Gage County, Nebraska - Chapter 6: Topography of Gage County, 1918

The county of Gage is located in the southern part of the state of Nebraska, its eastern boundary being approximately fifty miles west of the Missouri river. On the north it is bounded by Lancaster county, on the east by Johnson and Pawnee counties, on the south by the state of Kansas, and on the west by Jefferson and Saline counties. It is a rectangular body of land, thirtysix miles in length north and south and twentyfour miles in breadth from east to west. As originally created by the territorial assembly, in 1855, it was twenty-four miles square, but as the reader will remember, in 1864, Clay county, which was also twenty-four miles square, was divided by the territorial assembly, the south half being attached to Gage and the north half to Lancaster county, thus giving to both Gage and Lancaster their present dimensions. The county is composed of twentyfour government townships, which, under article 9 of the constitution of the state of Nebraska, are each independent corporations - like counties as relates to their own internal affairs. In 1885 the county government was changed from the commissioner system to township organization, and when such change is made, boards of supervisors are required by law to select names for the various townships under their jurisdiction, by which they shall thereafter be designated. Pursuant to this provision of the law, the various townships of Gage county, beginning with the northeast, are named as follows : Adams, Nemaha, Plighland, Clatonia, Grant, Holt, Hanover, Hooker, Filley, Logan, Midland,

Blakely, Lincoln, Riverside, Rockford, Sherman, Blue Springs, Island Grove, Wymore, Sicily, Elm, Glenwood, Paddock, Barneston, liberty. With the exception of Blue Springs' and Wymore all these townships are approximately six miles square. Originally Blue Springs comprised a full government township, but in 1889, for the purposes of local government, it was divided, on an east and west line through the center, into two townships. The south half was named Wymore, and in the same is situated the city of that name ; the north half retained the name of Blue Springs and within its limits is the little city of the same name. It is through this division of the original township of Blue Springs that Gage county now has twenty-five townships.

The county has a superficial area of nearly 864 square miles, - approximately 552,960 acres. It has an average elevation above sea level of 1,200 feet. Its surface configuration may be described as a plain, tipped toward the southeast, - a construction which is only slightly modified locally by erosion and the direction of water courses. When it is considered that the two principal drainage systems of the county flow from the northwest in an almost due southeasterly direction, it becomes evident even to casual observation that the general surface trend also follows that course.

The hydrographic features of the county are Aery marked and readily traced. The Big Nemaha river enters it from the northwest, near the half-section line running north and south through Section 2, in Nemaha town- ship, and, flowing in an almost due southeast direction across Adams township to the southeast corner of Section 36 in that township, it crosses the county Hne into Johnson county. With its tributary streams, it drains a large portion of Nemaha, Adams, and Hooker townships. At Sterling it receives the waters of Hooker creek, and at Tecumseh those of Yankee creek, both of considerable volume and with headwaters partly in Gage county. At Tecumseh the Nemaha has a volume of water sufficient for milling purposes if properly conserved, and for many years it was the site of a good grist and flouring mill, deriving its power wholly from the river. It crosses the Pawnee county line into Richardson county a few miles east of Tablerock, receives at Salem the waters of its South Fork from Kansas, and falls into the Missouri river at the southeast corner of Richardson county, discharging into the Missouri a considerable volume of water. But by far the most important element in the natural drainage of Gage county is the Big Blue river. This beautiful stream also enters the county from the northwest, in Section 19, Grant township, and, taking a southeasterly course, it flows across Grant, Blakely, Midland, Riverside, Rockford, Blue Springs, and Barneston townships, crossing the state line into Kansas at a point in Section 35 in Barneston township, approximately twentyeight miles south and seventeen miles east of the initial point. From the west it receives the waters of Swan creek at a point two and one-half miles south of DeWitt, Cub creek near Hoag, Bills creek at Blue Springs, and Big Indian creek at Wymore, with their numerous tributaries. From the north and east its waters are augmented by those of Clatonia, Soap, Smake, Indian, Bear, Cedar, Mud, Wolf, Plum, and Mission creeks with their tributaries, most of which are living streams, a number carrying considerable quantities of water. Power for all purposes is supplied by the river itself, and its value and usefulness in this respect become increasingly important with ever)' decade. From Barneston the river flows almost due south, through Kansas, receiving the waters of the Little Blue river and other streams on its course, and, greatly augmented in volume and force, it falls into the Republican at Manhattan, Kansas. It is one of the most beautiful and interesting of all Nebraska rivers, and from source to mouth it is approximately three hundred miles in length. - channel measurement.

