Coldwater Creek

Coldwater Creek. . , The Mill, In early America mills powered by water or wind were the most advanced form of power and appeared in every frontier settlement. Mills were used to grind grain, saw wood, tan hides, weave fabric and make paper. The waterwheel was the main source of power for communities well into the 18th century., Hezekiah Lard constructed a water mill on Coldwater Creek sometime before 1797. The Lard property was located on approximately three acres at this bend in Coldwater Creek. The mill was said to be on the east side of the creek. The exact location and description of the mill is unknown., Lard sold 500 French acres…excluding a mill and improvements to William Massey in 1797. Massey sold this land to General Wilkinson in July of 1806 to be used for Cantonment Fort Belle Fontaine, an Indian factory. , General James Wilkinson at Coldwater Creek, General James Wilkinson, first Governor of the Louisiana Territory and Commander at Chief, U.S. Army, St. Louis, selected this site for Fort Belle Fontaine at the mouth of Coldwater Creek, then called La Petite Riviere or St. Ferdinand River. , Fossils, Fossils of the extinct Mastodon, Giant Ground Sloth and the Giant Beaver have been found in Coldwater Creek. They were found in an ice age lake or swamp deposit exposed along the creek near Halls Ferry Road, not far from this site. The blue clay that flows from Belle Fontaine Spring is the type of clay that is found in the ice age swamp area. , It is believed these fossils date to the Illinoian glaciation at a time when glacial meltwater created swampy conditions. Spruce trees were the primary tree type. This deposil dates to the Pleistocene Era, but an exact date has not been determined. It could be as long as one million years ago to as recently as 12,000 years ago., The Giant Beaver (Castoroides ohioensis) was one of the largest rodents ever known. It reached a length of about 2.5 meters and weighed up to an estimated 218 kilograms. Unlike the modern beaver, these ancient mammals had ridged cutting teeth, deep skulls and probably roundish, muskrat-like tails. This beaver died out with the Mammoth, the Mastodon and the ice-age horse about 10,000 years ago., (side quote:), Cold Water creek, a very small stream not navigable, discharges itself a few hundred yards above; in time of high water its mouth might afford harbour to small boats. Before the recent change in the bed of the Missouri, this creek entered higher up than at present, and then afforded a good harbour for boats of all sizes. The sixth regiment were encamped here at the time of our arrival, waiting for the contractor's steam-boats, three of which we had passed at the mouth of the river., Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to The Rocky Mountains, Performed in the Years 1819, 1820 by Order of the Hon. J.C. Calhoun, Secretary of War, under the Command of Maj. S.H. Long, of the U.S. Top. Engineers