Laughery Creek Bridge Dearborn County Indiana

Laughery Creek is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed October 19, 2017 stream that flows through Ripley, Dearborn, and

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

counties in southeastern

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, and is a tributary of the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

History

Laughery Creek was named in memory of

Lochry's Defeat Lochry's Defeat, also known as the Lochry massacre, was a battle fought on August 24, 1781, near present-day Aurora, Indiana, in the United States. The battle was part of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), which began as a conflict ...

, a Revolutionary War skirmish that occurred at the mouth of the creek, two miles south of present-day

Aurora, Indiana Aurora is a city in Dearborn County, Indiana, United States. The population was 3,479 at the 2020 census. Geography According to the 2010 census, Aurora has a total area of , of which (or 89.41%) is land and (or 10.59%) is water. History Aur ...

on August 24, 1781. Colonel Archibald Lochry and his

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

militiamen A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or serve ...

, were rafting down the Ohio River to join

George Rogers Clark George Rogers Clark (November 19, 1752 – February 13, 1818) was an American military officer and surveyor from Virginia who became the highest-ranking Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot military officer on the American frontier, nort ...

in an attack on the British garrison at Fort Detroit. After two days of river travel they sighted and shot an

American bison The American bison (''Bison bison''; : ''bison''), commonly known as the American buffalo, or simply buffalo (not to be confused with Bubalina, true buffalo), is a species of bison that is endemic species, endemic (or native) to North America. ...

(''Bison bison'') at the mouth of what would come to be called Laughery Creek. While the Pennsylvanians were cooking fresh bison meat for breakfast, they were ambushed by

Joseph Brant Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant (March 1743 – November 24, 1807) was a Mohawk military and political leader, based in present-day New York and, later, Brantford, in what is today Ontario, who was closely associated with Great Britain du ...

, a Mohawk military leader allied with the British. Lochry and 40 of his men were killed. The Busching Covered Bridge crosses the creek at Covered Bridge Road, just below the Versailles Lake Dam. This covered bridge was constructed in 1885 by Thomas A. Hardman. The timbers for the superstructure are said to have been cut from the site of the local Baptist church. The 170 foot clear span over Laughery Creek utilizes a modified

Howe truss A Howe truss is a truss bridge consisting of chords, verticals, and diagonals whose vertical members are in tension and whose diagonal members are in compression. The Howe truss was invented by William Howe in 1840, and was widely used as a brid ...

design and the varying dimensions of the structural members address the changing loads and resulting forces. The Triple Whipple Bridge, also known as the Laughery Creek Bridge, spans of Laughery Creek, near the creek's mouth at the Ohio River. The bridge was built in 1878 by the

Wrought Iron Bridge Company The Wrought Iron Bridge Company was a bridge fabrication and construction company based in Canton, Ohio, Canton, Ohio, United States. It specialized in the fabrication of iron truss bridges and was a prolific bridge builder in the late 19th centu ...

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in Stark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, eighth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 70,872 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Canton–Massillo ...

. Its unusual name relates to its design - it is the last triple-intersection Pratt truss bridge in the United States. Today it is a pedestrian bridge connecting Ohio and Dearborn counties, and is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

Watershed and course

Laughery Creek drains . It begins in northwestern Ripley County southwest of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

and flows northeast then southeast to

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

, where it turns east and serves as the boundary between Dearborn and Ohio Counties. Laughery Creek enters the

south of Aurora, Indiana. In 1954, a large dam was constructed across Laughery Creek at Versailles to form 230-acre Versailles Lake. No fish ladder is present; consequently, the dam acts as an impassable barrier to upstream fish migration. Versailles Lake is contained within Versailles State Park.

Ecology and Habitat

Versailles State Park provides naturally wooded cover for much of Laughery Creek. Historically the region was unusually dense forest. Dominant tree species include

American beech American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

, white ash,

blue ash ''Fraxinus quadrangulata'', the blue ash, is a species of ash native primarily to the Midwestern United States from Oklahoma to Michigan, as well as the Bluegrass region of Kentucky and the Nashville Basin region of Tennessee. Isolated populati ...

sugar maple ''Acer saccharum'', the sugar maple, is a species of flowering plant in the soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is native to the hardwood forests of eastern Canada and the eastern United States. Sugar maple is best known for being the ...

chinquapin oak ''Quercus muehlenbergii'', the chinquapin (or chinkapin) oak, is a deciduous species of tree in the white oak group (''Quercus'' sect. ''Quercus''). The species was often called ''Quercus acuminata'' in older literature. ''Quercus muehlenbergii'' ...

