Elkhart County, Indiana - Nature, 1905 (part 1 of 2)

Nature

Seventy-five years of civilization in Elkhart county has wrought many changes in the superficial aspects of nature, has effected many wonderful transformations ; but enough of the primitive, of life at first hand, still remains that the present generation may reconstruct the past and project upon the mental canvas the picture of this portion of the great world as it appeared to those who first beheld its forest and lake and prairie expanses. To satisfy the demands of a temporal existence man has overthrown the primeval forests, has quarried the underlying strata of stone, has covered much of the Imd with his habitations and has rendered the rest subservient to his will, has intersected the country with highways and has halted or changed the streams in their course - but, withal, many of the "visible forms" of nature remain, and the incense of spiritual exaltation still attends the communion of the spirit with the first works of the Creator.

For hundreds and perhaps thousands of years before the advent of the first white settler this section of country remained in a state of nature. It was not an "unbroken wilderness;" and yet a region of beauty inhabited only by the rerl man and the native animals, traversed, in later years, by French missionaries and adventurers, the soldiers of different nations, hunters, trappers and explorers. Here wild flowers bloomed and faded, great trees grew and decayed, deer roamed the forests and prairies, and numerous birds li\-ed in the leafy groves. Beautiful sheets of water lay like mirrors on the surface of the country, sportive fish flopped their silver sides into the sunshine, and in all the west there was no more lovely region.

the rugged mountains; those who dwell inland long for the coasts, and every region becomes commonplace h>- continued residence. And yet the book of nature contains few more interesting chapters than that which reveals to us the physical features of this county. One might to-day justify in his own experience nvst of the observations which caused a writer of 1838 to say: "In no cunty of the state are the proportions of prairie, oak openings and timbered lands more convenient than in Elkhart county. No county is lietter watered with springs and unfailing streams. In its scenery there is nothing grand and subhme: but in the spring and summer, when clad in the freshness and verdure and tiowers, nothing can surpass it in beauty. Through the oak openings, far as the eye can extend, and over the broad surface of the prairies, is spread out a carpet of green, decorated with flowers of every hue; the smooth surface of its streams and of its small, clear lakes here and there interspersed, and the Ixild line of forest trees which form the background of the prairie \iews - these are features which. when combined, give the face nf nature an aspect of tranquil repose." Here we are not overpowered and awed with the grandeur of the mountains or the sublimity of the sea. but find close and loving communion with ralure as an intimate friend.

On the whole, in giving definite shape to the surface of Elkhart county, nature employed her smoothing plane more often than her chisel. With many small lakes and numerous water courses, the landscape escapes the monotony of a level plain, and yet the undulations are gentle and picturescjuely graceful ; as though the creative forces, as they passed over this region, w-ere not blustering and tempestuous, but persuasive and peaceful. Interesting as the geologic histor\- of this county might he, only enough space may be here allotted to the subject to throw some light on the configurations of landscape which are most evident to the ordinary observer.

Elkhart county, in common with Indiana's three northern tiers of counties, is of glacial origin. There was a time when nearly the whole of this North American continent, at this longitude nearly as far south as the Ohio ri\er, was one \ast region of ice fields. Huge glaciers were formed in the north by the melting and compacting of snows. The glaciers filled the spaces l>etween the mountains and hills, the ice melted at the bottoms and sides and lubricated the track, and gravity slowly pushed the great masses of ice southward. On the wa)- great rocks were broken off and rounded by the steady grinding, soil was gouged t)iit and tumbled (i\er uiiun tlie ice. and a \ast mass of material was added to the sides of the glacier. The material thus formed is called a moraine. Sometimes two glaciers moved out of their valleys and united; and then, of course, in the larger glacier thus formed there was a large mass of material in the center as well as at the sides. Slowly the glacier made its way southward until finally there came a change and it melted. While its accumulated matters and substances were being deposited, and the water was running down over them, there was a segregation or sifting of materials. The finest and softest w'ere filtered through the rest and formed beds of clay, and wherever a huge piece of ice made a dent in the clay, like the fist in a piece nf putty, there the ice melted and left an inland lake. Other material which was cijarser and harder was washed together and formed beds of sand. There were gravel outwashes formed of stony materials rounded ofif and reduced to greater or less fineness by the grinding and washing of ages. I-^lkhart countv is covered with this glacial drift. The great Valparaiso moraine, extending in a more or less northwesterly direction, and several miles in width, crosses the southwestern ]iart of the county (its course being readily observed between Nai>i>anee and Wakarusa), and the crest of this is the dividing line of the watershed between the north and the south. Owing to this feature of the topography, nearly all the drainage of the county is into the great lakes, \'ia the St. Joseph river, while a small division of land about Nap- ])anee drains into the Kankakee and thence into the Mississippi ri\'er. It is said that one street of Xappanee forms the dividing line lietween the waters which flow into Turkey creek and those which gn south into the Kankakee. Such are some ijf tlie vagaries which nature has committed in her evolution of this earth into a mortal dwelling place. Scientists claim that at some distant age all the waters vi Lake Michigan flowed ofif into the Mississippi river; then, at a later period, came the immense glaciers, throwing up a l»rrier for the stoppage of the southern outlet and turning the lakes eastward and up the .St. Lawrence. Thus does the modern science of geology

In Volume XXV of the Indiana Geologic Reports, we find the following statement : "In common with all the counties in which lakes occur, the surface of Elkhart countv is wholly covered with drift, the thickness known ar three points: Elkhart. Goshen and New Paris, 122, 162, 90 feet, respectively." Some years ago a -well was sunk at Elkhart to a depth of one hundred and twenty-five feet, with hope of securing an artesian flow, but the drill coming in contact with boulders, further drilling discontinued. The material passed through for the first twenty-five feet was gravel, and all the succeeding one hundred feet was " hard-pan, " or indurated glacial clay with occasional tbin strata of quicksand. Continuing, the above report says, " The surface of this drift is more level than in counties to the east and south, an area of about two hundred square miles in the northwest and southeast parts lieing of extensive gravel plains. The uplands consist of till plains, with an area of 125 square miles in the southwestern jiart of the county, and of morainic belts, more broken, in the south and west parts. The elevation in feet above tide of some railroad stations is: Bristol, 783; Dunlaps, 747; Elkhart, 725-755; Goshen, 796; Millersburg, 885; New Paris, 813; Vistula, 808. The gravel plains in general are below 800 feet level, uplands mainly between 800 and 900 feet, and several above 900." The surface of Lake Michigan is reckoned as six hundred feet above ocean level, from wliicli it is seen that certain points in this county are from two hundred to three hundred feet higher than the lake. '

Of this glacial drift, covering the county at such varying depths, a comparatively very tbin layer at the surface has, by the well known processes of nature which arc continually taking place Ijefore our eyes, been transformed into "soil." from which the animal and vegetable kingdoms have for centuries drawn their sustenance. In few counties of the state could there be found greater diversity of soil than in Elkhart county; often a restricted area of a few square miles will contain several varieties of land, adapted to various agricultural products. Thus it is impossible to classify, otherwise than roughly, the dififerent qualities of land and their extent. But an attempt at classification w^ould result nearly in the following: Sandy soil, timber loam, prairie loam and some vegetable loam. Tbe first named prevails most generallv in the northeastern quarter of the county, in Washington and York townships. It W'ill not produce wheat as abundantly as other kinds of soil, though the quality of what is produced is excellent. But it is warm, ^nd especially adapted to the production of tbe potato and of fruits, especially small fruits. In some places on tbe hills the soil is a strong clav- The timber loam, which prevails over a large part of the central and south- ern areas of the county, is of great depth and richness, and has fully rewarded with abundant harvests those who have persevered in clearing it and subduing tlie natural obstacles to cultivation. The prairie loam, peculiar to the prairie belts, which formed only a minor portion of the county originally, may be described as a sandy loam resting on a subsoil of gravel and sand with some clay, and is exceedingly productive. It is well adapted to raising all sorts of cereals as well as horticultural products. What has been termed the vegetable mold is found in more restricted areas in this county than in some other districts of northern Indiana. It is composed of decayed vegetable matter, formed in extinct lakes and marshes, being in fact a peat bed, and where not cultivated is co\-ered with a rank growth of marsh grass and flowering plants. Bv drainage and proper treatment it is rendered exceedingly fertile.

Discussing these aspects of the county, a state report says: "A part, perhaps a third, of the surface of the county at the time of first settlement was covered with a growth of very large trees and a dense undergrowth of bushes and shrubs; the remainder is mostly "burr-oak openings" and prairie, while a small per cent is covered with peat bogs, lakes and marshes. The soil of the "openings" is a sandy loam, with clay subsoil, and highly esteemed for its large yield of wheat and grass : after years of successive croppings this is promptly restored to its original productiveness by turning under a crop of clover." The strong clay soil of woodland is very productive, especially of corn and grasses. The black, peaty loam of prairies and drained swamps is famous for corn and grass, except during seasons of long drought.

The report of state geologist in 1904, relating specifically to the clays of Elkhart county, indicates some features of the earth's surface.

"The wells sunk in the vicinity of Elkhart," says the report, "penetrate a thick stratum of blue clay and obtain water in a coarse gravel near the bottom of the drift At Goshen a stratum of blue clay nineteen feet in Ihickness underlies a two to five foot layer of surface sand. In the southwestern part of the county the surface yellow clay runs six to ten feet thick, below which is sand or gravel and then a thick stratum of blue clay.

