Full text of "First report of a geological reconnoissance of the northern counties of Arkansas, made during the years 1857 and 1858"

; 



LLECT10H, 
BIO. L LABORATORY, 

WILLIAMS. COLLEGE. 



■ 



/ 



. 



FIRST REPORT 



OF A 



GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



OF THE NORTHERN COUNTIES OF 



^mzj^Nsj^s 



MADE DURING THE YEARS 1857 AND 1858. 



GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 




< 



fe 



h 



< 



< 



F I K S T REPORT 



SAMUEL HUBBARD SCUDDER COLLECTS 
BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY, 
of a WILLIAMS COLLEGE. 



GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



OF THE NORTHERN COUNTIES OF 



ARKANSAS, 



MADE DURING THE YEARS 1857 AND 1858, 



BY 



DAVID DALE OWEN, 



PRINCIPAL GEOLOGIST, 



ASSISTED BY 



"WILLIAM ELDERHORST, Chemical Assistant; 
EDWARD T. COX, Assistant Geologist. 



LITTLE ROCK: 

JOHNSON & YERKES, STATE PRINTERS. 

1858. 



INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 



-o- 



To His Excellency, E. N. Conway, 

Governor of Arkansas: 
Sir— In conformity to an act approved 15th January, 1857, entitled "an 
act to provide for a geological survey of the State of Arkansas," I had 
the honor of being appointed by you State Geologist of the State of 
Arkansas, which office I accepted with the proviso that I was to commence 
the geological survey of the state as early as my engagements in Ken- 
tucky permitted, say about the 1st of October, or as soon thereafter as 
possible, it being, however, expressly understood that my salary as Geolo- 
gist of the State of Arkansas, was not to commence until I entered upon 
the duties of that office, as will appear from the following letter of your 
Excellency, addressed to me on the 20th April, 1857: 

Executive Ofeice, 

Little Rock. Arks., 

Dr. D. D. Owen — 

Sir: I have- appointed you State Geologist of the State of Arkansas, 
under the act of the 15th January, 1857, as shown by the enclosed com- 
mission, which will take effect from and after the 1st day of October, 1857; 
and your salary is to commence upon your qualification, on or before the' 
15th October, 1857, that is, as soon as you shall enter upon your duties as 
State Geologist of Arkansas, under said law, and not before then. I hope 
by the first day of October, you will have completed your present engage- 
ments in the State of Kentucky, and that you will accept the commission 
which I send you upon the terms stated in it. 

As a measure of economy, as far as this state is concerned, I was pleased 



INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 



to learn that the chemical work could all be done in your laboratory at 
New Harmony, and would be pleased to learn what annual expense this 
state will incur under such an arrangement, and for all instruments which 
I presume you have and can use in the prosecution of the work, including 
office-rent and fuel, whilst doing the office-work at New Harmony. 

As you know best the kind of wagons and camp equipage you will 
require to suit you, I presume it would be better for you to procure and 
ship them to Jacksonport, Arkansas, than to obtain them in this state. 
The horses and mules which you would require, could, perhaps, be 
obtained in Arkansas, as well as common laborers. 

We shall have to be confined to the amount of appropriation by the 
law, and that is so small for such an important work, we will have to use 
economy to accomplish much good, and I shall depend greatly on your 
experience and good management in the whole matter. 

When you qualify before an officer of this state, you will have to take 
and subscribe and have authenticated and filed with the governor of 
Arkansas, a duplicate of the official oath which will be indorsed on your 

commission. 

Most respectfully, your ob't serv't, 
(Signed) ELIAS N. CONWAY. 

In conformity with the above appointment and instructions, I com- 
menced on the 1st October, 1857, making preparations for carrying out 
the provisions of said act, by procuring the necessary instruments, outfit, 
wagons, and means of transportation, for executing the field-work with 
as much dispatch as possible. 

By organising two corps for field-duty, and continuing the work as late 
in the season as the weather permitted, I have, with the limited appropria- 
tion at my command, been enabled to accomplish nearly as much as I 
could have clone with a single corps, during the summer and autumn 
months; taking into consideration that the means at my disposal would 
only have kept a single corps in the field during six or seven months in 

the year. 

On account of the low stage of the Ohio river in October, 1857, the 
Mississippi and Ohio packets, plying along the coast of Arkansas, were 
not running; I therefore found it would be more expeditious to proceed 
by land to Arkansas, especially as by the most direct route, I would reach 
the north-eastern confines of that state, which your instructions designated 
as the portion of the state where I should commence the geological 
survey, so that, as soon as I reached the borders of Arkansas, the work 
could be immediately commenced. 



INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 



The point where I first entered the State of Arkansas, and where I, 
therefore, commenced the field-work, was Chalk Bluffs, in Greene county. 

The following report begins, for this reason, with that county. 

My geological observations through the northern counties have been of 
a general character, with the view of gaining a knowledge of the leading 
geological formations, rather than of entering into minute local details; 
though I have made it a point, at the same time, to visit such localities as 
gave promise of important discoveries, even though they were, some- 
times, situated a considerable distance out of the direct line of travel 
which would have suited the general objects I had proposed to myself. 

This plan of commencing the geological survey of the state has been 
adopted for several reasons. 

The wording of section 2, of the act providing for the survey, states: 
" It shall be the duty of the state geologist to make a reconnoissance of 
the state." This implies a general survey in the beginning; and this, in 
any case, I consider the proper course to pursue in conducting the survey 
of a new state; because, unless the geologist acquires, as soon as possible, 
a general knowledge of the areas and boundaries of the various forma- 
tions, he cannot direct the operations of the corps to advantage. 

Again, by this method, every county can receive the benefits of such a 
survey, in a period of time, comparatively short to that required to carry 
a special, detailed survey over the state — unless, indeed, very large 
appropriations are made, to put numerous corps in the field at the same 
time. 

Following the instructions contained in your letter, dated the 16th 
September, 1857, with regard to the part of the state where you desired 
the survey to commence, I have devoted the first season's operations to a 
reconnoissance of the northern counties adjacent to the Missouri line, and 
those counties lying between the St. Francis and White rivers, as far 
south as the northern boundary of the tier of townships 10 north. I found 
it, however, impossible, before the close of the season, to extend the 
survey to the western boundary of Arkansas. The extreme limits of my 
western obervations of last December, only reached the confines of 
Carroll county. 



IisTTRODUCTIOnST. 



-o- 



The citizens of Arkansas, so far as I have had an opportunity of 
ascertaining by intercourse with them, are so well aware of the impor- 
tance and utility of a geological survey of their state, that it is hardly 
necessary for me to enlarge upon the subject. But a few remarks of 
paramount interest suggest themselves. 

It has been justly inferred, from the history of nations, that the people 
who have reached the highest state of civilization and intelligence, and 
who possess the greatest wealth and influence, are those who enjoy the 
most extensive facilities of commercial interchange, who possess within 
themselves the largest means of producing the staple articles of food, and 
who manufacture the substantial fabrics supplying wearing apparel, the 
implements of husbandry, and all kinds of useful machinery. 

To accomplish these vast objects to the greatest advantage, the country 
itself should not only be possessed of those natural resources in soil and 
mineral productions, which supply the raw material for all kind of staples, 
but must be sufficiently populous to supply the labor necessary for carry- 
ing on those manufactures, without too great a drain upon the agricultural 
community. These two classes of society, under a liberal and enlightened 
form of government, become mutually dependent on each other, the 
one producing the necessaries of life, the other fashioning the implements 
which enable the cultivator of the soil to afford his means of subsistence 
at a cheap rate, and supplying, not only to the artizan but to the whole 
community such articles of comfort and convenience as give to life its 
zest, and to our home their charms. 

Hence, to be in the most flourishing condition, a country should not only 
possess, at least, a fair average soil, but those mineral resources which 



10 INTRODUCTION. 



contribute most essentially to the attainment of a high state of perfection 
in the mechanic arts. 

Foremost in the list of utility, stand coal and iron ores; then platinum, 
gold and silver, copper, lead, tin, zinc: all producing metals for which 
there is a regular and constant demand in every land of active industry; 
ores of antimony, manganese, cobalt, nickel, cadmium, aluminum, arsenic, 
bismuth, sodium, yielding metals which, though in use to only a limited 
extent, are, many of them, very essential in the arts, and generally com- 
mand hi^h prices, on account either of their partial diffusion within the 
reach of the miner, or the expense of reduction. 

Every commercial 'and civilized nation also demands a supply of a 
variety of saline substances and earthy minerals, found either on the 
surface of the earth or interstratified in its geological formations; such as 
common salt, alum, nitre, carbonates of soda and potash, sal-ammoniac, 
gypsum, potter's and other clays, ochres, and other paints; also, an abun- 
dant supply of limestone, and all the various rocks, useful as building 
materials and for all kinds of ornamental work, hydraulic cements, mate- 
rials suitable for the manufacture of glass, fluxes for the metallurgist, 
are some of the most useful materials that may be enumerated as required 
to supply the wants of a progressive, commercial, manufacturing people: 
while the agriculturist, in his vocation, derives many valuable mineral 
manures from the strata constituting the earth's crust, such as marls, bone- 
earth, argillaceous and ferruginous earths, and saline deposits and 
efflorescences, which often form the most accessible, the cheapest and 
most available materials for the renovation of his land. 

Such being universally recognized facts in the history of mankind from 
the earliest period up to the present time, is it not incumbent on every 
country and every state of this Union, to adopt measures calculated, first to 
develop their resources in the various raw materials necessary for their 
welfare and progress, and having done so, to direct public attention to 
their stores of mineral wealth; so that the capitalist, seeking profitable 
investments, and the skillful artizan business and employment, may take 
cognizance of their peculiar advantages? and, at the same time, proclaim 
before the immigrant farmer their agricultural resources. 

What better method can a state adopt for this purpose, than to institute 
and support with liberality a well-conducted and judiciously managed 
geological survey of her territory and publish the results to the world in 
reliable, creditable and attractive geological reports, emanating from 
eources in which the public generally have full confidence. 

This is forcibly brought home to us by a recent communication from our 
enlightened Minister to Prussia, writing to his friend Judge Law of Indiana, 



INTRODUCTION. H 



which is so pertinent to the subject that I here extract a few paragraphs 
bearing on the question: 

" Berlin, February 6th, 1858." 

" Di.ar Sir: I have often made the remark to you and to oar people, 
that there is less known, both at home and abroad, of Indiana, her capa- 
bilities and resources, than of any state of the Union. Of the truth of this 
fact, I am more and more convinced. I am daily brought in contact with 
men of intelligence who feel a great interest in obtaining information 
about our country, especially how money may be invested there, so as to 
bring the largest return. They wish to learn, what are the most desirable 
portions for manufactures and trade. 

Questions are often put to me about the mineral resources of Indiana, 
and the surprise expressed that a state, so rich in that respect, has not taken 
pains to let its wealth be known to the world. A few have heard of the 
partial survey, and the report thereon, made by Mr. Owen, some years 
ago, but have not seen it — and I doubt whether you can find half a dozen 
copies in the state, or even one in the state-library. I could distribute 
hundreds of those reports, imperfect as they are, with great advantage to 
our state. 

I know the great interest you take, living as you do in the midst of the 
coal and iron region of the western world, in the development of the min- 
eral resources of Indiana, and I cannot forbear urging upon you renewed 
exertions in this matter. Our statesmen, our literary men, our men of 
wealth may come to Europe and talk of the resources of the country, her 
mineral wealth, her capacities for improvement; but when the capitalist 
and intelligent mechanic desire to know, where they shall use their capital 
of money or mind, where they shall establish their manufactories or locate 
their mining operations, they wish to see the survey and report of the man 
of science, who can tell them where they may certainly find remuneration 
for their labor, and what it shall be. 

To develop the resources of a country, the combined action of capital 
and labor is required. Capital and labor are annually coming to our 
country from Europe; but much too large a proportion passes directly 
through our state and finds its home and employment in Wisconsin, Illi- 
nois, Iowa and Missouri. If our state were better known, if its capacities 
were published abroad in a manner which could command the confidence 
of the capitalist and the emigrant, this would not be so. 

That we have mineral wealth, we know. Coal, iron, lead, zinc, building 
stone and slate, are found in abundance, and clays useful in the arts are 
extensively distributed. But in how great an abundance these may be 



12 INTRODUCTION. 



found, and how profitably the capitalist may invest his means for their 
development, can only be determined and made known in a manner to 
command the confidence of the public at home and abroad, by a careful 
survey under the direction of the state. 

The importance of these surveys is more highly appreciated on this con- 
tinent than with us. Here the necessity of developing all the resources of 
the country is felt, and attention is given to the subject. It is this develop- 
ment and the wealth which necessarily comes from it, which enables many 
of these countries to maintain their position and influence in the world. 
Money judiciously expended in these investigations yields a sure return. 

In Bavaria, with less territory than the state of Indiana, millions have 
been expended in complete geological and topographical surveys of that 
country, and for a few pennies every farmer or land-owner can obtain a 
copy of the survey of his land, a chemical analysis of its soil, and a knowl- 
edge of the minerals which enrich it. 

In Belgium, they are excavating coal at a depth of 1,500 to 1,800 feet 
below the surface, working veins only 18 inchs thick at an angle of 45 deg., 
and this coal, too, of an inferior quality, such as we would not use, and in 
that country, notwithstanding the amount already expended, preparations 
are being made for a still more thorough survey. Might not much capital 
thus laboriously expended be attracted towards our rich coal fields, were 
their existence and extent known and believed? 

But it is not only in the discovery and location of the mineral resources 
of the state, that such a survey would be advantageous. It would call 
attention to the fact that all these minerals can be worked and made into 
manufactured articles at home, instead of being sent abroad and returned 
to us at an advanced price, as we know is now done, not only with our 
pig iron, zinc and other metals, but even with our walnut and cherry. 
Copper is shipped from Tennessee to England, and returned to us in the 
manufactured state at an advance of more than 200 per cent. I believe 
that zinc is not manufactured in any considerable quantities in the Mis- 
sissippi valley, and yet it is well known among us, that it is found in great 
abundance in the north-west, equal to any in the world. How profitably 
to our people might the money be expended in manufacturing at home 
the zinc used among us for painting, for roofing, telegraphing, and in the 
daily employments of our mechanics. But this will not be until the atten- 
tion of capital is drawn to our resources. 

It may be mentioned as a striking fact, showing the extent to which we 
look across the water for supplies, that in South Wales and Staffordshire, 
England, alone, tin plates are manufactured to the amount of 900,000 



INTRODUCTION. 



13 



boxes annually, to the value of over five millions of money, and that more 
than two-thirds of these are exported to the United States. 

Such a survey as ought to be made, would exhibit another thing which 
may soon be of vital importance to the state; a thing which comes home 
especially to the farmers. It is well known that the supply of water is 
yearly becoming less abundant. Such a survey would show where arte- 
sian wells could be sunk, from which a never-failing supply of water 
could be obtained. This may be determined by the scientific man with 
as much certainty as the character of the underlying soil. A few years 
ago, in Paris, when water was very much needed, an artesian well was 

sunk under the direction of scientific men, and water was found an 

everlasting fountain— though it was after eight years of labor, and at a 
depth of 1,900 feet. 

It is said that the French in conquering Algiers, took with them men of 
science, and as they progressed, they established villages and sunk arte- 
sian wells, finding water even in the desert. The wandering Arabs 
exclaimed, ■ what can we do with a people who make water rise out of the 
ground wherever they please?' And they conquered, perhaps, as much by 
the impressions made by their scientific knowledge, as by the force of 
their arms." * * * * 

Let us look now to a few of the results of the geological survey of 
Kentucky, which has been in progress since 1855. 

In some of the counties, where the labors of the geologist have estab- 
lished the existence of beds of good workable coal, the intrinsic value of 
the land rose, in a single season, twenty-five per cent, all over the county; 
while thf- value of the land, in many locations of the same county, offer- 
ing peculiar advantages adjacent to navigable streams, rose, in the course 
of the same period of time, from five to ten dollars per acre, up to fifty 
and sixty dollars. And these prices have remained firm and permanent 
up to the present time, showing that the valuation was real, intrinsic and 
substantial. 

Where the simultaneous occurrence of both coal and abundant beds of 
rich iron ore has been proved, the rise in the value of the property has 
been proportionally greater. These are, indeed, direct and tangible 
advantages, which all can appreciate and comprehend, and which come 
home to the owners of property, and to the citizens of the state. 

It will be apparent, that capital and labor must speedily flow towards 
localities where such valuable mineral resources have been demonstrated 
to exist. 

Further: the elaborate, comparative chemical analyses of the soils col- 



i £ INTRODUCTION. 



lected from various parts of the state, now numbering between two and 
three hundred, have developed such important, interesting and practically 
useful results, and thrown so much insight into the peculiar constitution of 
the soils, derived from particular geological formations, and the individual 
members of these formations, that all the well-informed and intelligent 
part of the farming community, whose soils yet remain unexamined for 
want of adequate time, is already calling loudly for an extension of the 
same system of chemico-agricultural investigation over their portion of 

the state. 

Again the iron-master, for-want of a knowledge of the chemical con- 
stitution of ores easily accessible and conveniently situated to his furnace, 
has often been rejecting his richest and best ores, which, now that he has 
become aware of their composition and productiveness, through the dis- 
closures of the geological survey, he works with greater profit and advan- 
tage than any of those ores previously employed. 

