Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/638

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��HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

��them froze to death, and, when fonnd, the third was badly frozen, but survived, and was after- ward sent to the penitentiary. The money was all recovered.

The magnificent rock}- country' in the vicinity of Newville is, without doubt, the most inter- esting geographical feature in the county. In the earl}' liistor}' of the country, these great rocks formed a secure retreat for the various wild animals, and dens for an immense num- ber of yellow rattlesnakes. Hundreds of these reptiles have been seen and killed by the early settlers among these rocks. The bottoms along the Clear Fork are exceedingly rich, where they are extensive enough for farming purposes; oc- casionally, however, the high rocky bluffs crowd the little stream into a narrow gorge, and the til- ler of the soil must let these hills and rocks alone in their natural state forever. A narrow road borders the creek, clings to the hillside and wanders among the great rocks, which, jutting from these young mountains in great profusion, frown darkly upon the passer-by, silent monu- ments of lost races and ages.

The banks of the stream in their primeval state were covered with a luxuriant growth of vege- tation, among which are the most beautiful wild flowers and flowering shrubs. With all this beauty, it is not pleasant to think of the slimy yellow rattlesnake creeping beneath these flow- ers, in such vast numbers as to render a walk along the banks of the stream, in an early day, a ver}^ dangerous undertaking.

In the vicinity of Newville are various ledges of rocks which have received various names, suggested by the shape and locality.

Fair View Rock received its name from the extensive and magnificent view to be obtained from its summit. A view of the valley may be had for some miles up and down the stream.

To the right of this are Chasm Rocks, which consist of detached masses thrown off' from the main cliff", by some convulsion of nature in past ages, forming a deep rent in the rocks. In

��some places, this rent is four, and in others ten, feet across. These chasms are winding, tor tuous and open at the top, for the most part. This is an interesting point for the visitor, but space will not permit a description; neither is it considered necessary, for these things will stand forever as they are. No human power will ever be exerted to change them, and it is sufficient that their locality be pointed out by the historian.

Hemlock Falls, a highly interesting and ro- mantic natural curiosity, is situated about one and a half miles south of Newville, near the road leading to Danville, in Knox County, about one-half mile from the Clear Fork. This locality is noted as being the resort of Indians in earlier times, and, in later times, as the resort of pleasure parties and meetings of \'arious kinds. In point of interest and simple beauty, the country and scenery about Hemlock Falls is hard to excel. The water pours over a precipice about seventy -five feet in height, not, however, perpendicularly, but at an angle of seventh-five or eighty degrees in a succession ' of cascades. There is evidence, however, that at one time the water poured over a precipice about fifty feet perpendicularly, the rock hav- ing been worn away by the action of the water. One evidence of this is in the detached frag- mentary masses lying scattered at the foot of the falls. At present, the waier pours over a precipice of gradual descent about sixt}- feet, then makes a perpendicular leap fifteen feet to the fragmentary rocks beneath. Huge rocks, ragged and uneven, project from either side. The banks of the stream are fringed with hem- lock-trees — hence the name. A large oue of these, standing on the verge of a projecting rock, lookf^ as if it would be detached at any moment, and the traveler who has the nerve may hang out over a fearful abyss, by ascend- ing this ti"ee a short distance.

Toward the southern extremit}- of this ledge of I'ocks, is '• Horseshoe Bend." In this bend.

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