"Along the St. Joseph river west of Elkhart are found extensive deposits of plastic blue-gray marly clay. At the John C. Boss yard, three miles west of Elkhart, this clay occurs eighteen to ninety feet in thickness beneath six to eight feet of sand and gravel. It is here used extensively for the making of liglit colored building brick. The upper four feet of the clay has been used in recent years as a slip clay for glazing stoneware. At Goshen two yards are making soft mud red brick from a "tough yellow surface clay." The latter runs eighteen or more feet in thickness, but unly the upper two to six feet can be used on account of lime pebbles. Mr. Geo. Bemenderfer, owner of line of the Goshen yards, writes: 'A well on our yard, two miles north of Goshen, shows the following section :

Elkhart county is fitly described as having a rolling surface. It was therefore with admiration and delight that the pioneer, having struggled through many miles of forest and crossing over numerous swells of land ironi one high htirizon crest to another, \'iewed such a beautiful level expanse as Elkhart Fh-airie presented. And then also there were Pleasant Plain, a little oasis south of the present city of Elkhart, and Two-Mile Plain, directly east of the same cit}- and extending along the course of the St. Joseph. The prairies were eagerly sought by the early settlers, who all concurred in descriliing these \irgin spots as of surpassing loveliness, the ground being n>\-ered with thrifty and luxuriant grasses'and embellished with flowers of everv hue.

But apart from these few level areas the country in all tlirections rose and fell in gentle undulations, as though at the crisis of its formation the earth had lieen. rolling in long, smooth billows, and then had been suddenly stayed by the hand of tlie Creattjr and hardened and hxed in the manner which all the races of mankind have beheld it. In the nrirtheastern part of the courit_\', following on the south side of the Little Elkhart, nature has left a monument of her original efforts more conspicuous than the ordinary. This is the jjicturesque ridge, or range of hills, which forms the most prominent feature of the landscape, in this ])art of the county, forming the liarrier between the drainage areas of the Big and Little Elkhart streams. This ridge forms one of the highest points in the county. From the highest ]joint o\erlooking the village of Middlebury the view extends for many miles, and on a clear dav, and when the line of vision is not hindered by foliage, the town of \\niite Pigeon in Michigan may be clearly seen. This ridge is, no doubt, one of the great mitraines left from the glacial jieriod. To the south and soutliwest of this landscapic configuration nature seems to have modeled the county without a view to boldness, until one reaches the valleymade by the meandering Turkey creek. Here again the hills come out with a relief which is by no means lacking in beauty and natural charm and that enchantment so inseparable from distance of perspective. The eye of the artist and nature-lover would find many scenes within the borders of this county to refresh and stimulate the imagination, and it is not strange that a much-traveled and wide-experienced pioneer such as Ceil. John Jackson should have been attracted to this county, not alone for its fertility and adaptability as a permanent abode but also by the many natural beauties which the landscape possessed in his time not less than in our own.

The topography of Elkhart county presents several natural divisions formed Ijy its larger water courses. Practically the entire county is the valley of the rapid-flowing St. Joseph river. But from the northeast corner to the southwest mav be discerned three distinct basins, two of them formed by tributaries of the St. Joseph and one by the Kankakee. The valley of the Little Elkhart seems as distinctly partitioned off from the rest of the county as though nature had intended it to l)e the abode of a different people. But civil boundaries and modern geography-makers disregard such seeming intents of nature, and civilization in its jirogress overrides and breaks down every barrier not only between such adjacent localities but also between most dissundered nations and races. Nevertheless, and notv^'ithstanding that the railroad has burrowed its way over and through the enclosing ridges, this beautiful and fertile region along the Little Elkhart retains its own individuality ill the to])ographic outlines of Elkhart county. The division of the count)' comprising the area drained by the Elkhart ri\-er and its ])rincipal tributary. Turkey creek, is much more extensive, reaching from the ])roniinent ridge southeast of Bristol to the great Valparaiso moraine which we have alread)- described as forming the crest between the water sheds of the (ireat Lakes and the Mississippi. Then there is the \er_\- small (li\ision of the countv in the southwest corner whose waters are l)anished by decree of nature from ever flowing tO' the north and into the lakes and which must finally mingle with the Gulf stream.

Besides the inviting agricultural regions which spread out before the early settlers, there were other ecpially attractive natural resources which only awaited the directing hand of ingenious man tOi become the motive power behind immense industries. The waters of Elkhart county form no inconspicuous feature in the de\'elopment and progress of the count\-. and tlieir influence and usefuhiess are adverted to elsewhere in this \'ohime. The largest stream in the county is the St. Joseph river, which enters from Michigan about six miles west of the northeast corner of the county and flows, southwesterly, into St. Joseph county. Its principal tributaries are the Elkhart, Little Elkhart and Christiana rivers, and these with many other smaller streams and lakes water every part of the county's surface. The fall of the streams is such that hydraulic power has been easy to obtain in many places, resulting in the building of mills and factories from the years of pioneer history to the present time. Turkey creek is a considerable stream, and, now that its channel has been straightened b}^ dredging, carries off the drainage of a large area in a current almost as rapid as a mill race. Historic through its surroundings and the advantages it has conferred, is Rock Run, the small but beautiful streamlet that joins the Elkhart west of Goshen. Rock Run afforded power for one of the earliest mills in the county, and along its banks are still located numerous industries.

On account of the circumstances of their origin as well as their present condition, the lakes of Elkhart county are among the most interesting subjects that can be included in this brief nature study of the county. Their origin, flora, fauna, deposits, and the causes of their diminution are known to comparatively few. Yet some of them are of charming beauty and are fruitful subjects for study. Says an eminent authority : "The lakes of northern Indiana are the brightest gems in the corona of the state. They are the most beautiful and expressive features of the landscape in the region where they abound." Says State Geologist Blatchley, "The original 1x)ttom of these is composed of an impervious clay or mixture of clay and gravel, which is probably nowhere less than one hundred feet in thickness."

There is no evidence that these lakes were ever a part of the great lakes. When the ancient glaciers melted and retreated, many low basins were left which might have become lakes, but their bottoms were composed of sand, gravel or other porous material, and they would not hold tlie water. Alany a huge piece of glacier lay bedded in the clay, and when it melted the water remained where it was, and forms the lake of to-day. Other lakes were formed by the washing of the great streams as they poured down from the melting glaciers. These streams washed out channels in the clay and dammed themselves up therein, and have remained until the present time. After the drift material had lieen deposited and settled and the lake was formed, surface water from the surrounding- hills flowed down into the lake; and water from the subterranean veins, following the course of least resistance, broke through the clay l^ottom from below and fed the lake by springs, and in these two ways the loss of evaporation was counterveiled.

A brief examination is all that is necessary to convince one that this description as to origin applies to the lakes of Elkhart county. With only one or two exceptions these lakes are "dead" lakes - that is, they are without natural outlet. In fact the difficulties which would be encountered in draining some of these natural jMuds are insurmountable in consideration of the value derived from the operation. The waters, ages ago, were dammed in on all sides by ridges of earth, and. isolated there, have remained to the present age or long since have died through evaporation. For these lakes were born to die, and began to die as soon as born. The surface water from the surrounding hills, and the fountains from below, deposited in the lakes other material than water. Aquatic plants began to grow and decay on the bottom and fill the lake with muck, and this is the most important cause of the extinction of the moraine lakes. The muck beds are usually found on the south and west shores of the basins of the lakes. There the waters are least disturbed by wave action. Aluck also forms quickly in the bays and channels for the same reason. In the words of Dr. Dryer, in his studies in Indiana Geography, "The lakes are literally being filled with solidified air; the great bulk of the solid material which composes the plants being absorbed from the gaseous ocean above, and consigned to the watery depths below." All green plants, whether aquatic or terrestrial, are continually absorbing carbon and building it into their own tissues. On this account many lakes in the county have already become extinct and are now merely beds of muck. .\nd as the water recedes more and more into the center. exi)osing the muck soil to be dried by the sun and wind, the enterprise of the agriculturist at once takes possession of the new land and ])lants corn and other crops on the bed of the former lake.

The largest of these inland lakes are in Osolo township. Simonton lake is several miles north of Elkhart, is about a mile and a half longfrom east to west, and half a mile wide. Nearby is the cultivated bed of what was once "Mud" lake, which has been drained. A ridge separates this lake bed from Cooley lake, which also is approaching extinction. Heaton lake is another well known bodv of -water in this town- sliip. Xnrtheast of Goslien are several small lakes. Wolf lake beins; especially picturesque by reason of its mirror-like surface and dense surrounding foliage. In Harrison township, east of W'akarusa. is an excellent example of a lake in the general features which have been descrilied. Here we see as it were a deep basin set in the ground to a depth of perliaps a hundred feet below the general surface; shut in on all sides, and draining only a limited area of countiy: without \isil)le outlet, covered in summer by rank aquatic growth, and, though by almost imperceptible degrees, gradually disappearing into the soil and air. The bog and water have been penetrated to a depth of seventyfive feet, but the unstable muck in places seems without ascertainable depth. When the Wabash railroad was built through this part of the county the line had to be deflected to the south of the first survey because no piling- let down into the quagmire could reach a firm b<ittnm and consequently no trestle be constructed of sufficient strength to uphold a hea\y train.

