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FIRST, SECOND, AND THIRD ANNUAL REPORTS 


OF THE 


UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


OF THE TERRITORIES 


THE YEARS 1867, 1868, AND 1869, 


UNDER THE 


DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR. © 


WASHINGTON: 
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFIOKR. 
1873. 


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PREFATORY NOTE. 


The popular demand for a complete series of the Annual Reports of 
the United States Geological Survey of the Territories under my 
charge has been so great that the Secretary of the Interior has ordered 
the printing of a second edition of the first, second, and third annual 
reports in one volume. The survey in its present form commenced 
in the spring of 1867, with a small appropriation of $5,000 made by 
Congress for the examination of Nebraska; in 1868 it was continued in 
the Territory of Wyoming with a similar sum of $5,000; in 1869 it was 
extended to Colorado and New Mexico, with an increased appropriation 
of $10,000. During the years 1867 and 1868 the survey was conducted 
under the General Land-Office, and the first and second annual reports 
were included in the reports of the Commissioner. Early in 1869 the 
survey was placed by Congress under the Secretary of the Interior, and 
the third annual‘ report was published as an independent volume. 
These reports are now entirely out of print. 

Although they were written in the field and forwarded to Washington 
in detached portions, and, in the case of the first and second reports, 
printed without the supervision of the writer, I have thought it best to 
make no alterations or additions in the present reprint, but to let the 
reports continue to mark the steps of progress of the survey from year 
to year. 

In the spring of 1870 I presented before the Committee on Appro- 
priations of the House of Representatives a plan for the geological and 
geographical exploration of the Territories of the United States. This 
plan looked forward to the gradual preparation of a series of geo- 
graphical and geological maps on a uniform scale, embracing each of 
the Territories in accordance with the boundary-lines. In this way 
these maps would become of great practical as well as scientific value 
to each of the Territories examined. Jn accordance with this plan, 
maps of Kansas, Nebraska, Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, 
Colorado, and New Mexico are in an advanced state of preparation. As » 
soon as the details of the geology are more fully. worked out, these 
maps will be issued. 

F. V. HAYDEN, 
United States Geologist. 

WASHINGTON, May, 1873. 


FIRST ANNUAL REPORT 


UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
: OF THE TERRITORIES, 


BHMBRACING NEBRASKA. 


BY 


F. V. HAYDEN, U. S. Geologist. 


~ CONDUCTED UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE COMMISSIONER OF 
THE GENERAL LAND-OFFICE. 


1867. 


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REPORT OF F. V. pee STATES GEOL- 


NEBRASKA City, July 1, 1867. 

Str: I take the first opportunity which has Be enred itself Ae me to 
report to you the progress of my explorations. During the month of 
June I have examined, with considerable care, the counties of Douglas, 
Sarpy, Cass, Otoe, and Laneaster, and will leave to-morrow to examine 
the counties of Nemaha and Richardson, returning northward through 
Pawnee, Johnson, and Lancaster Counties to the northern part of the 
State, returning again southward, as far as time will permit, through 
the third tier of counties. These three tiers of counties will comprise — 
most of the settled portions of the State. 

I have already accumulated much interesting information, although 
no striking discoveries have been made. There are few, if any, important 
minerals in the State, but our collections of Carboniferous fossils are 
very extensive. We shall secure, in the course of the year, most 
abundant material to illustrate the geology of the State. We have made 
most earnest search for coal. This question seems to be one which now 
excites the attention of the people more than any other, and they are 
earnestly asking for a solution of the problem. 

By my direction Mr. Meek passed across the State of Iowa to Ne- 
braska City, with Dr. C. A. White, State geologist, and they succeeded 
in tracing the Coal-Measure rocks from Des Moines to Nebraska City, 
and the conclusion they arrived at was, that the workable beds of coal 
in Iowa occur in the Lower Coal-Measures, and that those beds would be 
found by boring from 300 to 500 feet below the water-level of the Mis- 
souri at Nebraska City. All the facts that we have so far secured 
in our subsequent examinations seem to confirm that conclusion. It 
may so happen that the limestones and clays increase in thickness in 
their westward extension, and in Nebraska it may be necessary to bore 
600 or 800 feet before reaching a workable bed of coal. Even at that 
depth a good bed of coal would be profitable. In England coal has 
been mined 1,800 feet beneath the surface, and there are numerous pits 
from 800 to 1,200 feet in depth. 

We shall give this question of coal our earnest attention as we pro- 
ceed southward. I inclose a section of an artesian boring made at 
Omaha by the Union Pacifie Railroad Company, near 400 feet; also a 
second section made by Mr. Croxton at Nebraska City. The observations 
made by the parties engaged in the boring were not made with that 
positive accuracy that I could have desired, still I have put their notes 
into such a form by means of colors, in accordance with your instruc- 
tions, that you will readily understand the character of the beds for a 
great depth beneath the surface of the two localities. 

I shall forward to you all the sections of this kind which I can secure. 
My. J. Sterling Morton has sunk a shaft on his farm 100 feet in depth, 
without success. Ihave advised boring hereafter; and to save expense, 


8 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


to continue Mr. Croxton’s boring, which is already 400 feet deep, to a 
depth of 800 feet, if necessary, so as to settle a vexed question one way 
or the other. Several thin beds, fifteen to eighteen inches thick, of coal 
have been found in various parts of the State, and these beds have been 
wrought with some profit. 

The results of our examinations north of the Platte were that the 
‘limestones of the Upper Coal-Measures pass from sight beneath the 
water-level of the Missouri at De Soto, and are then succeeded by sand- — 
stones of a Cretaceous age; that these Coal-Measure limestones occupy 
about two-thirds of Douglas County; that no coal-beds of workable 
character can be found in this country at a less depth than from 800 to 
1,000 feet beneath the water-level of the Missouri. Limestone of good 
quality for economical purposes generally is found at Omaha, and all 
over Sarpy County. On both sides of the Platte River as high up as the 
BHlkhorn are excellent quarries of limestone. There is one ledge of lime- 
stone on the Platte about four feet in thickness, very compact and du- 
rable, which fully satisfied the wishes of Mr. J. L. Williams, one of the 
commissioners for accepting the Union Pacific Railroad, and he in- 
formed me that its discovery would settle the location of the great rail- 
road-bridge across the Missouri. One singular geological phenomenon 
occurs which I have not before observed in any part of the West. The 
surface of this rock, where the superincumbent drift is removed, has 
been planed so smoothly by glacial action that it will make most ex- 
cellent material for caps and sills without further working. Sometimes 
there are deep grooves and scratchings, all of which have a direction 
nearly northwest and southeast. This glacial action is also seen at 
Plattsmouth, and the evidence is that if the superficial deposits were 
stripped off, a large area of the upper surface of the limestones would 
appear to be planed in this way. This is an exceedingly important 
geological discovery. At various points I found potters’ clay in abun- 
dance. A factory for making potters’ ware is about to be established at 
Nebraska City. At Plattsmouth, Rock Bluff, and Nebraska City there 
is a bed of this clay about fifteen feet in thickness, of various. colors, 
mostly red, colored with the sesquioxide of iron. This clay is not only 
most excellent for potters’ use, but it is employed in Iowa as a paint. and 
by a judicious mixture of the different colored clays any shade desira- 
ble may be produced. This is a matter of some interest to the people. 
Numerous beds of sand occur also, which are of much value for building 
purposes. 

With the sand and the yellow marl, the materials for making brick 
are without limit in this State. 


THE SALT-BASINS OF LANCASTER COUNTY. 


I returned last evening from a tour of five days to the salt-basins in 
Laneaster County, about fifty miles west of Nebraska City. It has 
been determined by the State to locate the capital near these basins, 
and therefore the examination of them and the country in the vicinity 
became a matter of some importance. The basins and scattering springs 
occupy a large area several miles in extent, but the main basin is located 
near the town of Lancaster. These basins are depressions in the sur- 
face nearly destitute of vegetation, and the white incrustations of salt 
give the surface the appearance in the distance of a sheet of water. 
The Great Basin, as it is called, is situated about one mile from Lancas- 
ter, township 10, range 6, section 22, and covers an area of about four 
hundred acres. The brine issues from a large number of places all over 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. g 


the surface, but in small quantities. All the salt water that comes to 
surface from this basin unites in one stream, and we estimated the en- 
tire amount of water that flowed from this basin at from six to eight gal- 
lons per minute. The second salt-basin lies between Oak and Salt Creek 
and covers an area of two hundred acres. The third basin is on Little 
Salt Creek, called Kenosha Basin, and covers two hundred acres. Nu- 
merous small basins occur on Middle Creek, which occupy in all about six 
hundred acres. Between Middle and Salt Creeksare several small basins, 
covering forty or fifty acres. From the surface of all these basins more 
er less springs ooze out. In former years great quantities of salt have 
been taken from the surface and carried away. During the war as 
many as sixty families at a time have been located about these basins 
employed in securing the salt. 

Besides the numerous basins above mentioned, Salt Creek, Hayes’s 
Branch, Middie Oreek, Oak and Little Salt Creeks have each a dozen 
springs coming out near the water’s edge. One spring on Salt Creek 
issues from a sand-rock, and gushes forth with a stream as large as a 
man’s arm, at the rate of four gallons a minute. 

This is the largest spring known in the State. The geological forma- 
tions in the vicinity are of the Upper Carboniferous and Lower Creta- 
ceous age. The salt-springs undoubtedly come up from a great depth, 
probably from the Upper Carboniferous rocks, and are the same in their 
history and character as those in Kansas. The Cretaceous sandstones 
oceupy the hills and high ground, but do not go deep beneath the water- 
level of the little streams. We settled an important point for the citi- 
zens in this county, that no coal-beds of workable,value can possibly 
be found at a less depth than 1,000 to 1,500 feet beneath the surface, 
which renders further search for this mineral useless. 

Much time and money has already been spent prospecting and dig- 
ging for coal in this region, and the almost entire absence of timber 
would render the presence of coal here a matter of vital importance. I 
would be glad to find a workable bed of coal for the good people, but it 
cannot be. The farmers must plant trees, and in a few years the de- 
mand for fuel will be supplied. Two methods have been used to some 
extent in this region in preparing the salt—boiling and evaporation. 
The only method which can be employed profitably in this country, 
where fuel is so scarce, is solar evaporation, and this can be carried on 
more effectually than in any State east of Nebraska. The unusual dry- 
ness of the atmosphere, the comparatively few moist or cloudy days, 
the fine wind which is ever blowing, will render evaporation easy. The 
surface indications do not lead me to believe that Nebraska will ever be 
a noted salt region. It seems to me that if all the brine that issues from 
all the basins and isolated springs were united in one they would not 
furnish more than brine enough to keep one good company employed. 

What will be the result of boring can be determined only by actual 
experiment. Some large springs may yet be found in that way, but I 
saw no brine that was much stronger than ocean-water. I will forward 
specimens of the salt and two bottles of the brine, which ought to be 
carefully analyzed. I shall collect more of the brine at a later and 
more favorable season. The rains have been so frequent this spring that 
it is much diluted with rain-water. The Nebraska Salt Company made, 
from July to November, 1866, 60,000 pounds of sait. Another company, 
at work at the same time, made about the same amount. Good working 
days 6,000 pounds have been made in a day. The kettles used for boil- 
ing are very rude steam:boilers split into two parts. In a vat 12 by 24 
feet average evaporation was 125 to 130 pounds per day. An extra day 


10 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


was 250 pounds. I think it not improbable that a company with a large 
capital, and employing all the improved methods of manufacturing the 
salt, would succeed. The salt is said to be good, though not as strong 
as the common salt of commerce. 

The best building-stone, yet observed in the State occurs in the south- 
ern portion of Lancaster County. The quarries have been opened, and 
several fine houses built of the stone. The rocks are of the Permo-Car- 
boniferous, or Upper Carboniferous age, and are usually called magnesian 
limestones 3 are very durable, easily wrought, and make most beautiful 
building material. There is ‘also plenty of potters’ clay, sand, and all 
the materials for the manufacture of brick without limit. 


THE CULTIVATION OF FRUIT AND FOREST TREES. 


T think a sufficient number of experiments have already been made in 
this western country to show clearly that the forests may be restored 
to these almost treeless prairies in a comparatively short period of time. 
There are certain trees which are indigenous to the country, and which 
grow with great rapidity under the influence of cultivation. I have 
given special attention to this matter, in accordance with your instruc- 
tion, and shall continue to do so throughout the period of the survey. 
About four miles west of Ohama City Mr. Griffin, an intelligent farmer, 
has planted about forty acres of forest-trees, which are now in a fine 
condition of growth. I have obtained as many measurements as possi- 
ble, in order that my statements might have their proper weight. The 
common cotton-wood of the country grows everywhere finely, on upland 
or lowland. I would remark here that Mr. Gritfin’s experiment is ren- 
dered more emphatic from the fact that he chose one of the highest points 
in the vicinity of Omaha, 600 feet above the water-line of the Missouri 

River. 

The soil is the usual yellow siliceous marl of this region, which is re- 
garded by Lyell and other geologists as the American equivalent of the 
Loess of the Rhine, whieh is SO well adapted to the culture of the grape. 
The indigenous trees ot the country all do well, as might be expected, 
and many others which have never been found in the West grow rapidly 
and healthfully. The trees most in cultivation are the indigenous ones, 
as the cotton-wood, (Populus monilifera, ) soft maple, (Acer rubrum, ) elm, 
( Ulmus americana, ) bass-wood, or linden, ( Tilia americana, ) black-walnut, 
(Juglans nigra,) honey-locust, ( Gleditschia tricanthus,) and several vari- 
eties of willows. 

At Mr. Griffin’s farm I found cotton-wood trees, ten years’ growth, 
with a circumference of 2 feet 11 inches, 30 feet high; seven years’ 
growth, with a circumference of 2 feet; seven years’ ¢ evowth, with a cir- 
cumference of 2 feet 6 mches soft maple, ten years’ 2 growth, with a cir- 
cumference of 2 feet 8 inches; soft maple, seven years’ g erowth, with a 
circumference of 1 foot 10 inches ; soft maple, seven year 's! erowth, with 
a circumference of 2 feet 1 inch, 15 feet high; common locust, ten years’ 
erowth, with a circumference of 2 feet, 15 feet high; eo aey ‘locust, ten 
years? erowth, 1 foot 8 inches; black- walnut, ten years’ growth, with a 
circumference of 12 inches, 15 feet high; black- walnut, ten years’ growth, 
with a circumference of 13 inches, 15 feet high. 

At Dr. Enos Lowe’s place, nearOmaha, about 300 feetabove the water- 
line of the Missouri, cotton-wood trees, ten years’ growth, circumference 2 
feet 6 inches, 40 feet high; cotton-wocd trees, ten. years’ ‘growth, circum- 
ference 2 feet 44 inches, 22 5 feet b high ; cotton-wood trees, ten years’ growth, 
circumference 2 feet 5 inches; cotton-wood trees, ten years’ growth, 


GEOLOGICAL. SURVEY OF THES TERRITORIES. Ll 


circumference 2 feet 4 inches; cotton-wood trees, ten years’ growth, cir- 
cumference 2 feet 9 inches ; cotton-wood trees, ten years’ growth, circum- 
ference 2 feet 10 inches; common locust, ten years’ growth, circumference 
2 feet, 1 foot 10 inches, 1 foot 9 inches, 1 foot 10 inches, 2 feet, 2 feet 1 
inch, 2 feet, 1 foot 10 inches, 2 feet 5 inches, 1 foot 104 inches; soft 
maple, seven years old, circumference 8 inches; box-elder, ten years old, 
circumference 2 feet 2 inches; apple-trees, ten years’ growth, circum. 
ference 1 foot 3 inches, 1 foot 1 inch, 1 foot 2 inches, 1 foot Linch; twelve 
years’ growth, 1 foot 6 inches, 1 foot 3 inches, 1 foot 63 inches, 1 foot 6 
inches; common red-cherry trees, ten years’ growth, circumference 12 
inches; silver-poplar shade-trees, seven years’ growth, circumference 2 
feet 4 inches. 

Dr. Lowe’s garden shows 8 most healthy and vigorous growth of the 
smaller fruits, and he has raised successfully out of doors the following 
vines: Hartford Prolific, Catawba, Clinton, Delaware, and Concord. 
These vines are loaded with young fruit at this time. Pears, apples, and 
cherries abundant; peaches plentiful, but I do not think they will en- 
dure the climate. Dr. Lowe has the following evergreens, which are 
erowing finely: Scotch pine, Austrian, Russian, white pine, spruce, 
balsam-fir, white cedar, or arbor-vitx, and red cedar. 

Near the mouth of the Platte Rev. J. G. Miiler raises successfully the 

Diana grape. Lombardy-poplars grow well; four years old, 20 feet high, 
2 to 5 inches in diameter. Cotton-wood, four years old, circumference 18 
inches, and 20 feet high. 
__ Mr. Miller’s place is one of the most highly cultivated in the State. 
He has twenty-five apricot-trees, raised from the seed, which are now 
loaded with fruit; English red raspberries, blackberries, We., all bearing 
thriftily. , 

At Rev. Mr. Hamilton’s, Bellevue, Sarpy County, I saw most of the 
smaller fruitsin a high state of cultivation, as strawberries, blackberries, - 
raspberries, currants, gooseberries, &c., and I am convinced that none 
finer could be produced in any country. 

On Mr. J. Sterling Morton’s farm, near Nebraska City, I observed a 
cotton-wood tree that had grown from the seed in ten years to a height 
of 50 feet, with a circumterence of 4 feet. 

About ten miles south of Plattsmouth there is a fine grove of trees 
upon a high elevation, composed of cotton-woods, maples, locusts, and 
black-walnuts. Those of ten years’ growth are from 8 to 10 inches in 
diameter, and 10 to 30 feet high. The black-walnut trees may be raised 
from the seed with ease, and though of slower growth. than the others, 
are very valuable from the fact that the astringent, pungent bark forms 
their defense, not only against cattle, but the gopher, the most destruc- 
tive of the wild animals. The gopher gnaws off the roots of some of the 
most valuable trees, and is a source of great annoyance to the farmer. 
The native or honey locust is not disturbed by the boring-insect, which 
is destroying the common locust. The borer sometimes attacks the 
cotton-woods. 

I have said enough to show already that most of the hardy northern 
trees may be cultivated on these western plains with entire success. The 
cultivated forest will prove much more desirable than those of natural 
growth, and their arrangements may be made as beautiful as the taste of 
_ the proprietor may dictate. The greater portion of the more intelligent 
and thrifty farmers are planting forests to greater or less extent. This 
is done so easily that there is no excuse for a farmer to be destitute of 
fuel after afew years. Nearly all the common forest-trees can be raised 
from the seed as easily as corn or beans. As soon as it is understood 


12 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


that coal is restricted to a small portion of the State, even if it occur at 
all, every one will adopt the plan of raising his own fuel. So far as the 
cultivation of the smaller fruits is concerned, I am convinced that Ne- 
braska will not be surpassed by any other State in the Union. The 
climate seems to be severe for peaches, though Mr. Morton, will have 
thirty or forty bushels this season. The dwarf fruits seem to do best. 
A row of forest-trees around the gardens and orchards proves a great pro- 
tection from strong winds and cold in winter. The Osage orange is used 
very successfully all over the State for hedges. 

I have dwelt on this subject here, from the fact that it is a popular 
notion at the Hast that trees cannot be made to grow successfully on the 
western prairies, and especially that the climate and soil are unfavora- 
ble to the cultivation of the fruits. I held that opinion until within two 
years, but I now believe that, within thirty to fifty years, forest-trees 
may be grown large enough for all economical purposes. 

Mr. Griffen, in ten years) time, is able to supply his own fuel from the 
limbs and dead trees which would otherwise go to deeay, and within four 
or five years he will have fuel for sale. 

ft will endeavor hereafter to report the results of my labors to you 
weekly. If you wish to have me elaborate any special point more fully, 
please give me instructions to that effect. 

The great pest of this country appears to be the grasshopper. ‘This 
year it seems to be restricted in its distribution. I did not observe any 
north of the Platte, and very few north of Nebraska City. But at the 
latter place, and for four or five miles around it, the grasshopper is very 
abundant and destructive. Mr. Gilmore, one of the wealthiest farmers 
in the State, has 10S seventy acres of wheat and sixty five acres of 
clover and timothy-grass by the grasshopper, (Caloptenus spretus.) 
Many other crops have been injured ; others have suffered in this vicinity. 
I am making a collection of them of different ages, and intend to in- 
vestigate their nature and habits with great care. 

I hope to be at Brownsville, Nemaha County, in a few days, and 
from that point will report on Otoe County. 


OTOH AND NEMAHA COUNTIES. 


Otoe is one of the most fertile sind thickly settled of the counties of 
Nebraska. The fertility of the soil is shown by the richness and abun- 
dance of the crops, which are remarkably fine. The winters are so severe 
and the snow so thin that winter-wheat will not do well, and spring- 
wheat is raised altogether, and is grown most suecessfully in ordinary 
seasons. Thirty and forty bushels to the acre is not an uncommon yield 
throughout the State, and last autumn Nebraska wheat brought from | 
ten to. fifteen cents more per bushel in the market at Saint Louis than 
wheat from any other portion of the West. 

The great fertility of the soil in the river counties of Nebraska is 
mainly due to the beds of siliceous marl which cover those counties to a 
greater or less depth. This is usually called Loess, from a similar for- 
mation which occurs along the Rhine, in Germany. 

The sections which I inclose to you from time to time will reveal the 
prospect of workable beds of coal in the State, so far as the surface ex- 
posures are concerned. One outcrop at Nebraska City has been wrought 
by drifting in a distance of three hundred yards, and several thousand 
bushels of pretty good coal have been taken therefrom. The seam was 
about eight inches in thickness. On account of the scarcity of fuel in 
this region this thin seam has been made somewhat profitable. At Otoe 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 13 


City, eight miles below Nebraska City, the lithological character of the 
beds seems to change, so that we have red shales ‘and clays passing up 
into soft, yellow sandstones, with comparatively little rock useful for 
building purposes. There is here also a bed of slate and coal about 
eight inches in thi¢kness, which has been wrought to some extent, and 
the coal used in a blacksmith’s shop. Still higher up in the bank is 
another thin bed of black Carboniferous shale, “which has been worked 
to some extent. ; 
At Peru, about six or eight miles further south, there is another com- 
plete lithological change in the beds exposed. The bluffs along the 


Missouri seemed to be formed of irregular beds of soft sandstone and 


laminated arenaceous clays. High up in the lills, at some distance from 
the river, there is a bed of limestone, twelve to eighteen inches in thick- 
ness, which is quarried extensively and profitably. Onthe Missouri bot- 
tom, about on a level with high-water mark, a well was dug sixteen feet 
in depth ; a seam of coal was penetrated, which is represented as four 
inches thick on one side of the well and about ten on the other. These 
beds in the vicinity change rapidly, both in thickness and texture, within 
very short distances. Again, at Brownsville there is a seam of coal 
accompanied by many of the plants which are peculiar to the Carbonif- 
erous rocks in other States. There are from four to six inches of good 
coal; the whole bed of black shale and coal is about twelve inches in 
thickness. There is a fine quarry of limestone at this point, which is of 
very superior quality for building purposes, but there is too much sand 
and clay in it to be converted into a good quality of lime. The bed is 
about three feet in thickness near the water’s edge, concealed by high 
water at this time. There is a bed of micaceous fine-grained sandstone, 
which cleaves naturally into most excellent flag-stones, which are much 
used here. These rock-quarries are of great value to the people of Ne- 
maha County. The materials for making brick abound everywhere in 
this region; clays, marl, and sands are abundant, and of excellent 
quality. 

Should the future prosperity of the country demand it, there are 
abundant materials for the manufacture of what is called in England, and, 
recently brought into use in this country, “ patent concrete stone.” It 
is composed of small fragments of stone or sand reduced to a paste by 
a fluid silicate, then molding the material into any required form and 
dipping it into the chloride of calcium. The little particles of sand are 


- thus cemented together, and it is wonderful how rapidly this rock can 


be formed, and how durable it becomes. ‘This is a matter which seems 
to me worthy of notice in the final report. 

Several kinds of peat occur in small quantities in Otoe and Nemaha 
Counties, which, as fuel, will rank next to coal. There are several 
marshes or boge y places about six miles west of Nebraska City, from 
which I have obtained some excellent specimens. On Long Branch, 
Franklin, in Nemaha County, twenty-four miles southwest of Browns- 
ville, there are spring-places where a pole may be thrust through the 
peat to the depth of ten or fifteen feet. About ten miles west are sev- 
eral other peat-bogs, which have attracted more or less attention. 

At Aspinwall, in Nemaha County, we discovered the most favorable 
exhibition of coal yet observed in the State. The. general dip of the 
beds seems to be up the Missouri, or nearly north or northwest. It iS 
difficult to determine this point with precision. The rocks at Aspinwall 
are all geologically at a lower horizon than the Nebraska City beds, and 
mostly beneath the Brownsville beds, so that the inclination must be 
considerable—eight or ten feet per mile. Two seams of coal are met 


14 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


with at Aspinwall: one crops out near the river, about fifteen feet above 
the water, twenty-four inches in thickness—very good quality, A few 
feet above this seam is a second seam—six inches of good coal. Some 
English miners are sinking a shaft here, with full gonfidence that the 
thickest bed can be made profitable, and I am inclined to think that, 
with the present scarcity of fuel, they will succeed well. Coal com- 
mands a ready sale at from forty cents to eighty cents per bushel ; and 
even at eighty cents a bushel, coal is cheaper than wood. The miners 
have already sunk the shaft about forty feet; have passed through the 
6-inch seam, and are confident of soon reaching the 24-inch bed, when 
the work of drifting in various directions will commence, and the coal 
be taken out for market. The beds hold such a position here that, if the 
miners are successful, this effort determines the existence of a work- 
able bed of coal for Nemaha, Richardson, Pawnee, and Johnson Coun- 
ties, which will be a most important matter for the whole State. We 
have very abundant notes in detail, and many specimens to illustrate 
the geology of the river counties. 

Mr. Meek leaves me at Rulo and returns to Washington. The remain- 
der of the year I must perform the field-work alone. My next examina- 
tions will be in Richardson and Pawnee Counties. 

I am informed that excellent hydraulic lime for cement exists in 
Nemaha County, section 9, township 6, range 14; but I have not been 
able yet to make a personal examination of the locality. 


FOREST AND FRUIT TREES. 


I would again speak of the great importance of planting trees in this 
country, and the great ease with which these cultivated forests may be 
produced. I do not believe that the prairies proper will ever become 
covered with timber except by artificial means. Since the surface of 
the country received its present geological configuration no trees have 
erown there, but, during the Tertiary period, when the lignite or “brown 
coal” beds were deposited, all these treeless plains were covered with a 
luxuriant growth of forest-trees like those of the Gulf States or South 
America. Here were palm-trees, with leaves having a spread of twelve 
feet; gigantic syeamores—several species; maples, poplars, cedars, 
hickories, cinnamon, fig, and many varieties now found only in tropical 
or sub-tropical climates. 

Large portions of the Upper Missouri country, especially along the 
Yellowstone River, are now covered with silicified trunks of trees, sixty 
to seventy feet in length and two to four feet in diameter, exhibiting the 
annual rings of growth as perfectly as in our recent elms or maples. 
We are daily obtaining more and more evidence that these forests may 
be restored again to a certain extent, at least, and thus a belt or zone of 
country about five hundred miles in width east of the base of the mount- 
ains be redeemed. It is believed, also, that the planting of ten or fifteen 
acres of forest-trees on each quarter-section will have a most important 
effect on the climate, equalizing and increasing the moisture and adding 
greatly to the fertility of the soil. The settlement of the country and 
the increase of the timber have already changed for the better the climate 
of that portion of Nebraska lying along the Missouri, so that within 
the last twelve or fourteen years the rain has gradually increased in 
quantity and is more equally distributed through the year. I am confi- 
dent this change will continue to extend across the dry belt to the foot 
of the Rocky Mountains as the settlements extend and the forest-trees 
are planted in proper quantities. In the final report I propose to show 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 15 


that these ideas are not purely theoretical, and that the influence of trees 
on climate and humidity has been investigated by some of the ablest 
scientific men in this country and EKurope. A French savant, M. Bous- 
singault, states that in the region comprised between the Bay of Cupica 
and the Gulf of Guayaquil, which is covered with immense forests, the 
rains are almost continual, and that the mean temperature of the humid 
country rises hardly to 80° Fahrenheit. The author of “Travels in 
Bulgaria” says that in Maltarain has become rare since the forests have 
‘been cleared Away to make room for the growth of cotton, and that, at 
the time of his visit, in October 1841, not a drop of rain had fallen for 
three years. The terrible droughts in Cape Verde Islands are attributed 
to the destruction of the forests. 

The wooded surface of the island of Saint Helena has extended eameide 
erably within a few year s, and it is said that the rain is now double in 
quantity what it was during the residence of Napoleon. A German 
author remarks: ‘In wooded countries the atmosphere is generally 
humid, and rain and dew fertilize the soil. As the lightning-red ab- 
stracts the electric fuid from the stormy sky, so the forest abstracts to 
itself the rain from the clouds, which in falling refreshes not it alone, 
but extends its benefits to the neighboring fields.” 

The forest presenting a considerable surface for evaporation gives to 
its own soil and the adjacent ground an abundant and enlivening dew. 
Forests, in a word, exert in the interior of continents an influence like 
that of the sea on the climates of islands and of coasts; both water the 
soil and thereby insure its fertility. Sir John F. W. Herschel says that 
the influences unfavorable to rain are absence of vegetation, in warm 
climates, and especially of trees. He considers this one of the reasons 
of the extreme aridity of Spain. Babinet, in his lectures, says: ‘A few 
years ago it never rained in Lower Hgypt. The constant north winds, 
which almost exclusively prevail there, passed without obstruction over 
a surface bare of vegetation; but since the making of plantations an 
obstacle has been created which retards the current of air from the 
north. The air thus checked accumulates, dilutes, cools, and yields 
rain.” 

I might cite many examples from the African deserts how the planting 
of palm-trees is redeeming those barren sands. 

Much might also be said in regard to the influence of woods in pro- 
tecting the soil and promoting the increase in number and the flow of 
springs, but all I wish is to show the possibility of the power of man to 
restore to these now treeless and almost rainless prairies the primitive 
forests and the humidity which accompanies them. 

The counties of Otoe, Nemaha, and Richardson contain more timber- 
land than any other portion of the State, and the aggressive character 
of the patches of woodland can be seen everywhere. Hundreds of acres 
have been covered over with a fine healthy growth of hickory, walnut, 
oak, soft maple, coffee-bean, bass-wood, &e. , within the past ten or twelve 
years, since the fires have been kept away ¢ and protection afforded the 
young trees by the settlements. 

In the more southern counties the success in planting trees and in 

raising fruits, especially the smaller kinds, is even more marked than 
north of the Platte. All kinds of garden-vegetables grow better in 
Nebraska than in any other region with which I am acquainted. The 
crops, when not injured by the erasshopper, are looking very fine at this 
time. The corn has escaped so far and is pressing forward with great 
rapidity. Up to the 1st of July I did not see any grasshoppers, except 
within a radius of four or five miles around Nebraska City. There they 


16 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


were most abundant and destructive. July 2d and 3d they commenced 
their flight northward, filling the air as high as the eye could reach, 
looking much like flakes of snow. They have committed some depreda- 
tion in Sout! Nebraska, but more especially in Kansas. Whenever 
counties become more thickly settled and more densely wooded, so that 
the annual amount of moisture is more equally distributed over the 
year, this pest I believe will entirely disappear. 

IT am informed that notwithstanding the grasshopper there will be at 
least half a crop of wheat. In Richardson County the harvesting of 
winter-wheat has commenced, (July Sth.) Last year it commenced June 
22d The corn looks finely everywhere. Alli the crops are late this 
season on account of the wet weather. 


RICHARDSON COUNTY. 


Richardson County is in some respects the finest county in the State. 
It lies in the southeastern corner of the State and borders on the 
Missouri River, and forms the type of fertility of soil and climate. 
Being located near the fortieth parallel, the climate seems to favor the 
cultivation of all the hardy fruits and cereals. 

The surface is more rugged than many of the interior counties, partly 
on account of the extreme thickness of the superficial deposit of soft 
yellow marl and the numerous layers of limestone which crop out along 
the river-banks. The county is fully watered with ever-flowing streams 
and innumerable springs of the purest water. 

There is more woodland in this county than in any other I have ex- 
amined, and on this account the planters have neglected the planting of 
trees too much. I did not find the farms quite as well improved as in Ne- 
maha County, but the county is now becoming thickly settled by actual 
settlers, who are devoting themselves to the improvement of their farms 
and the raising of large crops. 

It is not an uncommon thing for a farmer to have growing 40 or 50 
acres of corn and about the same number of acres of wheat and oats, 
and not unfrequently as high as 100 or 200 of each. 

There is a ready market for all kinds of produce at the highest price. 
Although nearly all the settlers came into the country poor—many with- 
out any money at all—nearly all are becoming moderately rich, and 
every man with industry and prudence may become independent in a 
few years. This country may certainly be called the poor man’s para- 
dise. There is scarcely a foot of land in the whole county that is not 
susceptible of cultivation. I have never known a region where there is 
so little waste land. The underlying rocks of the whole county belong 
to the age of the Upper Coal-Measures, and are composed of alternate 
beds of limestones, sandstones, and clays of almost all color, textures, 
and compositions. There are several localities along the Missouri River 
and the larger streams where there are good natural exposures of the © 
rocks, but, as a rule, the beds are concealed by the superficial covering 
of yellow marl or Loess, which gives the beautiful undulating outline to 
the surface, gentle slopes, with only now and then an exposure of the 
basis rocks. ‘This aids in rendering the investigation of the geological 
structure of the county more complicated and difficult. 

The river counties present better exposures of the rocks than any 
other counties in the State, and it is partly on this account that I have 
given them my first attention. Even these exposures are by no means 
good. . : 

In my last communication I spoke of the coal-seam at Aspinwall, Ne- 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 17 


maha County ; en about 16 feet above the water-level of the Missouri 
a bed of coal 22 24 inches in thickness was observed cropping out 
from the bluff, ind a few feet above this, in the same range of hills, was 
a second seam six inches in thickness. These beds do not appear again 
for considerable distance down the river, until we come to Ralo, except 
at one or two localities near Saint Stephen’s, At Arago I saw no out- 

croppings of coal at all, and could not hear that any had been observed, 

butthere are some eood quarries of limestone, bedsof ‘clay, sands, &e. The 
“next marked exhibition of coal is at Rulo and its neighborhood, about 
two miles above Rulo, on land belonging to Mr. 8. ne N uckolls, ‘of N e- 
braska City. At this locality Mr. N. has drifted into the bank 100 feet 
or more and taken thence over 200 bushels of coal, which has been used 
by blacksmiths with success. The outcrop was about 5 inches in thick- 
ness, but increased as the drift was extended in the bank to 11 inches, 

and again suddenly diminished to 1 inch of good coal, the remainder 
being “composed of impurities or ‘muddy coal,” as the miner called it. 
The coal which has been thus far taken from this mine sells readily for 
30 to 40 cents per bushel. The abrupt termination of the coal-seam, or 
“fault,” is undoubtedly due to the sliding down toward the river of the 
superincumbent beds, a phenomenon which is very common everywhere 
along the Missouri. Still the irregularity of the thickness of this coal- 
seam is everywhere apparent, vibrating between 4 and 20 inches, thus 
alternating, exalting, and depressing the hopes and prospects of the 
miner. On the farm belonging to Mr. St. Louis, about 14 miles below 
Rulo, the same bed of coal has been worked with some success by drift- 
ing, and a considerable quantity of coal taken out. Mr. St. Louis un- 
wisely sunk a shaft at a higher point on the hill, thinking to cut the 
coal-seam at a more favorable point, the expense attending it exhaust- 
ing his means at 40 feet. He sunk a drill, however, into the bed of coal 
and found if 12 teet below the position at the outcrop, showing an ex- 
tensive inclination of the beds from the river, or toward the west. 

This dip may be readily accounted for by the extensive erosion of the 
rock prior to the deposition of the yellow marl and drift deposits, which 
erosion has given rise to many perplexing local inclinations of strata. 
These local dips will not interfere with the miner so much further in the 
interior of the county. The thickness of the coal-bed at this locality is 
10 to 12 inches, increasing in one instance to 17 inches. On the Lowa 
. reserve, along the Great Nemaha River, the same bed again crops out 
in the ravines or banks of little streams, and has been wrought with 
some success, several hundred bushels of the coal having been taken out 
from time to time for several years past. The country along the Nemaha 
is quite rugged, or ‘‘ rough,” as it is termed by the settlers, owing to the 
several beds of sandstone, and the overlying or cap-rock of the coal-bed, 
which prevents the water from forming gentle siopes, as in the case of 
_ the more yielding clays or marl-beds. This bed of coal is probably the 
equivalent of the 2-foot bed seen at Aspinwall, while the upper 6-inch 
bed is not exposed at all. The rocks in contact with the coal are as 
follows: 

1st. Underlying the coal a bed of light-gray fire-clay, full of fragments 
of plants, as fern-leaves, stems of rushes, calamites, &c., the same as 
occur in the underlying clays in Ohio and Illinois coal. fields. Above 
the coal there is about 4 feet of very hard laminated or shaly clay, vary- 
ing from black to dark ash color, all of which must be removed with 
great labor before the bed of limestone, or cap-rock, as it is called, can 
afford suitable protection to the miner as he drifts into the bank. Thus 
the small amount of coal is obtained with great labor, and it is only the 


2H 


18 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


great scarcity of fuel that will warrant any labor being expended upon 
it at all. 

We passed over the almost treeless prairie from Rulo to Falls City, 
the county-seat, about nine miles distant. Some beds of limestone crop 
out from the hills occasionally, but usually all the basis rocks are con- 
cealed from view, and the surface is gently and beautifully undulating. 
The fertility of the soil is everywhere shown by the luxuriance of the 
crops. Falls City is located upon high ground overlooking the valley 
of the Nemaha. There isnota native shrub or tree of any size growing 
within a mile of the town. Although the same coal-bearing beds form 
the underlying basis rocks about Falls City, yet not an outcropping of coal 
could be found in the vicinity. Some good quarries, however, were ex- 
amined. Having heard that a boring had been made at Hiawatha, the 
county-seat of Brown County, Kansas, ten miles south of Falls City, I 
visited that place to ascertain the result. I was informed that a com- 
pany had bored near that place 240 feet without success, and that the 
project had been abandoned; and as the strata in all this region are 
very nearly horizontal, the same result would follow any attempt at 
boring at Falls City, to that depth at least. About nine miles south- 
east of Hiawatha, a bed of coal is worked with considerable success, and 
many hundred bushels of coal are taken out of the mines and sold annu- 
ally. Mr. Laycock, a lawyer at Hiawatha, informed me that during the 
past winter he used about one hundred and thirty bushels of coal, for 
which he paid 50 cents per bushel; and he found it cheaper than wood, 
even at that price. He spoke highly of its qualities as fuel. Iam disposed 
to believe that it is the same bed seen along the Missouri, in Nemaha 
and Richardson Counties, although I did not examine it in person. 
Continuing.our course westward to Salem, we observed no marked change 
in the country; indeed, there is a remarkable uniformity in the charac- 
ter of the country over a large area. The changes that take place are 
usually the result of some change in the underlying geological forma- 
tions, and are, therefore, quite gradual. No outcroppings of coal could 
be found at Salem or vicinity, and it is quite possible that none will be 
found exposed to the surface in that portion of the county, except 
along the Missouri River. I am convinced, however, that boring at a 
moderate depth, at almost any point, would penetrate the thin bed seen 
at Rulo. The quarries of limestone, for building purposes, &e., are 
much finer at Salem than at any other point observed in the county. . 
The town is located upon an elevation on the point of the wedge of land 
between the two forks of the Nemaha. Forming a part of the town-site 
is a high hill with two beds of limestone, both of which form large quar- 
ries, which yield an abundance of stone for all economical purposes. All 
along the Nemaha and its numerous branches are quite well-wooded 
tracts of land, which are held at a high price, though no portion of the 
county would be called well timbered in any of the States east of the 
Mississippi. | ; 


BLUFF FORMATION. 


IT have not unfrequently alluded to a superficial deposit of yellow 
siliceous marl, occupying much of the country, and concealing the under- 
lying basis rocks, thus rendering the study of the details of the geology 
somewhat difficult. The geologist is dependent upon natural exposures 
of the basis rocks by streams, or by uplifts of the beds by internal vol- 
cani¢ action, or by artificial excavations. Now, in a new country there 
are very few artificial works, and all over the State of Nebraska the beds 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 1S, 


of rock are horizontal or nearly so. Indeed, it is very seldom that the 
beds incline to such an extent asto be perceptible to the eye. That 
there is a general inclination of the beds to the west or northwest is 
evident, but it is very gradual. This yellow-marl deposit, or bluff forma- 
tion, as it was called in the geological report of the State of Missouri, is 
found largely developed in the valley of the Missouri, and extends from 
its mouth to the foot of the great bend above the mouth of White River. 
This deposit was first noticed by Sir Charles Lyell in his visit to this 
country in descending the Mississippi many years ago, and he regarded 
it as the equivalent of the Loess of the Rhine. It is called the “ bluff 
formation,”. because it forms the picturesque hills or bluffs which are 
seen along the Missouri River, especially on the Iowa side, between 
. Council Bluffs and Sioux City. This deposit was accumulated just prior 
to the present period, after the surface had received its present outline 
by erosion, and after the great valley of the Missouri had been carved 
out. It would appear that one of the comparatively recent geological 
events was the settling back of the waters of the Gulf of Mexico by a 
depression of all this western country in such a way that there was.a 
vast fresh-water lake, extending up the valleys of the larger streams for 
a considerable distance into the interior of the country, generally not 
more than from 50 to 130 miles. Its greatest thickness is along the 
Missouri River, where it is sometimes seen in vertical exposures from 50 
to 150 feet in thickness. Sometimes the stratification is quite distinct ; 
but, as a rule, no lines of deposition are visible, showing that the mate- 
rials were brought down into the lake by the myriad little streams, and 
mingling with the waters of the lake settled to the bottom quietly like 
gently-falling snow. In the drift or gravel deposit underneath are abun- 
dant exhibitions of turbulent waters, but never in the yellow-marl beds. 
All of this marl is full of nutritious matter for vegetation, and it is proba- 
ble that it is to this deposit that the inexhaustible fertility of all the 
river counties of Nebraska may be attributed. 

Upon this marl rests the soil, which is usually darker colored, and is 
composed largely of humus arising from the annual decay of a luxuriant 

growth of vegetation. The soil on the upland is usually from tweive to 
eighteen inches thick, and along the bottoms of streams is sometimes 
ten to twenty feet in thickness. In the yellow-marl formation are found 
numerous shells, all identical with recent species, and most of them liv- 
ing in the vicinity. This shows the modern character of the deposit. 
There are also some bones of extinct animals, as the mastodon, elephant, 
a species of beaver of huge dimensions, and other animals, mingled with 
bones of species now living. Along the Missouri the bluffs formed by 
this deposit are very steep, and I have seen vegetation growing upon 
them when the sides had an inclination of fifty degrees. These hills, 
although furnishing good grass, cannot be devoted to the raising of the ce- 
reals; but, as the soilis chemically about the same as that of the Loess 
of the Rhine, which makes that valley one of the finest vine-growing 
countries of Europe, the same may be inferred of this region, and it is 
my belief that at some future period these marl-hills will produce some 
of the finest vineyards in America. 

Erratic blocks or bowlders are most abundant along the river, yet a 
few are found from time to time half buried beneath the surface. They 
reveal the fact at once to one acquainted with the rocks of Nebraska 
that they are foreigners and were transported from Dakota, Minnesota, 
or the country bordering upon the Rocky Mountains. Many of them 
are red quartzite, comparatively little worn, but now and then are seen 
masses of the different varieties of granite, gneiss, hornblende, &c., which 


20 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. : 
remind one of the rocks in the mountains. The red quartzite is the under- 
lying rock all over the north, and is the formation in which the red pipe- 
stone layer of the Indiansis located. Itis supposed by Professor James 
Hall to belong to the period of the Huronian system, so largely developed 
about Lake Superior and Canada. 

Fences are made mostly of wood and in the rude way, which indicates 
either great carelessness or want of timber, Wire fences seem to be the 
cheapest and best, and are now coming into general use. Alongside of 
them may be planted the Osage-orange hedge, and by the time the wire 
fence begins to yield to decay, a good hedge, which will turn any stock, 
supplies its place and adds greatly to the beauty of the farm. Most of 
the energetic farmers appreciate this, and are setting out hedges; but 
improvements of all kinds must be gradual, from the fact that nearly 
all the settlers come into the State poor. I believe that in ten years 
from this time there will be some of the most beautiful farms in Nebraska 
to be found in the United States. I have urged the farmers to make use 
of the honey-locust, (Gleditschia tricanthus,) three-thorned locust, a native 
tree which grows finely, and may be so trained as to make an impene- 
trable hedge. When cultivated as a forest-tree it makes very handsome 
and durable timber for fence-posts, railroad-ties, &c. 

Tree-planting has received comparatively little attention in Richard- 
son County, on account of the greater amount of native timber. Along 
the Missouri and most of the larger streams the wooded portions are 
extending themselves, so that the area is nearly doubled since the coun- 
try was first settled. Many groves of fine, healthy young trees, of oak, 
hickory, elm, cotton-wood, black-walnut, honey-locust, &e., are seen. Some 
persons are so sanguine as to believe that if the fires are kept out of the 
prairie the whole country will become covered with forest-trees in a few 
years; but that is certainly an impossibility, and the old Tertiary forests 
can be restored only by the hand of man. 

‘It is my belief that the subject of peat will soon attract the attention 
of the people of this State. But few persons seem to know what it is, 
or where it may be found. Their ideas of it are founded upon what they 
have read of the peat-bogs of Ireland, where it is composed mostly of a 
kind of moss, or “sphagnum.” Peat is really an accumulation of half- 
decomposed vegetable matter, formed in wet or swampy places, and may — 
therefor be composed of any plants that are fond of growing in wet 
places. Underneath the water the vegetable matter, which is composed 
of the roots and stems of the weeds, grass, and rushes growing most 
abundantly in low places all over the West, undergoes a slow decompo- 
sition, or combustion, as it were, so that a sort of imperfect coal is formed, 
not subject to that pressure by which true coal is formed. In the State 
of lowa, opposite Nebraska, I am informed that peat-beds are now worked 
with success. It is estimated that in Massachusetts alone there are 
120,000,000 cords of peat. and an organized company is now operating at 
Pittsfield, Massachusetts, making 100 tons of crude peat per day, which, 
when dry, makes 30 tons of fuel, ready for use. ° 

My attention has been directed to several valuable peat-beds in Otoe, 
Nemaha, and Richardson Counties, and although the area covered by 
these wet places is not great in the State, yet I regard it as the most 
certain source of fuel to the people during the interval that must elapse 
before the artificial forests will have reached a suitable size to supply 
the country with timber. There is scarcely a township in the State that 
will not have a small quantity of peat, which ranks next to coal as fuel. 
At Falls City I observed some quite extensive beds; also at Salem. 
There are several kinds of peat, as hearth-turf, grass-turf, leaf-turf, mud- 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. Pil 


turf, pitch-turf, &c., and when the people of the State give this matter 
their serious attention, I have no doubt that various kinds will be found 
in a far more abundant supply than I have suspected from my observa- 
tions. When the annual fires sweep over these prairies, in the autumn, 
they not unfrequently burn down into the boggy places a foot or two. 
I shall hereafter make careful observations on this subject, and pre- 
serve specimens of the peat, from time to time, as opportunity presents. 

Building stone is found in moderate quantities all over the county, but 
it is by no means as well supplied as some of the more interior counties, 
especially the second tier from the Missouri. Still there is sufficient 
to supply the wants of the people, and suitable material for burning to 
lime. 

_At Hiawatha, Kansas, a number of buildings are built of yellow lime- 
stone that is composed almostentirely of organicremains. Itis asoft but 
very tenacious rock, and is easily wrought into good and durable building 
material. This bed undoubtedly forms one of the underlying rocks of 
this county, though I did not observe it in my examinations. At 
Hiawatha an excellent cement is made from lime and sand, which, when 
dry, is as hard as the rock it cements. The materials for brick- 
making, &c., are everywhere without limit. There are a number of 
good mill-sites along the Nemaha; probably all that are needed. 

The crops throughout the county are looking very fine, indeed. The 
grasshoppers have not disturbed the corn, and they have left a good 
half-crop for the farmers. The grass crop is unusually fine; the upland 
will cut 14 to 2 tons to the acre, and the bottom 1 to 3 tons. ; 

I have but little time to elaborate these brief reports, merely seizing 
a little time now and then to write them hurriedly, but they will afford 
material which can be expanded into the final report. I hope they will 
at least furnish suitable material to be incorporated into the appendix 
of your annual report. I shall be glad to get any suggestions that may 
present themselves to you from time to time. 


PAWNEE COUNTY. 


This county is equally fertile with Richardson, the latter possessing 
only the geographical advantage of bordering on the great navigable 
river Missouri. Its surface is more rolling or undulating, the slopes are 

‘more gentle, and, tothe eye, it iseven more desirable for farming purposes. 
Both counties are remarkably well watered and well drained by nature, 
so that there is hardly a foot of land in either that is not susceptible of 
cultivation. J cannot ascertain that one produces better crops than the 
other. Richardson County may have more woodland than Pawnee, 
but the numerous branches of the North and South Nemaha, circulat- 
ing all over the county, render the land very attractive to the settler 
and speculator, who have absorbed, already, every acre of land in it. 

It is not irrelevant for me to state, in a report which is to convey in- 
formation in regard to a district of country and promote immigration, 
that the inhabitants of Pawnee County belong to a superior class, with 
respect to their industry and morals, and that there is not a locality in 
the county where ardent spirits are sold as a beverage. There was an 
attempt on thé part of some person to establish a saloon at Pawnee 
City. The proprietor was at once waited upon by the ladies of the 
place and politely but firmly requested to leave the county within 
twenty-four hours. Of course the prosperity of this beautiful region is 
decided. Pawnee County lies directly west of Richardson, forming one 
of the southern tier of counties. It is entirely underlaid by rocks of 


22 _ GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES, 


the Upper Coal-Measures, which give aremarkable uniformity of char- 
acter to its surface. These rocks are composed of alternate beds of 
clays, sandstones, and limestones, with some thin beds of coal. Al- 
though no seams of coal were observed in Richardson County at any dis- 
tance from the Missouri River, yet soon after reaching the limits of | 
Pawnee County a bed of coal appears, which is creating some excite- 
ment among the people. It has not yet been observed along the Ne- 
maha River itself, but on its small branches; but I suppose the reason 
of this is the great erosion of the underlying rocks in the river valley, 
and the subsequent deposition of a vast thickness of alluvial material, 
effectually concealing all the outcroppings. The first locality where the 
coal appears is about fifteen miles west of Salem, on Turner’s Branch, 
on school-section township 1, range 12, one and a half miles northeast 
of Frieze’s miJl. The following section of the beds is given in descend- 
ing order: : 

4, Limestone, somewhat irregular in cleavage at top, but rather mas- 
sive at base, four to eight feet thick. 

3. Bluish-black indurated clay, some portion slaty, and filled with fos- 
sils, three to four feet thick. 

2. Rather pure coal, ten to sixteen inches thick. 

1. Yellow plaster clay, passing up into a hard blue clay, upon which 
the coal lies as if pressed down, twenty feet thick. 

No rocks below bed 1 are seen in this immediate vicinity. The coal 
seemed to be packed closely down on to the clay beneath, like masses of 
flat rock, as if it had been originally deposited there like a layer of clay 
or sand. The clay below is quite hard and filled with fragments of fern- 
leaves, stems of the rush-like calamites, like the clay underneath the 
coal-seams in Ohio or Pennsylvania. The under surface of the coal 
seems to be composed of stems, like grasses, as if the vegetable débris — 
began upon a densely grass-covered surface. The vegetable impressions 
do not go down into the clay more than an inch or two, and above the 
seam, where the coal ceases, all traces of vegetable matter disappear 
and the clay is charged with a variety of molluscous remains. The clay 
above the coalis very hard, and yields with difficulty to the pick, and the 
coal is extracted with great labor. Several hundred bushels have been 


- taken out and sold, and the bank of the creek reveals fifteen or twenty 


openings like that shown by the illustration. This shows the coal-seam 
at the base, the bed of indurated clay above, which is generally three 
to four feet thick, all of which has to be removed, and the heavy-bedded 
limestone forms an excellent cap-rock above. At Frieze’s mill, still 
farther on, this same bed of coal is again wrought with some success. 

On Mr. Boston’s farm, township 1, range 12, section 34, several open- 
ings have been made; and here the coal-seam increases in thickness to 
sixteen inches. Mr. B. has taken out nine hundred bushels of coal here. 
He finds a ready market for it at the mine at thirty cents per bushel. 
This coal-seam averages a bushel of coal to a square foot of surface. I 
have collected abundant specimens of this coal at different localities, 
and they will be properly investigated for the final report. 

This seam is also worked on Lee’s Branch and on Miner’s Creek, so 
that it is now wrought, more or less, over an area of ten miles square, 
at least. The coal seems to have been worked with more system, in- 
dustry, and success than in any other portion of the State. 

Near Pawnee City there is another small seam of coal holding a higher 
geological position, which has attracted some attention. I made a care- 
ful examination of all the localities, and found it not more than four 
inches in thickness generally. On Mr. Jordan’s farm, at the water-level 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. Ze 


of Turkey Creek, a branch of South Nemaha, this seam increased to 
eight inches, but So impure and full of sulphuret of iron as to be quite 
unfit for use. 

A company has been organized at Pawnee City, called the Pawnee 
County Coal Company, with Governor Butler as president, with the 
object of searching for coal in this district. They had intended to com- 
mence boring last spring, but waited for my-coming to advise them of 
the best locality to begin operations. I gave them the best information 
in my power, but I could not risk my reputation upon any positive 
statement in favor of the existence of coal at all in this region, or any 
workable bed in the State. 

There are some reasons in favor of the existence of a bed of coal in 
Nebraska, at a moderate depth beneath the surface, and there are others 
against it. Jam inclined to the belief that the Coal-Measures of Ne- 
praska form a portion of the western rim of the great western coal-basin, 
and that none but similar thin ‘seams to those now cropping out along 
the Missouri River, and at other localities, will ever be found. But the 
exact truth can never be determined except by boring. At Des Moines, 
in Lowa, about one hundred and seventy-five miles east of Nebraska 
City, a bed of coal six feet in thickness was penetrated at a depth of 
two hundred feet. 

Professor White, of the lowa geological survey, and Mr. Meek, paleon- 
tologist of the Nebraska survey, traced the rock in which this bed of 
coal is located from Des Moines, across the State of Iowa, to Nebraska 
City. They made an estimate, by taking into account the general dip 
of the rocks west or northwest, that this same bed would be reached at 
from four hundred to six hundred feet beneath the surface at Nebraska 
City. 

According to a section given by Major Hawn of the Missouri coal- 
fields, there should be a 6-foot bed at a depth of five hundred or six 
hundred feet beneath the surface at Rulo, for the rocks rise from beneath 
quite rapidly in descending the Missouri. The reasons that cause me to 
hesitate to give positive encouragement are, the entire want of success 
in the borings made at Omaha and Nebraska City; the failure, or only 
partial success, at Saint Joseph, Missouri, at Leavenworth City, and all 
over the northern part of Kansas, where the rocks hold a geological 
position several hundred feet lower than at either of the points men- 
tioned; the apparent thickening of the Coal-Measure rocks in their west- 
ward extension from Des Moines; the fact, also, that Mr. Brodhead, a 
geologist and civil engineer connected with the Missouri survey, has 
published a detailed section of the rocks of Northern Missouri, opposite 
Nebraska, and finds about two thousand feet of Upper Coal-Measure 
beds, with only the thin seams of coal already mentioned; also, that in 
these same Upper Coal-Measures, limestones are found thrown up by 
the Black Hills, and exposed fully all along the eastern slope of the 
Rocky Mountains, without the remotest indication, even by a slate-bed, 
of coal having existed in them. You will, therefore, readily see why I 
hesitate to oive a positive opinion, and why I am inclined still again to 
express the opinion, given some years ago, that the State of Nebraska 
borders on the great western coal-basin. 

I have stated | to the members of the Pawnee County Coal Company 
that a boring may be made eight hundred feet for about one thousand 
six hundred “dollars, which will settle the question, for that depth, for 
the whole county for all time to come. It would hardly be profitable to 
go any deeper, and the question would arise whether it would not be 


24 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


cheaper to hasten the building of railroads and the transportation of 
fuel from Iowa or other neighboring States. 

Building-stone, limestone, &c., are very abundant all over Pawnee 
County. Thin beds, from six inches to two feet in thickness, crop out 
from the sides of the hills in many places, and almost every farm has a 
quarry. 

The best quarry yet worked is located on a farm belonging to Gov-- 
ernor Butler, cropping out near the edge of the hill bordering a small 
stream, about eight miles west of Pawnee City. It is a soft, cream- 
colored limestone, full of small cavities caused by the decaying out of a 
small shell, “‘ Fusulina cylindrica.” It is a true fusulina limestone, and 
is a great favorite with masons for building purposes. It is easily 
wrought in any desirable shape, is very tenacious in texture, and durable. 
It seems to hold a position about one hundred feet above the water-level 
of Turkey Creek, and belongs to the age of the ‘‘ Permo-Carboniferous,” 
or intermediate between the Upper Coal-Measures and the Permian 
series, the general inclination of the beds being toward the west and 
northwest. New and more recent beds are continually making their 
appearance as we proceed toward the west, and this choice bed of lime- 
stone has made its appearance here for the first time. It will doubtless 
be found to extend over considerable area in a southeasterly direction. 
There is still another bed of bluish limestone cropping out of the hills, 
which, though useful, is not regarded with the favor bestowed on that 
just mentioned. It does not dress as nicely, is not as handsome for 
caps or sills; it is equally durable with the other. There are several 
beds in the county which are employed, to a greater or less extent, for 
various economical purposes. 

Potters’ clay, fire-clay, brick-materials, &c., are abundant all over the 
county. 

Peat-beds are found to some extent, sufficient, I think, to attract at- 
tention in the future. Near Table Rock, about six miles northeast of 
Pawnee City, on Hider Gidding’s farm, on fhe Nemaha bottom, there is 
a low, flat marsh, covering about one hundred acres or more, whieh will 
furnish a peat of good quality, two feet in thickness or more, on an 
average, over the whole surface. 

Near Pawnee City there is a small peat-bog on which one can stand 
and jar the ground for a considerable distance. The surface of this bog 
is about six hundred feet in length and three hundred in width, and the 
peat is ten to twelve feet in thickness. 

The best peat-beds are those which are formed of the decayed roots 
and stems of the large rushes and the reed-grasses of the country. 
These bogs are covered with water a large portion of the year, and are 
the favorite abode of musk-rats, which pile up the reeds and rushes 
for their houses like hay-cocks. Very few people seem to know what a 
peat-bed is; but their attention once turned in that direction, they will 
find them quite abundant in this county. 

No iron-ore of any economical value has been discovered in Nebraska. 
Even if there were rich beds of ore, the absence ef fuel would render 
them almost valueless. 

- There is a great amonnt of sulphuret of iron—“‘iron pyrites”—scat- 
tered through the county, sometimes presenting some beautiful crystal- 
line forms, attracting the curiosity, as well as hopes, of many of the 
settlers, who have frequently mistaken it for gold. 

Mill-sites are numerous along the Nemaba and its larger branches, 
and some mills are now in process of erection. 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 25 


The crops are very promising; corn and potatoes are excellent, and 
the grasshoppers have left a full half. crop of wheat. 

The grass-land is about the same as in Richardson County, yielding 
from two to three tons per acre. Tree-planting has received but little 
attention as yet, but many of the settlers are fully alive to its impor- 
tance. A few hedges have been planted, and fruit-trees are attracting 
some attention. The best of success attends all efforts in that direction. 
Mr. Hollingshead, of Pawnee City, will have this year one hundred and 
fifty bushels of peaches. 

Water is abundant all over the county, so that there is scarcely.a 
section of land without a running stream or a flowing spring. | 

Water is obtained by digging, at moderate depth. ~ Near the streams, 
in almost all cases, water is reached near the water-level in the alluvial 
formations, and when the basis rocks are penetrated on the higher 
elevations, the clay-beds act as reservoirs for holding water, and yield 
a most abundant supply when struck. 

I have not seen or heard of a well or spring of poor water in the 
county, and most wells have a continual supply of from six to ten 
feet. 

For the raising of fine, healthy stock, horses, cattle, sheep, &c., it 
seems to me that this county is unsurpassed. 


GAGE COUNTY. 


Leaving Pawnee City we took a course nearly southwest across the 
open, high prairie, crossing the divide between the valley of the Nema- 
ha and that of the Big Blue. Very few exposures were to be seen for 
ten miles or more. 

The surface is rolling, covered with a heavy deposit of alluvium, so 
that the underlying basis rocks are concealed from view, even along the 
little streams. 

The soil is very rich and deep, producing from one and a half to three 
tons of hay to the acre. All the crops look remarkably well. In pass- 
ing over this divide I saw the first long interval of waterless and tree- 
less prairie, and one that reminded me of the dry plains farther west. 
There was no living water and no houses to be seen for seven miles. 
The timber is also. _very scarce, not enough even for the thin settle- 
ments. 

About seven miles before reaching the Otoe agency a bed of lime- 
stone crops out of the hills, forming a sort of terrace about fifty feet 
above the beds of the streams. This hard bed of rock gives to the 
country a more abruptly rugged character; the little branches have 
steeper banks, and there is a greater variety to the scenery. . There is 
a belt of land, ten to twelve miles in width, between the Nemaha and 
Big Blue, that j is doubtless underlaid by the more yielding clays and 
sands of the Carboniferous period, and therefore the effect of erosion 
seems to have been to produce gentle slopes or lawns, as it were, beau- 
tiful but monotonous, effectually concealing, down to the water edge of 
the streams, all the basis rocks. 

At the Otoe agency the bed of limestone before alluded to is exposed. 
It is a cherty limestone, breaking into small fragments. ‘There are one 
or two layers, six to twelve inches in thickness, of good limestone for 
buildings. At various localities within two miles of this place I ob- 
tained a pretty fair section of the rocks: 

7. Superficial deposits of soil and yellow mud. 


26 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


6. Yellowish white limestone, rather soft, yielding readily to atmo- 
spheric influences, 2 feet. 

5. Slope, same as No. 3, 6 feet. 

4. Yellow fine-grained arenaceous limestone, 18 inches. 

3. Slope, supposed to be laminated clay, but covered with grass, 20 
feet. 

2. Yellow and gray limestone, portions of it filled with seams and- 
nodules of chert or flint. 

1. Bluish gray, laminated, calcareous clay, with numerous fragments 
of fossils, as crinoids, corals; &c., 30 feet above water. 

The outcroppings of the rocks form benches or terraces along the 
- Streams, the hard layers yielding less readily to erosion. There is an 
abundance of excellent limestone for all economical uses on the Otoe 
HeEServie. 1: 

The soil is very fertile all over the reserve, but there is the appear- - 
ance of the far western prairies to some extent—few springs, and long 
intervals without wood or water. 

The cherty limestone bed extends beyond Blue Spring, and forms the 
same bluff-like bench along all the streams; it then passes beneath the 
water-level of the Blue. At this point it presents the appearance of 
mason-work, the cherty material forming the cement between the blocks 
of limestone. 

At the Blue Spring there is a fine mill-site, the banks and bottom of 
the stream being formed of rock. A fine saw and grist mill is in pro- 
cess of erection at this place. There are building-materials of all kinds 
in this region sufficient for the wants of the settlers. 

A section of the rocks as exposed at Blue Spring may be of some in- 

_terest, as they soon pass beneath the water-level of the Blue and are 
seen no more in our examinations westward : 

4. Two feet worn pebbles and sand, and the remainder yellow marl, 
with about ten inches soil. The roots of trees pass all through this bed, 
fastening into the bed below. 

3. Layers of cherty nodule of variable thickness, with intercalations 
of fine gray sand, Productus, Orthis, and other fossils, 2 to 24 feet. 

2. Bluish ash-colored argillaceous limestone, easily decomposing on ~ 
exposure to the atmosphere; will not answer for building purposes ; 
containing great numbers, of shells, especially a species of Productus of 
large size; 6 to 8 feet. 

1. Greenish, ash-colored clay, breaking into small, angular fragments, 
and containing al irregular seam of argillaceous limestone, only about 
twelve inches above water. 

Along the Blue the second terrace is sometimes cut by the river, re- 
vealing thirty to fifty feet of alluvium. There is about two to two and 
a half feet of vegetable soil or humus, and the remainder is yellow sili- 
ceous marl. If any portion of this bed, throughout its entire thickness, 
is brought to the surface, it produces vegetation, showing that it con- 
tains more or less nutriment for plants. The bottom- land of all these 
streams may be said, therefore, to have a soil from five to fifty feet in 
depth, possessing the highest fertility. 

On our road to Beatrice were a number of exposures of limestone. 
On Bear Creek, about four miles east of Beatrice, there is a ledge of © 
limestone fifteen to twenty feet thick, yellow magnesian, full of cavities 
or geodes. This same bed is seen along the Blue to Beatrice; is cut 
through by the little branches, so that it forms some of the most im- 
portant quarries in this portion of Nebraska. 

Fine large columnar masses are worked for buildings, a foot or more 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. ait 


in thickness, and ten to twelve feet long, a beautiful cream color, soft 
but tenacious in structure, and easily cut with a knife; can be made 
very smooth for caps and sills with a jack-plane. 

This rock is abundant here, and is in very high favor with masons 
and builders, and would be superior to the Pawnee City limestone were 
it not for some small geode cavities which mar its beauty. 

The following is the general section of the rocks around Beatrice: 
_ 6. Dark-brown ferruginous sandstones, of variable color and texture, 
used for buildings; contains many leaves of plants; 50 to 60 feet. 

5. Yellowish-gray sandstone, soft, easily crumbling and wearing 
away, exposed on Blakely’s Run, two miles west of Beatrice ; 30 to 50 
feet. 

4, Slope in most places, but composed of variegated ‘clays of doubt- 
ful age—potters’ clay ; 40 to 50 feet. 

3. Loose layers of yellow limestone, fuli of geode cavities, porous, 
spongy. 

2. Yellow, rather compact limestone, good for building purposes; 2 - 

to 24 feet. 

1. Dark gray argillaceous limestone, becoming light gray on expos- 
ure, filled with geodes, with cavities full of crystals of carbonate of 
lime. This bed is at times massive, heavy-bedded limestone, of a bean- 
tiful ear color; 10 feet. 

Beds 1, 2, and 3 of the above section are undoubtedly of Permian or 
Permo-Carboniferous age, though they contain fossils common to both 
Permian and Carboniferous rocks. 

Bed 4 is of doubtful age. Beds 5 and 6 are exceedingly interesting 
in a geological point of view, from the fact that they represent a new 
geological formation not before seen east of this point. 

Bed 4 seems to form a sort of transition bed between the Permian 
and Cretaceous formations. The Permian rocks pass beneath the water- 
level at Beatrice westward, and over a belt ten to fifteen miles wide, in 
a northeast and southwest direction ; the brown sandstones prevail to 
the exclusion of all other rocks. 

The village of Beatrice is pleasantly located on a second terrace in a 
bend of the Big Blue, and is a prosperous place, surrounded with a 
thickly-settled farming region, and bids fair to become an important in- 
land town. It contains thirty or forty houses, several stores, a saw and 
grist mill, &c. 

The soil of Gage County does not equal thatof Pawnee County, or the 
counties along the Missouri, as a whole. The bottom-lands are excel- 
lent, but the upland soil is thin. The grass is less luxuriant and the 
timber along the streams less abundant. For wheat, however, this soil, 
composed as it is largely of the eroded materials of the Cretaceous sand- 
stones, contains a large amount of silica and seems to be most favora- 
- ble. A bushel weighs more than that of the river counties, but the 
corn and other kinds of grain are not quite as good. Yet too much can- 
not be said in favor of Gage County as an agricultural and grazing re- 
‘gion. No coal will ever be found there, and the sooner the farmers 
commence planting trees the more prosperous and happy they will be. 

Comparatively little peat will be found in the county, so that the 
question of fuel must be determined by the intelligence and industry of 
the people. If they plant trees now they cannot suffer for fuel, for be- 
fore that which they now have is gone the planted forests will be ready 
for use. 

In regard to fruits, garden-vegetables, &c., the same may be said of 


28 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


Gage County as of the other counties before described. Success will at- 
tend all well-directed efforts that way. 

There are several fine springs of water in this county, but they are 
not numerous. Good water is always obtained by digging wells, and 
the depth beneath the surface generally depends on the elevation above 
the principal water-courses. Wells vary from twenty to sixty feet in 
depth. Near Blue Spring Mr. Tylor dug a well twenty-five feet deep 
through the yellow mar! to a point on a level with the bed of the Big 
Blue River, or perhaps a little below it, and obtained a copious supply 
of water which never fails. At the village of Blue Spring a well was 
dug on an elevated terrace fifty-five feet through clays and quicksands 

‘without passing through a particle of rock—all alluvium or superficial 
deposits. At the depth of fifty-four feet the bones of a mastodon were 
found. At another locality a well was dug forty-four and a half feet 
through alluvial marl and gravel to a bed of clay on a level with the 
ved of the Big Blue, and the water flowed in, and now continues per- 
manently eight feet in depth. 

The excellence of the water in springs and wells in this county is a 
‘most important feature in a sanitary point of view. 

There are no minerals that can be worked to advantage in this portion 
of the State. In the Cretaceous sandstones there are large masses of 
limonite, (hydrated sesquioxide of iron,) but they are so full of siliceous 
matter that they can never be of much value. Even if there was an 
abundance of iron in. this county there is no fuel to prepare it for use. 
Every county bears testimony to the statement that Nebraska is wholly 
an agricultural and grazing State. For building-stone, gravel, lime, 
different kinds of clay, materials for making brick, &c., this county com- 
pares favorably with any other in the State. 

Most of the settlers came into the county poor, and have not yet com- 
meneed planting fruit and forest trees to any extent. 

Very little attention has been paid to hedges, but all the cereals are 
most excellent, and the grasshoppers passed by without doing much 
damage, and the harvests of this autumn will be the best known since 
the State was settled. 

There are many fine horses and cattle in the county; very few sheep 
as yet. 


JEFFERSON COUNTY: 


The Nebraska legislature of 186667 united the two counties of Jones 
and Nuckols under the name of Jefferson. Leaving Beatrice we took a 
southwest course across the divide between the waters of the Big Blue 
and those of the Little Blue. The first branch we came to and the first 
living water that we saw was at Rock Creek, a branch of the Little Blue, 
- twenty miles distant. We traveled at least eighteen miles over the 
almost waterless and treeless prairie—about fifteen miles of our journey 
without any water at all. 

There were no exposures of rock, but a broad level prairie much of the 
way, too flat to possess a suitable drainage. I knew, however, that the 
underlying basis rocks were Cretaceous, probably the loosely aggregated 
sandstone seen on Blakely’s Run, near Beatrice. The configuration of 
the surface everywhere would indicate that the rocks beneath were of a 
texture to yield readily to atmospheric influences, and the little ravines 
and valleys were grassed down to the edge of the water. 

All the land that we passed over was clothed with a thick covering of 
grass, the soil appeared to be fertile, and the great proportion of silica 


? 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 29 


in the soil, derived from the erosion of the Cretaceous sandstones, would 
render these broad level prairies admirable for wheat. Aithough the 
grass is so abundant and nutritious, I fear the lack of living water will 
prevent certain portions of this region from being useful for stock-rais- 
ing. It seems to me too flat and wet at certain seasons for sheep to 
prosper well. There is an interval of about eighteen miles between Big 
and Little Blue Rivers along this road without a dwelling. On Rock 
Creek the settiements begin to grow numerous again, and nearly all the 
bottom-land of the Little Blue is taken up by the actual settlers. There 
are some excellent farms here, and the crops the present season are 
very bountiful. 

On Rock Creek, a little branch six or seven miles long, we saw the 
first exposure of rock—tle red sandstones of the Dakota group. Along 
the Blue for eight or ten miles quite precipitous ravines are formed by 
this rock, as shown by the illustration. 

Fig. 1 shows a bluff or projecting ledge of sandstones along the Little 
Blue, and Fig. 2 represents one of the many rugged ravines near the 
mouth of Rock and Rose Creeks. The clays, sand, and sandstones of 
the Dakota group extend down the Little Blue to a point about two 
miles below the south line of Nebraska, and, of course, influence the 
agricultural character of the entire region. 

The soils of a district are generally composed, to a greater or less ex- 
tent, of the eroded materials of the underlying basis rocks. The sand- 
stones of this formation being largely composed of silica, the soils and 
subsoils are largely formed of silica also; and the consequence is that 
wheat and oats grow remarkably well, but corn-crops are not as good. 

The wheat raised in the district underlaid by the sandstones of the 
Dakota group is said to weigh more per measured bushel than that from 
any other portion of the State. 

These districts also produce most excellent nutritious grass, and the 
hills, though covered with a thin soil, would be superior for sheep-graz- 
ing. Indeed, as we go west of this latitude, the uplands are more suit- 
able for stock-raising. The water, though somewhat scarce, is most ex- 
cellent, and the climate healthy. A section of the rocks along the Lit- 
tle Blue, below the Big Sandy, would be as follows, descending : 

5. Yellow and dark-brown rust-colored sandstones of the Cretaceous 
or Dakota group, so well known in many other portions of the West. A 
few dicotyledonous leaves were found. This bed is of irregular thick- 
ness, from 50 to 100 feet. 

4, Moderately coarse, yellowish-white sand, with irregular laminz of 
deposition—50 feet. 

3. Dark-colored, arenaceous, laminated clays, with particles and seams 
of carbonaceous matter. All through are beds of carbonaceous clay, 18 
inches to 3 feet thick—much sulphuret of iron and silicified wood—30 to 
50 feet. 

2. Variegated arenaceous clays; the slopes exposed are so great that 
I cannot give the exact thickness—probably 50 to 70 feet. Some seams 
of excellent potters’ clay. 

1. Dark-bluish shaly clay, upon which the foundation of Mr. Jen- 
kins’s mill rests. . It is, undoubtedly, Permian or Permo-Carboniferous, 
bat is not exposed to view by natural excavations until we reach a point 
south of the Nebraska line near Marysville, Kansas. 

The dark bed in division 3 of the above section has been regarded by 
the settlers with a good deal of interest as indicating the proximity of 
a workable bed of coal. I gave all the exposures a careful examination 
and found them of no possible value. 


30 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


Large masses of iron pyrites, some with brilliant crystalline forms, 
were found; others mixed with bits of charcoal and large masses of 
petrified wood, showing the vegetable structure with great distinctness. 

Bones of some extinet saurian animal are frequently found in these 
beds. In the sandstones of the upper bed many impressions of leaves 
similar to those of our existing forest-trees are found. They comprise 
the cinnamon, fig, laurel, sycamore, sassafras, magnolia, and many others 
belonging to a genera common to both tropical and temperate climates, 
but all belonging to extinct species. 

Indeed, the Cretaceous period marks the dawn of the existence of 
dicotyledonous trees, or those similar to the existing forest, fruit, or 
ornamental trees on our planet, and consequently forms a new and most 
important era in the progress of American geological history. 

I shall have more to say in regard to them in my description of the 
geology of other counties. 

These sandstones continue up the Little Blue until we arrive within 
four miles of the mouth of the Big Sandy, when masses of a whitish lime- 
stone make their appearance on the summits of the hills, and eight or 
ten miles west of the Big Sandy these rocks assume an important thick- 
ness. . 

They are composed of bivalve shells, (Inoceramus problematicus,) 
which are as closely packed together in these rocks as if they had been 
submitted to pressure, with enough carbonate of lime to cement the 
shells together. The settlers find it useful for building-stones, but more 
useful for converting into lime. It is a chalky shell-limestone and burns 
into the best lime of any rock in the State. Whether it will be found 
in great quantities either in the valley of the Little or Big Blue River 
remains still to be determined. 

On account of the hostility of the Indians in that region, I did not 
think it safe or prudent to extend my examination more than about 
eight miles above the mouth of the Big Sandy. 

The same rock occurs on Swan Creek, Turkey Creek, and the Big Blue 
above the mouth of Turkey Creek. This rock was first studied on the 
Missouri River, and first appears capping the hills about 30 miles below 
Sioux City, lowa, and extends to the foot of the Great Bend, near 
Yankton, the capital of Dakota Territory. It occupies the whole country 
to the exclusion of all other rocks, and a portion of it assumes the ap- 
pearance of chalk. It has been hitherto supposed that the chalk of 
commerce is not found in any portion of America, and although this 
rock has the appearance and nearly the chemical composition of impure 
chalk, the formation itself has not yet been clearly shown to be the 
geological equivalent of the true chalk-beds of Europe. 

On the Missouri River this formation covers an area about 200 miles 
wide and 400 long. The Cretaceous rocks in the valley of the Missouri 
were, Several years ago, separated into five divisions by Mr. Meek and 
the writer, and were for a long time designated by numbers, as 1, 2, 3, 
4, and 5. : 

In a paper published in the proceedings of the Academy of Natural 
Sciences of Philadelphia, December, 1860, we published a general sec- 
tion of the Cretaceous rocks of the Northwest. 

The sandstones which we have referred to in this report we designated 
the Dakota group, or Formation No. 1. because these rocks were then 
supposed to reach their largest development along the Missouri River 
near Dakota Territory. 

Formation No. 2 was called the Fort Benton group, having its 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. ol 


greatest thickness adjacent to Fort Benton, near the source of the 
Missouri River. 

Formation No. 3 was named the Niobrara division, from the fact that 
it is most conspicuous near the mouth of the Niobrara River. These 
three divisions constitute the lower series of Cretaceous rocks in the 
West, and are supposed to be the equivalent of the Lower or Gray 
Chalk and Upper Greensand of British geologists. 

Formation No. 4 we call the Fort Pierre group, because it reaches its 
greatest thickness near this post along the Missouri River. 

Formation No. 5 was called the Fox Hills beds, from the fact that 
they form a conspicuous range of hills between the Big Cheyenne and 
Moreau Rivers. 

These two groups of rocks constitute the Upper Cretaceous series of 
the West, and are regarded as the equivalent of the Upper or White 
Chalk and the Maestricht beds of Europe. 

This brief description of the nomenclature of the Cretaceous rocks of 
the West is considered necessary in this place, from the fact that I shall 
be compelled to refer constantly to the various subdivisions in all my 
future reports. 

The limestone rocks referred to as exposed on the high hills near the 
Big Sandy, and upon the upper portions of the Big Blue and its tributa- 
ries, belong to Cretaceous Formation No. 3, or the Niobrara division. 
Formation No. 2, or the Kort Pierre group, I did not see exposed to view 
in this region with certainty. 

The foundation of a saw-mill on the Little Blue, about four miles above 
the junction of the Big Sandy, rests upon a dark pudding-stone, which 
I suspect belongs to this group, but it cannot be of very great thickness. 
. About a mile above the mill, 50 or 60 feet of a dark gray calcareous 
shale oceur, holding a position beneath the true limestone, which I 
suppose belongs to the Niobrara division, but which may possibly be in- 
cluded in the Fort Benton eyoun I would remark just here that pale- 
ontologically Formations Nos. 2 and 3 are embraced in one division, and 
Formations 4 and 5 also, the fossils of one group of rocks passing up 
into the other. 

As a general rule, all these formations are lithologically distinct. 

The soil of the valleys of the streams in Jefferson County is excellent, 
and produces abundant crops. Some of the most productive and highly 
cultivated farms which | observed in the State were seen in the valleys 
of the Little and Big Blue Rivers and their tributaries. 

The belt of country underlaid by the sandstones of the Dakota group 
runs northeast and southwest, extending through the States of Kansas 
and Nebraska into lowa and Minnesota, and is about 40 to 50 miles 
wide. In this group there are about 45 to 50 feet of yellowish-white fri- 
able sandstone, the small particles of quartz scarcely adhering together, 
which I am confident will yet be made of great ecouomic importance. 
_ The sand, which is very abundant, could be used in plastering, in the 
manufacture of bricks, and more especially in the construction of the 
patent concrete which is so popular i in some portions of this country and 
Kurope. 

The soilis largely composed of silica from this rock, and thus it seems 
to be well adapted to the production of valuable crops of wheat, the 
berry being more plump than that raised on any other geological forma- 
tion in the State. 

On the more elevated prairie the soil is thinner, and we miss the 
yellow-marl deposits which cover the first two tiers of counties along the 
Missouri. Still the grass is short and nutritious, and the surface is dry 


32 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


and covered with a great variety of small pebble-stones, rendering this 
district a most excellent one for sheep-raising. 

There are many fine springs of the purest water scattered through the 
county, but there are extended intervals between them, and there are 
many entire townships of land with no permanent living water in them: 

Iron is found in considerable quantities in the sandstones, but there 
is no fuel to render it useful. There is only a narrow fringe of trees 
along the streams, and no workable bed of coal is even within the range 
of probability. 

There are a few good mill-sites, and several valuable saw and grist mills 
are now in process of erection. 

There is really no fine valuable building-rock in Jefferson County. 
From Beatrice for 30 or 40 miles up the valley of the Big Blue, only the 
rusty sandstones of the Daketa group are found, and these are exposed 
only in a few localities. 

The same sandstones prevail in the valley of the Little Blue from the 
Nebraska line to the mouth of Big Sandy. 

Even the whitish limestones of the Niobrara division, which are quite 
abundant west of the limestone belt, although excellent for lime, are not 
tough and hard enough for building-stone ; so that no portion of the 
county can be regarded as well supplied with economical rocks. 

Still, in the absence of the massive limestones of the Carboniferous 
beds farther east, these Cretaceous sandstones and limestones will prove 
of much service. The ease, however, with which these rocks yield to 
atmospheric influence has given a most beautiful outline to the surface 
of most of the county. 

The wide bottoms and gently sloping hills along the Big Blue andits 
tributaries can hardly be surpassed for their monotonous beauty. The 
high prairies are gently rolling yet well drained. 

I was not a little surprised at the advance of settlers so far westward. 
The valleys of the two Blues are nearly all occupied by the actual set- 
tlers. There are a large number of Germans who have taken farms in 
this county. Six years ago they came into this region and took posses- 
sion of these homesteads, many of them without any money at all; now 
they have highly cultivated farms, with 20 to 40 acres of wheat that 
will average 30 bushels to the acre; oats, 40 to 50 bushels; corn, 60 to 
70 bushels; a large number of fat horses and cattle, with everything 
comfortable around them. 

By their industrious and frugal habits these Germans have made for 
themselves an independence in the short space of six years. 

Surely the great West, with its broad fertile acres, to be had almost 
for the asking, through the generosity of our Government, is the poor 
man’s paradise. 


BRIEF NOTES ON THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE OTOE INDIANS. 


In our wanderings over the State of Nebraska we came to the Otoe 
reserve, and pitched camp near the hospitable mansion of the agent. 

In the absence of Major Smith we were most pleasantly entertained 
by Mr. Moore, the farmer of the Otoe Indians. It occurred to me that 
I could, not occupy my time better, in the brief space allowed me to re- 
main here, than in securing, as far as possible, such information as sug- 
gested itself in regard to the present condition of this once powerful 
tribe of Indians, now fast dwindling away. 

The Otoe reserve is located on “the Big Blue River, mostly in the 
southern portion of Gage County, but extending into J efferson County. 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF, THE TERRITORIES. a 


it oceupiesasurface 10 x 24— 240 square miles—153,600 acres of the finest 
land in Southern Nebraska. The Big Blue, one of the most beautiful of 
the inland streams, with several of its most important branches, passes 
through it. Like all other portions of the State, there is, comparatively, 

little ‘timber, yet as much as on other streams. Some of the branches 
have the most desirable farms bordering on them. They occupy asmall 
village bordering on the Blue, and are not distributed over the reserve. 

The ‘land is not divided out to them, but they are all aggregated to- 
gether in the village of mud huts. They seem to have no idea of indi- 
vidual independence, but have all things in common, as it were. 

They have now about 300 acres in corn in good condition, which will 
prevent them from starving if judiciously cared for by the agent and 
farmer. It seems hardly possible that a tribe with over 150,000 acres 
of this tillable land should have no more than 300 or 400 acres in culti- 
vation. These Indians have the same lazy, improvident habits of the 
wild Indians farther west, and the result is that there is at least from 
three to four months of the year that they are in a pitiable state of 
starvation. Last spring they ate all the cats and dogs within their 
reach ; horses, cows, or sheep that had been dead for ten or twelve days, 
and were in a complete state of putrefaction, were eagerly devoured by 
them. Anything, however filthy or decayed, that had ever been in the 
form of food, was eagerly devoured ; and yet no lesson is taught them 
by such severe experience, for nothing could be easier than to place 
themselves beyond the possibility of want. . Even at this time they have 
nothing to eat but corn, which they cook by boiling in the kernel. Most 
of the tribe, both men and women, have gone on a hunt at this season 
to the Republican, where buffalo are said:to be plenty. They usually 
prepare about 500 robes annually, for which they get $5 to $7 apiece. 
The meat they dry for winter use. 

There are now about 430 persons in the tribe, men, women, and chik- 
dren, a small remnant of a once-powerful tribe. They persist in living 
in filthy, ill-ventilated mud huts, which at night they close upas tightly 
as possible, so that they are swept otf annually by various diseases, and 
those that remain are deficient in energy and strength. 

Two or three of the families live in rude board houses, but they are 
not pleased with them, preferring their rude huts. 

There are three groups of huts occupying three different elevations on 
the same ridge, representing three different bands, which are governed 
by sub-chiefs. The head chief is quiteashrewd man. Some one asked 
him, when the agent and farmer first came, how he thought he would 
like them. He at once replied that he could tell that better when he 
had seen their table. So they made the head chief and his principal 
men (eight in number) a feast, and they prepared themselves to do 
justice to the agent’s dinner by a three days’ fast previously—one hun- 
dred pounds of mutton, bread and coffee in proportion—and they made 
way with it all. Their powers of endurance are exhibited in as marked a 
manner in devouring food as in abstaining from it. It is a rule with 
them to eat all that is set before them, however much it may be. 

The Indians have a saw-mill and grist-mill, all under one roof, and a 
great amount of lumber is sawed and grain ground for the inhabit- 
ants of the neighboring region, the avails of which are supposed to go 
into the Indian fund. 

The dirt huts have a diameter of about thirty feet. They are formed 
by placing a circular row of upright posts in the ground and then fast- 
ening to the tops of these horizontal poles, and to these horizontal 
poles are fastened the poles that form the roof, all slanting toward the 


3 H 


Ore GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


top, at which point a round hole is left, two feet in diameter, for the 
smoke to pass out, then this frame-work is covered over with sods. 
and dirt. The fire is placed in the center in a circular depression of 
about six inches deep and four feet in diameter. All around the inside 
of ‘the hut are board buuks of the rudest kind, usually designed tor 
two persons. Upon these are spread skins or blankets, which serve 
them for beds. I have seen ten of these in a single hut. On the sides 
and posts are suspended a great variety of articles—cooking-utensils, 
. clothing, the hunting-apparatus, &c., which constitute the furniture of 
' the dwelling. : 

The entrance is about ten or twelve feet long, and is protected by a 
thick sod covering. Sometimes twenty or thirty persons sleep at night 
in these huts, every avenue for the admission of fresh air closed up, so 
that it can hardly be expected that their children will grow up healthy. 

Many of these Indians have been educated to some extent at the 
mission-school, but all that has been taught them, and all that they 
have seen of the superior comfort of the whites around them, has had 
no influence in changing their mode of life. They seem to be destitute 
of the desire for improvement and averse to change, preferring their 
ancient habits and customs. If they can avoid it they will not travel 
in the roads made by the whites, but follow their old trails. 

A few of the half-breeds live in bark huts. In August, when the 
heat is excessive, and when the fleas and other vermin become too 
_ abundant, they go down by the river in the timber and erect temporary 
bark huts, and live in them until cold weather commences. 

Not far distant from the village are the graves of their dead. In this 
matter, also, they adhere to‘their ancient customs. They dig a hole in 
the ground just about large enough to receive the body, and then pile 
a mound of earth on it from two to four feet high, and if the deceased 
possessed a horse, it is killed at the grave, so that the spirit need not 
be compelled to walk to the celestial hunting-grounds. When the flesh 
of the horse decays, the skull is usually placed upon the grave. 

There are, also, two oak-trees near the burial-ground in which were 
a large number of bodies, some in small board cofiins, and others in the 
original wrappings of skins:and blankets; these were piled one across 
the other, as many as could rest in the tree. 

The Indians have great veneration for their places of burial, and are 
always loth to leave the graves of their ancestors. They have attempted 
to protect them by means of permanent graves. 

On @ high hill across Plum Creek may be seen the nicely fenced 
graves of two native interpreters of this tribe, who were killed by them 
some years ago. It is supposed that while on their annual hunt they 
committed some depredation on white people which they wished to 
have kept a secret. These interpreters were privy to it, and being on 
most friendly terms with the white men, the Indians suspected they 
intended to expose them. They were shot in a ravine in the night near 
the same spot, and within two days of each other. 

We-ha-ta, ‘ Wild-fire,” was the presiding genius of our camp. He 
considered himself specially commissioned to look after our interests in 
return for his board and that of his family. He wore a turban about 
his head and a huge necklace of bears’ claws around his neck, and con- 
ducted himself with all the dignity of a chief. 

AS I have before mentioned, these Indians possess a reservation cover- 
ing over 150,000 acres of land. They do not make use of 2,000 acres. 
They are now surrounded with white settlers who are bitterly prejudiced 
against them, and the Indians do very little to remove that prejudice. 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 3D 


On the contrary, depredations are committed not unfrequently which 
are attributed to them, for which they must suffer, in the estimation of | 
the white settlers, whether guilty or not. 

Situated as they are at present, they are like a small tree under the 
shadow of a large one; they will dwindle away slowly and soon become 
extinct. 

If the agents of the Government that are sent among them would 
do their duty, and they (the Indians) would put forth a proper amount 

of industry and energy, they might become very comfortable and pros- 
perous, even rich; but they are constantly deteriorating, and they now 
possess none of the warlike, manly qualities which are exhibited by 
some of the wild tribes farther west. They are a filthy, begging, lying, 
thieving race, lazy and improvident in the extreme, doing nothing that 
can possibly gain the respect of any white man. It would be better 
for both Indian and white man if all these wild tribes that are located 
in Kansas and Nebraska could be removed far west, where they would 
be prevented from contact with the whites. 

The study of the language of the different Indian tribes of the West 
is one of peculiar interest to the philologist. In my memoir on the 
‘““Hthnography and Philology of the Indian Tribes of the Missouri Val- 
ley,” in the possession of the Commissioner, I have attempted to give 
some illustrations of the language of the tribes roaming about the 
sources of the Missouri. I hope, at some future period, to prepare a 
second part, containing examples of the languages of the different tribes 
along the Lower Missouri. I have prepared these notes to aid me in 
making out their history. 

The language of the Otoes belongs to the Dakota group, which com- 
prises a large number of tribes: Iowa, Otoe, Missouri, Winnebago, 
Kansas, Osage, Quapaw, Omaha, and Ponka, of the Lower Missouri. 
All the different bands of the Dakotas, Sioux, Crows, Minnetarees, 
Mandans, and the Assiniboins of the Upper Missouri, belong to one 
group, and the careful student will discover a relationship more or less 
close in all their dialects; yet most of the tribes cannot understand each 
other, and interpreters are required for each. 

The Rev. William Hamilton, of Bellevue, Sarpy County, who lived 
many years among the Iowa and Otoe Indians as a missionary, has 
written a very good grammer of their language, a copy of which I was 
able to procure. 

NotsE.—I forgot to mention the Green-Corn Dance. This is going on 
every evening at this season of the year, as the corn is becoming fit for 
roasting. ‘They build a fire in the center of the lodge, and dance around, 
keeping time with a rude thumping on a gong. Their women and 
children all join in the dance. 

I found two old village sites, one at Blue Spring, on the Big Blue; 
the foundations of the huts can be distinctly seen by the greater growth 
of weeds, and old pottery and arrow-heads have been found there. I 
think it was once the village of the Pawnees. At another locality, 
between Turkey Creek and Big Blue, at their junction, a most beautiful 
locality, some specimens of pottery were dug up three feet under ground. 
It is plain there wasa village here many years ago; how far back in the 
past it is impossible to tell. Some information may be obtained from 
the tribe, perhaps. 


JOHNSON COUNTY. 


The north branch of the Great Nemaha River runs nearly diagonally 
through Johnson County, in a southeasterly direction. It is the only 


36 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


important water-course in the county, and its value to the inhabitants 
cannot be overestimated. The entire county is underlaid by rocks of 
the age of the Upper Coal-Measures; hence the geology is comparatively 
simple. 

There are very few exposures along the Nemaha and its branches, 
and the high divides on either side present only rolling prairies covered 
with a luxuriant growth of grass, exhibiting every evidence of remark- | 
able fertility, but having no-timber and comparatively little living 
water. 

From Beatrice our course was nearly northeast, passing over the divide 
between the waters of the Big Blue and those of the Nemaha. This 
divide, as usual, was treeless and nearly waterless for 18 miles; yet, 


either to the right or to the left of our road, water and small trees 


could have been found within five or six miles. The grass was excellent, 
showing a fertile soil, and the surface was monotonously beautiful to 
the eye, but not an exposure of the underlying rocks could be seen. 

On Yankee Creek, a branch of the Nemaha, the first exhibition of the 
rocks was observed. A few limestone quarries were opened for obtain- 
ing building-materials. The beds are thin, not more than from six to 
twelve inches in thickness, intercalated with beds of clay and sand. 
The surface is rather rugged, some abrupt hills, but usually clothed 
with grass down to the water’s edge. 

At Tecumseh a thin seam of coal has been opened, and is now worked 
with some success by Mr. Beatty. The drift is very similar to that 
before described in my report of Pawnee County, and extends into the 
bank about 100 yards. Mr. Beatty has taken out about 1,000 bushels 
of coal, which he sells readily at the mine for twenty-five cents per 
bushel. Itis undoubtedly the same bed that is opened on Turner’s 
Branch and at Frieze’s mill, in Pawnee County, but it is not quite as 
thick or as good; it contains large masses of the sulphuret of iron and 
other impurities. The coal-seam here varies much in thickness, from 
ten to fifteen inches. The cap-rock is a bed of limestone not more than 
two or three feetin thickness. A well was sunk in the village of Tecum- 
seh sixty feet; a drill was driven down through rock and hard clay a 
few feet farther, and passed through what the workmen thought to be 
three feet of good coal. This discovery created much excitement at the 
time, and increased the demand for the public landsin Johnson County. 
It afterward turned out to be the same seam of coal worked by Mr. 
Beatty on the Nemaha, and was only eleven inches in thickness. .The 
prospects, therefore, for workable beds of coal in Johnson County are 
no better than in the neighboring counties already examined. The 
evidence against any important bed of coal bein g found within the limits 
ot Nebraska diminishes in force continually. I have already presented 
a portion of the evidence in former reports. The fact that all efforts in 
. Searching for coal in neighboring districts have resulted in failures, 
renders the prospect very doubtful. All the rocks at Saint Joseph, 
Missouri, Leavenworth, and Atchison, Kansas, hold a lower position 
geologically ; yet borings have been made about 500 feet at Atchison 
and Saint Joseph, and a shaft has been sunk about the same depth at 
Leavenworth, resulting in the discovery of a bed of very impure coal 
three feet thick, quite unfit for use. The evidence is quite strong that, | 
as I have before suggested, Nebraska is unfortunately located on the 
western rim of the western coal-basin, and that no workable bed will 
ever be found in the State at a reasonable depth. 

Tecumseh is the county-seat of Johnson County, a small town located 
on the elevated prairie near Nemaha River. The following sketch will 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. on 


give some idea of its size, as well as the surface of the surrounding 
country: 

From Tecumseh to the source of the Nemaha, about forty-five miles, 
I did not discover a single exposure of rock, and I could not ascertain 
that any had ever been observed by the settlers. We must conclude, 
therefore, that building-materials in the shape of rock are not well dis- 
tributed over the county; indeed, I do not know of any one in which I 
_ observed less. 

The soil is very fertile, however, and in that respect will compare 
favorably with any in the State. In what are called the alluvial clays, 
near Tecumseh, were discovered some interesting remains of extinct 
animals, which appear to have been abundant all over the West at that 
period. Just over the cap-rock of the coal-seam, in stripping away the 
alluvial clay, Mr. Beatty discovered two molar teeth of a mastodon, 
. in a fine state of preservation, one of which I was fortunate enough to 
secure. 

About six miles west of Tecumseh, Mr. Caldwell, in digging a cellar, 
unearthed a fine molar tooth of an elephant, which probably belongs to 
the well-known species Hlephas americanus. This huge animal seemed 
to have ranged all over America, east of the Mississippi, and of late 
years its remains have been found in California and Colorado. This is 
. the first specimen ever found in the Missouri Valley, to my knowledge. 

In 1858 I was fortunate enough to discover the remains of a number 
of species of extinct animals, in some Pliocene Tertiary deposits on the 
Niobrara River, and among them was a species of mastodon which Dr. 
Leidy, of Philadelphia, described as M. mirificus, and an elephant a third 
larger than any ever before known, extinct or recent, Hlephas inperator. 
These two species have never been found at any other localities, and 
were geologically much older than those first mentioned. 

There are many fine farms in this county, and some of them are under 
a good state of cultivation. The best one I saw is improved by Mr. 
Luke Corson, about one and a half miles from the village of Tecumseh. 
He has planted with success almost all the common varieties of forest- 
trees of this latitude, and his experiments in all kinds of hardy fruits have 
been eminently successful. Apples, pears, peaches, cherries, apricots, 
plums, blackberries, strawberries, gooseberries, and currants, have been 
raised in great perfection. 

He has surrounded his farm with the willow hedge, which in his case 
has been remarkably successful. The willow makes a most beautiful 
hedgetotheeye. Five years ago he put the cuttings, three or four inches 
long, in the ground, and now these willow-trees are fifteen feet high, 
and often four to six inches in diameter at the base, and in most cases 
as a fence it is capable of turning cattle. Although fully as handsome 
in its appearance to the eye, it does not equal the Osage-orange hedge 
aS a fence. The attention of farmers in this county has been directed 
to the importance of planting hedge-fences as soon as possible. One 
gentleman put out fourteen miles of Osage-orange hedge this season ; 
another two and a half miles, and there is. probably from one hundred 
to one hundred and fifty miles of young fence in Johnson County at this 
time. 

Building-materials, as clays, sands, &c., with the exception of lime- 
stone, are abundant. The water is excellent all over the county, and 
on the Nemaha there are some good mill-sites. Peat is found in limited 
quantities. Fuel is scarce, and must be supplied by the planting of 
forrest-trees. 

In conclusion, I would say that there is no county in the State with 


38 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


better farming land, or land more suitable for the cultivation of trees 
and fruits, and its position will depend entirely upon the industry and 
skill with which these, its only resources, are developed. 


ADDITIONAL NOTES ON LANCASTER AND CASS COUNTIES. 


From the sources of the Nehama River we simply pass over a some- 
what elevated prairie, which forms the divide between that stream and 
- the head-branches of Salt Creek. 

Like the Nemaha, in Johnson County, Salt Creek passes diagonally 
through Lancaster County, in a northeasterly direction. It empties into 
the Platte River about thirty-five miles above its mouth. This creek, 
with its branches, forms the entire drainage of the county. 

The southeastern portion of Lancaster County is underlaid by rocks 
of the Permian or Permo-Carboniterous age. ‘The basis rocks of three- 
fourths of the county are the rusty sandstone of the Cretaceous formation, 
No. 1, or Dakota group. After passing the divide, from the sources of 
the Nemaha to those of Salt Creek, we find no exposure of the under- 
lying rocks. At Mr. Mills’s farm, about twelve miles down the valley, are 
some exposures of the Permo-Carboniferous rocks, occupying an area of 
about five miles square. The entire thickness of the rocky strata here 
is ten to fifteen feet, arranged in layers six inches to two feet in thick- 
ness. 

In abstracting the rocks from the quarry the fracture is so regular, 
breaking into massive square or oblong blocks, and the texture so fine, 
compact, and of light cream color, that they are highly esteemed by 
builders, and make beautiful as well as durable houses. There are 
quite a number of large dwelling-bouses (made of this stone) in the 
vicinity. It is works quite easily. The finest springs of water in this 
‘county issue from this rock. 

There are five or six of these quarries opened at this time, but the 
principal one occurs on the farm of Mr. S. B. Mills. 

These fine quarries must become of great value to this county, for 
they yield the only good building material for thirty to fifty miles north, 
south, and west, and from ten to twenty miles east, of the place. 

The rusty, rather soft, friable sandstones of the Dakota group are 
used, to some extent, for dwelling-bouses. It presents an exceedingly 
somber and unpleasant appearance to the eye, and possesses no elements 
of durability. It can be relied on only in the absence of other building- 
material. About twelve miles below these quarries, near the salt-basins, 
Lincoln, the capital of the State, is located. Pretty good water is ob- 
tained here by digging, but there is a liability even then to strike brack- 
ish water, on account of the proximity to the salt-lands. 

From a point five miles above Lincoln to a point five miles above the 
mouth of Salt Creek, there is a scant supply of building-material, of 
timber, and of fresh water, so that it can: be seen at a glance that this 
valley is not as desirable as many other portions of the State. 

Near Miss Warner’s, about ten miles above Lincoln, a well was dug on 
the high hills, bordering g the valley, to the depth of sixty feet, without 
striking rock. At Yankee Hill, two miles above Lincoln, a well was dug 
sixty-six feet, without reaching the basis rocks. 

These facts show the great thickness of the superficial alluvial depos- 
its of this region, and also the skeleton form of the surface prior to the 
disposition of these deposits. I shall treat more fully on this subject at 
a future time. 

The sandstones of the Dakota group are quite largely developed in 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 39 


this region, and exhibit their usual variability of texture and color. 
The prevailing color is a deep drab rusty-brown, sometimes yellow or 
nearly white. Some !ayers contain many impressions of dicotyledonous 
leaves. I was unable to find as large and perfect impressions as I have 
collected at many other localities. 

So far as the surface of the country is concerned, in Lancaster County 
it may be regarded as remarkable for its beauty. 

It is always gently rolling, well drained, and from elevations the views 

are very fine, forming most excellent building-sites. 

When the soil is not influenced by salt-springs, it is equal to any in 
the State, but, in an agricultural point of view, there is no doubt that 
Salt Creek, with the numerous salt-springs that) issue forth near it, is a 
disadvantage to the valley. 

