The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-02-13
INDIANA'S LOST RIVER.
An Orange County Stream That APP
pears and Disappears i'm It's Course.

Orleans Herald.
Orleans is situated in a valley which on
all sides, except on the east, is surrounded
by hills Just a little distance northwest
of Orleans is a large sand hill, which is
thought to be the highest point in Orleans
township.
Orleans township is drained by Lost river
and by the large sink hole near the town of
Orleans.
Many small streams and rivers abound in
this vicinity all of which have the habit of
disappearing into the bowels of the earth
without any system. only to burst forth
miles away and continue on their course
downward to the sea. Chief of the rivers
is Lost river. River Styx. Its source is
in the corner of Washington county, from
whence IL flows westward into Orange
county. At first 1T is insignificant,
crookedly twisting creek, but tributaries
add to its flow until when about fifteen
miles in length IL lays claim to the word
river" During it's journey it disappears
several times in Jungles and swamps, but
the real stream sinks, which gains for it
the name it bears; beginning some miles
southeast of Orleans, there are four Of
them at an average of about two miles
apart. In dry weather the first sink takes
in all of the water, which does not appear
until at OrangeVille, ten miles west The
tangled mass of grass and bushes. The
sink is but huge cavernOuS-lOoking hole
in the ground and suggests to the curious
the entrance to hades, so dark and un-
fashionable is ii. Light rains will over
flow the first sink and the surplus water
channel to the second Heavy rains viii
fill the channel TO the third, and long con-
tinued rains will carry some surplus far
the fourth sink. In the last case the
water has two exits near OrangeVille.
Where the water is of sufficient quantity to
enter the fourth sink it rises through three
openings and flows on through the river
bed.
This dry bed is not an open channel and
is unlike the valley of the usual streams.
Large upland forest trees grow along the
banks showing that for a long time the
river has been lost in the confectionery
limestone below the earths surface. The
underground stream may be reached at the
fourth sink. where the cavernous opening
is about eight feet wide and four feet deep,
the descent being gradual and 500 feet
Before appearing at Orangeville the river
comes TO the surface about two miles
northeast of Orangeville. Here the stream
may also be reached In Orangeville is
the rise of the river, but some people think
that the true rise Is one mile further down
on the Higgins farm.
o. c. Salyards and some men went into
one of these sinks or caves. When they
started i'm they had to pull the brush and
trash out of it's mouth so they could get
through. They say that the floor of the
sink is just like the bed of a river and found
in these caves are grasshoppers and blind
fish
When the water rises at Orangeville it Just
shoots up from the ground; IT is very deep
at this place, around the opening the banks
are very high and steep
The large sink holes around Orleans help
to drain the township. A short story comes
to my mind I'm regard to the large sink
holes. Once Minnie Ochs and Julia Munger
put a bottle in one of these places when the
water was going through it and later it was
found down in the Ohio river.
This sink is just a hole in the ground
which leads the water into an underground
channel which is thought to be part of
Lost river, out into the Ohio.