There are many cither phases of Mother Xature which might be studied with profit as they are found in Elkhart county; but the true lover of nature will find and observe them without the aid of this chapter, which is necessarily only suggestive and can by no means exhaust the great treasury of natural life which is all around the inhabitants of this county. Of never-failing interest are the mound springs about Wakarusa. In these the water huljbles up from the ground, and from the long-continued precipitation of bog iron about the opening has arisen a mound, from the top of which the water lias channeled a course. There are several springs of mineral water in \ari(.)us parts of the count)-. The State Geologic Report of iQor-oj speaks of the Lambert mineral well of saline-carbonated water in the south part of Elkhart. The well was started some years ago in search of oil ov gas. At two hundred and ninet\- feet below the surface a strong vein of mineral water was found, which arose to within ten feet of the to]). This water is strongly impregnated with common salt and when pumped has a temperature of 54 degrees. It is very clear aiid s]>;irkles with carbonic acid gas which it holds in solution. It is without odor and has a salty but not disagreeable taste.

Hopes ha\-e ahvays been entertained that oil <ir gas might be found in this county, Init the discoveries up to date do not justify including gas and oil wells among the natural industries of the countv. In the vicinity of Wakarusa much prospecting has been done. In 1902 a bore was made to a depth of 1,200 feet, and a day or so after the drilling had ceased the hole was found to contain about thirty barrels of crude oil. Many bottles of this fluid were carried away by the citizens and several bottles may be found in the town to-day. The St. Joseph Valley Gas, Oil and Mining Company exploited the discoven', leasing about two thousand acres of land and issuing stock, but nothing has ever come uf the enterprise, and tlie chief evidence of the agitation may l3e fountl in the old derrick, a few b(.)ttles of oil and some worthless stock certificates. There may be oil and even gas in this county, Ijut it has not been demonstrated to be present in sufficient quantities to pay from a commercial standpoint.

Sucn are some of the natural aspects of the region which we know as Elkhart county, one of the brightest stars in that galaxy of counties which constitute the state of Indiana. And in the main we can touch only upon those features which characterize the county (if today: the etchings that time and man ba\'e wniught upon this part of the world are reserved for nther chai)ters, and few indeed can realize what this county was, as. fifty years hence, few can picture what our surroundings are now. Change is the law of nature, Init the law of compensation is not less universal. The great forests which (_)ur forefathers knew have gone, but we fertile fields in their stead: and when the lakes are gxine and the multiple other forms of nature are touched liy the transmuting hand of time and disappear or change entirely, there will be compensation in some form, though we cannot tell what. The streams will still seek their level, the prairies will still stretch away in undulations, beautiful groves will still dot the meadows, the birds will sing, the flowers will bloom, and " while the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, and summer and winter and day and nioiit shall not cease."

A history of Elkhart county slujukl certainly make .some reference to its former inhabitants. Oh, that the past might speak and that might reproduce the echoes of these forests and understand something of the hopes, fears and life struggles of the people who preceded us! But after studying all the data at our command we feel that our knowledge is very incomplete. As another writer has said, "The lands which we now till, the country dotted over with our comfortable dwellings, the localities now occupied by our populous towns and villages were once the home of people of a different genius, with different dwellings, different arts, different 1 atrial customs and different ideas: but they were human Ijeings, and the manner in which our interest goes out to them, and the peculiar inexpressible feelings which come to our hearts as we look back over the vista of ages and study the few relics the}' ha\e left, are proof of the universal brotherhood of man and the universal fatherhood of God."

The original possessors of iiorthern Indiana were the Pottawottomie and Miamis. The ascending smoke from the wigwam fires, the human \-oices by wood and stream, were theirs. For how many ages we know not, these people were the principal occupants of the country which is now Elkhart county. They were children of nature. The men were hunters, fishers, trappers and warriors. Their braves were trained to the chase and to the battle. The women cultivated the corn, tended the pappooses and prepared the food.

And yet these jieople had attained to a degree of civilization. Thoug"h they wrote no histor}- and published no poems, there certainly were traditions among them, especially concerning the creation of the world. Though the)- erected no monuments, they had their dweUings, wigwams though they were. Their civihzation was not comphcated and yet they H\ed in viUages, graphic accounts of which have been given. They had their own proper htws, manners and customs. In place of roads the}- had trails, some of them noted ones. They communicated with each cither in writing liy means of rude hieroglyphics. They had no schools, hut their young were thoroughly trained and hardened to perform the duties expected of them.

With the f nilians there were no uncles, all were fathers ; no aunts, all were mothers : no nephews and nieces, all were brothers and sisters. Every child was the son or daughter of the w-hole tribe, and the line of descent was reckonetl through the mother instead of through tlie father. This made the lines of descent all converge to and center in each daughter, and insured the integrity of the tribe to a remarkable degree.

The Indians had not carried agriculture to a high degree of perfection, but they turned up the sod and planted garden vegetables and corri, of which latter they raised n-iore than is generally supposed, though the wnmen did most of the farm w-ork. They were not given to commerce, but they bartered gxaods with settlers and took their furs to the trading posts where they exchanged them for the white man's ]irodticts. Thev made their ow-n clothes, their canoes, their paddles, their bow^s and arrows, and other weapons of war, and w'ove bark baskets of sufficient fineness to hold shelled corn. They also' understood how- to make maple sugar. The}' used it to sweeten their craljapple and cranberry sauce.

The Indians with whom the settlers of Elkhart county had to deal were not so savage as others. They had been influenced more or less by coming in contact with Christianity. Before the year 1763 the French had trading posts at Vincennes, and Indiana formed a part of what was called New France. The Jesuit fathers established missions among the Indians. E\-en befure the }ear 1749 those Jesttit missionaries w-ere at work in Indiana, tlKJUgh there is not much certainty as to their labors at that early time. Father ]\Iarest is one of the first known as having worked in this field. Father Marquette is another. It is remarkable that the missions to the Indians w'ere the most successful among the Pottaw-ottomies, who occupied the region which is now known as northern Indiana. Their chief village, and the chief mission, was at Chitchakos. near the Tippecanoe river. They were con-

\erted, some say, before tlic middle of the se\enteeiith century. The Catholic ijriests jjenetrated alone e\-ery\vliere. preceding e\'en the traders, and anndunced tn the wild Indians the teachings of Christianity. In the spirit of self -sacrifice they shared in the toils and hardships of the ferocious savage and thereby gained his friendship. At first the efforts to convert the Indians were almost always at the expense of the lives of the priests. But when the Pottawottomies yielded to conviction, as was usually the case with Indians, they were very firm and devoted. \Vhen the priests left them and they remained for many years destitute of spiritual instructiiui. they taught each other and attempted to preserve the religious influences they had enjoyed. On (jne occasion a priest, who afterward liecame a bishop, met one of their chiefs, who entreated him to visit them, or at least pass through their woods ; for the very thought of "the man of prayer" having been through their country would, he said, be sufficient to remind them of their duties and make them better. E\-en those who remained in their heathenism retained for the black gown a reverence which is almost beyond description.

The Indians of Elkhart county had been subject not only to the influences of Catholicism but to those of Protestantism. .\s early as 1817 a Protestant mission called the Carey Mission had been established at Niles, Michigan, the influence of which was felt over a wide region of country. But French Catholicism had a more powerful influence than Protestantism over the Indians. One reason for this was diat the Protestants had not been at work as long as the Catholics. The beginning of their missionary efforts did not date back to the first half of the seventeenth century. And their labors did not cover so wide a territory, their ministers did not penetrate e\erywhere with a spirit of self-sacrifice, like the priests. But the inain reason for the more potent influence of the Catholics over the Indians is to be found in their ritual. The ritualism of the English Episcopal church at that time was at a low ebb, even if the Indians ever saw it. and the other churches were not ritualistic at all. The Catholic church, on the other hand, preserved her ritual in all its elaliorateness. It was a system of symlx)lic teaching: e\ery particular of it meant something. And to symbolic teaching the Indian mind is peculiarly susceptible. The Indian thinks by means of the objects which are liefore him. He speaks liy the use of things. He is of a sensuous nature, incapable of abstract speculatic^n and interior thought. The ceremonies of the Roman Catho- lie cliurch are well adapted to occasion certain mental states in those who witness them, and the Indian mind in its simplicity was good gronnd for this. This was probahly the main reason why Catholicism exerted a more powerful influence than Protestantism over the Indians.

In treating of the Indian history of Elkhart county in particular little of real moment is found save those ever interesting reminiscences lit the pioneers' relations with the red men of the furest. Of that perennial enigma of aboriginal American history - the mound builders, or however else may be designated that race of men whi), before the Indian of historic times, and of greater degree of culture and less barbaric than their successor, inhabited the Mississippi valley - little can be said as bearing directly upon the history of this county. In various portions i)f northern Indiana are found remains which would indicate a prehistoric race, but in Elkhart county no mounds or other evidence of mound builders have been reported. Tlie stone spear points and arrow heads picked up from surface were as probably lost there by American Indians during hunting or hostile excursions as by mound builders at an earlier period.