That portion about two miles above Lancaster does not seem affected 
by the salt. The farm of Mr. 8S. B. Mills, of over one thousand acres, 
about ten miles above the county-seat, is one of the most fertile and 
valuable in the State. Although the salt-springs in this county may 
eventually be of some value to the State in the production of salt, yet 
I am convinced that if there was not a salt-spring of any kind in the 
county, the difference in the value of the lands for agricultural and 
grazing purposes would much more than balance all income that will 
ever arise from the salt-springs. 

In that case Salt Creek, instead of being almost useless, or rather an 
impediment, would be a fine fresh. water stream, making it one of the 
finest stock counties in the State. 

The surface of the uplands lies very beautifully, is very attractive to 

the eye, but there is scarcely any timber in the county. 

The soil is excellent, and forest-trees may be planted with success 
whenever settlers choose to do so, though very little has been done as 
yet. 

Cass County is the best settled county in the State. It is covered 
with fine farms, and many of them begin to show their capacity not only 
in the production of the grains, as wheat, oats, and corn, but also of 
fruits, forest-trees, hedges, &c. Along the Platte Valley, as well as the 
Missouri, the surface is rough, the hills being sometimes very steep, and 
the ravines deep and numerous; but the soil is of inexhaustible fertility, 
and well watered with streams and multitudes of springs of the purest 
water. 

In all that pertains to successful agriculture, and the raising of all 
kinds of stock, I could not conceive of a more desirable district. ; 
There are rock-quarries enough in Cass County to supply all that por- 
tion of the State south of the Platte, if it could be equally distributed. 

On the Platte, near the northwest corner of the county, a yellow mag- 
nesian limestone is obtained, which is regarded with great favor as a 
building-stone. It is very durable, with a tenacious texture, but so soft 
that it can be cut with a knife or plane, thus rendering it easily worked 
for caps or sills, &e. 

I have not observed this bed of rock in any other portion of the State. 
The geological formations in this county are the Upper Carboniferous 
beds, capped along the west and southwest portions with the sandstones 
of the Dakota group. The Coal-Measure rocks appear near the edge of 
the water, at the mouth of Salt Creek, near Ashland, the county-seat of 
Saunders County. Last of this point, for twenty to twenty-five miles, 
the red sandstones occupy the hills along the Platte, but the limestone 
continues to rise higher and higher and assume more importance. 


40 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


The sandstones disappear entirely about ten to fifteen miles west of 
Plattsmouth. 

In both the sandstones and limestones extensive quarries have been 
opened; the sandstone is used for all ordinary purposes, while the lime- 
stones are made into the walls of buildings and for ornamental purposes. 
Some fine dwelling-houses have been made of these limestones. 

The quarries of sandstones have been wrought to considerable extent, 
and the stone is used for cellar-walls, wells, and some other purposes 
where nice work is not required. 

The Cretaceous rocks of Cass County are composed of the same beds 
of clays, sands, and sandstones before observed in formations of the 
same age in the valley of the Little Blue River. 

About twenty-five miles west of Plattsmouth a bed of fine argillaceous 
grit is exposed, which was regarded by the settlers‘as gypsum. It may 
become of some economical value at-some future time as fine clay for 
mingling with other earths in the manufacture of bricks. On the 
Weeping Water, an important stream near the central portion of Cass 
County, are some very heavy beds of limestones, which are of great 
economical value for building purposes. 

The limestone is readily burned into lime, and numerous dwelling- 
houses, mills, &c., are constructed of this rock. 

These alternate beds of limestones, sands, and clays give to the sur- 
face of the country bordering on the Weeping Water an unusually 
rugged character. The bottoms of the little streams are narrow, the 
soil is good, water excellent, and the valley is well settled and prosperous. 

Near the mouth of Stone Creek, section 12, range 10, township 10, in- 
dications of coal were observed, and Mr. EH. L. Reed, residing at Weep- 
ing Water, sunk a shaft through the following beds: 

. Sandstones, which form the bed of the creek, 10 feet. 
. Slate and clay, 3 feet. 

Coal, 9 inches. 

. Whitish fine clay, 3 feet. 

Crystalline quartz, 3 inches. 

. Bluish clay, 4 feet. 

. Whitish fine clay, 6 feet. 

Red clay, 3 feet. 

. Soft, white limestone, (?). 

The coal above, although so thin a seam as to render it unprofitable 
for working, is of good quality, and is useful to the blacksmiths in the 
vicinity. 

We must, therefore, conclude that neither in Lancaster nor Cass 
Counties will there ever be found any thick beds of coal, but in the 
valleys of all the streams, and in numerous other localities, there are 
low, boggy places which seem to promise peat, especially on the broad, 
low bottoms of the Platte. 

J am continually more and more impressed with the importance of this 
material as an article of fuel for the people of Nebraska, and I am con- 
fident that before many years it will become an object of earnest pur- 
suit and of great profit. 

The red sandstone of the Dakota group contains a considerable quan- 
tity of iron ore, but the absence of fuel renders it unavailable, so that, 
exclusive of the common building-materials, these counties may be said 
to have no mineral resources. ‘Their wealth lies in their inexhaustible 
soil, which is this year producing most luxuriant crops. 

Wheat yields 30 to 35 bushels per acre; oats 40 to 50, and corn 60 to 
75 bushels per acre; and in this respect it iS EES to predict for Nebraska 
a remarkable destiny in the future. 


bt bo bo HE OL IG 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 4t 
ADDITIONAL NOTES ON SARPY AND DOUGLAS COUNTIES. 


Sarpy County borders on the Platte River and the Missouri, and thus 
has a large share of bottom-land, as well as the rather rugged or hilly 
portions along those streams. It has superior advantages over the more 
northern counties in its numerous quarries of limestone, which are des- 
tined to prove of great value. 

Already do the quarries along the Platte and the Papillion furnish 
the greater portion of the lime and building stone used at Omaha, and 
most of the rock needed for the contemplated railroad-bridge across the 
Missouri must of necessity be obtained there. 

The basis rock which underlies the surface of the greater portion of 
Sarpy and Douglas Counties is Carboniferous limestone. These lime- 
stones are evidently of the age of the Upper Coal-Measures, as their fossil 
remains indicate. 

The western portions of the counties are occupied by the rusty varie- 
gated sandstones of the Dakota group. The soil is of great fertility, 
seeming to be composed of a mingling of the eroded materials of the 
sandstones and limestones with the yellow marl of the Loess deposit, 
which covers the surface of the country here to a greater or less depth. 

The result is a surface-soil eminently adapted for the growth of all 
the cereals, as wheat, oats, and corn. The scenery is beautiful indeed; 
the rolling or undulating character of the country, while it relieves the 
monotony, does not obstruct the vision, so that objects may be seen with 
distinctness ten to twenty miles on every side. 

The river-bottoms, especially through Missouri and the Platte, are of 
inexhaustible fertility. . With a soil not unfrequently ten to thirty feet 
in depth, they sustain a most luxuriant vegetation, while during the 
greater portion of the year the broad upland prairies are clothed with 
grass and flowers of great variety and beauty. 

The yellow siliceous marl covers the greater part of Douglas County, 
so that the limestones are exposed only in a few localities. 

Near Omaha City a few beds are revealed at the water’s edge, perhaps 
ten to fifteen feet, and over these layers is a deposit of gravel and marl 
one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet in thickness. 

At Florence, about five miles above Omaha, these limestones are again 
seen at very low water in the bottom of the Missouri, but as a rule the 
rocks of the country are concealed from view by this great deposit of 
marl. In consequence of this fact, the limestone quarries along the 
Platte assume a far greater importance and value. 

There is a quarry of limestone at Bellevue Landing, near Sarpy’s old 
trading-post, which has been wrought for many years; but the most 
valuable layers of the rock are not visible in time of high water. Wat- 
son’s quarry, on the Papillion, three miles west of Bellevue, has been 
worked for many years, and contains several layers of valuable rock for 
building purposes. This quarry is a source of considerable revenue to 
the owners, and the materials are taken to Bellevue and Omaha in great 
quantities. 

The following is a section of the beds, in descending order: 

6. Vegetable soil, two to four feet thick, with a few stray water-worn 
rocks. 

5. A bed like No. 3, with fragments of fossils capped with loose layers 
of limestone, eighteen inches to two feet thick. 

4. Three inches of light-yellow clay—a hard layer. 

3. Yellow, indurated, caleareous clay, full of shells; ten inches. 


42 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


2. Several layers of hard limestone, very compact with Crinoids, 
Corals, Chonetes mucronata, Athyris subtilita, Productus, &c.; six feet. 

1. Greenish-yellow clay, underneath the most valuable and massive 
bed of limestone, as shown in the illustration; twenty inches thick. 
Below this there is a layer of yellow limestone eighteen inches thick. 

Bed 2 in the section is the one that produces the valuable rock for 
building purposes. The organic remains determine at once the geolog- 
ical position of the rocks. 

About six miles above the mouth of the Platte I observed a large 
number of bowlders or erratic rocks scattered over the hills, composed 
of granite and red quartzite. These were undoubtedly transported 
hither by glacial action; and the rocks themselves come from the north 
and northwest—from Dakota, Minnesota, and perhaps from the region 
of Lake Superior, where the rocks abound. Near this point, also, a ledge 
of rusty sandstone of Cretaceous age was seen capping the hills. Its 
character has been described before, as a dark, ferruginous, coarse- 
grained micaceous sandstone, but sometimes becoming a tough, close- 
grained, compact, siliceous rock, or quartzite. 1t is very difficult to find 
rocks of this group resting directly upon the beds below, from the fact 
that in almost all cases a grassy slope intervenes, and it became a matter 
of much importance to find the junction of the two great formations, or 
ascertain what beds come between. 

In 1857, while making an exploration of this region, I was so fortu- 
nate as to discover this apposition of the two formations, and the results 
were published in a memoir in the Transactions of the American Philo- 
sophical Society in 1862. The section taken at that time was observed 
near the old Otoe Village, about eight miles above the mouth of the 
Platte River. 

The Cretaceous rock set directly upon the limestone, although we know 
what a vast thickness of beds of various ages are absent. This illus- 
trates what Professor Rogers has denominated, in his Geology of the 
State of Pennsylvania, an unconformable sequence of beds; that is, the 
eye will observe no apparent want of conformity, the lowest bed of one 
tormation reposing upon the highest of the other, as if no interval had 
occurred during the deposition. The section, in descending order, is as 
follows: 

1. Gray, compact, siliceous rock, passing down into a coarse conglom- 
erate, an aggregation of water-worn pebbles, cemented with angular 
grains of quartz; then a coarse-grained micaceous sandstone—twenty- 
five feet. 

2. Yellow and light-gray limestone of the Coal-Measures, containing 
numerous fossils—Spirifer cameratus, Athyris subtilita, Fusulina cylind- 
rica, with abundant fragments of coral and crinoid remains—twenty to 
fifty teet. A, quartz rock; B, conglomerate; ©, coarse micaceous sand- 
stone; D, carboniferous limestone. 

This conjunction of the two great formations at this point is quite in- 
structive. We see the tremendous effects of erosion prior to the deposi- 
tion of the sandstones, in the fact that hundreds of feet of limestones 
must have been swept away. 

In Kansas, near Fort Riley, there are several hundred feet of Permian 
and Permo-Carboniterous rocks, not a trace of which can be seen in this 
valley. Even in the Salt Creek Valley, above Lancaster, there is one 
hundred feet or more of rocks that do not appear here; and yet I can 
see no good reason for not supposing that all these rocks were deposited 
here in the great oceans of the Coal period, but have been worn away 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. = 43 


and ground up into materials for rocks of more recent date by the waters 
of subsequent oceans. 

Then, again, between the Coal-Measures and the Cretaceous rocks, as 
shown in the illustrative section, the two great ages, Triassic and Juras- 
sic, are not represented at all. 

We have reason to believe that rocks belonging to these eras were 

even deposited here, and yet every trace of them has been washed 
away. 
_ In Kansas, on the Smoky Hill Fork, there are a series of variegated 
beds of clays and sands interposed between the Permian and Cretaceous, — 
which we believe belong to the Triassic or Jurassic period, or both. 
Along the eastern slope of the Laramie, Big Horn, Wind River Mount- 
ains, and the Black Hills of Dakota, the red beds of the Triassic and 
the marls and marly limestone of the Jurassic eras are developed to a 
thickness of several hundred feet, while on the Platte not a trace of 
them is to be seen. 

The evidence seems to me to be clear that beds of greater or less 
thickness, belonging to all these periods, once existed in this region, 
and that they have been swept away by the erosive action of water. 

This subject, which is one of the most interesting as well as important 
in the geology of the West, will be discussed more fully in the final 
report. 

Like all other portions of the State, the interest in the discovery of 
workable beds of coal in this region is very great. Along the Platte a 
seam of Carboniferous shale crops out, occasionally twelve to eighteen 
inches in thickness, and wherever it occurs it is regarded by the settlers 
as a sure indication of coal. I have examined all the indications with 
care, and I see no evidence of any coal at a reasonable depth. I hold 
the same opinion now that I expressed in a scientific paper in 1858, that 
I was “inclined to the belief that it was a geological impossibility for 
a workable bed of coal to be found within the limits of the Territory of 
Nebraska. <A bed of coal, to be really valuable for economical purposes, 
should be at least three feet in thickness; and even then it would not. 
prove profitable if a large amount of labor were required in opening the 
mine.” ; 

The several beds of limestone have been opened for twenty-five or 
thirty miles along the Platte, and the greatest abundance of the best 
building-material can be procured. Duclos’s quarry, on the farm of Mr. 
J. I. Paynter, township 13, range 13, section 27, there is the following 
section : 

6. Yellow marl, a superficial recent deposit. 

5. Yellow clay, full of white lumps, like magnesia pebbles. 

4. Three or four layers of limestone, excellent for building purposes, 
varying from ten to fifteen inches in thickness each; five feet. This 
bed is most extensively quarried; the rock is a great favorite with ma- 
sons. Its upper surface has been smoothed by glacial action. 

3. Slope; doubtless intercalations of clay and thin beds of rocks; 
thirty feet. 

2. Heavy layers of limestone, yellowish-white, full of organic remains, 
as, S. cameratus, Productus, Athyris, Fusulina, &c.; ten to fifteen feet. 

Although this rock is not quite as good as that in bed four, yet it is 
much used for lime and for building purposes. 

1. Slope; probably same as bed 3, twenty-five feet above the bed of 
the Platte. The surface of bed 4 exhibits some very remarkable phe- 
nomena, which I have observed in very few localities in the West, and 
nowhere except in this region. It has been so thoroughly smoothed by 


44 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


glacial action, that the upper layer can be quarried out and used for 
caps and sills, without any further finish to them, and the process seems 
to have been carried on with wonderful uniformity, for the upper sur- 
face seems to be as level as it could be wrought with a plumb-line. 

There are a few small grooves or scratches on the surface, and by 
means of a surveyor’s compass I ascertained with a good degree of pre- 
cision the direction, which was generally 27° east of north. 

There were some exceptions, as can be seen in the illustration, which 
is an exact copy from the rock. The variation of the needle here is 
about 11°45’. The whole process here seems to have been a smoothing 
one, with a few small pebbles perhaps in the bottom of the glacier. 

The accompanying illustration will show the character of the scratches, 
and the fact, also, that there are indications of two sets, the scratches 
crossing each other at different angles. 

I will now quote two or three paragraphs from a memoir published 
in 1862, which had avery limited circulation, and is now out of print: 

‘Near the mouth of the Elkhorn the sandstone presents much the 
same character as before described. At this point it reaches nearly to 
the water’s edge, showing that the dip of the formations in this region 
is toward the northwest. Here formation No. 1 is at least eighty feet 
in thickness, about fifteen feet of carboniferous limestone being exposed 
beneath. The latter soon passes beneath the water-level of the river, 
and the sandstone occupies the country. 

“The bottoms along the Lower Platte are quite broad, and extremely 
fertile, possessing a rich soil, and admirably adapted to the wants of 
the farmer. Fine crystal springs issue from the limestone banks; a 
sufficiency of timber skirts the river or clothes the blufis; the climate 
is quite dry and healthy, and if it were not for the extreme cold of win- 
ter, this region would be one of the most desirable agricultural districts 
in the West. 

“The timber of the uplands consists chiefly of ash, elm, oak, soft 
maple, box-wood, &c., while along the bottoms the cotton-wood forms 
nine-tenths of the woodlands. The land, when ina state of nature, sup- 
. ports a most luxuriant vegetation, and, when cultivated by the farmer, 
brings forth very abundant crops. 

‘¢ The valley of the Elkhorn is similar to that of the Platte, and the 
land is at this time mostly taken up by actual settlers. The bluffs 
are formed of sandstone, No. 1, often presenting lofty vertical walls, 
which, from the yielding nature of the rock, are of great service to the 
Indian upon which to record his hieroglyphic history.” 

On my return to Bellevue I passed over the upland prairie, several 
miles north of the Platte. Already nearly every valuable claim was 
occupied by the persevering pioneer, and, as far as the eye could reach, 
the plain was dotted over with farm-houses, giving it much the appear- 
ance of an old-settled country. Very little timber, however, is to be 
seen, except that which skirts the small tributaries of the Platte. The 
soil of which the surface is composed is of a rich vegetable mold, 
the result of the annual decay of a luxuriant vegetation, underlaid by 
a yellowish siliceous marl, and is admirably adapted for the cultivation 
of all kinds of cereal grains and for grazing purposes. 

When the prairie-turf is broken up by the plouw, and allowed to 
deeay, the land becomes lke a garden. “The soil is so loose that it is 
tilled with great ease, but, from ‘this very fact, it is liable to suffer ex- 
tensively from the wash of the heavy drenching rains of May and June. 

The crops of wheat, oats, and-corn in both of these counties the pres- 
ent year show unmistakably the very great capacity of the soil, thirty- 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE. TERRITORIES. 45 


five to forty bushels of wheat, fifty to sixty of oats, sixty to seventy-five 
of corn per acre, being a no ‘uncommon yield, and the present season 
there will be even more than the average yield of former years. 

Grass is also fine everywhere, each acre averaging from one and a 
- half to three tons per acre. 


GEOLOGY OF NEBRASKA NORTH OF THE PLATTE RIVER. 


With the exception of a small portion of Douglas and Sarpy Counties, 
bordering on the Missouri and Platte Rivers, the whole State of Ne- 
braska north of the Platte River is underlaid with rocks belonging to 
the great geological eras, Cretaceous and Tertiary. 

The Cretaceous rocks make their appearance in their eastward exten- 
sion in rather thin beds, capping the summits of the hills, and only the 
more compact layers, resisting the eroding effects of water or atmos- 
pheric agencies, remain to indicate its boundaries and extent. I am in- 
clined to the belief that the rusty sandstones of the Dakota group once 
extended in full force directly across the Missouri into Iowa, and that 
the sandstones recently discovered by Dr. White on the Nishnabotna 
River form a portion of the series, disconnected only by the wearing 
away of the intervening rocks. There is no doubt that the greater 
portion of Northwestern Iowa is underlaid by rocks of the Dakota 
group. 

The green color on the geological maps of Nebraska in process of 
preparation will show the eastern boundaries of this group with accu- 
racy. The limestones early begin to disappear north of the Papillion 
_ River. 

At Sarpy’s old trading-post, near Bellevue Landing, some thin layers 
of rock occur in the hills, and a thin seam of coal has been found, and 
at low water two or three layers of rock are revealed which can be made 
useful for building purposes. 

At Omaha five to ten feet of limestones are revealed near the water’s 
edge. The rock is grained to considerable extent; but from the fact 
that Omaha is almost entirely supplied with rocks and lime for building 
purposes from the Platte, we may infer that the quarries at Omaha are 
not extensive. The cost of stripping the vast thickness of superincum- 
bent gravel and yellow marl at Omaha must render the working of this 
quarry very expensive. 

The next exposure is at Florence, where the limestones are seen only 
at low water. 

The last exhibition is at Rockport, near De Soto, where at very low 
water the limestones are seen at the edge of the river, but at neither 
of the localities above named are there quarries of any special value. 

Along the Missouri bluffs there is no exposure of the underlying 
rocks again until we reach Tekama, Burt County. Here the nuclei of 
all the hills are sandstones and clays of the Dakota group. From Flor- 
ence to Tekama, the bluffs or hills bordering on the Missouri are very 
rugged and high, but are composed entirely of drift-gravel at the bot- 
tom and a oreat thickness of yellow marl at the top ; indeed, this yellow 
marl or loam is not unfrequently fifty to one hundred feet in thickness. 
It is so soft and yielding in its nature that little temporary streams 
flowing down the bluffs wear out immense gorges one hundred to one 
hundred and fifty feetin depth. The sides of these hills along the Mis- 
souri bottom, on the Iowa as well as Nebraska side, are often very steep, 
with an angle of descent of 30° to 40°, and I have seen vegetation clinging 
quite thickl y to their sides when the descent was 50° “to 5D°, although 


46 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


the great geographer, Ritter, says that the grade at which it is possible 
for earth to cling is 45°. At Tekama are some exposures of the sand- 
stones of the Dakota group, but mostly so soft and friable as to be of 
little value as building-material. 

In the absence of all other rocks the inhabitants quarry out the harder 
portions and use them. Underneath the sandstones are the usual vari- 
egated clays and sands, red, white, gray, and drab, with nodules of the 
sulphuret of iron. In the sandstones above there is quite a variety in 
the texture of the rock. Sometimes there are thin intercalations of 
clay ; then little pockets, as it were, of clay inclosed in a thin shell of 
iron; then the thin layers are oblique, as if the waters in which the 
sands were deposited were in currents, or in a disturbed condition. 
Indeed, it would hardly be possible to describe all the varied conditions 
which this rock presents. Between Tekama and Decatur, a distance of 
about sixteen miles, there are frequent exposures of the sandstones and 
clays, but none worthy of special notice until we reach the vicinity of 
the little town of Decatur, near the border of the Omaha reserve. 
Here some harder layers of rock are exposed, which are used for the 
foundations of buildings and other economical purposes. There is one 
layer of quartzite. 

There are also thin seams of iron-ore, which, when broken with a 
hammer, give forth a sound much like that from old pot metal. It is 
really pretty fair iron-ore, but quite siliceous and impure, and even it 
this ore was of the best quality, and in great abundance, there is no 
fuel in the county to render it of any value. 

At the Blackbird Mission, on the Missouri, eight miles above Decatur, 
the bluffs of sandstone are quite conspicuous, and often present very 
high mural fronts, upon which the Indians have carved many rude pic-. 
tures, doubtless portions of their hieroglyphical history. At this locality 
are quite numerous layers, from one to four feet thick, of a very com- 
pact massive quartzite, the hardest and most durable rock in the State. 
It has the appearance of a metamorphic rock, so very hard and close- 
grained is it. The harder portions have been quarried out and used 
for the construction of a very large three-story building for the mission 
school. 

As the construction of several railroad-bridges across the Missouri 
are contemplated, no rock in the State would be so unyielding and 
durable for abutments as this, providing enough of it can be found. It 
seems to assume a concretionary form in the sandstone, and is of very 
uncertain thickness and extent. 

About two miles above the mission the hills are cut by the river so as 
to reveal vertical bluffs, the rocks of which, in the distance, have a yel- 
lowish-white appearance, aud from this fact are usually called chalk-bluffs. 
The sandstone is massive, almost without stratification, and very friable 
and soft. 

4, Yellow marl; recent; ten to fifty feet. 

3. Hight inches of earthy lignite resting upon twelve inches of yel- 
lowish-drab arenaceous clay, underlaid by eight inches impure lignite. 

2. Massive yellow standstone, with some thin intercalations of clay, 
soft and friable, readily yielding to the erosive effects of water, sixty to 
eighty feet thick. 

1. Yellow plastic unctuous clay, toward the top becoming a grayish 
blue; contains flat argillaceous concretions two feet. 

This is, perhaps, the finest and largest exposure of the rocks of this 
group along the river. The mural exposures of soft sandstone present 
good surfaces for the Indian to make use of on which to write his rude 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. AZ 


history, and on the chalk-bluffs there are many of these hieroglyphics 
in positions totally inaccessible to the Indian at the present time. None 
of them now living know anything about them, and it is supposed that — 
they must be very ancient, and that, since they were made, great changes 
must have been wrought in these bluffs by the waters of the Missouri. 
These markings are at least fifty feet above the water and fifty feet or 
more below the summit of the bluff, so that they must have been made 
before the lower portion of the bluff was washed away by the Missouri. 
It seems strange that none of these hieroglyphical writings which occur 
quite often on the chalk-rocks of the Niobrara group, higher up the 
Missouri, are known to any Indians now living. Manuel’s Creek is called 
in Dakota language the creek where the dead have worked, on account 
of the markings on the rocks. 

The accompanying illustration conveys an idea of the sandstones of the 
Dakota group as they front the Missouri, and shows the wearing away 
of the material of the rock underneath during high water. This erosion 
is continued for a series of years until the superincumbent rocks fall 
down and are washed away by the river. Near the mouth of Omaha 
Creek are some very high vertical bluffs of sandstone, from which some 
rock has been taken for building purposes. It is useful, since no better 
can be found in the vicinity. For a considerable distance along the 
hills opposite Sioux City, beds of the gray quartzite are found, which 
are worked to considerable extent, and furnish a very good supply for 
the inhabitants. .A few impressions of plants and a few fossil shells 
were found here. Near Sioux City, on the Iowa side of the Missouri, 
is a high cut bluff extending to the mouth of the Big Sioux River. 

Here was formerly a large exposure of the rocks of the Dakota group, 
and these rocks exhibited well their variegated texture and composition. 
The color seems to differ, depending upon the amount of ferruginous 
matters in them. Only about twenty feet of the different layers are 
exposed, and only about five feet hard enough for building purposes. 

This quarry has been wrought for twelve years or more, and at this 
time seems to have given out, for very little suitable building-stone can 
be found, mostly loose sandstone and clay. In former years I have ob- 
tained impressions of dicotyledonous leaves, as willow, laurel, &c., with 
some fossil shells of the genera Pharella, Axinea, and Cyprina, which | 
are either estuary or marine in their character. 

Near the northern boundary of the Omaha reserve, traces of a whitish 
chalky limestone, almost entirely made up of the shells of a species of 
Tnoceramus, make their appearance on the high hills. This rock indi- 
cates the first appearance of the Cretaceous division. 

Number 3,orthe Niobrara. In passing northward, as we continue up the 
Missouri, we find this formation becoming more and more conspicuous, 
until opposite Sioux City it is from 50 to 100 feet in thickness. It is of 
much importance to this region of the country on account of its value 
as lime, and it supplies a large district with that valuable material. 
Omaha is largely supplied with lime from the region of the Platte. Be- 
tween Omaha and the northern boundary of the Indian reservation, a 
distance of eighty miles or more, extending southward to the Platte, 
near Columbus, there are five or six counties entirely destitute of lime- 
stone. This limestone of the Niobrara group becomes very valuable 
therefore, and it will be from this upper district that the counties under- 
laid by sandstones of the Dakota group must obtain their supply of lime. 
Number 2, or Fort Benton group, seems to be wanting until we reach a 
point near the mouth of Iowa Creek. This isathin bed, not over 40 feet 
in thickness at any one point, and is characterized by black plastic clay 


AS GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


filled with beautiful crystallized SaiphuEet of iron. It is pretty well 
exposed below the mouth of Iowa Creek, where the Missouri cuts the 
bluffs, and here we see all the rocks in their order : 

4. Yellow marl, a recent deposit. 

3. Niobrara group, layers of white and yellow chalky lime, passing 
down into gray marly rock. 

2. Black plastic clay, with hard layers, containing inoceramus, a spe- 
cies of Ostrea, like O. congesta, remains of fishes, many crystals of sul- 
phuret of iron, selenite, We. 

1. Dakota group, sulphuret of iron, fragments of wood, impressions 
of leaves, willow, laurel, We. 

Near the mouth of the Niobrara River the black shaly clays of the 
Fort Pierre group begin to make their appearance on the hills over the 
Niobrara division, so that within the limits of Nebraska proper we have 
four out of five of the important divisions of the Cretaceous rocks of 
the West. | 

Near the mouth of Iowa Creek there seems to bea bed of impure 
lignite in the Fort Benton group, or in the transition between the Da- 
kota and Fort Benton groups. This bed, which has been worked to a 
considerable extent, and the coal used by blacksmiths in this vicinity 
with some success, does not seem to be the same as that seen along the 
{Indian reserve, which is undoubtedly in the sandstone of the Dakota 
group. 

I am inclined to the opinion that this bed of lignite near Ponka City 
is a local bed or at least restricted in its geographical extent, and is the 
result of an accumulation of drift-wood in an estuary of the Cretaceous 
sea. 

I am informed that it is seen over on the Elkhorn River, about 30 
miles west of this point. 

Mr. Clark tells me that he dug twelve or fifteen feet below this bed 
and struck another seam of coal much better than the one cropping out. 
The lower bed must be the one in the Dakota group. Lithologically it 
is inpossible to draw a line of demarkation between these formations 
here. Number 1 passes so imperceptibly into number 2, and number 2 
into number 3, that there is no break, and yet their principal character- 
istics are very distinct. ‘The first is a sandstone; second, a black plas- 
tic clay; third, a chalky limestone; and yet i cannot tell the exact 
point where one commences and the other ends. 

The impressions of leaves have ceased to appear before the close of 
the Dakota group. The sandstones of the Dakota group occupy the 
whole country along the Platte from the mouth of the Elkhorn to a 
point some twenty miles beyond the entrance of the Loup Fork. The 
intermediate counties between the Missouri and Platte have very few 
exposures of rock of any kind, so that quarries in this region, even 
though the rock is of inferior quality, are much prized. 

The Tertiary beds which make their appearance along the greater 
portion of the Niobrara, and really occupy a very large portion of West- 
ern Nebraska, do not furnish much good building- stone. In order that 
the general geology of all this region may be better understood, I will 
give : a general section of the Cretaceous and Tertiary rocks of the Mis- 
souri Valley, which was first published by Mr. Meek and myself in the 
proceedings of the Academy of Sciences at Philadelphia. I have made 
such changes as the present state of our knowledge of this region requires. 
which are not of great importance. 

The accompanying profile, also, along the Missouri River, from Fort 
Benton to the southern line of Nebraska, will show the basin-like char- . 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


49 


acter of the geological formations, and especially the subdivisions of the 
Cretaceous rocks, and their relations to the Tertiary. 


UPPER SERIES. 


LOWER SERIES. 


General section of the Cretaceous rocks of Nebraska. 


Divisions and subdivisions. 


Fox Hill beds—forma- 
tion No. 5. 


= 
GS 1 
Ai 
=| 
° 
-o 
~ 
cos] 
I 
I 
7 
ey 
(=) 
=) 
a 
on 
o 
H 
H 
oO 
4 
AY 
~ 
H 
je) 
FA 


Niobrara division— 
formation No. 3 


p— 
2 


Fort Benton grou 
formation No 


group—for- 


mation No. 1. 


| Dakota 


Gray ferruginous and yellowish sandstone and 
arenaceous Clays, containing Belemnitella Bul- 
bosa, Nautilus, Dekayi, Ammonites placenta, A. 


lobatus, Scaphites conradi,S. Nicollet, Baculites 
grandis, Busycon Bairdi, Fusus Culbertsoni, F. 
Newberryi, Aporrhais americana, Pseudo-buc- 
cinum Nebrascensis, Mactra Warrenana, Car- 
dium subquadratum, and a great number of 
other molluscous fossils, together with bones 
of Mosasaurus Missouriensis. 


Dark-gray and bluish plastic clays, containing 
near the upper part Nautilus Dekayi, Ammon- 
ites placenta, Baculites ovatus, B. compressus, 
Scaphites nodosus, Dentalium gracile, Crassa- 
tella Evansi, Cucullea Nebrascensis, Inocera- 
mus Sagensis, I. Nebrascensis, I. Vanuxemi, 
bones of Mosasaurus Missouriensis, &c. 

Middle zone nearly barren of fossils. 


Lower fossiliferous zone containing Ammon- 
ites complexus, Baculites ovatus,B. compressus, 
Helicoceras mortoni, H. tortum, H. umbilica- 
tum, H. cochleatum, Ptychoceras mortoni, Fu- 
sus vineulum, Anisomyon borealis, Amauropsis 
paludiniformis, Inoceramus subulatus, I. tenuili- 
neatus, bones of Mosasaurus, Missouriensis, &c. 


Dark bed of very fine unctuous clay, contain- 
ing much carbonaceous matter, with veins and 
seams of gypsum masses, sulphuret of iron, 
and numerous small scales of fishes, local, fill- 
ing depressions in the bed below. 


Lead-gray calcareous marl, weathering to a 
yellowish or whitish chalky appearance above, 
containing large scales and other remains of 
fishes, arfd numerous species of Ostrea congesta 
attached to fragments of Inoceramus, passing 
down into light yellowish and whitish lime- 
stone, containing great numbers of Inoceramus 
problematicus, I. psuedomytiloides, I. avicu- 
loides, and Ostrea congesta, fish-scales, &c. 


Dark-gray laminated clays, sometimes alter- 
nating near the upper part with seams and lay- 
ers of soft gray and light-colored limestones, In- 
oceramus problematicus, I. tenuirostratus, I. 
latus? I. fragilis, Ostrea congesta, Venilia mor- 
toni, Pholadomia papyracea, Ammonites mul- 
lani, A. percarinatus, A. vespertinus, Scaphites 
Warreni, S. larvaeformis, S. ventricosus, 8. ver- 
miformis, Nautilus elegans, &c. 


Yellowish, reddish, and occasionally white 
sandstone, with, at places, alternations of vari- 
ous colored clays, and beds and seams of impure 
lignite; also silicified wood, and great numbers 
of leaves of the higher types of dicotyledonous 
trees, with casts of Pharella? Dakotensis, Axi- 
nea Siouxensis, and Cyprina arenarea. 


Localities. 


Fox hills, near Moreau River, 
near Long Lake, above Fort 
Pierre, along base of Big Horn 
Mountains, and on North and 
South Platte Rivers. 


Sage Creek, Cheyenne River, 
and on White River, above the 
Mauvaises Terres, Fort Pierre, 
and out to Bad Lands, down 
the Missouri, on the high coun- 
try, to Great Bend. 


Great bend of the Missouri, 
below Fort Pierre. 


Near Bijou Hill, on the Mis- 
souri. 


Bluffs along the Missouri, 
above the Great Bend, to the 
vicinity of the Big Sioux River; 
also below there, and on the 
tops of the hills. 


Extensively developed near 
Fort Benton, on the Upper 
Missouri; also along the latter 
from ten miles above James 
River to Big Sioux River, and 
along the eastern slope of the 
Rocky Mountains, as wellas at 
the Black Hills. 


Hills back of the town of 
Dakota; also extensively de- 
veloped in the surrounding 


country in Dakota County, be- 
low the mouth of Big Sioux 
River, thence extending south- 
ward into Northeastern Kan- 
sas, and beyond. 


| Thickness. | 


| 200 feet. 
Eq, Lower or gray chalk (and upper G. sand) of British geolo- 


800 feet. 


q. Upper or white chalk and Maestricht beds. (Senonien, D’Orbigny.) | 


(Turonien and cenomanien of D’Orbigny,) 


E 


gists. 


50 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 
DAKOTA GROUP. 


Although we have hitherto regarded this as a distinct group of Cre- 
taceous rocks, with a strong physical line of separation from the group: 
above, I now think the evidence is clear that it passes imperceptibly in 
its lithological relations up into the Fort Benton group, without any 
break in time. 

In the hills back of Dakota City there are repeated exposures which 
show the transition layers between the two sandstones of the one and 
the dark plastic clays of the other. The fossils, however, so far as we 
now know, are distinct, and for the practical purpose of investigating 
this rock they may be regarded as distinct groups. 

We have referred the rocks of the Dakota group to the Cretaceous. 
epoch from the fact that they have yielded numerous species of dicotyled- 
onous leaves. Among these leaves, Dr. Newberry and Professor Heer 
have identified those of trees belonging to the genera Populus, (poplar,) 
Salix, (willow,) Alnus, (alder,) Platanus, (syeamore,) Liriodendron, (tulip,) 
Ficus, (fig,) and many others. In the history of geology no dicotyledo- 
nous leaves have been found in fossil condition in rocks older than the 
Cretaceous era. As they are found here in beds lying underneath rocks 
containing well-known Cretaceous fossils, their age is beyond a doubt. 

The discovery of these vegetable impressions in sandstones of the Cre- 
taceous period at this locality has afforded to geologists an instructive 
lesson. A geologist of high character, and one of the best botanists in 
Europe, Professor Heer, declared these plants to be of Tertiary age, and 
even identified some of them with plants already known in the Old 
World in the Tertiary rocks. 

In 1863 Professor Capellini, of the University of Bologna, Italy, and. 
Professor Marcou, of Switzerland, made a journey up the Missouri River 
to study these rocks, and to settle this vexed question. 

The results of their labors were published in the French and Swiss 
geological journals. The article of Professor Capellini was first trans- 
lated by me in this country for Silliman’s Journal. 

Professor Capellini, in a short but very interesting article, confines his 
observations mostly to the rocks of the Dakota group, and remarks that 
he does not hesitate to regard the observations of American geologists 
as entirely just. The following remarks close the article of Professor 
Capellini: 

‘¢ After all we have observed in relation to the environs of Sioux City, 
it is easily seen that a stratigraphic series so complete, throws a clear 
light upon the isolated facts first noticed at Tekamah and Blackbird 
Hill, and indicates the exact position of the rocks with dicotyledonous 
leaves, analogous to the Tertiary leaves of EKurope, but belonging in re- 
ality to the Chalk. 

“It may be estimated that the thickness of these Cretaceous strata in 
the environs of Sioux City is about forty meters. They may be divided 
into two distinet parts, one rich in leaves, a fresh-water format on; the 
other truly chalky, with fishes and IJnoceramus of marine origin. 
Both are probably not older than the chalk of Maestricht. 

‘This has been my opinion from the time I admitted that the dicoty- 
ledonous leaves of the Big Sioux and Tekamah were Cretaceous. 

“Once the age of the Molasse with leaves established by the aid of 
the stratigraphy and the animal fossils, it would be interesting if it were 
possible to arrive at the same results by the vegetable remains. On this 
account Professor Heer came to my aid and investigated the specimens 
I collected in my explorations. More than a dozen species were recog- 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 51 


nized among the leaves from Tekamah, Blackbird Hill, and Big Sioux, 
but it was especially the first locality which furnished the best speci- 
mens. 

‘¢We are convineed that when observations are exact and determina- 
tions made from careful examination of specimens, there is never any 
‘disagreement between stratigraphical and paleontological laws.” 

The remarks of Professor Heer, which preface his descriptions of the 
fossil plants by Professor Capellini, are so interesting and important that 
we copy them entire: 

“The collection of Mr. Capellini contains sixteen species; four are 
badly preserved, twelve are determivable; nevertheless, of the latter 
several are but fragments, so that their determination is difficult and not 
sufficiently positive. This is especially the case with Phyllites, which I 
have referred to the genera Platanus and Andromeda. 

“Tt is certain that all the leaves found by Mr. Capellini are dicotyled- 
onous, and with great probability one may be referred to the genus Ficus, 
one to Salix, one to Diospyrus, two to Populus, and two to Magnolia, 
although there are no accompanying fruits or other parts to confirm 
these determinations. These genera are yet living, and they are also 
found in the Tertiary formations. : 

“If we compare these plants of Nebraska with the Cretaceous plants 
of Europe, we find no identical species among them. I sent drawings 
of them to Dr. Debey, of Aix-la-Chapeile, who discovered in that locality 
a Cretaceous flora. He has written tome that he has not found one 
species identical. Even the greater part of the genera are different. 
There is but one Cissite, (C. aceroides, Debey,) which recalls slightly the 
C. insignis. (Plate 4, Fig. 5.) The Cretaceous plants of Henant, Bel- 
gium, those of Blankenburg and Quedlinburg, are also very different. 

‘¢ Professor Schenck has recently sent to me a collection of plants of 
Quedlinburg for determination. Besides conifers and ferns characteristic 
of the Chalk, it contains dicotyledonous leaves, but no forms like those 
of Nebraska. The Cretaceous flora of Moletein, Moravia, which I have 
lately studied, exhibits more resemblance. It contains two species of 
Ficus, which much resemble the Ficus of Nebraska, two superb species 
of Magnolia, one with a fruit-cone. 

“‘ There is a relationship between the flora of Nebraska and that of 
the Upper Chalk of Europe, although identical species are wanting. But 
to the present time no characteristic genus of the Cretaceous flora of 
Europe has been found in Nebraska. 

“Tf we compare the plants of Nebraska with the Tertiary plants we 
find no identical species, but seven genera (Populus, Salix, Ficus, Plata- 
nus, Andromeda, Diospyrus, and Magnolia,) are Miocene, and likewise 
living. 

‘It then appears that the Nebraska flora is related more to the Ter- 
tiary than to the Cretaceous flora of Europe, a fact which struck me when 
I first saw drawings of the former. But it should be remarked that we 
know but a very small number of American species, and on the other 
hand the European Cretaceous flora has more relationship with Tertiary 
flora than I at first supposed. I have found in the Cretaceous flora of 
Moletein, Moravia, species of Ficus and Magnolia which resemble. Terti- 
ary species; a Myrtacea, which is a near neighbor to the Ucalyptus 
rhododendroides (Mass.) of Mt. Bolea, a Juglans and a Laurinea, which 
also have their analogues in the Tertiary flora; a Pinus and two other 
conifers which belong to the genus Sequoia, which was extensively dis- 
tributed in Europe and America in the Miocene epoch, and which is now 
only found in California. 


52 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


‘* As the Cretaceous fishes are more nearly related to the Tertiary than 
to the Jurassic fishes, the Upper Cretaceous flora is also entirely different 
from the Jurassic and more nearly allied to the Tertiary floras, and it ap- 
pears that in America the relation between the Tertiary and Cretaceous 
floras is yet more intimate than in Hurope. 

‘‘Tt is remarkable that the plants of Nebraska (as Magnolia and Liri- 
odendron) present relations with the existing flora of America, while 
the Cretaceous flora of Europe has more of an Indo-Australian character. 
It thus appears that since the Cretaceous epoch the American flora has 
not undergone a change so great as the Huropean flora. While the Cre- 
taceous flora of Europe is entirely different from the existing European 
flora, that of Nebraska contains eight genera yet found in America, and 
it is the more remarkable that the greater part are yet found in a coun- 
trv under the same latitude.” 

Professor Heer describes the following species of plants from this 
group in this memoir: 

Populus litigiosa, (?) Debeyana, Salix nervillosa, Betulites denticulata, 
Ficus primordialis, Platanus (?) newberryana, Proteoides grevilleeformis, 
P. daphnegenoides, P. acuta, Aristolochites dentata, Andromeda parlatorii, 
Diospyrus primevus, Cissites insignis, Magnolia alternans, M. capellini, 
Liriodendron meekice, Phyllites vanone. 

One instructive lesson is derived from the mistakes of these eminent 
men that, in the progress of geological development, America was almost 
or quite one epoch ahead of Europe—that the fauna and flora of the 
Cretaceous period in this country were really more nearly allied to those 
of the Tertiary period in Hurope, and that, geologically speaking, 
America should be called the Old World and Europe the New. This 
point will be again alluded to in our remarks on the Tertiary rocks. 

Again, there is evident simplicity in the form and ornamentation of 
these leaves, which marks the dawn of the appearance on this planet of 
trees like our forest, fruit, and ornamental trees. 

The beauty of foliage in our present dicotyledonous trees is largely 
due to the serrations and various forms and patterns which they present ; 
but, so far as my observations have extended, the reverse is the case 
with this Cretaceous vegetation for the most part—thus slowly progress- 
ing through the Tertiary period from simplicity up to greater complexity 
and beauty. 

The question would arise naturally, Have any remains of land animals 
been found in this group mingled with these vegetable impressions? 
None have yet been observed along the Missouri at this locality; and as 
they have now been studied with considerable care, we may never find 
any. That land animals did exist we cannot doubt, for the forests which 
furnished these leaves could not have existed far away. 

The leaves are so perfect that they could not have been transported 
to a great distance before they were imbedded in the sand. On the 
eastern slope of the Big Horn Mountains there are a series of beds which 
hold a position between the Jurassic beds and the Fort Benton group, 
which I have referred to the Dakota group. 

Here occur beds of impure earthy lignite, large quantities of silicified 
wood and uncharacteristic bones, which Dr. Leidy thinks belonged to 
some huge saurian. No remains of strictly land animals have ever been 
found. 

The geographical extension of this group of rocks outside of this State 
has been found to be very extensive. The belt of country occupied by 
them in Nebraska runs nearly southeast and northwest, and is from 60 
to 80 miles wide, extending far south into New Mexico, and possibly ~ 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 53 


farther northward into Iowa and Minnesota, and probably far up 
into British America. It is believed also to occur all along the Rocky 
Mountains, although as yet no positive proof from fossils has been ob- 
tained. 

There is a series of beds between well-known Cretaceous and Jurassic 
rocks in those regions, which has been regarded as belonging to the 
Dakota group; also, near the sources of the Missouri, is a series of 
beds differing from any other yet described, containing many species of 

shells and a bed of lignite, which seems to belong to this group. These 
latter beds need more careful study before the position can be positively 
fixed in this section. 

Along the Atlantic coast, especially in New Jersey, the lower Cretace- 
ous beds seem to be lithologically similar, in con i aining numerous dicoty- 
ledonous leaves, so that it is now regarded as the equivalent of the 
Dakota group of the West. It is, therefore, evident that this formation 
is very widely distributed, perhaps even east and west from one ocean 
to the other. 


FORT BENTON GROUP. 


This group bears the above name from the fact that it is largely de- 
veloped in the vicinity of Fort Benton, near the sources of the Missouri 
River. In ascending the Missouri, it is first seen in thin outliers below 
the mouth of Big Sioux River, and on the Big Sioux six miles above its 
mouth. It is characterized as a dark leaden-gray plastic clay, but when 
saturated with water it is of a black color. 

A few fossils have been found at various localities, as Inoceramus 
problematicus, Ostrea congesta, Ammonites, Serpula, &c. Near the mouth 
of Iowa Creek there is the best exposure of this group, as well as groups 
above and below. 

3. Gray and light-yellow calcareous marl or chalky limestone, with 
great numbers of Znoceramus problematicus, Ostrea congesta, and remains 
of fishes. Niobrara division 40 to 50. 

2. Dark plastic clay, with abundant remains of fishes, I. problematicus, 
O. congesta, Ammonites peracutus, Serpula tenwicarinata, and a species of 
oyster, like O. congesta. Fort Benton group 30 to 40 feet. 

1. Variegated sands and clays of Dakota group, 15 to 20 feet above 
water’s edge; impressions of leaves of willow, laurel, and many crystals 
of sulphuret of iron. 

The beds of the Fort Benton group are widely distributed through- 
out the West, but in no portion has it revealed any useful minerals or 
economical rocks of any kind, to my knowledge. The black plastic clays 
may be rendered useful at some period, but it is quite doubtful. They 
are everywhere filled with sulphuret of iron. 

At the locality where the above section was taken I obtained some of 
the finest specimens of crystallized sulphuret of iron I have ever seen. 
There were also many species of selenite. So far as I know, this forma- 
tion does not exert any favorable influence on the country. 

The beds of impure coal near the mouth of lowa Creek gre very inter- 
esting in a geological point of view. At no other locality do I know of 
the existence of any seams of Carbonaceous matter. This coal is too 
impure and contains too much sulphuret of iron ever to be made ayail- 
able. 


5A GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 
NIOBRARA DIVISION. 


In many respects this is the most interesting and most valuable group 
of the Cretaceous rocks in the West. Its principal character is a gray or 
light-yellow chalky limestone; much of it is so pure as to make good 
chalk for commercial purposes. 

It would also be useful, doubtless, as a fertilizer. In ascending the 
Missouri it is first seen in thin outliers on Pilgrim’s Hill, a portion of 
the Omaha reserve. It then grows gradually thicker as we ascend, and 
south of Dakota City, in the hills, it becomes ten to twenty feet thick. 
At Ponka City, Saint Helena, and mouth of the Niobrara it is exposed 
fifty to two hundred feet in thickness, exhibiting a great variety of 
color and texture. 

All along the Missouri this rock is much used for the construction of 
buildings with success. The fact that so large an area of country exists 
below the first appearance of this formation destitute of any rock for 
lime must render this group of much economical importance to the 
settlers. Its soft, yielding nature gives rise to long ranges of precipitous 
blutfs along the river. 

It is easily cut into innumerable ravines by the temporary streams, 
and these bluffs often present the appearance of a series of cones. 

This formation extends up the river to the foot of the Great Bend, 
where it passes beneath the water-level. The fossils in this group are 
few in the number of species, but the individuals are abundant. Layers 
of considerable thickness are mostly composed of the shells of Dnocera- 
mus problematicus and Ostrea congesta. 

Fish-remains of great perfection and beauty also are found. Only a 
few good specimens have ever been taken from the rock; but the 
myriads of fragments, as bones, scales, and fins, show that they existed 
in great abundance in the Cretaceous seas. The connection of this group 
with the Fort Benton group below is quite piain, there being no line of 
demarkation in most localities. At Saint Helena, however, the trans- 
ition is abrupt, passing directly from the black plastic clays of the one 
to the yellow chalk of the other. 

This fact seems to me to show clearly that the grouping of these 
formations in the manner already done is correct. 

Between the Dakota group and the group above there are transition 
rocks at different places which obliterate any abrupt break, while at 
other localities the break is evident. 

All our investigations show more and more clearly that in the Creta- 
ceous series of the West there are three divisions paleontologically and 
five groups lithologically. 

The Niobrara division undoubtedly extends all along the mountain 
elevations; but it seems to possess an intermediate character between 
Nos. 2 and 3, as seen on the Missouri liver, so that it is difficult to 
decide to which the rocks belong, the Ostrea congesta being common to 
both. This formation, like the Dakota group, extends across -the 
country, in the form of a belt or zone, southeast and northwest. 

it is found extending north high up the Big Sioux, Vermillion, and 
James Rivers, in Dakota Territory, and southward into Kansas and 
New Mexico. 


FORT PIHBRRE GROUP. 


This formation is most largely developed from the Great Bend to a 
point 200 miles above Fort Pierre. It begins to make its appearance on 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 55 


the summits of the hills near the mouth of the Niobrara, and soon gives 
the character to the country. The surface underlaid by this formation 
looks barren and arid, and is really the commencement of the reputed 
sterile belt southward. It is composed mostly of laminated shaly clay, 
is usually quite uniform in its composition and texture, and contains so 
much alkaline matter that it prevents the growth of most plants except 
those that are peculiar to such soil. 

The hills above Fort Randall, on both sides of the Missouri, have a 
‘barren, black appearance, and are often called the “burned hiils” by the 
voyageur. Sometimes numerous masses of selenite are scattered over 
these hills, which, glistening in the sun, have suggested the name of the 
‘shining hills.” The burned appearance is undoubtedly due to the de- 
composition of iron pyrites by exposure to the atmosphere or water. 

When much vegetable matter exists in the beds, as in the Niobrara 
group at one locality near Bijoux Hiils, and in the lignite Tertiary beds, 
it takes fire and bakes the superincumbent beds of rock, so that the 
remains look in the distance like a pile of ruins. 

Inasmuch as the rocks of the Fort Pierre group do not occupy any 
considerable portion of the State of Nebraska, I shall not discuss their 
character to any extent in this connection. It makes its appearance 
only in a few localities, as an overlapping rock south of the Niobrara 
River, and therefore exerts comparatively little influence on the country 
below that point. 

The eroded materials of the rock are no doubt mingled greatly with 
the superficial deposits which cover the northern portions of the State. 
It is sufficient to remark that it occupies a vast area in the Territories 
ot the Northwest, and that it has yielded many most interesting organic 
remains. It is in many instances intimately blended with the group 
above, which we have designated in the section as the Fox Hills group. 
‘This latter group is not found in Nebraska at all, but is seen in its 
typical condition on a conspicuous and quite fertile ridge of land 
between the Big Cheyenne and Cannon Ball Rivers, higher up on the 
Missouri. It extends from the eastern side of the Black Hillis across 
the country northeastward. These beds give a more cheerful appear- 
ance to the country; there is more timber, and springs of pure water 
are common. It is also full of organic remains of great variety and 
beauty. This is an arenaceous deposit for the most part, and has doubt- 
less contributed its share toward giving fertility to the Nebraska soils- 


TERTIARY FORMATIONS OF NEBRASKA. 


These formations in the Valley of the Missouri present features of the 
highest interest to the geologist, and perform a prominent part in reveal- 
ing the geological history of the West. They mark the dawn of those 
internal forces which culminated in the present configuration of the vast 
area between the Mississippi and the Pacific Ocean. So far as known, 
only the more modern Tertiary deposits of the fourth basin occur within 
the limits of the State of Nebraska. But in order that the relations of 
these deposits may be shown to those of the Cretaceous period, and 
the connection ot the basins with each other, I shall give a brief descrip- 
tion of them all in their order. The following general section of the Ter- 
, tiary deposits of the Northwest will show their extent and relation tc 
each other in order of time: 


56 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


General section of the Tertiary rocks of Nebraska. 


Subdivisions. Localities. 


n equiva- 
ents. 


Names. 
wore 


Fine loose sand, with some layers of lime- 
stone; contains bones of Canis, Felis, Cas- 
tor, Equus, Mastodon, Testudo, &c., some 
ef which are scarcely distinguishable from 
living species; also Helix, Physa, Succinea, 
probably of recent species. All fresh wa- 
ter and land types. 


On Loup Fork of Platte River, ex- 
tending north to Niobrara River, 
and south to an unknown distance 
beyond the Platte. 


Loup River beds. 
Pliocene. 


White and light-drab clays, with some 
beds of sandstone, and local layers of lime- 
stone; fossils: Oreodon, Titanotherium, 
Chaeropotamus, Rhinoceros, Anchitherium, 
Hyzenodon, Machairodus, Trionyx, Tes- 
tudo, Helix, Planorbis, Limnaea, petrified 
wood, &¢.—all extinct. No brackish water 
or marine remains. 


Bad lands of White River, under 
the Loup River bed, on the Niobra- 
ra, and across the country to the 
Platte. 


Miocene. 


a 
=) 
° 
a 
on 
H 
Do 
> 
re 
oO 
~ 
p= 
E 


000 | 1,000 feet or more. | 300 to-400 feet. | Thickness. 


Light-gray and ash-colored sandstones, 
with more or less argillaceous layers; fos- 
sils: fragments of Trionyx, Testudo, with 
large Helix, Vivipara, petrified wood, &c. 
No marine of brackish water types. 


Wind River Valley; also west of 
Wind River Mountains. 


Wind River 
deposits. 
feet. 


1,500 to2 


Beds of clay and sand, with round ferru- : Oceupies the whole country around 
ginous concretions, and numerous beds, Fort Union, extending north intothe 
seams, and local deposits of lignite ; great British possessions to unknown dis- 
numbers of dicotyledonous leaves, stems, tances; also southward to Fort 
&c., of the genera Platanus, Acer, Ulmus, | Clark; seen under the White River 
Populus, &c., with very large leaves of true group, on the North Platte River, 
fan-palms; also Helix, Melania, Vivipara, above Fort Laramie; also on west 
Corbicula, Unio, Ostrea, Potamomya, and side of Wind River Mountains. 
scales Lepidotus, with bones of Trionyx, 
Emys, Compsemys, Crocodylus, &c. 


lignite deposits. 
Eocene? 


2,000 feet or more 


| Fort Union or great 


The details of all these formations will be discussed more-fully in the 
final report. 

Commencing with the oldest of these Tertiary basins, we have— 

ist. Judith River basin, which is located near the entrance of the 
Judith into the Missouri, and is separated by the latter river into two 
nearly equal portions. It covers an area of about fifteen to twenty miles 
east and west,.and forty miles from north to south. 

This basin is one of much interest, as it marks the dawn of the Ter- 
tiary period in the West, by means of the transition from brackish to 
strictly fresh water types. It is also remarkable for containing the 
remains of some curious reptiles and animals, reminding the paleon- 
tologist of those of the Wealden of England. 

2d. The great lignite basin which occupies all the country from Heart 
River to the Muscle-Shell—most of the Valley of the Yellowstone— 
extends for an unknown distance northward into the British possessions 
and southward at least to the North Platte,where the beds of the fourth 
basin overlap, coming to the surface again at Pike’s Peak, and extend- 
ing to Raton Pass, in New Mexico. 

The limits of this great basin have not yet been determined. Although 
not known to occur within the present defined limits of the State of | 
Nebraska, it will undoubtedly have an influence on the prosperity of 
the State, on account of the extensive lignite beds which occur in it. 
Along the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers are forty or fifty beds of 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 57 


lignite, varying from one to seven feet in thickness, of various degrees 
of purity. 

In the vicinity of Denver, Colorado Territory, according to Mr. E. L. 
Berthoud, civil engineer, there are several beds of lienite twelve to 
eighteen feet in thickness, which must furnish an immense mass of fuel, 
which will soon become accessible to the people of Nebraska through 
the Union Pacific Railroad. 

‘‘Our coal-seams extend, to my knowledge, sixty mile due east from 
Pike’s Peak, in one direction, south to Raton Mountains and the Raton 
Pass, and northward to near Denver, on Cherry Creek, and on the west 
side of the South Platte as far north as the Caché la Poudre, and to the 
foot of the main mountain-range. 

“¢ Here, in Golden City, we have a large outcrop of coal, which has 
been opened successfully, and which inclines toward the town. In one 
of the newly-opened mines on the same outcrop of the Golden City vein, 
which lies north on Coal Creek, about nine miles from Golden City, I 
saw, in 1861, the trunk of a tree taken out of the 11-foot vein then 
opened and mined, which trunk, though turned into coal of a good 
quality, exhibited carbonized bark, knots, and woody fiber, with con- 
centric rings of growth, such as our dicotyledonous trees plainly show ; 
indeed, one of the miners remarked that, from the bark, and the grain 
and fiber of the coal, it was very much like bitter cotton-wood , (Populus 
angulata,) examples of which grow close to the mine. 
~ “Tn 1862, while on a scout east of Pike’s Peak sixty-five miles, I found 
a bed of coal almost identical with the Golden City bed, nine feet thick, 
lying almost horizontal, with bluffs one and a half mile north contain- * 
ing fine specimens of belemnites. 

“Again, in November, 1866, | went northeast of Golden City to see 
the coal-beds on Rock Creek, sixteen to nineteen miles distant. I found 
beds of coal fourteen to eighteen feet in thickness, almost horizontal, or 
dipping eastwardly at a small angle; above them, ferruginous sand- 
stone, and vast beds of bog-iron ore and clay iron-stone, in nodules, with 
numberless fragments of bones. In the sandstone I have obtained fos- 
sils like hippurites, but in none of the beds so far have I found a single 
marine or fresh-water shell, with the exception I have before mentioned. 

“ Hverything that I have so far seen points out that the coal is either 
Cretaceous or Tertiary, but I believe it to be Tertiary, or of the same age 
as the coal near Cologne, on the Rhine; but I am perplexed at the 
inversion of the dip of the coal, sandstone, and the iron ore, which here 
incline toward the mountains instead of away from them, and nothing 
else that I have observed can compare with these tilted-up beds. 

‘“‘T have not time now to follow up this subject, nor to give you all 
the data that I have gathered so far; I shall report to you in full in 
regard to the points you mention, but will give you, as soon as time 
permits, a full report, with elevations, profiles, &c.; also some speci- 
mens to prove the relative age of the strata shown in my sketch.” 

In the newspapers may be seen advertisements of coal for sale, so 
much per ton delivered, and so much at the mine. 

This coal, as well as that at Raton Pass district, is of Tertiary age, 
and it is questionable whether the true Coal-Measures furnish any coal 
in any portion of the Rocky Mountain region. 

3d. The Wind River deposits, which occupy an area about one hun- 
‘dred miles in length and forty to fifty in breadth. 

These deposits. are located between the Wind River and Big Horn 
Mountains, and are of no economical importance. 

4th. The basin of the Mauvaises Terres, or Bad Lands of White River, 


58 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


covers a large region, at least 100,000 square miles, and from isolated - 
patches on both sides of the Missouri River, I would infer that this 
great fresh-water lake must have spread over 150, 000 square wiles. It 
is this latter formation which covers the oreater portion of Western 
Nebraska. The colors on the geological map will show the area. The 
Cretaceous beds occur along the Niobrara for eighty to one hundred 
miles above its mouth; then the loose sandy and marl beds of the Ter- _ 
tiary basin overlap them. Irom thence to the source of the Niobrara, 
about three hundred miles, the river runs through the Tertiary deposits 
only. 

This stream forms the northern boundary of the State. All of Ne- 
braska west of longitude 101° is occupied by the sands and clays of the 
fourth basin. 

The ‘‘ Bad Lands of White River” are so called because, being com- 
posed of indurated sands, clays, and marl, they have been so cut up 
into ravines and cafions by streams, rains, and other atmospheric agen- 
cies, as to leave cones, peaks, isolated columns, and towers, presenting 
the appearance in the distance of a gigantic city in ruins. 

It is so exceedingly rugged and difficult of access that itis only within 
a few years that any route but the Laramie road, which runs through 
the middle of them, was considered passable. Of late years it has been 
shown by various expeditions, both public and private, that any portion 
of the great West can be traversed with teams, if necessary. 

The Cretaceous beds of the Fort Pierre group extend along White 
River from its entrance into the Missouri, except about fifty miles near 
the forks, where the White River Tertiary overlaps them. 

Even now some isolated patches of Tertiary are seen, as Medicine and 
Bijoux Hills. 

From the forks or the junction of Little White River with the larger 
streams the Tertiary beds occupy the whole country to its source. All 
the intervening country between White and Niobrara Rivers is covered 
with the sands, clays, and marl of the White River deposits, but along 
portions of the Niobrara and south of that river the lower sands of the 
Loup River deposits make their appearance. Here we find a singular 
region of country called the “‘Sand Hills,” which occupy an area of 
about twenty thousand square miles. These hills he mostly between 
the Niobrara and the Platte, though a portion of them extend north- 
ward of that river. 

On the south side of the Niobrara the Sand Hills commence at Rapid 
River and extend westward about 100 miles. Along Loup Fork they 
commence near the forks or the junction of Calamus branch with Loup 
Fork. 

The whole surface is dotted over with conical hills of moving sand. 
These bills often look like craters or small basins, the wind whirling 
and, as it were, scooping out the sand, leaving innumerable depressions 
with a well-defined circular rim. There is a great deal of vegetation 
scattered through this portion, grass and plants peculiar to sandy dis- 
tricts. 

Many of the hills are so covered with a species of yucca that their 
sides are well protected from the winds by their roots. It is the favorite 
range for buffalo and antelope, and these animals become very fat, 
and from this fact we may inter that this district may be adapted for 
grazing purposes. It can never be used for purely agricultural pur- 
poses. 

Traveling is also very difficult among these hills; the wheels sink 
deep into the loose sand, rendering it impossible to transport loaded 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE, TERRITORIES. 59 


teams through them. The water, though not abundant, is usually quite 
good, mostly in small lakes. 

There are also many alkaline lakes, which may be readily distin- 
guished from the fresh-water by the absence or presence of vegetation 
around their borders. We may therefore conclude that an area of 
20,000 square miles forming the northwestern portion of the State is 
totally unfit for cultivation, and is even doubttully suitable for grazing. 
There is scarcely any timber on the whole area. Along the Platte and 
south of that river the surface is less sandy and the soil more fixed, so 
that there is at least a moderate degree of fertility, but the absence of 
timber and timely rains will render the whole quite undesirable for the 
farmer. 

As I have before remarked, the cultivation of crops and the planting 
of forest-trees by the settlers farther to the eastward may so modify 
the climate as to produce a more equable distribution of moisture 
throughout the year. But at present I do not see how it can be settled 
except by a pastoral people. 

Aithough these Tertiary deposits cover so extensive an area and con- 
tain no minerals of any economical value, and are of greatly diminished 
value for agricultural purposes, yet for the geologist they offer the most 
tempting treasures in the abundance of curious organic remains. 

Two most remarkable extinct faune are found here, namely, the faune 
of White River and that of the Niobrara, including the Loup Fork. The 
first is found in what is called the ‘“‘ Bad Lands” proper, along White 
River and its tributaries. 

The first animal remains noticed from this deposit were described by 
Dr. Leidy in the Geological Report of the Northwest by Dr. D. D. Owen. 

The lowest bed of this portion of the Tertiary basin is composed mostly 
of clay and is ealled the Yitanotherium bed, from the circumstance 
that it contains the bones and teeth of this gigantic pachyderm. There 
was also a Hyopotamus and the Lophiodon. It would seem as if the 
earlier condition of this lake was that of a great marsh in which these 
animals of the hippopotamus tribe could wallow at pleasure. 

The next stratum above is called the Oreodon bed, from the remains 
of vast numbers of this genus that occur there. 

There were three species, Oreodon major, O. minor, and O. culbertsoni. 
The latter was the most abundant, and seems to have existed in flocks like 
the antelope of the prairies. Dr. Leidy has already examined portions 
of more than 700 individuals of this species. It was a ruminant hog, 
chewing its cud, and at the same time possessed of canine teeth for tear- 
ing flesh. 

There were also three species of the hyena family, a saber-toothed 
tiger, and a gigantic weasel. The saber-toothed tiger would have tre- 
mendous conflicts with the hyenas, and the wounds still can be seen in 
the skulls. 

In one of the skulls of a hyena, completely changed to stone, can be 
seen two wounds on each side of the nose, which had partially healed 
before the death of the animal, and the apertures just fitted the canines 
of a skull of a hyena that was found in the same locality. 

There were also two species of rhinoceros, which must have been 
somewhat similar in their habits to those of the present day, but were 
supposed to have been hornless; one of them was about as large as the 
Asiatic species and the other about two-thirds as large. This White 
River fauna composed about thirty-five species, all of them extinct 
forms, and all restricted to this locality. 

The fauna of the Niobrara is all extinct, and more recent in age, be- 


60 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


longing to the Pliocene period, which in other countries contains mote 
or less § species identical with living ones. 

But this fauna comprises more than thirty species, all of them new 
to science, and not one of them identical with any living species. Over 
thirty species have been found along the Niobrara and. Loup Fork, and 
others may be looked for on more careful examination. 

Among the carnivora were four species of wolves, one about the size 
of the large wolf of the plains, the others of smaller size; two cats, one 
intermediate in size between the panther and lynx, and the other nearly 
as large as the panther. 

Among the rodentia was a porcupine about the size of the crested por- 
cupine of Europe, and a small beaver about half the size of the living 
one. Of the ruminants there were some remarkable species—two species 
of deer, about the size of the common red deer of this country, and four 
species of camel, one about the size of the common Bactrian camel, a 
second species tivo: thirds as large, and the third about the size of the 
Nama of South America. The fourth species was closely allied to the 
living camel, but was of smaller size. Another species was more nearly 
allied to the mountain-sheep, another was ruminant—hogs like the 
Oreodon of White River. The solipedia were remarkably well rep- 
resented, there being remains of not less than a dozen species of horses. 

There ‘were two species of the genus Hquus; one of them (L. ewcelsus) 
was about the size of the largest varieties of the living species; the 
other was smaller. The remainder were of various sizes and forms; one 
of them was not larger than a Newfoundland dog. 

It is the law in animal development that groups reach their culmi- 
nating period and decline. It would seem that during the latter Ter- 
tiary period the horse tribe reached its highest point of development, 
and that now it is on the decline. Among the pachyderms was a species 
of rhinoceros about the same size and apparently closely related to the 
living Indian rhinoceros, &. Indicus ; a species of Mastodon much smaller 
than the one whose remains are so common in all parts of North Amer- 
ica in the recent quaternary deposits. 

The remains of the elephant occur in the Niobrara, which is remark- 
able for being a third larger than any other ever known, extinct or re- 
eent. In view of this fact, Dr. Leidy named it Hlephas imperator—the 
emperor of all the elephants. 

There was also one species of turtle in this more recent deposit, and 
a species in the White River beds. The latter was exceedingly numer- 
ous in this great. fresh-water lake, for the specimens are scattered all 
over the country, many of them preserved with great perfection. We 
know that this was purely a fresh-water lake from the fact that numer- 
ous species of fresh-water and land shells of the genera Helix, Planorbis, 
Physa, Linnea, &c., are found in fine state of preservation. There are 
also some indistinct remains of fishes. From these two faunas, as well 
as the fauna and flora of other formations of this valley, there are some 
instructive lessons to be learned. 

The fauna of White River, although entirely extinct as to species, 
contained representations of some livi ing genera. The greater part 
of the fauna of the Niobrara and Loup Fork belonged to living genera, 
although every species was extinct, but the latter fauna is more closely 
allied to the living fauna of Asia than to any of our own continent. 

Indeed, it seems to have a true oriental character, and it is shown 
clearly that, geologically speaking, our continent should be called the 
Old World instead of the eastern continent. There are several other 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF TIE TERRITORIES. 61 


instances derived from the study of the flora and fauna of the Missouri 
Valley which go to show this fact. 

In the great lignite basin the molluscous remains, although extinct, 
have their living representatives in China and Siam. 

The comparison of the flora of the Dakota group, Cretaceous, shows the 
samerelationship of age, and has been alluded tobefore. Again, these fos- 
sil remains show that a tropical or subtropical climate prevailed through- 
out this western country up to a very late period, at least to the close 

of the Pliocene. 

The prolific flora of the great lignite basin, which is supposed to be 
of Miocene age, is at least subtropical, or similar to that of our Gulf 
States. There is amingling of true tropical and temperate forms. One 
species of palm was found fossil on the Yellowstone, the leaf of which 
must have had a spread of twelve feet. At the present time the true 
palms are found only within the tropics. The faunas of all these depos- 
its at the different geological periods were tropical in their character, 
and from these we infer that a tropical climate prevailed over this 
country during their existence. 

The fertility of the soil of the extended area described in this report 
is beyond a question. It is for the most part covered with a great 
thickness of the yellow marl, varying from a few feet to one hundred or 
more. From Omaha City to the mouth of Niobrara the country bor- 
dering on the Missouri is quite rugged, or one continued irregular series 
of rounded hills, as is shown in the accompanying sketch. 

These superficial deposits yield readily to atmospheric agencies, and 
these hills are formed by the myriads of temporary streams produced 
by rains. As we go farther into the interior the surface is more undu- 
lating, yet the drainage is always excellent. 

The superficial marl very readily absorbs the rain, so that even the 
most level prairie is always sufficiently drained for all the purposes 
of agriculture. The counties of Washington, Dakota, Blackbird, Cum- 
ming, Dodge, Saunders, and portions of Sarpy, Douglas, Platte, Stanton, 
and Dixon, are underlaid by the sandstones of the Dakota group, and, 
in consequence, a large quantity of silica enters into the composition of 
the soil, and hence their great reputation in the production of wheat. 
The average quantity of wheat raised on an acre in the counties above 
mentioned is from twenty-five to thirty bushels; forty to fifty bushels 
not an uncommon yield. 

On one farm in Sarpy County, in 1866, three thousand two hundred 
bushels of wheat were raised, and the whole average was over thirty 
bushels peracre. In Burt County, on Omaha Creek, Mr. George Smith’s 
crop averaged forty-three and a half bushels per acre; Mr. Dugan har- 
vested twenty-four acres, averaging forty-four bushels. In this region 
the uplands seem to produce the best grain. Colonel Baird raised ‘this 
year six acresof wheat that averaged thirty-three and one-third bushels; 
Mr. Cornelia has taken from an eleven- acre lot, this year, the ninth suc- 
cessive crop, and it averaged thirty-five bushels ; Mr. Neil had twenty- 
two acres of wheat, averaging forty-three bushels. A gentleman near 
Tekama, Burt County, hoed in three acres of wheat in 1866, and 
harvested fifty-one and two-third bushels per acre. 

J have accumulated a mass of statistics in regard to the growth of 
wheat in this region, and I am convinced that twenty-five bushels per 
acre is a small yield, while forty to fifty bushels is not unusual. Itisa 
curious fact that wheat raised in this district brings in the market at 
Saint Louis eight to ten cents more per bushel than wheat exposed for 
sale from any other State. 


62 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


The great severity of the climate in winter, and the absence of the 
thick covering of snow, renders it impossible to cultivate winter wheat, 
so that spring-wheat is the only kind raised. Dixon, Cedar, and L’Kau 
Qui Court Counties are beginning to be settled, and good crops are 
produced; but the land is not as desirable, generally, as that farther 
south. 

The soil is thinner and drier; water is far less abundant as we pro- 
ceed northward. The basis formation of these counties is the chalky 
limestone of the Niobrara group, and the rocks furnish moderately good 
building-stone, and it is converted into excellent lime. The eroded 
materials, also, are freely mingled with the soils of the river-bottoms, 
adding much to their fertility. 

Among the most fertile portions of the State are the bottom-lands 
of the Missouri, as the Tekama and Dakota bottoms. These bottoms 
cover so large an area that they deserve especial mention here. 

The Tekama bottom is about forty miles long, and will average five 
miles in width, and the luxuriance of the vegetation upon it attests most 
emphatically the richness of the soil. Good grass grows on it, which 
will yield two to four tons to the acre. Wheat and oats grow most 
abundantly, with comparatively little cultivation. Wheat has been 
raised here at the rate of fifty-two bushels by weight per acre. But 
the bottom is low for the most part, and must be somewhat unhealthy ; 
for such an abundant vegetation—almost tropical in its luxuriance—can- 
not decay without sending forth into the atmosphere more or less 
malaria. 

The water is not good in many places, though it is obtained by dig- 
ging within a few feet of the surface. The soil, to a great depth, has 
been formed by the repeated overflow of the Missouri River, the water 
of which held in suspension the clays and marls of the Cretaceous and 
Tertiary formations farther up the river, which are always impregnated 
with alkaline matters, and these have given something of their nature 
to these bottom-soils, and these alkaline earths necessarily affect the 
water. 

Above Decatur there is a second boitom, about two miles wide and 
eight or ten in length, which is owned by the Omaha Indians. This is 
a low bottom also, which is easily overflowed in high water, but possesses 
the same fertility with the Tekama bottom. 

The next great bottom is the Dakota, upon which Dakota City is lo- 
eated. This is the most important, not only on account of size and fer- 
tility, but because it is several feet higher than the others, and is more 
healthy and seldom overflowed. The Missouri River at times makes its 
ravages upon it, removing many acres in a single season. The village 
of Omadi, which was formerly quite a flourishing town, located some 
distance from the channel and supposed to be safe, has been swept 
away. 

All these bottoms, as well as the immense bottom of the Platte, con- 
tain some alkaline spots which are not usually productive. I am informed 
by an old farmer on the Platte bottom that the second crop is success- 
ful, and also that a coating of manure neutralizes the alkaline influence. 
This alkaline matter increases in quantity as we proceed westward, and 
beyond Fort Kearney all the soil of the bottom is more or less impreg- 
nated with it. 

When the water has stood for a time and dried away, a whitish 
efflorescence is left on the surface. 

The valley of the Elkhorn and the valleys of its branches, Logan, 
Pebble, and Maple Creeks, are among the most fertile and beautifui in 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 63 


the State, underlain as they are for the most part by the soft, yielding 
sandstones of the Dakota group. The surface is gently rolling and un- 
dulating, giving to the landscape a somewhat monotonous but exceed- 
ingly beautiful appearance. 

There is scarcely a foot of land in this great valley, covering an area of 
over one hundred miles in length and fifty te sixty in breadth, that is 
not susceptible of cultivation. But the great deficiency is a suitable 
supply of stone and fuel. In this whole valley there are but few expo- 
sures of the basis rock, and these are very small. 

On the Elkhorn, about eight miles above Pebble Creek, there is an 
exposure of the limestones of the Niobrara divisions, and two lime-kilnus 
are in operation burning lime, which finds a ready market at Krémont, 
on the line of the Union Pacific Railroad. On the Logan there is one 
exposure of the lignite bed seen near Blackbird Hill, on the Missouri. 
It was discovered here by digging beneath the water-level of the Logan, 
and is not over eighteen inches in thickness—a very impure material. 

Our observations north of the Platte show plainly that there are no 
workable beds of coal in that portion of Nebraska. There are not 
probably a half dozen exposures of rock in the Elkhorn Basin, and the 
fuel consists mainly of a narrow fringe of cotton-wood along the streams. 
On the bluffs of the Elkhorn there are a few dwarf oaks, but not enough 
to furnish any permanent supply of wood for fuel or timber for the 
settlers. 

It is evident that the greater portion of the western half of the State 
of Nebraska must remain unsettled or be inhabited sparsely by a people 
devoted to pastoral pursuits. It is a well-known fact that the same hills or 
other portions of the West that appear the most sterile and most deficient 
in wood and water are the favorite resorts of the wild game, and that they 
become exceedingly fat. The short grasses which grow upon these sup- 
posed ar.d, sterile plains seem to suit the palates of the wild animals, 
and they find sufficient water at all seasons of the year. I would inter 
from this fact that it may yet become a fine stock-growing country, and, 
aided by the facilities to market which wil) be furnished by the Union 
Pacifie Railroad, I cannot but believe that some of the finest wool in 
America will one day reach the market from Western Nebraska. 

I should judge that peat beds will be found in great numbers along 
the Missouri north of the Platte, and in the valiey of the Klkhorn and 
along the Platte. No effort has yet been made to search for them, and 
yet the indications are excellent. 

The raising of timber, both on the upland and lowland north of the 
Platte, is proven a success beyond adoubt. The example of Mr. Grif- 
fin, west of Omaha, on the highest land, and some experiments on the 
bottom land at Tekama, Burt County, afford ample proof. Still, so 
little has been done in the way of supplying this country with living 
forests, that I again call attention to this most vital matter to the future 
prosperity of the State. 

At Mr. Thomas’s, near Tekama, twenty-four cotton-wood trees, eight 
years old, averaged two feet and ten and one-eighth inches in circum- 
ference; sixteen locust-trees, (Robinia pseudo acacia,) five years old, from 
seed, carefully cultivated, averaged twenty-three inches in circumfer- 
ence; twenty-five locust-trees, six years old, from seed, but planted on 
sod ground not cultivated, averaged seventeen and seventeen twenty- 
fifths inches in circumference. 

It will be seen by the above that cultivation of forest-trees is as im- 
portant to their success as to that of any of our annual crops. The 


\ 


64 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


cotton-wood trees would each furnish one to two ties for a railroad, and 
the locusts good posts for a wire fence. 

This question of the planting of forest-trees is one of the most im- 
portant that can demand the attention of the citizens of the State, and 
too much cannot be said in regard to it. 

There is another question of importance to the West generally. While 
there are most abundant materials for the manufacture of brick all over 
the State, the fuel that is required to burn them forms a serious draw- 
back, and it is an important matter to ascertain whether the making of 
pressed brick would not prove in this country a success. The dryness of 
the atmosphere in this country is most favorable for the experiment. 
Mr. 8S. P. Reed, superintendent of construction on the Union Pacific 
Railroad, a most intelligent and liberal-minded gentleman, tells me that 
he has made the experiment at Frémont, Dodge County, where he made 
40,000 bricks in this way, and that his success was complete. This fact 
shows that a great obstacle is removed out of the way of the immediate 
settlement of a great portion of this State. 

I would here say that the numerous successful experiments upon 
building materials, and for other purposes, by this powerful and wealthy 
corporation, will be of incalculable value to the State, the future pros- 
perity of which, it seems to me, will be very largely dueto its energy and 
skill. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
F. V. HAYDEN, 
United States Geologist. 
Hon. Jos. 8S. WILSON, 
Commissioner of the General Land- Office. 


SECOND ANNUAL REPORT 


OF THE 


UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


OF THE TERRITORIES, 


EMBRACING WYOMING. 
BY 


F. V. HAYDEN, U. S. Geologist. 


CONDUCTED UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE COMMISSIONER OF 
THE GENERAL LAND-OFFICE. 


ibis @ Se 


5 


REPORT OF F. VY. HAYDEN ON THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE 
MISSOURI VALLEY, 


Sir: In accordance with instructions, [ have the honor to submit the 
accompanying preliminary report of geological surveys during the sea- 
son of 1868, preceding it with a brief outline of the physical geography 
of the Missouri Valley. 

Nearly all the vast area west of the Mississippi may be divided into 
mountain and prairie, for very soon after passing westward from Leav- 
enworth there is very little timber to be seen except that which skirts 
the streams. This consists mostly of cotton-wood ; a few low oaks or 
pines are found on the dry hills, and here and there an elm or ash. The 
whole surface is undulating ; ridge on ridge and hill on hill as far as the 
eye can reach. This combination of mountain and prairie may be said 
to comprise what is generally known as the Rocky Mountain region. 
AS we proceed westward, we find that the ascent is gradual, at first not 
more than one foot per mile, gradually increasing until we approach the 
mountain-elevations, when the grade of ascent becomes 40 to 50 feet per 
nile. If we examine in their order some of the barometrical profiles 
which have been made along the lines of the routes explored for the 
Pacific Railroad, we can readily ascertain the gradual ascent, toward the 
mountain-elevations. 

Leaving Saint Louis westward, we gradually ascend, passing over a 
prairie country for the most part, for the distance of nearly 800 miles, 
and when we have reached an elevation of 6,000 feet above the sea we 
come abruptly to the lofty rugged peaks which compose the various 
series of elevated ridges. Examining the map of the country west of the 
Mississippi, published by the War Department, we observe that the 
immediate Rocky Mountain region is not composed of merely a single 
lofty upheaved ridge extendiug across the continent, but a vast series of 
ridges or ranges which, taken singly, do not seem to have any definite 
trend, but, when viewed in the aggregate, extend across the map in a 
direction nearly northwest and southeast, forming a zone or belt 500 to 
1,000 miles in width from east to west. 

From longitude 96° westward to the foot of the mountain-ridges, the 
country traversed exhibits the true typical prairie, no timber being found 
to any extent, except that which skirts the streams. From thence to 
the Pacific coust we have what may be called the true mountain portion, 
which is composed of a vast number of ridges of elevation, interspersed 
with beautiful valleys, many of which are remarkable for their fertility. 
Some of the valleys are quite large and surrounded by the mountain- 
ridges as by gigantic walls. 

If we examine the barometrical profile constructed by Governor Ste- 
vens, from Saint Paul, Minnesota, to the foot of the mountains westward, 
we find that the former locality is 828 feet above the sea-level. Near 
the mouth of the Yellowstone, 670 miles to the westward, we find that the 
elevation is 2,010 feet above the sea, and that we have made a gradual, 
almost imperceptible ascent of, in that distance, 1,172 feet, or an average 
of nearly two feet to the mile. As we approach the base of the mount- 


68 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


ain-ridges, the ascent continues to increase, and when we reach the val- 
ley of Dearborn River, 448 miles farther west, we ascertain that this 
locality is 4,091 feet above the sea-level, and that in the distance of 448 
miles we have ascended 2,081 feet, or nearly five feet to the mile. The 
valley of Dearborn River is just at the foot of the mountains, and to that 
point the country traversed belongs to the true type of the western 
prairie. Again, if we examine the profile, commencing at Council Bluffs, 
on the Missouri River, we find the elevation at that point to be 1,527 feet 
above the sea-level. Thence proceeding westward to the sources of 
_ Lodge Pole Creek, at the base of the Laramie range of mountains, we 
have made an ascent, while thus passing over the prairie region, of 
nearly 5,000 feet. We thus see that, in the distance of 550 miles, we 
have reached an elevation of 3,000 feet higher than our starting-point, 
by an ascent of five feet to the mile. 

Again glancing at the profile extending from Fort Leavenworth west- 
ward, we observe that at the Missouri River the elevation is 904 feet 
above the sea. At the base of the Laramie range of mountains, 659 
miles west, the elevation is 6,716 feet. To illustrate the increased ra- 
pidity of ascent as we approach the vicinity of the upheaved ridges, we 
see that the elevation at the forks of the Platte is 3,000 feet above the 
sea, making an ascent from the Missouri River to this point, a distance 
of 4135 miles, of 2,096 feet, or about five feet to the mile. From the forks 
of the Platte to the foot of the Laramie Mountains, a distance of 246 
miles, we find an increased elevation of 3,716 feet, or 15 feet to the mile. 
After reaching the base of the elevated ridges, the ascent is more or less 
abrupt, sometimes rising to the height of 3,000 to 6,000 feet above the 
open prairie country around. 

We might continue our remarks, in regard to the profiles, still farther 
southward, with similar results, but we have said enough to indicate the 
beautiful unity in the physical development of the western portion of 
our continent. We have shown that the whole country west of the 
Mississippi to the Pacific may be regarded as a vast plateau, and that it 
was gradually elevated until the crust of the more central portions was 
strained to its utmost tension, and that it then burst, and slowly were 
evolved the lofty ranges which, taken collectively, soon pass under the 
name of the Rocky Mountains. 

So far as my own observations have extended, there appear to be two 
types of mountain-elevations, namely, those elevations which have a 
granite nucleus and form long continuous lines of fracture with far less 
inequality of ontline, and those ranges which are composed of erupted 
rocks, which are very rugged in their outline and irregular in their trend. 
The Black Hills, the most eastern outlier of the main mountain-range, 
present an excellent illustration of the first type. Very little was known 
of these mountains until they were explored in the summer of 1857 by 
an expedition placed, by the War Department, under the command of 
Lieutenant G. K. Warren, United States Army, to which expedition the 
writer was attached as geologist and naturalist. A preliminary report , 
of the results of this exploration was presented to the War Department 
under the title “ Explorations in Nebraska and Dakota in the years 
1855, 1856, and 1857.” 

The Black Hills lie between the 43d and 45th degrees of latitude and 
the 105d and 105th parallels of longitude, and occupy an area about 
100 miles in length and 60 in breadth. According to Lieutenant War- 
ren, ‘ the shape of the mass is-elliptical and the major axis trends about 
20° west of north. The base of these hills is 2,500 to 5,600 feet above 
the sea, and the highest peaks 6,700 feet.” The whole range is clasped, 


‘EOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 69 


as it were, by the north and south branches of the Big Cheyenne River, 
the most important stream in this region. The north branch passes 
along the rorthern side of the range, receiving very many of its tribu- 
taries and most of its waters from it, but takes its rise far to the west- 
ward of the range, near the sources of Powder River, in the “ divide,” 
between the waters of the Yellowstone and those of the Missouri. 

The south fork also rises in the same divide, flowing along the southern 
base of the range, and also receives numerous tributaries which have 
_ their sources in it. These two main branches unite about 30 miles east 
of the Black Hills, forming the Big Cheyenne, which flows into the Mis- 
souri, about 60 miles above Fort Pierre. The Moreau, Grand, Cannon 
Ball, and other rivers flowing into the Missouri, north of the Cheyenne 
and south of the Yellowstone, rise in a high Tertiary divide north of the 
Biack Hills, and are, for the greater part of the season, quite shallow 
and sometimes nearly dry; but the Little Missouri derives a portion of 
its waters from the Black Hills through a number of small branches 
which flow from the northwestern slope. 

We thus see that the Black Hills do not give rise directly to any im- 
portant stream, if we except the Little Missouri, afew branches of which 
flow from springs near the base of the hills, but afford a comparatively 
small supply of water from that source. 

We will now allude for a moment to what we believe to be the econom- 
ical value of the timber in the Black Hills to the people now rapidly 
settling Dakota Territory. As we have previously remarked in this 
chapter, these hills occupy an area about 100 miles in length, and about 
60 in breadth, or about 6,000 square miles. I think it is safe to say that 
at least one-third of this area, or about 2,000 square miles, is covered 
with excellent pine timber, or 1,280,000 acres. How is this timber to be 
made available? As I have before remarked, the two forks of the Chey- 
enne River, as it were, clasp the Black Hills, the two branches passing 
along close to the northern and southern borders of the hills. From 
four to six months of the year these streams are quite high. The logs 
could be cut and transported to the sides of these streams during the 
dry season, and when the streams are high in the spring of the year, 
they could be taken down into the Missouri River with a good degree 
of safety and ease; at least that is my impression. In a report made 
to Lieutenant G. K. Warren, March 15, 1856, I made use of the follow- 
ing language in reference to this matier: 

The Black Hills, which appear in the distance, and derive their name from their dark 
and gloomy appearance, contain an inexhaustible quantity of the finest timber, mostly 
pine, which will doubtless remain undisturbed for many years to come. I will, how- 
ever, propose a plan for obtaining this timber, and rendering it useful to future set- 
tlers; though I do it with some hesitation lest it may seem visionary. The left fork 
of the Cheyenne passes through the northern portion of the Black Hills, and even 
there is a considerable stream from 30 to 50 yards wide. In the spring the river is 
much swollen and the current exceedingly rapid, and the timber, if cut and hauled to 


the banks of the river, might be floated down into the Missouri with considerable 
safety and ease. 


At the time the above was written I had seen but little of the Black 
Hills, and nothing was known of the geography of the forks of the 
Cheyenne. 

The geological structure of the Black Hills may be mentioned briefly 
in this connection. The nucleus or central portion is composed of red 
feldspathic granite, with a series of metamorphic slates and schists 
superimposed, and thence upon each side of the axis of elevation the 
various fossiliferous formations of this region follow in their order to 
the summits of the Cretaceous, the whole inclining against the grani- 


70 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


toid rocks at a greater or less angle. There seems to be no unconform- 
ability in these fossiliferous rocks from the Potsdam inclusive to the 
top of the Cretaceous. 

From these facts we draw the inference that prior to the elevation of 
the Black Hills, which must have occurred after the deposition of the 
Cretaceous rocks, all these formations presented an unbroken continuity 
over the whole area occupied by these mountains. This is an impor- 
tant conclusion, and we shall hereafter see its application to other 
ranges, and also to the Rocky Mountain range taken in the agegre- 
gate. 

Proceeding in a southwest direction from the Black Hills, we find 
that there are ample proofs of the connection of these hills with the 
Laramie Mountains, through a low anticlinal which can be followed for 
many tniles. It is sometimes concealed by the recent Tertiary beds, but 
it re-appears at different points. By the ‘Laramie Mountains we desi g- 
nate those eastern ranges which extend from the Red Buttes southward 
to the Arkansas. This range, when examined in detail, is composed of 
a large number of smaller ranges, all, so far as I have observed, of the 
true granitic type. The trend of the whole group is very nearly north 
and south, northward as far as Fort Laramie, where they make an ab- 
rupt flexure around to the west and northwest, and gradually cease and 
die out at the Red Buttes. From this point westward and northward, 
there is a space from 25 to 40 miles in width, destitute of mountain- de 
vations, though the strata exhibit evidence of dislocation or crust move 
ments. 

Geologically the Laramie range is also composed of a granitoid nu- 
cleus, with the fossiliferous formations, Silurian, Carboniferous, Red Are- 
naceous beds, (Triassic,) Jurassic, Cretaceous, and in many places Lignite 
Tertiary, inclining from each side of a central axis at various angles. It 
is in these mountains that the numerous branches of the Platte have 
their sources, extending a distance of nearly 400 miles. From the ob- 
Servations which I have made in this range, it seems to me that the 
conclusion is plain that all the above-named rocks in a nearly or quite 
horizontal position were continuous over the whole area at present oc- 
cupied by it some time during the Tertiary period. 

The most important outlier of the Rocky Mountains on the eastern 
slope is the Big Horn range, which, though somewhat irregular in the 
shape of its mass, has a general trend nearly northwest and southeast. 
It occupies an area about 180 miles in length and 50 in breadth, near 
latitude 43° 30’, and longitude 102°. The line of fracture seems to have 
partially died out as it were toward the south or southeast, and to have 
made a general flexure around to the west, the whole range soon losing 
its granitoid character and becoming entirely composed of more modern 
eruptive rocks. The eruptive portion continues westward until it joins 
on to the Wind River range, near the sources of Wind River, at the 
southern end of the Big Horn Mountains. We can trace a single anti- 
clinal across the prairie connecting these mountains with the Laramie 
range at the Red Buttes on the North Platte. We also know by the 
position of the sedimentary beds upheaved along the mountains that 
these mountains also form a connection with the Wind River range by 
the gradual fiexure westward of the eruptive rocks. The central por- 
tion of these mountains is also composed of granite and granitoid 
rocks, with the same series of fossiliferous formations, inclining at vari- 
ous angles from each side of the axis of elevation, as are seen around 
the Black Hills and along the Laramie Mountains. Some of the more 
lofty peaks are from 8,000. to 12,000 feet above the sea, and are covered 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 71 


with perpetual snow. We think that the evidence is quite conclusive 
that, up to the time of the accumulation of a large portion of the Lig- 
nite Tertiary beds, all these formations, from the Silurian to the true Lig- 
nite strata inclusive, were in a horizontal position, extending continu- 
ously over the whole area occupied by the mountains; but, as they 
were slowly elevated, the central portions were removed by the erosive 
action of water. The eruptive portion, which unites the Big Horn 
range with the Wind River Mountains, is exceedingly picturesque, pre- 
- senting the appearance of a connected series of basaltic cones, and so 
rugged and inaccessible are they that the persevering trappers have 
never been able to penetrate them in their hunting explorations. 

Like the Black Hills, the Big Horn range does not give rise to many 
important sub-hydrographical: basins. The largest stream in this re- 
gion, and one which gives name to the mountains, rises in the Wind 
River range, passes through the Big Horn Mountains, and unites with 
the Yellowstone about 70 miles to the southward. Before reaching the 
mountains it takes the name of Wind River, and assumes the name of 
Big Horn after emerging from them. This range, however, constitutes 
quite an important feeder to the Yellowstone. Powder River, which 
rises in this range by bumerous branches, drains a large area mostly 
Lignite Tertiary, and pours a considerable volume of water into the 
Yellowstone, near longitude 105$° and latitude 464°. Tongue River is 
the next most important stream, which, though not draining so great 
an area aS Powder River, empties into the Yellowstone a much larger 
volume of water. 

The Medicine Bow and Sweetwater Mountains appear to be of the 
same character for the most part; but on the east side of the Sweetwater 
River the evidence of igneous action is shown on a large scale. The 
ancient volcanic material would seem to have been elevated to a great 
height in but a partially fluid condition, and then to have gradually 
cooled, affecting to a greater or less extent the fossiliferous strata in 
contact. 

Near the junction of the Popoagie with Wind River we come in 
full view of the Wind River Mountains, which form the dividing crest of 
the continent, the streams on the one side flowing into the Atlantic and 
those on the other into the Pacific. This range is also composed to a 
large extent of red and gray feldspathic granite, with the fossiliferous 
rocks inclining high upon its sides. After passing the sources of Wind 
River the mountains appear to be composed entirely of eruptive rocks. 
Even the three Tétons, which raise their summits 11,000 feet above the 
ocean-bed, are formed of very compact basaltic rocks. The Wasatch 
and Green River ranges, where we observed them, have the same 
igneous origin, and the mountains all along the sources of the different 
branches of the Columbia exhibit these rocks in their full force. In 
Pierre’s Hole, Jackson’s Hole, and other valleys surrounded by upheaved 
ridges, these ancient volcanic rocks seem to have been poured out over 
the country and to have cooled in layers, giving to vast thicknesses of 
the rocks the appearance of stratified beds. 

The mountains about the sources of the Missouri and Yellowstone 
Rivers are of eruptive origin, and in the valley of the Madison Fork of 
the Missouri are vertical walls of these ancient volcanic rocks 1,000 to 
1,500 feet in height, exhibiting the appearance of stratified deposits, 
dipping at a considerable angle. As we pass down the Madison Fork 
we find some beds of feldspathic rocks and mica and clay slates be- 
neath the eruptive layers dipping at the same angle. After passing the 
divide below the three forks of the Missouri, we see a number of pat- 


(2 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


tially detached ranges which appear to be of the same igneous character. 
In the Belt, Highwood Mountains, and indeed all along the eastern 
slope in this region, we find continued evidence of the outpouring of 
the fluid material in the form of surface beds or in layers thrust between 
the fossiliferous strata. These igneous beds thin out rapidly as we re- 
cede from the point of effusion. A large number of these centers of 
protrusion may be seen along the slope of the mountains west of the 
Judith range. 

The erupted material sometimes presents a vertical wall 300 feet high, 
then suddenly thins out and disappears. The Judith, Bear’s Paw, and 
Little Rocky Mountains seem to be composed for the most part of granite 
and other rocks, with igneous protrusions here and there. I had sup- 
posed from the observations made in my former explorations that the 
central portions of our mountain-ranges were composed of feldspathic 
granite, and to acertain extent this is true of the more eastern outliers; 
but the observations during this expedition have convinced me that these 
rocks, which I have classed as eruptive, composed by far the greater 
portion of the mountain masses of the West. 

In this connection I have thought it best to remark more systematically 
in regard to the principal rivers that drain this immense area of country. 
The Missouri River and its tributaries form one of the largest as well as 
most important hydrographical basins in America. It drains an area 
of nearly or quite 1,000,000 square miles. Taking its rise in the loftiest 
portions of the Rocky Mountains, near latitude 44°, longitude 113°, it 
flows northward in three principal branches, Madison, Gallatin, and 
Jefferson Forks, to their junction, and then proceeds onward until it 
emerges from the gate of the mountains, a distance of nearly 200 miles; 
it then bends to the eastward, flowing in this direction to the entrance 
of White Earth River, a distance of nearly 500 miles; it then gradually 
bends southward and southeastward to its junction with the Mississippi, 
a distance of 1,500 to 2,000 miles. The branches which form the sources 
of the Missouri rise in the central portions of the Rocky Mountain range, 
flowing through granite, basaltic, and the older sedimentary rocks, until 
it emerges from the gate of the mountains, when the Triassic and Jurassic 
are Shown. The falls-of the Missouri, extending for a distance of 20 or 
30 miles, cut their way through a great thickness of compact Triassic 
rocks. Below the falls the channel makes its way through the soft yield- 
ing claysand sands of the Cretaceous beds for about 250 miles, with the 
exception of the Judith Tertiary basin, which is about 40 miles in length. 
The Cretaceous beds continue, extending nearly to the mouth of Milk 
River, when the Lignite Tertiary formations commence. These are also 
composed of sands, marls, and clays, as the character of the valley will 
show. 

The river flows through these Tertiary rocks to the mouth of Heart 
River, below Fort Union, a distance of nearly 250 miles, when the Cre- 
taceous rocks come to the surface again. These latter rocks extend 
nearly to Council Bluffs, a distance of over 500 miles. I have estimated 
- the distance in a straight line as nearly as possible. Just above Council 
Bluffs the Coal-Measure limestones commence, and the valley of the 
Missouri becomes more restricted, though it is of moderate width even 
below the mouth of the Kansas. 

The Yellowstone River is by far the largest branch of the Missouri, and 
for 400 miles from its mouth up it seems to be as large as the Missouri 
itself from Fort Union to Fort Pierre. Itis navigable for large steamers 
during the spring and early summer for 300 to 400 miles above its 
junction with the Missouri. This river also takes its rise in the main 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. (i: 


divide of the Rocky Mountains, near latitude 444°, longitude 1109, in 
a lake, as some suppose, called Yellowstone Lake, which is about sixty 
miles long and 10 to 20 wide. Its channel is formed in rocks similar to 
that of the Missouri, about 400 miles of its course passing through Lig- 
nite Tertiary beds. The character of its valley is very similar to that 
of the Missouri. Most of the important branches of this river I have 
alluded to in the preceding portion of this chapter. Tongue and Powder 
_ Rivers, which are quite long branches, have their origin in the Big 
Horn Mountains, their channels cutting through the different rocks 
that surround the Big Horn range. Tongue River is nearly 150 miles 
in length, and flows for the most part through the soft yielding rocks 
of the Lignite Tertiary. Powder River is from 250 to 300 miles in length, 
aud also flows. nearly all its course, through the same Tertiary beds as 
Tongue River. 

Passing below Fort Union we observe on the right side of the Mis- 
souri River several large rivers, as Little Missouri, Big Knife, Heart, 
Cannon Ball, Grand Moreau, and Big Cheyenne. The Little Missouri 
receives a small portion of its waters from the Black Hills, but most of 
its branches have their origin in the prairie. The Big Cheyenne, 
though receiving most of its water from the Black Hills, takes its rise 
far west of the hills, in the Tertiary beds; but, after flowing past the 
Black Hills, wears its channel through the Cretaceous beds Nos. 4 and 
5 of the section. The other rivers mentioned above take their rise in 
the Lignite Tertiary beds near the eastern base of the Black Hills, and 
flow through Lignite Tertiary rocks until very near or quite to their junc- 
tion with the Missouri. 

The Téton River takes its origin in the northwestern rim of the White 
River Tertiary basin, runs nearly east, for the most part through forma- 
tions Nos. 4 and 5 of the Cretaceous period. It drains an area about 
100 miles in length and 30 to 50 miles in width. The next most promi- 
nent stream is White River, which is noted for its relations to the “ Bad 
Lands,” and giving name to one of the most remarkable Tertiary deposits 
in the world. It takes its rise in the prairie, near latitude 424° and 
longitude 104°, flows for a time in a northeast direction, then bends 
around so as to enter the Missouri a little south of east near latitude 
43° 41’ and longitude 994°. Nearly its entire course is through the 
White River Tertiary beds, and, for the greater part of the year, its waters 
are so full of sediment that they are quite unfit for use. When they 
stand for a timea thick scum accumulates on the surface which has 
much the color and consistency of cream. The water itself looks much 
like very turbid lime-water, and is very astringent to the taste. The 
river has generally a wide open valley, tolerably well wooded and abound- 
ing in fine grass, and has always been a private resort for the Indians. 
The road between Forts Laramie and Pierre passes along the valley for 
a considerable distance, through some of the most picturesque scenery 
in the West. It has numerous branches; the only one of importance is 
ealled the South Fork, and is nearly as large and long as the main 
stream. It drains an area about 250 miles in length and 40 to 60 in 
breadth. ° 

The Niobrara River is the next most important stream; and as the 
area drained by this stream has been the subject of much interest to the 
inhabitants of Nebraska and Dakota, I take the liberty of quoting the 
minute and excellent description of Lieutenant Warren : 


* The Niobrara being a stream heretofore unknown, and one in which the people of 
Nebraska feel much interest, I shall describe it in detail. 


* Letter to Hon. G. W. Jones relative to his exploration of Nebraska Territory, January, 1868. 


