Cowan Lake State Park
Encyclopedia
Cowan Lake State Park is a 1775 acres (718.3 ha) Ohio state park in Clinton County
, Ohio
, in the United States. It is operated by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources
. Cowan Lake State Park is open for year-round recreation and is known for a variety of birds that attract birdwatching enthuiasts to the park in southwestern Ohio.
Indians. The Battle of Fallen Timbers
in 1794 resulted in the opening of the land to settlement by Anglo-Americans
.
. His language skills and knowledge of the land, left him ideally suited to be among the pioneers in settling what became Clinton County
.
William Smalley was born in 1759 or 1760 in New Jersey
. The Smalley family moved to Western Pennsylvania
in 1764 near Pittsburgh. At the age of 16 Smalley was abducted by a band of Lenape Indians while he was standing guard over the pioneer farmer's fields near Fort Pitt
.
While held prisoner witnessed the death of his father and many other settlers at the hands of the Lenape. Smalley was taken to an Indian village along the Maumee River
. He lived with the Lenape in for five years and became accustomed to the ways of the Lenape, learning both their language and how to survive in the forests of Ohio. He later served an envoy
for the Lenape with French
and English
fur traders. Following a successful negotiations with a group of traders, Smalley was released from the custody of the Lenape in about 1781.
Soon after his release Smalley got married and settled near Cincinnati. He served as a scout and guide for various U.S. Army generals in the Ohio Territory. While serving in this capacity he was once again captured by the Lenape. Smalley was able to escape after a year and seven months. He returned to his family for a short time before being hired by General Anthony Wayne
to serve as a guide and interpreter. Smalley remained in the Army with General Wayne until after the Treaty of Greenville
when he was discharged.
Smalley settled in the area of what is now Cowan Lake State Park in 1797. He and his brother were the first white settlers in the area and cleared many acres of land for a farm. They built a sawmill
, a grist mill and a small distillery. Smalley lived in the area with his family until he died in 1840.
Cowan Creek named for a pioneer surveyor, John Cowan was dammed in 1950. The creation of Cowan Lake lead to the establishment of Cown Lake State Park in 1968. Its surface area is 692 acres (2.8 km²)
that is laden with fossil
s. The fossilized plants and animals attract attention from both professional and amateur paleontologist
s. Much of what is now Ohio was covered by massive inland seas and lakes such as Lake Maumee. As the Appalachian Mountains
were formed, the limestone that was once the sea floor was pushed to the surface.
Cowan Lake is surrounded by a deciduous forest of beech
and maple
trees. The combination of lake and forest makes the park a destination for birders, who can observe Mallards, American Wigeon
s, mergansers, Great Blue
and Green-backed heron
s, Killdeer
, Eastern Bluebird
s, catbird
s, and many other species of bird. The most common mammal
s at the park are groundhog
s, skunk
s, raccoon
s, and oppossums.
Other plant life found at the park include bloodroot
, wild ginger
, and American Lotus. The lotus is a water lily that thrives in the shallow waters of Cowan Lake. The leaves of the plant are quite large with yellow flowers.
trails and one trail that is open to mountain bike
s.
There are 27 cottage
s that are heated and have air-conditioning. The cottages are fully furnished and linens are provided. There are 237 electric camp-sites and 17 sites without electricity. A centrally located bathhouse was showers, flush toilets and a sanitary dump station for RVs.
Cowan Lake is open for boating, swimming and fishing. Motorboats have a 10 horsepower
limit. A marina
on the southern shore of the lake provides rental boats, canoes and motors, with four launch ramps, fuel and dock rentals. Common game fish in Cowan Lake are muskellunge
, crappie
, largemouth bass
and bluegill
. There is a handicapped accessible fishing pier at the Pine Tree picnic area. A public swimming beach is on the southern shore of the lake. The 1,000 foot beach is located near the campers bathhouse and also has a snack bar.
Clinton County, Ohio
Clinton County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 42,040. The 2008 Census Population Estimate places the figure at 43,200. It is named for former U.S. Vice-President George Clinton...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, in the United States. It is operated by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources was created in 1949 by the Ohio Legislature. It is a government agency in the U.S. state of Ohio charged with maintaining natural resources such as state parks, public lands, state forests, state waterways, and recreation areas.Divisions of ODNR...
. Cowan Lake State Park is open for year-round recreation and is known for a variety of birds that attract birdwatching enthuiasts to the park in southwestern Ohio.