But of the historic Indian^ some of the oldest residents of Elkhart county, when children, had knowledge and no doubt lived in mortal dread of them. Some can recall the more important of the Indian trails which, during the twenties and thirties, l>efore highways were opened, formed the easiest routes of communication from one part of the country to another. I'he best known of these was the old trail from Fort Wayne to St. Joseph, which ran across the bottom lands of the Elkhart river, skirting the eastern side of the prairie and passing through the present site of Goshen. It was along this route that the mail carrier made his occasional trips, so eag'erly anticipated by the hard-working settlers, and which were almost the only source of information they had concerning the notable occurrences of the outsitle world. On the edge of Elkhart pran^ie some of those living to-day can remember the IncHan corn I'lelds which afifordefl the niugh sustenance to the red men, and within the past years many Indian relics are dug up in the plowing and during exca\-ations for buildings.

ToO' often tlie views of the present generation concerning tiie "noble red man" are (obtained from the romantic and esthetic pen pictures of a Cooper or a Longfellow. But unhappily a true acquaintance with the actual life and character of tlie Indian not only quenches the ardent sympathy with an unfortunate race but makes us believe that the Indian was essentially and usually a sordid, shiftless, unimaginati\e. vulgar and brutish creature, living from hand to mouth, with no ambitions beyond a satisfaction of bestial desires, and with few of the moral virtues which civilized man observes. The Indians in this vicinity frequently came and camped around the settlers, begging corn and squashes and giving- venison in return. They were notorious thieves, and would steal anything that their hands touched, so a sharp watch was kept on their movements when they \\'ere in the neighborhood.

The life of the Indians was monotonous, varied principally by their feasts and dancing and enlivened by the fire-water which the white man had introduced, among other marks of civilization. An early settler thus describes the first view he had of an Indian camp upon arriving at Boyd's landing in this county : "The Indians and squaws, with their pappooses, having had a plentifuly supply of whiskey, were dancing around the fires in high glee. It was toward evening and the snow was on the ground nearly two feet deep. I saw them scrape away the snow near the logs and Ijuild fires against them, and then, spreading down their blankets, they would sleep with their pappooses during the night."

The Indian tribes were not permanently removed from northern Indiana for some years after the organization of the county, and as a consequence nearly every person who lived in the county during the thirties saw more or less of this wandering people. One interesting incident is related by Dr. W. H. Thomas, of Elkhart. It was in 1829 that his father, Thomas Thomas, settled in a log cabin on Two Mile Plain. The family was composed of his mother and three small children. One day in the spring of 1830 Mr. Thomas had started for the grist mill at Carey's Mission, twenty-two miles away, and ]\Irs. Thomas was left alone with the children with no neighbors within a mile. While she was doing the morning work about the calsin. a big Pottawottomie Indian rode up to the door on his pony, and as he was a little the worse for wear owing to potions of fire water, he demanded admittance and wanted to ride his pony right into the caliin. Mrs. Thomas shut the door of the cabin in his face. The Indian then rode up and kicked the door open. Three times this was repeated. Finally the frightened W'Oman slipped out of the rear door and secured a large broad hoe that stood there. When the Indian for the fourth time kicked open the door the brave woman rushed out and struck him full in the face with the blade of the hoe. Stunned by the l>low the red skin rolled from his pony and lay upon tlie ground in an unconscious condition. W'ithin a sliort time a band ot Indians rode up to the cabin and Mrs. Thomas thought that she would surely be murdered, but the Indians took the matter as a joke and liegan to jibe the prostrate Indian for allowing a white-faced squaw to knock him down. They then rode away and never after molested the brave woman, who had displayed courage in the face of such odds.

The horrors of Indian war, massacre and pillage were never visited upon Elkhart county. For that reason the early inhabitants had every cause to be grateful, and progress along all lines was never checked by Indian strife but went on naturally and substantially to the permanent welfare of the whole countv. \\'hat this freedom from early wars meant to the growth and prosperity of all this part of the state can be fully realized only in contrast with the conditions which prevailed in the founding of the colonies along the Atlantic coast or in the settlement of many parts of the far west. The hardships incidental to the clearing of the primeval forests and the making- of fertile fields where for centuries laefore had lain the prairies under the alternate bloom of summer and the sere of winter, were not the only obstacles confronting the American pioneer in many portions of this great country. In many regions, otherwise fertile and a very Eden for the agriculturist and enterprising business men, civilization has been retarded even to the late years of the past century because the Indians contested every step of advance made by the white man.

To prove the disastrous ettects wrought upon the rapid settlement of a country through the presence of hostile Indians, we may cite the incidents of the Black Hawk, or, as it is also known, the Sac war, as far as they concerned the people ni this part of the state. The state of affairs Was well described in a paper read by Hon. Joseph H. Defrees at an old settlers' meeting many years ago. "In the spring of 1832 what is commonly called the ' Sac war ' took place. The inhabitants of the whole country were alarmed : in imagination the tomahawk and scalping knife gleamed before us, red with gore; scouting parties were sent out in every direction ; people left their farms and homes ; !:'ome went hack to the ' settlements,' and others congregated at Niles. South Bend and Goshen, these being the jjrincijial villages in the country, h'orts were erected. Fort Beane, as it was called, in honor of Captain Henry Beane, stood out prominent to view on Elkhart Prairie, on the land of Olix'er Crane, for some time after the war.

Colonel Jackson was dispatched to Indianapolis to solicit aid from the government, and the citizens generally manifested a conrage and bravery worthy of their sires. A few weeks, however, dissipated all fears: it was soon ascertained that mi hostile Indians had been nearer than one hundred miles west of the then \-illage of Chicago. The whole circumstance was that Black Hawk with a portion of his tribe and a few of the F(.)x Indians were in the habit annually of passing around the southern bend of Lake ^Michigan mi their way to Maiden, Canada, where presents were distributed to them by the British government: and u])on their trip this spring they had some difficulty with a few pioneers in the territorv that now comprises the state of Iowa, the Indians having made their reprisals on the provisi(.ins of the settlers. Their march north, however, was soon checked by a few volunteers sent out Ijy the go\ernment of Illinoi,^. Notwithstanding that the Nortln\.'cstcni Pioneer was sending luit its weekly issue to the people in the country, and advising them not to be alarmed, and to those who contemplated removing here not to sta\' back or direct their ste]is elsewhere - still the 'Sac war' retarded, to a great degree, the improvement of and immigration into the country that year." So p(jtent a factor is fear and rumors of war in the settlement of a new country.

A reminiscent story, C(.nicerned with the e\ents of the Black Hawk war, and which has already lieen read by many in this county, nevertheless contains so many glimpses of pioneer life and custom and of familiar men who figured so ])rominentI\- in that earh' dav that it may most appropriately be repeated here and form a jiart of this permanent record of Elkhart county.

It was a warm July afternoon - so runs the narrative. From the door-yard of a country b.ouse. situated u])on a little eminence, where prairie and timber land intersect, could be seen the finely cultivated farms of perhaps twenty lords of the soil, while scattered over the Iiroad jilain before me could be seen the adioining projirietors, with laborers and teams, actively storing away the fruit of a summer's labor, \\-hile just to the left, nestling amid shrubs and trees, was a f|uiet, and from my point of obser\-ation, jiretty little \illage. An occasional flash of lightning and the muttering of distant thunder gave evidence of an approaching storm: just before me. looking out upon the beautiful scene, with memories of the past evidently flitting across his mind, sat an old gentleman, full of years and in the enjoyment of those high Cjualities of mind and soul that come from a well spent life. Intend- iiii^ to obtain a recital of earlv incidents. I oliservecl : "You were here very earl}- in the histor}- of this locality were you not?" He replied: "Yes, before the county was organized or a single white settler was in 'all this region, I ^-isited this prairie for the first time. I was an early settler of Elkhart Prairie and lived near the river of that name, upon the farm now owned l]y Matthew Rippey and occupied by Mr. Graham, formerly a Methodist minister near here. One morning ver}' early - for we did not sleep late in those days ; muscle, pluck and patience were all \\ e had then out of which to make a lix'ing for those dependent on us - Colonel J. Jackson, my nearest neighbor, greatly excited and in haste, came to mv house, -\s he approached he cried out: "(iet yiiur gun and ;unmunition and provisions, and meet us at Goshen at eleven o'clock; the Indians are near Niles. murdering the whites, and they want our aid.' 1 wanted him to sto]i and gi\'e me more particulars, but he would n( it e\en pause for a moment ; replying that he must hurry and notify the neighbors, he passed out of view. It seemed to me the Colonel was unnecessarily alarmed, luit ciincluding to meet them at Goshen we set about getting ready.

"While I half-soled my shoes for the trip my wife prepared some provisions and molded bullets to enable me to do service. \Vhile so engaged John Elsea. my nearest neighbor, came over and proposed to stay and look after botli families while T went. My shoes now being repaired, we got out my old knapsack, which had been in service in the border Indian wars, and with ammunition, provisions and my rifle I started on foot for Goshen. \\'e had no roads then. It was across the country or upon the Indian trails, just as you chose to go. Arriving at Goshen, the first man I met was Colonel Jackson. 'If you want any Indians killed, just bring them along noAv, Colonel.' was my salutation. \\'ith a hearty laugh and strong old-fashioned shakehands, which made one feel better for it. the Colonel greeted me. By this time many had arrived, armed with shot-guns, mu.skets, rifles, a few old-fashioned horse-pistols, butcher-knives, etc.. readv to march out to the aid of the pioneers, who. like ourselves, had left the comforts of ci\-ilization to hew out homes for their wives and little ones from the wilds of a new country. We met together, and then details of various reports were given. Colonel Jackson produced a letter which had been written to him from Niles and sent in haste by an express rider, asking him to call out the militia and come to their rescue, as the Indians were near them, coming from the west, murderins: the people. We concluded to send two messengers at once to Niles to get more specific information. They were to return the next day. We did so, and the town was full. Men, women and children had heard the reports and came flocking into town in every conceivable way - some crying, others swearing. To add to the confusion, it was said at the meeting that the Indians on and around this prairie were preparing for war ; that they were having war dances every night, and had bushels of bullets already molded. It was determined for safety to build a fort at Goshen, intcj which the women and children could be gathered, and a day ^^-as iixed for its commencement.

