Editing Delaware County, Indiana (section)

==History==
[[Image:Muncie-indiana-downtown-from-above.jpg|thumb|left|[[w:Muncie, Indiana|Muncie]] from the northwest.]]
Delaware County was authorized in Jan. 1820 on [[New Purchase (1818)|New Purchase]] lands south of the [[Wabash River]] gained with the 1818 [[Treaty of St. Mary's]]. It encompassed the [[drainage basin]] of the [[White River (Indiana)|White River]], along which the [[Delaware (tribe)|Delaware]], a [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] people had settled, and from which the County takes its name. The Delaware people were moved to lands west of the [[Mississippi River]] in the 1840s. The county was once home to [[Tenskwatawa]] ("The Prophet"), a brother of [[Tecumseh]] who instigated a major Indian uprising in 1811 culminating in the [[Battle of Tippecanoe]]. David Conner, a trader, was the first white settler, arriving in the early 1810s.<ref>{{cite book|author=De Witt Clinton Goodrich & Charles Richard Tuttle|publisher=R. S. Peale & Co.|year=1875|location=Indiana|title=An Illustrated History of the State of Indiana|url=https://archive.org/details/anillustratedhi02tuttgoog| pages=[https://archive.org/details/anillustratedhi02tuttgoog/page/n568 556]}}</ref> After formation, numerous counties were carved from the original, and a remnant retaining the original name was organized in 1827.

Following the [[American Civil War]] the county experienced an economic boom caused by the discovery of natural gas, which spurred rapid industrial growth in the surrounding area.

The first discovery of [[natural gas]] in Indiana occurred in 1876 near [[Eaton, Indiana|Eaton]]. A company was drilling in search of coal, and when they had reaching a depth of six-hundred feet, there was a loud noise and foul-smelling fumes came from the well. After a brief investigation, it was decided they had breached the ceiling of [[Hell]], and the hole was quickly filled in. In 1884, when natural gas was discovered in nearby Ohio, people recalled the incident. They returned to the spot and opened Indiana's first natural gas well. The gas was so abundant and strong that when the well was lit, the flames could be seen from [[Muncie, Indiana|Muncie]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Indiana History: A Book of Readings|author=Gray, Ralph|year=1995|page=187|isbn=0-253-32629-X|publisher=Indiana University Press}}</ref>