Native Americans
What is now Cowan Lake State Park was once home to the Miami and ShawneeShawnee
The Shawnee, Shaawanwaki, Shaawanooki and Shaawanowi lenaweeki, are an Algonquian-speaking people native to North America. Historically they inhabited the areas of Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Western Maryland, Kentucky, Indiana, and Pennsylvania...
Indians. The Battle of Fallen Timbers
Battle of Fallen Timbers
The Battle of Fallen Timbers was the final battle of the Northwest Indian War, a struggle between American Indian tribes affiliated with the Western Confederacy and the United States for control of the Northwest Territory...
in 1794 resulted in the opening of the land to settlement by Anglo-Americans
English American
English Americans are citizens or residents of the United States whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in England....
.
Early settlers
The first settler in the area was William Smalley. Smalley had previously been held captive by the LenapeLenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
. His language skills and knowledge of the land, left him ideally suited to be among the pioneers in settling what became Clinton County
Clinton County, Ohio
Clinton County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 42,040. The 2008 Census Population Estimate places the figure at 43,200. It is named for former U.S. Vice-President George Clinton...
.
William Smalley was born in 1759 or 1760 in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. The Smalley family moved to Western Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
in 1764 near Pittsburgh. At the age of 16 Smalley was abducted by a band of Lenape Indians while he was standing guard over the pioneer farmer's fields near Fort Pitt
Fort Pitt (Pennsylvania)
Fort Pitt was a fort built at the location of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.-French and Indian War:The fort was built from 1759 to 1761 during the French and Indian War , next to the site of former Fort Duquesne, at the confluence the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River...
.
While held prisoner witnessed the death of his father and many other settlers at the hands of the Lenape. Smalley was taken to an Indian village along the Maumee River
Maumee River
The Maumee River is a river in northwestern Ohio and northeastern Indiana in the United States. It is formed at Fort Wayne, Indiana by the confluence of the St. Joseph and St. Marys rivers, and meanders northeastwardly for through an agricultural region of glacial moraines before flowing into the...
. He lived with the Lenape in for five years and became accustomed to the ways of the Lenape, learning both their language and how to survive in the forests of Ohio. He later served an envoy
Envoy (title)
In diplomacy, an Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary is, under the terms of the Congress of Vienna of 1815, a diplomat of the second class, ranking between an Ambassador and a Minister Resident....
for the Lenape with French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
and English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
fur traders. Following a successful negotiations with a group of traders, Smalley was released from the custody of the Lenape in about 1781.
Soon after his release Smalley got married and settled near Cincinnati. He served as a scout and guide for various U.S. Army generals in the Ohio Territory. While serving in this capacity he was once again captured by the Lenape. Smalley was able to escape after a year and seven months. He returned to his family for a short time before being hired by General Anthony Wayne
Anthony Wayne
Anthony Wayne was a United States Army general and statesman. Wayne adopted a military career at the outset of the American Revolutionary War, where his military exploits and fiery personality quickly earned him a promotion to the rank of brigadier general and the sobriquet of Mad Anthony.-Early...
to serve as a guide and interpreter. Smalley remained in the Army with General Wayne until after the Treaty of Greenville
Treaty of Greenville
The Treaty of Greenville was signed at Fort Greenville , on August 3, 1795, between a coalition of Native Americans & Frontiers men, known as the Western Confederacy, and the United States following the Native American loss at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. It put an end to the Northwest Indian War...
when he was discharged.
Smalley settled in the area of what is now Cowan Lake State Park in 1797. He and his brother were the first white settlers in the area and cleared many acres of land for a farm. They built a sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
, a grist mill and a small distillery. Smalley lived in the area with his family until he died in 1840.
Cowan Lake and Cowan Lake State Park
Geology and ecology
Cowan Lake State Park lies atop limestoneLimestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
that is laden with fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s. The fossilized plants and animals attract attention from both professional and amateur paleontologist
Paleontology
Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
s. Much of what is now Ohio was covered by massive inland seas and lakes such as Lake Maumee. As the Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...
were formed, the limestone that was once the sea floor was pushed to the surface.