74 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


This river is about 450 miles long. From its source to longitude 103° 15’ it is a beau- © 
tiful little stream of clear running water, of a width of from 10 to 15 feet, gradually 
widening as it descends. Its valley furnishes here very good grass, abounding in 
rushes or prele, but is for the most part destitute of wood even for cooking. After 
flowing thus far it rapidly widens, till in longitude 102° 30’ it attains a width of 60 to 
80 yards; its valley is still quite open and easy to travel along, but destitute of wood, 
except occasional pines on the distant hills tothe north. In longitude 102° 30’ it enters 
between high steep banks which closely confine it, and for a long way it is a complete 
cation; here, however, wood becomes more abundant and pine is occasionally seen on 
the bluffs, while small clusters of cotton-wood, elm, and ash occupy the narrow points 
left by its windings. In longitude 101° 45’ the sand-hills come on the north side close 
to the river, while on the south they are at the distance of from one to two miles off, 
leaving a smooth road to travel on along the bluffs; the blufts gradually appear higher 
and higher above the stream as it descends until they reach the height of 300 feet. The 
sand mostly ceases on the north side in longitude 100° 23’; but it lies close to the 
stream on the south side nearly all the way to the Wazihonska. Throughout this sec- 
tion, lying between longitude 102° and longitude 99° 20’, a distance of 180 miles, the 
Niobrara is in every respect a peculiar stream, and there is none that I know of that it 
can be compared with. It flows here between high, rocky banks of soft, white, and 
yellowish calcareous and siliceous sandstone, standing often in precipices at the water’s 
edge, its verticality being preserved by a capping of hard grit. It is here impossible 
to travel any considerable distance along its immediate banks without having fre- 
quently to climb the ridges which rise sometimes perpendicularly from the stream. As 
you approach from the north or south, there are no indications of a river till you come 
within two or three miles of the banks, and then only by the trees, whose tops occasion- 
ally rise above the ravines in which they grow, so completely is it walled in by high 
bluffs which inclose its narrow valley. The soft rock which forms the bluffs is worn 
into the most intricate labyrinths by the little streams, all of which have their sources 
in beautiful gushing springs of clear cold water. In these small deep valleys the grass 
is luxuriant; pine, ash, and oak are abundant; cherries, currants, gooseberries, plums, 
and grapes grow in profusion in their season ; elk, deer, and other animals find here 
their choicest haunts, and here they congregate during the snows and cold of winter. 
The region is a perfect paradise for savage life, and the brutes who now have possession 
of it probably value it as highly as ever human being did a home. Their indignation 
was great at our intrusion among them, and they were earnest in declaring that the 
white man should never dispossess them while they lived. To the agriculturist this 
section has, however, comparatively little attraction, and that between longitude 99° 
20’ and the mouth, an extent of about 90 miles, is perhaps far more valuable. Here the 
bottoms will probably average a width of a quarter of a mile; are susceptible of culti- 
vation; and cotton-wood, oak, walnut, and ash will furnish settlements with all the 
timber and fuel they will need. The river-banks seem to present no good building- 
stone, nor did we, though searching diligently, discover any signs of valuable coal or 
other minerals. In describing the tributaries to the Niobrara, I shall begin at the 
mouth and take the north side first. The Ponka River, which has a very fine, well- 
wooded, and fertile valley, runs into the Missouri, about five miles north of the Nio- 
brara, in latitude 42° 48’ north. Its course is parallel and near to that of the Niobrara, 
as far up as the mouth of Turtle Hill River. Turtle Hill River (Kehah Paha) is the 
main branch of the Niobrara, and is about 120 miles long. I crossed it, in 1855, sixty. 
miles above its mouth, and it has a very fine valley one-half to three-fourths of a mile 
wide, with good soil and a limited quantity of fine cotton-wood timber. The bed of the 
stream is sandy, and its waters are clear and sweet; width at the mouth, fifty yards. 
The first 20 miles of the space between this branch and the main river is occupied by 
sand-hills. 

The next northern branch which joins the Niobrara, in longitude 100° 23’, is named 
Minicha-Duza-Wakpa, or Rapid Creek. At its mouthit is about eight yards wide, with 
a valley about a quarter to a half mile wide, and a soil quite fertile; the banks are 
scantily fringed with small trees. It forms about the eastern border of the sand-hills 
on the north side of the Niobrara as far as we could see. Its length is about 50 miles. 

The mouth of the next stream is in longitude 101° 18’; it has scarcely any appreciable 
valley, flows between high, rocky bluftts, difficult to ascend and descend ; it is about 
fifty yards wide, with clear, deep, swift-running water, and is probably about 35 miles 
long. 

The mouth of the next northern tributary is in longitude 101° 30’, and is called White 
Earth Creek; it is about three-fourths the size of Rapid Creek, which it resembles in 
every particular, and is about 25 miles long. The next, in longitude 102°, is a small 
spring rivulet about 26 miles long; and above this the branches are all small runs 
coe ee the bluffs, generally dry except after rains, with scarcely any valleys to 
speak of. 

On the south side of the Niobrara there are numerous small branches coming in be- 
tween its junction with the Missouri and the point where it receives the waters of the 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 15 


Turtle Hill River. Three of these are of considerable size, probably 35 miles long, the 
bluffs along nearly all of them being more or less covered with scattered pine, and 
their valleys occupied with clumps of cotton-wood, oak, ash, &ce. 

From the mouth of Turtle Hill River to that of the Wazihonska there are still a 
greater number of short southern branches, all containing springs of water and abound- 
ing in pine and beautiful oak groves. 

Wazihonska means in Dakota tongue “the place where the pine extends far out ;” 
and this stream, whose mouth is in longitude 100°, is probably 40 miles long, and all itg 
bluffs and side ravines are green with pine. Its. valley, though not so wide, is very 
similar to that of the Niobrara in this part, which has been described. 

' Snake River, whose mouth is in longitude 100° 45’, is quite a large stream, some 3¢ 
yards wide, its bluffs covered with pine, with a narrow valley like the Wazihonska. 

Above this there isscarcely any branch coming in from the south deserving mention. 

Niobrara is a very shallow and ‘“‘swift-flowing stream,” as the Canadians say, L’eau 
qui court, abounding in rapids in two-thirds of its upper course, and in its middle por- 
tion filled with small islands. In the lower portion its width exceeds that of the Mis- 
souri River and is spread out over sand-bars. The bed in the broad portions is quick- 
sand and difficult to ford. Its waters rapidly increase in volume through its middle 
portion, from the multitude ot springs and streamlets that constantly flow into it from 
the foot. of the bluffs and out of the ravines. It furnishes no navigation, except it 
might be for light flat-boats during floods, and probably might be used for rafting. 
Logs could be driven if the timber should be found of a quality, quantity, and acces- 
sibility to defray the expenses. I cannot, however, look upon it as capable of furnish- 
ing timber for the country on the Missouri, for the reason that much of the pine is too 
small, crooked, and knotty, and grows in places difficult to transport it from. The 
species is what is called the Rocky Mountain pine, has a yellowish-white appearance, 
and abounds in resin. The distance on the Niobrara over which these pine ravines 
extend is about 120 miles. 

A road could not be made on the bottom-lands of the Niobrara; it must keep out on 
the high prairie so as to head the ravines. From the mouth to Turtle Hill River, it 
would take the narrow divide between the Niobrara and Ponka Rivers. It should 
remain on the north side of Turtle Hill River from 20 to 30 miles farther, and then 
cross that stream, as it would thus avoid the sand at the junction of the Niobrara and 
Turtle Hill Rivers, and cross the latter where there is a better ford or narrower stream 
to bridge. Turning then toward the Niobrara, the river must be crossed in longitude 
101° 20’ to avoid the sand-hills, and the route must continue on the south side to about 
longitude 102°, when it should again cross to the north side. These crossings for a 
wagon-road could easily be made at a ford or by bridging, but a proper bridge for a 
railroad-crossing at these places would be a stupendous undertaking; for on account 
of the nature of the banks and ravines good approaches could not be found so as to 
descend to the level of the stream, and the bridge would have to be built very high. 
From longitude 102° west there are no difficulties beyond a scarcity of wood in reach- 
ing Fort Laramie, or continuing direct to the South Pass, and in this course abundance 
of excellent pine would be found near Rawhide Peak. 

A preferable road might: be found by continuing up Turtle Hill River to its source, 
and then along the divide between Niobrara and White Rivers, striking the former 
stream in longitude 102°; but these divides are generally bad tor wagon-routes on ac- 
count of scarcity of water, and it is not certain that we would by that route avoid the 
sand-hills. 


The area oceupied by the Niobrara is about 450 miles in length from 
east to west, and from 40 to 60 miles in width from north to south. 

The next sub-hydrographical basin, and perhaps in many respects the 
most important one in the Missouri Valley, is that of the Platte, which 
flows into the Missouri River near latitude 41° 3/ 24”. Its valley forms 
anatural grade for a railroad to the foot of the mountains, and already 
one has been constructed from Omaha City, 640 miles, and before this 
report will be given to the world it will doubtless be completed to the 
foot of the mountains. The Platte River takes its rise in the Laramie 
range, and flows for the greater part of its course through the more recent 
beds of the Tertiary deposits. The area drained by this river must be at 
least 600 miles from east to west, and 80 to 150 from north to south. 
Although a wide stream, 1,000 yards or more, the water is so shallow 
and the channel so shifting that it can never be rendered navigable even 
for Mackinaw boats. Even the fur-traders have never been able to rely 
upon it for the transportation of their furs and skins. 

On the left or north side of the Missouri there are comparatively few 


76 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


branches, the principal of which are Milk, White Earth, James, Vermil- | 
lion, and Big Sioux. The three last named rise in the far north and flow 
through amuch morerocky region and over astony bed, and their waters, 
as they pour them into the Missouri, contain far less sediment than any 
of the others. Indeed, most of the rivers previously described flow through 
a more or less barren country, with a thirsty atmosphere and a still more 
thirsty soil, and on their way to the Missouri they lose nearly or quite 
all their waters. Many of these long rivers, as Grand, Cannon Ball, Chey- 
enne, in the autumn frequently become so dry as to cease to be running 
Streams, while perhaps 100 miles above their mouth, if in the vicinity of 
some mountains, there is afull supply of water. The Muscleshell River 
is a fine example. Toward the source of this river it is a fine running 
Stream; in the dry season it is lost almost entirely before reaching the 
Missouri. Much more might be said in this connection, but encugh has 
been written to enable the reader to comprehend to some extent the vast 
geographical area drained by the Missouri River and its tributaries. 
oh SEN. EU ASYaD) BING, 

United States Geologist. 


\ 
d 


Hon. J. S. WILSON, 
Commissioner of the General Land- Office. 


Geological Explorations in Wyoming Territory. 


Fort STEELE, UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD, 
September 5, 1868. 


Sir: I have the honor to forward this day the first part of my prelim- 
inary report from the field. Another portion, describing my examinations 
from Fort Sanders to Benton Station and westward, will follow soon. 
In the reports I have endeavored to give all the important details, and 
as they are descriptive of regions almost or quite unknown previously to 
the geologist, I hope they will be found of interest to you. The coal and 
iron mines are of the highest value and almost unlimited in extent, while 
indications of the precious metals have been observed in numerous locali- 
ties. It is my intention to push on to Fort Bridger by way of the over- 
land stage-route, and returning along the Union Pacific Railroad, so as to 
construct a geological section of the route, making use of the cuts in the 
road to give me aclearer knowledge of the different beds. It is my pur- 
. pose to take as full and accurate notes of the country along the road as 
possible so that they can be used as a guide to travelers when they wish 
to study the geology of the route. 

My party consists of nine persons. We have a two-horse ambulance 
and a four-mule covered wagon, three tents, and fourriding-animals. I 
hope to return to Fort Sanders with ali my party between the 1st and 
10th of October. No draft has been received up to this time. All are 
well and in good spirits. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
FE. V. HAYDEN, 
United States Geologist. 


Hon. JOSEPH S. WILSON, 
Commissioner General Land. Office. 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. An 


Sir: I have the honor to submit the following preliminary report of 

my labors in the field, connected with the geological survey of Colorado 
and Wyoming Territories. I beg leave to state here that these notes are 
prepared in the field after the labors of the day are completed, far away 
from books and collections, and without that opportunity for mature 
reflection which should characterize a final report, and therefore I ask 
you to look with Jeniency on any errors that may occur, or any want of 
precision of statement. 
_ My examinations properly begin at Cheyenne City, along the line of the 
Union Pacific Railroad; but the connection of the geology eastward with 
that to the west will be better understood by a résumé of the structure 
of the country from Omaha. 

At Omaha, and extending above that point along the Missouri River 
for about 40 miles, we find the underlying rocks to belong to the Upper 
or Barren Coal-Measures; overlapping these are the sandstones of the 
Cretaceous period, which first reveal themselves immediately along the 
Missouri, about 20 miles north of Omaha, but are found about 10 miles 
westward as much as 8 or 10 miles south of the Platte River. 

Near the mouth of the Elkhorn the rusty sandstones of the Dakota 
group occupy the whole country. Near Columbus and beyond for 20 or 
30 miles traces of No. 3 Cretaceous are observed, but they are never con- 
spicuous. Numbers 4 and 5 have not been seen along the Platte. 

‘About 200 miles west of the Missouri River, along the Platte, the light 
élays and mar!s of the Tertiary period commence, foreshadowed, however, 
by a thick superficial deposit of fine brown grit, which seems to be of 
Post-Pliocene age, as it is filled with recent tresh-water and land shells, 
Helix, Planorbis, Pupa, Physa, &c. The Tertiary beds extend uninter- 
ruptedly to the margin of the Laramie range, along the line of the Union 
Pacific Railroad. For 150 to 200 miles west of Omaha the soil is very 
fertile, and in an agricultural point of view can hardly be surpassed ; but 
beyond that point there is an absence of both wood and water, which will 
render it impossible to cultivate the western half of the State of Nebraska 
successfully. As a grazing country, however, it will eventually prove 
most valuable. For sheep-raising it, seems especially adapted. Sheep 
would thrive well on the short, nutritious grasses, and the dry surface, 
strewn with drift pebbles, would be admirably adapted to preseve their 
feet from disease. 

It seems to me that all this portion of the West may at some period 
be inhabited by a pastoral people, who will raise some of the finest 
flocks and herds in America. The soil itself is fertile enough, for the 
cuttings along the railroad show a depth of 6 to 12 inches of vegetable 
mold, but there are not streams enough to irrigate any great portion. 
Even the Platte is sometimes so dry as to have no running water below 
the junction of the forks. 

The Platte Valley is very broad, averaging 5 to 15 miles in width, and 
on the bottoms a good crop of grass grows every year, so that thousands 
of tons of hay are made for the use of the Government and the Union 
Pacifie Railroad. 

The rocks for building purposes are not abundant anywhere along the 
Platte east of the mountains, but the materials for making bricks or 
artificial building-stones occur in the greatest abundance, scarcely 
equaled in any part of the world. The vast superficial or Post-Plocene 
deposits which cover the surface are especially adapted for these pur- 
poses. At Sidney Station and westward there are some rather thick 
beds of light-brown calcareous grit, which seems to answer an excellent 
purpose for buildings, and has been much used in the erection of round- 


78 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


houses and other buildings by the Union Pacific Railroad. Near Chey- 
enne City these same Tertiary beds yield an excellent limestone, which 
has been much used at that place. These Tertiary rocks are rather porous 
but work easily, and are sufficiently durable in the absence of more 
compact rock. 

Along the margin of the Laramie range, about 16 miles west of Chey-_ 
enne City, there are beds of white limestone, of the Carboniferous age, . 
which, when burned into lime, is of the finest quality. The walls of 
houses plastered with it are as white as snow, and it is a great favorite 
with masons. The supply is inexhaustible. As soon as we reach the 
mountains the building-materials are as extensive as the ranges them- 
selves. The syenites predominate and are of every quality, from a com- 
pact, fine-grained quality to a coarse aggregate of quartz and feldspar, 
decomposing readily under atmospheric influences. 

I would here call the attention especially to some beds of fine-grained 
compact syenite along the line of the Union Pacific Railroad near the. 
summit of the first rauge, which nearly equals the best Scotch syenite 
and resembles it very much. 

The Union Pacific Railroad contemplate transporting this beautiful 
syenite to Omaha, to construct with it the piers of the bridge across the 
Missouri River. A few years ago such a thought would have excited 
surprise and perhaps ridicule as visionary, but now it is so feasible that 
it ceases to be wonderful. Iregard this syenite to be as durable and 
more elegant for building-material than the Quincey granite. 

One of the most important problems for solution, affecting the pros- 
perity of this portion of the West, is the possibility of utilizing the vast 
quantities of coal and iron with which this country abounds. All the 
coals of Wyoming and Colorado appear to be of Tertiary age, and so 
extensive are they in the West that it becomes a question whether the 
Tertiary might not with more propriety be called the Carboniferous or 
coal-bearing period. Ihave estimated the coal area north of the Arkan- 
sas and south of the Lodge Pole Creek and east of the mountains at 
5,000 square miles. It is quite possible that a more careful examination 
will show that it covers a still larger area. 

In connection with this coal are large deposits of brown iron-ore or 
limonite, which is easily reducible, and if the coal or lignite can be used 
in smelting these ores, the iron as well as the coal will prove a source of 
great revenue tothe country. This iron-ore occurs in the form of nodules 
or concretions, varying in size from an ounce to several hundred pounds 
in weight. It resembles very closely the iron-ores of Maryland and 
Pennsylvania. It seems to be co-extensive with the coal-beds, though 
occurring more abundantly at some localities than at others. About 
12 miles south of Cheyenne City there are large quantities, and, 
within a few miles, beds of coal five or six feet in thickness are now 
worked. At South Bowlder Creek it occurs again in great quantities, 
scattered through 1,200 to 1,500 feet of sands and clays connected with 
the coal. It will doubtless be found in the form of a carbonate of iron 
beyond the reach of atmospheric influences. 

The finest smelting-furnace erected in Colorado was established there 
by Mr. Joseph Marshall, and he intormed me that it required about three 
tons of the ore to make one ton of pig-iron. Over 500 tons of this ore 
have been taken from this locality, and the area occupied by it is over 
50 square miles. There are many other localities on both sides of the 
mountains where this form of iron abounds, and it is safe to say that if 
this mineral fuel, which abounds everywhere, can be made useful for 
smelting purposes, these coal and iron ore beds will exert the same kind 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 19 


of influence over the progress of the great West that those of Pennsyl- 
vania do over the contiguous States. ‘‘When we reflect that we have 
from 10,000 to 20,000 square miles of mineral fuel in the center of a 
region where, for a radius of 600 to 1,000 miles in every direction, there 
is little or no fuel either on or beneath the surtace, the future value of 
these deposits cannot be overestimated.” 

At the source of the Chugwater, about 30 miles north of Cheyenne 
City, there is a vast deposit of magnetic-iron ore of the best quality. 
Through the kindness of my friends Dr. Latham and Mr. Whitehead, 
citizens of Cheyenne City, I had an opportunity to visit these iron-mines, 
and 1 found them much richer and more extensive than I had previously 
imagined. Iron bowlders of this ore have been found in the valley of 
the Chugwater for many years. In the report of Captain Stansbury the 
following paragraph is found: : 

In the bed of the Chugwater and on the sides of the adjacent hills were found im- 
mense numbers of rounded black nodules of magnetic-iron ore, which seemed of. unusual 
richness. | 

In the winter of 1859, I gathered a large number of specimens of this 
erratic ore, which seems to be scattered in the greatest quantity through- 
out the valley of the Chugwater; the snow was so deep that I could not 
trace these masses to their source. This season I followed these erratic 
masses up the valley of the Chugwater, and in the mountains, inter- 
stratified with the metamorphic rocks, probably of Laurentian age, were 
literally mountains of this magnetic ore. Mr. Whitehead traced one of 
the beds a distance of 14 miles. It occurs in mountain-like masses similar ” 
to the ore-beds on Lake Superior. 

Mr. J. A. Evans, engineer of construction, who made a careful explora- 
tion of these ore-beds, thinks that the ore can be transported from the 
Black Hills to the Laramie Plains, and then smelted with the coal which 
is found in the greatest abundance along the line of the railroad. Pro- 
fessor Silliman is of the opinion that the two ores, the magnetic ore of 
the Laurentian epoch and the brown hematites of the Tertiary beds, can 
be more easily reduced by mixing them together. In that case, Chey- 
enne City would be the most desirable point for the erection of a rolling- 
mill orfurnace. The Union Pacific Railroad contemplates erecting several 
rolling-mills along the line of the road, and when this is done these ores 
will come into demand. 

In regard to the coal of this country, the evidence seems to be clear 
that it is probably all of the Tertiary age. I have traced it over a vast 
area on the Upper Missouri River, and it seems probable that it extends 
far northward toward the Arctic Sea. I have also traced the Lignite 
coal-beds from the Yellowstone Valley, by way of the Big Horn Mount- 
ains, to the North Platte, until they pass beneath the White River Ter- 
tiary beds, about 80 miles north of Fort Laramie. ‘These beds re-appear 
again about 10 miles south of Cheyenne City, and continue uninterrupt- 
edly to the Arkansas. On the west side of the Laramie range these 
beds appear again a few miles east of Rock Creek, and from there con- 
tinue westward to Salt Lake and perhaps farther. 

In Colorado these coal-beds have been wrought to considerable ex- 
tent. At South Bowlder Creek there are 11 beds of coal varying in thick- 
ness from 5 to 13 feet. The lowest bed is 13 feet in thickness, and is of 
excellent quality, very much resembling anthracite in appearance, 
though much lighter. An analysis of this coal by Dr. Torrey, of New 
York, shows it to contain 59.20 per cent. of carbon; water in a state of 
combination or its elements, 12.00; volatile matter, expelled at a red 
heat, forming inflammable gases and vapors, 26.00; ash of a reddish 


80 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 
color—color sometimes gray—2.80. As a fuel for domestic purposes, L 
am convinced that this coal will rank next to anthracite and prove supe- 
rior to the ordinary bituminous coals. 

It is as neat as anthracite, leaving no stain on the fingers. It produces no offen- 
sive gas or odor, and is thus superior in a sanitary point of view, and when brought 
into general use it will be a great favorite for culinary purposes. It contains no dis- 
tinctive elements, leaves very little ash, no clinkers, and produces no more erosive 
effects on stoves, grates, or steam-boilers, than dry wood. If exposed in the open air 
it is apt to crumble, but if protected it receives no special injury. Dr. Torrey thinks 
there is no reason why it should not be eminently useful for generating steam and for 
smelting ores.* 

In the Laramie Plains, along the line of the Union Pacific Railroad, 
extensive beds of this coal have been opéned, and the coal is used for 
generating steam and for fuel on the cars. It cannot be long before it 
will come into general use throughout the West. 

August 15.—Left Cheyenne City with Dr. Curtin, an assistant on the 
survey, and Mr. Whitehead, a citizen of Cheyenne City, for the purpose 
of exploring the Chugwater Valley toits head. For the first 20 miles 
we passed over the light-colored marls and sands of the White River Ter- 
tiary. AS we approached the foot of the mountains we came into a 
beautiful valley, ranging from three to ten miles in width, looking as 
though it had been scooped out, as it were, during the glacial period by 
forces from the mountain-side. 

All over this country are marked proofs of a powerful erosion at the 
close of the Drift period, which gave to the surface of the country its 
present configuration. There are also terraces along the base of the 
mountains, as well as along the streams, and the nearer we approach 
the mountain-slopes the more conspicuous the terraces become. 

We camped, the night of the 15th, on Horse Creek, a branch of the 
North Platte. This valley can hardly be surpassed for grazing pur- 
poses. The water is excellent and the grass good. Near the point where 
the creek issues from the foot-hills of the Laramie range, there is a series 
of upheaved ridges, with a strike nearly east and west, the beds inclin- 
ing from 50° to 70°. The series of strata seem to be nearly as complete 
as those observed southward toward Denver. The red arenaceous beds 
are well shown, but no gypsum was seen. ; 

In the valley of the Chugwater, near the point where the branches 
issue from the mountains, the unchanged rocks are elevated at various 
angles, and, by their great variety of colors, give a most picturesque 
appearance to the scenery. 

In clearing away from the syenite nucleus, we have here, first, the red 
arenaceous beds, 1,000 to 1,500 feet in thickness; then 660 to 800 feet of 
variegated marls and clays, with layers of sandstones, all destitute of 
fossils or any evidence of their age. These beds incline southwest at 
various angles, 19°, 11°, 6°, &c. Then the Cretaceous beds are quite 
well represented. rom No.5 I gathered Baculitus ovatus and a species 
of Inoceramus. 

Upon the Cretaceous beds, but not conforming to them, rest the White 
River Tertiary beds, inclining at a small angle, as if they had partaken 
of the latest upward movement of the mountain-ranges. 

The central portions of the mountains are composed of syenite mostly. 
The outer beds are rotten syenite of a dull-gray color, disintegrating to 
such an extent that the surface is covered with a thick deposit of crys- 
tals of feldspar. As we approach the dividing ridge the beds of syenite 
become more compact and durable. Now and then we find thin beds of 


*Silliman’s Journal, March, 1868. 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 81 


hornblendic gneiss, or white quartz. All these rocks are nearly verti- 
eal. Intercalated among these beds of syenite we found the beds of iron- 
ore, Which, though not continuous like the syenite, occur here in large 
quantities. The ore-beds incline in the same direction with the others, 
with the same joints and cleavage, and the surface of many of the layers 
has the appearance of ‘ slicken-sides.”. Thousands of tons of this ore 
have been detached from these beds and distributed about the valley of 
the Chugwater in a more or less worn condition. 4 

Although the amount of iron-ore which we were able to discover was 
indefinite in extent, yet we had evidence of the existence of other beds 
in the mountains at the sources of all the branches of the Chugwater. 

The Chugwater empties into the North Platte and has a valley about 
100 miles long. It has been for many years a favorite locality for win- 
tering stock, not only for the excellence of the grass and water, but 
also from the fact that the climate is mild throughout the winter. Cat- . 
tle and horses thrive well all winter without hay or shelter. 

The soil of the valleys of all the streams that flow into the North 
Platte is fertile, and when the surface can be irrigated good crops of all 
cereals and hardy vegetables can be raised without difficulty. While 
my explorations this season will be confined mostly to the plain-coun- 
try, yet my plans contemplate numerous side trips to interesting points 
in the contiguous mountains. 

Within a few weeks a great excitement has been created at Fort San- 
ders and Laramie City, by the reported discovery of rich gold-diggings 
near the source of Little Laramie River. This district has a regular 
organization; hundreds of claims have been staked out, and the name 
of “ Last Chance” diggings given toit. Some very large and valuable nug- 
gets of gold have been taken from these mines, and the usually exag- 
gerated reports of their richness were circulated everywhere. 

August 20.—I started from Fort Sanders to make an examination of 
this district, under the auspices of Major-General Gibbon, United States 
Army, the commander of the Rocky Mountain district. We were so for- 
tunate as to have the company of Professor James Hall, State geologist 
of New York. Our course was nearly southwest up the valley of the 
Little Laramie River to its source in the Snowy Mountains. From Fort 
Sanders to the Little Laramie River the distance is 18 miles, over a 
very nearly level country, underlain by Cretaceous beds holding a hori- 
zontal position nearly. 

Nos. 2 and 3 are quite well shown. No. 2, with its dark plastic clays, 
is first observed at the Big Laramie stage-station, six miles west of 
Fort Sanders. In the broad, level plain-country west of this point, No. 
5 attains a thickness of 50 to 100 feet, sometimes exhibiting its usual 
ehalky character, but mostly composed of thinly. laminated calcareous 
shale. All through are thin layers of fibrous carbonate of lime. The 
fibers are at right angles to the plane surface, and attached to these 
masses or layers are myriads of the little oyster, Ostrea congesta. I also 
found a number of vertebre of a saurian animal. From the stage-sta- 
tion we passed directly up the valley of the Little Laramie. On either 
side were long ridges, covered with grass and water-worn rocks, but from 
their sides projected a bed of rusty sandstone which contained Jnocera- 
mus and other marine fossils, which indicated the Upper Cretaceous or 
No. 5. These beds continued for about 15 miles to a point where the 
river issues from the foot-hills of the mountains, and thence to its 
source we follow its windings through some most beautiful and rugged 
Scenery. ; 

The river itself has wrought its way through a synclinal valley, caused 

6 


82 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


by two separate minor ranges projecting out from the main range of 
mountains, and the trend of these minor ranges is nearly north and 
south. One of the small ranges is quite peculiar in its character. On 
its east base, which fronts on Laramie Plains, the Upper Cretaceous beds 
jut up against its side, and no unclranged rocks of older date are seen, 
while on the west side, about five miles distant in a straight line, the 
entire series, from the Carboniferous to the summit of No. 3 Cretaceous, | 
are all visible, inclining at greater or less angles from the slope. 

The nucleus of the mountain is syenite, of various degrees of fineness 
and compactness, inclining at a large angle, from 50° to 70°, toward the 
southeast, or nearly east. It is an important question to determine the 
exact relation of these metamorphic rocks, which form the central por- 
tion of all the mountain-ranges, to the unchanged weds which usually 
incline from their sides. Do they conform to each other or not? Did 
the metamorphic rocks lie in a more or less inclined position prior to- 
the deposition of the Silurian or Carboniferous beds upon them ? 

We have thus found it difficult to determine the conformability or 
unconformability west of the Laramie range, but on the east side of the 
mountains, especially near Fort Laramie, and along the eastern slope of 
the Big Horn and Wind River Mountains, the discordant relation of the 
two series iS very apparent. 

These question will have a most important bearing when we attempt 
to reconstruct the history of the physical revolutions which have oc- 
curred in the West during past geological epochs. 

The syenite beds which form the nucleus of the small range of mount- 
ains between the Big and Little Laramie Rivers, inclining eastward, 
were pushed up in such a way that the east front is almost vertical, and 
the Cretaceous beds at the foot, which must have been borne upward in 
part during the elevation, have fallen abruptly down, so that in some 
instances they have passed the vertical position 20° to 30°. 

East of the Big Laramie, and all along the western slope of the Lara- 
mie range, the entire series of unchanged rocks are visible, inclining at 
moderate angles from the mountain-sides. On the west side of this 
range the slope is more gentle, and the Carboniferous, Triassic, Jurassic, 
and Cretaceous beds present their upturned edges clearly to the scrutiny 
of the geologist. 

The synclinal valley here, through which the Little Laramie flows, is 
about five miles wide, and crossing this stream west, we find the full 
series inclining from the mountain eastward. The dip of the red beds 
is from 40° to 60°, that of the Cretaceous 40°. No fossils have been 
found in any of the unchanged rocks below No. 3 Cretaceous, west of 
Fort Sanders, nor does the nature of the beds indicate that the physi- 
eal conditions during their deposition were favorable for the existence 
of animal or vegetable life, certainly not for the preservation of its re- 
mains. 

Between the well-marked Cretaceous beds and the metamorphic rocks 
nearly all the rocks are of a brick-red color, or tinged more or less with 
red from the presence of the peroxide of iron, and diffused through them 
there is a certain amount of gypsum; hence they have been called gyp- 
siferous deposits. In the Black Hills, Big Horn, and Wind River Mount- 
ains, these red beds are largely developed, and there they contain beds 
of beautiful white amorphous gypsum, varying in thickness from 5 to 
60 feet. Along the east slope, near Pike’s Peak in Colorado, these for- 
mations contain valuable beds of gypsum, but in the Laramie Plains I 
have as yet observed no regular beds. The thickness of these deposits 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 83 


was estimated by Professor Hall to be about 3,000 feet, while the Cre- 
taceous beds were 500 to 800 feet thick. 

Camping with our wagons at the base of the main range of mount- 
ains, near the source of the Little Laramie, we ‘prepared to ascend the 
mountains on horseback to the gold mines. The distance was about 10 
miles before we came in view cf the “diggings,” and to reach them we 
made an ascent of 2,000 feet above the bed of the creek. We were then 
between 10,000 and 11,000 feet above the sea, very near the elevation of 
perpetual snow, and where frost occurs every night of the year. 

On the summit of these lofty mountains are some beautiful open spots 
without a tree, and covered with grass and flowers. After passing through 
dense pine forests for nearly ten miles, we suddenly emerged into one of 
these park-like areas. Just on the edge of the forest which skirted it 
were banks of snow six feet deep, compact like a glacier, and within a 
few feet were multitudes of flowers, and even the common wild straw- 
berry seemed to flourish. Here the mountain is filled with streams of 
the purest water, and for six months of the year good pasturage could 
be found. 

The gold is sought after in the gulches that are formed by the little 

streams that flow from the Medicine Bow and other snowy mountains, 
most of which flow into the North Platte. 
- We labored two days to discover the quartz seams which we supposed 
to be the source of the stray lumps of gold, but the great thickness of 
the superficial drift which covers all these mountains concealed them 
from our view. ‘The gold, so far as known in this district, seems to be 
confined to the lower glacial drift, and it was the conclusion of Professor 
Hall that gold would not be found here in paying quantities. But that 
valuable mines will be found in these mountains at no distant day seems 
probable. 

The geological evidence is quite conclusive, as these mountains form 
a continuation northward of the same range in which the rich mines of 
Colorado are located. 

Not only in the more lofty ranges, but also in the lower mountains, 
are large forests of pine timber, which will eventually become of great 
value to this country. Vast quantities of this pine, in the form of rail- 
road-ties, are floated down the various streams to the Union Pacific 
Railrcad. One gentleman alone has a contract for 550,000 ties, all of 
which he floats down from the mountains, along the southern side of the 
Laramie Plains. 

The Big and Little Laramie, Rock Creek, Medicine Bow River, and 
their branches are literally filled with ties at this time, and I am informed 
that in time of high water they can be taken down to the railroad from 
the monntains, after being cut and placed in the water, at the rate of 
from one to three cents apiece. These are important facts, inasmuch as 
they show the ease with which these vast bodies of timbermay be brought 
down into the plains below and converted into lumber. 

Should the future settlement of the country demand it, I am inclined 
to believe that a peculiar class of people, like the lumbermen of Maine 
and Michigan, will some day fill these mountain regions. 

There are several species of pine and one spruce or balsam fir—Abies 
douglassi. The latter is a beautiful and symmetrical tree, rising to the 
height of 100 to 150 feet, and as straight as an arrow. The ties that are 
made from this spruce are of the best quality. 

On the morning of August 25 I left Fort Sanders on a third side trip 
to the North Park, in company with a hunting party composed of General 
F. P. Blair, Colonel Dodge, United States Army, and Captain Proctor, 


84 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


United States Army. Messrs. Smith and Carson, assistants, accompanied 
me. The examination of the North Park being contemplated in your 
instructions, I regarded this as the most favorable opportunity that was 
likely to present itself, affording adequate protection. I was the more 
desirous of visiting that interesting locality from the fact that the 
geological character is entirely unknown. Our course from Fort Sanders 
was nearly southeast, up the Big Laramie River toward its source in the 
mountains. 

The geology of the plain country through which the Big Laramie flows 
is similar to that of the Little Laramie River, about 15 miles to the west- 
ward. There are comparatively few exposures of the basis rocks, on 
account of the superficial drift which covers all the country ; still, we find 
along the banks of the river, near the stage-station, the same black plastic 
clay of No. 2, with Ostrea congesta and a few remains of fishes, also the 
chalky marls of No. 3. About two miles above there are long high ridges 
on either side, extending up for several miles, composed of the rusty 
yellow sands and sandstones of No. 5. 

The dip of these beds is very gentle—hardly perceptible to the eye. 

: The Big Laramie is a very clear stream, about 50 yards in width, and 

averaging two feet in depth, easily forded in most places. Like most of 
the western streams, the difference between high and low water mark is 
very great. In the spring and early summer, when the snows of the 
mountains melt, these streams become formidable rivers. 

The soil along the bottoms appears to be very good; the grass grows 
quite heavy, and hundreds of tons of hay are cut here by the settlers for 
winter use. 

The grazing is excellent, and numerous ranches have been started all 
through the valley forthe purpose of raising stock. Even at this season of 
the year a great variety of flowers covers the surface; the Composite and 
Leguminose prevail in numbers, and yellow is the dominant color. 

As we approached the foot-hills of the mountains the transition beds, 
or No. 1, appeared on the ridge, rocks of more recent date having been 
swept away by erosion. Fragments of pudding-stone and rusty-colored 
masses of sandstone were scattered here and there, and beneath them 
were exposed about 6¢0 feet of variegated, arenaceous layers, of uncer- 
tain age, perhaps Jurassic; then a little higher up the mountain were © 
revealed the red beds, 1,500 feet or more in thickness, presenting a won- 
derfully picturesque appearance. All these beds seemed to have been 
lifted up ina nearly horizontal position, so that they present lofty escarp- 
ments, sometimes cone-like or pyramidal in shape, revealing each layer 
in the order of succession. The harder layers, yielding less readily to 
atmospheric influences, project out from the sides, adding much to the 
novelty of the view. Most of the beds incline from the flanks of the 
mountain at various angles, 3°, 8°, and 15°, and then continue along the 
river, following its windings for 25 miles among the mountains, almost 
to the snow-covered peaks. On either side can be seen a number of 
syenitic nuclei, but I could not find the unchanged rocks so clearly in 
contact with them that I could define their relation to each other. 

Before reaching the mountains we passed a series of alkaline lakes, 
which are simply shallow depressions, receiving the drainage of a small 
area without any outlet. From these shallow lakes the water is evapo- 
rated, so that in the autumn the bottoms are dry and covered with a 
white incrustation, which looks much like water at a distance. One of 
these lakes contains water, and seems to have a fair supply at all sea- 
sons. Itis about a mile in length and half a mile in width. In the 
spring these lakes are quite large, and are filled by the overflow of the 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 85 


branches of the Big Laramie, which are greatly swollen by the melting 
snow. Great quantities of fish are swept into the lakes from the neigh- 
boring streams, and in the autumn the water becomes so alkaline by 
evaporation that the fish die in great numbers along the shores. It isa 
curious fact that not a single trout has been taken from any of the 
branches of the North Platte, unless a few have been caught in the 
Sweetwater, while the little branches of the South Platte are filled with 
them. 

After entering the foot-hills of the mountains the Big Laramie and 
its branches wind their way through the valleys or gorges formed by the 
anticlinals and synelinals, produced by the upheaving of the unchanged 
rocks. All the lower beds are more or less arenaceous and of a brick- 
red color, with only three layers of light-gray sandstone. No fossils can 
be found in any of the rocks, so that it is difficult to determine their age 
with certainty. We believe that the lower beds are Carboniferous, and 
have received their color from the fact that the sediments were doubt- . 
less derived from the disintegration of the red syenitic rocks upon which 
they rest. It is also quite possible that a portion of the red beds are 
Triassic, and also that the yellow, gray, and rusty sands and sandstones 
alone are Jurassic. Lying above the supposed Jurassic, and beneath the 
well-defined Cretaceous, there is a considerable thickness of sandstones, 
which I have calied transition beds, or No. 1, because they occupy the 
position of the Lower Cretaceous No. 1, as shown on the Missouri River 
and in Middle Kansas. These beds are well developed and quite uniform 
in their lithological character all along the mountain-sides, from latitude 
49° to the Arkansas, yet they have never yielded a single characteristic 
fossil that would determine their age. I have, therefore, called them, 
provisionally, Lower Cretaceous, or beds of transition from one great 
period of geological history to another, aud the character of the sedi- 
ments which compose them justify the name. 

Near our camp on the Big Laramie, which was about thirty-five miles 
southwest of Fort Sanders, and about fifteen miles above the foot of the 
hills, were some singular illustrations of the dynamics of geology. On 
the southwest side of the stream, and inclining eastward or southeast- 
ward, the entire series of red and variegated beds are shown in their 
order of suecession, 1,500 or 2,000-feet in height. At the foot of this 
escarpment is a low.ridge of the red material, which is so grassed over 
that the connection cannot be seen with the syenitic nucleus. Then 
comes a belt of syenite, about 200 yards wide and three to five miles 
long, the jagged masses of rock reaching a height of 1,000 feet or more, 
and standing nearly vertical, or dipping slightly to the southeast. 
Between the syenitic beds and the river are two low ridges of Cretaceous 
Nos. 2 and 3, which seem to have been lifted up with the syenitic, but 
to have fallen back, past a vertical position, so that they now incline 
from the syenitic ridge, while on the opposite side the beds have a reg- 
ular dip from the ridge. This peculiarity seems to be common in various 
localities, owing to the fact that the metamorphic beds, which compose 
the central portions of all the mountains, had suffered upheaval prior 
to the deposition of the unchanged beds. Therefore, in the quiet eleva- 
tion of the mountain-ranges, the beds are merely litted up in the direc- 
tion of the dip of the older rocks, while they are, as it were, pushed 
away from the opposite side, forming what may be called an abrupt or 
incomplete anticlinal. 

On the opposite, or south side of the river, there is a gradual slope 
for 2,000 feet along the bed of the stream, the strata inclining 5°, until 
we reach the nucleus of another mountain-range; so that we have here, 


86 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


as it were, two huge monoclinals. These monoclinals form local anti- 
clinals, inasmuch as in some places all the beds incline, for a short dis- 
tance, from a common. axis. 

On the north side of the river, and east from 10 to 20 miles, the flanks 
of the mountain-ranges are covered with the unchanged rocks, which 
give comparatively gentle grassy slopes, owing to the readiness with 
which they yield to the atmospheric agencies. Through these slopes — 
many little streams cut their way, forming huge cations, which reveal 
along their sides the series of beds in their order of succession. From 
a point near the source, for 20 or 30 miles, the river flows through a 
synclinal valley, the conspicuous red beds dipping from either side. 
Along the valley of the river are marked deposits of drift, the result of 
glacial action; but the most beautiful feature is the well-defined ter- 
races, about 50 feet high, and smoothed off like a lawn. The terraces 
are covered with considerable deposit of drift, but when they are cut 
through by streams the basis rocks are shown. The scenery on either 
side of the valley is beautiful beyond description. On the west side are 
the snow-clad peaks of the Medicine Bow Range, in the distance, with 
numerous intervening lower ranges, ascending like steps. 

The Snowy Mountains are mostly destitute of vegetation, and are 
covered with eternal snows, but the lower mountain-ridges are covered 
mostly with what may be called groves of pine. Indeed, the pine and 
erassy openings are so arranged and proportioned that the whole scene 
appears as if it might have been partially the work of art, and the trav- 
eler imagines himself in a sparsely-settled, mountainous district, instead 
of the unexplored Rocky Mountain region. The openings and grassy 
slopes will make excellent pasture-grounds, for the grass is good, and 
they are watered by the finest mountain-Streams and springs. 

IT would again remark that the pine forests of these mountains must, 
at some future period, be an object of earnest pursuit. Even now the 
mountain-sides are full of tie-cutters, who cut and float hundreds of 
thousands of ties down the mountain-streams, 20 to 100 miles, to the 
Union Pacific Railroad, where they can be transported by rail to any 
desired point. 

In the moist ravines of the mountain-sides are patches of the aspen, 
Populus tremuloides, which form a striking feature in the landscape, 
from its peculiar mode of growth. They grow very thickly, seldom at- 
taining a height of more than 40 or 50 feet, and not more than 12 or 18 
inches in diameter, The bodies are very smooth and nearly white, and 
the tops form a rounded cone-shaped mass of foliage. These aspen 
groves are the favorite resort of elk, deer, grouse, and all kinds of 
game. 

On the east side, also, is the snow-clad range, which, in its southward 
extension, includes Long’s Peak, and numerous peaks in the vicinity. 
On either side of this lofty range, which often rises above the limit of 
vegetation, are a number of successive lower ridges which descend like 
steps. There is such a wonderful uniformity in the structure of these 
mountains that a detailed description of a portion applies for the most 
part to all. 

Our course along the Cherokee trail was about southwest from the 
Big Laramie River, over ridge after ridge, and after traveling 25 miles 
we entered the North Park, through some of the most beautiful scenery 
of that interesting region. From the summit of the high ridges on the 
north we looked to the southward, over a series of lofty cones or pyra- 
mids, as it were, all clothed with a dense growth of pine. The meta- 
morphie rocks of which these are composed disintegrate so easily that 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 87 


their surface is covered with a deposit of loose materials, as fine earth 
and fragments of rocks. 

The hills have, therefore, been so smoothed down that it is difficult 
to see the basis rocks in continuous lines. We saw enough, however, 
to show us that red syenite, in its various forms, constitutes the prin- 
cipal rock, while now and then a bed of hornblende, gneiss, white quartz, 
and greenstone occurs. 

All through the mountain region are small open areas, sometimes on 
the hills and sometimes in the lower ground, forming meadow-like spots 
which the various kinds of animals love to frequent, to feed on the 
abundant grass. 

The old Cherokee trail derives its name from the fact that a party 
of these Indians cut their way through the thick pines, about thirty years 
ago, with a train of about 300 wagons. The traveling was difficult at 
this time, owing to the ruggedness of the surface and the obstruction 
from the fallen pines. 

So far as I could ascertain, the trend of the upheaved mountain-ridges 
of syenite was nearly east and west, and the dip nearly north. 

The North Park is oval or nearly quadrangular in shape, is about 50 
miles in extent, from east to west, and 30 miles from north to south, 
occupying an area of about 1,500 square miles. Viewing it from one of 
the high mguntains on its border, it appears like a vast depression 
which might once have formed the bed of a lake. Its surface is rather 
rugged, yet there are broad bottoms along the streams, especially the 
North Platte and its branches. Scarcely a tree is to be seen over the 
. whole extent, while the mountains which wall it in on every side are 
dotted with a dense growth of pine. The grass grows in the park quite 
abundantly, often yielding at least two tons to the acre. Streams of 
the purest water flow through the park, and there are some of the finest 
springs I have yet seen, a few of them forming good-sized streams where 
they issue from the ground. I am quite confident that this entire park 
would make an excellent grazing region for at least six or eight months 
of the year. Myriads of antelopes were quietly feeding in this great 
pasture-ground like flocks of sheep. 

The soil is very rich, but the seasons must be too brief for the suc- 
eessful cultivation of any crops. Indeed, there is a frost, there nearly 
every night, and snow falls every month.in the year. 

As I have before stated, the park is surrounded with lofty ranges of 
mountains as by gigantic walls. On the north and east side may be 
seen the snow-covered ranges, rising far above all the rest, their sum- 
mits touching the clouds. 

On the west side there is also a short snowy range. The snowy ranges 
on the eastern border of the park have their north sides abrupt, and the 
south sides less so, as seen from a distance, as if the massive piles in- 
clined southward. 

All along the north side of the park the lower hills incline southwest- 
ward, while the higher ranges are quite steep and correspond, in the 
apparent dip of the beds, with the lofty snow-clad mountains on the east, 
which incline south or southwestward. The inclination of the meta- 
morphic beds composing the higher ranges is from 60° to 80°. 

On the west side of the park long ridges seem to come into the park, 
so that they die out in the plain, forming a sort of ‘‘en échelon” ar- 
rangement. Itis due to this fact that the area inclosed receives its oval 
shape. 

The general trend of all the continuous mountain-ranges is nearly 


88 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


northwest and southeast on all sides, but there are many local dips and 
variations from this direction. 

I was much interested to know whether any of the unchanged rocks 
which are so well developed in the Laramie Plains occur in the North 
Park. I found that the entire series of red and variegated beds, includ- 
ing a portion of the Cretaceous strata, were fully represented, all inclin- 
ing from the flanks of the mountains and gradually assuming a horizon- 
tal position, or nearly so, toward the central portion of the park. 

The transition beds, or Lower Cretaceous No. 1, form quite conspicuous 
ridges, inclining 19° to the southwest. They are composed of a very 
beautiful pudding-stone, an aggregation of small rounded pebbles, most 
of them flint, cemented together with a siliceous paste. 

On the north side are quite large areas covered with loose sand, whick 
is blown about by the wind, resembling the sand-hills on the Niobrara 
River. A close examination of the sand shows thatit is composed mostly 
of rounded particles of quartz and feldspar. The surface sustains little 
or no vegetation, presenting a peculiar barren appearance, the sand 
moving readily with the wind. ! 

Hitherto it has been impossible to color on any map the geological 
formations of any part of this mountain region, and no information has 
ever been given in regard to the structure of the North Park. It will 
be impossible even now, with the imperfect topography of any of the 
maps, to color the geology in detail; but these explorations will enable 
me to fix the outline of the formations, in a general way, with a good 
degree of accuracy. 


FORT SANDERS, WYOMING TERRITORY, 
September 25, 1868. 

Siz: I have the honor to transmit the concluding portion of my field- 
report of Wyoming Territory. Although written quite hastily and under 
pressure of other duties in the field, | am sure it must commend itself 
to your attention, from the fact that it is descriptive of a portion of the 
West rich in coal and iron, but about which there was previously very 
little information of a definite character. 

I shall be able to color on a map the outlines of the great geological 
formations as far west as Fort Bridger. My collections are getting to 
be quite large. Professor Agassiz, who is here now, regards them as 
very remarkable and entirely new to science. Both the professors, 
Hall and Agassiz, have given their testimony to the truthfulness of my 
scientific labors here in the most emphatic terms. 

Colonel Smith is doing most excellent work in securing materials for 
a map of this portion of the West. He is now copying the map of the 
Union Pacific Railroad office. He will be able to construct a map of 
this portion of the West which wil! be far in advance of any preceding 
one. 

No draft has yet come to me from the United States Treasury up to 
this date. I have borrowed money from bank at 12 per cent. discount, 
and drawn on my friends until I am very much embarrassed. I do not ° 
like to go on my Colorado work until I know something more definite. 

Should you wish any more preliminary reports from the field, please 
mention it in your next communication. I have hurried this last one 
so as to get it to you before the 1st of October. 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 89 


We have had a severe snow-storm, 6 inches on the plains, and 12 
inches in the mountains. The mountains are now covered with snow. 
Very respectfully, your obedient servant. 
BF. V. HAYDEN, 
United States Geologist. 
Hon. JOSEPH 8. WILSON, 
Commissioner General Land- Office. 


SEPTEMBER 1, 1868. 


Pursuing our course westward, across the Laramie Plains, from Fort 
Sanders, we took the overland stage-road, which continues near the foot 
of the mountains on the south side of the plains, and usually from 5 to - 
15 miles south of the railroad-route. I give my notes of the different © 
routes in detail, from the fact that my explorations extended over a 
region almost entirely new, and also because there have existed no defi- 
nite data which could be used in coloring a geological map. 

As I have before remarked, the Laramie range of mountains forms 
one of the most complete and beautiful anticlinals seen in the Rocky 
Mountains. This range extends from a point near the Sweetwater, 
southeastward, in the form of a curve, until it is lost in the main Rocky 
Mountain range near Long’s Peak. It forms a conspicuous wall, closing 
_ in the northeast and east side of the Laramie Plains. 

The nucleus is red syenite for the most part, while from the margins 
incline, from eitber side, unchanged rocks belonging to the Carbonifer- 
ous, Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, and, in some localities, Tertiary. 
These beds incline at different angles, depending upon the character 
ot the elevating force. 

The plains of Laramie, as this area inclosed by mountains is called, 
exhibit a broad undulating, almost treeless surface, about 60 miles in 
length from east to west, and 50 miles from north to south. 

From Fort Sanders, along the stage-route to Little Laramie, the dis- 
tance is about 18 miles. The surface is undulating, but all the slopes 
are moderate in the inclination. ‘The basis rocks are all of the Creta- 
ceous period. In the banks of the Big Laramie may be seen a small 
thickness of the black slates of No. 2, and here and there are isolated 
hills with the yellowish chalky layers of No. 5. Some of the higher 
ridges, which extend down into the plains from the foot of the mount- 
ane reveal here and there the rusty yellowish arenaceous marls of 

0. O. 

From Little Laramie Station to Cooper’s Creek it is15 miles; over all 
this distance the Cretaceous rocks prevail, belonging for the most part 
to the upper portion of that period. There are isolated patches of Ter- 
tiary probably overlapping the Cretaceous beds. About two miles north 
of the station, on the west bank of Cooper’s Creek, an excellent coal 
mine has .been opened, with a bed nine feet in thickness. The coal is 
quite pure, compact, but rather light. It burns very well, and though 
I do not think the bed will be continuous over a large area, it will yield 
a vast amount of fuel. 

The evidence of drift action in the valley is very striking. The valley 
of Cooper’s Creek forms a triangular area about five miles wide at the 
base of the mountains and extending down the creek to a gorge through 
which the stream passes, a distance of eight or ten miles. On the south 
side there is a hill 500 feet high, with the summit covered with a heavy 
deposit of drift, and the surface literally paved with worn rocks. 


90 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


On the northwest side there is a low ridge, the summit of which is 
composed of Upper Cretaceous rocks. ‘The valley as well as the high 
ground is covered with the drift material. The evidence seems to be 
clear that much of this drift deposit is local and derived from the mount- 
ains in the immediate vicinity. 

All along the base of the mountains, interrupted occasionally, is a 
deep valley varying from three to ten miles wide, which seems to have 
been scooped out as it were by forces which must have come from the 
mountain-ranges. " ., 

At right angles to this valley, and extending down into the plain, are 
numerous other valleys of erosion, walled on each side by high narrow 
ridges. Upon the sides of the ridges facing the mountains are the 
heaviest deposits of drift, extending to the summits of the hills, while 
the opposite sides are smooth and usually covered with grass. 

Sometimes these hills have quite gentle slopes, facing the mountain- 
sides, and are so thickly covered with loose rocks that no vegetation 
can gain a foot-hold, while the opposite sides descend abruptly and are 
clothed with vegetation, with scarcely a pebble on the surface. 

Whether all the drift phenomena of this region are due to these local 
influences I will not now attempt to decide, but we believe that the 
greater portion of them may be accounted for from the joint action of 
water and ice operating from the direction of the mountain-ranges in 
the immediate vicinity. In my final report I shall attempt to discuss 
these points more in detail. 

Westward from Cooper’s Creek, eleven miles, we come to the deep, 
wooded, and somewhat fertile valley of Rock Creek. 

Soon after leaving Cooper’s Creek west we observe the Tertiary rocks 
beginning to overlap, and six miles distant we come to a most excellent 
exposure of the coal beds. The slopes are all so gentle, and the super- 
ficial drift deposits cover the surface to such an extent, that I found it 
difficult to secure a connected section of the beds in their order of super- 
position. 

The rusty arenaceous marls of No. 5 seem to pass gradually up into 
the coal-bearing layers without any perceptible break and without a 
very marked change in the sediments. The lower beds of the Tertiary, 
as seen here, are composed of a fine brown grit, very loose, but filled 
with irregular hard masses of rocks, sometimes in layers extending for 
a short distance, but usually in the form of concretions. These conere- 
tions have concentric coats, or they are composed of thin laminz which 
separate very readily. 

Underneath the coal there is a bed of drab clay varying in thickness 
from three to five feet. When the coal is exposed to the atmosphere or 
the waters are permitted to permeate the overlying strata it has a rusty, 
dull-brown appearance, but on penetrating the earth it soon reveals its 
bright color and compact structure. Above the coal there is another 
bed of drab, indurated clay, and then over this a loose grit with layers 
of hard sandstone. 

The clay bed above the coal is full of nodules of iron, also rusty sandy 
concretions. The dip is above 10° to the northeast from the mountains. 
About a mile west of the opening described above there is another out- 
cropping of coal which has been wrought to some extent. This bed is 
divided by about two and a half feet of drab arenaceous clay. The upper 
portion measures about five feet, the lower six to eight feet, so that we 
have ten to twelve feet of solid coal; some portions look like dull bitu- 
minous coal, others resembling anthracite very much in appearance. 
Over the coal is the usual drab, indurated clay, filled with vegetable 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. om 


matter in thin, shaly layers, as if composed of the broken stems and 
leaves of plants. Above this, also, is a bed of loose, rusty-brown sand, 
with sandstone and rusty iron-stone, and still higher up is a bed of very 
hard siliceous rock, compact, of a lighter brown color. The inclina- 
tion of these beds is not great, not more than from 3° to 5°. At the 
immediate entrance of this mine the dip is not more than 5°. The 
coal can be easily worked and the mine well drained. The roof is simply 
indurated clay, but this can be made firm with wooden supports. 
The coal is of the best quality, close, compact, and moderately heavy, 
but, like most of the Tertiary coals, crumbles on exposure to the atmos- 
phere, as is shown by the great quantities which have fallen to pieces 
at the mouth of the mine. Even when the masses of coal have crumbled 
in pieces some of the fragments retain the shining black color, though 
most of it becomes a dull brown. Iam inclined to regard this bed as 
the most important one in this region, and as holding the lowest position 
geologically. It is probably the same one that is wrought so success- 
fully at Carbon, on the line of the Union Pacific Railroad. 

Nearly all the land between Cooper’s Creek and Kock Creek has been 
taken possession of as coal-lands, in claims of 160 acres each. 

So far as I could determine, Rock Creek Valley is about three to five 
miles wide, and is evidently a valley of erosion. 

On the west side there is a high ridge, plainly Tertiary, and at least 
500 feet high, which slopes down to the creek. 

In some places the strata dip 10° or 12°, but the average dip is not 
more than 5°. West of Rock Creek there seems to be an unusual 
thickness of sandstone, or loose fine sand. For ten miles or more to the 
westward there is a large area, on both sides of the stage-road, covered 
‘with massive piles of sandstone, most of it comeretions of a rusty-brown 
color. 

In these sandstones are thin layers, with a small amount of calcareous 
matter, which have preserved great quantities of deciduous leaves. 
They indicate the Tertiary age of these rocks, and also show that they 
jut far up close to the foot-hills of the mountains. 

These massive sandstones give a very rugged aspect to the surface 
of this region. 

The Tertiary strata are very heavy, varying from 1,500 to 2,000 feet in 
thickness in the aggregate, and composed mostly of alternate beds of 
rusty-yellow sandstone, and greenish-gray indurated sands and clays. 
All the beds incline slightly from the mountains about northeast. 

From Laramie River to the Medicine Bow we see no indication of the 
red beds, though they must exist higher up in the mountains. 

On the south side of our road the slopes are very gentle, the hills 
rising up gradually like steps, and all the elevations, and even the 
gorges through which the little streams flow down from the mountains, 
are so covered with débris that all their rough points are smoothed off, 
and so covered with grass that it is difficult to find the basis rocks. 

Bven Elk Mountain, which must rise at least 1,500 feet above the bed 
of the medicine Bow at the stage-station, has been so smoothed down by 
drift action, and now covered with grass, that the rocks cannot well be 
seen. 

North of the road the Tertiary rocks made very ragged “ bad lands,” 
and the bare surface and conical hills give to this district the same 
gloomy bareness but picturesque appearance of the country occupied by 
the same formations on the Upper Missouri. 

On the night of September 4 we camped on Medicine Bow River, 


@ 


92 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


near the foot of Elk Mountain. This is quite a large stream, with clear 
pure water, fringed with a wide belt of bitter cotton- wood. 

Hilk Mountain forms a short range, with the highest point facing the 
river, and resembles the short range with abrupt front east of the Little 
Laramie River. 

The metamorphic rocks have been elevated, while the unchanged Ter- 
tiary beds jut up against the base without the usual appearance of a 
series of upheaved ridges, as we find in approaching the nucleus of the 
mountains. This range is only 10 or 20 miles long. It forms what I 
have called an abrupt anticlinal—that is, on one side all the rocks seem 
to have been dropped down at the base and the mountain-side, present- 
ing an almost vertical escarpment, while the opposite side slopes gently 
down, revealing the upturned edges of all the unchanged rocks in the 

region, reposing upon, or inclining at, moderate angles from the meta- 
morphic rocks. 

The numerous branches which constitute the sources of the Medicine 
Bow River form a broad valley scooped out, evidently, from the yielding 
rocks, so that Elk Mountain is to a certain extent an isolated range. 
The Tertiary beds dip away from the foot of the mountain’ northward, 
and passing across the ridge we find them composed of a series of brown 
and dark-brown indurated clays and sands, with layers of more or less 
laminated rusty sandstone, very fine, but with a little lime and a strong 
tendency to a concretionary structu ne varying in thickness from 2 feet 
to 10 or 12. 

Sometimes these rocky layers swell out to a considerable thickness, 
then again diminish until they are lost in the leams, sands, and clays. 
They usually protect the ridges from wearing down and show more dis- 
tinctly the dip of the beds, which here is 30° to 40°, about 20° west of 
north. Elk Mountain seems to incline about northwest and to face 
southeast, the southeast front being abrupt, while the northwest slopes 
gently down so as to show clearly that portion of the anticlinal. 

In the Tertiary ridges just described are quite extensive beds of lig- 
nite. The first ridge, near the Medicine Bow stage-station, has a bed of 
eoal six feet thick, and the harder layers above and below the coal are 
filled with indistinct vegetable impressions. 

The interval between the first main ridge and the second is about one 
and a half miles, and in that interval are shown several beds of lignite 
and layers of light-gray fine-grained siliceous rocks. 

The second main ridge inclines three to five degrees, and this is com- 
posed of a variety of beds, the general color being brown or light-drab, 
while the harder layers are rusty sandstone. 

One bed, perhaps 50 feet in thickness, is composed of fine gray indu- 
rated sand with a greenish tinge. At the summit of this ridge is a layer 
of melted or baked rocks, caused by the burning out of the coal-beds 
beneath. Impressions of deciduous leaves are found here in consider- 
able numbers. Some of the harder layers are composed of an agere- 
gate of the crystals of feldspar and quartz, as if the sediments were 
derived directly from the disintegration of the metamorphic rocks. 

The concretionary rocks break in pleces ina variety. of ways; Some of 
them exfoliate, as it were—that is, they are formed of concentric coats 
whieh fall off from the nucleus ; others seem to split in thin lamine like 
cutting an apple into thin slices; others break into irregular fragments. © 
All exhibit the same rusty-yellow color on exposure. This is doubtless 
due to the decomposition of the sulphuret of iron, which seems to be to — 
a greater or less extent in all the rocks. On coming in contact with 
the atmosphere or moisture this sulphuret of iron becomes the oxide of 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 98 


iron, giving to all the rocks of this region a more or less rusty-yellow 
color. 

In the vicinity of the coal-beds are found considerable quantities of 
brown iron-ore. Large masses were found scattered over the top of one 
of the ridges which had been melted by the ignition of the coal. The 
mean trend of the upheaved ridges is about northeast and southwest. 

West of the Medicine Bow the aspect of the country is that of utter 
barrenness and gloom; scarcely any vegetation growing except sage and 
greasewood. Now and then a little lake is seen, but from the alkaline 
character of the water and the absence of any vegetation around their 
borders they only add to the dreariness of the scene. The dearth of 
animal life is equal to that of the vegetable. Now and then the small 
sage-rabbit, Lepus artemesia ; the little rock-squirrel, Tamias quadrivit- 
tatus ; and the sage-hen, or the cock of the plains, are seen. 

A few miles west of Fort Halleck there is a very conspicuous hill on 
the south side of the road, the strata of which incline 25°, though some 
beds near the summit dip 352. This is called Sheep Mountain. The most 
conspicuous bed in this hill is a yellow-gray sandstone, 300 to 500 feet 
thick, the age of which I could not determine. 

From Medicine Bow to Pass Creek, a distance of 27 miles, the road 
passes through a wide valley, between two upheaved ridges, and nearly 
on a line between the Cretaceous and the Tertiary beds. 

About five miles before reaching Pass Creek the Cretaceous beds show 
themselves clearly on both sides-of the road. Therusty sands and sand- 
stones of No. 5 are seen on the right side, while dipping from the flank of 
Sheep Mountain, on the left, are well shown the clays of No. 2, and the 
lighter chalky slates of No. 3. 

All along Elk Mountain the red beds appear high up on the flanks, 
visible, but not conspicuous, and they do not, as usual, color the débris 
at the foot of the hills. There is an unusual accumulation of Cretaceous 
and Tertiary in this region, at least 5,000 feet in thickness of each. 

Very nearly north of Pass Creek we have an uplift of yellow, rather 
fine-grained sandstone, which presents a front like a wall, built up with 
- vertical columns of every form left after erosion. 

The sandstone must have been 150 feet thick. It inclines nearly north 
at an angle of 19°. As we emerge from the hills near Pass Creek, we 
come into a broad open plain, and the ridges of upheaval seem to extend 
off ‘“‘en échelon,” as it were, gently bending from the west northward, 
forming one side or rim of the plain. These ridges of upheaval extend oft 
for miles like waves. They are composed of large numbers of alternate 
hills of loose yellow sand and indurated clay and yellow sandstone, the 
whole readily yielding to atmospheric influences, and then the hills as well 
as the valleys are covered with a great depth of fine sand, from which 
the harder beds of sandstone preject in long lines or walls. These ridges 
vary in distance from 100 to 1,000 yards apart, a valley always interven- 
ing, a slope on one side and an abrupt front on the other; that is, they 
form monoclinals. The broad plain into which we emerge west of Elk 
Mountain must be one of depression, or a large area not elevated with 
the surrounding country, for the ridges of elevation which make so 
marked a feature all around it die out gradually in the plain. On the 
east side the ends of the ridges fade out in the level plain, but on the 
north border they lie along nearly parallel. 

As far as the eye can reach.this plain is perfectly level; no cuts or 
valleys of erosion to show the underlying rocks. There is a thick de- 
posit of drift over the whole surface. This vast barren sage-plain 


94 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


stretches far westward to Bitter Creek and Green River, with very little 
grass or water for the traveler. 

From our camp of September 4, on Pass Creek, we traveled nearly 
north or northwest to the railroad. The long ridges seemed to dip away 
from the open plain. The trend of alone ridge of greenstone was nearly 
east and west. 

The main trend of these ridges is a little north of west, and the dip, 
of course, east of north. 

Looking at the east or southeast side of the plain the mountains seem 
to rise in long ridges, step by step, and to trend about northeast and 
southwest, the southwest end sloping gently down into the plain. When 
we look at details it is almost impossible to discover any system in the 
trend or inclination of the beds, except in a general way. The aggre- 
gate of the mountain-ranges will be found to have a definite trend, as 
is Shown on our topographical maps. The general trend of mountain- 
chains is nearly northwest and southeast; butif we examine the smaller 
ridges in detail, we shall find that the forces operated from beneath the 
crust in almost every direction. 

Tt becomes, therefore, quite important to describe the geology of every 
locality with minuteness, even at the risk of repetition and tediousness. 
From all these detailed descriptions may be derived some important 
generalizations. 

The rusty caleareous sandstones which compose the inner lower ridges 
facing the plain are undoubtedly Upper Cretaceous, and incline 30° to 
45°, "These rusty sandstones form a belt about one and a half mile 
wide, the intercalated beds being composed of loose yellow arenaceous 
material, which is covered with grass, the harder layers merely project- 
ing above the surface in patches here and there. Very few fossils can 
be. detected in these beds. I found an Jnoceramus, a Baculite, and a 
species of Ostrea, sufficient to indicate their age. One of these ridges 
of Cretaceous sandstone is very conspicuous, and forms a long wall on 
the north side of the plains, extending about five miles, and then dies 
out. 

We have here also several synelinal and anticlinal valleys, trending 
nearly east and west, but there is an anticlinal valley which commences 
at the foot of Elk Mountain, and strikes northwestward to the Sweet- 
water Mountains. This anticlinal valley may be seen along the Union 
Pacific Railroad as far as Rawling’s Springs Station, when it begins to 
fade out in that direction. It forms the chain of connection, however, 
of the elevating forces which raised those mountain-ranges, linking the 
main ranges south of the plains with those of the north. 

Having given in the preceding pages the details of the geological 
character of the country along the line of the overland stage-route, as. 
far west as Green River, we will return to Fort Sanders, and follow the 
line of the Union Pacific Railroad to the same point. And I would here 
remark that so little is known even of the outline of the great formations 
along this route, that any information, however brief, will be of interest. 

The facilities ‘afforded by this road ‘are bringing into this region emi- 
nent men from all portions of the world, and the singular unique geolog- 
ical and geographical features which meet the eye on every side excite 
marked attention and inquiry. 

From Laramie City to Cooper’s Lake Station, a distance of 25.6 miles, 
there is a good degree of uniformity in the character of the country as 
we proceed westward, 

On our right the Laramie range appears like a wall bending outward 
to the northwest and west, and finally ceases to be seen. 


\ 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 95 


Near the crossing of the Big Laramie River, we see on our right the 
red beds, which are somewhat marked; we can follow these up to the 
foot of the by their peculiar brick- red color. Here come the 
Cretaceous rocks, espevially the upper members of the group. Very 
soon after crossing the Laramie River they continue to a point about 
five miles east of Como, where the Tertiary beds overlap. Isolated 
patches of Tertiary appear before reaching Rock Creek. At the quarry 
the black slates of No. 2 are quite conspicuous, but the sandstones which 
-are transported to Laramie and to Cheyenne are most probably Lower 
Tertiary. They are filled with fragments of stems and leaves, some of 
which are distinct enough to determine. 

The surface of the country for the first 25 miles after leaving Laramie 
westward presents a cheerful appearance. The basis rocks are com- 
posed of the arenaceous mar!s and clays of the Upper Cretaceous period, 
and these, yielding readily to atmospheric agencies, are worn down so 
that all the hills and ridges are smoothed off and rounded, and covered 
with a good growth of grass. Indeed, the county is in striking con- 
trast with that farther to the west. 

After leaving Cooper’s Lake Station, we begin to approach the black 
clays of No. 2, and then beyond the Tertiary beds; and from thence to 
Bitter Creek we pass over one of the most barren, desolate, forbidding 
regions I have ever seen west of the Mississippi. 

From Cooper’s Lake Station toa point about 35 miles, the black 
plastic clays of the Lower Cretaceous prevail, giving to the surface of the 
country the usual dark, gloomy, sterile appearance. 

Very little vegetation is to be seen; no timber; and the prevailing 
shrubs are the greasewood and sage. 

The waters of all the streams are full of alkali, and the standing 
pools have the color of lye. 

Between Lookout Station and Rock Creek are some cuts through the 
rocks, which revealed many beautiful Cretaceous fossils, as Ammonites, 
Baculites, Inoceramus, Belemites, &c., all of which are characteristic of 
the chalk period in the West. 

From a point about 10 miles east of Como to Saint Mary’s Station, a 
distance of about 50 miles, the Tertiary formations occupy the country 
with the peculiar sands and sandstone and clays, and numerous coal- 
beds. The most marked development of the coal-beds is at the Carbon 
Station, about 80 miles west of Laramie Station. The rocks incline 
nearly southeast, or south and east. Three entrances have been made to 
the mine, and the bed is nine feet thick. The openings follow the dip, 
and consequently descend. The mines are about 3,000 yards from the 
railroad, but a side track has already been laid to them. More than 1 000 
tons of coal have already been taken, and the Union Pacific Railroad 
Company are ready to contract for any amount that can be supplied to 
them. The coal at Carbon is of the best quality of Tertiary splint, very 
compact and pure. It is not as hard as anthracite, but the miners in- 
formed me that it was more difficult to work than the bituminous coals 
of Pennsylvania. There are many old miners here who have spent their 
lives in the mines of Pennsy yivania and England, andinform me that this 
coal is superior to any of the bituminous coals, and ranksnext to anthra- 
cite. It is used to a great extent on the locomotives, and the engineers 
speak in high terms of it, while for domestic purposes the universal 
testimony is that it ranks next to anthracite. Over the coal there is 
what the miners call slate; this is somewhat earthy, breaking off into 
Slabs, showing woody fiber, and much of it looking like charred wood or 
soft charcoal. As we pass up fragments of deciduous leaves are seen 


96 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


more distinctly, and finally the whole graduates into a dark-drab clay. 
At the bottom of the coal there is also a kind of mud shale. In the beds 
above and below the coal are thousands of impressions of deciduous 
leaves, as Populus, Platanus, Tilia, &c. Some of the layers of rocks, two 
to four inches in thickness, are wholly composed of these leaves in a 
good state of preservation, and so perfect are they that they could not 
have been transported any great distance. 

This western country will eventually be one of the most important 
coal-mining regions in America. 

The Union Pacific Railroad Company has placed its coal interests in 
chargeof Mr. Thomas Wardell, anold English miner, and he is constantly 
enployed in prospecting and opening mines the whole length of the 
road. At Carbon he has erected six pretty cottages as residences for 
the miners, and a number more are in process of building at Separation 
and Point of Rocks, and other little mining villages will be built up. 
All the apparatus for permanent and extended mining operations will 
be gradually introduced. 

Nearly all the wood now along the line of the road has to be trans- 
ported for a distance of 10 to 40 miles, and in two years from this time 
most of it within a reasonable distance of the road will have been con- 
sumed. The future success of this great thoroughfare is, therefore, 
wholly dependent on the supply of this mineral fuel, vand its importance 
cannot be too highly estimated. 

From Saint Mary? s to Rawling’s Springs, a distance of about 30 miles, 
the railroad passes over rocks of Cretaceousage. No coal beds need be 
sought for in the immediate vicinity of the railroad, although it is quite 
possible that on the north side of the road isolated patches of Tertiary 
containing coal may be found. The railroad, from a point about eight 
miles east of Benton to Rawling’s Springs, passes through one of the 
most beautiful anticlinal valleys I have seen in the West. On either side 
the rusty-gray sands and sandstones dip away from the line of the road 
at an angle of 10 to 15 degrees. This anticlinal valley is most marked 
near Fort Steele, at the crossing of the North Platte. About five miles 
east of Fort Steele I made a careful examination ofa railroad-cut through 
a ridge of upheaval, which inclined about south or a little east of south. 
We have exposed here, commencing at the bottom, Ist, gray fine- 
grained sandstone, rather massive, and good for building purposes, and 
easily worked, 80 feet thick, dip 25° ; Od, : a seam two feet thick, irregular, 
black, indurated slaty clay, with layers of gypsum all through it; then 
two feet of arenaceous clay; 5d, 10 feet of rusty-gray compact sand- 
stone; 4th, eight feet clay and hard arenaceous layers, very dark color, 
passing up into harder layers, which split into thin lamine, the surfaces 
of which are covered with bits of vegetable matter; 5th, about 50 feet 
of rusty yellowish-gray sandstone; all these sandstones contain bits of 
vegetable matter scattered through them; 6th, 100 to 150 feet of steel- 
brown indurated clay, with some iron concretions ; ; the clay is mostly 
nodular in form; 7th, a dark-brown arenaceous mud rock, quite hard, 
three feet. From bed fifth [ obtained numerous species of marine shells, 
among them a species of Ostrea and Inoceramus in great numbers. The 
upper surfaces of the hard clay layers appeared as though crowded with 
impressions of sea-weeds or mud markings. 

In another railroad cutting, about four miles east of Rawling’s Springs, 
I obtained the same Inoceramus and_.a large species of Ammonite. These 
fossils are quite important as establishing the age of these rocks. 

At Rawling’s Springs are some very interesting geological features. 
At this locality the elevatory forces were exerted more powerfully than 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. Od 


atany other point along the railroad from Laramie Station to Green 
River. The entire series of rocks are exposed here, from the syenites to 
the Cretaceous, inclusive. The railroad passes through an anticlinal 
opening. : 

On the south side of the road are a series of variegated gray, brown, 
and reddish siliceous rocks inclining southwest about 3° to 10°. Rest- 
ing upon them isa very hard bluish limestone which is undoubtedly Car- 
boniferous, though I was unable to find any fossils in this region. 

On the north side of the road the ridges of upheaval strike off toward 
the northwest, rising to a height of 1,200 to 1,500 feet above the road. 
If we examine these ridges with care we shall find that the red syenite 
is exposed in a number of places, and we have the opportunity here of 
- studying the relations which the unchanged rock sustains to the meta- 
morphic. ; 

The syenitic beds dip 70° about southeast, while the unchanged beds 
rest upon them in nearly a horizontal position. The layers which rest 
directly on. the syenite are a beautiful pudding-stone made up of rounded 
quartz pebbles and feldspar; above are layers of fine siliceous rock with 
thin intercalations of clay. The whole series have the position and 
appearance of Potsdam sandstone, and I am inclined to believe that we 
have here a representation of the Lower Silurian period. In all cases 
these rocks repose on the upturned edges of the syenite; sometimes 
nearly horizontal, again inclining 5° to 10°. In one or two localities 
these Lower Silurian beds are lifted up 1,000 feet or more, nearly horizon- 
tally, while on the sides of the mountain the beds are broken off so as to 
incline 50° to 60°, or nearly vertical. 

The siliceous rocks make most excellent building-stone, and are much 
used by the railroad company. They reach a thickness of 500 to 800 
feet. There is every variety of tidal stratification, mud workings, wave 
and ripple marks, &c. On these siliceous beds rests the blue limestone, 
30 to 40 feet thick, and above are variegated sandstones and the red beds 
in the distance. 

From the tops of these ridges one can see numbers of synclinal and 
monoclinal valleys; I mean by monoclinal valleys the intervals between 
upheaved ridges where the beds in each ridge dip in the same direction. 
There is one here’ which stretches far to the northwest, three to five 
miles in width, and so smoothed by erosion that it forms a level grassy 
prairie. 

In all these upheaved ridges the rocks afford wonderful proofs of ero- 
sion. The Silurian (?) beds exhibit the combined action of water and ice 
in amore powerful manner than the more recent beds, even. 

Everywhere, however, the evidences of erosion during the Drift period 
are on a gigantic scale. Some of the beds are smoothed off as if they 
had been planed; others are furrowed. 

There is a fine sulphur spring here which gives the name to the station. 
The water issues from under the bed of blue limestone. The water is 
clear and possesses medicinal properties. 

About four miles west of Rawling’s Springs the Tertiary beds begin to 
overlap; but in the distance, on either side, are lofty ridges which are 
composed of Cretaceous, and perhaps rocks of even older date. 

South of Separation, 15 miles, there is a ridge that is at least 1,000 
feet high, which is certainly formed of Lower Cretaceous, and probably 
also of that great thickness of sandstones and clays which holds a posi- 
tion between the transition beds No. 1 (?) and the brick-red beds. 

Near Separation, about ten miles west of Rawling’s Springs, a coal 
mine has been opened with a bed of coal 11 feet in thickness. I am in- 


7 H 


98 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


clined to believe that it is really the same bed as the one opened at Car- 
bon, and also near Rock Creek and Cooper’s Creek. The strata dip 
nearly west about 10°. The mine has been opened from the summit of 
the hill, and the bed followed down the inclination, so that all the coal 
will have to be taken up the grade, and the difficulties in drainage will 
be greatly increased. The coal is of most excellent quality. There is, 
above and below the coal, the usual drab indurated clay. Below the clay | 
is a bed of gray ferruginous sandstone. On the summits of the hills in 
the vicinity are layers of fine-grained siliceous rocks with arenaceous 
concretions, some of them containing impressions of deciduous leaves. 

The Tertiary beds lie in ridges across the country, for the beds are 
lifted up in every direction. A more desolate region I have not seen in 
the West. Nothing seems to grow here but sage-bushes, and in some of 
the valleys they grow very large. 

All over the surface, on the hills, in the plains, are great quantities of 
water-worn pebbles. 

_ Many of these valleys are literally scooped out by the erosive forces, 
not by any power now acting, but waters far in excess of the present 
day in this region. 

Some of the widest and deepest of these valleys do not contain any 
running streams at this time. 

The layers of fine-grained sandstone on the hills in the vicinity con- 
tain more or less impressions of leaves, like those of the Populus and 
Platanus, in a good state of preservation. 

Continuing our course west of Separation, the dip of the Tertiary beds 
diminishes, until, before reaching Creston, about 13 miles west of Sep- 
aration, they lie in nearly a horizontal position, and all the surrounding 
country presents more the appearance of a plain. At this station the 
Union Pacific Railroad Company have dug a well, and at the depth of 
83 feet a coal-bed was struck, into which the workmen had penetrated 
three feet while I was there. The coal that was brought up was much 
of the same quality as that near Separation, and it is probably the same 
bed. If this should prove to be the same bed, coal must underlie the 
whole country at the depth of about 80 feet, over an area of at least 100 
square miles. This would prove a most important discovery to the rail- 
road company, inasmuch asit would show the inexhaustibility of a min- 
eral upon which the very existence of the road depends in future. In 
digging the well, beds of bluish arenaceous clay were passed through, 
then black clay with carbonaceous matter all through it. Just over the 
coal was some fine bluish indurated clay, with very distinct impressions 
of leaves. 

The railroad cuts and the wells show very distinctly the character of 
the intermediate softer beds. 

The erosion has been so great in this country, and all the hills and 
canons are so covered with débris, that it is almost impossible to obtain 
a Clear idea of the color and composition of the intermediate softer beds. 
The harder beds, as sandstones, &c., project, and are accessible to the 
eye without much excavation. 

The Tertiary formations, both marine and fresh water, occupy the 
whole country along the line of the railroad to Green River, and, prob- 
ably, to a greater or less extent, to a point within thirty or forty miles 
of Salt Lake. 

From Creston to Bitter Creek Station, a distance of 45 miles, the beds 
are mostly fresh water, and hold nearly a horizontal position. West of 
Bitter Creek we return to the marine Tertiary again, and the beds dip 3° 
to 6° nearly east. We have, therefore, between Rawling’s Springs and 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. _ we) 


Green River, a soft synclinal basin, the marine Tertiary dipping west 
about 10° on the east side, and the same marine beds inclining east 3° 
to 6° on the west side, while at Table Rock, Red Desert, and Washakie 
there is a large thickness of purely fresh-water shells, of the generz Pa- 
ludina, Unio, Melania, &c. Table Rock is a square butte, rising up above 
the level of the road about 400 feet. This is composed of beds of sand- 
stone, which, in many instances, is little more than an aggregate of 
fresh-water shells. 

After leaving Bitter Creek Station, the hills approach nearer the road 
and show the character of the marine Tertiary again. 

Seams of coal appear in many places, while yellow arenaceous marls, 
light-gray sand with indurated clay beds, and more or less thick layers 
of sandstene, occur. The dip of the beds varies from 3° to 6° east or 
nearly east. 

At Black Butte Station on Bitter Creek, and 15 miles west of Bitter 
Creek Station, there is a bed of yellow sandstone, irregular in thickness 
and in part concretionary. It is full of rusty concretions of sandstone 
of every size from an inch to several feet in diameter. They are mostly 
spherical in shape, and when broken open reveal a large cavity filled 
with yellow clay or dust of oxide of iron. 

This sandstone is 150 to 200 feet in thickness, forms nearly vertical 
bluffs, and is now, by the action of atmospheric influences, worn into 
the most fantastic shapes. Above this are sands, clays, sandstones of 
every texture, coal-beds, &c. One of these coal-beds near the summit 
of the hill has been burned, baking and melting the superincumbent 
beds. 

I found in several layers the greatest abundance of deciduous leaves, 
and among them a palni-leaf, probably the same species which occurs in 
the coal-beds on the Upper Missouri, and named Sabal campbelli. There 
is a seam near one of the coal-beds made up of a small species of Ostrea. 
The railroad passes down the Bitter Creek Valley, which has worn 
through the Tertiary beds, and on the east side the high wails can be 
seen inclining at smallangles. As we pass down the valley toward Green 
River, the inclination brings to view lower and lower beds. ‘These are 
all plainly marine Tertiaries, while an abundance of impressions of plants 
are found everywhere; no strictly fresh-water shells oceur, but seams of 
Ostrea of various’ species. There are also extensive beds of hard, flat 
table-rocks, which would make the best of flagging-stones. On the sur- 
face are most excellent illustrations of wave-ripple marks, and at one 
locality what appears to be tracks of a most singular character. One of 
the tracks appears to have been made by a soliped, and closely resembles 
the tracks of mules in the soft ground on the river-bottom. Others seem 
to belong to a huge bird; another to a four-toed pachydermatous ani- 
mal. I have obtained careful drawings of these tracks, as well as speci- 
mens of them. 

In the final report some detailed sections of these Tertiary beds will 
be given; yet I am convinced that local sections are not important. 
The character of the beds is so changeable that two sections taken ten 
miles apart would not be identical, and, in some cases, not very similar. 
The more recent the age of formation the less persistent seems to 
be their lithological character over extended areas. Although the coal- 
beds seem to be abundant everywhere along the line of the road, in 
the Lower Tertiary deposits, yet they have been wrought in few locali- 
ties as yet. 

Near Point of Rocks Station, about 45 miles east of Green River, one 
of the best coal mines I have yet seen in the West has been opened. Mr. 


100 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


W. Snyder, the able superintendent of the Union Pacific Railroad, has 
ordered a side-track to be laid to it, about a quarter of a mile distant. 

Within a vertical height of 80 feet five coal-beds have been opened. 
‘The lowest is about 100 feet above the bed of the creek. They are re- 
spectively five, one, four, three, and six and one-half feet in thickness. 
The five-foot bed is most valuable, and as the strata are nearly hori- 
zontal, it can be worked with great ease and freedom from water. The | 
coal is brought from the mine and thrown down the sides of the hilla 
hundred feet fall or more, and yet so hard and compact is the coal that 
it is not broken by the fall. It is also purer and heavier than any coal 
1 have yet seen west of the Laramie Mountains. The other beds already 
opened will yield moderately good coal. There are several other beds 
in these hills which have not yet been examined by the miner. 

Near the summit of the hills, above the coal-beds, there is a seam 
composed entirely of oyster-shells six inches thick. It is about the size 
of the common edible oyster, but an extinct and probably undescribed 
species. 

Another bed of coal has been opened about 28 miles west of Point of 
Rocks, at Rock Spring. Itis about four feet thick, with a bed of sand- 
stone at the bottom, and a slaty-clay roof. It cannot be worked to ad- 
vantage. Scattered all through the coal-bearing strata are seams and 
concretions of brown iron ore in great abundance. Sometimes these 
seams are quite persistent over extended areas, and vary from four to 
twelve inches in thickness. It occurs mostly, however, in a nodular 
form, and assumes a great variety of characters. There is much of it 
that can be made of economical value where there is a demand for it. 
There are also numerous ehalybeate or sulphur springs in that region, 
which possess-excellent medicinal properties. 

In this brief account of the country lying west of the Laramie Mount- 
ains and east of Green River we have shown that vast quantities of coal 
exist, of the best quality, and that in intimate connection with it are 
valuable deposits of iron-ore. We also believe that within a few years 
these deposits of iron and coal will be found to be of infinite value to the 
Union Pacific Railroad, and that the future success and value of the 
stock of this road is dependent on these minerals, especially the coal. 
Mr. Van Lennep, connected with the Union Pacific Railroad as geolo- 
gist, described more than fifty localities where the coal crops out to the 
surface not far distant from the line of the road. A more careful exami- 
nation for practical purposes I am convinced would reveal the existence 
of coal and iron in hundreds of localities from Rock Creek to the neigh- 
borhood of Salt Lake, and there are indications that they exist even be- 
yond this point in different directions. 

We have taken the position, also, that the coal-bearing beds of the 
Laramie Plains are of Tertiary age, although some marine fossils are 
found in strata connected with the coal. There may possibly be some 
thin seams of impure coal in the Upper Cretaceous beds, as if the great 
period of vegetation and the storing up of coal in the West was fore- 
shadowed in the Cretaceous. At any rate, the Upper Cretaceous beds 
contain a great amount of vegetable matter, but mostly too obscure for 
determination. 

So far as I can determine, the growth of the continent forward in 
time from the Cretaceous period seems to have been constant. I can find 
no break in time; no want of conformity between the Tertiary and Cre- 
taceous beds ; and, indeed, so gradually and imperceptibly do the Cre- 
taceous beds pass up into those of the Tertiary, that Ihave not been able 
to determine the line of separation. 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 101 


The lower portions of the Tertiary period of the West seem to be ma- 
rine in their character, as shown by an abundance of fossil remains of 
the genus Ostrea; but the physical conditions do not seem to have 
been favorable for the development of a great variety of marine life. 
The impressions of deciduous leaves similar to those belonging to our 
present fruit and forest trees are very numerous throughout the Tertiary 
_ beds of marine character, and they may be found in almost all localities 
where the character of the rocky beds is such as to favor their preser- 
vation. The marine beds gradually pass up into those of purely fresh- 
water character. 

All these facts are very important, inasmuch as they fulfill all the 
conditions of the growth of the continent, showing clearly all the steps 
of progress onward even to the present time. 

There is another point of interest connected with these modern de- 
posits of the West. There seems to have been a vastly increased de- 
position of sediments during both Cretaceous and Tertiary times in the 
West. The sediments are greatly deficient in calcareous matter, and 
show a vast preponderance of arenaceous material. I have estimated 
the thickness of the Cretaceous beds, as shown west of the Laramie 
Mountains, at 5,000 feet, and the Tertiary the same; so that we have here 
10,000 feet of rocks of comparatively modern date. 

The next important question is, can all this vast area be made useful for 
agricultural or grazing purposes ? 

We have shown that the eastern slope of the mountains can be culti- 
vated very successfully by irrigation, but west of the Laramie range the 
elevation above the sea is greater, and the climate much more severe in 
winter. Even at the Laramie River the elevation above the tide-water 
is 7,222 feet, nearly 3,000 feet higher than Salt Lake Valley, and more 
than 1,000 feet above Cheyenne City, near the eastern base. 

The Laramie Plains are also surrounded by lofty ranges of mountains, 
the tops of some of which are covered with perpetual snow. The sum- 
mer, therefore, in these plains must always be short, and the winter 
severe. Itis believed, however, that east of the Medicine Bow River the 
principal cereals, as wheat, buckwheat, oats, and barley, can be raised 
successfully. Potatoes and turnips, of very good quality, have been 
raised this year in the valley of Rock Creek, on sod ground, and with 
very little irrigation. 

The following valuable notes were furnished me by Major-General 
John Gibbon, United States Army, commanding Rocky Mountain de- 
partment, with permission to copy them entire. General Gibbon has 
given more attention to this subject than any other man in the Territory. 
He has cultivated an extensive garden at the military post, Fort 
Sanders, for two years past. 

Vegetables which can be raised in Laramie Plains: 

All seed should be planted as soon after Ist of May as possible. 

Potatoes.—Should be planted early in May, in rows three feet apart; 
thoroughly irrigated immediately after planting, and the ground be- 
tween the rows frequently kept open with a cultivator. It would be 
better to plow out the furrows; fill them with manure or straw, and 
plant on that. 

Peas.—Very fine; soak the seed before planting in rows three feet 
apart, and cultivate as above. 

String-beans.—The same. 

Radishes.—Very fine; sow either broadcast or in rows three feet 
apart, thin, and then weed out to four inches apart. 


102 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


Turnips.—Of all kinds, very thin in rows three feet apart, and weed 
out to twelve inches apart. 

Parsnips.— As above, and to next spring for eating. 

Carrots.—AS above. 

Cabbage.—Should be well and early started in a hot-bed, and planted 
out when hard and strong. 

Lettuce.—Hither broadcast or in rows, thin. 

Cauliflower.rSame as cabbages. 

Beets.—In rows three feet apart; sowed thin and weeded out to eight 
or ten inches apart. 

Onions.—Sowed thin in rows three feet apart; and cultivated seed- 
lings planted in rows three feet apart, and four inches from each other. 

NotrEe.—Everything needs all the time it can get to growin. The 
seed should, therefore, be sowed very thin, watered well until the seed 
comes up, and then weeded out early to give it plenty of room to grow. 
When the plants are left thick, they all run to heads, and when weeded 
out late they do not have time to grow. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
F. V. HAYDEN, 
U. S&S. Geologist. 
Hon. Jos. S. WILSON, 
Commissioner General Land- Office. 


THIRD ANNUAL REPORT 


OF THE 


UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
OF THE TERRITORIES, 


EMBRACING 


COLORADO AND NEW MEXICO. 


CONDUCTED 
UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR 
BY 


F. V. HAYDEN, U. S. Geologist. 


LETTER TO THE SECRETARY. 


DENVER, COLORADO TERRITORY, 
October 15, 1869. 


Sir: In accordance with your instructions dated Washington, April 1, 
1869, I have the honor to transmit my preliminary field report of the 
United States geological survey of Colorado and New Mexico, con- 
ducted by me, under your direction, during the past season. A portion 
of your instructions is as follows: 

‘You will proceed to the field of your labors as soon as the necessary 
arrangements can be made and the season will permit, and your attention 
will be especially directed to the geological, mineralogical and agricul- 
tural resources of the Territories herein designated ; you will be required 
to ascertain the age, order of succession, relative position, dip, and com- 
parative thickness of the different strata and geological formations, 
and examine with care all the beds, veins, and other deposits, of ores, 
coals, clays, marls, peat, and other mineral substances, as well as the 
fossil remains of the different formations; and you will also make full 
collections in geology, mineralogy, and paleontology, to illustrate your 
notes taken in the field.” 2 

Tn accordance with the above instructions I proceeded to Cheyenne, 
Wyoming Territory, where my preparations and outfit were made. 

My assistants were selected as follows : 

. James Stevenson, managing director and general assistant. 
. Henry W. Elliott, artist. 

. Rev. Cyrus Thomas, entomologist and botanist. 

. Persifer Frazer, jr., mining engineer and metallurgist. 

. HK. C. Carrington, jr., zoologist. 

B. H. Cheever, jr., general assistant. 

Five men were also employed, three of them as teamsters, one as 
laborer, and the other one as cook. 

As soon aS my preparations were completed, my field labors com- 
menced, June 29, at Cheyenne. Limited somewhat as to time and means, 
Tarranged my plans so as to cover as much ground as possible and secure 
the greatest amount of geological information. On the plains the 
geological structure is very simple, and frequently over large areas the 
basis rocks are concealed by superficial deposits. It seemed best, there- 
fore, to make my examinations southward along the eastern base of the 
Rocky Mountains for the purpose of studying the upheaved ridges, or 
“hog backs,” as they are called in this country. These ridges aftord 
peculiar facilities for working out the geological structure of the country. 
Indeed, they are like the pages of an open book upon which the geolo- 
gist can read what the Creator has written upon each formation known 
in the country from the granite mass that forms the nucleus of the 
loftiest mountain range to the most recent tertiary formation inclusive. 
Often in a little belt, from half a mile to four or five in width, one may 
travel over the upturned edges of nearly all the formations in the geolo- 
gical scale, and the opportunity was presented, in this way, for tracing 


D> OUP 9 DoH 


106 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


out their relations by studying the junction of the changed with the 
unchanged rocks. 

From Cheyenne to Denver we examined with some care the mines about 
the sources of the Cache a la Poudre River and the coal mines at South 
Boulder. From Denver we visited the silver mines at Georgetown, and 
the gold mines of Central City, thence to the Middle Park, where we 
found much of interest geologically. We then returned to Denver and 
pursued our way southward, passed the “divide” to Colorado City, Soda 
Springs, Cafion City, Spanish Peaks, Raton Hills, Fort Union, Mora 
Valley, Santa Fé, Placiere Mountains, &c. Along this route the 
scenery was grand beyond description. At Colorado City there is an 
area of about ten miles square that contains more material of geological 
interest than any other area of equal extent that I have seen in the 
west. 

The coal formation along the base of the mountains was studied with 
ereat interest. With these coal beds are associated valuable deposits 
of brown iron ore. The coal and iron deposits of the Raton Hills extend 
from the Spanish Peaks to Maxwell’s, and the supply of both is quite 
inexhaustible and of excellent quality. The future influence of these 
two important minerals at this locality, on the success of a Pacific rail- 
road, cannot be over-estimated. It is believed that the coal and iron 
mines of tke Raton Hills will be of far more value to the country than 
all the mines of precious metals in that district. 

The next locality for coal was at the Placiere Mountains. In one 
locality here, the coal has been changed into anthracite by the eruption 
of a basaltic dike, theigneous material of which had poured over the coal 
strata. Vast quantities of brown iron ore are associated with this coal, 
and magnetic iron ore is found in the gneissoid rocks of the mountain. 
The gold mines here are very rich and are now wrought upon a true 
scientific plan. 

From Santa Fé we proceeded up the Rio Grande through the San 
Luis Valley, Poncho Pass, Arkansas Valley, through the South Park to 
Denver again. We could only give a glance at the salt springs and 
gold mines of the South Park, but we gathered much valuable informa- 
tion in regard to this interesting region. To the geologist Colorado is 
almost encyclopedic in its character, containing within its borders 
nearly every variety of geological formation. The portion of the 
country examined by me this summer, comprises a belt about five hun- 
dred and fifty miles in length from north to south, and almost two 
hundred in width from east to west. 

The collections in all departments are very extensive and valuable, 
comprising geological specimens, fossils, minerals, plants, birds, quadru- 
peds, reptiles, and insects, all of which are to be arranged and classified 
in the museum of the Smithsonian Institution according to a law of Con- 
gress. 

My report, herewith transmitted, has been written under circum- 
stances of great pressure at odd moments, in traveling from point to 
point, or in camp after the labors of the day were completed, far away 
from books or any opportunities for careful elaboration. It may there- 
fore be regarded as little more than a transcript of my field-notes. 

Accompanying my own report will be found those of my assistants. 
Mr. Persifer Frazer, jr., on the mining resources of the route passed over, 
and Mr. Cyrus Thomas on the agricultural resources. I regard these 
reports as of great practical value to the country. 

I take this opportunity of tendering my thanks to all of my assistants 
for their cordial co-operation throughout the entire survey. The reports 
of Messrs. Thomas and Frazer will speak for themselves. Mr. Elliott, 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 107 


the artist, has labored with untiring zeal, and has made more than four 
hundred outlines of sketches, and about seventy finished ones for the 
final reports. Hach one of these sketches illustrates some thought or 
principle in geology, and, if properly engraved, will be invaluable. My 
principal assistant, Mr. James Stevenson, who has been associated with 
me in my western explorations for many years, has rendered me indis- 
pensable services throughout the entire trip. 

I beg permission to state here that my appropriation was so limited 
that had it not been for the kindness and generosity of the military 
authorities of the country, I could have accomplished but a small 
portion of the work that I have performed during the present season, 
and I take this opportunity to say that the West is very largely indebted 
to them for whatever benefit my labors have been or may be to the 
country. 

Before leaving Washington, I made application by letter to General 
Sherman, commanding the armies of the United States, for such assist- 
ance from the military authorities of the West as could be afforded to 
me without manifest injury to the public service. On my letter of appli- 
cation, General Sherman placed the following indorsement : 

“This application is referred to the commanding officers of the depart- 
ments, districts, and posts, who will extend to Professor Hayden’s party 
the usual courtesies, and the privilege of purchasing a limited quantity of 
provisions on the same terms as officers.” 

Similar indorsements were made by Generals Sheridan, Schofield, and 
Augur. The greater part of my outfit was supplied to me by Colonel EH. 
B. Carling, United States army, depot quartermaster at Fort D. A. Rus- 
sell, Wyoming Territory ; and I cannot express too cordially my grateful 
acknowledgments to him for his generous aid, not only for this season, 
but also for two previous campaigns. Iam also under equal obligation 
to General William Myers, United States Army, chief quartermaster 
department of the Platte, at Omaha, for invaluable aid in several past 
years. When we came in the vicinity of a military post, at Fort Union, 
Santa Fé, or Fort Garland, we received all the aid we needed. 

I would also extend my grateful acknowledgments to the press and the 
citizens of Colorado and New Mexico, but more especially to Colorado 
for their cordial aid and sympathy in all my explorations. 

If my labors have added anything to the sum of human knowledge and 
the honor of our country, I shall be content. 

I remain very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
F. V. HAYDEN, 
United States Geologist. 
Hon. J. D. Cox, 
Secretary of the Interior. 


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GEOLOGICAL REPORT. 


INTRODUCTION. 


In order that the relation of the different geological formations re- 
ferred to in this report may be more clearly understood, I have thought 
it best to commence with the upper coal measures as exposed along the 
Missouri River near Omaha and the mouth of the Platte. 

Omaha, which is well known to be the eastern terminus of the Union 
Pacific railroad, is built upon the northwestern rim of the coal meas- 
ures as seen along the Lower Missouri. These rocks occupy a consid- 
erable portion of the State south of the Platte River, but north of that 
point they cover only a small portion of Sarpy and Douglas Counties. 
The last exposure of any importance is near the point decided upon as 
the location for the railroad bridge across the Missouri. The limestones 
at this point have been quarried for many years, but the amount of 
labor required to remove the vast thickness of marl and drift above it, 
will diminish greatly the importance of this quarry. Near Florence 
these limestones are seen in the bottom of the river at very low water, 
and near De Soto, obscure exposures have been detected. From that 
point to the foot of the mountains these rocks are not again seen. Along 
the Platte River for about eight miles there are extensive quarries of 
limestone that are very useful for building purposes. Scattered over 
the surface of the country in the two counties of Douglas and Sarpy, are 
exposures of the rusty sandstone of the Dakota group; and at the mouth 
of the Elkhorn River all traces of the coal measure rocks have disap- 
peared, and do not reappear again until we reach the very margin of 
the mountains, over five hundred miles to the westward. After leaving 
the mouth of the Elkhorn very few exposures of rocks are seen for the 
next hundred miles, but there are enough to show that the underlying 
rocks are of cretaceous age. Near the mouth of Elkhorn River the 
sandstones of the Dakota group are seen, while on the distant hills 
traces of the yellow, chalky limestone, No. 3, occur. After reaching a 
point along the Platte about one hundred miles west of Omaha, the light, 
yellowish marls and sands of the White River group overlap the older 
rocks and occupy thecountry to the very margins of the Rocky Mountains. 
But the most important formation, and one that has a more favorable 
influence on the State of Nebraska than any other, is of very recent date 
in geological history. In the valley of the Missouri River, extending 
up nearly to Fort Pierre, and also to the mouth of the Missouri, and 
probably southward to the valley of Mexico, is a deposit of yellow marl 
varying in thickness from a few feet toseveral hundred. It has been called 
“ the bluff formation,” for it constitutes the picturesque bluffs or high hills 
which form the most conspicuous features in the scenery along the Mis- 
souri River. This yellow marl also enters largely into the composition 
of the soil of the vast bottom lands of the river which are so justly cel- 
ebrated for their fertility. It is, however, in the immediate proximity 
to the water-courses that this yellow marl deposit is the thickest, and it 
eradually diminishes in depth as we recede from them; still, it is to this 


110 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


deposit that a very large portion of the West is indebted for its unsur- 
passed fertility and productiveness. It covers the country with such 
uniformity that it conceals almost entirely the basis rocks from view. 
Underlying this marl is a considerable deposit of drift material, as 
rounded pebbles or boulders and coarse sand, often presenting the most 
singular illustrations of oblique layers of deposit. The marl is usually 
quite homogeneous in its composition, and almost or entirely destitute 
of stratification, and the materials seemed to have been deposited in 
very quiet waters, and to have settled to the bottom of a fresh-water 
lake like gently-falling snow. The drift materials, as a rule, exhibit the 
irregular lamine as if they had been deposited by currents of water. 
The exceedingly great importance of this yellow marl deposit is not yet 
well understood or appreciated, but it seems to me that the wonderful 
fertility of the soil of the western States and Territories, and its perma- 
nent productiveness for all time to come, is due to it. 

The eastern portion of Nebraska is already quite thickly settled, and 
is susceptible of cultivation, but the western part must be inhabited, if 
settled at all, by a pastoral people. 