The drainage of the county is fully matured. From every portion of it the water is led at once by natural depressions, streams and water courses away from the land. So nearly perfect is the drainage that in case of excessive rainfall the surface water is immediately conducted into runs, creeks, and streams, and these may become swollen, overflow their banks and flood the valley and low lands, sometimes washing away the soil, destroying fences, bridges, and other structures, and often doing great damage to crops on the bottoms and sloping uplands. Damages from this source could be greatly mitigated if the farmers and other interested parties would avail themselves of the recent drainage legislation of our state, form drainage districts, if necessary issue bonds, and, by ditching, straighten the channels of the streams so as to facilitate the rapid discharge of their waters and prevent overflow. This has been done in Pawnee, Johnson, Lancaster, Nemaha, Richardson, and probably other counties of the state, to the very great profit of the sections concerned.

Both the Nemaha and the Big Blue rivers, and particularly the latter, are noted for their wide and fertile valleys. Many of their tributaries also present in a marked degree valley formation. Usually the valleys on either hand are bounded by ranges of low hills, beyond which are the uplands, - formerly prairies.

From the time white men first became familiar with southeastern Nebraska, the streams of our county were bordered by lines of timber, which under favorable circumstances often spread out over the lower bottom lands into groves of valuable oak, walnut, hickory, ash, elm, hackberry, cottonwood, willow, and other deciduous varieties of trees common to this latitude. On some of the strea.ns the red cedar is occasionally found. From these natural sources the early settlers of our county obtained wood for fuel and lumber, logs and clapboards for building purposes, fencing and other requirements of rtiral husbandry. Cultivation of the land, by keeping down disastrous prairie fires and by affording strong protection to the native timber growths, has largely contributed to the spread of timbered areas. In later times the use of coal and other fuels, and of foreign lumber, by relieving the demand upon the native woods has likewise greatly augmented the natural resources of the country, so that at the present moment our timbered areas exceed by many thousand acres the natural forest resources of the county as known to the pioneers. In addition to these factors tree planting in recent years has given Gage county largely the appearance of a timbered country.

There are no mountains and no hills of unusual size or altitude in Gage county. Its most noted elevation is a round-topped hill on the eastern boundary of Riverside township, a few miles southeast of Beatrice, locally known as "Iron Mountain." Speaking generally, the configuration of the surface of the county is such that a traveler is everywhere met with a panorama of low hills, gentle slopes, short plains, and shallow ravines, all pleasingly diversified by stream and wood.

In may portions of the county a fair quality of building stone is found, and in the neighborhood of Blue Springs and Wymore are extensive quarries of conglomerate rock, which for several years have afforded an ample supply of materials for the important rock-crushing industries at those points, the products being shipped in quantities over the state and elsewhere. Sand and gravel of exceptional quality are also valuable natural products of this county, as well as clay, both common and vitreous.

Coal has not yet been discovered in paying quantities anywhere in the state of Nebraska. As far back as 1868, Prof. F. V. Hayden, then at the head of the National Geological Survey, in an address delivered to the citizens of Beatrice in the old frame school house, cautioned his audience against entertaining any hope of finding coal in Gage county in workable quantities ; and in his report to the secretary of the interior at Washington in 1872, after a thorough study and survey of the resources of the state of Nebraska, says : "In regard to finding workable beds of coal within accessable depths in eastern Nebraska by deep boring, I would remark in conclusion that though not prepared to discourage all hope of success, it is proper to state that all the known facts are unfavorable."