Numerous instances have occurred in which deluded men, ignorant of 
the nature of minerals, have expended their labor and means in mining 
after ores, either comparatively of little value, or containing none of the 
metal they confidently expected to extract from them, and have only been 
persuaded to desist from their ruinous proceedings by the demonstrations 
and counsel given them by the geologist. 

The capitalist, miner and business man have had their attention called 
to various parts of the state, and are either examining the various sections 
of the state in person, or sending out their agents for the purpose of mak- 
ing locations for future mining or manufacturing operations. 

Moreover: it is incumbent on every state in the confederacy, to contri- 
bute her utmost to prevent the enormous drain made on this country, at 
the present time, for manufactured products imported into this country. 
In the article of iron, alone, and that chiefly railroad iron, recent statistics 
show that this country is importing upwards of 500,000 tons, at a cost of 
over $3,000,000 annually. Such a drain on our moneyed resources— such 
a serious balance of trade against us— should certainly be put an end to 
as speedily as possible; and this is only to be accomplished by the imme- 
diate increase in the manufacture of iron throughout the different states 

of the Union. 

It can be shown by the most reliable calculations, that iron can be pro- 
duced in the western states, where facilities exist for its manufacture, by 
the simultaneous occurrence of good iron ore and coal, suitable for its 
reduction, convenient to navigation on our larger streams, not only as 
cheaply as in England, but, in consequence of the duty on imported iron, 
and the greater cost of carriage and commission, at a cheaper rate than 



INTRODUCTION. J5 



foreign iron can be delivered in this country, even at $15 to $20 less cost 
per ton; and still leave the handsome profit of twenty-five percent, to the 
manufacturer, notwithstanding the advantages which Great Britain pos- 
sesses in her cheap labor and in her capital. If this is true — and any one 
conversant with the business can satisfy himself of its correctness by 
investigating the subject — is it not inevitable, not only that establishments 
for the production of iron must rapidly spring up in the western country, 
where, in a year or two, four-fifths of the great demand for iron will be, 
and at those points that offer the greatest inducements in the required 
mineral resources, but it is moreover true, that the businessman hardly be 
overdone; since the increased production, for years to come, can hardly 
keep even pace with the annually increased consumption in railroad iron. 

So universally important is it to the interests of the United States, that 
this branch of business should be cherished, that it has recently called 
forth remarks from the executive. 

The same is true, to a certain extent, in very many other branches of 
metallurgy, and applies, indeed, more or less, to all manufactures. 



REPORT 



OF A 



GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCL 



OF PART OF 



ARKANSAS. 



PAET FIRST. 



In proceeding to record the geological observations of 1857, I shall 
follow nearly my line of travel through the various counties from the 
north-east corner of the state, towards the west, and give the results of 
my observations under the heads of the different counties through which 
the geological corps passed. 

GEEENE COUNTY. 

The so-called Chalk Bluffs form the extreme north-east boundary of 
Crowley's ridge, where it abuts on the St. Francis river, a very short dis- 
tance below where that stream leaves the State of Missouri and enters 
Arkansas, and constitute, therefore, the north-east termination of that 
extensive ridge of land which extends from Helena, on the Mississippi, in 
Phillips county, through St. Francis, Poinsett and Greene counties, divid- 
ing the waters of the St. Francis from those of White river, and giving 
origin to the heads of the western tributaries of the formeF, and the east- 
ern tributaries of the latter streams. 

This ridge, so far as it has yet been explored, i. e., to the north line of 
township 10 north, is composed of, comparatively, very recent deposits 
mostly of incoherent or but very partially indurated materials belonging 
to the age of the so-called quarter nary formation, with the exception of a 
few very limited areas where hard quartzose sandstones of very ancient 
date protrude through these beds. 

The base of the quaternary deposits, forming the northern terminus of 
the Crowley Ridge, is a potter's clay of considerable purity, and nearly as 
white as chalk; hence the name of the Chalk Bluffs, where this white clay 
is exposed on the banks of the St. Francis river, a few feet above low 
water of that stream, in the north-east extremity of Greene county. 



OQ GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 

The section of the quaternary beds at the Chalk Bluffs, as far as they 
can be seen, is as follows: 

Hyht Thich 

above flm . 

river. v-*-v-«^ 

135. Hill on which the ferryman's house stands 

Soil and sub-soil 

Chert and hornstone gravel 25 

110. Lowest point to which the upper gravel bed could be traced. 

105. Top of the first bench below the main gravel bed 

Pink and variegated sand; locally indurated into a soft 

crumbling sandstone 96 feet or more in thickness 9G 

30. White siliceous clay shale or marly earth, slightly indurated 

at the upper part 

6. Fine white potter's clay 5 to G feet 6 

0. Low water of the St. Francis river. 
The materials which compose the gravel bed which underlies the sub- 
soil seem to have been derived from the destruction of beds of carbon- 
iferous date, lying to the north in the State of Missouri. At this locality, 
it appears to be from 25 to 30 feet in thickness. It occupies the highest 
position of the beds of quarternary date at this locality. 

No solid beds of rock have been observed in this north-east termination 
of Crowley's ridge. In sinking wells at levels below the gravel bed, they 
pass through sand, then streaks of clay and shaly materials, below which 
the sand continues. In this lower bed of sand the water is usually struck, 
which must be retained there by the lower beds of clay of the preceding 
section. Sometimes, in low situations, they pass through beds of clay in 

digging for water. 

A few chert and hornstone pebbles were observed disseminated amongst 
the sand at 40 feet above the river, but the principal gravel deposit of 
this part of Crowley's ridge is in high situations above the great mass of 

sand. 

The growth on the high ground is mostly black and white oak; in the 
bottoms, a mixed growth. Considerable groves of cypress timber nourish 
in the bottoms of St. Francis river, a short distance above Chalk Bluffs. 

An erratic mass of hornstone, weighing upwards of 50 pounds, was 
observed on the slope of the river bluff, near the ferry; and near by are 
chalybeate oozings from the bank, originating, probably, from some scaly 
oxide of iron, sparingly disseminated in the adjacent bank. 

The potter's clay at the base of the Chalk Bluffs is nearly white, or of a 
cream color; variegated, however, here and there, with flesh tints. Its 



OF ARKANSAS. 21 



texture is fine, and forms a plastic mass with water. Its composition is 

shown by the following chemical analysis: 

Moisture 01.10 f Silica G9.7 

Insoluble siliceous earth* •• 80.75 -^ Alumina tinged with oxide of 

iron 19.0 



Oxide of iron 3. SO 

Lime .38 

Magnesia .33 

Potash .15 

Carbonic acid 1.00 

Chlorine .GO 

Phosphoric acid ■> .075 

Water of hydration (not dri- 
ven off at 300 deg. F.,) 

trace of ammonia and loss 3.255 



Lime .2 

Magnesia .1 

Potash .7 

Soda .05 



89.75 



100.000 

This clay contains 4.79 per cent, less alumina than the Hickman county 
clay belonging to the same geological era; about 0«701 per cent, less lime, 
and 0-34 less alkalies. It will, therefore, make a whiter ware, be less 
fusible, and less liable to crack. 

I have manufactured small crucibles out of this clay, and find that it 
produces an excellent and strong article. The moulded clay is not liable 
to crack in drying, without addition of silica or siliceous earth, nor during 
the burning; and the crucibles manufactured therefrom resist sudden 
changes of temperature without cracking. The burnt biscuit ware is even 
rather lighter colored than the original clay, which is of a very light cream 
color. It resists fusion at a high temperature. 

Besides being valuable for the above purposes, this clay would, proba- 
bly, be found of excellent quality for modelling, and various other uses; it 
is, therefore, well worthy the attention of the potter and the artist. 

The section at Chalk Bluffs, does not extend low enough to enable the 
observer to see what underlies this clay; but from the position of beds of 
clay of, apparently, the same age, found in other western and southern 
states, it is probably inter stratified amongst the orange and ferruginous 
sands, that are subordinate to the shell marls, which constitute the upper 
member of the quarternary; occupying, therefore, the same geological 
horizon, as the white clays at the base of the section described in the first 
volume of the geological report of Kentucky, on pages 20, 21 and 22 of 
that volume, and the corresponding clays which, I understand from Dr. E. 
W. Hilgard, geologist of Mississippi, are interstratified in the "orange 
sand," of the state of Mississippi; on this account it is probable that ferru- 
ginous, orange-colored sands occur in this part of Arkansas still beneath 
this clay; but concealed from view under the drainage of the country. 



22 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 

The quaternary beds of the northern part of Greene county afford, lo- 
cally, a yellow ochre suitable both for a pigment and a dye-stuff. 

One of the localities, where I had an opportunity of viewing it in place, 
is about one mile west of south of the " Pine," between the Gainsville and 
Pocahontas road, near township 21 north, range 8, east of the 5th princi- 
pal meridian. It is exposed here in a steep bank, near the bottom of a 
hollow where a spring branch takes its rise on the north side of the ridge, 
3 to 4 miles from Levi Boyd's farm. It lies a considerable distance under 
the main upper gravel bed which shows itself in various places near the 
top of this ridge and beneath underlying beds of pink, variegated, and fer- 
ruginous sands. Its original color at the bank is a yellow, but by exposure 
to heat, it acquires a red color, in which condition it has been used, by 
some of the inhabitants of this part of the county, as a dye-stuff for woolen 
goods. 

Its chemical composition is presented in the following analysis: 

Water (hygrometric) 2.99 C Silica 68.64 

Insoluble silicates 81.00<( Alumina tinged with oxide 



-. 



of iron 10.00 

Lime .44 

Magnesia .18 

Potash 1.20 

Soda ■ trace 



Peroxide of iron 10.00 

Protoxide of iron .78 

Oxide of manganese .20 

Alumina • 1.65 

Lime .45 

Magnesia .14 

Potash .31 80.46 

Carbonic acid .70 

Chlorine .02 

Phosphoric acid .14 

Sulphuric acid trace 

Water of hydration, loss, and 

ammonia 1 .70 



100.00 



This ochre contains seven and a half per cent of iron: it has a good 
body and color; better than that of the French spruce yellow, and could be 
used as a pigment for brick work, and outside work, even without washing, 
as the texture is fine, and there is very little grit in it when carefully 
selected. When burnt, it acquires a light red color; this change appears 
to be due, more to the loss of its water of hydration, than to the peroxida- 
tion of the fraction of a per cent of protoxide of iron, which it contains. 
For the purposes of dying, it it used, by the country people, in its burnt 
condition. 

At the " Pine," near by, diggings have been attempted in search of an 
ore, supposed to contain silver; but with no success. The gravel and sand 



OF ARKANSAS. 23 



beds, which constitute the main mass of the Crowley ridge at the " Pine," 
is altogether unfavorable for the discovery of ore of this description. 

A qualitative chemical analysis was made of the water of the St. Francis 
river, in the north-east part of Greene county, which proves it to be a 
remarkably soft water, containing only a small quantity of carbonate of 
magnesia and lime, and a trace of sulphates and chlorides. It is remark- 
able, too, for the small proportion of lime compared with magnesia. In 
most river waters, the lime is in much larger proportion than the magnesia- 
The saline matter, altogether, is in much smaller quantity than is usually 
found in our western rivers; hence, the softness of the water. It is well 
adapted for domestic purposes. The same is true of most of the spring 
water in the northern part of the Crowley ridge. The spring at A. S. 
Stewart's was tested, qualitatively, and found to contain only a trace of 
lime and a very small quantity of bi-carbonate and chloride of magnesia. 
It is almost as soft as rain water. 

Samples of soils of the northern part of the Crowley ridge, were collected 
from the farm of W. Raeburn, where the growth is black-oak, hickory, 
black and white walnut, and large pop*ar. Also, a sample of the genuine 
" black sand land," from the flat lands, at the foot of the eastern slope of 
the ridge, from the farm of H. W. Granada. 

The ridge lands, where these soils were collected, produce from 40 to 50 
bushels of corn to the acre, and 20 to 30 bushels of wheat. It would, no 
doubt, produce tolerably good crops of tobacco and cotton, but these have 
not been raised to any extent in this vicinity as yet. 

The black sand soil is remarkably deep and rich, and will yield, on new 
land, 80 to 100 bushels of corn to the acre. It produces very fine vege- 
tables, and appears to be especially congenial to peach trees. It is a 
quick warm soil, and stands both dry and wet seasons well. The growth 
on this land is poplar, oak, walnut, and gum, with an undergrowth of spice 
and papaw. This black-sand-land represents a large proportion of the 
flat lands, lying between Crowley's ridge and the Mississippi river, in 
Arkansas. 

The south-western part of township 19 north, range *t east, and the 
northern part of township 18 north, range 6 east, support mostly a growth 
of barren oak, with the upper quaternary gravel bed generally near the 
surface. In some of the deep hoUows, 80 to 90 feet below the gravel bed, 
the quaternary clay is occasionally recognizable; the intervening deposi- 
tion of 90 to 100 feet being mostly ferruginous orange sand, where it is 
exposed to view, with perhaps some subordinate interstratified beds of 
clay. But there are but few good sections where the quaternary sand can 



24 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 

be satisfactorily seen. The subsoil is generally ferruginous. The surface 
of the country is undulating; and the growth almost universally oak. 

The water of this region of Arkansas is remarkably pure, especially 
that which comes through the gravel beds, containing less earthy salts than 
I have found in any spring-w T aters in the western country. It lies, how- 
ever, often deep, since it filters away through the porous beds of gravel 
and sand to the depth, sometimes, of 90 feet, except where arrested by 
local beds of interstratified impervious clays that lie, sometimes, at the 
depth of 30 to 50 feet. 

In the neighborhood of Gainesville, f?ome lead ore has been picked up, 
but there is very little probability that it is connected with any bodies of 
this species of ore, accessible to the miner, since such ores rarely, if ever, 
occur in the loose quaternary deposits, such as above described as pre- 
vailing through this part of Greene county. It is much more probable 
that they have either been brought there, and deposited, by the Indians at 
some of their camping grounds, or been transported along with the gravel 
from lead regions, lying to the north-west, either in Arkansas or Missouri. 
A bed of lignite of quaternary date, crops out in the bed of the Beech 
branch of Cache river, in Greene county, near the crossing of the Chalk 
Bluff road, which runs on the Cache side of the Crowley ridge. It is partly 
concealed under the water. It is overlaid by red and pink ferruginous 
sand, and underlaid by clay. 

The succession and superposition, as far as they can be seen for vegeta- 
tion and debris concealing the upper members of the quaternary beds, on 
the Beech branch at this lignite locality, are as follows: 

Feet. 

Upper gravel bed 15 to 20 or 25 feet 20 

Red, tenacious, ferruginous clay 7 to 10 feet in thickness 10 

Second or lower gravel bed, 5 to 10 feet thick 6 

Pink and variegated sand, with some disseminated gravel, passing 

downwards into reddish white sand, overlying the lignite bed 25? 

Lignite bed partly concealed, 3 to 4 feet in thickness 3? 

Some of the sand is cemented, by the infiltration of ferruginous waters, 
into a partially indurated rock. 

This lignite is of a blackish brown color. Part of it exhibits the woody 
structure, and part has a more homogeneous earthy aspect, and lighter 
blackish brown color. 

Both varieties are very similar in their character to the lignites of the 
same age which occur in the quaternary deposits of the western part of 
Ballard county, Kentucky. 



OF ARKANSAS. 25 



The chemical analysis of this lignite, has not yet been undertaken, but 
wall be made hereafter.* 

Its appearance, however, hardly justifies the expectation that it will be 
found sufficiently rich in carbon and hydro-carbons, to be valuable as a 
fuel, even if the deposit should prove to be extensive. Lignite of a .similar 
character occurs seven miles a little west of south form the abo\e locality, 
on the Beech Fork of Cache; also, one mile north, two miles north, and 
four miles south. 

If it be a continuous bed between all the different out-crops known at 
present, it would occupy an area of some seventy square miles, but this is 
by no means certain, since these lignite beds are often quite partial and 
local. Future detailed examinations in Greene county may throw farther 
light on its extent. 

It is worthy of remark, that there occurs disseminated in this lignite a 
yellow pyrites, which contains a small per centage of copper, the exact 
amount of which will be reported on, as soon as the chemical analysis 
shall be completed. 

Two miles from Gainesville, near Jones', the quaternary sand is indu- 
rated into a soft sandstone, which is used in the construction of chimneys. 
It contains impressions of leaves, one of which appears to belong to the 
magnolias, and others to some species of water-oak, or willows. When 
these have been more fully investigated, and more extensive collections 
made from other localities, we shall then be better able to report in 
specific detail. 

About two-thirds of the flat Cache lands are " black sand lands," and 
one-third post-oak lands. The latter are too wet for cultivation, without 
a complete system of drainage. The highest of the former are cultivated, 
and are very productive. Hereafter, if the agricultural department of 
the survey be provided for, we hope to be able to supply comparative 
chemical analyses of these soils, which will give more insight into their 
relative productiveness, than we are able to supply in their absence. 

If the flat post-oak lands of the Cache country of Arkansas, could be 
drained, and subsequently cultivated with profit, it would greatly increase 
the agricultural resources of Greene, Randolph, and Independence counties, 
and contribute materially to the settlement of this part of the state. 

Near David Schultz's place, on the east or St. Francis side of the 
Crowley ridge, and about 2 miles from the St. Francis bottom, near the 
line between townships 18 and 19 north, range 8 east, there is a deposit 
of yellow ochre, similar to that previously described as occurring at the 
" Pine," on the other side of this ridge.* 



*Sce Chemical Report. 