These broad, level prairies are covered with a thick growth of short, 

nutritious grass, but the scarcity of water for the purpose of irrigation, 
and the almost entire absence of forest trees, must ever prevent settle- 
ments to any great extent. In the autumn nearly all the smallerstreams 
dry up entirely, and several seasons the Platte has been known to. be- 
come so lowas to have no continuous current. It is a peculiar feature 
of these western streams, at times to be larger toward their sources than 
at their mouths. The Platte in its various branches always has an 
abundant supply of water, as their heads issue from the mountain sides, 
but in traversing the plains there are few or no springs or branches en- 
tering into it, or the water is entirely absorbed by the arid earth or thirsty 
air, until the bed becomes as dry as the dusty road. Hence all over the 
Rocky Mountain regions in the autumn are what are called dry creeks, 
with beds which, when full in the spring time, form large rivers. 
. The Platte River flows, for a distance of over four hundred miles, 
through the southern portion of what I have termed the White River 
tertiary basin, in contradistinetion to the great lignite tertiary basin. 
The former has been separated into two formations, the White River 
group and the Loup River beds, on account of the organic remains char- 
acterizing each. The two former are entirely distinct, not a species pass- 
ing from one to the ether. I have supposed hitherto that the Platte 
River flowed through strata belonging to the Loup River group. They 
are certainly of quite recent age, but the pliocene remains that I col- 
lected on the Niobrara River came from loose gray sands which rested 
with a certain kind of unconformability on the eroded surface of the 
White River group. It is plain also that the valleys of the more import- 
ant streams have been worn out, to some extent, prior to the deposition 
of the pliocene sands. 

In the valley of the Niobrara and Loup Fork the phocene sands are 
quite thick, and the line of separation between them and the White River 
group is very irregular, while on the hills the sands occur in many places, 
on and in, isolated hills. 

The details of the geology of this most interesting region still remain 
to be worked out, and its geographical extent will be found to be much 
larger than has hitherto been supposed. The soil composed of the ero- 
ded materials of this basin is of moderate fertility, but owing to a want 
of water cannot be cultivated to any great extent. The greater portion 
of the surface underlaid by these beds is covered with a fine growth of 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF TIE TERRITORIES. Nolet 


grass which is especially adapted to the raising of sheep, and [am glad 
to see that some enterprising persons are making the experiment. The 
healthfulness of the climate, the nutritious character of the short grass, 
and the dryness of the ground, not unfrequently covered with small 
pebbles, must act favorably on sheep. 
That portion of Wyoming east of the Laramie range, and south of the 
line of the Union Pacific railroad, is entirely covered with the upper 
beds of the White River tertiary basin. The valley of Lodge Pole, Crow 
Creek, and Chugwater, show the formations of this basin very distinetly 
from mouth to source. The Union Pacific railroad ascends the eastern 
slope of the Laramie range on a sort of bench of this formation, which 
seems to be unusually developed, and to extend without much interrup- 
tion up to the very margin of the mountains, sometimes concealing all 
the rocks of intermediate age and resting on the syenites. 
About twenty miles south of Cheyenne these beds disappear entirely 
along the eastern flanks of the mountains, and the lignite tertiary beds 
are exposed to view. 


CHAPTER f. 
FROM CHEYENNE TO DENVER. 


I commenced my labors at Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory, and pro- 
ceeded southward along the eastern flanks of the Rocky Mountains. 
My preliminary report will be little more than a transcript of my journal 
from day to day. It willbe, therefore, impossible to systematize it as I 
would wish, or avoid in many cases repetition. There is great uniformity 
in the geology of the country, and when one has become familiar with the 
different geological formations over a small area, he can trace them with 
' ereat rapidity over long distances. This will account, in part, for the 
large extent of country which I have been able to examine in a single 
season.. The geological formations immediately underlying Cheyenne 
are of tertiary age, probably pliocene or very late miocene. The beds 
have been slightly disturbed by the upheaval of the mountain range, but 
their position in relation to the older tertiary beds shows their deposition 
to have been of late date. They are found deposited in the valleys and 
sometimes high on the mountain sides, and itis very seldom that they dip 
at an angle of more than five degrees. These beds can be traced far north- 
ward to the Black Hills of Dakota, a distance of three hundred and fifty 
miles, and they are thus shown probably to be the upper beds or most re- 
cent formation of the White River tertiary. Alongthe base of the moun- 
tains the rocks are mostly pudding-stone, or an aggregate of small water- 
worn pebbles, mostly very small, but sometimes several inches in diame- 
ter. These pebbles grow smaller and fewer in quantity as we recede 
from the mountains until they entirely disappear, and fine sand or marl 
takes their place. Near Cheyenne there is a bed of fresh-water lime- 
stone which is much used as lime, and seems to answer an excellent pur- 
pose in mason work and for whitewashivg, and I have no doubt that 
such beds or layers occur in this basin everywhere. Along the line of 
the Union Pacific railroad, just before reaching Granite Cation, a bed 
of the most excellent limestone crops out, on the margin of the range, of 
carboniferous age. This is burned into lime of snowy whiteness and is 
a great favorite with masons. It contains some fossils of well known 
carboniferous forms, as Athyris subtilita, Productus pratteniana, and 
crinoidal fragments. The red sandstones are exposed in a narrow belt 


112 ' GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


along the margins of the mountains, but all rocks of more recent date 
are concealed by the tertiary deposits. In order that I may make my 
description of the different formations in their southern extension more 
clearly understood, Iwill describe them in as brief a manner as pos- 
sible, as they have been studied in the regions to the northward. 

The granites and metamorphic rocks do not differ in many respects from 
those which form the nucleus of the mountain ranges generally. Reddish 
and gray granites form the central portions, and on the sides is a series of 
stratified metamorphic rocks of a great variety of structure and com- 
position. At the north the igneous rocks do not seem to predominate 
in the eastern ranges, but as we proceed southward toward New Mexico 
they increase in extent and force. 

The Potsdam sandstone is the only member of the silurian that I have 
ever observed along the margins of the mountains. It was first dis- 
covered west of the Missouri River in the summer of 1857, during the 
exploration of the Black Hills of Dakota, by a United States expedi- 
tion under the command of General G. K. Warren, United States Army, 
and it has been observed in several other localities since that time. 

The following section of the Potsdam sandstone in its relation to the 
carboniferous beds, as observed by me around the margins of the Black 
Hills, shows the typical characters of each, where they are well exposed 
and have been clearly identified by organic remains: 

1. Hard, compact, fine-grained, yellowish limestone of an excellent 
quality; passing down into a yellow calcareous sandstone, quite friable. 
Fossils: Rhynconella rocky-montana, Athyris subtilita, Cyrtoceras, &c.— 
00 feet. 

2. Loose layers of very hard yellow arenaceoys limestone with a red- 
dish tinge, underlaid by a bed, six or eight feet in thickness, of a very hard 
blue limestone. The whole contains great quantities of broken crinoi- 
dal remains with cyathopylloid corals and several species of brachio- 
poda—40 feet. 

3. Variegated sandstone of a gray and ferruginous reddish color, com- 
posed chiefly of grains of quartz and particles of mica, cemented with 
calcareous matter. Some portions of the bed are very hard, compact, 
siliceous; others a coarse friable grit; others conglomerate. Fossils: 
Lingula prima, L. antiqua, Obolella nana, and Arionellus oweni—os0 feet. 

4, Stratified metamorphic rocks in a vertical position for the most part. 

Rocks about the same as those above described, sometimes very much 
thicker and sometimes thinner, have been seen, more or less, all along the 
margin of the Rocky Mountains, on both sides the main axis from the 
north line to Cheyenne. 

About the sources of the Missouri River, along the flanks of the Big 
Horn and Wind River Mountains, these rocks are particularly devel- 
oped. Now and then they all disappear for a considerable distance, and 
then, at the first favorable opportunity, reappear from beneath beds of 
more recent date. A series of arenaceous beds, which we have called 
the “red arenaceous deposits, or triassic,” form one of the most con- 
spicuous features of the geology along the flanks of both sides of the 
principle ranges of mountains and are almost always present. They 
were first observed by me, forming a narrow belt or girdle around the 
granite nucleus of the Black Hills of Dakota, in the summer of 1807. 
These rocks are sometimes called saliferous or gypsum-bearing beds, from 
the fact that they contain both salt and gypsum, the latter mineral 
oftentimes in great quantities. There are also mingled with these beds 
several layers of bluish siliceous limestone, which at the far north at- 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 113 


tain a considerable thickness, but southward thin out to a few feet, or 
are entirely concealed by the debris which everywhere prevails. 

These red beds, when they make their appearance, often give the most 
unique and remarkable features to the scenery, and any development of 
them, however small, never fails to attract even the commonest observer 
on account of their brick-red appearance. No well-authenticated fossils 
have ever been found in them, yet they are regarded as of triassic age 
by the common consent of geologists. Iam inclined to believe that a 
portion of the upper light-red beds, with the included layers of flinty 
limestone, are jurassic, but I have never been able to find any well de- 
fined line of separation between what are well known to be jurassic and 
the supposed triassic beds. 

Resting above these red beds isa series of marls and arenaceous marls 
of a light or ashen gray color, with harder layers of limestone or fine 
sandstone, which were also first discovered around the margin of the 
Biack Hills of Dakota in 1857. Since the discovery in the Black Hills, 
jurassic fossils have been found over a very wide geographical area, and 
yet I have never seen them so well developed, or the peculiar fossils so 
abundant, as at the locality where they were first observed. Although 
I have traced this jurassic belt by its organic remains over many hun- 
dreds of miles, I have been able to discover scarcely a well-defined 
jurassic fossil south of Deer Creek, a point one hundred miles north of 
Fort Laramie, or south of the Lake Como, on the Union Pacific railroad. 

I believe that a thin remnant of this belt extends far south to New 
Mexico, but itis often so obscured, or so easily concealed, that I have been 
continually in doubt in regard to its existence. Coextensive with all 
the mountain ranges is a large series of beds above the jurassic belt 
which belong to the cretaceous period, the upper and middle portions of 
which are everywhere indicated by characteristic fossil remains, as seen 
on the Missouri River, where they were first studied by Mr. F. B. Meek 
and the writer. The cretaceous rocks present five well-marked divisions, 
Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, or Dakota group, Fort Benton group, Niobrara 
division, Fort Pierre group, and Fox Hill beds. On the Lower Missouri 
No. 1, or Dakota group, is characterized by several species of marine 
shelis and a profusion of impressions of deciduous leaves; but along the 
margins of the mountain elevations I have never been able to discover 
a single specimen of organic remains that would establish the age of the 
rocks. I only know that there is a series of beds of remarkable persist- 
ency all along the margin of the mountain ranges, holding a position 
between well-defined cretaceous No. 2 and jurassic beds, and in my pre- 
vious reports I have called them transition beds, or No. 1. They consist 
of a series of layers of yellow and gray, more or less fine-grained sand- 
stones and pudding-stones, with some intercalated layers of arenaceous 
clays. Inalmost all cases there is associated with these beds a thin series 
of carbonaceous clays, which sometimes becomes impure coal, and con- 
tains masses of silicified wood, &e. On the west side of the Black Hills 
they assume a singularly massive appearance, nearly horizontal, two 
hundred to two hundred and fifty feet thick, and are called Fortification 
Rocks. Here also occurs a thin bed of carbonaceous clay. On the east- 
ern slope of the Big Horn Mountains I observed this same series of beds 
in the summer of 1859, holding a position between cretaceous No. 2 and 
the jurassic maris, with a considerable thickness of earthy lignite, large 
quantities of petrified wood, and numerous large uncharacteristic bones, 
which Dr. Leidy regarded as belonging to some huge saurian. 

There are very few points of resemblance between these beds and 
those which form the Dakota group, as seen in Kansas and Nebraska. 

8 H 


114 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


All the evidence therefore that I have had to guide me in regard to 
these beds along the margin of the mountain pee has been their 
position. 

No. 2, on the Missouri River, is composed of very black plastic clays, 
with some thin layers of limestone and sandstone, and is quite well sepa- 
rated from No. 1 below and No. 3 above. No. 3 is composed of massive 
layers of chalky limestone, always containing Inoceramus problematicus 
and Ostrea congesta. 

Along the Kansas Pacifie railroad, at Hayes City and Fort Wallace, 
No. 3 occurs in such massive layers that it is Sawed into building blocks 
with acommon saw. No. 4isa dark ashen stecl-colored laminated clay, 
with bluish calcareous concretions filled with shells. No. 5 is a yellow- 
ish ferruginous arenaceous clay, with the greatest abundance of mollus- 
cous fossils. At various localities all along the margin of the mountain 
ranges these divisions of the cretaceous are far less distinctly separated, 
and vary more or less in their structure and composition, and yet in 
tracing them carefully and continuously from the Missouri River they 
always retain enough of their typical character, so that I have never 
been at a loss to detect their presence at once, although after leaving 
the Missouri River we do not find any well-defined lines of separation, 
either lithologically or paleontologically. 

With the commencement of the tertiary was ushered in the dawn of 
the great lake period of the West. The evidence seems to point to the 
conclusion that from the dawn of the tertiary period, even up to the 
commencement of the present, there was a continuous series of fresh- 
water lakes all over the continent west of the Mississippi River. As- 
suming the position that all the physical changes were slow, progressive, 
and long-continued, and that the earlier sediments of the tertiary were 
marine, then brackish, then purely fresh water, we have through them 
a portion of the consecutive history of the growth of the western conti- 
nent, step by step, up to the present time. The earliest of these great 
lakes marked the commencement of the tertiary period, and seems to 
have covered a very large portion of the American continent west of 
the Mississippi, from the Arctic Sea.to the Isthmus of Darien. 

As [have before stated, the first sediments were marine, then came 
brackish water, and soon purely fresh water, as is plainly indicated by 
the organic remains. The lower beds of the great lignite basin every- 
where contain layers, varying from afew inches to two feet in thick- 
ness, made up almost entirely of oyster shells, with a few other species 
of marine or estuary types. No exclusively marine forms have as yet 
been found to my knowledge, but as we ascend in the beds all traces of 
the salt sea disappear, and a great profusion of fresh-water and land shelis 
appear, with vast quantities of the impressions of leaves of deciduous 
trees» Numerous beds of coal, varying in thickness from a few inches 
to fifteen or twenty feet, characterize this deposit. 

About the middle of the tertiary period the second extensive lake 
commenced in the West, which we have called the White River tertiary 
basin. We believe that it commenced its growth near the southeastern 
base of the Black Hills, and gradually enlarged its borders. I am in- 
clined to think that this lake has continued on, almost or quite up to the 
commencement of the present period ; that the light-colored arenaceous 
and marly deposits in the Park of the Upper Arkansas, in the Middle 
Park, among the mountains at the source of the Missouri River, in Texas 
and Oalifornia, and Utah, are all later portions of this great lake. The 
upper miocene or pliocene deposits in the Wind River Valley, near Fort 
Bridger, and on the divide between the Platte and the Arkansas River 8, 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 115 


were undoubtedly synchronous, though perhaps not connected with this 
great basin. Every year, as the limits of my explorations are extended 
in any direction, I find evidences of what appear to be separate lake 
basins, covering greater or less areas, and bearing intrinsic proof, more 
or less conclusive, of the time of their existence. I have given in this 
place the above brief description of the various geological formations 
as 1 have studied them in the West, in order that my subsequent remarks 
on these formations in their southern extension may be more clearly 
understood. Constant reference will be made to rocks as they have 
been seen in the far North and West, in order that the story of their 
geological extension may be linked together. 

June 29, 1869.—Left Fort D. A. Russell about 10 o’clock in the morn- 
ing with my entire party, consisting of twelve persons and eighteen 
mules and horses, with two large covered wagons and an ambulance. 
By the kindness of Colonel E. B. Carling, the depot quartermaster, at 
Fort D. A. Russell, 1 was provided with everything needful for inde- 
pendent camp life, and I at once commenced my explorations in earnest. 

We traveled to-day thirteen miles southward trom Fort Russell. Our 
entire route was over the more recent beds of the White River tertiary 
basin. The lowest bed exposed by the cuts in the streams, is a thick layer 
of flesh-colored indurated marl, much like that containing so many ver- 
tebrate fossils on White River, Dakota. It contains some thin layers of 
very fine gritty rock. Overlying this is a thick bed which appears more 
recent, yet apparently conforms to the marl beds below. It is composed 
of water-worn pebbles of various sizes, forming a real pudding-stone. 
Near the margins of the mountains this bed gives the characteristic 
features to the scenery, as it is cut through by the myriad small streams 
that issue from the mountain side. Itis at least three or four feet in thick- 
ness. Most.of the pebbles are from the granite rocks that form the cen- 
tral portions of the Laramie range. The beds all dip from the mountains 
eastward at a moderate angle, and it is evident that this entire forma- 
tion was deposited after the mountain ranges had nearly reached their 
present height. The strata seldom dip at an angle of over 5° and rest 
unconformably on the older beds when they are seen in apposition. 
Near the junction of the metamorphic rocks with these modern pud- 
ding-stones the pebbles or bowlders are not much worn, and of mode- 
rate size, six to twelve inches in diameter, but the sediments grow finer 
and finer as we recede from the foot of the mountains until the pudding- 
stones pass into a fine-grained whitish sandstone. We can see, therefore, 
that these deposits formed the proper rim of the fresh-water lake, that 
the sediments were derived from the erosion of the feldspathic granites, 
and that the forces that were in operation acted from the direction of 
the mountain ranges. 

There are also vast quantities of drift material which I regard as loeal. 
It seems to me that the evidence is clear that all this modern drift-action 
had its origin in the mountain ranges in the immediate vicinity ; that in 
earlier times the snow and ice gathered on the summits in vastly greater 
quantities, and that in melting, from year to year, in the form of water 
and ice, they brought along vast quantities of rocks from the mountains 
and distributed them over the surface. 

The waters, with the masses of ice, would naturally follow the chan- 
nels of the streams if they had been marked out, or they would mark out 
_ new channels, for nearly or quite all the valleys that extend down from 
the mountains become shallower, the further they extend eastward from 
the flanks of the,range. This superficial deposit at the very margins of 
the mountains is composed of very coarse materials, sometimes immense 


116 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


masses of granite of all kinds, but slightly worn; but proceeding from 
the base of the mountains, the rocks become smaller and more rounded, 
until they pass into small pebbles, mingled with loose sand. 

The phenomena of erosion, as seen at the present time, all along the 
flanks of the mountains, in the plains, in the channels of streams, point 
clearly to a vastly greater quantity and force of water than exist any- 
where at the present time. . 

The surface of the country along the base of the mountains is ex- 
tremely undulating—worn into hill, valley, ridge, or rounded buttes. 
The strata in these ridges and hills show that the entire surface was 
much higher than it is at present, and that these ridges and buttes are 
enly remnants of beds left after the erosion, and how great a thickness of 
strata was originally deposited above these remnants, and is now en- 
tirely swept away, it is impossible to determine, though we believe it 
was very great. 

Now, on these hills are the greatest numbers of large, rounded stones, 
of all kinds, granite and sedimentary, as if they had been left there by 
the melting masses of ice which had lodged on the hills. These stones 
are also accumulated in long lines or belts, as if they had been driven by 
currents so as to form shore lines, or lodged-in eddies. The evidence is 
clear that great bodies of water, in which were probably mingled masses 
of ice, swept over the plain country within a comparatively recent 
geological period. 

Opposite Camp Carling, in the bluffs of Crow Creek, a good thickness 
of drift is seen filling up the irregular surface of the modern tertiary 
beds, so that we have evidence of quite extensive erosion of the surface 
prior to the deposition of this drift. 

Along all the main water-courses are high ridges showing the rocky 
strata perfectly. <A little lower is a second ridge, mostly grassed over, 
but more or less parallel with the higher ridge; then we have a gradu- 
ated series of terraces, from one to three, extending down to the water’s 
edge. This description applies to all the main water-courses along the 
base of the mountains, whether there is running water in them at this 
time or not; and they all seem to give evidence that they once contained 
far more water than at present. This configuration of the surface aids 
much in giving a sort of picturesque appearance to the plains, inasmuch 
as we cross these undulations at right angles in traveling north to 
south. 

The soil in the valleys of the streams is rich enough, and when it can 
be irrigated, will produce good crops; and not until the farmers and 
stock-growers begin to settle about Cheyenne will it have a permanent 
and substantial growth. 

June 30. The distance from Cheyenne to Laporte, on the Cache la 
Poudre, is forty miles. The tertiary pudding-stone beds extend along 
the immediate flanks of the mountains for twenty-five miles, but disap- 
pear from the plains within ten or fifteen miles of Laporte. 

I have estimated their entire thickness here at from twelve hundred 
to fifteen hundred feet. The high hills near the station are capped with 
coarse sandstone, with horizontal strata, and are eight hundred feet 
above the bed of the creek that flows near their base. From beneath 
these recent beds arise the more sombre-hued beds of the lignite tertiary. 
We have then broad grassy plains, dotted here and there with buttes 
like truncated cones, and long narrow belts of table-lands, with perfectly 
plain surfaces to the eye, from a distance. Why these more modern 
tertiary beds are so persistent along the immediate sides of the moun- 
tain, but have been entirely swept away ten miles to the eastward, I can- 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 117 


not tell.. This narrow belt, about ten or fifteen miles wide, extending up 
to the evanite rocks, and for the most part concealing all the intermedi- 
ate rocks, forms a sort of bench, with a gently ascending grade for the 
Union Pacific railroad. 

Hither above or belew this bench the ascent to the mountains would 

have been very difficult, expensive, and perhaps impossible. 

About twenty miles south of Cheyenne a bed of coal has been opened 
and wrought to some extent. The outcropping revealed a bed of im- 
pure coal four feet eight inches thick, with an inclination 12° east. 
The coal became more valuable as it was worked further into the earth ; 
and by following the direction of the dip, the coal was found to be five 
feet four inches thick. In nearly all instances coal beds increase in 
thickness, rather than diminish, the further they are explored. The 
whole plain country is covered with such a thickness of superficial drift 
that it is next to impossible to obtain a connected section of the under- 
lying rocks. Sometimes a stream will cut so deep that a portion of 
them is exposed, and by following it a great distance, the order of super- 
position may be obtained with some degree of correctness. 

A section across the upturned edges of the strata, from the direction 
of the mountains eastward, is as follows: 

. 7. Drab clay passing up into areno-caleareous grits composed of an 
aggregation of oyster-shells, Ostrea subtrigonalis. 
. Lignite—5 to 6 feet. 
, Drab clay—4 to 6 feet. 
. Reddish, rusty sandstone, 1 
. Drab arenaceous clay, indurated—25 feet. 
. Massive sendstone—50 feet. 
. No. 5, cretaceous apparently passing up into a yellowish sandstone. 

The summits of the hills near this bed of coal are covered with loose 
oyster shells, and a stratum four feet thick, or more, is composed of an 
aggregation of them. This species seems to be identical with the one 
found in a similar geological position in the lower lignite beds of the 
Upper Missouri, near Fort Clark; also at the mouth of the Judith, and 
at South Boulder, and doubtless was an inhabitant of the brackish 
waters which must have existed about the dawn of the tertiary period 
in the west. It would seem, that in these lower coal beds the molluscous 
life was almost entirely confined to this genus, (from three to five species 
having already been discovered.) Near Medicine Bow Creek there is a 
thin sean of oyster shells, quite minute, and at Point of Rocks, on the 
Union Pacific railroad, above several beds of coal, there is a layer two 
feet or more in thickness, made up of the shells of a fine large species, - 
about the size of our common edible oyster. 

On the Upper Missouri a great variety of well-known fresh-water 
types of shells are found in the strata connected with the coal, especially 
toward the middle portion. But southward I have never met with any 
other shells than oysters, in direct connection with the coal beds. 

During the summer of 1859 I traced this lignite formation uwninter- 
uptedly from the Upper Missouri Valley to a point on the North Platte, 
about eighty miles northwest of Fort Laramie. It is there overlapped 
by the modern tertiary deposits previously described, but reappears 
about twenty miles south of Cheyenne, and extends with some inter- 
ruptions far southward into New Mexico. During the summer of 1868 
I traced these coal beds, on the other side of the mountains, westward 
nearly to Salt Lake City; and in the Middle and South Parks there are 
quite extensive developments of thein. 

I make these remarks as confirmatory of a statement which I made 


20 feet. 


kt BO G9 He OU O, 


118 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


in an article in Silliman’s Journal, March, 1868, “that all the lignite 
tertiary beds of the west are but fragments of one great basin interrupted 
here and there by the upheaval of mountain chains, or concealed by the 
deposition of newer formations.” 

As soon as the lignite beds reappear southward the aspect of the 
country changes. The distant hills that flank the mountains on the 
right are still the pebbly conglomerate beds. And in the valleys of the 
little streams, about four miles south of Spotswood Springs, are several — 
exposures of beds which are undoubtedly older tertiary. There is here 
shown a deep yellow arenaceous indurated clay layer, passing down into 
an ashen-brown grit, with rusty yellow concretions. All over the hills 
are scattered the greatest number of water-worn boulders. The lignite 
strata incline in the same direction as those of the more modern deposits. 
The dip of the former is about five degrees to ten dggrees, the latter one 
degree to three degrees east, from the mountains. There are many 
other localities where the evidence of non-conformity of the two deposits 
is perfectly clear. 

A little further eastward on the Dry Creek the ridge is capped with 
gray, loosely laminated sandstone; while in the indurated arenaceous 
bed below are beds of massive rusty sandstone, the same as those that 
compose the natural fortifications about thirteen miles southwest of | 
Cheyenne. The ridge extends far eastward into the plain, with the beds 
nearly horizontal. 

Near a high conical butte a little further southward we find the lig- 
nite beds dipping 85° with a strike nearly north and south. And in the 
south and southwest we can see the upturned ridges of cretaceous and 
older sedimentary formations composing the flanks of the mountains. 
The modern tertiary and the superficial drift deposits have been so re- 
moved from the mountain side—about ten or fifteen miles north of 
Cache la Poudre—that all the unchanged sedimentary rocks in this 
region are revealed in the form of inclined ridges, which gradually die 
out in the plains eastward like sea waves. 

A bed of the laminated chalky marl of No.3 with Ostrea congesta and 
Inoceramus problematicus is particularly noticeable. In the lignite beds 
harder layers of rusty sandstone, with loosely laminated arenaceous 
clay, and the softer materials are worn away by erosion, leaving the 
harder rocky layers projecting above the surface in long lines like walls. 

Near Park station, about twelve miles north of Cache la Poudre, the 
upheaved ridges begin to spread out, revealing very clearly to the 
serutiny of the geologist all the sedimentary rocks, to the tertiary in- 
clusive. Commencing in the plains about ten miles east of the margin 
of the mountains we find a series of gently inclined tertiary sandstones, 
dipping from 5° to 10°. Then come the complete series of cretaceous 
strata in their order, inclining from 20° to 35°. Underneath the ridge 
capped with the sandstone No. lis a thin belt of ashen-gray marls and 
arenaceous marls, with one or two layers, two to four feet thick, of hard 

blue limestone, which I regard as of jurassic age. These pass down - 
into light reddish, loose arenaceous sediments. Further toward the 

mountains, come one to three ridges of brick-red sandstone, and loose 

red sandy layers, sometimes variegated. Close to the margin of the 

mountains, sometimes forming the inside ridge, is a bed of whitish lime- 

stone, underlaid by dull purplish sandstone and pudding-stones, which 

are probably of carboniferous age. These beds dip at various angles, 

from 30° to 60°, and, as far as I can determine, conform generally to 

{ae inclination of the metamorphie rocks which compose the mountain 

nucleus. 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 119 


The opening in the foot-hills of the, mountains through which Box 
Elder Creek flows exhibits the red beds and jurassic in full development. 
The whitish-gray sandstones, which lie between the red beds and the 
well-marked cretaceous strata, contribute much toward giving sharp- 
ness of outline to the hills, and the broken masses of rock from this bed 
are scattered over their sides. 

The valley of the Box Elder is very beautiful, and, like the valleys of 
most of the little streams here, makes its way through the ridges and 
flanks of the mountains, nearly at right angles to the trend of the strata. 

All these ridges, or “ hog-backs,” as they are called by the settlers of 
the country, vary much in the angle of dip. It not unfrequently occurs 
that the outer and more recent ridges incline at a very high angle, or 
stand nearly vertical; and there are many examples where they have 
been tipped several degrees past verticality ; while the inner sandstone 
ridges, lying almost against the metamorphic rocks, incline at a small 
angle or are nearly horizontal; and again this may be reversed. These 
mountain vaileys are not only beautiful, but they are covered with ex- 
cellent grass, making the finest pasture grounds for stock in the world. 
The animals are so sheltered by the lofty rock-walls on each side that 
they remain all winter in good condition without any further provision 
for them. 

The Box Elder separates into two branches in the foot-hills, and be- 
tween the forks there is a large circular cone with nearly horizontal 
strata of the red beds. A section, ascending, would be as follows: 

1. Brick-red sandstone with irregular lamin and all the usual signs 
of currents or shallow water. Some of the layers are more loosely lami- 
nated than others, thus causing projecting portions—300 to 400 feet. 

2. The red sandstone passes up into a yellow or reddish-yellow sand- 
stone, massive—60 feet. 

3. Passing up into a bed of grayish yellow rather massive sandstone— 
50 feet. 

4. Ashen-brown nodular or indurated clay, with deep, dull purple 
bands; with some layers of brown and yellow fine-grained sandstone, 
undoubtedly the usual jurassic beds with all the lithological characters 
as seen near Lake Como, on the Union Pacific railroad—150 to 200 feet. 

Near the base of these beds are thin layers of a fine grained grayish 
calcareous sandstone, with a species of Ostrea and fragments of Penta- 
crinus asteriscus. Scattered through this bed are layers or nodules of 
impure limestone. 

5. Above this marly clay there is at least two hundred feet of sand- 
stone and laminated arenaceous material, varying in color from a dirty 
brown to grayish white, with layers of fine grayish-white standstone. 

I do not hesitate to regard the beds described as 4 and 5 as of jurassic 
age, and they are better shown here than at any other point between 
Fort Laramie and the south line of Colorado on the eastern slope of the 
Rocky Mountains. Usually the most abundant and most characteristic 
fossil in the jurassic beds, when exposed, is Belemnites densus, but that 
has not been observed south of Lake Como, west of the Laramie range. 
As we proceed southward these jurassic beds become thinner and more 
obscure, so that it often becomes a matter of doubt whether they exist 
at all. 

We have, also, in this vicinity an illustration of the difference of in- 
clination in the same series of upheaved ridges. In the plains some of 
the lower lignite tertiary beds and cretaceous No. 5 stand nearly ver- 
~ tical, or 85° east. No. 4 fills the intervening valley with its dark shale, 

-and the next ridge west—cretaceous No. 3—inclines 36°. Then come 


120 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


the jurassic beds capped with the sandstones of No. 1, inclining 8°. 
Then comes a series of red beds dipping 1° to 3°. The inner ridge, or 
“hog-back,” is the largest of all—one hundred and fifty to two hundred 
feet high—is partly covered on the east, or sloping side, with the loose 
red sand of the triassic; and on the west or abrupt side, is revealed a 
considerable thickness of limestone, which I suppose to be of carbonif- 
erous age. This ridge is remarkably furrowed on the eastern slope by 
streams, but is too high up on the mountain side to be divided by the 
currents into the peculiar conical fragments, as the lower ridges are. 
And hence it presents an almost unbroken flank for miles. There is 
no better exhibition of the sedimentary rocks, with all their peculiar 
characteristics and irregularities, than from the head of Box Elder Creek 
to Cache ala Poudre, where the belt of upheaved sedimentary rocks 
varies from five to fifteen miles in width. No one could stand on the 
summit of one of these ridges and turn his eye westward over the 
series, rising like steps to the mountain summit, and then looking 
eastward across the broad level plain where the smaller ridges die out 
in the prairies, like waves of the sea, without arriving at once to a clear 
conception of the plan of the elevation of the Rocky Mountain range. 

The main range of the mountains is really a gigantic anticlinal, and 
all the lower ranges and ridges are only monoclinals, descending, step- 
like, to the plains on each side of the central axis. There are some vari- 
ations from this rule at many localities, which I shail attempt to explain 
from time to time in the proper place. 

One of these ridges is quite conspicuous to the eye, from the fact 
that it is capped with a heavy bed of sandstone’ which I have always re- 
garded as transition or No. 1 (?) because it holds a position between 
the well-defined cretaceous beds Nos. 2 and 3, and the jurassic. 

Not a single well-marked fossil, animal or vegetable, has ever been 
found in this group of strata along the flanks of the mountains; yet I 
do not hesitate to regard them as lower cretaceous. 

On the summits of all these ridges are numerous piles of rocks which 
have been erected by Indians in years past as monuments or land-marks. 

Inside of the sedimentary ridges are the metamorphic rocks, mostly 
red feldspathic granites, disintegrating readily, and easily detected by 
the eye at a distance by their style of weathering. Still further west- 
ward are the lofty snow-capped ranges, whose eternal snows form the 
sources of the permanent streams of the country. 

It seems clear to me that the more recent sedimentary formations, up 
to the lignite tertiary, inclusive, once extended over the whole country. 
Perhaps no finer locality exists in the West for the careful study of the 
different sedimentary formations and their relations to the metamorphic 
rocks than along the overland stage road from Laramie to Denver. 

Before reaching Laporte the road passes for twenty miles or more 
through ridge after ridge remarkably well exposed. Atiter emerging 
from the mountains eastward it runs south for four or five miles along 
the cretaceous beds with their upturned edges on the east side, and the 
jurassic and triassic (?) on the west forming a slope much like the roof 
of a house. The valley between the two ridges through which the road 
runs is a beautiful one. 

South of Big Thompson Creek the belt of upheaved ridges, or un- 
changed rocks, becomes quite narrow, and continues so to Denver, and 
even beyond. | 

The cretaceous rocks in this region, though plain to one who has 
carefully studied them on the Upper Missouri, are not separated into 
well-marked divisions. Ifthey had first been studied along the foot of the 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 2h 


mountains only from Cheyenne southward, it is very doubtful whether 
the five distinct groups of strata would have been made out. The three 
divisions, upper, middle, and lower cretaceous, are more natural south 
of the North Platte, inasmuch as Nos. 2, 3, 4, and 5 pass into each other 
by imperceptible gradations. Though very few organic remains are ob- 
served in them, yet I have never found the slightest difficulty in detect- 
ing the different divisions at a glance by their lithological characters, 
but I find it quite impossible to draw any line of separation that will be 
permanent. Quite marked changes occur in the sediments of these 
divisions in different parts of the West, but by following them continu- 
ously, in every direction, from their typical appearance on the Upper 
Misseuri, the changes are so gradual that I have never lost sight of 
them for a mile, unless concealed by more recent deposits. 

As I have before stated, I regard the group of sandstones which are 
always found between well-defined cretaceous No. 2 and the jurassic 
beds as No. 1, or transition. No.2 is certainly well shown, with many of 
its features, but it is a black shale, often arenaceous, containing many lay- 
ers of sandstone with some concretions; but so gradually passing up into 
No. 3 that it is quite impossible to separate the two. Only in thin portions 
of either Nos. 2 or 3 do we find any resemblance to the same groups as 
shown on the Upper Missouri. No. 3 is a thinly-laminated yellow 
chalky shale with some layers of gray, rather chalky limestone, always 
containing an abundance of Inoceramus, doubtless I. problematicus, and 
Ostrea congesta. Remains of fishes are almost always found in the dark 
shales of No. 2. The black shales of No. 4 are quite conspicuous and 
weil marked, and have been quite thoroughly prospected for coal, but 
to no purpose. These black shales pass gradually up into yellow rusty 
arenaceous clays which characterize No. 5; and No. 5 passes up into the 
lignite tertiary beds, where they can be seen in contact, without any 
well-defined line of separation that I could ever discover. But few 
Species of fossils are found in Nos. 4 and 5 in their southern extension, 
but Baculites ovatus and several species of Inoceramus Ammonites, &c., 
are common. Another feature is well marked here, and that is, there 
are no beds that indicate long periods of quiet deposition of the sedi- 
ments. Nearly all the sediments indicate either comparatively shallow 
water or currents more or less rapid. 

Sometimes a single ridge will include all the beds of one formation, 
or even those of two or three. I have often seen the sandstones of No. 1. 
the jurassic, and a portion of the triassic included in one ridge and the 
adjoining valley. Again, a single formation will be split up into two or 
more ridges. 

On the Cache a la Poudre, about.a mile above Laporte, on the south 
side of the river, the sandstones of No. 1 are separated into four success- 
ive ridges, inclining, respectively, 189, 21°, 35°, and 46° about southeast. 
Much of this sandstone is a fine-grained grayish white, and rusty yellow 
color, sometimes concretionary, or like indurated mud. Here all the divi- 
sions of the cretaceous extend eastward in low ridges until they die out 
in the plains or are concealed by the overlying tertiary. Along the Cache a 
la Poudre and its branches is a series of terraces which are quite uniform. 

This valley is one of the most fertile in Colorado. The present year 
there has been so much rain that irrigation has been unnecessary. The 
bottom lands are about two miles wide, and thickly settled from mouth 
to source. The grass is unusually fine this year everywhere. 

July 2.—In company with Dr. Smith, of Laporte, I visited the sup- 
posed gold and copper mines at or near the sources of the Cache a la 
Poudre River. This stream makes its way through what might be called 


, 


122, GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


amonoclinal rift, or between two ridges, whether of changed or unchanged 
rocks which incline in the same direction. We ascend to the axis 
of the main Rocky Mountain range by a series of step-like ridges, each one 
inclining in the same general direction at some angle, with their counter- 
parts on the opposite side of the main axis. Speaking of these ridges 
locally, I have called them in this report monoclinal, from the fact, that 
as a rule their counterparts, although they have once existed on the west 
side of the range, are in most cases swept away. We passed up a bean- 
tiful valley with the red beds on our left, and a few remnants of the red 
beds and the metamorphic rocks on our right, for about fifteen miles. We 
then came to the red feldspathic granites, in which the mineral lodes are 
located. We first examined a local vein of black rock, in which horn- 
blende predominates. It contains some mica and iron, so that it might 
be called a local outcrop of black hornblende syenite. Masses of it 
have a rusty look from the decomposition of the iron in the rock, and 
sometimes it is covered with an incrustation of common salt or potash. 
Iron in some form is one of the prominent constituents of all the recks 
of this region, changed or unchanged. So far as I could determine, the 
inclination of the metamorphic rocks is in the same direction as the sed- 
imentary. I have assumed the position that all the rocks of the West 
are, or were, stratified, and that where no lines of stratification can be 
seen, aS in some of the massive granites, they have been obliterated by 
heat during their metamorphism. Therefore all the metamorphic rocks, 
whether stratified or massive, that form the nucleus of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, must have some angle of dip, equally with the sedimentary rocks. 
In many cases I have to be guided by the intercalated beds of mica or 
talcose slates. I am of the opinion that there are anticlinals and syn- 
clinals among the metamorphic rocks of this region, ae that the mount- 
ain valleys are thus formed for the most part. 

We examined a number of lodes which were rod oratele rich in copper. 
All the lodes have a trend about northeast and southwest, and are two 
to four feet wide, with well-defined walls. Much of the eangue rock is 
spongy like slag, owing to the decomposition of iron pyrites; and there 
are large masses of the casts of cubes, evidently cubes of iron pyrites. 
Our examinations were not very thorough, but I was not favorably im- 
pressed with this district as a rich mineral region. Some of the copper 
mines, at some future day, may yield a fair return, but it will be many 
years before the country will be built up by its mineral wealth. 

July 3.—Our route to-day was along the flanks of the mountains, from — 
Cache a la Poudre to Big Thompson Creek. Lying over the red beds 
and appearing to form a dividing line between the red beds and the 
ashen-gray marly clays above, is a well-defined bed of bluish semi-erys- 
talline limestone, two to four feet thick, somewhat cherty, though sus- 
ceptible of a high polish, too brittle and liable to fracture in any 
direction to be valuable for ornamental purposes—probably useful for 
lime only. I regard this as of jurassic age, although I was unable to 
find in it any well-marked organic remains. The same bed occurs in the 
Laramie plains, where it contains many fragments of crinoidal stems, 
which Professor Agassiz referred to the well- known jurassic genus 
Apiocrinites. 

On the summit of the first main “hog-back” is a bed of massive 
sandstone, immense blocks of which have fallen down on the inner side 
of the ridge, adding much to the wildness as well as ruggedness of the 
scenery. ‘These rocks are made up almost entirely of an aggregation of 
small water-worn pebbles. The layers of deposition are very irregular, 
inclining at various angles. This irregularity in the lamine is a marked 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 123 


feature of this sandstone. It forms a portion of the group which I have 
called transition, or No. 1. They are certainly beds of passage from 
well-marked cretaceous to the jurassic, and the lower portion being 
almost invariably a pudding-stone, they may well mark the boundary 
between the two great periods. In many places along our route this 
group forms lofty perpendicular escarpments, varying from thirty, to sixty 
feet in height, indivating .a considerable thickness of the massive sand- 
stone. For fifteen miles we can pass along behind this hog-back ridge par- 
allel with the mountains, through a most beautiful valley with fine grass 
and over an excellent natural road. On our left are the upturne 
edges of a ridge capped with No. 1, passing down into the limestone and 
ashen marly clays of the jurassic, with a few feet of the red sandstone 
at the base, while the valley, which may be three hundred to five hun- 
dred yards wide, is composed of the worn edges of the loose red beds or 
the triassic, and on our right are the variegated sands and sandstones or 
the formation. 

South of Cache a la Poudre there seem to be but two principal ridges 
between the transition group No. 1 and the metamorphic rocks, 
although at times each one of these ridges will split up into a number of 
subordinate ridges which soon merge into the main ridge again. In 
most cases the inner ridge includes all the red beds proper, and there 1s 
a well-defined valley between it and the metamorphic rocks, but some- 
times the sedimentary beds flank the immediate sides of the metamor- 
phic ridge. Through these ridges are openings made by the little streams 
which issue from the mountain’s side. Sometimes these openings are cut 
deep through to the water level, and at other times for only a few feet from 
the summit. Sometimes there is a stream of water flowing through 
them, but most of them are dry during the summer. These notches in 
the ridges occur every few hundred yards all along the foot of the 
mountains. 

The eretaceous and tertiary beds generally form several low ridges 
which are not conspicuous. The principal ridge outside, next to the 
plains, is composed of the limestones of No. 3, which is smoothly 
rounded and covered with fragments or chips of limestone. Between 
this and the next ridge west, there is a beautiful concave valley about 
one-fourth of a mile wide. The line between the upper part and the foot 
of the ridge proper is most perfectly marked out by the grass. The east 
slope of this ridge is like the roof of a house, so steep that but little soil 
can attach to it, and in consequence of this it can sustain only thin grass 
and stinted shrubs. These ridges are sharp or rounded, depending upon 
the character of the rocks of which they are composed. Cretaceous 
formation, No.3, yields so readily to atmospheric agencies, that the ridges 
composed of it are usually low and rounded, and paved with chipped frag- 
ments of the shell limestone. The harder sandstones give a sharpness of 
outline to the ridges which has earned for them the appellation of “hog- 
backs,” by the inhabitants of the country. In No. 3 I found Ostrea con- 
gesta very abundant, and a species of Inoceramus identical with the one 
oceurring in the limestone at South Boulder, and the same as the one 
figured by Hall in Frémont’s Report, Plate IV, Fig. 2, and compared 
with Inoceramus involutus, (Sowerby,) page 310. The lower part of No. 
3, containing the Inoceramus, is a gray marly limestone, which passes up 
into a yellow chalky shale, which weathers into a rusty yellow marl that 
gives wonderful fertility to the soil, while the dark shales of Nos. 2 and 
4, as well as the rusty arenaceous clays of No. 5, are distinctly revealed 
at different localities. The light-colored chalky limestones of No. 3 are 


124 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


more conspicuous at all times along the foot-hills of the mountains, even 
to New Mexico, than any other portion of the cretaceous group. 

The valley of Thompson Creek is very fertile, varying from half a 
mile to a mile in width, is filled up with settlers, and most of the land 
is under a high state of cultivation. The creek itself is one of the pure 
swift-flowing mountain streams which have their source in the very 
divide or summit of the water-shed, and are rendered permanent by the 
melting of the snows. All these mountain streams would furnish abund- 
ant water-power, most of them having a fall of thirty feet to the mile. 

There seems to be a decided improvement in the soil aS we go south- 
ward. The geological formations are the same, but the climate is more 
favorable. 

On a terrace on the north side of Big Thompson Creek there is a bed 
of recent conglomerate, quite perfect, and belonging to the modern drift 
period. Itis very coarse, and the worn boulders are held together by 
sesquioxide of iron. Inoteit hereas an example of very recent conglom- 
erate. There is much fine sand, and the rounded stones are exactly 
like those which pave the bottoms of streams. The thickness of this 
boulder deposit is considerable, and it seems to underlie the whole val- 
ley portion of the country. 

The cretaceous beds of No. 3 pass down into a yellowish sandstone 
which forms a low ridge on the north side of Big Thompson Creek. 
Two or three low ridges of cretaceous appear east of this point, but die 
out in the prairie. This ridge inclines 15°, then comes a valley about 
one-fourth of a mile wide, and a second ridge of rusty reddish fine- 
grained sandstone, evidently No. 1, or the transition group. This ridge 
inclines 25°, Underlying the sandstone, which forms a large part of 
this ridge, we find the ashen-gray marly and arenaceous clays of the 
jurassic, including some thin beds of sandstone and one layer of lime- 
stone four to six feet thick, which has been much used for lime among 
the farmers. These beds pass down without any perceptible break into 
the light brick-red sandstones which form the next two ridges west- 
ward. These beds have a dip of 30°. About the middle of the red 
beds there is a layer of impure limestone standing nearly vertical 65°, 
two to four feet thick, which has also been used somewhat for lime. 
The next ridge west has a rather thick bed—ten to fifteen feet—of very 
rough impure limestone looking somewhat like very hard calcareous 
tufa. The intermediate beds are loose brick-red sands. 

There is here a somewhat singular dynamic feature—a local anticli- 
nal. One of the ridges flexes around from an east dip to a west dip, from 
the fact that one of the eastern ranges of mountains runs out in the 
prairie near this point, forming at the south end originally a sort of 
semi-quaquaversal, the erosive action having worn away the central 
portions. This forms a short anticlinal of about a mile in length. On 
the east side of the anticlinal valley the principal ridges are shown, inclu- 
ding nearly all the red beds; and on the west side, only the upper portions 
of the red sandstones with the jurassic beds and the transition sand- 
stones. The latter rocks form the nearly vertical wall in which is 
located a somewhat noted aperture called the “ Bear’s Church.” In the 
west part of this anticlinal, within twenty feet of the brick-red sand- 
stones, is a blue, brittle limestone layer about six feet thick, inclining 
seventy-eight degrees. This west portion of the anticlinal might be 
described across the upturned edges thus, commencing at the bottom: 
‘ 1. Rather l'ght brick-red sandstones in three layers—estimated 200 
eet. 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 125 


2. The red bed passes up into a massive reddish-gray rather fine sand- 
stone—20 feet. 

3. Then comes a thin layer of fine bluish-brown sandstone—2 feet; 
then the bluish limestone—4 feet. 

4, Then about twenty-five feet of ashen clay, with six to ten feet of 
blue cherty limestone, with some partings of clay. 

5. About two hundred feet of variegated clays. 

6. A bed of quite pure limestone, blue, semi-crystalline—four to 
eight feet. The grass prevents definite measurements, and all the beds 
vary in thickness in different places, as well as in dip, which is from 60° 
to 80°. 

7. This intermediate space is covered over with a loose drab yellow 
sand, doubtless derived from the erosion of the edges of the beds beneath, 
which are supposed to be jurassic. There is one bed of limestone about 
two feet thick, similar to that before described. All these limestones 
appear to contain obscure fragments of organic remains. 

8. A nearly vertical wall of sandstone; dip 60° to 65°. This bed is 
formed of massive layers, in all, one hundred and fifty feet thick or 
more, and is composed largely of an aggregate of small water-worn 
pebbles of all kinds. Most of the pebbles are of metamorphic origin, but 
some of them appear to have been derived from unchanged rocks. 
There are also layers of fine-grained sandstone. The prevailing color is 
-arusty yellow and light gray. Most of the sandstones in this country 
are of a rusty yellow color; No. 1, cretaceous. 

9. A broad space, three hundred to four hundred feet, grassed over. 
The slope is complete, but it is undoubtedly made up of the sands and 
sandstones at the base of the cretaceous group. 

10. A fine sandstone passing up into a close compact flinty rock. This 
is a low ridge, appearing only now and then above the grassy surface. 
The slope then continues down to the stream which flows through the 
synclinal valley about a mile wide, and then we come to the grassy slope 
on the mountain side inclining east again. A little below this point the 
creek cuts through the sandstone and black clays of No. 2, conforming 
perfectly to the wall of sandstone No. 1. 

It is now well known that the great Rocky Mountain system is not 
composed of a single range, but a vast series of ranges, covering a width 
of six hundred to one thousand miles. There are also two kinds of 
ranges, one with a granitoid nucleus, with long lines of fracture, and in 
the aggregate possessing a specific trend; the other has a basaltic nucleus, 
and is composed of a series of volcanic cones or outbursts of igneous 
rocks, in many cases forming those saw-like ridges or sierras, as the Sierra 
Nevada, Sierra Madre, &c. Along the eastern portion of the Rocky 
Mountains, from the north line to New Mexico, the ranges with a gran- 
itoid nucleus prevail. Each one of the main ranges is sometimes split 
up into a number of fragments, which locally may vary somewhat from 
a definite direction, but the aggregate trend will be about northwest 
and southeast. 

As I have before stated, each one of the main ranges seems to me to 
form a gigantic anticlinal with a principal axis of elevation, and the lower 
parallel ranges descending like steps to the plains, or to the synclinal 
valley. If, for example, we were to study carefully one of the minor 
mountain ranges, as the Black Hills of Dakota, or the Laramie range, 
where the system is very complete and regular, we should find a central 
granitic axis, and on each side a series of granitic ridges parallel with it, 
and in the aggregate trending nearly north and south. And on the east- 
ern portion of the anticlinal, the east side of the minor ridges slopes 


126 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


gently down, while the west side is abrupt; and on the western portion 
vice versa. But if we take the ridges singly and examine them, we shall 
find in most cases that the aggregate trend is nearly northwest and south- 
east. The consequence is, that as we pass along under the eastern flanks 
of the mountain from north to south, these minor ranges or ridges pre- 
sent a sort of “en échelon” appearance; that is, they run out one after 
the other in the prairies, preserving the nearly north and south course 
of the entire system. Not unfr equently a group or several of these 
ridges will run out at the same time, forming a huge notch in the main 
range. This notch in most cases forms a vast depression with a great 
number of side depressions or rifts in the mountains, which give birth to 
a water system of greater or less extent. Such, for example, is the notch 
at Cache 4 la Poudre, Colorado City, Canon City, on the Arkansas River, 
and other localities. If we were to examine the excellent topographical 
maps issued by the War Department, which are beyond comparison the 
most correct and most scientific of our Rocky Mountain region in exist- 
ence, we should at once note the tendency of all the minor ranges, with 
a continued line of fracture and a granitic nucleus, to a southeast and 
northwest trend; sometimes it is nearly north and south, and then these 
ranges pass out or come to an end without producing any marked in- 
fluence on the topography, except, perhaps, some little stream will flow 
down into the plain through the monoclinal rift. But when several of 
these minor ranges come to an end together, an abrupt jog of several 
miles toward the west is caused. Then frequently as the range dies out, 
a local anticlinal or a semi-quaquaversal dip is given to the sedimentary 
beds. Between the notches or breaks in the mountains, the belt of 
ridges or “‘hog-backs” becomes very narrow, sometimes even hardly | 
visible, and sometimes entirely concealed by superficial deposits. But 
at these breaks the series of ridges split up and spread out so as to cover 
an area from half a mile to ten or fifteen miles in width. It is in these 
localities that the complete geological structure of the country can be 
studied in detail. I donot know of any portion of the West where there 
is So much variety displayed in the geology as within a space of ten 
miles square around Colorado City. Nearly all the elements of geological 
study revealed in the Rocky Mountains are shown on a unique scale in 
this locality. The same may be said, though in a less degree, of the 
valley of the Arkansas as it emérges from the mountains near Cation 
City. I am inclined to believe that it is only in these localities that 
rocks older than the triassic or red beds are shown along the eastern 
flanks of the mountains south of Cheyenne. I have looked in vain for 
a single exposure of well-defined paleozoic strata from Big Thompson to 
Colorado City, a distance of over one hundred miles. I am now con- 
vinced that in the north, the paleozoic rocks are often concealed for long 
distances, although I have usually represented them by colors on a geolo- 
gical map by a continuous band along the mountains. That they exist 
continuously along the eastern margins in Colorado and New Mexico I 
cannot doubt, bat only at these specially favored localities do they 
appear from beneath the triassic or red beds. They are, however, far 
more frequently exposed further northward, and I think much more 
largely developed. 

Between Big and Little Thompson Creeks the ridges are very numer- 
ous and bold, and it would seem as if the massive fine. grained sandstones 
predominated, for they cap all the ee and the broken masses, often 
of large size, are scattered in great profusion everywhere. In one valley 
the abrupt side, which was composed of red sandstone, presented an 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. L2i 


unusually massive front, and in many places, are weathered into the gro- 
tesque forms so well shown southwest of Denver. 

Near the head of Little Thompson the ridges are admirably well shown. 
Two beds of sandstone, belonging to the lower cretaceous group, seem to 
have broken off in the process of elevation, and so tipped over that the 
upper edges are past verticality. The upper cretaceous beds really form 
but one principal ridge, although made up of three or four subordinate 
ones. The sediments of these beds are so soft and yielding that they 
have been easily worn down smoothly or rounded off and grassed over 
for the most part. But by looking across it, it is not difficult to detect 
the black shales of No. 4, the yellow laminated chalky marl of No. 3 pass- 
ing into the alternate layers of light-gray limestone and black plastic clays 
of No. 2. As the little streams cut through these ridges at right angles, 
they reveal not only the different beds, but also the dip very distinctly. 

The Little Thompson begins to show evidences of enormous drift 
agencies in the thick deposit of gravel, the high table lands on each side 
of the creek, with here and there a butte with the top planed off, and 
over the surface is strewn a vast quantity of loose material which has 
been washed down from the mountains. Each one of the little streams 
has worn its way through the ridges of upheaval, usually making enor- 
mous gorges, but sometimes producing wide open valleys. The valley 
of St. Vrain Creek is one of these valleys of erosion, with broad table 
lands or terraces on each side, leaving the divide in the form of a con- 
tinuous smooth bench, extending far down into the prairie, giving to the 
surface of the country a beautiful and almost artificial appearance. 

The banks of the St. Vrain seem to be composed of an upper covering 
of yellow marl, which soon passes down into gravel. The soil appears 
to derive its fertility from the eroded calcareous sediments of No. 3, but 
it rests upon a great thickness of a recent conglomerate, cemented, in 
part at least, with oxide of iron. The greatest width of this valley is 
over ten miles, gradually sloping down to the bed of the creek from the 
north. The abrupt side is on the south, where a bank fifty feet high is 
cut by the channel of the stream. This bank increases in height toward 
the mountains, but becomes lower further down the stream eastward. 
Above this bank, southward, is a broad level plain about two miles in 
width, and then a gentle rise leads to another broad table plain which 
forms a bench or divide. 

On the north side of St. Vrain Creek, near the foot of the mountains, 
there is a long ridge of rather rusty yellow and gray sandstone, with a 
trend about north 5° east, or nearly north and south. There are also 
two other ridges, with a dip varying between 45° and 55° east. The first 
ridge is about one hundred feet across the upturned edges, and there is 
then westward a grassy interval of three hundred feet, and then another 
ridge of about the same thickness, the harder layers projecting above 
the grassy plain from two to thirty feet. It presents the appearance, in 
the distance, of a high, rugged, irregular wall, or broken-down fortifica- 
tion, and is about three-fourths of a mile in length. These are the lower 
sandstones of the lignite tertiary projecting above the grassy plain. 

Near the foot-hills of the mountains, about four miles south of St. 
Vrain’s Creek, are some high cretaceous benches, extending down from 
the base of the mountains. They usually do not extend more than one 
or two miles in length before they break off, sometimes abruptly and 
sometimes gradually. Not unfrequently a sort of truncated cone-shaped 
butte is cut off from the end of some of the benches. Onthe summit is a 
considerable thickness of a recent conglomerate which has been 
cemented so as to form a tolerably firm rock. In this drift some frag: 


128 | GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


ments of the red sandstone are found, but the rocks are mostly granitic. 
Sometimes there is a valley scooped out between these benches and the 
foot of the mountains; and again, they ascend gently up to the base 
and lap on to the flanks. Sometimes in the interval between these 
benches there is a low, intermediate level or terrace about fifty feet 
above the valley. The higher benches are about two hundred feet above 
the bottom. It isto this peculiar configuration of the surface into bene? 
and terrace, that the wonderful beauty of this region is due. In th 
distance southward can be seen a continuation of the ridges of tertiary 
sandstone as they project above the surface far in the plains, five to 
eight miles from the base of the mountains. There are some of these 
sandstone ridges from one hundred to three hundred yards apart; the 
intervals level and completely grassed over, so that the laminated clays 
or coal beds are entirely concealed from view. These ridges continue 
to appear above the surface now and then, nearly to Denver. Where 
they pass across the valleys of streams, or even dry branches, openings 
are made of greater or less depth and width, which give the irregular 
outlines to the sandstone ridges. 

Between St. Vrain Creek and Left-hand Creek there is a broad platean, 
about ten miles wide, which is as level to the eye as a tableetop. It is 
covered over with partially worn boulders. Near the base of the foot- 
hills, behind this plateau, there is a most beautiful valley scooped out, 
about two miles wide, which must have been the result of erosion in past 
times, for there is very little water in it at present. 

Further southward those long narrow benches extend down Fath the 
prairie from the foot-hills. As we come from the north to the south 
side of the plateau, we can look across the valley of Left-hand Creek 
to near Boulder Valley, at least ten miles, dotted over with farm-houses, 
fenced fields, and irrigating ditches, upon one of the most pleasant 
views in the agricultural districts of Colorado. These plateaus and 
benches are underlaid by cretaceous clays, only here and there passing 
up into the yellow sandstones of No. 5, with Inoceramus and Baculites. 
The plateau on the north side of Left-hand Creek comes to the stream 
very abruptly and seems to have presented a side front to the later 
forces which transported the boulder drift from the mountains, the sides 
being covered thickly with worn rocks of all sizes. This district is 
very aptly called Boulder County, but the culmination of this boulder 
drift is to be seen in the valley of Boulder Creek. 

From Left-hand Creek to Golden City the flanks of the mountains 
seem to be formed of the transition sandstones, or cretaceous No. 1, 
with all the older sedimentary rocks lying against the metamorphic 
rocks in such a way as to render them very obscure and the scenery 
quite remarkable. 

Indeed, south of St. Vrain Creek the change in the appearance of the 
belt formed of the ridges or “hog-backs” is very marked. 

As I have before stated, I believe that the agencies which produced 
the present configuration of the surface of the country are local and 
came from the direction of the mountains; and I have seen no evidence 
that among the later geological events there was any drift agency uni- 
versal in its character as that attributed to the drift action in Canada 
and the. Atlantic States. The forces may have acted synchronously 
and all over the continent west of longitude 100°, from the Arctic Ocean 
to the Isthmus of Darien, but the mountain ranges were the central 
axes from which the eroding agencies proceeded. The agency which 
produced the erosion and deposited the drift in the valley of a stream 
originated in the mountain range at the source of that stream. I shall 
refer to this subject from time “to time, and it is one fraught with the 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 129 


deepest interest to the student of geology in this country, and one 
around which there is no small degree of obscurity. The effects are 
universal, however, the evidences of erosion and the worn drift mate- 
rials being found on the summits of the highest ranges as well as in the 
lowest valleys, and each district pointing out the source of these eroding 
and transporting agencies in the immediate vicinity. 

Since leaving St. Vrain Creek, the tertiary beds containing the coal 
have been aproaching nearer the mountains. North of this ‘point the 
belt of cretaceous rocks has been quite wide, varying from two to five 
miles, but in the valley of the Boulder the belt becomes quite narrow, 
and forms a part of the foot-hills themselves, while Nos. 4 and 5 are 
entirely concealed from view. 

~ In the Boulder Valley the tertiary coal beds are enormously developed. 
‘The Belmont or Marshall’s coal and iron mines, on South Boulder Creek, 
are the most valuable and interesting, and reveal the largest development 
of the tertiary coal-bearing strata west of the Mississippi. 

In the autumn of 1867 I had an opportunity of examining these mines, 
under the intelligent guidance of J. M. Marshall, esq., one of the owners 
of this tract of land, and I wrote out the results of my examinations at 
that time in an article in Silliman’s J ournal, March, 1868. In July, 1869, 
I made a second examination of this locality under the same auspices. 
The following vertical section of the beds was taken, which does not 
differ materially from the one hitherto published : 

48, Drab clay with iron ore along the top of the ridge. 

47. Sandstone. 

46. Drab clay and iron ore. 

45. Coal, (No. 11,) no development 

44, Drab clay. 

43. Sandstone, 15 to 20 feet. 

42. Drab clay and iron ore. 

41. Coal, (No. 10,) no development. 

40, Yellowish drab clay, 4 feet. 

39. Sandstone, 20 feet. 

38. Drab clay full of the finest quality of i iron ore, 15 feet. 

37. Thin layer of sandstone. 

36. Coal, (No. 9,) nearly vertical, where it has been worked, 12 feet. 

35. Arenaceous “lay, 2 feet. 

34, Drab clay, 3 feet. 

33. Sandstone, 5 feet; then a heavy seam of iron ore; then 3 feet of 
drab clay ; then 5 feet sandstone. 

32. Coal, (No. 8,) 4 feet. 

jl. Drab clay. 

30. Sandstone, 25 to 40 feet. 

29. Drab clay, 6 feet. 

28. Coal, (No. 7,) 6 feet. 

27. Drab clay, 5 feet. 

ee with a seam of clay, 12 to 18 inches, intercalated, 


“tos 

| 25 feet. 
BID pe ie ab clay, 4 feet. 
24, 2) Coal, (No. 6,) in two seams, 44 feet. 
93, \A Drab ae 3 to 4 feet. 


22. Yellowish, fine-grained sandstone in thin loose layers, with plants, 
oO to 10 feet. 


21.) 3 ( Drab clay, excellent 1 iron ore. 
20. ¢ = 5 Coal, (No. 5,) 7 feet. 15 feet. 
19.) 5 (Dr ab clay. 


9H 


130 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


18. Sandstone, dip. 11°. This sandstone has a reddish tinge, and is 
less massive than 14. 
17. Drab clay. 
16. Coal, (No. 4.) ¢ 20 feet, obscure 
15. Drab clay. 
14. Sandstone, massive, 60 feet. 
3. Drab clay. 
12. Sandstone. 
. Drab clay. 
. Coal, (No. 3.) 
. Drab clay. 
. Sandstone, 25 feet. 
. Drab clay. 
. Coal, (No. 2,) 8 feet. 
. Drab clay. 
. Sandstone, about 20 feet. 
. Drab, fire clay, 4 feet. 
. Coal, ’(No. 1,) 11 to 14 feet. 
_ Sandstone. 


In bed No. 23 there are three layers of sandstone, which contain % 
great variety of impressions of leaves. Below coal bed No. 6 there is a 
bed of drab clay, seven feet thick, with acoal seam at the outcrop, three 
feet thick; but the coal appears to give out or pass into clay as the bank 
is entered, so that there are ten feet of clay above coal bed No. 6. 

Much of the iron ore is full of impressions of leaves in fragments, stems,, 
grass, &c. The ore is mostly concretionary, but sometimes it is so: 
continuous as to give the idea of a permanent bed. There are several 
varieties of the ore of greater or less purity. Above coal bed (5) there 


eel 
NADAS S re 


_~ 
~—e 


rt bo Co He St 


is a seam of iron, with oyster shells, apparently Ostrea subtrigonalis. 


or the same species found so abundantly near Brown and O’Bryan’s. 


- coal mine, about twenty miles southeast of Cheyenne. Nearly a dozen 


openings have been made here for the coal. 

These coal beds are very valuable, and can be more easily wrought 
than anyin Colorado. The great thickness of the coal strata has been so. 
uplifted, and the surface worn away, that the beds are all easily accessible, 
and one can walk across the upturned edges of from 1,200 to 1,500 feet in 
thickness and then they incline eastward, and die out in the plain. Ifind it. 
somewhat difficult to give a satisfactory reason why they have not been 
swept away orconcealed by debris, asthey have been in most other locali- 
ties. Leaning against the sides of the mountains between South Boulder 
canon and that of the main Boulder Creek, are immense walls of sandstone, 
possibly paleozoic or the lower beds of the trias, partially metamorphosed 
by heat. These walls rise to the height of 1 500 to 4,000 feet above the 
valley, and thus seem to have protected these formations from the erosive 
action, which, according to the position that I have taken in this report,, 
is local, and must have come directly from the mountains. 

A beautiful valley has been scooped out by the South Boulder, leav- 


ing a bench covered with debris between the two Boulder Creeks. 


tefore reaching these huge sandstone walls, we pass over a portion of 


: the cretaceous, and a great, thickness of the red beds, inclining at a high 
angle. 


Immediately south of the South Boulder Creek there is a high bench 
that extends up close to the base of the mountains, and is covered with 
drift and boulders, three miles in width, entirely concealing all the un- 
changed rocks. But in the valley of Coal Creek, seven beds of coal are 
revealed by the scooping out of this valley. These beds all incline at a 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. Bp 


high angle, about 45°, and are not easily worked. The sandstones pro- 
ject up above the loose material like irregular walls, and the creek itself 
forms a narrow passage or gorge through one of these ridges. 

Between the sandstones, and apparently with very little clay either 
above or below, is one bed of coal four to six feet thick, which was 
wrought for a time, and then abandoned. 

It seems to me the coal here will never be worked with profit. Above 
the sandstone there is another bed of coal, and above that, fire-clay; all 
the strata conforming and inclining between 35° and 450, The sand- 
stone ridge on the north side of Coal Creek becomes more nearly verti- 
cal—68°. <All the beds of coal are so badly crushed together that they 
are rendered somewhat obscure. There are here two or three feet of 
clay between the layers of coal, and above the coal the clay is very irreg- 
ular; sometimes thinning out entirely, so that the sandstone comes 
directly upon it. A large number of the sandstone ridges may be seen 
far out in the plains, east of the mountains, at intervals, all having the 
same general trend, and inclining at various angles. They rise above 
the grassy plains in isolated piles, like broken-down walls. These sand- 
stones indicate the existence of coal beneath, but it would be utterly 
impossible to work out the sequence of these beds only at the most 
favorable exposures. In almost all cases the tertiary beds are so worn 
down and covered with superficial deposits that they are detected only 
in the channels of streams, or by the sandstones projecting above the 
grassy surface of the plains. 

July 6.—With Mr. Marshall as guide, I attempted to penetrate through 
the sandstone beds to the metamorphic rocks up Bear Canon, a sort 
of separation in the immense sandstone wall between the two Boulder 
Creeks. So far as I could ascertain in this cation, the sedimentary beds 
lie fairly against the metamorphic rocks, and the latter incline in precisely 
the same direction, and at about the same angle as the former, a little 
north of east. There is another point that seems to me to be well shown 
im the range; and that is, that the metamorphic rocks are thrown up in 
distinet anticlinals, the same as the sedimentary beds. AS soon as we 
pass the junction of the unchanged and changed rocks we find the granites 
inclining in the same direction, and a little further up there is a ridge 
inclining in the opposite direction, forming in the interval a valley. 
The angle of dip on the west side of the gr anitic anticlinal is 44°, a little 
south of west. This anticlinal feature may be local here, but I regard 
it aS a common occurrence in the metamorphic rocks of the mountain 
ranges. 

Here tremendous uplifts of the sandstones appear about 4,000 feet 
above the Boulder Valley in the plains below, and their rugged summits 
project far over on the granitic rocks westward, so that along the little 
stream immense masses have fallen down from the broken edges, a half 
a mile above the junction of the two kinds of rocks. I think this illus- 
tration alone furnishes sufficient evidence that the sedimentary beds once 
continued uninterruptedly across the area now occupied by the mountain 
ranges, and that these beds only form a part of what was once a gigantic 
anticlinal, the eastern portion of the unchanged beds remaining, while 
the western portion has been worn away and mingled with the debris 
of the plains. Further up toward the central axis of the mountain we 
pass ridge after ridge of granite, inclining eastward about 36°. 

The process of disintegration of the rocks by exfoliation is here shown 
quite clearly, without regard to stratification. Immense masses of rock 
are weathered into rounded forms by these coatings or layers falling off. 
I have observed that all kinds of rocks, evanites, igneous rocks, sand- 


ee: GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


stones, limestones, &c., have a tendency to weather by this process of 
exfoliation, and the hills and mountain-peaks follow the same rule. It 
would seem that nature abhors sharp angles and corners, and com- 
mences at once to smooth and round them off, so that nearly all peaks 
and hills have this rounded appearance when closely examined. The 
huge masses of granite or basalt on the summits of the highest moun- 
tains are now undergoing this process of exfoliation. 

The first bed of granite that lies west of the high ridge of sandstone 
inclines 58°, and has much the appearance of sandstone completely met- 
amorphosed. It is of various degrees of fineness, but mostly an aggre- 
gate of coarse crystals of feldspar and quartz. There is also a bed of 
mica schist inclning with it at an angle of 48°. I have made use of 
these gneissic beds to aid me in forming a clearer idea of the true strat- 
ification or bedding of the granite, which is often obscure. 

The massive beds of sandstone which form the high walls are evi- 
dently partially metamorphosed by heat. The bottom beds, which lie 
next to the granites, are composed of a rather coarse aggregate of 
crystals of feldspar and quartz, inclosing multitudes of well water- 
worn pebbles of all kinds, from a minute size to several inches in diam- 
eter. There are also fragments of unchanged reddish sandstone, but 
the inclosed pebbles are mostly metamorphic, among which quartz peb- 
bles are conspicuous. 

The inclination of the first ridge is about 33°. A portion of it is so 
fine and compact that it has somewhat the appearance of imperfect jas- 
per. It varies much in texture. A most interesting feature is the sep- 
aration of this inner ridge from the one just east of it. It has evidently 
been broken off from the summit of the next one east of it, and the 
whole mass carried forward westward, yet retaining nearly the same 
angle of inclination. This is shown by the fact that the granite rocks 
are thrust up under and between the ridges, showing most distinctly 
that this is an immense fragment of the second ridge from the inside, 
elevated upon the edges of the granitic rocks and carried two hundred 
or three hundred feet to the westward. Yet the agency that performed 
this movement acted so quietly that it did not disturb its position in rela- 
tion to the other ridges. 

The second or main ridge from the inside varies in dip from 350° to 
45°, It is largely composed of pudding-stone or fine conglomerate, with 
layers of sandstone of various degrees of fineness. The upper beds 
are composed of fine-grained sandstone. The entire ridge must have 
had a thickness of eight hundred to twelve hundred feet. 

The scenery along the flanks of the mountains at this point is won- 
derfully unique, and I have never known a similar example in the 
Rocky Mountain region. The uplift is on an unparalleled scale. 

Toward the outside, or, more properly, the upper layers of this ridge 
become close-grained, much of it breaking into cubical blocks and 
torming a great accumulation of debris on the sides of the mountains. 
The outermost layer of this ridge, which has been worn off so as to be 
a low one, inclines 54°. All the beds exhibit less and less the influence 
of heat from the inner to the outer side, and much of the upper part is 
a compact, close-grained quartzose sandstone, divided into layers with 
smooth surfaces, and most excellent for building purposes. 

The next bed is a loose red sand, so soft that the upturned edges 
have been worn down and completely grassed over. The upper edges 
of this bed are at least twelve hundred feet below the summit of the 
high sandstone ridge. The dip is 51°. At the toot of the slope of these 
red beds is a erassy valley, and then a very abrupt ascent to the edges 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 133 


of a thick bed of yellowish sardstone. At another locality a few yards 
distant a small stream, in cutting its way through this ridge, revealed 
alternate layers of ash-colored and yellow arenaceous clay, with some 
hard beds of sandstone, inclining 55°. <A portion of these beds are 
probably jurassic. We have here an interval in the harder beds between 
the high sandstone ridge and the sandstones of No. 1, filled up with 
yielding clays and sands, which I estimated at from six hundred to 
seven hundred feet in thickness. Then come the sandstones of No. 1, 
and the gray limestones and shales of No. 2, and the chalky marls of 
No. 3, which are plainly visible with about the same dip. Although the 
grass covers the surface to such an extent that the upper cretaceous 
beds are not exposed, yet it is safe to suppose that the entire series of 
cretaceous formations, as known along the flanks of the mountains, 
exist here. 

There is ample room, also, for a great thickness of the tertiary beds, 
and the evidence is quite clear that a large portion of the sandstones, 
clays, and doubtless beds of coal, of the tertiary period exist in the 
enormous plateau or table-like bench which extends down the Boulder 
Valley from the foot of the mountains. 

The amount of leose drift material is enormous, scattered not only 
over the surface, but concealing to a great extent the underlying basis 
rocks. There is, therefore, some reason to believe that the coal may 
yet be found in the valley under South Boulder Creek and between it 
and the foot-hills of the mountains. : 

We find, therefore, that we have at this locality a somewhat narrow 
belt of the unchanged rocks, packed clese together, and inclining at 
about the same angle, and perfectly conforming with each other, and 
the metamorphic rocks also. In passing up the cation of the little 
stream from the Boulder Valley we cross the visible edges of creta- 
ceous formations Nos. 3, 2, and 1, the jurassic red beds, and the paleo- 
zoie sandstones, to the metamorphic rocks. While I believe that the ex- 
tensive series of coal strata all perfectly conform with the older forma- 
tions, yet as we pass eastward from the. Boulder Valley the dip becomes 
less and less until it ceases in the plains. 

An important question arises as to the cause of the change in the sedi- 
mentary rocks of this region. That the sandstones forming the huge 
ridges have been partially metamorphosed is clear, though the traces of 
their sedimentary origin are as plain as ever. 

The limestones of cretaceous formation No. 3 are more compact at 
this point than I have ever observed them northward; and the coal, 
along a narrow belt, is far superior to that which is found farther east- 
ward in the plains. I am inclined to believe that the area from which 
first-class coal will be obtained in Colorado is very restricted, and will 
be comprised in a moderately narrow belt along the base of the moun- 
tains south of Boulder Creek and north of Golden City. 

These changes might be attributed, wholly or in part, to the influences 
of igneous action in the vicinity. In the valley of the Boulder, near 
Valmont, there is a prominent dike of very compact basalt, which rises 
up like a wall, but does not seem to have disturbed the tertiary sand- 
stones in the vicinity. Near Golden City, about twenty miles south- 
ward, close to the base of the mountains, are two large mesas, or table- 
lands, covered with a thick layer of basalt, which must have passed up 
from below in the form of a dike, and flowed over the tertiary rocks. 

These are the only instances of eruptive rocks observed by me from 
near the South Pass to the Arkansas, a distance of nearly four hun- 
dred miles. In the Middle Park, just west of Long’s Peak, and in the 


134 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


South Park also, are numerous examples of the outpouring of igneous 
material. That internal heat connected with these igneous outbursts 
may have affected the sedimentary rocks in the Boulder district, and 
rendered the coal more compact and anthracitic, under pressure, seems 
to me possible, at least. The rocks which appear to have been affected 
by heat are seen only for a few miles south of the Boulder—from five 
to ten miles. South of that no effects whatever have been observed. 

The next finest exhibition of coal m Colorado to Marshall’s mine is 
that of the Murphy mine, on Ralston Creek, five miles north of Golden 
City. The coal bed is nearly vertical in position, and varies in thick- 
ness from fourteen to eighteen feet, averaging sixteen feet from side to 
side. There are nine feet of remarkably good fire-clay on each side of 
the coal, and above and below, or on the west and east sides, are the 
usual beds of sandstone. This mine is very near the foot of the moun- 
tains, and the belt of sedimentary rocks, which are all nearly vertical, 
is very narrow here—not more than half a mile in width—and are 
mostly concealed by debris. 

Mr. Murphy thinks that there are eleven beds of coal within the dis- 
tance of one-fourth of a mile, all nearly or quite vertical in position, of 
which the one opened is probably the oldest. The mine is opened on 
the north side of the creek, and may doubtless be followed above water 
line several miles to the northward, toward Coal Creek. 

On the south side of Ralston Creek the same bed has been opened, 
and the indications are that it may be followed the same way south- 
ward toward Golden City. The entire surface is so covered with super- 
ficial deposits, and grassed over, that it is impossible to work out these 
beds in detail, and the artificial excavations afford us the most reliablé 
knowledge. A hundred yards or more west of the coal bed there is a 
high ridge running parallel with the mountain range, capped with lower 
cretaceous sandstones No. 1. 

This ridge extends southward, with some interruptions, beyond 
Golden City. 

At Golden City the upheaved sedimentary rocks are so swept away 
that the metamorphic foot-hills are plainly visible. No rocks older than 
the red beds or trias are exposed, and these somewhat obscurely. ‘The 
red and gray sandstones le close on the sides of the metamorphic rocks, 
inclining 30° and 54°. In the trias there is a bed of silica or an aggre- 
gation of very fine grains of quartz which has attracted some attention, 
and close to it a layer of bastard limestone or calcareous sandstone. All 
the beds dip at a high angle and lie side by side, so that one can walk 
across the upturned edges of them all, from the metamorphie to the 
summit of the tertiary. Outside of the cretaceous beds there is a small 
valley of erosion, and then come the tertiary beds. The strike of the coal 
strata is very nearly north and south, and, so far as I could ascertain, the 
sequence of the beds from within, outward, is as follows: 

Ist. Rusty, yellow, soft sandstone. 2d. A bed of fire-ckay. 3d. Coal 
about eight feet thick. 4th. Fire-clay. 5th. Rusty, yellow sandstone. 

The clay underneath the coal appears to be ten or fifteen feet thick, 
with one or two unimportant seams of coal. These beds have been SO 
elevated that the upper edges have passed verticality 5° to 10°. The clay 
is much used for fire-brick and potter’s ware. In the bed of sandstone, 
above the coal, we found several impressions of leaves of deciduous 
trees, among them a Platanus, probably P. haydeuwi. From these we 
pass across the edges of a series of beds of sandstone, with intervening 
strata of iron ore. The thickness of all the tertiary beds here must be 
1,200 to 1,500 feet. Near the outside is a bed of pudding-stone, and 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. a 


outside or above this, the bed of potter’s clay, which supplies the pot- 
tery at Golden City. About midway in this series of beds an entrance 
has been made exposing a second bed of coal. The surface is so grassed 
over that it is quite impossible to make out the full series of beds 
clearly, but the sotter strata are well shown by the depressions between 
the beds of sandstones. 

The north mesa is two and one-half miles long and about one mile 
wide. The south one is four miles long and about a mile wide. This 
one has an irregular surface and gradually slopes down eastward until 
it becomes a low ridge of tertiary sandstones and clays. The wall of 
basalt that surrounds the top is nearly perpendicular most of the way 
round, from fifty to one hundred and fifty feet in height. The lower por- 
tion of the basaltic bed on thenorth side of the south mesa is very vesicu- 
lar, full of rounded porous masses somewhat like slag, and rests upon the 
‘slightly irregular surface of a bed of fine fire-clay, which contains traces 
of vegetable remains. Below the fire-clay are alternate beds of sand- 
stone and arenaceous clay, inclining slightly east, and evidently pro- 
tected from erosion by the hard cap of basalt. These beds are plainly 
tertiary lignite, and must be six hundred to eight hundred feet thick. 
‘The lowest bed of vesicular basalt is evidently more reeent than the 
columnar bed above. 

Golden City is a thriving little town, located near the embouchure of 
‘Clear Creek from the mountains, which is called the “Golden Gate.” 
‘Clear Creek Valley is very fertile, and, in looking down upon it from the 
top of the mésa, it appears like a finely cultivated garden. The ridges 
of upheaval or “ hog-backs” near Golden City are small and unimport- 
ant, owing to the erosion which has worn them down. But proceeding 
southward a short distance they increase in size. The tertiary ridges 
are most conspicuous until we reach Mount Vernon, about five miles 
south of Golden City, where the older formations are largely displayed. 
Here the tertiary beds are tipped past a vertical position and seem to 
incline toward the mountains; but this is more apparent than real; 
the top portion leaning over, while deeper in the earth the strata incline 
at a high angle from the mountains. 

Green Mountain is a lofty, grass-covered hill, and is entirely com- 
posed of the coal strata, while to the west of it is a nearly vertical ridge 
of sandstone. Just inside of this ridge, or beneath it, is a coal bed 
which has been opened by Mr. John A. Roe. The entrance to this mine 
‘is the finest I have seen in Colorado, and is 170 feet in length, through 
141 feet of sandstone with a slope of 45°. The sides and roof of the 
entrance are not protected. ‘The bed of coal is nearly vertical in position 
at this point, though at some places where it is not wrought it inclines 
east 70°. There are three seams of coal, 4 feet each, in thickness with os 
feet of clay intervening. Below the coal there isa bed of clay 5 feet thick, 
and above 34 feet arenaceous clay. The coal is close, compact, and makes an 
excellent fuel, and Mr. Roe, whois an old Pennsylvania miner, considers it 
better than the bituminous coals for all domestic purposes, but for generat- 
ing steam and smelting ores he regards it as inferior. The ash is 
white, rece mlslims pine- wood ashes, and the quantity is small. The coal 
at Murphy’s, on Ralston Creek and. Golden City, leaves a redash. There 
_ are no cinder s, and in burning it gives a bright, clear flame; and although 
it burns iron, it does not give sufficient heat to weld it. I believe this 
to be a continuation southward of the Golden City bed. It is also the 
lowest of the coal strata in this region, for in the valley immediately 
west and on the sides of the ridge can be seen the dark clay s of the cre: 
taceous beds. This ridge is very high at this place, and is composed of 


ie 


136 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


the sandstones of No. 1, and a portion of the red beds or triassic (?). 
Still further west are two or three rather low ridges of yellowish-gray 
and red sandstones, which cover the gneissoid rocks of the foot-hills 
of the mountains. By far the largest ridge here is the one containing 
the sandstones of No. 1, but it soon splits up into smaller ridges 
in its southern extension. 

About four miles further south, in the canton of Bear Creek and Tur- 
key Creek, there are fine exhibitions of the beds of upheaval. The 


chalky shales of No. 3, with abundant specimens of Inoceramus proble- 


maticus and Ostrea congesta, form a lowrounded ridge; then comes a nar- 
row valley worn into the black shales of No. 2; and then a high ridge 
of massive sandstone—No. 1—inclining 30° to 35°. On the western 
side of this ridge we see the projecting edges of the sandstone capping 
the ridge, and underneath the variegated marls and sandstones, with 
some of the brick-red beds. Then comes a series of rather low, rugged 
ridges; first a layer of sandstone and loose brick-red sand with gyp- 
sum; dip 29°. Second ridge, a light gray sandstone with a rusty, yel- 
lowish tinge; dip 34°. Then come three or four small ridges of deeper 
brick-red, or almost purplish-red sandstone; dip 29°. The intervals be- 
tween these ridges are composed of arenaceous shale. Among the red 


‘sandstones are two thin layers of bluish limestone, which is burned into 


lime. 

The foot-hills of the mountains are composed of gneissoid rocks. They 
form a wide belt or range below the main or Snowy Range, rising 1,500: 
+0 2,000 feet above the unchanged rocks. These metamorphic ridges or 
hills are well grassed over in many instances, and rounded, and so cov- 
ered with debris that it is almost impossible to see the layers in position. 

On the little creek there is a small mill for grinding the gypsum into 
plaster for various economical purposes, and also for sawing the sand- 
stone into forms for architectural purposes. The gypsum is amorphous, 
but very white and pure, and would make the finest of casts and 
moldings. Some of the layers are susceptible of a high polish like 
the California marbles, only they are of a more uniform white color. 

Up among the foot-hills, good crops are raised, especially all kinds of 
garden vegetables. As fine wheat as I have ever seen was growing on 
Mr. Morisson’s farm, at an elevation of at least one thousand to fifteen. 
hundred feet above Denver. 

At Harriman’s, on Turkey Creek, is an excellent place to observe the 
junction of the sandstones and the gneissoid rocks, and I could not de- 
termine that there was any discordance, the dip of all being 25° to 35°. 
The slopes of the hills, as well as the rocks themselves, show the incli- 
nation very clearly. The metamorphic rocks are distinctly stratified as. 
any sandstones, and we find alternate beds of syenite, mica schist, horn- 
blende slate, coarse aggregated quartz, feldspar, and mica, regular gneis- 
soid rocks, inclining at a high angle in the same direction as the sand- 
stones. Se P 

For a long distance there is an apparent conformability of the sedi- 
mentary rocks to the metamorphic; but I am inclined to think that it 
is not real or permanent. Both north and south of this point the two 
classes of rocks do not conform. 

Near the summit of the sandstone ridge No. 1, on Turkey Creek, there: - 
is an asphaltum spring, which has been wrought for oil. A consider- 
able thickness of the sandstone seems to be thoroughly saturated with 
the pitch or bitumen, and between the layers of the sandstone are ac- 
cumulations of the tar. This spring is located on the east side and near’ 
the summit of the “ hog-back.” 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 137 


About twelve miles southwest of Denver, between Turkey and Bear 
Creeks, are some remarkable soda lakes, which are of unusual interest. 
They are the property of Dr. Burdsall, of Denver, in whose company I 
made as careful an examination of them as my time would permit. There 
are four of these little lakes, and are all located on middle cretaceous 
rocks. The principal one lies just east of a low rounded ridge of creta- 
ceous shale, No. 3, and is surrounded on the other sides by low ridges of 
superficial sand and gravel. <A little west of this cretaceous ridge there 
_ is alake, a fourth of a mile in length, but on account of the springs flowing 
into it from the sloping sides of the sandstone ridge No.1 the water is not 
strong. The black shales of No. 2, cretaceous, underlie this lake. The 
soil for twenty feet in depth is fully impregnated with the soda; and on 
the surface of one of the lakes is a crust which looks like dirty ice. A 
shallow ditch which Dr. Burdsall has made out into the lake a few feet, 
has a deposit of sulphate of soda at the bottom in a partially crystalline 
- State,one and a half inches thick. Three and a half barrels of the water 
make one barrel of the sulphate of soda, and three pounds of the soil, well 
leached, makes one pound of the salts. The salt, by analysis, contains 
sixty-three per cent. of the soda, and the water about thirty-three per cent. 
Tt contains carbonate of soda, sulphate of soda, chloride of sodium, sul- 
phide of calcium, and a trace of magnesia. It would seem that these 
deposits of soda must at no distant period play an important part in the 
industrial operations of Colorado. These soda salts can be manufac- 
tured into bicarbonate of soda, can be used in refining gold and silver, 
also for the manufacture of glass with silicic acid. There is an unlimited 
amount of soda at this locality, and it can be procured at a mere nominal 
cost. 

Within a few yards of these lakes, and located in the black, shaly 
clays of cretaceous formation, No. 2, are considerable quantities of brown 
iron ore of superior quality—as good as the best observed in the Boulder 
coal strata. It occurs in the form of concretions, and occupies a very 
limited area. 


CHAPTER II. 
FROM DENVER TO COLORADO CITY. 


The city of Denver is located on the tertiary rocks which contain the 
coal beds of the west, about ten to fifteen miles from the base of the 
mountains. The surface is so thickly covered with superficial drift de- 
posits that the basis rocks are seldom seen; but we have every reason 
to suppose that the same beds of coal that are exposed by the uplifting 
of the formations along the immediate flanks of the mountains, extend 
eastward into the plains, and of course underlie, at certain depths, the 
city of Denver. 

AS we pass southward, up the valley of the South Platte, we find the 
tertiary sandstones exposed occasionally in the banks of the river; and. 
near the cation a seam of coal has been opened and worked to some 
extent. The tertiary beds extend quite close up to the foothills of the 
mountains, leaving a comparatively narrow space for the exhibition of 
the older, unchanged rocks. Still, we may walk across the upturned 
edges of them all and study them with care. 

The valley of the South Platte presents a fine display of the terraces ; 
and the drift, filled with water-worn rocks, is very thick. The sand- 
stones of the tertiary formation are also plainly seen, appearing to be 


188 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


nearly horizontal, although not more than ten miles in a straight line 
from the metamorphic rocks. The whole prairie country has been so 
planed off that it is finely and gently rolling, and the drainage is excel- 
lent. The streams which flow from the sides of the mountains are fed 
by perpetual springs, and are consequently persistent and uniform in 
their amount of water, affording the best water-power in the country. 

From the soda lakes to the great “divide” the cretaceous and tertiary. 
beds, outside of the No. 1 sandstone ridge, are smoothed down and 
grassed over so that they are not conspicuous, though there are expos- 
ures enough to guide the geologist. They are so concealed by superfi- 
cial gravel and sand that they present no good sections either to show 
the strata or dip. This regularity of the surface renders the Platte 
Valley, aS well as those of its branches, remarkably fine for farming 
and grazing, and vast herds of cattle already cover the grassy hills and 
plains. The terraces and benches which extend down from the foot of 
the mountains are well shown. 

-Along the Platte River, near the cation, a coal bed was opened at one 
time, but now it is covered with loose material which has fallen from 
above, so that it is entirely concealed. The strata here are nearly ver- 
tical. There are two beds of coal, in all about five feet thick, separated 
by about two feet of clay. The coal is not very good, and has not been 
used for three years. It is probably the same bed seen at Golden City, 
thinning out southward. 

Along the Platte and Plum Creeks, the streams cut .heavy beds of 
boulder gravel and fine sand, and it is under this deposit the coal is 
found. The valleys of the South Platte, and its branches, between Den- 
ver and the mountains, are exceedingly fertile and productive, and at 
this time they are covered with splendid crops. Nearly or quite all of the 
available bottom lands are already taken up by actual settlers, and are 
under cultivation. The present season has been unusually favorable for 
farming throughout the west. 

The plain country south of Denver comes close up to the foot ‘of the 
mountains, so that the belt of upheaved sedimentary rocks grows nar- 
rower and narrower until, a few miles south of the Platte canon, they 
cease entirely for a time. The ridges are very high, ranging from four 
hundred to six hundred feet above the bed of the Platte. To the south- 
west can be seen, rising like a range of mountains, the high “divide” 
between the waters of the South Platte and Arkansas Rivers, covered 
quite thickly with pines. 

The first main ridge contains a few layers of No. 2; alternations of 
clay and sand passing down into the sandstones of No.1. This ridge 
is quite massive and inclines 43°. In the channel of the South Platte, 
the distance from the outside of the ridge containing the sandstones of 
No. 1 to the metamorphic rocks, is not more than half a mile. From 
this point to the “divide” the ridges are split up and much crowded. 
he reddish and variegated sands are worn, by atmospheric agencies, into 
the most wonderful and unique forms, equal to the ‘Garden of the 
Gods,” only on a much smaller scale. Here also the red and variegated 
sandstones jut up against the metamorphic rocks as if the continuity 
was unbroken. Indeed, the apparent conformity is complete. 

The hills of the first range, composed of metamorphic rocks, are curi- 
ously rounded and grassed over, and are made up of a reddish, decom- 
posing granite. But, as we ascend, these peaks or rounded cones become 
sharper, the sides more rugged, and the rocks more compact. 

As we go southward the indications of beds of jurassic age become 
more and more feeble. Under the massive sandstones of No. 1 are a 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 139 


series of yellow and white sands and sandstones passing down into 
brick-red sands. Among this series of variegated beds are two thin 
beds of limestone. One of these is a very white rock, and on its weath- 
ered surface are small masses of chert, which appear to have the struc- 
ture of corals. This bed is six or eight feet thick. Separated by eight 
or ten feet of sandstones is another layer of bluish limestone, which is 
much used for lime. I have never been able to detect any well-defined 
organic remains in these beds, but I believe a portion of them, between 
‘the lower eretaceous No. 1 and the true red beds, are of jurassic age; 
and it is even possible that a portion of the red beds are of that epoch. 

From the point where the Union Pacific railroad crosses the Laramie 
Mountains to Colorado City, I have been unable to find any well-marked 
carboniferous or silurian rocks. The red sandstones, which I have been 
accustomed to regard as triassic, jut up against the metamorphic rocks, 
or are the only exposures that meet the eye of the geologist. I do not 
believe that the carboniferous beds are altogether absent, for limestones 
of considerable thickness, and containing characteristic fossils, occur at 
Granite Canon, on the Pacific railroad, high up on the margins of the 
mountains; and also at Colorado City, about two hundred miles to the 
south. In this long interval I have been unable to discover any well- 
defined carboniferous or silurian rocks, yet I am inclined to think that 
the carboniferous beds, at least, exist underneath all the other sedimen- 
tary rocks, but are not exposed by the upheaval. 

About five miles south of the Platte Canon the upheaved ridges come 
close up to the mountains, and are not worn away, but form the north- 
ern side of the divide, so that the entire series of unchanged rocks known 
in this region are exposed in regular continuity. A little further south 
we come to a series of variegated beds of sands and arenaceous clays, 
nearly horizontal, resting on the upturned edges of the older rocks. 
‘These beds form the northern edge of an extensive tertiary basin of com- 
paratively modern date, either late miocene or pliocene age. From the 
point of their first appearance, about five miles south of the South Platte 
‘Canon to a point about five miles north of Colorado City, these beds jut’ 
up against the foot-hills of the mountains, inclining at a small angle, 
never more than five to eight degrees, and entirely concealing all the 
older sedimentary rocks. The upheaved ridge entirely disappears. Far 
off to the eastward stretches this high tertiary divide, giving rise to a large 
number of streams, as Cherry Creek, Running Water, Kiowa, Bijou, and 
other creeks. Through this basin also flows Monument Creek, which 
has become so celebrated for its unique scenery. The beds of this forma- 
tion are of various colors—reddish, yellow, and white—and of various 
degrees of texture, from coarse pudding-stones to very fine-grained 
sands or sandstones. There is very little lime in the entire series of 
beds. There is much ferruginous matter in all the beds, to some of 
which it gives a rusty brown color. The valley of Plum Creek is scooped 
out of this basin. The high ridge to the eastward is capped with coarse 
sandstones and pudding-stones. Along the immediate sides of the 
mountains the rocks are mostly coarse pudding-stones, the water-worn 
pebbles varying in size from a grain of quartz to a mass several inches 
in diameter. But as we recede from the mountains, eastward, the sedi- 
ments become finer and finer until the coarse pudding-stones disappear. 
I am of the opinion that the materials composing the beds of this group 
have been derived from the mountain ranges and vicinity. In their 
general appearance the rocks of this group resemble the prevailing rocks 
which cover the country from Fort Bridger to Weber Canon, and also 
a series of sands and sandstones along the Gallisteo Creek below Santa 


140 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


Fé, which I shall call the: Gallisteo sand group. To this group of 
modern tertiary deposits I have given the provisional name of the 
Monument Creek group, and they occupy a space of about forty miles 
in width from east to west, and fifty miles in length north and south. 

Continuing our course southward, we find some curious mesas in the 
valley of West Plum Creek. We ascended one lofty butte, with a flat 
table summit, situated west of the Plum Creek road. The top of this butte . 
is about one thousand feet above the road, and is capped with a rather 
close-grained, cream-colored rock, which looks quite porphyritie, fifty to 
one hundred feet thick, and plainly of igneous origin. It fractures 
into slabs which have a clinking sound. The beds below are quite 
variegated, of almost every color and texture, mostly fine sand, brick 
red, deep yellow, rusty red, white-ash colored, dull black, &c. The rusty 
iron layers sometimes form a sort of limonite, but are composed largely 
of an aggregate of water-worn pebbles cemented with the silicate of 
iron. There are also thick beds of quartzose sandstone, or an aggregate 
of erystals of quartz and feldspar, so compact as to look like a coarse 
eranite. These large masses afford good illustrations of the process of 
weathering by exfoliation. - 

The evidence is clear in a number of localities that at a late period in 
eeological history there were dikes or protrusions of igneous material 
which flowed over these Monument Creek sandstones in broad sheets 
or beds; and these broad, table-top buttes and mesas are the evidences 
that are now left after erosion. 

This modern tertiary basin is very interesting as the introduction of 
anew feature in the geology of this region. The appearance of the 
country also undergoes a decided improvement. The great divide is 
covered rather thickly with pine timber. It is full of excellent springs 
and fertile valleys which give origin to numerous streams. ‘The grass 
is excellent and abundant, even upon the summits of the table lands. - 
For a distance of ten miles about the sources of Plum Creek the red 
beds or triassie jut square against the sides of the metamorphic foot- 
hills of the mountains. The projecting summits of the upturned ridges 
eradually fade out in importance. They have also lost their usual regu- 
larity, and are split up into an indefinite number of fragments of ridges, 
varying in dip from. ten to forty-five degrees. Near the water divide 
these ridges gradually close up again toward the foot of the mountains 
and are entirely concealed by the sands and arenaceous clays of the 
Monument Creek group. 

Ju the valley of West Plum Creek and its branches, as they emerge 
from the mountains, we have a fine exposure of the sedimentary beds. 
The coarse, yellowish-gray sandstones and pudding-stones of the Monu- 
ment Creek group incline slightly, perhaps three to five degrees. Then 
come the sandstones of the lignite tertiary, inclining twenty-five degrees. 
Then west of West Plum Creek are some ridges of cretaceous rocks. 
The first ridge is made up of a rather impure limestone, filled with well- 
defined species of Inoceramus and other shells, of No. 3 or middle creta- 
ceous. The next ridge west is composed of No. 1, and the intermediate 
valley is underlaid with the shales of No. 2. Among the brick-red 
ridges is one low ridge composed almost entirely of gypsum—an unusual 
development of this material—to the thickness of thirty or forty feet. 

There is an extensive series of low ridges of red and gray sandstones 
extending up the base of the mountains. 

The high portion of country, which is plainly visible from Denver when 
looking southward, and from the Arkansas River looking northward, 
would seem to have been protected from erosion by causes which I can- 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 141 


not yet well explain. The water divide is the long bench which extends 
down from the very base of the mountains eastward, and forms the line 
of separation between the sources of the streams which flow southward 
into the Arkansas on the one side and into the South Platte on the other. 
This water divide is well worthy of especial notice, inasmuch as it is 
composed of the Monument Creek formation, and juts up against the 
almost vertical metamorphic rocks, retaining its nearly horizontal posi- 
tion, and perfectly concealing all the older rocks for at least five miles 
north of the line of separation. 

The vallevs of Plum Creek and of its branches are quite wide, and 
are scooped out of the modern deposits so as to form a most beautiful 
and fertile lands, while on each side a bench extends down from the 
mountains like alawn. The series of older rocks are exposed by the 
stripping off of the newer tertiaries in the valley of Plum Creek. The 
bench on the north side conceals them, for the most part, close up to the 
toot of the mountains, while on the south side they are entirely concealed 
until they reappear near Colorado City. 

The divide forms a high ridge with a mesa-like top, stretching far east- 
ward beyond the horizon, covered with pines. On each side the beds of 
whitish-yellow and reddish sandstones appear like fortifications, holding 
a nearly horizontal position. Near the foot-hills there is a narrow val- 
ley, perhaps one-fourth of a mile wide, and lying against the sides of the 
mountains are remnants left after the erosion. Tat first mistook them for 
the red triassic beds, but on a close examination I found them to be a coarse 
aggregate of feldspar and quartz, colored extensively with iron. ‘There 
are inclosed in the rock various water-worn pebbles of all sizes and 
textures. This rock decomposes readily, especially by the process of 
exfoliation. The whole rock is so massive and compact that it might 
easily be mistaken for a metamorphic sandstone. 

Just south of the first branch of Monument Creek there is a fine ex- 
hibition of the erosion of the sandstones. At one locality they lie snug 
up against gneissoid rocks, showing the discordant relations perfectly. 
These illustrations seem to show plainly that the sediments of this recent 
tertiary deposit have all been derived from the disintegration or erosion 
of the metamorphic rocks and perhaps the older sedimentary beds in the 
immediate vicinity. 

In a beautiful little basin near Monument Creek, which leads to the 
creek, is a lone pillar or column of sandstone, three-cornered, with the 
strata perfectly horizontal, avout thirty feet high. The sands compos- 
ing this are coarse and of a yellowish or whitish color. It has been for 
a long time a favorite object for the photographer. 

At one point on Monument Creek the red granites, high up on the 
mountain side, show the perpendicular lines of cleavage in a marked 
manner. Some of the openings are several feet wide: The strike of 
these lines of cleavage is about southwest and northeast. . ) 

For a considerable distance, some ten or fifteen miles, along the imme- 
diate base of the mountains, on the west side of Monument Creek, the 
long, smooth, grassy benches slope down toward the creek, sliced as it 
were or cut by the numerous little branches. These lawn-like slopes or 
benches vary in height. Sometimes on the side of a little branch, where 
the valley is deep, there is an intermediate terrace or step to the higher 
ridge. 

All these valleys seem to be occupied by farmers and stock-raisers. 
Almost every available spot is taken up by actual settlers. 

The first range of mountains on the east side, from the divide to a 
point near Colorado City, appears to me to present a fine illustration of 


142 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


what I have called an abrupt anticlinal; that is, only the abrupt side of 
the western slope appears here. The eastern side has either been worn 
away or was never elevated to a great height, and is now concealed 
by the recent deposits. The summit of the metamorphic ridge projects. 
far over the base of the mountains, and the western side of the monocli- 
nal shows a gentle slope. That this eastern portion of the metamorphic 
anticlinal may have been elevated and then fell back, or may not haye 
been elevated at all and still exists beneath, is shown from the fact that 
the sedimentary ridges or ‘‘hog-backs” gradually diminish in dip to the 
point of concealment. 

The little streams which flow into Monument Creek, as well as the 
creek itself, cut through a coarse material of various colors with irregu- 
lar layers of deposition. Sometimes a layer is hardened into a coarse 
sandstone, and then comes a thin layer of ironstone or impure limonite, 
but the whole is a quartzose material and rather coarse. There are now 
and then thin seams of fine sand or clay. Near the stage station there 
is a bluff of rather massive whitish sandstone, with some thin beds of 
clay at intervals. There is much iron in these rocks, and this aggregates. 
in the form of a rusty layer, quite hard. The light-colored sandstones 
below are weathered into most singular columnar or monument-like 
forms, with this layer of rusty sandstone as a cap protecting the summits. 
There are some dark bands of arenaceous clay, and in the sandstone a 
few rounded concretions. 

About six miles north of Colorado City the upheaved ridges or “hog- 
backs” reappear from beneath the quartzose sandstones of the Monu- 
ment Creek group. The white massive sandstones of the lower creta- 
ceous lie high on the mountain side. The first ridge that we pass through 
along the road is a whitish brown, rather yielding sandstone, with rusty 
yellow portions, with very irregular lamine of deposition. The strike 
is southwest and northeast, and the dip 32°. This is a bed of the lig- 
nite tertiary. 