The intervening years have only served to prove the wisdom and correctness of this eminent scientist's conclusion. Twice in Gage county deep borings have been made for coal, oil, and natural gas. The first effort was about 1875, when a boring eleven hundred feet deep was put down across the alley on the Robertson property just north of the old jail, in Beatrice, with no other result than to develop a strong flow of salt water which rose to the top of the ground with nearly artesian force. Quite recently another boring was put down, on the Farlow tract of land which now is incorporated in the golf links and Country Club grounds. A depth of six hundred feet was reached, where salt water was again found. Within a few months from this date several tracts of land in the eastern part of our county have been covered with oil, coal, and natural-gas leases. No borings have yet been made, and nothing has transpired since 1868 to discredit the cautionary remarks of Prof. F. V Hayden.

The county is well supplied with water other than that afforded by streams. Numerous excellent springs are found in many localities. At Barneston, within a stone's throw of the old Agency building, is a splendid spring which during the Indian occupation gushed out of the ancient prairie. For many years it supplied the entire Otoe and Missouri tribes of Indians, as well as the white population at the agency, with pure, wholesome water for drinking and all domestic purposes. It has been allowed to fall into disuse and is now so filled with washings from the land and with other debris that is is a mere bog, - so much an object of danger to stock that the owner of the land where it is located keeps a fence around it. With proper development this spring is capable of supplying a city of many thousands with an abundance of the purest water, at small expense. At Blue Springs there is a succession of beautiful springs gushing from under steep embankments and forming a little stream which is called Spring creek and which debouches a few rods away into the Big Blue river. Here is an unknown quantity but certainly an abundant supply of excellent water, capable of meeting the demand of a large city. These natural water resources, besides giving a name to the beautiful city of Blue Springs, have been sufficiently developed to meet the demands of both Blue Springs and Wymore. Beatrice, as is well known, draws her entire municipal water supply for her 12,000 population, amounting to over 1,000,000 gallons a day, from what is known as Zimmerman Springs, a few miles northwest of the city, - a supply which under scientific analysis has been found to be almost chemically pure. There are other localities throughout the county where spring water of excellent quality and great purity can be obtained at comparatively small cost. Well water of great volume and purity is obtainable in every part of the county, at depths varying from a few feet in the Blue river bottom lands to much greater depths in the upland regions. There are no natural lakes in the county and no large bodies of water formed by the streams.

The climate of Gage county is moderately humid, mild and invigorating. The normal monthly temperature ranges from an average of thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit in January to seventy-six degrees in July. Nowhere in the upper Mississippi valley are the climatic conditions more equable or more conducive to healthy living for man and beast. Here one experiences in the greatest perfection the grand procession of the seasons, spring, summer, autumn, winter. The rainfall averages about thirty inches per annum and is well distributed throughout the period of plant growth, as a rule assuring abundant harvests, bountiful crops. All Nebraska, however, is in the region of occasional extremes of temperature caused by excessive drought. Once in each decade, sometimes oftener, crops may partly fail from this cause or from hot, dry southwesterly winds. The winters are sometimes severe, and other eccentricities of climate common to Nebraska and neighboring states may, and do in fact, manifest themselves in some degree in Gage county. But, all things considered, it would be difficult to find in this latitude of the entire country a more healthful or a more attractive climate.

In the early days fluctuations of temperature were more frequent and more marked than now, and the pioneers often suffered severely both from the rigors of winter and the heat and drought of stimmer. Fearful storms not infrequently swept over the treeless prairies, endangering the lives of man and beast, both in winter and summer. With the settlement of the country, the cessation of prairie fires, the planting of groves, orchards, and hedgerows, together with many other agencies incident to a large and progressive community, tending to ameliorate the hard conditions of pioneer life, the sudden and frequent changes of temperature to which all the northwest is subject summer and winter, have come to be regarded here with great indifference.

The soils of the county, as of nearly all eastern Nebraska, are mature and fertile. They contain the essential elements necessary to the growth and production of the fruits, grasses, and grains common to north temperature regions, and as a rule, up to the present moment, they respond bountifully to the labors of the husbandman without artificial fertilization oi other expensive upkeep.

