Dakota County, Nebraska - Chapter 4, 1893

Chapter 4

now understood from its roeks memorial. there have been five great eras in geological history, viz: ArcliiBan. Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic and Pscjcliozoic. During the early part of the first or Archaean era, our globe was companion star to the sun, and glowed by a heat and shown by a light of its own.''

Dakota county has been visited by a number of geologists, l*ef'ause of its peculiar geological formation, and the "Dakota Group" was so named from the fact that these stratums of different grades of sandstone were first discovered in this county along the bluffs east of Homer which was once the bed of a sea. .and this group was formed by sedimentary deposits.

The county is well supplied with good building stone and there is plenty of s.ind for phistering pui-poses on the Missouri bottom, also in the uplands, where it crops out on high Miififs. An excellent quality of -clay is found here for )naking brick. The soil of Dakota county is the very best in the state, the loam or loess formation is hei-e a!tout two hundred feet in deptlL One half tlie C(Minty is Missouri bottom land aJid the -other poi"ti<ui upland and valleys.

Natukal Kksources

'-In 1851," said Thos. L. Griffey, "the land along the river between Dakota City and Covington was covered with the largest and most dense timber ever seen in the west."

Bnt notwithstanding the vast amount of timber that has been consumed and sent to mai-ket, Dakota county still has a supply to last her people for many years to come. On the Missouri bottom, generally bordering the river, are groves of cotton wood, white, yellow, prairie and red or diamond willow, boxelder, ash and white elm, also some soft maple. Along the smaller streams and on the high bluff lands interspersed witli deep ravines, is to be found excellent timber, such as walnut, red and burr oak, red, white and i-ock elm, ironwood, boxelder, cottonwood, hickory, cot^eebean. mulberry, hackberry, dogwood, haw-thorn and basswood. Some of the cottonwood trees are over three huiidred years old and black walnut trees have been cut down wiiich have withstood the storms of three hundred and eighty years. In 1805 and '(56, 500,000 feet of walnut lumber were shipped to Onidui.

Among the wild fi-uits, berries and nuts are to be found: Plum, grape, strawberry, raspberry, mulberry, gooseberry, haw-thorn, chokechei'ry, hazelnut and walnut.

The county is abundantly supplied with water. Besides being bounded on the north and east by the Missouri river, it is drained by a number of creeks and contains hundreds of springs of pure water, principally on the uplands. Omaha the laigest creek of i he county, enters it from the south, and after receiving the waters of Wigle, Fiddler and Elk creeks from the west and northwest, it Hows into the Missouri river, about five miles south of Dakota City.

The native gnisses yet generally prevail - a few farmei-s raisini; timothy, clover and blue grass - slough grass on the bottoms and blue joint on the uplands.