CHAPTER LXIII. 



REPORT ON THE GEOLOGY OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY, NORTH 

 OP THE CENTRAL OHIO RAILROAD. 



hY JNO. J. STEVENSON. 



Muskingum county is bounded on the north by Coshocton, on the east 

 by Guernsey and Noble, on the south by Morgan and Perry, and on the 

 west by Perry and Licking. It has twenty-five townships, with an area 

 of more than eiglit hundred square miles. The portion of the county 

 referred to in this report embraces eight townships, with parts of four 

 others. 



This may be regarded as a valley, having the Muskingum River as its 

 lowest line. A few dividing ridges are seen, but they are of limited ex- 

 tent, and the streams, after following a more or less tortuous course, 

 empty into the river. The surface of the county is much broken and 

 affords easy drainage. Thus, White Eyes Creek, with its many forks 

 and tributaries, drains Monroe and Highland, emptying into Wills Creek 

 at the north. Symmes Creek drains Madison and Adams; Salt Creek, 

 Union, Perry, Salem, and Washington; Michaelachpesink Creek, Lick- 

 ing, Hopewell, Muskingum, and Falls ; Waukatomaka Creek, Jackson 

 and Cass. Wills Creek, on the north, uniting with the river a few miles 

 north from Dresden, is fed by numerous small streams from Monroe and 

 Adams, and frequent tributaries of the river are seen in Madison, Wash- 

 ington, Muskingum, and Cass. This drainage system is complete, free- 

 ing the county from malarial influence and affording a constant supply 

 of water for stock, while innumerable springs yield more than enough 

 for household purposes. 



Wills Creek and the Muskingum River, above Zanesville, are not con- 

 stantly to be depended on as commercial outlets. The fall in these 

 streams is slight, and slack-water navigation is perfectly feasible. Many 

 years ago a survey of Wills Creek was made, with a view to this.im 

 provement, and the fall was found to be a little more than ten inches per 

 mile. In former times the creek was subject to very extensive freshets, 

 giving from fourteen to eighteen feet of water, overflowing the country 

 for miles, and, owing to the sluggishness of the stream, lasting for sev- 



