Wherein is discussed how the Limberlost Swamp, Grand Kankakee Marsh,
and Great Black Swamp shared a past history and future prospect

By Curt Burnett

The Limberlost Swamp was a large wetland. It was roughly 2 miles wide and 10 miles long., stretching from northeast of Geneva (Rainbow Bottom) to several miles southwest of town (Loblolly Marsh), and spanning 13,000 acres (20 square miles) before its destruction. The Limberlost contained swamp and marsh interspersed with higher, drier forest and seasonally flooded bottomland hardwood forest. But compared to two other wetlands that existed at the same time in Indiana and Ohio---it was tiny.

In northwest Indiana, not far south of Lake Michigan, was one of the largest freshwater marshes in the United States---the Grand Kankakee Marsh. It covered almost 500,000 acres. The Kankakee River was the heart of this great wetland. The Kankakee was 240 miles long before it was channelized, with around 2000 twists and turns along its length contributing to the wet, marshy nature of the area. Because of its vast size and outstanding quality of habitat, it was sometimes referred to as the "Everglades of the North." Sportsmen from all over the United States, and even the world, came to hunt the bountiful waterfowl that lived there, and resorts sprang up within it to cater to the citizens of the great city of Chicago, not far to the northwest.

The Great Black Swamp was located mostly in northwest Ohio, but extended into Indiana. It was enormous. The Black Swamp was almost 120 miles long and up to 40 miles wide at spots, covering about 1500 square miles or 980,000 acres. It stretched from just east of Fort Wayne to the southwestern shore of Lake Erie. It was much like the Limberlost in that it was a network of swamp, marsh, forest, and grasslands. The Great Black Swamp was more infamous than it was famous. At certain times of the year---local residents declared---only adult men could withstand the rigors of traveling through it, and water levels would be up to the bellies of horses on the few roads that traversed it.

These three mighty wetlands were a result of the retreat of the last glacier that covered parts of Indiana and the upper Midwest. Another commonality was their destruction at the hands and machines of humanity. The felling of trees for lumber and land clearing, the ditching and tiling of grand to drain it for agriculture and settlement, and the channelization of streams and rivers combined to lead to the demise of these titans of nature. They also have a common future. Grass-roots organizations---such as Limberlost Swamp Remembered, The Nature Conservancy (Kankakee Sands Restoration), and the Black Swamp Conservancy---are helping to restore and preserve relatively small, but valuable, remnants of each. These former natural wonders can never return to their glory days of the time before the Midwest was settled and tamed, but they can continue to be an important part of the Hoosier and Buckeye landscapes fora long time to come.

Stilt Sandpiper. Photo taken May 15 2020 by Randy Lehman. 

Dusk at Limberlost Swamp Nature Preserve on May 15 2020. Photo by Randy Lehman. 

Eagle flying at sunset at the Limberlost Swamp Nature Preserve on May 15 2020. Photo by Randy Lehman. 

Limberlost Swamp Nature Preserve looking south towards Miller's Woods. Photo taken on May 17 2020 by Terri Gorney. 

Least flycatcher in a willow tree along the Wabash River. Photo taken May 17 2020 by Randy Lehman. 

Dickcissel. Photo taken May 15 2020 by Randy Lehman. They are a summer resident who has benefited by wetland and grassland restoration. 

Source: The article by Curt Burnette appeared in his column "Limberlost Notebook" in the Berne Witness in September 2013. 

Gene Stratton-Porter's book Music of the Wild came out in October 1910. An early review was in the October 15 1910 issue of the Decatur Daily Democrat, p. 1-2. This review was uncovered by Terri Gorney. Below is  part of that review. 


Music of the Wild, the newest and we believe the most charming of all her nature stories, by Gene Stratton-Porter of Geneva, was offered by her publishers, Jennings and Graham of Cincinnati, October 1st. It is the sweetest, most inspiring, interesting and lovable story of nature we have ever read, and we believe that all who read it will agree with us. For a week we have enjoyed this new book---mark you----enjoyed it, and we expect to re-read it and then read it to the children. No one can glance through the book without becoming interested, and if you study it, you will become not only a lover of nature, but a sincere admirer of the writer, for her work is marvelous. She has done wonders and is rapidly becoming if not now, the foremost nature writer of the country and the age......

On the title page appears the following: "Music of the Wild, with reproductions of the performers, their instruments and festival halls." these reproductions include 120 pictures of birds, insects, animals, flowers, trees and familiar haunts of the wild. The book is in three parts, namely, "The Chorus of the Forest," "Songs of the Field," and "Music of the Marsh," and we believe a short review of each will be appreciated by our readers.

She begins the "Chorus of the Forest," by comparing the woods to a Cathedral, where the unsurpassed tree-harps accompany the singers in natures' grandest anthems, and says it is the place for "all brave and happy hearts to go and learn the mighty chorus." She tells of the trees, mighty and small; of the flowers, beside which their hot-house relatives cannot compare in beauty or in delicacy of color....

The writer is a true nature lover, and thinks the occupants of the forest, the bees, the birds, the animals, the flowers and the trees too precious to be ruthlessly destroyed. .....

"Songs of the Fields," the second part of the book, is possibly more entertaining than the first. While the forest is called the Temple of God, the fields are the amphitheater of man. The old farm, forest guarded, resounding with bird song and tramped with scudding feet, have two owners---man who pays the taxes and the woman with the camera, and an eye for the beauty of the landscape. White others have sung of various flowers, Mrs. Porter's favorite is the dandelion, and she says that if we had to import them at five dollars per, all of us who could wold grow them in pretty pots. Other flowers of the field are described, the skylark which the authoress calls the earth-born singer is given a share of pretty description. Even the hop-toad is described in language so well chosen that it converts the reader from the old idea that it causes warts.......

Through all the book, the writer shows her real love for the Limberlost land, with which does not even compare the streams of India's golden sands, Italy's mountains or England's meadows. She follows the little stream through the Bone's woods, the Rayn farm and singing into Schaffer's meadow and on through Grove's fields, where it rushes into the Wabash River..... [This area in part two "Songs of the Field" is now part of the Music of the Wild Nature Preserve]. 

"Music of the Marsh," the third part begins with:
"Come with me and you shall know 
The garden where God's flowers grow;
come with me and you shall hear,
His waters whisper songs of cheer"....

Adams County has a right to feel proud of Gene Stratton-Porter and her splendid work, and we believe that every man woman and child within the borders of this old shire, at least those who know her and have read her beautiful nature books, are not only indebted to her, but they love her and the work which brings them closer to nature's wonders.

Monarch on milkweed

Baltimore oriole. Photo by Randy Lehman.

Skies at dusk over Limberlost Swamp Nature Preserve.

Sora at Limberlost Swamp Wetland Nature Preserve. Photo by Randy Lehman. 

Could Gene have rested under this tree on her tramps through the Limberlost?

Trail at Music of the Wild Nature Preserve.