cuyahoga formation.

The formation is 600 to 625 feet thick in Fairfield County, as shown by the gas wells, but only the upper 100 or 150 feet is commonly seen, that is, the ledge forming part. Below this, and usually covered by the lower hill slopes is a series of coarse sandstones and shales which form the middle part of the formation. The lowest part, 120 feet thick, is best shown in the Ouarry Run at Lithopolis. It consists, that at least, of moderately fine grained sandstones and shales, some of the sandstones reaching a thickness of two or three feet. Several of them are of value and have been quarried and marketed quite extensively by Mr. Joseph Leyndecker. One of the beds in this quarry which is a soft light bluish gray in color, is highly valued as a building stone and, it is said, received a prize at the Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893.

The beds of the lower part of the Cuyahoga, as shown on Ouarry Run, are very regular and lie flat. But in the middle and upper part of the formation they present some very interesting and remarkable structures. A little observation will show to any one who cares to attempt it, that the beds are there inclined toward the northward, northeastward or to the northwestward, but never in a southerly direction. This is most prominent in the massive ledges which are the source of the beautiful scenery of the county, altho it can be detected in the sandstones and shales which underlie them when such can be seen (as at the mouth of Clear Creek in Hocking County). In the ledges, these dips are commonly at angles of 10° to 15° and even as high as 25°.

An exception must be made to this statement. The beds at the top of the formation, that is, the uppermost 10 to 20 feet, commonly lie flat, as does the top of the formation. (The general regional dip of 20 to 40 feet per mile is, of course, an exception to this last statement, but it is inappreciable in comparison with the 10° to 20° dip lower down.) These flat beds can be seen near the top of Mt. Pleasant, for the highest beds there exposed are practically at the top of the Cuyahoga, while lower down and especially on the north side, the northward dips become prominent. The same relationship is even more clearly shown in the head of the ravine above the railroad station at the Boys' Industrial School.

This structure is the typical structure of a delta. Whenever a stream carrying large amounts of gra\'el and sand empties into a body of quiet water, a delta is formed. The material which it carries is dropped by the checking of the stream current and it slides down the slope of the bottom until it comes to rest. This material accumulates in an inclined position due to the method of "dumping" until it is built up to the water level, when the stream is forced to carry it forward over its first formed deposits to the new edge of the deposit in order to drop it. The delta is thus built forward, with a steep slope toward the open water, down which the material slides as it is dropped. The beds of the delta thus come

The general northerly dips indicate that the material came from the southward and therefore that the shore line at this time lay in that direction and the open water lay to the northward.

Other features in the Scioto Valley indicate that the shore lay more to the southeastward. The coarseness of the material (pebbles one to two inches in diameter are abundant) indicates that it could have been at no great distances. But unfortunately the Cuyahoga is covered by later rocks in that direction and it 's impossible to find actual traces of the old shore line. Its position can only be inferred from the structure.

The Cuyahoga formation covers the western half or more of the county (the area of the three lower formations alone excepted) and is found in the lower slopes of the hills for some distance east of the Hocking Valley. Its top gradually dips toward the eastward, as do all the formations, and a few miles east of the Hocking River, it is entirely below drainage and the Logan formation which overlies the Cuyahoga forms the hills. The top of the Cuyahoga is a very easy horizon to detect, the coarse, harsh conglomerates and sandstones contrasting strongly with the rather soft, fine grained, yellow sandstones of the Byer member of the Logan.

*Strictly speaking, certain considerable modifications must be introduced in order to agree with certain other structures observed, but it would introduce too great complexity to discuss them here. The whole is fully treated in the writer's forthcoming volume on the Waverly formations of central and southern Ohio, to be issued by the Geological Survey of Ohio. This statement will serve, however, for the purpose of any but the specialist.

tioned, the coarse sandstones of Chestnut Ridge in the northwestern part of the county, the more massive and resistent beds in the little gorge at Rock Mill west of Hooker and the conglomerates in the deep road cut at the top of Shimp's hill are all sandstones of the Cuyahoga formation, At the point last named, the northwardly dipping delta struct- .ure is very favorably shown.

The principal quarries which have been opened in Fairfield County from time to time have been in the sandstones of this formation. In fact, no quarry has been opened in any other except to get out stone to build a chimney or for some other equally local purpose. A few years ago the quarry industry was prominent but it has declined. The Alleghany quarry, three miles east of Lancaster, once operated by F. C. Neeb who came from Pittsburg, is now apparently wholly abandoned, but in its day it was a very important enterprise. The Crook quarry which borders the hills on the east wall of the Hocking Valley half way between Lancaster and Sugar Grove, has not been operated for many years, but a large amount of stone has been won there. The Sharp quarries at Sugar Grove and at several points between there and the Hocking County line have not now been active for several years. A quarry in the hills east of Hocking River and perhaps half a mile south of Crawfis Collegiate Institute, which is operated by the Sharp company and ships considerable quantities of stone, is probably the most extensive producer at present, while a few near Lancaster furnish the stone necessary for foundations and other local demands.

The stone which is yielded by the sandstones is unexcelled in quality for some purposes, especially for massive work such as bridge abutments, and retaining walls. Its durability is unquestioned. Since the aban- donment of the canal, the wooden gates of the locks have rotted and fallen away and their hinges are thickly coated with rust ; the mortar in the lock walls is crumbling and the loosened blocks of stone are being pushed from their place by the young trees growing behind them, but the tool marks on their sides are almost as sharp as when they were taken from the quarries more than 70 years ago.

The stone to be used for building purposes needs careful selection but that it can be so adapted with success is attested by the City Hall and County Court House at Lancaster, the fomier of the rough dressed stone, the latter smooth dressed. It is apt to carry unsightly blotches of iron which are disastrous to architectural effects, unless such selection is rigidly enforced.

The Logan Formation. The base of the Logan formation marks another great change in the conditions of the old ocean basin. The Byer member is made up of very fine sandstones and there must have been a deepening of the water and a retreatal of the shore line to a position farther south and east than was held during the Cuyahoga time.

This condition of deep, quiet water was maintained throughout Logan time, except during the Allensville stage, when there was shoaling, but either it was not such a deep water as that of the Bedford shale, or else the material dumped into it was of a different nature, for the sediments are mostly very fine sandstones.

The name Logan was given to this formation from the town of Logan by Prof. E. B. Andrews, one of the earlier members of the State Geological survey and a one time resident of Lancaster. The formation is now subdivided into three distinct members.

wholly devoid of structure, such as is found in the Cuyahoga sandstones and therefore not nearly so interesting. It generally carries fossils but seldom in abundance. It is 40 to 50 feet thick. It can best be seen as the stripping in the tops of the cliffs at the quarries mentioned in the closing paragraphs on the Cuyahoga but the lower part only is shown there. One of the best outcrops of this, and of the entire Logan, is in the side of the road which goes over Pleasant Hill, five miles southeast of Lancaster, in Section 23, Berne Township. A good outcrop of the upper part of the member is shown one and a half miles north, northwest of West Rushville on the Basore farm. Others can be seen at various points on the ridge between Lancaster and the Boys' Industrial School where it just caps the hills. In fact this ridge is almost the westernmost occurrence of the Logan in the county, the westward rise of the rocks carrying it rapidly above the tops of the present hills.

