Stark County, Illinois - Chapter 1: Physical Features, Geology, Etc, 1916

The Water Supply

Stark County is situated northwest of the center of the state, its western Hue being about fifty miles from tlie INIississippi River at Keithsburg. and its northern bounthiry is eighty-seven miles from the \\'isc()nsin state line. On the north it is bounded by the counties of Rureau and Henry; on the east l)y Rureau and Marshall counties; on the south by Peoria County, and on the west by Knox and Heiu-y cdunties. It embraces Congressional townshi])s 12 and 13 north. Range o east; townships 12. l.'i and U, Range (i; and townships 12. I. "J and 14, Range 7. As each of these townships contains thirty-six square miles, the total area of the county is 288 square miles.

The general surface of the county is slightly undulating, or rolling, except in the vicinity of the Spoon River and at some places along Indian Creek, where it is more or less broken. More than nine-tenths of the 184.320 acres responds easily to cultivation, and the remaining tenth is by no means waste land, though its cultivation is attended by greater effort. Natural drainage is afforded by the Spoon River. Indian and AValnut creeks, Cooper's Defeat, Camping Run, Jack Creek, ]Mud Run, Jug Run and a number of smaller streams.

The Spoon River is composed of two branches. The East Fork rises in Rureau County and the West Fork in Henry County, the former flowing in a southwesterly direction and the latter toward the southeast until they form a junction in the northeastern part of Toulon Township, Stark Countj'. From this point the main stream follows a general southerly course through the townships of Toulon and Essex. It finally empties into the Illinois River near the town of Havana, Mason County. The Indian name of this stream was "]Maquon," which in the Pottawatomi language means "Feather," certainly a more euphonious name than the one adopted by the white people.

Indian Creek, the second largest stream in the county, has its source not far from the town of Galva, Henry County. It enters Stark County about two miles west of the northeast corner of Goshen Township, and follows a general southeasterly direction until it empties into the Spoon River a short distance above the old settlement known as Slackwater. This creek takes its name from the fact that when the first white men came to what is now Stark County they found a few Indians living along its banks.

Walnut Creek, so named because of the number of walnut trees that once grew along its course, rises near the little village of Xekoma, Henry County, whence it flows southeast until it enters Stark County a little south of I^afayette. Its course is then almost south through Goshen and West Jersey townships until it mingles its waters with those of the Spoon River in the northwestern part of Peoria County.

The creek known as Cooper's Defeat begins in the southern part of Bureau County. Its general course is westward and it finally empties into the East Fork of the Spoon River in the southwest corner of Osceola Township. About three miles above its mouth it bends southward into Penn Township, where William and Jeremiah Cooper were frozen to death in the severe snow storm just before Christmas in is:n, from which incident the creek takes its name. A further account of this event Avill be found in another chapter.

Some seven or eight miles south of Coojjer's Defeat and flowing in the same general direction is Cam])ing Rim, or Camp Creek, as it is sometimes called. It has its beginning a short distance east of Camp Grove, in INIarshall County, and joins the Spoon River about a mile and a half west of the little village of Stark. Before the advent of the railroad emigrant parties frequently encamped in the grove near the headwaters of the creek, from which custom it took its name.

Still farther south is ]Mud (or ]Muddy) Run. \\hich rises in ^Slarshall County and flows westAvard through the southern part of Valley Township until it empties into Camping Run about half a mile from the mouth of the latter. Its name indicates its character.

Jack Creek rises near the western boundary of Elniira Township and Hows in a southeasterly direction througli that township and Toulon, finally falling into the Spoon River a short distance below the village of JNlodena.

.Jug Riui parallels the course of Jack Creek about two miles farther south. It is a short stream and is all in Toulon Township. Of the smaller streams the most important are Fitch Creek, which rises in Knox County and touches the northwest corner of Goshen Township; and Silver Creek, a tributary of the East Fork of the Spoon River in the northeast corner of Osceola Township.