High up on the sides of the mountains, for ten miles or more about 
the Soda Springs, there is a great thickness of red porphyritic granite, 
inclining from the mountains in’ well-defined ridges, like sandstone. 
From their very deep rusty-red color, I regarded them as sandstones 
until I made a close examination of them. They have a well-marked dip 
of forty-five to fifty degrees, somewhat less than the massive granite 
rocks which form the nucleus. All these ridges rise like steps toward the 
range of which Pike’s Peak forms a part, with the sloping sides toward 
the northeast and the summits leaning over toward the axis of elevation. 

These very red granitoid rocks have formed a very conspicuous fea- 
ture on the eastern side of the mountains for thirty miles or more north 
of Colorado City; and, as they readily decompose, the hills and roads 

are paved with ‘the crystals of feldspar and quartz. The constituent 
which predominates is feldspar, which gives the red color. This rock is 
composed of a coarse aggregate of quartz and feldspar with a little black 
mica, and now ard then a little pencil-like crystal of hornblende. The 
rock itself does not seem to be so red, but the debris has a dull rusty- 
red color in the distance. Upon the summits of the mountains about 
Pike’s Peak are columns of massive granite—immense rounded masses, 
standing one upon the other, giving a most picturesque appearance to 
the scenery, and affording fine illustrations of the style of weathering. 

The unchanged rocks are here seen resting directly upon these dull 
reddish granites. The lower beds are composed of a more or less fine- 
grained sandstone, with some small pebbles, variegated in color, passing 
up into rocks of a semi-crystalline texture. Most of the rocks appear as 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE ‘TERRITORIES. 143 


if they had been. partially changed by heat. There is every variety of 
texture, mostly silicious, but some layers appear to be an impure lime- 
stone. 

For a space of about ten miles from north to south, and an average 
width of five miles from east to west, about Color ado City, all the 
unchanged rocks are displayed in a unique and remarkably clear man- 
ner. The ridges of upheaval are spread out over an unusually wide 
space. Here every formation known in this region is distinetly revealed 
to the scrutiny of the geologist. 

Beginning in the plain country we have the sands and sandstones 
of the Monument Creek group in a perfectly horizontal position, and 
separated from the older rocks by a valley about half a mile wide. It is 
through this valley, which runs neaily north and south, that the road 
passes. The Monument Creek group is seen on the east in the form of. 
a rounded grassy range of hills; while on the west side the cretaceous 
formations are exposed in the form of upheaved ridges. I have no 
doubt but that this intervening valley is underlaid by lignite tertiary 
beds, for as we enter it from Monument Creek valley we have an expo- 
sure of the sandstones of this group for a little distance, revealed by the 
stripping off of the Monument Creek sands by erosion. They very soon 
pass beneath the more recent deposits. On the west side of the road, 
near Camp Creek, which flows through what is called the second ‘ Gar- 
den of the Gods,” we find the chalky shales of No. 3 with Inoceramus and 
Ostrea congesta in great abundance. All the cretaceous rocks, including 
the massive sandstones of No. 1, are finely displayed in this region, and 
No. 1 forms a most picturesque and nearly vertical wall for six to ten 
miles, as it were inclosing the “Garden of the Gods.” There is one 
peculiar feature presented by these nearly perpendicular walls of sand- 
stone, and that is, two quite distinct lines of cleavage, but not quite as 
regular or as well defined as in the gneissoid rocks of the mining regions. 
These lines cross each other, one set with a direction northwest and 
southeast, and the other southwest and northeast. 

The rocks included in this wall-like ridge are layers of fine Dlaek shale, 
fine sandstone with bits of vegetable m atter, and a thin seam of earthy lig- 
nite. Then come beds of whitish sandstones, with thin layers of limestone 
made up of indistinct fragments of fossil shells, with bed of snowy 
gypsum; then a series of whitish, yellow, and brick-red sandstones, with 
intervals of loose, laminated sands, which form a kind of grassy valleys. 
In passing up the Fountain Creek valley we cross the upheaved edges 
of twenty or thirty of these fragmentary ridges, all inclining at various 
angles, from ten degrees to sixty degrees. It is to the peculiar weath- 
ering of these variegated upturned ridges of sandstone that the wonder- 
fully unique scenery of the “‘Garden of the Gods” is due. In some 
localities some of these beds seem to pass over beyond verticality 3° 
to 5°. The composition of these sandstones is mostly fine sand, but 
often it is an aggregate of minute particles of quartz, with some small, 
rounded pebbles. All the beds exhibit the indications of ripple 
marks, irregular lines of deposition, and in most, the water-worn pebbles 
are small, but sometimes they are from six to ten inches in diameter. 
The upper portions of the variegated beds are a light brick red, with 
spots and irregular layers of whitish sandstone. 

AS we pass to older beds this red color deepens until it becomes a ‘dull 
purple hue. There are in all these sandstones a great many irregular 
seams of gypsum. Everywhere among these curious projecting ridges 
of sandstone are beautiful grassy intervals. To show the irregularity 
of the dip of these rocks, the ridges that give the most marked features 


144 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES 


to the picturesque scenery incline eighty to eighty-five degrees, and then 
immediately west are several low ridges dipping fifteen to twenty degrees. 

There is a somewhat extensive cave in the north portion of the sand- 
stone ridge that forms the entrance to the ‘‘Garden of the Gods.” It is 
caused by the washing away of a soft layer, about three feet thick, by a 
little stream of water that trickles down from the summit of the ridge. 
These vertical ridges of red sandstone rise above the surface about two 
hundred and fiftyfeet. Just east of the entrance or gate, about fifty yards, 
is a wall of white sandstone, with seams of impure, gritty gypsum run- 
ning through it in every direction, forming a kind of net-work. The 
strike of these ridges is nearly north and south. 

At Crater’s Falls, above the soda springs on Fountain Creek, there 
is a remarkable cafion, in which the unchanged sedimentary rocks are 
seen to rest directly on the red porphyritic granites. At no point along 
the eastern base of the mountains, from Laramie Peak soughward, have 
1 seen the two classes of rocks so fairly in apposition. The metamorphic 
rocks beneath are quite massive—a deep rusty red; an aggregate of crys- 
tals of feldspar and quartz, with some black mica. The cleavage lines 
are shown with great distinctness, but the lines of stratification in the 
two kinds of rocks do not precisely correspond. I think that the strata 
of both groups incline in the same direction, but the granites seem to be 
more steeply inclined. As I have before remarked, there seems to be a 
vonformity in very many localities, and sometimes extending over large 
<listricts, between the unchanged and changed rocks, but I am inclined 
to regard this conformity as more apparent than real. 

The rock which rests directly upon the granites at this locality is a 
sandstone, totally unchanged, as if it had been deposited on them in cool 
‘and rather quiet waters. It is composed of minute crystals of quartz, 
considerably rounded by attrition, and cemented with silicate of iron. 
This sandstone is quite massive, with streaks or seams of small pebbles. 
We have them resting upon the granites, then alternate layers of light 
gray, and rusty reddish sandstone—forty feet; then a very deep dull 
purplish sandstone with dark spots—two hundred feet. Above this a 
thinly laminated yellowish-white limestone, of various degrees of fineness, 
with vast quantities of crinoidal remains, some corals, small univalves 
&e. This limestone must be from three hundred to four hundred feet 
thick. The dip of the rocks is distinct, as the little streams have cut 
the most perfect sections. Sometimes masses of these rocks are lifted 
high on the summits of the mountains, in an almost horizontal position, 
then again they dip ten, twenty, or thirty degrees in different directions. 

A few hundred yards to the northeast of the Crater Falls, on Foun- 
tain Creek, there is a little branch which flows down from the mountains, 
and has cut out of the rocks a most remarkable cation. The limestones 
and sandstones are here shown most perfectly in the vertical. walls, for a 
mile or more resting on the granites below, and inclining not more than 
5° to 10°. 

About four miles northwest of Colorado City is what is called the 
second “Garden of the Gods,” through which: flows Camp Creek. The 
area is much smaller than that of the first Garden of the Gods, but the 
scenery is even more remarkable. The entrance is through a kind of 
gateway, cut by the creek at right angles to the ridge of lower creta- 
ceous sandstone No. 1. This ridge forms high walls, with a dip to 
the east of 55° to 60°. Then comes, inside of this wall, a narrow belt 
of what must be jurassic limestone, some portions being of a bluish color 
and brittle, filled with indistinct animal remains. Then comes the gyp- 
siferous sandstone, with a bed of snowy gypsum, gradually passing into 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 145. 


light brick-red, and deep, dull, purplish sandstones. Here agam the 
sandstones are worn into wonderful shapes—columns, peaks, &e. All the 
sedimentary rocks are reduced to a narrow belt, and the ridges are 
crowded together into a space of hardly a mile in width, and on the foot- 
hills of the mountains are the deep, dull, red sandstones and limestones 
of the carboniferous resting upon the red granites. The walls of the 
Camp Creek cation show all the carboniferous beds in their relation with: 
the granites most perfectly. Upon the weathered surface of the reddish 
limestones I found a number of specimens of brachiopodous shells. 

A short distance north of this caion, the jurassic amd carboniferous 
beds are seen in a nearly vertical position, and lying in perfect apposi- 
tion, showing complete continuity. Itis therefore my opinion that there 
is no discordancy in the unchanged beds, from the granites up to the 
Monument Creek group. The latter never conform to the beds below, 
while I am inclined to regard all the instances of apparent conformity 
of the sedimentary rocks with the metamorphic as not real but accidental. 

As the ridges emerge from beneath the Monument Creek group at the 
north end of the second Garden of the Gods, the trend is a little east of 
south, and they finally bend around so that they jut up against the 
base of the mountains a little way south of Colorado City, with a trend 
nearly east and west. 

About five miles east of the base of the mountains, and four miles 
northeast of Colorado City, Mr. Gelirung has a land claim where a coal 
bed crops out of the bank of a creek. Above the coal is about eight or 
ten feet of clay, and below there is also a bed of clay, and the coal 
above and below gradually passes into the clay. This clay is filled 
with fragments of vegetable matter, some seeds and plants. The clay 
passes up into fine sand. In the distant hills, the beds of whitish mas- 
sive sandstones are weathered into fortification-like bluffs. The coal is 
very light, varies much in thickness, from a few inches to five or six feet, 
and seems to be a sort of jet. There are several other localities where 
the carbonaceous clay crops out in the valleys of the little branches, and 
it occurs in the Monument Creek group, and therefore must be of very 
modern date. There are also, in the clays above and below the coal, con- 
siderable quantities of impure brown iron ore. 

Perhaps the feature of the greatest general interest in this region is 
the Soda Springs, which are located about three miles above Colorado 
City, in the valley of Fountain Creek. The water issues from the ground 
very near the junction of the sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, close 
by the base of Pike’s Peak. ‘The scenery around them is grand beyond 
any that I have ever seen in the vicinity of any other medicinal springs. 

There arefourofthem. The firstone isclose to theroad and within fifty 
feet of the creek, and perhaps at this time ten or fifteen feet above its 
bed. The violent bubbling up of the water would indicate the issue of 
a large supply, but there can hardly be a gallon a minute. For a 
distance of sixty feet or more around the spring there is a deposit or 
incrustation in thin layers. Its thickness I could not determine, 
though it is probably not more than six or eight feet. About twenty- 
five feet west of the present opening there is another which formerly 
gaveexit to the water. Itisaboutfiveinches indiameter. Thesediments 
deposited around these springs seem to be filled up with foreign mat- 
ter, introduced during deposition. Portions of the deposit are very 
hard and filled with small cavities, lined with a whitish, partially crys- 
talline material, probably carbonate of lime or gypsum. 

About one hundred yards above the first spring is the second one, 
on the right side of the creek. This is much the largest, one and 

10 = 


146 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


has formed a basin six or eight feet across, from the center of which 
boils up a most violent current, so that one would suppose there was 
water enough to make a good-sized trout brook, and yet not more than 
five or six gallons a minute issue from it. A small stream aout four 
inches wide, and an inch deep, passes off into the creek. About this 
spring, also, there is a large deposit, which is rounded off on the side 
toward the creek by the overflow of the water from the spring. 

On the opposite side of the creek, not more than twenty feet from it, 
and located about ten feet above it, isa third small spring. The wateri is 
stronger than that of the others ‘and is used principally for drinking 
purposes. The cavity in this deposit is about twelve inches in diameter 
and the water twelve inches deep, and the bubbles rise continually and 
energetically, but not more than half a gallon of water a minute passes. 
off. There is now a constant deposition of a whitish substance from 
the spring, and it extends to the margin of the creek. Between the sec- 
ond and third springs are two massive red felspathic granite boulders, 
a coarse aggregate of feldspar, quartz,and some black mica. Oneof these 
boulders, which lies on the left side of the creek, must be at least twenty- 
five feet in diameter, and is partially rounded by atmospheric influences. 
The other is perhaps six feet in diameter and lies in the middle of the 
stream, and between the two, in a space of three feet, the greater part 
of the water of the brook rushes down with considerable force. 

The fourth spring is perhaps fifty feet above the second, on the right 
side of the creek, and within four feet of the water’s edge. There is no 
sediment deposited around it, and, although the water pubbles up some- 


. what, it is rather chalybeate than otherwise. The taste is scarcely 


perceptible, and but little notice is taken of it by tourists. 
The basin of the second spring is about four feet deep and is used for 


, bathing. The first three springs are strongly impregnated with car- 
' bonie acid gas and are the true springs. 


« 


These springs must necessarily have their origin in the metamorphic 
rocks, although the waters may pass up through a considerable thick- 
ness of the older sedimentary beds. On both ‘sides of Fountain Creek 
there is a considerable thickness of the carboniferous beds, but the creek 
seems to run through a sort of monoclinal rift, though at the falls above, 
the stream cuts through the ridges nearly at right angles. At any rate, 
there cannot be a very great thickness of the unchanged rocks below 
the surface at the springs. 

As these springs must at some period become a celebrated and popu- 
lar resort for invalids from all parts of the world, I will add an analysis 
of a fragment of the incrustation mentioned above, as given in Fremont’s 
report, page 117. 


Garbomaterorainmiey ise Wo Se ela OE Wain 2 fia) pay ae 92, 25. 


Carbonate tama sme sia ee se) aie ej ee ieee lala dd: 
Sulphate of lime, chloride of calcium, chloride of magnesia. - . . . 23 
ROU a Gk les Be ee ei ele ie ic te ihn Wm ea is) Ne cc 1. 50 
WimMieweta ble materi Maa En ee er slic) 5 seq Mi aretelee as ate isle ene 20 
MvBOrs tare wimg: JOSS sehsy sth ey BEN a eye era ln Se gL ee 4.61 
100. 00 


“ At 11 o’clock, when the temperature of the air was 73°, that of the 

water in this was 60°.5; and that of the upper spring, which issued from 
the flat rocks more exposed to the sun, was 69°. At sunset, when the 
temperature of the air was 66°, that of the lower springs was 58°, and 
that of the upper 61°.”—FREMONT. 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 147 


CHAPTER III. 
FROM COLORADO CITY TO SPANISH PEAKS. 


Looking toward Colorado City from the south, it would seem that the 
rift, or pass in the mountains through which Fountain Creek ( Fontaine qui 
bouille) flows, formed a line of separation between the ranges of moun- 
tains; that the north range died out suddenly, in its southern extension, 
at this point. There is a plain valley of separation visible. 

A little below the city, theridges, or “‘hog-backs,” flex to the southwest 
and jut up against the base of the mountains and disappear. These 
mountains are of that abrupt type which I have before referred to; that 
is, they form the west portion of an anticlinal, the east half of which is 
not visible. These mountains I call abrupt because the summits are 
formed of projecting masses of rocks leaning over eastward beyond the 
base, where this class of mountains occur. The sedimentary beds jut up 
against the base without any special dip, or, at any rate, there is no wide 
belt of upheaved ridges, but the most recent formations in the region 
lap on to the base of the mountains. The immediate eastern range north 
of Colorado City, and the one south, are, it seems to me, fine illustrations: 
of this statement, and I an. more and more convinced that it is correct. 

Passing over that portion of the country south of Colorado City, be- 
tween Fountain Creek and the base of the mountains, the upper creta- 
ceous beds, No. 4, are quite extensive, with Baculites ovatus and Inoce- 
ramus in great quantities. The cretaceous rocks are well shown, espe- 
cially the upper portions, in the valley of Fountain Creek, from Colorado 
City to its junction with the Arkansas River. A number of species of 
fossils, especially shells-and saurian remains, are found quite abundantly. 
There are also scattered about, remnants of the Monument Creek group; 
and below Colorado City these recent tertiaries occupy considerable area, 
and reach a good thickness. 

But the most conspicuous feature that we observe is the vast quan- 
tity of granite boulders scattered over the surface near the base of the 
mountains, extending at least to Fountain Creek. They diminish in size 
as they recede from the mountains, and are not much worn. 

About ten miles below Colorado City the “‘hog-backs” appear again 
faintly in the form of one or two narrow ridges. The lofty mountain, 
rising up abruptly two thousand or three thousand feet above the base, 
stops suddenly, and lower granite ridges, with their eastern sides sloping 
and covered with grass, come in. 

About fifteen miles south of Colorado City a little wooded stream that 
issues from the mountains seems to form the northern limit of a high 
ridge, which at first extends from the foot of the mountains in the form 
of a pretty high “hog-back,” but soon passes down southeast into the 
variegated sands of the Monument Creek group. From this point to 
within a few miles of the Arkansas, the recent tertiary beds are quite 
prominent. The mountains seem also to be composed largely of igneous 
rocks. 

About fifteen miles south of Colorado City the road to Cafion City 
passes among the nupheaved ridges which form a very narrow belt at 
first, but continues to increase in width until we come to the valley of 
the Arkansas, where they spread out to a great breadth. 

At the point south of Colorado City where the upheaved ridges reap- 
pear, the mountains begin to break up into low hills and fragmentary 
ranges which continually run out in the plains. Indeed, the entire 
eastern flank of the mountains, as we pass from the north southward, 


148 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


exhibit an irregular but distinct ‘“‘en echelon” arrangement; and at a 
number of localities, the ranges will pass off in the prairies, south or 
southeast, in groups, thus causing an abrupt notch or bend in the range. 
There is also in the canon of the Arkansas an extensive bow or notch, 
where the upheaved ridges are very conspicuous and numerous, where 
the complete series of formations, in their regular order of sequence, are 
thrown up to the vision. 

After entering among the upheaved ridges we find the lower creta- 
ceous sandstones forming a conspicuous ridge, inclining thirty degrees 
to forty degrees about northeast. Then come the variegated sandstones 
and the brick-red beds inclining at various angles as heretofore described. 
Before reaching the Arkansas § some of the ridges become very large and 
high, from five hundred to six hundred feet. In very many localities, 
for a long distance, the red sandstones lie distinctly against the granite 
hills. Not unfrequently for fifty miles or more along the eastern base 
of the mountains, all the unchanged beds have been worn away from the 
metamorphic, and a smooth, grassy valley intervenes, so that it is some- 
times difficult to find the two classes of rocks in contact. 

About ten miles north of the Arkansas we have an immense ridge, at 
least eight hundred feet high, capped with lower cretaceous sandstones, 
,and below them fine arenaceous sands, clays, thin beds of limestone pass- 
ing down into variegated layers, with a heavy bed of gypsum, from 
fifteen to thirty feet thick, at its base. This bed of gypsum seems to 
form a sort of dividing line between the brick-red beds and the varie- 
gated sandstones above. Passing Beaver Creek we come into a fine oval 
park, with the large ridge on the east side, and the low red sandstones, 
which lie on the granite, on the west side. This park is about four miles 
long and half a mile wide. The bed of gypsum is very conspicuous. 

In the vicinity of the Arkansas Valley the cretaceous formations be- 
come quite apparent, and while there seems to be no marked line of sep- 
aration between the divisions, yet portions of Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 can 
be distinctly seen. On Oil Creek, near Cation City, there are high iso- 
lated bills which show the black shales of No. 4, gradually passing up 
into the rusty arenaceous clays of No. 5. High on the flanks of the 
mountains can be seen the carboniferous beds, inclining at large angles. 
The hills are covered with small pines, mostly the pion, ( Pinus edulis, ) 
but all the lumber has to be brought from a distance of thirty or forty 
miles. 

High up in the foot-hills of the mountains, in the valley of Oil Creek, 
a branch of the Arkansas, are the celebrated Oil Springs. There are 
four of them from which oil is taken, but they are near together, and 

_probably all come from the same source. The oil seeps out through 
sandstone seventy or eighty feet beneath the surface. <A hole has. been 
bored down three hundred feet, but no regular reservoir has been found. 

About four thousand gallons of refined. oil have been made here per 
year, for the past three years. There are many impurities in the crude 
oil: twelve per cent. benzine; fifty per cent. heavy oil; the remainder is 
tar and nitrogenous matter ; much of itis parattine, and paraffine oil. There 
is also about fifteen per cent. of useless matter. J saw more than twenty 
barrels of refuse oil at the spring, which had been rejected from the 
refinery. ‘This is used for greasing wagons, &c. Specific gravity 38. 

The lower cretaceous rocks rise in vertical cut bluffs, four hundred 
to six hundred feet above the oil springs, and the creek cuts through 
the upper part of the variegated beds. The course of Oil Creek is nearly 
south. A range of mountains extends down along the east side of the 
creek, and runs out before reaching the Arkansas, and on the west side 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 149 


the various formations are shown in a nearly horizontal position, or 
inclining southwest at asmall angle. Indeed, Oil Creek flows through 
a sort of synclinal valley in part, and near the source of it the red or 
triassic beds rest upon the granites. All along this creek, where the 
unchanged rocks are well shown, the lower cretaceous beds seem to 
pass down into a narrow belt of ashen gray sands and sandstones, which 
continue down into a variegated series of beds, a part of which I regard 
as jurassic. 

Near the oil springs there are, above the reddish beds, six layers of 
massive sandstones, varying from ten to twenty feet thick, with seams 
of arenaceous clays, from a few inches to ten feet in thickness. These 
rocks exhibit all the indications of shallow water deposition in places, 
but not a fossil of any kind could be found, and, therefore, it is dif- 
ficult to determine whether they are lower cretaceous or jurassic. 

As to the sources of this oil, I could gain no reliable information. The 
borings have gone down into the pudding-stones of the lower triassic, 
and yet no reservoir has been found. It is not known but that the oil 
may come up from the granites. Great quantities of salt water issue 
from the springs with the oil, and the oil is taken from the surface of 
the salt water. 

At Cafion City, where the Arkansas comes out of the mountains, 
on the south side of the river, the principal ridge or “ hog-back,” which is 
composed of No. 1, dips 349, and has a trend about southwest; while on 
the north side the long ridge, of which there is a very high one, like a 
lofty wall, composed ’of the sandstones of No. 1, while a lower outer ridge 
is made up of the fine calcareous sandstones of No. 2, filled up with 
Tnoceramus. Tt is from this low ridge that the stone for building pur- 
poses is obtained. It is not very durable, but works easily and makes 
handsome structures. This regular wall extends northward, bordering 
the plain in a straight line for five or six miles, and is very conspicuous. 
_ Issuing from the ground, between the ridges of cretaceous No. 1 and No. 
2, in the valley, about a mile above Caiion City, is one of the finest mineral 
springs we have seen in the West. It isquite small, but the water is de- 
licious. Itis doubtless the same, essentially, as the springs at Colorado 
City. 

Just back or inside of this sandstone wall No. 1,is an ashen-gray bed 
of arenaceous layers, with a bed of fine silicious limestone, containing 
what seems to me to be indistinct fragments of fresh-water shells. This 
belt passes down into the red pudding-stones below. Passing up the 
Arkansas a few hundred yards further, we come to the metamorphic rocks. 

_ About four miles below Cafion City, on the Arkansas River, are some 
isolated hills, looking in the distance like fortifications, composed of Nos. 
4 and 5 cretaceous, capped with a rusty yellow sandstone, which I regard 
as the lowest bed of the coal formations. 

Both the cretaceous and tertiary beds seem to dip southwest five to ten 
degrees, while on the south side of the Arkansas the tertiary beds incline 
rather northeast, so that there is an obscure synclinal which shows the 
influence of the ranges of mountains on each side of the valley. The coal 
strata have all the characteristics of the older tertiary sandstones, as 
shown in the Laramie Plains. 

Between Cation City and Hardscrabble Creek, the tertiary beds jut 
up against the Wet Mountain range, concealing all the older rocks. 
About half a mile east of Cation City, the high cretaceous ridges are seen, 
and then they disappear beneath the tertiary beds, and reappear at the 
head of Hardscrabble Creek, about thirty miles to the eastward. 

High up the foot of the granite hills of Wet Mountain, an obscure syn- 


WAU GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


clinal valley can be seen, through which flows a small branch called Oak 
Creek. The dip of the tertiary beds on either side is nowhere more 
than ten degrees, seldom more than five degrees. The coal crops out in 
many places. In the sandstones are the peculiar concretionary forms 
which are common in these beds everywhere. Their general appearance 
points out their age to the eye at once. 

About ten miles below Cafion City a coal bed has been opened and — 
wrought to some extent. I obtaimed here the following section of the 
strata: 


9. Sandstone and clay to the summit of the hill —- - 30 to 40 feet. 
8. Carbonaceous and arenaceous clay - 10 feet. 
7. Yellowish, gray, Soft, fine-grained sandstones - 10 feet. 
6. Carbonaceous clay, passing up into laminated clay —- 20 feet. 
5. Coal - - - - - = 1 foot. 
4. Drab carbonaceous clay -— - _ _ 10 feet. 
3. Coal - - - - - ~ 5 feet. 
2. Drab clay - - - - - 4 to 8 feet. 
1. Yellow ash-colored arenaceous clay, passing down into a yellowish 


gray sandstone. 


In the clay are nodules of iron ore, which are full of impressions of 
deciduous leaves, like Salix, Platanus, Thuya, and a broad flag-like plant 
are abundant. 

All through the clay there is a yellow powder, oxide of iron, and seams 
of gypsum. Much selenite is scattered through the beds of clay and 
coal. The plants, so far as I have seen, are found in the clays just above 
the coal. 

The yellow arenaceous clays of No. 5, in the Arkansas Valley, pass up 
into a somewhat extensive series of what I call mud beds, composed of 
alternate thin layers of clay and mud sandstones, with all kinds of mud 
markings, sort of transition beds or beds of passage. In the upper 
portion of these layers I found an imperfect specimen of Inoceramus. 
This group of beds is from fifty to one hundred feet in thickness. Resting 
upon them is a thick bed of rusty yellow sandstone, which I regard as 
‘the lower bed of the tertiary deposits, and marks their commencementin 
the Laramie Plains, on the Arkansas River, and the Raton Mountains. 
Below these beds of passage thereis a yellow, arenaceous, marly clay, full 
of iron-rust concretions, with an abundance of small bivalves and other 
shells, with Baculites ovatus—plainly No. 5. 

It is now clear that the Caton City coal formation occupies a very 
restricted area; that the entire thickness of the beds cannot be more 
than six hundred to eight hundred feet; and thatit is an isolated portion, 
protected from erosion in a manner not easily explained, and that it was 
once connected with the same formations in the Laramie Plains, about 
Denver, southward in the Raten Mountains, and most probably also 
with those containing coal in the valley of the Rio Grande. The area 
occupied by the coal beds lies east of Cation City, between Wet Moun- 
tain and the Arkansas River, with the eastern limit three or four miles 
before reaching Hardscrabble Creek. It is about twenty miles from 
east to west, and jive to eight miles wide from north to south; and only a 
small portion of it will furnish coal. The coal itself is quite good for 
the purposes of fuel, but the beds are not thick, and the quantity is not 
great. There is the usual quantity of brown iron ore connected with 
these beds. 

The Arkansas River flows through the synclinal depression, below 
the mouth of Hardscrabble Creek. 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. . 151 


It may be that the older rocks are elevated under the debris close to 
the foot of Wet Mountain, but no beds older than the cretaceous can be 
seen. The upper cretaceous beds extend up close to the mountains, 
oftentimes capped with the tertiary, inclining not more than five to ten 
degrees. 

At the head of Hardscrabble Creek the ridges of upheaval or ‘“ hog- 
backs” begin to show themselves again in a narrow belt which rapidly 
widens out, so that before reaching Greenhorn Creek they have spread 
out to a width of several miles. 

On Red Creek, which is about eight miles south of Hardscrabble, 
there is the finest exhibition of the yellow massive chalk passing down 
into the gray marl of No. 3 that I have seen south of the Upper Mis- 
souri. In the channel of this stream and its branches there are vertical 
walls eighty to one hundred feet high, looking much like irregular mason 
work. Some of the gray portion is a very hard limestone, and contains 
a large, apparently undescribed species of Inoceramus. Between Red 
Creek and St. Charles there are other exhibitions of the cretaceous 
rocks, but especially of the quartzose sandstones of No. 1, which, at the 
foot of the mountains, are cut through by the numerous little branches 
in a most picturesque manner. The little streams run through vertical 
walls eighty to one hundred feet high, forming most interesting canons, 
and revealing all the peculiarities of structure of this sandstone. Some 
of it is coarse and ‘friable, other portions are compact silicious rocks; 
others, a pebbly conglomerate. All the illustrations of irregular layers 
of deposition, ripple or wave markings peculiar to sandstones, are found 
here; also, admirable examples of slickensides. The jointage, which is 
very marked, is vertical, at right angles to the lines of stratification, and 
most essentially assists atmospheric agencies in wearing it away, so that 
the sides of the walls are often very rugged, and immense cubical blocks 
have fallen down by the water’s side. 

The different formations all along the flanks of the mountains are 
exposed by the upheaval of the mountains, and lie in belts or zones, 
which are sometimes concealed for a distance by recent tertiary deposits 
or by debris; or they are narrow or wide at different points, and their 
conditions are only to be determined by personal inspection. 

At the head of St. Charles Creek all the rocks incline gradually down 
- from the mountain side. No.1 dips thirty degrees and slopes gently 
down until it reaches a nearly horizontal position in the plain. West 
of this first high ridge is a fine valley in which are beautiful, cultivated 
farms. The red beds are well shown, and I have no doubt but that the 
carboniferous limestones are exposed on the sides of the mountains. 

Just before reaching Greenhorn Creek all the small ridges and the 
first high one run ont in the plain, and the mountains flex around 
toward the southwest to form the notch for the Sangre de Christo Pass. 
The ridges of elevation and the side ranges, like Wet Mountain, have a 
general trend about northwest and southeast, and all the lower ridges 
run out in the prairie, and Wet Mountain ceases at the pass. 

On the north side of Greenhorn Creek, near Hicklin’s Ranche, No. 2, 
is a rusty arenaceous limestone, full of shark’s teeth, mingled with a 
small species of Ostrea. The arenaceous limestone is attached to a gray, 
fine-grained sandstone, and is rather concretionary in form. Just on 
the opposite side of the creek, and apparently holding a higher position, 
are the quartzose rocks of No.1. Around the south end of the Wet 
Mountain, the cretaceous beds, Nos. 2 and 3, in the form of dark clay, 
and yellow, chalky shales, present bench-like hills, extending down at 


152 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


right angles to the strike of the range or eastward, and present an east 
front with nearly horizontal strata. 

All the ridges along the flanks of Wet Mountain have a general strike 
of northwest and southeast, and run out in the plain. Wet Mountain 
also flexes around slightly so as to end nearly or quite in a south trend, 
while the ridges appear again on the southwest and west side, running 
up into Huerfano Park. Here we see on the west side of the Wet Mount- - 
ain range, the red beds and cretaceous formations, corresponding to 
those on the east side. The park is largely occupied with the calcareous 
shales of No. 3. 

Just before reaching Badito, in the Sangre de Christo Pass, there is a 
long ridge, extending down westward from the Wet Mountains, which is 
composed mostly of the red and white sandstones of the triassic, inclin- 
ing twenty-five to thirty degrees. At Badito we find mostly a reddish- 
gray quartzose sandstone like No.1, and it forms the foot-hills of the 
mountains. As usual the dip of the bed is in various directions and at 
different angles. The Huerfano Creek is a fine stream with a moderately 
wide valley which is all cultivated by Mexicans. Huerfano Park is 
about fifteen miles long and from three to five wide, and is already filled 
with settlers. It is surrounded on all sides by mountains composed of 
igneous and metamorphic rocks. Black Butte, the principal peak of Wet 
Mountain range, appears perfectly round or mammi-form and is basaltic. 
Scattered over the area of the park are several outbursts of basalt. The 
cretaceous beds dip south in some places ten to twenty-five degrees; in 
others they are nearly horizontal. As we ascend the pass by the road 
we can see three considerable ranges called the Veta Mountains—one 
range on the north side and two on the south side—ali igneous rocks. 
They all have sharp sierra-like summits. 

These dikes have so heated the sedimentary rocks in their vicinity 
that we have here every variety and grade between unchanged and 
changed rocks. The summits and sides of these mountains are covered 
with a continuous mass of debris of broken rocks, and this mass has the 
appearance of being just ready to fall down, like an immense land-slide. 
On the sides of the mountains near the pass are belts of quartzose sand- 
stone, some of it a pudding-stone—really forming a portion of those seen 
on the west side, for I do not think we come to the axis here until we 
find the granitic belt, some eight or ten miles west of the immediate 
summit of the pass. We therefore have the cretaceous rocks, limestones, 
and sandstones, and then the reddish sandstones at the summit, and 
then farther west. the full series of carboniferous limestones. From the 
divide between the Greenhorn and Cuchara creeks, looking southward, 
is one of the most extended and beautiful views on our route. The long 
level benches extend down from the mountains, apparently breaking off 
from point to point, and appearing high at the place broken. ‘These 
benches are planed off so as to look like long tables, and, with the valleys 
between them, seem to me to show clearly the direction of the eroding 
force. All these benches are underlaid by the soft sandy marls of Nos. 
2 and 3, cretaceous. 

Huerfano Butte rises up in the midst of the plain in the valley of 
Huerfano Creek. The rocks are basaltic, some portions a true syenite. 
It is evident that it is a portion of a dike which has extended north- 
east from the mountains. Much of the rock is massive igneous granite. 
Fragments of cretaceous clays, changed by heat, are scattered around the 
butte. It seems to me that this is a dike, thrust up before the super- 
incumbent beds were swept away, and that the igneous material never 
reached the surface in a melted state. The butte is about two hundred 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 153 


feet high, the rocks being of a dark steel-gray color. There is no evi- 
dence that the underlying strata have been disturbed by this butte. 

The evidences of igneous protrusions are everywhere abundant, south 
of this point, for two hundred miles. The Spanish Peaks I regard as a 
gigantic dike, with the strike about northeast and southwest. The entire 
surface of the country, from the Spanish Peaks to the Raton Mountains, 
is penetrated with dikes, which often reach far across the country with 
a trend about northeast and southwest. The cretaceous rocks are in 
many places much changed by contact with the fluid mass, and in some 
cases the strata are somewhat disturbed. ‘The clays are turned into 
slates and the sandstones into dark steel-colored rocks, much like the 
basalt itself. In No. 2 I found a species of Inoceramus, very distinct, and 
a Modiola. 

About ten miles before reaching the Apishpa Creek the tertiary sand- 
stones begin to show their abrupt bluffs on our right. Jam convinced 
that beds of this age entirely surround the Spanish Peaks and the 
mountains in the vicinity. This abrupt front continues north of the 
Raton Meuntains until we come to Trinidad, and presents a singular feature 
in the scenery. It would seem to form a sort of a shore line of a won- 
derful basin, as if a body of water had swept along and washed against 
these high bluffs, as along some large river. That these beds once ex- 
tended far out into the plains eastward, seems clear, and the evidences 
of erosive action are enormous. Here, abrupt blufis which form these 
different shore lines are four hundred to six hundred feet high above the 
creeks, and the dip of the strata is about five degrees west or southwest. 
In the plains to the eastward are isolated mesas, » which are left as monu- 
ments to show that these beds, with the igneous outpourings, once extended 
over a large part or all of the space to “the eastward, which now looks sa 
finely leveled off like a meadow. ‘This wall-like front extends sixty or 
eighty miles in a nearly direct line southward, capped with a thick bed 
of basalt, for the most part. 

Just east of the Spanish Peaks a distinct synelinal can be seen in the 
tertiary beds. They dip slightly from the peaks, and from the blufts 
they dip gently toward the peaks, enough to produce a distinct depres- 
sion of considerable length. I do not know why the tertiary strata 
incline toward the mountains, unless they have been partially elevated 
by the dikes. 

As far to the southward as the eye can reach, the country looks rugged 
and mountainous, with some curious mesa- like summits covered thickly 
with the pion. These tertiary beds are composed as usual of alternate 
beds of rather yielding sandstones of all textures and composition, with 
clays, some of which are carbonaceous. The harder beds project out 
from the sides of the hills, while the softer beds are smoothed off and 
covered with grass or other vegetation. 

Near a stage station, about ten miles south of Apishpa Creek, me creta- 
ceous clays, No. 2, are cut through by a small creek, so as to reveal three 
dikes within the space of thirty feet. The first is well defined; four inches 
wide, vertical, looking like a stratum of dark brown sandstone standing 
perpendicular; strike twenty degrees north of east. Second dike, s strike 
northeast and southwest; four “feet wide. Third dike, northeast and 
southwest, from twelve to eighteen inches wide. The clays are not dis- 
_turbed, and are perfectly horizontal, but so changed on each side of the 
like that the cleavage has the appearance of str -atification. I am con- 
vineed that in the ease of these small dikes the melted material has been 
thrust up through the cleavage openings. There are very many dikes 
in this region, all of which have a similar direction. I suspect that in 


154 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


all cases of dikes these cleavage openings are lines of least resistance, and 
form the apertures for the exit of melted material, and that the sur- 
rounding strata are not disturbed only where the pressure from beneath 
is too great. I would simply suggest, however, that it is quite probable 
that as there are in nearly all rocks two sets of cleavage lines crossing 
each other at certain angles, so there are two sets of gigantic cleavage 
lines for the earth’s surface, which have formed the lines of least resistance 
to the elevation of the mountain ranges—the basaltic ranges in most — 
instances having a strike northeast and southwest, while the metamor- 
phie ranges trend northwest and southeast. The eruption of the igneous 
rocks is an event subsequent to the elevation of the metamorphic ranges. 
Sometimes the eruptive rocks seem to trend northwest and southeast, or 
nearly so. 

On the hills surrounding Trinidad are great quantities of impressions 
of deciduous leaves in the rocks. The most conspicuous, as well as 
abundant, fossil, is a species of fan palm, undoubtedly Sabal campbellii, 
which occurs in the lignite beds on the Upper Missouri. This plant 
would seem to have formed the dominant tree in ancient times, much like 
the palmetto of South Carolina. In some places the calcareous sand- 
stones are filled with this plant for miles. There are also, in considerable 
abundance, leaves of the Magnolia, Platanus, Laurus, &c., and, so far as I 
can determine, identical with the species found on the Upper Missouri. I 
do not doubt for a moment that all the coal beds of the Raton Mountains 
are tertiary and belong to the great coal system which has already been 
traced over such a wide area. In a little dry creek I observed an out- 
crop of coal, about two feet thick, with drab clay above, filled with brown 
iron ore, and above this a gray laminated sandstone. In this sandstone 
a huge specimen of the Sabai was found. 

About four or five miles up the Purgatory River, above Trinidad, on 
the south side of the creek, | examined two openings that have been 
made for coal. It is the same bed in both places, and is about four or five 
feet thick at the outcrop. Underneath it, isa sort of indurated sandstone 
with very irregular lamine, with thin layers of vegetable matter. 
Immediately beneath the coal is four to six feet of drab arenaceous clay, 
with large concretionary masses of iron ore of excellent quality; above 
the coal is drab clay passing up into sandstone. These openings for 
coal are about fifteen feet above the bed of the creek, and the strata are 
nearly horizontal. The clay above the coal at the other opening, not 
far away, is, perhaps, eight feet thick, and full of iron ore, with leaves 
like willow and nuts and small filiform leaves like grass. The clay is 
a drab steel color passing gradually up into a very rugged sandstone with 
projecting hard layers, which give a wall-like appearance to the bluff-like 
sides. Fram the Spanish Peaks to Trinidad, and along the Purgatory 
Creek for four miles above, the black shales of the cretaceous are visi- 
ble. Usually in this region these drab shales pass into a series of 
alternate clays and sandstones in thin layers, and upon them rests a 
conspicous bed of rusty yellow sandstone, which I have regarded as the 
lowest bed of the tertiary series. A bed of sandstone precisely similar to 
this, and holding the same geological position, occurs at Cation City and 
the Laramie Plains. But at these localities the intermediate cretaceous 
beds, Nos. 3, 4, and 5, are not absent, while in the Raton Mountains the 
sandstone seems to rest directly upon the lower cretaceous formation, 
No. 2. I have searched this sandstone over an area of many miles for 
fossils, and I only succeeded in finding one obscure fragment of a marine 
bivalve like the clam, while in the mud beds and shales below, speci- 
mens of Inoceramus are common. I make this sandstone, therefore, the 


GEOLOGICAL SURVHY ur THE TERRITORIES, 155 


line of separation between the tertiary and cretaceous formations in this 
region. If this is true—and I am confident that it is—there is an entire 
want of continuity in the sequence of the beds. 

In a dry gulch, about two miles west of Trinidad, there is a bluff with 
about thirty feet of black cretaceous shales, No. 2, with an irregular. 
surface, on which is deposited ten to fifteen feet of partially worn pebbles, 
held together by a carbonate or silicate of lime. Much of it looks like 
tufa. In this place there is quite a deposit of what appears to be the 

-excrement of birds or bats, but which has been oftentimes mistaken for 
the indications of petroleum. This deposit of pudding-stone seems to 
be quite common, and is well shown in the banks of all the dry creeks. 

Raton Peak is the highest point in this region, and I have estimated 
it to be about eight hundred to a thousand feet above Purgatory Creek. 
It is capped with a huge mass of basalt, and underneath it is a great 
thickness of the tertiary strata, some layers of which are full of impres- 
sions of leaves. I distinctly recognized Sabal, Platanus, Carya, Oornus, 
and Populus. Inthe muddy sandstones, just underneath the coal bed, is 
an abundance of a species of pine cone in the form of casts. 

Crossing the road, about four miles west of Trinidad, is a beautiful 
illustration of a dike, about twelve to fourteen inches wide, with a strike 
twenty degrees south of east, and a slight inclination southward. It is 
thrust up through aconsiderable thickness of the lower tertiary beds. The 
rock seems to be very heavy, though full of cavities, filled with a whitish 
substance which cuts easily with aknife—ealecite or carbonate of lime. The 
hills north of Fischer’s Peak, through a bed of coal. A little further the 
mass of the rocks hasa rather bright, black color. This dikeruns along the 
road and passes over another dike, which is more obscure and not as well 
defined. On the east side of the road are several outcroppings of coal 
in the sides of the hills. The coal is about four feet thick, with arena- 
ceous clay above, passing up into sandstone. 

About five miles south of Trinidad, on the east side of the road, is 
another exposure of the coal in the banks of a little creek, which is 
worthy of notice. from the water's edge up there are layers of fine- 
grained sandstone filled with bits of vegetable matter. Above this comes 
a bed of black shale, four feet, passing up into a gray sandstone, rather 
concretionary and irregular in its line of deposition. This bed is fifteen 
‘or twenty feet, sometimes solid sandstone. Then in a little distance it 
will be separated by a bed of shale or black slate. Above the sandstone 
is Shale with iron ore; then about two feet of mud sandstone; then very 
black clay, nodular in some places—the middle portion impure, earthy 
coal—five feet; then two feet laminated bluish gray sandstone, with stems 
and bits of vegetable matter scattered through it; then black coaly shale, 
—eighteen inches ; passing up into a layer of good coal—twelve inches; 
black shale—four feet; then a layer of sandstone—three inches; then black 
shale passing up into arenaceous clays; then black shale—six feet; then 
abed of coal—six or seven feet. Immediately above the coal bed, without 
any clay, is an irregular gray, rusty sandstone, full of concretionary 
layers, and readily yielding to atmospheric influences. Then comes drab 
arenaceous clay—three feet; good coal—four feet; drab arenaceous clay, 
with very large concretionary masses of brown iron ore. This clay bed. 
must be fifteen or twenty feet thick, passing up into a soft yellow sand- 
stone, fifteen or twenty feet thick, and capping the first hill. Then 
alternations of sandstone and clays continue far up the distant hills for 
hundreds of feet, until we reach the mesa or basaltic cap. Here some 
coal beds show plainly along the road for six or eight miles above Trin- 
idad, and still higher up on the hills, now concealed by vegetation, I 


156 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


have no doubt that there are beds of coal. The mesa, of which Raton 
and Fischer’s Peaks form parts, is undoubtedly the overflow of a dike, 
which seemed to take a general direction northeast and southwest, and 
toward the northeast appears to incline about ten degrees. 

In ascending the Raton Mountains by the road the cretaceous beds 
soon disappear ; the tertiary come in with coal and soon disappear in 
turn. The dip ofthese beds I found difficult to determine, and, I think, 
when there is any, it is local, and that in the aggregate they may be re- 
garded as nearly horizontal. Just before reaching the toll- gate, near Mr. 
Wooten’s, the sandstone inclines northward about fifteen degrees. Near 
the toll- cate, by the side of the road, a bed of impure coal, two feet thick, 
has been exposed. Ina ravine further south there is an opening from 
which coal is taken for fuel, the bed being four feet thick and of excellent 
quality. This bed has some impure coal above and below, and when 
opened I think that it will prove to be from six to eight feet thick, good 
coal. The grass and debris so cover these hills that it is impossible to 
get a connected section of the beds, but the usual clays and sandstones 
occur above the coal. 

Toward the southern end of the pass there are some perpendicular walls 
of sandstone which show a vertical cleavage, strike southeast and north- 
west. In this sandstone are two or three small seams of coal, two to four 
inches thick, which break the lines of cleavage and interrupt them. This 
sandstone is from one hundred to one hundr ed and fifty feet thick, and 
immediately beneath it is an irregular bed of the alternate thin layers 
of the mud sandstone and clay, which I have called a bed of passage 
between the cretaceous and tertiary of this region. I call it a sort of 
mud shale, as the sediments seem to indicate a continuous mud flat, 
with the surface of the sandstones and shales covered with all sorts of 
mud markings. AS we emerge from the Raton Mountains southward to 
the plains we find a large thickness of this mud shale with the sandstones 
above. There seems to be three hundred to four hundred feet of sand- 
stone, with a cap of basalt. At the foot of the hills there is a dike with 
a strike northeast and southwest, with a width of about six feet. This 
dike is shown on the west side of the road in the form of a pile of hori- 
zontal columns, like cordwood, fifty feet high or more. Some of the 
columns are five-sided, but mostly four-sided. 

All along our right hand the high hills are precisely as they were from 
Spanish Peaks to Trinidad. These bluff-hills continue like an irregular 
wallas far as Maxwell’s. Theyare cut up by side streams into cones and 
ridges, giving a wonderful picturesqueness to the scenery. This range 
of hills presents the same kind of shore-line as is seen north of the 
Raton Hills, with the lower cretaceous shales and the sandstone in juxta- 
position. On the east side of the road, broken portions of these ridges 
extend down southward or southeast. ’ Scatter ed over this broad plain 
are buttes and mesas—isolated exhibitions of the basaltic rocks. The 
tertiary beds soon cease in the plains to the eastward, and the cretaceous 
beds occupy the country. That all this beautiful valley or plain on the 
east side of the Raton Hills has. been carved out of the tertiary strata 
appears to me most probable. Why the eroding agency left such a belt 
of hills as the Raton it is difficult for me to determine, but I am dis- 
posed to believe that it acted from the northwest toward the southeast, 
and was local. The direction of all the benches of cretaceous material 
left in the valley, as well as that of the mesa tops, has this general trend, 
and the map will show the numerous branches which flow from the moun- 
tains into the Canadian River through these tertiary hills. I have called 
the bluff-hills on the west side of the road a shore line, because they pre- 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. Roe 


sent almost vertical sides like the bluffs along the Missouri River. These 
hills show first lower cretaceous shales, from one hundred to one hundred 
and fifty feet thick, then fifty to one hundred feet of sandstone, the coal 
beds overlaid with sandstones again. When any of the little streams cut 
these beds, they reveal the coal, as in the Vermejo Creek and others, 
ascending toward their sources. 

Near the Vermejo Creek I obtained the following general section 

ascending: 
Ist. Cretaceous shales, with Inoceramus and Ostrea. 

2d. Massive heavy bedded sandstone, yellowish gray, rather concre- 
tionary inits structure, and weathering by exfoliation. 

3d. Three thin seams of coal, with clay above and below, in all twenty 
feet in thickness. 

Ath. Rusty gray sandstones, fifteen feet. 

5th. Clay, passing up into a thick bed of coal, apparently from six to 
ten feet thick. 

6th. The coalis overlaid immediately by a soft sandstone, which passes 
up into a heavy bedded sandstone, fifty to eighty feet thick. 

7th. One hundred and fifty feet of arenaceous clays, two beds of coal 
about midway, one twelve inches the other four feet thick, with a few 
thin beds of sandstone. . 

8th. Capping the hills is a bed of sandstone of indefinite thickness. 

In the sandstone are immense rounded masses of a deep, dull reddish, 
rather fine-grained sandstone, which is evidently concretionary. Many 
ot these masses have fallen down on the sides of the hill, and are now 

disintegrating by the process of exfoliation. From these high hills one 

can look with a field-glass fifty to one hundred miles into the plains 
southeast, along the valley of the Canadian River. A long, mesa-like 
ridge extends down from the mountains and finally dies out in the 
plains. I am confident that the conical hills on the north side of the- 
Vermejo are six hundred feet above the bed of the creek. 

Iam now satisfied that these tertiary strata extend close up to the 
mountains from the Spanish Peaks to Maxwell’s, and the only way L 
ean account for the very slight disturbances of the sedimentary beds is 
the fact that the mountains to the west of them are mostly basaltic. 
The miners in the Moreno Valley regard it as very strange that gold 
mines and coal beds should be found in the immediate vicinity of each 
other. From the fact that these hills or mountains are composed 
almost entirely of horizontal strata of comparatively recent date, I 
think they should be called simply hills. They occupy quite an 
extensive area, and contain a vast quantity of coal and iron 
ore, practically inexhaustible, however great the demand in future 
years. The brown iron ore of this vicinity is the richest I have 
ever seen in the West, and the coal is equal to any ever discovered 
west of the Missouri river, except that in the Placiere Mountains of New 
Mexico. Between the Cimarron and Rayada Creeks, a lofty ridge, one 
thousand feet or more in height, extends from the mountains with a 
trend a little south of east, the dip northabout forty-five degrees. North | 
from this ridge, which is composed of altered sandstones, the tertiary 
beds dip gently about five to ten degrees. Between these and the al- | 
tered sandstone ridge is a cretaceous ridge, five hundred feet high, in- 
clining at a moderate angle. This ridge of altered sandstone seems to 
be a sort of side elevation or spur, prolonged eastward from the main 
range, and soon ceases. 

From Maxwell’s to Fort Union the plain country is occupied by creta- 
ceous rocks, mostly the dark shales of No. 2, though the sand- 


158 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


stones of No. 1 appear now and then, especially in the vicinity of 
Fort Union. Scattered all over this broad space are a vast number of 
conical buttes and mesas, so that the surface would seem to be pierced 
everywhere by dikes or outbursts of basaltic rocks. Since leaving the 
Arkansas River southward, the cretaceous formations seem to have in- 
creased greatly in importance, and here No. 2 seems te be enor- 
mously developed. After leaving the Cimarron southward, a peculiar — 
configuration of the surface commences, which has been gradually un- 
folding ever since we lett the Spanish Peaks. From this point to the 
Cimarron there was a commingling of features, those that result from 
the outpouring of the igneous rocks, and those from the weathering of 
the tertiary strata. South of the Cimarron, the vallies are more narrow 
and more sharply defined, asare the cones and mesas, and the only form- 
ations involved, so far as the plains are concerned, are the igneous 
rocks and the lower cretaceous. The grass is excellent in the vallies,. 
and the hills are covered with pinon. No good timber is found any- 
where, so that the adobe method of building houses adopted by the Mex. 
icans would seem to have arisen from the natural deficiencies of the 
country. The mingling of the eroded material of the igneous rocks 
with the cretaceous clays, sands, and marls, seems to have produced a 
good soil. The vallies appear to have been carved out of the basaltic me- 
sas, Sometimes with wonderful regularity and beauty. There are sey- 
eral sets or series of mesas, as it were. The higher mesas are covered 
with a great thickness of basalt with vertical sides, the basalt breaking 
into columnar masses. The lower mesas seem to be more level or table- 
like, and are covered thickly with fragments of basalt. It is quite possi- 
‘ble that these different mesas represent different levels of the surface, 
prior to the outpouring of thefluid material. Between Sweetwater Creek 
and Ocaté, I found near the road some yellow sandstones, filled with 
fragments of Ostrea, which I think belong to the upper part of No. 2. 

Near Ocaté, the peculiar carving out of the valleys by erosion is seen, 
presenting to the eye the most beautiful views that can be conceived 
of in the natural world. They seem to have been formed by the hand 
of art. No other condition of the surface could have admitted of their 
existence. The fluid material seems to have been poured out over the 
surface in one continuous and almost uniform sheet or layer, and these 
valleys are thus carved out of the mesas. The little streams cut narrow 
channels through these basaltic plains, sometimes very deep and often 
for miles without a bush to mark the water course, so that they are not 
observed by the traveler until he is in close proximity to them. 

From Ocaté Creek to Fort Union, the surface is covered with volcanic 
rocks, many of whichare so porous as to seem like pumice. These masses 
are so light that they must have been scattered by the wind. There are 
great numbers of hills and ridges scattered in every direction, covered 
thickly with these igneous fragments. 


CHAPTER IV. 
FROM FORT UNION TO MORA. 


Through the kindness of Dr. Peters, United States Army, the surgeon 
of Fort Union, I made a short journey to Mora Valley, about eighteen 
miles west of Fort Union, and I am also indebted very much to him for 
his knowledge of this country. 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 159 


About due west of the fort is a long ridge which runs nearly north 
and south, and is underlaid by the quartzose sandstones of No.1. This 
ridge is cut through in every direction by dry creeks, which show that 
the strata are quite horizontal. ‘The plateau or mesa-like summit is 
about five miles across, when we descend into a park-like area eroded 
out of the brick-red beds in the Cayoté Valley. The rocks of the plateau 
are here seen to incline east from five to ten degrees, just revealing the 
upper portion of the brick-red beds. This valley is about three miles 
wide and perhaps five to ten miles inlength, and atthe south end the creek 
cuts through the cretaceous plateau, forming a narrow gorge. On the 
west side we have the red upheaved ridge well shown, and all through 
the valley are fragments of low ridges inclining at moderate angles. 
Between the little branches of the creek and all around the borders of 
the valley ‘are well defined terraces. ‘This valley or park is beautifully 
grassed over, and the benches or terraces are aS smoothly rounded oft 
as they.well can be. The surface is covered with water-worn bowlders 
and drift. Onthe westside of this valley the road passes through the gorge 
of the Mcra Creek, and for nearly ten miles we travel across theupturned 
edges of the sedimentary rocks. There seem to be here two well defined 
' series of red sandstones; the upper series we have described as under- 
lying the park-like valley of the Cayoté Creek, about three miles wide, 
and separated by lofty ridges of yellowish, gray sandstone on the east 
side; and then, west of the gorge, a second series of rather dull 
purplish or dull brick-red sandstones, all inclining in the same direction 
but at different angles. The low ridges of the upper series of red beds 
incline west fifteen, twenty, and thirty degrees. The highest ridge is 
composed of the yellowish gray sandstone that separates the two series 
of red beds, and is about one hundred and fifty feet high, and inclines 
thirty-three degrees. 

Passing up the valley of the Mora the sandstones are of all colors and 
textures, some of the ridges very fine, compact; others coarse-grained, 
and yielding readily to atmospheric influences; others composed of an 
aggregate of particles of quartz and small water-worn pebbles. Among 
the pebbly sandstones there is a thin layer, perhaps a foot thick, of an 
ashen-gray brittle limestone. This second or lower series of reddish 
sandstones extends nearly two miles, dipping fifty to sixty degrees; in 
a few cases nearly vertical. The intervals between these ridges, which 
are usually from ten to one hundred yards wide, are grassed over and 
sometimes reveal the fact that they are underlaid by soft shale. Neither 
in the first or second series of red beds was I able to detect any organic 
remains. 

Within about three miles of Mora Valley we come to a series of alter- 
nate ridges of sandstones, limestones, and shales, inclining forty to fifty 
degrees. The first bed of limestone is full of fossil shells, Productus, 
several species, Spirifera subtilita, 8. triplicata, &c. Then comes a bed 
of micaceous sandstone, full of vegetable impressions of the genus 
Calamites, and large fruits or nuts. These beds incline sixty-five degrees. 
After this comes a coarse reddish sandstone, an aggregate of particles 
of quartz and worn pebbles, most of it a fine pudding-stone. Then comes 
about three hundred feet of reddish sandstone, then cherty limestone, 
with Productus, Spirifera, and other species of true carboniferous types. 
Alternate beds of sandstone, limestone, and shale continue nearly to the 
Mora Valley—the beds of sandstone forming about nine-tenths of the 
thickness. From Fort Union to Mora, eighteen miles, we pass directly 
west, at right angles, to the mountain ranges, and over the upturned edges 
of the sedimentary beds from the lower cretaceous to the metamorphic 


160 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


rocks. The sedimentary rocks all incline in the same direction, at various 
angles, from five to seven degrees. .I cannot see that in this vast series of 
ridges, any beds have been repeated, and, therefore, there must be exposed 
here in a curiously consecutive manner from eight thousand to ten thou- 
sand feet, at least, of sedimentary rocks. The junction of the unchanged 
rocks with the gneissic beds is rather obscure, but a bed of limestone 
seems to incline against them. From my observations from Las Vegas 
to Santa Fé, I am satisfied that all along the mountains the carboniferous 
limestones rest directly on the granitic rocks. The valley of the Mora, 
in which the town of that name is situated, is one of the most fertile 
and beautiful that I have ever seen in the West. It is almost entirely 
surrounded by mountain ranges, and in the aggregate it forms a high 
quaquaversal—that is, the rocks seem to incline from all directious 
toward a common central point. It is about ten miles long from east 
to west, and two miles wide from north to south. It is in the form of a 
cross. At the east side is a long valley extending five miles. or more 
in each direction north and south from it. Hither one of these valleys, 
taken separately, would form a synclinal. The whole valley is in part 
worn out of the gneissic rocks. Mora Creek runs directly through it 
and every acre of it is under cultivation, and with the rude Mexican 
style of farming, produces most abundant crops. 

All around this valley the slopes of the mountains show clearly that 
the metamorphic rocks incline from it at very high angles; and all 
around the borders are foot-hills or low ridges, the remnants that are 
left after erosion, which show distinctly the direction of the dip. But 
the series of gneissic beds on the east side of the valley are very interest- 
ing, consisting of alternate beds of black banded gneiss, and a coarse 
ageregate of feldspar and quartz. Some of the beds are composed of 
mottled gneiss. These beds all incline to the west or northwest, at various ° 
angles from twenty degrees to thirty degrees. This series of gneissic 
strata extends nearly half a mile, and is plainly a remnant left after 
erosion. They incline in an opposite direction to the unchanged rocks— 
that is, there isno conformity. Thisis one of the most interesting points 
on our route in a geological point of view, and I regretted very much 
that I could not remain a longer time. 

About northeast from Fort Union there is a small range of mountains 
of some interest, called Turkey Hills. They seem to form a regular up- 
heaval with a lineof fracture nearly northwest and southeast, and appar- 
ently independent ofthe volcanic forces that have once operated all around 
it. This mountain is well covered with timber, and the highest points rise 
fifteen hundred to two thousand feet above the level of the plain at Fort 
Union. Entering the mountains nearl7 north of the fort, we pass up a sort 
of anticlinal valley ; the beds inclining in each direction at a small angle. 
None but the lower cretaceous sandstones and a portion of the upper 
series of red-beds are exposed anywhere in this range, which is about 
twenty-five miles long and ten miles wide. Among the red-beds are two 
or three layers of bluish limestone, and underneath the cretaceous is a 
bed of fine-grained whitish sandstone, which I am inclined to regard as 
jurassic. From the summits of these mountains we can see the Spanish 
Peaks, Raton Mountains, and, indeed, the whole country round about 
for a radius of one hundred to one hundred and fifty miles. About nine 
miles east of Fort Union there is an old voleanic crater of great interest. 
This is the nearest approach to recent volcanic indications that I have 
ever seen, or known on the east side of the mountains. The rim of 
the erater is circular and well defined, though the depression is very 
shallow. Yet, as we ascended the high volcanic mountain, we found the 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE. TERRITORIES. 161 


sides covered with masses of rough basalt, so much so as to render travel- 
ng difficult and very laborious. But inside of this crater there is 
scarcely a rock to be seen, and the slightly concave surface is thickly 
grassed over. Theimmediate sides of this mountain all around are covered 
with longitudinal ridges of the rock which was evidently poured out of 
the crater and ran down the sides. The circular crater is about fifty 
yards in diameter, and is now filled up with earth. This rounded moun- 
tain must have been built up by the continued overflow of melted reck, 
and at this time its summit is at least twelve hundred to fifteen hundred 
feet above Fort Union. In the vicinity are what seemed to be rifts, 
which have now formed valleys or gulches, and on each side of which 
are thick borders or walls of the basalt. 

About fifteen miles north of Fort Union there is another of these cra- 
ters which has attracted attention. The depression is about two hun- 
dred and fifty feet deep and five hundred yards in diameter, and the rim 
is broken away on the north side. The borders of the crater are elevated 
about twelve hundred feet above the fort. This vast mountain mass 
must be the accumulation of the outpoured melted rocks. All over the 
sides are immense ridges or banks, as it were, of the melted rock which 
has flowed out of the crater. The summit is covered with lava, some of it 
black and some of it of a red color, but very porous and light, like pumice, 
so that the wind has distributed great quantities for a long distance over 
the plains below. This melted material has been poured out over the ere- 
taceous beds, often concealing them overlargeareas. I am convinced that 
at one perioda very large portion of this country was covered with these era- 
ters, but noneof them seem now to be so well defined as those described. 

About four miles north of the fort is a mesa capped with basalt, which 
is underlaid by eretaceous rocks. Sometimes the basalt is worn away 
over large areas, uncovering the rocks below. The mesa is about three 
hundred feet above the fort. The valley in which Fort Union is located. 
is a very beautiful one, and is plainly carved out of the cretaceous. 
plateau. On the west side the abrupt walls can be seen for miles, but on 
the east the ascent up to the foot of the tertiary mountains is gradual, 
though here and there the cretaceous rocks crop out. 

Before closing this chapter I wish to offer my most cordial thanks to 
the officers of Fort Union, for courtesies and aid which enabled me to 
perform the work of a month ina few days. Under the intelligent 
guidance of Captain W. R. Shoemaker, I spent two most profitable days 
examining the country in the vicinity of Fort Union, and with Dr. D. C. 
Peters, United States Army, visited the beautiful Mora Valley. The 
entire party were the recipients of favors at this post, which showed 
more clearly than J can express it in words the deep interest which the 
officers of the army everywhere take in the development of the material 
interests of that portion of the West where they are stationed. Wecould 
also measure the amount of life in the citizens of any town we visited, by 
the interest they took in our efforts to study the resources of the country. 
Mr. C. W. Kitchen, especially, and the citizens of Las Vegas generally, 
extended every attention to us in their power, and I am convinced that 
at no distant day this must be the most pleasant and prosperous town in 
New Mexico. 


11 a 


162 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


CHAPTER V 
FROM FORT UNION TO SANTA FE. 


We left the hospitable post of Fort Union with regret and pur- 
sued our way southward towards Las Vegas. The first eight miles we 
passed over quartzose sandstones of No. 1, and then appeared above. 
them a hard bluish limestone, which belongs to No.2. The sandstones 
o .No. 1 gradually disappear, and the limestones take their place. 
Several species of Moceramus oecur, and Mrs. General Grier has in her 
possession an Ammonites that came from this region, which is tubereu- 
lated like A. percarinatus. All the way to Las Vegas we have a fine view 
of the country along the base of the mountains. The exposures of the 
sedimentary rocks are wonderful in their extent along the eastern base of 
the mountains, from Fort Union to the point below Santa Fé, where the 
range passes out and is lost in the plains. The belt of upheaved ridges 
is from four to eight miles wide. All around Las Vegas, in the plains, 
the blue limestones, passing up into an enormous thickness of the black 
shales of No. 2, is everywhere seen. The little streams cut deep chan- 
nels through it. : 

The finest section of the sedimentary rocks of this region, that I have 
ever seen, may be found between Las Vegas and the Hot Springs, on 
Gallinas Creek. The beds from the metamorphic to the cretaceous, 
inclusive, are so regularly and clearly exposed along this creek that it is 
not possible to mistake their continuity, and I would call the attention 
of all travelers visiting this country, who have any interest in the 
geology, to it. . 

The Hot Springs, which have already become so celebrated for their 
supposed eurative qualities in certain diseases, are located about five 
miles northwest of Las Vegas, just at the junction of the carboniferous 
and the gneissic rocks. The lowest spring issues from the granite just 
underneath a mass of limestone. The bed of limestone that rests directly 
on the granites is quite hard and cherty, with a dip nearly southeast 40° 
to 45°. The metamorphic rocks below are rotten gneiss. From this point 
outward towards the plains I made the following section, passing over 
the upturned edges as they were exposed with wonderful clearness and 
consecutiveness to the eye: 

1. Hard grayish cherty limestone, resting, directly on the gneiss. 

2. Micaceous sandstone full of iron, partly a very micaceous rotten 
shale. 

3. Yellow limestone with less chert, excellent for lime, containing 
Productus, two or three species, Spirifera subtilita. Between the beds of 
limestone, that vary from four to twenty feet thick, are two beds of 
rusty clay, each four to six feet thick, the whole dipping 50°. 

4. Black shale with thin layers of a sort of arenaceous mud, from 
one-quarter of an inch to four inches in thickness. 

5. Limestones with Productus, Spirifera, corals and crinoidal stems, pass- 
ing up into avery cherty limestone, one hundred and fifty feet thick ; 
dip 60° to 75°. Among the layers of limestone are thin seams of shale. 

6. Grayish brown arenaceous limestone passing up into a somewhat 
micaceous sandstone—30 feet. 

7. Variegated greenish, reddish, ashen, and yellowish shaly clays— 
20 feet. 

8. Variegated sands and sandstones of all degrees of fineness. The 
prevailing color red, varying from bright brick-red to purple, with some 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 168 


whitish, yellowish, &¢.; dip 45° to 55°; thickness two hundred and 
thirty-five feet. 

9. Rather fine grained grayish sandstone. This bed has passed a 
vertical position so that the dip is southwest 75°; thickness fifty feet. 

10. Variegated sands, light brick-red, dull purple, reddish brown 
and light gray. ‘The dull purplish sands, ten feet thick, are amygdaloidal, 
fall of almond-shaped nodules and eavities. 

10. Alternate beds of light yellowish, grayish sandstones, and arena- 
ceous shales, very much variegated. Ist. Sandstones, fifty feet; 2d. 
Variegated arenaceous shaley clays, sixty feet; 5d. A curious wall of 
sandstone which forms a conspicuous point by turning the current of 
the creek at a right angle and running across, in a nearly vertical posi- 
tion, but having the natural dip northeast; dip 85°. This curious wall 
will always be noticed by travelers. It passes up gradually into the 
variegated sandy shales or laminated sandstones that form No. 12. 

12. Among these laminated sandstones is a sort of silicious mud 
layer that is filled with the casts of a species of Mytilus, which leads me 
to suspect them to be jurassic. There isalsoa layer filled with fragments 
of fossils—a saurian tooth, &c. The beds continue with a reddish tinge 
varying from a greenish brown fo a dull purplish tint, with every degree 
of texture. Some of the layers of laminated sandstone are a light ashen 
gray, Some of nodular and pebbly sandstone, also with a tendency to 
lamination—300 feet. 

13. A rather massive gray sandstone, some portions amygdaloidal 
or nodular, some fine grained and some slightly calcareous. Some of it 
is good for building purposes, flagging stones, &e. Two layers of ashen 
gray clay—first six feet, second three feet. 

14. Very dull purplish clays, with some harder layers of sandstone, 
thin, of an ashen gray—30 feet. 

15. Like bed 13, only more laminated, portions massive and fine; 
some layers a rusty yellow, with impressions of woody stems and trunks, 
not jointed but ribbed (!); passing into a dull purplish red massive 
sandstone, with a very irregular lamine of deposition, some of it pebbly 
and nodular—200 feet to 300 feet. 

16. Reddish laminated shale, with some greenish or ashen spots, 
some nodules, but slightly variegated with seams of fibrous gypsum fol- 
lowing cleavage—300 feet. 

17. Yellowish gray, rather fine grained, massive sandstone; por- 
tions of it with a reddish tinge; cleavage joints shown weil—100 feet. 

18. Reddish brown shales slightly gypsiferous—25 feet. 

19. Massive sandstone, like 17; dip 75° to 80°—100 feet. 

20. Very dull purplish drab, somewhat nodular, arenaceous clays with 
some hard layers of sandstone, mostly dark brown, and very variable 
in texture. This bed belongs to the lower cretaceous, or is a bed of pas- 
sage—200 to 300 feet. 

21. The sandstone “hog-back,” regarded as lower cretaceous No. 1. 
A very conspicuous formation in this region. A portion of No.1 stands 
quite vertical, while other portions incline from 60° to 80°. It isin part 
a coarse sandstone and fine aggregation of pebbles, passing up into a 
fine grained whitish sandstone, two hundred feet thick, passing to a series 
of alternate thin layers of dark laminated clay and mud sandstones, 
with all sorts of markings, indicative of shallow water, mud flats, Wwe. 
ae dip of some of the layers passes a venice at the top. 

. Then come the dark clays of No. 2, slightly arenaceous at first, 
aie up into black shales, then into the blue marly limestone with an 
abundance of Inoceramus. Some of the layers of blue limestone have 


164 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


passed. a vertical position, 30° to 40°. No line of demarcation can be 
found between; he divisions of the cretaceous. They all pass into each 
other imperceptibly. 

The cretaceous beds are wellshown, No.2 continuing up into blue marly 
limestone, which may be regarded as No. 3; this passing up into the dark 
shales of No. 4, which gradually passes up into a rusty yellow clay with 
numerous caleareous concretions with Os ‘trea, Baculites, &c. This bed 
contains calcareous sandstones filled with a small Turritella and bi- 
valves. The eretaceous rocks of this region are best divided into upper 
and lowercretaceous. These beds become suddenlyhorizontal in the plains, 
but the conformity is complete. The conformity of the entire series of 
the sedimentary beds is more perfect than I have seen it at any other 
locality in the West. Here, for the first time, I notice the two sets of red 
beds mentioned by Dr. Newberry, in his report of the Colorado River. 
They are. well defined. The cretaceous beds are well marked. In the 
section, from beds 11 to 19 inclusive, I am inclined to regard as jurassic; 
the second series of reddish beds, as triassic; then some reddish per- 
mian(?) sandstones, passing down into the carboniferous. 

Above the springs there is an extensive series of gneissoid rocks, in- 
clining northwest. The changed and unchanged beds do not conform. 
These eneissic rocks vary much in texture and color. The dominant 
constituents are reddish feldspar and quartz, but there are thick beds of 
the banded gneiss. For about two miles up the Gallinas Creek, above 
the springs, these rocks rise up in grand mountain masses, nearly ver- 
tical, and then for ten miles or more we find the limestones, sandstones, 
and shales of the carboniferous, resting in a nearly horizontal position 
over the vertical edges of the gneiss. About four miles above the springs 
I found two distinct species of lepidodendron in sandstone, one of them 
twelve feet long. They leave a cast in the sandstone perfectly round. 
Still further up the ereek we see the limestone resting directly on the 
gneiss for half a mile. Usually these beds are so covered by debris 
that theyare obscured. As we pass up the creek the carboniferous beds 
come down to the water’s edge. Three beds of limestone, from ten to 
thirty feet thick, are exposed on the sides of the hill. 

About eight miles above the springs the valley expands out, and the 
gneissic and basaltic rocks form the ‘lower mountain ridges. At the 
head of the valley there is avery striking basaltic mountain, with nearly 
perpendicular sides, which forms a land- “mark in this region. 

The hot springs are most beautifully located in the valley of Gallinas 
Creek, just as it emerges from the mountains on the south side. The 
springs are twenty or thirty in number, and some of them are quite 
large. They vary in temperature from 80° ¢ 0 140°. The spring from 
which the water is taken for the bath is a hot, at least 140°. The 
supply is very abundant, enough to meet the demand for all time to come. 
There is no dene about the spring, and the water is as clear as crystal. 
Tt was analyzed by Mr. Frazer, and found to contain carbonate of soda, 
carbonate or potash, and chloride of sodium, the potash in excess. 

It will be seen at once upon what its medicinal qualities depend. 
Every day in the week all the: springs are occupied by women, in washing 
clothes. The water makes most excellent suds, and the ease with which 
the dirt is extracted from the clothes renders these springs great favor- 
ites. There is every facility for the proprietors to establish | a place of 
reo for invalids and pleasure-seekers, when there shall be a sufiicient 
demand. 

West of the town of Vegas there is an almost vertical wall of creta- 
ceous sandstone, running nearly north and south. Passing south along 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE, TERRITORIES. 165 


the east side of this wall about five miles below Vegas, we enter the 
hills through a gorge in this sandstone, called the Puerto cito del Padre. 
West of this we can see the complete series of the sedimentary beds in 
the form of upheaved ridges, rising like steps to the main mountain 
range. Our course to Santa Fé was nearly south, through a very rugged 
country; the formations thrown up into lofty ridges. In a few miles 
we came out into open valleys quite broad, and nearly all the beds are 
older than the cretaceous, and nearly horizontal in their position, and the 
valleys have been carved out of the jurassic and triassie beds; the 
very Singular castellated hills on the left looking much like mesas, eap- 
ped with sandstone, probably cretaceous in part, showing the red beds 
beneath. Sometimes the entire series of red beds are clearly shown, and 
even the carboniferous limestones are well exposed, but the Gallinas 
section is so complete that I need not repeat it here. On the San José 
Creek and the Rio Pecos are some fine exposures of the triassic rocks, 
showing their peculiar features and their variable texture. The prevail- 
ing color of the upper series of variegated beds is brick red, and that of 
the lower, or supposed triassic, is dull purplish. Close to the village of 
San José the beds are all nearly horizontal. The high hills around 
retain their mesa-like form. Nearly all the wex to Apache Caiion, on 
the crossing of the mountain, the road runs along a valley with a lofty 
ridge or “‘hog-back” on one (the east) side, which forms a sort of outer 
wall and a conspicuous feature. The upper series of red beds are well 
shown, and a portion of the second series, but the bed of sandstone 
which caps the ridge, I am inclined to regard as a part of the jurassic 
group. At any rate I have not been accustomed to include these yel- 
lowish-gray, fine-grained sandstones among the cretaceous beds. The 
ridge of sandstone which forms the outer wall at Vegas must still con- 
tinue outside of this ridge. 

In the lower red series are beds of gypsum. I saw gypsum at a num- 
ber of localities on our route. At Vegas, it is used for building purposes. 

IT was informed that a coal mine had been found near Tecalote, and 
that the coal had been used for blacksmithing, but I saw no rocks that 
could possibly contain coal, on my route, and think that it was a mis- 
take. A copper mine has been wrought with some success near San 
Miguel in the triassic beds. I did not examineit. Near Pecos Creek, ail 
the rocks seem to be in contact, from the light-colored sandstones, that cap 
the mesa, to the carboniferous. All the beds dip a little from the main 
range, and this inclination increases aS we approach the mountains. 
The width of the belt of upheaved sedimentary rocks, from Vegas to the 
southern point of the mountains north of Gallisteo Creek, must average 
twenty to thirty miles, and the opportunities for studying them, in their 
order of sequence, is excellent. 

At Payaritos Springs station, there is a splendid exhibition of the 
different groups of strata, as we have seen them since leaving Vegas. 
The light-gray sandstones and first and second series of variegated beds 
are all shown in their order for six hundred to eight hundred feet. 

About six miles north of the old Pecos church, there is a bed of com- 
pact reddish limestone, full of fossils, which I am inclined to regard as 
permian, containing fossils Myalina, Mytilus, Pleurophorus, and crinoidal 
szems. This limestone belongs to the lowest portion of the second series 
of red beds. I would just remark here, that I am inclined to the belief 
that in the mesa, which looks so conspicuous on our left, on the road to 
Santa I*é, we have the first series of variegated beds, or jurassic, including 
the fine-grained sandstones that cap them; and the second series, triassic; 


166 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


and that the remaining sedimentary beds are composed of carboniferous 
and possibly some permian exists in this region. 

The carboniferous fossils are unmistakable, and I think I have collected 
some permian-like forms, and I suspect that my collections will furnish 
the evidence of the age of the upper series of red beds as jurassic. 
The dip of all these beds is slight, not more than five to eight degrees. 
From the old Pecos church to the Apache Cailon, we pass over the beds 
of the lower red series, mostiy consisting of sandstones and fine pudding- - 
stones. But in Apache Calon, we have a good exhibition of the fine- 
grained, light-colored sandstones, which have capped the mesas on our 
left for thirty miles or more. So far as I could determine, this sandstone 
does not belong to the lower cretaceous, but the true cretaceous ridge is 
still further east. The inclination of the strata in Apache Cajion is 
sometimes twenty-five degrees southward. — 

As we commence the ascent of the mountains towards Santa Fé, the 
surface is covered with a remarkable conglomerate, a paste of sand and 
clay holding fast unworn masses of reddish granite. J think that this 
is a modern formation, and underneath it we find the dull purplish- 
brown sandstones. JI did not notice the carboniferous limestones on 
the east side of the range, but do not doubt that they exist high up on 
the mountain sides. From the summits of the mountains we can 1 look far 
southward. All the ridges of upheaval continue southward along the 
flanks of the mountains, and soon run out in the plain, and the moun- 
tains slope down to the prairie about twenty miles south of Santa Fé. 

About thirteen miles befere reaching Santa Fé, we come to the gneis- 
soid rocks, and they continue nearly to that place. They seem to dip 
with the sedimentary rocks on each side, only at a higher angle. This 
inountain forms a regular anticlinal. On the flanks of the mountains, 
(west side,) there is quite a thick deposit of yellow and light flesh-colored 
marls and sands extending westward toward the head of the Rio Grande, 
and beyond. The mountains themselves seem to be quite peculiar, in 
being composed of an aggregate of cone-like peaks of very variable 
heights. ‘hey seem to be entirely composed of gneissoid rocks. 


CHAPTER VI. 
FROM SANTA FE TO PLACIERE MOUNTAINS AND RETURN 


From Santa Fé to the banks of the Gallisteo Creek, eighteen miles, 
We pass over the recent marls and sands which seem to occupy the 
‘greater portion of the valley of the Rio Grande, above and below Santa 
Fé, which I have called Santa Fé marls. These are mostly of a light 
cream-color, sometimes rusty yellow, and sometimes yellowish white, 
with layers of sandstones, varying in texture from a-very fine aggregate 
of quartz t to a moderately coarse pudding. stone. These maris and sands 
weather into unique forms north of Santa IWé, like the “ bad lands” or 
““ Mauvais Terres ” of Dakota. As we descend the hill into the valley of 
the Gallisteo Creek, we have a wonderful exhibition of the variegated 

sands and sandstones, which at first appear like the upper series of red 
beds on the east side of the mountains, but which I at once suspected 
were new to me in this region. Descending the Gallisteo, to the west or 
lower end of the Cerillos, we find the fuil series of the cretaceous beds, 
with Ostrea congesta, O. larva, Ineceramus—several species, and fragments 
of fish remains. Hxtending east and west along the south side of the 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES 167 


Cerillos is a high wall-like dike, and dipping southward from this, from 
the Placiere Mountain, is a great thickness of the cretaceous shales No. 
2, passing up into laminated arenaceous shales, with fossils, then the 
dark shales of No. 4, apparently. The cretaceous beds incline thirty 
degrees to fifty degrees. Inclining at a less angle, a series of coal strata 
reveal their upturned edges, conforming perfectly to the cretaceous beds. 
Passing up the Gallisteo, eastward, we observed the variegated sands 
and sandstones, rising above the coal strata, and concealing them on the’ 
northeast and east flanks of the Placiere Mountain, inclining at all angles 
from five degrees to fifty degrees. These sandstones are of varied text- 
ure, from a fine aggregate of quartz particles to a rather coarse pudding- 
stone. In some of the beds there are irregular layers, of a dull, rusty 
brown, concretionary arenaceous limestone, in which I searched in vain 
for fossils. One of the most peculiar features of these beds, and one 
which I have never seen in any group before, is the great variety of 
colors, from a light reddish tint to a deep brick red, sometimes dull pur- 
plish light, and very deep yellow, white, brown, drab, &c. The only 
fossils I could find were enormous silicified trunks of trees. One of them 
was so perfect that it looked much like a recent one, with a cavity run- 
ning through it ten inches in diameter. I have named these beds the 
Gallisteo sand group, as they are confined, so far as I know at 
present, to the valley of the Gallisteo, although they pass under the 
Santa Fé marls, and the northern limit is concealed from view. Near 
the road is a small dike, apparently thrust up between beds of sand- 
stone, and inclining with them. Hast of the Cerillos, up the Gallisteo, 
among the upper beds of that group, are several larger dikes, and the 
basaltic rocks are poured over the recent tertiary beds. One of the 
dikes ean be seen a long distance, looking like a ridge of upheaval, ex- 
tending a little north of east, far across the plain towards the south end 
of the Santa Fé Mountains. The Cerillos are merely a dike, or a series 
of dikes, forming a small independent range of mountains composed 
entirely of eruptive rocks. On the south and west side, the cretaceous 
beds flank them closely, while on the east and northeast side the Santa 
Fé maris jut up against them. Occasionally, on the east side. a little 
stream will cut through the marls, revealing the sandstones of the Gal- 
listeo group. 

The outcroppings of coal on the northwest side of the Placiere Moun- 
tains are of great interest. They were first exposed in the center of the 
little branches that ran into the Gallisteo. The first one is about five 
miles south of the Gallisteo. The coal is in the natural condition. The 
following section of the strata was taken ascending: ' 

1. Laminated clay, with thin seams of sand passing up into carbona- 
ceous clay, as a floor for cecal. 

2. Coal very compact. The cleavage lines are, in a ew instances, 
filled with clay—5 to 6 feet. 

3. Drab clay, indurated, 15 to 20 feet. 

4, Ferruginous sandstone, passing up into a light grayish sand- 
stone—30 to 50 feet. 

The lower part of this bed is full of deciduous leaves. The debris is 
so great that the real character of the beds is somewhat obscured. The 
impressions of leaves, appear to belong to the genera Magnolia, Pla- 
tanus, Salix, and others, some of which appear to be identical with 
those found at the Raton Mountains. Imperfect specimens or a palm 
were found. The mine is opened on each side of the dry creek, and tne 
dip is the same—about ten degrees. As in all the rocks of the country, 
there are ia the coal two sets of cleavage lines, at right angles to the 


168 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES 


stratification. In the valley of another branch of the Gallisteo, there is 
a dike two feet wide with the strike a little east of south. The clays on 
each side are metamorphosed into slates. 

At ancther locality there is a bed of coal, which has been changed by 
an enormous dike into anthracite. Section 1st, clay-slate; 2d, two and a 
half to three feet anthracite ; 3d, fourteen to eighteen inches of clay ; 4th, 
fourteen inches to two feet of anthracite; 5th, clay shale, passing up into. 
alternate layers of sandstone and clay, ten feet; 6th, dark sandstone. 
The dip of all the beds is fourteen degrees east. They are overlaid by 
a thick bed of columnar basalt. The dike that covers the coal bed 
trends about north and south, or a little east of south. 

The influences of the Cerillos on the north side of the Gallisteo, and the 
Placiere Mountains on the south, has produced a beautiful synelinal, 
while the Cerillos form a sort of imperfect quaquaversal. The beds 
dip from two sides of this small range at least, and the indications in 
the channels of the little streams are, that the sandstones of the Gallisteo 
eroup dip from a third side, but are now mostly concealed. We have, 
therefore, in the valley of the Rio Grande, if my investigations are -cor- 
rect, three groups of tertiary beds of different ages. 1st. The coal strata, 
with abundant impressions of deciduous leaves, lying above well-marked 
cretaceous beds. 2d. The Gallisteo sand group, which plainly overlies 
the coal strata, but inclines equally with and conforms tothem. 3d. The 
Santa Fé marls, which are of much later date than either of the other 
two, and rest unconformably upon the Gallisteo group, and never incline 
more than five or ten degrees. 

Although the coal beds lie high up on the sides of the Placiere Mount- 
ains, I am inclined to the belief that some portions of the cretaceous 
strata, and possibly even older rocks, are revealed on the sides of the 
gneissic nucleus. This mountain seems to be penetrated with dikes, 
which have given a dark somber hue to all the rocks. 

The mountain itself is very rich in minerals, as gold and iron ore. 
The Ortiz mine is the most celebrated, although a number of lodes have 
been opened. Colonel Anderson, formerly of “the United States Army, 
is superintendent of the mining interests of this reg gion, and he has 
already ereeted a forty-stamp mill, the most substantial one I have seen 
in the West. The Ortiz lode is a very irregular one. It expands some- 
times twelve feet or more, and then nearly closes up. It has yielded 
very rich ore at times; mingled with this ore are fluorspar, calespar, 
erystallized quartz, blue and green carbonates of copper, a little native 
copper, and the sulphurets of iron and copper—the latter predominates 
in the ore. 

The Brehm lode has a strike about northeast and southwest, and by it 
I suspect the dip of the gneissic rocks, on the north side of the mount- 
ains, to be about northwest. The width of the lode is about three feet, 
the inclination of the vein southeast forty-five degrees. 

The Placiere Mountain seems to be rich in gold, but the want of water 
may prevent the mines from being wrought with great profit. The sur- 
face of the country is literally covered with placer diggings, where the 
drift gold has been taken out by the Mexicans in old times by melting 
snow. Magnetic iron ore seems to be abundant, and in the clays con- 
nected with the coal beds there is the largest supply of excellent brown 
iron ore, so that the time is not far distant when iron works of great 
value may be erected in this region. 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE. TERRITORIES. 169 


CHAPTER VII. 
FROM SANTA FE TO TAOS. 


On the western flank of the Santa Fé Mountains, near Santa Fé, I 
found the foot-hills, which are exposed by the wearing away of the marls, 
to be composed of carboniferous beds. These beds of limestone rest 
directly on the granite, and are associated with gray and reddish shales 
and some beds of sandstone, the whole dipping west at an angle of 
thirty-five toforty-fivedegrees. The limestones were charged with fossils, 
as many and as well preserved as I have seen them at any locality east 
or west. In many places these beds of limestone are carried high up 
on the granite hills; sometimes dipping toward the mountains as if a 
portion of an anticlinal. The metamorphic rocks are gneissoid at first 
on the flanks, but gradually become massive granites toward the main 
axis of the range. In a small creek, which leads down from the mount- 
ains, I saw immense masses of granite breccia, mostly angular fragments 
of gneiss or red feldspar, with some rounded masses cemented with a 
granite paste. The limestones about Santa Fé are converted into excel- 
lent lime. The foundations of the jail and court-house are made of it. 
The fossils are very numerous, both in individuals and species. Dr. 
Newberry has given a list of them. I found several species of Pro- 
ductus, Sprifera subtilita, and many others. These limestones do not 
seem to extend far along the sides of the mountains. Irom Santa Fé to 
Embudo Creek, and mostly even to Taos, the Santa Fé marls cover the 
country. On the east side of the Rio Grande I did not observe a single 
dike, from the Cerillos to the mouth of the Chama Creek. North of that 
the melted material has been poured over the marl so as to form broad 
mesas. On the west side there are numerous outbursts of igneous mat- 
ter. These Santa I’é maris reach a great thickness north of Santa Fé, 
in the Kio Grande Valley, from one thousand two hundred to one thou- 
sand five hundred feet, and have a tendency to weather into similar mon 
umental and castellated forms, as in the “Bad Lands.” The upper por- 
tions are yellow and cream colored sandstones, sands, and marls. Lower 
down are some gray coarse sand beds with layers of sandstone. All these 
mars dip from the range westward three to five degrees. The Rio Grande 
wears its way through these marls with a bottom about two miles wide. 
On the west side are distinct terraces with the summits planed off smoothly 
like mesas. The first one is eighty feet above the river; the second one, 
two hundred feet. These marls extend all the way between the margins 
of the Santa Fé Mountains on the east side and the Jemez Range on 
the west. Most of the Chama Hills, and I think the entire hills, are 
composed of it. At the junction of the Chama Creek with the Rio 
Grande, a point comes down between the two rivers which is covered 
with basalt. This continues into the San Luis Valley nearly to Fort 
Garland. Near the mountains the hills are covered extensively with drift, 
and sometimes they are composed largely of boulders and marl or 
sand. The country is full of the dry beds of creeks or arroyas, as 
they are called. All these carve their valleys out of these marl beds. 
As we go northward near the mountains, the rounded boulders become 
more and more numerous, but near the Rio Grande, where they have 
all disappeared, the source of this great thickness of sediment is apparent. 

The Ojo Sarca Creek rises in the Sante Fé Mountains and flows into 
the Rio Grande, forming a valley which is remarkable for its rnggedness. 
The marl beds are nearly horizontal and the harder layers of sand pro- 
ject out of the sides of the bluff hills like steps for four hundred to six 


170 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


hundred feet in height. I know of no finer exhibition of these marls in 
their thickness, or their architectural style of weathering. On the 
north side of the creek, the granites project up through the marls. 

The mountains near the source of the Rio Trampas are very lofty, 
with some high peaks which are rounded with dome-like tops, one of 
which iscalled “Old Baldy” from its baresummit. Where the foot-hills are 
denuded of the drift or the marl, the red granites are exposed. Along the 
base of the mountains, especially in the valley of the Peiasco there is a 
great thickness of very coarse conglomerate resting upon the granite 
horizontally. It undoubtedly is of the same age as the marl beds. In 
the valley of the Pefiasco there is a vast quantity of worn boulders, seat- 
tered everywhere, similar to the valley of Boulder Creek in Colorado. 
These worn rocks are of large size next to the mountain, but diminish 
the further they recede to the westward. 

The valley of the Rio Grande is already settled by Mexicans wherever 
there is an available spot. Nearly all the land that can be irrigated is 
cultivated by them, and good crops are raised even with their rude style 
of cultivation. 


CHAPTER VIIL 
FROM TAOS TO FORT GARLAND. 


The valley in which Taos is situated may be said to be formed by a 
notch or bend in the mountain range. On the southwest is the Pickaris 
Range, with a strike nearly northeast and southwest. The next range 
east of this trends about north and south, and branching off from this, 
north of the Taos Valley, are the Pueblo Mountains, Dos Mountains, and 
the Rio Colorado Mountains, all with a strike nearly northwest and 
southeast. The course of the Rio Grande is nearly south, and on each 
side of Taos the small ranges of mountains run out near the river. The 
notch or bow in this group of mountain ranges affords a fine illustration 
of the method of flexure in the mountain ranges. 

The Taos Valley is about eighteen miles in extent, from east to west, 
and about sixteen miles from north to south. It is thickly settled by 
Mexicans, and every available spot of ground is taken up. 

The valley proper is scooped out of the Santa Fé marls, which must 
at one time have prevailed extensively, as in the country north of Santa 
Fé, but the surface has been smoothed off, so that nowhere are the marls 
conspicuous; still they can be seen all along the base of the mountains 
bordering the valley where portions of the recent deposits lie high on 
the mountain side. No sedimentary rocks of older date are seen, and 
the Santa Fé marls rest directly on the metamorphic rocks. 

It is plain that the regular metamorphic rocks prevail in these mountain 
ranges, but mingling with them in various localites are igneous out- 
bursts, which have somewhat tinged the gneissoid rocks. A little south 
of Taos River we find beds of beautiful porphyritic breccia, which is 
very compact, and is employed for building purposes. Westward, 
toward the Rio Grande, it is probable that the broad level plain is 
underlaid with a sheet of basalt, for the Rio Grande itself runs through 
a very deep caion of this material for sixty-five miles, from La Joya to 
the crossing of the road to Conijos in the San Luis Park. In all this 
distance there is but one crossing for teams, and three others for persons 
on ioot, and there the passage is made with great difficulty. Far dis- 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. ~ WL 


tant, to the west of the Rio Grande, are numerous isolated mountains 
showing the igneous protrusions. 

Taos Valley, therefore, forms a sort of half circle, and the mountains 
which surround it, of which there appear to be ten or twelve distinct 
ranges, are expansions of the main range. It is near this expansion 
that the Moreno mines are situated, which have already proved unusu- 
aliy rich, and will probably continue to yield large returns of gold for 
many years to come. 

- On the sides of the mountains immediately opposite the Morena Val- 
ley, north of Taos, are located the mines of the Arroyo Hondo Mining and 
Ditching Company, of which Mr. Lucian Stewart, of Taos, is the superin- 
tendent. Mr. Stewart has already erected a twenty-stamp mill on the 
San Antonio Creek, and the supply of wateris so great that if the mines 
turn out to be rich in gold, the enterprise will prove a complete success. 

About twenty lodes have been prospected with more or less encour- 
agement, and some of them look well. In, most instances the country 
rock has a greenish ashen tinge, doubtless due to the influence of heat 
from the igneous rocks. The lodes are not very well defined; one lode 
has a strike a little west of north. It contains carbonate ef copper, sul- 
phurets of copperandiron. It was first prospected for silver, but turned 
out to be richer in gold. The cleavage walls are lined with sulphate of 
lime. The ganguerock is mostly feldspar and quartz highly ferruginous. 

The main lode of the company is situated about half way up tlie south 
side of the mountain. Dip of vein, thirty-five degrees, strike nearly 
east and. west, inclining about south. The country rock is mostly 
quartz, quite hard, while the seam, which is pretty well defined, is rotten 
quartz. It is eight to twelve inches wide, and is called the ‘ pay streak,” 
although the neighboring rock pays well. There may be avery wide crev- 
ice here of which the walls have not been discovered. The cleavage lines 
are well shown, and are of two kinds, one set dipping south thirty-five 
degrees parallel with the ore streak, and the other inclining north twenty 
degrees. The principal lines of cleavage contain the rich ore. The 
dip of the country rock is plainiy south or southeast at a very high 
angle. A tunnel has been excavated into the side of the mountain five 
feet in diameter, and one hundred and eighty feet deep, two hundred 
feet below discovery point. 

All along the sides.of the mountains are quite thick deposits of recent 
material, as clays, sands, and marls, and at one locality, while digging a 
ditch, Mr. Stewart discovered a thick bed of aluminous clay which con- 
tained much gold, but it was found to be so difficuit to extract it that 
the placer was abandoned. ‘The sides of the mountains everywhere are 
covered with “diggings,” where the Mexicans in former times washed 
the loose drift with water, obtained by melting the snows. 

These mountains are composed largely of gray granite, and the reddish 
feldspar is not much seen. Hach one of these ranges seems to afford a 
good example of an anticlinal axis, the sides being shown by the shape of 
their slopes, which are very seldom symmetrical, one side of the anti- 
clinal being much more prominent than the other. 

From Taos to Rio Colorado the foot-hills of the mountains are covered 
with pion, with a few larger pines which would make excellent timber. 
Indeed, Iam inclined to the opinion that the basaltic mesas are the 
natural habitats of the pinon, which is a low scrubby tree, fit only for 
fuel, while the larger species of pine and spruce are found growing on 
the metamorphic rocks. 

As we approach the Rio Colorado the outbursts of basaltic material 
increase. The Rio Grande and its branches, before they join the larger 


172 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


stream, show vast cations with nearly perpendicular sides, and the pecu- 
liar dark somber color of the rocks adds to the gloomy picturesqueness 
of the scenery. On each side of the valleys of the little streams as they 
issue from the mountains are high terraces one hundred to one hundred 
and fifty feet high, which are here more conspicuous than usual. These 
are composed of the Santa Fé marls and are not unfrequently covered 
with a thick bed of basalt. 

The broad intermediate space between the range of mountains which 
form the east side of the valley of the Rio Grande and the Sierra Madre 
—a main range of the Rocky Mountains, which gives origin to the waters 
of the Pacifie streams—is covered with rounded hills, detached ranges, 
&e., all of which are basaltic. The two rounded hills, which are very 
marked, situated nearly opposite each other on different sides of the Rio 
Grande, Cerro de las Utas and Cerro San Antonio, are, it seems to me, 
old craters or fissures, out of which issued the melted material which 
overflowed the sides, and time has weathered the whole mass into its 
present beautiful rounded form. At this time they look like gigantic 
mamme. 

IT am inclined to regard the valley of the Rio Grande as one great 
erater, including within its rim a vast number of smaller craters and 
dikes, out of which has been poured at some time a continuous sheet or 
mass of melted material.. All the valleys, small and great, give evidence 
that they have been worn outof thisvast mesa. The Rio Grande, from its 
source in the San Juan Mountains to Albuquerque, flows along its banks 
through basaltic rocks to a greater or less extent, and as we go north- 
ward trom it they disappear in part. 

By glancing at a map it will be seen at once that the valley of the Rio 
Grande belongs to the eastern side or Atlantic slope of the “ great divide,” 
and that the ranges of mountains, on the east side of the valley of the 

tio Grande, which run out into the plains near Santa Vé, are a series 
of fragments which seem to have broken off from the main rocky range 
north of the South Park, and are prolonged southward in a more or less 
broken condition for over four hundred miles. It will also be seen from 
the map that the parting line or divide fiexes over to the west, with a 
great bend above Middle and South Parks. Now between the base 
of this mountain prolongation on the east, and the Sierra Madre or 
western divide on the west, from the head of the San Luis Valley to 
Gallisteo Creek, at least, an area of over two hundred miles from north to. 
south, and one hundred to one hundred and fifty miles from east to west, is 
occupied mostly by but two classes of rocks, the basaltic and the mod- 
ern tertiary or Santa 'é marls. These recent maris are very conspicuous 
about Santa ’é and north of that point to the Pickaris Mountains, but 
north of that point they are not largely developed, though at one time 
they must have reached a great thickness, but have been removed by 
erosion. The valley of the Rio Grande, from Santa Fé to Taos, has the 
appearance of an immature region, much like that of the “ Bad Lands,” 
or the tertiary deposits of White and Niobrara rivers on the Missouri. 
But above and north of Taos the wearing and smoothing process has been 
applied so that there is a mature appearance of the country, like that of 
Eastern Nebraska or Kansas. Still all along the foot of the mountains 
below Costilla, underneath the mesa which extends from below Costilla 
to the Sierra Blanca Range, fifty miles, these marls can be seen in places. 
At Culebra, the Rio Culebra cuts through the mesa, forming a sort of 
gorge nearly half a mile in width. On the sides of the mesa these marls 
are most clearly seen underneath a heavy bed of basalt. Along the little 
branches of the Rio'Trenchara, as the Rio de las Utas and the Sangre de 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. — 1738 


Christo and on the south sideof the Sierra Blanca Range, are prominent 
terrace-like hills which are composed of yellowish-brown marls and sands. 
On the south side of the Sierra Blanca, they jut up high and close on the 
mountain slope. These marls are only remnants of large deposits which 
once existed here, and spread out uniformly all over the valley. 

That there are mines of gold and other precious metals, as well as iron 
and copper, in the mountains, along the eastern side of the San Luis 
Valley, has long been known. Specimens of copper, indicating mines 
‘of considerable richness, have been brought from the sources of the Cos- 
tilla and iron ores are Scattered all over the valley of the Riodelas Utas. In 
the foot-hills of the mountains are fragments of magnetic iron ore, much 
like that in the valley of the Chugwater Creek. Stray masses have been 
traced up the mountain sides for about five miles, where a “blow-out” or 
an immense mountain mass has been discovered. This iron occurs in the 
gneissoid rocks, or what is called the Laurentian group, to which group, 
I believe, all the gneissic and perhaps the entire mass cf metamorphic 
rocks of the Rocky Mountain system belong. I have assumed the posi- 
tion, in all my investigations, that there are but two classes of changed 
rocks in the West, viz, igneous and metamorphic, and that the oldest 
granites which form the nuclei of the loftiest mountain ranges were once 
aqueous rocks, deposited in the same manner as the limestones or sand- 
stones of our most modern formations. It is on this ground that I have 
so often used the terms “changed” and “unchanged” rocks. By igneous 
rocks, I always mean those only that I regard as having once been in a 
fluid state, and may or may not have been protruded so as to reach the 
surface. I also assume that these igneous rocks in the West may have 
been thrust up at different geological periods, or at different times during 
the same epoch. 

The gold mines near the Sangre de Christo Pass are the most import- 
ant that have been discovered in the San Luis Valley. From some 
notes kindly furnished me by Dr. McClellan, United States Army, sur- 
geon of the post at Fort Garland, the history of these mines appears to 
be as follows: 

During the gold excitement in the San Juan Mountains, west of the 
Rio Grande del Norte, in 1862, a large number of miners, or, as they 
were called in those days, ‘‘ pilgrims,” crossed the Sangre de Christo 
Pass, and camped for rest after a long journey from Idaho, Montana, and 
Northern Colorado, on Placiere Creek, one of the main tributaries of 
the Rio del Sangre de Christo. Learning from some passing Mexicans, 
that in the olden time their people were accustomed to pack dirt from 
some of the cations of the mountains to the Placiere Creek, to wash out 
the gold, they went to work and prospected the gulch of the Grayback 
Creek. The San Juan excitement was, however, so strong that they 
started to continue their journey the winter of the same year, many of 
whom returned in a starving condition, and went to work in this guleh 
with good results. 

In 1865 and 1866, Kit Carson with a party prospected this region for 
placer diggings, and took up many valuable claims. The gold taken 
out by sluicing is very valuable and of a pure yellow color, and is what 
is called ‘‘ wire and scale” gold. It usually sells for about $19 per ounce 
in gold, much more than the Morena goid or any other in this country. 
A valuable lode with a well-defined crevice has been uncovered, but 
little or no work has been done on it. In the mountains at the sources 
of the Rio Seco, on the west side of Culebra Peak, some lodes have been 
found which appear favorable. Most of the foot-hills are covered with 
beds of yellow marl inclining slightly. These foot-hills seem to be 


174 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


smoothed off and are covered with a thick deposit of debris. In the 
little valleys of the mountains the gneissic rocks are exposed, and about 
twenty lodes have been examined to some extent; the crevice matter on 
the surface is entirely rotten quartz. These lodes have in most cases 
well-defined walls, varying from three to six feet in width, and a strike 
abont northeast and southwest. Should these mines turn out to be rich 
in gold, the.ease with which they can be worked will render them very 
celebrated. 