The Byer sandstone is known to occur as far north as Newark and extends southward to the Ohio river, reaching a thickness in places of over 150 feet.

7. The Allensz'ille Bed which rests on the Byer member, marks a period of shoaling. It consists of very coarse, rather loose reddish sands, which are remarkably uniformly bedded. The sea floor was probably uplifted and the coastal conditions spread well out into what had been the centre of the basin. The coarse sands are interbedded with some fine grained sands and there is one shale bed present from four to eight feet thick which is commonly quite fossiliferous and is found in eastern Fairfield and southern Licking counties. The Allensville member has also been traced from Newark to the Ohio river but it is never over 20 to 25 feet thick, its thickness in this county.

The member is found thruout most of the eastern part of the county but is best shown at various points along Little Rush Creek for two miles above and below Rushville station ; it is found just above the level of the creek and can be readily distinguished by the presence of the coarse sandstones. The fossiliferous shale bed which is found in it is there excellently exposed and will prove an excellent collecting ground for any one interested in this side of geology. Another good outcrop of the fossiliferous shale bed can be found in the bed of a small creek one-half mile due north of Colfax and just west of the road.

East of Little Rush Creek, the dip of the strata carries the Allensville below drainage so that it is not exposed. Westward from Rush Creek it rises gradually until it is found at the hill tops, three or four miles east of Lancaster. It may be seen at t^e very top of the hill where the road goes over the crest on the east side of Pleasant Run a mile north of the Zanesville & Maysville pike, and, again, on the Berne Station road in the road cut on the top of the hill five and one-half miles east of Lancaster and a mile east of where it leaves the Zanesville & Maysville pike.

8. TIic J'inton Member. The topmost member of the Logan formation and of the W'averly series consists of fine grained yellowish sandstones and sandy shales. It marks the resumption of conditions very like those which held when the Byer sandstone was formed. It is found throughout all the hills of Rush Creek and Richland Townships, and in the higher hills just west of them. It is very well shown along Little Rush Creek below Rushville, but probably the rather inaccessible walls of this pretty little gorge are known to but few. A more familiar occurrence is in the roadside cuts where the pike winds up the east side of Little Rush Creek valley to Rushville. All of

The Vinton member, like the other three is known from the central part of the state to the Ohio ri\er, but it is occasionally wanting for a reason to be explained presently. Commonly it is 50 to 100 feet thick, but in Fairfield County it reaches 150 feet.

9. The Maxvillc Limestone. The next formation which is represented in the county is the Maxville limestone. This formation is found only in scattered patches along the outcrops from Central Ohio to the river. A large and fossiliferous area is found along Jonathan creek in Perry and Muskingum counties, where it is perhaps 30 feet thick, but with this exception, they are all small. One of these areas is found in western Perry Coimty just east of the Fairfield County line and a corner of this patch extends for less than a mile into Richland Township, just east of Rushville. Xo good outcrops are known at present, but it has been worked slightly for road material near the line and a short distance south of the Zanesville and Maysville pike.

The Maxville limestone is the record of another great change in conditions, for thruout the entire \\^averly time, no limestone was formed. In the Mississippi Valley there is a great series of limestone lying above the rocks of Waverly Age and below those of Maxville Age which is entirely unrepresented in Ohio. There is no question but that Fairfield County was elevated above the ocean and became land after the Waverly was formed, and remained in that condition for more than half of the Mississippian or, Sub-Carboniferous period, not being submerged again until Maxville time. This is known, not only from the absence of these sediments, but from the irregular surface of the Waverly on which the Maxville lies, which shows conclusive evi-

Following the formation of the Maxville, the whole of eastern North America was again reelevated, became land and was subjected to considerable erosion which removed the Maxville, except in the few areas where it is found, and considerable of the Waverly. In places, in Jackson County especially, the old valleys in the surface of the Waverly are still preserved, although filled with rocks of the next succeeding coal period and difficult to trace. Some of these are 200 feet deep.

There is little evidence of this erosion surface in Fairfield County. It is clear that the eastern part of the county (the relationship in the western part cannot be determined since all the associated rocks have been removed) must have been an area of relatively high land, for the whole Logan formation is there about 225 feet thick and in Thoren Township of Perry County must be 300 feet thick. In places in southern Ohio where the erosion was strongest, this thickness was entirely removed, and nobody can tell how much more, before the Coal-measures were formed.

10. The Coal-Measurcs. There is yet one more great change in the conditions of sedimentation to be recorded. After the old Waverly land surface had been deeply carved by the streams in many parts of Ohio, although not in Fairfield County, it seems probable that it commenced to sink gradually. The streams flowing in the valleys were checked by the quiet waters they encountered where they had been able to erode previously and dropped their loads of sand and mud, generally filling the old valleys with the sediments which are formed on a valley floor. The sinking probably continued very slowly and the streams were able to fill the valleys they had just cut with this material, until they covered up even the very tops of the old hills of the Waverly land surface. This was the beginning of the Coal-measures period, and these conditions continued until many hundreds of feet of sediments had been piled above the buried hills and valleys of this old surface.

Much of the eastern United States lay very near sea level, probably as an immense broad flat plain, which was slowly sinking and as gradually being built up by the streams. Sometimes broad areas would be converted into swamps and the vegetable matter accumulating there, as it is even now accumulating in the Dismal Swamp, became coal after being buried by more sediments. Again the ocean would come in for a short period and cover great tracts with a thin fossiliferous marine limestone. But for the most part the accumulation consists of sandstones and shales.

These deposits accumulated in eastern Ohio to a thickness of over a thousand feet, and probably the present hills of Fairfield County were buried to this or a greater depth. This thickness is preserved in the downwarped basin of eastern Ohio, western F'ennsylvania and West Virginia. But the prolonged periods of erosion which succeeded the Appalachian uplift have removed it all from Fairfield County except a few feet of coarse sandstones and shales which were formed at the very bottom of the deposit and which are now found capping the highest hills in the eastern part. Occasionally beds of black shale or even a thin seam of coal can be seen, but there is none whatever of any importance.

West of Rush Creek and south of the C. & M. V. railroad, in the hills about Geneva, these rocks are found but only on the very tops of the hills. The same is true of the eastern half of Richland township, east and south of Rushville. East of Rush Creek in Rush Creek Township they may reach a thickness of 100 feet or more. At least five great formations are recognized in the coal-measures of the eastern United States, all of them present in eastern Ohio, but only the base of the lowest and oldest one is preserved in Fairfield County. What an untold wealth of coal must have been removed from within the boundaries of the county by the ceaseless action of the streams which have removed all the rest!

Changes throughout eastern North America. The deposition of the Coal-measures closes the first of the three great periods in the development of Fairfield County. The second was inaugurated by the formation of the Appalachians and the final retreatal of the sea from the entire Ohio valley region. This has all been outlined in a preceding paragraph.

