Dubois County, Indiana - Chapter 2: Local Geology of Dubois County, 1910

Knowledge of natural objects adds to our appreciation of them - Exact location of Dubois county; of the soldiers' monument - Size of county - Altitude of a fewplaces - Patoka river receives the surface drainage - Slope of hills; cause - Report of State Geologist Cox; of State Geologist Blatchley - The "highland" home of Mrs. h. L. Cooper, in Boone township - Level land northwest of Jasper - The glacial drift - Probability of oil and gasin Boone and Cass townships - Patoka river during the pre-glacial times; high banks of river on the south and probable cause - Frog island - Enlow's mill - Patoka Lake Plain - Government ditches - Limestone deposits in Columbia township - Stone coal - The great book of Nature, open and free, iu Dubois county.

It is well known that some knowledge of natural objects greatly adds to our appreciation of them, besides affording a deep source of pleasure in revealing the harmony, law, and order by which all things in this wonderful world are governed. Hills, plains, valleys, streams, and forests, when we begin to observe them, seem to become more than ever our companions - -to take us into their confidence, and to teach us many a lesson about the great part they play, or have played, in the general order of things. Our admiration of the beauty of things about us is not lessened, but rather increased, when we learn what part they have played in the very formation of our homes, or of societ}' in general.

Our own county becomes a subject full of life and interest when so considered, or when its past life, in the mineral world, is brought to light. The story of the hills, as written on their own rocky tablets, and on the very boulders lying loose on their sloping sides, and as interpreted by geologists, is a long one ; for it takes us far back into the dim ages of the past and, like a serial story, may always be continued. To those who follow the stony science it is quite as fascinating as a modern romance, and a great deal more wonderful, thus illustrating the old saying, "Truth is more wonderful than fiction."

From a geological and scientific standpoint there are man}^ things of interest in Dubois county. We shall not attempt to cover all or even refer to all. Situated, as it was for many years, away from the great highways of travel, it failed to receive, from geologists and other students of nature, the attention it deserved. Occasionally, it is mentioned in the daily papers b}' some correspondent possessing but a superficial knowledge of the county and it inhabitants, which usually results in an adverse criticism.

To be technical, Dubois county covers 19' 3" latitude and 20' 15" longitude, though it is so located that it is twenty-two miles north and south and only twenty-one east and west. The minutes that measure its lati- tilde are on a great meridian passing through the poles of the earth ; hence, are longer than those used here in measuring its longitude, which are, in a general sense, on Buckingham's base line, a circle 38°, 2S' and 20" north of the equator, therefore a smaller circle, which also means short minutes of longitude. As a matter of reference in locating our county, let us add that our soldiers" monument is 38°, 23' and 56" north latitude and 86°, 56' and 27" west longitude from Greenwich.

The altitudes of the count}- vary considerably. Here are a few places, mentioned because easily located : Birdseye, 71 1 feet above the sea ; Mentor, 717; Kyana, 503; St. Anthony, 487; Bretzville, 529; Huntingburg (at station), 462; DufF, 467; Velpen (in Pike, near our line), 475; Johnsburg, 500; Jasper (at station), 467; at river, 450. The foregoing figures were taken from the "Dictionary of Altitudes," issued by the Government. The profile of the Southern Railroad places the elevations higher than the reports to the general government show. The profiles may refer to the natural surface, while the government reports may refer to the track elevation; however, it does not matter for our present purpose. The U. S. Geological survey, more recent, and certainly far more accurate, places the town of Ferdinand 525 feet above the sea, and Johnsburg 486. Ireland is placed at 476; Zoar, at our county line, 563; Velpen, 490; and Otwell, 496. (These last two places are in Pike, but near our county line.) Railroad surveys place Bailey creek, south of Dubois, at 480 feet, and the banks of Dillon creek, near the Orange county line, at 523. Of course, Portersville, Haysville, Kellerville, Cr5^stal, and Hillham, all occupy higher altitudes than Jasper. The high hill just south of Kellerville is 265 feet above the waters of the east fork of White river, and about 700 feet above the sea.

In 1835, the legislature of Indiana had levels taken in Dubois county preparatory to the Wabash and Erie canal surveys. These levels show the Patoka, at the dam at Jasper, to be 450 feet above the sea, and 123 feet below the waters of Lake Erie. What do all these altitudes indicate? You will notice that the elevation of Jasper at the river is lower than that of any other town mentioned. Apparently this makes Dubois county one basin or immense funnel, with Jasper as the center and Patoka river the opening through which nearly all the surface drainage of the county passes. To be technically as w^ell as grammatically correct, citizens of Jasper should use the preposition "up" in speaking of going to other towns in Dubois county, as "Up to Ireland," "Up to St. Anthony," "Up to Ferdinand," etc.