From a point not muh Cac twenty miles north of Santa Fé, to the 
Sangre de Christo Pass, [ was unable to discover any of the older sedi- 
mentary beds on tne w estern side of the mountains. Sometimes among 
the drift boulders, which were very extensive everywhere, a few masses 
of limestone would be found which were evidently carboniferous. In 
Taes Valley slightly worn masses of limestone were found, with well- 
defined ecarboniferous fossils. This would seem to indicate that these 
rocks once existed all along the mountains, even if they cannot be found 
at this time. I have no doubt that all the sedimentary formations which 
are found on the eustern margins of the mountains once extended unin- 
terruptedly across the Rio Grande Valley, and some portions may now 
exist deep beneath the basalt and Santa I’é marls. 

Near the Rio Colorado, the lower ridges or foot-hills of the mountains 
eu the influence of the igneous rovks to a greater extent than south- 

vard, and continue to do so to the Sierra Blanca. Near the point from 
aon the Rio Colorado emerges from the mountains, the rocks are a 
bright brick-red over a small area, and I mistook them for remnants of 
the triassic. A closer examination showed me that high up on the sides 
of the mountains a great thickness of the recent marls, sands, and clays, 
have been so changed by contact with the igneous rocks, that they now 
present that peculiar brick-red and variegated appearance which is 
noticed for several miles. 

At Costilla the main range seems to bend abruptly to the eastward, 
and a portion of the lower ridges on the western sides of the mountains 
south of Costilla passes off without interruption in a long basaltic mesa, 
which extends nearly to Fort Garland. East of this mesa are the “ ve- 
gas” or meadows, which have been carved out of the mesa between it 
and the foot of the mountains and form a portion of the valleys of the 
Costilla and Culebra Rivers. North of Culebra the basaltic mesas com- 
mence again close to the base of the mountains, and continue quite 
largely developed up to the Sierra Blanca Range. These mesas are 
capped with a heavy bed of basalt, which always seems to incline eastward 
toward the mountains at least from three to five degrees, and some- 
times much more. 

On the east side, close to the Rio Grande, near the entrances of the 
Trenchera and Culebra Rivers, are a great number of ridges and coni- 
eal peaks or hills, called ‘‘ Cerillos,” all of them basaltic. On the oppo- 
site side of the Rio Grande these basaltic hills are very abundant, and 
occupy most of the country. Just north of the Trenchera this range of 
mountains seems to bend abruptly back to the westward in the form of 
the Sierra Blanca Mountains, which have a trend nearly east and west. 
There is therefore a quadrangular space inclosed on three sides by 
mountains—the Costilla on the south side, about fifteen or twenty miles ; 
the principal range on the east, about sixty miles, and the Sierra Blanea 
on the north, about fifteen or twenty miles. The main range continues 
northward, bending slightly westward, until it joins the Sierra Madre at 
the Poncho Pass. “The Sierra Blanca is the grandest and most_pictur- 
esque range in Southern Colorado. It is apparently basaltic and is, as I 
suppose, a gigantic dike. J regard the Spanish Peaks as an enormous 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. eS 


dike. In nearly all cases the strike of the axes of these dikes is nearly 
northeast and southwest, while for the most part the axes of the granitic 
ranges trend about northwest and southeast. It is my opinion also 
that the elevation of the basaltic range was an event subsequent to 
that of the granitic, for in all cases that I have ever examined the igne- 
ous rocks are poured out over the granites, and in some cases conceal- 
ing them entirely over large areas. Many of the loftiest peaks in the 
granitic ranges are basaltic. The basaltic axis never passes through 
the granitic, as is shown by the Spanish peaks on the east, and the 
Sierra Blanca on the west. Each one stops abruptly as it comes up 
against the principal granitic axis. 

As I have before observed, no unchanged sedimentary rocks of older 
date than the Santa Fé marls were noticed along the western side of 
the main range north of Taos, until we come to the Sangre de Christo 
Pass. About the sources of the Costilla or Culebra Rivers there may be 
some remnants, but none have been seen after a pretty close examina- 
tion. At the very summit of the pass is a series of reddish sandstones 
and shales nearly vertical but inclining westward. From the summit of 
the pass we descend the beautiful valley of the Sangre de Christo 
Creekina southwesterly direction. The sandstone extends forfour or five 
miles, and is of every variety of texture, from a very fine compact sili- 
cious rock to a moderately coarse pudding-stone. In some of these 
sandstones are indistinct vegetable impressions, some of which can be 
recognized as fragments of Calamites. Further down we come to a series 
of limestones and sandstones, with some calcareous sandstones, having 
thin beds or partings of shale. These alternate limestones and sand- 
stones extend for about five miles, and then comes a belt of five miles 
of gneissoid granites. Near the junction of the limestones with the 
granites there is a bed of limestone filled with fossils, Productus, several 
species, Spirifer subtilita, Rhynconella rockymontana, Spirifer lineatus, and 
numerous corals and crinoidal stems. Although it is possible that there 
are here rocks of older date than carboniferous, yet from the fact that 
all along the eastern side of the mountains the carboniferous limestones 
have been found resting upon the granites, I have inferred that there 
are no sedimentary rocks of older date in thisregion. At first the Sangre 
de Christo Creek passes through a monoclinal rift for nearly ten miles, 
then it cuts through ridges of limestone, bed after bed. The real dip of 
all these beds is northeast while the apparent dip is southwest, as if 
the granites were more modern than the limestones which are above them. 
The belt of granites is about five miles wide, and thence to Fort Garland, 
which is ten miles, are igneous rocks. Hight miles east of Fort Garland 
are some high ridges of basalt that dip east about eight degrees, and 

-have a trend north and south, and from the abrupt western face from 
four to six distinct beds of igneous rocks can be seen. The cause of 
the inclination of the basaltic beds is not clear, though it may have 
originated in the Sierra Blanca. We were much indebted for many 
favors and information to Dr. E. McClelland, surgeon, and to Colonel 
Hart, commander of Fort Garland. 


CHAPTER IX. 
FROM FORT GARLAND TO SOUTH PARK. 


The Rio Grande del Norte River rises in the Park of the Animas, flows 
east about one hundred and fifty miles to the San Luis Valley, then bends 
abruptly south through the middle of the San Luis Valley. ‘The north- 


176 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


ern portion of the valley is called the San Luis Park proper. This 
northern portion, above the bow of the Rio Grande, is about sixty miles 
in length, and has an average width of fifteen to twenty miles. About 
the center of this park isa singular depression, about ten miles wide 
and thirty miles long; it looks like one vast thicket of ‘“ grease wood,” 
Sarcobatus vermicularis, and other chenopiaceous shrubs. Inte it flow some 
twelve or fifteen good sized streams, and yet there is no known outlet, 
neither is there any large body of water visible. It seems to be one vast 
swamp or bog, with a few small lakes, one of which is said to be three 
miles in length. Although entirely discounected from any other water 
system the little streams are full of trout. 

On the south side of the Sierra Blanca the foot-hills are composed of 
the light-colored marls, and on the west side of the mountain, and near 
Mosea Pass, are the sand hills, which are composed of the loose materials 
ot this formation. 

Here alsois another conspicuous remnant of it left after erosion. On 
the west side, just below Sawatch Creek, and in the Rincon, are 
some rather high hills of this marl at the base of the mountains. The 
materials thrown out of the excavations of prairie dogs show that the 
valley is entirely underlaid with it. I am convinced therefore that this 
fresh-watér deposit occupied the whole of this valley from Poncho 
Pass to the mouth of Gallisteo Creek, and how much further southward 
I cannot tell, but there is evidence that it extends, either continuously 
or with interruptions, through New Mexico, and even further. 

From Fort Garland to the Poncho Pass no sedimentary rocks of older 
date than the marls are seen along the margins of the mountains on 
either side until we reach Kerber’s ranche, akout ten miles below the 
summit of the pass. On the west side of the valley, on the foot-hills, 
isa large thickness of carboniferous limestones, lifted high on the summits, 
and dipping east at an angle of fifty degrees. This limestone continues 
only a few miles, and is another of the remnants that are left of the sedi- 
mentary rocks among the mountains. 

Commencing at Fort Garland, the range of mountains that wall in the 
San Luis Park on the east side is grand in its proportions. From the 
Sierra Blanea nearly to the Poncho Pass it appears to be purely eruptive, 
and to be composed of a series of ranges or axes trending nearly northeast 
and southwest. At the northern end the eruptive portion ceases, and 
the lower metamorphic mountains flex around so as to trend northwest 
and southeast. On the west side, the mountains are far less iofty, but 
they seem to form a nucleus of metamorphic rocks, with a vast number of 
dikes, from which the basalt has poured over nearly the entire region. 
All the foot-hills south of the Sawatch are composed of eruptive rocks, 
but north of that point the gneissic rocks are seen. This range of moun- 
tains seems to be made up of a number of smallerranges, with a general 
trend northwest and southeast. It would seem that where a range of 
mountains is purely eruptive the minor ranges trend northeast and south- 
west, but that where there is a metamorphic nucleus the eruptive mate- 
rials follow the strike of the minor ranges. 

At the summit of the pass the hills are grass-covered and the road 
excellent, but the nucleus of the mountains on the east side is meta- 
morphie, with dikes of eruptive rocks everywhere. The little stream, the 
valley of which we descend, flows through a monoclinal rift or interval 
between the ridges of metamorphic rocks. 

About two miles from the summit this little branch is joined by the 
main fork, and the whole continues to flow through a moneclinal valley 
until it empties into the South Arkansas. The main Poneho Creek rises 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 177 


in one of the loftiest peaks in Colorado. This peak has a large depres- 
sion on the east side, which may once have formed a portion of the crater. 
At the junction of the forks commences one of the most remarkable 
examples of what appear to be igneous rocks I have ever seen in the 
West. On the east side of the creek we have the steep slopes, and on 
the west the projecting edges. We have here eight hundred to one 
thousand feet of eruptive rocks with a somber hue, but with a stratifi- 
cation as perfect as in any sedimentary rocks. It is composed of layers 
never over one to four inches in thickness, inclining south of west forty- 
five degrees. Some of the layers would make good flagging stones. 

A little further down we come to the gneissic rocks, inclining north- 
west fifty to sixty degrees. Some of the black-banded gneiss has zig- 
zag seams of feldspar and quartz running through them. 

About three miles before reaching the Arkansas there is a curious junc- 
tion of the massive red feldspathic granites, inclining northeast seventy 
degrees, with the dark-banded gneiss, inclining northwest twenty-five 
degrees. At the point of synclinal junction all is confusion; the two 
kinds of rocks are crushed together, and yet there is no break in the 
mountain. As we emerge from the pass to the South Arkansas we have 
the finest exhibition of banded gneiss I have seen in the West. The 
rocks are of various colors, red, yellow, white, and black, and the layers 
are quite thin, and their appearance is very picturesque. The general 
course of the Poncho Creek, from its source in the snow peak to the 
Arkansas, is north. 

The gneiss is very varied in its texture; some of it contains garnets; 
some of if is very close feldspathic, micaceous, or whitish quartzose. 

On the east side of Poncho Creek, about one hundred and fifty 
feet above the Arkansas, on the side of the mountain, is a hot spring 
surrounded with a large tufaceous deposit. There is also near the foot 
of the pass, on the side of the mountain, an extensive deposit of the 
yellowish marl, filled with water-worn boulders. 

Between the South and North Arkansas there are some remarkable 
terraces or benches extending the whole breadth of the valley from moun- 
tain to mountain. On the north side of the South Arkansas are three 
terraces, beside the rounded hills near the base of the mountains, which 
rise in succession like steps. . ; 

The high eruptive range which seems to cross the South Arkansas, 
and to pass up along the west side of the North Arkansas, appears to be 
composed of a series of enormous dikes in a chain merging into each 
other, and having a strike about northeast and southwest. The general 
trend of the aggregate is about north and south. 

On the west side of the Arkansas Valley the recent tertiary beds run 
up to and overlap the margins of the mountains. They are composed 
mostly of fine sands, arenaceous clays, and pudding-stones, cream-col.- 
ored arenaceous clays, and rusty yellow marls, fine sand predominating. 
These beds weather into peculiar architectural forms, somewhat like the 
‘“‘ Bad Lands” of Dakota. Indeed they are very nearly the same as the 
Santa Fé marls, and were doubtless cotemporaneous, and dip at the 
same angle, three to five degrees, a little west of north. The tops of 
the hills have all been planed down as if smoothed with aroller. I have 
called this group the Arkansas marls. They occupy the entire valley of 
the Arkansas. This valley is about forty miles in length, and on an 
average about five to ten miles in width. It might properly be called a 
park, for it is completely surrounded by mountains. On the west side 
is one of the grandest ranges of eruptive mountains on the continent. 
On the east side is also a lofty range with a metamorphic nucleus, but 


12 4 


178 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


intersected everywhere with basaltic dikes. The first and lowest range 
runs parallel with it, and is sometimes cut through by it. It seems to 
be composed of massive feldspathic granite of igneous origin. 

Near the mill, on a little branch just below the mouth of Trout Creek, 
there is a high rounded peak with a erater-formed depression at the 
summit which is grassed over, while all around the rim there is a fringe 
of pines. Iam inclined to think it is an old voleano. 

At the point where Chalk Creek emerges from the eruptive range, the 
sides of the canon present a singular white chalky appearance. This 
seems to be due to the decomposition of the eruptive rocks, which ap- 
pear to be true dolerite. 

The drift evidences in this valley are very conspicuous. All along 
the Arkansas and in the valleys of the little branches are very thick 
beds of water-worn boulders of all sizes. The last of the eroding forces 
seems to have come from the range of mountains on the west side. 

The granite on the east side of the river possesses, in a wonderful de- 
gree, the tendency to disintegrate by exfoliation. There is a kind of 
bedding which breaks the exfoliation or confines it. In these massive 
granites there are two sorts of cleavage besides the lies of bedding; one 
of these is usually vertical and has a strike northeast and southwest, 
and the other southeast and northwest, inclining twenty to forty degrees, 

On the summit of the mountains is a series of beds, one above the 
other, of what appears to be basalt, and these beds with the granites 
beneath them incline each way from Trout Creek Valley northeast and 
southwest, forming what appears to be an anticlinal. 

As we ascend Trout Creek Pass, we find granites of all textures from 
very fine compact feldspathic to a coarse aggregate of crystals. There 
are also many intrusions of trap. All the rocks seem to weather in 
the same way, by exfoliation, as if it were the desire of nature to round 
off all sharp points or corners. I think it may be said that Trout Creek 
Valley is a true anticlinal. 

Some time before reaching the top of the pass, we find on the sides of 
the valley low foot-hills of carboniferous limestone, remnants of a once 
continuous bed. As we emerge into a little park, just before reaching 
South Park, we pass through a sort of caftlon, with walls of carbon- 
iferous limestone on each side, inclining northeast at an angle of 
eighteen to twenty degrees. This limestone rests directly upon the 
massive granite, and the bedding of the granite inclines in the same di- 
rection and at the same angle. The limestones are from three hundred 
to four hundred feet in thickness. There is one bed, about thirty feet 
thick, of rusty quartzose sandstone about the middle of the limestone. 
The lower beds are very hard, bluish, and cherty; but the upper ones 
are yellow, purer, and contain imperfect fragments of fossils. 

There are here also several examples of the outbursts of basalt. assum- 
ing very marked castellated forms. 

As we pass into this small park, which is about five or six miles long 
and two wide, we have onthe north side of the road a bed of very thinly 
laminated black shale, passing up into a great thickness of laminated 
sandstones, allinclining northeast fifteen degrees, and on the summits of 
the mountains, four hundred to six hundred feet directly above, are beds 
of limestone and quartzite inclining in the same direction. The black: 
shales have been prospected for coal. Toward the upper end of this 
little park is a series of beds, some of them with a reddish tinge, 
composed of alternate thin beds of shale, sandstone, pudding-stone, and 
arenaceous limestones, which belong underneath the black shales before 
mentioned. 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. £79 


It seems to me that these beds are jurassic, or much newer than the 
carboniferous, but in the upheaval have fallen down below the earbon- 
iferous limestones, which have been lifted far up in the ridge beyond. 
As we ascend the ridge which forms the southwestern rim of the South 
Park, we meet with what appears to be the same black shales and sand- 
stones on the summit, which we saw some hundreds of feet lower in the 
small park. 

The South Park is completely surrounded with gigantic ranges of 

‘mountains, and inside of them the sedimentary rocks, when exposed, 
seem to dip toward the center of the park. Indeed, I should regard the 
South Park as one immense quaguaversal. 

Around the salt works is a group of laminated sandstones, mostly 
brown and gray, overlaid by a great thickness of light gray gypsiferous 
marl with a bed of crystallized gypsum four feet thick. The valley in 
which the salt springs are located. is covered with an efflorescence of 
what is usually called in this country “alkali.” On the east side of the 
creek which runs past the salt works is a high isolated balsatie butte. 
About a fourth of a mite east there is a hiil composed of the gypsiferous 
marls, on the surface of which are numerous deposits of calcareous tufa, 
as if a number of springs had issued from it in former times. 

These salt works are quite extensive and costly. The springs are two in 
number, but the brine is not abundant or strong. Salt has been manu- 
factured here in considerable quantities, and a large portion of Colorado 
has been supplied with it. These springs are very interesting in a geo- 
logical point of view, though their origin is somewhat obscure to me, 
yet I believe they belong to the triassie or saliferous sandstones. 

About four miles north of the salt works is a high ridge, inclining 
northwest twenty degrees, composed of a series of variegated sandstones 
and shales three hundred to four hundred feet thick. These are, with- 
out doubt, the group which I have usually called triassic, or red beds. 
Still further north we find them inclining southeast, with several thin 
beds of blue, very hard, cherty limestone, which is characteristic of the 
red beds. Near Fairplay the brick-red beds are well shown. It seems, 
therefore, certain that the principal sedimentary rocks which are found 
in the South Park are triassie. 

About ten miles south of Fairplay several thin beds of blue, close, brit- 
tle limestone appear, intercalated among the red sandstones, dipping a 
little east of south, forming a sort of synclinal; that is, the dip is nearly 
opposite that of the beds near the salt works. These limestones, with 
_ the red sandstones, may possibly be of permian age. No fossils could 

be detected in them. The sandstone is in some cases micaceous, or 
composed of mica and small crystals of quartz; in others, a fine aggregate 
of worn pebbles, a sort of fine pudding-stone. These variegated or red 
beds continue close up to the eruptive ranges for five miles. North and 
west from Fairplay we come to a high ridge of sandstone with a reddish 
tinge and slightly calcareous, the dip being north of east, or nearly east, 
and the ridge forming a marked line running nearly north or south 
through the middle of the park, from the mountains nearly to the salt 
works. Just east of this ridge is another ridge of quartzose sandstone or 
cretaceous. Then comes a very large thickness of the laminated creta- 
ceous clays, covering the country for about fifteen miles. Near McLaugh- 
lin’s, twelve miles northeast of Fairplay, the lignite tertiary sandstones 
and clays overlie the cretaceous and jut up against the mountain side. 
About a mile north of the ranch Mr. McLaughlin has opened a coal mine. 
He sunk a shaft eighteen or twenty feet through a bed six to ten feet of 
very impure coal; some portions of it can be used for fuel. The dip of the 


180 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


coal bed is forty-five degrees northeast from the base of the mountains, 
which are not more than a quarter of a mile distant. Mr. McLaughlin in- 
formed me that he had found ‘oak leaves” in the shale above the coal. 
These beds occupy the entire north end of the park, and no older rocks are 
seen between them and the eruptive foot-hills of the mountains. It seems, 
therefore, that the source of the elevating forces that upheaved these 
sedimentary formations was in the range of mountains that form the 
western rim of the park, and, so far as I could ascertain, there are no 
true ridges of upheaval on the eastern side. Exposures of eruptive 
rocks are seen everywhere all over the park. 

There are several localities where these rocks are thrust up through the 
cretaceous and tertiary beds, and in the middie and southern portions of 
the park are quite lofty isolated buttes and mountains of eruptive rocks. 

But one of the most conspicuous formations and greatest in extent 
and importance is the boulder drift. This seems to be mostly confined 
to the northern and northwestern portions of the park where the princi- 
pal placer diggings occur. In the valley of the South Platte, especially 
near Fairplay, there is a prodigious exhibition of the boulder formation. 
The rocks are well rounded by attrition, and apparently have been swept 
down from the mountains. Wherever the drift occurs, there are long 
table lands or terraces, especially in the vicinity of the little streams, and 
they seem to be planed down with such wonderful smoothness that it must 
have been done by the combined action of water and ice. 

Along the west and north sides of the park are a large number of lofty 
eruptive peaks, which seem to me old volcanic cones. One of the peaks in 
the range west of Fairplay seems to have a crater-like summit, the rim 
broken down on the east side. Ail around the inside of the remainder of 
the rim the layers of basalt appear like strata, inclining from the opening 
in every direction as if the melted material had been poured out and had 
flowed over the sides in regular strata. There are also tremendous 
furrows down the sides of others. In the mountains north of the park 
are huge depressions in these voleanic ranges, the sides of which 
are quite red, as if they had been in active operation at a comparatively 
modern period. I am, therefore, inclined to believe that the magnificent 
range of mountains on the west side of the Arkansas River, extending 
far northward, is one series of old volcanic cones. AS we leave the 
plains and ascend the mountains at the northeast side of the park, we 
pass immediately from the older tertiary beds, covered thickly with drift, 
to the metamorphic rocks mingled with outbursts of eruptive rock. To. 
ward the summit there was a great series of gneissic beds of all varieties 
and textures. All these mountains east of the park have a gneissic and 
eranitic nucleus. As we descend the valley of a small branch of the 
North Fork of the South Platte from the Kenosha House, we pass down 
a monoclinal rift. On the west side is the slope covered with a thick 
growth of pine and spruce, while on the left side are the projecting edges 
-of the massive red feldspathic granites with two sets of cleavage lines; 
the vertical with a strike northeast and southwest, and the other inclin- 
ing at an angle of thirty degrees; the strike, southeast and northwest ; 
while the bedding inclines with the hills. The bedding is so regular 
and massive that it looks like massive sandstone stratification. The 
Platte, with all its little branches, flows through these rifts or intervals 
between the ridges; one side of the stream, a plain gradual slope; the 
other, extremely abrupt, with the rugged ends of the gneissic or granitic 
rocks projecting out in a most remarkable manner. After passing 
along massive granite walls about five miles, we go through four or five 
miles of singularly banded gneiss, and then massive granite again of 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 181 


every degree of texture, from a fine, close feldspathic rock with no mica, 
to a coarse aggregate of quartz and feldspar and fine particles of mica. 
One of the interesting features of these mountains is the fact that all 
the little streams find their way through these monoclinal valleys. We 
see also the main axis of the range, composed of massive granite with a 
distinct bedding, which is sometimes inclined and sometimes horizontal 
with the banded gneiss inclining from each side. It seems quite clear 
that each one of these great ranges of mountains is a grand anticlinal 
with a massive granite axis, with the gneissic granites inclining from each 
side in the form of ridges, among which the various streams find their way. 
The trend of these ranges is in the most cases northwest and southeast, 
or nearly so. Some of the gneissic rocks in the Platte Valley look like 
laminated sandstone with a regular dip eighteen to thirty degrees. 
The tops of the highest ranges are, in some cases, covered very thickly 
with loose fragments of rocks. 

Passing down from the junction to Denver we have some of the finest 
examples of jomtage structure in the gneissic rocks that I have ever 
seen; there are two lines of fracture—one with a direction northeast and 
southwest, the other northwest and southeast, with the lines of bed- 
ding—making a fine study for the geologist. Some of the beds are thus 
broken into nearly square blocks, and others in diamond-shaped masses. 

On reaching the base of the mountains the usual ridges of sediment- 
ary rocks are passed over—red beds, jurassic, cretaceous, and tertiary. 
The tertiary beds commence within a mile of the foot of the mountains, 
soon becoming horizontal in their position, and before reaching Denver 
they are scarcely seen on account of the superficial deposit of drift and 
alluvial which covers them. 


CHAPTER X. 
SUR IUE AE) ALTE) IB) IEA) TEV IES Tee 


Our route to the Middle Park was through the Berthoud Pass, from 
the valley of Clear Creek. The range of mountains in which the pass 
is located is composed of gneissic rocks—as are all the ranges in the 
mining districts. The ascent was very steep on the south side, up to the 
region of perpetual snow; but the descent on the north side is quite 
gradual. 

Great quantities of loose materials from the oasis rocks are scattered 
thickly over the summits, of every variety of the metamorphic class. 
Most of the peaks are well rounded, and covered with soil and vegeta- 
tion. Grass and flowers grow far up above the limits of arborescent 
vegetation. As we ascend, the pines, spruces, and cedars dwindle down 
in size until they become recumbent and trail on the ground. Some of 
the highest peaks are very sharp and covered with loose rocks, as if only 
the usual atmospheric influences had ever affected them. Their sides 
are often massive escarpments of rocks down which an infinite quantity 
of fragments have fallen, making a vast amount of debris at the base. 
Of course their rocky sides are entirely free from vegetation, and the 
oxide of iron gives them a rusty reddish appearance. One mountain at 
the head of Clear Creek is called Red Mountain, from the fact that the 
rocks have a bright red color in the distance. The evidences of the out- 
pouring of igneous rocks in this mountain are very marked; indeed, it 
may be called an eruptive range. 


182 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


From the summit of Berthoud’s Pass, at a height of eleven thousand 
eight hundred and sixteen feet, we can look northward along the line of 
the main range, which gradually flexes around to the northwest, while 
the little streams seem to flow through the rifts. The general appear- 
ance of the western slope of this great range would indicate that it is a 
huge anticlinal composed of a series of ranges on each side of a common 
axis, and then smaller ranges ascend like steps to the central axis. The 
western side of this ridge slopes gently, while the eastern side projects 
over abruptly. This main range also forms a narrow dividing line, or 
‘‘ water-divide,” between the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific. I stood 
where the waters of each side were only a few feet apart, and felt a real 
joy in passing down the western slope of the mountain by the side of a 
pure crystal stream whose waters were hastening on to the great Pacific. 

Ail down the western slope is a great thickness of superficial material, 
loose sand, decomposing feldspar, with partially worn rocks of all sizes. 
This is due quite evidently to local influences, ice and water wearing 
down the sides of the mountains and depositing the material adhering 
to the masses of ice along the slopes. 

The springs of water are very numerous, and the water seems to col- 
lect in the thick grass and moss-covered earth, forming large bogs. It 
is also interesting to watch the growth of a stream from its source, re- 
ceiving in its way the waters of myriads of springs, until it becomes a 
river too formidable to ford easily. The little stream which rises in the 

pass we followed to the Park, where it is fifty yards wide, and contains 
~ an abundanee of fine trout. | 

The Middle Park is really made up of a number of smaller parks, 
which are somewhat independent of each other. Hach one may present 
ditferent geological formations. The little park on the south side, which 
we first enter, is a very beautiful one. The: grass is luxuriant, and the 
timber excellent. None of the oider sedimentary rocks were seen along 
the Hanks of the mountains, but a recent tertiary deposit seemed to 
cover the country. On the east side of Fraser Creek there is a long 
high ridge, which is cut by the stream in several places, formed of the 
white and yellow sands and marls which mark the pliocene tertiary on 
the east side of the mountain. I have no doubt that it is a formation 
of the same kind as that of the Arkansas marls, and cotemporaneous 
with it. 

Along this creek there are some massive walls of this formation, mostly - 
yellow marls, but some layers of sandstone. This ridge extends from 
the mountains far northward, and is about two miles wide; and between 
it and the immediate base of the mountains is situated a beautiful valley 
of considerable width. 

The Middle Park is apparently a quaquaversal, surrounded by the lofty 
snowy ranges; and the lower ranges descending like steps to the valley 
which constitutes the true park. The park does not appear to be more 
than from ten to twenty miles wide trom east to west, and from fifty to 
sixty long from north to south. In this park also the ranges of moun- 
tains so surround it that the slopes seem to form a sort of quaquaversal 
inclining toward a common center. 

Viewed from Middle Park, Long’s Peak, and the range immediately ° 
connected with, has a rugged, saw-like edge, as if composed of eruptive 
rocks, and ridge after ridge inclines from it in regular order. 

About ten miles north of our camp, in the first park, we come to low 
ridges of massive red feldspathic granite, and parallel with these granite 
ridges are a series of sedimentary beds, commencing with the brick-red 
beds. The strike is nearly north and south, and the dip west. These 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 183 


ridges are all so grassed over that the true nature of the underlying 
rocks is not easily determined. Then comes ridge after ridge until all 
the beds—jurassic and cretaceous—are shown. 

On this stream we have a fine system of terraces. On the north side 
are three distinct terraces above the bottom, and the lowest one has a 
bed of cretaceous sandstone, nearly horizontal, cropping out at its base. 
This is a low one, not more than fifteen feet high; the next one is fifty 
feet high, and the third, which descends from the high hills, is two hun- 
_ dred feet. <A little west of south, at the junction of Grand River with 
Fraser Creek, five high peaks are visible, which form in that direction 
a part of the main range. All around us, in every direction, we could 
see the snowy peaks, and the beds which form the ridges of upheaval 
inclining in every direction. 

To the south of the park the older sedimentary rocks dip north in 
lofty ridges, at least two thousand feet high, presenting high escarp- 
ments when split by streams, and reaching almost the highest margin 
of the mountains. 

About ten miles above the hot springs, Grand River flows through an 
enormous gorge cut through a high ridge of basalt, which seems to be 
an intrusive bed, for above and below, the sedimentary rocks are well 
shown, but partially changed. Underneath are the cretaceous shales of 
Nos. 4 and 5, and above are the lignite tertiary beds. These beds all 
dip west twenty-three degrees. 

These eruptive rocks are very rough, as if they had been poured out 
without much pressure. Much of it is a very coarse conglomerate, the 
inclosed masses appearing to be the same kind as the paste; that is, orig- 
inally, of igneous origin. Some of the inclosed rocks are very compact, 
close, and all were, more or less worn before being inclosed. ‘This rock 
is a true dolorite. I did not see any inclosed masses that I could call 
unchanged. This basalt extends a great distance, continuing a nearly 
uniform thickness, and inclining in the same direction with the cretaceous 
beds below and the tertiary beds above. 

On both sides of Grand River, but especially on the east and north- 
east sides, extending up nearly to the foot of Long’s Peak, are quite 
large exposures of the recent tertiary beds. They are nearly horizontal, 
and have much the appearance in color of the Fort Bridger beds, of 
which Church Buttes is an example. These beds are composed, for the 
most part, of fine sand and marl, but there are a few small rounded 
boulders scattered through it. Below the gorge, on the north side of 
Grand River, these outflows of basalt have formed some well-defined 
mesas; at least three beds ascending like steps from the river. Below 
the gorge the river flows through what seems to be a rift of basalt, that 
is,on the north side. The basalt lies in horizontal beds, but on the south 
side is the sloping side of a basaltic ridge. The dip is nearly northwest, 
though the trend of this basaltic ridge is by no means regular. One 
portion of it has a strike northwest and southeast, and another north 
and south. The tertiary rocks reach a great thickness, and are elevated 
high up on the top of the basaltic ridge, eight hundred to one thousand 
feetabovetheriver. They are mostly formed of fine sandstone and pud- 
ding-stone. These fine sandstones contain some well-marked impres- 
sions of deciduousleaves, among which are good specimens of Platanus 
haydeni. Onthenorth side of Grand River, in some localities, the tertiary 
beds are elevated so high, on many of the eruptive mountains, that they 
are covered with perpetual snow. These eruptive beds are certainly 
among the most remarkable examples of the overflow of igneous matter 
that I have ever seen in the West. 


184 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES 


At one locality I saw a remarkable intrusive layer between the red or 

variegated beds which are supposed to be triassic and the jurassic. It 
is a very compact, heavy syenite, and forms a ridge of upheaval, and 
dips in the same direction and a the same angle with the unchanged 
beds above and below. 
, About four miles below the first basaltic cafion on Grand River, 
apparently the same ridge comes close to the river again. On the north 
side there is a high basaltic uplift, which shows well marked lines of — 
stratification, as if the melted material had been poured out in thin reg- 
ular sheets or layers. The dip is about north. In many places the 
entire mass is made up of a coarse conglomerate, and has the peculiar - 
steel color which seems to characterize modern eruptive rocks. The dip 
of this basaltic ridge, at this point, is thirty-six degrees. On the oppo- 
site side of the river there is an isolated portion cut off from the main 
ridge, with a dip about south or southeast twenty-four degrees. 

Continuing our way west down Grand River we pass over a series of 
upturned ridges of sedimentary rocks, inclining in the same direction 
with the basaltic ridge trending parallel with it, composed of ere- 
taceous and older tertiary beds. Looking eastward from the Grand 
Cation, below the hot springs, this remarkable basaltic ridge seems to 
form a semi-circle with a general dip about north. 

Immediately below the hot springs the Grand Canon commences, 
and the river cuts its way through an upheaved ridge of massive 
feldspathic granite for three miles between walls from one thousand to 
one thousand five hundred feet high. The south side is somewhat sloping 
and covered thickly with pines, while the north side is extremely rugged, 
the immense projecting masses of granite forbidding any vegetation to 
gain a foothold. It would seem that the river had worn its way through 
a sort of rift in the granite, but at the upper end it has cut through the 
uplifted sedimentary ridges nearly at right angles. In some places the 
north side is gashed out in a wonderfully picturesque manner, so that 
isolated columns and peaks are left standing, while all the intermediate 
portions have been wornaway. This granite ridge will average perhaps 
five miles in width, and extends an unknown«distance across the park 
northeast and southwest, and it is from the southeast side that the 
ridges of upheaval above described incline. 

The granite ridge seems to form a sort of abrupt anticlinal. On the 
southeast side the rocks are all bare or covered with a superficial deposit 
of recent tertiary marls. None of the older unchanged rocks are seen 
on this side, but the modern sands and sandstones are exposed in a 
horizontal position in the channel of the river. 

The hot springs are located on the right bank of Grand River, at the 
juncture of the sedimentary rocks with the granites. Just east of the 
springs is a high hill, Mount’Bross, one thousand to one thousand two 
hundred feet above Grand River, which seems to be composed mostly of 
the older tertiary strata, alternate yellow and gray sandstones, and lamin- 
ated arenaceous Shaly clays. ‘The whole is so grassed over that it is diffi- 
cult to take a section. The beds incline east of north at a small angle. 
I regard the beds as of the age of the coal formations of the West, older 
tertiary. I found excellent impressions of deciduous leaves, among 
which are those of the genus Magnolia. Just opposite the springs, the 
left bank of the river shows a perfect section of all the layers from 
the cretaceous to the jurassic. The bank is not more than ten 
feet thick above the water, and yet it shows that the river itself rolls 
over the upturned edges of all these beds. 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF’ THE TERRITORIES. 185 


The section in descending order is as follows: 

1. Tertiary strata forming the greater part of the hill known as Mount 
Bross. 

2. Gray laminated sandstones passing down into arenaceous clays 
with Baculites ovatus, &c. 

3. Biack claysof No.4. These are of great thickness and every variety 
of texture. As shown in a cut bank of the river it is yellow arena- 
ceous clay with layers of sandstone, in which the impressions of deciduous 
leaves were observed. These layers project up, a distance along the 
bank, of seventy paces. 

4, Dark plastic clay with cone in cone, seams of impure clay, iron ore. 
Then comes an interval in which no layers could be seen, sufficient to 
include No. 3—two hundred and fifty paces. 

5. Dark steel-black laminated slate, with numerous fish scales; dip, 
twenty-seven degrees. This slate passes down into alternate layers of 
rusty sandstone and shaly clay. 

In the upper bed of sandstone and shaly clay are obseure vegetable 
impressions, leaves, stems, nuts, &c., evidently deciduous. In the upper 
bed of sandstones are two or three thin seams of carbonaceous shale, and 
the intervening layers of sandstone are almost made up of bits of vegetable 
matter. Toward the lower, it becomes a hard mud rock passing down 
into rusty yellow sandstone with all sorts of mud markings. Then comes 
a bed of bluish plastic clay with sulphur and oxide of iron ; dip, thirty- 
three degrees. Then rusty fine-grained gray sandstone passing down 
into a very close massive pudding-stone, composed of very smooth 
nicely-rounded pebbles, cemented with silica. This stone would be 
most excellent for building material and is susceptible of a very fine 
polish. A fracture passes directly through the pebbles, the paste being 
harder, if anything, than the inclosed pebbles; dip, thirty-one degrees. 
This is a very thick bed and is a portion of No. 1, cretaceous, or a sort of 
transition bed between the cretaceous and the jurassic. 

The red and variegated beds lie fairly upon the gneissic granites, and 
although they are shown very obscurely here, yet I think they must 
exist, inasmuch as they are so well revealed not more than fifteen miles 
east of this point, so that I have no doubt they are lost beneath the mass 
of superincumbent material. Ithink the light-colored clays lying under- 
neath the bed of chalky clay,are jurassic. There is a bed of fine 
gritty clay underneath the pudding-stone which would make excellent 
hones. 

In the intercalated sandstones above the pudding-stones are plants 
just like those observed in No. 1 at Sioux City, on the Missouri River, 
and the composition of the strata is the same; there is a Salix, a con- 
iferous plant, the cones of a pine, Se. 

I have given this detailed description of the cretaceous rocks to show 
the exceeding variableness of their texture, and also to call the atten- 
tion of scientific men, who may hereafter visit this interesting locality, 
which will soon become celebrated, to a section of the rock through 
which the waters of the spring must pass in reaching the surface. Now 
in whatever rocks these springs may originate, the water must pass a 
long distance through the almost vertical strata of the cretaceous period, 
in the sediments of which are found in other localities nearly all and 
perhaps all the mineral constituents found in these springs. The deposits 
around these springs are very extensive. No analysis has as yet been 
made, but large masses of gypsum and native sulphur can be taken out 
at any time from the sides of the large basin-like depression into which 


186 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


the water flows. They are properly “ Hot Sulphur Springs,” varying in 
temperature from eighty to one hundred and twelve degrees. 

About fifteen miles west of the %prings is the valley of the Troublesome 
Creek, a small branch of the Grand River, flowing from the basaltic 
mountains on the northern side of the park. 

I visited this region under the guidance of Mr. Sumner, an old resident 
of the park. The surface of the country along our road was strewn with 
eruptive rocks. We saw several localities where the basaltic rocks 
protruded, and one place in Corral Creek, about eight miles west of 
Grand River, where the little stream has cut a deep channel through 
the red granites. The older tertiary beds appear from time to time. 

Troublesome Cation, at the head of the creek bearing this name, is 
entirely basaltic, and the rugged walls not only of the main stream but 
also of the little branches, form a most picturesque view. 

Below the cation, the valley of Troublesome Creek, and also that of 
Grand River near the junction, is occupied by belts of modern tertiary 
sands and marls like those observed at the entrance to the park, by 
Berthoud’s Pass. Where the little stream cuts the terraces, horizontal 
strata of whitish and flesh-colored sands and marls are exposed. Jlooked 
in vain for fossils and found only specimens of silicified wood. There 
are cold sulphur springs in this valley. All through the park, the 
benches or terraces are conspicuous in the vicinity of streams, as at the 
base of mountain ranges. In the park through which Frazer’s Creek 
flows, these benches or terraces are most beautifully carved out from the 
modern marls. 

I regret that my visit to the Middle Park was so short that I could 
not explore the entire area with care, for few districts in the West can 
afford more material of geological interest, and an entire season could 
be spent studying its geology and geography with great profit. 

The agricultural resources of the Middle Park are as yet unknown. No 
attempt has been made to cultivate any portion of it. Grass and graz- 
ing are excellent and the soil good, and if the climate will permit, all 
kinds of garden vegetables could be raised in abundance, and some 
varieties of the cereals. Timber is abundant both for lumber and fuel. 

In summing up the geology of the Middle Park, we find that all the 
sedimentary rocks known in this country are found there. I did not see 
any beds that I could define as carboniferous, but the triassic, jurassic, 
cretaceous, and tertiary are well developed. I have no doubt as to the 
existence of true carboniferous limestones in the Middle Park. 

The tertiary deposits of this region may be divided into two groups, 
viz, the lignite or older tertiary, and the modern pliocene marls and 
sands which seem common tothe parks and mountain valleys. The for- 
-mer conform perfectly to the older beds, while the latter seldom incline 
more than three to five degrees, and do not conform to the older rocks. 
The marl group is undoubtedly contemporaneous with the Arkansas and 
Sante Fé martis. 

The geological structure of the Middle Park is more varied, compli 
cated, and instructive than that of any other of the parks. 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 187 


CHAPTER XI. 
THE GOLD AND SILVER MINES OF COLORADO. 


I will confine my remarks mostly to the geological features connected 
with these mines, inasmuch as Mr. HEACEL, in his report appended, has 
fully treated this subject. 

The gold:and silver lodes of this Terr itory, so far as they are observed, 
are entirely composed of the gneissic and granite rocks, possibly rocks of 
the age of the Laurentian series of Canada. At any rate, all the gold- 
bearing rocks about Central City are most distinctly oneissic, while those : 
containing silver at Georgetown are both gneissic and granitic. The 
mountains in which the Baker, Brown, Coin, Terrible, and some other 
rich lodes are located, is composed mostly of gneissic and reddish feld- 
Spathic granite, while the Leavenworth and McClellan Mountains, 
equally rich in silver, are composed of banded gneiss, with the lines of 
bedding or stratification very distinct. 

There is an important question that suggests itself to one attempting 
to study the mines of Colorado, and that is the cause of the wonderful 
parallelism of the lodes, the oreater portion of them taking one general 
direction or strike, northeast and southwest. We must at once “regard 
the cause as deep-seated and general, for we find that most of the veins 
or lodes are true fissures and do not diminish in richness as they are 
sunk deeper into the earth. All these lodes have more or less clearly 
defined walls, and some of them are quite remarkable for their smooth- 
ness and regularity. We assume the position that the filling up of all 
these lodes or veins with mineral matter was an event subsequent to 
any change that may have occurred in the country rock. Now, if we 
look carefully at all the azoic rocks in this region we shall find more or 
less distinctly defined, depending upon the structure of the rock itself, 
two planes of cleavage, one of them with a strike northeast and south- 
west, and the other southeast and northwest. Beside these twe sets 
of cleavage planes there are in most cases distinct lines of bedding. 
The question arises, what relation do these veins hold to these lines of 
cleavage? Is it not possible that they occupy these cleavage openings 
as lines of greatest weakness ? 

I have taken the direction of these two sets of cleavage planes many 
times with a compass, over a large area, and very seldom do they diverge 
to any great extent from these two directions, northeast and southwest 
or southeast and northwest. In some instances the northwest and south- 
east plane would flex around so as to strike north and south, and the other 
one so as to trend east and west, but this is quite seldom, and never occurs 
unless there has been some marked disturbance of the rocks. There are, 
however, a few lodes which are called ‘‘ east and west lodes,” and some, 
‘‘north and south.” <A few have a strike northwest and southeast, but 
are generally very narrow and break off from the northeast and soutb- 
west lodes, are very rich for a time and then “pinch” out. It would » 
seem therefore quite possible that the northeast and southwest veins 
took the lines of cleavage in that direction as lines of greatest weakness, 
and that the northwest and southeast lines cross the other set, and 
that a portion of the mineral material might accumulate in that cleavage 
fissure. I merely throw out this as a hint at this time, which I wish to fol- 
low out in my future studies. Iam inclined to believe that the problem of 
the history of the Rocky Mountain ranges is closely connected with 
these two great sets of cleavage lines. AS I have before stated, my own 
observations point to the conclusion that the general strike of ’the met- 


188 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


ainorphie ranges of mountains is northwest and southeast, and that the 
eruptive trend northeast and southwest. The dikes that. sometimes 
extend long distances across the plains, in all cases trend northeast and 
southwest, or occasionally east and west. The purely eruptive ranges 
of the northern portion of the San Luis Valley seem to be composed 
of a series of minor ranges ‘en échelon” with a trend northeast and 
southwest. But as soon as this range joins on to a range with a meta- 
morphie or granitic nucleus, the trend changes around to northwest and 
southeast. Many of the ranges have a nucleus of metamorphic recks 
though the central and highest portions may be composed of eruptive 
peaks and ridges. In this case the igneous material is thrust up in lines 
of the same direction as the trend. It becomes therefore evident that 
all the operations of the eruptive forces were an event subsequent to 
the elevation of the metamorphic nucleus. This is shown in hundreds 
of instances in Southern Colorado and New Mexico, where the eruptive 
material is oftentimes forced out over the metamorphic rocks, conceal- 
ing them over large areas. 

All over the mining districts are well-marked anticlinal, synclinal, and 
what I have called monoclinal valleys. Nearly ali the little streams flow 
a portion or all their way through these monoclinal valleys or rifts. In 
most cases the streams pass along these rifts from source to mouth, but 
occasionally burst through the upheaved ridges at right angles, and 
resuming its course again in some moncclinal opening. There are afew 
instances of these streams flowing along anticlinal valleys, and by any one 
these remarks will be at once understood by studying the myriad little 
branches of Clear Creek or South Platte, which flow for long distances 
through the mining districts. 

In these valleys are oftentimes accumulated immense deposits of 
modern drift. Sometimes there are proofs that these valleys have been 
gorged for a time, and a bed of very coarse gravel and boulders will ac- 
cumulate, hundreds of feet in thickness. Near Gecrgetown there is a fine 
example of this modern drift action. 

It would seem that the valley of that branch of Clear Creek, in which 
the Brown and Terrible silver lodes are located, was gorged at one time, 
perhaps, with masses of ice, and the fine sand and coarse materials 
accumulated against the gorge, and at a subsequent period the creek 
wore anew channel through this material. The upper side of this drift 
deposit is fine sand, but the materials grow coarser as we descend, until, 
at the lower side, there are immense irregular or partially worn masses 
of granite. On the sides of the valley the rocks are often much smoothed 
and grooved as if by floating masses of ice. We assume the position, of 
which there is most ample evidence all over the Rocky Mountain region, 
that at a comparatively modern geological period the temperature was 
very much lower than at present, admitting of the accumulation of vast 
bodies of ice on the summits of the mountains. The valley of the South 
Platte, as that stream flows through the range east of the South Park, 
show, not only these accumulations of very coarse boulder drift, but when 
this drift is stripped off, the underlying rocks are found smoothed, and, 
in some instances, scratched, as if by floating icebergs. 

In regard to the character of the gold and silver mines of Colorado, 
much information of practical value has been secured, but my limited 
time will not permit me to present it in detail in this preliminary report. 

It will be more fully elaborated during the coming winter. I would 
simply remark that my observations indicate to me that the silver mines 
of Georgetown are very rich and practically inexhaustible, and that, 
‘under the present system of working them, they are becoming daily 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 189 


more and more important. The amount of labor that is continually 
expended in opening mines and driving tunnels is immense, and their 
future importance as a source of wealth to the country greatly in- 
creased. The same remarks will apply to the gold mines of Gilpin 
County. There are some remarkably rich lodes which have yielded the 
enterprising miners untold wealth, and some that will continue to do so. 
in the majority of cases, where proper management and economy have 
been employed, the mines have been a great source of profit to the 
miner. It is not necessary to enter into the causes of the wonderful 
failures and swindling operations which have brought Colorado into 
such disrepute in the past. It is sufficient for me to state my belief that 
the mining districts of Colorado will yet be regarded as among the richest 
the world has ever known. 


CHAPTER XII. 
REVIEW OF LEADING GROUPS, ETC. 


This final chapter to my report, which I have added here, will contain 
a brief review of the leading groups of strata noticed in this and my 
previous reports, as well as a few additional observations and chemical 
analyses. The details of my labors will be presented in my final reports 
at some future period. 

I have already alluded to my belief that this western country during 
the tertiary period was covered to a greater or less extent with a chain 
of brackish or fresh-water lakes; that the tertiary period began its 
existence with brackish water deposits, which gradually became fresh 
water, and thus continued up to the present time. It is hardly possible 
to synchronize all these groups of strata with our present knowlege; 
but in order that our efforts in that direction may be facilitated, I have 
thought it best to give them specific names, which may be regarded 
' provisional for the present. Each one of these groups will doubtless 
afford a flora and fauna to a certain extent peculiar to itself, and a 
greater importance will be attached to it when grouped around some 
specific names. 

Proceeding southward from Cheyenne we pass over the coal forma- 
tions of the tertiary period, which have already been called, on the 
Upper Missouri, the Fort Union group. This group I regard as marking 
the dawn of the tertiary age in the West, and as covering a far more 
extended area than any other group of this epoch. It is continuous 
southward from the Missouri Valley to Colorado, interrupted only by a 
belt of White River beds about two hundred miles wide. I think these 
beds also extend far northward into the British possessions, probably 
nearly or quite to the Arctic Sea. 

About forty miles south of Denver we have a high divide, or ridge, 
which forms a sort of water-shed between the Platte and Arkansas 
Rivers. This is composed of a group of strata, mostly sandstones and 
sands jutting up against the mountains in a slightly disturbed position 
and not conforming to the older rocks. These beds are undoubtedly 
middle tertiary, and I have called them the Monument Creek group. 

I do not think that such terms as eocene, miocene, pliocene, &e., are 
at all applicable to the tertiary deposits of the West, and I therefore 
designate them as lower, middle, and upper tertiary. Iregard all the 
coal beds of the West as lower tertiary. It is true that some of these 


190 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


beds of lignite, or impure coal, or carbonaceous clay, are found in groups 
of strata which should be classed as middle tertiary; but these do not 
seem in any case to be of any economical importance. 

Near Hard Scrabble Creek, a small branch running into the Arkansas 
River just below Caiion City, there is a small area, about eight miles 
square, occupied by coal strata, for which I propose the provisional 
name of Canon City group. I have but little doubt that careful study 
will show that it is a fragment of the great lignite group of the North. 
The next group comprises the coal beds of the Raton Hills, which 
I suspect is also a portion of the great lignite group, and will event- 
ually be found to be synchronous with it. I have called it the Raton 
Hills group. , 

The next group of coal strata occurs in Placer Mountains, New Mex- 
ico, about thirty miles south of Santa Fé. The lithological character of 
the beds or rocks are very similar to those of the lignite group further 
north, but the evidence in regard to their age, or parallelism with the 
lignite group, is not so clear. While I regard the true coal beds of the 
West as lower tertiary, yet these Placer Mountain beds present the 
appearance of greater antiquity than the coal beds further north. Still, 
the numerous varieties of deciduous leaves which I have obtained from 
rocks just overlying the coal beds indicate that they are lower tertiary ; 
and with this belief I have named them the Placer Mountain group. 

Overlying the Placer Mountain beds, in the valley of Gallisteo Creek, 
is a vast thickness of exceedingly variegated sands, sandstones, and 
calcareous sandstones, characterized mostly by containing an abundance 
of silicified wood; but no other fossils have, as yet, been discovered. 
I have given this series of beds the name of Gallisteo sands, and they 
are doubtless middle tertiary. 

In the valley of the Rio Grande, at least from Albuquerque to the 
- north end of San Luis Valley, a series of marly sands of a light color 
prevail to a greater or less extent. They exhibit their greatest thick- 
ness north of Santa Fé. To this group I have given the name of Santa 
Fé marls; and they are doubtless of the age of upper tertiary, and 
synchronous with the upper beds of the White River group as seen 
along the North and South Forks of the Platte and near Cheyenne. 

In the valley of the Arkansas, north of the Poncha Pass, is a fine 
development of the light-colored marls, doubtless of the same age with 
the Santa Fé marls, which I have designated by the name of the 
Arkansas marls. I have as yet obtained no well-defined fossils from 
either the Santa Fé or Arkansas marls; yet bones of some large ani- 
mal, probably mastodon or elephant, have been found in them. -I have 
no doubt that more careful explorations will show that a fauna and 
flora of greater or less extent will characterize all these groups. 

Along the Union Pacific railroad we find in the Laramie Plains a most 
extensive exhibition of the great lignite group. The first coal beds of 
great economical value occur near Carbon and at Separation. From 
Creston to Bitter Creek there are a series of purely fresh-water beds, 
with some beds of impure lignite, with vast quantities of fossils be- 
longing to the genera Unio, Melania, Vivipara, Helix, &c. This group I 
regard as middle tertiary, and the strata are very nearly horizontal. I 
have regarded these beds as separated from the lower tertiary or true 
_lignite group, and have designated them by the name of the Washakee 
group. A little east of Rock Spring station a new group commences, 
composed of thinly laminated chalky shales, which I have called the 
Green River shales, because they are best displayed along Green River. 
They are evidently of purely fresh-water origin, and of middle tertiary 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 191 


age. The layers are nearly horizontal, and, as shown in the valley of 
Green River, present a peculiarly banded appearance. When carefully 
studied these shales will form one of the most interesting groups in the 
West. The flora is already very extensive, and the fauna consists of 
Melanias, Corbulas, and vast quanties of fresh-water fishes, preserved in 
much the same way as those in the Solenhofen slates of Germany. 
There are also numerous insects and other small undetermined fossils 
in the asphaltic slates. One of the marked features of this group is 
the great amount of combustible or petroleum shales, some portions of » 
which burn with great readiness, and have been used for fuel in stoves. 

The next group commences not far west of Bryan, and is doubtless a 
prolongation upward of the Green River shales, and may be regarded 
as of upper tertiary age. 

The sediments are composed of more or less fine sands and sandstones, 
mostly indurated, sometimes forming compact beds, but usually weath- 
ering into those castellated and dome-like forms which have given such 
celebrity to the ‘‘ Bad Lands” of White River. Church Buttes, near 
Fort Bridger, is an example of this group, and shows the style of 
weathering to which I refer. I have ealled this series of beds the 
Bridger group, from the fact that it is best developed in this region. It 
has already yielded remarkably fine species of Unio, Melania, Planorbis, 
Vivipara, Helix, &e., with a great variety of turtles and mammalian re- 
mains. There are indications that when this group is thoroughly ex- 
plored it will prove to be second only to the “‘ Bad Lands” of Dakota in 
the richness and extent of the vertebrate remains. 

Immediately west of Fort Bridger commences one. of the most re- 
markable and extensive groups of tertiary beds seen in the West. They 
are wonderfully variegated, some shade of red predominating. ‘This 
group, to which I have given the name of Wasatch group, is composed |. 
of variegated sands and clays. Very little caleareous matter is found sd 
in these beds. 

In Echo and Weber Caiions are wonderful displays of conglomerates, 
fifteen hundred to two thousand feet inthic¢kness. Although this group 
occupies a vast area, and attains a thickness of three to five thousand 
feet, yet I have never known any remains of animals to be found in it. 
I regard it, however, as of middle tertiary age. 

After passing Rock Springs station, Union Pacific railroad, the next 
exposures of coal are at Bear River City, and at Evanston, and also at 
Coalville, near the entrance of Echo Creek into Weber River. The coal 
beds at Evanston are the finest known in the West, and reach a thick- 
ness of twenty-six feet at one locality. These coal beds seem to be sep- 
arated from those at Separation and Carbon, and to present some feat- 
ures different from those in any other portion of the West. Iam in 
doubt as to their precise position, but I am inclined to regard them as 
of lower tertiary age, possibly on a parallel with the oldest beds of the 
great lignite group in other localities. On Bear River we find several 
species of Ostrea, both above and below the coal, and in a cut just west 
of Bear River City is found the greatest profusion of molluscous life 
that I have ever seen in any of the tertiary beds of the West. There 
seems here to be a mingling of fresh and brackish water fossils. At 
Evanston, impressions of deciduous leaves are abundant in beds above 
the coal. No portion of the fauna seems to be identical with anything 
found in other places. The flora seems also to be distinct, although 
some of the forms may be identical with species elsewhere. I have 
named the group of coal strata which is exposed from beneath the mid- 


192 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


dle tertiary beds by upheaval at Bear River City, Evanston, and Coal- 
ville, the Bear River group. 

In the valley of Weber River, from Morgan City to Devil’s Gate, 
there is a thickness of one thousand to twelve hundred feet of sands, 
sandstones, and marls, of a light color for the most part, which I regard 
as of upper tertiary age. These newer beds must have not only occu- 
pied this expansion of the Weber Valley, but also all of Salt Lake Val- 
ley, for remnants of it are seen all along the margins of the mountains 
inclosing Sait Lake Valley. I have obtained one species of helix near 
Salt Lake City from this group, which very much resembles a species 
obtained from the Wind River deposits, near the source of Wind River. 
I found this series of beds so widely extended and so largely developed 
in Weber Valley and Salt Lake Valley, that I regard it as worthy of a 
distinct name, and in consequence have called it the Salt Lake group. 

Some years ago, in a paper published in the proceedings of the Acad- 
emy of Natural Sciences, at Philadelphia, Mr. Meek and the writer pro- 
posed names for certain groups of tertiary strata, which might be added 
to the list already given: ‘ 

First. he Fort Union or great lignite group, which occupies the whole 
country around Fort Union near the mouth of the Yellowstone, extend- 
ing north into the British possessions to unknown distances, also south- 
ward on the Missouri River to Fort Clark. It also extends along the 
eastern flanks of the mountains, probably to Denver, EOL, and 
perhaps further. 

Second. The Wind River deposits are limited, so far as we now know, 


. to the Wind River Valley. The sediments are composed of indurated 


sands and clays, with a few layers of sandstones and some caleareous 
concretions; and the prevailing color is very light gray, sometimes 
brown with reddish bands.: The fossils thus far found are fragments of 
*Trionyx, Testudo, Helix, Vivipara, petrified wood, &c., doubtless of middle 
tertiary. age. 

Third. The White River group, best shown on White River, Dakota, 
but covering a very extended area—at least one hundred and fifty 
thousand square miles. The sediments are composed of white and light 
drab indurated sands, clays, and marls, with some beds of sandstones 
and limestones; is purely fresh water, and remarkable as one of the 
most wonderful deposits of extinct mammalia on the globe—middle 
tertiary. 

Fourth. The Loup River beds, which certainly form a most sin- 
gular and remarkable group. They are composed for the most part of 
fine, loose gray or brown sands, with some layers of limestone contain- 
ing a distinct and most remarkable fauna, composed of wolves, foxes, 
tiger s, hyenas, camels, horses, mastodons, elephants, &c. There are also 
numerous fresh-water and land shells, perhaps of recent species, upper ter- 
tiary. Tothese groups might be added the Judith River beds, asmall basin 
on the Missouri River, near the foot of the mountains, about fifteen to 
twenty miles in width and forty miles in length. This group is probably 
of lower tertiary age, but I think it was always separated from the great 
lignite group. In myfinal report I hope to be able to illustrate each one 
of these groups by the organic remains peculiar to it, and, if possible, 
show the relations of each one to the other and to all. Further explo- 
rations of the Territories will reveal many more of these lake basins, for 
I am now convineed that all over the great area west of the Mississippi 
to the Pacific coast the evidence of the existence of these lakes will be 
more or less clear. 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 193 
DEPOSITS OF COAL AND IRON ORE. 


One of the most important problems to be solved in the West is the 
utilization of the vast quantities of iron ore which are scattered all over 
the country in a multiplicity of forms. The brown iron ores accompany 
the coal beds everywhere, and some geod deposits are found in the ere- 
taceous formations. At the source of the Chugwater are immense de- 
_ posits of magnetic iron ore in the metamorphic rocks, which are prob- 

ably of Laurentian age, while at Rawlings’s Springs are most valuable 
beds of the red oxide of iron, in rocks which I suppose to be of triassic 
age. The latter are evidently local, but the amount of iron ore is con- 
siderable. 

The following extract is taken from the excellent report of Dr. John 
L. Leconte to the Pacific Railroad Company: 

“Deposits of iron ore fit for working are found in the sandstones of 
the Vermejo, as described on page 24 of the first part of the report. Veins 
of specular, titaniferous, and magnetic ore, occur in the metamorphic 
rocks of the mountains; those near Vegas are mentioned on page 29. 
Large quantities of magnetic iron are found near the Ortiz mine, and 
beds of an argillaceous variety occur near the anthracite of the Placer 
Mountain, as mentioned on page 39. 

‘¢Should the coal be capable of use for smelting iron, the localities of 
the latter will be found ample for all possible demands. 

““T have received from Messrs. Williams and Moss the following results 
of the examination of some iron ores collected on the journey: 


1. Magnetic iron ore, Las Vegas, metallic iron...-..-.-- 20.43 per cent. 
2. Magnetic iron ore, Placer Mountain, metallic iron.. 65.27 per cent. 
3. Carboniferous iron ore, Vermejo Canon..-.....-..-.- 21.91 per cent. 


4, Carbonate of iron, near anthracite of Placer Mountain 36.49 per cent. 


I take the liberty of introducing in this connection the following 
extracts from an article written by me and published in Silliman’s Jour- 
nal, March, 1868. This paper has, been very extensively copied, and 
even now I find it necessary to make but few changes: 


Mines have been opened on Coal Creek, three miles south of Marshall’s mines, but 
they have been abandoned for the present. Another has been opened about twenty 
miles south of Cheyenne City, on Pole Creek. The drift began with an outcropping of 
about four feet eight inches in thickness, inclination twelve degrees east. The lignite 
erows better in quality as it is wrought further into the earth, and the bed, by following 
the dip two hundred feet, is found to be five feet four inches thick, and the lignite is 
sold readily at Cheyenne City for twenty-five dollars per ton. The beds are so concealed 
by a superficial drift deposit, that it is difficult to obtain a clearly connected section of 
the rocks. A section across the inclined edges of the beds eastward from the mountains 
is as follows: 

7. Drab clay passing up into areno-calcareous grits composed of an aggregation of 
oyster shells, Ostrea subtrigonalis. 

6. Lignite—5 to 6 feet. 

5. Drab clay—4 to 6 feet. 

4, Reddish, rusty sandstone in thin laminze—20 feet.. 

3. Drab arenaceous clay, indurated—25 feet. 

2. Massive sandstone—50 feet. 

1. No. 5 eretaceous, apparently passing up into a yellowish sandstone. 

The summit of the hills near this bed of lignite is covered with loose oyster shells, 
and there must have been a thickness of four feet or more, almost entirely composed of 
them. The species seems to be identical with the one found in a similar geological 
position in the lower lignite beds of the Upper Missouri near Fort Clark, and at the 
mouth of the Judith River, and doubtless was an inhabitant of the brackish waters 
which must have existed about the dawn of the tertiary period in the West. No other 
shells were found in connection with these in Colorado, but on the Upper Missour1 
well-known fresh-water types exist in close proximity, showing that if it proves any- 
thing, itrather affirms the eocene age of these lower lignite beds. These lignite beds 


13H 


194 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


are exposed in many localities all along the eastern base of the mountains, and from 
the best information I can secure, I have estimated the area occupied by them north of 
the Arkansas River at five thousand square miles. According to the explorations of Dr. 
John L. LeConte during the past season, which are of great interest, these same lignite 
formations extend far southward into New Mexico on both sides of the Rocky Mountains. 
Specimens of lignite brought from the Raton Mountains byyDr. LeConte, resemble very 
closely in appear ance and color the anthracites of Pennsylvania. It is probable that no 
true coal will ever be found west of longitude ninety-six degrees, and it becomes there- 
fore a most important question to ascer tain the real value of these vast deposits of lig-. 
nite for fuel and other economical purposes. Can these lignites be employed for gen- 
erating steam and smelting ores? In regard to the lignites in the Laramie Plains, I 
have as yet seen no analysis, but specimens are now in ‘the hands of Dr. Torrey, of New 
York, for that purpose; specimens from Marshall’s mine on South Boulder Creek were 
submitted to Dr. Torrey by the Union Pacific Railroad Company for examination with 
the following result: 


Water in a state of combination, or its elements........--------..-.------.--- 12. 00 
Volatile matter expelled at a red heat, forming inflammable gases and vapors.. 26.00 
Joie) CawDOIM. S455io545 Geos ce abso sbe5a5 godess sade 62095055 3494 SSeg esse ccea sss: 59. 20 
Ash of a reddish color, sometimes FED a ye IE NER es see ee i eta AS SB SD 
100. 00 

A specimen from Coal Creek, three miles south, yielded similar results: a 
Water in a state of combination, or probably its elements, as in dry wood..-.--- 20. 00 

Volatile matter expelled at a red heat in the form of inflammable gases and 

NAY OOS an Ae On Oem ee PLL a Se Bie ana ne Caine ey oh ye tel oe Bude cle aie ee LORSO 
ied !carbo omit ih) Satie kee lee ae a Sys rs ay lee RG 2 eas RE eee 58. 70 
Ash, consisting chiefly of oxide of iron, alumina, and a little silica-.........--. _ 2.00 
100. 00 


The percentage of carbon is shown to be im one case 59.20, and in the other 58.70, 
which shows at a glance the superiority of the western ignites over those found in any 
other portion of the world. Anthracite is regarded as so much superior as a fuel, on 
account of the large per cent. of carbon, and also the small amount of hydrogen and 
oxygen. The bituminous coals contain a large percentage of hydrogen and oxygen, 
but not enough water and ash to prevent them from being made useful, but the calor- 
ifie power of lignite is very much diminished by the quantity of water contained in it, 
from the fact that so valuable a portion of the fuel must be used in converting that 
water into steam. 

The day of my visit to the Marshall coal mines, on South Boulder Creek, seventy- 
three tons of lg@nite were taken out and sold at the rate of four dollars a ton at the 
mine, and from ‘twelve to sixteen dollars at Denver! This lignite is somewhat brittle, 
but has nearly the hardness of ordinary anthracite, which ity very much resembles at a 
distance. 

In some portions there is a considerable quantity of resin. I spent two evenings at 
Mr. Marshall’s house, burning this fuel in a furnace, and it seemed to me that it would 
prove to be superior to ordinary western bituminous coals, and rank next to anthracite 
for domestic purposes. Being non-bituminous, it will require a draught to burn well. 
It is as neat as anthracite, leaving no stain on the fingers. It produces no offensive gas 
or odor, and is thus superior in a sanitary point of view, and when brought into gen- 
eral use, it will be a great favorite for culinary purposes. It contains no destructive 
elements, leaves very little ash, no clinkers, and produces no more crosive effects on 
stoves, grates, or steam boilers, than dry wood. If exposed in the open air it is apt 
to crumble, but if protected it receives no special injury. Dr. Torrey thinks there is 
no reason why it should not be eminently useful for generating steam and for smelting 
ores. 

Throughout the intercalated beds of clay at Boulder Creek and vicinity are found 
masses of a kind of concretionary iron ore, varying in size from one ounce to several 
tons in weight. This iron ore is probably a limonite commonty known under the name 
of brown hematite or brown iron ore. It may perhaps be found in the state of carbonate 
of iron when sought for, beyond the reach of the atmosphere. These nodules or concre- 
tionary masses, when broken, show regular concentric rings varying in color from yel- 
low to brown, looking sometimes like ‘rusty yellow ag ates. It is said to yield seventy 
per cent. of metallic ‘iron. The first smelting furnace ever erected in Colorado was 
established here by Mr. Marshall, and he informed me that for the production of one ton 
cf pig iron, three tons of the ore, two hundred pounds of limestone, and one hundred 
and thirty to one hundred and fifty bushels of charcoal are required. Over five hundred 
tons of this ore have been taken from this locality, and the area over which it seers to 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 195 


abound.cannot be less than fifty square miles. Indications of large deposits of iron ore 
have been found in many other localities along the line of the Pacific railroads, and if 
the mineral fuel which is found here in such ereat abundance can be made useful for 
smelting purposes, these lignite and iron ore beds will exert the same kind of influence 
over the progress of the ereat West that Pennsylvania exerts over all the contiguous 
States. When we reflecgthat we have from ten thousand to twenty thousand square 
miles of mineral fuel in tue center of a region where for a radius of six hundred to one 
thousand miles in every direction there is little or no fuel either on or beneath the sur- 
face, the future value of these deposits cannot be overestimated. 

The geological age of these western lignite deposits is undoubtedly tertiary. Those 
on the Upper Missouri have been shown to be of that age both from vegetable and 
animal remains, and in the Laramie Plains I collected two species of plants, a Populus 
and a Plantanus, specifically identical with those found on the Upper Missouri. The 
simple fact that cretaceous formations Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, are well shown all along the 
foot of the mountains, and that No. 5 presents its usual lithological character with its 
peculiar fossils, within fifteen miles of Marshall’s mines, also that at the mine, 2, 3, and 
4 are seen inclining at nearly the same angle and holding a lower position than the 
lignite beds, is sufficient evidence that the strata inclosing” the lignite beds are newer 
than cretaceous. A few obscure dicotyledonous leaves were found, which belong rather 
to tertiary forms than cretaceous. 

The connection of the lignite deposits on the Upper Missouri has been traced unin- 
terruptedly to the North Platte, about eighty miles above Fort Laramie. 

They then pass beneath. the White River tertiary beds, but reappear again about 
twenty miles south of Pole Creek, and continue far southward into New Mexico. 
Near Red Buttes, on the North Platte, it seems also probable that the same basin continues 
northward along the slope of the Rocky Mountains nearly or quite to the Arctic Sea. 
Whether or not there are any indications of this formation over the eastern range in 
the Britisk possessions, I have no means of ascertaining, but the Wind River chain, 
- which forms the main divide of the Rocky Mountain Range, exhibits a great thickness 
of the lignite tertiary beds on both eastern and western ‘slopes, showing conclusively 
by the fracture and inclination of the strata, that prior to the elevation of this range, 
they extended uninterruptedly in a horizontal position across the area now occupied 
by the Wind River chain. Passing the first range of mountains in the Laramie Plains, 
we find that the Big Laramie River cuts" through eretaceous beds, Nos. 2 and 3, con- 
tinuing our course w vestward to Little Laramie, a branch of the Big Laramie, and No. 
3 becomes fifty to one hundred and fifty feet in ‘thickness filled with fossils, Ostrea con- 
gesta, and a species of Inoceramus. At Rock Creek, about forty miles west of Big Lar- 
amie River, the lignite beds overlap the cretaceous, but in such a way as to show that 
the more inclined ‘portions have been swept away by erosion, and that the red beds and 
carboniferous limestones once existed without break and in a horizontal position across 
the Laramie Range prior to its elevation. 

I cannot discuss this matter in detail in this article, but the evidence is clear to me 
now, that all the lignite tertiary beds of the West are but fragments of one great basin, 
interrupted here and there by the upheaval of mountain chains or concealed by the 
deposition of newer formations. 


When I wrote the article on the lignites of the West, all my own inves- 
tigations pointed strongly to the conclusion that no coal beds of any 
great value, in an economical point of view, would ever be found in the 
West in formations older than the tertiary. When my large collections 
of vegetable and animal remains from the coal beds in Wyoming, Colo- 
rado, : and New Mexico, now deposited in the Smithsonian Institution, are 
carefully studied, I can speak with more confidence on that point. Tecan 
say just here that I have as yet seen no reason to change that opinion 
so far as my own observations are concerned. 

In the spring of 1868, Professor Lesquereux, who is so justly celebrated 
for his skill in “the study of fossil plants, sent me the following valuable 
notes as the result of a preliminary examination of some leaf impressions 
from the coal deposits in various parts of the West. His conclusions 
seem to confirm my opinions that all these coal formations are of tertiary 
age. 

SPECIES FROM ROCK CREEK, LARAMIE PLAINS. 


1. Populus attenuata, Al. Braun. The identity of these leaves with the European spe- 
cies is undoubted. 

2. Populus levigata, sp. nov., related to P. balsamoides, Gépp., a species which, like 
the former, is abundant in the miocene of Europe. 


196 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


3. Populus subrotunda, sp.nov. Type of neuration of P. melanaria, Heer, and form of 
leaves of P. mutabilis, Heer, both species also common in the miocene of Kurope. 

4, Quercus acrodon, sp. nov., a fine oval leaf resembling a chestnut leaf, related to 
Quercus prinoides, Wild, of our time. 

5. Quereus haydem, sp. nov., lyrate leaf with lobes strongly dentate, without near 
relation to any species either of the tertiary or of our time. § 

¢. Platanus, aceroides, Gopp., one of the most common species of the miocene of Europe. 
It ~. closely related to, if not identical with, P. occidentalis, L., of our tine. 


MARSHALL’S MINE (NEAR DENVER.) 

1. Quercus chlorophylla, Ung. Three specimens of this species have been figured and 
described in my paper, ‘On species of fossil plants from the tertiary of Mississippi,” 
(Trans. Phil. Soc., vol. 13, pl. xvii, figs. 5, 6,7.) It is still uncertain if these leaves rep- 
resent a quercus, buz all belong to the species described and figured by Heer under this 
name, and common in the whole thickness of the European miocene. 

2, Quercus lyelli, Heer, also figured in the above paper, pl. xvii, figs. 1, 2,3. Though 
the specimen is somewhat obscure, the essential characters which distinguish the species 
are well discernible. It is abundant in the Bovey Tracy lignite formations of England, 
lower miocene. 

3, Cinamomun affine, sp.nov. This species is also found at Raton Pass. The leaf from 
Raton Pass is smaller and might belong to aflifferent species, but except the size I do not 
find ground for separation; very near C. mississippiensis, Lesq., and also closely related 
to C. buchi, Heer, of the lower miocene of Europe. 

4, Cornus incompletus, sp. nov. A part of a leaf apparently round at the top, general 
outline uncertain. It is figured merely for future reference. By its peculiar nervation 
this leaf appears in close relation to, if not identical with, Cornus rhamnifolius, Web. 
Pretty common in the lower miocene of Europe. 

5. There are in the Marshall’s shales a few fragments of maple leaves (acer) specifi- 
cally undeterminable, and also one winged seed of this genus. This seed has a narrow 
straight wing like that of Acer trilobatum, Heer, but with smaller nutlet. 

6. Lhamnus salicifolia, sp. nov., in soft sandstone; related to 2. marginatus, Lesq., and 
and also to R. carolinianus, Walt., now living and abundant in southern swamps. 

7. Juglans rugosus, sp. nov., very nearly related to J. acuminata, Al. Braun, a species 
extensively distributed in the European miocene. 

8. Echitonium sophie, Web. The leaf has no visible nervation, but it is exactly like 
botb the forms represented from European specimens. It is found in the whole miocene 
of Evrope, especially in the lower stage. 

_ 9. Phyllites sulcatus, sp. nov. The borders of the leaf are destroyed, but the nervation 
18S Quite peculiar. It is referable either to a Rhodora like R. canadensis of our time, or 
represents merely the lower part of the winged petiole of the fruit of a linden, (Tilia. ) 

10. Lygodiwm compactum, sp. nov. Though many species of lygodiums are described 
froma the tertiary of Europe, none are related to ours. One lobe of a leaf only is presented, 
and the general outline ef the leaf is therefore unknown, but the nervation, which is 
very close and more like that of a Neuropteris, is of a peculiar character. 


o 


LIGNITE BEDS NEAR GOLDEN CITY, COLORADO. 


1. Magnolia tenuinervis, sp. nov. \ Not possible to indicate the general form of the leaf 
of which a part only is presented. Its thin and sharp secondary nerves distinguish it 
from any other fossil species. 

2. Lathrea arguta, sp.nov. May be a Pecopteris. No relation observed of any known 
species to this one. 


RATON PASS. SPECIMENS COLLECTED BY DR. LECONTE. 


1. Berchemia parvifolia, sp.nov. Related to B. multinervis of the European miocene, 
but still more like our Berchemia volubilis which fills the southern swamps. The basilar 
part of the leaf is not seen and therefore a satisfactory determination is not possible. 

2. Abictiies dubius, sp. Noy. 

Most of the specimers from Raton Pass have some remains of leaves or branches of a 
coniferous species which can be referred, perhaps, as well to the genus Araucaria as to 
Sequoia or Abies. As the leaves on the branchlets appear evidently placed around the 
stems and not on both sides of it, and as the scars left on the bark are of the same form 
as those of an slbies, I place these remains in this genus till they may be studied on bet- 
ter specimens. The leaves are pointed asin Taxites dubiws, GOpp., from the tertiary of 
Europe; except this, these remains have no analogy with any other, published or figured. 

3. Eehitonium sophie, Web. A small fragment exactly like those of Marshall’s coal 
bed anda specimen of Cinnamonwm affine, already mentioned, from the Marshall’s shales. 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 197 


UPPER END OF PURGATORY CANON, DR. LECONTE. 


1. Rhamnus obovatus, sp.nov. All the specimens are from the same place, and all con- 
tain fragments of the same species, and none of any other. This species is peculiar by 
the form of the leaves; it has the character of a Rhamnus but the secondary nerves are 
closer and ee numerous than in any other species of the genus, even more so than in 
a Berchemia. 1 do not know of any fossil plant comparable { to this. 

From this short report on your fossil plants examined till now, it is easy to draw 
some general conclusions. e 

From Rock Creek we have only six species. Two are identical with species from the 
' miocene of Europe, and one of them, Platanus aceroides, is not distinguishable from our 
’ P. oceidentatis. Two other species are closely allied to European tertiary species. And 
of the two others, one is an American type related to Quercus prinoides, still im our flora, 
the other a peculiar and lost type. The appearance of this florula is quite modern. 
This may be the result of geographical circumstances. Poplars and huttonwoods live 
together in the bottoms of rivers, and therefore I may mistake in believing this Rock 
Creek formation more recent than that of Marshall’s. In any case it is certainly tertiary 
and has no-plants of an older formation. 

In Marshgll’s (coal beds) we find only ten species of fossil plants, two Quercus and one 
Echitonium apparently identical with miocene species of Europe, one Rhamnus, closely 
related to a living species of ours, and at the same time to a fossil species of the lignite of 
Mississippi, one Cornus, one Juglans, and one Cinnamomum, all related to miocene species, 
and the last one also closely allied to a species of the Mississippi tertiary ; undetermin- 
able leaves of maple, seeds of the same genus, a Lygodiwm and an undeterminable Phyl- 
lites complete the list. These plants have, therefore, all of them, the character of ter- 
tiary plants. The general aspect of the Marshall coal flora is that of the Mississippi 
lignite, which I consider as either lowest miocene or eocene. In this lam much pleased 
to find my views so well agreeing with yours. 

The materials obtained from the strata of Golden City, Raton Pass, and Purgatory 
Caiion, are too scanty to permit considerations in regard to the geological positions of the 
strata which have furnished them. No Abies has yet been described from tertiary strata, 
but with these broken remains of a conifer of uncertain genus, the shale of Raton Pass 
has a Berchemia, which is a tertiary plant, and a leaf of Echitonium, and one of Cinna- 
memum identical with specimens found at Marshall’s. 


Tn conclusion, I beg leave to say, that while I have the most profound 
respect for the labors of my fellow geologists in the same field, I differ 
with them somewhat, simply because the evidence, to my mind, points in 
a different direction. In various portions of the Laramie Plains, Col- 
orado, Raton Hills, &e., I have observed between the well-defined cre- 
taceous and tertiary beds a group of strata composed of thin layers of 
clay, with yellow and gray sands and sandstones, which I have called 
transition or beds of passage. If in these beds I were to find some purely 
marine remains, even inoceramus or baculites, I should then cail them 
transition beds, in-accordance with the evidence of the continuous un- 
interrupted growth of the continent from the cretaceous through the 
tertiary period. There is no proof, so far as I have observed, in all the 
western country of true non-conformity between the cretaceous and lower 
tertiary beds, and no evidence of any change in sediments or any catas- 
trophe sufficient to account for the sudden and apparently complete de- 
struction of organic life at the close of the cretaceous period. In all 
my examinations of the coal formations over so vast an area, [have never 
yet seen a trace of a cretaceous fossil in any strata above the coal. One 
of the most important practical questions for solution in the west is, 
whether these coals can be rendered useful for smelting ores. To aid in 
the solution of this question, I have appended the following analyses of 
the coals from various portions of the West. 

Mr. J. P. Carson, my assistant on the United States geological sur- 
vey, 1868, made the following analysis of a fair specimen of the coal 
trom the Carbon mines, Northern Pacific railroad. 

WAG S ASTURIAS AA le UA Se Cee 11.60 
Wolaiilecomibustiole amagper oi cyoce down «ints, aqcuencadeyyte Se 6 erienn 27.68 
JEYISCexOL CERIO UCT RAE NAN ei pe a nc 51.67 | 


198 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


Color of ash, light gray. Spec'fic gravity, 1.37. Weight per cubic 
yard, 2,212 pounds. 

My assistant, Persifor Frazer, jr., in the United States geological sur- 
vey of Colorado and New Mexico during the past season, has made the 
following analyses of coals along the line of the Union Pacific railroad. 
They were made with great care and I have the most perfect confidence 
in their accuracy : 


Coal from mine at Point of Rocks: 


Per cent. 
(CandvailsesGeaaiseea sees BU al ee eis i ee aR glen ree aa ciotarey ot Se eas png ie i ae Ba 64. 70 
Anny ti Shea aA Pe PAR a APO) Nis SS igs ae fal CE eA Ue es Oe OSES ee aoe enone GAS 4.40 
Maen a eee eee Oo ena Uar ace Sees SMe aoehsaels amine Baoan ae Nt AGE is aii 0. 42 
Water and volatile substamces........-...---...--.... es Ur apie SON yh ee 30, 48 
Ha ay apa LP UPN SUITES SD es ee) sy at eae es OM eG Utne nL ne RADA LLL 100. 00 
Coal from Rock Creek 
Per cent 
CG syirlio onra yNSen MI Fah GRRE RM SR PRE LO ae A RU lL AD VS ah Genel YL a 61.34 
Re UnMpo bart ye scayafiseh cette Geka lak I el ey an 8 Seed aa ae a 2.00 
EAST PU GEA Ss peabitaco Aliana COAL Ra eI AD monet eM eem otal a La Neca i Niel 30 Pe cc ee iL, B 
AONE UIE: Sil] on AES, Crake Webs a ose tan Soe e es sho ee ane eoeuneuesesen sae 35. 16 
PSC eaiL ee re ag 08 SA Sel laa NA eel Se ch ay USM a a UY Le a 100. 00 
Coal from Black Buttes 
Per cent 
Geral Or EY Sela Bee Ee beta ee a NG WPT ge BEA OL) G8 ay eau Ae poe 71. 64 
DS uM bere ye es ik eS IM EY (ed 2.00 
APMIS Tata Gea mn ga Ne SE eel eA ato Nie ead RR UR Rest) SEAT SDT AUN An aig ae ares taslea 1) 2.50 
Volatilersulbstances nama divyater sce ne se rey tts eae a eceee Sera te ae e a 23. 86 
AG RON rer eaten UR aD ST ASE A a ESS a UNE NR Nee kay 100. 00 


Coal from the Evanston mine was tested for its carbon alone and found to contain 
carbon, 72.16 per cent. All these coals resemble in their physical properties those 
met with along the route of the Colorado and New Mexico survey. 


I take the liberty of quoting in this connection the following analyses 
of coals from the admirable report* of my friend Doctor J. H. LeConte. 
I found this report, as well as that of Doctor Newberry, of great service 

to ne in my explorations during the past season : 


gis Fixed Volatile mye 
‘etea bin carbon. | material. | Water. al 
| 
1. NEW MEXICO. 
Wierme]| 0 Canoneessseese see eee SORTS AA URNS Oe Sees pi ae oth 59. 72 23.73 3. 27 13. 28 
Placer anthracite. -....-. ROO EM Ae LSM 2p VALE SSA SU pet es Reais 88. 91 3.18 2. 90 o. al 
2. COLORADO. 
Murphy’s, near Denver FEL AEE RIOD SE AS CAN ek nL 55. 31 29. 07 11. 70 3.92 
Nios lS mar ie) OmvieTe se) Ve te epee eee ee 59. 20 26. 00 12. 00 2. 80 
(Coal (Chet ela ts MMM MEAN RUA ASU Pepa DRA SETS NOE IRN EYg 57. 70 19. 30 20. 00 | 2.00 


* Notes on the geology of the survey for the extension of the Union Pacific Railway, eastern division, 
from the Smoky “Hill Riv er, Kansas, to the Rio Grande, by John L. LeConte, page 58. 
+The analyses of the Marshall coal and that of Coal Creek were made by Doctor Torrey, and rare 
copied from Doctor Haydeu’s paper in Silliman’s Journal for March, 1863 


‘GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 199 


4 Fixed Volatile 
Locality. carbon. | material. | Water Ash. 
Z |. 
3. PACIFIC COAST. 

A.—Cretaceous.: 
Bellingham Bay, Washington Territory.-....---.--------- 45. 69 33. 26 8. 39 12. 66 
Nanaimo, Vancouver’s Island........-...-.----..---..---- 46. 31 32. 16 2. 98 18. 55 

B.—Tertiary. 

CoospR ay OLrecomn ee aie ae tae acc Merle sais mars oie otaion eee 41.98 B2. 09 20. 09 5. 34 
Mount Diablo, (Seno eTi ape umes ANNI ABE SN ts Cece 40. 65 40. 36 13. 47 D. 2 
OSE He SOAS a OSES ORCS CRSP eens Sys ets area tere 46. 84 33. 89 14. 69 4. 68 
AD OR ee resem Sue See aaa ames enie eines Sno aaemaate 44.92 40. 27 13. 84 0. 97 
STE) Cypser NaS) eras Nee yay pean anil Seal getcies aS bt ti 2 ye ma 44. 55 37. 38 14.13 3. 94 
BIB) OP cates ee te care ears Ae aya nl Ca eee US Cig ara cee te 36. 35 35. 62 20. 53 7. 5 


German tertiary coals. 


Combined | Hygroscopic 


Variety. Carbon. Hydrogen. eras St Brae 
Fibrous, (faserige) SRM AER re el, MW A Deh Ie 48 1 31 20 
IDE EN, (ERIE) Soe po oaeces cous sasuaes aacece 56 2 22 20 
ianiinated, (muschilice)2s22 sss ss5- 44255 eee 60 3 17 20 


The ash is neglected in the foreign analyses, but is stated to average from 5 to 10 
per cent. When first mined, the German brown coals contain frequently nearly 50 
per cent. of hygroscopic water, which by drying is reduced to 20 or 25 per cent. 

The absolute heat effects of the German coals are given as follows: 


Variety. | Air-dried. Kiln-dried. 
HIDTOUS! = 2-44 Se SIE TOS ESS COIR ie eae NE ESIC at gs eS ER | 50 . 63 
IOBTEIT eee Ss baanerme Haro Redc SoRnpeb ais CCE snob SHEE Ses Shon Bese SScE acest . 62 . 76 
AGA be Mlecrateseee mc icteric cee IS enn ec Sims isis Nat orelere arbres srebatereta sions 70 . 84 


The data obtained by Professor Brush by the reduetion of oxide of lead, when 
placed in 9, decimal form, pure carbon being unity, are : . 


Merme yor @ sions 5 52 eye SS a eI I eta ayia a le fe oa x SM ata ee wy OE ea a 67 
Placer anthracite ss eo sagas tet ie oes Soe Oe ble) See Lia Ge eA OL SR ayer enhanc mate 91 
Denver EMnrph y's) sec yee ecm seers tee ae ame RE PEER Se TEN Oaks Teas 60 


The following are analyses of water from springs, &c., by Mr. P. Frazer, 
chemist and mineralogist to the United States geological survey of 
Colorado and New Mexico: 


While in Rawling’s Springs I was employed by the Union Pacific Railroad Company 
to examine the waters from various springs, which incrusted the boilers of locomotives 
and stationary engines of the company, as well as of coals from the principal coal-beds 
ou the line of the road. The result of these analyses I append : 

Scale from the boiler of an engine in the machine shop at Rawling’s Springs.—This scale was 
of a dark color due to impurities in suspension in the water. It consisted of the 
chlorides of potassium and sodium, the sulphates of lime and magnesia and the silicate 
of alumina. The major part of the soluble matter was composed of salt and gypsum. 
Some water from a salt pond in the Black Hills, some distance from Sherman, was 
analyzed and found to contain chloride of sodium, chloride of potassium, the carbon- 
ate of soda, and some alumina. 

Boiler scale fron locomotive running between Rawlings Springs and Bryan.—This scale was 
of a gray color, but proved to be of the same chemical constitution as that previously 
given, viz, chlorides of potassium and sodium, sulphates of lime and magnesia, and the 
silicate of alumina. : 


By 


Piha eee Ne yi if 


Oe 


* 


Sad We 


MINES AND MINERALS OF COLORADO. 


By PERSIFOR FRAZER, JR. 


DENVER, COLORADO, October 15, 1869. 


Sim: I have the honor to report that the examination of the minerals, 
and the means employed to utilize them, in the Territories of Colo- 
rado and New Mexico, which you directed me to make, has been con- 
ducted as well as the very limited time at my disposal would permit, and 
a preliminary report of the results is herewith respectfully submitted. 

In the letter accompanying the first report to the Secretary of the 
Treasury by the commissioner appointed to collect the same kind of in- 
formation from the country lying west of the Rocky Mountains, Mr. 
Browne urges that the six months which were prior to the meeting of 
Congress would not permit of any but a most imperfect treatment of 
the subject, and limits himself to sketching an outline of the work to be 
done. 

The same is true in a much greater degree of the few weeks in which 
I was obliged to gather the materials for this report, especially as the 
greater portion of the time was spent on the march, remote from all 
points where statistics were accessible. 

Any report of the condition of mining affairs in the Territories of 
Colorado and New Mexico, (each of which is larger than all the New 
England States put together,) and in particular of the former, which 
counts its discovered lodes, the varieties of its minerals, and its mining 
enterprises, by thousands, and in which energetic capital and intelli- 
gence, ‘‘ever striving through darkness to the light,” are working such 
‘incessant changes, must represent things as a telescope represents the 
stars, not as they are or ever were, but this as it was last week and that 
as 1t was last year. 

In consideration of these difficulties, I venture to hope that you may 
regard all shortcomings more leniently, and that the following, though 
far from complete, may not altogether fail to answer the requirements 
of Congress. 

In conclusion, I would call attention to the great courtesy and kind- 
ness I have experienced in the course of my investigations from the 
citizens of the two Territories generally, the owners and superintend- 
ents of the various mines and mills, the possessors of cabinets of min- 
erals, &e., and the officers and their families stationed at Forts Union 
and Garland. 

Hspecially do I thank Mr. J. Alden Smith, the mining editor of the 
Central City Register; Mr. D. J. Ball, of Empire City; Colonel An- 
derson, of the Real Dolores; and Mr. Cheever, of the Brown Mining 
Company in Georgetown, for the assistance, in a professional way, which 
they have rendered me; nor can I forget the kindness of Mr. Marshall, 
of Black Hawk, and Mr. Schultz, of Central City. 

Where it was not possible for me personally to inspect the mines of 
which I have spoken, I have in every case stated that the informa- 
tion is given on the authority of others. 

I remain, sir, with great respect, 
PERSIFOR FRAZER, JR., 
Mining Engineer. 
Dr. F. V. HAYDEN, United States Geologist. 


202 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


A natural division of the subject about which information has been 
sought would seem to be; I, the minerals, and II, the mines of Colorado 
and New Mexico; and these again into I.1, the minerals of commercial 
value, and I. 2, those of no commercial value, but more or less character- 
istic of the rocks or formations in which they occur. 

The mining portion of this Teport would have been better divided into 
II.1, gulch or placer mining, and II. 2, lode or legitimate mining, while. 
under the latter head the subject would naturally divide itself into a, the 
methods in use for getting out the ore and taking care of the mines; 3, 
the dressing of the. ores by mechanical processes; and c, the chemical 
treatrsent of the ores, their reduction and preparation for the market, or 
shipment out of the Territory. This would be a natural division of the 
subject, but the time, and, consequently, the opportunities of observation 
have been so insufficient for the above thorough treatment of the subject 
that I have deemed it better to forward to you, as my part of the pre- 
liminary report, only the notes I have made in the field, with a few 
observations on various points connected with the subject. 

In a belt, of which it would be difficult to define the limits, but which 
may be generally stated as lying east and west of the great continental 
divide as far as the gneiss or granite extends, and reaching north and 
south as far as investigation has made the Rocky Mountain chain known 
to us, lie the ores of the precious, and some of the baser, metals. Of the 
distribution of this great mineral wealth throughout the hundreds of 
leagues of this belt very little is known, the small area which has become 
the prize of the gold-seeker furnishing wholly insufficient data upon 
which to base general conclusions. 

To begin with, the rock in which occur all these lodes is that which 
carries the precious metals, with rare exceptions, the world over, and 
which is either a granite or a gneiss, or, aS in the Central City district, 
such an inextricably confused mixture of both that it were impossible to 
calliteither. Thisis the country rock. Whether from the great changes 
to wlrich this rock has been exposed through countless ages, or whether 
from other causes, it shows itself in most various forms at different 
places, and passes by imperceptible phases through gneiss, granite, sye- 
nite, and porphyry. This porphyry is perhaps more frequently observed 
in the neighborhood of veins. 

A fine illustration of the irregularity with which these rocks succeed 
each other is to be observed along the road from Mount Vernon through 
Idaho City to Georgetown. Along Clear Creek, from Fall River to 
Georgetown, the inclination and direction of the rocks appear to be as 
variable as their structural character, a general northwesterly dip being 
perhaps most common, while red and gray, heavy-bedded, and thinly- 
laminated gneiss and red and gray granite succeed each other in utter 
confusion. Here and there a vein of quartz or quartz-porphyry or sye- 
nite (very frequently auriferous) is visible, forming a light-colored streak 
usually.down the sides of the opposite hills. ‘This composite character 
of the country rock has been noticed, as | am informed, in most, if not 
all, of the mining districts, and on both sides of the Sierra Madre or main 
range. The gangue rock is most frequently quartz, which, of course, 
assumes very different appearances at different places, both in texture 
and in color. In some cases the gangue rock is porphyry more or less 
weathered. (Brown Lode, West Argentine, cz al.) 

The minerals of Colorado of commercia) value which are most widely 
distributed are auriferous iron and copper pyrites, (malachite and the 
sulphates of iron and copper from their decomposition, though nowhere 
in large quantities, being spread over wide areas,) zineblende, argent- 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 203 


iferous galena, brittle silver ore, fahlerz, specular iron, hematite and 
magnetic pyrites, cerussite and anglesite, native gold and silver, horn 
silver, embolite, (confined chiefly to the neighborhoods of Georgetown 
and Snake River, | believe, as far as yet ascertained,) titanic iron ore, 
micaceous iron ore, spathic iron ore, Smithsonite, copper glance, coal 
and Albertine coal. These comprise the principal ores which I have 
observed, but time and more thorough search will undoubtedly disclose 
to the mineralogist, if not to the metallurgist and miner, many as yet 
hidden treasures. 

Gilpin County and the region about Empire are rated as gold fields, 
and the values of ores irom these and some other districts are given in 
ounces of gold per ton; whereas the adjacent country around George- 
town, abounding as it does in argentiferous galena and silver glance, 
(called simply “sulphuret,”) has the number of ounces silver per ton as 
its Standard. In some few veins, as the Whale Lode near Idaho City, 
the values of the gold and silver present in the ore are nearly equal. 

A more detailed specification of the ores follows: 

Tron pyrites, (YeS,.)—Almost universal in the mines. Occurs in 
cubes from the size of a pin’shead to those of an inch on the sides. Also 
in pentagonal dodecahedra. 

Copper pyrites, (Cu,S+HeS,.)—Is only second to iron pyritesin the 
frequency of its occurrence.* 

Zincblende, (4uS.)—Is also very common, especially in the Georgetown 
region. Hine specimens were obtained from the Baker Lode, West Ar- 
gentine and the Griffith Lode, close by Georgetown. Also from Gilbert’s 
(formerly Commonwealth Mining Company) Lode, near Nevada City. 

Galena, (PbS.)—Usually argentiferous. In all the lodes in the vicin- 
ity of Georgetown. Contains from one hundred to six hundred ounces 
silver per ton.t 

Brittle silver ore, (Stephanite 5A..5+Sb,8;.)—Occurs in the silver mines 
of Georgetown. (Terrible and Brown lodes.) 

Fahlerz, [((4RS+4Cn,8) QS;.R—Fe, Cu, Zn and oftensome Ag and 
Hg = Q—Sb and As.|—Also in the region around Georgetown. The 
formule here given are from Naumann’s Mineralogy. I am not aware 
that Hg has been discovered in this ore, but as it coincides in its phys- 
icai properties with the ordinary fahlerz, I append the above formula. 

Light ruby silver, (Proustite,) (BAgS. AsS;); Dark ruby silver, (Py- 
rargyrite,) (3AgS.SbS;.)—Handsome specimens of these two ores were 
observed intermixed with the galena from the Brown Lode. Also from 
Snake River. 

Silver glance, (AgS.)—From the Georgetown neighborhood. Equator 
and Terrible lodes. A ton of galena, containing much of this ore, 
was recently sold by a gentleman of Central City to Professor Hill for 
$1,900 cash, and the latter realized a profit of $700 from it. 


* Both iron and copper pyrites of this region contain gold in indefinitely fine particles. 
The former is, in fact, the gold ore. Where these minerals have been exposed to the 
action of the weather, they have been decomposed and the gold set free. The value of 
the gold in a ton varies from nothing to five hundred dollars, and even more. I have 
observed small octahedra of gold on the crystal faces of iron pyrites from the Pleasant 
View mine near Central City. 

tItis somewhat remarkable that these veins of galena generally “ pinch up” or grow 
smailer as the depth increases. I take this general statement from the best authority I 
could obtain on the subject. A gentleman well acquainted with the Georgetown ores 
informed me that all attempts hitherto to produce lead for the market had failed from 
deficiency in the supply of galena. This statement, which I give for what it is worth, 
appears all the more remarkable when one compares it with the experience of miners in 
Freiberg, Przibram, and Clausthal. 


204 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


Copper glance. (Cu,S.)—Bergen district, near Idaho City, Pleasant 
View, We. 

Malachite, (CuO.CO,;) Blue vitriol, (CuO .SO;+5HO ;) Green vitriol, 
(CuO.SO;+7HO.)—Occur in various mines from the decomposition ot 
the pyrites. 

Pyromorphite, (PbO. PO;+ PbCl.)—Associated with the galena of va- 
rious mines near the surface. 

Specular iron ore, (FeO. Fe,O;.)—Cache a la Poudre, St. Vrain’s, &e. 

Red and brown hematite, (Fe,O; and Fe,O;+ HO.)—Of frequent oceur- 
rence in the vicinity of the coal. 

Coal.—Beds of coal occur all along the flanks of the mountains, 
but in the property of Mr. Marshall : are perhaps the best exposures 
Here are no less than nine outcrops. They make their appearance at 
various points along the range as far down as Santa Fé, and are of un- 
known extent. Albertine coal, or solidified petroleum, is stated by Prof. 
Denton to oceur on White River, in the western part of the Territory. 

Gold.—Occurs in the neighborhood of Central City, in the German~ 
lode, and many others. In the Placer diggings. Some beautiful erys- 
tals attached to cubes of iron pyrites in the ore from the Pleasant View 
mine. 

Silver—In many mines as wire or hair silver, Brown and United 
States Coin lodes. 

.  Cerussite, (PbO. CO,.)— Pleasant-View mine.—In small translucent 
crystals occurring in geodes. 

Anglesite, (PbO. SO). )—Freedland lode, Trail Run. 

Horn silver, (Ag Cl.)—Georgetown, Snake River. 

Limbolite, (AgBr+ AgCl. )—Peru district, Snake River. 

Titame iron ore, (« Ti,0;+y Fe,03. )—Quartz Hill, and Russel Gulch, 
near Central City. 

Micaceous iron ore, (Fe,03.)—Hlk Creek. In fine crystals like mica. 

Spathie iron ore, (F eO. CO,.)—Eureka and Griffith lodes, &e. 

Smithsonite, (Zn0 . CO,.)—Running lode, Blackhawk, &e. 

Salt, (NaCl.)—From Salt Springs in South Park, twenty miles south- 
east of Fairplay. Can produce forty thousand pounds per diem. 

By characteristic minerals, | mean to include all those that have no | 
commercial value. They furnish proof, in most cases, of the presence 
of other minerals, of rocks or of formations. Of the characteristic 
minerals, among the most common are— 

Hydrated oxide of tron, (brown ochre, yellow ochre, bog iron ore, &e.)— 
Occurs with the coal beds at South Boulder, Golden City, WC, &e. ., and 
is frequently regarded as a suriace indication of the presence of gold, 
silver and the precious ores generally. 

Quartz, (SiO;.)—The most important of the characteristic minerals. 
Very widely diffused. Forms the gangue of nearly all the veins of the 
precious metals in Colorado. As gangue rock it crops out on the hill 
sides in white or colored streaks, usually intersecting the planes of strati- 
fication of the rocks. Unerystallized, presenting sharp and jagged edges, 
and a broken conchoidal uneven fracture, sometimes weathered by the 
disintegration of the minerals it contained. Pebbies and partially 
rounded erystals of quartz are abundant in the prairies east of the 
Rocky Mountains, whence they have been carried down, and may be 
observed hundreds of miles east of the easternmost “hog-back.” Indeed, 
the abundance of these small pebbles of quartz and of the red feldspar 
is very remarkable, occurring as they do in great quantities on the 
summits of the little prairie hillocks at such an immense distance from 
their place of origin. 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 205 


1. Smoky quartz and black quartz.—Elk Creek. 

2. Rock or Berg erystal.—Near “ Dirtyyoman’s Ranch,” and in geodes 
in various mines. 

3. Rose quartz.— Quartz Hill. 

4, Agate, (moss agate, &ec.)—Middle Park, Arkansas River Park, &e. 

5. Amethyst.—Nevada City, Mill City, &e. 

6. Aventurine.—EHlk Creek. 

7. Heliotrope, (bloodstone. \—Middle Park. 

9. Carnelian.—South Park and Middle Park. 

10. Chaleedony.—South Park, Trout Creek Pass, &c. 
11. Chrysoprase.—Middle Park. 

12. Jasper.—South and Middle Parks. 

13. Onyx.—Middle Park, Grand River, &c. 

14, Sardonyx.—Golden City, Mount Vernon. 

Hornstone, flint, milk quartz, prase, catseye, firestone, and other 
different varieties of silicic acid, are met with in the above localities, but 
have no especial interest. 

Opal, (nydrated silicic acid.)\—Idaho City, Golden City, South Boul- 
der, &e. 

Feldspar.—Very abundant in the mountains ond as boulders and 
» pebbles throughout the Territory. Associated with quartz in the granites, 
eneisses, and “porphy ries of the gold-bearing mountains. 

a. Or thoclase (A1,O;. 3810; + “KO. SiO;) is largely the predominant 
feldspar in the rocks of Colorado. 

a1. Pegmatolite.—Flesh-red, orthoclastic, abundant as pebbles, seat- 
tered with quartz over the prairies for hundreds of miles. Forms red 
granites and gneisses with quartz and mica, and red syenites with horn- 
Dlende. Ver y common. 

@ 2. Adularia.—Formsa white porphyry when associated with quartz 
in many places along Fall River, and in many veins. Not common. 

a3. Sanidin. —_Fine crystals of hopper-shaped sanidin from Quartz Hill. 

b. Plagioclastic feldspars. 

b 1. Albite, (Al,0;. 3810; + NaO. Si0;.)—Trout' Creek Pass. 

b 2. Oligoclase.— Arkansas River Park, We. 

b 3. Labrador, (Al,O; . SiO; + CaO. S8i0;.)—In the basalts and diabases 
of the region about the Spanish Peaks, Trinidad, the upper part of San 
Luis Park, and the Puntia Pass. 