"In the meantime the men sent Dut to Xiles returned with the information that it was a false alarm, that there were no hostile Indians east of Chicago; but at that place they were perpetrating outrages, and it was expected hostilities would open over the whole frontier. There were no contradictions, however, of the rumors of h<;stile demonstrations among- the Indians in what is now Kosciusko C(;iunty : sn it was determined to go on with the fort. I had made up my mind that the whole story was a fabrication, and determined to visit the Indians on this prairie, in jjerson, and ascertain the truth. 1 was wholly unacquainted with the country. There were no r(jads, no settlers that I knew of. no white men with them of my knowledge, the reports were alarming in the extreme, yet 1 did not believe them. If they were true it was important to know the worst at once, and prepare to meet the enemy. If untrue it was important to allay the excitement an<l alarm so that people could again go quietly to their work. John Elsea promised to accompany me, Ijut he too was ignorant of the country, of the tribes we were about to \-isit. of their language, and what to us was more in.iportant than all, of their intentions. Whether we were to come upon these barbarians in their haunts, painted for the war dance, with murder in tlieir hearts, was to us a very serious question.

"We determined, howexer, to go, and Iiidding farewell to those nearest and dearest to us, we crossed the ri\-er and started out alone into the wilderness. There was no road, no improvement, no human habitation between Elkhart river and the east side of Wig Turkey Creek Prairie. With nothing to guide us Init an Indian trail, which we finally came upon, we moved forward. As we apj^roached the prairie the trail became more and more lieaten, until at last we arrived in sight of an Indian village. It was located on what was for a lone time known as the Rosseau farm, subsequently owned by Charles Rippey; farther south was another village called Wautee Papoose. W'auljee was the chief of this tribe and lived at the village first mentioned. We were a little way off when the savages first saw us ; they became greatly excited at our approach ; immediate confusion was the result. Hurriedly they commenced to assemble. Being satisfied I could pacify them if I was able to reach them before hostile demonstrations commenced, we l>otli ]nit spurs to our horses, and at full gallop dashed into their cam]), thus placing ijurselves in their power. The whole population, squaws, dogs and all, were in a tumult of excitement, and gathering around us demanded to know our business. We told them we were after seed corn to plant. The old chief Waubee informed us they had none; but we could get it at another village some six miles away to the southeast, and directed us on our trail. Spending an hour or two with the barbarians, looking for war paint, clubs and bullets, we took our deijartnre.

up another trail, \\e now came to a second village, where the town of Oswego now stands. Squabach was the head of this \il!age. The noble savages here formed a semi-circle, squatted down on their haunches and remained perplexingly silent for over an hour. Their toilet was not verv elaliorate. The young ladies n(.iw-a- (Ia}-s who go into ecstasies over the latest novel and think it so romantic and who faint at the sight of a rat would not lia\e followed theirs as the most becoming fashion. \\'e could neither please nor anger them. Perfectly motionless and expressionless, they sat for over an hour. Disgusted, we were about to depart, when the chief spoke to a little Indian, who suddenly darted off into the woods. We concluded to await the result of this movement. Presently an Inrlian came forward anfl in fair English gruftty said: you want here?' Instanth' we spoke the magic word ' seed-corn," and then the duskv sa\'- ages all arose, talked and gave us a cordial welcome. Their squaws had ])een planting, and after an hour or two of loitering around their wigwams we departed. Everything ga\e e\idence of (|uiet. We camped near what is now Leesburg. ]\Ir. Elsea gut four logs together in the shape of a foundation for a house, near where the old Metcalf Beck store-house stands, and formally made his claim to the land, intending next fall to move his family to that spot of mother earth. Before he returned others jumped his claim and became owners of the land. We went back to our homes, reported the Indians all peaceful, and this allayed tlie excitement. They settled at Goshen, however, to hnild a fort, got the finuKlation laid and disagreed as to its name, and so the work was aljandoned. Now all thusc \\ Im were then young men in the prime of manhoud. full of energy and activity, are either gathered to their fathers or are in the decline of life. The mothers of the daughters whc! nuw li\e in ease, and many of whom pride themselves on white hands and pretty feet, rather than clear heads and hra\e hearts, are now gone or hmken in health. W'e shall all pass awa}- S(jon t(j some other land. l)nt it is a happy thought that we have set a good example for our children. W'e lia\e laid the foundation of future prosperity strong and deep, and tlmse now in the prime of life need only to build upon it."

Before the close of the thirties was witnessed the last exodus of the red men from the forests and prairies of northern Indiana which had so long been their home. In JS37 Colonel Pepper convened the Pottawottomie nation at Lake Ke-waw-nay for the purpose of remo\- mg them west of the Mississippi. In that fall a small party of about a hundred were conducted to their future home, and the regular emigration of the tribe, to tlie number nf .about a thousand, took place m the summer of 1838. under the command of ( ieneral Tipton and Colonel Pepper.

As a former liistorian has said, it was a sad and mnurnful spectacle to witness these children of the forest slowly retiring from the home of their childhootl, that contained not only the gra\es of their revered ancestors, but also man)- endearing scenes to which their memories would ever recur as sniniy spots along their pathway through the wilderness. They felt that they were bidding farewell to the hills, valleys and streams of their infancy; to the more exciting hunting grounds of their advanced youth, as well as the stern and Ijlondv battlefields where they had contended in their riper manhood. All these they were leaving behind them to be desecrated by the ])lowshare of the white man. As they cast mournful glances back toward these loved .scenes that were fading in the distance, tears fell upon the cheek of the downcast warrior, old men trembled, matrons wept, and sighs and half-suppressed sobs escaped from the motley groups as they passed along, some on horseback and others in wagons. Ever and again one of the party would break out of the train and flee back to their old encampments on Eel river and on the Tippecanoe, declaring death to be preferable to- banishment from their okl homes.

An enforced remo\"al (if n [leople from tlieir ancestral aljodes is always a pitiable spectacle, and the pages of history contain no sadder chapters than the descriptions of such a scene, as witness the expulsion of the happy Acadians and the events described in the mournful pages of " Evangeline." But generally the wise statesmanship of the times has justified '^ucli removals, and perhaps it is a part of human destiny that the weaker nation must give wa}- to the stronger in order that " the fittest may survi\e." I'ut ne\-ertlieless it canncit be too strongly insisted upun that there should be a rigorous self-searching as to motives in such matters, whether mi the part of the government or the incba-idual.

Several years -itfter the removal of the Pottawottomies, the JMiamis, liaving ceded their lands to the United States, were also removed to their western homes under escort of United States tix)ops. Thus departed the last of the red men. the land they had once roamed over at will was free for the use and occupati<in of the white settlers, and though the dispossession of the Indian from his ancient home seems regrettable, yet it is justified by the wonderful civilization which now flourishes \\'here once the savage and the wild animal held complete sway.

Chapter Hl Early Settlement

It would be indeed interesting- to know the time and the exact circumstances of the coming of tiie first civiHzed man tO' the country about the confluence of the Elkhart and St. Joseph rivers. With such a record we could place a definite starting point for the history of Elkhart county. From what has preceded we know that for many centuries the American aborigines roamed at will over these prairies and through the woodlands, but they left hardly a trace, much less an institution or enduring monument, of their lives and customs. ( )iily with the advent of the enterprising European has any social nr constitutional fabric worthy of the name been pieced together in the new world.

It is a matter largely oi histurical conjecture that LaSalle or some of his followers, in their canoe voyages down the St. Joseph river, during the latter years of the seventeenth century, may have penetrated as far as the present county of Elkhart. During the years that followed, with the increase of intercourse between the French posts on the Mississippi and Canada, and with the missionary zeal of the Jesuit priests extending their proselytizing endeavors further and further among the Indian tribes east of the Mississippi, there, doubtless passed over this county many explorers, adventurers, soldiers, hunters, trappers, traders and missionaries, although it does not appear that this county lay in the direct route of travel during those days. But here again a mere more or less conjectural statement of the fact is all that the historian is permitted to make, for Elkhart count}- at the beginning of its actual settlement felt i-|o iiifluence frmu these ]ieo])le of the jiast and her subsequent career was in nowise affected by their chance coming and going.

But with the passing of French and then of English control and the establishment of Arnerican sovereignty over all this region north of the Ohio to the Canadian border, it was inevitable but that the westward tide of civilization should some day touch and overflow the beautiful country along the Elkhart and St. Joseph rivers. Before the dawn of the nineteenth century that restless throng of pioneers had penetrated and founded social communities in Ohio and Indiana, pushing before it the native sons of the forest and by force of treaty and purchase dispossessing them of their lands. But a number of years passed after the formation of Indiana Territory, and more years even after Indiana became a sovereign state, before a record of permanent settlement in Elkhart county can be set down with definite certainty.

