Dubois County, Indiana - Chapter 5: Dubois County As a Primeval Forest, 1910

The "Barren" - Buffalo Trace - Gigantic iceberg - Three peculiar discoveries - "Cooper Hill" - Patoka lake basin - Value of county's original timber - Topography of county - Natural forest timber - Tulip poplar - Thick, dark forest - Forest undergrowth - Swamp land in Madison township - Corduroy roads - Forests of Dubois county one hundred years ago - List of indigenous trees - Milk-sickness; cause - A day of public prayer - List of smaller varieties of vegetation - Effect of the removal of vegetation on climate; on health - Abraham Lincoln - Daniel Boone.

No young Dubois county nimrod that strolls with his shot gun or rifle through the scattered patches of woods that now stand like islands in a great sea of cleared land, can get a good, adeqtiate idea of the conditions that prevailed in the forests of Dubois county, in iSoi, when the McDonalds found their way over the "Buffalo Trace" to the "Mud Holes" of Boone township.

At that time the county was an immense forest in which open spaces were very few, very small and very far between. In Ferdinand township there was one small open space called the "Barren."

On June 4, 18 14, a terrible tornado passed over Dubois county, following Patoka river. It was in the shape of a cone, with the apex downward, and as black as pitch, and "appeared to boil." It was about one mile wide, and destroyed much timber. Its path, the "barren," some ponds and the streams in the county were about the only places that admitted sunlight. Dubois county had one of the greatest hardwood forests in the Ohio valley.

To pioneers the prospect was very disheartening because of the immensity of the labor involved in clearing the forests for farming purposes. The labor was so great that it can hardly be imagined by the citizens of the present day. It was the fear of this labor, between 1800 and 1821, that caused the greater part of the emigrants of that time to follow the "Buffalo Trace" to the prairies of Illinois, where nature had bared it for the plow. In Dttbois county for many weary years the pioneers had to fight nature with their axes before the ground was ready for cultivation.

Some noted geologists claim that at one time a gigantic iceberg was plowing its way southward, and that it extended from the Jasper and Portersville road, in Dubois county, to Denmark, Iowa; that it melted and left the debris it had pushed down from the north to fill up the previous valleys, thus producing level land, which became prairies. In this connection, mention may be made of three peculiar discoveries in Dubois county, which tend to show a previous geological condition, namely: (i) In one of the boulders found near Holland was a large fish bone, with sawedged teeth, at first supposed to be a jaw-bone, but later pronounced a caudal or dorsal armature of a ray fish. (2) North of Holland are some "rock-houses," caused by the washing away of a softer lower strata of sandstone. Reports have it that remains of animals and human bones have been found in these rock-houses. (3) Near the mouth of Wolf creek, in Harbison township, part of a mastodon's skeleton was discovered.

The crown of the "Cooper Hill," in Boone township, was too high for the glacial debris to cover; otherwise all of Boone township and part of Madison township fell under this iceberg. The level land so produced is sometimes referred to as the "Patoka Lake basin." It may have been at one time prairie land, in fact is so regarded by some geologists; nevertheless, timber covered it at the time of the government surveys. It may not have been so very dense, and this may have had its influence in causing Boone township and Madison township to attract and hold the pioneers.

For more than three generations the battle for mastery has steadily raged, and though the forest is at last completely conquered, it has been at best perhaps a losing fight. If this county's original timber stood where it stood in 1800, it would to-day be worth $7,500,000. In view of this, and of the present and future needs of the county, it would be a good policy to re-forest a part of the rough land in the eastern part of the county and restore it, as far as possible, to its old condition.

The rough lands surrounding the head springs of the streams, and especially their valleys and banks, might be replanted. Perhaps no longtime investment would pay better, to say nothing of the improvement to the climate and general health. European experiences support this suggestion.

It will be best to get a general idea of the topography of Dubois county and of its forest conditions as they existed when the McDonalds trod the "trace." They were the first pioneers of the county, and the first permanent white inhabitants of this section. The county is not level. Hills are numerous, with their surfaces sloping gradually to the southwest, in which direction nearly all streams, large and small, wend their way, in narrow valleys, which widen as the streams flow onward. For scores of miles in all directions from Fort McDonald the land was covered with a more or less dense growth of hardwood trees from one hundred to one hundred fifty feet high; their tops so interlaced, when in full foliage, that the rays of the sun seldom reached the ground. On dark days, in many parts of the county, the shade was so deep, that, in the forest, noon daylight was no stronger than twilight.

As there was little market for the fine natural forest timber, what would now be worth millions of dollars, was destroyed by burning, or used for fence rails, in order to get it off the land and out of the way for cultivation. Some of the best specimens of the original forest trees can, at present (1909), be seen within a mile of Fort McDonald's site. The tulip poplar was the queen of the forest. The sweet gum was her maid. In 1908, a maple tree that stood south of Jasper was cut down. It contained 2,445 feet of lumber. In 1909, one hundred twenty trees in Madison township were sold for $6,600, or $55 a tree.