26 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



Some of the geological maps, which profess to give approximate boun- 
daries to the cretaceous formation of the United States, have indicated its 
northern boundary in Arkansas, as running with a north-easterly course 
into Greene county, passing near Lorado and Crowley. While in that 
vicinity, I searched for evidence of the existence of this formation above 
the drainage of the country, as well as in the materials penetrated in 
sinking wells. Since, in the western district of Tennessee, the member 
of this formation which reaches the surface, is a kind of chalk-marl, or 
soft argillaceous limestone, known popularly amongst the inhabitants as 
" rotten limestone," I made especial enquiry for a rock of this description 
in that part of Greene county. I was informed that though they knew 
of no "rotten limestone," some of the neighbors had obtained a different 
kind of water in their wells than that usually struck, all ranging in a 
north-east and south-west direction, which they called " rotten limestone 
water." I was referred particularly to J. P. Harris' well, on section 25, 
township 16 north, range 3 east, and accordingly made a point of examin- 
ing the material removed from said well. That proved, however, to be 
the quaternary shell-marl; which, containing a notable quantity of lime 
and magnesia, imparted a harder quality to the water passing through it, 
than in the waters of the neighboring wells, filtering through only gravel 
and sand. 

The quaternary marl of this part of Greene county, is of a light grey 
ashy appearance, and contains, disseminated, some small shells, which 
seem to be mostly Helix and Planorbis, but the earth was so disintegrated 
that no perfect specimens could be obtained. 

The composition of this shell-marl, as will appear from the subjoined 
chemical analysis, is more siliceous and less calcareous than the Hickman 
county shell-marl of the same date, and is, therefore, less adapted as a 
mineral fertilizer of land; though it would be of some advantage to stiff 
clay land, improving it both physically and chemically. It could be 
employed, probably, to advantage in reclaiming the post-oak lands of the 
adjacent flats. 



OF ARKANSAS. 



27 



Chemical analysis of shell-marl, from T. P. Harris' well, Greene covnfij, 

Arkansas. 



Water 1 .3 



Insoluble silicates 

Carbonic acid 2.7 

Peroxide of iron 3.C 

Alumina 2.0 

Lime 2.9 

Magnesia 1.2 

Phosphoric acid .45 

Potash .5 

Loss .45 



TSilicf 
f Aluir 



umina tinned with iron 



84.9 <( Lime 



72.8 

6.8 
.8 
.3 
.9 

3.2 
.Manganese trace 



Magnesia 
Potash- • • 
Soda 



84.8 



100.00 



For comparison, is subjoined the chemical analysis of the corresponding 

shell-marl of Hickman county, Kentucky: 

Water 1.35 f Silica- • ■ 

.30 | Alumina 
73.30<( Lime 



Organic matter sol. in water 

Insoluble silicates 

Carbonic acid 10.00 

6.8 

3.78 
2.8 
.12 

1.55 



Lime 

Magne-da 

Alumina and peroxide of iron 
Chlorine 

Loss, alkalies and phospho-) 
ric acid, not determined •) 



Magnesia 



60.6 

7.4 
1.1 
.4 



Loss, alk, and a trace of i 
oxide of iron not esti-V 
mated ) 



3.8 



. .3 



"arse 



100.00 
From the best information obtained, the materials passed through in 
digging this well, were: 

Soil and sub-soil 3 h 

Dark-red under-clay 14 

Shell-marl ■ • > 29 

Gravel and white coarse sand, mixed- 2 

The water was obtained in the last member, viz: the white 
gravel and sand. 

At James Lamb's, three quarters of a mile east ot Harris', th< 
marl was struck in sinking his well at 54 feet; at Henry Cook's, 
and at Daniel Martins' (where Lindley now lives), water was obi ji 
18 feet in the shell-marl. 

Thus I have, even to the depth of 54 feet beneath the surface 
able to obtain the least evidence of the existence of any of the members 
of the cretaceous formation, as far north in the north-eastern part of 
Arkansas, as they have been laid down by some geological map <ts; 



•11- 
( et; 



at 



ueen 



28 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 

who, in fact, never visited the country, but plotted the boundary of that 
formation from what they imagined its probable bearings would be through 
Arkansas. 

Between Gainsville and Walcott, a distance of 13 miles, the country is 
mostly a succession of oak and pine ridges, forming a continuation of 
Crowley's ridge, to the south. 

On the small Colton map of Arkansas, the Walcott post-office is laid 
down 3 miles too far to the north, and Crowley 5 miles too far south. 

The bluff below Dr. Mellon's house, Walcott post-office, is composed of 
the following materials: 

Red ferruginous tenacious clay 10 to 15 feet. 

Light-colored sand and clay, mixed 5 " 

Gravel, cemented by oxide of iron into a conglomerate or 

pudding-stone 3 " 

White, quartzose, fine-grained sand, with streaks of yellow 

and black sand, running irregularly through it 5 " 

Indurated sandy shale, with pink and yellow streaks 14 " 

" Hard pan;" indurated dark-grey shale, with impressions 

of leaves 1 foot. 

It is probable that the post-oak soil of the Cache flats is derived from 
the disintegration of the indurated sandy shale, reposing on the impervious 
"hard-pan." 

Clover does not succeed well in this part of Greene county; not even 
on the " black-sand lands." Herd's grass and timothy do much better, and 
oats and rye grow very finely — especially on the " black-sand land." 
This variety of soil seems, also, peculiarly well adapted to the growth of 
the peach-tree, which comes to perfection very rapidly. It produces both 
a very large and sweet peach. 

Wheat succeeds best on the ridge-land; it runs too much to straw in 
the " black-sand land." 

On section 10, township 17 north, range 4 east, near Sugar creek, in 
Greene county, there is a remarkable protrusion of hard quartzose sand- 
stone through the quaternary deposits. This sandstone has all the litho- 
logical character of the Potsdam, or lowest sandstone of silurian date, as 
it occurs on the Minnesota and Wisconsin rivers in the north-west. It 
forms a hill of considerable elevation; which, however, I had no opportu- 
nity of measuring, as I examined it in the midst of that most severe 
thunderstorm, accompanied by heavy rain and high wind, which occurred 
on the 7th of November, 1857, in that part of Arkansas. I would estimate 
the height, by the eye, at 100 to 110 feet above the general drainage of 
the country. 



OF ARKANSAS. 29 



The angle of dip of the sandstone is somewhat irregular, varying from 
10 cleg, to 12 <log., in the direction a little east of north, the bearing being 
nearly coincident with the direction of the Crowley ridge — i.e.: north-east 
and south-west. 

These profusions of quartzose sandstone can be traced for 3 miles in a 
south-west direction. At W. Lane's, the quaternary deposits on the west 
side of the hard sandstone protrusion, are tilted at the rate of 12 feet in 
20, — judging from the inclined beds passed through by him in digging his 
well. 

These strata, passed through, were: 

Red, ferruginous, tenacious clay 20 feet. 

Gravel 5 " 

Ledges of sandstone ... 5 « 

Sand and clay 45 " 

The water of Lane's well was tested, qualitatively, and found to be 
soft, containing only a trace of earthy carbonates, and slightly reddening 
litmus paper from the presence of free carbonic acid. 

Though the protruding sandstone is, as we have said, very hard, still it 
can be quarried without a great deal of difficulty in certain directions. It 
will not stand fire, and, when heated and drenched with water, it crumbles 
to sand; proving its semicrystalline structure. 

The color of this sandstone is mostly of a light grey or pale red tint; 
occasionally brown. It is of so hard and quartzose a character that it 
strikes fire at almost every blow of the hammer. 

One or more of the violent commotions to which this part of Arkansas 
has been subject, evinced by the coarseness of ihe gravel beds, their 
thickness, and their wide distribution, may have been cotemporaneous 
with the elevation of this sandstone. 

On section 9, township 15 north, range 3 east, close to William Lane's 
house, there is also a low range of quartzose sandstone, probably of the 
same date; but this sandstone lies in juxtaposition on the south-west, with 
a softer sandstone, containing impressions of plants, which is, no doubt, 
an indurated portion of the quarternary sand, through which the older, 
harder sandstone has protruded, and bursting it asunder, has entangled 
portions of this newer sandstone in the crevices and rents, so that they 
often appear as if of the same origin; but a close inspection of the litho- 
logical character of the rock, together with the vegetable remains, will 
generally serve to distinguish them. 

Overlying the hard vitreous sandstone, but only partially covering it at 
this locality, there is also a peculiar, fine-textured, siliceous rock with ver- 
micular or ramose-tabular perforations, either empty or partially filled 



30 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



with a core, and stained red with oxide of iron where these ramify the 
rock, while the rock itself is of a light grey. These markings have a good 
deal the appearance of those found in the calciferous sandstone of New 
York, and noted in the reports of that state under the name of Palaeo- 
phycus tubularis; but they are too indefinite to enable me to pronounce 
positively on their identity. They impart to the rock, however, a 
remarkable vermicular structure; and though they resemble, still probably 
differ from those impressions of plants in the soft, white, quaternary sand- 
stone of the same locality. 

One mile below Lane's on section 29, township 15 north, range 3 east, 
a similar hard standstone shows itself in a hollow. 

Some lead ore has been picked up in the fields in the vicinity of Wal- 
cott; but so far as I have been able to trace the localities, invariably on 
the sites of Indian villages, along with other relics of the aborigenes, who, 
undoubtedly, brought the ore from the northwest part of the state or from 
Missouri. 

The growth on the genuine black-sand lands of Cache and of the St. 
Francis river bottoms, is sweet gum, black hickory, walnut, poplar, dog- 
wood, and occasionally box-elder and hackberry; undergrowth, papaw, 
spice-wood, and large grape vines. The subsoil, under the black sand, is 
generally clay, seldom a quicksand. About one-third of the Cache bottom 
is " post-oak land." 

Four sets of soils were collected for chemical analysis from Abraham 
Tennison's farm, on Crowley's ridge, one mile from Walcott; No. 1, being 
the virgin or uncultivated soil; No. 2, the same soil from an old field, 35 
years in cultivation, almost exclusively in corn; No. 3, subsoil, from the 
same old field; No. 4, the red under-clay. The growth on this land is 
sweet-gum, white and black-oak, with an undergrowth of dog- wood. 

Should the chemical analyses of these hereafter be provided for, they 
will be reported. 

POINSETT COUNTY. 

The narrowest part of the Crowley ridge, is not far from the line between 
Greene and Poinsett, where it is hardly half a mile across from the St. 
Francis bottom to the L'Anguille bottom. 

The L'Anguille bottom is mostly a bluish clay, and on the " Crab-apple 
barrens" a white clay. The prevalent timber in L'Anguille bottom, is 
red and white-oak, small scattering sweet-gum and post-oak on the " post- 
oak land," which, however, is not cultivated at present. The growth on 
the adjacent ridges is white and black-oak, poplar, and, occasionally, some 
pine; on the branches, poplar, gum, ash, elm, and dog-wood. 



OF ARKANSAS. 21 



There is a stream called the St. Francis bayou, which runs from Mrs. 
Stott's farm, nearly parallel with the Crowley ridge, which is not laid 
down on the maps of Arkansas. This stream empties into the St. Francis 
river in the northern part of St. Francis county. The traces of earth- 
cracks and sandblows are numerous, almost every where in the St. Francis 
bottom, especially near the Morell prairie; some of the earth-cracks are 
eight to ten feet wide and six to eight deep. Lignite has frequently been 
thrown out of these rents in the earth, showing that there must be a con- 
siderable area of that mineral not far from the surface, running through 
the St. Francis country. 

There is a peculiar soil of extraordinary fertility, occupying part of the 
St. Francis bottom, particularly in townships 8, 9, 10 and 11, ranges 5 and 
6 east, known as the " black wax land," which was formerly overilowed 
by the back water of the Mississippi, but is now partly in cultivation. 
This soil will produce from 50 to 75 bushels of corn to the acre. The soil 
of the Morell prairie is sandy, but is also good corn land, yielding 40 to 
50 bushels of corn to the acre, while the adjacent uplands of the Crowley 
ridge produce from 30 to 40 bushels. 

From the Narrows of the Crowley ridge to Bolivar and Harrisburg, the 
new county seat, the quaternary gravel is quite conspicuous on the higher 
grounds, and of a very coarse character; some pieces would weigh several 
pounds. On Spencer creek, some little sandstone is seen underlying the 
gravel and resting on sandy clay. 

At Hurricane creek, near Harrisburg, the Crowley ridge is about three 
miles wide. There are considerable cotton plantations in this part of 
Greene county, especially at B. Harris' and Judge Hall's, just at the edge 
of the L'Anguille and St. Francis bottoms. 

Some specimens of amber are said to have been found on Hurricane 
creek. As this is sometimes an accompaniment of lignite, which occurs 
on the waters of this creek, it is not improbable that such a mineral 
may have been found, but probably only in small, isolated, disseminated 
lumps. 

The material passed through, in sinking wells in the L'Anguille bottom, 
is usually 20 feet of yellow clay, underlaid by 30 to 40 feet of light-colored 
sand, a moderately soft water being generally obtained at 60 feet. 

Immediately at the foot of the ridge, water is often obtained at 12 feet, 
the water gradually getting deeper for one mile into the bottom, where it 
is, generally, the deepest seated. 

So far as I have yet been able to learn, no rotten limestone, green sand, 
or shell beds, referable to the cretaceous formation, have ever been reached, 



32 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



even in the lowest positions and excavations made in the northern part 
of Poinsett county. 

My observations in this county have, as yet, only extended as far south 
as the vicinity of the northern line of township 10; but from the best 
information obtained from Judge Hall and others, best acquainted with 
this county, it seems very doubtful whether any of the members of this 
formation reach the surface even in the southern part of Poinsett. 

In crossing the Crowley ridge from Benjamin Harris' to Judge Hall's, 
(a distance of three to three and a half miles,) gravel is found mostly in 
the high situations underlaid by sand and clay. At the foot of the ridge, 
near Judge Hall's, there is some soft sandstone, which is, no doubt, a local, 
partial cementation of the quaternary sand already referred to. 

Samples of the cotton soil were collected for chemical analysis from 
Judge Hall's farm; No. 1, being the virgin soil; No. 2, twenty-four years 
in cultivation. The land lies just at the foot of the Crowley ridge, as it 
insensibly slopes down to the flats of the St. Francis bottom. This soil 
has a good deal of gravel mixed through it. 

In passing from Judge Hall's, up the eastern edge of the Crowley ridge, 
the same succession of deposits prevails; the gravel occupying, as usual, 
the higher ground and being for the most part quite coarse. 

From the west edge of the Crowley ridge, to the crossing of Cache 
river by way of the Santa Fe post-office, is some eighteen miles. Of this 
about 8 miles is slush land, not very miry, but covered more or less with 
water with only dry land enough for a few farms in the vicinity of Santa 
Fe post-office, and a small tract 6 miles from the crossing. 

The best land of the Cache bottom for cultivation, is the sweet-gum 
land and red-elm, with an undergrowth of slippery-elm and dog-wood. 
This soil is somewhat of the nature of the black-sand land heretofore 
spoken of, with narrow strips of clay land running here and therethrough 
it. This soil is best adapted for corn and cotton. 

JACKSON COUNTY. 

There is no hill land proper in this county; the whole of the county 
being level land, with the farming lands bordering on White river being 
elevated only some 6 to 8 feet above the Cache flate. 

A sample of the black sandy land was collected for analysis from land 
adjoining Thomas Maclerath's farm, 3 or 4 miles east of Cache river. 
This kind of soil forms about one-third or one-fourth of the Cache bottom. 
The other two-thirds are post-oak and black spice land. This latter soil 
is very rich when drained and reclaimed, but, in its natural state, is wet 
and miry. It supports a growth of large timber, viz: gum, fine ash, pen- 



OF ARKANSAS. 33 



oak, and haekberry, besides the black-spice. This land lies generally- 
lower, if anything, than the post-oak land. 

Near Driver's farm, on the Cache bottom, a specimen was collected for 
chemical analysis, of the higher and dryer variety of oak land which sup- 
ports a growth of white-oak and gum, with only a few post-oaks. 

The best farming lands in Jackson lie between Village creek and White 
river, occupying a low ridge rising several feet above the adjacent flats, 
and elevated about 10 feet above high water of White river. It supports 
a growth of hickory, poplar, oak, and black walnut. It is on these land« 
where the principal cotton crops of Jackson county are raised, and where 
the wealthiest portion of the population is located.* 

Samples of this soil were selected for chemical analysis from two differ- 
ent localities; one taken from the vicinity of Jacksonport, from M. L. 
Robinson's farm, the other from II. J. Dowd's farm, 14 miles from Jack- 
sonport. 

The waters of White river were tested qualitatively; the sample 
being taken below the mouth of Black river. They were found to be soft, 
containing but a trace of earthy carbonates; as will be seen by consult- 
ing Dr. Elderhorst's report. 

INDEPENDENCE COUNTY. 

In passing from Jacksonport up the valley of White river, to examine 
the locality of the so-called "black marble," I traversed the "Oil-trough 
Bottom." This is a tract of very rich alluvial land, lying on the south- 
west side of White river, in the south-east part of Independence county. 
The fresh soil is very dark colored, even to the depth of five or six feet in 
some situations; the sub-soil being nearly as black as the soil, but more 
tenacious. This soil is particularly adapted for wheat. 

On S. M. Cobb's farm, where samples of this soil were collected for 
future chemical analysis, an average crop of wheat is considered thirty 
bushels, the grain weighing 64 pounds to the bushel. It is also good corn 
land, yielding, on an average, 50 bushels, and would, no doubt, be excel- 
lent for tobacco. 