After this tremendous uplift, which probably was accomplished very slowly through a long period of time and without any demonstrations of violence, there was a prolonged period of quiet - extremely long. The streams attacked the land and gradually cut it away, even the mountains, until the whole of the Appalachian mountains in places five miles high, were reduced to a nearly flat level plain above which only groups of hills and low mountains occasionally raised their heads because of the presence there of harder and more resistant rock. Such resistant groups were the Catskills, the White Mountains and the high Appalachians of western North Carolina. All the remainder was cut away to nearly a plain, or to a peneplain, as the geologist calls it, which means the same thing. This plain was completed by the latter part of the Mesozoic.

Ohio suffered with the remainder of eastern North America, but not nearly as much as the Appalachians because Ohio did not stand as high above sea level, and Fairfield County suffered with Ohio; it was then that all her precious coal seams were carried away. Ohio was probably nearly as flat as a floor with only the gentlest of hills to give relief to the monotony of the view.

After this had been accomplished - and the time necessary to do it must have been almost infinite so far as the duration of human history is concerned - most of the great plain occupying the eastern part of the United States and lying near sea level was again uplifted, northern New England to 2,000 feet above sea level, and the Appalachian region fully as much or more, eastern Ohio certainly to over 1,200 feet and western Ohio probably not so much. The streams which had become sluggish on the old plain then went to work and carved out their present valleys and it is the stream valleys of this period that gave us the rugged New England upland, that developed the present Appalachians where formerly a plain had stretched and that gave us our own pretty hills.

The J'ieiv from Mt. Pleasant and what it Means. It is impossible to cite here the proof of these great changes; very little of it rests within the confines of Fairfield County, but one bit of evidence can be shown. The next time, reader, that you happen to be standing on Mt. Pleasant, notice some of the relations that exist between the hills of the surrounding country, even to the greatest distance to which you can see. Starting in the valleys, you will note that there are hills of various elevations, some low, some high. In fact, there is almost every degree in elevation from the valley floor to the level of the sky line. But, why do not some of these hills project noticeably above that sky line? There is irregularity up to that point and then the tops of the hills abruptly become extremely regular in their elevation. Why does not an occasional one project two or three hundred feet above the others? It is not because there were no more rocks above the present ones, for at least i.ooo feet have been removed. It is not because the hill slopes end at that elevation, for many of those hills, like Mt. Pleasant, are nearly flat topped. Looking off toward the southward to where the Boys' Industrial School can be seen on the horizon, try to forget that there are any valleys present. Remember that the same beds as are present in Mt. Pleasant are present in the hills on the opposite side of the Hocking Valley and there must, therefore, have been a time when the valley was not there, when it had not yet been cut and solid rock intervened. Does not the sky-line resolve itself into the monotony of a plain? As a matter of fact, that gently undulating sky-line is all that is left of the old flat plain which was once the surface of Fairfield County and extended over all of Ohio and much of eastern North America. It is now entirely dissected by streams and it is certain that no spot, or small area can be found of which one can say, "this is certainly a part of the old plain." It has all been more or less modified, but the uniformity of elevation remains which was its most striking feature.

Complexity of the Dez'elopnient. In order to be accurate, it is necessary to modify this very broad statement which implies simplicity of development. The history, as a matter of fact, has been much more complex. The old plain which was developed over most of eastern North America, excepting the few areas of hard rocks noted above, was not uplifted from sea level to its present position at once. While the movements were doubtless very gradual, it was accomplished by stages, first an elevation, then a very long pause, then another elevation, and probably there were three or four such elevations and pauses, two of which were very long and were felt over most of the area. During the first pause the streams cut broad, rather deep valleys in the old plain, and the time of quiet was long enough to allow certain broad areas to become reduced to sea-level before the next uplift, and when this uplift came, these broad flat areas or wide valley floors were elevated high above sea level and the streams at once went to work on them also. The records of several of these stages have been traced over hundreds of miles especially in the Appalachians.

Thus, it is possible and very probable that the old surface in Fairfield County, now represented by the uniform hilltops, was not the first, original, broad plain (the Cretaceous or late Mesozoic peneplain), but was formed during one of the later pauses in the uplift, and was itself more recently uplifted. This is one of the problems which yet await solution.

The Valleys of Fairfield County Originally Much Deeper Than Nozv. The broad flat floors of the larger valleys, the Hocking, Rush Creek, Clear Creek, etc., are today 150 to 300 feet below the bordering hill tops. The highest hills seldom rise more than 400 feet above these bottoms. But many gas wells have been drilled on these valley floors which penetrate from 200 to over 300 feet of sand, gravel and clay before the real bed rock is encountered. This is merely a filling, the result of the glacial period to be described next. This means that all the larger stream valleys of Fairfield County were actually cut from 200 to 300 feet deeper than they are at present.

less observed many times from Mt. Pleasant. The top of Mt. Pleasant is about 275 feet above the present Hocking river, and the view is one of the finest to be had anywhere in Ohio. In the well drilled at the house of the Lancaster Athletic Club, on the public square in Lancaster, 316 feet of drift filling was encountered by the driller before penetrating bed rock. This means the valley was formerly that much deeper and has been filled to that extent. Think you now what must have been the view from Mt. Pleasant after the streams had cut their deepest and before the coming of the ice, when the Hocking flowed in a gorge whose bottom was sunk 575 feet or more below the top of Mt. Pleasant!

Original Directions of Stream Floivage. The stream valleys of that period did not differ alone in depth. The entire drainage system of Ohio and tlie adjacent states was radically different in direction and there have been many changes even in Fairfield County. For example, we know that the Ohio river, as such, did not exist. The upper part of the Ohio drained northward by the Allegheny river, since reversed in direction, to the Great Lakes region. That portion of it along the centralsouthern border of Ohio drained northward through the Scioto, since reversed in direction, past Circleville and then northwestward into Indiana. That portion of the Ohio near Cincinnati and for some distance above Cincinnati drained northward into Indiana along lines since reversed and joined the old Scioto system there. With the advance of the ice sheet, these old outlets to the northward were all blocked and the waters found new outlets by flowing across low divides in the headwater regions of the three systems just mentioned - and there the present Ohio river was formed.

The Muskingum river did not flow southward past Zanesville as at present, but the entire headwaters drainage of that stream turned westward at Dresden and flowed through the abandoned, drift-filled valley which the main line of the Pennsylvania railroad follows, as far as Newark. There it flowed southward down the present South Fork valley of the Licking and followed the broad deeply buried valley which is now occupied by the west end of Buckeye Lake. It flowed southwestward into Fairfield County by way of Buckeye Lake then westward past Basil, Baltimore and Canal Winchester, joining the northwestward flowing Scioto just west of the last mentioned point. The broad, flat, low country extending across the northern part of the county is but the track of this great valley, now filled with 300 feet or more of drift.

The Hocking river, also, has been reversed. It formerly headed somewhere south of the Hocking County line and flowed northward past Lancaster, then northwestward, joining the pre-glacial Muskingum above Carroll. This outlet is shown by the occurrence of 260 feet of drift in a well near Carroll. This well certainly is not over the deepest part of the old valley, but as it stands, it indicates a rock floor 100 feet lower at that point than at Sugar Grove. This northward slope of the rock floor, alone, would prove the former northward course of the stream.