Not alone the Indians and wild animals left their beloved liaunts and fled before the approach of the white settlers. There come down to us in the history of Elkliart county, as also in the annals of nearly every similar community, several cases of "relapses" from civilization; in other words, instances of men, once integral parts of the social fabric, Avho, because of natural aversion to their fellow men, by reason of some great sorrow or the commission of crime, severed their connection with society and thenceforth chose to live apart from the vi-orld and to bury their existences and deeds in the depths of the wilderness. Of these restless wanderers, haunting the mid-shores between barbarism and civilization, there are several instances in Elkhart county.

There was the old French trader Rosseau, who turned his sprightliness of character to rare account and made himself thoroughly at home in the wigwams of the red men. even as he did subsequently in the homes of the hospitable pioneers, and withal led a very romantic career. He is supposed to have settled on Elkhart prairie, to the southeast of Goshen, in the year 1815, and for many years both before and subsec[uent to this date he traded with the Indians of the vicinity. His residence thus fixes one of the earliest dates in the history of the He is the best known of the various French traders who had their abodes in this part of the country during the early years of the past century.

Another early character was Joseph Noffsinger, the hermit sciuatler. who is said to have made his home at the junction of the Christiana and St. Joseph streams - now in the city of Elkhart - as early as 1821, but as soon as permanent settlement began to be made in this \icinitv, about 1828. he withdrew. Very little is known of him, as he seems to have avoided all social commingling either with the red men or the settlers.

The Carey Mission, on the banks of the St. Joseph, near the present Niles. Michigan, was a social and religious center during the twenties whence emanated various colonizing streams into the various sections of the surrounding country. Isaac McCoy, a minister of the Baptist churcli, and one of the founders and principal workers at this mission, came from tlie east on his way to this mission, and in the spring of 1824 crossed the St. Joseph at its junctiun with the Elkhart. To the stream flowing- down from the north into the larger river he gave the name of his wife, Christiana, which as the jjresent name of the little creek remains as a memorial of that de\'oted pioneer missionary and his followers.

When we reach the ]jerio(] of permanent settlement, we may only for the first year or so deal witli indi\-iduals, after which the settling up of the county can be dealt with nnly by general statement as to communities and larger centers, b^or it seems that the tide of emigration which flowed into northern Indiana was not intermittent, nor did any appreciable time intervene 1>etween the first ripple of settlement upon the Elkhartian shores until the full current was running fresh and strong, with no lull or resurgent flow up to the present day. The counties of northern Indiana did not feel the impulse of migration and occupation until tlie late twenties, but in less than a <lecade thereafter social order and industrial enterprise were thoroughly established and the pioneer epoch was really over.

b'rom the a\-ailable data concerning the earlv settlement. of Elkhart county it seems impossible to fix upon the first permanent settler with any degree of certainty. The year 1827 is the date most commonly assigned for the first settlers. Matthew Boyd was one of the first, if not the first settler on Elkhart prairie, and in 1828 he completed the erection of a log house at Elkhart Crossing. In the earh- davs Bovd ran a ferry across the Elkhart river at Benton. He was a red headed Irishman and \ery droll, and his characteristics made him a well known personage in the neighborhood. In the summer when the water was lowbe was in the baliot of going a little way down the stream and felling a number of trees across the ri\-er, thereby causing a dam and the consequent raising of the water so that toll could be demanded from the unsuspecting traveler for the use of Boyd's ferrv. .Vnother comer in 1827 was William Simpson, who took up liis abode near Boyd, and Elias Riggs made his home on the edge of the prairie somewhere near these two and in the same year. In the southwest corner of Pleasant Plain, near the present city of Elkhart, there settled in the fall of 1827 Jesse Rush. On May 16. 1828. Mrs. Rush bore twin children, a son and a daughter, and it is claimed that these were the first white children born in Elkhart county. Isaiali Rush, the son, has for manv vears been a familiar tigure un the streets of Elkhart. There is at least one other claimant for the honor of being the first horn in this connty, and that is Air. John H. Viulette, who was born near Goshen, but not till November, J 829. If the dales are correct as given, there can be no question as to the proper priority.

Elias Carpenter settled upon Elkhart ]jrairie in i8j(j, ami the next year mo\ed into a log house located on the hill (_)\'erlooking Rock Run, and within a huntlred yards of the Noble Manufacturing Company's plant in (ioshen. Dr. C. C. Sparklin, of Goshen, says: "My father, Aztl Sparklin, settled on i'llkbart prairie in 1829, coming from Connersville. He was a Methodist nnnister and administered to the spiritual as well as the material wants of the early settlers. The house where we lived was built of logs and the location haiipened to be an excellent one, as the state road \vas afterwards constructed within a few rods of the house. The nearest neighbors were John Violette and Israel Hess. Banking in those days was done at I'ort \\'ayne, fifty miles awav, and three days were consumed in the trip."

In the spring of 1829 there arri\ed. over the frozen roads. Colonel John Jackson, who purchased of Elias Riggs and William Simpson their claims on Elkhart prairie in Jackson township, and these two men then mox'ed across the line into what is now the southeast corner of Elkhart township, and became, in all probability, the first settlers in the township wdiere Goshen is now situated. Colonel Jackson had an interesting history, and was acquainted with this county long before he became an actual settler. He played a valiant part in the war of 1812 under General Harrison. After the British and their Indian allies were driven from Fort Wayne, Colonel Jackson was a member of one of the detachments sent north in pursuit of the liafiled enemv, who sought refuge in some of the Miami and Pottawottomie villages along the northern border of this state. In September, 1812. the \illage of Obsbenobe was destroyed by fire at the command of the American ofiicers. This Indian town stood near the present site of Benton, a few miles to the southeast of Goshen. Colonel Jackson was attracted I)y the beauty and fertility of this section of the comity, and. when settlement was directed this wav he came to cast in his lot with the new country, where he became notably identified with Goshen and the entire history of the county.

Among other early residents of Elkhart township would l>e found the names of Mrs. Susan Nickerson, l^etter known as Mrs. Wogoman, who was here in June, 1828; John B. Cripe. in March, 1829: Balser Hess

Among the first comers to Concord township one woukl name Isaac Compton, who with his brothers James and John settled here in 1829; Dr. Havilah Beardsley, the "Father of Elkhart," William Dobson and Jesse Morgan, also settlers of 1829 on Pleasant Plain; and in the fall of the same year came Peter Tuley, Peter Diddy, Associate Judge I. jNIiddleton and Mr. Betteron, with the arrival of many others during the immediately following years.

Immediately following Colonel Jackson's settlement in Jackson township came Mr. Thompson Weybright and Mr. Rippey, who located on the east side of the river. The next settlements were made on the "Barrens" in the northern part of the township, between the river and Turkey creek, among the names mentioned here being Mr. Steward. John Rohrer, David Rodibaugh. Jonathan Wyland. Benjamin Bennett. Daniel Studebaker, Allen Conley and Thomas Hall.

Benton township was one of the first sections of the county toward which migration turned. Matthew Boyd, who arrived in 1828, has already been mentioned, and others that .should be mentioned were Martin Vance. Solomon Hockert, Peter Darr, Z. Butler, Mr. Hire, the Ott family, John Longacre. and the Juday family.

^liddlebury township, which also felt the earl)- impulses of settlement, had among its pioneers Enoch Woodbridge and family, who came in iS^2. Solomon L. Hi.xon was another early comer. It is said that James P. White came to this county in 1830 and made settlement in Middlebury township. His daughter, I\Irs. Phebe Cornell, died in December, 1904.

In Cleveland township there are mentioned, as having come in about 1830, Francis Rork, John and Frank Bashford and Mr. Bogart, who located on the western side of the township, and Mr, Rork's house, which was kept for the accommodation of the public for some time, was the first erected in the township. In 1834 came Mr. Dibble, Mr. Smith, D. J. and R. B. Clark, Silas T. Matte )x, and thereafter the country rapidl}- settled up.

In a graceful bend of the Elkhart, where the town of Bristol now stands, and near the mouth of the Little Elkhart river, in Washington townshi]!, in the year 1829, the Nickolson family, who we are told were the first to locate here, stopped to make their home. James Nickolson was the father of this family, and his sons were Samuel V., David T.

and George. About the same time came Peter Marmen and Aaron Brown, all of whom made pre-emptions and thus began the actual ^York of settlement; while, also in 1829, came Reuben Bronson and his brother- 'in-law, James Cathcart.

The dates of the arrival of the first settlers, and of the organization of the township of Baugo, and other items of its history are almost buried in obscurity. The old pioneers that effected the first settlement in the midst of hundreds of wild savages of this township have long since passed off the stage of action and been laid beneath the sod. According to the most authentic evidence, William Mote was the first settler, the date of his coming being 1830. The next was John McNey, and then followed James Davis, John Barnes, Mr. Kellog, Jacob Rupel and William Richason.

To Thomas Carick and father, and a person named Stutsman belongs the honor of being the first settlers in Jefferson township. The former pre-empted the southwest quarter of section 21, but paid very little attention to farming, most of his time being spent in hunting and trapping-. James Wilson also settled about the same period, to be soon followed by James DeFreese, who was the first justice of the peace elected in the township. Other names that appear on the record of early comers, though perhaps not in consecutive order, are Joseph Gardner, William and Joseph Newell, William ]Martin. Elijah 'Adams, James Kane, John Neff, John Wilson, Ozias Stotts, R. C. Lake, Abner Blue, Joseph D. Knox, Israel Wolf and P. W. Boler.

