Licking River

“ At that time the river in front of Cincinnati showed its hidden dangers as scarcely ever before. A boy four feet high might have waded across without wetting his suspender-buttons. "Ugly-looking black bowlders, long, narrow, jagged reefs of moss-and slime-covered rocks and hillocks of gravel uplift their heads three, four, and five feet above the surface of the stream, all along the channel between the railroad and suspension bridges, while the big bar at the mouth of the Licking thrusts itself sheer across the river to within a hundred feet of the Ohio edge, at the foot of Walnut Street. ”

“ Since, then, all the testimony goes to establish, that Licking, above the Upper Blue Lick, is not a navigable stream, at least not so as to be resorted to as a highway, especially for ascending navigation, it follows, that the inquiries of a subsequent locater, who wished to appropriate the residuum adjacent to this entry, or of the surveyor who had a warrant to survey it, would be for a creek entering into Licking on the north side, at a distance from the lick of about thirty-five miles, by some practicable route. ”

“ I did not doubt that this was the channel of the waters from the north side of these mountains, and I was convinced that it contained the water of all the streams we had crossed on our way to Mount William, with the exception of Richardson's creek, already crossed by the party where it was flowing to the north-west. The richness of the soil and the verdure near the river, as well as the natural beauty of the scenery could scarcely be surpassed in any country. The banks were in some places open and grassy and shaded by lofty yarra trees, in others mimosa bushes nodded over the eddying stream. ”

“ And around and about us were fields of growing corn and ripening wheat, and infolding us close, as in a filmy garment, was that indescribable odor of green things and of dew-wet turf. Then the pike would sweep around a curve, like the stretch of a winding river, and bordering each side of the highway were clumps and rows of gigantic forest-trees. Oftentimes their boughs would intertwine above, and what seemed to be the black mouth of a tunnel would confront us. Into this apparent pit of darkness we would dash, but the horses never shied. ”

“ It is navigable downwards from Lippstadt, for boats and barges, by the aid of twelve locks, drawing less than 4 ft. of water. The river is important for the transport facilities it affords to the rich agricultural districts of Westphalia. ”

“ We had how crossed the summit between Leech Lake and the source of the Crow Wing River. We commenced the descent on the morning of the 19th, and passed successively through eleven lakes, connected by a series of short channels. The names of these in their order, are Kaginogamaug, Little Vermilion, Birch, Ple, Assawa, Vieu Desert, Summit, Longrice, Allen's, Johnston's, and Kaitchibo Sagitawa. Two tributary streams enter the river in this distance, the principal of which is Shell River; the stream assumes an ample size, and there is no further apprehension of shallows. ”

“ The source of Big Bone Creek is a marshy basin some fifty acres in extent, rimmed with gently-sloping hills, and freely pitted with copious springs of a water strongly sulphurous in taste, with a suggestion of salt. The odor is so powerful as to be all-pervading, a quarter of a mile away, and to be readily detected at twice that distance. This collection of springs constitutes Big Bone Lick, probably the most famous of the many similar licks in Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois. ”

“ That Congress did not act arbitrarily in determining that 'for the purposes of navigation of said waters and the waters connected therewith,' the whole flow of the stream should be devoted exclusively to that end, is most evident when we consider the character of this stream and its relation to the whole problem of lake navigation. The river St. Marys is the only outlet for the waters of Lake Superior. The stretch of water called the falls and rapids of the river is about 3,000 feet long, and from bank to bank has a width of about 4,000 feet. ”

“ On the east side of Link River near its upper end, there are streams of hot water bursting from the depts of the earth in continuous flow. These springs are said to possess wonder- ful healing properties. When the winds blow from the south, the waters of the upper Klamath Lake are forced back like a great tide, leaving Link River almost dry, save the deep holes and pools left in the channel. In the middle of this channel the water has cut in the stone, curious holes, said to resemble the feet of a large man. Near the footprints, another won- drous work of nature, wrought in the image of a man. ”

“ The breeze, which was now entering the car windows, had blown over clover-leafed fields. Its message was sweet and fresh. Rickard could see the canals leading off like silver threads to the homes and farms of the future; “the socialists’ dream come true!” Willows of two or three years’ growth outlined the banks. Here and there a tent, or a ramada, set up a brave defiance against the hard conditions of the land it was invading. Rickard leaned out of the window, and looked back, up the valley which was dominated by the range now wrapping around itself gauzy iridescent draperies. ”

“ Along the valley, bare sandy and boggy plains alternated with tea-tree thickets and mangrove swamps, in one of which our horses got deeply bogged. After five miles we came on a large piece of salt water, which, according to Brown, was a tributary creek of the river. It flowed between low banks fringed with tea-trees. We followed a foot-path of the natives, who seemed very numerous, which led towards another range west by south; and crossed several tea-tree creeks, Pandanus groves, and swamps full of a high blady grass. ”

“ Beneath the craggy brows the blaze still glowed undimmed in the old storekeeper's deep-set eyes.
"Yes, there's plenty of time—after How Landor knows," he said.
In the midst of the prairie wilderness Providence had placed a tiny dawdling creek. At a point where the creek wandered through a spot a shade lower than the surrounding country, man, a man, had builded a dam. In the fulness of time the accumulated water had formed a fair-sized pond that glittered and shimmered in the sunlight, until from a little altitude it could be seen for miles. ”

“ A pointed ridge extends into the lake on the west side about half a mile, giving it the form of a heart. Its area is about three miles from north [134] to south, and two from east to west. Its shores are paved with masses of trachyte and obsidian. The high mountains about the lake and along the river are gashed with deep gorges, with steep and jagged sides. Pines grow upon the mountain-sides where the declivity is so great that they cannot be scaled. ”