These changes in stream direction and the others yet to be noted were caused largely by the ice of the glacial period. It is now a well established fact among geologists that climates have changed from time to time in the history of the earth. Usually they have been much milder than at present so that we are really living under a climate that is, taking all geo- logical time into account, abnormal. But at times the climate has been more rigorous than at present. One of the epochs of rigorous climate has just ended, or perhaps is just ending. During that epoch, most of northern North America was covered by a great ice sheet that flowed outwards in all directions.

Geologically, this period of ice has been our most recent event, the present alone excepted, and, whereas the periods of sedimentation and erosion just described are to be measured only in terms of millions of years, the ice probably retreated, according to the best estimates, some 15,000 or 20,000 years ago, perhaps less. In the column of geological periods given early in the chapter, the ice age falls very near close of the Cenozoic.

The Ice Invasion of Faiiiicld Coitnty. The ice at one time entirely covered Fairfield County, extending well into Hocking County but that was at the beginning of the epoch, perhaps 100,000 years ago, and few traces can be seen of this early invasion. Later it retreated far to the northward and then readvanced, this time standing directly across the southeastern part of the county. There were several such advances and retreats but in Fairfield County there is evidences of only the first and the last.

In Fairfield County the advance of the last sheet was from the northwest. The entire northern, central and western parts of the county were covered. The position of the margin of this ice sheet can be traced from the north line of Richland Township southv/ard into the hills just south of Bremen, then westward, crossing Hocking river at about where Crawfis Collegiate Institute stands (all traces of it are removed in the immediate valley of the Hocking but the drift material is well shown in the clays and gravels near the mouth of the Tarkhill hollow). Along the line of the Boys' Industrial School electric road, this ice front advanced at one time almost as far as Christmas Rocks although most of the time it stood a little farther to the northward. The irregular, low hummocky hills on which the Country Club stands and from there southward to within a few rods of the storage battery station of the electric line, are composed of gravels and clays which were dropped at the edge of this ice sheet during its principal stand. This moraine (the material dropped by a glacier is termed a moraine) extends for there southwestward, crossing the hills between Jacob's Ladder and Hamburg, it then descends into the valley of Arney Creek below Jacob's Ladder and stretches away to the southward, crossing Clear Creek below Clearport and passing across the south line of Madison Township into Hocking County.

The front occupied this position for some time, the amount of advance in the ice being just balanced by the amount of melting at its margin, and the gravel and clay dropped during this period at the ice front constitute the moraine of this stage. Later it melted more rapidly than the ice advanced and the margin consequently retreated to a position approximately parallel to the first but a few miles to the northwestward. The moraine fonned at this later stage can be traced in the irregular low hills about Basil and Baltimore, Carroll (well shown just west of Carroll) and Royalton and along broad lines connecting these points.

It was while occupying these two positions that most of the changes wrought by the ice in the surface of the county were effected. Noteworthy among these changes was the reversal of practically all streams which flowed northward at that time, the filling of the major valleys to depths of 200 or 300 feet and the almost complete burial of the old topography of the northern third of the county, leaving a broadly rolling but generally smooth surface where had previously been a relief probably as prominent as is now found anywhere in the county.

Not only were the stream channels directly under the ice sheet so filled but the streams flowing out from the melting ice carried numerous loads of sand and gravel with which they filled up their valleys for miles away to the southward beyond the edge. Such gravel fillings are found to the Ohio river on the Muskingum, Hocking, Scioto and other streams flowing from the ice margin. The Hocking was filled to a depth of 60 to 100 feet higher than the present broad bottom land, but a portion of the deposit has been removed by the stream since the retreatal of the ice. This is shown by the remnants of this filling which are occasionally found, such as the gravel hills on which Crawfis Collegiate Institute is built and the gravel terraces in which the gravel banks are opened just west of the Institute on the Lancaster-Sugar Grove road.

The Abandoned Valley from Lancaster to Bremen. One of the best farming areas in the county is along the broad open valley which extends due eastward from Lancaster to Bremen, the line followed by the Pennsylvania Railroad. This valley, now filled with drift to depths of over 200 feet, is thought to have been the former outlet of Rush .Creek to the Hocking River. It is believed that an old divide existed directly across the present course of Rush Creek in Hocking .County, that from one side of this divide a stream formerly flowed northward to Bremen and from the other side another one flowed westward to the Hocking at Eckert's Mill. When the ice front stood across the old outlet just west of Bremen, the water was ponded in Rush Creek and finally flowed over this divide, cutting it down. With the final melting of the ice the stream maintained its course where it now flows. Such an old divide, across which a stream has been thrown, is known as a col, a word adopted from the French.

Rez'ersal of Little Rush Creek. The general relationships of such a reversed stream are very well shown on Little Rush Creek, which flows from a region of broad, open, deeply drift filled valleys in northern Richland township, southward into the very narrow, tortuous, steep walled, rock floored gorge which the T. and O. C. Railroad follows from Rushville to Bremen. This gorge is the site of another old divide, and the old outlet, across which the ice stood, was to the northwestward past Pleasantville to the pre-glacial Muskingum.

Reversal of Clear Creek. Exactly similar is the valley of Clear Creek which is broad and open with considerable drift filling near Amanda, but narrow and crooked at the old divide a few miles above its mouth in Hocking County. Its old outlet to the westward is entirely buried beneath the drift hills of the western part of the county and the exact location of it is not known.

Diversion of Muddy Prairie Creek. A tributary to this old Clear Creek formerly headed at Delmont and flowed southwestward out the broad, flat valley now occupied by Muddy Prairie. But the present Muddy Prairie Creek, instead of following this open course, turns sharply near the Amanda Township line and enters the high rock hills to the southward, flowing through them and emptying into Clear Creek in Madison Township. The old outlet was directly along the line of the Pennsylvania Railroad from Delmont to Amanda, and the present divide in that direction is so low that when Muddy Prairie bot- toni was drained, it is said that the engineers advised that it would be cheaper to cut through this divide than to deepen the present Muddy Prairie Creek. The course of this stream also changed by the ice.

Diversion of Arney Creek. One of the best examples of change in drainage and at the same time one of the most accessible, is on Arney Creek along the Industrial School electric road. Arney Creek at present heads near Hamburg and flows towards Lancaster in a gradually widening valley. A short distance north of Christmas Rocks, it turns toward the southward, and from that point the valley commences to narrow ; just south of Christmas Rocks it turns to the westward, the valley narrows yet more and at Jacob's Ladder a mile below the turn, becomes a narrow Vshaped gorge. The character of the valley above and below Christmas Rocks is well shown in the two accompanying photographs.

Jacob's Ladder is the site of an old divide, where two streams fonnerly headed and flowed in opposite directions; one of these flowed toward Christmas Rocks, then northward, joining the stream coming in from Hamburg somewhere near Snyder's Grove and the storage battery. From there the united stream flowed northward to Lancaster through a broad valley, one rock wall of which is found in the high ridge east of the Catholic Cemetery, the other in the high ridge which lies north of the Lancaster-Hamburg road.