Originally the greater part of the county was prairie, with groves of timber interspersed in such a way that none of the prairies consisted of more than a few square miles. The largest prairie was between Cooper's Defeat Creek and Camping Run, in what are now Pcmi and \'alley townships. The absence of timber \ii)on the tracts of land called prairies has been the subject of considerable speculation among geologists. geogra]ihcrs and botanists as to the cause of the vast, treeless plains in the ^Middle West and the smaller tracts of similar character in other parts of the country. It is a notable fact that no prairies existed east of the State of Ohio. Professor Whitney, who made .some observations on this subject, says:

"The cause of the absence of trees on the prairies is due to the physical character of the soil, and especially its exceeding fineness, which is prejudicial to the growth of anything but a superficial vegetation, the smallness of the particles of the soil being an insuperable barrier to the necessary access of air to the roots of dee])ly-rootcd vegetation, such as trees. \Vherever, in the midst of the extraordinary tine soil of the prairies, coarse and gravelly patches exist, there dense forests occur."

Dr. Charles A. White, who held the office of state geologist in Iowa for several years in the early '7()s, made a somewhat extended investigation of the subject and reached a different conclusion from that of Professor Whitney. After calling attention to the fact tliat ])rairies are found resting uj)on all kinds of bed rock, from the Azoic to the Cretaceous ages, and that all kinds of soil - alluvial, drift and lacrustral, including sand, clay, gravel and loam - are frecinently found upon the same prairie, he says: positive assurance that their present existence is not due to the influence of the chmate, the character or composition of tlie soil, nor to the character of any underlying formations.

"There seems to be no good reason why we should regard the forests as any more natural or normal condition than are the prairies. Indeed it seems the more natural inference that the occupation of the surface has taken place by dispersion from original centers, and that they encroached upon the unoccupied surface until they were met and checked by the destructive power of fires. The prairies doubtless existed as such almost immediately after the close of the glacial epoch."

Doctor White's statement, that the prairies are not due to any character or composition of the soil, is borne out by the fact that in the towns that have been built up on the prairies, and in the artificial groves around many of the farm houses in the West, trees have grown M'ith as much vigor as though the surface had once been covered by a gnjw th of native timber. But, no matter how the prairies originated, the pioneers of Stark County found upon them a soil - a dark loam in .structure - that \\hen properly drained and rightly cultivated is unsurpassed in productiveness.

Along the streams the first settlers foimd belts of timber, vai'ying in width, the principal varieties of native trees being oak, maple, linden, hickory, black walnut and elm. Smaller and less important species were the dogwood, hawthorn, red bud. wild plum, crab apple, etc. The soil of the timbered lands is lighter in color than that of the ])rairies and not so deep, but with the right kind of care and cultivation it can be made to produce excellent crops.

Before the plow and the spade of civilization disturbed the nati\'e vegetation of the ])rairies the land was covered with flowers of various hues. First in im])ortance was probably the tall plant known as "Queen of the prairie," which often grew to a height of six feet and bore at the top a large cluster of flowers resembling the blossoms of the peach tree. Then there were the white, yellow and ]Hu-])le lady slipper, the golden rod, the buttercup, the INIay api)le. the blue bell, the forget-me-not, several members of the phlox family, the best know n of which was the modest little flower known as the sweet william. and numerous others, all of which have disappeared except in very rare instances.

Along the banks of the streams and around the ponds could be found three or four species of water lilies, the cowslip, the cat tail and blue flags, various kinds of mint, etc. In the Avoods the wild mari- gold, tlie bell flower, the yellow honey suckle, aiieinones, the clematis, the trumpet creeper and the modest violet grew ahuiidantly, and some of these flowers are still to be seen in a few secluded places, wjicrc the ravages of civilized man have not yet encompassed their destruction, in the early days, before the physician and the drug store had become established institutions, many herbs were gathered and preserved for their medicinal properties. Foremost among these were the horehound, boneset, pennyroyal, catnip, wild garlic, barberiy, yellow water dock, burdock, wild senna, gentian, lobelia, and a species of wormwood. A i'eA\- straggling siJecimens of these plants may be seen, but whei-e they once grew in pi'oi'usion are now the cultivated fields of the thrifty husbandman.