The hills of Dubois county, as a rule, slope gently toward the south and southwest and are abrupt and steep on the north and northeast. It is said that the rains and winds which for countless ages have swept down upon Dubois county, have been from the south and southwest, thus reducing the surfaces of the hills to gentle slopes. We mention this observation and others for what they are worth and leave the subject for the consideration of the reader.

It is well known that miners of coal, in what are known as slope mines in Dubois county, prefer entering a hill on the southwest and driving their entries northeast, because in that way the water in the mines finds its own way out.

As a general rule, nearly all of Dubois county is what is known as "highland," that is, land higher than that covered by the drift and alluvium of the glacial period.

There is something peculiar about the level tract of land north and west of Jasper, and reaching past Otwell and down to Petersburg. Some of the earlier writers say there were no prairies in Dubois county, yet, in 1871, State Geologist Cox marks Boone township and the north half of Madison township in this county as "level tableland, formerly lake bottom and prairie." while in 189S State Geologist Blatchley's reports call it "Patoka Lake Plain."

As a rule, all of this tract is level or nearly so. Rock is absent, quicksand is reached frequently only twelve feet from the surface, while in many places the basins of large ponds or lakes are plainly to be seen, and frequenth' need draining to become profitable for farming purposes. The "highland" home of Mrs. Josephine Cooper, in Boone township, is an exception. The glacial silt was exhausted before this high hill became covered. The height reached by the silt is plainh- to be seen, while at the sand near the foot of the hill water flows continuously. The hill is perhaps sixty feet above the plain around it, thus showing that ages ago before the silt covered the surrounding hills it was "monarch of all it surveyed," which it practically remains, since for miles around it becomes the beacon light to students of geology as they tread mother earth with hammer and sketch book.

This level land northwest of Jasper belongs to that vast level area produced in Indiana by the gradual melting of the great ice sheet reaching from here to Iowa, and eventually producing the prairies of Illinois and Indiana. Its eastern limit reaches to Monroe, Dubois and Posey counties. This is shown b}- bowlders sometimes found that are foreign to the highlands.

Scientific men say that gas is sunlight stored away in the earth for ages, eventually to produce heat for man's accommodation, and that oil is liquified sunlight bottled up in the earth for the same purpose. Coal is a solid of the same source and preserved for the same purpose. If this be true, perhaps the silt from the glacial drift served as a cover to the reservoir containing the deposits. The great coal fields of Indiana are below the level of this silt deposit. Notice that oil and gas are found in pockets below this silt deposit. The oil, gas, and salt wells at Loogootee, and thence around to Petersburg, seem to justify such a conclusion. This suggests that there might be oil and gas in Boone and Madison townships, in Dubois county. The drift and alluvial deposits of this territory vary in thickness from a few feet to twenty-six feet. The outlet to all this level land during glacial times appears to have been the low lands near Francisco, and Princeton in Gibson county, which the Wabash and Erie canal engineers found in constructing the canal.

The large level tract of land in Patoka and Cass townships, now drained by Hunley and Short creeks, is the bottom of what was an arm of the Patoka lake of glacial days. It reaches up to a point just south of the old Central M. E. Church cemetery, near the line between Patoka and Cass townships. Coal is found in Dubois, Pike, and Gibson counties down deep beneath this so-called Patoka Lake Plain.

It is quite probable that during pre-glacial times Patoka river flowed northwest of Frog island and through what is now known as Buffalo Pond to the head waters of Mill creek, eventually emptying into White river through Mill creek. The silt on the watershed between these two streams is pointed out by geologists, and banks of the probable stream seem visible. The observer will notice that, as a general thing, the high banks of Patoka river are on the south, or left hand side. The land south from the summits of Krempp's hill, Rees' hill, "Little Round Top" and Rieder's hill dropped through some movement of the crust of the earth, as the broken, abrupt rocks along Patoka river at Frog island and the iron bridge at Eckert's mill indicate. Thus Patoka river changed its course and followed the line of least resistance. Even to-day Patoka river above Jasper could be drained into White river at the mouth of Mill creek, at which place White river is lower than Patoka river is at Frog island. In fact, White river at Hindostan, that mysterious relic of the past, in Martin county, is only 438 feet above the sea.

The dropping, ages ago, of the land upon which Jasper is situated and through which the artesian well was drilled, may have something to do with the failure of the gas company, at Jasper, to reach gas before the drill had gone 1,009 feet.

