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the first work built as a fort in the county; New Castine and Ithaca, in 1832; Braffettsville and Palestine, in 1833; Webster, 1835; Beamsville and New Harrison, in 1837; Hollandsburg, 1838; North Jacksonville and Gettysburg, 1842; Dallas, 1845; Sampson, 1846; Hill Grove and Coleville, in 1848; Gordon, 1849; Tampico, 1850; Rose Hill, 1852; De Lisle, 1853; Nevada, 1854; Stelvidio, in the same year, and Woodland, in 1859. There was now an interval of seven years, during which the stormy scenes of warfare embittered feeling and absorbed public attention, but again the current rolled on, and, in 1866, Pikeville was platted, next Bradford; then Rossville, in 1868, Painter Creek in 1870, and Woodington in 1871. A number of these are promising, prosperous villages, while others are lively hamlets, convenient of resort for meals, grists, trade, lumber conveniences and church privileges. Fine pikes bearing the name of the village of which they are a terminus, or through which they extend, render wheeling convenient and make all points accessible, regardless of seasons. Railroads traverse the townships in various directions, and the difficulties of early transportation are now unknown. The obstacles of the past cannot be conceived from any observation of the present. The fields traversed by open or covered drains, and bearing fine crops of wheat and corn, the groves free from all undergrowth, and the unobstructed streams, require personal knowledge or strong faith to believe the stories of the battles of civilization with the rude, strong elements of nature.

The county occupies a position inclining its surface southward from the western limits of the great watershed dividing the basins of the Wabash and the Miami. It is classified as a portion of Southern Ohio. A good knowledge of the general topography of the county, so far as relates to the dip of the land and changes induced by the action of water, is afforded by the statement that "the summit ridge enters the county in the northeastern part, bearing southwest through the northern part of Patterson Township, through the southern parts of Wabash and Allen, and passing out near the middle of Jackson Township." Persons familiar with lands like situated, could derive analogous information of the surface or contour features of this and give proper weight to agencies concerned in alluvial deposits and erosure of higher lands. The general surface is, in the main, flat, and slopes almost uniformly from the summit line northwest and southeast; there are, therefore, no distinct topographical features to avert the sight. Something approximating monotony is presented by the basins of Greenville and Stillwater Creeks, the numerous wild and beautiful cairns and other variations originating in local causes. There are occasional striking manifestations perceived upon the underlying rocks of a tremendous erosive power, but the deposit of an average of 100 feet of drift, conceals most effectively this truth, and the surface contour presents no indication of this interesting geologic fact. Portions of the surface are a level plain, others are hilly and undulating, while to the northeast there is low, waste, inundated land, rich in its deposit of vegetable debris, treacherous to the foot and useless for cultivation, till ultimately co-operative drainage shall render its wealth available.

The summit ridge is not strongly marked, nor is it of uneven outline. For ages, active agencies have divested the surface of loose material and worn down inequalities until we simply behold a broad, rounded belt of elevated land. The rock, gradually crumbling has been swept down as varied alkali clays, and spread as a layer over the low, wet basins of the Wabash and Stillwater, thereby commingling with the black, loamy soil, and supplying those elements of fertility which have given this section its reputation, while leveling the early broken outlines of surface. The ridge is yet prominent, as it bounds the line of the extreme southern limits of the northern lakes and stands as a marked feature in thetopography of the State.

The highest land in the region of the divide is in the northwest portion of the county. A little north of Union City, the altitude above low-water mark in the Ohio at Cincinnati, is 665 feet, which is the highest accurately known. On the

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crest of the slope between the Stillwater and the Wabash, the land has an elevation thirty feet less than at the point named. On the line between Darke and Mercer, the elevation is 634 feet, although places in this vicinity have a possible altitude of 700 feet. The elevation at Greenville is about 590 feet, while, on the county line between Darke and Preble, in Harrison Township, there is a descent to 551 feet. At Ithaca, Twin Township, the elevation is 557 feet above the Ohio. The greatest depression is considered to exist along the bottom of Greenville Creek, in Adams Township, where the elevation is but 520 feet, while the bluffs in the vicinity rise 20 feet higher. Lake Erie is 133 feet higher than the Ohio, and, taking the former as a basis, these altitudes must be diminished to that extent for comparison. From this we find the highest land is 567 feet above Lake Erie, or 1,132 feet above the level of the sea.

In the study of these surface features, it is remarkable, that but one of those primitive lakes once so numerous and still frequently met with upon the watershed in counties eastward, exists here. It is known as the "Black Swamp," and the extensive drainage is reducing its immense deposits of vegetable matter to the character of a bog.

Peat bogs are found in different parts of the county. Near Weaver's Station there is a peat deposit of two to three feet in depth, resting upon the limestone, and is a substance well calculated as a fertilizer for the more sterile, high clay lands. Just to the southwest of Greenville, on Mud Creek Prairie, which was formerly submerged almost to its source in Harrison Township, there is a considerable deposit of peat. To the southeast of the city, about one and a half miles, another is found. An incident illustrating the singular character of one of these peat bogs has been thus given: "Many years ago, in the construction of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railroad in the northern part of the county, the route of the track necessitated the running over one of these peat bogs. To the apparently dry loam, with its dense growth of vegetation, was added sufficient gravel and other material to complete the bed of the road, and in due time the rails were laid and the track used. But one morning, not long after, as the train came along, a great break was espied; the track had evidently disappeared, and, upon investigation, the truth was revealed. The track, instead of crossing over a dry peat bog, was rather laid over a hidden lake. Vast quantities of mosses and aquatic plants, together with branches, trunks of trees, and other accumulations, had collected until they had formed, as it were, a super-aquatic soil of several feet in thickness, and of such a remarkable density and buoyancy as to support, for a time, the weight of a passing train.

