almost diagonally across the southern peninsula of Michigan and penetrated far into northern Indiana. The present valley of the St. Joseph River, with its numerous branches and network of lakes, was in those times a section of this connecting band between the two lakes, and the floor of its beautiful prairies was laid by deposits which sifted down from these ocean waters which then mingled with the great sea stretching over the northern portion of the United States and the northeastern section of Canada to the British Isles.

FOSSILS OF THE VALLEY OF THE ST. JOSEPH

In many portions of the St. Joseph valley geologists have found many rare specimen belonging to the Silurian, or reptile age, and the Carboniferous, or coal age, when that section of the country was under the dominion of the sea. A list of some of the more important specimens is here given:

Fossils of the lower Silurian age, Trenton period: Radiates— polyp corals, the petraia corniculum, columnaria alveolata, taeniasta spinoza. Mollusks-chateles lycoperdon or costalis leptaena placifera, ptilodictya fenestrata, retepora incepta, trilobites, calymene senaria.

Hudson period: Radiates-favisstella stellata.

Upper Silurian, Niagara period: Radiates-chaeteles-corals, chonophyllum Niagarense, favosites Niag. Mollusks-fenestella. Radiates crinoids, caryocrinus ornatus. Brachiopods-atrypa nodostriata; spirifer sulcatus occidentalis; O. testudintaria.

Carboniferous: trigoncarpum, tricuspidatum and lepidodendron. Some very perfectly preserved crinoid stems, showing the starshaped joint most distinctly.

Devonian period: Radiates-Zaphrentis gigantes, Z. Rafinesquii, Phillipsastrea verneuill; cyahophyllum rugosum; favosites goldfussi; syringopora Maclurii; aulopora corunta.

Following the geological ages when the limestones and other rock deposits were crudely formed in northern Indiana was what is known as the Glacial epoch, when the great glaciers from the northeast crept over a large portion of Canada and northern United. States, not missing southern Michigan or northern Indiana in their resistless onward movement. It is probable that they assisted in forming the valley of the St. Joseph River and scooping out some

of the lake basins. From some cause which is still unsolved by scientists and geologists, the climate of this portion of the globe was so moderated that the glaciers melted and retreated northward, forming gradually, as is supposed, the nucleus of the chain of great lakes.

SURFACE GEOLOGY

The surface geology of Elkhart County, in common with Indiana's three northern tiers of counties, is of glacial origin, and that section of the state is covered with drift. The moraines, or accumulations of ground material at the glacial edges, are plainly marked in various sections of the county. The finest and softest of the accumulations were filtered through the coarser material and formed beds of clay, and wherever a huge piece of ice gouged out the clay, there the ice melted and left an inland lake. Other material that was coarser and harder was washed together and formed beds of sand.

WATERSHED BETWEEN GREAT LAKES AND THE MISSISSIPPI

The great Valparaiso moraine, extending in a generally northwesterly direction, and several miles in width, crosses the southwestern part of the county (its course being readily observed between Nappanee and Wakarusa), and the crest of this is the dividing line of the watershed between the north and the south. Owing to this feature of the topography, nearly all the drainage of the county is into the great lakes via the St. Joseph River, while a small division of land about Nappanee drains into the Kankakee and thence into the Mississippi River. It is said that one street of Nappanee forms the dividing line between the waters which flow into Turkey creek and those which go south into the Kankakee.

GLACIAL DRIFT AND SOILS

In Volume XXV of the Indiana Geologic Reports, is the following statement: "In common with all the counties in which lakes occur, the surface of Elkhart County is wholly covered with drift, the thickness known at three points: Elkhart, Goshen and New Paris, 122, 162, 90 feet respectively." Some years ago a well was

sunk at Elkhart to a depth of 125 feet, with hope of securing an artesian flow, but the drill coming in contact with boulders, further drilling was discontinued. The material passed through for the first twenty-five feet was gravel, and all the succeeding 100 feet was “hard-pan," or indurated glacial clay with occasional thin strata of quicksand. Continuing, the above report says: "The surface of this drift is more level than in counties to the east and south, an area of about two hundred square miles in the northwestern and southeastern parts being of extensive gravel plains. The uplands consist of till plains, with an area of 125 square miles in the southwestern part of the county, and of morainic belts, more broken, inthe south and west parts. The elevation in feet above tide, of some railroad stations is: Bristol, 783; Dunlap, 747; Elkhart, 725-755; Goshen, 796; Millersburg, 885; New Paris, 813; Vistula, So8. The gravel plains in general are below 800 feet level, uplands mainly between 800 and 900 feet, and several above 900." The surface of Lake Michigan is reckoned as 600 feet above ocean level, from which it is seen that certain points in the county are from 200 to 300 feet higher than the lake.

Of this glacial drift, covering the county at such varying depths, a comparatively very thin layer at the surface has, by the well known processes of nature which are continually taking place before our eyes, been transformed into "soil," from which the animal and vegetable kingdoms have for centuries drawn their sustenance. In few counties of the state could there be found greater diversity of soil than in Elkhart County; often a restricted area of a few square miles will contain several varieties of land, adapted to various agricultural products. Thus it is impossible to classify, otherwise than roughly, the different qualities of land and their extent. But an attempt at classification would result merely in the following: Sandy soil, timber loam, prairie loam and some vegetable loam. The first named prevails most generally in the northeastern quarter of the county, in Washington and York townships. It will not produce wheat as abundantly as other kinds of soil, though the quality of what is produced is excellent. But it is warm, and especially adapted to the production of the potato and of fruits, especially small fruits. In some places on the hills the soil is a strong clay. The timber loam, which prevails over a large part of the central and southern areas of the county, is of great depth and richness, and has fully rewarded with abundant harvest those

who have persevered in clearing it and subduing the natural obstacles to cultivation. The prairie loam, peculiar to the prairie belts, which formed only a minor portion of the county originally, may be described as a sandy loam resting on a subsoil of gravel and sand with some clay, and is exceedingly productive. It is well adapted to raising all sorts of cereals as well as horticultural products. What has been termed the vegetable mold is found in more restricted areas in this county than in some other districts of northern Indiana. It is composed of decayed vegetable matter, formed in extinct lakes and marshes, being, in fact, a peat bed, and where not cultivated is covered with a rank growth of marsh grass and flowering plants. By drainage and proper treatment it is rendered exceedingly fertile.

Discussing these aspects of the county, a state report says: "A part, perhaps a third, of the surface of the county at the time of first settlement was covered with a growth of very large trees and a dense undergrowth of bushes and shrubs; the remainder is mostly 'burr-oak openings' and prairie, while a small per cent is covered with peat bogs, lakes and marshes. The soil of the 'openings' is a sandy loam, with clay subsoil, and highly esteemed for its large yield of wheat and grass; after years of successive croppings this is promptly restored to its original productiveness by turning under a crop of clover. The strong clay soil of woodland is very productive, especially of corn and grasses. The black, peaty loam of prairies and drained swamps is famous for corn and grass, except during seasons of long drought."

BILLOWS OF LAND AND PRAIRIES

Elkhart county is fitly described as having a rolling surface. It was therefore with admiration and delight that the pioneer, having struggled through many miles of forest and crossing over numerous swells of land from one high horizon crest to another, viewed such a beautiful level expanse as Elkhart Prairie presented. And then also there were Pleasant Plain, a little oasis south of the present City of Elkhart, and Two-Mile Plain, directly east of the same city and extending along the course of the St. Joseph. The prairies were eagerly sought by the early settlers, who all concurred in describing these virgin spots as of surpassing loveliness, the ground

Vol. I-3