(''Quercus muehlenbergii''),

red oak ''Quercus'' subgenus ''Quercus'' is one of the two subgenera into which the genus ''Quercus'' was divided in a 2017 classification (the other being subgenus ''Cerris''). It contains about 190 species divided among five sections. It may be calle ...

shagbark hickory ''Carya ovata'', the shagbark hickory, is a common hickory native to eastern North America, with two varieties. The trees can grow to quite a large size but are unreliable in their fruit output. The nut is consumed by wildlife and historically by ...

tulip tree ''Liriodendron'' () is a genus of two species of characteristically large trees, deciduous over most of their populations, in the magnolia family (Magnoliaceae). These trees are widely known by the common name tulip tree or tuliptree for their ...

Ohio buckeye ''Aesculus glabra'', commonly known as Ohio buckeye,''Aesculus ...

, and

black walnut ''Juglans nigra'', the eastern American black walnut, is a species of deciduous tree in the walnut family, Juglandaceae, native to central and eastern North America, growing mostly in riparian zones. Black walnut is susceptible to thousand can ...

. Rare species in the watershed include the

bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the wildcat, bay lynx, or red lynx, is one of the four extant species within the medium-sized wild cat genus '' Lynx''. Native to North America, it ranges from southern Canada through most of the c ...

(''Lynx rufus''), the Henslow's sparrow (''Ammodramus henslowii''), the

northern harrier The northern harrier (''Circus hudsonius''), also known as the marsh hawk or ring-tailed hawk, is a bird of prey. It breeds throughout the northern parts of the northern hemisphere in Canada and the northernmost United States, USA. The northern ...

(''Circus cyaneus''), and the

barn owl The barn owls, owls in the genus '' Tyto'', are the most widely distributed genus of owls in the world. They are medium-sized owls with large heads and characteristic heart-shaped faces. They have long, strong legs with powerful talons. The ter ...

(''Tyto alba''). Between 1995 and 1999, the river otter (''Lontra canadensis'') were reestablished in Indiana, the closest being the

Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge is a wildlife refuge operated by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in southeast Indiana, United States, near Madison, Indiana. The refuge is the largest of Indiana's three National Wildlife Refuges ( ...

, formerly the Jefferson Proving Grounds in Jefferson County. From there the state endangered river otter has returned to the Laughery Creek watershed. In a 1995 Indiana Department of Natural Resources fish survey, the

bluntnose minnow :''"Bluntnose minnows" is also used for the genus '' Pimephales'' as a whole.'' The bluntnose minnow (''Pimephales notatus)'' is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Leuciscidae, the shiners, daces and minnows. Its natur ...

(''Pimephales notatus'') was the most abundant species collected by number (19%), followed by the longear sunfish (''Lepomis megalotis'') (14%), gizzard shad (''Dorosoma cepedianum'') (12%), and the golden redhorse (''Moxostoma erythrurum'') (11%). The remaining 53 kinds of fish each comprised (6%) or less of the total by number.

Recreation

Much of the creek below Versailles Lake Dam is navigable by canoe and fishing is a major pastime.

Rock bass The rock bass (''Ambloplites rupestris''), also known as the rock perch, goggle-eye, red eye, and black perch, is a freshwater fish native to east-central North America. This red-eyed fish is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family (bi ...

(''Ambloplites rupestris''),

spotted bass The spotted bass (''Micropterus punctulatus''), also called spotty, or spots in various fishing communities, is a species of North American freshwater fish belonging to the sunfish family (biology), family (Centrarchidae) of the order (biology), ...

(''Micropterus punctulatus''), and

smallmouth bass The smallmouth bass (''Micropterus dolomieu'') is a species of freshwater fish in the Centrarchidae, sunfish family (biology), family (Centrarchidae) of the order (biology), order Centrarchiformes. It is the type species of its genus ''Micropterus ...

(''Micropterus dolomieu'') provide good fishing possibilities, as well as numerous species of panfish such as the longear sunfish. In spring spawning season,

sauger The sauger (''Sander canadensis'') is a freshwater perciform fish of the family Percidae that resembles its close relative, the walleye. The species is a member of the largest vertebrate order, the Perciformes.Jaeger, Matthew. 2004. Montana's ...

(''Stizostedion canadense'') and

white bass The white bass, silver bass, or sand bass (''Morone chrysops'') is a freshwater fish of the temperate bass family Moronidae. commonly around 12–15 inches long. The species' main color is silver-white to pale green. Its back is dark, with whit ...

(''Morone chrysops'') migrating up from the Ohio River can be caught in Laughery Creek up to the dam at Versailles.

References

External links