When the "county-town" of Jasper was laid out, there stood along what is now Mill street several giant tulip trees, eight feet in diameter. A very large one stood near the corner of 6th and Mill streets, another near the corner of 7th and Mill streets. Just south of Trinity Church stood two splendid specimens of the beech tree. Some of the finest and largest sycamore trees, in Indiana, stood along the banks of White river, west of the first "county-town" of Portersville.

In the northeastern part of Jackson township w^ere several groves of most excellent chestnut trees. The groves covered parts of four sections. In section fifteen, at the mouth of Hunley's creek, was a large cane brake. Southeast of Maltersville was another cane brake. There were sassafras trees four and five feet in diameter.

Underneath the giant forest trees in Dubois county stood other trees of the same or lesser species, striving upward to light, eager to fill the spaces left by lightning or tempest in the upper ranks. Great tall poplar, hickory, and sycamore trees for flag poles for political rallies were easy to obtain fifty years ago. The thick, dark forests were conducive to the production of tall trees.

In some places under the forest trees, crowded thick masses of bushes, vines, and weeds, which, with fallen trunks, tops, and stumps, made a jungle impassible, in many places, unless a way was cut with the axe. Therefore, the paths of the buffaloes, bears, deer, and other wild animals were followed. However, in some places the forest undergrowth was annually burnt out by the Piankishaws. This undergrowth was not equally bad everywhere, but it prevailed generally. The heavy small undergrowth in Boone township marked a strong, deep, rich soil, far more lasting than soils in other parts of the county.

In some parts of the county much of the ground, such as the "Patoka Lake" basin, in Madison township, was swampy and wet, especially in spring and autumn, and the pioneer splashed for long distances, ankle deep in water. It was difficult for a man on foot to traverse it, barely possible for a horseman, and impossible with a wagon, unless the way was first cleared with the axe.

Under such conditions the opening of roads was of no small importance. The timber cut on the road-bed was used to corduroy the road, the trunks being placed side-by-side, across the swampy locations, and earth heaped on them to make the road-bed even. Miles of such "corduroy" road existed in Dubois county, in the early years of its settlement. General Harrison rebuilt part of the old "Buffalo Trace," in Columbia township, in such a manner. "Corduroy" may still be found on Main street, in the town of Jasper, five hundred feet north of the court house and five feet under the street surface.

It is said that no denser or more valuable forest could be found in the Ohio valley than that which shaded the soil of Dubois county one hundred years ago. Trees of nearly all sizes and kinds stood unmolested and mighty. On account of the desire of each tree for sufficient light and air, a uniform height was reached, though a tree three hundred years old stood by the side of one fifty years of age. Taking as a standard, the concentric circles found in the trunks, none of them was more than four hundred years old. Perhaps but few of those found here by the pioneers were standing when Columbus discovered America.

Below will be found a fairly good list of the different indigenous trees found in the forests of Dubois county, and since the first settlement was made. Some trees may be named twice, since they are known by two or more names. The list is not given as a complete list. It is now perhaps too late to obtain that. It is given simply as a fairly good and complete list, to-wit :

Oak, - white, red, black, shingle, chestnut, burr, barren, post, chinquapin, over-cup, yellow-bottom, blackjack, swamp-white, Spanish, pin, willow, scarlet, and live oak.

Living for a long period in the shade of such a forest produced a depressing eflfect on some pioneers, and in many cases, caused sickness and death.

The Kentucky coffee-nut trees were found in the rich woods along the valleys in Dubois county. They were the coarsest and burliest of all our pod-bearing trees. They had thick, clumsy twigs, and their branches were stout and stiff. The twice compound leaves were unusually large. The flowers on the trees were small, greenish-yellow, and salver form. The pods bearing the fruit were oblong, flattened, hard, pulpy inside, and contained several seeds. It is said the Kentucky pioneers on the "Buffalo Trace" used these as a substitute for coffee, hence the common name. The other name is Gymnociad2is Canadeyisis. These trees grow tall when in the woods, but when in the open, they branch low and form broad tops. For years one grew on the southwest corner of Sixth and Jackson streets, in Jasper.

The early settlers had to contend against chills and fever, and sometimes milk-sickness. No settlement of pioneers wanted to admit that any one in its neighborhood had milk-sickness. The "Irish Settlement," in Madison township, located it at the "Mud Holes," in Boone township, while the settlers in Boone township placed it at Jasper, or in Madison township, and so it kept on moving. Near the "Camp Ground," in Patoka township, are graves of several pioneers whose deaths are attributed to milk-sickness.

The real cause of milk-sickness is still in doubt. Medical men of good scientific attainments, who have had opportunities of observing the disease for years, fail to agree as to its cause, but concur in the opinion that the disease was confined to those who had partaken of the flesh, butter, or milk of infected animals, and that this infection was confined to animals that fed in localities noted for dense shade, such as thickly-shaded jungles. Chills and fever, and milk-sickness (which was a peculiar form of malignant fever), caused so much sickness in parts of Indiana, from 1820 to 1823, that the legislature, on Monday, December 31, 1821, passed an act setting apart Friday, April 2, 1822, as a day for public prayer to

"God Almighty, that He may avert the just judgments impending our land, and that in His manifold mercies He will bless the country with fruitful seasons, and our citizens with health and peace."