The palma christi, or castor' bean, grows here very large, and could, in 
all probability, be cultivated to great advantage, if an oil-press were 
established in the vicinity for the expression of the oil. The principal 
growth of timber on this land is pin-oak, red oak (yellow butt), water oak, 

* For further particulars in regard to this tract of land, see E. T. Cox's report. 
3 



34 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



elm, pecan, black walnut, sweet-gum, hackberry, and buckeye, with an 
undergrowth of very large papaw, cane, grape vines, and a little spice- 
wood. 

Rye flourishes well on this soil; but it is too rich for cotton, which grows 
too rank and runs too much to stalk and leaf. Timothy succeeds well; 
clover has not been tried. It is, however, especially adapted for small 
grain, for which, indeed, it is celebrated. The explanation of this will, 
no doubt, be found in a geological cause which will hereafter be adverted 
to. Since the wheat does not freeze out of this soil, and the weevil is 
unknown in the country, the farmers are most favorably situated for rais- 
ing this grain, and the natural resources of the country would justify the 
erection of extensive flouring mills. 

The water obtained by digging wells in the Oil-trough bottom is quite 

soft. 

The Oil-trough bottom is about 15 miles long. At its head, the first 
ridge encountered is known as the Oil-trough ridge. Here 1 found the 
first ledges of solid rock Avhich I had seen since leaving Greene county. 
These proved to belong to the upper members of the subcarboniferous 
limestone formation. At 70 feet above the Oil-trough bottom, I found 
one of the members of this formation which marks most decisively a most 
impartant geological horizon, viz: the Archimedes limestone. This rock 
occupies a position below the lowest workable coal throughout the western 
states of North America. No exception has yet been found to this geolo- 
gical axiom; it, therefore, serves as a sure and safe guide in pronouncing 
as to the existence or non-existence of coal in the vicinity, and furnishes 
the clue to the geologist, in connection with the dip and strike, of the for- 
mations of the country, in what direction he must search for coal. 

The total height of the Oil-trough ridge was found to be 152 feet, and 
the following members of the upper subcarboniferous group of rocks 
were observed at the different elevations herewith subjoined in the 
approximate section of that ridge: 
At 152 feet, Sandstone. 
" 1 15 " Third bench of protruding limestone; exposed for 15 feet. 
" 115 " Limestone shale. 

" 92 " Second bench of protruding limestone; exposed for 15 feet. 
" 75 " Productal black limestone. 
" 70 " Archimedes limestone. 

" 56 " First projecting ledge of limestone seen in this part of the 
ridge. 
The Archimedes limestone, as above remarked, is the index to the dis- 
covery of coal. Where the sub-carboniferous limestone is fully developed 



OF ARKANSAS. 



35 



in the west, upper and lower beds of Archimedes limestone exist, lying, 
sometimes, more than fifty feet apart. The upper Archimedes limestone 
is usually found immediately below, or within a few feet of the bottom of 
the conglomerate or pebbly sandstone, which lies at the base of the coal 
measures. This rock being of very variable thickness, from a few feet to 
ninety or one hundred feet or more, or even entirely absent, the space 
between the Archimedes limestone and lowest workable coal which usu- 
ally overlies the conglomerate, may vary from 15 to 150 feet; but the first 
bed of workable coal never underlies this peculiar and well-marked fossil- 
iferous limestone. This rule holds good so universally throughout the 
western states, viz: Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, Tennessee, Alabama, and 
Missouri, that it may be applied with perfect confidence to Arkansas. 

The sandstone observed capping the Oil-trough ridge, is undoubtedly 
the sandstone occupying the base of the coal measures, and if this ridge 
were 25 to 50 feet higher, we might hope to find workable coal. As it is, 
the south-west dip of the strata which prevails here, indicates to the 
geologist that he must look in that direction for coal; since the Archimedes 
limestone and overlying sandstone, pitching lower and lower in that course, 
give room for the true coal measures to come in on the hills above the 
drainage of the country. 

We anticipate, therefore, in the farther prosecution of the survey to- 
wards Van Buren and Searcy counties, to discover coal. Whether it may 
be thick enough and of a good quality, are questions that can only be 
answered after the beds have been fairly opened and specimens obtained 
for chemical analysis. 

The productal limestone, at 75 feet, in the preceding section of Oil- 
trough ridge, is of a fine black color, and is capable of receiving a polish, 
so that, if it can be quarried in sufficiently large slabs, free from cracks, 
imperfections and flaws, it may be employed for mantel-pieces and other 
ornamental inside work. For outside work, I fear it wall be too liable to 
crack and split by the influence of the sun* and atmospheric agencies. 

The great fertility of the soil of the Oil-trough bottom, and its adapta- 
bility, especially to small grain, is, no doubt, explained by the fact of its 
being bounded on the north and west by these limestone ridges, from 
which it has received calcareous and fertilizing washings forages, impart- 
ing to it chemical elements found in much smaller proportions in the soil 
east of White river, in Jackson county. 

I had again an opportunity of observing these members of the subcar- 
boniferous limestone, in connection with some lower members, in a con- 

* Some black bituminous limestones absorb heat so rapidly in the direct rays of the sun, that 
lrom unequal expansion, they are very apt to split and crack. 



3g GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



spicuous hill of upwards of 500 feet, which forms a bold headland on the 
south side of White river, about 5 miles above Batesville, known as 
" Shield's Bluff," or White river mountain. It seems to be the most ele- 
vated part of a ridge which runs off to the south, forming a kind of geo- 
logical culminating axis on its summit, whence the strata dip both to the 
south-west and north-east. 

In this bluff I found the Archimedes limestone again, but in a much 
more elevated position than in the Oil-trough ridge, being 350 feet above 
the Dean farm, and some 400 feet above White river. 

The total height of Shields' bluff is about 570 to 580 feet above White 
river. The lower 50 or 60 feet above the Dean farm is dark calcareous 
shale and shaly limestones; above which are some 330 to 340 feet of grey 
and bluish limestones with some alternations of sandstone; the summit 
being capped with from 80 to 100 feet of sandstone, occupying the place 
of the millstone grit and conglomerates that intervene between the Archi- 
medes limestones and the coal measures. 

The following are the elevations of the principal members of the sub- 
carboniferous group observed in Shields' bluff above the Dean farm: 
At 520 feet, Top of escarpment of sandstone, capping the ridge. 

« 475 " Foot of do. 

« 395 " Ledge of sandstone. 

" 385 " Limestone. 

" 350 " Archimedes limestone. 

" 345 " Encrinital limestone. 

" 340 " Ledge of sandstone. 

" 325 " Grey limestone. 

" 315 " Sandstone (in place?) 

" 300 " Top of ledges of limestone. 

" 200 " Grey limestone. 

« 170 " Off-set of hill-side with black limestone. 

« 145 " Black limestone. 

" 120 " 3d bench of limestone. 

» 100 " 2d bench of limestone. 

" 55 " 1st bench of limestone. 

Limestone shales and shaly limestone at the foot of the hili 
down to the Dean farm. 
Shield's bluff, where this approximate section was obtained, is a noted 

land-mark in Arkansas, as having been the point where the old Cherokee 

line commenced at White river, and ran south-west along the dividing 
ridge, of which it forms the terminating bluff on White river. 

Eight miles south-east of Batesville, on the north-side of White river, I 



OF ARKANSAS. 



37 



had a better opportunity of inspecting the ehaly rocks of the subcarbo- 
niferous group, than in Shield's bluff, where they are too much concealed 
by debris washed from above. At this locality, 1 found the following sue- 
ion under a ledge of sandstone: 

Buff, earthy limestone 10 feet thick. 

Mudstone G inches thick _ 

Brown shale 4 « 

Black shale 3 « 

Limestone in pavement form 2 " 



«< 
it 

Black shale 



Brown shale r, « « 



J " a 

Brown mudstone 4 « G i nc i ies « 

Black shale 5 « « 

Calcareous septaria (hydraulic) 1 « 6 inches " 

Brown shale 3 « « 

Black shale at base (thickness?) at an elevation 20 to 25 feet above the 
adjacent bottom. 

Above these strata is apparently mostly sandstone, but much of it is 
out of place, having rolled down from a former higher elevation; there is 
evidently, however, a great thickness of millstone grit in the upper part 
of the adjoining ridges of 150 to 200 feet. 

Four miles south-east of Batesville, a great mass of red shale crops out, 
which disintegrates rapidly to red clay. This underlies the above mill- 
atone grit rock. 

The hills increase in height from the locality where the preceding sec- 
tion was taken towards Batesville; there a lower mass of intercalated 
sandstone rises from beneath these shales, shaly limestone, and septaria. 
The soil immediately over this sandstone is, as usual, thin, and supports a 
growth of stunted oak. 

From Miller's creek up to Batesville, the hills are from 130 to 240 feet 
in height. Red shales, running downwards into brown and black shales, 
with calcareous septaria, occupy the base of the hills around Batesville; 
these shales are surmounted by 150 to 180 feet of sandstone. 

The black shales of the above series have given rise to expectations for 
the discovery of coal in their vicinity; but, occupying, as they do, a geo- 
logical position in the subcarboniferous group entirely below the mill, tone 
grit, and Archimedes limestone, there is no prospect of finding any thing 
but perhaps a few inches of coal associated with these shales, which can 
be of no practical value. 

Between Batesville and the " Big Spring," there are high ridges elevated 
about 450 feet above White river, composed in their upper part of both 



38 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



compact and cellular chert; the latter partaking of the character of buhr- 
stone. This chert is, in all probability, of subcarboniferous date. The 
surface being much encumbered with blocks and protruding masses of 
these siliceous rocks, the soil is necessarily thin, and supports a growth 
almost exclusively of small oak. Nevertheless, the soil is capable of pro- 
ducing much better than the forbidding nature of the rocky surface would 
lead one to suppose. 

The descent from these chert ridges to the " Big Spring," is about 260 
feet. Here, a noble volume of the clearest water silently rises from some 
cavernous passage at the foot of an amphitheatre of hills of cherty, sili- 
ceous limestones, sufficient in quantity to supply the wants of a small grist- 
mill. Like all those streams having a subterranean origin, it never freezes 
in winter. This Big spring is quite a noted locality in Independence 
county. The water-power it affords, and the improvement in the soil of 
the country, watered by its branches, has attracted agriculturists, who 
have opened several good farms three miles south of the Big spring; but 
north-east, towards the Rocky bayou, the country is mostly rocky oak-bar- 
rens, with a broken surface, where few settlers have located. 

The cavernous or barren limestone group, capped with chert, prevails 
to Lafferty creek, where it is underlaid in many places by a very white 
sandstone, some of which is sufficiently pure to make glass. 

The dip is irregular; at one place the inclination was observed to be 10 

deg. S. W. 

I examined a salt-petre cave situated from half to three quarters of a 
mile north-west from Tosches' farm, and about 250 to 300 feet up in a 
ridge of subcarboniferous limestone. This cave is known as the " Salt- 
petre cave," and is owned by Col. John Miller. 

It has passages from 200 to 300 yards long, and 8 to 10 feet wide. The 
sacks containing the earth from this cave have, unfortunately, never come 
to hand, so that we cannot report upon the per centage of salt-petre it 
contains, until a further supply is obtained. 

At Peter Moser's, on Lafferty creek, the mixture of the soil, derived, in 
part, from the cavernous limestone, and in part from the white sandstone, 
produces excellent oats, and is capable of yielding 40 to 50 bushels of corn 
to the acre, and 800 to 1000 pounds of raw cotton in the seed, and in very 
favorable seasons even as high as 1500 pounds. 

As the cotton loses about two-thirds in cleaning and freeing it from seed, 
the land may be said to yield from 250 to 350 pounds of clean ginned cot- 
ton to the acre. It is the washings from the adjacent hills of limestone 
that cause the land to produce so much better than its first appearance, 



OF ARKANSAS. 39 



and stunted trees of oak and pine which grow upon it, would lead one to 
suspect. 

The cavernous limestone of LafTerty creek, is traversed by veins of dif- 
ferent varieties of manganese ore. The most interesting locality is on the 
west branch of Lafferty creek, two miles above its mouth. Here, there 
appear to be regular veins with well-defined walls, traversing the caver- 
nous limestone, containing the manganese ores. The course of the 
main vein, with probably some subordinate cross courses, runs N. N. W. 
andS. S. E. 

I measured the space between the faces of the walls of the veins at 
different places where excavations had been made for the ore, and found 
them to vary from 14 feet inches to 8£ feet. These ran down through 
an encrinital bed of limestone, which is elevated about 200 feet above the 
mouth of Lafferty creek. 

The masses of manganese ore taken out of these crevices vary in weight 
from a few ounces to 30 or 40 pounds. From the most productive part of 
the vein a man could raise from 300 to 400 pounds per day. 

Judging from the specimens taken out, and which lay strewed in abund- 
ant heaps on the hill-side near the crevices, there appear to be two varie- 
ties of manganese ore obtained at these mines, in the depth to which the 
superficial and partial mining operations have yet been carried; one a 
compact, close-textured ore of a dark steel-grey color, and a hardness of 
about 5£ to 6, having the physical aspect of that variety of compact 
manganese ore described in works on mineralogy under the name of 
" psilomelane," composed of mixtures of the oxides of manganese, with, 
usually, some baryta and potash; but from a partial qualitative examina- 
tion made of this Lafferty creek manganese ore, it appears to contain but 
a trace of baryta. 

The other variety is more crystalline in its structure, brighter in its 
lustre, and of a lighter steel-grey color; but in hardness, streak, and color 
of the powdered mineral (blackish brown), differs but little from the 
former more compact variety.* 

W hether these two varieties differ only from some admixture of acci- 
dental ingredients, or have a decidedly different atomic proportion of 
manganese and oygen, will appear when the quantitative chemical analy- 
ses are completed and recorded in the Chemical Report; then the ques- 
tions bearing on the commercial value of these ores will be decided. 

So far as I can learn, the company who own these mineral lands on 
Lafferty creek, in Independence county, and who made an attempt to 

*The analysis of these ores, recorded in the Chemical Report, proves these two varieties to be 
essentially of the same constitution, the first containing, however, 3 or 4 more per cent of silica. 



40 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 

mine and ship the ore to the eastern cities, did not find as ready a sale or 
as high a price for their ore as they anticipated, and seem to have sus- 
pended operations, for the present, on this account. 

The explanation of this want of success in this their first enterprise on 
these manganese ores, is probably to be found in the fact, that the 
larger part, at least, of the ore which they obtained, was of this hard 
variety, affording rather less than one-third of its weight of oxygen; and, 
therefore, capable of eliminating only a proportional quantity of chlo- 
rine, for which purpose it is chiefly valuable in the arts; while they raised 
little or none of the soft black manganese ore; i. e. bin, or peroxide of 
manganese, known to mineralogists under the name of " pyrolusite," which 
is not only much easier to grind to powder, by reason of its greater soft- 
ness, but contains about 36 per cent of oxygen, and will, therefore, evolve 
a larger proportion of chlorine from a given weight of the ore. 

It is to be remarked, however, in this connection, that this pyrolusite or 
binoxide, the most valuable in commerce of the ores of manganese, is fre- 
quently associated, and even in alternating layers of different thickness, 
with ores of compact, grey oxide of manganese, similar to that of which 
there is so great an abundance on Lafferty creek and its vicinity. Hence, 
either a neglect to make the proper selection for the market of the ores 
raised, or not mining sufficiently deep to reach the best quality of ore, 
may be assigned as causes of the present abandonment of the mines.* 

Similar ores of manganese have been found on the south-east quarter of 
section 25, township 15 north, range 8 west, and west of north of Bates- 
ville;f besides, at many other localities on the waters of Lafferty creek, in 
the north-west part of Independence county, so that if the owners of these 
mineral lands can obtain, by a thorough exploration of the veins, the 
soft black (pyrolusite) ore of manganese, there is a fair prospect of reach- 
ing well filled veins, which might return them a handsome profit. 

Associated with the manganese ores of Lafferty creek, is some excellent 
red oxide of iron. The qualitative chemical examination, shows it to be 
nearly pure peroxide of iron, with but a very small per centage of foreign 
matter; the quantiative analysis will, therefore, no doubt, yield between 
65 and 70 per cent of iron. 

The lands which are most valuable for cultivation, in the north-west 
part of Independence county, are, first, the bottom lands supporting a 
growth of walnut, large Spanish-oak, ash, and overcup-oak, with an un- 

* By consulting the chemical report of Dr. Elderhorst, further information on the commerciul value 
of these manganese ores will be obtained. 

t See Ed. T. Cox's report for a description of the geological position, and external aspect of the 
manganese ore, which occurs three miles west of north of Batesville. 



OF ARKANSAS. 4 J 



dergrowth of spice and large grape vines. These bottoms are, however, 
of limited extent. Secondly, the black-oak, hickory, large white-oak, and 
dogwood upland. Thirdly, the hazlenut and sumach thickets. 

The soil of some of the hill-sides, on the slopes of the cavernous lime- 
stone is often remarkably rich, and could be cultivated to great advantage, 
where not too abrupt and not too much encumbered with rock. 

I examined a cave situated near the top of a ridge composed of the 
cavernous limestone, and reposing on the white sandstone, towards the 
base of the ridges. This cave is situated between Peter and Samuel 
Mosers farms, in the eastern part of Independence county. The entrance 
to this cave is very low, so that it is difficult to enter. It is only of limited 
extent and has but little disintegrated earth distributed through it. What 
little there is, is near the entrance to the cave. 

A sample of this earth was collected for chemical analysis, and will be 
reported on when this latter is completed. 

