Perth Amboy evening news., 1904-06-10
EARLY GEOGRAPHY.
SURPRISING STATEMENTS IN
OLD GAZETTEER OF 17e7.-
When Indiana Was a Territory in
Virginia and ALI Its Towns
Were Forts-Richest
Copper Mine.

Gazetteer, bearing the date of January
l, 1897, is yellow with age, but it's paper
is still firm and its printing admirable,
black and distinct and perfect, to the
last quaint long S. The seven inclosed
maps are marvels of fine steel engrav-
ing, such as one would not find in a
modern mar, says the Indianapolis Jour
nal.
One finds surprising statements on
every page of the old book. 1t is mar
yelous to see how much they knew then
and how little they understood the sig
nificance of their knowledge. One is
impressed more and M as one studies
the book, with the great Transforming
power of railroads. On the old maps
every tiny water course is laid down
with precision and care. IL the text,
every little stream that wc'Ild carry a
canoe, every water route, every port
age, is described as a feature of the ut
most Importance. Nc ~present-day geog-
raphy contains a map of the West In
dies that would bear comparison for
completeness and accuracy. Any spot
that toulQ Ut lCdNhCu Wy WdlSl wac w
important!
New York, at that time the second
city in the country in population, is de-
scribed as one mile wide, and, on the
East river side, two miles long, was
esteemed the most eligible situation for
commerce in the United States. 1t i'm
ports most of the goods consumed be-
.-a H. on ~.;1oc oac+ 90 tha COn-
necticut river and 20 miles west of the
Hudson, a strip 100 miles wide. extend
ing north to Canada" Think of that
now! And it commanded the trade of
half of the state of New Jersey, too!
The coast line OF the United States at
| that time was only on the Atlantic, and
| stopped at the southern end of Georgia,
| Spain still owning east and west Flor
| ida, which, together, covered all the gulf
| coast to the Mississippi. West of the
| Mississippi, of course, all belonged to
Spain.
Indiana, at that time, was a territory
in Virginia, lying between Pennsylvania
and the Little Kanawha, and containing
$500, 900 acres. 1t had been coded by
| certain Indian tribes to a number of
| private gentlemen, as reparation for de-
stroying the property of said gentlemen,
| TO the amount of ESQ, 000.
The present state of Indiana was an
unnamed part of the great northwest
| territory, but is laid Gown on the map
with about it's present boundaries as the
II. State. That portion of its lands to
| which the Indian title had been eXtin-
guished, congress had named Knox
| county. There were five counties in the
| northwest territory, organized with
the proper civil and military officers"
Settlement of the region had been de-
layed on account of Indian troubles,
| which had been finally settled, it was
| hoped, by Gen. Wayne's treaty in 1875.
1t is significant, however, that all the
tow ms in Indiana a. that time were forts
Fort Wayne, Fort Adams, Fort Oniat-
| avian, Musquito Fort. Fort Jefferson,
Fort st. Clair and Fort Vincents Win
c%ennes). The White river figures as the
| east fork of the Wabash. The Wabash
is a beautiful navigable river, possible
for bnteaux and harges drawing three
feet Of water, 412 miles, to Oniatawan,
| ard for large canoes 1877 miles further"
where a carry of nine miles lin high wa
teri connected with the Miami, thence
| with the great lakes and the world.
THE land on this river is remarkably
| fertile. A silver mine has been discov-
| cred about % miles above OniataWan,
on the north bank of the Wabash. The
| copper mine on this river is perhaps the
| richest vein of native copper in the DOW
els of the whole earth"
Fort Vincents was erected in 1887, to
| repel incursions of the Wabash Indians.
sit has four small brass cannon and is
| garrisoned by a major and two compan-
| les. The town contained, in 1892, about
1900 souls. They raise Indian corn and
wheat, and tobacco of extraordinary
| good quality" Hemp grows wild. All
through this region the settlers make all
the wine they al use of wild grapes.
It is said to be of eXcellclt quality,
lacking only age to make it equal to the
best wines of Europe!
Indiana is described as being partic-
ularly adapted to the culture Of TiCe. and
also an excellent country for raising
| cotton. The beautiful forests on the
| White and Wabash rivers are well de-
scribed. with a pretty accurate list of the
principal trees. OF these 1.-THE sugar
| maple is the most valuable. BY reserv-
ing ten trees, every family can supply
| themselves with excellent sugar in per-
| petuity," as each tree will produce ten
pounds of sugar a year, and the labor is
trifing.
That the forests could ever disappear
and timber become scarce and precious,
or that any family could be so luxurious
and extravagant as to u6e more than
100 pounds of sugar in a year, were prob
ably equally inconsiderable ideas in
1896.
A Valuable Dog.
Prince, a shepherd dog. saved the
life of Richard Fleming while in peril
beneath the hoofs of an Infatuated bull
at hic farm nnar SOmer'g Point N l.