There are several places around the Dodson Family Camp that we try and visit each year that we are in the area. Most of them are places that my Dad and Mom also liked to visit often and when there were living, we all went together each visit to see if everything still looked the same from year to year and to think back about days long gone. It is interesting to think about how important nature was to those frontier people when they were settling America. And back then the “highways” toward progress always were connected with rivers.
One of those places has always been fascinating to me. I have often thought that the story of Hindostan, Indiana could form the foundation for a great novel. I know that there have been many booklets written about the place, but as far as I know, there has never been an actual novel about the place or the people who lived there.
Hindostan was founded at the falls of the East Fork of the White River in 1816. The settlement sat along the original stagecoach route between New Albany and Vincennes and was one of the only roads in the new state of Indiana, which had been a territory until 1816. By 1820, it was the largest community in what was then still Daviess County and the most promising town on the White River. The town was named “Hindostan” by a soldier, Captain Caleb Fellows, an English immigrant who had served with the British East India Company in India before he came to the United States and invested in land along the still raw Indiana frontier.
When Hindostan was “booming” there was a large mill located directly on a rock outcropping in the river. And when the water is low one can still see where the posts that supported the mill were located. Over the years this stretch of the river has always been a popular fishing spot too.
However, by 1820, about 1,200 people lived in the new town, making it one of the largest settlements in frontier Indiana. Many lived on houseboats on the White River. The surge of the population toward new land on the Indiana and Illinois frontiers, as well as Hindostan’s location along the stagecoach route, meant that it was constantly open to carriers of the disease. The disease eventually destroyed the town.
An epidemic of yellow fever or cholera broke out in Hindostan in 1820. Water- and insect-
borne illnesses were the bane of many towns on the Midwestern frontier. Situated along rivers for the purpose of easy transportation, towns were often built on flood plains that bred insects in huge numbers. The ferocity of the epidemic that struck Hindostan, however, caused the population to succumb to disease or abandon the area. By 1824, less than half the population remained in Hindostan, though many seem to have stayed in the county.
An economic depression around 1820 worked alongside the epidemic to drive people away. Some families who had bought land on credit defaulted and fled the area. Hindostan may have lost as many residents to the economic depression as to sickness. Residents who remained were unable to pay their taxes and county and local creditors foreclosed on their property.
According to rumor, a county tax collector had several thousand dollars of revenue in his possession when he fell ill during the epidemic. He was thought to have buried the money (gold and silver coins) in an iron pot for safekeeping until the illness passed. When he died, the money’s location was lost forever.
Faced with the gradual desertion of the town, the post office, which was established in 1819, was discontinued on December 29, 1830. The site of the prosperous town eventually became farmland.
In 1828, the county seat was relocated to Mt. Pleasant, several miles away. The townsite was then abandoned by most of its residents in 1853 for a nearby site, now called Loogootee, four miles from Hindostan. The county seat, however, was moved to Trinity Springs, a health spa, then to Shoals in 1871. Shoals today has a population of around 800 which puts it at about 400 people less than Hindostan before it vanished.
Fishing near Hindostan Falls has always been a popular pastime. And the State of Indiana has created a boat launch above the falls so that boaters and people who enjoy fishing can easily access the water.
I think the video below that someone did a few years back gives a pretty good overview of Hindostan Falls and the general area around the falls today.
Most of the posts on this blog are about nature and nature-oriented places. This post is a bit different in that it is focused on more of a human nature-oriented place. Just a few miles from the Dodson Family Camp in Loogootee, Indiana is a remarkably interesting and entertaining place. Every Friday night hundreds and sometimes even thousands of people descend on a large gravel parking lot that surrounds a couple of large metal pole buildings. The first thing that a person notices upon arrival is the fact that there are a huge number of horses and buggies tied up around one side and the back of the parking lot. Yep…we have arrived at 
During our annual visit back home again in Indiana, we usually try and make it to Dinky’s at least one time. We very seldom buy anything, but it is a real hoot to see what they are auctioning off on any given Friday night.
What I have been told is that the “place” all started with a fellow by the name of Jake ‘Dinky’ Stoll, a Mennonite man with two daughters (his nickname came from a creek that ran through his property). The girls got married and “Dinky” died. His 40 acres were dead center in the middle of the Amish community, but not for sale. Lengacher made arrangements to meet with the girls. They showed interest in the auction idea and it was not long before the daughters sold Lengacher the acreage. When we put the word Dinky’s on the building, and it was instantly a household name and they did not even have to put an ad in the paper. A few years ago, Lengacher sold the auction business to Raber Auctions.
Dinky’s takes consignments Thursday and Friday, with hundreds of owners selling their horses, antiques, and tractors, hoping some of the thousands of people that show up to the auction house on any given Friday night will bid on their items.
This year has been a strange year indeed. We decided to drive over to Dinky’s one Friday night this year and walk around the parking lots. We took a quick peek into one of the metal buildings where the auction was already taking place. However, we did not see anyone in the building who was wearing a face mask. We have been taking the Corona Virus very seriously, so we decided to not go into the building this year and just enjoy the horses for a change. And now I do not even know if the Friday night auctions are even taking place or not.
In addition to the huge display around the outside of Bill’s house, the inside is also festooned with birdhouses and thousands of twinkling Christmas lights. Bill always gets a kick out of watching the kid’s eyes light up when he claps his hands loudly and the house is filled with the sounds of chirping birds coming from hundreds of mechanical birds spread throughout his house.