This old valley is now heavily clogged with drift from South Lancaster or LTtica as far south as the storage battery plant on the electric line, showing that the ice occupied the outlet for a very long time. The little valley which the traction line follows to just beyond the Country Club has been cut entirely in this drift filling by the streamlet which has cut and occupied it since the retreatal of the ice, and must in no wise be confused with the broad outlet just referred to, which is a very much larger feature. The width of this old outlet can best be observed from the pikes, either the Hamburg or State Farm roads. The ice in this old outlet acted as a huge dam, and ponded back the waters of Arney Creek until they flowed over the lowest point of the lake, which happened to .be the col at Jacob's Ladder. The ice occupied the valley long enough to permit the stream to cut this old divide to its present level, or at least so low that the stream was not diverted to the old channel on the final melting of the barrier.

Drainage Changes in Rising Park. The occurrences just described cover the important changes in drainage, but a number of minor ones could be cited. One of the best of them, and one that can be readily observed and understood is in Rising Park. Still-house Hollow extends from Flat Rocks southeastward to Rising Park. The stream which drains it flows into the park at its northwest corner where the Infirmary road makes the sharp bend, it flows southward on the inside of the park fence and just between the house of Mr. J. B. O'Harra and the northwest spur of Mt. Pleasant, tumbles over a little rock fall. It is important to notice that it flows on a rock floor at this point, for a thickness of 80 feet of drift was encountered in the well drilled directly back of the mountain at the lake. This well mouth is at almost exactly the same elevation as the rock-floored outlet just noticed, and it is evident that the stream formerly must have had a much lower outlet elsewhere in order to remove the rock to a depth of 80 feet below its present outlet. Mt. Pleasant is known to all as a rock hill. So is the Reservoir hill just north of the park. But the low ridge which extends from the one to the other along the eastern side of the park and just east of the lake is not a rock hill. It is composed entirely of sand, gravel and clay. The old outlet was over the site of this deposit into Fetter's Run, which is itself partially drift filled. The change was induced during the retreatal stages of the ice when a lobe of the glacier occupied Fetter's Run but not the small tributary coming into it from the back of Mt. Pleasant. The old outlet being clogged, a new one was found o\er the low rock ridge which connected Mt. Pleasant with the rock hill just back of the O'Harra house.

The National Pike Betiveen Pickerington and Basil. One of the natural features of the county which has long been a puzzle to those familiar with it and which was formed indirectly by the ice sheet, is the natural pike between Pickerington and Basil. This is a broad, low ridge, which is followed throughout its length by the road between the two towns. It is seldom lo feet high, at one point is only three feet high, and is from 20 to 50 yards in width. It is composed of gravel and makes an excellent, dry road bed throughout the three miles that it can be traced, and it has been so utilized, even though the turns of the ridge cause considerable crookedness in the road. It is first distinctly noticeable two miles east of Pickerington and from that point east, southeastward, it is continuous, with the exception of an occasional gap where a small stream has broken through. It ends abruptly on the west side of Poplar Creek, two and one-half miles west of Basil and does not reappear on the east side of the stream.

Such a feature is not uncommon in the glaciated area of this and other continents, and eleven occurrences are known in Ohio. It is what is known as an esker ridge. Usually they are more prominent features, relatively

According to the best explanation that can be offered, while the ice yet covered the northern part of the county, there was a stream channel in the ice where the ridge is now found, possibly a tunnel or a deep crevice. This was while the ice front stood over the moraine at Basil. The water flowing in this ice-walled channel gradually accumulated gravels and sands in its bed until a considerable amount was concentrated along its length, much more than was present in the ice on either side. Accordingly, when the ice melted, this was dropped where it had lain in the channel and where it is now found, the twists and turns of the ridge preserving the general direction of the old channel in the ice.

The Effect of the Glacier on the Soils of Fairfield County. The glacier in its course across Canada and northern Ohio, scraped ofif a vast amount of the soil and rock of those regions. This was incorporated into the ice and was often carried hundreds of miles by the slow flowage of the mass. With the final melting this material was dropped as clay and boulders. This is why we find such great amounts of clay in the region covered by the glacier; this also explains why we find boulders of granite and gneiss, as for example, the one on Mt. Pleasant and the very large one near where the Pleasantville pike crosses Baldwin run just east of Lancaster. These boulders, and the many others like them must have been carried at the very least, 400 miles, for no similar rock is found at the surface within a lesser distance; the nearest outcrops are north and northeast of Lake Huron.

cier for bringing into her confines, the soils which were formed o\'er the areas to the northward, for limestone, shale, sandstone, granite soils and many others were abundantly gathered and mixed together by the glacier, to be later dumped copiously over most of Ohio. Doubtless in portions of the state which naturally had a rich limestone soil, the result was not as successful as in a region like Fairfield County, whose natural soil was a pure clay and sandstone soil, practically without a trace of lime. If anyone thinks the result has not been a decided improvement, let him compare the upland soils of the northern part of the county with those of the unglaciated sandstone hills of the southeastern third.

Indirectly the county owes its rich, broad bottom lands, like those of the Hocking and Rush Creek to the glacier which filled up the old stream gorges 200 or 300 feet and thus furnished a foundation on which to develop these bottoms. Again indirectly, still a third type of soil is due to the same forces. Wherever drainage is impeded, swamps are formed. In such swamps black, mucky soils are formed because of the increased amount of vegetable matter which accumulates there. These swamps and bogs, when drained, furnish some of the richest garden spots and farm lands of the county, but they are limited in area compared with the others. As examples of such soils may be cited the broad floor of Pleasant run two or three miles east of Lancaster and the Miesse gardens two miles northwest. The "prairie" of Hocking just west of Lancaster carries a similar soil and will doubtless prove of great fertility when properly drained.

In all of these cases the obstruction of the drainage can be traced more or less directly to the influence of the ice sheet and the debt to the glacier is accordingly, increased a little more.

The distribution of plants over a large area, such as the United States, depends primarily upon climate, but the distribution over a small area, such as one county, generally depends upon soil and topography. Fairfield County is situated in such a way that it has the surface characteristics of both the northern and the southern parts of the state ; the smooth rolling areas in the north, similar to those of northern Ohio, and the sandstone hills, rocky ledges and deep ravines, similar to those of southern Ohio.

The floor of the county can be divided into three distinct divisions ; the plants of the north correspond to those in the northern part of the state ; the plants of the south correspond to those in the southern part of the state, and the plants on the hills around Sugar Grove, which are similar to the plants in the Allegheny Mountain region. The latter division might be called a hill-top island.

Three regions have been selected from which to study the plant geography of the county - the Buckeye Lake region in the extreme northeastern corner, the Lancaster region in the central part, and the Sugar Grove region near the south. A comparison of these three regions will give an idea of the various forms of plant life in the county.