A characteristic soil of the cavernous limestone formation, was also col- 
lected for chemical analysis, from south-east half of section 25, town- 
ship 15 north, range 8 west, from Peter Moser's farm, on the waters of 
Lafferty creek, in Independence county. The growth of timber on this 
land is hickory, post-oak, white-oak, persimmon, and dogwood. 

This soil is said to produce 30 bushels of wheat to the acre, 20 to 25 
bushels of oats, and 40 to 50 bushels of corn. The soil has some chert 
gravel intermixed with it; the subsoil is a dark yellowish clay. 

The same geological formation prevails between LafFerty creek and 
Rocky bayou; white sandstone in the base of the ridges, surmounted by 
cavernous limestone: the ridges rising from 300 to 400 feet above the prin- 
cipal water courses. 

For farther information in regard to the geology of this county, consult 
the report of the assistant geologist, Edward Cox. 



IZARD COUNTY. 

Five miles from Rocky bayou, the white sandstone was found to be 116 
feet below the summits of the ridge, passed over in the eastern part of 
Izard county. 

At the forks of the road leading to Mt. Olive, and the North fork, and 
7 miles from the Rocky bayou, in the bed of a dry branch, about 197 feet 
below the level of the observation, on the above mentioned sandstone, is a 
bed of dark-grey compact limestone, charged with minute cy/hcrca, which, 
probably, belongs to the siiurian period. . The adjacent ridge, bounding 



42 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



the valley of the branch on the north, has a sandstone near its summit, 
which is probably the same sandstone seen in the base of the ridges on 
Lafferty creek, and which is found at an elevation of 467 feet above low 
water of White river, at Calico Rock, and was afterwards traced through 
Izard county, to the high pine ridge, at the head of Sugar Loaf creek, and 
which is usually marked by a growth of pine, as may be observed in plate 
No. 1 of the Sugar Loaf mountain of Izard county, the site of that sketch 
being on the plateau of that pine-bearing sandstone. 

No organic remains have yet been found in this sandstone, to indicate 
its geological position; but, taking the lithological character and order of 
superposition as a guide, it will probably be found to belong at the base 
of the subcarboniferous series of Izard and Marion counties, resting on 
limestones, which belong probably to the silurian period; it is, probably, 
the equivalent of the " Saccharoidal standstone," of the Missouri report, 
underlying the Cooper marble of the south-western part of that state. 

This sandstone seems to increase in thickness to the north-west, towards 
the Lees mountain range. 

Two miles, from Calico, this sandstone is some 160 feet in thickness, 
with perhaps some intercalated layers of limestone. Most of the beds of 
the standstone, in this part of Izard, seem to be white or of pale yellow 
colors, and soft. 

The dip is irregular, and often undulating, and conformable to the gen- 
eral contour of the country. However, the prevalent dip is to the south- 
west. 

The limestones of this region, are of light and dark grey hues, and often 
singularly weathered into small furrows, radiating from a centre, and 
often intersected with veins of calc-spar. 

The ridge of cellular buhrstone, which I passed over, before descending 
to the North Fork, was found, by the aneroid barometer, to be 537 feet 
above that river. 

Before reaching Athens, the Sugar-loaf mountain of the south-eastern 
part of Izard county is in view, conspicuous above the intervening ridges. 
[See plate No. 1.] 

At the mouth of the Pine bayou, the cliffs capped with sandstone are 
about 200 feet. 

The soil of this part of Izard county, is best adapted for corn; it will 
yield about 30 bushels to the acre of this grain; 15 of wheat, and about 
the same of oats, and 800 pounds of cotton in the seed. The season for 
cotton is rather too short in this high, northern part of Arkansas. 

The growth on the lands above cited is black-oak, hickory, and some 
red-oak. The sample of this soil collected for analysis may be considered 









2> 






I 




OF ARKANSAS. 43 



an average of a large proportion of that part of Izard county, lying north- 
east of White river, and between that stream and Strawberry river. 

Between Calico and the North Fork, the white and yellow sandstone 
occupies, for the first 8 miles, a position towards the summits of the ridges. 
Its upper layers arc generally coarse-grained, and present glistening 
reflections. This sandstone is underlaid by the cherty limestones which 
form the varigated cliffs on White river, known by the name of the "Calico 
Rock." [See plate No. 2.] 

Six miles from Calico, on the road from Calico to the North Fork, the 
plateau of sandstone, from which sketch No. 1 was taken, is at an eleva- 
tion of 380 to 390 feet above White river. 

At the widow Lafferty's farm, where a soil was collected from Izard 
county, for chemical analysis, the sandstone is overlaid by limestone. 

In the vicinity of Friend's creek, the sandstone becomes harder and 
more charty; it may be designated there, a porous and cellular, cherty 
sandstone. 

In passing over the ridges about Friend's creek, a high knob is seen off 
towards the south, known by the name of " Naked Joe." This hill ap- 
pears to be some 150 to 200 feet higher than the main ridges of the country, 
and formed a conspicuous land-mark, in early times, for the guidance of 
hunters and explorers. 

The country around Friend's creek, where there is so much cellular 
chert on the surface of the ground, has much the aspect of the iron region 
of south-western Kentucky, and though no body of iron ore has yet been 
discovered on the waters of this stream, the detailed survey may, perhaps, 
hereafter develop such. 

Four miles before reaching the North Fork, the ridges at the same ele- 
vation (i.e., 380 to 390 feet) as the sandstone platform, 6 miles from Calico, 
are composed of cellular buhrstone chert. 

The summit level, passed over about 3 miles before reaching the North 
Fork, and where the descent to that stream commences, is about 445 feet 
above Major Jacob W r olf's house, and 537 feet above the North Fork, ac- 
cording to observations taken with the aneroid barometer. 

Beyond the North Fork, there is another high conspicuous hill, towering 
above the rest of the main ridges, called " Mattener's Knob," which I was 
told by Maj. Jacob Wolf, was reported by surveyor Smith, to be 1,100 feet 
high. 

Maj. Jacob W T olf reports a small piece of ore, found in digging the 
foundation of a mill, near the North Fork, which was pronounced to be 
silver ore by some one, who professed to have examined it, but whose 
name I did not learn. I have little faith in silver occurring in the forma- 
tions which prevail along the North Fork, towards its confluence with 



44 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 

White river, unless it be in small quantities, associated with the lead and 
zinc ores of this country. 

The grey and red varigated limestones, which will be hereafter spoken 
of, under the head of Marion county, occur in the bluffs of White river, 5 
or 6 miles above the mouth of the North Fork, and a mile above Big creek; 
but they lie under a heavy mass of superincumbent rock, which makes 
them difficult of access. 

The cherty magnesian, and other varieties of limestones, of which the 
base of the hills is composed, and which form bold cliffs on the North Fork, 
and at Ware's mill, appear to be of silurian date, but the sandstone chert 
and limestones towards the tops of the ridges, must belong to the subcar- 
boniferous group, judging from the few imperfect fossils found. 

J. E. Ware showed me some ores of manganese, which he says came 
from the bluffs of White river, below the mouth of Big creek. 

On the south side of the North Fork, the chert frequently assumes the 
character of hornstone and agate. 

There are very fine buhr millstone rocks in the ridges of the North Fork, 
not far from Ware's mill, but on the opposite side of the river, according 
to J. E. Ware; he also found small particles of copper ore and some Terra 
Sienna on a prong of Morton creek, on section 17, township 18 north, range 
12 west; but though he has searched a great deal for ores, adjacent to the 
surrounding country in Izard, he never discovered any deposit or vein of 
copper worth following by drifts or adit levels. 

Near the line between Izard and Marion counties, at Camp spring, there 
is a bed of brown ochreous clay, which produces a color similar to Terra 
Sienna. The bed is in a ravine, about 6 or 8 feet under the spring. It is 
of various shades at the outcrop, mostly on account of admixtures of 
earths washed over it. Farther in the bank it could, probably, be obtained 
in greater purity, and of deeper and more uniform tints. 

Lower down, on the same branch, are extensive beds of buhr millstone 
in " Camp creek hollow." some of which are of excellent texture and 
hardness for grinding corn, while other varieties are equally good for 
wheat. This buhrstone lies some 200 feet below the level of the ridge 
over which the Yellville road runs, above the Camp spring. 

In consequence of the vegetation and debris of rock concealing the 
strata, no very satisfactory section could be obtained of the whole of the 
members composing the hills forming the Camp creek hollow; but the 
following is the succession from above, downwards, of those which can 
be seen: 

1. Carboniferous limestone and chert. 

2. Sandstone. 



OF ARKANSAS. 45 



3. Sandstone, hard and quartzose. 

4. Variegated shales, including the Terra Sienna earth and segregations 

of hydraulic (?) limestone, and some mudstone shale interstratified. 

5. Thin-bedded, light-grey limestone. 
G. Buhrstone, G to 8 feet thick. 

7. Light-colored magnesian limestone, of silurian date? 

8. Compact, flinty siliceous rocks. 

J. E. Ware is of opinion, the best quality of buhrstones, of any required 
dimensions, can be obtained either in Camp creek hollow or the ridges 
opposite his flouring mill, on the North Fork, equal in quality to the 
French buhr. 

Small particles of sulphuret of copper have been picked up by J. E. 
Ware, in the Camp creek hollow, disseminated sparingly in a gangue of 
calc-spar; but no regular vein has, as yet, been detected. 



MARION COUNTY. 

The prevailing rocks of this county are varieties of magnesian lime- 
stones, which crop out in terraces and low cliffs on the sides of the hills. 

Some sandstone is intercalated, chiefly towards the upper and lower 
part of the hills. The upper sandstone is of variable thickness, from a 
few inches to 50 or 60 feet. It appears, in many places, as if the under- 
lying magnesian limestone had suffered from irregular denudation; having 
been locally scooped out into deep hollows, into which sand was subse- 
quently swept, and became, afterwards, indurated into a hard, solid rock. 

The lower sandstone I have only had a good opportunity of examining, 
as yet, in the adjacent county of Carroll, on township 20 north, range 18 
west, of the 5th principal meridian, where it has the hard quartzose 
character of the lowest sandstone of Wisconsin and Minnesota, as it 
occurs on the Minnesota, Baraboo, and Wisconsin rivers. 

The upper sandstone is generally overlaid by limestones, capable of 
receiving a good polish. Some of the beds are pink, variegated with 
white, or light grey; others, nearly white, or light grey, and often studded 
with tntrocfiitcs: that is, the disjointed stems of those singular flower-like 
animals, known by the name of encrinites, which flourished in such pro- 
fusion in the ancient seas, in which the deposits and chemical precipitates 
were accumulating, that produced the so-called silurian, devonian, and 
carboniferous rocks. These contribute greatly to the beauty of the 
marble of which they form a part; appearing, often, of different shades of 
color from the matrix in which they are enclosed, and giving to the roek 



46 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 

that variety of tint so agreeable to the eye, and so much esteemed by the 
worker in marble. 

In the middle and north-west part of Marion county, these marble layers 
lie high in the hills; generally 20 to 50 feet below the tops of the ridges 
in which they occur. 

In the high Pine ridge, which forms the water-shed between Sugar-loaf, 
Crooked, George's, and Jennings' creeks, there is a considerable mass of 
chert capping its summit, which is, probably, referable to the subcarbo- 
niferous period; judging from the few casts of crinoidea observed in it. 
This ridge is, at least, 200 to 250 feet higher than the subordinate ridges 
bounding the water courses of Sugar-loaf creek. 

The summit of this high ridge is composed of chert sandstone, under- 
laid by limestones, dolomitic and calciferous sand-rock. 

The siliceous soil, in which the pine trees flourish, is derived from the 
chert and sandstone, on which it is based. 

The above-described marble rocks, which occur in these ridges, are, 
probably, the representative of the so-called "Cooper marble," of Missouri? 
which has been referred to the age of the Onondaga limestone of the New 
York system. 

At present, we have not sufficient palseontological evidence to decide 
on its exact equivalency with rocks of other states; but in the future 
progress of the survey, further light will, no doubt, be thrown on the age 
of these beds, which intervene between the subcarboniferous and silurian 
rocks of northern Arkansas, and which, on account of their economical 
value, are of great interest. 

Sufficient evidence has already been obtained to establish the age of 
the 300 feet of magnesian limestones and silico-calcareous rock, that 
underlie the marble strata, forming about 250 to 300 feet of the lower and 
main body of the ridges of Marion county, as of lower silurian date, and, 
in all probability, to that subdivision known as the calciferous sandrock of 
the New York system. This is the lead and zinc-bearing formation of 
north-western Arkansas. 

Sulphuret of lead, or galena, has been found, more or less abundantly, 
at numerous localities, both in Marion and Carroll counties. The most 
noted ones, in the former county, are on the w T aters of Sugar-loaf, High- 
tower, and Jennings' creeks. No regular or systematic mining operations 
have yet been undertaken in Marion county, so that an opinion of the 
exact character and dimensions of these mineral deposits, cannot be 
formed; they occur, however, evidently, much in the same manner as 
those which were subsequently examined in the eastern part of Carroll 
county, at the Coka and Mitchell diggings. One partial drift, and a few 



OF ARKANSAS. 



47 



prospect holes on township 20 north, range 17 east, and township 20 north, 
range 10 east, of the 5th principal meridian, are all that has been done in 
Marion county, near the head of Sugar-loaf creek, to prove this lead 
region. 

The principal entry on township 20 north, range 17 west, on the lands 
of the New York company, was only carried about 8 or 10 feet into the 
hill-side, with a width of about 4 feet. Judge Brickey, who superintended 
this excavation, informs me that there were taken out of this drift from 
4,500 to 5,000 pounds of lead ore; two hands obtained at the rate of about 
1,000 pounds in tvvo days. A space of about one foot deep, and three feet 
wide, yielded from 100 to 150 pounds. This ground was, no doubt, 
sufficiently productive to pay well for Avorking; but it must be borne in 
mind, that this drift was entirely too limited to give a just idea of how 
productive the rock might prove, by regular mining operations; since it is 
evident from all that is at present known of this lead region, that the ore 
occurs irregularly disseminated in "pockets," "sheets," "joints," and 
crevices; the pockets being cavernous spaces of various dimensions, 
occurring only occasionally in the rock by local expansions of the crevice.' 

When ore is disseminated in this manner, it is always necessary to 
prove the richness of each locality, by especial trial drifts and shafts. 
Hence, those owning mineral lands, in this part of Arkansas, would do 
well, if they wish to establish the value of their mines, and induce 
smelters to erect furnaces, without which the mining business cannot be 
carried on to any advantage, to sink shafts and run drifts a sufficient depth 
and distance to test, satisfactorily, the productiveness of their mines. 

On section 19, township 20 north, range 17 east of the 5th principal 
meridian, Armsted Hudson has sunk a few shallow pits on a hill, east of 
his house, and west 6 deg. to 8 deg. south of the New York drift. Here 
he discovered, likewise, more or less lead ore, and, on the opposite side of 
the hollow, to the west, as far as Wood's pit, where lead ore was reached 
at 45 feet, then two and a half miles to the south-west, near Grit's mills; 
while the Short mountain location of Mitchell and Walker, lies two and a 
half miles to the north-east. 

There appear to be two sets of lead-bearing crevices, or irregular veins, 
traversing the magnesian limestones of Marion county; one set running 
nearly north-east and south-west; the other east 6 deg. to 8 deg. north; 
but so little has yet been done, even in the way of digging '• prospect 
holes," that it is difficult, at present, to form a correct opinion on this 
subject. 

Some detached pieces of lead ore have also been discovered at the 
junction of the magnesian limestones and underlying quartzose sandstone 



48 



GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



on township 20 north, range 18 east of the 5th principal meridian, at what 
is known as McCarty's diggings; but the ore lies too close to the lower 
hard sandstone to give much prospect of productiveness in this rock. In 
the upper sections of the ridges, lying between these McCarty's diggings 
and the New York location, amongst the magnesian limestones, more or 
less ore may be expected to occur; more especially, since pieces of " float- 
mineral " have been found, at intervals, between the two locations. 

A vein of galena of several inches traverses the limestone forming the 
bed of Jennings' creek, about one-and-a-half miles above the forks of 
that stream, at what is known as the "Molton orSewell diggings." Here 
the course of the vein appears to be nearly north-west and south-east. 
Several shallow pits have also been sunk on the adjacent hill-side, where, 
I understand, small pieces of lead ore were discovered. The rock here, 
is a close-textured, cherty limestone, very irregular in its fracture and bed- 
ding, and is a member of the same formation in which the lead ore occurs 
on Sugar Loaf creek, but modified in its lithological character; since, at 
the latter locality, the limestone is an easily decomposing rock, weather- 
ing and splitting up like hydraulic limestone. The composition of this 
rock will be seen by the analysis in the Chemical Report. 

There is considerable variety in the lithological character of the differ- 
ent strata composing the hills in the lead region of Marion county, on the 
waters of Sugar Loaf creek, as may be seen by the following section, 
taken about half w r ay between the Hudson farm and the head of Sugar 
Loaf creek. 



SECTION OF STRATA OF LOWER SILURIAN DATE 
IN THE LEAD REGION OF MARION COUNTY; WA- 
TERS OF SUGAR LOAF CREEK. 



0) 
fa 



307 



328 



CH CH 



CH 
CH CH 



CH 
CH CH 




CH CH 



CH 



CH CH 



CH 



CH CH 



CH 



CH CH 



Space concealed with fragments of chert, 
hornstone, and other varieties of flinty 
siliceous rocks. 



White encrinital marble rock. 