We moved to Albany County, New York in the autumn of 1982. I hate to admit that it has taken us 38 years to discover the Albany Pine Bush. Discover might be a bit harsh because we knew it was there and had attended numerous meetings in the Pine Bush Discovery Center over the years. We had even taken a couple of short walks in the preserve and one year attended the springtime Lupine Festival held at the Discovery Center.
The writer begins by stating that “The story began in 1998 when Marjorie Doyle Rockwell deeded about 30 acres to the Audubon Society of New York State, A/K/A Audubon International to create a nature preserve.” He also mentioned that Siena College had previously turned down the offer of the property that was made to them.
Siena might do with the property should they accept it. Francis asked if I could offer any suggestions as to how the estate might put some provisions in place that could help guide Siena in their future decisions. He told me that Mrs. Rockwell did not want the college to build dormitories and/or sports fields on the property. I had never heard of the property or of Mrs. Rockwell for that matter, but I agreed to meet Mr. Coolidge at the property to see if I might have some ideas for him to consider. At the time of my initial visit to home and property had already been vacant for around 3 years. At the conclusion of the site visit, I suggested that the estate could have restrictions on the property in the form of a “conservation easement” or some other restrictions that would govern the way any future landowner would be allowed to manage the property. The property was essentially grouped in 3 separate parcels of land. This strategy was taken by the estate, and eventually, Siena College turned down the offer of the property. I am not certain if that decision was based on the deed restrictions or not, but none-the-less they turned the property down.
Coincidentally, but unknown to Fleet Bank, the Audubon Society of New York State was already working with Siena College and partnering with one of the college professors to create an Environmental Studies Program. During the 1997-98 school year, we had worked with several Siena students on a research project on the Schuyler Meadows Golf Club, which adjoins the college campus. The golf club became our first “research site” and formed the basis for what I discuss later in this post. I had an office at Siena where I worked a few days each week. Among other things, we were working with a group of students conducting research on the Schuyler Meadows Golf Club. Along with the Environmental Studies program, we were in the process of creating a new entity called the Audubon-Siena Institute. Our plans were to work together to raise funding for the Environmental Studies program and ongoing and expanding research connected with wildlife, conservation, and environmental topics in general.
the former Schuyler Meadows Golf Club superintendent who told me that he had received a phone call from one of the golf club members named Joe Gerrity. Mr. Gerrity had asked the Superintendent if he was familiar with the Audubon organization that had recently acquired the Rockwell property because he (Mr. Gerrity) thought he might have a problem. When asked what the problem was Mr. Gerrity stated that he was afraid that one corner of his tennis court might be built on the former Rockwell property. The superintendent assured Mr. Gerrity that if that turned out to be true that he was certain that Audubon would work out something amicable and satisfactory.
as a “Land Trust” they do own, and they have sold properties throughout the history of the organization. This does not even mention the millions of dollars that National Audubon has been paid for oil and gas production on at least one of their sanctuary properties.
Yesterday was March 2, 2020, and it was the first day in many that actually felt almost like Spring has to be close at hand. So, I just had to take a drive and a short hike around Hollyhock Hollow Sanctuary in the Town of Bethlehem, NY.
Even though I know that flower called Snowdrops is not native to America, I was very pleased to once again see the showy white blossoms had managed to push their way through the cool soil and leaf litter and survived another winter of upstate New York. Snowdrops are native to Europe and the Middle East, from the Spanish and French Pyrenees in the west through to the Caucasus and Iran in the east, and south to Sicily, the Peloponnese, the Aegean, Turkey, Lebanon, and Syria. The flower has been widely introduced and cultivated throughout Europe and has become widely naturalized in Europe, North America, and other regions and are often found in long-abandoned home sites, which is exactly the case with the patch at Hollyhock Hollow.
50 American Robins were feasting on the remaining berries of several Sumac bushes. I also note that the pond is still covered in a sheet of ice. But, occasional calls of a Tufted Titmouse and a few Black-capped chickadees I remain convinced that Spring has nearly returned.
mistakenly based on William Martin Beauchamp’s lack of personal knowledge of the Ma-quaes [Mohawks] language because it seemed similar to the Mahican word for maze. The Mahican’s originally owned the land before it was lost to the Ma-quaes [Mohawks] during the Beaver Wars of 1628. The land was deeded to Teunis Slingerland and Johannes Apple by representatives of the three races (clans of the Ma-quaes [Mohawks] (Wolf, Bear, and Turtle), owners of the land called “O-nits-quat-haa.” as indicated on the original Slingerlands Land Patent Agreement. The name when translated from the Ma-quaes [Mohawk] language simply means: “Sinking-Stream.” This name is much more in keeping with the actual topography of the land and the Karst that I previously mentioned. During the summer months, it is often interesting to find that the creek has gone completely dry for long sections and then all of a sudden come upon a section where the water is flowing up out of the ground and once again filling the stream as the water makes its way to the Hudson River.
The Onesquethaw Creek is the main drainage through what is now known as the Onesquethaw Valley Historic District, which is a national historic district principally located in the town of New Scotland in Albany County, New York. The Historic District includes 25 buildings and three archaeological sites. It encompasses farmsteads and sites in part of the valley of Onesquethaw Creek. Most notable are eight 18th-century stone houses. The archaeological sites are a grist mill site, sawmill site, and a prehistoric Indian site.
In the winter when the snow is piled over my head on the side of the road…not so much. But, since we live in the country, my walks always allow me to see and hear some sights and sounds of nature.