Buckeye Lake is situated at the junction of Fairfield, Licking and Perry counties. Only the southwestern part of the Lake is in Fairfield. This lake was developed in 1832 from a big swamp. Since that time changes have gone on very rapidly in the plant life. Originally pine forests of beech, maple, ash, elm and hickory surrounded this swamp, but today only a few remnants remain. There is one fine forest near the eastern end of the lake. It is almost pure beech and the trees are very large and fine. The shade is too dense for much undergrowth, but here and there in the damp rich soil the cardinal flower grows, and near the edge of the forest, where the sunlight can get in, are found great thickets of elderberries. At the water's edge flourish cat-tails, with here and there a clump of calamus-root, and beyond this, extending out into the shallow water for a great distance, are the plants of the American lotus, lifting their showy yellow blossoms several feet above the surface of the water. Beyond this, especially in the miniature bays, where the water is quiet, grows the most beautiful flower of this region, the white water-lily. It would be difficult to imagine anything prettier than these pure white, sweet-scented blossoms floating on the water among their own green leaves, which curl up now and then around the edges to show a touch of red beneath.

Sphagnum Island, or Cranberry Marsh, is another place interesting to the botanist. It is situated about a half mile east of Buckeye Lake Park, and is the largest island in the lake. The edge of the island is surrounded by a very dense growth of swamp, maple, poison sumac, and American elm, with here and there great clumps of fern. The interior of the island is entirely different. It is a broad level stretch of Sphagnum moss, without either shrub or tree. The rose pogonia, a beautiful purple orchid, grows here, also the cotton grass and cranberries. Perhaps the most interesting plant of this bog is the little carnivorous plant, the sun-dew. It is only four or fi\e inches high and has round leaves, which are bordered by glandular hairs. These hairs give out dew-like drops from whence the plant gets its name. If an insect, attracted by the glistening drops, happens to alight on the leaf, he is held there by the sticky substance and the hairs close over him. The leaf then pours out a digestive fluid and all the soluble parts of the insect are digested and absorbed by the plant. The little tentacles then open out, the indigestible parts are blown away, and the plant awaits another meal. These plants have developed the insect-eating habit because the bog soil cannot supply them with all the nourishment they need.

In the extreme southwestern part of the lake is Orchard Island, having an area of about three acres. This island has forest trees upon it, such as elm, hickory, ash, oak, locust, mulberry and willow. There are also some shrubs, such as the scarlet sumac, poison ivy and wild grape. The edge of the island has the usual swamp plants, the lotus predominating; but in some places the deep rose-colored persicaria and the brown heads of the cat-tails, make a beautiful contrast to the light yellow of the locust.

Another showy plant along the water's edge is the Hibiscus, or rose-mallow, but called by the residents of the region wild hollyhock. The plant grows from three to seven feet high, and clustered at the top of the stalk are the bright pink flowers reminding one very much of the old-fasiiioned garden hollyhock. These plants grow very close together and are so conspicuous that they force attention from even the casual observer. Here and there among the rose-mallows and cat-tails are found seedlings of elm, oak and lucust. This is a very important point for the botanist, because it tells him that the trees are pushing out farther away from the center and in time a forest may replace a swamp.

From Buckeye Lake south the land is fertile and rolling, making the finest kind of an agricultural region. As might be expected, there is very little forest left, but the few remnants have fine specimens of oak, ash, elm, hickory, walnut, maple, beech, persimmon, sorrel-tree, papaw, birches, buckeye and horsechestnut. By the time the central part of the county is reached the surface structure and the flora have changed. Around Lancaster may be seen flat-topped sandstone hills, with deep narrow ravines between. The liill tops will have trees of medium size, but there is not much variety. The different oaks predominate, with occasionally a chestnut. The undergrowth is usually dense, because there is plenty of sunlight. Sumac, dogwood, pokeberry and sassafras are bound together by long runners of blackberry, poison ivy and sweet brier. The north and south slopes of these hills vary a great deal. The south-facing slope gets more light and heat than the north- facing slope and the plants will be similar to those on the hill tops, with perhaps the addition of the laurel. The north-facing slopes are entirely different. Here the outcropping rocks are covered with moss or delicate ferns and in the spring the ground is nearly covered with the hepaticas, bloodroots, blue, white and yellow violets and Dutchman's breeches. Now and then you will find a jack-in-the-pulpit, or perhaps some of the beautiful wake-robins. Above these flowers will be dogwood, redbud, spicebush and sassafras, and above these fine specimens of maple, ash, oak, tulip-tree and elm. There are a few sandstone hills around Lancaster, which are simply covered with laurel. Of course there are forest trees, mainly oak, on these hills, but other shrubs and the low-flowering plants are not abundant.

But however interesting the botany of the northern part or the central part may be, the Sugar Grove region is the best of all - the Mecca for the botanist. In one day's ramble you may study the swamp, the rock ravine, the hill tops, the meadows and the pine thickets. The variety is endless. In the valley, which is rather narrow, the farmer plants his crops. The soil is rich and the only danger to the crops is an occasional flood. Here and there in the fields a particularly fine tree has been allowed to stand. This valley is the home of the "Pride of Ohio," a magnificent sugar maple, said to be tiie most perfect tree in Ohio. A few elms have been allowed to stand, on account of their great size and graceful beauty, and here and there a slender shell-bark hickory remains. In the valley, but back close to the hills occasionally are found swamps, sole survivors of the once wide-spread valley condition. Here the swamp maples are tall and slender and very close together. The largest native tree, the sycamore, grown best here or along the streams, and alders and buttonbushes are very common. Early in the spring the skunk-cabbage is abundant, and a little later the marsh marigolds appear, while in the summer very large swamp ferns flourish in the dense shade.

The flora of the ravine varies according to the width of the ravine. If the valley floor is wide, the south-facing slope will be much drier than the north-facing slope and the plants will differ; but if the valley floor is narrow, the plants on the north and south- facing slopes will be similar. The south-facing slope of a wide ravine will have such trees as the oaks, chestnuts, scrub and pitch pines. The oaks will probably predominate and will be of fair size. The north-facing slope will be entirely different. The pines of the south are replaced by fine large hemlocks, and in place of oaks will be found maples, ashes, beech and tulip trees. The undergrowth is very dense. Along the rock ledges flourishes the rhododendron, which is conspicuous the whole year round. The shrubs grow to a height of from four to eight feet, and have rather thick, glossy evergreen leaves. The plant blooms the last of June or the first of July, and then clustered among the glossy, green leaves are the masses of delicate pink and white blossoms. Nothing in the plant kingdom could be more beautiful than the showy but delicate blossoms hanging over a steep ledge, or fringing a cliff or forming a tangled thicket down in some dark, cool crevice of the rocks. Quite often in this region the rocks are covered with a perfect carpet of ferns, usually the rock polypod, with here and there a patch of Christmas fern. Sometimes the ledges are fringed with green moss or masses of liverworts, or large lichens which look like patches of leather. In the spring the red columbine is abundant in crevices, and wherever a slight amount of soil covers the rocks the hepatica flourishes. In the rich soil at the base of the cliffs is found Solomon's seal, both the true and the false, and now and then a great patch of wild ginger, or a brilliant fire-pink or a showy orchis. Of course the violets are abundant, blue, yellow and white, and occasionally a rare species.