Space concealed with fragments of chert 
and hornstone on the slope. 



fa 



37 

4 



Sb 



It will be observed by 
the subjoined section, in 
the lead region of Marion 
county, taken in the hills 
adjacent to the head of 
Sugar Loaf creek, that, 
in the space of 307 feet 
of the section, considera- 
ble variation is observa- 
ble in the composition of 
the various beds of which 
it is made up. 

The formation, as a 
whole, is perfectly analo- 
gous to the strata north 
of the Wisconsin river, 



OF ARKANSAS. 



49 



SECTION OF MARION COUNTY— Continued. 






193 



191 



191 

178 

169 
1G1 

159 
117 

139 

1 128 



93 



71 
67 



16 



L | .. 

I L I 
L L 



I- l. 



BL | BL 

I ~*t I 

BL | BL 

|sr. | 

SL I si. 



Red and variegated limestone or marble 
rock- 



White encrinital limestone or marble 
rock. 



bS. SS 




ML AIL 



MI. 
ML ML 



L L 




Impure siliceous limestone. 



Soft coarse-grained sandstone. 

Thin-bedded magnesian limestone. 

White fossiliferous limestone, close-tex 
ured, brittle. 

Birds-eye structured limestone. 



ML ML 



ML 



ML ML 



ML 



ML ML 



ML 
CR CR 



CR 
CR CR 



ML 



I L | 



L L 



Magnesian limestone. 
Siliceous i limestone. 

Calcareous sandstone. 



Buff, checkered magnesian limestone. 



Light-colored limestone with chert, so- 
called " cotton rock." 

Grey rough-weathering mag. limestone. 



Light-colored limestone in beds from 6 
to 8 inches in thickness. 






25 



19 



16 



8 
2 

5 
5 

10 

11 



35 



12 
1 



21 



in the State of Wiscon- 
sin, except that the beds 
of magnesian limestone 
are thinner-bedded and 
less massive, and hence, 
do not appear in as bold 
cliffs in Arkansas as on 
t h e upper Mississippi. 
The fossils in the lime- 
stone, at an elevation of 
161 feet above Sugar 
Loaf creek, are, mostly, 
casts and imperfect im- 
bedded impressions, so 
that even the genera 
can hardly be made out; 
but, so far as they are 
recognizable, they, as 
well as the lithological 
character of the strata, 
indicate the geological 
horizon of these rocks as 
cotemporaneous with the 
' lower magnesian lime- 
stone and interstratified 
sandstones " of northern 
Wisconsin, the ' ; calcifer- 
ous sandrock" of the A'ew 
York system, and the 
: ' 2nd magnesian lime- 
stone and sandstone, and 
3d magnesian limestone" 
of the Geological Report 
on south - western Mis- 
souri. 



50 



GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



SECTION OF MARION COUNTY— Continued. 



o 
o 



42 



31 



20 




-.-aMEITJTiaB 




ML 
ML ML 



ML 



ML ML 
ML 



ML ML 



Bench of grey magnesian limestone. 



Thin-bedded, light - colored magnesian 
limestone. 



Bench of solid, grey magnesian limest. 



Thin -bedded magnesian limestone, in 
beds of a few inches in thickness, ex 
tending down into the bed of Sugar 
Loaf creek. 



0) 

fa 



4 



12 



II 



20 



307 



Three quarters of a mile south of the Mitchell farm, the following sec- 
tion was obtained in a hill known as "Mitchell's Hill:'" 



Height. 



148 feet.) 
142 " \ 



Thickness. 



6 



Top of the loose pieces of chert and sandstone 

Hard, light-grey magnesian limestone, with occasional 
beds of chalcedonic chert, most abundant in the 

76 " lower part 76 

56 " Quartzose sandstone and chert 10 

26 " Magnesian limestone 40 

25 " Intercalated bed of siliceous magnesian limestone 1 

1 " Magnesian limestone, with red and yellow bands 15 

Slope and bank extending down to the bed of upper 

Sugar-loaf creek 

Plate 3 represents a distant view of Sugar-loaf hill, of Marion, a 
conspicuous land-mark, lying in the eastern part of Sugar-loaf prairie. 
This hill is 300 feet above the level of Sugar-loaf creek, near the Coka 

farm. 

It is composed of thin-bedded magnesian limestones, overlaid by chert 
at top, and underlaid by light-colored earthy limestone, like the so-called 
"Cotton Rock," of Missouri. 

A voluminous spring issues from the cavernous spaces in the rocks on 
the east side of lower Sugar-loaf creek, affording a valuable water-power, 
available at all seasons of the year, with but little variation as to quantity 



OF ARKANSAS. 5J 



and temperature, and capable of supplying a considerable amount of 
machinery. 

The high Pine ridge, capped with subcarboniferous chert, resting on 
the sandstone previously mentioned, extends for four miles between the 
heads of Sugar-loaf creek and those of George's creek; the pine being 
co-extensive with the area occupied by these higher siliceous rocks. 

The white encrinital and marble rock of this region, may be very con- 
veniently quarried in a hill just beyond this pine ridge, near Wood's mill, 
where it outcrops towards the top of the hill, with a gentle slope, which 
affords an opportunity of quarrying it with but little stripping. Also in 
aome of the ridges, near the Hudson farm and the "New York Location," 
on the waters of Sugar-loaf creek. 

The strata composing the lower part ol the hills between Yellville and 
Wood's mill, are chieiiy marly, earthy and hydraulic-looking calcareous 
rocks, very retentive of water, which flows out along the surface of the 
plane of dip in numerous springs. The country has a glady aspect, and 
the roads are soft and miry, except where they run on the bare rock. 

These strata have much the character of marly, shaly limestones 
described as intervening between the subcarboniferous rocks and the 
strata of silurian date in south-western Missouri, and may be of the same 
age, but, as yet, we have no positive evidence of equivalency, in the 
absence of the necessary palaeontological evidence. The fossil nautili 
which have been found in chert near Alickersham's mill, about 2 miles S. 
W. of Yellville, indicate rocks of the. subcarboniferous era, proving the 
south- westerly inclination of the strata, which may account for rocks of 
devonian (?) and subcarboniferous age being found here low in the hills, 
while they occupy high situations in the north and north-eastern part of 
Marion county. 

Lee's mountain was found to be, by measurement with the aneroid 
barometer, 350 feet above our camp, near John Osburn's farms, on Jen- 
ning's creek.* 

The ascent of this mountain from Fallen Timber creek, on the east, is 
very steep. Towards the summit level of the road, there are alternations 
of sandstone amongst the limestone, and higher up, near the summit of 
the ridge to the south, the marble rock is in place. The sandstone below 
this rock must be much thicker here than in the ridges along Sugar-loaf 
creek, and the rocks elevated some fifty feet higher above the drainage of 
the country than on Sugar-loaf creek. 

The " Molton Diggings," 1 on Jennings' creek, are a mile and a half above 



*This observation was taken on the 4th of December, at noon, iu the midsjt of a heavy shower of 
rain, and, therefore, mav be liable to some corrcetion hereafter. 



52 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



the forks, and half a mile below John Osburn's, on both sides of the creek. 
The ore has been found, as yet, only in lumps and pockets, except in one 
place, where some blasting has been done in the limestone forming the 
bed of the creek. Here the ore was said to have been found in a solid 
vein of 4 to 6 inches wide, though this statement is not corroborated by 
John Osburn. Where I examined it, the work has been carried for a few 
yards in a N. W. and S. E. course diagonally across the bed of the Jen- 
nings 1 creek; but the excavations were, at the time of my exploration, 
completely submerged, so that little opportunity offered for seeing the 
vein, if such^exists; but about half a pound of lead ore was found dis- 
seminated in detached pieces through the adjacent rock. Some diggings 
and prospect-holes have been opened along the hill-side, in a north and 
south course, but these are too shallow to enable any one to form an opin- 
ion as to the manner in which the ore is disseminated or concerning the 
true course of the ore-bearing crevice. All that can be said at present in 
regard to this locality, is that the formation is similar to those in the north- 
ern part of Marion, heretofore described, and the surface indications of 
ore probably equally as good for mining as in that part of the country 
from its head to the forks of the creek. 

About 200 pounds of lead ore were taken out of one of the holes dug 
on the adjacent hill-side, three quarters of a mile above the forks of Jen- 
nings' creek. Considerable lead ore was found in lumps and small frag- 
ments by John Osburn, about a mile and a half northwest of the Molton 
diggings. The prevailing character of the rock on Jennings' creek, near 
the forks, is that of a close-textured, cherty, dark-grej limestone, very 
irregular in its fracture and bedding, and often fragmentary. 

Below the forks of Jennings' creek, the rocks are mostly rugged ledges 
of magnesian and other varieties of limestone, with some alternations of 
marl and marly limestones, with frequent imbedded segregations of chal- 

cedonic chert. 

The principal Sewell diggings are 4 miles below the Molton diggings, 
township 19 north, range 16 west, of the fifth principal meridian. 

Several pits and prospect-holes have been dug here in search of ore, 
near the tops of the ridges, and two or three tons of ore obtained. In 
some of the excavations crevices have been reached running in the mag- 
nesian limestone, north 30 deg. west, and lead ore is found attached to 
the wall-rock, and running in veins of about an inch thick. 

Mr. Sewell undertook to smelt about 4 tons of this ore in a rude log 
furnace, but the greatest part of it oxydized and ran to slag and was lost 
amongst the cinders and ashes. 



OF ARKANSAS. 53 



- Small quantities of zinc ore have also been found here, associated with 
the lead ore at the Sewell diggings. 

Some sandstones are intercalated with the magnesian limestones of 
this part of Jennings' creek valley. 

The tops of ridges are mostly strewed over with masses of porous chert. 
In some of the ridges the red marble rock is in place. 

The surface indications of lead ore are frequent. Mr. McCracken, 
whose farm adjoins the Sewell diggings, found a lump of lead ore, one 
foot below the surface, in digging the foundation for his chimney, and 
pieces weighing several pounds on the hill-sides opposite his house, on the 
northern side of Jennings' creek. In the tops of some of the ridges, the 
marble rock occurs in the vicinity of Mr. McCracken's, which appears to 
have generally a reddish cast. 

In the valley through which the road passes up from Mr. McCracken's 
to the Flippen barrens, chert and buhrstone are very abundant, lying in 
large blocks on the surface and along the beds of the creeks, rendering 
the road very rough and disagreeable to travel over. There are also some 
glady hill-sides where marly and shaly limestones crop out, like those men- 
tioned as occurring on the road between Yellville and Wood's mill, in this 
county. 

The bottom lands of Jennings' creek, are of good quality, but they are 
narrow and limited in extent. 

The high grounds at the Flippen barrens are chiefly composed of chert 
belonging to the subcarboniferous era, as indicated by the fossils found 
there, both those collected by the corps and those generously presented by 
Mr. William B. Flippen. 

Amongst the cliffs adjacent to the west bank of White river, five or six 
miles from the Flippen barrens, under overhanging ledges of magnesian 
limestones in the " Rock House," known by the name of Bean's cave, pecu- 
liar nitre earths have formed in large quantities. 

At this locality there are large quantities of red ferruginous dry nitre 
earth, above and below the red laminated layers, containing nitre salts, 
which, if all converted, by the usual process of manufacture, into salt- 
petre, would yield about 6.2 per cent. The composition of this nitre 
earth, is shown by the following chemical analyses, made both of the 
whole earth by digestion with hydrochloric acid and of the saline portion 
soluble in water, which extract contains the nitre salts convertible into 
salt-petre. 

One sample of red, ferruginous, dry nitre earth gave, after being air- 
Iried, the following result by chemical analysis: 



54 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 

First. By treatment with hydrochloric acid. ■ 

Hygrometric water expelled at 300 deg 3.15 

Silicates insoluble in hydrochloric or nitric acid 64.68 

Alumina • 10.00 

Peroxide of iron- • • 7.68 

Lime 3.65 

Magnesia 1 -50 

Potash .945 

Soda .650 

Manganese .080 

Sulphuric acid .360 

Phosphoric acid .015 

Carbonic acid .050 

Chlorine • .198 

Organic matter, water of hydration not expelled at 300 deg., and 

ammonia 2.428 

Nitric acid and loss 4.614 

f 

100.000 

The saline matter extracted by water, was equal to 7 per cent of the 
whole, and contained the following bases and acids: 

Alumina tinged with iron 0.32 

Lime 0.76 

Magnesia 0.40 

Potash 0.282 

Soda 0.068 

Chlorine 0.196 

Sulphuric acid • • • 0.360 

Nitric acid 3.210 

Water of crystallization, loss and organic matter 1.404 



7.000 

Another of the nitre earths formed in Bean's cave, is a very regularly 

laminated moist earth, variegated with thin bands of dark and light red 

of a very fine texture, and capable of being divided into thin flexible 

laminae, like sheets of dough. 

This nitre earth, when air dried, yielded by analysis about 1.3 per 
cent of nitric acid, which when converted into nitrate of potash or salt- 
petre, by the usual process of leaching and saturation, with carbonate of 
potash, or the ley from ashes, would give about 2.5 per cent of salt- 
petre. 



OF ARKANSAS. K 



;:>*> 






Tlie artificial nitre plantations of France, afford, by a similar process, 
on an average, about four per cent of salt-petre. The dry nitre earths of 
Beans cave, which are abundant, ought, therefore, to be profitable to work. 

There is a very largo amount of said earths available at the cave, par- 
ticularly of the laminated variety, as will be seen by reference to the 
Report of Mr. E. T. Cox, who was detailed to survey that locality. 

It will be observed also from that Report, that this saltpetre cave is 
favorably situated for the transportation of its saline and other products to 
market, as it is located on the immediate bank of White river. 

It is worthy, moreover, of note, that the red earthy residuum is of suf- 
ficiently fine texture and contains enough coloring principle, from the per 
centage of oxide of iron which it contains, to afford a good, durable, red 
ochre paint, having a good body, and being especially well adapted for 
painting brick walls and outdoor work generally; while the finer earths 
that remain long suspended in water, afford a species of polishing powder 
free from grit, but not rich enough in siliceous earth, to be rapid and 
efficient in its effects. 

The magnesian limestones of lower silurian date of Marion county, 
afford, besides the lead ores already made mention of, some fine zinc ores. 

The richest and best locality of these zinc ores, that I have yet examined 
in this county, is on section 13, township 19 north, range 17 west, of the 
5th principal meridian, on the w r aters of the east branch of George's creek. 
The surface indications here are quite encouraging, and lead to the infer- 
ence that considerable bodies of both the carbonate and sulphuret of zinc 
exist more deeply* seated in the crevices of the rock; indeed, these ores 
seem to occur here in veins between well-defined walls of rock, the main 
vein running north 30 deg. east and south, 30 deg. west, besides some cross 
courses north 70 deg. to 80 deg. west. These veins or crevices are ex- 
posed in one place on George's creek, 8 feet 9 inches across from wall to 
wall. Several shallow openings have been made, at different points, a 
few hundred yards apart, on George's Creek, in all of which good speci- 
mens of these zinc ores have been exposed, associated, occasionally, with 
some sulphuret of lead and small quantities of sulphuret of copper. 

I would particularly designate this place, as worthy of the attention and 
exploration of the zinc manufacturer, as the locality gives promise, as far 
as can be judged, from the partial openings made, of affording good rich 
zinc ores in sufficient quantities td» supply a furnace. 

There is more sulphuret of zinc at these than at the zinc mines of Law- 
rence county; but still there are large quantities of carbonate also, which 
yield from 48 to 52 per cent of zinc, as may be seen by consulting the an- 
alysis of these ores, in the Report of the Chemical Assistant. The sulphuret, 



56 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 

it is true, contains a higher percentage of metal than the carbonate; but it 
is much more difficult and expensive to work, and hence a less profitable 
ore to mine than the carbonates, with a less per centage of zinc in their 
composition. 

The higher points of the hills in this part of Marion county, are capped 
with eherty rocks of subcarboniferous date, but the lower part of the hills 
belongs to the same age as the members exhibited in the geological section 
on Sugar-loaf creek, previously given. 

The pine and other timber on the high ridge, mentioned as intervening 
between the head of Sugar-loaf creek and the waters of George's creek, 
will afford good coaling grounds for the use of zinc furnaces, which might 
be located some where in the vicinity of these zinc mines, as well as for 
the reduction of the lead ore that may be raised towards the head of 
Sugar-loaf creek. 



CARROLL COUNTY. 

As yet, only the eastern portion of this county has been examined. 
The lead ore of this county, occurs in the cotemporaneous formations of 
magnesian limestones, with occasional interstratification of sandstone and 
siliceous limestones, overlaid, towards the summits of the hills, by the en- 
crinital limestones and marble rock, capped with chert. The diggings 
have been somewhat deeper in Carroll than in Marion county, but still 
quite limited, consisting of a few shallow trenches on the hill-side, and 
one shaft of 40 feet. These have exposed several lead-bearing crevices in 
the rocks, sometimes expanded into cavernous spaces forming occasional 
" pockets" filled with lead ore; at other times compressed in the joints of 
of the wall-rock, almost in contact, or only affording space enough for 
small " strings," and thin " sheets" of ore, irregularly distributed along its 
course. 

In sinking the main shaft, the first layer of rock passed through, beneath 
the subsoil and under-clay, was: 

Light grey shale 4 feet 

Dark " " 8 " 

Magnesian lead-bearing limestone 28 " 

Total depth sunk 40 " 

A hole carried a few feet further, by means of a " churn auger," passed 
mostly through good solid galena disseminated in the adjacent magnesian 
limestone. 



