Prairie Works

In a previous post, I had explained the importance historic aerial photographs serve when approaching a land restoration project. Another very important tool is analyzing the original surveyors notes from when our counties, townships and section lines were established during pioneer settlement. This occurred in this area during the 1830′s.  As the surveyors were dividing the land into checkerboard plots, they were required to note observations  of the land along the way. This typically included the type of terrain, trees types, undergrowth, indian activity and any signs of homesteading. They also provided a hand drawn sketch of each township showing waterways, areas of timber, prairie, swamps, etc. Today this is extremely interesting to study and is the oldest snapshot of the land that we have.

A portion of the present 'Galena Territory'

Here in Northwest Illinois and Southwest Wisconsin the survey was performed earlier than other areas, as a result of the lead rush that occurred in the late 1820′s. The Federal Land Survey office moved from Cincinnati to Dubuque, IA in 1839 probably due to this population boom. Today when we analyze these descriptions we see the beginning of settlement.

Ecologist can follow these descriptions and compare to modern maps to determine the past vegetation and make more detailed assumptions of what would have existed. Sometimes a young Oak tree that was described in the notes, is an old Oak tree today. Finding these is a very fun experience. 

Here are some excerpts from the notes:

Surveyors sketch of Shullsburg Township

Surveyors Description of Shullsburg Township

This township description is from Shullsburg Township as observed by famed surveyour Lucius Lyon in March of 1833. It reads: 

“The afore described township, embracing as it does, some of the oldest wrought and richest mines in the country, is generally rolling, first rate land, about half prairie and half thinly timbered with oak, with an undergrowth of hazel. Within its limits are three different settlements or towns, viz — ‘Shullsburg’ in Sections 3 & 10, ‘Gratiots Grove’ in Sections 22 and 23, and ‘White Oak Springs’ in Section 32 each of which settlements now contain about five or six families, but the two former, in the most prosperous days of the mining business, have heretofore at one time, contained not less than 40 families each. Besides these settlements, there are several farms located in different parts of the township. The mines which have heretofore been very productive are situated principally on sections 2, 3, 10, 11 and 14 but are now many abandoned as they are thought to be not worth working.”

Thankfully, Lucius Lyons was one of the most descriptive surveyors of the time. Now lets analyze Lyons description:

First, he confirms what local historians have known. Shullsburg Township was the early epicenter of lead mining in the area since Jesse Shull discovered lead ten years earlier, so scattered and abandoned mines would be expected in 1833. He goes on to write, that the land is “about half prairie and half thinly timbered with Oaks.” Ecologist now call this an Oak Savanna.  He continues to write “with an undergrowth of hazel.” This would be the shrub, Hazelnut (Corylus americana), a shrub which is commonly associated with both savanna and prairie ecosystems. He goes on to explain the three towns of Shullsburg Township and lastly the abandonment of mines, which we now know that moved towards Galena. 

Along with generalized descriptions of the township. The notes also contain detailed descriptions of the land as the surveyors traversed section lines from North to South and East to West. Each section corner included the number of feet and direction to the nearest trees.  Here is an example of the section line near my house:

North Between Sections 10 & 11

20.oo    to diggins

30.50    to a wagon road leading NW

40.00   set a White Oak post & Raised a mound of earth at that section corner

55.oo     left prairie & entered brush and scattered timber

76.50    to a creek (illegible writing) West

80.00    set a Bur Oak post for corner to sections 2 & 3 & 10 & 11

                 { Black Oak South 29 East 39 

                 { Bur Oak North 47 1/2 West 97

Land  rolling  &  first  rate (illegible writing) prairie  and  brushy  with  some  scattering  bur  &  black  oak  timber

Today, I can look at historical and modern maps and determine exactly where these descriptions are located. I can also drive a good portion of this. Our sections lines have not changed since this original surveys. Over the years historians and ecologists  have utilized these field notes for a variety of purposes. In the late 1940′s and early 1950′s geographers plotted 19th-century tree cover in Wisconsin using information from these field notes. The resulting map “Original Vegetation of Wisconsin” has become a classic research tool itself. Local historians, too, may find information found in the surveyors’ field notes especially useful in helping to understand the 19th-century landscape and patterns of early settlement.