Some geologists think that the change in the course of Patoka river was brought about by the advancement of the ice sheet during part of the glacial period, when the ice probably pushed as far south as Portersville, damming the streams and causing Patoka river to break through the narrow gorge at Frog island. This gorge is about 190 yards at the north end, 350 near the center, and about 200 at the south end. Rieder's hill, Jerger's hill, Stephenson's hill, west of Frog island, and Miller's hill and Herbig's hills, east of Frog island, were one continuous formation before Patoka river found its way south through the gorge at the island, and along the stony walls of the left hand bank.

Perhaps it is but tracing God's design upon the trestle-board of history to predict that some day a concrete dam will be constructed across the narrow gorge at Frog island. It would create a beautiful lake out of Buff"alo Pond and the low land around it. Enough power could be obtained to make Jasper the greatest manufacturing city in southern Indiana.

All Patoka river water above is compelled to pass through this narrow gorge, thus raising its height. Height in water is essential to power.

Water power was used in pioneer mills. Hence, Enlow's mill was built where the water had power. This old mill had much to do towards the selection of Jasper as a county seat. If you want to enter realms of speculation and idle fancy, you might say "ice forced the county seat from Portersville to Jasper."

This forcing- of the waters of Patoka southwest found resistance in the base of Conrad Eckert's hill and the silt in the rush found lodgment there. Thus to this very day, it may be seen when excavating for graves in the old graveyard "on the hill across the creek." Silt does not hold water, therefore the graves in that cemetery are not wet. But, let us remain closer to our subject. There are also evidences that Straight river and Hunlev creek flowed northwest past Otwell and emptied into White river. At any rate all these streams have been forced south, as is showm by the high banks on the south side.

On tlie Huntingburg road, near the southeast corner of section four on Gramelspacher's farm and stretching west, is a depression, indicating a river basin at some remote period.

A strange thing about the Patoka Lake basin, as seen to-day, is the fact that Flat creek, in Pike county, starts east of Petersburg, not far from White river and flows east about fifteen miles to Dubois county, turns south and empties into Patoka river, which in turn carries this same water west again, and only about five miles south of where it previously flowed east. Here we have within a dozen miles two streams flowing west with one between flowing east.

There were many low places in the Patoka Lake Plain, and these the State government had drained by ditches it constructed fifty or sixty years ago, and which are know^n as government ditches. These may be seen in Boone and Madison townships with good sized forest trees now growing on the banks thrown up in the excavating.

Dubois county has w^hat was knowm as the divide (watershed) between what pioneers called the "Wabash country" on the north and the Ohio river valley on the south. In the eastern part the limestone of Orange and Crawford counties meets the Mansfield sandstone of our own.

Columbia township has plenty of limestone deposits and is in position, so far as materials are concerned, to be the first township in the county in improved roads.

We might add here that in 1763 Col. Croghan first noticed coal in Indiana, "on the banks of the Wabash." In 1804 coal was noted in the land surveys of Dubois county. The northwest quarter of section twentysix, west of Haysville, was reserved by the general government, because the surveyors found coal there over one hundred years ago. One writer of early days says: "In Dubois county, in 1840, Mr. John O. Green, a small boy on a deer-hunting trip with his uncle, saw a vein of "new coal" opened with a mattock. This was considered wonderful, and it was called new coal, or stone coal, to distinguish it from charcoal, which had been used for smithing. Even to this day we hear very old people use the term "stone coal." All this now seems strange in the light of discovery, for we now know that our county has many veins of surface coal, the thickest vein recorded being five feet. It is said 300 out of its 428 square miles are underlaid by coal, of which forty square miles are workable.

At various places in Dubois county are to be seen objects of interest to geologists and other persons interested in nature and nature study. Our county is not devoid of many lessons nature teaches. Her caves open their mouths for you to enter; her mounds and Indian villages speak of the buried races of years ago. Native birds sing their sweetest carols; wild flowers show their brightest faces and send up their offerings of unadulterated fragrance. Trees present their trunks to the eye and hand of man and bend their boughs to the wall of heaven. The finny tribe of our waters invite investigation and classification, while native wild animals tell the story of their lives in their plays and gambols in our green woods and native heather. The mineral world bares its bosom to the eye of man, so that he who runs may read.

Suffice it to say that the great book of nature is as open and free in Dubois county as anywhere else, and that some day we hope some one will come this way who can read the history hidden in its waters and beneath its soil, and written upon its rocks and upon its green hillsides.

All this teaches how little man knows and how wonderful and all-powerful must be the Hand that shapes our lives and rules the destinies of worlds beyond our own.