Redinger Ditch
Encyclopedia
Redinger Ditch is a creek in northern Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

 that starts near Argos
Argos, Indiana
Argos is a town in Green and Walnut townships, Marshall County, Indiana, United States. The population was 1,691 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Argos is located at ....

 and joins the Tippecanoe River
Tippecanoe River
The Tippecanoe River is a gentle, river in northern Indiana that flows from Big Lake in Noble County to the Wabash River near Battle Ground, about northeast of Lafayette. The name "Tippecanoe" comes from a Miami-Illinois word for buffalo fish, reconstructed as */kiteepihkwana/.The Tippecanoe...

 in Talma
Talma, Indiana
Talma is an unincorporated town in Newcastle Township, Fulton County, Indiana.-Geography:Talma is located at along the Tippecanoe River. Indiana State Road 25 passes northeast through town. It's about halfway between Rochester and Mentone on this road....

. Other than those two towns, it is also near Walnut
Walnut, Indiana
Walnut is an unincorporated town in Walnut Township, Marshall County, Indiana....

, Tiosa
Tiosa, Indiana
Tiosa is an unincorporated town in Richland Township, Fulton County, Indiana.-Geography:Tiosa is located at .Tiosa: Town named for a Potawatomi Indian chief who had a reservation here prior to 1838. Founded in 1869. Town burned in 1895; grew slowly since. Source: Fulton County Historical Society...

, Tippecanoe
Tippecanoe, Indiana
Tippecanoe is an unincorporated town in Tippecanoe Township, Marshall County, Indiana....

, Old Tip Town, Mentone
Mentone, Indiana
Mentone is a town in Harrison and Franklin townships, Kosciusko County, Indiana, in the United States. Mentone is the self-proclaimed "Egg Basket of the Midwest" because of prolific commercial egg production in the area, and holds an Egg Festival annually in early June to celebrate its heritage...

, and Richland Center
Richland Center, Indiana
Richland Center is an unincorporated town in Richland Township, Fulton County, Indiana....

. It is approximately 770 feet above sea level. Its approximate coordinates are 41°10′50"N 86°10′17"W.

Physical nature

It begins near Argos in south central Marshall County
Marshall County, Indiana
As of the census of 2000, there were 45,128 people, 16,519 households, and 12,191 families residing in the county. The population density was 102 people per square mile . There were 18,099 housing units at an average density of 41 per square mile...

 as a very shallow, narrow stream. As it flows along under Indiana State Road 110
Indiana State Road 110
State Road 110 in Northern Indiana consists of two discontinuous east–west segments. Neither segment passes through any towns.-Route description:The western portion of State Road 110 is long and connects State Road 10 with U.S...

, it remains extremely shallow, though it widens slightly. As it reaches the Tippecanoe River
Tippecanoe River
The Tippecanoe River is a gentle, river in northern Indiana that flows from Big Lake in Noble County to the Wabash River near Battle Ground, about northeast of Lafayette. The name "Tippecanoe" comes from a Miami-Illinois word for buffalo fish, reconstructed as */kiteepihkwana/.The Tippecanoe...

, it straightens out some and begins to greatly vary in size. On the upstream side of Fulton County
Fulton County, Indiana
As of the census of 2000, there were 20,511 people, 8,082 households, and 5,738 families residing in the county. The population density was 56 people per square mile . There were 9,123 housing units at an average density of 25 per square mile...

 Road 650 North, it is about 7 feet across and 1 foot deep. Just on the other side, it is roughly 12 feet across and 3 feet deep. Just roughly 30 feet downstream from this, there's an island about 4 feet across with about 2 feet of whitewater on either side, and on one side the bank's vertical for about a foot. 10 feet later, it joins the Tippecanoe River.

Despite how small it is, it has a huge ravine along it near the river, showing evidence that it once was massive. A variety of aquatic fossils have been found nearby the creek. Also, a number of arrowheads and other such Indian
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 artifacts have been found in and nearby the ravine, probably from the Potawatamie tribe. The regular flooding of the creek produces very fertile soil, providing nutrition for a large amount of plants, including water mint
Water mint
Mentha aquatica is a perennial plant in the genus Mentha native throughout Europe except for the extreme north, and also northwest Africa and southwest Asia....

, sycamore
Sycamore
Sycamore is a name which is applied at various times and places to three very different types of trees, but with somewhat similar leaf forms....

 trees, and stinging nettles, among hundreds of others.

Another interesting thing about Redinger Ditch is that sometimes, as the spring thaws the ground, an oil-like substance comes up to the surface of the bank and creek. It is unsure by most who know of this (though admittedly there aren't too many) what exactly this is, though some believe it to be a type of mineral oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....

.

Ecology

As a tributary to the Tippecanoe River, rated by the United States Department of Natural Resources as one of the top ten ecologically diverse and important rivers in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, it naturally has a wide variety of plant and animal life. These include varieties of mussels, seaweed, minnows, and algae
Algae
Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...

, despite the fact that many areas have a very sandy bottom. The area nearby the creek where it is highly fertile due to yearly flooding has hundreds of species of various trees, bushes, and grasses, and this attracts many animals to the area. As with the rest of the Tippecanoe watershed, there are problems with the zebra mussel
Zebra mussel
The zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, is a small freshwater mussel. This species was originally native to the lakes of southeast Russia being first described in 1769 by a German zoologist Peter Simon Pallas in the Ural, Volga and Dnieper rivers. They are still found nearby, as Pontic and Caspian...

, a highly invasive species, though since the creek is not very urbanized, this is not much of a problem.
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