Soil may be defined as a mixture of fine earthy materials with organic matter produced by the decomposition of vegetation on the earth's surface, - as the stems, roots, and leaves of trees, grasses, and other forms of vegetation. The earthy materials which enter mto soil formation are the outer portions of the earth's crust, which, by a process described as weathering, or by glacial action or other drastic force, become decomposed into fine stone, gravel, minerals, clay, sand, and silt. Types of soils are determined by the relative proportions of these materials, organic and inorganic, which by inspection or chemical analysis are found to enter into their composition.

On the basis of their origin, the soils of Gage county may be roughly classed as residual, alluvial, glacial drift, and loessial deposits. Residual soils are formed from the decomposition of limestone and possibly some other kinds of rock by a process scientifically known as leaching, in which the soluble portions of the decomposed mass disappear, and the insoluble or less soluble remain in the place where decomposition or leaching has occurred, as a sort of subsoil, and by the addition of vegetable or organic mold may mature into rich, fertile soil.

Alluvial soils are formed from sedimentary deposits arising from the overflow of streams, carrying in suspension soils and soil materials from a higher to a lower elevation. The vegetable matter such soils contain often renders them the richest and most fruitful known to man. The valleys of the Nile, the Mississippi, the upper Ganges, the Hoang-Ho, the Po, and the Danube, afford fine examples of the strength and wonderful fertility of this kind of soil.

Glacial soils are derived from those deposits which are mainly the product of glacial action, exerted through long ages in the formative period of the earth, though their immediate deposition may have been caused in part by the action of wind and water. Such soils are found as far south as the southern boundarj' of the great ice cap, which in the glacial or ice age covered to enormous depths the north temperate regions of the world. Soils derived from this source are scientifically described as drift.

Eoessial soil is a loessial deposit, very homogeneous in character and rarely stratified. It usually contains large quantities of land and fresh water shells as well as the bones of extinct animals. In regions where the loess occurs it is the most recent of the soil formations. It is regarded as the sedimentary bottoms of ancient fresh-water seas and lakes. Its presence is often attributed to fierce winds which in primordial times carried the fine loamy silt to distant areas and spread it out, often in great thickness. This imperial soil, according to Professor Samuel Aughey, who was the first to occupy the position of geologist at the State University of Nebraska, veneers almost the entire glacial drift of the state. It forms the Missouri river bluffs and is thickest there, gradually thinning towards the west. A recent soil survey of Gage county showed the loess to be extensively present in various areas, principally however on the uplands. It is said to be the thickest and in the highest state of preservation about Cortland. In common parlance it is spoken of as loam, modified by descriptive terms, as black loam, sandy loam, clay loam, and the like.

To the wondering view of the early inhabitants of this section of Nebraska the object of the most striking and universal interest was the rolling prairies. Extending from the Canadian boundary on the north to the tropical gulf of Mexico on the south, and from the timbered shore of the Missouri river on the east to the foothills of the Rocky mountains on the west, its apparently illimitable expanse presented great variety of surface configuration. In its virgin state it was a source of never-ending curiosity and interest. Thickly clothed with verdure, diversified by stream and wood, and shimmering in the brilliant sunshine, the prairies of eastern Nebraska were probably the most beautiful landscape on the face of the earth. At frequent intervals were found rivers and living streams of pure water, and the dark foliage of the forest trees skirting them presented a pleasing contrast to the lighter green of the prairies. Such was the fascination which they exerted over the human mind that the first settlers were prone to wander from one high place to another to feast their eyes upon the beautiful panorama which the prairies offered.

important subject. The most plausible theory which seeks to account for the presence of the great level prairies is that they were the sites of ancient shallow lakes, which gradually filled with silt washed down from the Rocky mountains, six hundred miles away, and from other sources, - first becoming marshes, which with the accumulations of vegetable matter ultimately became the high level prairies. The rolling prairies are said to bear evidence to the rush and the recoil of the fresh-water seas that followed the melting of the great ice cap, while the ravines, the hills, and the valleys were formed by the washing away of large portions of the surface in the process of continental draining.