What Did Ohio's Colonial Settlers See?

What Did Ohio's Colonial Settlers See?. . When visitors see mature forests, tall grass prairie meadows, or high- quality wetlands at Ohio's state nature preserves, they are seeing the Ohio that European colonists experienced when they arrived in the 1780s., Because of extensive field notes and diaries, we know what Thomas Hutchins and his team saw as they surveyed the east-central region of lands that became Ohio from the 1780s to the 1830s. Their work left us a snapshot of what Ohio looked like before settlers arrived., Preserves are a legacy of Ohio's natural past , Both now protected as state nature preserves, Cedar Bog and Gallagher Fen are situated between two glacial moraines in west central Ohio. Each offers a glimpse of what Ohio looked like at the end of the last Ice Age about 10,000 years ago. It was a time when massive ice sheets repeatedly advanced and retreated over thousands of years and mighty mastodons, giant ground sloths, and bear-sized beavers roamed the landscape., Cedar Bog State Nature Preserve , These relics of Ohio's glacial past were described by land surveyors in an area called 'Between the Miamis.' They described Cedar Bog as "swamp, much water and brush of different kinds, no trees to witness at 41 chains [a measurement of length] w timber cedar and ash.", Cedar Bog, located south of Urbana, is one of the largest and best calcareous wetland relics in Ohio. It protects an unusual array of plants like smaller fringed gentian, swamp birch, shrubby cinquefoil, and queen-of-the-prairie. Owned by the Ohio History Connection, the preserve is managed the Cedar Bog Association with assistance from the division and other organizations., Gallagher Fen State Nature Preserve , Located a few miles east of Springfield, Gallagher Fen is another glacial remnant. It protects a variety of prairie and wetland habitats featuring numerous unique plants including prairie dock, shrubby cinquefoil, tall larkspur, grass-of- Parnassus, blue-leaved willow, Ohio goldenrod, and Canada burnet.