192 GLACIAL FORMATIONS OF ERIE AND OHIO BASINS. 



White proper, however, drains only about one-sixth of the State, the drain- 

 age basin of the East White, its principal tributary, being nearly as great 

 as that of the main river. 



The source of the West White is in Randolph County, near the east 

 line of the State. The course of the stream is westward to Hamilton 

 County, a distance of nearly 75 miles, where it turns abruptly southward 

 and leads in a course somewhat west of south to the Wabash River. 



The length of the valley of this stream is about 275 miles, but this 

 does not represent the length of the stream, for in its lower part it winds 

 greatly within its valley, adding perhaps another hundred miles to its 

 length. The estimates given below are, however, based upon the length 

 of the valley rather than that of the stream. They indicate the condition 

 when the river is out of bank, as is occasionally the case in high-water 

 stages. 



At its source the stream has an elevation of not less than 1,175 feet, 

 while at its mouth the elevation is but 375 feet above tide. It has, there- 

 fore, an average fall of nearly 3 feet per mile, or more than double the 

 average fall of the Wabash River. In its upper 15 miles the fall is 

 estimated to be about 8 feet per mile; in the next 25 miles, about 6 feet 

 per mile, and in the succeeding 20 miles, about 5 feet per mile, making a 

 fall of 375 feet in a distance of 60 miles, or to a point near the city of 

 Anderson. Below Anderson the fall for the 50 miles to Indianajoolis is 

 nearly 2J feet per mile. Below Indianapolis for about 30 miles the fall- 

 exceeds 3 feet per mile. In the remaining 130 miles of its course there is 

 a fall of but 1 85 feet, or slightly less than 1 i feet per mile. 



Aside from its main tributary. East AVhite River, there are but two 

 tributaries of White River which exceed 50 miles in length, namely, Fall 

 Creek, an eastern tributar)^ entering just above Indianapolis, and Eel River, 

 a western tributary entering' at Worthington, in northern Grreene County.^ 

 Fall Creek has an elevation at its source of at least 1,000 feet and at its 

 mouth of about 700 feet. Fully half of the 300 feet of descent is made 

 in the upper 20 miles, leaving a fall of 160 feet for the lower 40 miles. It 

 derives its name from a cascade abput 10 feet in height in the sandstone at 

 Pendleton. Eel River has a length of nearly 100 miles. Its east fork, 



' This river should be distinguished from a stream of the same name entering the Wabash at 

 Logansport. 



