Pioneer history of Ingham County, compiled and arranged by Mrs. Franc L. Adams, secretary of the Ingham County pioneer and historical society.

INGHIAM COUNTY EHISTORY

133

place formed the one beauty spot in Vevay township, is a scene
of desolation with its beauty all obliterated. For years "Old
Baldy" was a favorite resort for school children, and many "beefsteak feeds" and "weiner roasts" were noted by them as historic
events. Several years ago Hugh Campbell, of Bay City, purchased a tract of land north of the city containing a half mile
strip of the "hogsback" and opened up a gravel bed there with
Mr. Harbeck, of Armada, as superintendent.
This bed was excavated by hand, with a crane for hoisting the
gravel to the cars. The digging was all done lengthwise through
the center of the ridge, and the output has been about the same
accordingly as that from the Kilwining bed. When the supply in
this bed was exhausted, Mr. Campbell extended operation by
purchasing several hundred acres adjoining it, and is still operating there, now using a steam shovel instead of picks and barrows.
In 1914 the output for the two beds for the summer was 1,291
car loads, averaging 70,000 pounds to the car.
Men who make a business of well digging claim that the material of which the "hogsback" is composed is not the same on the
east and west sides of Sycamore Creek.
When digging wells they say they seldom have any difficulty on
the west side of the creek, where they find more sand than gravel,
but on the east side they are nearly always obliged to "shore up"
their wells to avoid cave-ins.
Mr. Ilarbeck, the north gravel pit superintendent, explains
this in a different way, and says: "In my judgment the creek
has nothing whatever to do with this, but it is all owing to the
glacial action. I have found that where the 'hogsback' runs east
and west it is always the south side where the best gravel is
found, and where it runs north and south, the digging is always
more successful on the west side." In 1913 Mr. Harbeck made the
statement that the gravel along the M. C. R. R. in Ingham county
was good for an eighteen or twenty year supply at the rate of
export at that time.
There is only one point in the county where a stream breaks
through the "hogsback," and that is in Mason where Sycamore
Creek made a natural gap in the ridge, and early settlers can remember when sharp bluffs on each side came down to the banks
of the stream.