WELLS OF EDWARDS AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS. 775 



In the vicinity of Cisne the drift has a thickness of 20 feet or more. 

 Between Cisne and Fairfield, however, rock is often entered at 10 or 12 

 feet. The drift is also thin from Fairfield westward to Wayne City. 



In the city of Fairfield the drift ranges in thickness from 8 to about 

 20 feet. Wells usually obtain water from rock at 25 feet or less. A few 

 are drilled to a depth of 50 or even 70 feet. 



East from Fairfield, in the vicinity of Meriam, wells enter rock at 10 

 feet or less. At Golden Gate Station, which stands on a low hill in the 

 Little Wabash Valley, rock is struck at 16 to 20 feet. 



EDWARDS AND WABASH COUNTIES. 

 GENERAL STATEMENT. 



These two counties, with a combined area of but 440 square miles, 

 are situated east of Wayne County and border the Wabash River. Albion 

 is the county seat of Edwards, and Mount Carmel the county seat of 

 Wabash County, The Bonpas River forms the dividing- line between the 

 counties and flows through a broad bottom deeply filled with drift or allu- 

 vium. This stream receives the drainage of much of both counties and 

 carries it southward to the Wabash. The western portion of Edwards 

 County drains into the Little Wabash River and the eastern j>ortion of 

 Wabash County into the main Wabash River. 



Both counties are covered thinly with drift except in lowlands or 

 valleys, and the preglacial ridges and hills stand 50 to 100 feet or more 

 above the neighboring lowlands. There is a silt covering these hills and 

 ridges, but it is more porous than the white clay. On the lowlands and 

 flat areas within these counties the white clay appears in its compact phase. 

 Wells are usually obtained on the lowlands at a depth of 20 feet or less 

 without entering rock. On the uplands few Avells are obtained without 

 penetrating rock. The depth, however, is moderate, seldom exceeding 

 50 feet. 



INDIVIDUAL WELLS. 



Near Ellery, in western Edwards County, at the base of the east bluff 

 of the Little Wabash, rock is usually entered at 10 to 20 feet, and wells 

 obtain water at about 30 feet. On the bluff east of Ellery, at an altitude 

 60 feet above the station, wells enter rock at about 10 feet and obtain 

 water at 40 or 50 feet. 