Time was when the l)ison. or American I)uff"alo, roamed in great berds over the prairies of Illinois. At several points along the Spoon IJivei-, within the limits of Stark County, large quantities of the bones of these animals have !)een found. It is supposed that these bone heaps are due to the bufl'aloes seeking shelter in the timber along the river from some violent storm, and that here the whole herd perished. What the storms failed to accomjjlish toward the extinguishment of the bison the rifle of the pioneer and the encroachments of civilization did accomplish, and they have gone, never to return.

The Virginia deer was also once plentiful in what is now Stark County and venison formed a considerable jjortion of the meat sui)i)ly for the family of the early settler. Occasionally a black bear could be seen prowling about some frontier settlement, but when some pioneer "drew a bead" on him with the long barreled rifle his tenure of life was limited to a few seconds at most, and then the family ^^ould least on bear meat for a short season.

Although not so plentiful as the bufl'alo or tlie deei\ tiie elk was one of the native animals of the S])oon River \'allev. The beaver, ottei', nniik. raccoon and nmskrat were the best known of the furbearing animals and in early days were tra])ped in large numbei's for the revenue that their skins woidd bring. The beaver and otter have joined the bufi^alo, bear, deer and elk in oblivion and oidy on r;u-e occasions are any of the others to be seen.

Among the predatory animals, or beasts of ])rey, the prairie and timber wolf, the lynx, the pantbei-. the catamomit. the wildcat, the grav and red fox were those most common. Of these the wolves were probably tbe most troublesome. In JNlarcb, IH^J', the county commissioners offered a bounty of $1 for the scalp of each big wolf and ;50 cents for that of each prairie wolf "six months old killed in Stark County during the year 1844." As late as December 18, 1884, a large wolf was killed a few miles west of Toulon, and on ^Nlay 23, 188.3, the county clerk paid E. H. Bates, of Osceola, $24 on fourteen young wolf scalps. There are still living in the county jjersons who can I'emember how, when they were children, they were wont to cuddle more closely together in their beds as the mournful howl of some wolf, engaged upon his nightly foraging expedition, came to their ears in the lonely cabin on the frontier.

Other wild animals that were common in the early days were the IMaryland marmot - commonly called the woodchuck or ground hog - the rabbit, which is still found in considerable mmibers, several species of squirrels, the skunk, the opossum, the weasel and a few others. The gray squirrel, the striped and spotted prairie squirrel have disapi)eared aTul the other varieties are found only in limited numbers compared with former years.

In October, 1867, Robert Church killed an American eagle near the bridge over Indian Creek on the road leading from Toulon to Lafayette. The bird was a magnificent specimen, measuring seven feet from tip to tip of its wings. So far as can be learned this M'as the last eagle killed in the county, where the bald eagle was once (piite common and occasionally the golden eagle cotild be seen. Closely allied to the eagle in habits, but much smaller, are the hawks, several s|)ecies of which were once quite nmnerous in Stark County. Those best known were the pigeon hawk, the sparrow hawk. Cooper's, the sharp-shinned, the red-tailed and the swallow-tailed hawks, while the fish hawk, the red shouldered hawk and the marsh hawk were more rare.

Of the owls, the most common was the ordinary screech owl. Next was the barred or barn owl. The long and short eared, the great horned owl and the snowy owl were to be seen in the smaller numbers, the last named being rather rare.

