Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/245

 INDIANA 233 and water power is abundant. The "Wabash valley is the largest division, and embraces upward of 12,000 sq. m. It interlocks with that of White river, and the E. portion resem- bles it. It is equally fertile, but less broken. The middle part of the valley has extensive water power. From the river hills of the Ohio to the Wabash the surface is an inclined plane. The valley of the Maumee occupies about 2,000 sq. m. in the N. E., and carries its waters to Lake Erie. The N. and Jf . W. part of the state, drained by the St. Joseph's, which flows into Lake Michigan, and the Kankakee, a constituent of the Illinois, in its general character is level, mostly prairie; in parts it is sandy, and along the Kankakee swampy. Kear Lake Michigan the country has extensive sand hills, which are covered only with stunted and shrivelled pines and burr oaks ; but a few miles back from the lake snore a rich agricultural country is found. The Ohio, the final recipient of the principal streams, bor- ders the state on the south from the Miami to the Wabash, a distance by the river's course of 380 m. Laughery, Indian Kentucky, Silver, Indian Blue, Anderson, Big Pigeon, Little Pig- eon, &c., are its principal tributaries from In- diana, but none of them are navigable. The Whitewater joins the Miami 6 m. above its entrance into the Ohio. The Wabash has its head waters in Ohio ; at first its course is N. W. to the middle of Iluntington co., thence W. S. W. to Williamsport in Warren co., and the remainder of its course S. to the Ohio. Its length is about 550 m., and it has been naviga- ted about 300 m. by steamboats. Its principal affluents are, from the south and east, the Sa- lamonie, Mississinewa, Wildcat, Sugar or Kock, Raccoon, and Patoka rivers; and from the north and west, Little Wabash and Embarras in Illinois, the Vermilion in both states, and in Indiana Tippecanoe, Eel, and Little rivers. White river, the most important of these, falls into the Wabash 100 in. above its mouth ; the West fork, its longest branch, rises near the Ohio line, not far from the S. sources of the Wabash and W. constituents of the Miami, and runs in a S. W. direction, receiving in its course Eel river, Fall creek, &c. ; and the East fork, the principal feeders of which are Salt, Musca- tatuck, Sand, Clifty, Flat Rock, Sugar, and other streams, rises in the S. E. part of the state, and has a W. course to its union with the West fork, the two forming White river proper, 50 in. above its entrance into the Wa- bash. The St. Joseph's and St. Mary's form the Maumee, which passes into Ohio and to Lake Erie. Another St. Joseph's, with its tributaries the Elkhart, &c., passes into Lake Michigan. The Kankakee, a principal constit- uent of the Illinois, runs sluggishly through the N. W. counties for 100 m. ; extensive marshes everywhere hound its course. The Iroquois or Pickamink rises S. of the Kanka- kee, runs nearly parallel to it for 50 m., and joins it in Illinois. Deep and Calumet rivers lie near to and S. of Lake Michigan, and in some places are only separated from it by banks of sand. Numerous lakes and ponds are found, principally N". of the Wabash. Sev- eral of them have no outlets; they are gen- erally clear, and have sandy shores and bot- toms. They seldom exceed a few acres in ex- tent, though several at the head of Tippeca- noe river and Turtle creek, and near the city of La Porte, cover a considerable area. The largest, Beaver lake, near the Illinois line in Jasper co., had a surface of 10,000 acres, and on the south was bordered by an extensive marsh ; but most of the land has been reclaim- ed, and the lake itself nearly drained. The geological survey of Indiana has been several years in progress under the direction of the state geologist, Prof. E. T. Cox, assisted by Professors John Collett, B. C. Hobbs, R. B. Warder, and Dr. G. M.- Levette. The third and fourth annual reports, for the years 1871 and 1872, were published in one volume in 1872. The most valuable mineral found in In- diana is coal, which exists here in great abun- dance, and forms part of the great coal field which extends through Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky. The following statement by Prof. Cox shows the extent and character of this important source of wealth : " The measures cover an area of about 6,500 sq. m., in the S. W. part of the state, and extend from Warren co. on the north to the Ohio river on the south, a distance of about 150 m. The following counties lie within its area : Warren, Foun- tain, Parke, Vermilion, Vigo, Clay, Sullivan, Greene, Knox, Daviess, Martin, Gibson, Pike, Dubois, Vanderburg, Warrick, Spencer, Perry, and a small part of Crawford, Monroe, Put- nam, and Montgomery. The coal is all bitu- minous, but is divisible into three well marked varieties : caking coal, non-caking or block coal, and cannel coal. The total depth of the measures is from 600 to 800 ft., with 12 to 14 distinct seams of coal, though they are not all present throughout the entire area of the field. The seams range from 1 ft. to 1 1 ft. in thick- ness, and the field may, from the character of the coal, be divided from north to south into two zones ; the western contains the seams of caking coal, and the eastern the non-caking or block coal. There are from three to four workable seams of caking coal, ranging from 3 to 11 ft. in thickness. At most of the lo- calities where these are being worked, the coal is mined by adits driven in on the face of the ridges, and the deepest shafts in the state are less than 300 ft., the average depth to win the coal being not over 75 ft. The eastern zone of the coal measures has an area of more than 450 sq. m. It is here that we find the cele- brated block coal, a fossil fuel which is used in the raw state for making pig iron. In fact this coal, from its physical structure and freedom from impurities, is peculiarly suited to metal- lurgical purposes. It is likewise valuable for generating steam and for household uses.