Chills and fever were more easily understood and acknowledged by the pioneers. The remedy used at the "Mud Holes" and in the "Irish Settlement" was to get above fever heat by drinking plenty of whiskey or brandy.

The writer is no botanist, but gives below a list of some of the smaller varieties of vegetation as recalled by old pioneers. Some of these may have been transplanted from other states by the pioneers themselves. It is uncertain now. This list is not given as a complete list, simply as an index, namely:

Briers, blackcurrent, blackberry, elderberry, gooseberry, hazel, Indian arrow, kinikinick, leatherwood, prickly ash, mountain laurel, raspberry, sumach, spicewood, wahoo, and wild rose.

Wild cucumber, fox grapes, summer grapes, frost grapes, honeysuckle, poison ivy, strawberry, sarsaparilla, and the Virginia creeper, or trumpet flower.

White, blue, and yellow violets, yellow and white daisies, hollyhocks, anemones, spring beauties, four-o' clocks, touch-me-nots, larkspurs, blue bells, many varieties of golden rods, buttercups, asters, ladies' slippers, Johnny- jump-ups, foxgloves, wild morning glories, wake robins, marigolds, adder's tongue, phlox, mist flowers, pinks, button flowers, sweet Williams, and Dutchman's breeches. Mistletoe is still found growing on elms, black gum, and oak trees.

Here are a few of the weeds and other plants: Milkweed, cottonweed, iron weed, pigweed, ragweed, catch weed, jimsonweed, smartweed, pokeweed, bindweed, squawweed, thistle, nettle, mullein, dog fennel, ginseng, May apple, purslane, Indian turnip, skunk cabbage, burdock, sour dock, wild mustard, dandelion, spinach, careless, ground ivy, lobelia, calamus, horsemint, peppermint, catnip, white and yellow lilies, cat-tail flag, blue and yellow flags, plantain, crow's foot, wild parsnip, wild carrot, blood root, angelica, cotton, flax, Jerusalem apple, or wild tomato (the uncultivated modern tomato), balsam apple, teazel, hoarhound, pennyroyal, sheep sorrel, night shade, ground cherry, cocklebur, .Spanish needle, beggartick, snakeroot, comfrey, and many kinds of rushes, burrs, pond weeds, ferns, and mushrooms.

The number of trees, shrubs, vines and other plants producing nuts, berries, roots and other edible products was large, and wild animals found plenty of food. To the thinker the destruction of this once mighty forest has all the features of a long-continued tragedy. To some it seems like a crime against the past, the present, and the future.

The removal of the greater part of such a tremendous vegetation has had a marked effect on the climate and on the general health. The original forests served as a moderator of the cold winds of winter and caused the spring to come on slowly and safely, thus protecting the fruits. Fifty years ago, in Dubois county, the fruit crops seldom failed. Upon scores of farms around Jasper were good fruit orchards, and nearly every farmer distilled apple and peach brandy. Pioneers seemed to need these drinks, and generally used them in moderation; practically all drank.

In the early days the surface was saturated with moisture at nearly all seasons. The spring and summer rains and the winter snows remained longer on the ground, percolating slowly through the leaves and weeds to the creeks or streams. Patoka river, Straight river, Anderson river, Indian creek, Hunley's creek. Hall's creek. Fall creek, and practically all others were clogged with drift. Such a condition so retarded the current that these streams were practically bank full most of the year. They rose and fell more slowly, and after heavy rains pioneers waited sometimes for days before they could ford them. The constant moisture and shade moderated the heat of summer and tempered the winter's cold and snow. The sun and winds could not reach the ground to dry it. Extremes in the temperature were not so frequent then as now. The clearing of the soil and its exposure to the sun drove away much of the earlier types of sickness.

The clearing away of the forest timber, while it is to be regretted, seems to have been a part of the eternal fitness of things. The necessities of civilization and population required it, and it has been well done. The destruction of the forests lost us the buffaloes, bears, deer, geese, ducks, pigeons, and indirectly shoals of bass, perch, and other fishes. All are practically gone.

Abraham Lincoln, when a boy, hunted in the forests near Johnsburg and St. Henry. Upon many of the beech trees in Dubois county could be seen the scratches made by black bears in their attempts to climb the trees. Upon a beech tree in Columbia township was found cut, in sprawling characters, the name of Daniel Boone, the pioneer of Kentucky, but whether or not he cut it there himself, no one knows. It may have been placed there by some Kentuckian in memory of his ideal pioneer. Age had spread the letters until they were two inches wide. A beech tree was an ideal pioneer autograph album. Initials of lovers now dead for half a century are occasionally found upon them. These old autograph trees are touching memorials of lives and loves gone forevermore.