Rainbow, Ohio

April 18, 1861, the Ohio legislature passed the following bill: AN ACT To erect the township of Muskingum in Washington county. "SECTION I. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That the territory now constituting parts of the townships of Marietta, Union, and Fearing, in the county of Washington, and bounded as follows, to wit: Beginning at a point on the Muskingum river, where the same is intersected by the west line of a seventy-eight acre lot, numbered sixteen, in Bear Creek allotment of donation lands, running thence south on said line to the southwest corner of said lot numbered sixteen, thence west to the northwest corner of an eighty-five acre lot, numbered twenty-two, in Rainbow Creek allotment of donation lands, thence south on the west line of said lot numbered twenty-two, to the north line of Wiseman's bottom allotment of the donation lands, thence east on said line to the Muskingum river, thence down said river on the west bank thereof the same is intersected by the west line of one hundred and sixty acre lot, numbered four hundred, thence south on said line and its continuation to the south line of township numbered three, in range numbered eight, thence east on said line to the east bank of the Muskingum river, thence down said river to the south line of commons lot numbered twenty-eight, thence northeasterly along the corporation line of the city of Marietta to the southwest corner of commons lot numbered seventeen, thence easterly along the south line of commons lot numbered seventeen, to the southwest corner of commons lot numbered twelve, thence easterly along the south line of commons lot numbered twelve, to the southwest corner of commons lot numbered fourteen, thence north on line of original survey to the south line of Fearing township, thence east on said line to the east line of three acre lot numbered three hundred and two, thence north on the east line of a range of three acre lots numbered three hundred and eighty-nine, thence west to the east line of section numbered twenty-five in township numbered three, of range eight, thence north on the section line to the south line of Salem township, thence west on*said township line to Bear creek, thence down said creek to the Muskingum river, thence up said river to a point due north of the place of beginning, thence south across the river to the place of beginning, be and the same is hereby erected and constituted into a new township to be designated as Muskingum township, and that the eastern boundary of Union township, the western boundary of Fearing, and the northern boundary of Marietta township be so changed as to conform to the lines of said Muskinguin township.

Passage source: History of Washington County, Ohio, published 1881.

The first and most northerly curve of the river bears so strong a resemblance to the bow in the clouds that the included district was early called the Rainbow territory. Immediately south of this land and only separated from it by the waters of the Muskingum, is a stretch of bottom land which took the name Wiseman's bottom from its first settler. Still further south is a smaller stretch of lowland. The first two areas are from one-half to nearly a mile wide. Opposite these respective bottoms the hills approach very nearly to the water's edge as if jealous of their sister lowland. One step back from the first bottoms will be found a slightly more elevated region known as the second bottom, which swells into the higher plain land beyond, which in turn borders the outstretching slopes of the hill land. The hill country is very much broken and consists of alternate swells and falls. The hills vary in height and are separated by deep hollows through which run small streams of water, many of which are fed by springs, especially abundant in the northeastern part of the township. Many of these hills are symetrically moulded by nature's hand, and there are numerous mounds very suggestive of the artificial. 'Towards the western boundary the hills are not as prominent as on what is known as the ridge, which extends north and south along the western line.

Passage source: History of Washington County, Ohio, published 1881.

The bottoms consist of rich alluvions deposited by the river. The soil is of the richest quality. Adjacent to these are the second bottoms, of a thinner soil, and of a more loamy or sandy character. The plain land immediately adjacent to the hills has a gravelly soil. It is not expedient to attempt to determine which of the two bottoms, Rainbow or Wiseman's, is the more productive, inasmuch as they vie with each other for the palm. Both are very fertile and are consequently very productive, and are clear of timber. The uplands afford a fertile, clayey soil well adapted to the culture of wheat and all the small grains. The hill-tops which in the early days of settle. ment were regarded as little more than sterile obstructions have, by reason of the industry of the farmer, been crowned with golden harvests and dotted with grazing cattle. The bottom land averages in value fifty dollars per acre; and the lowest valuation is set on the hill land, which is worth from twenty-five down to ten dollars an acre,

Passage source: History of Washington County, Ohio, published 1881.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Muskingum Township - it names this place 20 more 20 times.