Game birds, or birds used for food, were abundant. The wild turkey, several species of wild ducks, the wild goose, the loon and the gull Mere the largest of such fowl, though some of the smaller varieties made u]) in numbers what they lacked in size. The most familiar of this class were the prairie chicken and some other members of the grouse family, the quail, the snipe, of which tliere were several kinds, the plover, and last, but not least in importance, the passenger pigeon. Prior to 187o great flocks of wild pigeons numbering thousands of birds would pass over the county during the migratory seasons. At night they wouhl pause to roost in some forest and would perch upon the rimhs of the trees in such numbers that often branches several inches in diameter would give wav under the weight. Those were redletter days for the sportsman and the birds were killed by hundreds, merely for the sport of the killing. In the early '70s the size of the flocks began to diminisli and a few years later the ])assenger pigeon disappeared altogether. The question has l)een asked many times where they went or what became of them, as they have not been heard from anywliere. Their disappearance is still shrouded in mystery.

Other birds once seen here in considerable numbers that are now entirely extinct or exceedingly rare were the turkey buzzard, the C'aroliit* parrot, the whippoorwill, the cuckoo, the crane, the heron, the common crow, the tintle dove and quite a number of song birds, such as the thrush, the finch family, several species of warblers, the oriole, etc. Then tliei'e were the swallows, of which there were several kinds, the bunting, the little wren, the titmouse, the chickadee, the native sparrows, the red throated humming bird, the meadow lark, the nuthatch, the fly catcher, the jn'airie skylark, the pewee, the blue bird and some others that have entirely (lisa])peared or are extremely rare. The ax, the plow and the scythe destroyed many of their accustomed haunts and drove them to seek other (piarters, and the pugnacious, worthless English sparrow has added to the destructive work of man in driving out many of the native birds. The woodpecker, the l)lack bird and the uliiquitous lilue jay are still seen in the county, but in smaller numbers tlian formerly, and on rare occasions some of the other species mentioned above are to be met with, as thougli they had returned to mourn over the scenes of their l)y-gone ha])piness. It is to be regretted that greater and timely protection was not given to the song ])irds and insect-eating varieties, which could have done so much toward adding to the cheerfulness of the liiiiiian familj' and the protection of the farmers' crops.

Although America is called the Xew ^Vorld, geologists believe that it is older than any of the continents of the Eastern Hemis])here. P]-ofessor Agassiz says: "Here Avas the first dry land lifted out of the waters; here the first shores were Avashed by the ocean that envelo])ed all the earth besides; and while Europe was represented onlv by islands rising here and there above the sea, America already

It is not witliin the province of a history such as tliis to discuss the methods by which geok)gists readied this conclusion, but other eminent autliorities, as well known in scientific circles as Professor Agassiz, are inclined to favor the same theory regarding the age of the continent upon which we live. If their hypothesis be correct. Stark County may have been the home of the creatures of the reptilian type belonging to the Jura-Trias and Cretaceous eras, while the so-called Old World was still under water.

The first official geological survey of the conditions existing in Stark County was made by H. A. Green, under the auspices of the state geological survey, and published in the report for 1870. ]Mr. Green found in his investigations that all the stratified rocks of the county belong to the Coal INIeasures, including all the lower portion of the series from coal No. 7 to coal Xo. 2, inclusive. Coal Xo. 7 was observed in only a few places, the most notable of which was in section 10, township 14, range 7, where S. C. Francis was engaged in operating a mine near the east fork of the Spoon River. A section of the shaft at this mine, as given by Mr. Green, shows the following formation :

Concerning the product of this mine and the coal deposits in the vicinity, Mr. Green says: "Tliis coal appears to occupy the ])osition of coal No. 7, and prohal)ly l»eh)ngs to that seam. The coal worked at the Bradford shaft, which is hut a short distance from here, in section 21, is thought to he some thirty or forty feet helow, and is probahly No. G."

