Licking County, Ohio - Chapter 19: Flora and Fauna, 1881

BEAUTY OF THE LICKING VALLEY - VARIETIES OF TIMBER - WILD GRAPES AND OTHER FRUITS - GINSENG - THE ORCHARD OF WILD CHERRY TREES - ANIMALS: - BUFFALO - ELK - PANTHERS - BEAR - W OLVES DEER - FOXES - RABBITS, AND OTHER SMALL ANIMALS - WILD TURKEYS - PHEASANTS - QUAILS, ET C. - SINGING BIRDS - DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF

HE territory of Licking county in its wilderness state, presented landscapes of a greatly diversified character, from the comparative tameness of a commonplace oak forest, without undergrowth, to that presented by the romantic wildness of such mountain scenery as the rough, almost impassable spurs and buhr-covered steeps of Flint ridge, and the high, rocky bluffs, towering peaks and dark glens of Licking narrows and the Rocky fork.

When seventy years or more ago mughes and Ratliff, the earliest settlers, occupied Licking valley they must have been surprised at the variety and beauty of its vegetable productions. The silence of the primeval woods had until then been unbroken; the forest was here in all its native majesty and beauty; the gigantic size and venerable antiquity of the trees, the rankness of the weeds, grasses and trailing vines which formed a thick covering for the ground, the luxuriance and variety of the underbrush, the*long vines that reached to the tops of the tallest trees, the parasites that hung in clusters from the loftiest boughs, the brilliancy of the autumnal foliage, the splendor and variety of the vernal flowers, the snowy whiteness of the dog-wood blossoms of early spring and the exuberance of the fruits that were maturing during the summer and autumn, were undoubted manifestations of the most vigorous vegetable life, and an encouraging proof of the quality of the soil. The yield of nuts, berries, grapes, plums, and other wild fruits, was immense, and these for years, perhaps centuries, had been dropping and

The surface of the country was beautifully diversified by hill and valley; by the rough, mountainous region of the eastern half of the county, and the level, beautifully undulating lands of the western half, varied by, here and there, a small swamp, pond, prairie, lakelet, spring or running stream - almost every variety of natural scenery appeared to the eye of the pioneer.

Along the streams, on the bottom land, and also on the more level or second bottom lands grew the walnut, butternut, sycamore, hickory, sugar, maple, hackberry, white, black and blue ash, linden, white and red elm, and the beech, which, however, prevailed prigcipally in the central and western parts of the county; together with the box-elder, red and yellow plum, black-haw, crab-apple, red-bud, dog-wood, iron-wood, American multi-flora, arrowwood, kinnakinnick, June berry, and a few others. These were found in various places on the above described lands.

The gum, cucumber and sassafras trees were found on the clay formation, while on the hills, the different varieties of oak abounded, with a small sprinkling of the tulip or yellow poplar, and, in limited numbers, most of the above mentioned as abounding in the level lands.

On Flint ridge the chestnut was the prevailing wood. At the Licking Narrows, in the glens of the Rocky fork and on the tall peaks along that stream generally; and on the eastern bank of North fork, as well as on the south side of Licking river, cedar, pine, hemlock, laurel and other evergreens peculiar to mountainous regions, prevailed to a considerable extent.

Many of the grape-vines on the bottom lands were of enormous size, approximating in thickness a man's body. These sometimes spread themselves through the branches of half a score or more of the largest trees, completely shutting out the sun-light, and bearing immense quantities of fruit. The huckleberry, confined principally, to the hills, yielded fruit bountifully. Some other 'berries grew spontaneously, as the strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, dewberry, and, in a few localities, the cranberry. The prairie, or cranberry swamp in the eastern part of Washington township, and the swamp lands about the reservoir, some seasons yielded the cranberry in great abundance, which were, even in an early day, an article of traffic, participated in by the Indians as well as the pioneers. The early settlers laid up for use during the winter months, large quantites of these wild fruits, and also chestnuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, butternuts and hickorynuts. Paw-paws and Mayapples were plenty and were used to a considerable extent.

The ginseng plant abounded in most localities, in early times, and was an article of extensive traffic, both by whites and Indians, for many years after the first settlement of the county. Every merchant bought it. Beeswax, tallow, furs, hides, feathers, coon-skins and whiskey were not more general articles of trade and barter than ginseng. It disappeared as an article of commerce in the county about 1835, and has not since been known. The plant was exhausted. It was wholly of spontaneous growth and never an article of culture. It was a jointed taper root as large as a man's finger, -and when dry was of a yellowish white color, with -a mucilaginous sweetness of taste, somewhat re- -sembling licorice, accompanied with a very slight bitterness. It was exported to China, where it was in demand for its real or supposed medicinal virtues.

Between the Raccoon and South fork, near their fjunction, covering an area of a number of square smiles, and extending several miles west of Newark, existed, at the first settlement of the country, a grove of wild cherry, doubtless the growth of scenturies, which for numbers, size and quality were hardly equalled in any section of the United States. They were thick, tall, of wide-spreading branches, tolerably clear of knots, and generally sound, except those that gave indications of great age. 'The woodman's axe had been laid upon but few of these splendid trees, when first noticed in 1825; but not long after, their commercial value became known, and when the Ohio canal opened to Cincinnati and converted into lumber for furniture. But few of these trees now remain to mark the spot where once stood this famous orchard. The concentric circles of many of them indicated that they were centuries old; fixing the date of their origin in the pre-historic age of the country. Many of them stood on the works of the Mound Builders.