Darke County was, to a certain extent, divided into prairie and timber land, and these were so interspersed that some farms were advantageously composed of tillable and woodland in fair proportions and compact form. Those so fortunate as to have acquired this land were indeed favored. The timber at once supplied building material, fences and fuel, and when a market opened, the forest wood was utilized and the ground cleared for tillage. Much the greater portion of the soil of Darke is well known to be rich and fertile to a remarkable degree, and the appearance of the farms strongly contrasts with those that may be seen in many other counties, and suggests a long-settled section. It is an actual granary of corn, oats and wheat. The yield is annually large and the quality is excellent. This fine yield is almost entirely the result of the drift. Deposits of clay, sand and gravel acted upon by heat, cold, air and streams, blended with vegetation and animal life for ages, have formed the present productive soil which gives celebrity to Darke and adjacent counties. The clays and sand become separated from the hardpan; the rocks crumble under the alternate thaws and frosts, and their debris was washed downward upon the bottoms and assisted by vegetation; plants grew and decayed; overflowing streams dissolving mingled these materials, and thereby produced a rich and varied soil. Three classes of soil are characteristic of this section, that of clay, of alluvial and of turf. The first-named predominates,

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and is a particular constituent of the region of watershed and all other uplands or higher portions of the county. Its hue is varied from yellow to red and brown. It is seen upon the crest of the divide to be of an almost white or ashen color from the weathering and drainage. This soil is in places solid and tenacious, but in the main is free and porous. The former is of value in the manufacture of brick and tile; the latter is renowned for the crops of wheat and kindred cereals produced. The alluvial or bottom is of a black, loamy character, blending with a considerable amount of decayed plant matter and leavened with silica; it is free, mealy and fertile, the natural soil for corn, which thrives thereon remarkably. The turf soil is of a dark gray color, covering the primitive surface, which, where it prevails, is low but dry. It is seen to advantage in freshly cleared forest lands, and blends clay with vegetable growth, and is adapted for the growth of pumpkins, potatoes and the like, together with the lesser grains.

The natural products of Darke County were those little known to the present occupants. The times when Jefferson and Greenville were built and trains of pack-horses traveled the traces of armies, saw an unbroken forest stretching from the Ohio away to the shores of the Great Lakes. Here could be seen the various oaks, white, red, black, burr, chestnut and pin; sugar and swamp maples, the former rich with the juices of the frosty spring's rising sap; the sassafras, whose root bark made healthful drink; the white and slippery elms, the latter with its viscous inner bark; the walnuts, black and white, the one prized by the cabinetmaker, the other known as the "butternut," and freighted in the falltime with brown oval nuts; the sycamore, as often known as "buttonwood;" the shagbark hickory, whose bark gave light for evening labor; and besides all these, the cottonwood, the flowering dogwood, the buckeye, the white ash, the beech, and a sprinkling of black cherry, mulberry, thorn, iron wood, black willow, wild plum, and trembling aspen. The sap of the sugar maple supplied the pioneers with sirup, sugar and vinegar, and from the earliest days till now this manufacture of a native product has been a springtime occupation. Pickles were made by plac ing freshly plucked cucumbers in a mixture of one part whisky to four of water, Molasses was made from and a little salt. They were soon fitted for use. pumpkins, and pared pumpkin, stewed, was placed in the juice, boiled down, allspice was added and pumpkin butter made. Early fruit was of indifferent quality, but later years were marked by attention to its cultivation. The apple thrives, and in 1877, over twenty-five thousand bushels were produced from the orchards. The peach is foreign to this region, and to partake of this fine fruit it is needful to plant out trees each year. Pears thrive with ordinary attention, and during the year last named the product in this county was upward of a thousand

bushels.

While the position of her territory admits no rivers, the lands are not deficient in water-courses. The numerous springs and surface drainage occasion many water-ways, which, from proximity to their sources, are but headwaters of ultimate large streams. The chief stream is known as Greenville Creek, which has its origin in the northern divide, a short distance without the county. Conforming to the direction of slope land, it flows in an almost uniformly southeast course, until arrested by the bluff upon which the county seat is located; its course trends around its cairn toward the northeast, and then, with many a curve and turn, runs eastward to its junction with the Stillwater in Miami County. All its affluents are close upon its received from the south, since the highlands on the north press bank and divert all its streams into the basin of the Stillwater. Painter's Creek drains the county to the south, and the two constitute a system of which there may be said to be four-small, but clearly outlined.

Stillwater Creek rises in the summit ridge, in the northern part of the county, and traverses the shallow valley lying between the plateau and the watershed. Like Greenville Creek, it pursues an easterly course, following the natural inclination of the surface. The rivulets which form its affluents originate in the clayey

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