Colfax Township lies in the form of a square and is in the southeast corner of the county. It is bounded on the north by Jefferson, and east by Sheridan township, on the south by Caldwell and DeKalb counties. It is in size a congressional townshipsix miles each way. It has an area of twenty three thousand and thirty and thirty one-hundredths acres of land, three-fourths of which is a high and rolling prairie, rich in soil and prolific in production, being one of the best corn producing townships in the county The highest point of land in the county of Daviess is said to be the ground upon which the town of Winston stands, and the view of the surrounding-country from that point is really a magnificent one. On a clear day, can be seen Gallatin, eleven miles distant, also Cameron, Kidder, Hamilton, and Breckinridge, and the iron horse with his extended train of living freight, moving like a thing of life marks a lightning-like passage plainly discernable for miles across the prairies leaving a long line of smoky clouds that whirl and twist and take fanciful, queer, and fantastic shapes as they dissolve into nothingness. The timber lies principally along Marrowbone and other creeks and branches which wind their way through its territory. The first named creek and its branches constitute the main water supply of the township, with Dog Creek in the northeast, Long Branch in the southwest, and Rice, Brushy, Wood, and Smith creeks in the northwest. These last named are all small streams, which, however, in a rainy season generally run bank-full and sometimes cover the bottom lands to a considerable depth. There is here and there a spring, but they are not numerous, while water can be reached by wells, from twelve to forty feet deep, in abundance. Colfax was, on the organization of the county, a part of Sugar Creek township one of the three first townships formed, but when Jefferson township was formed the latter was taken from Sugar Creek and Grindstone, and the part of Sugar Creek taken was what is now known as Colfax. It remained a part of Jefferson township until 1869, when Jefferson and Gallatin were curtailed of their dimensions and Liberty, Sheridan, and Colfax were the result. The names of the first justices of the peace and where the first election was held will be found in the general history of the year 1869, when its metes and bounds and incorporation were made.

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