When the wave of white settlers first touched the borders of Licking county, a great variety of wild animals contended with the Indian for supremacy. Some of the native animals of this primeval forest had gradually given way to the general westward movement of the white race. The buffalo was gone, probably never to return, at least in any number. A few years after the first settlement, probably about 1803, a small herd, six or eight in number, strayed from their usual haunts further west, and reached a point a short distance east of where Wills creek empties into the Muskingum. Here for a day or two they were pursued by the late John Channel, a famous hunter and pioneer, and perhaps by others, but without success so far as Mr. Channel was concerned. This information is given on the authority of Adam Seymour, who was here at that time, and Mr. E. S. Woods, who obtained the information from Mr. Channel himself. This was probably the last sight of wild buffaloes east of the Scioto.

The elk, too, was gone when the pioneers came, but the numerous wide-spreading antlers he once carried, were found profusely scattered in the forest, showing conclusively that he had once been here in considerable numbers, and at no remote period; but no living wild elk was ever discovered here by the pioneers.

Panthers were not numerous, but occasionally one was seen or heard, and a few were killed during the first ten or fifteen years after the first settlement. An Indian, early in 1805, killed one near

Newark, which was supposed to have been the mate of one killed in the same year, near his residence, one mile north of Newark, by Mr. Jacob Wilson. Panthers disappeared from this section about 1812.

Bears were more numerous and remained longer; an occasional straggler being seen at intervals of many years, until 1846, when two were killed by Alpheus Channel. These were, probably, the last seen in the county. Lewis Farmer informed Mr. Isaac Smucker that he killed one in 1806, near Granville, that weighed four hundred pounds. Bruin was hard on young domestic animals, pigs particularly, he had a good appetite for, and it was with great difficulty that the pioneers were able to raise their own pork.

Wolves were found in great abundance, and long continued to be a great annoyance to the settlers. The legislature encouraged their extermination by laws which authorized the payment of liberal sums for wolf scalps, both old and young. The records of the county commissioners show that large sums were paid the pioneers of the county for wolf scalps; four dollars being the price for full grown and two dollars for those less than full size. They have long since disappeared.

Deer were very abundant, and for many years after the first settlement, supplied the pioneers with most of their animal food. The pioneers were mostly hunters, and the chase yielded them much profit as well as amusement. So numerous were the deer in early times that an hour's hunt was generally sufficient for securing a fine buck or the more palatable doe or fawn. So plenty and tame were they that they were killed frequently with a shot-gun charged only with squirrel shot.

Gray foxes, raccoons and ground-hogs were plenty, and hunting them afforded fine sport. The two latter of these are yet found in limited numbers, but the first has, probably, entirely disappeared.

Red foxes, catamounts, wild-cats and porcupines, were found in large numbers, but they early disappeared, except the first named, which may, perhaps, even yet, be occasionally found.

Rabbits and squirrels, if not here before the settlement of the county, came soon after in great numbers, and still remain. They seem to follow rather than precede the settlements.

The beaver and otter were here in considerable - numbers, and were much sought after by the trapper for their valuable furs. The former has long since disappeared, and the latter is exceedingly scarce, if indeed, any remain.

Wild turkeys were also very abundant in pioneer days, and so continued for many years, affording no inconsiderable portion of the food of the early settlers. They were so numerous and. tame that they could be procured by the hunter on very short notice. They are yet occasionally found in the woods.

Quails are not natives of the wilderness; neither are crows, black-birds, blue-birds nor turtle-doves, but they all became plenty after the settlement of the county, and still remain in moderate quantities.

Birds of prey, such as turkey-buzzards or vultures, hawks, ravens, owls and eagles, were very numerous, but have been slowly disappearing, par ticularly the eagle, which is now seldom seen.

The streams abounded in fish of large size. Elias Hughes once gigged or speared a pike, which, when suspended to the top of his cabin door reached to the floor. The pike were from two to five feet in length. Isaac Stadden once, in early times, shot a pike at "high banks" in the Licking, near his residence, that measured nearly six feet in length. He ran a stick through its gills, and when placed on his shoulder the tail of the fish touched the ground. The pike has almost, if not entirely, disappeared from the waters of the county.

there were no eels. The white perch and sucker were numercus and of large size; the black jack and clear jack were here and grew large, but have long since disappeared. The streams, no less than the forests, contributed to the support of the early settlers. Indeed so plenty were game, fish, fur animals, and the fruits and other spontaneous productions that it was hardly necessary to till the ground to procure subsistence.

Serpents were of many varieties and in great abundance. Especially numerous were the rattlesnake, the copper-head viper, blacksnake, garter snake and watersnake. They were often found in the cabins of the settlers and even in their beds. It was not unusual for the settlers to be bitten by them, but few, if any, deaths occurred from this cause, as the settlers understood the treatment of snake bites.

There was a snake den on the south bank of Licking river, a mile below Newark, in the year 1803, which the settlers determined to break up. They accordingly procured a quantity of powder, and blew it up, the snakes flying high in the air, and in every direction, killing many of them; still the survivors were sufficiently numerous to be more or less annoying and troublesome.

For many years the people were troubled with snakes, but the. venomous kind have long since disappeared. Scorpions and lizards abounded, and were not in high favor with the pioneers.

Insects of various kinds were numerous and troublesome, Spiders, particularly, were 'plenty and of large size, Gnats, hornets, yellow-jackets, musquitoes and horse-flies were in great abundance and exceedingly annoying to man and beast.

The wolf and the more venomous serpents were the most formidable and annoying enemies of the early settlers. Panthers were much dreaded, but fortunately were not numerous. The fox, mink and pole-cat frequently made raids on the hen-roost.

The distinct class known in pioneer times as the hunter, a class of which Elias Hughes and John Channel were fair representatives, has pretty nearly gone out of existence. So also has the class known as the trapper, represented by Billy Dragoo and Joel Williams. Those also known as fishermen, represented by John Sparks and John Scammahorn, have almost disappeared as a distinct class. People change, and conform their. lives to the times in which they live.