[Hilly south-central part of section, the J. P. Whitney farm.] "... on a hill among many small trees ... especially on the east were many trees."
[Less hilly southeastern part of section.] "... Was open prairie and free grazing ground for many years...."
Much of the land in this section is now under cultivation but there are still hilltop groves of blackjack oak, probably in about the same places where Mrs Ward noticed them 90 years ago—south of the house that was formerly Robinson's residence, and west across the county road, beside the Oakridge School building, and on other knolls to the east and southeast.
The bottomland areas of the Reservation are mainly grassland and no old stumps remain to indicate that trees were formerly present. Nevertheless, it might be expected that under original conditions these bottomland areas supported forests, as the soil is deep and rich with abundant moisture. Also most of the early accounts agree that forests occurred mainly along stream courses in this region. Presumably these areas were cut over early, because they were most accessible, and because they supported the best stands of timber.
One of the best indications of the former vegetation on these bottomland areas is provided by old bleached shells of snails and certain other mollusks, brought to the surface by plowing in cultivated fields adjoining the Reservation on the south and west (Fitch and Lokke, 1956). A high proportion of the shells are of species limited to humus soil, decaying logs, or leaf litter in moist woodlands (Stenotrema leai, Retinella electrina, Zonitoides arboreus, Vertigo ovata, Helicodiscus parallelus), to wet places (Lymnaea parva, Succinea avara) or even to standing pools (Physa hawni, Helisoma trivolvis, Pisidium compressum). No living mollusks could be found in these fields and none could be expected to survive on land that is cultivated annually. As a whole the assemblage seems to be indicative of a humid, poorly drained forest habitat. Presumably most of the shells or all of them are more than 100 years old, antedating the time when the area was first disturbed by human activities, and also antedating the time when the creeks (now 15 feet or more below the fields) had begun to erode their channels. That the shell deposits are of no great antiquity, and represent conditions prevailing within the last few hundred years, is suggested by the fact that all are species still living in Douglas County, and with one exception, all still live on the Reservation.
Fig. 3. Tracing from a contour map made in 1914, of the two small valleys on the Reservation, showing changed position of contour lines at gullies by 1952. As a result of overgrazing, and cultivation of part of the upland drainage area, there was relatively rapid erosion in the 38-year interval.