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General Description of the Region. 



Most of my observations were made on the west side of the Wabash 

 River extending from Battle Ground on the north to the mouth of Indian 

 Creek on the south. (For these and other localities a good map to con- 

 sult is the map accompanying the report of the soil survey of Tippecanoe 

 County in the field operations of the U. S. Bureau of Soils for 1905.) On 

 the east side of the river a few observations were made from the mouth 

 of Wild Cat Creek, about two miles north of the city, to a spot east of 

 Battle Ground, about a half mile south of the mouth of Buck Creek. Only 

 one trip was taken on the east side south of Lafayette. It was limited to 

 the line of the Wabash Railroad and extended about three miles below 

 the city. 



According to the Bureau of Soils' report on the soils of Tippecanoe 

 County the general altitude of the country is about 750 feet above sea 

 level. Back from the Wabash River and its tributaries the country forms 

 a nearly level, or at most slightly undulating, plain. Near the river it 

 is much more rugged, a relatively steep line of bluffs leading down to the 

 valley of the Wabash which is about 100 feet below the general level of 

 the upland. Similar conditions prevail along the main tributaries, such 

 as Burnett, Wild Cat and Indian Creeks. 



The valley of the Wabash forms a nearly level tract varying accord- 

 ing to location from a half to two miles in width. It is formed of what 

 are known as bottom lands, or more specifically "first bottoms" to dis- 

 tinguish them from the older bottoms which are no longer covered by the 

 overflow from the river. The surface of these first bottom lands is accord- 

 ing to the report already mentioned between 10 and 20 feet above low 

 water mark. They are "subject to overflow during periods of high 

 water." During the destructive floods of March, 1913, these bottom lands 

 were completely submerged. 



The margin of these bottom lands is formed by the line of steep 

 bluffs already mentioned as forming the edge of the upland. Locally, 

 as is the case in the vicinity of West Lafayette and of Battle Ground, 

 these bluffs recede a mile or two back from the river and in the embay- 

 ments thus formed "second bottoms" are developed, that is, "fossil" flood- 

 plains or terraces representing an earlier, prehistoric stage of deposition. 

 The surface of these "second bottoms" is level or slightly rolling and on 

 the side facing the river is marked by a gentle slope rising from forty to 

 19—4966 



