Dr. Barton Warren Everman - Maxinkuckee Biological Survey

Dr. Barton Warren Evermann and his assistants studied the fish life and food at Maxinkuckee, In 1900 at the annual meeting he delivered a lecture along with Dr. Scovell of Terre Haute.

INTERESTING FACTS OF LAKE MAXINKUCKEE

Survey Gives Some Exact Data Not Known by the Average Citizen.

Many interesting and not generally known facts about Lake Maxinkuckee are given in the survey made of the lake's physical and biological features by Barton W. Evermann and Howard W. Clark.

Some of them are:

The lake is situated in about 41 degrees, 12 minutes North latitude and 86 degrees, 24 minutes West longitude.

It's surface at the average stage of water is 734.5 feet above sea level of the Gulf of Mexico at Biloxi, Miss.

It is 150 feet above the level of Lake Michigan and 130 feet below the summit of the divide between Lake Michigan and the Wabash drainage.

It is fifteen feet above the Tippecanoe River, into which it drains.

2.6 Miles Long

The lake is, therefore, on a south and west slope. At its greatest length the lake is 2.6 miles long.

At its greatest width it is 1.6 miles wide.

The total area it covers is 1, 854 acres.

The average length of the shore line is 7.3 miles.

The distance around the lake by the highway is twelve miles.

The country surrounding the lake lies entirely in the glacial region of Indiana.

This region is highly favored because it contains many kinds of soils which the glaciers brought down and deposited about the lake.

The soil about the lake is composed chiefly of sand.

There are only six places about the lake where there is any marsh. Two of these are on the north end, two on the south end, and one each on the east and west sides.

Fed By Few Streams

The streams flowing into the lake are few in number.

They are Culver Creek, Aubeenaubee Creek and Norris Inlet.

There were, at the time the survery was made (1901) over 50 flowing wells on the immediate shores of the lake. (Since that time no doubt many more have been sunk.) These wells vary greatly in depth. Some are only about 30 feet deep and others reach as far as 138 feet below the surface. The average is between 50 and 80 feet deep.

The shores of the lake are in most places several feet above the lake level.

There is very little marsh ground anywhere, as the fact that there are only six marshes shows.

The beach is of compact sand or fine gravel, with few exceptions. But for these exceptions to the general condition of the lake floor it would be possible to drive a team and wagon around the lake in the shallow waters of the beach without fear of miring.

The highest point in the vicinity of the lake is a hill just east of the village of Maxinkuckee, about a half mile back from the shore line.

Its elevation above the surface of the water is 136 feet - Culver Citizen Mar 10, 1926

Dr. Evermann's manuscripts, notebooks etc. on his studies on Lake Maxinkuckee as well as other items of his personal collection and estate are in the California Academy of Science Library Special Collections


The first volume is chock full of great color prints of most of the fish known to inhabit Lake Maxinkuckee around 1900 - 1910. Perhaps the most striking feature of this set is the folded beautiful MAP of the lake, measuring two feet wide and more than 1 1/2 foot high.


This map, a fine woodcut, carefully details the depth contours of the lake. This map also appears in: An Early History of Lake Maxinkuckee (1905, Levey Bros. & Co. Indianapolis) Daniel Mc Donald, Maxinkuckee Lake Assoc.

The second volume contains descriptions of all the plants, insects, seaweeds, etc. known to inhabit the lake and its immediate surroundings.

This set represents a monumental effort - never to be repeated - to assess the physical and biological aspects of lake Maxinkuckee. There is even a large treatise, complete with many tables and much data, dealing with the depth of the ice each winter for several years.

In the Early History of Lake Maxinkuckee (1905, Levy Bros. & Co., Inc. Indianapolis, Ind.) pgs. 9, 11 by Daniel Mc Daniel is found:

The report of Prof., B. W. Everman, Ichthyologist of the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries, who sruveyed the lake and made a complete report of eveything pertaining to it during the year of 1900 under the direction of the Government, has not yet been issued. The map, however, to accompany the report has been printed and a few ccopies have been distributed to those interested in the future of the lake. The map is drawn from survey and soundings made under the direction of Professor Everman. The area of the lake is shown to be 1,864 acres. The contour lines of the bottom of the lake are from soundings taken on section and half section lines and is the first and only map of the "bottom of the lake" ever published. The deepest place in the lake is on a line about half way across between Long Point and Maxinkuckee Landing. At that point it is eighty-eight feet deep. In the immediate vicinity the depth ranges from seventy to eight-five feet in several palces. What is designated as "Sugar Loaf", is a few hundred fet north of the peepest place, and the water there is but ten feet deep. The "Weed Patch", which is only ten feet deeps, is a few hundred feet north of the east and west section line, being the north line of section 28, or nearly half way across the lake from Long Point to Indianapolis Pier on the east side. The "Kettle Hole", forty feet deep, is a short distance wast of Colonel Farrar's cottage on the south side. The remarkable thing about it is, that while it covers only an acre or two, the water surrounding it is from fis to twelve feet deep. There is a tradition that there are some very large fish in the "Kettle Hole", but the experience of the writer is that it is nothing but "tradition".

The map is a valuable production, and undoubtedly the most correct one that has yet been made. It is to accompany a f ull report prepared by Professor Everman embbracing a description of the numerous varties of fish found in the lake which is soon to be published by the governement.
on page 97 of his history of Marshall County, Indiana (1908) - he shortened it to this:


During the summer of 1900 Prof. B. W. Everman, ichthyologist of the United States commission of fish and fisheries, surveyed the lake and made a complete report of everything connected with it, which is to be published by the government, but has not yet made its appearance. The map, how- ever, to accompany the report has been printed and a few copies have been distributed to those most interested in the future of the lake. The map is made from surveys and soundings made by Prof. Everman. The area of the lake is shown to be 1,864 acres. The contour lines of the bottom of the lake ate from soundings taken on section and half-section lines, and is the first and only map of "the bottom of the lake" ever published. The deepest place in the lake is on a line about half way across between Long point and Maxinkuckee landing.. At that point it is eighty-eight feet deep. In the immediate vicinity the depth ranges from seventy to eighty-five feet in several places. The map is a valuable production and undoubtedly the most correct one that has yet been made. It is to accompany a f ull report prepared by Prof. Everman, embracing a description of the numerous varieties of fish found in the lake, together with the fauna, and other matters of interest.


Author: Evermann, Barton Warren, 1853-1932.
Title: Lake Maxinkuckee. A physical and biological survey by Barton Warren Evermann... and Howard Walton Clark...
Publisher: [Indianapolis, Wm. B. Burford, printer] 1920.
Description: 2 v. front., illus., plates, fold. map, tables. 26 1/2 cm.
Series: Indiana. Dept. of conservation. Publication, no. 7, v. 1-2.
Publication: (Indiana. Dept. of Conservation) ; no. 7, v. 1-2.
Note: "Maxinkuckee bibliography": v. 2, p. 449-454.
Subject: Maxinkuckee, Lake (Ind.)
Natural history: -- Indiana.
Added author: Clark, H. Walton (Howard Walton), 1870-1941.