Lost River - Karst Information Portal

2007 NSS Convention Guidebook
valley and remnants of the Blue River Strath,
perhaps best seen to the south across the river.
Just after coming very close to the south
side of Interstate 64, we will begin to make a
geological and topographic transition from
the dissected Crawford Upland and into
the western-most Mitchell Plain, and also
descend into the incised Indian Creek valley
into Corydon. Off to the south is both Indian
Creek and the Pilot Knob of Harrison County,
118
an upland outlier whose summit is 180 feet
above the Mitchell Plain. See Figure 24.
Corydon was the first capital of Indiana
and the original limestone capital building is
in downtown Corydon on the Court House
Square. The Civil War Battle of Corydon was
fought nearby. There is a wide range of shopping
available in Corydon’s downtown and the State
Road 135 strip.
Notes on Harrison Spring and the Sinks of Indian Creek
Harrison Spring is Indiana’s largest spring
with average discharge of 100 cubic feet
per second (cfs), with a flood discharge estimated
at over 900 cfs. It is located in an abandoned
meander on Blue River in a non-descript
cornfield just north of Interstate 64. There are
remnants of the Blue River Strath to the west and
south of the spring along the valley. Dye tracing
and other investigation have demonstrated that
the spring has a surprisingly large surface capture
area with a somewhat unique shape as shown in
Figure 22. The drainage basin covers at least 68
square miles, as well as 200 square miles above the
sinks of Indian Creek which drains a large area
of the eastern Mitchell Plain and the Norman
Upland. The location of the spring is conjectured
to be structurally controlled, perhaps being the
intersection of two joints or fractures.
The Sinks of Indian Creek are located
4 miles to the southeast of the Spring and
depending upon flow, the entire summer/fall
discharge of over 200 square miles of drainage
basin can disappear into the sink, and can
reappear at Harrison Spring in as little as one
hour (Unterreiner, 2006), Water from numerous
other cave systems and sinking streams finds
its way to the Spring, often times in complex
high water events. The spring appears to have
formed after the establishment of the Blue River
Strath, perhaps during the late Tertiary or early
Pleistocene. Powell (1963) considered it to be a
so-called alluviated spring with the flow welling
up and through alluvial sediments related to late
By Kevin Strunk
Pleistocene back flooding of the Ohio River.
Later cave diving has shown that it is in fact an
artesian rise pit entirely in limestone. The spring
basin is approximately 80 x 100 feet and about
45 feet deep. The water comes out of a 15-foot
slot, making the spring at least 60 feet deep.
The sewage treatment plant for Corydon
discharges into Indian Creek, so much of the
flow of Harrison Spring is in fact treated effluent
with a high E. Coli load (Silcox, et al, USGS,
2001). A 2007–08 plant expansion is currently
under review.
Harrison Spring has long been a historical site.
American Indians utilized the spring area heavily as
evidenced by the many artifacts found there, many
made from native Wyandotte Chert. The Spring
(and the county) is named after President William
Henry Harrison who owned the Spring in the
early 1800s when he was Governor of the Indiana
Territory. Harrison operated a whiskey distillery
on the property and this became a presidential
campaign issue. Thirsty voters elected him anyway.
Harrison is perhaps most famous for defeating a
multi-tribe Indian army led by The Prophet at the
seminal 1815 Battle of Tippecanoe in northern
Indiana which led to the defeat the of British in
the War of 1812, as well as the 1840 Harrison
presidential campaign slogan of “Tippecanoe
and Tyler too!” Harrison died weeks after being
inaugurated from the effects of foolishly giving a
multi-hour speech during bitter winter weather.
See “Karst Hydrology of the Harrison Springs
Area,” page 212, for more information.