OF ARKANSAS. 57 



More or less lead ore has been found at different points, over about two- 
thirds of township 20 north, range 19 west of the 5th principal meridian* 
according to the representations of Judge Brickcy, who had been formerly 
extensively engaged in the lead business in Missouri, and has been recently 
employed by Coka &Mitchell, the owners of these mineral lands, to en- 
deavor to follow the course of the veins on their property. 

The ore discovered has been sometimes float or gravel ore, scattered on 
the surface or partially imbedded through the bare surface rock, in "strings," 
"sheets," thin veins, and occasional " pockets;" also in the interstices, cre- 
vices, and even horizontally between the layers of the bedded rock. 

The lead-bearing Magnesian limestone, which commences, usually, 
about 80 to 100 feet beneath the summits of the ridges, has, in general, a 
capping of hard, white, quartzose sandstone, 4 to 1G inches in thickness, 
with intervening beds of ferruginous and argillaceous shales of, usually, 
only a few inches or a foot or two in thickness. 

The section of the upper 90 to 100 feet of the ridges, in this lead region, 
may be represented approximately by the following section: 

Chert 50 feet 

Thin-bedded magnesian limestone 15 " 

Encrinital limestone and marble rock 25 to 30 " 

Sandstone, mostly hard, white and quartzose. bedded G 
to 9 or sometimes 16 inches: average say, the " cap 

rock'' of the lead miner of Carroll county 1 " 

Ferruginous and argillaceous shales 1 to 2 " 

Lead-bearing magnesian limestone with some alterna- 
tions of siliceous rocks extending for 200 to 250 feet 
down to the beds of the streams and general drainage 
of the country > • • 250 " 

These latter rocks are, lithologically, much of the same character as the 
strata represented in the 250 feet of the lower part of the section, on Su- 
gar-loaf creek, in Marion county. 

It appears that the surface of the magnesian limestone, under the sand- 
stone, has suffered from irregular denudation, previous to the deposition 
of the sand, which went to form the succeeding stratum, which is, in con- 
sequence, sometimes quite irregular in its thickness, even in short distances, 
where the sand has been swept into the eroded cavities; such an action 
has taken place close to where the 40 feet shaft has been sunk in this 
county. There, a great mass of isolated sandstone, which has resisted the 
action of decomposing agencies, beyond that of the adjacent members, 
stands out as a bold mass, as if it might have been a wall or dike, form- 



58 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 

erly enclosed between walls of the adjacent magnesian limestone, and now 
forms a conspicuous feature in the landscape of that region. (See plate 
No. 4.) 

The lead ore of this locality of Carroll county, may be expected to 
occur in following it, with its downward hade, through the different members 
of this formation, in irregular masses, " pockets," sheets, strings, and thin 
veins in the magnesian limestones; but probably sparingly, if at all, inter- 
spersed in the occasional layers of sandstone, which rock has, perhaps, not 
retained the openness of fissure, necessary for the reception of the infil- 
trated or insinuated ore.* 

About 20,000 pounds of lead ore have been raised, in all, at these " dig- 
gings," the excavations being, however, for the most part, only 5 to 15 
feet in depth. 

About 500 to 600 pounds were raised at the 40 feet, " Brickey's" shaft, 
adjacent to the isolated mass of sandstone, represented on plate No. 4. 

Judge Brickey, who has had long experience in the lead business, in 
Washington county, Missouri, is of opinion that the surface indications in 
township 20 north, range 19 west, of the 5th principal meridian, are fully 
as encouraging as in that part of Missouri, perhaps even more so, for 
profitable mining. 

The great difficulty in pursuing lead-mining in this part of Arkansas, at 
present, is the want of furnaces for the reduction of ore which the miner 
could raise. 

For want of these, the ore has either to be smelted in heaps or log fur- 
naces at considerable loss and disadvantage, or transported at a cost which 
would consume the profits of the miner, to distant localities in Missouri, 
where smelting furnaces have been already erected. 

The most common vein-stone of this region is calcareous spar; some 
" gozzin" is occasionally seen in the crevices; but oftener, near the surface, 
the materials filling the interstices of the magnesian limestones, are buff 
and grey argillaceous and shaly earths. 

The distance from these mines to navigation on White river, at Du 
Buque, is from 8 to 10 miles. The growth is, mostly, small sized black 
and post-oak and hickory. 

It will be observed, by the Chemical Report, that the lead ores, both of 
Carroll, Marion, and Independence counties, are, when freed from adhering 
gangue and rock, remarkable ior their purity. The most important of 
them have been cupelled, to ascertain the amount of silver, but only one 
variety examined, up to the present time, viz: that from the Sewell 

* In some few instances, in Missouri, lead ore has been found in sufficient quantity in the sand- 
stone to pay for working. 



OF ARKANSAS. 5Q 



diggings, on Jemmy's creek, promises to afford sufficient silver to pay the 
expense of extraction. 

The rocks of the lead region of Carroll county, near the Coka and 
Mitchell diggings, dip to the south-west, so that the encrinital limestones 
descend, in that direction, at the rate of about 100 feet to the mile; and 
are near the level of the creeks, two miles south-west of the locality 
represented in plate No. 4. 



FULTON COUNTY. 

In the townships of land, situated in the north-western part of this 
county, the highest knobs are composed, like those in Marion and Izard 
counties, of cherty masses, referable, probably, to the subcarboniferous 
era, resting upon earthy, hydraulic-looking marls, limestones and shales, 
on which the principal tracts of arable land are based. Such is the nature 
of the strata in the " Rapp Barrens," between White river and the North 
Fork, at an elevation of about 130 or 150 feet above these streams; and 
corresponding in their lithological character to the strata of Marion county, 
formerly made mention of, occurring 4 or 5 miles north-east of Yellville, 
between the waters of Crooked, Jemmy's, and Fallen Timber creeks. 

The following strata were observed at elevations in ascending from the 
North Fork to the general level of the country, in the vicinity of the Rapp 
barrens, in the upper 80 feet of the ridge, which overlooks the Ripple of 
the North Fork, near the Rapp barrens: 

At 380 feet: above the North Fork, varieties of crisp and agatized chert 
prevail. 

At 375 feet: white-weathering magnesian limestone. 

At 370 feet: coarse-grained magnesian limestone and chert. 

At 365 feet: porous buhrstone and chert. 

At 300 feet: hard blocks of coarse-grained, glistening, siliceous rock, 
intermediate between chert and sandstone. 

The strata of the lower part of the cliffs, along the North Fork, in the 
vicinity of these barrens, are mostly composed of different varieties of 
magnesian limestones and silico-calcareous rocks, which are remarkable 
for the great differences which they exhibit in their capabilities of resisting 
atmospheric vicissitudes; some layers being hard, compact and durable, 
stand out prominently in overhanging ledges; others, crumbling away, 
recede, even under the shelter and protection of more durable strata.* 
Some of the layers possess a fine oolitic structure. 

* See Chemical Report for the analyses of these two different kinds of rocks. 



60 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



The ridges, 150 to 1G0 feet above the white sandstone, which crops out 
near Sander's store, and elsewhere in the Barrens, are mostly strewed with 
agatized and chalcedonized chert. These are either destitute of timber 
or overgrown with thickets of low scrubby timber, while the narrow, tor- 
tuous vallies or "coves," enclosed between the ridges, are, for the most 
part, meadow prairie. 

Though rocky and rather forbidding, at first view, the land produces 
well; particularly oats, wheat, wool, and honey. The crops of maize may 
be considered average. The country is well watered, and possesses many 
fine water-powers, even at the very fountain head of some of its numerous 
limpid calcareous streams, which frequently burst forth from amongst the 
ledges of rock. 

One of the most remarkable of these, forms the fountain-head of the 
main fork of Spring river, known as the "Mammoth Spring," welling up 
on the south side of a low rocky ridge, from a submerged abyss beneath 
of sixty-four feet, and constituting, at its very source, a respectable lake 
of about one-sixteenth of a mile from north to south, and one-fifth to one- 
sixth of that distance from east to west. 

It is said, by those that have sounded the bottom, that there are large 
cavities and crevices in the rock, and that the main body of the water 
issues from a large cavernous opening of some forty yards in circumfer- 
ence. It has been estimated that it boils up at the rate of about eight 
thousand barrels per minute; the correctness of this estimate, we had no 
means of verifying; but it may be safely estimated, that the average 
constant flow would be at least sufficient to propel from 12 to 15 run of 
stones. 

The uniform temperature and composition of the water, is peculiarly 
congenial to the growth of a variety of cryptogamic, aquatic plants, pos- 
sessing highly nutritive qualities, both for herbiverous animals and birds. 

In the early settlement of the country, herds of herbiverous wild 
animals traveled from great distances to this fountain, of both food and 
water, as well as flocks of wild fowl. Now, the cattle of the neighboring 
farms may be seen wading in its waters, up to their middle, and browsing 
on the herbage, which appears peculiarly congenial to their tastes; it is, 
also, a general resort of ducks, geese, and other aquatic birds. 

This mammoth spring is located just south of the east and" west line 
between Missouri and Arkansas, on section 5, township 21 north, range 7 
west of the 5th principal meridian, and forms the most interesting feature 
of this section of country, since it affords a water-power, which, if properly 
improved, might supply valuable mill-sites, and water-privileges, for 
manufacturing purposes in general. Small and rude as the present grist- 




t M 







■ 



OF ARKANSAS. (]J 



mill is, at this point, with its two run of 40 inch stones, it attracts the 

Custom of farmers living 30 or 40 miles distant, who throng to its door 

i though they may have to wait days and nights for their turn to come 
round. 

The accompanying sketch [plate No. 5,] represents the present mill, 
looking north over the expanse of water, forming the source of this cele- 
brated spring. 

The Mater of this remarkable fountain, remains at a nearly uniform 
temperature, never freezing in winter. On the 17th of December, 1857, 
the temperature of the air being 17 deg. Fahrenheit, the spring showed 
only 57 deg. Fahrenheit. But the average temperature^when the ther- 
mometer is sunk deep in the spring, will probably be found to be GO deg. 

The extent of the range of extreme low and high water, is but 3 to 4 
inches, so that the variation in the supply of water is very slight. 

A large proportion of the water now runs to waste, the present mill 
only requiring a limited supply; but, if it were all saved, which it could 
very easily be, there would be enough for many grist-mills, as well as 
woolen factories, which would be well adapted to the resources of the 
country; since both the climate and herbage seem to be well suited to 
raising sheep. At least, the small flocks of sheep, seen in the range, 
appeared both healthy and vigorous. 

The water is generally clear and limpid; it only becomes slightly muddy 
after long continued rains. From 10 to 11 feet of fall can be obtained 
between the fountain-head and the present site of the dam. 

The principal outcrop of rock, is a white silico-calcareous rock, splittim 
with a slaty fracture, and presenting dendritic markings on its surface. 
Locally, large quantities of calcareous tufa have accumulated, and are 
still forming in creeks and recesses around the head of the spring; 
deposited from the water, partly on account of the loss of a portion of 
its carbonic acid, which is dissipated into the atmosphere as these calca- 
reous waters reach the surface, and partly by gradual evaporation. 

Varieties of chert, hornstone, and porous buhrstones, form the most con- 
spicuous rocks in the ridges of the northern part of Fulton county: these 
repose on limestones, mostly of a siliceous character, with segregations 
and interpolations of chert, sandstone and calciferous sandrocks. 

It is supposed that the original source of the Mammoth spring is 
HowePs valley, Oregon county, Missouri, since the waters of this valley, 
which is eight miles wide and thirty miles long, are not known to have 
any external outlet, losing themselves in sink-holes and subterranean 
caverns and passages. Uniting, as is supposed, near the southern boun- 
dary of Missouri, they again burst forth to the day through caverns and 



»g 



(32 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 

crevices in the rock, on the extreme northern confines of Arkansas, and 
form this immense spring, which constitutes the head of the principal 
branch of Spring river, watering the north-east, corner of Fulton county; 
and then, entering Lawrence, it forms one of the main, streams of that 
county; flowing, finally, into Black river, above Smithville. 

Since the death of the former proprietor, Mr. Mills, the ownership of 
the spring, and the land around, has reverted to his heirs. 

For the sake of the interests of the country, we hope this water-privilege, 
possessing so many natural advantages, will soon be improved in the 
manner its intrinsic value justifies, and that it may fall into the hands of 
enterprizing and practical manufacturers, who will give an impetus to 
profitable and useful branches of manufacturing industry, suited to the 
resources of the country, which soon attract around them an industrious, 
progressive, and intelligent population. 

Extensive deposits of iron ore have been reported as occurring in 
the vicinity of the Mammoth spring. I found some superficial specimens 
of good ore in the north part of Fulton county, but have not seen any 
extensive beds; those referred to by Mr. Mills, in a notice issued of his 
property, before his death, are, probably, situated north of the state line, 
on the western fork, in Missouri. The geological formation is such asjjto 
justify the expectation that a detailed survey of Fulton county may dis- 
close bodies of ore that might warrant the erection of furnaces. 

Descending south from the head of Main Spring river, I found the 
country mostly constructed of low chert ridges, with prairie coves between 
them; the timber being, chiefly, on the ridges, of a small growth of oak 
and hickory. 

Two miles east of the Mammoth spring, a fine, white sandstone* crops 
out on a slope on the Missouri side of the line. 

On Jaynes' creek, the same kind of country prevails. In the valley of 
that stream, low benches of rugged, weathering magnesian limestone are 
seen projecting from the slopes of the ridges, which are mostly strewed 
with chert blocks, and gravel in the upper portions.' The highest of these 
chert ridges are from 250 to 280 feet above the water courses, but the most 
of them are considerably lower. 

* This is probably the equivalent of the sandstone represented on No. 4, which underlies the 
marble limestones of Carroll county. 



OF ARKANSAS. (J3 



LAWKENCE COUNTY. 

Near the forks of the Jackson and Smithville road, some chert ridges, 
measured, were found to have an elevation of about 80 to 100 feet above 
the drainage of the country. 

On Morton's creek, near Morgan's mill, there is some zinc, which may 
prove valuable, if fairly opened and exposed, as the surface indications 
are somewhat encouraging. 

The chert of the ridges along Morton's creek is mostly dull and impure, 
with little or no true chalcedony. 

In the cuts of the stream, grey and white varieties of magnesian lime- 
atones crop out, associated with a white rock, which has the appearance 
of a calciferous sandrock. 

The same character of rocks prevails to the Big Lick. South of that 
locality, some porous buhrstones are intermixed with the dull, impure, 
earthy chert, and a white magnesian limestone was observed cropping 
out, approaching, in its character, the so-called " Cotton Rock." 

On Machine creek, some zinc ore has been discovered, and a few loads 
hauled over to the zinc furnace, in Lawrence. 

E. W. Houghton explored for lead ore on Stennett's creek, in this 
county, and obtained considerable lead ore, but abandoned the diggings, 
probably, because there was no lead furnace to smelt the ore. 

The main zinc deposits of Lawrence county, on which the principal 
dependence is placed for supplying ore to the furnace now erected at 
Calamine, are the so-called Hoppe diggings, on section 19, township 16 
north, range 2 west. 

The ore here is very accessible, being, in some places, only one foot 
beneath the surface. It has been followed down 18 feet, and found occu- 
pying interstices between isolated corroded masses of limestone, and inter- 
mixed with, and imbedded in red clay. The width of the excavation was 
about 25 feet. The associate limestone is of a light grey coIqi*, with 
strings and thin veins of disseminated ore, which comprises mostly those 
different varieties of carbonate of zinc, described in works on mineralogy, 
under the name of "calamine" and "smithsonite." 

The chemical analyses of these ores, made by Dr. Elderhorst, in my 
laboratory, gives an average yield of 51.7 per cent, of oxide, which is 
equal to 41.5 per cent, of metallic zinc in these carbonates. 

Intermixed with the carbonates there is also some zinc blende, which 
will yield, when freed from adhering gangue, nearly GG per cent, of metal- 
lic zinc; but this ore, though containing a larger proportion of zinc than 



g4 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 

the carbonates, is less valuable as an ore, since it is more expensive and 
difficult to roast, smelt, and reduce to the metallic state. 

The chemical analyses even of the associate dolomitic rocks and red 
clay, rilling the interstices between the rock and ore, afford a small per 
centage of zinc, viz: two per cent of carbonate of zinc, in the magnesian 
limestone taken from the Hoppe mine, and about one-thirdgof one per 
cent, in the red clay. 

For the details of analysis, consult the Chemical Report of Dr. Elder- 
horst, where a statement will be found of the value of the Arkansas zinc 
ores, compared with those of the most productive zinc districts of Europe. 

Since all the zinc at present consumed in this country is imported from 
Europe, and subject to a duty of 4 per cent, on crude zinc, and 24 per 
cent, on all manufactured articles, the establishment of furnaces for the 
smelting of these very productive ores of zinc of Arkansas, would, indeed, 
be a national benefit, since the quantity of crude and manufactured zinc, 
imported into the United States, according to the last published state- 
ments, amounts very nearly to nine hundred thousand dollars worth of 
this useful metal. 



REPORT 



OF A 



GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



OF PART OF 



ARKANSAS. 



PAET SECOND 



In proceeding to record the observations made during the surveys of 
1858, I shall commence with 



WHITE COUNTY. 




