WABASH RIVER DRAINAGE BASIN. 535 



moraine to about 2 miles at Newton, and to 3 or 4 miles in the lower com-se 

 of the stream. The portion below Newton has its course determined largely 

 by a preglacial line of drainage, and possibly the preglacial line extends up 

 the valley as far as the vicinity of Greenup, 18 miles above Newton. This 

 upper portion, however, may prove to have been entirely excavated in an 

 interglacial stage. 



The Embarras River has but one large tributary — Hickory Creek — 

 which heads in the Shelby ville moraine in southern Edgar County and 

 leads southward across western Clark and eastern Jasper counties, a distance 

 of over 40 miles, entering the Embarras about 10 miles below Newton. 

 The course of this stream is probably nearly coincident with the preglacial 

 line in its lower 20 miles, and possibly the upper portion is determined by 

 a preglacial line. At least the drift is somewhat thicker along the borders 

 of the stream than on neighboring districts to the east and west, while the 

 altitude is somewhat lower. 



BUSSERON CREEK. 



This small eastern tributary of the Wabash has its source on the clay 

 plain at the borders of Clay and Vigo counties, near the bend of Eel River, 

 referred to above. Its course is southwestward across Sullivan County into 

 the Wabash Valley. For a few miles near its mouth the stream evidently 

 occupies a preglacial line of drainage, but its headwater portion is appar- 

 ently independent of preglacial drainage. 



BIG RACCOON CREEK. 



This stream with its main tributary, Little Raccoon Creek, drains an 

 area of about 500 square miles in western Indiana, mainly in Parke County, 

 but including portions of Boone, Hendricks, Montgomery, and Putnam 

 counties. Its source is in southwestern Boone County, and it takes a 

 southwestward course from this point to southern Parke County, a distance 

 of fully 50 miles by direct line, being mainly independent of preglacial 

 lines. It there enters a channel which formerly carried a part of the 

 drainage into Wabash River, and follows this channel northward about 

 15 miles before entering the Wabash. Little Raccoon Creek joins Big- 

 Raccoon at the point where this old channel of the Wabash is entered, and 

 apparently follows a preglacial valley in its lower course. The northward 

 deflection of the Big Raccoon has probably resulted from a silting up of 