In that fertile agricultural township now known as Clinton there are named, as voters at the first election, in August, 1836, the following: Solomon Benner. William Pearman, William Carmien, Wilson McConnell. Enoch Bomber, Samuel Thomas, Jacob Baker, Isaac Biby, James Acton, Peter ^Nlont, Martin Biles, George Biles, William Denney, John Denney, George Zullinger and Colonel Denney. From this number there was no doubt one who might claim priority of settlement, but the record is not at hand. Elias Simpson, son of 'William Simpson, was the first white child ijorn m the township.

In Harrison township the early date connected with its settlement is 1831, in which year Daniel B. Stutsman, one of the sturdiest samples of Elkhart county's pioneers, erected his log cabin, moved into it and commenced the work of clearing the virgin forest. His was the first white man's axe that was heard in the township, and for some time his' was the only effort at permanent settlement in the township. In 1833-34 there came David ^'. Miller, Conrad Brumbaugh, James and William Stewart and Samuel Buchanan, followed in 1835 l)y James McDowell and Christian S. Farber.

Osolu township received its first settlers in 1834, when Samuel" Simonton lucated on section 9. Abraham Heaton located on sectiiju 25, and Fhilip Mechling on section 26: and in 1833 James and Ezekiel Compton, Mrs. Long, a widciw, J(jhn Gardner and Mr. Nutting formed a settlement on Cliristiana creek.

.\Ithough what are now Concord and Elkhart townships seem to ha\e recei\-e(l the luilk of early settlers, yet the county as a whole was ([uite equahl}- settled and no on,e part seems to lia\e escajjed the homefinder for \erv long. Lnion townsh.ip. on the southern line of the county, Ijegan to be settled in 1834, in .\|)ril of which Daniel Bainter built tlie first cabin in the townshiji. Mr. Bainter also deserves mention as one of the first men to become acquainted with this county, for he passed through it with his father, on the wa}- to South Bend, in the year 1827. Some time after Mr. Bainter, John Walburn moved into the township. He drove a wagon from Ohio, and in order to get to his land had to cut a road for some distance. Thereafter the settlers came rapidly, and some of the first names to be encountered are Daniel Landers, John Pippinger, Christ Louder, Mr. Sheline, Cotner Strycker.

In 1833 \\'illiani Hunter is said to have located in the southern part (if York township, near the Little Elkhart ri\-er. In 1834 this aihenturous pioneer received considerable reinforcement in the persons of J. N. Brown. J. and William Cummins, William Hall, Friend Curtis, David Ebi, Hiram Chase, E. Bonney, John and Ruby VanFrank, Edward Joyce and A. Arnold, all of whom settled on the Vistula road and became the nucleus for a rapidly expanding population.

Olive town,ship honors the name of Jacob Sailor as its first settler, who came in the early part of 1834, and was soon followed by Cornelius Terwilliger, Frederick Morris, Samuel and Levi Martin and David Allen; and in a short time later came Daniel Mikel, who had been in the county since 1829.

The annals of tne Morris family of Olive township, represented by Cornelius Morris, are filled with mteresting items concerning the earlv history of tliis township. Isaac Morris, a brother of Frederick, above mentioned, came to Elkhart county in 1835, settling in Baugo township as it is no\v lx)unded, but after a year moved down into what was then still kn(iwn as Baugo township, but which is now Olive townshi]). He purcliased forty acres of land and entered one hundred and sixty from the government, this land being so located that it was situated in sections 13. 14 and 2^. The conventional log cabin was the first Morris home. After the township of Olive was formally organized in 1839, the Morris brothers, with Messrs. Allen, Martin and Sailor, and tme other, held the first election for township offices. That primitive election is worth menti')ning. The ballot box into which the si.x x'oters cast their ballots was ;in (ild-fashioned blue porcelain sugar liowl, which is still treasured in the home of Cornelius Morris, and the latter"s mother held this queer ballot bn.x while the six citizens placed in it their votes. No mention is made of an attempt to stuff the Ijallot bo.x. and with such a fair custodian in charge it would not have been permitted.

Locke township, the last one in chronological order, situated in the southwest cm-ner of the county, had as its first settler Samuel Lockwood, and from him the townsbii) was named. He came here in the fall of 1836. from \'ermont, and ten days later Abner Hibray and John Pitts located in the neighborhood, and there was soon a fair-sized community of people working under pioneer conditions to make homes in the wilderness.

Mr. P. M. Henkel affords a clear exposition of a ver_\- important cause which made the western portion of the county tardy in settlement as compared to other sections. In the early forties, states Mr. Henkel, "much of the western portion of the county was still in the state of nature. Large bodies of land were held by non-residents with the hope That by the labors of the pioneers they would become valuable. That part of the county was then but sparsely inhabited. True, the Walburns, the Sheetses, the McCoys, the Pippengers and the L'lerys had penetrated the forest, built their cabins, felled the trees and opened the roads, to 1>e followed by others who should take up the work after them. For ihe time being they were willing to endure all the privations and hardships incident to pioneer life for the benefit of their successors.

"Dr. E. \\'. H. Ellis, then auditor of the county, conceived the idea of compelling the non-resident landowners to contribute by the way of taxation to the building of roads and schoolhouses. For this purpose he induced the legislature to pass a law by which he could assess one and one-fourth cent on each acre of land for road purposes. The citizens had the privilege of working out the tax, while the non-residents had to pay in money. This money when collected was returned to the township from which it came, where it was applied to the purpose for which the tax was. raised. Tlie eiTect of this law was in induce the non-residents to dispose of their holdings and permit those lands to pass into the hands of actual -settlers."

W'hile we are pursuing the subject of early settlement we may be permitted to repeat some reminiscences bearing upon this phase of the county's history. It is said, and there is much truth' in the assertion, that a trustworthy history cannot be written from tradition or the memory-reports of men concerning the events of the past. The best memory is none too trustworthy, of which fact no one would l>e more certain than a practical business man, who has learned that the only safe method of transacting' business is to record every detail in black and white. Then, there are various points of view from which an event may be observed, and while the judgment of each individual is unprejudiced and true from his standpoint there is likely to be a confiiction as to matters of fact and detail among all who report the event. Thus, a history of any community, even though it go back but a few }ears in the past, may err in details, unless every point can be established by authentic and unbiased record. But \\here the records after all l>ut present the skeleton of history, it is a pleasure to turn to the memories of men w^ho have lived and experienced the scenes described, and from the tablets of reminiscence transcribe a few pages that will lighten still more the scene curtain of the past. At a meeting of the old settlers in 1879 there was a symposium of anecdotes - and memories of early days, and it will he worth our while to repeat the substance of some of those addresses.

William P. ^Martin said he had been through this part of the state as early as 1822-23. liefore any sign of settlement was at Goshen, anil had camped on his se\eral trips on the spot where the Rowel! foundry was afterwards located.

(George Nicholson stated that lie settled in Washington township, August 31. 1829, four months after the first settlement had been made there, on April 27, 1829, by Aaron Brown and three others. He had since been a resident of Washington township; was one of the \-oters in Concord township at the first election ever held in the county ; had to go with his grist to Ford's mill on the Dowagiac, and on his route bad tn lord the St. Joseph with an ox team, and be careful to select, in the winter, a time when the ice was not running. At the close of Air. Nicholson's remarks a call was made for all persons present who bad voted at the first election in the county to rise, whereupon Tnhn

Col. John Jackson, another siiokesman, related his experience in the war of 1812. when his company followed the Indians t<j this county, crossing the Elkhart at I'cnton and jireparing to attack the village of the Pottawottomies there, but fcjund it deserted. When he first entered on the prairie he thought it the most beautiful country he liad e\'er seen, and resolved that when the war should close he would come and make it his home. He heard in 1827 that the Indians had sold their lands to the government, and with a neighbor came here to select a home. When he arrived he could hear nothing of the sale by the Indians, and went down to Beardsley's prairie to see if he could find other country as beautiful as Elkhart prairie, but was disappointed and came back. He had been told by one Rossean, a Erenchman, that a treaty of purchase had jjeen made with the Indians at Carey ]\Iission. He selected the .spot where he later had his home and returning to Ohio- brought back his family, driving three yoke of oxen. He crossed the Elkhart on the ice \\here Benton now is, and found that Mr. Riggs had settled on his chosen land; he bought the land of Riggs and the next spring went to farming. He had to go forty miles to^ mill, and the nearest blacksmith, shop was at White Pigeon. They used to have religious meetings at Riggs' house. Some one asked him to request of Riggs the use of his house, and he did so, and found Mrs. Riggs very much rejoiced.- she being a memlier of the church. They had meetings there often, prayer meetings.

Another speaker at this meeting of 1879 was E. M. Chamberlain, who came to Indiana in 1832 and to Goshen in 1833. When he came to Goshen there were no bridges across Elkhart river, and he crossed it as a foot passenger on a sycamore tree which had fallen across the stream where a bridge .was later placed. There was a ford for teams a mile and a half northwest of town.

