CHAPTER X.

            EEL RIVER—ITS TRIBUTARIES, FORDS, FERRIES, FLOODS,
                DRIFTS, MILLS, BRIDGES, IMPROVEMENTS, ETC.

    There are two Eel rivers in the state of Indiana. That in the north
part of the state was named by the natives “Shoamoque,” meaning slip-
pery fish, and by explorers, “Anguilla,” meaning the river of eels. The
eels, or slippery fish, abounding in the stream were suggestive of the
name to both the Indian and the pioneer settler. Our Eel river, which
is a stream of about the same length and volume, derives its name from
the same circumstance.
    This stream has several separate, distinct sources, Walnut Fork, or
Eel river proper, rising in the south central part of Boone county, where
there are two branches, known as the North Fork and the South Fork,
which flow together at a point one mile north of the Hendricks county
line and about two miles east of Jamestown, flowing thence southward
through Hendricks and Putnam counties; Mill creek, also frequently
called Eel river, rising at different points in the central part of Hendricks
county, flowing southwesterly through Morgan, Putnam and Owen coun-
ties, and Deer creek, rising on the eastern border of Putnam county, flow-
ing in a southwestern direction and emptying into Mill creek about one
mile above the confluence of Walnut and Mill, in Washington township,
Putnam county, two miles north of the Cass township, Clay county, line.
Though Walnut is a larger stream than Mill creek, the latter is the more
historic, because of its rapids and falls, known as Cataract, in Jennings
township, Owen county, a weird, romantic site, frequently visited by
pleasure parties and local tourists from Clay and surrounding counties.
    From the point at which Eel river crosses the line into this county,
in town 12 north, range 5 west, it flows in a direction west of south until
it strikes the rocky bluff at Bellaire, a distance of ten miles on the straight
line, where it is deflected, then flows in a direction a little south of west
until it strikes the foot of the Old Hill, another distance of about ten
miles on the straight line, where it is again deflected, from which point
it flows uninterruptedly in a southeastern direction a distance of thirteen
miles, to the extreme southeast corner of the county. The entire length
of the stream, from the source of Walnut to the mouth, at Point Com-
merce, Greene county, including its meanderings, can not be accurately
estimated, but may be approximated at three hundred miles. An air-
line from the source in Boone county to the confluence with White river
will measure about one hundred miles. Counting from the source of Mill
creek, the distance is less. In its tortuous trend it practically crosses the
county twice. At a point just below Bellaire, it approaches within half

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