359: Draining the Swamp: The Destruction of Essential Lands

Presenter(s)

Dale Mize

Abstract or Description

The Black Swamp was an irregular strip about thirty miles wide, lying parallel to the east bank of the Maumee River from Lake Erie southwest to New Haven, Indiana. This great swamp, once 1,500 square miles, was an ecosystem that supported vast vegetation and wildlife. Native Americans lived along the swamp, using its rich soil for farming and the wildlife for hunting. However, by the 1850’s with the increased number of settlers a new ideal of American progress was created, in which the swamp came to be “improved.” We may think of environmental issues as a modern problem but in the 1800’s the drainage and destruction of the Black Swamp helped create the environmental problems we face in the present day. The destruction of the swamp justified by the need for reliable roads as well as the desire to secure highly fertile farmland. The swampland was transformed by establishing tile factories to supply the tiles that drained the swamp. These factories used clay directly from the swamp in order to create tiles and combined with large drainage ditches transformed the swamp into farmland. The destruction of this environment had a lasting impact on the land as well as the waterways that helped to feed the swamp.