In normal years March is the season when we begin to see a great deal of water running off the land and into the rivers and creeks. In the eastern part of the county and running south of the River Raisin to the state line, this season, historically, often evoked feelings of dread. The land is so low and flat in that area that the extra amount of water had a tendency to flow ever-outward from the riverbanks. An early settler in Ogden Township, William Crockett, said the June freshets were a regular occurrence which would flood out the fields of corn and potatoes.

      Well into the 1850’s maps of Blissfield-Deerfield-Riga-Ridgway-Ogden area show more swamp than cultivated land. All of this area was part of the great Black Swamp which extended many miles west of Lake Erie. People could slash, chop and burn the big trees all they wanted, but it would do no good as long as the swamps remained. As a result, this area, which now looks so tamed and domesticated, was where the original wilderness proved hardest to destroy in the pioneer days.

      One of the first men to try to tame the wilderness was George Giles. He came to Blissfield in 1826. To do this he had to cut a road some thirteen miles along the River Raisin from Petersburg to Blissfield. By 1834 he had a three-story inn in Blissfield for pioneers passing through, and he maintained a canoe so that the pioneers could transport their belongings across the river to the west side, To try to increase the flow of pioneers through Blissfield, he also cut a six mile road through the swamps southeast to the head of Ottawa Lake. He also got the state to build a log causeway through the swamps. In dry weather these roads were passable though a little soft and boggy. In wet weather they disappeared under water.

      Meanwhile, down in Riga Township the land was almost entirely part of the great Cottonwood Swamp. The land was such a paradise for animals, birds and reptiles that some Indians maintained their hunting rights to the southern part of the township until 1852.

      Conditions were the same in Ogden, the township just to the west of Riga. William Crockett was only eight years old when his parents settled in Ogden in 1836. Later in life he recalled that in the 1830’s the township was nothing more than a cottonwood foresty swamp. The east half of the township was under water half the year. No one lived there, and since there were no roads, it was a perfect wilderness. In the areas where people did farm, the water was often so deep along the roads that it would come up to the ox-bows for miles as the oxen wallowed through the woods. For the animals this watery wilderness was a paradise. Bear, wolves, wildcats, deer, grouse and rattlesnakes were common.

      Now, it is just about impossible to imagine those early conditions as you drive through Riga or Ogden. However, there is one small patch of unimproved watery ground on Crockett Highway. It is about one mile south of U.S. 223 where the River Raisin runs under the bridge. There is a bit of floodplain along the river there. A recent visit showed dead trees strewn about, and blackbirds and a woodpecker could be heard down the river.

      If you are wondering what happened to the original swamps, the answer can be summed up in one word: ditches. It was obvious to the pioneers that the water had to be drained off before settlement could take place. The question was, though, how was it going to be done and who was going to pay for it.

      In the early 1840’s Guy Carpenter and his brother-in-law, Dr. Harvey Wyman, both of Blissfield, studied the problem extensively. A survey of land levels in the township around Blissfield established that there was sufficient fall so that water could be drained toward Lake Erie. The next step was to figure out how to do it, and they decided that legislation was needed which would enable property owners along certain routes to join together into drainage districts. These people would then be assessed a certain amount of money so that the ditches could be dug and maintained. Next, Dr. Wyman agreed to run for the State Legislature in 1845 for the express purpose of introducing legislation providing for the creation of drainage districts.

      It would appear that when Dr. Wyman brought up his idea in Legislature in 1845, there was a certain amount of skepticism. No one had ever heard of such a thing. However, if Dr. Wyman did not mind legislation allowing such things only in Lenawee County, they would approve. Thus, when Dr. Wyman’s bill was enacted in 1845, it allowed drainage districts to be created in only five townships in the entire state. They were Riga, Ogden, Blissfield, Ridgeway and Palmyra townships in Lenawee.

      I wish I knew where those first drainage ditches were dug. In their own way they would be as historic as anything in Lenawee. It is clear, though, that one of the very first must have been dug in Riga. Roswell Knight was the big landowner and developer in that township. (Riga was originally called “Knight’s Station” in recognition of his efforts.) Shortly after 1850 he instigated the “Riga Ditch” right through the center of the vast Cottonwood Swamp. By the end of the century this ditch had grown to the size of a canal, and, with its network of intersecting smaller ditches, it drained the swamp completely.

      I do not know where this ditch was, but a likely candidate would be the “Big Ravine.” This ravine snaked through the middle of the township from west to east. It is hard to believe now when all the land in Riga looks as flat as a pancake, but old maps seem to indicate this “Big Ravine” really was a bit lower than the rest of the countryside. There was a small stream in it, and it drained toward Ottawa Lake.

      If the ditch was here, and the water was dumped on Ottawa Lake, the good people of Monroe were probably not happy. According to Don Mitchell, Lenawee’s Drain Commissioner, Monroe finally went to court in protest over the way in which Lenawee was deluging Monroe each year. Presumably, this problem was straightened out.

      At any rate, the beneficial effects of drainage were so apparent that new ones continued to be created through the rest of the century, It was not until the early 20th Century that the last swamps were drained, and the eastern part of Lenawee took on the appearance it has today of one rich farm after another to the horizon.

     The above newspaper article is one of many by Dr. Lindquist that were collected into the book, "Lenawee Reflections." This book is available at the Lenawee Museum.