With regard to the coal deposits in general his report says : "Stark County has an abundant supply of coal, which is at present derived mainly from coal No. i>. It crops out along the West Fork in JOImii-a Township, along the Spoon River in Toulon, at intervals for about twenty miles, and can i)robably be found and worked along the streams and their tributaries for the entire distance. This coal varies in thickness from 2I/2 to 6 feet, seldom reaching the extreme, but averaging from 3\-> to .) feet. Immense quantities of coal have been taken from this seam at its outcrops along the diff'erent streams. In Osceola Township one shaft has been sunk near the East Fork, and several others are pai'tially completed. Shafts have also been sunk at ]Modena. near Wyoming, in Toulon Township and at Cox's Mill in Essex Township."

That was wi'itten in 1870. Since then several new developments have been made in the mining industry. Coal No. (i is the ])i'inci])al seam worked in the county. It first appears in the bluffs along the West Fork, in the southeast part of section .'}. townshij) 14, range 0. From that point to the southeast quarter of section 10, in the same township and range, it has been worked at intervals along the west side of the stream. In section 16 a number of openings have been made and considerable quantities of coal have been taken out. Here the coal crops out of the bluff, some ten or fifteen feet above the level of the creek. The seam nms from fom- to five feet thick, with a clay parting of about two inches near the middle. No. 0 seam is also worked at what is kno\\n as the Bradford shaft, located on the east side of the East Fork in section 28, township 14, range 7. The shaft here shows as follows:

At IModena the vein ranges from 41/.' to .jl/ feet in thickness and is rarely more than thirty feet below the surface. Coal has also been noted in the bed of Jack Creek, in section 4, township 13, range 6, where some of the deposits have been worked a little. In sections 2. 11 and 12, of the same township and range, a short distance south of jNIodena, the coal crojjs out along the bluff from eight to ten feet above the bed of the creek and several mines were in operation in this part of the county at the time of IMr. Green's sur^'ey.

According to Green, coal Xo. 4 is found at only one place in the county, viz: in section 19, township 12. range .5. near Walnut Creek, about two miles southwest of the "N'illage of ^Vest Jersey. Here he found a vein of coal 41/. feet in thickness, below which was a layer of impure cannel coal, varying from six to ten inches in thickness and containing the fossil remains of plants and fishes. The vein of No. 4 coal at this point is only about fifteen feet below the surface. Further mention of the coal deposits and their develoiMiient will be found in the chapter on Finance and Industry.

Building Stone

When INIr. Green visited the county in his geological research in 1870, he found only a small quantity of building stone of value. The best deposit of limestone worked at that time was in the quarries in sections 21-22, township 14, range 7. a short distance northwest of Bradford. This he pronounced the largest bed exposed anvwhere in the countv, being from six to twelve feet thick, but in thin ledges, none of which was over six inches thick. The stone from this (iiiarry is of a light drab coh)r, conij)act and of even textnre, moderately hard and stands exposure to tlie weather. It can be l)urned into a lime suitable for masonry, but too dark in color to be used for plastering. Near the Spoon River, in section 14, township 1"2, range G, jNlr. Green found a deposit of sandstone which he considered the best in the county. About three miles west of this, in section 17 and near Inilian Creek, he found another sandstone deposit, \\hich furnishes a fair ([uality of building material. An old house near the quarry, constructed of this stone, shows that the weather has l)ut little effect upon it after years of exposure. Another bed of sandstone is in section 20, township 12, range 5, near ^Valnut Creek; a soft sandstone exists in considerable quantities in section Ki, township 14, range (i, and a better quality is found in section 13, township 13, range 6, but neither of these deposits has been worked to any extent. The thick vein of sandstone (22 feet (J niches) in tiie Jiradford coal mine could be used for building purposes, but the fact that it lies from thiity-five to i'orty feet below the surface has prevented its develoi)ment.

