1875 Andreas Atlas


GUTHRIE COUNTY.


This is the fourth county, both from the southern and western boundary of the state; is twenty-four miles square, and contains a superficial area of little more than five hundred and seventy-six square miles.

SURFACE FEATURES AND STREAMS.


The surface drainage is excellent, as numerous streams meander throughout nearly every portion of the county, collecting the surplus water, and affording lasting supplies of stock-water at all seasons of the year. The principal streams are Middle and South Raccoon Rivers, with their affluents, the most important of which are Brushy Fork, Bear, Beaver and Mosquito Creeks, while the Middle River rises in this county and waters the southwestern portion. The larger streams all afford good water power, which in the future will become a source of much wealth to the county. The streams are generally clear and pellucid, being supported mainly by springs, which, however, instead of appearing at the surface, percolate through the loose deposits in the valleys, and reach the streams by subterranean channels, which render them not easily affected by extremes of wet or drouth. Excellent well water is usually obtained at a moderate depth in most localities, although in the uplands, in the southwest townships, the bluff deposit must be penetrated to the underlying gravel beds, before a permanent supply of water can be obtained.

The general surface of the county is high rolling prairie, gently sloping towards the valleys, with some ridges along the streams, which are considerably rough and broken as compared with most of the other portions of the county, but they are being occupied and are considered desirable farming lands. There is a very little land that is too wet for cultivation, nearly all that was reported as swamp land in the original surveys, having been taken up for agricultural purposes. The valley of the Middle River is well defined, and like all the streams which rise in the great divide in this region, the waters are collected by a system of numerous ravines which reach up to the very crest of the watershed, while in the western range or townships bordering on this divide, which separates the drainages of the Mississippi and Missouri, the prairies are undulating, presenting a wide contrast to the country to the eastward. Between the South Raccoon and Brushy Fork, as well as between the latter stream and Middle Raccoon, the same physical features are exhibited, being composed of symmetrical ridges. Banked by graceful declivities, and culminating in broad rounded summits, from one to two hundred feet above the valleys. While the valley of the Middle Raccoon is narrow, and usually bordered by more abrupt acclivities, to the eastward the country sweeps away in gentle undulations, which are only interrupted by the shallow prairie streams which water that section.

The soil includes two well marked varieties, which are found co-extensive with the two widely diverse deposits composing the superficial formations in this region. A larger portion of the uplands in the southwestern half of the county, afford a light, fine silicious soil, which is derived from the bluff deposit, while in the eastern and northeastern townships is found the rich, black loam characteristic of the drift region. The native forests are mostly confined to the valleys and ravines, though there are now some large tracts covered with a vigorous growth of oak, hazel, etc., which were formerly swept by the fires of early Spring and late Autumn, so that not even a shrub was found on them at the time of the early settlement of the county. Although this is emphatically a prairie county, what timber does exist is so evenly distributed that no considerable portion of the county is more than five miles distant from a good supply. Planted groves mature so rapidly that but a few years are required until timber by ordinary purposes can be obtained from them in large quantities.

MATERIAL RESOURCES.


The agricultural resources of Guthrie are perhaps second to no other county in the state. Both the deep black soil of the uplands, and the light colored or mulatto soil peculiar to the bluff deposit, are alike noted for productiveness, and their warm forcing nature. Corn and wheat are the staple productions, while all the grains, grasses and vegetables common to central Iowa, are grown with a luxuriance unexcelled, amply rewarding the industry of the farmer. The natural advantages of Guthrie County for stock raising are unsurpassed by any county in Iowa, possessing as it does numerous beautiful valleys and arable tracts of land on which wild and tame grasses grow with all the exuberance of their native soil, wile living streams and brooklets of sparkling water meander through nearly every section of the county. Before they were crushed out by the march of civilization, wild fruits in profuse varieties annually yielded rich harvests, showing that the more luscious and delicate cultivated fruits need only planting and judicious care and culture to richly repay the labors of the careful pomologist. Numerous orchards have been set out, and various other kinds of fruits cultivated, all of which have grown and produced with remarkable luxuriance. The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad passes through the southern tier of townships, while the Chicago & Northwestern is within convenient reach of the northern portion of the county, so that Guthrie possesses all the advantages to be derived from railway communication, which exerts such an undeniably important part in developing the resources of all interior counties.

Although the coal beds have not been so extensively worked in this as in some other counties, yet there is no doubt that the coal resources of Guthrie, in quantity and quality, are fully equal to any of the neighboring counties. There is no doubt but what the different strata of the coal-measures underly the entire county, though no exposures have been made in the western portions. The beds that have been worked are not so thick as those in the Des Moines valley, as the local demand has been supplied without deep mining, otherwise the more productive veins might have been reached by shafting. Stone for building purposes is obtained from the limestone beds of the middle coal-measure, though the supply of this material is not very abundant. That on Little Raccoon and Beaver Creek furnishes an excellent material for quick lime. Iron in the form of brown hematite ore is found in limited quantities in the coal-measure, is more largely disseminated through sand and gravel beds, and is not infrequently found in a purer condition, as nodules in other positions, yet it is the opinion of Doctor White, State Geologist, that the quantity is too small ever to become valuable for economic purpowes. Good brick clay and sand are obtained in sufficient abundance to supply any possible demand of the future


Transcribed by Cheryl Siebrass, February, 2024 from "A. T. Andreas Illustrated Historical Atlas of the State of Iowa" Chicago: Andreas Atlas Co., 1875, pp. 468-469.