When Lucius Lyon finished a page for the exterior survey of Township 9 North, Range 1 East and 1 West he wrote:

"Land hilly, with sand stones ledges 3rd rate, mostly B. Oak. W. Oak. U.G. of Oaks, May 3, 1839 "froze water this night"

What a grueling  job this must have been and what interesting notes to examine today. I hope you find this information as interesting as I do. 

http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/SurveyNotes/  Wisconsins highly detailed site

http://landplats.ilsos.net/ Illinois (Township Plats Only)

This is the first in a series of blog posts called “What’s in a Name,” by my colleague Richard Pearce. After thoroughly researching, he will explain to us how plants received their common and latin names.

Let’s not quibble over words. It will be the same to me whatever name is applied.
— Carl Linnaeus,  1747

For the past few years I have been documenting the flora of the Upper Mississippi River region using an office scanner in place of a fixed-lens camera. The images are rich in detail, equivalent to what would be achieved by using a 200 megapixel close-up camera — if one existed. Scanner images can be printed up to several feet across and still carry fine details from edge to edge. Moreover, with computer profiling customized to the scanner, colors are exact.

Of course I need to know what species I’m imaging, so a modicum of research into each plant is obligatory. Today, with the resources of the Internet, this task has become greatly facilitated. Entire books,  journals, and species lists with diagnostic descriptions are available online, each with searchable texts. Botanical collections, letters, and other archives can be tapped in minutes. Central to my initial investigations is finding the answer to the obvious question: How did the plant earn its name? Or to be more exact names as there will be, in addition to the “Latin” terms, a variety of common names.

New to botany, I was rather surprised by the multitude of “official” plant names and synonyms describing a single species. I had näively thought this aspect of the discipline had been taken care of long ago. But it is not unusual for even sources of authority to contradict each other. Part of the problem stems from the seemingly unbridled temptation by taxonomists to re-classify plants whose names everybody had just gotten used to. Additional constraints on conformity arise from the problem of building agreement across international borders or even among different scientific disciplines.

Ironically, a plant’s common name is oftentimes more logical than its scientific designation. The latter, if not making an historical or mythological reference, honoring a colleague, or evoking some fanciful image, might simply stand as a droll, inside joke. A serial number and a universally agreed upon cast of DNA markers would be a much surer way of grouping plants. Yet it remains everlastingly true, for Homo sapiens at any rate, that names, in addition to being easier to remember, are a lot more fun.  In this series I will be sharing some standouts in plant nomenclature that have tickled this neophyte’s fancy.

Continue reading ‘What’s in a Name?’

An exciting new program is underway in McHenry County. We hope that it can spread through county and state lines. Project Quercus,  was started in 2006 and its mission is to explore options to protect, preserve and regenerate the oak woods.

Oak woods and Oak trees have been in steady decline for some time now. Due to the lack of fire in our woodlands, the over shading of woodlands, invasive species and a tendancy to not plant Oaks in landscaping, we have now become aware of the huge loss and lack of re-production that is occurring. Our oak-hickory woodlands have diminished by more than 88.5% since the time of European-American settlement (c. 1837). Oak woods once covered nearly 40% of the landscape, but today are found on barely 4% of the landscape. 

With their strong wood, sprawling branches, gnarly trunks and majestic heights. The Oak has long served as a symbol of Americana and the Midwest. But with little or no reproduction occurring it could be a piece for the history books, like an an old car relic rotting away in the countryside. “If nothing is done, the oak in McHenry County could disappear as aself-sustaining ecosystem during the next 20 years,” said Ed Collins, the McHenry County Conservation District’s natural resource manager. “Oaks give us a sense of place, of who we are. We are not the desert Southwest or the pine forests of the north,” Collins said. “We’re the upper Midwest marked by beautiful prairies and oak groves.”

A wide variety of plants, animals, insects and organisms depend on the oak ecosystem for survival. “Even more than their historical significance, that is the main reason the trees are so important,” said Lisa Haderlein, a member of the Land Conservancy of McHenry County. “They are much more valuable for wildlife for habitat and food because they have a nut,” she said. “If something doesn’t change in the next few years, we’ll start to see them fall and we won’t be able to replace them.”

Lets all try to do our part to promote the growth of the king tree of the Midwest. “Releasing” Oak trees is some of the most important and rewarding work that Prairie Works does.

Watch YouTube Video about Project Quercus