“ The wind, though still blowing through the car and ruffling the train dust, was carrying less of grit and sand. To the nostrils of Rickard and his new acquaintance, it brought the pleasing suggestion of grassy meadows, of willow-lined streams and fragrant fields.
“It is the accepted idea that this valley is attracting a superior class of men because of its temperance stand. It is the other way round. The valley stood for temperance because of the sort of men who had settled here, the men of the irrigation type.”
The engineer’s ear criticized “irrigation type.” ”

“ He paid no attention to the markings, only observing that their bottoms were perfectly plain, and described them as "basins, as large around as the hind-wheel of his wagon, with flattish bottoms."
At the present salt-works, about five miles higher up the Saline River, on its south fork, near Equality, is the "Half-Moon Lick," where the earth has been licked away to a depth varying from twelve to sixteen feet, in the shape of a horseshoe, about 200 yards from point to point of the heels, and to the toe, or back of the curve, 250 yards. ”

“ It is a true rock basin. The Upper Lake is, for the most part, a level plain, filled by the greyish-muddy Rhône which uses it as a sort of clearing-house. Being denser than the lake, the water of the river sinks and leaves on the bottom its perpetual deposits of mud, coarser near the shore, finer the farther out one goes. When the bottom of the Grand Lake is once reached, it is as flat as a billiard-table. Sixty meters from the Castle of Chillon it is sixty-four meters deep and shelves rapidly to three times that depth. ”

“ After following Zamia Creek for some miles, I turned to the left, and travelled about north-north-west, when the scrub opened, and we came upon open ridges, and, at about a mile and a half from the river, found some fine lagoons. The ridges, which are spurs of Aldis's Peak and Expedition Range, disappear in the level country to the north-east. Farther on to the north-north-west, I passed some fine plains, having the black soil, the vegetation, the dry creeks and watercourses, of Darling Downs. Thick scrub seems to extend all along the foot of the range, from Aldis's Peak to Mount Nicholson. ”

“ We went out past an old bridge to the northeast of the town (scarcely a half mile out) and found to my astonishment that the stream it once spanned—the Tippecanoe, if you please—and that once drained Centre and 324Pike Lakes, was now no more. There was only a new stone culvert here, not the old iron and plank wagon bridge of my day—and no water underneath it at all, only a seepy muck, overgrown with marsh grass!! The whole river, a clear sandy-bottomed stream, was now gone—due to the recession of the lake, I suppose. ”

“ No one believed that the soft silt bottom of the river which cut out like salt would hold a pour of rock. Marshall, aided by Rickard, schemed to fight power with haste. Faster than the current could wash it down-stream, the crews would rain gravel and rock on to the treacherous river-bed. ”

“ He tapped his chest significantly. “Bad; came West, folks thought to die. There’s lots of grit in the old fellow. He’s written a history of the Colorado River that reads like a novel, they say. I’ve never read it. I never read books. I’m lucky if I can get time for a newspaper, and I don’t often get a newspaper.”
[37] Rickard observed that “Captain Brandon” seemed to be well informed on the subject of irrigation.
“That’s his hobby, that and desert soil. He’s writing a book on irrigation, not half done yet, but it’s already sold. He’s published a pamphlet on desert soil. ”

“ While the current was swift, from eight to ten miles an hour, we had not come to the bad rapids. Sometimes the river would open out into broad shallows, where the callapo would bump and scrape along over the bottom, and then would close up into another gorge that in its turn would merge into tortuous cañons with 181 bluff walls of rock. Drunk though the Leccos were, yet their river skill did not seem to be affected. When we floated along the quieter reaches, they would play like silly children. ”

“ From this central elevation the surface of the current inclines right and left, and the slope is continued in both directions across the riverain plains. This disposition of the ground is due to the greater quantity of sedimentary matter deposited along the banks of the stream. The waters have thus a double incline, that is, according to the general direction of the river valley, and according to the lateral slope of its banks. If they met with no obstacle in the irrigating canals, they would flow at once to the lowest level on either side, and convert the whole depression into a vast lake. ”

“ The Nile never flows over the top of the dam, but always through the gates and the canal at one side. When the gates are closed during the dry season, enough water is held back by this structure of steel and granite to form a [133] lake over one hundred miles long, and this is let out as needed to supplement the ordinary flow of the river and give the crops plenty of water all summer through. There is water enough in the reservoir to give all the families of the United States all they could use for four or five months, and enough to supply Great Britain and Ireland the entire year. ”

“ The storekeeper dropped upon the cracker-box and resumed the same position he had when I accosted him, before replying.
"Chu'ch 'n' pa's'nage; s'p'intend'nt's house. 'Stillery yonder; river under th' bridge."
Whereupon he immediately relapsed into his former inertia, and I forebore further questions.
I decided I would take a look at the river. Hebron lay beneath my gaze: small, ill-kept houses; small yards with some dismal attempts at floriculture; dirty children and work-worn women. ”

“ The eastern stream is about fifty miles long, including the small lake, which constitutes its chief source, and is navigable only about six miles for large vessels, at which point the village, bearing the same name as the river, is located, and also the mills. As the lake which feeds the river is fed principally by springs, it affords a good supply of water the year round. The land in the immediate vicinity of the stream is quite good for agricultural purposes ”

“ The flat along the Burdekin was about two miles and a half broad, and was skirted by silver-leaved Ironbark ridges. In approaching the Clarke, we came to a low basaltic range, which bounded its fine broad openly timbered valley to the northward. The bed of the river was formed by talc-schiste, in strata, the strike of which was from north by west to south by east, standing almost perpendicular, with a slight dip to the eastward. The stream was perpendicular on the line of striking. The pebbles in its bed were mostly basaltic, baked sandstone, conglomerate, quartz, sienite, and porphyry. ”