HISTORY OF THE LITTLE MIAMI RIVER. 

 By J. A. Bownocker, D. Sc. 



The headwaters of the Little Miami river lie on the glacial 

 plains of western Madison and eastern Clarke counties. The 

 two chief tributaries, known respectively as the East and North 

 branches, unite about two miles north of Clifton to form the 

 Little Miami proper. The valleys of these branches are nar- 

 row, but increase in width and depth to the south, though noth- 

 ing but drift is seen until just north of Clifton where the Niag- 

 ara limestone appears in the bluffs to the west. 



At Clifton the river bids adieu to these commonplace sur- 

 roundings. Flowing directly over the Niagara limestone, it 

 forms a series of rapids and cascades, and then enters the gorge,, 

 which is 80 feet deep, but at the narrowest point not more than 

 one-fourth of that in width. Down stream the gorge widens. 

 and at the same time the bluffs become less precipitous. Soon 

 a narrow flood plain appears, and farther down a strip of farm 

 land is found. At Jacobis mill the valley becomes conspicuous. 

 The valley from this place to Clifton may be compared to a 

 greatly elongated V with the apex at Clifton. Everywhere the 

 bluffs are of limestone, making certain that the gorge and valley 

 have been cut from rock, and not from drift as above Clifton. 



South from Jacobis the valley widens comparatively rap- 

 idly, owing to the stream having left the hard Niagara limestone 

 and entered the much more easily eroded Hudson series, con- 

 sisting of shales and thin bedded limestones. Nowhere below 

 the north margin of the latter foundation was the stream found 

 directly on rock, but everywhere on a mantle of drift which is 

 of variable but usually unknown depth. At Trebines station 

 a few miles west of Xenia a well located 50 yards from the river 

 was sunk to a depth of 49 feet without penetrating rock. 



At Alpha the valley expands greatly, though the only 

 tributary there uniting with the Miami is Beaver Creek — a 

 very small stream in a very large valley of which more will be said 



