OF DENISON UNIVERSITY. 45 



erroneous statements that the Muskingum valley was one of the 

 largest and embraced the richest farming lands in the state. 



5. The Present Muskingum Valley. 



The Muskingum River formed at Coshocton, Plate III, by 

 the confluence of the Walhonding and the Tuscarawas, flows a 

 little west of south to Zanesville and then a little east of south 

 to the Ohio River, at Marietta. It receives two large streams 

 as tributaries, Willis Creek on the east which rises within 20 

 miles of the Ohio River and flows with a very sluggish current 

 north and west entering the Muskingum a little below Coshoc- 

 ton, its general direction being parallel but its flow in the op- 

 posite direction to that of the Muskingum. The other large 

 tributary is the Licking River which enters from the west at 

 Zanesville through its post-glacial channel. The upper Mus- 

 kingum Valley at Coshocton is about one and a half to two 

 miles wide and is bounded by hills with a slope of about 25 

 degrees. A view from Reservoir Hill one mile east of the city 

 shows at a glance that the Tuscarawas is the main axis of drain- 

 age and that the Walhonding is a tributary which enters the 

 broad axial valley as a comparatively narrow one. Well bor- 

 ings along the Muskingum and Tuscarawas at Canal Dover and 

 other points show a drift filling of 150 to 200 feet.^ This val- 

 ley retains its general form and width as it passes south. 



At Dresden the Muskingum River leaves the broad valley 

 at almost a right angle and enters a very much narrower one. 

 Below Dresden at Rock Cut and at Ellis this valley is very nar- 

 row and is bounded by precipitous walls of Carboniferous rock. 



At Zanesville the valley is so narrow that the city is built 

 upon the hills on each side and the river runs on a rocky floor. 

 The valley to the south never broadens again to equal that of 

 its upper portion, its average width being about one quarter of 

 a mile. At Duncans Falls the river is on a rocky floor. At 



^Geological Survey, Vol. I, page 36. 