Another plant, which must not be forgotten is jack-in-the-pulpit. These plants grow so large that they are almost rank. And another favorite is the white trillium or wake-robin. It is not as common as some of the others, but usually several are found together. Later in the summer the flowers are not so abundant but the ferns take their place. This is the ideal habitat for the delicate maidenhair fern and exceedingly large specimens are sometimes found. The flowering dogwood is often abundant in these ravines and in the early spring is the most conspicuous plant. A person who has never been in these ravines can scarcely imagine the almost tropical luxuriance of the plants. The trees, shrubs and herbs grow together in wild profusion and are bound together into an impenetrable mass by the wild grape vines, the poison ivy, the Virginia creeper, and the creeping stems of the green brier.

Once in a while, in a more open ravine than the one described above, a person is fortunate enough to find the flame azalea. This is a near relative of the rhododendron and very much like it. but by many people considered even more beautiful. The flowers grow in great clusters and range in color from a pale lemon yellow to a deep orange. It is one plant which you do not have to hunt closely to find. Just one glance through a woods will tell you whether it is there or not. This plant is more rare than the rhododendron, occurring in only a few places.

In the more open ravines grows another flower, also a close relative of the rhododendron and azalea, but not large and showy like them. This is the trailing arbutus. The flowers are small and of a very delicate pink tint, and with an odor just as sweet and delicate as the flower itself. The stem is slightly woody and the leaves oval in shape and evergreen. The trailing arbutus is one of the earliest flowers to blossom, but it is often difficult to find because the whole plant may be covered by the dead forest leaves.

In an open hillside, or even on the hill top is found another relative of the rhododendron - the laurel or kalmia. This plant is sometimes as large as the rhododendron, though usually not as tall, but more spreading. Its leaves are evergreen and the flowers pink or white and arranged in terminal clusters. It is also one of the favorites of this region. It is a strange thing that this group of plants should exist in Fairfield County. The azalea lives in the eastern part of the United States, the home of the rhododendron is in the Allegheny Mountains, and the trailing arbutus is also at home in the east. But here they live along with the wintergreen and laurel, all members of the heath family. They are not found in the southern part of the state, neither do they oc-

On the hill tops near Sugar Grove are the pure pine thickets. These are the pitch pines and grow so close together as to remind one of the famous pine forests of Michigan. There is very little undergrowth, because the pine forest is dark the year round. The ground beneath is covered with pine needles, but growing in these needles is found one of the curious and rare flowers of the region, the pink lady-slipper. The flower is an orchid, and orchids are rare and strange, and hence always highly prized. The yellow lady-slipper is also found near Sugar Grove, but it belongs to the ravines. The pipsisewa and sweet brier are about the only other inhabitants of the pine grove. On the hill tops where the trees have been removed, or where the trees are scattered, will be found plenty of huckleberries, and along the fences the blackberries are thick. The farmers watch their berry crops as carefully as they watch their corn and wheat.

The botany of the county has changed very much in the past few years. The valuable timber, such as black walnut, locust, hickory and hemlock, has been removed in great quantities and in place of these the hillsides are now covered with hundreds of young fruit trees. The botanist or native student is still able, however, to find an endless variety of interesting plant life in Fairfield County.

Oil and gas have been by far the most important of Fairfield County's mineral resources. In fact, with these exceptions, Fairfield County has been deficient in such wealth ; coal and limestone are wholly wanting, the clays are of little value and the sandstones give little promise of future importance.

The gas has been an important factor in the development of Lancaster but it is not intended to treat here of that phase of its history. What follows is merely a sketch of the early development of the oil and gas field of Fairfield County, wholly in the words of Dr. J. A. Bownocker,* the state Geologist of, Ohio, a one time Fairfield County boy.

No other event in the history of Ohio has so stimulated the search for underground wealth as did the discovery of natural gas at Findlay in 1884. From that city the drill has moved out in all directions until every county in the state has been tested ; in some the wells may be reckoned by the score, yes, by the thousands. In the main these tests have produced negative results only, and still they have formed the basis of two of the state's principal sources of wealth. The Findlay discovery was followed in 1885 by tapping the immense volume of oil stored in the Trenton limestone, and two years later by the discovery of gas at Lancaster.

The first step towards testing the rocks in the vicinity of Lancaster was taken December 2, 1885, when the Lancaster Natural Gas Company was incorporated. The capital stock was $50,000 in shares of $50 each. On the date just mentioned the company organized by electing the following officers: President, E. L. Slocum; Vice-president, A. Getz; Secretary, H. B. Peters ; Treasurer, N. Butler.

*Geo. Surv. Ohio. 4th Ser. Bull. i. The Occurrence and Exploitation of Petroleum and Natural Gas in Ohio. pp. 101-125. Bull. 12, The Bremen Oil Field, PP- 7-30.

The directors included, in addition to the officers, H. C. Drinkle, J. R. Mumaugh, J. C. Reeves, E. Becker and George Lutz. In May, 1 886, the company contracted with Albert Smith to drill a well, and work was immediately begun, the objective horizon being the Trenton limestone which was then yielding such astonishing results in northwestern Ohio. The location was on a lot owned by the president of the company and was situated near the Hocking Valley station. [Just back of the Flint Glass factory near the old canal and close to the Sugar Grove road.] It was soon demonstrated that the territory is covered with a heavy mantel of drift. This retarded the work, and of course increased the expense, so that stockholders were required to pay ten dollars per share more than the face value of their stock. Gas was finally struck February I, 1887, at a depth of 1,957 f^^t. On the tenth of the same month the flow was measured at the casing head and found to be 74,880 cubic feet per day. However, the well contained a large quantity of salt water, and the pressure of this greatly weakened the flow of gas. Later the well was shot with 100 quarts of nitro-giycerine, and the gas piped to the works of the Hocking Valley Manufacturing Company. The great expense of drilling and the small production, together with the many other uncertain elements, such as the life of the wells, continuity of the gas rock, etc., made progress slow. That the citizens of Lancaster were not greatly discouraged, however, is shown by the fact that on April 7, 1887, another organization, the Mt. Pleasant Natural Gas & Oil Company was fonned. The officers were: President, George W. Welsh; Vice-president, S. H. Beck; Treasurer, H. B. Peters ; Secretary, Daniel Danehy. The board of directors consisted of the officers and E. L.

The second well in the territory was drilled on the land of Joseph C. Kinkead, near the foot of Mt. Pleasant. [Just across the road on the south side of the hill.] The gas rock was struck October 5, 1887, at a depth of 1,989 feet. Nine days later the flow of gas was measured and found to be 792,000 cubic feet per day, through a four and one-half inch casing. The third well was located about one mile southeast of the city. [Just east of Baldwin Run and south of the Pleasantville pike.] The gas rock was struck at a depth of 2,020 feet, October 11, 1887, and the production is reported to have been 1,000,000 cubic feet in 24 hours.

