One of the best ways to understand the Wildcat Creek, apart from actually canoeing all 82 miles of the waterway, is to pull up the satellite view on Google.

Cutting through the alluvial plain from near Greentown to the Wabash River, the Wildcat has had thousands of different courses, as shown by all of the former riverbeds — now cut off from the stream and perhaps either forested or used as drainage ditches — visible from high above.

One of the biggest oxbows is at Adams Mill, near Cutler, about halfway down the creek between Kokomo and Lafayette.

Garry Hill, one of the founding members of the Wildcat Guardians, an advocacy group dedicated to preserving the stream, points to a telltale white streak passing about halfway through the Adams Mill oxbow on the Google satellite view.

“That’s from the last big flood, where the creek is trying to cut across that land,” Hill said. “Eventually, unless humans stop it, the water is going to carve a new channel through there.”

Minimizing the human impact on the stream is what the Guardians do, from water-quality testing to removing debris from the stream bed. They host canoe and cleanup trips up and down the stream, which they’ve divided into 42 sections.

Hill’s section is just downstream from Cutler, between the Ind. 75 bridge and the Prince William Road bridge about 4 miles downstream. As one of the founding members, Hill got to choose the section he’s responsible for, and that particular stretch is near and dear to his heart.

“You get out of sight of that [Ind. 75] bridge and it’s so wild and natural you feel like you’re looking back in time,” Hill said of his Section 12.

“I feel pretty much like the creek is my own backyard. I’m out there cleaning it up and protecting it just as I would my own backyard.”

Hill’s sentiments are shared by the Guardians organization, which is in the midst of a new outreach campaign, trying to involve people of all ages in canoeing and creek awareness.

One of only four streams in the state of Indiana designated as a “scenic river,” the Wildcat is nonetheless not one of the more traveled streams.

Now the Guardians have a 22-minute video presentation, professionally filmed and narrated, called “Wildcat Creek: Community Treasure,” made possible by a community initiative grant from Delphi and Toyota, with additional financial support from the Wildcat Creek Foundation.

“What we’re trying to do is get people to appreciate the fact there is a Wildcat Creek in Howard County,” Guardians president Bob Hoshaw said. “The mission for the DVD is to make people fall in love with the Wildcat Creek.”

Scott Schroeder, West Lafayette, who teaches video production at Purdue University, produced the DVD and filmed at various locations along the creek.

A copy of the DVD will be distributed free to every high school and public library in the seven-county Wildcat watershed. The Guardians are also in the midst of creating a study guide, to help teachers incorporate the creek into a school curriculum.

Hoshaw said the Guardians had 500 copies made of the DVD and anyone wanting a copy can e-mail him at bhoshaw@iquest.net. He said the Guardians are asking for a suggested donation of $5 per copy. He said the group is also willing to make a presentation of the DVD at various club and organizational meetings.

• Scott Smith is a Kokomo Tribune staff writer. He may be reached at 765-454-8569 or via e-mail at scott.smith@kokomotribune.com