Hornblende, (silicate of lime, magnesia, and suboxide of iron).—In the 
syenite in and around Idaho. © 

Diorite.—Near Empire City and elsewhere. 

Garnet.—South Park, twenty miles from Fairplay. Breckenridge. 

Mica, (KO . SiO; + Al,O; . SiO; + RO. SiO;.) 

1. Potash mica. —Light colored. Frequent in the~ gneisses of Gilpin 
and other counties. 

2. Magnesian mica.—Dark colored. Frequent in the gneisses of South 
Park, Trout Creek Pass, “ce. 

Leucite, (AlhO;. SiO; + KO. SiO;.)—Im trachytic lava between the 
Cuchara and the Apishpa. 

Chlorite—In diabase, near Trinidad. 

Amphibole, (augite).—In basalts, near Trinidad, and diabase near 
Apishpa. 

Hpidote, (CaO . SiO; + [A103 + Fe,0;] SiO ;.)—Trail Creek. 

Tourmaline.—Guy Hill. 

Cale spar, (CaO . Co,.)—Very widely distributed. Idaho, &c., &e. 

Gypsum, (CaO. SO; + HO.)—Interstratified in the new red sandstone 


206 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


or triassic beds. South Park, &c. Also, accompanying the coal in thin 
scales. 

Anhydrite.—Elk Creek. 

Salt, (NaCl.)—In solution in many springs. As deposit on rocks in 
their vicinity. 

Heavy spar, (BaO. SO;.)—As gangue rock in many mines. Baker 
lode, &e. 

Meteorite tron.—F ound near Bear Creek. 

Beryl, (Al,03.2S8i0; + G1,0; 2Si0;.)—Bear Creek. 

Brucite, (MgO. HO.)\—James Creek. 

Tdocrase, [(CaO + MgO) SiO;|—Bear Creek. 


[LAPORTE ON THE CACHE A LA POUDRE. 


The town lies on both banks of the above creek. The appearance of 
the country is that of a number of superposed layers or strata dipping 
from the mountains, and presenting a steep and more or less rugged 
basset face toward them. The canon along which the river makes its way 
through these ‘“hog-backs” intersects the latter nearly at right angles. 
We followed a canon to the north cf that of the river, and rode twelve 
miles to the extremity of the bluff on the left. The bluff to the right . 
hand was breken, and exhibited a clearly defined stratified side with 
red sandstone, limestone, and conglomerate succeeding each other in 
the order named. 

On turning the extremity of the bluff to the right we came upon a 
very weathered syenite region remarkable for the redness of its talus. 

The mineral veins which oux guide brought us to see were all situated 
within an area of a square mile or so, in these syenite hills. 

The first proved to be a dike or vein of syenite intersecting an older 
rock of the same, whieh showed on the surface a very thoroughly decom- 
posed rock, containing an excess of iron, which gave it a specific gravity 
rather higher than usual and a dark brown color. Hornblende pre- 
dominated in the reck. There were here and there traces of various 
ores of copper, and lining the walls of the small cavities in the rock 
was observed a thin film of gypsum and chloride of sodium. This spot 
was situated upon the east bank of the North Fork of the Cache a la 
Poudre, and about three hundred feet above that stream. 

The next opening we visited was about half a mile northwest, and 
was called Maxwell’s opening. This was again a dark-colored, not very. 
distinguishable syenite, coated with malachite, and more or less per- 
meated by copper pyrites. The opening was seven feet deep and the 
crevice four or five feet wide, and the two pay streaks situated, the one 
against the south wall rock, and the other about thirty inches there- 
from. The ore becomes harder and more solid the deeper it is found. 

Hole No. 3 was three hundred yards from No. 2. It was about four 
feet deep, two.and a half inches wide, and four feet long. The rock was 
silicious and intimately mixed with a yellowish clay, which, with the 
reddish tinge due to the oxide of iron, gave the whole mass a copper 
color, which probably misled the prospectors and caused the digging of 
the hole. A little copper pyzites was observable and a very little ma- 
lachite. 

Hole No. 4 had been sunk by some Frenchmen fifteen feet deep, three 
and a half feet wide, and five feet long. The rock described as compos- 
ing No. 3 occurs with a curious slag-like silex containing very plain 
pseudomorphs of cubes of iron pyrites. In this ore was a little copper 
pyrites and malachite. 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 207 


Lastly we emerged upon a precipitous narrow dike of quartz por- 
phyry overhanging the before-mentioned creek on its right bank, and 
forming an abrupt wall of one hundred and fifty feet above its bed. The 
crystals, both of quartz and feldspar, were very large, averaging the 
size of a man’s hand. The quartz was Standing transparent and milky, 
while the feldspar was of the true flesh-red color common to typical peg- 

matolite. 


BOULDER CITY, JULY 5 


Obtained specimens of ores from leads ten miles from this place up 

the James Creek. A fine solid specimen of argentiferous galena was 
‘given to me from one foot beneath the surface at the intersection of the 
Buckhorn and Big Thing lodes. Mr. Arnett, the owner of the claim, 
states that this ore runs from $125 to $200 per ton in silver, and $300 
in gold. Ialso obtained a specimen of very fine-looking ore from the 
Horsefall mine, ten miles from Boulder City, in Gold Hill, 

Near Boulder City, on the property owned by Mr. Marshall, occur some 
fine exposures of coal, which have been visited by Dr. J. LeConte, and 
examined subsequently with much care by yourself, so that a special 
report from me upon them would be superfluous. I will confine myself, 
therefore, to the mere statement that, in a distance east and west of a 
couple of miles, there are eleven exposures of very excellent coal, at least 
nine of which would seem to promise rich rewards for the working. The 
mining which has as yet been done, was merely to fix the location and 
investigate the extent of the veins, as well as that could be done at the 
surface. The beds appear to be large enough to yield with proper appli- 
ances a thousand tons a day for .an indefinite time. The commercial] 

value of this coal when the country is a little more settled can hardly be 
overestimated. The color is a dark brownish or bluish black, with a high 
luster and low specific gravity. It breaks, as does all of this recent coal 
which I have observed along the flanks of the Rocky Mountains, with 
the exception ‘of the rare anthracite, into parallelopipeda. This friabil- 
ity is annoying to the smelter, who finds that it chokes up his grate bars 
and stops the draught, butit has been successfully combated in the works 
of Professor Hill, ‘of Blackhaw k, by the use of the staircase furnace. 
This coal contains very few impurities, and can be and is used in the 
blacksmith’s forge without previous coking. Specimens have been pro- 
cured from these various veins and will be analyzed at the earliest oppor- 
tunity and the results submitted to you.* 


GOLDEN CITY. 


Golden City is situated nearly west from Denver, on a gently sloping 
plain at the inner extremity of the cation between two singular mesas or 
table mountains of igneous rock, capped, like the innumerable mesas fur- 
ther south, with thick slabs of basalt. The western border of the beau- 
tiful valley in which Golden City is built, is formed of the gneissic rocks, 
upon which rest the triassic (partly variegated and partly white) beds, 
and then follow the jurassic and cretaceous, but ill-defined on account 
of the unbroken grassy sward which usually conceals them. The dip of the 
tertiary beds is here beyond the vertical, so that they seem to incline 
toward the mountains. There is a lead of silica in a state of fine divi- 
sion which has been opened on a hill of triassic. On the west side of 


*T forward to you as a supplement to this report analyses of some coals from 
Wyoming Territory, and hope to add the Boulder coals thereto shortly. 


208 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. " 


alittle valley separating the cretaceous and tertiary, occur, in order, clay, 
sandstone, clay, coal, (one and a half to two feet thick,) clay, sandstone. 
Throughout the beds overlying this coal seam, in the natural order of 
deposition, but, in point of fact, underlying it on account of the abnor- 
mal dip of the rocks, are many indications of lesser coal beds which as 
yet have not been opened. About ten feet below the nethermost sand- 
stone (in age above it) occurs a vein of fine brick clay ten to fifteen feet 
thick. The limit of this stratum on its east side has not yet been reached, 
but the clay grows purer and more and more free from iron in that 
direction. On the west side of this bed the clay is not utilizable on 
account of the presence in it of iron, which forms a fusible double silicate 
and melts out, leaving the mass full of holes. A pottery has been started. 
and bids fair to compete successfully with the best establishments of 
similar character elsewhere. As yet the proprietor confines himself to 
the manufacture of earthenware, but contemplates increasing the extent 
and variety of the products of this pioneer ‘pottery, a and even hepes in 
time to be able to rival the best English white ware. 

Friday, July 16.—From Golden Cit ‘y to a point on the mail road nine 
miles east of Idaho City— At Mount Vernon the road enters a cation, and 
after cutting across a red syenite, passes into a region of finely lami- 
nated gneiss. From this point the springs become more frequent. A 
number of quartz veins crop out on the sides of the road. Visited a 
lode situated about two hundred yards south of the road and half a mile 
west of the stage station. The crevice was eight feet wide, and the dis- 
covery shait ten feet deep. The quartz (which was very rotten) exhib- 
ited iron and arsenical pyrites, copper glance, and galena. The wall 
rock on the south side was not much weathered, whereas the proper 
north wall-rock had not been reached. Not far from this opening was 
another shaft thirty feet deep. ‘The ore from it was rich in malachite, 
copper pyrites, peacock ore, and copper glance. Beautiful rhombohedra 
of calcite were obtained from the gangue rock. This claim was to have 
been sold in 1863 to parties in New York for $25,000, but owing to the 
effect produced by the panic among owners of Colorado mines in that 
year, the sale was not consummated, and the cla im has lain idle ever 
since. 

An opening on another lode still further west revealed copper pyrites, 
malachite, galena, and silver glance. Fine cale-spar crystals were ob- 
tained here also. 

July 17.—Our route lay through Idaho City, nine miles distant. The 
first part of the road wound its way through masses of red and gray 
gneiss, intersected here and there by veins of white quartz. Now and 
then this gneiss alters its character, both in habitus and color. Two 
or three dikes of quartz porphyry Cross the road. 

The placer mining is carried on extensively on Clear Creek, there being 
sixteen sluices between the intersection of the road and creek and Idaho 
City. One party of the miners informed me that they averaged $12 per 
day per man. They had five rifles in operation. 

On the banks of Clear Creek the rocks were much contorted and 
flexed; general dip, northwest. 

The hills on the right bank of the creek are much more weathered 
and rounded off than those on the opposite bank. Gneiss of all 
kinds, heavy and thin bedded, coarse and fine grained, red and gray, 
with all possible combinations ‘cit these varieties, were observed. Near 
Idaho the gneiss becomes somewhat suddenly very micaceous. 

There are six sluices in operation between Idaho and three-quarters of 
a mile above that city. Beyond this there is no gulch mining attempted. 


‘GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES 209 


At Idaho there is a hot soda spring, whose waters, however, I did not 
analyze. Just,above Idaho is a sluice which once upon a time washed 
out one ounce of gold (twenty-three dollars) per hand per diem, but the 
best is now washed out. Near Seven-mile bridge the oneiss pitches 
almost vertically on the right bank of the creek, and resting upon these 
upturned basset edges were huge masses of gray granite. 


GEORGETOWN. 


The characteristic mineral of the country is zincblende, associated with 
galena, iron pyrites, and comparatively little copper pyrites. The most 
usual gangue rock is decomposed porphyry, and decomposed granite, 
with much quartz. The country rock is composed mainly of gneiss. Tn 
West Argentine there is considerable fluor Spar occurring, as gangue 
rock. 

Baker lode.—So far as an approximation to an average dip could be 
got, this appeared to be east northeast, but throughout the region the 
rocks are huddled together with such irregularity that nothing definite 
can be stated about either the general dip or the general strike of the 
rocks. The general sirike of the veins is east of north, and their pitch 
nearly vertical. 

Brown lode.—At most of the mines the ore is got out by hoisting, but 
at this one there is a tunnel driven in sixteen hundred feet above the 
bed of the creek to intersect the shaft. The mouth of this latter is one 
hundred and ten feet above the tunnel, and is met by the above-mentioned 
cross-cut, (one hundred and eighty feet long,) and bya drift extending 
(up to the date of these notes) but thirty feet out from it. The ores found 
in the Brown lode are native (wire) silver, antimonial silver, (AgSbs,) 
. Stephanite, copper-fahlerz, polybasite, and the dark and light ruby ores. 
The amalgamation works below here are usually supplied with ores con- 
taining less than five per cent. of lead. 

An engine of thirty horse-power drives the machinery of the mill, 
and in'winter time warms the water intended for the wet stamps, and 
the building itself, by means of a steam-pipe leading to the tank con- 
taining the water. The mines are not troubled by water. In last April 
the miners had some trifling difficulty to contend against after the spring 
thaw; but this was promptly met and overcome. ‘There are twenty 
stamps for wet crushing and four others each of 500 pounds weight. The 
ore contains about twenty per cent. lead, but this is insufficient to meet 
the wants of the furnace, and lead is bought to supply the deficiency. 
Thirty-five per cent. of lead is necessary to the carrying on of the pro- 
cess. There are two classes of ore which are dressed or separated by 
hand. The first-elass’ore is crushed dry and goes directly to the furnace. 
The second-class ore is crushed wet, and dressed by means of a circular 
buddle revolving from fifteen to twenty times per minute. Under one 
hundred ounces per ton, the ore is not treated, but is dumped out and 
saved in the hope that the reduced price of labor or some more econom- 
ical process may enable the owners to work it to advantage.* 

The ore, after having been dressed and sorted as above-mentioned, is 
mixed with ten per cent. lime and fifteen per cent. iron, and is subjected 
to a low red heat in a reverberatory furnace to reduce any argentiferous 
litharge that may be present. Then high heat is given, and the s sulphide 
is converted into argentiferous lead and matt, according to the usual 
method. 


* One per cent. silver equals about three hundred ounces per ten, so that one hundred 
ounces per ton equals one-third of one per cent. 


14 4H 


210 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


The roasting requires from twelve to fifteen hours and the smelting 
twelve hours more in the reverberatory furnace. The matt, after being 
separated from the argentiferous lead, is stored away to be worked over 
at the end of every run; or if the furnace clogs up some of it is added, to 
clean it out by its fasibility. 

A run occupies usually twenty days, more or iess. In regard to the 
amount of work done by this company the following statement may be 
of interest, as giving the total from January to August of 1869. 

Total number tons of ore treated in MELTED) 188. 

Average assay value of ore per ton, 200 ounces. 

Percenta ge of assay ¥alue saved, 90 per cent. 

The Terrible shaft is opened four hundred feet below the Brown. In 
April last the workmen were shut out from their shaft by the rapid 
invasion of water, but since then there has been no trouble. The Ter- 
rible ores have already attained a widespread reputation for richness. 
The main difference between them and the Brown ores is that they are 
richer in brittle, and the Brown in ruby, silver.* 

The Baker mine.—The mill belonging to this company is situated some 
four miles up the canon known as West Argentine, and on the opposite 
side of the creek from the Brown lode. It is one of the very finest 

structures of the kind ever erected in this Territory, but was not quite 
completed at the time of my visit. On the floor of the mill under the 
apertures through which the ore is to be delivered, is a drying hearth for 
drying the wet ores. After the moisture has been driven off the ore is 
crushed in Dubois’s breaker and ball-crusher. The former. of these 
machines resembles the breaker known generally in Europe under the 
name of “the American nut-cracker.” The ball-crusher is a cylinder 
formed of strong iron staves, which are attached at their extremities to 
two stout iron disks in such a way as to leave a very small crack between 
each two cf them. Three to four hundred pounds of iron balls are then 
put in with the ore and the cylinder revolved on its axis. The finely 
powdered rock falls through the cracks into a hopper built to receive it, 
and through this hopper into an iron cylinder twelve feet long and eight 
feet in diameter, with a helix attached to its inner surface for the pur- 
pose of continually turning the ore, and thus presenting a fresh surface 
for oxidation. Tire is at first applied, and this cylinder is made to rotate 
Slowly, and in a short time the sulphur of the ore is ignited, whereupon 
the extraneous fire is withdrawn and the oxidation continues with the 
assistance of the heat from the burning sulphur. The supply of atmos- 
pheric air to the interior is regulated by means of a door to an opening 
at one extremity of the cylinder’s axis, while the volatilized oxides of lead 
and zine and silver are led through a pipe connecting with the other 
extremity of the axis to condensing chambers and thus saved. 

After a thorough roasting the ore is let out upon cooling floors, and 
from that transferred to the amalgamating barrels. 

The Baker ores contain much zin ieblende and will average perhaps sixty 
ounces silver per ton, though occasionally rich pockets are > met with in the 
mine, the ores from which have given remarkably high results. Red and 
white varieties of fluorspar occur largely as gangue rock of the lode. 

The Burleigh tunnel_—This is about half a mile distant from the Brown 
Jode toward Georgetown. The object had in view by the proprietors of 
ithis tunnel is to intersect all the lodes whose strike is with the trend of 
the mountain in which it is being driven. The rock is quite hard, and 
only one hundred feet had been bored when it was inspected. The boring 


* The average assay value of brittle silver is five thousand ounces per ton. 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE. TERRITORIES. 2th 


is done by means of steel drills worked by compressed air, the machine 
for driving them being mounted on a car running on rails. A steam 
engine outside compresses the air and forces it through pipes to the 
machine in the interior. It is expected that a lode will be intersected 
about one hundred feet further in. 

The Snowdrift mine—This mine is three quarters of a mile below the 
Brown lode, on the same side of the creek, and is five hundred feet higher 
up the mountain than the same. The ores are chiefly sulphuret, (silv er 
glance,) and galena. Very little iron or copper pyrites or zincblende i is 
met with. The vein is five feet in thickness, and the pay streak, (one- 
half of which is said to be composed of silver glance,) six inches in 
width. The cost of getting out five tons (including wages, We.) was 
seventy dollars, and the ore averages one hundred ounces per ton. 

The Griffith lode.—This lode, like the Gregory, near Central City, is 
the oldest as well as one of the richest in the vicinity of Georgetown. 
It is situated in a high bill or mountain on the right bank of Clear 
Creek. The shaft opening is about half way up this “hill. The shaft is 
one hundred and twenty-seven feet deep, from which a drift has been 
struck fifty feet east, and ten feet west. The dip of the vein is a trifle 
south, though it is nearly vertical. The crevice averages perhaps four 
to five feet, and its north wall-rock is a syenite, while the south wall 
rock appears to be a weathered granite. Assays show values of from one 
hundred to seven hundred ounces per ton. The ore will average per- 
haps one hundred and fifty ounces per ton. The expectation was, when 
the improvements in progress had been made, to take out fifty tons of ore 
per diem. Some little trouble was experienced from water in the early 
spring, but not enough to hamper the efficient working of the mine. 

This company owns twenty-five feet each side of the lode and three. 
hundred on the lode each side of the discovery shaft.* The upper part 
of the north wall-rock eonsists of a decomposed, yellowish coarse-grained 
mixture of gneiss and quartz porphyry, but below it is a hard, compact 
syenite. The south wall-rock appears to be, above, a reddish ferruginous 
weathered granite, and, below, a white, compact quartz porphyry. 

The following is as accurate a list as could be obtained of the princi- 
pal lodes worked at the present time in the vicinity of Georgetown: 
Baker, (worked for three years;) Brown and Coin, Terrible, Lily, Men- 
dota, Snowdr ift, White, Elijah ‘Hise, Wn. B. Astor, Cliff, New Boston, 
B. Nuckles, Belmont, Continental, "Hquator, Gilpin, Griffith, Comet, 
Magnet, Anglo-Saxon, 4 Young America, and Wall Street. 

There are seven mills and dressing works in the vicinity. 

From the Equator and Terrible the first-class ores are hand-dressed, 
(from the former simply broken and boxed, from the latter crushed and 
sacked,) and sent to the Hastfor further treatment. The lead is notpaid 
for. Iam informed that in the New Boston mine there is in one place 
fifteen feet of solid galena. ‘The same authority states that a shaft was 
sunk on the vein one hundred and seventy-five feet before it was dis- 
covered that the crevice, instead of five, was fifteen feet in breadth. 

J. O. Stuar?’s mill.—This mill stands on the left bank of Clear Creek, 
just below Georgetown, and is built for custom ores. The greater part 
of the business of this mill is derived from the Equator and Terrible 
second-class ores. The average amount of ore put through the mill is 
about three tons a day, or one thousand tons a year. The process is 


*See Mining Laws of Colorado. 
t In the Anelo- Saxon, lam informed that native silver predominates over all other 
metals, but the pay streak is very narrow. 


212 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


the same used in California and Nevada. Ores are never sent here for 
treatment which assay less than $60 per ton, and the average is about 
$100 per ton. These ores are roasted with salt in a reverberatory fur- 
nace and amalgamated in pans. They consist chiefly of silver glance, 
zinc blende, and copper (and iron) pyrites. They are first dried in an iron 
pan and then crushed dry ina six-stamp mill. After this they are sub- 
mnitted to a chloridizing roasting in areverberatory furnace with salt. The 
pyrites contained in the ore is sufficient in amount to react on the cloride 
of sodium and set free ti e chlorine without the necessity of adding sul- 
phate of iron, which is usually done. The material is then amalga- 
mated in iron pans and filtered through cloths, after which it is retorted, 
assayed, melted, run into bricks, and stamped. The ore from the Whale 
lode contains about equal values of silver and gold, and will be run into 
_bars as auriferous silver and sent Hast for separation. 


EMPIRE CITY. 


The principal mines in the neighborhood of Empire City are the 
Conqueror, Silver Mountain, Tenth Legion, Empire, Livingstone, At- 
lantic, Gold Dirt, Roseneranz, Rupp and Cross, Tom Benton, and Star, 

he Curtis, and Ellsworth, (the former close to Mr. Ball’s mill, and the 
latter almost in the town,) and the Bay State. Many others look favor- 
ably, but are not mentioned, because the shafts are not yet sunk deep 
enough to render an intelligent opinion of their capacity possible. 

The Conqueror lode-—This lode is located a mile or two above the 
settlement of Upper Empire. The shaft is two hundred and seventy 
feet deep, and the ore is all pyrites in a fine state of division. There 
are, as yet, no drifts commenced, but the ore is shoveled out into buck- 
ets and dumped out as a mass, resembling moist sandy clay, inter- 
spersed with fine crystals of iron pyrites. The engine, which is of twen- 
ty-two horse power, hoists out in forty seconds. They get out two cords 
of ore, at from eight to ten tons per cord, in a day. This Conqueror ore 
assays very well, but the data of its yield Iam unable to find in my 
notes. ~ 

The Rosencranz ore resembles that of the Conqueror. The crevice of 
the Silver Mountain lode is five and one-half feet thick. It had Jain 
idle fer some months previous to the date of my visit, (July,) and there 
were ten feet of drift snow in the bottom of the shaft when I descended 
it. The roof and walls of the mine were covered with fine crystals of 
Green Vitrol. 

All these lodes were recorded as striking northeast and southwest. 

Mr. Ball assures me that the general character of the gangue rock in 
all this, district is granitic. 

There are nine amalgamation mills in this (the Union) district. 


CENTRAL CITY. 


The Gregory lode-—This crops out near the lower end of Central 
City, was the first discovered in Colorado, and has been worked ever 
since with profit, in spite of the disturbances which have checked the 
development of so many other mines. At present there are seventeen 
shafts sunk in the lode, only three of which are being worked. The first 
class ore of this vein is an iron pyrites in which a tolerably constant per- 
centage of gold is found mechanically diffused, (or as some think chein- 
ically combined, with sulphur,) but at all events in a state of very fire 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. alts 


division. The ore assays from three to six ounces gold per ton, and is 
sold to Professor Hill for treatment in his smelting works. 

A somewhat singular phenomenon is the occurrence, at No. 4 Gregory 
Lode, (Bruce’s claim ,) of three separate veins in a breadth of fifteen feet. 


These veins are named the Dead Broke, Gregory, and Foote and Sim- | 
mons. They are divided from each other by thin walls of country | 


rock, in some places two inches and less in thickness, but were virtually 
regarded and wrought as one vein. A little higher up on Gregory hill 
these veins diverge i in three different directions, and at a depth of two 
hundred and sixty feet in the Smith and Parmelee shaft the latter two 
are seventy feet apart. 

Smith and Parmelee mine —This claim was wrought for the first 
forty feet as one vein. It there divides over a mass of country rock, 
and, as above stated, the veins diverge continually at lower depths. At 
the surface in many places, the lode in which this claim is situated ap- 
pears to dip with the country rock, but deeper the latter becomes. almost 
horizontal, while the vein continues its course downward as a true fis- 
sure vein. Ata depth of two hundred and sixty feet work was con- 
ducted on the north vein, and a cross-cut was run out to the Gregory 
lode in which there are one hundred and sixty feet of good ore which 
has not yet been stoped out. The level in the Gregory vein has been 
run east and west eighty feet. 

The breadth of the vein is, on the average, two feet, and of the iron or 
pay streak, ten inches. The average assay value of the ore is one hun- 
dred and tiwenty- -five dollars per ton. It is sold to Professor Hill. At 
a depth of four hundred and fifty feet there is another level run, and 
this is as deep as the Gregory vein proper has been wrought. In this 
level the appearance of the ore is unchanged. The mill and mere eben 
had been overhauled and put into better condition than ever befor e, and 
the management having fallen into new hands everything seemed to be 
conducted with an energy and attention to details which cannot fail to 
make the enterprise a success. Twenty-five five-hundred-pound stamps 
were at work, the hoisting machinery was in good order, ventilation 
perfect, and the stulls in good condition. The cost of these large tim- 
bers is enormous, and out of all proportion to the other appointments of 
the mine. One of them, eight to ten feet long, will cost ten dollars 
before it is in its place. 

Briggs’s nine.—This claim adjoins the Smith and Parmelee, and is 
owned and superintended by the brothers Briggs. Everything about 
the mine and mill indicated that work was being conducted with intel- 
ligence and care. The condition of ladders and “cribbing was good. I 
will venture to make one suggestion of an improvement which will 
apply to the majority of all the mines here, as well as to this one. In 
some cases, where deep shafts or other dangerous places must be passed 
by the miners in their passage to and from their work, a proper regard 
for their safety should induce the company to see to it that every acci- 
dent which could endanger life is guarded against.* In some few cases 


this has been overlooked. The Gregory and Briggs veins, together at ° 


the surface, are fifty feet apart at a depth of four hundred and fifty feet. 
The distance between the wall rocks varies from four to eighteen feet. 
The appearance of the ore improves, the lower the vein has been fol- 
lowed. 

At the bottom of the shaft, the Gregory vein widens out to eight feet, 


* An accident has since occurred in this mine by which three men were killed. 


214 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


and besides the fine look of the iron pyrites, native gold is found, in very 
small particles, scattered over quite an extent of the pay streak. 
In the mill are fifty eight-hundred-and-eighty-pound stamps. 


NEVADA CITY. 


The Prize and Copeland lodes—The town of Nevada adjoins Central 
City and stretches away some two miles up the gulch in which it is 
built. The Prize vein strikes about north 10° west, and the Copeland 
nearly west. 

The two veins come together in the shaft at a depth of one hundred 
and twenty feet from the surface. The drift on the Copeland has been 
run seventy feet west and sixty-five feet east from the shaft. At the 
extremity of the western outstope the vein is ten feet in width, and the 
ore occurs throughout the whole of it. The ore is principally zine- 
blende, and assays one hundred dollars per ton. The second-class ore 
averages Six ounces per cord. Mine in excellent condition, and timbers 
good. Seventeen men and two horses are employed in and outside the 
_taine. Back and forward stoping are being carried on at the same time 
from the extremities of the drift. At the bottom of the shaft the vein 
is six feet in thickness, and contains an eighteen-inch pay streak close 
to each wall. The average yield per diem is three cords (about twenty- 
one tons. Twenty-four stamps are run night and day. 

North Star lode-—The ore from this lode contains a fahlerz which 
will prove very rich. The machinery and appointments of the mine are 
the best that I saw around Central City. The hoisting apparatus, which 
is provided with an automatic dumping arrangement, works beautifully. 
Shaft mouth, dressing works, and blacksmith shop are all under the 
same roof. There are eight tables for blanket tailings. 

Perrin lode.—The shaft house and mill belonging to the Perrin Mining 
Company had just been erected under the superintendence of Mr. G. A. 
Bradley, but had not been running long enough to enable me to gather 
any reliable statistics as to the amount of work which could be done 
per diem. 

The shaft is situated in Russell Gulch. The ores of this mine com- 
prise copper and iron pyrites, copper glance, and fahlerz. The first- 
class ore averages $150 per ton, and the second-class three and one-half 
ounces per cord. The shaft is one hundred and forty feet deep; dip of 
vein, seventy-eight degrees; strike north five degrees east at the shaft 
mouth, but the strike varies with the distance from the shaft, and the 
vein appears to conform to the shape of the hill. No good hanging 
wall has yet been reached. 

The mill owned by this company is located about a quarter of a mile 
from the shaft house in Russell Gulch, and is forty feet square. . 
There are four companies running mills in the gulch above this one, 
which purchase their water from the Consolidated Ditch Company. Mr. 
Bradley, however, has a drain to Graham Gulch, two hundred and fifty 
feet distant, and leads the water which he obtains from it to a tank of 
twelve hundred cubic feet capacity. A large cistern of five barrels 
capacity, attached to the rafters of the mill, keeps the stamps supplied 
with water, through pipes suitably attached, and derives its supply from 

the large tank previously mentioned. 

In the event of the water supply failing, there is a second tank, of 
two hundred and eighty-eight cubic feet capacity, which is placed at the 
opposite end of the mill, and into which the water from the tail sluices 
runs. This tank is divided into a smaller and a larger part by a parti- 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 215 


tion not quite as high as its sides, over which the water pours from the 
former into the latter division, thereby clearing itself. An elevator 
conveys it from here to the cistern. By this arrangement the same 
water can be used two or three times. 

One engine of thirty-five horse-power drives two six-stamp and two 
five-stamp batteries. The stamps of the former weigh six hundred 
pounds each, and those of the latter four hundred and fifty pounds 
each. 

There is a separate bin opposite each battery for sorting the custom 
ores. The four-hundred-and-fifty-pound stamps are intended to drop 
thirty-five, and the six hundred pounders twenty-five times per minute. 

There are in this mill eight feet of coppers and four feet of blankets; 
but besides this the water runs over four and one-half feet of small 
blankets to the tail-sluice. Two pumps keep the water constantly 
supplied to the cistern. The blankets are washed, according to cireum- 
stances, every fifteen to thirty minutes. 

These tailings are brought into the Bartola pans and polished by 
arastras, nitrate of mercury and cyanide of potassium being added in 
small quantities to assist the process. 

From this they are brought to the dolly-tub for amalgamation. These 
three pans save $15 of the gold, which would otherwise run out and be 
thrown away, per day; and Mr. Bradley hopes to be able, by the use of 
three additional pans, which he contemplates adding, to pay the daily 
wages of the whole mill personal. 

The two five-stamp batteries are always worked together, but the six- 
Stamp batteries are provided with a clotch, by disconnecting which 
fastening they can be worked separately. 

Cleveland mine.—Excelsior lead. 

Trail Creck, a few miles from Idaho City.—I visited the mill belonging 
to this company for the purpose of witnessing the trial of a new two- 
stamp steam stamp, the invention of Mr. Wilson, of Philadelphia. Two 
steam cylinders are mounted on heavy framework, the piston-rods pro- 
longed below are shod, thus forming the two stamp-rods. The weight 
of each stamp is 500 pounds, the impinging force of thesteam 1,700 
pounds; which, deducting the necessary amount for friction and other 
losses, leaves an available blow of over 1,700 pounds. These stamps 
can be run 170 to 212 per minute. This velocity was not attained 
during the trial, but the working was so satisfactory as to leave the 
impression on all who witnessed it that this kind of stamp mill, with 
certain modifications, bids fair to supersede all others. Great attention 
must, of course, be paid to the feeding, to avoid throwing upon the 
table imperfectly crushed quartz, because from twice to twelve times as 
much ore as in an ordinary mill passes in a given time under each one of 
these stamps. 

The smelting works of Professor Hill—_These works are favorably sit- 
uated on Clear Creek, half a mile below the western extremity of the 
town of Black Hawk. There are two reverberatory furnaces, a set of 
rollers for crushing, and attached to the works is an assay office for 

valuing the ore bought. 

This ore is of all “kinds and comprises the richest produced by the 
mines. Seven tons are matted in one day, and this matt is then sent by 
Professor Hill to Swansea and sold. The lump ore is roasted in heaps 
six to eight weeks, to get rid of the greater part of the sulphur; it is 
then crushed in the rolling-mill and mixed with the other ores. 

The tailings, consisting mainly of pyrites, are roasted in the reverbe- 
ratory furnaces. 


216 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


All the ores are mixed together after roasting, in such a manner as to 
produce a slag of the requisite fusibility. The greater part of the zine, 
lead and arsenic is volatilized, a small portion only uniting with the 
matt and slag. The matt contains forty per cent. copper, and is the 
product obtained by smelting the roastéd ores. How rich this matt is 
in silver, and how much of it is annually shipped abroad, is known only 
to Professor Hill and his assistant. 

It is stated that Professor Hill contemplates erecting additional 
works for the reduction of this matt on the ground where it is produced, 
and the enterprise is generally regarded with satisfaction by the mining 
population, among whom the belief is common that the profit which 
Professor Hill can realize in treating these ores ought to be sufficient to 
enable him to spare himself this great transportation, and at the same 
time stop one of the many channels through which bullion flows out of 
the country. 


COLORADO CITY, AUGUST 9. 


About three miles from Colorado City, in a ravine through which 
flows the Fontaine-qui-bouille, are the famous soda springs, which 
have been from time immemorial regarded with superstitious awe by 
the Indians, and which are now attracting persons from all parts of the 
country by their beauty and supposed medicinal virtues. Three of 
these springs are situated on the right bank of the creek, not more than 
fifteen feet from the edge, and one of them (the smailest, and that giving 
the strongest water) on the left bank. 

The first of these which one meets in gomg from Colorado City bub- 
bles up through the rock into a large basin of seven or eight feet in 
diameter, which it has formed partly by wearing away the sides which 
confine it, and partly by continual deposits of its salts. This spring is 
eailed the “ Beast Spring,” because it is the only one of the four con- 
veniently accessible to large quadrupeds, which drink greedily of its 
waters. 

The next (and largest) spring on the same side of the creek is the 
bathing spring, and is distant from the other but a few rods. <A rude 
roof is erected over the spot whence it issues from the rock, and the 
invalids sojourning at this place (of whom there were three at the date 
of our visit) bathe in it night and morning. The third spring on this 
side is the ‘‘ Iron Spring,” ‘and is situated a short distance up the stream 
from the last-mentioned, in a thicket, which proves from its little dis- 
turbed condition that the curative powers of the water are not held in 
as high estimation as are those of the other springs. 

The last spring, which Ihave ventured to christen the “ Doctor,” from 
the strength of its water, is the smallest of all, and on the left bank of 
the Fontaine. 

A qualitative analysis of these springs with the blow-pipe gave the 
results which follow. The manner of conducting the analysis was as 
follows: 

A large iron camp kettle, of four gallons capacity, was filled with the 

water, and the contents evaporated to dryness. The salts deposited 
were thea collected, and, after the water itself was tested for volatile 
substances, analyzed. 

The Doctor.—Four gallons of the water of this spring were evaporated 
to dryness. The salts of the residue would weigh perhaps an ounce. 
The mouth of this spring is about one foot in length and eight inches in 
width. The water contains much carbonic acid in solution. It emerges 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 217 


quietly from a syenite on the left bank, and flows in a slender stream 
into the Fontaine. A few bubbles of gas are rising continually to the 
surface, but the excess of carbonic acid is not proportionately so great 
as in the other springs. There is a comparatively small deposit of car- 
bonate of lime in the bed of the little canal which the water has worn 
away through the rock, and none in the vicinity which could be traced 
to the overtlow of the spring. The water shows no trace of volatile 
‘substances which would escape during the evaporation, excépt carbonic 
acid. Its reaction is feebly alkaline. 
The salts held in solution are as follows: 


Much—NaO. CO, 
KO.CO, 
CaO. CQO, 
NaCl 
Al,O5 

Trace—He. 


The Iron Spring.—This showed the presence of that metal from which 
it is named by a very insignificant deposit of the familiar brown oxide 
in its vicinity. No volatile substances in the water. Reaction alkaline. 

The salts in solution were: 

*KO.CO, 


NaO. CO, 
*LiO.,CO, 
(Probably as carbonate)—FeO . CO, 
NaCl 
Al,03 


The amount of iron in solution in the Iron Spring was unusually 
small; the amount of alumina being greater and that of lime less than 
in “The Doctor.” 

The Beast Spring.—This is next to the largest. A continuous line of 
bubbles of carbonic acid is perpetually ascending from the bottom. The 
taste of the water is not so pleasant nor pungent as that of the other 
springs. 

The analysis showed— 

NaO. CO, 
KO.CO, 
Na.Cl 

S 

Al,O3 


The Bathing Spring was not analyzed, but its salts cannot be very dif- 
ferent from those of the “Beast.” <A noticeable feature of this latter is 
the small per cent. of sulphur which probably is present in soda or 
potash alum. The ebullition of gas in the “Bathing Spring” is enor- 
mous and keeps the water in a constant state of agitation. 

This spring bursts out from a syenitic reck, but by the overflow of its 
waters it has covered the latter with a crust of carbonate of lime sey- 
eral feet in thickness and much broader than is the case at the celebrated 
High Rock Spring of Saratoga. It is as if a white tablecloth were laid 
over the rock. Ihave never seen so violent an escape of gas except 
from the Salina near Kissingen, in Bavaria. 


* The potash and lithia reactions with the blowpipe are sufficiently distinguishable 
to enable one possessing the requisite experience to recognize them with a little trouble ; 
but in the field, where time is short and opportunities meager, it is not always easy to 
do this. I venture to give them both without stating which predominates, reserving 
the solution of this question for the first opportunity which offers in the future. 


218 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


The Indians (both those of the mountains and those of the plains) 
frequently visit these springs, and, riding around them upon their horses, 
do homage to the Great Spirit which caused them to boil forth at this 
place, by throwing in offerings of ear-rings, bracelets, beads, and other 
objects of value. A gentleman, residing here temporarily for his health, 
Was upon one occasion alarmed at the approach of a large band of Sioux, 
who, he saw, were in their war-paint and on an expedition against the 
Utes in South Park. He secreted himself and watched them. They 

‘rode around the “ Beast Spring,” chanting some solemn invocation, and 
from time to time divesting themselves of some trinket and casting it 
into the bubbling water. When this was concluded they all drank of 
the spring, and then pursued their jonrney. It may be interesting to 
the believers in the virtues of the water to know that this same band was 
badly whipped by the Utes, and on its return was in too great a hurry 
to repeat the incantation scene. My informant took ever a bushel of 
rivgs and trinkets out of the spring. 


CANON CITY. 


Seven miles up the cation, through which runs Four-mile Creek, are 
four oil wells, which have been sunk by a Denver company, under the 
direction of Mr. James Murphy, who resides by and takes care of them. 

The canon runs through eretaceous sandstones and shales. The works 
are very primitive as yet. Seaffoldings surmount the mouths of two of 
the wells, and the oil is got ont by pumping. . 

One of these wells is three hundred feet deep, but the oil is called by 
the superintendent surface oil, and he expresses confidence in. reaching 
a much larger supply by piercing some distance down. At present he 
can only extract a few gallons a day. Some of the oil is stored in bar- 
rels about the premises. 

An analysis made of the oil by Mr. Murphy gives— 


Per cent. 

IVE TV ZTING) 2 eye) ope EUG Ge hae aad os BE cha ae page. ahd Ah A 12 
Good clear burning oil..-...-- IEEE Mer Rr tan Vy SP estan Neco yt J 50 
Nitrogenous mass, containing much paratfine and paraffine oil....- 25 
‘Coke and refuse... -- ete cigs Saute keegan Re ley a ae 13 
eSB 21 ees re patel Spel Aas Sl MAN iat eee a Amr eeeD Men abnEs yas HO 100 


bee Ne 


Mr. Murphy states that these oil wells have been opened six years, 
the half of which time he has resided on the ground, and estimates the 
annual production of oi] at about four thousand gallons. 

A quarter of a mile west of Canton Cityis a soda spring of delicious 
water which bursts out from between No. 1 and 2 of the eretaceous. The 
spring is small and its strength diminished by a large acequia, the water 
of which leaks through an aqueduct, built to carry it around a jutting 
point of rock, and trickles into the spring. 

The taste of the water is very agreeable, and stronger than that of 
any similar spring I have ever seen. 

A trace of iodine was discovered in the water of this spring. The 


salts were— 
NaO.CO, 
MgO.CO, 
CaO .CO, 
‘Trace—le 
AJ,0; 
Trace—I! 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 219 


A erust of carbonate of lime is observable everywhere in the vicinity 
of the spring as a porous tufa-like mass. 


- 


NEW MEXICO.—LAS VEGAS, SEPTEMBER 5. 


Visited the celebrated hot springs, or ‘Ojos callientes.” These springs 
make their way through metamorphic rocks on both sides of the creek, 
and the women of the country come to wash their clothes in them, for 
miles around. The temperature of the water is very high, but not being 
able to procure a thermometer in Las Vegas, I cannot state it with any 
pretense to precision. I estimate it af over 150° Fahrenheit. A five- 
gallon kettle of water, when evaporated, left a very slight sediment at 
the bottom—not a quarter of an ounce. 

In solution were: 


KO.CO, 
NaO. CO, 
Na. Cl 

TRACES EA Sway & Fe 

MPAcese iiss keeisdl tay Ss 

(Dia @ eee toupee ns Li O. 


SANTA FE, SEPTEMBER 9. 


Visited the old placer mines, which are situated in a short chain of 
mountains lying thirty miles or so west from Santa Fé, and on a large 
grant belonging to the New Mexico Mining Company, and under the 
direction of Colonel Anderson, formerly of the engineer corps, United 
States Army. 

The land owned by the New Mexico Mining Company in the San Lazaro 
mountains is ten miles and sixty chains square. The whole surrounding 
country is impregnated with gold from the mountain lodes, and gulch 
mining there would pay richly, were it not for the deficiency in the sup- 
ply of water. The company has heretofore freely permitted the inhab- 
itants in the grant to pan out gold for themselves, and they frequently 
obtain in this way six dollars per hand in one day. 

The old mill which was formerly here has heen replaced by a new 
one, now nearly completed, which is situated on the side of a hill, and 
by a little brook which supplies water to the boiler of the steam engine. 
The great difficulty which lies in the way of the successful working of 
these mines—a deficiency of water—Colonel Anderson hopes to be able 
to surmount, either by means of a ditch bringing water from the Pecus, 
or by sinking an artesian well. The mill contains forty 650-pound 
stamps, intended to drop eight inches seventy-five times per minute. 

The principal. mines yet opened on the property are, in the order of 
their importance and date, the Ortiz and Brahm. 

It is highly probable that there are other veins of auriferous and 
argentiferous quartz on the grant, but these two being the only mines 
as yet opened and worked, a glance at them must suffice. 

The. Ortiz mine was discovered and opened by a Mexican, whose 
name it bears, nigh seventy years ago; but the work having been con- | 
ducted in the shiftless, slovenly manner characteristic of the Mexicans, 
it was thought advisable by Dr. Steck, Colonel Anderson’s predecessor, 
to sink another shaft some distance from the discovery shaft (which 
marks the center of the grant.) This new shaft is now two hundred 
feet deep, well cribbed and timbered, and supplied with the best of lad- 
ders. The country rock is a granite, and the crevice is perhaps four 


220 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


feet in average. An incline was begun by Dr. Steck, connecting the 
two shafts, and was broken through recently under direction of the 
captain miner, Mr. McVhee, after whom the new shaft is named. 

The ore is composed of iron, copper and arsenical pyrites, galena and 
malachite. The pay streak is of good size, and the vein is what is called 
a chimney vein,—that is to say, it widens out every twenty feet or so 
into a chimney, which “ pinches up” again a little further on. 

There are quite a number of these chimneys connected together by 
narrow veins. This is a characteristic feature of this mine, and is con- 
sidered a very favorable sign. I would especially notice here the ad- 
mirable condition in which everything about the mine.is kept. Though 
not yet extensive, the work which has been done reflects the greatest 
eredit on the superintendent and the captain of the mine. 

Altogether, about four thousand tons of ore have been taken out and 
piled near the mouth of the shaft, against the time when the mill 
shall be completed, and it can be transported thither for reduction. Its 
average assay value has been $26 per ton, while an ounce of gold 
obtained by panning has often reached $19 50. 

Since Colonel Anderson’s administration, $35, 000 have been expended 
on the mines and mill. 

The transportation from the mines to the mill will cost seventeen cents 
per ton. 

The Brahm lode.—This was discovered last April by a professional 
prospector of Sante Fé, employed by the company, after whom it is 
named. The strike of the vein is northeast, and at the surface the dip 
is 75°, but at a depth of thirty-eight feet it dips but 45° southeast. 
There are three shafts upon it, the discovery shaft being now forty feet 
deep. 

Some fine specimens of ore carrying native gold were obtained from 
the extension shaft. Between the discovery and extension shafts is the 
air shaft, from which the richest quartz has been obtained. 

Levels are being driven both ways, outwards from all these shafts. 

The following may be interesting, as giving an idea of the expense of 
working mines on this scale inthis country: T:vo engineers, at $90 per 
month ; four feeders, at $3 50 per day; two amalgamators, at $5 per day; 
forty miners, at $2 25 per day, (Mexicans ;) common laborors, at $45 per 
month; chief mechanic and foreman of mill, at $205 per month; one car- 
penter, at $5 per day; three carpenters, at $90 per month; two black- 
smwniths, at $110 per month; captain miner, $180 per month. 

The true name of the old placer mining district is the Real Dolores. 
The new placer mines are situated on the north face of the Tuorto 
Mountains and should properly be called the Real de San Francisco. 
Some litigation has arisen between this company and the New Mexico 
Mining Company, on account of a dispute as to the boundary of the lat- 
ter’s part. 

The nucleus of the San Lazaro Mountains is a granite, which exhibits 
itself in the mountain, to the north of the settlement, in high conical 
peaks. To the south of the settlement is a mountain composed princi- 
pally of metamorphosed sandstone, which is everywhere intersected by 
trap dikes. 

_ Near the mill is an igneous conglomerate. This rock consists of a 
matrix of calcareous matter, in which are breccia of various rocks and 
large rounded masses of syenite. The boulders of syenite appear to be 
of singularly uniform size and are strewed over the rock with remarka- 
ble symmetry and regularity. 

About three miles north of this settlemeut is a high hill at the north- 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 221 


ern base of which occur several coal seams. The nearest and mest 
recently opened isa coal of fine quality, and, like all the coal observed 
along the flanks of the Rocky Mountains, breaks up into small parallelo- 
pipeda or rectangular prisms. 

Near the entrance to the southwest opening of this coal bed are two 
irregularly-shaped masses of carbonaceous clay and gypsum, which re- 
semble, at a superficial glance, small dikes. Neither of these appear to 

be continued above the roof or beneath the sole of the mine, though 
they appear on both sides. 

Another bed of coal was visited, near which was a large basaltic dike, 
the heat from which appears to have altered the former to a modern 
anthracite. This coal is harder, blacker, and more lustrous than that of 
other veins I have seen in the vicinity of the Rocky Mountains; nor does 
it exhibit that singular cleavage which characterizes these beds. 

Ores were given me from the San Dia Mountains and mines which 
looked well, but proved by a quantitative analysis to contain very little 
silver. The ore was a quartz containing lumps and flakes of galena. 

Colonel Anderson gave me also a fine Specimen of na tive copper, 
found in the bed of the creek, at a short distance above the Real Do- 
lores. 

Quite fine-looking specular iron, hematite, and some small crystals of 
spathic iron ore,were seen on the North Mountain, half a mile or so from 
the Ortiz mine. Specimens of the former were obtained. 


TAOS, SEPTEMBER 19. 


Twelve miles north from Taos, in the Arroyo Hondo, is a mill erected 
quite recently by the “Arroyo Hondo Mining and Ditch Company,” 
under the superintendence of Mr. Stuart, of Taos, but not yet roofed 
over, nor incomplete running order. There are twenty 430-pound stamps 
constructed to drop thirty-five times per minute. 

The quartz of the ore is partly a ferruginous and reddish, partly a 
white mixture of quartz and mica. The red variety prospects the best, 
(‘shows the best color.”) On the road from the mill to the shaft from 
which the company expects to derive most of its ore, is a lode which 
occurs in the granite and bears iron pyrites, green, and a little blue vitriol. 
A second opening has been made higher up the mountain into a deposit 
of reddish and whitish clay, which shows good color in the pan, but is too 
sticky to wash well in large quantities. The company is at present ex- 
ceedingly puzzled to know how to treat this material, and is considering 
the feasibility of baking it into bricks and then running it under the 
stamps, which in its present condition it would only clog. In any case 
these gentlemen hope that by sinking deeper they will strike a true 
crevice and good wall-rock. ‘Quien sabe!” 

A mile or two around the edge of the mountain is situated the princi- 
pal mine of the company, which is being opened by a shaft and tunnel, 
the former about twenty- ‘five feet in depth, and opening some two hun. 
dred feet above the tunnel, which latter has been driven already 150 feet 
and will eventually inter sect it. 

The dip at surface is 35°, more or less, panies about east and west. 
A level has been run in at the shaft mouth 65 feet, and drilling pros- 
pects well all the way in. The ore is the same as that mentioned in 
connection with the mill. 


SAN LUIS PARK, OCTOBER 1. 


In the course of a long day’s march from the Sawateh to Homan’s 
Creek, in Homan’s Park, or the Rincon, we passed a region where a 
great number of hot springs boiled up. The first of these (and the larg- 


222 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


est) covered a space of perhaps 600 square feet, and emitted a vapor 
which could be seen for a long distance. 

Surrounding it was a marsh or swamp in which salts from the evap- 
oration were deposited. The temperature at the edges was perhaps 
110° to 120° Fahrenheit, and bubbles of gas rise in many places to the 
surface, and are caused by the weight of a person walking around the 
edges in the immediate vicinity of the soggy soil. Specimens of the . 
salts, as they lie loosely like an efflorescence, and also of the same ma- 
terial in a harder form like California marble, (only not so variegated in 
color,) were collected, but no opportunity offered to examine ther m. 

The surrounding country, and our road towards Homan’s Creek, is for 
miles covered with a white deposit called by the natives ‘alkali, » sim- 
ply. Itgives the landscape the appearance of being covered with snow. 
This “alkali” is probably composed of nitrate of “potash, sulphate of 
lime, and perhaps other salts in smaller quantities, but has not been yet 
analyzed. The same deposit has been observed in the neighborhood 
of St. Vrain’s Creek, and in the basaltic region below Trinidad on our 
route down to Santa Fé. 


Minerals observed in New Mexico. 
MINERALS OF COMMERCIAL VALUE. 


Tron pyrites, copper pyrites. —Mostly auriferous. Widely distributed in veins over the 
flanks of the Rocky Mountains, in New Mexico, and in numerous lesser chains of 
granitic and metamorphic rocks. 

Malachite, green vitriol, blue vitriol-—Principally from decomposition of the above, 
wherever the ores have been exposed to weathering. Widely distributed in veins 
over the flanks of the Rocky Mountains, in New Mexico, and in numerous lesser 
chains of granitic and metamorphic rocks. 

Zincblende.—Often argentiferous. San Dia, &c. 

Galena,—Often argentiferous. Maxwell’s, near Moro. 

Brittle silver. —Maxwell’s, near Moro. 

Feahlerz. —Maxwell’s, near Moro. 

Specular iron ore.—Real Dolores, near Ortiz mine. 

Red and brown hematite. —Widely distributed. Old Placer, &c. 

Magnetic pyrites.—New Placer. 

Coal.—Raton Mountains, Maxwell’s, Real Dolores, &c. 

Cerussite.—Maxwell’s. 

Anglesite.—Maxwell’s. 

Native gold.—Arroyo Hondo, Morena, Brahm Lode, New Placer, &e. 

Native silver.—Maxwell’s. 

Horn silver.—Maxwell’s. 

Titanic iron ore.—Real Dolores. 

Smithsonite.—San Dia. 

Silver glance.—Morena, New and Old Placers. 

Light and dark ruby silver.—Maxwell’s. 

Spathic and micaceous iron ores.—Real Dolores. 

Turquoise, (2Al,03.PO;+5HO.)—Cerillos, between Santa Fé and the San Lazaro 
Mountains. 


CHARACTERISTIC MINERALS. 


Quartz.—Forms gangue rock of most of the veins; common. Agate, chalcedony, and 
silicified wood in the bed of the Galisteo. In the granites, gneisses, de. 

Hydrated oxide of iron.—Occurs with the coal beds, and colors the rocks near exposed 
veins, &c. 

Opal.—Galisteo beds. 

Feldspar.—Everywhere among the granitic rocks. Orthoclases predominant. Oligo- 
clases also abundant. Albite is found near Moro. 

Labrador.—Basalt dikes, &c. 

Hornblende.—Syenites, some basalts. ; 

Potash and magnesian mica. —Gueisses and granites, and in the greissen found near 
Moro. 

Leucite.—Trachytic lavas near Fort Union. 


© 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 223 


Chlorite.—Diabase, Real Dolores, San Luis. 

Augite.—In the basalts and chlorites. 

Cale-spar.—Very common; finely crystallized in Real Dolores. 

Gypsum.—Beds near Sweetwater; also cccurs with coal. 

Anhydrite. 

Salt.—In springs at Las Vegas and elsewhere. 

Heavy spar.—As gangue rock in many veins. 

Pyrope.—Fort Craig. 

Chrysolite.—Fort Craig. 

Obsidian.—Found near old Pecos church. Fashioned into tools, as is also chalcedony. 
A fine pseudomorph of magnetic iron ore, after the cubes of iron 
pyrites, was picked up near Santa Fé. 

The iact that I could not visit the Morena mines, which are the most 
important in New Mexico, and the short time given for the preparation 
of this report, will, I hope, excuse its incompleteness, which a more 
careful study of the specimens I have collected will in some measure 
remedy. 


COLORADO TERRITORY, SOUTH PARK, OCTOBER 4. 


Visited the salt springs in this park. The whole country from the 
hither side of the Trout Creek Pass to some distance beyond the salt 
works is covered with the alkali before spoken of. A small creek 
flows northward, and in this creek the spring from which the salt is ob- 
tained discharges its water. It is collected in a box and conducted 
through a small channel to the buildings. These are two in number, 
the one in which the kettles are placed forming.a long wing at the ex- 
tremity of the other. The works belong to Rawlins & Hall, and the 
business of salt boiling was begun by Mr. Rawlins in a small outbuild- 
ing, yet standing, in 1861. 

Jn the long wing are one hundred and sixteen large boiling kettles, 
and eight iron evaporating pans. 

The spring water is first run into the kettles and heated. When the 
water has acquired a high temperature, it is drawn off into the first of 
two large evaporating’ pans, (eleven by twenty-eight feet,) and allowed 
to evaporate. The sulphate of lime and other impurities are here sepa- 
rated from the brine, which is again drawn off into the remaining tanks. 
The finest grained salt is obtained fromthe second evaporating pan, 
which is eleven by nineteen feet. The six remaining pans are each five 
by nine feet. An analysis of the salt produced was made by A. Fennell, 
of Cincinnati, with this result: 


‘ Per cent. 
IN eh OL ENE OMIA Le Maem er ULE NTE es hots ee ta are Lees ae eRe rey aa TAL 99 
CrGr sO; andcother impuritiese ey aly ea en eye nn ha) 1 

ROG) ER ae tar So eee ey LA Tc Ae ae veer alin tee 100 


The strength of the water is about one part by bulk of matter in solu- 
tion in nine parts of water. (I have this on the authority of Mr. Rawlins.) 
The company has expended over $50,000 on the works, and expects to 
commence permanent running immediately. When in full operation 
two tons of salt can be produced daily. 

Messrs. Rawlins & Hall are sinking an artesian well alongside of 
the long wing above referred to, by means of which they hope get a 
stronger brine, and also to save the expense of pumping into the kettles. 

Solar evaporating vats, similar to those in use at Salina, near Syracuse, 
New York, are also to be constructed shortly. 


224 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


The company employs from six to fourteen men. The production of a 
ton of salt costs the company from $15 to $20, and they sell it for from 
$60 to $100; the miners and smelters getting it at the former price, both 
because they do not require it as pure as do the ranchmen, and also 
because their orders are invariably larger. 


REMARKS.—COLORADO. 


That which has given Colorado such an unprecedented forward 
impetus in her internal development and growth, has undoubtedly been 
the discovery of gold and silver in the beds of her streams and in the 
recesses of her mountains. A detailed history of these discoveries would 
be hardly in place here, especially as this has been pleasantly outlined 
by Mr. Hollister in “The Mines of Colorado,” but it is interesting to 
know that the steps toward the establishment of mills, shafts, and 
furnaces in the center of a but lately uncivilized country, have been the 
same as in California and elsewhere. 

The existence of the precious metals in the mountains was not arrived 
at by reasoning on the similarity of the Rocky Mountains to other ore- 
bearing chains, nor even by concluding that if gold and silver were 
found in one part of their extent, they would be probably also in 
other parts; but the rude hunter or ruder savage chanced upon a few 
shining grains, which excited the curiosity and cupidity of the dwellers 
in the States, and first one, and then two, and then more, girded up their 
loins for a journey to the tempting wilderness, until the spark burst into 
a blaze, and hundreds of men from all classes of life were drawn together 
by the hope of enriching themselves with bags of gold. Many of these 
early gold-seekers fondly imagined that they had only to pick the gold 
up in the region within the shadow of the great Pike’s Peak, and find- 
ing that, on the contrary, their employment was one inseparably connected 
with vicissitudes and uncertainties, they were discouraged and went 
back. 

Gulch or placer mining in gold countries precedes the more regular 
and legitimate operations as naturally as all crude undertakings precede 
the improvements they suggest. The first placer mining which promised 
to reward the undertakers or prospectors in Colorado Territory had its 
origin in Cherry Creek, in a mining settlement designated Auraria, and 
just opposite the present city of Denver. This was in 1858. 

By the laws which govern the distribution of eroded materials by the 
agency of water, the larger, coarser, and heavier particles are invariably 
found deposited nearer to, and the finer, lighter, and more impalpable 
wash farther from,the origin of the eroding force. Thus the drying 
power and heat of the sun, the oxidation of the atmosphere, and the 
eroding force of wind and water, tear off large and small masses of the 
mineral veins; gravity precipitates them, along with boulders of the 
country rock, into the creek and rivulet beds, and the water of these 
streams grinds them up as in a mortar, and finally spreads them out in 
beds whose distance from the point of abrasion is inversely proportional 
to the weight of the individual particles. In this manner fine goid may 
be carried to an enormous distance from its parent vein, but the farther 
we recede from it the finer becomes the gold and the more diffused 
through the silicious mass, so that the difficulty of obtaining it is in- 
creased in two ways: first, there is much less gold, and second; what there 
is is present in a much more finely divided state. To one unacquainted 
with the facts, this second difficulty may appear not a real one; the spe- 
cific gravity of gold being the same whether the metal exists in large or 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 995 


smal! particles, must render the separation of the dust from the com 
panion rock as easy as that of the nuggets. But experience shows that, 
regulate the supply of water as nicely as he may, the miner always 
loses a comparatively large percentage of this finely divided gold by its 
floating off on the surface. This will be referred to again when the 
effect of the supply of water on the loss of gold from the tailings is 
spoken of. 

Where the topography of the eountry has been such as to cause an 
elbow in the stream carrying the débris, or where, from any cause, an 
eddy has been formed, and the diminished velocity of the water being 
insufficient to keep the larger rocks in motion and the coarser particles 
in suspension, there have been deposited at certain points little 
islands, as it were, of irregular but generally more or less oval shape, 
the gulch miner finds his richest harvest. The discovery of such depos- 
its has often led to the erroneous belief that any part of the bed of the 
creek will produce equal treasure if the water be but diverted from its 
channel, and the construction of flumes or artificial channels in places 
where circumstances were not favorable to a deposition of the precious 
metals has, in several instances, involved the misguided projectors in 
useless expenditure and great waste of time and labor. 

The creeks springing from that part of the range opposite and nearest 
to this first settlement were the first to be prospected, and, in the main, 
more than fulfilled the expectations which had been formed of them. 
The statistics in regard to gulch mining are necessarily harder to obtain 
than those of lode mining, for in the first place the operations are con- 
ducted by one or two men at innumerable points in various creeks 
and streams remote from the miners’ settlements, and secondly the 
independent conductors of this system of mining have a natural reluec- 
tance to stating the true amount of theirearnings, from the fear that 
other parties may be led to their vicinity and thus reduce their gains. 

Statistics of that kind of placer mining which is carried on away from 
the beds of the streams and upon the more or less decomposed outcrop 
of a lode, by means of water fumed from some higher level of the creek, 
are easier to get at and appear to be better known. I append a few facts 
drawn from Mr. Hollister’s book, page 66. 

Zeigler, Spain & Co. ran a sluice three weeks on the Gregory, and cleaned up three 
thousand pennyweights, their highest day’s work being $495, and their lowest $21. 
Sopris, Henderson & Co. took out $607 in four days. Spears & Co., two days, $353, all 
taken from within three feet of the surface. John H. Gregory, five days, $942; Casto, 
Kendall & Co., one day, $225; Defrees & Co., twelve days, one sluice, $2,080; Leper, 
Gridley & Co., one day, three sluices, $1,009. 

At the present time there are perhaps twenty points on Clear Creek, 
between Idaho and Golden City, where the wheels and sluices of the 
guich miners are standing, but scarcely more than one-half of them are 
really in operation. A few such works are to be found in all the creeks 
issuing from the range, but their share in the annual production of gold 
in the Territory is but insignificant, and their value has diminished, as 
is always the case with this kind of mining. While “no one has ever 
yet seen the lower edge of a vein,” a little labor will bring one to the bot- 
tom of a placer mine, which is formed by the wash of a few fragments _ 
carried from the out-crops of the veins by the rains. 

It has already been stated that the valuable ores are found in a broad 
belt running along the range north and south. Gold, silver, copper, 
lead, and zine are found abundantly in the granitic and metamorphic - 
rocks, which form the true back-bone of the Cordilleras, and coal in the 
outlying and more recent foot-hills. 

15 


226 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES, 


There appear to be two series of veins in this great mineral belt, oc- 
curring at least along the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains; the 
larger, and apparently elder, having a general north and south strike, 
and proving in most cases barren,* and the smaller and more recent, 
comprising by far the greater number of the gold and silver leads, and 
extending down the ‘range as far as I had an opportunity of observing 
it, in New Mexico, striking generally about northeast and southwest. 

lt would be difficult to define sharply the direction or extent of this © 
great mineral belt, though various writers on Colorado have indulged in 
fine generalizations on the subject. The fact appears to be that circum- 
stances have been more favorable to the existence of mineral veins in 
some rocks than in others, and that whatever may have been the great 
geological causes which brought these rocks into being, where the con- 
ditions are not totally different, indications of the precious metals may 
be expected wherever they occur. The eastern boundary of this belt is 
in general terms the eastern boundary of the gneissic and granitic rocks 
of the Rocky Mountains, but in almost every instance where outliers of 
these same rocks occur, investigation has proved the existence of min- 
eral veins: (¢. g., Pike’s Peak, which lies 150 miles east of the main chaid 
of the Rocky Mountains, the San Lazaro Mountains, the Cerillos, in 
the valley of the Gallisteo, &c.) 

The first lode was discovered in Colorado by John Gregory, May 6, 
1859, on claim No. 5, of what is yet called the “Gregory lode,” near 
Central City. The history of that discovery is very interesting, as an 
illustration of what energy and perseverance, guided by sound common 
sense, may accomplish for a man. 

‘Gregory worked this lode at first, of course, with a sluice, and got out 
$972 from the disintegrated surface. The news spread rapidly, and the 
country was soon swarming with prospectors and miners, and many 
other lodes were immediately discovered and worked. This was the 
celebrated Pike’s Peak gold fever, from which the growth of this Terri- 
tory dates. In almost every case the mines passed into the hands of 
different parties, as the getting out and treatment of the ore became 
more difficult from the growing scarcity of the decomposed surface ore, 
until at last matters were brought to a stand-still by the resistance 
offered by the sulphurets associated below with the gold to the process of 
amalgamation then in vogue. This behavior, which would have been 
foreseen by more experienced miners, seems to have astonished and dis- 
pirited them, and an exodus from the region was the result, which has 
been repeated at various times since, whenever new obstacles were to be 
surmounted. But while this has retarded the unnaturally rapid develop- 
ment of the Territory, there is no doubt that the occurrence of these sult 
phurets and the working of them will, in the end, prove a blessing to 
Colorado, by giving employment to more persons, and thus hastening 
the maturity of this commonwealth. . 

The counties, of Colorado in which as yet the principal mining opera- 
tions have been conducted, are, in the order of their present importance: 
Gilpin, Clear Creek, Park, Summit, Lake, and Boulder. 

To enumerate all the lodes which have been discover ed, or even those 
that* have been partially wrought, would be foreign to the purpose of 
this report, and a work of immense labor; nor would such a catalogue 
serve the statistician as much as might at first appear, for the object of 
all these incipient undertakings having been to realize the greatest pos- 


“An exception to this general rule is found in the Hoosier lode, about forty miles 
north of Central City. This vein belongs to the north and south class, but is never- 
theless rich and profitable. 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. - 220 


sible amount of gold in the minimum time, and the various enterprises 
in any neighborhood having been conducted independently of each 
other, by parties whose interests were never the same and often conflict- 
ing, no pains have been taken to settle questions which did not concern 
the values of the ores obtained; but, on the contrary, it has not unfre- 
quently happened that investigations of the exact positions and extent 
of the veins were opposed to the interests of one of the parties, which 
thus might be proved to be working somebody else’s claim. 

To explain this state of things, it will be necessary to state that by a 
law of Colorado (see act concerning lode claims) it is provided that— 

Src. 5. Any person or persons engaged in working a tunnel within the provisions of 
this act shall be entitled to 250 feet each way from said tunnel, on each lode so dis- 
covered, provided they do not interfere with any vested rights. If it shall appear that 
claims have been staked off and recorded prior to the record of said tunnel on the line 
thereof, so that the required number of feet cannot be taken near said tunnel, they 
may be taken upon any part thereof when the same may be found vacant, and persons 
working said tunnel shall have the right of way through all lodes which may lie in 
its course. 

Src. 7. That when two crevices are discovered at a distance from each other, and 
known by different names, and it shall appear that the two are one and the same lode, 
the persons having recorded on the first discovered lode shall be the legal owners. 

Suc. 8. That to determine when the two lodes are one and the same, it shall be ne- 
cesgary for the person claiming that the two are the same lode to sink shafts at no 
greater distance than fifty feet apart, and finding a erevice in each shaft, and forming 
a continuous line of shafts from one lode to the other shall be conclusive evidence that 
the two are one and the same lode. 


It will be evident from this that when two parties are working on 
what is suspected of being one and the same claim, those who have 
recorded last will be in no hurry to settle the question for the sake of 
the statistics, and that as it costs time and money to sink shafts fifty 
feet apart to well-defined walls, over a distance of three hundred feet, 
(the legal extent of a discovery claim in each direction from the shaft,) 
it is not always that these comparatively recently opened lodes are 
thoroughly known. 

In my very restricted report of the mines of Colorado, such examples 
have been selected as present mining here in its best phase ; or rather, of 
the best mines in the regions I visited, such have been selected as 1 
could personally visit and examine. Much of interest in the details of 
mining here has been necessarily omitted, but I hope that what informa- 
tion I have been enabled to obtain in the limited time at my disposal 
may not be without value, though submitted without attempt at arrange- 
ment, and in the form in which the notes were taken in the field. 

Many knotty questions have presented themselves to the miners and 
smelters, among which, perhaps, the knottiest is the dressing of the 
second-class ores and the proper form to which to bring the tailings 
before they are ready for the amalgamator or smelter. It is believed 
by many able miners, and the complaint is frequently made, that by the 
use of wet stamps and careless feeding, the mill-men waste unnecessa- 
rily a great deal of gold, and from this it is argued frequently, with less 
justice, that the use of wet stamps is pernicious and wasteful. This is 
going too far, though it is true that in the treatment of the ores around 
Central City and elsewhere, the greatest care and attention are abso- 
lutely necessary to prevent great needless loss. Less ore put through 
the mills, with correspondingly greater care in its treatment, would 
probably be the best remedy, and this plan would very likely produce 
the owners aS much gold as tkey get at present, and leave them so 
much the more in the mine to work. 

In conclusion I would sum up the impressions I have received from 


228 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


the tour as follows: That the valuable ores abound almost everywhere 
in the granite and gneiss of the Rocky Mountains, and the economic 
question is not to find the material, but the capital and labor with 
which to work. That the country over which these investigations were 
made is replete with those minerals which by their decomposition are 
found by experience to most enrich the soil, as it is with the before-men- 
tioned minerals of commercial value. 

That the climate is healthful and delightful, the country well sup- 
plied with water, which breaks from its rocky reservoir, with few excep- 
tions, at distances of from ten to fifteen miles, all along the base of the 
mountains ; the communication with the Kast and West is becoming daily 
more easy, and the savages of the plains and those whose headquarters 
used to be the gambling hells and drinking saloons are well nigh ban- 
ished from this favored domain. 

That the land is being tilled and prepared to support the large popu- 
lation which must soon settle here, and everything smiles on that man 
who brings to the country intelligence and a pair of willing hands. 

What stands in the way of the country’s progress are the greedy 
speculators who wish to use Colorado and New Mexico as mills for 
turning money into their pockets, regardless of the interests of the 
growing community. The system of grants, also, which gives to one 
man or one company a tract of country much larger than any one indi- 
vidual or small corporate body can possibly properly improve, cannot 
fail to exercise a baneful influence on the prosperity of such a country, 
by keeping back the tide of hardy and industrious settlers who would 
otherwise pre-empt and settle up the land. And wherever such a grant 
exists, a backward condition of the country may be expected. Toa 
certain extent this disregard of the interests of these two sister Territories 
may be observed in the manner in which certain mines have been worked. 
These mines have been hacked to pieces to produce ore, and the ore has 
been rushed through the mill to produce gold. Nothing seemed to have 
a claim to the consideration of such owners but the most rapid method of 
realizing, in order that the shortest possible time might intervene before, 
their fortunes made, they could quit the Territory and enjoy them else- 
where. In this way, valuable mines have been ruined, and thousands of 
dollars of the Territory’s gold thrown away. It were easier to detect this 
fault than to suggest the remedy; but theremedy will present itself, when 
Colorado and New Mexico shall be filled with citizens determined to 
own and occupy them, and shall have slipped entirely from the grasp 
of those who wish merely to hire and use them. The observation above, in 
regard to the remedy for the present losses in dressing tailings, has been 
made by several persons, and it has been added that even a smaller 
profit from more thoroughly and carefully worked ore would in reality 
pay the owners better, give a more healthy tone to. mining, advance it 
as an art, and spare millions of dollars inthe end. While the adjust- 
ment of such complicated questions as theseis one which must await 
the lapse of time and the’ course of events, it would be well for inter- 
ested parties to consider in what way to manage their property out here 
so as to assure themselves against present possible loss, and of future 
inerease in its value. To do this without radiating prosperity on all 
around them, and building up the wealth and power of the country, is 
a problem which will tax their abilities to the utmost, however great 
those abilities may be. 


AGRICULTURE OF COLORADO. 


By Cyrus THOMAS. 


DEAR Sir: Having been directed by you, in addition to my other 
duties, to collect such information as I could in regard to the agricul- 
ture of those portions of Colorado and New Mexico through which your 
expedition should pass, I have the honor to report to you that I have per- 
formed this duty to the best of my ability and opportunities, And here- 
with I present a partial report of my investigations, being unable to pre- 
sent even a complete or full preliminary report, for want of statistics, 
which I cannot obtain in the field, where this is written; and, also, be- 
cause L have not yet received answers to some of the most important in- 
quiries I have sent out to some of the best informed citizens of these Terri- 
tories. I hope to be able, shortly, to present you a much fuller and more 
satisfactory report on this very important subject. I trust that even the 
imperfect and partial report herewith presented will be sufficient to fuliy 
justify the interest you have taken in the development of the agricultu- 
ral resources of the Great West. 

Although the chief object of your expedition may be to determine 
the geological features of these regions, and thus increase the store of 
scientific facts by which the great problems of nature may be solved, 
yet the economic value of these investigations will be shown in the in- 
creased impetus they give to the development of the agricultural and 
mineral resources of the country. 

Our line of travel having been along the eastern flank of the Rocky 
Mountain range, from north to south, my personal examinations haye 
necessarily been confined to the margin of the arable lands of these: 
territories. And as we were constantly moving, seldom remaining at 
any one point more than a day or two, I have been compelled to rely 
upon the statements of residents for much of my information in regard 
to the climate, seasons, crops, &c., &c. But I have endeavored to con- 
sult the best sources of information. Two circumstances have very 
much favored my efforts: 

First. The proper appreciation of your efforts in this direction by the 
citizens, and their willingness to furnish all the information and aid in 
their power to facilitate the matter. 

Second. The fact that the passage of your expedition through the 
- country happened to be made during harvest, and in one of the most 
favorable seasons, for agriculture, that has been experienced in these 
Territories for many years. This enabled me tomake a partial compari- 
son of the statements received from others, in regard to the yield and 
quality of the crops, with my own observations on these points, thus 
testing the accuracy of these statements. Iam glad to inform you, that 
so far as I have been able to make this test, it has confirmed the reports 
which I have received from others, showing them to be reliable. 

Trusting this may prove satisfactory, I remain yours, truly, 
CYRUS THOMAS. 
Dr. F. V. HAYDEN, 
United States Geologist. 


230 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


Situated between 37° and 41° of north latitude, and 102° and 109° of 
west longitude, Colorado Territory extends east and west about three 
hundred and ninety miles, and north and south about two hundred and 
seventy-five miles, forming a rectangle containing an area of 106,500 
square miles, or 68,144,000 acres. teaching from near the middle of 
the great trans-Mississippi plain up the mountain slope, it laps over the 
summit of the great divide and restsits western border on the Colorado | 
basin. And including, as it does, within its bounds the great system of 
mountain parks, and the sources of‘ the four great rivers, the Rio Grande 
del Norte, the Rio Colorado, the Arkansas, and South Platte, it has 
been appropriately termed “‘The Gem of the Mountains.” And, like 
Switzerland in Hurope, it may be said to be unique in its geographical 
features. 

Of the large area contained within its boundary lines, about four- 
sevenths are embraced in the true mountain region, whose snowy sum- 
mits form the watershed of the continent. The remaining three-sevenths, 
situated, chiefly, east of 105° of west longitude, and extending the whole 
length of the Territory north and south, consist, in great part, of broad 
plains furrowed by shallow valleys, widening and fading away as they 
extend eastward ; and, with the exception of the parks and some valleys 
of the mountains, contain all the arable lands of the Territory. 

But since much of this latter portion, lying along the eastern bound- 
ary, is devoid of water, excepting the few streams which traverse it, 
the agricultural population has, as yet, been confined within a compara- 
tively narrow strip along the eastern slope of the mountains. 

In order to obtain a more correct and minute idea of the geographical 
position and extent of that portion of the Territory. which is susceptible 
of cultivation, it will be necessary to consider it in separate districts. 
And we are not left, in this, to mark out arbitrary lines, for nature has 
fixed prominent lines and permanent boundaries to each. Water is the 
great desideratum in the agricultural development of this country, and 
the method of its distribution we shall find is the true key to the agri- 
cultural system of the Territory, and its turning sheds the boundaries of 
the districts. 

Beginning at the northern part, we find the South Platte River is the 
outlet for all the water of this section which flows towards the Atlantic. 
Moving up this stream from its point of exit, near the northeast corner 
of the Territory, it will be seen that after crossing the 104° of west 
longitude it branches rapidly into its numerous tributaries. The portion 
of country drained by these numerous minor streams is bounded on the 
west by the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, and on the south by 
a high, broken, irregular ridge called the Divide, which, starting from 
the base of the mountains opposite South Park, runs eastward until lost 
in the plains. This constitutes the northern agricultural division, which, 
for convenience, I shall name the Denver district. 

This Divide separates the waters of South Platte from those of the 
Arkansas, and forms the northern boundary of the second district, which 
is the area- lying between it and the Raton Mountains. This division, 
which may be appropriately named the Arkansas district, is drained by 
the Arkansas and its tributaries. These two districts contain most of 
the tillable land of the Territory lying east of the mountains. 

I may as well remark here, that in my use of the terms “ tillable,” 
‘“‘ arable,” “ susceptible of cultivation,” &c., I do not intend thereby to 
exclude the idea of the future possibility of cultivating other sections, 
but simply intend to express the fact, that those sections, so termed, are 
now sufficiently supplied with water for farming purposes. 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 231 


The third district, which is the San Luis Park, belongs both to New 
Mexico and Colorado, and cannot be divided into parts corresponding 
with the arbitrary line of division between these two Territories. 

The fourth division I shall make is not a separate district, as each of 
the others, but includes the other parks and the small amount of arable 
land in the mountain valleys, which, on account of the proximity of some 
of them to the mining districts, become important, notwithstanding their 
small extent. This may be called the mountain district. 

It will be seen that each of these three natural districts has its great 
river by which it is drained; the Denver district finding an outlet fox 
its waters through the South Platte; the Arkansas district through the 
Arkansas River; the San Luis Park through the Rio Grande. And as 
we descend to the examination of the more minute divisions of these 
larger districts, we must follow the natural arrangement of streams and 
valleys. 


THE DENVER DISTRICT. 


This district is naturally divided into two sections; the first includ- 
ing the territory north of the South Platte and between it and tife moun- 
tains; the second, the territory between the Platte and the Divide. 

As the first section presents more definitely and sharply the peculiar 
features of this country which bear upon its agriculture than any other 
portion, I will give a somewhat minute description of it. 

The Platte, leaving the mountains some twenty miles southwest of 
Denver, after bearing out a short distance on the plains, runs northeast, 
slightly diverging from a parallel course with the eastrange of mountaing 
for a distance - of about eighty miles, where it is jomed by the Cache a la 
Poudre, and then turns eastward; thus giving the section a triangular 
shape, with the north side of the Cache ala Poudre valley as its base, 
the mountains for one side, and the Platte the other. Its general sur- 
face is a broad plain sloping from the mountain flank eastward to the 
river level with valley furrows, and rounded, low ridges traversing it 
from west to east. 

The various streams which take their rise in the mountains east of 
the great Divide, between the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific, run 
nearly an eastern course until they unite with the Platte. 

The first debris, and all the heavier materials, brought down from the 
mountains since their upheaval, have, as a matter of course, been depos- 
ited near the base. . Hence as we recede from the mountains toward the 
east, this local drift decreases in the size of its particles and depth of 
deposit. Over this is deposited the alluvial stratum forming the soil, 
which, close to the base of the mountain, but thinly covers the 
boulder drift, but increases in thickness eastward. The creeks rush- 
ing down more rapidly near the mountains, cut deeper furrows through 
this deposit near the base than at a distance from it. In consequence 
of this, the terraces or ridges, which lie between the streams, are highest 
above the water near the mountains, decreasing as they recede from it; 
that is, the distance between the water level of a stream and the top of 
_ the terrace which flanks its valley is more, half a mile from the toot 
of the mountain than it is ten miles from the foot. This fact in other 
parts of our country might have very little bearing upon agriculture, 
but it is a consideration “of vital importance to the Color ado farmer, who 
must irrigate his land or receive but little return forhis labor ; for when- 
ever this is the case it is evident that at some point, the water can be 
carried to the top of the bordering terrace. 


232. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


The portion of country north of the Cache a la Poudre valley, although 
affording good pasturage for cattle and sheep, is not generally included 
in the estimate of arable land, on account of its lack of irrigating facili- 
ties. Yet the Box Elder Valley is quite fertile, and will afford room for 
a considerable number of good farms, and the creek, though small, is 
probably sufficient to irrigate the red bottom of the valley. 

Commencing with the Cache ala Poudre, as the northcrn limit of the 
section, which is some seventy miles north of Denver, and proceeding 
south, I will describe briefly the valleys according to the streams which 
water them. This stream, from the point where it issues from the 
mountains, near Laporte, to its junction with the Platte, a distance of 
thirty-five miies, runs through a very pretty fertile valley, which aver- 
ages, perhaps, two miles or more in width, being narrow near the moun- 
tains and expanding as it recedes from them. “The bottom land of the 
valley is flanked on the north side by a rolling irregular ridge, and on 
the south side by a somewhat level terrace of moderate elevation. The ° 
stream, at Laporte, is about twenty-five yards in width, clear and rapid, 
affording a sufficient supply of water and ample descent for irrig ating 
the bottoms and ridges or terraces which border it. 

The next stream, going south, is the Big Thompson, which runs east- 
ward nearly thirty ‘miles, and also empties into the South Platte. This 
stream, and the valley it waters, are very similar in all respects to that 
of Cache Ala Poudre. The third, is the Little Thompson, a tributary of 
the Big Thompson, but, as this creek is liable to fail in its supply of 
water during the summer and autumn, it cannot be relied upon for irri- 
gation. Yet its valley affords excellent pasturage for cattle and sheep, 
and will furnish a most excellent range for stock when the neighboring 
valleys become thickly settled and fenced up. Still moving south, the 
next stream we cross is the St. Vrain, about equal in its volume of water 
to the Big Thompson. It runs through a very fertile valley of varied 
width, reaching the Platte at a distance of about twenty-five miles from 
where it leaves the mountains. The bay-like widenings of this valley 
afford room for extensive farms, of which the settlers are rapidly avail- 
ing themselves. Left Hand Creek, a tributary of St. Vrain, affords a 
small valley eleven miles in length. Boulder Creek, the next in order, 
issues from the mountains near Boulder City, and, after running some- 
what northeast for eighteen miles, unites with the St. Vrain. Some of 
the finest farming and grazing lands north of Denver are found along 
this stream. At its debouchure from the mountain gorge are gathered 
heavy deposits of boulders and pebbles, from which, doubtless, the 
ereek and city have received their names. Although these deposits are 
but scantily covered with soil, yet the fertility seems to be but slightly 
impaired thereby, as 18 shown by the fact that here is a thrifty growth 
of willow and cottonwood. 

The bottom of this valley, like that of St. Vrain, widens out at points 
to a considerable extent. Continuing our course southward with the 
snow-covered peaks rising above the rocky wal! to our right, we next 
arrive at South Boulder Creek, which, leaving the mountains near Mar- 
shall’s coal mine, runs a cireuit of some eight miles and unites with 
Boulder Creek. Here, I may justly say, is found the link that unites | 
the agriculture of the plains with the mining of the mountains, the two 
great “interests of Colorado. 

Standing on the grass-covered bluff overlooking this little limped 
stream, the eye, as it shoots out its glance north and east over the 
plains, wearies itself in attempting to mark the boundary of vision, 
The valleys over which we have passed in our journey southward, 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 233 


like dim lines, are traced across the broad meadowy expanse. Rounded 
ridges, level surface terraces, straight foot hills, with green swarded 
escarpments and isolated buttes fill up the outline. Sinking into the 
bluff on which we have been standing, we pass alternating strata of 
coal and iron ore. Here they quietly rest, rich, thick, and abundant— 
the fuel and the metal. The one to convert the other into instruments 
to till the soil, to harvest the grain, to thresh and garner it, to convert 
-it into food, to make the highway of transportation, and carry it to the 
miners of the mountains and the snow-bound dwellers in the far north. 
Such a combination is seldom seen. And, though net directly embraced 
in the object of this report, yet I feel justified in alluding to it, for the 
reason that the opening and development of these mines are intimately 
connected with the agricultural development of the country. The ag- 
ricultural instruments now in use are brought from the States at an 
expense of transportation equal to their original cost. This need not be 
so; Colorado has her coal, her iron, and, in part, her timber. It only 
needs to be developed and applied to that purpose for which nature has 
so bountifully provided it. 

Descending from our elevated position, and continuing our course 
southward, after passing some minor streams, we reach Coal Creek, also 
a tributary of Boulder Creek. But this is not an unfailing stream, and 
although some farms are found along its valley, yet it cannot be de- 
pended upon for irrigating purposes. Clear Creek, which passes within 
four miles of Denver, gives a valley of eighteen miles before it empties 
into the South Platte. It is already lined with well cultivated farms and 
comfortable houses, from which the Denver market is in part supplied 
with grain, vegetables, and meat. Finally, in our course southward, we 
reach Bear Creek, the last of the series of these transverse streams, which, 
after a short run of nine or ten miles from the mountains, pours its 
waters into South Platte. A short distance below this we arrive at the 
apex of the triangle before described, which contains, including the 
Platte Valley, about 800,000 acres of land. Of this amount about one- 
third is bottom land, the remainder forming the ridges and terraces 
which lie between the valleys. The greater portion of this entive tri- 
angular section is susceptible of cultivation, and the remainder weil 
adapted to grazing purposes. The bottoms along these creeks vary 
from haif a mile-to four or five miles in width, giving, perhaps, an aver- 
age width of two or two and a half miles. Between these valleys are 
the more elevated portions, forming, sometimes, rounded ridges, at 
others, regular terraces or benches, or rolling, gradually descending 
prairies, but seldom rising into abrupt hills; the whole face of the 
country being richly carpeted with ,nutritious grasses. These ridges, 
which border the valleys, vary in their elevation above the water level 
of the creeks from a few feet, out on the plains, to forty and fifty feet 
near the base of the mountain, and, with few exceptions, are in reach 
of water sufficient for irrigation. 

The valley of the South Platte is undoubtedly the most important, ex- 
tensive, and fertile strip of tillable land in the northern portion of the 
Territory. _ But the descent being less in this river than in the smaller 
streams we have been describing, ditching, for irrigation, is more expen- 
sive. Yet it is rapidly filling up with an enterprising farming popula- 
tion, and is being brought under an intelligent and profitable system of 
cultivation. 


234 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


SOUTHERN SECTION OF DENVER DISTRICT. 


Passing across the Platte, going south, we enter upon a section where 
a considerable change of scenery is at once apparent, and where the 
geographical arrangement is entirely different from that we saw north 
of the river. There we saw a regular succession of cool, limpid streams 
rushing down from the Rocky Mountain gorges, furrowing their way 
through the plains eastward to the Platte, the great central artery of 
the district. Here we find an irregular arrangement of long, slender 
streams, arising chiefly within the space of forty miles along the north- 
ern slope of the Divide. Carrying their volumes of water down this 
descent, they enter upon the broad, comparatively level, and somewhat 
sandy plains, and receiving but few tributaries, they struggle against 
the rapid absorption of the porous soil, growing feebler and feebler, till 
finally, in the dry season, they are lost, without reaching the Platte. 
Plum Creek, which lies next the mountains, is perhaps the only exception. 
It follows, then, that the tillable part of this section is confined to the 
valleys along the upper portions of these streams. ‘There is also a 
marked difference between the valleys of these streams and those north, 
in this: while the latter in most cases have bottoms of greater or less 
width on both sides, which are flanked by terraces with graceful, grassy 
escarpments, the streams south, cutting through the deep sandy deposit, 
generally have on one or the other side steep, blufiy banks of crumbling 
sand, reaching the surface of the second bottom. And even the bottoms 
which do border these streams very often appear to be irregular flats, 
scooped out of the higher land which once pressed close on the central 
channel. But these flats, where they can receive sufficient water, are 
exceedingly rich and productive, yielding some of the heaviest crops of 
the Territory. 

In regard to the various valleys of this section, and the extent to 
which they can be cultivated, I can at this time give but an approximate 
estimate. 

Beginning at the base of the mountains, and moving eastward along 
the northern slope of the Divide, the first stream we reach is Plum Creek, 
which has two branches, East Plum Creek and West Plum Creek, the 
one flowing from the mountains, the other from the Divide. This hasa 
run of some twenty-five miles before reaching the Platte. It furnishes 
water most of this distance, and has some fine bottom lands on it, a 
good part of which is already under cultivation or occupied. 

The next stream in our course eastward is Cherry Creek, which has 
quite a number of small affluents entering into it from the rounded hills 
on each side. From its source to its mouth is a distance of some forty- 
five or fifty miles, affording water for irrigation the greater part of its 
length, but drying up near its terminus at the city of Denver. This 
valley is quite fertile, and tolerably well settled at the more attractive 
points. 

The other creeks succeed each other in the following order: Running 
Creek, Kiowa, Wolf, and Bijou; in regard to which I have received but 
little information. They generally dry up on the plains during the sum- 
mer and fall, affording water for irrigation from twenty to thirty miles 
from their sourees. Their valleys are as yet but sparsely settled. On 
the immediate slope of the Divide, in the bottoms which flank these 
streams, irrigation is generally unnecessary, as a sufficient amount of 
rain falls to supply the crops with the necessary amount of moisture to 
mature them. 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 235 


SOIL. 


The soil throughout this district presents great uniformity in quality, 
as is clearly shown by the striking similarity of the plants of its differ- 
ent parts. Itis chiefly a light loam, in which the silicious and micaceous 
ingredients predominate. Yet there is a considerable difference between 
the two sections in one respect: whilé in the northern the particles are 
coarse and sharp, in the southern they are fine and rounded, and the 
arenaceous portion bears a larger ratio to the whole. 

But to form a correct idea of this soil, especially in the northern sec- 
tion of the district, it must be remembered that the streams, in passing 
from the snow-clad crests of the vast range of mountains to the broad 
prairies of the plains, sweep over the upheaved margins of the entire 
geological series represented in this region. And as they rush down the 
mountain gorges, and along the rocky cafions, they bear away with 
them the debris from all the strata they touch, from the primary granite 
to the most recent tertiary representative, mingling it together and scat- 
tering it over the plains they cross; not only the confined streams of 
the present era, but all the waters which have swept the mountain 
slope since it was lifted up by the vast subterranean force by which they 
were formed. The atmospheric currents driving to and fro the lighter 
and dry particles on the surface, have assisted in the mingling process. 
This combination of the various mineral elements gives to the soil an 
adaptability to a large variety of plants. The predominance of silicious 
matter renders it peculiarly adapted to the growth of wheat and oats, and 
the addition of decayed vegetable materials causes it to produce heavy 
crops of succulent and bulbous vegetables. 

It varies considerably in depth ; near the foot of the mountains, where 
the water traveled more rapidly, it has covered the boulders and gravels 
with a thin crust, while farther down on the plains it grows thicker as 
we recede from the mountains. Although the bottoms along the creeks 
contain a greater proportion of decayed vegetable matter than the ter- 
races and ridges, yet the latter are equally rich in the primary elements, 
and by a sufficient supply of water, will produce the cereals as heavily 
as the former. And, as on these terraces vegetation ripens some eight 
or ten days earlier than on the bottoms, they possess this advantage. 

In the southern section the case is somewhat different, the Divide 
being largely composed of loose conglomerate of well-worn particles ; 
when these are carried down by the more slowly running water, they 
become more finely comminuted and worn, forming heavier beds of sand 
nearer the base. In consequence of this fact the water sinks much 
sooner than in the northern section. This deeper deposit of sand is 
often very apparent along the margins of the streams where they have 
cut away the banks. 


CLIMATE. 


This strip of country lying longitudinally north and south along the 
east flanks of the mountain, the temperature necessarily varies as the 
points recede from each other. And as we descend from the higher por- 
tions along the base of the mountain to the valleys of the plains the 
isothermal lines bend considerably northward. But the average ten- 
perature of the northern section may be compared with that along the 
eastern slope of the Alleghenies, in Pennsylvania, with which it very 
nearly corresponds. The altitude varying from three to seven thousand 
feet above the level of the sea, and the line of perpetual snow not far 


236 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


distant, the atmosphere is salubrious and remarkably free from mias- 
matic vapors and impurities. And as we proceed southward, although 
there is a gradual increase in the average warmth, yet it is partially 
compensated by strong breezes which stir the air during the warmer 
season. In the summer the heat, it is true, is often somewhat intense, 
especially in the valleys where the air is partially confined. But on the 
higher grounds the breezes descending from the mountains render it 
more pleasant. The air rarified on the plains rises, while another por- 
tion, cooled by the snows of the mountains, sweeps down the slopes and 
brings with it a refreshing coolness. 

Snow generally begins to fall in October, and ceases in April, or about 
the first of May, in the latitude of Denver; but, as a matter of course, 
beginning later and ceasing earlier in the southern districts. 

Although it sometimes, though rarely, reaches a depth of twelve or 
fourteen inches, yet it passes off almost as fapidly as it comes, seldom 
remaining longer than twenty-four hours. Even in the valleys which 
penetrate the first range of mountains in the northern section, this is 
also the case. Some winters but little snow falls during the entire season. 
As conclusive evidence of this statement, cattle are herded out during 
the entire winter in all parts of the Territory, such a thing as prepara- 
tion for winter-feeding being almost wholly unknown. And yet in the 
spring they will come out in as good order as those of the States which 
have been housed and fed day by day. The Mexican horses or bronchos 
will also winter out during the season, like the cattle. 

The troublesome factor in the great problem of the development of 
the agricultural capacity of the vast western plains is the supply of 
water. Furnish this, and the fertile prairies and valleys east of the Mis- 
sissippi will soon find a strong rival contending with them in the grain 
marts of the world for precedence. Furnish this, and the ‘Great Amer- 
ican Desert” of old geographers will soon become one mighty field of 
flowing grain. Furnish this, andthe few other minor impeding factors 
will soon be eliminated. The streams rushing down from the mountains 
slacken their course on the level plains where the great battle between 
moisture and aridity begins. Is there any power in the human grasp 
to assist nature in this struggle, and turn the scale in her favor? 

Before attempting to give a direct answer to this question, I will state 
some facts connected with this matter, and then advance a theory, 
which, if correct, is of great importance in developing the agricultural 
capacity of this country. 

When we reached the Cache ala Poudre, at Laporte, I heard it re- 
marked that this stream now, and for a few years past, has been sending 
down a larger volume of water than it formerly did. I thought little of 
the matter at the time and let it pass, simply noting the statement. 
But when I reached the next stream in our journey south, the same thing 
was repeated in regard to other streams in that section. And to confirm 
the statement’ certain streams were pointed out, which, up to about 1362, 
had been in the habit of drying up annually at certain points, which 
since that time at these points have been constantly running. This 
caused me afterwards, during the whole length of our journey along the 
eastern flanks of the mountains, to make thisa special subject of inquiry. 

And somewhat to my surprise, I have found the same thing repeated 
at almost every point as far south as Las Vegas, in New Mexico, and no 
opposing testimony. Streams bearing down heavier volumes of water 
than formerly; others becoming constant runners which were formerly 
in the habit of drying up; springs bursting out at points where formerly 
there were none; acequias allowed to go to decay because they have 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. Dad 


not been needed, &e. Even the Arkansas, as late as 1862 and 1863, 
was dry, from Pawnee to the Cimarron crossing, but such a thing has 
not been known since. Seven or eight years ago it was not uncommon 
for the Pecos to dry up, but now such a thing would be looked upon as 
a strange event. And, in building Denver, a mistake was made in rely- 
ing upon the dry bottom of Cherry Creek, which shortly afterwards 
sent down arush of water to warn them of her slumbering powers. Nor 
does this wholly exhaust the testimony on this point, for,in addition 
thereto, isthe uniform assertion of those who have resided in the Terri- 
tory for ten or twelve years or more, that for six or seven years past 
there has been a gradual increase of rain. It is acommon expression of 
the Mexicans and Indians that the Americans bring rain with them. 

All this, it seems to me, must lead to the conclusion that since the 
Territory has begun to be settled, towns and cities built up, farms culti- 
vated, mines opened, and roads made and traveled, there has been a 
gradual increase of moisture. Be the cause what it may, unless it is 
assumed that there isa cycle of years through which there is an increase, 
and that there will be a corresponding decrease, the fact must be ad- 
mitted upon this accumulated testimony. I therefore give it as my firm 
conviction that this increase is of a permanent nature, and not periodi- 
cal, and that it has commenced within eight years past, and that it isin 
some way connected with the settlement of the country; and that, as the 
population increases, the amount of moisture will increase. 

It may be objected that the population bears so small a proportion to 
the extent of the country, that it is unreasonable to suppose it could 
have any influence on the climatic conditions. I admit the force of the 
objection, but at the same time the facts stand out too boldly and clearly 
to be passed over, and the coincidence is so striking, that, until the pecu- 
liar conditions surrounding the matter have been carefully studied, the 
objection ought not to be pressed. That there are peculiar conditions 
connected with the section of country under consideration, cannot be 
denied. Hence to know the effect the introduction of an active popu- 
lation will have upon the hygrometrie conditions of this country, these 
peculiarities must be carefully studied. I believe that the great problem 
of settling the plains, if ever solved, must be done by commencing with 
the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountain range and gradually moving 
eastward. ‘This is the plan which nature herself has pointed out. The 
perpetual snows of the great central axis are the sources of the various 
streams which rush down upon the margin of these plains, but chiefly 
sink in their effort to cross it. Let the population gather around the 
points where these burst from the mountains, and as it increases push- 
ing out on the plains eastward, and I believe the supply of water will 
accompany it. 

Tf this theory is correct it is worthy the attention not only of the 
scientist but of the citizens and authorities of the Territory, and also of 
the national government. A railroad line running along this eastern 
slope north and south would doubtless give an impetus to the settle- 
ment of this part of the Territory exceeding all that the lines crossing it 
at limited points (though necessary) can possibly do. It would set the 
great power in motion which, moving onward, would ultimately bring 
into use that vast body of land which by common consent has been con- 
signed to perpetual inutility. 

Such a theory may, and doubtless will by some, be considered chi- 
merical, but before it is condemned some effort to confirm or refute the 
testimony given ought to be made. And I volunteer the suggestion 
that it would be well for the government to make a small appropriation 


238 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


with which the Commissioner of Agriculture could send out an agent to 
investigate this matter more thoroughly. Even should amore thorough 
examination overturn and reverse the testimony I have adduced, his 
labor need not be lost, as he could, while proceeding with this, gather a 
host of facts in regard to the agricultural capacity of our Territories, 
which would be of great value to the stream of emigrants pressing west- 
ward from the States. 

I am aware the present season has been an extraordinarily wet one; 
but I have carefully endeavored to prevent its leading me astray, always 
extending my inquiries to a series of years, and calling attention to the 
unusual amount of rain this year, that it might not unduly warp the in- 
formation received. 

The excess of rain during this season I find has been felt most sensi- 
bly north of South Platte and between the Raton Mountains and Las 
Vegas. In the latter section there are some creek valleys where the 
rain last season was so excessive as to injure the crops, as, for instance, 
the Rayada. And the present year, crops in many valleys not furnish- 
ing water for irrigation have been and are maturing finely, as the 
beautiful one in which Fort Union is situated, which is as fresh and 
green as the banks of the Susquehanna. 

Hail-storms are of not unfrequent occurrence during the summer, and 
sometimes do considerable injury to the growing crops. I have frequently, 
during our passage through the country, noticed fields of corn torn into 
shreds. But, as a matter of course, these storms are always quite 
limited in their extent. 


POPULATION. 


Colorado is pre-eminently a mining country; its mineral wealth having 
recently brought within its bounds most of its present population. 
Eagerly searching after the metallic riches which lie buried in its rugged 
mountains, but little attention has been paid to the cultivation of the 
soil. Therefore the data from which to draw conclusions, in regard to” 
the adaptation of its soil and climate to the growth of any particular 
cereal or fruit, are very meager. Yet enough is known to show that, by 
proper cultivation, this Territory will produce as fine and as abundant 
crops of wheat and oats as the most favored section of the Union; and 
that the western border of what was once designated ‘‘The Great 
American Desert” will, at no very distant day, present its broad fields 
of golden grain. This is no wild fancy of the brain, but the inevitable 
result of the march -of events now rapidly moving onward. That the 
high anticipations of the most sanguine will be fully realized I do not 
claim, but the derogatory reports of disappointed fortune-seekers will, 
ere long, be disproved by a multitude of experiments. 

At this time not more than one-fifth or, as some contend, one-eight of 
the population of the Territory are actually engaged in agricultural pur- 
suits, the great portion being in some way connected with the mining 
interests or business arising out of them. But the one must draw the 
other—those who mine must eat—and the heavy expense of bringing | 
food from the States is working out its own cure. The necessity for 
moving forward the agricultural interests of the country are being felt 
and acted on. A territorial fair has been in operation for a few years, 
and is exciting considerable interest among all classes of citizens. 
Even while I am writing this portion of my report the annual fair is in 
progress at Denver, which, I very much regret, | have been unable to 
attend, but I wiil endeavor to ascertain all of general interest connected 
therewith. 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 239 
CEREALS. 


Of the cereals, wheat, oats, barley, and corn, grow readily and pro- 
duce very good crops, when properly cuitivated and irrigated. 

Wheat grows well throughout the length of the Territory, north and 
south, and even as far south as Bernalillo, in New Mexico. So far as I 
have seen, and can ascertain, the following portions of these territories 
are the best wheat-producing sections, viz: the creek valleys north of 
South Platte; the South Platte and Arkansas valleys in Colorado; and 
in New Mexico, the Moro and Taos valleys, and the south end of San 
Imis Park. Besides these, there are, as a matter of course, valleys which 
will produce as fine wheat as those named, but these are the most ex- 
tensive. The Platte Valley alone can supply, if made to yield all it is 
capable of yielding, the whole of Colorado with ail the wheat necessary 
for her present population. And I am informed by Colonel Charles 
McClure, of Santa Fé, that the Taos Valley can be made to produce 
sufficient wheat to supply the entire demand of New Mexico. Until a 
better method of cultivation is tatroduced than the rude plan of the 
Mexican population, the capacity of the latter Territory will not be 
known. But, as I design considering the agriculture of the other sec- 
tions of Colorado and New Mexico separately, I will confine myself to 
those portions of the former Territory now under consideration. 

With the exception of two or three fields, spring wheat is the only 
kind raised. But this is not so much because winter wheat fails as it 
is owing to the difficulty of preparing the ground in the fall for sowing 
winter wheat, the ground being so dry and hard that it cannot be 
plowed. And if an attempt is made to soften it by irrigation, the ex- 
perimenter soon learns that while one portion of his ground is scarcely 
moistened below the surface, the other portion is a mass of soft mud. 
But at any point from Clear Creek south, where sufficient rain happens 
to fall at the right season to moisten the ground, winter wheat sown 
produces a fine yield, and, as a matter of course, ripens much earlier 
than the spring wheat. 

