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INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 



known as the Bane levee. This levee is built obliquely to the river, 

 coming to the river at its lower end. (See map.) The water did 

 not get sufficiently high to flow over this levee, and it would have 

 been of valuable service had it not been broken in two places. The 

 levee is not planted in trees, but is covered with a heavy blue-grass 

 sod. Some horses and mules were stranded on this levee for several 

 days. The mules attempted to leave and were lost. Near the middle 

 of the levee a break occurred, caused, possibly, by a concentration 

 of the current at this point by a bend in the river just above. This 

 is one of the worst breaks found in the levees along the White River, 

 being second only to the one in the levee first discussed. Where 

 the levee had been, a hole of one acre in area and from five to twelve 

 feet in depth was formed. Below this hole was a huge gravel bar, 

 three feet in depth and five acres in area. The current of water 

 that went through this break went southwest and after flowing two 

 and one-half miles re-entered the river. The current was wide and 

 deposited sediment mainly. It washed only in small patches where 

 there were little elevations on the flood plain. About one-half 

 mile below the break the current encountered a hedge fence against 

 which much drift was piled. This made a veritable levee out of 

 the hedge, but the waters could rush through in many places. 

 This resulted in about ten acres being denuded from six inches to 

 three feet in depth with a great sand bar below. 



A second break occurred in the Bane levee near its junction 

 with the river. This break was perhaps less than half the size of 

 the other. It seemed that a great part of the water that flowed 

 through this break flowed up stream (being protected by the levee) 

 and joined the upper current where the land is much lower than it 

 is near the river. The Bane levee was the last of any importance 

 in Morgan County. 



Owen County. The flood conditions in Owen County were 

 the most interesting met with along the river. As has been mentioned 

 elsewhere in this report, the geologic structure has been important 

 in the determining of the physiography of the State. Near Gosport 

 the surface rock changes from the soft Knobstone shales to the 

 overlying hard limestones, which are not so susceptible to the 

 weathering agents. Throughout Owen County the valley is bordered 

 by cliffs of limestone and hard sandstone. No longer does one see 

 wide fertile vafleys as in the county above. The narrowness of 

 the valley is remarkable. It is from a quarter of a mile to a little 

 less than a mile in width. The w^ater had no opportunity to spread 