The companies owning these wells next began to look for a market for their fuel. The , most natural one was the city of Lancaster, and on Monday evening, October 23, 1887, the directors of the company owning the well at the foot of Mt. Pleasant asked the city council for a franchise permitting the company to pipe the city. This precipitated a lively debate in which the representatives of the several companies took part. Finally the matter was referred to the committee on streets and alleys, but before a decision could be reached the three companies consolidated, the name being the Lancaster Gas & Oil Company No. I. Officers of this organization were chosen December 5, 1887, as follows: President, P. W. Bininger; Vice-president, C. P. Noll; Treasurer, F. X. Winter; Secretary, W. T. McCleneghan.

of the city. A committee was appointed to visit Findlay and other places where natural gas was in use, the object being to secure information as to the best and safest methods of handling the new fuel. No pains were spared to make the company a success. The result was that within a month after the issuing of permits had begun, there were 500 gas fires in the city. Everybody was calling for gas, making the demand greater than the company could supply, owing to the heavy expense of laying the necessary mains. Fortunately, it had been provided when the three companies consolidated that if at any time the city saw fit to purchase the plant it might do so at actual cost plus six per cent interest on the investment. To make this possible a law was enacted by the legislature permitting the city to submit to the people a proposition to bond the corporation for $50,000 to purchase the existing natural gas plant, drill new wells, lay mains, etc. The election was held April 30, 1888, the vote resulting 1,260 in favor of and 25 against the proposition. Bonds bearing six per cent interest were at once sold. These were payable from 1892 to 1902 and all found ready buyers. The cost of the plant secured in this manner was about $24,000, the remainder of the money having been used for drilling new wells, laying mains, etc.

During the winter of 1888 and 1889 the supply of gas was not equal to the demand. Thus far all the wells secured were small, while the call for fuel had become very heavy. Under such conditions there was considerable dissatisfaction and many doubted the wisdom of having bonded the corporation for so large a sum. In fact the future of the field seemed altogether problematical. During this period of doubt and insufficient gas an event occurred which completely changed the aspect of affairs.

well, which was drilled by Theodore MithofY within the corporation limits [on the back of the lot on the southeast corner of Columbus and Allen streets], the object being to secure a supply of gas for his machine shop. The gas rock was reached, February 17, 1889, and a good flow at once secured. The drill was kept at work and the volume of gas increased rapidly as the rock was penetrated to a greater and greater depth, until the open flow rose to 12,000,000 cubic feet in 24 hours. This was one of the finest gas wells that had ever been drilled up to that time in this or any other countr}^ The citizens of Lancaster were quick to see what this meant for the city, and to properly give vent to their feelings a jollification was planned, with torch light parade, speeches, etc. Arrangements were made to connect this well "The Old Man Himself" with the city mains, thus providing an ample supply of gas. Another famous w^ell was completed that year. It was located on the county fair grounds and had an initial open flow of about 10,000,000 cubic feet in 24 hours. A line was laid around the race track that fall, and "By this means the track was lighted up at night as ne\er race track was lighted before, and the trials of speed went forward under this wanton illumination. The idea was novel and the scene unique and brilliant, but the waste was barbaric all the same." [Edward Orton, Sr.] Other wells were drilled with varying results ; still the quantity of gas at the command of the city was large and the next thing was to find a market for it. "The strange folly that seems bound up in the heart of a municipal corporation when it obtains a good supply of gas, that it must find some one who can use the fuel up in the largest way and most rapidly to whom to give it. without money and without price, broke out also in Lancaster. An ill-omened arch, bearing the illuminated in-

After the Lancaster field had been tested sufficiently to show the presence of gas in good quantity drilling was commenced at many points in outlying portions of the county and a number of other pools have been discovered. The Thurston pool was the first of these. A well drilled in 1888 on the Bush farm near the railroad station only yielded sufficient gas to encourage further drilling, but the next one a mile to the eastward is said to have had an open flow of 7,000,000 cubic feet in 24 hours. A number of good wells were drilled later but by 1902 all had been practically abandoned.

The first well of the Sugar Grove field, the largest and richest field in Fairfield County, was on the Joseph Messbarger farm, now the I. Hennis farm, a mile north of the point where Big Rush Creek enters Berne township from Hocking County. From here the drill spread rapidly over that portion of southern Fairfield County roughly lying east of the Boys' Industrial School. The Hocking Valley passes through what was the heart of this field. Later it was extended southward well into Hocking County.

The Bremen Oil Field

Tlie discovery of the Bremen oil field is a result of the close association of oil and gas. As is well known, every oil well is to a greater or less extent' a gas well, and large gas fields are seldom remote from oil. Oil, however, is usually more profitable than gas, and almost from the time of the discovery of the latter in the Clinton the search for oil has gone on. For years the result was discouraging, but the

In the early spring of 1907 a well was completed on the Weingartner farm between Pleasantville and Rushville in Fairfield County, and began flowing oil at approximately 75 barrels per day. In July of the same year a well was completed on land of Frank Kittle in the adjacent township of Rush Creek and proved to be a success. These two wells mark the opening of the Bremen field and the real beginning of the Clinton as a source of oil.

Location. - At present it includes parts of Rush Creek and Richland Townships of Fairfield County; Jackson, Reading and Pike Townships, and to a smaller extent several others, of Perry County. As the map shows, it is not one large field, but rather a number of small more or less disconnected areas. Thus we have the Pleasantville, Rushville, Bremen, Junction City and Straitsville pools. Whether or not further drilling will luiite these is an open question. At present the indications are that the field is somewhat spotted, but that the Bremen and Junction City pools, at least, will unite, forming a continuous area from Bremen to New Lexington.

Early Drilling. - The discovery of this pool is due in no small measure to the confidence and perseverance of one man, Mr. J. E. Purvis. Its subsequent development is likew'ise due quite largely to the same individual. Nearly twenty years ago he secured options on about 5.000 acres of land around Bremen and attempted to organize a company to drill for oil. He believed that fuel was present because of the great reservoirs of natural gas a few miles to the west. Failing to enlist the necessary capital, the options were lost, and two more attempts had to be made before drilling began. .A.bout 1895 the Rush Creek Oil & Gas Company was organized, the capital stock at first

The first well was drilled early in 1896 on the Stewart farm a short distance north of Bremen. When a depth of 1,790 feet had been reached, a heavy flow of gas, estimated at 5,000.000 cubic feet per day, was encountered, and drilling ceased. Lines were laid to Bremen, Rushville and West Rushville, giving those villages their first supply of natural gas, but about eighteen months later a flood of salt water ruined the well. So favorable an impression did this well make on capitalists that $100,000 was offered for the leases held by the company, which would have left $82,000 to be distributed among stockholders, but the offer was rejected.

The next venture was on the Steamen farm, a mile and a quarter southeast of Bremen. The Clinton sand was found in i8g6, at a depth of about 2,510 feet, and contained some oil, but the shales above the sand caved badly, and in about six months the well was abandoned without having shown what it was worth. Mr. Purvis thinks it would have produced 15 barrels per day.