The usual time of sowing is March and April, though sometimes farm- 
ers, even as far north as the Platte Valley, succeed in getting their wheat 
in during the month of February, yet the greater portion is sown in 
April. Singular as it may appear, when we notice the difference in Jati- 
tude between Cache a la Poudre and Santa Fé, yet it is afact that the 
harvest season comes on later in the vicinity of Los Vegas, Sante Fé, 
Taos, and San Luis Park, than it does in the northern section of Colo- 
rado. During the present season, I see from my notes taken as we 
passed through the country, that wheat was, cut in the vicinity of Den- 
ver between the 25th of July and 10th of August, and at Cache a la 
Poudre a few days later, while at Los Vegas harvest came on the 
latter part of August, and in the Taos Valley it was as late as the 18th 
of September, and in San Luis Park some wheat is yet standing, (Sep- 
tember 23,) although the frosts set in as early as the 12th of this month. 
I am unable, at present, fully to account for this, but suppose it is chietly 
attributable to the cold winds from the surrounding mountains and the 
cold nights. The average harvest time, in the sections of Colorado under 
consideration, may be set down about the 10th of August. 

The amount grown per acre often reaches forty and fifty bushels, and 
there are some well-attested instances where the yield has been as much 
as seventy bushels. Mr. W. R. Thomas, associate editor of the Rocky 
Mountain News, who made, during the harvest of 1868, an extended 
examination of the crops in most of the valleys of eastern Colorado, es- 


240 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES 


timates the average yield at twenty-eight bushels per acre. In this es- 
timate, the absolute return when measured is the criterion, no allowance 
being made for bad culture, losses, &c. From a careful examination of 
his figures, and his method of obtaining the data upon which they are 
founded, as well as from the personal inquiries I have made while pass- 
ing through the territory, I am satisfied he does not exceed the true 
average, but rather falls below it. Where proper care is given to this 
cereal, and it reaches maturity without serious damage from the destruc- 
tive e oT asshopper, or other agency, a yield of thirty- five bushels per acre 
may be expected. 

From his report for that year, which has already been ferwarded to 
the Commissioner of Agriculture, in connection with a short report on 
the agriculture of the northern section of Colorado, it appears that the 
wheat returns from the various valleys of Hastern Colorado foot up (in- 
cluding estimates of the valleys omitted) nearly thirty-five thousand 
bushels. At an average of twenty-eight bushels, this shows that about 
twelve thousand five hundred acres were sown in wheat in 1868. If any 
statistics for 1869 are brought out by the present fair, I will try to ob- 
tain them in time to append them to this report. Most of this wheat 
‘ has been grown on the creek bottoms, yet I have no doubt but that the 
ridges, or uplands, within reach of irrigation, will yield as heavy crops 
as the bottoms, and, as shown by experience as well as theory, would 
ripen some eight or ten days earlier. 

All the varieties which have been tried appear to grow well and 1° 
bring out their several peculiarities. But those chiefly sown are the 
Chile, Siberian, White Sonora, Blue Stem, Canada Club, and Hgyptian or 
Seven-head. The White Sonora is most ‘prized on account of the beau- 
tiful white flour,it makes, and its heavy yield, though it does not weigh 
as much to the bushel as some other varieties. In New Mexico, the 
Mexicans have but two varieties, the ‘“‘areno blanco” or white wheat, 
and “areno nigra” or black wheat ; the white wheat corresponding 
very nearly with the White Sonora. The measured bushel of Colorado 
wheat, if well cleaned, will weigh from sixty-two to sixty-four pounds as 
an average. Butin comparing this wheat with that of the States, it 
must be remembered that the grain is perfectly dry, having been raised 
by irrigation, and as a matter of course having received no moisture on 
the ear. In this respect it corresponds with the California wheat, re- 
quiring to be moistened before grinding. Therefore a given bulk or 
weight of this wheat will yield more flour than the same bulk or weight 
of wheat from the States. 

I think I am justified in saying that no part of the Union can pro- 
duce better flour than Eastern Colorado, in respect to its clear, pearly 
whiteness, richness in gluten, and ease with which it is converted into 
bread ; and, like the flour of the Pacifie Coast, it will doubtless bear 
transportation to any part of the world without damage from climatic 
imfluences.. 7”. 

As the expedition happened to pass through the Territory during 
harvest, I had a very good opportunity of comparing the information I 
had received with the appearance of the wheat crop of the present year, 
from which I am satisfied the statements I have received are not exag- 
gerated. 

The wheat crop, so far-as I have seen it, is very good, and I suppose 
will be one of the heexviest ever known in the Territory, and this is also 
true of the part of New Mexico through which we passed. 

Although irrigation has some advantages, as that of removing fear of 
drought, yet it also has its disadvantages, one of which is, that it does 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 241 


not cause wheat and oats to ripen evenly im the saine field. I have fre. 
quently noticed fields of these cereals where some spots were fully ripe, 
while others were yet quite green. But as the grains do not appear to 
shell out as easily here as in the States, this does not cause the same 
difficulty here as it would there. 

In order to give some idea of the time of harvesting wheat through- . 
out the section over which the expedition passed, I will give from my 
notes the condition of the crop at several points, with the dates at which 
we passed those points. 

July 2. Laporte, on Cache ala Poudre-—Wheat in bloom. Harvesting 
generally takes place here about the 1st to 10th of August. 

July 7 to 15. Fisher’s Ranch, on Clear Creek, four miles from Denver.— 
Along the valley of this creek and that portion of Platte Valley in the 
vicinity, the farmers are cutting wheat, though the fields appear to be 
ripening very unevenly. Crops excellent in appearance. 

August 6. South bank of Platte, near the mouth of Plum Creek.—Harvest 
just ended ; standing shocks indicate a very heavy yield. 

August 8. On the north slope of the Divide near West Plum Creek.— 
Harvest nearly closed; some wheat and‘oats yet standing. 

August 9 to 13. Colorado City.—The farmers in the vicinity of this 
place in the midst of the wheat and oat harvest, both these cereals ap- 
pearing to ripen sznultaneously here. 

August 16. On the banks of Arkansas, five miles south. of Caron City.— 
Wheat harvest along the banks of this stream appears to have closed 
at least two weeks past, the weeds almost hiding the stubble. 

August 17. A few miles west of the Arkansas River, behind the first high 
ridge-—Saw the farmers cutting wheat. 

August 21 to 23. Trinidad.—Wheat harvest in progress. 

a 24. Richard Wooton’s, on Raton Mountains.—Farmers cutting 
wheat. 

August 25. Rayada, New Mexico.—Wheat harvest is over, having closed 
about a week previous to our arrival. 

September 2 to5. Las Vegas.—Wheat harvest in progress. 

September 17 and 18. Taos.—Wheat harvest in progress in this valley. 

September 21. San Luis, on the Rio Culebra, Colorado.—Wheat not all 
cut. 

This record presents the strange fact that at the southern extremity 
of our route, the harvest season comes in later than at the north 
part of Colorado. But it should be borne in mind that this route was 
limited to a narrow line along the immediate base of the mountains; a 
similar record of a line further east might present a very different state 
of facts, but I have no data upon which to found a comparison. 

Oats are grown with ease, and yield abundantly wherever they have 
been tried in the Territory; in fact there is no part of the Union where 
heavier crops of oats can be produced than here. Instances are reported 
where as high as one hundred and twenty-five bushels have been raised 
to the acre, but these are extreme cases. I have ascertained quite a 
number of instances where the yield reached from forty-eight to fifty- 
five bushels; and these not little garden patches which received extra 
care to report to fairs‘and societies, but crops taken from extensive 
farms under ordinary culture: in one instance from an aggregate of 
7,000 bushels, in another 5,000 bushels, actual measurement. ‘ Volun- 
teer” crops will come up year after year from the seed scattered during 
the previous harvest. 

The statistics gathered by Mr. Thomas give an average of thirty-five 
bushels for 1868. The aggregate amount of this cereal raised in the 

16H 


242 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


Territory for that year exceeded that of wheat, but from my observa- 
tions I am inclined to the opinion that for 1869 the wheat crop will be 
the larger of the two. 

The soil and climate of Eastern Colorado seem to be well adapted to 
the growth of barley, which, so far as it has been tried, yields a bounti- 

_ fal return for the labor bestowed upon it. But the demand has not been 
sufficient to induce the farmers to grow it extensively. 

In regard to rye my information is defective, but from all the infor- 
mation I could gather in regard to it, I do not think it yields as good 
crops as the other cereals named. I have seen but very few fields dur- 
ing the course of our journey this season, and even these presented an 
inferior appearance. 

I find, since I have made a more thorough examination of the corn 
crops south of Platte Valley, that I was somewhat mistaken in the 
opinion I expressed in the report of the northern section of Colorado, 
forwarded through General J. A. Logan to the Commissioner of A gricul- 
ture. I there advanced the opinion that the statistics of the southern 
portion of the Territory would show a considerably larger yield than the 
northern section, but actual examination has shown me that the portion 
over which our expedition passed possesses few if any advantages as a 
corn-growing region, over the section north of the South Platte. From 
the Cache ala Poudre to Santa Fé I found, with very few exceptions, 
but one variety, the Mexican, presenting in the field a very great simi- 
larity. Although moderate crops can be produced in almost every tilla- 
ble portion of Easter n Colorado, yet I must admit that it falls far behind 
the Mississippi Valley as a corn-producing section. Mr. Thomas gives 
the average yield as twenty-five bushels, and, contrary to my first im- 
pression, T now think this estimate is very near correct. The best fields 
I saw in the course of our journey were on the Arkansas, a short dis- 
tance below Cation City, and near a little village a short distance north 
of Santa Fé, named Santa Cruz. But even these I do not think would 
yield more than thirty or thirty-five bushels to the acre; possibly they 
may reach forty as the extreme. I know it is contended by some that 
the valley of the Platte can produce as heavy crops as the States; but if 
this has ever been done, the instances are rare and cannot be relied upon 
in fixing a generalaverage. And this corn is, when produced, of an infe- 
rior quality. 

[have no desire to underrate the agricultural capacity of the Terri- 
tory in the least particular, but must state my firm convictions reached 
under the most favorable circumstances. 

It may be that by careful experiments some varieties may be found 
which will prove adapted to the soil and climate, but I think there are 
climatic obstacles in the way of growing this cereal which cannot be 
overcome. But it should be remembered these remarks apply only to 
the sections lying along the eastern base of the Rocky Mountain Range. 
In this part of the Territory and in San Luis Park the nights are very 
cold even in the warmest part of the season, and this, doubtless, retards 
the growth. Besides this, the frosts set in early and prevent those 
varieties from maturing which require a greater length of time to com- 
plete their growth. 

But, as before intimated, there are some facts connected with the 
maturing of cereal crops in this country which cannot be satisfactorily 
explained until the climatology has been more thor oughly studied. Per- 
haps when the botany and topography have been more ‘thorou ghly worked 
up, it may aid in explaining these anomalies, for such they certainly 
are. 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 243 


VEGETABLES AND FRUITS. 


Trish potatoes seem to be perfectly “at home” in Colorado, growing 
readily and abundantly, except in the extreme southern portion, and 
even here, until we pass the line into New Mexico, quite good crops are 
raised. Not only does this tuber grow well in the valleys east of the 
mountain range, but even far up in the narrow defiles nine and ten 
thousand feet above the level of the sea, wherever space and soil can be 

found, they yield quite bountiful returns to the labor bestowed upon 
them. The northern section, from Box Elder to the South Platte Valley, 
I think is decidedly the best potato region west of the Mississippi and 
east of California; not only in regard to the amount of the crop raised, 
but also in respect to the quality of the tuber. 

The first new potatoes we met with large enough to eat were at South 
Boulder, July 6. Even at this early date in the season they were of quite 
good size, rich and mealy. Their rapid growth in very favorable spots 
sometimes causes a defect, which is also occasionally seen in the Western 
States—a vacant space in the center, lined with a dark internal skin. 

No finer region for keeping this vegetable through the season can be 
found than Colorado; its pure, dry atmosphere renders it easy to keep 
them perfectly sound the entire year; so true is this, where proper 
care has been taken, that when cooked it is often impossible to distin- 
guish the old crop from the new. 

Some of the finest patches I saw growing were along the margin of 
Clear Creek, between Denver and Golden City, where the stream bursts 
its way through the lofty mesas which here flank the mountain range. 

Onions grow finely, except in the extreme northern part of the Terri- 
tory. The Mexican variety, which is found south of the Divide, grows 
to a very large size, one having been measured by Mrs Colonel Hart, at 
Fort Garland, whose circumference was seventeen and a half inches; 
very often they are found weighing two and three pounds. 

As we approach New Mexico, going south, they have the finest and 
mildest flavor of any onions I have ever tasted, which seems to be pecu- 
liar to the climate and soil of this country, for when they are taken from 
here and planted in other sections, although they may grow well, they ap- 
pear to lose this peculiar flavor. Iwas informed at Las Vegas that both 
seed and onions had been sent to the States, and that, in every case, such 
had been the result; hence, it is supposed that this delicious flavor is 
peculiar to this country. 

Turnips and cabbages also grow quite well throughout the arable por- 
tion of the Territory, and especially in the northern section. Instances 
have frequently occurred where they have grown to almost fabulous size. 

_The former grows well and produces quite abundant crops even in the 
little valleys far up in the mountains. 

Beans are raised: in considerable quantities in the southern portion of 
the Territory, and are much used. But they are subject to the attack 
of a small insect, probably a species of Haltica, which often does much 
injury to the crop. Although I did not have an opportunity of seeing 
this insect, yet I saw some garden patches in Santa Fé which had been 
literally riddled by it. 

In regard to fruits, lam notable to speak positively, as sufficient time 
has not elapsed since attention has been turned to them to complete the 
experiments which are being made. But from all the indications attend- 
ing these experiments there is good reason to believe from Platte Valley 
south all the hardier, and perhaps other fruits, may be grown success- 
fully. Quite a number of orchards have been planted in Platte Valley 


244 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


and the valley of Cherry Creek, on the north side of the Divide; also, 
some in the valley of the Upper Arkansas. The chief trouble in the 
- northern portion appears to be that the young trees are winter-killed. 
But, doubtless, this may be prevented by mulching, which does not ap- 
pear to have been properly attended to. On the Arkansas, a short dis- 
tance below Cafion City, I saw a young orchard, on the farm of Mr. J. 
T. Smith, where the trees were growing finely. Among them I saw. 
some peach trees which have commenced bearing this season, the fourth 
from the seed. The apple trees are growing finely, and so far, have had 
no protection during the winter. There are quite a number of varie- 
ties, all appearing to be doing equally well. The pear trees, also, are 
in excellent condition, but the dwarfs appear to be growing the same as 
the standards. 

Here I also saw watermelons, citrons, &c., growing to a good size. 

I was informed by Mr. Smith that he had transplanted to his garden 
from the mountains the native currants, gooseberries, and raspberries, 
but that the experiment proved a failure, the bushes not growing well 
and bearing no fruit. These native varieties appear to be adapted only 
to the mountains. It is highly probable that if they were taken east 
and planted in the mountains the experiment would prove a success. 

The wild strawberries found in the mountains of this Territory, though 
small, have the most delicious flavor of any that I ever tasted ; they ripen 
about the latter part of July. 

Timber for building, fencing and other purposes is a great desider- 
atum in many portions of the country. Yet considerable quantities of 
pine are found on the hills which occasionally traverse the plains, and 
on the foot-hills which flank the mountains. 

Further up in the mountains an abundance of this timber of a very 
good size and quality can be obtained to supply the present need. And 
as in these situations water-power is always close at hand, it can readily 
be converted into lumber by saw-mills at a comparatively moderate 
cost. Althongh there are some scrubby species of oak found in the 
limits of the Territory, yet in the eastern part there is none of sufficient 
size to be of use for domestic purposes. In our journey southward the 
first oak I observed was during our ascent of the northern ‘slope of the 
Divide. Along the larger creeks moderate quantities of cottonwood of 
medium size are found. Sometimes this is seen as much as two feet 
through, but as a general thing it is of rather small size. 

While Colorado possesses all the iron ore and coal necessary for the 
purposes for which these may be used, and sufficient soft timber to sup- 
ply the mountain districts and sections under consideration, yet there 
is an entire lack of the harder wood necessary in the manufacture of 
agricultural and other implements. This, unless it can be grown, must 
always be supplied from other sections. 

One advantage this Territory possesse sover many other portions of 
the Union is the facility with which the most excellent roads can be 
made. The natural soil in the: streets of Denver forms a better pave- 
ment to-day than any of the artificial pavements of the cities of the 
astern States. Being a coarse silicious sand or fine gravel it forms a 
road equal to the best macadamized. In some of the finer sandy bottoms 
in the creeks in the extreme southern section sometimes the roads 
become heavy. Even in the mountain districts I have been astonished 
at the easy ascent of the passes, through the most rugged-looking ridges. 
Along the Union Pacifie railroad as far up as Cheyenne there are but 
very few cuts and none of any considerable depth. And on the road 
from Denver back in the mountains to Georgetown there is but one 


= 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 245 


steep point, and even at this, by alittle trouble and moderate outlay, 
a good road could be made with a very moderate grade. Along the 
eastern base of the mountains from Cheyenne to Santa Fé there is not 
a difficult point to pass, the road over the Divide and Raton Moun- 
tains being no more difficult than ordinary hills in the Eastern States. 
The road from Santa Fé to the San Luis Valley or Park is very rough 
and difficult for wagons, and the same is true of the north side of the Pon- 
cho Pass, but with these two‘exceptions the Yoads to and from, as well 
as through the San Luis and South Parks, are very good and easily 
traveled with wagons. And for the benefit of those who desire to travel 
over any of these routes and camp I may remark that water is to be 
found at suitable points throughout the entire length of the Territory. 
At a few points, where the road recedes from the mountains, difficulty 
may be experienced in obtaining wood, but such places are few, and proper 
precaution during the day’s travel to secure a supply will prevent all 
difficulty. 
IRRIGATION. 


With a very few exceptions irrigation is necessary throughout Colorado 
and New Mexico. There are some points on the slopes of the Divide 
and in the mountain districts where the moisture afforded by rains is 
sufficient to supply the crops; and, as I have heretofore remarked, for 
the past two years, at some other points irrigation has been unnecessary, 
but, as a rule, it is necessary throughout Colorado, and in making up 
estimates of the expense of farming in this Territory this item should 
always be counted. 

This necessity is generally classed among the drawbacks to the 
agriculture of these territories, but there is some doubt as to the 
correctness of this conclusion, for, when we take into consideration the 
fact that where rain is depended upon there are frequently great losses 
incurred because of dry seasons, the question arises, ‘Is the loss by 
drought greater or less than the cost of irrigation?” The decision of 
this question must decide the point as to whether irrigation is really a 
drawback or not. That it is inconvenient and imposes a hardship upon 
the farmer of limited means, at the opening or settling of his farm, is 
true. But when his primary ditch is completed, if properly made, he 
may feel himself forever secure from loss through dr ought. 

As heretofore stated, the streams of eastern Colorado, north of the 
South Platte, which run from the mountains into the latter stream, have 
a rapid fall, varying from ten to fifty feet to the mile. Consequently it 
is easy to turn the water into acequias or ditches, and requires but a 
short run to carry it to any moderate height. 

And as the terraces of this section which flank the creek bottoms 
seldom rise higher than fifty feet above the creek level, generally twenty- 
five to thirty, they can be irrigated by acequias of moderate length; in 
fact, | am satisfied that there is but a small quantity of land between 
Cache 4 la Poudre and South Platte which cannot be irrigated. And 
when these terraces have been irrigated and cultivated for a few years 
I feel confident that the soil on them will prove as productive as that of 
the bottoms. 

I understand ‘that the rule for the fall in these irrigating ditches is 
one-fourth of an inch to the rod, and that this carries the water over 
the soil with sufficient rapidity to prevent its being absorbed. 

After crossing the Platte southward to the Divide and along the 
Platte valley, ditching is much more expensive than in the northern 
section, as the streams have much less fall, and the soil absorbs the 
water more rapidly. 


246 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


Between the Divide and the Raton Mountains along the valleys of the 
Arkansas and its branches, the lands can be irrigated with moderate 
cost, though the streams are not so rapid as those in the northern 
section. In this part of the Territory, as well as immediately north of 
the Divide, the land between the streams does not assume such regular 
terrace for ms as those north of the Platte. 

Ditching at present is generally done by plowing and throwing out 
the dirt, except where very large ones are required. The process is 
also often facilitated by usinga scraper. But doubtless ditching machines 
will soon be introduced. 

The largest acequia I know of in Colorado is near Denver, on the 
south side of Platte River. It is several miles in length, and cost 
about $14,000, and irrigates quite a number of farms. 

The cost, when estimated by the number of acres irrigated, is much 
lessened by several farmers uniting and making one large ditch suffi- 
cient to supply the farms of all entering into the combination. The 
smaller side ditches, which lead off to the various fields, are made with 
the plow, and hence the cost of these is but nominal. 

There appears to have been but little improvement made in this part 
of agriculture for centuries past; and, in fact, it is susceptible of but 
little improvement. In my more extended report, which I expect to 
prepare during the winter, I propose to take up this subject of irriga- 
tion more fully, as it seems to han g somewhat as an incubus over west- 
ern agriculture, at least in the minds of those living in sections sup- 
plied with rain. Yet when it is considered in that “broad view corre- 
sponding to the vast extent of our country, it will be seen that it is one 
item in the series of variety necessary to the complete prosperity of 
the nation—one link in the grand chain necessary to render us inde- 
pendent as a nation. 

One advantage of irrigation, which will occur to the mind of any 
one, is that the crop can be watered whenever it is needed. But at the 
same time irrigation has some disadvantages which are not apparent 
until shown by experience. One of these is that the crops do not re- 
ceive exactly equal portions of water throughout the same field, and, 
consequently, do not ripen evenly. I have seen fields of wheat and 
oats presenting every variety of condition in the same field, from quite 
green to very ripe. Every farmer will at once perceive the difficulty 
arising from such a condition as this. It might be supposed that when 
the fields have been overflowed for some days with water, the land, after 
the water was drawn off, would assume that condition termed “ baked;”. 
but nature generally furnishes a counterpoise to all her apparent aber- 
ration; and, following this rule, she has here suited the soil to the eli- 
matic conditions, and hence this anticipated state does not follow irri- 
gation. 

I made an effort to ascertain what the average cost of ditching is to 
the acre, but found it next to an impossibility to ydo this. The difference 
in the nature of the ground at different points, the uncertainty in regard 
to the price of labor, the difference in the sizes of the ditches, would 
render an average, if it could be obtained, worthless. 


DRAWBACKS. 


As the want of water has already been somewhat fully considered, I 
will omit it here. 

The scarcity of timber for building, fuel, fencing, and other purposes, 
may very properly be classed as one of the drawbacks in this Terri- 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 247 


tory—one which very soon strikes the traveler passing through the 
eastern section. And this applies to all the sections into which I have 
divided the country, except the mountain district. 

The amount of cottonwood and box elder found along the banks of 
the streams is quite small, consisting generally of very narrow fringes 
along the immediate borders of these streams. This is inferior timber 
at best, and can afford a supply but for a short time, even when we 
take into consideration the fact that many of the houses are built of 
_adobes. The mountains are generally clothed with a growth of pines, 
but these are often of a very inferior character, especially along the east- 
ern slope nearest the arable lands. But as we penetrate further into the 
mountains, these are of a better quality, and saw-mills are being erected 
in the interior of the mountain districts which at present are furnishing 
a supply of lumber at comparatively moderate prices, as water-power is 
easily obtained along the little creeks. But even here, notwithstanding 
the repeated assertions to the contrary, I do not think the supply inex- 
haustible. The rapid increase of the mining operations and population 
in the mining sections, which are in the heart of the pine regions, is 
rapidly consuming, for building purposes, fuel, &c., the pines around 
these points. And the numerous fires which occur here, and sweep up 
the mountain side with a wild fury, like that of a burning prairie, are 
destroying vast quantities of this timber. Even now we can scarcely 
travel a single mile along the mountain canons where we do not see the 
slopes on either side marked by broad strips of burnt timber, which 
appear as somber spots on the otherwise beautiful scenery. 

[ have no doubt but that this view will be controverted; yet when we 
look at the broad expanse of untimbered lands which sweeps out east- 
ward from the mountain base, and compare it with the timbered strip 
in reach, it is scarcely possible to arrive at any other conclusion. But, 
as 1 am now pressed for time, I will reserve the discussion of this sub- 
ject for the more extended report I desire to present on the agriculture 
of Colorado and New Mexico. Even now, sawed lumber has frequently 
to be hauled for seventy-five to one hundred miles, and even further; 
but the building of railroads will greatly reduce the expense of trans- 
portation. 

I bring this matter forward thus prominently i order, if possible, to 
impress upon the farmers and citizens of this Territory the great neces- 
_ sity of commencing at an early day the work of planting trees. It is 
certainly one of deep interest to them, and every effort should be made 
to induce not only farmers, but all who have lands and lots, to com- 
mence this important work. JI am sorry te say that throughout our 
journey I saw but few houses surrounded by growing trees. 

In regard to the supply of fuel, the difficulty of supplying this want 
will doubtless be met when the various coal mines are opened, and 
railroads traverse the country. But the supply of fencing material. at 
a reasonable rate, is not so easily met. To avoid expense on the larger 
farms, that portion intended for cultivation is generally inclosed under 
one fence, and corrals are made for the stock which is in use. And I 
have noticed some cases where two or three small farmers have combined 
and inclosed their farms under one fence. Around Denver wire fences 
are being introduced, and will probably prove cheaper than any other 
kind, unless hedges can be made. If this latter kind can be made, I 
think they will prove the best that can be adopted, not only for the 
same reasons urged in their favor in the prairie States, but also because 
they will assist in increasing the amount of moisture, and in drawing; 
birds, thereby tending.to decrease the grasshopper pest. 


248 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 


Another serious drawback to the agriculture of Colorado, as well as 
other portions of the great trans-Mississippi plains, is the destruction of 
crops by the migrating grasshoppers. During some years, in different local- 
ities, these insects have] proved very destructive, sometimes sweeping away 
in a few days the result of the hard labor of the farmer during an entire 
season. Yet I find, after a somewhat thorough examination, that in this 
Territory although occasionally very injurious, yet they are by no means 
so destructive as has been represented. And, as bas been the case this 
season, the papers of this western country often imprudently spread false 
alarms. This arises from aneglect to distinguish thelarvee of the migra- 
tory species from those that are merely local. Iam satisfied that there 
is but one migratory species ws —which appears here 
in any considerable numbers. The Oedipoda corallpes (Hald.) is found 
at certain points in limited numbers, but I do not think it ever proves 
destructive east of the mountains. 

I have noticed during our trip the former species at various points as 
follows: 

On our arrival at St. Joseph, Missouri, June 17, we found them very 
abundant in the complete state, so much so that the lower parts of the 
walls of the hotel at which we stopped were literally covered black with 
them, and the hogs, which seemed to have learned the art of catching 
them, were enjoying arich feast. I understood they had been moving 
for something over a week previous to the date of our arrival. 

At Omaha, Nebraska, the 18th of the same month, I saw none of them. 
It is true [ did not go out of the city to examine, yet I think if they had 
been present in any considerable numbers I should have seen them. 

During our stay at Cheyenne, (from 21st to 28th June) I noticed them | 
in considerable numbers, but in the larva state and scarcely half grown. 

At Box Elder Creek, and Laporte, on the Cache a la Poudre, I saw none, 
although I made diligent search for them; but when we arrived at Big 
Thompson, two days after, (J uly 3,) I found them quite abundant in the 
perfect state. From here to Clear Creek, Denver, but few were seen. At 
the latter place (July 7 to 14) I observed them in ‘moderate numbers, just 
entering the perfect state, but the local species wererather numerous, both 
in individuals and species. From here we passed westward into the Mid- 
dle Park (from July 15to 27) and all along the mountain valleys, aiter enter- 
ing the first range, and in the park we found them in abundance in the 
perfect state, often rising, when the wind was prevailing, in large swarms 
and floating before the wind like huge flakes of snow. I traced them even 
up into the very midst of the eternal snows, gathering specimens from 
_ the cold surface; and, strange as it may seem, even above the snow, on 
the naked summits of the peaks, I saw the larve of this species hopping 
about almost as lively as those on the plains. 

After crossing the South Platte, going south, although individuals 
were occasionally seen, yet at no place during ’ the remainder of the 
journey were they seen in abundance. 

One conclusion to be drawn from the foregoing facts is that, even | 
within the limits of the eastern portion of the Territory, there are 
distinct local broods; for while they were abundant and active, in the 
perfect state, at Big Thompson, July 3, yet, on Clear Creek, about a week 
later, they were undergoing their last moulting, and between these 
points scarcely any were found. 

Another important conclusion which I think we may draw from 
these facts is, that the mountain canons and valleys are the primary 
hives from which these vandal hordes issue upon their destructive mis- 
sion—important because it renders the problem of counteracting them 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 249 


more difficult of solution. In many other sections where this pest was 
met at the introduction of population, the opening of farms, and bringing 
the soil under cultivation, &c., has gradually brought the destructive 
Species down to their normal condition. But here, as these mountain 
canons and slopes cannot be brought under cultivation, this counter- 
acting influence can never be brought to bear upon them. Yet, even in 
this case, nature has not left this evil wholly without a counterbalancing 
opposite. While she has made the mountain valleys and sides the hive 
from which her destroyers swarm, she has hid within the bowels of these 
lofty ranges rich mines of gold and silver, to attract thither an active 
and energetic population. Through these the homes of this insect will 
be disturbed, and the primitive broods gradually destroyed. Hence 
while the mountains send down the evil, they contain theremedy. And 
like the little wave made by the pebble dropped in the lake, which swells 
in proportion as it recedes until it dashes against the shore, so it is with 
each counteracting effect within these mountain sections; it will be felt 
in increasing proportion along the whole line of their migration. 

I have been unable to ascertain with any degree of certainty the dis- 
tance they move in one season. I am aware calculations have been 
made on this point from data obtained on the eastern side of the plains. 
W hat reliance is to ke placed upon these I do not know. 


STOCK RAISING. 


{ cannot at this time enter upon the consideration of this very impor- 
tant branch of agriculture, for the reason that [have not as yet obtained 
all the data necessary, and also, because I prefer to defer it until I pre- 
sent a report on the agriculture of New Mexico. 

But I may now state generally that these Territories possess as fine 
grazing lands as any to be found in the west. And although mueh stock 
is raised here, yet the amount falls far behind what it should. Many 
who are rushing back and forth from point to point along the Rocky 
Mountain range, seeking for rich lodes, would probably find much more 
gold if they would turn their attention to stock-raising. Not only do 
the plains afford good pasturage, but grass of most excellent quality 
clothes many of the mountain slopes, and carpets the lofty mesa surfaces 
and elevated mountain valleys. On the top of the Divide, there is one 
of the most beautiful little grassy plains I ever saw, where a large herd 
of cattle or sheep could find rich pasturage. 

The finest butter and milk I ever tasted was obtained in South Park. 
So delicious was the milk that the members of our party could scarcely 
satisfy themselves with it. 

There are abundant openings for industrious and energetic stock- 
raisers to make money following their occupation in this country. And 
for the benefit of such as feel an interest in this matter, [herewith give 
a synopsis of the laws of Colorado, respecting non-resident stock-owners. 
Revised Statutes of Colorado, chapter 70. 

Section 1. Non-residents may herd stock in this Territory for one year 
by payment of fifty cents for each animal so herded, in lieu of all other 
taxes; on sheep, twenty cents. 

Section 4. Non-residents desiring to herd cattle inthe Territory, must 
file with the recorder of the county a certificate of the number and 
. description of such cattle in the following form: 


TERRITORY OF COLORADO, County, 8s: 
“Phe undersigned, owner (or agent of. the owner, as the case may be) of 
J1la@s 


250 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES 


the following described animals, proposes to keep and herd the same for 
grazing purposes within the county aforesaid, to wit: (describing the 
number of animals of each kind, respectively, with brands, if any, ) from the 
a Gey of —, A.D. 18—, until the —— day of , AD 
18—. 


Section 5 prescribes the penalty for herding without filing such certifi- 
cate; which is two dollars for each head of stock, except sheep, and one 
dollar for each sheep. 

Section 9. Non-residents driving stock from one county to another not 
to incur an additional tax. 

* Section 10 forbids the importation of Texas cattle. 

These are the principal sections which relate to the herding of SEES 
in the Verritory. . 

The following is a synopsis of the laws of the Territory pola to 
irrigation. Revised Statutes, chapter 45. 

Section 1. Claim owners on the bank, margin, or neighborhood of 
any stream, entitled to use the water for irrigation. 

Section 2, The right of way through claims of adjoining owners for the 
purpose of conveying water allowed. 

Section 3. Extent of the right of way extends only to ditch, dike, or 
cutting, sutlicient for the purpose required. 

Section 4. Where the water is not sufficient to supply all, the probate 
judge to appoint commissioners to apportion it. 

Section 5. If the right of way is refused by owner of lands through 
which the ditch runs, it may be condemned. 

Section 6. Persons in the neighborhood of a stream may erect wheel or 
other machine for raising water; right of way therefor may be obtained. 

Section 7. Ditch owners required to preserve the banks of their ditches 
so as not to flood or injure others. 


GENERAL REMARKS. 


Although unable to attend the territorial fair held at Denver this 
year, September 2 22 to 26, yet, since my return, I learn that it was well ~ 
attended, and that the show of stock, farm products, and minerals was 
the largest ever presented at any fair held in the Territory, and the 
interest. taken greater than any previous season. I cannot attempt to 
give a list of articles and premiums, but may be excused for stating that 
the premium on turnips was awarded to W. H. Berry, esq., of Fairplay. 
I mention this because these were raised on the highest part of the sur- 
face of South Park, some ten thousand feet above the level of the sea, 
almost at the margin of eternal snows. I have procured specimens of 
these, which are very large, though inferior to those that received the 
premium. 

The crop of 1869 is larger than that of any preceding year, and is esti- 
mated at the following figures: Wheat, 675,000 bushels ; corn, 600,000 
bushels; oats and barley, (nine-tenths oats,) 550,000 bushels; potatoes 
and other vegetables, 350,000 bushels. Which, with the hay and dairy 
product, will have a market value of not less than three and one-half 
Millions of dollars. 

In conclusion, we may confidently assert that Colorado, at no very dis- 
tant day, is destined to be one of the chief agricultural sections in the 
Rocky Mountain regions, yea, we may say the most important. The 


—— 


* This section is by no means strictly observed or inforced. 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE, TERRITORIES 251 


mining regions affording a home market, it possesses a completeness 
within itself not found in any other section of the Union, while New 
Mexico will be the great central fruit and wine region. 

I have on hand a large amount of notes and items in regard to the 
agriculture of the other sections of Colorado and also of New Mexico, 
which I hope to present at an early day. 


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Apricultural products -~.------- 0. - 22. 92-2 22 none eee wen ne anne ieoseis 61,101 
JANE always) Gt Coral oso aces boaoeD cook obo mse suas Hooasebe onamabidooe Gonae 229 
MD enverndistriGtiee occ nuy cao parece ese es ee eran eee 231 

Cma wack sistors see) se cer eject cialaicleters ae ates at ela vce uae 246 

of southern section of Denver district........--..-.-...---..--- 234 

ANTANEEW Epp SVVSINCGs Bao UPS a Ra gen Aas tT i NR ah I i 197 
“Seles ose podebacacgad coonduodeoos sack boas Osa bo bon Badea stag 223 

SUMS SoOGEG eee aoa Sone eHbbod cabaseoubecoe ena anbe 146, 164, 199, 217, 218 

ASTR® ORO Ms 55506 eSbans ode soe eoOdEd dood gancos Sado csoots coosdo ono soe Bets d 166 
Aswiglaygey Oiie@l kooks sooced sodoau daouee buco dobsos odob kodeoo seG6e Se aes erage ape 153 
ATED ceo coco acag 5 ooeg pSoaSo CoedeO Gadd DocodN onde oe Gdee creeds cogedad odacon 17 
AT Kam sas Atl OM wee es uaa mwa eis ieiac lami cay Miah see cine italy Se ren aaa 148 
TRVGP COB Bom BOO One BOCA Hosa oetess BoD SeE ORC or aN sce Rirees 126, 140, 150, 177 

NViculleiyg SSMS See eee ie ciate apek ap yk: Slew een oy ale lalags ele aunle aimee sire 148 

Wellligiys Ul (are oso scan Goud Hooaueocas sou oeonomasesasaGacosaes udease 177 

_ Arroyo Hondo Mining and Pe be Jee dissiay aria oelWael om sues eae oere 174 
ASIMENIG! soacad saGGb0 Robb aeaoudeoouEd Geded SS SOS Ai esr aie neers 39 
SDN UD ELGS Sade GEG NAW eR eeE oe SeSnOs Epos Coup Ease Seon mare Bou naae cnneeane 3 
Badbland sees -stooest se iss eaaciepicmicinen soe etreisis user asi hee ae eee ies eee ane 57 
Bear Oi naa di adalat | as Ra ate eas pono O Ron olospomeecosm. CAO ENG 
seers OMe es S94 aes Scho snos Raa se codes se se55a5 sade concos bade cameds code 124 
ID QOS 5555 db 5665 5565 peep esos aop 7Oes9 coco dddbEy Osun baense Sace 05ebed Uaes 27, 32 
Beaver Creek ao jc 22 seu ails ausip emia eisuninciseisie sinew see He oie ee ae eee aeaed 148 
elle WMC ee sey alew sis fae aysate oe isis keieiakoe Beles uae cassie Peels ea See ese sees 5 Auli ais 
Belmombpeeee: maelcnre sen shee einiet git wince aries e aires heehee eee oe eee 129 
IBCRU TOG HSS ae SASS Sea nipooane Hobos Can ace Hconeaa er saaaeeaeau deoqengeas 181 
Jai? IEVITE INNS. so 55 pSoaSo 5550090000 0900000500 cosa neue beab so Goeeso545 UaENS 27 
Cheyenne wnivers:sereetaeersercere ricer etree reer ace oe ee reece eer 69 
sevavoty; Omeelee tos ode Goes geeneo s cngn os oo bGob Ue Goud poo bao no6d 30 


WMiorayosoyn Omeeles 56 55654556555 54554 5505 550555006008 Sonn do bo5ada one 120, 122, 1e4 
Biocborn JRivele 2-2 eo anvsie beret teiseitiotesing eee aee en eis hase Se aneye o 
Notritainsuettane i Onucamane ct talliscciuim on mRmnte Cyc cuaeyy 52, 70 


(Bijou @ ree kes ys perverse ston a are seh aie ane reveeoy soleta Sees ate Si Steyer te doer nea 139 
BittenCreels. (Statiom) eo Bese eee sens eyewear eee 98 
WEEN yo SS bso ase5 S555 5455 oocesg sdao cogasg dada paGSes EASE Seales 99 

Bilaelab indie Missi Ome) 22.5 c= //eve erin oy olnisfateinclelioiereisiste icisleys. ciniats cle iisiemine stems 46 
aCe UDO REE espa vem om aeiemcech PEM ee AEE erm ese micas en cine eine cence See 152 
; CANON) ooo moaedo coon cpocod nee Moos cOSSoE paDD bo onS0 O5b965 505C 99 
Tek Sts y=, St a eee ee oS ak vi Pelee ee a Ie yee OM NCA edly 2 68 
GEMIOGAy Dioeseao pero) Hasso seoseo Go dopy SobSan Ss ehoesboneone baecce 112 

Blake le yySmrvUmMe eae i isata sale austin nlayeelam marcato Us LU ee tv ear 27 
ESTERS PTA Oe ote tee ede one Cielo wyaie cic iata goleeneio erate oie ace ee) SEPA RCT ce ae eee 26 
JEU LAMa RA TON A NOFEH IY Voy GY ce, es erty eve ae RRM a Li TaN ae ead Sayan Lee ey hess SUS yee 18 
IByOWIG Vere CRN Rs sco aon penne a ee reer act AER MARE He PS 5 Mano | 207 
Creel Sotho says ial ciscin kia suiseeeme oes cep cence ee were eeerseises eee 123, 129 

AVENE iy eles ot ay I eel ep ar eee ae IE ON Aerie te ay Sot 129, 131, 153 

lone ID Ntlere (One ke ee Ne ae ee ee ee Iie Mme Mina Ce SO oGos Soba 119 
LEFRENTD, IOC Se SEGA ae cds Cada es EROS eInGR EGU EaGH ne see ion aoLe SoablocoaHase 168, 220 
ISSO IN ONO I cles eres MEL oe ee Cee eer aire ven. Oey Cee 184 
Faun MG =S LON OY sian syne teteoeieysicaiei ee ai seary sree bsvou SRE VAS send cence Dee E Se aIee 21, 24, 38 
Burt County Be yea et aa Noise sys RAISIS baie isles anatencic eas oR orate s RSE OEE EE em sceels 45, 61 
FS TRUGE PEs) AIC Keenan aan Seyi i NM NLR RS CL rd ee ee UN EE ie Sugeest 5 ee 152 
152 


PETRI Tefen Oye esata tenes teeter eras) os Ric (oie hl) Spey NE Maer eR SEN RS fot 
Med LOR EVOC Keesler eteuavs lets Yelle arats aia bay lo moa iavei sie arelaiiare ye oie eialmimtav eine mesiea nolo 24, 99 


254 INDEX. 


Page. 


(CHONG RAMA POUGHG) 5456 6509 decs0a 500559 bade BODGd woUD asDOSDoesSesoe baa0e¢ 116, 118, 121 
Caloptenus spretus. = 22 22 sac ces 2 oo. eee ee eas mane wee na oe arian 248 
(Ghusdjo CRypnta 8,955 3na9 635005 on55 seaagescss soso useo.c5dgss SSeses¢ sobbebiecar 116 
(Ohrealk coesca sees asso bene dSoases conG6000 ao HOUSE SESH a Saalonouoass aces 143 
(Chimaghnin IRINGPs sess onsco0 60659 9060 9900005000 nond00 Bees ESec SoUceU SedoK Sao 156 
(CRIIOIN, JIANG on a2 no opp oDEoEIS 959092 920052 Go son Shae dasHodoSes SHIHt2 Secs 166 
USA RAISE Sly Ae eRe SOME Aad AOC aSobon 5 cosbmegd beneeeeonoadiouesabonS 148 
Gran dees eis te ie ee eels oe Stee eer Ose see Se ener a seme eer 184 
(Che See ee SE oe Snaco saeccerniccic Hens aRapSenn a onesies sane ocHC 111, 139 
Sarid JP Ooeas obaces co40 os 5505 chan Dodd Deabomeuesee so dsaccbossa00¢ 139 
row lesome aacewses sesso ee ele cee eee ee a= ee eee ae ae rete 186 
Caiiom, Oitis7 costes tbncononsdes S404 csccaee ca0085 5086 bong Se cuss BsocNseEse 126, 149, 218 
Cappellini, Professor, remarks Of- 252-22). - ees ee eee eee 2 an 50 
(Chin nan Sienitonies sace sags oges cosa 6pa5 GoaGon nesadoeeooda sa5dec.Go0ed0 dadaooae 91, 96 
Chas COMMA, 545445555665 o5e5506 SBN SEEN OH OR POC AEOBCEEOE SHAM eoEECcaiMnee Son 38, 39 
Clomnmall CHiN? oo55 5606 beGdo9 Sean ee50 acoo dacdco soso CnSodemeco ede eae ara 212 
(Gerert Ean GOOrs Hat Sasc ha SCE oGrCeAa Seas n SS eCcoGOASC ASbeGe anak meds dadoo eso 239 
Coils te so sacesataseaoeaasbBaEeAselmodc SeoscHosesee sabaouedorc ce Sees 166 
lal @re ek eee ae A NBS ey stn miele elelavet ajareielers) evecare caer (ate cetaettee 178 
Olney abil etesis cosdas Goan Bob bad eh ouonbAgeEs GooooG DES diobos s6co Gb0s odode 169 
(Cliseay One oes head e Se ee a eA A AO ae eer dann ano Sooncc 139 
Gloanyemins Onivrcssase 6aoaa6 csac boas cane Beas uoodobboseGs cnocee bandar oanocde 111, 116 
TRI ViST es sere Rorrecrerer creed loreio ere ley mete eratere estote ear rote oto Siete vas en: 69 
Clomaayanar WAIIEN7. 6 cao 6acceo en56 5950 cho ace ct onesc0 He00ao aoce boseE = Ssaca05 80 
(Oi INIRVEPE sedcos dasode 6oqdas S00c6 06050008 0504 Sada Gan4 cagaus capoon Sate 157 
(ONE ir Oy y2¥e) Con Seg eee renee at el Si A ie Sees tae en ea Mn eto Sc 135,181 . 
(OUNITERIG Ge ys Beh ear ee ees) eae ee nS er Ae en ie a ae Rae cice poo 235 
Coaleee- ae aN 13, 17; 22, 36, 57, 78, 89, 95, 97, 99, 117, 129, 134, 150, 157, 165, 167, 193 
PITRINIKES Os oa5565 doc 656550 055600 000000 095500 990500 Sda905 cosdo500 8006 97 
(Og G) ie fae e ae Gee Bop eee OR GSES a OSeses caocScos tes SoU dounload oad sabeoasedKe 131 
HAG THROM OH, Gl) NOSIS Olicacoss o54505 so5550 Gon5Ks 0nbb50 GauuGG 556600 ouSor 193 
Colorado yacricullhuce totem ester tsemtee leer ee ener ieee eee eee eee 229 
(Hine eneeeBoncoe Heanor onsesoscononasoU Goo beenas cade 126, 139, 141, 147 216 
seals survey Of ....-.---..--. MAES Gao a a8 O50 Gases GS5GG0 6eNe 103 
THOUS) AVL MINCE OE 5345 sacnon ooo 545 Douas0 0506 ba00 cason0 cade 5009 201 
TRING) co Goon oon GaaG00 coon oGGGeu [60550 ceo sdacco As4050 529050 265008 174 
(Clormn@, ((SHENH@M)) cc cad0 Ga05e0 655555.060050500000 99 9950 999900.095095 a95055909590 95 
@ooper’s Creel icie sem wiws ese sere yerele\eraiial= [eee erectuel eee merece eee eee 89 
Mialkie nyre:c Ata oe ice eeeicic ee ee ee MERE emi R eee he eee eam eneee 94 
OWI sossc0cocg cabn a0 and6 4 d5U0 Go0N UbOGSS HOSES coeSan abe meNS 121, 168, 171, 173 
(COSWBIO -5 5560 coupao coouas UN edou 5 666550090000 2400bG do sOUa suNSbodeosoD CORSE: 72 
(COhOUs Oh Sgasaas eseso boeeos Gooe5 voodse Sooo ose Sosa ssesalesscs6ocec¢ 159 
Craterballlseeee eee ease seeeere Bigudesd does 0565 gabe ededess uIG2cua3 55555 144 
Creeks, (see Rivers.) 
Creston, (Station) <- 22 sre eeeeeee- sere eeee te cess eee rian ee eet Ee eee 98 
Cretaceous rocks of Nebraska, general section of..---.----------------.----- 49 
(Chnielnahes), Oreeligs coco coda oduS Soedes daseou 5500 bdacou ob eeue easboSaSGn dane sa5C 152 
Cnillebraieak ee eee eis ey eer Seer plein eke seein is eieepeien ee ele ate kee 173 
IR hiEloguo bog acasacd secasa asa pbaq babu d4G5b0 sbodisces ong a5a0055e005 174 
(CONTA AITOIN OF WES .65504 Sase Ronaidasose 66554015005 64545 59545094595 osc0 Saae56 10 
IDFA our) OWN? 66.o8 Gadd Gad doodod Gounod coqdas abodo5 Go5ede s500c0 bags 0eGHnd no a5 62 
PAO eee ae Jo ede ae eM ayaa e ta ts es os Bossa ey Ol), WY) 
Decatur - aioe yeah area aie Bye se Se iat a Senn re onan aah ds eater te to mettnec bs ole ate eyate 46 
BGOr Cree le iar ep eee Pee rcscle te SIR g Oa eine ecto pe 113 
WenweG ress Be Se OC Oe Seal ie IEEE Sere Doce Sash Se aneeOa scos 137 
Denver district, agriculture Ole e het 5. (3 2 a Ce eee 231 
southern RECO, cyerarenllinenysy Os 5555555655 5565 ceegegesc0 4 234 
TDIGaG Grn 1 eae aM TN ONAL AE" UIA NS RE Nc 5 TIRE 
IDOSsy MO winbailtncr ce syeccrieciene oe ree mie ato slefor Cry ene enolate ie c/o ares eee rte vere 170 
Douglas County........-----..--. He Se SECA Se CU OD aaa EaBbas crcd ade 41 
IDEN LONCLS HO) CAMO WUNMDIE  oa0 bas6o0 S600 900050 055050 banSSe Sacco Nsen09 o5560- 246 
Elevations of cross-sections...--...---...---------.--------- aS sic en nee eee guOe 
Hikhormeiver.ccat thee ke kee cee eee eam et ree enon cee emeeee eer cree 48, 62, 109 
MikMoumbaim ea. fects coteedeces ce eeeeee ere ewes ee cai ccines seer sseereneee 92 


Jay Nes, Chit? sace coeeCousoson wanes des Doouoono obo bdunDeESosso4s0 os5a55.0090 212 


INDEX. 255 


ey Page 
Tae (GIS) 6 co0cb0 CoDbaD HodOEN Bdop ebbS conS coDOeSoODE HEse Gnncy Cberosea 179 
1dRIUS Clin bee oo kode saddens cdacdoasaaeeHooD Ss ooookS oseuo00 poocoo adosenasokes 5 18, 20 
First annual report, embracing Nebraska ........-.-.--..----------. -------- 105 
WISChe WS he akeys race wis cin saisteine ices sc eicaisieices Rasisteleteefeias ciseis aietsicisee eee 155 
TRIGREMNO® =2 SAU Rts SSS RSE Gass SASS Bee SS See a dc (dae OnE BE MBO Aan 45 
IF OL ABSMVOM AKON No s6abd Seon coocaR oeeeee Orso obec Boon bcodudedodmonetEes cane 30, 53 
DL a USO EAS ee OBA Ee Ho Sok eA EDS eeebedan peicidoe docu Dosaceereemene. 115 
Gar lamdbirer ets cccersin casera e sherds er eieralanetsioter tala ocrelor asta baeioaysiaie aie) Ae ee 169, 174 
Nee Cape Mee else Seta clslelsisienejaiaie sieisicfaleisjals) ciao asin: aicte a secede ne aioe eles ee nieve 
IPIGIERS) BROWID sa0ca5 aoDOb Hono boda code addoco Gus cs Gods GooEcD CogonuEauaee 31,54 
WGI Nee o eer sae oh ones al oe aicis Sraimaa crelwiclceracisia asminae eicicen ol seen ee eee einet 42 
WOM ates coisas orce a pateciuls 5 sajclein, “amieta hate wets clevaye win ovate iia siete eben sees 158, 162 
JPCSSIS co bacobdesed coed cHoSeH DES bese GOnb bobB coe shee bos dneodeadcecocconee | ay SY) 
Fountain ‘Creek. are aka mf ater et oats [er ey scm came oy alle Sis as EUs tate ey ay SPAS ee 143, 147 
ONSET SCA Sys teiscies aalercsl aetwisyeisiscicicy cinta stele ats ae ale acetate ae len ater eee en 31 
Hraser CLEC kes eka e salsa aaa ceie casio wi cicis emlaiele wiala aie werciersaya aie itiatal cetera renee 182 
]REWAGIE, JEEIESIUMONES Witbs SRSVOOSHH CHE Gago Soqd caSede onmene Coddou onde dade dd coun adcece 99 


TYROS sesh eect eo ne ar ec esha prea ch Rangel plume nS 5 (5) OID 


Gaee: COUN Yypsee ars eerepa elaine sys Sane s=1n) = fap 5 sieicpsyries aavsinncim ieiessieke aes ae are ee 25 
Gallilimas; (ree keane ee ets Aaya ber giz se eesti ernine any Se ohciepne us cine pelos ev esenelo aaa 164 
Gallisteo Creek.---..- isiejastese nisjeia aja hiatal a ctalatars/aistelovatie cyedialsy seispe yan mee oeins See 165 
Sal CW OTOMP raya sys lars svar pa t=sst peter sieve) osainiei, eyes aitasaictanslavorainjaucle myers Meteors 140, 167 
Garden of the Gods... Aiea oy Sahota slay wise ymseraisinel is aie epameennauan ai ioie etree sehen 143 
Geography of the Missouri Vall Cay SO SIT Te Perec Ech Sein RCI RUT cea 67 
Geologicalireport) of, Drivin Hayden) 186925. essen sees ce cieeeaeaeeeeee 109 

sections, 22, 26, 27, 29, 40, 41, 43, 46, 48, 49, 117, 119, 124, 129, 134, 150, 157, 
162, 167, 185 
@eorretowne se ccewss soemiam este veneers iene cisiays cteieieienncnicicale mines eee 188, 209 
(Col asia leper iaa cis ave injaln Sic lereparcisreiciaia les albvay/sisiaie mieheis dialer stay ale) sya scseacisain se eee OSs 171, 187 
Gooldlems City: sos eiaea's) sisiele erevore ctnisie 1ars ers oyeimsiotw is joieleiee oa ra.e aiekd ouelaretev em eva veueioree 128, 133, 207 
Grate kastiea i eeices ature Sc 2 apse Sora uatee don )s caro eNotes REA 135 
(CATA CNC AT OMe ea et sleiay ol simi rayrate alate oy = ats ys ejaieieay Series cme eiaciiom, Sete eaee eee eae 184 
USPS poo Soon Se See COICO od aon Eee Re ODE Eee O SCM GRE Canis Hen aie tes at 183 
Cramer © aii ome cave a ceavsiew rare) ole orets neta dams e vie ete aia jh eRe cee St ps oe 111, 139 
GEASS OP OLS oretarcte einintay sie efejelelsfeseiesaiedeiseeteisiniersieieisinieiae Wissen eeisa= sisiniaarcige verse 12, 248 
Creenhorne Creek: sa sesef fejscioints cei oi soiciaislsiienec. ss aceite sitisicieisajeisieisied Sea ee 151 
Green) Mountains eevee cet ie) o5\aicpeinvele reise sisinic mice yaisisiniaie eye wisiaisiersieieyebiayeae ls Soot 135 
CROWNS, WENMOWe OE leRGhiNe cases coo5b0ceopaE sone coEHan seen cocses bn6enS necaae 189 
Evandscralb ble @reelemceteisis sleteteratarevetsicisine ole sialetate wis e)eicetnicio sm cies eine mete ene 151 
EA GViES by WHC aib -12:4=srct Sette) starcrctataveteterclote rarete elala (arasa misters eioraretctoe lovee fercfepeetersiemieaa ees 241 
Hayden, F' V., first annual report of, embracing Nebraska......---..--.----- 7 
second annual report of, embracing Wyoming ...--..----.---- 65 
third anuual report of, embracing Colorado and New Mexico. 109 
letter Ofna rssnec pataveres Se Reon oS. RRR ee SE 76, 88, 103 

Heer’s, Professor, descriptions of fossil plants...---..--. .------------------- 51 
Jeter ce oSa6 Gaocoe coo boo oneEOs coe Hob Osada TaaD obo cooouD DegEEOSSODOD Gent 18 
Horse: Creek Valleyiic. ssc .ossceccens asts Gan thiscike aaeteetecc se eeese' us Sos 80 
Jel DRUGS 6 68 SSeS os eeca sod 500 socn aqaead Coes Uscadd Gases sEccRnabonO peor 162 
analysisiOf.. sc) svocnoee ousehis oeeieeeee eee ae Hheneuine (ue eee 164 
Ole Mid dlenBarkssaeememastisetenciecene ec ceiesrlenscaies snore 184 
Sully Tyee ayarayavcy=tseretetnatera alas lata laaelatayorwiatetmyararotaroy tay atateratey=ya?otecey areas 186 
FAM CTLAM OME WhO Ne arai-sey=-/se ise ielaloteiere a iayesicveiele as rola (ural Breer ctetaata ato erate oeiotete 152 
BAT eggs ste: oiniajs oie e oin'eiciatdis Ssteciersiaierstswina! ace sea ouetttene nels See 152 
Indian! hieroglyphies .---.--2-2 0-22. ee nance ne anobOD CAC bSD suDasuibdonco N6éC 47 
introductions (toythirdlannual report) esse sees) 221) = eine oe) =) alata We 

JPIGARNINKOM c .cs0 caaces DODO HORS ORNS Shao S660 cnd> aud EHesoS dosabes ceed beoecese 

IPOs dog boarae bocn BHO OCUOS REE SORE EAe CHD OBOE DAtra see 78, 122, 127, 129, 168, 171, 198 
Jenrensom, Comin, (INGORE) so566q seco cccoed Debno> codd boos S600 de00 caocqo Ke 28 
Jolancamn Comming (NG oe) as ceocronbeeoicagu coeccs cessed codons sooo saaeee 30 


UL CUT MME CI CD AG UIs Seta cera carat a cies ciaiciavecaic\m ola iainreleteterela valve raichertala| ea erete a sie ratolare 56 


256 INDEX. 


Page. 
Kenosho Basim-sin)-- secsciet aa set satan etn as ROR er ar ee pS aN 9 
Kiowa: Creeks 4.2 nat masetg asain ntis nee tsoa oa Spe alae ole ode AO te Se A ee 139 
Hancaster Countyar@Nebrasisa)) er-2) see ee eee eee ereee eee oes 8, 38 
IVAN QOS 655555556 bad pdbode Beso Bodo pene eaoS5on Sood soaded bobo 0neeG! abace 116, 121, 206 
Laramie Mountains ...0.-..v cle Se tesie as WT tat vy aes na 70, 89 
Binns eee ee BAM UAE LEIS DENT TE PARR E yals co Sie eye eee oh Nee ees 83, 89 
RIVET MSGS S272 Subs Ne Ee eRe Berean aie egy nee ee an = eee 84 
iE Cle 1st, VLAN ae a a eas 985 Sl ah 8 81 
asp Viecasiss sees S 3 TSA SMS AN Ws WA DS Ss ys seas Ee Alten yap aye asa "160, 162, 219 
LeConte, Drie. on coal andaronidepositse sss ssesa4 eee ao see eeeeoee eos 193 
Hee strani chy 22 6804 ee AA AS ESE ee cen wae enue ES ener oe 22 
ihettishanck@re eke hen Spoink Re A ee SSO Se Oi eae Se ET ie ea ae * 128 
Lesquereux, Professor, L., list of fossil plants./......-.-..---.-------------- 195 
Wetter of haw. Hay dens Saxsa so assesses ooeioe aecieae one hearse a) Sees e ee ee 76, 88, ae 
KER OON CDR ot Bh oct ais Aa ean P Se kota ia a fei ena webs Wenn bo oe 
basins theioreatys Ake Sea ie Seine eee eis seein Seg erenine, Seren eetareneeres a 
Tincolin ee szk aeA eee ee AA eR RAR Se tp ee a ow Sele Some ae) eee eee 38 
BittlesBlwe River... 282 ckee eae sae eS ee eee hee ea ee Nee ae ee ee 23 
Chompson) Creeks crocs ok corks R Reet ee eh ete see ee eee eee 126 
Lode, Anglo-Saxon ...... S35500 SS AIG OS HOS OSU ASU SuTORUESA Guse eae eso 211 
Baleeii tee cwaqace~ sue rersew ase eS Se Se ARO Sa RRS SEE Se at a ee 187, 209 
Belmoub ee akeenee ken teeee Peek AERA R ee ee een mean sek Cee hele el eter Ramiele 211 
Brehimesscecs ice pberea tect ess ceo vase e eee a whee Ld ate ole eA 168. 220 
Brow eels cece nee eetee ee eden eee eee eats REED ee Oye ees 187, 209 
CUR ee a vehiera venned carers Bee ects eA eae OR RETR IR SR a ee 211 
ORME Bete Geek othr NS ath yes AE eT MOEN 5 SO 9 Nes GS Ale oa 187, 211 
Come bese aee eee ease’ Aes Mahi RONDE IE SAIC aN OU Eee vey es Fa 211 
Conqueror et ecneeceee tee sec eee eRe Ree cea e eet A NaN eee eee eae 212 
Wontimempbal s cececren tere eters ee Ria rere RE ls NO la Ae A oe a 211 
Copeland) ceceec steeds ceeededis eee e dee See tee eae ee ee eee 214 
Eli ah VE Se) cence eet cient See SS Sas Lae Sia eS a 211 
Equator ...--- oUsen Pine eeserds eee ese ee eee eee ek eee ee ee eee 211 
Gilpin eeewueetse ets ade eee ee eee tesa Seat a ee te ert es en eee 211 
Gregotyaceeks (inkce te tane cise sees eee eae aN CRE S eR een es Sha ee 212 
Griltith es cece donee Reese eee seek eel ede eae ea ae al eee a a Ee 211 
NDCT Uy eee Be wee heece Hato va Mere tare ee Oe ie OR ay win ol se nla oY) Ce 211 
Ma cone tina ares cee ease ak ORME S Ree Se Ee ee Sa Se ee eRe RS ee 211 
Mendotatescaccacaa sca daeaea wes sas ce Saas SASS Se ASO ec ne EES 211 
INGWoBOSTO Nps odessa ERE she Re Oe UE Re ee ee ne ae ae 211 
INOGthyS tas Jee seers eee ee Ee ey aoa een era Cees, Bk Ae CLS 214 
INT CONS atic e Sica a ete eek oe AL Seer aes et ea 241 
Ob eS Ges eee ab aaah a Wie Baylies pare UN BAR Chcta kt bya die lee hee aia 168 
RG RETIN: Bees ooo Solel A eee Pte USGA MISE Ree, UII Nei ete 214 
JETER eae eens Ea POS CAS Abt Ae TET MMS) ome UMN Ge Tava eb hte ee OY 214 
STO WOU aah oe SE ey RN ee ea LU Sh A ee eae Re erg 211 
BAST ONS See ee en eee ne eae eater WLM ey ae Mia Ue Le nooks 187, 211 
AWVENIIN GH RGYE Oi ere een teeters amt Sune ere Ce nanan IEE TS aN oS 211 
WilliampB Astor oi). oS nchnaaae Webs beh sae sa el OS Se One Se ee ea 211 
SWalnite eee eet ee sa ak a Se yet ear Sie chs aS wo ae eC 211 
Vous Ammer ais cesses isp va) sy aysler essay ste ats pual ears See ered ee es 211 
Logan CTS RUE: / SRA OTE Sa OE Nine. SS sey Met seis = ease 63 
Won eis Peaks S355 cers pete a eensisere teal </arg Sos gee Sie se Se NTN Se 133, 182 
Lookout, (Station) Sie sack ese eee sae sos Coe ae Cee ce ceeene 95 
Loup River QTOWP \seaaccesieketeswase sous seca ce Roemer ae sewrees cae 110 
Marshall's ;miness.te occa gewelse = 5 ae nar oarasi se Seis as ak ae eae nein o.0 gL een 129 
IMT SWAN: Sos gatas SON sia em om Sy Ma al Ca Rs eo Ua! Oe See ae 29 
Mauvaises: Terres, (boadilands)iisssshaaasc sy sas5 28s Rens Os Sena en B/ 
Miarawellsie ei fo Vo ee ei yoy eee a aay ee aa Sa Seg Somat 9.9 9 20.9 9.9 Se ep 157 
Medicine Bow River: (or Creeks) as uesae eons ae sole eiee os cs ines Sees 91, 117 
Iu Ko Ca De) 1 cer ee SS ea vie Wa tia BILAN ae DRI el eu B ag  ah 117, 181, 184 
Mineral sfoisNewMexd co mlistiotenc meses eae ete eee ce et ae eer 222 
Mim ers! Creeks e ee use Se ey Te Sr en ay dt 22 
Minesjandimunerals of Colorad 0sssseeeeereeee ee ee eee eee eee eee 201 
HGS) Gea es a en aS eg a CEES eh IS A) iar a pe IR Cee el i 210 
1B) DATOS ie cal eran eer Sie ae Ae ee Arie re Mn Me ie aso Sad 213 


INDEX, < PAE 


Page 
Minescoal. Marshalls) eee e lex ret ois heres weiss eee Melee a wee oe ene aereeres 129 
WMG DIN HS) poo oacnd a pob geod Obed pooGG 6 Sao s55 Beebe r ooo oad coaSce 134 
GONG! sos006 copa do5ce9 050800 on0600 05000000000 Sacb55 CoDeuD GagboD GoDaeO 173 
andysilverjota€ olonad Ojass-- 0 eee sete eee ee eee eee 187 
WOM SSS Sod Se CECA ONO CON CARE OR Oe eR ER SSO iC Cee Stein eye cbse) 129 
of Arroyo Hondo Mining and Ditching Company.-.........-.-...-.---- 171 
of Smith and Parmelee.......-- BREE e Bee OEE OOo OOOO EICE RECO Coe 213 
Qu Sescdeeacdes Boca cous Gane CoSTea Hoe bad bo adeadd oa ndueou eaudoa Seae 168, 219 
ISTO) vse CUTIE ss otepevn eevee alice ale 1S) aj cra hela c tel“) aeet nM mtey ate rm SVAN fl ose 211 
INDIRA! IKKE Goose se eeedeaas sono bEEGeees pei clinf ictal ak areal ar ates y erate char alm. ui Ste 72 
Walle yeu SOO Sia liy;Olicer t's) arerste ce esieltts tete lp ae eee eee ee 67 
Wray iTayeN | Cig eee Se eee ee Rea rim Are khmer = mn wees 140, 142 
i GHOWD conc seen dono Dood ee ScpbUIod ooSS Oboaas Sono ScoOBeo Cobase 140 
MORI) WOMen ne eES Cosco o BOSSE Bane EA Geos ne AmeOer Coons BoE eEO oe oeor SaubooRe 157 
MIGHO) Oreo ba See Rika BEAR eee eee HO ae een Me ea oOh Mea Mee Son San J 159 
Valle iyciraeyereeren sen vaney st ct crepe n Le cratcroctcl ata ae arsrerey huts a aan Us (oy Mead 158 
INOS CAPR ASS INS sae mses rcus tees nan nte Sis ota s/sievatdha Gisele ainiale sign alot IRISTS aes eRe 176 
Momminiling, Iie BION. 555 co5560 6598 png00s Goeaa0 babaes HeOAGa doeGed boo oDUGeL 52, 70 
Tae katana Seem yas aaa ior tat oieleretaals mye Nao terete alate pa ois oe ane cee eee 68 
IBTOSS parts eh acne oe ais) silos a cleats senetcle aie era alba a gay ora lpanee 184 
(Ciara SBOE AS ae ie roe mae ys ere ne eer Ale Se ahs eps 169 
IDOSS, SARS EEE a ey eee et ere ct et enete ot Moy gee SS par nn 170 
IB cpeperete oper ct syetnisi yer acct (ere tu Sclaate ale) ap ael raters NEL a eRe UA oat 8 Wrath 92 
(CRYST By As a a a Ne UNI el Se Pee ya San Ie, Re Doe Be De 135 
ILA INO Bass Ieee DORE Re Sosa sae ae ene rca OS a nee oetaE Bie eseretie te eeee 70, 89 

OTA all Clie arate ie op seetare maton Nai aieyai a steal a falar ota apo tlewetare efaieie see rete mae aeaets 17 

HTC salted Seta stare garam ie yaya is Pape st Altay arcpavaverais, Siete nave) ote Atala eae ai ceed 17 
CLOT Cree ree ial aca aya loves ie eiarete te eteate taba eoiaye ve sian she See oe rae ote eS Ee 167 
WAU CWO eryernice a eisiseeevencioeaee ice eieicers snaale tl Jato else sets eee Ise 170 
Ae O Mapas tcae = restate Si sseyissis a teres aera sieasetorer atau a rata tars aint Se ote Se a eats 153, 156 
TRG Reps ace eas peta wie ai aicte ta erate ola laial-teisisivere/Srarisiara elias c/a awa sis uae Ua Rae Pa 181 
RIONE Olor ad Of sere mae are aocel epee clare aie ape eve nde seat a eet gE 170 
Sabre ears eysyacare carey ase iieiaraie sie wreievevars arate love wia/ciaisy iejepercioeae ar eee hist 173 
San Gaeta sass see wen ccs, Jo ais sie acters cre peieyanes sis ye stores Se rere cree ae eee 167 
SIME Gj isan elise ere aie ere cete Niatarayaeiars. ey ahaa St sesCusiauere Cmye ey kare etl emer 93 
Mterray Dam Cape cys cpoey-ctepsiciet sce ete roue sine ieva be ele arenas Sere re cee: See ere 173 
IMAGO aiarenercteja sicloreisiaatateisieta storia arate roeieterse yet a ciclareeeersers 172 
SIN OW desis aierein ole eraiolaiste ne miols stay eral erepend erste State hate te rare eareae eh Sea 86, 136 
ICU Rae eee tei cyesaysiely ci siajatans ial ate aeiniehann cine) caristelere ioe slaty eee 151 
AWA OPRAVIED wie cale ness vars stapevsrjevsinvosias elatsiensye seis nemiciaereee posesaaeds 71 
Muscle=shellpitivetes spare crieaceraae eects eral sts ones avaiarat wrotetsie ata sier peeseaab are ah a 76 
ING br AS Kay ceo lent nia eios saseicriatey einrepa, cise, hnicios 5) ayere/aie sisi gieleieubn aeiaaeye sae eee eae 5 
; DIL Varo pereic tee otererraieta totem patel nie paper SE rere say Se! ee ae eal 
eretacecous recksyo hse ees awsiece seiner esis ee aera eeeree aus cee 49 
CASHETMPOLULOMiOl Lae oe yeas akeie es sich inieais sateie ea yee sae eee 110 
MOMIA OH IME IIE Acond soso gooUoDOSSS ba50 conc aaretarayetseisne sees 45 
Salis ompamypy ew ee eee tan seelspetara a layars a, apap vere peyapelsyaaret cet atte Se 9 
tertiary LOrmMabions) OfF a2 sa soa se se ao neetaa ae eee ae eee 55 
Nema ay (COmiainrs CON@MEEISIED) Go osbeneos Sob ece 56 deoo sha4 poe Sedcdsaoncs dooGer 12 
JOU SUSE Seo ao OBC OSS aoE SAC OCEE Seed Soha Can mec Ieeeae Sepa cell divin mi) 
INewaxil CiltiY ssoceo cess open deddor GoubHs Seco co od Sos BSH oH SD EE HE Deb ooo cemoce 66 214 
Nowa Mexicom imine Companys sjteaesrscine Seem oe cs cesses = <heee seeseeeee 219 
NROOTATLA OLOMP ye: <i a's Sa ao fo bole weiajaya aasinnetsiel=yoretebetele slender o)o<isaysierats cietapte eee Seca aro NOE: 
IRIN eee eee en See a Ben te Sanya anata eee momen toes a eed et. IUD) 
NorthHorkotiSouth Platte: £22025 sa Ceememeer Se cee nae siee em oe eee eee 180 
TE ay eaten tay spe ate ea oases etre ae te ere Peateie ee raion aja eve sores aysree ten ne ale ae ee 87 
sO Caitiey ORCC keno yepete ta) ste sya a say msoiny j= mic) n/5)e overtone stale, Mma, ap a niagara test) eM pa te 158 
CH KOUUD: CORMMINE <2 soon eee oo Sueno Ces ao pcoeeebeosebad sbaebk 248 
CO Mercy UNV SISO. ares eye pe fays mca: oie, cye coo ice teeta nin pcyare < decd ene fe Sie eee ee tore 218 
One kee ere aa eters ao Liois ear ear sila ee neice oe cia Vali ne a aU ge eS 148 
SPLEMNO SN eemtere) sales ees aces oe aye efeitn ny ice eely San hs ey atoerec plc eee rape es 148 
Oin® Shireen Ones Saaes aes: anes sen alent aoe ees Be sat 169 
Olde baldye/oNIOUM GAN. a cleree cn isin s(e ora, 9) 5,=:-iniemepeinree ee oeee eeeae ose oe 170 
(Cimanga anes CCG ies Se ee le ee oes ee red eR 41, 45, 109 
(Coyrecensy TIS On EI ace aR eg ERT I Oo SN eg a LSE ROU che EE Su ADIN ye 203 


258 INDEX. 


’ Page. 


(Orne Ib sascos Soooce Sono bosacd codood ca osadKs coven Sebcod cco casacdedasace 168, 219 
Otoe agency .---.. ---- =~ ones oe eee eee een ne ee nee on ee we eres cannes ee 25 
liye eelge tA eee con boedSe aanesoes oben deo Doc aD acomtceseacoamOeerocaLed 12 
County, (Nebraska)... --- 0.2225 cece ne eee cee wns = nnn nee ne mane 12 
INMONPVAS) Ae Be son6 Goon oe Sood Habneo fone oo de soo bodocuon Dod dood BoeGed ae Sa By 
TEESE) cocbou oouSoG baat CoD eos Os 0500 66 Udo oD Cad coocBUSUCOOSco SECON Stou lS 32 
| Papillion, (Station and Creek)..---- Me Lig areisioitieimmmrahamiecie We EMD acceiseasisieteer 41 
IP BWA, JEM WIO) Goo acoso e ness doseso 55S6 0500 Ga50Rd docKeabose Gnosiotocse sasssc 152 
INEIGKSI ae eeu Ta awe ae Sa Bees nanonuGe booe 117, 181, 184 
INET cy eS a ee eS es ale LES Se nan he Ae Aamo eRe AS or esos 87 
Spi Dinitieeoese hoe carbeMicoausGddaedor deuaod sods Gago coesSboseadseescs 176, 221 
re Faes Veil 2 ae Ae SURAT ERS eg ee 117, 178, 223 
SPT ONO) SE SE eS eo dblGnoe SSS Coe a Gu oueuEaeEuesoodoos Goes 118 
IDES Reva aais same Ra SSA Sesh ee ah oe Nee eee ua eHsedo clos 181° 
Creek set ec meee eke Aya Aa lt a ae Oe Saab eben Be anit Ss bac 93 
WiiscAh eso ee dk Saba eoee ed dseubeaddepoeocouddd node seecso cées coda aedonc 176 
1 BXasaVo) Boy PHC a eae DCS YS a a he aa ee ae Ce a ano ote ose Wos 176 
Sanere de Christo .2 222. 12222 see ee eee es ne ee nn 151, 173 
Mpioyihn Oheeelice Suse Mumm ac anes eho Ea a eee BSS eo Seo opdalse 178 
Prine Civ ogucos Goacdonccdse sduedacogses d55500 Saod ecHsisaocoddaeuse nasece 21, 24 
County, (Nebraska) 22222 eee ee ee ee a een aine elnmimmieciminiminl 21 
, Coal Conny a ssos6 os5554 boGceu Socgc0 050000 yeGsus cocdou ce 23 
IEE AVAOS SIMEUNGT 6 pada Ades soedosococsno cndadn cdussausegadseqcct LEP EEEEe 165 
Ieeplic, CulelWiics os boccdo,.60d060 bo5465 ganeanesedes Aduods dasscolossoce osae Sease 173 
IETS CLV US eae ae eee eae ate sere oye reraretsr are arere toners rer area tote ta erctasa sole telereietaye mln 
TOO avedt eS Uae ae ee OL So eS i eee eee A ea ae Ohba 133, 182 
IDSA a re ella ga ee a a a aes UN SA a oasaaaoadao Zadade told TAD TB) 
IRAWIOIM, Sooded boSoonsasedd asoa do55o0 cadood bododeccbecdissoddcEseS ooccR 155 
SHURDONEN 3.6 3odd Gag oaS onoeds odS555 Goo ces poo cod oodSsb esceedsoaans sadbae 153 
12 eSB OEM AUN A Aap aH SM ha al es a Eo Sa setetd Gag aoe 13, 20, 24, 37 
IPelWle, CRB ooo soocososesues pod bacdeos Haaeensodesous soos aeeu eeu ceNd sdoood 7563 
IPeeos Clamireln, co5cce dea u6c0 064 dena poe bc0 Kbsy oboado ve55 cee CFORs5 A600 Sen 165 
PU Qa CA Anna Aun Sis hears ARE Sale ANS ee Wee eos soca ooGe ¢ 165 
TOMASO, (Cheek) doses doasse GoqSa0 cs6d00 gd0200 daS050 badusu boae00 008 wisieseetee 170 
IDHCIRE TENS: MIO WNATNDONS 55665 6onbod 66de50 Coucsu eaeSEo vacuespSaseN Soasno saaeca ce 170 
Pikeisibeaka tose eee 2k Leen Meee ehetayn esi sietotcl ators See RASS NEATE eu ca eee eae 142, 145 
OF rE Ns RAR 4 he ae A Le a ALP a na Mie DEN aan uaa ie oab ine War sa 3 153, 158 
IPlaveieies IWOwAANS 556 bob6 coosas dosuse Seca cabeeu aaa ceod osu at aeiauarereteyueryetees 167 
‘Pienmis, Giossyll) socc ofanedbabe doce ch05 boob caccoebdancs C608 dabcesaeod basses 195 
IDE ARG eee ea a oO Gee Sad oe aes ae asoiaaoaos SHEAR Ce ey Baty Liv 
Welles? odescocnou nods docu codd.cdon. 5ac5 pebebe o690 daRses Ss0GbaRdno age 56 39, 77 
leattsrmO uit cpp ee ae eee te eee vere re ee ete era etter te erniete rehome eaters Sea ASE 11 
Plum Creeks se sock se ce wate k eee eeetenmeeets eee ds ral eas ce Re re ates mo 34, 138 
AEH De Pree Sys ares aA Ba oe Ee ROE ARG ES aide ome Lac 139 
IVES Te ie stay oer epee pa a ME AO IL He cre ene eho re re 140 
Iowmahe Ore INOS, CSUAOM)) > 35060 dosncadesu Sodcn0 soso 05bes A Ra eae ee oe i We 
POMC OO Ee lta eee leet sede ie Falster te tale STe te REIS ee telrare (eleiete lott ta ieree cel ennt nie eerere Payette 17 
LER YS Weill MUG 2 OU ae a Ley ee Me oe oee as le ee ee Cada Gabo 176 
Boma tO ity epee ea iate ele lett folie et tiia nt ats te ee fee tereleare tolrnrape ene tetera eat 48 
Zopulationeesseereeee see cece. Beet eis aS i ll ACA a ere ee et 238 
(POttOIS Clay, Gece lene eles ae eee wetem = cies He eee area elowiee ee ere are elteintelala stati 24 
RO W.CLET RAV CI yee eae eet fod ee ea AS Rcu cle at ct Se eet Pte ate et ee Peerage ewaleverclatape 73 
IBA UIOY WOU So doo sau bddosu Goance GHOUkG OSauoh sooedo Cob ebe Dooberscadacomac 3 
Rueblo Mow bas: Bee ae ee Wee rereer sees tee Eee ieee pee tuned foe ie ee Soaescs 170 
TEU UPH KO Aye eM Cere uy NS ait oe de a naigaoera cond sono bso odsdooua Good 54 
Re ESOT Cp este) ee eR ee ES OOo COGS a MAbE SS aoe 134 
IRAN MOMENT) -S554aos500Gc00 o6coos eae kas gales Re, aM cs 22 Bt nape aR 1538, 156 
Peale Ola NII TO a OVS a tes a oe Un ESTED, 2 he eo 155 
Rawling’s Springs, (Station)..---..---- ELE SS AS Ot FICE itis 96 
Rayada Creek..-......-- Bi (LEAS yay UN ala SAU ARP LOE ec ef fH le ne 157 
TRY eveL OR REY) re STM ne ta at ene eRe hb al bons hon oem mee DO GOLOOnOoae 151 
ANA Tara seats a a ae a SL Ug Bete ye oe ore cae ave 81 
Reportiotfet. avy. Hayden, frstiannualeepse-seeeeeese sie s- == eerie eer 5 
ReoonG! AINE, 6556 cage co04 dons Sooods bo0000 S460 bose 65 
TavUROL AROMA Gaod cages Seonoo ase soo sadded sodoseeS 109 


JERS HSTT (oy Ginl thn Bs 2) Deve anaes MEELIS Bink A 5 Rene eR See SisicbSe 199 


INDE) 1 259 


fl Page 
InepoOr OF Comms INOS 6665 Seba qeaocuseeods o6n5 Gheu Gbbe cons cede cond cpa ne 229 
inielmanelson Commiy, (NG WISI) S55 6s58e6bcde no46ed docosdeuce6s coeceocneese 16 
1G Color tee eee Nea ee Se teoo See O beer Ee Gaba orn Giaee Paes uae a ake 174 
NM TCON BING ATA GS) Pgs a ASE oP a MU 170 
CO) eaves CGV) i hs a A eS eee pn ae ee 172 
CERES BN STON cy ee ENE Ey RY IE 172,175 
AV aU ee veee Sete asl Neva tersh Sisco aiere teeny a ctu Vee er eleNete eye) sta a5 eae 169 
PIT ENING pee eee Nee el elaysrapae ony siieiots ets ale io iene eermts (a ea meeeerner le ace SEA ea ate 170 
_ Rivers and larger creeks— 

IN vovSTBT Oe asd nA N Og uk ip ERD NaN act tu een ~ 153 
FAUT KUT S ELS Reape ates eat pratt te Sy hae eset Acs 20h ae 126, 140, 150, 177 
IS TOMES MOY Nae Serer te arersiap ye) era atu aM siars solace aay lias Seat ees ian a a SE 27 
Big TEIOIBN 6645 oog660 Secu doadou oS4a5d cosa geod BORO OnE One a Seria ee 71 
IBIOW | assnsesoac oo4sde pe Sauondobo5 cbodeo HoeSSonabone walt SN STN a 139 
HES ull LT, siesaeat east Meals eet iw sales nev p rete care ree arte ae Ua 123, 129 
@Wache=ala sR Oude) es cete nese oy train ayeichale arevatay sta ais te eee eye es oe rae 116, 118, 121 
Camadiameseeoc i sata aereoraaemisls\aeceemiersells navn ss auui Beet NS aes Cee 156, 
Claeweimme, OIG) .c4s50 50505000 basc00 Saud boon HESs Gado bobSHe oun OdoeSs 69) 
inmate rave eet) ese SVE REIN SUIS lees ie ba atc vetoy NN ct en 157 
Colorado, (i@)) 455 s66 e665 csonco nosoooedeoEo oS SSe SSeS EEE eae 174 
COOKE) ie ea eS a ae as NE ean RL SG ar A Rae pl 152 
nal Cae aee ta ey ars cte clave atone ceeisteiars epee a arey wlaaie teratiayaeerel etn o teeter aietayal avatope aoa 174 
BE ahr O eave ys haere a oheararc areca iar a UL OL as eis arthaiayctaise eee 48, 62, 109 
Fountain, (Fontaine qui Bouillé)..---.-. Syn Se aos Sacer eran ain ghee 143, 147 
CaM UTNE 505 ral a i te Oe pee a a eg My UROL SL 164 
Gailliisteomees = Pye See is EY Las cr eR a ea Par Rca aS 165 
CERN Us get aN RS Oa I Ley A RN mt eH ya at SU 183 
PUGLECIMOLME Us ee ac voce ciate catia: paler Me berets aay iat amore aeistelcicisrneciaine 151 
HNOTSC) CLEC Kees yen nsisiarlajatancters ol skaters ores eiaiayes oaiaiel wleraretereieay ose orcieicia eRe ove beavers 80 
Judith, (basin) ..--- Dace o600 doba69 nab0 DdS0050 Seno noSadS COG sodeO SSS 56 
IRS O WARM Seis Geer rane s nnetaalcelmiat ca crajeie ral een erase yee ciara crete ate ye Sosa 139 
Lemon, Cone Eyal Iii) cease bash coaoss Gace cesuoSobeasées Gacdo4eds 81, 84 
HB ast tel ep MTS Trae eae es eee a he gayest taney 0S el gel parapet ts eran Maajey eat ae ete a tae ape 28 
Mie ANI Cy BO Wir cvervarseretee ist aceha tote aoe aici tc telereree otal saya nine rac opatal erin 21 eee oat Gil, Milr/ 

MASS OUTS SAS eee laps ccc ae oe cite ea ciay Se rere ela ars cimreitcrey eee re et A CaN eed eee 
MOMUIME MLE sey sto ae le secsieacieneie cin eietal siejcrefersreieiatel ai neierenreto nist aarae eee eye 140, 142 
IVI eee veces este ase Ss ase st astal See re en RE ae cs AL Ia Ta ee RN CE ep 159 
Muscle-shell.--..----. a ee atta a tetera alopecia ah cle ny ora atone a) Oia ese 76 
ING 11 att ey er ee eee eee ee eee classe shelters ce tpay Walrad 17, 35 
ING OMOEA Bai spre Soe Rare eh re ON Sra) WS Deo eae Ue tan aie eb aataietape 73, 110 
North Hornsoft South Platte saaeaseeeeee sae Sate ela ieee ae te orale Sean 180 
OGate res semper Sake eters eee oe ay ae ies ea neers WIS cnet a ae ener naan ars eae 158 
1 EEX EX OFS a Cae 8 yg nat HU ER EN Re AN ene) Ses ME re 165 
A] {ENSUES SVX) seu tale rage ete ate PES Ve poe ce RS as VG eee 170 
Blabtecee sti ee ae oats ce seamismebesseeree Rote meee aeiemion Siecluerts hs C5, 7/2 
IEE SONU CHCE Se oeho Doha Hobe bb ooeooDEead OaboooosHaEs UboseoogEoe 138 
SEAT 0 oar pes Pagel n A eee Ok ur ga aa EM ES A eg 34, 138 
RO WiGE Ten ste aa SUED ary au MA LY a Srv: Serel stake ratchet a Sisysatsiny olejcieral ae ete 73 
Bur gatoryie se ras sence Saas ey ne ole Jalota siaiscare stl aiaicialais sare sea aleraid: <acctatere 54 
AIO Grande ges seas Py see Ne SAT ye ers oma ee era Deans asare seca 172,175 
Slouxer (Big) 22 (ose Saee Cais shee a sicis asin eice a Se cis secusicinin oes Ce mM 
SS GRMV ATEN TT Se 2S nS SS Sy Stee ee Ue ee ae me Ea Sree. say eee a ae 127 
MATOS Rea P Aa. Sea SAE Se Se FOS eee eat re esd Se a aS ee eee 170 
ERG GOI Sicis Soh iS, Sisk eA Syn Nh ie RUA ENB Se ik Sa ale Sin) eee araane 73 
DOOGUG JOSS ORE SRO OBES bode HeeoobooceoH SoseEbBoEeHo ann ueomboneoScauoc6 73 
Trampas'.....---- Be See ale Seiten ene alse Saran aereecretae lee avaleer eels 170 
ARTCWCHATAN toe tes eee! Me Sa eee See Son Goes a eae ave cee es cmiceeremesige 172 
WERE Oscosiccusabusodes soso boric desu cuEb Sabon eadbaeendiganncoud ce 157 
VV ili GS es EE 8 2h ail 5 ovat era tetas Maye leicjoye aietal wie sial/S)al aap eoucjeys chet sie Sena ete 71 
SVPLTOWSTOM CNHI isto Set res myer aretereter bale re erate varopatctaronatancretarseercecialciate epee 72 
Muock« Creekwsy wees een eS es 3 cats Bio SU ty a tetas Ee as Seca Dye gat aay AN Se ge 28, 29, 90 
SJOPUNE oo6 Soup saab doba been obbS DoEioab Haco Choa uoac cba nobobaSecoso Hous 100: 
ROSE) ORCC is os sess Sam sate aie Sac aieeids eS aeyateames cele raiacimneiiareie Sele metawinstseieie a 29 
FROM (S tarbi Om) ses el Se et AS as ed aS hati arsiatg ateite crate sialeroveatetorarereni onan aeciane se eialae 17 
FROMM oMVVerter Creelkeisess see ace scotia /asisisicemeree cisse leibeteleisic a eeiseaainicieecinoels 39 
SHG cosh SS Sbaseeaedaos cosecossane Sp obagEEsOTOROcnrSoOne7 cHse Gosesceon 22 
8 


SATA UST S We retary en ial ec pare APR Ie RM Ren i eM Une ee CURR eves mee ot mes roa arun e 
CeO eye ee ea RN ae Bs ape OM eis Sa ay eee eae Ae arena elaielaraters 9, 39 


260 INDEX. 


% Page 
Salt water analysis Of-s= cme cas ae aie amiccis sale ae eUneeere clastic e tee ee ieee 223 
WOLkKSi esa eee esate aaencis ose tciels ele dae as sce ele es celeno mercies 179 
San Antonio Creek ...-..-..--. gadis Setdielba alte sl owas cemiste Gatco sieves eetlaeree eee 171 
VOUS caosne sono odes coco sclacodoossoEsooDbac HSS ODEO E OAH S00 bemeiod beocde 165 
Juan Mountains....-.-...----..---- Be eS SSE SBN etn Caos 173 
ibis) eewake, (Oe Wallleyy))sbo5 pepsoo os6obb oseacobacnasac BESSA Ce 169, 172, 176, 221 
WUE soo 5656 pho co0 Sosose SHeGu9 sopes0 bobs50 6005 650000 De aSoD s8500000 165 
Sand- hills, (Oi? INGA) Ga scass succes 450 cabo00 Godeen sb5505 Sos ese aja 58 
Seas Gl OMMTISWO IEBISS GoG66q 006666 conacs sooboN Daan 6607 0000G0 cooS oR DHooSb Ze 151, 173 
{ShiniPn iS Sos sbeddReaaase sate sa Seaed Goan eses soem Sooheudacosciaess aaos05 166, 169, 219 
TIM AL Sai ard rei a ee oa tae) PA rots eet Pte aa gel an ae ie Aes 169, 170 
\ IMOumtaIMS: 22 en eee el ol NUS Ns ise teatbalesope lee teteie sate See 167, 169 
Shigoyy Comming, (NGOS) sooo nooc00 cse5a5 c50G00 osuss0 Sse cosas Sona S505 Sc0C6 41, 61 
Saunders County, (Nebraska) ..---. Bo GOCU EHS Goo GSaSonosG pSasGE Shas eeScas 6c 39 
Second vAnmualveportroivel Verh ay Centers eee erent rte eee re eee ea. eee 65 

Sections of strata, (see Geological sections.) 

Separation (Staulon) peace eneera racer aie eles eee aaogsos o2e¢ 97 
SLED NOWTEWN 5 osodbo dodo Sb Sood coDb S805 boda ee se ooaeES boemed coo0 nds 93 
Sierrap blanco; ase se Ses fe seraisie ces nicl eisai eiterele Diercisinis) sais sage ia eee 173 
WIDGUC Es eee eae os aoe Sere ame roo ber soo Saad 172 
SUNG SE US EMT ae Se ae ae Aa a Sas Sener ea are Hoe A SDISGOeEOSaheS 555 187 
Sob Oitinie Seb 5essb5 555455 465555 Ghd eddiocos65 05 bedu tdagou cb 500 pooGaD Oc doSe A7 
URTV OT Se OEP eae eed EEL RS iP Oe pevatada tide rare ule mmiale rere etapa a enn een 47 
SMOWAy WOOTEN, (OL WANGE)) soseso o4d6b5 555500 6550 065500050559 cass60 beacee 86, 136 
KOC LEY SOW IES) Sooaa0 Sass bs a508 054506 068605 55 655950 9eaa50 DAsEso Suga sec OSH 5 145 
analyses of ..----. See Rites See CI ase emsineie Hens eee See Cee 146 
SLOT DOCS ye chia See gs ka Ges A a rasa Or Bete Ae EAE ACIS RNA 235 
Sowbla sBould ery eee e ei UE a ae (reieieiee) See acne ele dae eee eae a) OS 
| EY el nape ails ea hd a Sed ad ae cp a eR EE RD Eee enn ee es Ata rh A. 117, 178, 223 
Platter Can On ge ecteteisie sale Meroe oeeisteleiee saciinee erence Chase eee 139 
Nort hvWorkotieec Gece ees Bite cle einen ier eere setae create ee nee 180 
TRAViGT rss ei wiefers fete deiers ticieteraformmre moins etetoee le teetete seer ret ees 138 
Welle po 5eogbded4s coccos copedé bce oe yodeda on eues bbSuSo Dosen 37, 180 
SHO MNS IRENE socosb bebocs odoobd bedcas DooGaS Dy GooGe0 coD0 DaesoU agas000RCE59 153 
SOMITE, HIMAINVEOS Oils soc550 vascdebecce0 968550 cosy sSe0e0 G50000 95 bHG5 DeEDSs 199, 217, 218 
Seutins Clagwales) Oneals So 55oucshec0 cse5bs cog s66056505 650588 OdaoNs 655560 cob0Ed 151 
Marys (Statlon)irscecrccemocie cee cinch oct snicineniscetrckenereeerrcree 96 
Stephens cee Perec eres ee See aie systema cage asyagaors eele eet ae ila 
Vrain’s Creek..--- LHR NE Efe eR cote pa rarola a eves e lara yatel Siete raversie aws\cvareye erat tele stone ees 127 
SUWOCUSUANISTING eco SSosSa5od6e500 D6Ges aes mietarencinie ce ene eisrsis Sisieiae eicysers Seen eae 249 
Stone Creek...-. se atita toss lahare Shales tafe ate be ivderalave wale pausterscsvaie ua at a Veaieretets ararate ata et arene 40 
Diwan neeky Cietel ror lars enerejc tte once te ler teterate rete le crete ele taeisinise meee eee eis en eee 30 
Sweetwater Oreek ois) lt en tas cian eteiore te tereeieeiowciclee anette siee emer eee 158 
Table Rock, (butte)..........- BEE OS AOC SO SUE EEC ROMS SHOW sn ETOS UASESA Oo © ~ 24599 
WRAOS HE aiiwerseusee ee euwisie legals ieee cise Betws eels Sat ee le hels sas eeheseie eeeeee 170, 221 
REV. CTS Aone Saat ewes Sees ecinisin Me Seow scam c ene sec ae eine ener Seer 170 
Weert Sand Gsdcuc sede Good couoneDEdbemopauaS duccaauuooSboduscoss oosen 170 
MecalOteisae vets ewes Se ceiee siemens eee ene Baas Ave obe 165 
Mecumsehyrass soe seein eae eromlapecieccie come ce wemeee byee ee ees Se ee eee 36 
Pelcalmiaysys SSecyesic See eielsids ereeiei eave erie ei gs eelave ae Se Sore SS Cie epee Seer t ats 45, 62 
MeriilarytormationsoteNebraskaeec-eeeee eee ee eee eee ee eee eee eee eee eee 55 
rocksiot Nebraska.) ceneral Section Wh seesenieesee eee eee emcee eens 56 
ALO COMI RUV ER. ye fee eee ei OR a Us sg SR a Ros ems prmees re A Stee 73 
Thomas, Cyrus, report Bi aR, BS eee DE HC OSA E GEES STOS 229 
Abia OY) Bee ee Sena eT ere Roe Os SER nae senc ic a Ge Ore areas 246 
MOMOuUe MRIVER)- es eee ek seteeteee cumin es eesmeio aie meus eleeyeeee erate teisiegeie wis eaten 73 
Trampas TP V OR yous isa ete elves Sn eee veasve esse Ric oe Cen eee a oe eee 170 
VErees cultivation sof 52sec cies reek eo fey are Oa rar cere eich Osea a ae a 10, 14, 20 
GUUMEM STOMS VOL sa fae ee OND ae oR cee Oss a dort pene Mey 10 
ren charade Vierjc zie ed Absit Se ee erie ares ae orm ee aceon lois sci. oa ee mney ver eet 172 
AMON KGIENC RE ie eens mene: Palen bey Manni nan epee ses naa es a ee IRS Ole Soc 154 
Eroublesome;Canony. 22.6 Sas seceeascesie kee eee eer eae ae sialon Spe eRe 186 
Ore ee Siac psi. n send Seite a NSE ayaa tata aeraise bias ofa er ere 186 
Mrowt: Creeley ey eyes Se Pe asa lal Soe vem a sca lie ay este eta 178 

IER SScouada Coo Seo ao bdan rasobansooo9 GoooEebaeoee se Lee sakepere epee 17 
Turkey Creek ..---...--- Ease ase aay 5 ea Ot MERE SS. at ace 23, 30, 1s 
MurnerisBranchisen sho 8e es mee tuk et caw an me roterrae alas «sisi sicie ere ie ere ee 22 


INDEX. 


Vegetables ..--...-.-.- Se ei a okt oe aa asa eee eee c esr ne ae eee 


\WErtdGy)®) CReGls seSdoupe bean cob sobese SG S65 os ono CHR CER COBO ma Sees dokoen oe 
\N/G1b WI OWENS Goo Gébloodd ae so cGaeuaGsuseu esue SCL OOF JOOS SOR RODE econ eacs 
Wheat harvest .-..--. ieee Sonos pode cope copbUn Cones. Cove SuBoSR dee saauLoeS 
WV DiLerhiveD GLOuUpy cic ssisice ncaa aden eo jaccse ane eas Gene ok ac eee 
Perhialy: basins 5 <4). sec /sasie sae Se eee meee eee ws oh eee 

Wel CR RUAViC beater cites nooo Sarda ski. Leen ORC eae mee Ne id Sa 
GMepositsies ss he voseos oh tare ass ete cerca ec ae seen See are megan 2a po 
Mountains’ 2o2ce%sets scan abe ce ce sane e oe soe ere ae 

Wyoming Tertiary, geological explorations in................-.- 


2) 
ae 


261 


Page. 
BES 
157 


151 
241 
109 
114 
71 
57 
ae 
76 


TABLE OF CONTENTS. 


Page. 
IPREIOAY MOUS nopodocegsoo agde pnou bacedeubbbed Gees GonmoD aLEUoKcede booSaN GbbC 3 
First ANNUAL REPORT, EMBRACING NEBRASKA, 1867 ..--- PMI Se Uh Ch 5 
- Report of F. V. Hayden, United States Geologist ........ .----..--.-.- terete dS 7 
The salt basins of Lancaster County .-... --.. Soe toce esos eae Sate tauie ate eers 8 
helcmitnyabion Of truity and) forest reeds asses el\enesiaee es eieeeee assess eiemeaee 10 
Otoe and Nemaha Counties ..... SH000 Coos HDOG NOOO HeSS00 Head omen oHeG Hoa CoeOEe 12 
JPG CHIE! THAWING WEEE) 3 sooo oecood boooNS sobopesdee ceebob MeEmc aeons Gesuud ceose 14 
uichardsontC oumby esas aces sok ate atslaisieveicictanctay a aieciele oe sie! mee a tie aiettess/acteve ue eee oer 16 
PUT LOLITA TOM crac iaisietelwieaceycaciova soa dain or iniaysta ia evayele eielan aye Mie aral alae talay ae ate renee 18 
Pawnee County...--..- Wi earaaia ore 30 HOBO BHUODO OOULoo boTee0 DEH UscO OLeEco Hose cox 21 
Cae: COMM EE ES ABO eee SE AS ee aa Aran ise nM ELe mpl Mere Noe AoE 25 
PCHersOM nC OUMb ype see tale somos eee setae ye cielayaturetalatatere Matern cles cae ache ae che arte rtate 28 
Brief notes on the present condition of the Otwe Indians.-......--..-----..--- 32 
Johmsom) Coumbye sees caos cams cio eiapa te srete Seley cin ete olay Reta ere etc cial ele ciarvonotan ean etneiele 35 
Additional notes on Lancaster and Cass Counties...---.----...-.----- --------- 38 
Additional notes on Sarpy and Douglas Counties.--.-----.-.-.-..---.------ eee 41 
Geology of Nebraska north of the Platte River......---.-.....---..----------- 45 
Wal OLAS TOUP Eset: iis icicle! cine ins neeletaereymninaiorate aisiey ein el oeioloeee oietsictetar emia tane a sererees 50 
POG SOOM PRON) boecos bbaeho cae Cooubeusobod bopoeE oreuan G6cobd Haden odes 53 
INO SRE CIRO Cosa ne sade ooac Goce bee Cocco bOrOod GSbe Bete Sosa codembosseSd saee 54 
HOTU ETETROPOT OW Pirate iaare soheaaals crcins Stasereuaisrctat ou, cy sutra ce Se) pees ore ere crate ae 54 
Tetwiany Tomes Gr WEES ica doscadadaocs c6o508 cena cobs poEbobSEOEeoEES 5d 
SECOND ANNUAL REPORT, EMBRACING WYOMING, 1868 .............----------- 65 
Report of F. V. Hayden on the geography of the Missouri Nay mete tous iyeratearere 67 

Geological explorations in Wyoming Territory : 

iBirstile theres ose weavers eye tlos ercouicre te ais ajeieis creel state eta olalatc\sratieal a erences ohare areas 7 
Secondplettereese =r iscaescer ES aparece rat aysiac trek ala Siahalaval amie ce ieyet rar ame mar afl aoe es 88 
Pini Let bere nels ys erstete ereralsiolenae ere leyay a nieiel es slelsyet tate See nelevaie| olen yaol srereorsctersy oe 89 
THIRD ANNUAL REPORT, EMBRACING CoLorapo AND New MEXICcO.....-.-. erocas GR} 
Letter of F. V. Hayden to Secretary of Interior ..---....-.. ---.-------------- 105 
Ceclasieall mTOR) GE IN, Wo LEBRVOIOMN Cosa cocc6D CoSce coobboesbbes ceed oosend soso 109 
INGPROGITMOWOM 1556 Hoddoaaddsce shea ppeodo Shoe docd one0 seen bdodcn beocss codascocsS 109 
Claaqnier I, om Cle Ginine) Wo IDG ane 6s5o5e so6o boo been cos coDSoD doncad conn oF 111 
II. From Denver to Colorado City..-..--.-----.-----------+ ----+-+----- 137 
Ill. From Colorado City to Spanish Peaks.....-.--.---------.---.--.---- 147 
IY, Iza toes Wem, 10 WICH oo5 cook 66 bbe eae G06 o5dc85 S5E5 Odeo SSaCeC 158 
Wo Iza [ory Whore, (ho SeyMieh WO .c066 seen soooed besbo0 Aoseod Kase Sbods 162 
VI. From Santa Fé to Placiere Mountains and sain 6560n evaislalsisioeinere tenes 166 
WiOl, Taioun, Senne 106 tO MAO 565565 neces SSd6 boas SooSbe Seo keS e5cc06 sodSoe 169 
VIII. From Taos to Fort Garland .......----------------------+--------- 170 
IDG, Taro tory Corder! two Sout Ine oo eee Gocooo Seooee ooo cess coobeDs 175 
X. Trip to Middle Park.....--. 0-0. 0-2 -2- e-0- o-oo 0 nnn one enn ee 181 
XI. The gold and silver mines of Colorado -.----.---------------------- 187 
XII. Review of leading groups. .....--------- -------- ---- +--+ -----«+--- «189 


Mines and minerals of Colorado, by Persifor Frazer, jr-.--.-------------.----- 201 
Agriculture of Colorado, by Cyrus Thomas .....--.-------------- Od sce oe Sacer 229 


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