Far back in the geologic past, while the coal beds of Stark County were in j^rocess of formation, the siu'face was probably one vast marsh covered with tangled masses of vegetation and inhabited only by reptiles. ^Vbout the close of the Tertiary period came the I'leistocene or "Ice Age," during which the upper Mississippi Valley was covered l)y one vast sheet of ice called a glacier. This glacier extended from tile country about the (ireat Lakes to the Rocky ^lountains on the west, and southward to about the latitude of St. Louis. It was formed in the northern part of the continent by successive falls of snow, each of wliich added to the weight of the great mass liclow until it was compressed into one solid body of ice. After many years of the formative process, a change in tlie tenqicrature started the glacier to moving slowly soutliward, carrying with it great bow Idcrs. clays, soils, etc.. to be deposited u])on the bed rocks of a region i'ar distant from that where they were first placed by the hand of nature. As the huge mass moved slowly along, the bowlders and other hard substances at the bottom of the glacier left scratches (called stri;e In- the geologists) u])f)n the bed rocks, and from these markings the course of the glacier can be determintd w Itli a fair degree of accuracy. Examinations of the stria' at various places in the IMississippi Vallev,

-(\.s the ice melted in the warmer latitude, the materials carried by the glacier Aiere deposited upon the bed rock in the form of drift, composed of till, loess and alluvium. It was through this method that the great swamp above mentioned underwent a change. At the close of the Pleistocene the earth's surface, over which the glacier had ])assc(l. was void of either animal or vegetable life. In time the action of tile rain and wind gradually leveled the surface, the heat from the sun warmed it, and life in the most primitive forms made its appearance.

l"V)r the rich heritage of soil in Stark County, the region is indebted to the great glacier that once overflowed the country. In its slow mai-ch it ground up the rocks over which it passed, mixed the fresh rock flour with the granites of British America and Northern jNIinnesota, with the pulverized limestones and shales of the more southern latitudes, and de2)osited these materials upon the rocks of earlier geologic periods. Everywhere the soil is the product of rock disintegration. In Stark County the glacial drift is from twenty to sixty feet deep, giving it one of the most fertile soils in the state.

It was through the action of the glacier that the surface of Xorthern Illinois was formed. At the edge of the glacier, as it moved forA\ai-<l. it left a ridge called a "lateral moraine." Where two glacial bodies came together a larger ridge running parallel to the stria^ was formed and is called a "median moraine." At the terminus of the ice sheet, where all the remaining solid materials carried by the glacier were deposited, the ridge thus formed is known as the "terminal moraine." As no evidences of a moi-aine of any kind have been noticed in Stark County, it is almost certain that tliis portion of Illinois was in the heart of the glacier, an indication that is furtlier borne out by the almost uniform thickness of the drift when comjnired with those parts of the country where the moraines are known to exist.

Character Of The Driit

At the bottom of the glacial deposits lies the till - called by some geologists the lower till - composed of a blue clay or a dark shale, charged with liowlders and sometimes mixed with sand. This till is seen in the strata immediately overlying the Coal Pleasures, as shown by the sections of shafts given in the preceding pages.

Above tb.e loess conies the alluvium or .soil, which is made up of the lighter materials cariied i)y the glacier, to which has been added a large volume of decayed vegetable matter that has accumulated since the close of the glacial epoch. As this portion of the drift constitutes the surface, and is seen everywhere in Stark County, it is too well known to requii-e further description.

The bowldeis cuinnionly called "nigger heads" that may be seen in greater or less numbers in all parts of the state, are uiuiuestionably of glacial origin. They are of a different texture from the bed rock, a fact that sustains the theory that they are foreign to this part of the country. IMost of them are found below the surface, but those left u[)()ii the higher portions of the glacial deposits have remained where they can still be seen, the lighter materials of the alluvium having been deposited around them without disturbing their resting places.

There are but comparatively few natural springs in the county. ]Most of the wells derive their svqjply of water from veins in the drift. only a few of them penetrating to the Coal ^Measiu'cs. The deepest well in the county is the one at Toulon, from which the town's water 'su])]ily is taken. It is over fourteen hundred feet in de])th. A further descrijjtion of it, as well as of the wells at Wyoming and Bradford, will be found in connection with the history of those towns.