Cowan Lake is surrounded by a deciduous forest of beech
Beech
Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
and maple
Maple
Acer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as maple.Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in...
trees. The combination of lake and forest makes the park a destination for birders, who can observe Mallards, American Wigeon
American Wigeon
The American Wigeon, also American Widgeon or Baldpate, is a species of wigeon in the dabbling duck genus Anas. If this is split up, all wigeons will go into their old genus Mareca again...
s, mergansers, Great Blue
Great Blue Heron
The Great Blue Heron is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North and Central America as well as the West Indies and the Galápagos Islands. It is a rare vagrant to Europe, with records from Spain, the Azores and England...
and Green-backed heron
Green-backed Heron
"Green-backed Heron" is a collective term for certain herons. Small and compact among herons, these birds often feature green plumage – rare among the Ardeidae –, in particular on the back, wings and scapulars....
s, Killdeer
Killdeer
The Killdeer is a medium-sized plover.Adults have a brown back and wings, a white belly, and a white breast with two black bands. The rump is tawny orange. The face and cap are brown with a white forehead. They have an orange-red eyering...
, Eastern Bluebird
Eastern Bluebird
The Eastern Bluebird, Sialia sialis, is a small thrush found in open woodlands, farmlands and orchards, and most recently can be spotted in suburban areas. It is the state bird of Missouri and New York....
s, catbird
Catbird
Several unrelated groups of songbirds are called catbirds because of their wailing calls, which resemble a cat's meowing. The genus name Ailuroedus likewise is from the Greek for "cat-singer" or "cat-voiced"....
s, and many other species of bird. The most common mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
s at the park are groundhog
Groundhog
The groundhog , also known as a woodchuck, whistle-pig, or in some areas as a land-beaver, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots. Other marmots, such as the yellow-bellied and hoary marmots, live in rocky and mountainous areas, but...
s, skunk
Skunk
Skunks are mammals best known for their ability to secrete a liquid with a strong, foul odor. General appearance varies from species to species, from black-and-white to brown or cream colored. Skunks belong to the family Mephitidae and to the order Carnivora...
s, raccoon
Raccoon
Procyon is a genus of nocturnal mammals, comprising three species commonly known as raccoons, in the family Procyonidae. The most familiar species, the common raccoon , is often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only to the tropics and are...
s, and oppossums.
Other plant life found at the park include bloodroot
Bloodroot
Bloodroot is a perennial, herbaceous flowering plant native to eastern North America from Nova Scotia, Canada southward to Florida, United States...
, wild ginger
Wild ginger
Wild ginger may refer to any of a variety of plants, often with a similar appearance, odour or taste to cultivated ginger. Species involved include:*Any of the Alpinia species, especially A. caerulea....
, and American Lotus. The lotus is a water lily that thrives in the shallow waters of Cowan Lake. The leaves of the plant are quite large with yellow flowers.
Recreation
Cowan Lake State Park is open for year round recreation. There are six picnic areas and two pavilions. Cowan Lake State Park features six hikingHiking
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...
trails and one trail that is open to mountain bike
Mountain bike
A mountain bike or mountain bicycle is a bicycle created for off-road cycling. This activity includes traversing of rocks and washouts, and steep declines,...
s.
There are 27 cottage
Cottage
__toc__In modern usage, a cottage is usually a modest, often cozy dwelling, typically in a rural or semi-rural location. However there are cottage-style dwellings in cities, and in places such as Canada the term exists with no connotations of size at all...
s that are heated and have air-conditioning. The cottages are fully furnished and linens are provided. There are 237 electric camp-sites and 17 sites without electricity. A centrally located bathhouse was showers, flush toilets and a sanitary dump station for RVs.
Cowan Lake is open for boating, swimming and fishing. Motorboats have a 10 horsepower
Horsepower
Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...
limit. A marina
Marina
A marina is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats.A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo from freighters....
on the southern shore of the lake provides rental boats, canoes and motors, with four launch ramps, fuel and dock rentals. Common game fish in Cowan Lake are muskellunge
Muskellunge
A muskellunge , also known as a muskelunge, muscallonge, milliganong, or maskinonge , is a large, relatively uncommon freshwater fish of North America. Muskellunge are the largest member of the pike family, Esocidae...
, crappie
Crappie
Crappie is a genus of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. The type species is P. annularis, the white crappie...
, largemouth bass
Largemouth bass
The largemouth bass is a species of black bass in the sunfish family native to North America . It is also known as widemouth bass, bigmouth, black bass, bucketmouth, Potter's fish, Florida bass, Florida largemouth, green bass, green trout, linesides, Oswego bass, southern largemouth...
and bluegill
Bluegill
The Bluegill is a species of freshwater fish sometimes referred to as bream, brim, or copper nose. It is a member of the sunfish family Centrarchidae of the order Perciformes.-Range and distribution:...
. There is a handicapped accessible fishing pier at the Pine Tree picnic area. A public swimming beach is on the southern shore of the lake. The 1,000 foot beach is located near the campers bathhouse and also has a snack bar.