McCormick's Creek State Park, the first State Park in Indiana is located in Owen County, 1 Mile East of Spencer on Highway 46. McCormick's has 1800 acres of scenic forests, streams, waterfalls, caves, and limestone canyons.

Visitors can enjoy hiking, camping, swimming, horseback riding, exploring the caves, and many other activities.

Cataract Falls Recreation Area is Indiana's largest waterfalls. Great fishing, swimming, and boating is popular at Lieber SRA. Located just off US 231 South of Cloverdale, In.

Leiber State recreation Area is a 1400 acre Cagles Mill reservoir with swimming beach, boat docks, campgrounds, and guided boat tours. Caratact Falls and Leiber SRA are both located off IN SR 42 near the town of Cunot  Cagles Mill Lake Dam Report   Lake Water Reports

Cataract Lake Fishing Report

Owen Putnam State Forest is 6,245 acres Owen & Putnam Counties Spencer, IN

For more detailed trip information--> Also see www.putnamcountyin.org

AREA HISTORY AND FEATURES

Cagles Mill Lake is located within the Wabash River Valley in an area of scenic beauty. Picturesque Cataract Falls are at the headwaters of the lake--providing a pleasant experience for the visitor. An early settler appropriately described the region as "a sensitive display of rolling hills surrounded by numerous streams and creeks. The hills often rise into steep rock bluffs or furnish valleys with soil as rich as the prized river bottoms." It was this presence of fertile soil and abundance of fresh water that had for centuries attracted Indians to the area.

The Miami, Shawnee, and Potawatomi Indians were the dominant tribes which inhabited the region through the 18th Century. However, in the late 1700's, the relentless western expansion of the white settlers reached the area and threatened the Indian's claim to the land. Frequent conflicts followed, culminating at the Battles of Tippecanoe and Fallen Timbers which effectively destroyed the tribes as an organized fighting force, and forced the Indians to surrender their land claims in the Indiana Territory. The "Ten O'Clock Line" Treaty, signed in 1809, gave pioneers claim to the land south and west of a line established by the shadow of a tree at ten o'clock, the time when the treaty was signed. This line crossed the Lieber State Recreation Area and the Lower Cataract Falls. With the signing of the Ten O'Clock Treaty and, subsequently, the Treaty of 1818, land in the Cagles Mill Lake area was opened for settlement.

A great migration was started immediately by pioneers eager to claim the valuable resources of the area. They cleared the dense hardwood forests and farmed the river bottoms. The plentiful water supply was utilized with the development of grist mills and sawmills which gave rise to the local communities of Cataract and Cunot. Cagles Mill Lake bears the name of an old grist mill which was just downstream from the lake. Cagles Mill was destroyed and rebuilt several times before finally being destroyed by fire in 1975. The old low level dam is still in place.

Development of the region progressed rapidly with the discovery of limestone rock beds, gravel deposits, and other mineral deposits near Cloverdale, Putnamville, and Reelsville. The National Trail (U. S. 40) and the onset of the railroad encouraged growth by providing employment, increased business, and eased the transportation of goods and raw materials. The Vandalia, Monon, and B&O Railroads played an integral part in the diversified development of the Cagles Mill Lake area. Today, over a century later, many of these same industries provide a livelihood for area residents who take pride in their resourceful heritage. Livestock and grain farms, forest industries, and limestone quarries contribute to the local economy. The railroad lines (under different names) are still active and important in the movement of area products.

Visitors to the site of the old Jennings Mill in Cataract can--with imagination stimulated by a glimpse of the old dam and mill race remnants--relive the early days of the simple life among the rolling hills.