Dr. Cornell, who came to the county in June, 1834, and who hafl got his education in schoolhouses with greased papers for windows, spoke of his holding the office of assessor in 1836, and presumed that the reason why the people had elected him to the office was that he had once seen a deer, had pursued it on horseback, and caught it after running six hours, which circumstances amply demonstrated his fleetness and persistency - qualities essential to the office.

located there on April 5, 1829, said he came from Ohio with an ox team, and was twenty-one days making the trip, having- to cut his own road most of the way. When he first entered upon Elkhart prairie he thought it, in size, a large farm. He had to use seven yoke of oxen to plow the prairie sod. The settlers had interesting experiences with their cattle when they strayed. The animals were always belled, and it was necessary to rise early in order to find them. They would wade the river and launch out into the woods, with ears attent to catch the tinklings, and as they pushetl on the crackling brush would call their attention to a deer, or a turkey would gobble, further on a wolf would howl, but it was often days before the lost cattle could be found.

Another entertaining speaker was John W. Irwin, who said he came to the county May 5, 1832. He used to do his milling at McConnell's mill, on the east side of Goshen, and his grist of two bushels of grain was a whole day's grinding, were plenty, and premiums were offered for their scalps. One man had a large trap made of logs, and set with triggers, and once when he w'ent to examine it he found something wrong, stepped into it. sprung the triggers by accident and caught himself, and would have perisheil had not some of his neighbors come to his relief.

From these accounts we can gain some understanding of how this county began to take on the garli of civilization, and who were the men and what the circumstances which entered into the settlement of a county which in the subsequent three-quarters of a century has grown so great.

In the settlement of Elkhart county there were happily very few retarding influences. The presence of the Indians, and the fears aroused in prospective settlers by the Black Hawk war and similar troubles, no doubt acted as a check for a short time, but the sweeping flood of migration was too strong to be held back long. It is very remarkable that this beautiful region of country should remain absolutely unsettled until the year 1828. and that settlers from different parts of the United States, without any preconcerted action or communication with each other, should begin to pour in just at this time; but so it was. Here different families for the 'first time met each other, and here their lives were first united in the same community, and in manv cases by marriage in the same home.

warfare, onlv a few veterans are left. It would be impossible in a work like this to trace the lite histor\- and describe the end of each of them, and for this there would not be sufficient space. But when we find chronicled in the year 1905 the deaths of such notable chara.cters as Anthony Defrees and Joel P. Hawks, who were among the very Ia,st of the living links which tie us to the past, this chapter seems an opportune place for recalhng some events of their long careers.

Joel P. Hawks, who passed away April 8, 1905, and who is referred to many times in the pages of this work (see his sketch), was born in 1822, and since he was thirteen years old lived in and about Waterford, where the family were prominent in business and industrial affairs, -SO that seventy \'ears of his life had Iieen passed going in and out among the ]3eople of this county.

The life of Anthony Defrees, as portrayed in a sketch published in the Democrat at the time of his death, is of such peculiar interest to a!id connection with this history that we c|uote it entire :

Anthony Defrees was born in Sparta, Tennessee, November 14, i8t6. His parents removed to Piqua, Ohio, when he was about four years old, and from tliere he came to South Bend in 1832. His brothers, John D. and Joseph H. Defrees, had settled there, and in 183 1 had establisi'.ed the first newspaper in northern Indiana, the Nortliiacstem Pioneer and St. Joseph InteUigcncer. j\Ir. Defrees became associated with his brothers as an assistant in the iniblication nf this paper, the name of which was afterward changed to the St. losepli, Beacon and Indiana and Micliigan Intelligencer. This newspaper aihenture du! not prove altogether satisfactory, and it was tlmught that the future prospects for the paper in the village of South Bend were not promising, so the Defrees brothers began to look alx)ut for a better field. At first Chicago was considered, but the project of building up a newrpa])er tliere was soon dismissed because it was supposed that what was then a mud hole would never become much of a business center, and there seemed to lie less prospect that it would ever become a residence city. White Pigeon, half way between Detroit and Chicago, had already l^ecome a prosperous town and seemed to give promise of great things for the future, particularly as it Avas the gateway through which passed all the immigrants who came to settle in northern Indiana and southern Michigan. John H. Barry, afterward governor of Michigan, made to John D. Defrees a proposition to start a paper there and the prop<^sition was accepted.

John 1). and Anthony Uetrees removed Xn that place, and John D. estabhshed the Micliigciii Statcsiiuiii and St. Joseph Chromclc. Anthony assisted his brother in tlie pubhcation of this paper during the short time from December, 1833, to the following summer, when it was sold. Aleanwhile. in 1833. Joseph H. Defrees had removed to Goshen and engaged in the mercantile business. Goshen then consisted of about forty houses, most of them log cabins, and its population was about two hundred. In the fall of 1836 a proposition was made to the subject of this sketch to start a paper here, and he was offered the loan of sufficient money to purchase the necessary equipments. The proposition was accepted, and with the four hundred dollars raised for this purpose Mr. Defrees started for Cincinnati to purchase the outfit. He started out mounted on an Indian jiony. but when he had got as far as Wolf Lake in Aoble count}- the nuid was so deep that the pony gave out. and he was obliged to leave it and proceed on foot. He sent the pony back with the mail carrier, who was passing through on his way from Fort Wayne to (losben. ;nid started on with his valise on his shoulder, making his way in tlial style to Piqua, Ohio. At that place be met Charles L. ]\Iurray. then a young man and who was destined afterward to become prominently identified with the journalism of northern Indiana. A iiartnership was formed between the two, and together tiiey proceeded on to Cincinnati, traveling from Piqua to Da_\'- ton by stage and from Dayton to Cincinnati by canal.

There they made their purchase, consisting of a Franklin press, the necessary type and other materials. 'This was transpijrted by canal as far as J3ayton. where it was transferred to a co\-ered wagon or schooner, as it was called in those days, and drawn by six horses. In this way it was brought to Goshen, where it arrived in January, 1837. The paper was established and named the Goshen Express, the first issue appearing January 2~. It was located in a one-room frame building on the west side of Main street, between \\'ashington and the first alley north. The files of this paper, the first e\er published in Goshen, are now in the possession of J. .A. Beane of the Dcinocmt.

Mr. Defrees was associated with the jiaper but four months, when the partnership between himself and Mr. Murray was dissolved, and he removed to Elkhart to engage in business with his brother James. After his brother. John D. Defrees. became editor of the Indianapolis Jmirnal, Anthony removed to that city to acce^it employment on the paper, and in that capacity he remained for a number of years. Lew ^^'allace, afterward thf renowned author of "Ben Hur," was connected with the paper at the same time, and the two became ver}- intimate friends. It is a somewhat pecuHar coincidence that although half a century has elapsed since they were thus associated General Wallace and JNIr. Defrees should pass away within a few weeks of each other. During his stay in Indianapolis ]\Ir. Defrees also became acquainted with Henry \\'ard Beecher, who was then pastor of a church in the capital city, and he occasionally met Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Trihiiiw and the foremost journalist of the United States.

I-'rom Indianapolis Mr. Defrees removed to Terre Haute, where in 18O4 he was united in marriage with Elizabeth Singer, who' survives him. In Terre Haute he was engaged in the milling and manufacturingbusiness, having a large flouring mill and also a stave factory. From that city in the early '70s he removed to Santiago, California, where he engaged in mining. In 1882 he returned to Goshen, conducting a grocery store for sixteen years. For the past six years he had lived a retired life. Besides his \\ife. JNIrs. Elizabeth Defrees, he is survived b}- twd daughters, ]Mrs. R. F. Dale of Boone, Iowa, and Mrs. H. E. Bullerdick, of St. Louis, Missouri : two grandsons, Defrees Arnold and Frank Dale ; one brother, Rollin Defrees of Indianapolis ; three sisters, Mrs. James S. Frazer of Warsaw ; Mrs. J. S. Mather of Middlebury, and Mrs. Margaret Smith of Miami, Florida : and many other relatives. Two of his brothers, John D. and Joseph H. Defrees, already mentioned, were well known in northern Indiana for manv years. The former, Ijesides being prominentlv identified with Indiana journalism, was for a numl>er of years public printer af ^^'ashington. The latter was one of Goshen's leading merchants, was president of the City National Bank and served a term in Congress. His father also came to this county in 1836, locating in Jefferson township on what is generally known as the Stephen Miller farm, and was one of the thirteen voters who v(.ited at the second township election in 1837.

The career of Mr. Defrees, as will be observed, was somewhat e\entful, and his long life was one of industry and usefulness. He was identified with man}' enterprises for advancing the interests of the several communities in which he lived. Coming here when Elkhart county was only a wilderness, his name is associated with our county's pioneers, and he will be remembered, too, as one of Northern Indiana's pioneer newspaper men. Although modest and unassuming in his character, he was recognized wherever he was known as a man of sterling" worth. He was a congenial companion, a good neighbor, a stanch and loyal friend. The period of his retirement, passed among his friends, amid congenial surroundings and with agreeable companionship, was a fitting close of a life of activity such as his had been. Those who knew l^est will say that on this 7th of March of the year 1905 there was borne to his rest one of Goshen's most exemplary citizens.

The settlers of this county had many hardships, but had less to contend with than the settlers in most other sections of the country. Here, rich prairies covered with grass invited the plow of the husbandman, the groves furnished an abundance of timber for fencing, and large returns for labor were promised frnni the Aery first year of settlement. [Mills were soon built and other con\eniences came rapidly.