No. 0. — CLIFFS OF THE "BEE HOCK," OF WHITE COUNTY, ON LITTLE RED 1UVER, 



The most conspicuous geological feature of this county, is the escarp- 
ment of sandstone along the bluffs of Little Eed river, known as the " Bee 
rock." The sketch in the wood-cut at the head of this section, is taken 
from the summit of those rocks, looking over the valley of Little Red 
river, and the distant low ground to the north. The sandstone forming 



68 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



the cliffs in the foreground of this landscape, is part of the conglomerate 
and millstone grit formation that intervenes between the overlying coal 
measures proper, and the underlying subcarboniferous limestone. 

When water-worn pebbles are disseminated through such sandstones, 
subordinate to the coal measures, they have received the name of conglo- 
merates or pebbly sandstones ; when pebbles are absent, and the rock con- 
stitutes merely a coarse-textured sandstone, it is called millstone grit. 
Both these varieties occur in White county, along the escarpments of Lit- 
tle Red river, which attain a thickness of 150 to 200 feet, imparting wild 
and romantic scenery to the country, for many miles along the bank of 
this stream. They constitute, also, the nucleus of the backbone ridge that 
runs from the Bee rock to Patterson's mill. At the latter locality, the 
impression of a peculiar extinct plant, characteristic of the early carboni- 
ferous era, known as the stigmaria ficoides, was discovered, imbedded in 
the sandstone, which would prove conclusively the age of this sandstone 
formation, if other evidence were wanting. 

A particle of gold, the size of a flaxseed, is said to have been pumped 
up with the sand from the bed of Little Red river, at Patterson's mill. 
Even if this is correct information, it is not probable that quantities of 
this metal, sufficient to pay for the extraction, could be washed out of the 
sands of Little Red river, since it does not flow, along any part of its 
course, over rocks such as have yielded profitable quantities of this pre- 
cious metal in other countries. 

The dip of these sandstones on this part of Little Red river, is 1| deg. 
to 2 deg. to the south, or a little west of south. The base of this forma- 
tion, at this point, is schistose in its structure, i. e., thin bedded, becoming, 
however, more solid and massive in its upper part. 

Some segregations of iron ore occur about 10 feet above the water of 
Little Red river, near the mill, but they are, here, too siliceous to constitute 
a good quality of ore for the manufacture of iron. 

Three miles north-west of Searcy, at a "bald point," in the vicinity of 
the widow Gilbert's farm, sixty feet of shaly strata are exposed, dark or 
nearly black, in its lower part, and reddish yellow and ferruginous towards 
the top. This shale includes numerous segregations of carbonate of iron 
and carbonate of lime ; the latter containing several fossil marine shells, 
amongst which the nautilus ferratus was discovered, a species which 
occurs in the ferruginous shales of Nolin, in Edmonson county, Ky. 

Until levels are run, which it is contemplated doing hereafter, during 
the progress of the detailed surveys in the individual counties, it is difficult 
to pronounce positively on the relative geological position of these shales, 
with reference to the sandstones of the Bee rock ; but, judging from the 



OF ARKANSAS. G9 



superposition, as observed in Kentucky, of the cotemporaneous shales, I 
am, at present, disposed to consider them as immediately following these 
sandstones, in the order of superposition. At any rate, the cliffs of sand- 
stone and conglomerate of Little Red river, and the Gilbert shales of 
"White county, Arkansas, are a perfect counterpart of the high escarpment 
of the " Dismal rock," of which a sketch is given as the frontispiece to the 
first volume of the Kentucky Geological Report, and the ferruginous shales 
of Xolin are shown in a section at the end of the same volume. 

The Gilbert shales are underlaid by heavy sandstones, passing down- 
wards into a more schistose rock in the descent towards Panther creek. 

The quantity of iron ore at this locality, both of the carbonate and 
limonite varieties, would go far towards supplying a furnace, and similar 
ores can, no doubt, be discovered in the same geological position in other 
parts of the county. Hereafter we shall record the constituents of this 
ore when the quantitative chemical analysis is completed. 

In digging wells in the vicinity of Searcy, a blackish grey, indurated, 
argillo-siliceous shale is encountered, containing small scales of dissemi- 
nated mica. This material is brittle and crumbles, by exposure, to a clay. 

Similar shales are struck, usually ten feet below the surface, under the 
red lands situated west of Searcy. The first ten feet passed through, gene- 
rally consist of soil, subsoil, and gravel overlying these shales. The red 
soil of these level farming lands is quite productive, yielding good crops 
of cotton, corn, wheat, and the finest oats in ordinary seasons, viz. : 800 to 
1,500 pounds of cotton in the seed to the acre, twenty to twenty-five 
bushels of wheat, and forty to sixty bushels of oats, when there are sea- 
sonable rains. 

Samples of this soil have been collected for future chemical analysis, in 
case the agricultural department of the Survey should be hereafter pro- 
vided for. 

This description of land must have an area of some 360 square miles, 
extending, as it does, about thirty miles from east to west, and twelve 
miles from north to south, and appears to have been derived from the dis- 
integration of the ferruginous shales, which, at one time, existed over the 
dark, argillo-siliceous shales, that now underlie this tract, and which still 
are to be seen in the slopes of the hills adjacent to these red lands. 

In the southern part of the county, watered by bayou Des Arc and 
Caney creek, sandstones and shales of the millstone grit period prevail. 

In the Royal Colony settlement, near the line between sections seven and 
eight, township five, range ten, a bed of coal, from ten to twelve inches 
in thickness, occurs sixty feet up in a ridge, known as Coal-hill, at the 
head of Cypress bayou. 



70 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



The base of Coal-hill consists of black and ferruginous shales, sur- 
mounted by thick-bedded sandstone, capping its summit. 

Ferruginous shales are strewed on the slope, under the sandstone, for 
seventy -live feet. Beneath this, for the depth of five feet, is a bluish shale, 
enclosing oval concretions. 

The immediate roof of the coal is a peculiar, rusty, talcous-looking, 
scaly shale, unctuous to the touch, and crumbling to pieces with the least 
friction. 

The coal varies from ten to twelve inches in thickness. 

The base of the hill, for 60 feet under the coal, is composed of dark, 
bluish-grey shale, including considerable quantities of carbonate of iron. 

The same bed of coal crops out on the western declivity of Coal-hill. 

This coal has been partially opened for the use of the blacksmiths in 
this part of White, and the adjacent portion of Conway county, but where 
it has been worked, it has not afforded a coal altogether free from the 
pyritiferous impurities required for shop use; the thickness, too, is not 
sufficient to warrant the expense of running drifts into it for any great 
distance. 

Sandstone occupies the surface at Rocky point, but shale is reached 
about eight or nine feet under the surface. A similar sandstone crops out 
on the slope descending to Cypress bayou, on the confines of White and 
Prairie counties. All these strata are, no doubt, referrible to the millstone 
grit series at the base of the coal measures. 

Ascending from the waters of the Cadron and Des Arc, in the western 
part of White county, a great mass of variegated and ferruginous shales 
is encountered, nearly two hundred feet in thickness, including some inter- 
calated bands of sandstone. These are surmounted by some fifty feet of 
heavily bedded sandstones, which are again overlapped with shales and 
schistose siliceous rocks, capping the mountain near the widow Norman's. 
Four and a half miles beyond, in the neighborhood of Theodore Good- 
low's, the sandstone on the table-land is characterized by peculiar vermi- 
cular impressions,* such as were observed in Hancock county, Kentucky, 
in the first bench of sandstone under the main Ilawesville coal, and about 
50 feet above the bench of underlying conglomerate. This bench of 
sandstone lies, therefore, at the base of the coal measures, and though 
there is a thin bed of coal beneath this sandstone at Ilawesville, it may 
be considered as underlying the productive coal measures, since no work- 
able bed of coal has yet been found below it. 

* These impressions are probably referrible to some species of fucoids or seaweeds. They bear 
some resemblance to drawings of Phytogyra, but are apparently single and more simple in their 
structure than that genus. 



OF ARKANSAS. 71 



These sandstones with vermicular (fucoidal ?) impressions on the head 
of the Cadron, in the extreme south-western part of "White county, belong, 
doubtless, to the geological horizon beneath the lowest workable coal. 

A remarkable dislocation of the strata crosses the Cadron in the vicinity 
of Goodlow's. Where I examined it, on the south bank of that stream,, 
the tilted slabs of sandstone lie at various angles, from one deg. to 26 deg. ; 
at one place, even at 50 deg. Yet the belt of disturbance is quite narrow, 
not more than six or eight feet, and some of the broken slabs of rock appear 
as if they had partially slipped into the yawning fissure and become 
entangled in the closing of the gap. The course of this disturbance runs 
obliquely across the bed of the Cadron, with a slightly curved bearing, 
south south-west, and forms a kind of artificial dam. This rupture of the 
strata can be traced for three-quarters of a mile. In some parts of its 
course the fractured layers form a complete arch, dipping both ways from 
the central axis. 

Some attempts have been made to discover ore, by sinking pits adjacent 
to this disturbance ; but without success, at the depth to which they were 
carried. This axis of dislocation may possibly be connected with those 
subsequently observed on the Palarm bayou, since its course, if produced 
in a south-west direction, would extend to that region of country. 

High cliffs of sandstone of the same geological era, appear on the south 
side of the Cadron, near the western confines of White county. 

The Searcy sulphur water of White county, was tested qualitatively at 
the fountain head for its principal constituents, which proved to be as fol- 
lows : 

Small quantity of free sulphuretted hydrogen. 
Bi-carbonate of lime. 
Bi-carbonate of magnesia. 
Chloride of sodium. 
Chloride of magnesium. 
Small quantity of sulphate of soda. 
" " " " magnesia. 

This water will act as a mild alterative and laxative. 

It should be remarked, that solution of acetate of lead is darkened more 
by the water after being boiled down, than when fresh from the spring ; 
for this reason, I am disposed to believe, that there must be some portion 
of sulphur combined with some organic principle ; since the free sulphur- 
etted hydrogen would be expelled by boiling. Besides, the fresh water 
does not affect acetate of lead as much as the sulphur taste would indi- 
cate. 



72 



GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



VAN BUREN COUNTY. 




No. 7— SUGAR-LOAF MOUNTAIN OF VAN BUREN COUNTY. 



The table-land of the south-western part of this county, on to which we 
ascended soon after leaving White county, supports a pine forest on the 
siliceous soils, derived from the disintegration of sandstones of the millstone 
grit series. This table-land is elevated 400 feet above the general drain- 
age of the country, and 375 above a group of dark shales, including car- 
bonate of iron, which are well exposed at " Bald Lick," near the foot of 
the descent, on our route leading to Sugar-loaf springs. This shale, with 
its associate ore, has much the appearance of the Gilbert shales of Searcy 
county ; but these shales of Van Buren County, occupy a position, in all 
probability, beneath sandstones, the equivalent of the Bee rock. From 
20 to 25 feet of these shales are exposed in the ravines at the Bald Lick, 
having a dip to the south-west of 8 deg. ; this dip is, however, local both in 
direction and degree, since only a mile or two to the north, the strata were 
observed to dip east of north at a more gentle angle. 

The Sugar-loaf mountain, of which a sketch is given in the wood-cut 
that heads this section, is a conspicuous, isolated hill, cut off by denudation 
from the main ranges of this county. A measurement with the aneroid 
barometer, gave its height 440 feet above the Huntsucker farm. By com- 
putation, it must be about 500 feet above Little Red river, which sweeps 
around its north-eastern base. 



OF ARKANSAS. 73 



This well-known land-mark is composed, in its upper part, of about 80 
feet of schistose sandstone, forming a bold and conspicuous cliff on the 
heights of the mountain, which is contracted in its upper part, so that the 
area of the summit is only about 200 feet from north to south, by about 
50 feet from cast to west, with a dip of a few degrees to the south, as 
shown in the accompanying view. Forest and undergrowth conceal, for 
the most part, the strata forming the slopes below this escarpment. 

The construction of the main ridges, in this part of Van Buren county, 
of which this may be regarded as an outlier, together with the partial ex- 
posures, here and there observed in the Sugar-loaf mountain itself, lead to 
the conclusion that it is composed mostly of earthy varieties of sandstone, 
resting on ferruginous and dark shales, similar to those observed at the 
Bald Lick, and which seem to exist, almost universally, under the main 
mass of the millstone grit of this part of the State of Arkansas. 

The Sugar-loaf springs are situated about three miles from the Sugar- 
loaf mountain, in a course south of west. There are several fine springs of 
mineral water at this place. 

The one known as the "Black Sulphur Spring," but which might be with 
more propriety called the White Sulphur Spring, since it deposits a white 
fibrous sediment in the trough into which it first flows, though, where it 
subsequently dissipates itself over the ground, there is a black precipitate 
formed by the mutual action between the sulphur in the water and the 
iron contained in the soil. This has generally been regarded as the 
strongest mineral water on the premises. 

Its principal constituents are : 

Free sulphuretted hydrogen. 

Bi-carbonate of lime. 

Bi-carbonate of magnesia. 

Chloride of sodium. 

Chloride of magnesium. 

No appreciable quantity of sulphates could be detected in the unconcen- 
trated water. 

The "Puce Spring" contains the same ingredients, though it is not so 
strongly impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen, but contains more- 
chlorides than the other spring. 

The qualitative examination of the " Eye Spring," so called because 
persons having inflamed eyes have used it most, gave the same reaction 
with chemical reagents as the " Puce Spring." 

Besides these springs there is a good chalybeate water, that issues from the 
bank a few paces from the " Puce Spring," containing bi-carbonate of the 
protoxide of iron and a trace of chlorides, but no appreciable quantity of 



74 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



sulphates, in the unconcentrated water ; also a spring of ordinary water, in 
which bi-carbonates of the alkaline earths are the principal constituents. 

The main springs are, therefore, saline sulphuretted waters, possessing 
alterative, laxative, diaphoretic, and diuretic effects, well adapted for the 
cure of eruptive complaints, as well as of chronic diseases of the digestive 
organs. The properties possessed by the chalybeate, are those of a tonic, 
suited to cases of a constitutional or temporary debility, in which prepara- 
tions containing iron are indicated. 

As Little Ked river was too high for us to take the river road towards 
Clinton, we were prevented from examining any sections of the rocks that 
might present themselves along the route, and had again to ascend to the 
table-land, in which the waters of the Cadron take their rise. 

The aneroid barometer indicated an elevation of 320 feet above the 
widow Goff's farm. 

For two or three miles we again travelled through a fine pine region, 
with a sandy soil, derived from the underlying sandstones of the millstone 
grit series, but emerged soon, in township 9 north, range 12 west, on good 
tracts of farming lands, watered by the heads of the North Fork of the 
Cadron. 

On section 13, township 9 north, range 12 west, samples of soils for future 
chemical analysis were taken from this table-land on the farm of George 
More. 

This soil is especially adapted for the growth of oats, and will yield on 
an average, 20 to 25 bushels of corn, 15 bushels of wheat, and 800 pounds 
of cotton. It stands drought remarkably well, being based on a retentive 
ferruginous clayey subsoil. 

In digging wells in this part of Van Buren county, a hard reddish blue 
shale is penetrated under the subsoil, which overlies the beds of millstone 
grit. To the disintegration of these shaly rocks is no doubt to be attributed 
the superior fertility of these upland soils, compared with the sandy soils 
of the pine lands, which repose immediately on the underlying sand- 
stones. 

These table-lands are bounded on the south by a ridge, composed of 
sandstone and shales, rising some 70 to 100 feet above the waters of the 
Cadron. Two or three miles to the northeast of George More's farm, 
dark shaly rocks are exposed. About the same distance to the north-west, 
a sandstone region commences, overlaid by gravel supporting a growth of 
stunted oak and hickory. This kind of country extends for about six miles 
to the descent to the main Cadron, and the Greasy valley, which lies 
about 230 feet below the table-land. White, grey, banded and mottled, 
schistose sandstone, are exposed in ledges. The ascent on the opposite 



OF ARKANSAS. 75 



side of the Cadron to the same description of land is only 185 feet, which 
indicates a dip in a westerly direction. A further ascent of *255 feet over 
schistose argillaceous sandstone, brought us to a table-land with a growth 
of black-jack, extending for three miles. 

The upper beds of these sandstones are harder and less argillaceous in 
their composition than the lower layers. 

Oak and hickory are succeeded by oak and pine, which prevail to the 
descent to the valley of Little Red river. 

The declivity commands an extensive view to the north-west, with high 
ranges of hills, both in the middle and back ground. 

This elevated country is about 600 feet above Choctaw creek. The 
lower ledges of sandstone appear here in a kind of pavement form, dip- 
ping 40 to 50 deg. to the south-east, and checkered with segregations of 
oxide of iron. Beneath this is a brown massive freestone, which would 
make a good building stone. Still lower, near the foot of the hill, are 
black, rusty ferruginous shales, the base of which is some 600 feet below 
the summit of the ridge. About 10 feet lower, strata of flaggy sandstone 
form the bed of Choctaw creek, having a south-westerly dip. This is pro- 
bably an intercalated band in the mass of shaly rocks, which appear to 
extend even to the banks of Little Red river, in the vicinity of Clinton ; 
but since there are no good exposures below the flaggy sandstone of Choc- 
taw creek, and the alluvium of Little Red river, we are left to infer the cha- 
racter of the concealed strata from very partial out-crops, and analogy of 
structure with other neighboring ridges of Van Buren county. 

A few miles north and north-east of Clinton, some beds of coal are 
reported to have been partially opened, for the use of blacksmiths ; these I 
have not had an opportunity of examining, nor yet the coal on the waters 
of Sugar Camp creek, said to have been discovered by A. J. Cristopher, 
eight miles north-east of Clinton. 

The summit level of the ridge, over which the Lebanon road runs, is 1220 
feet above the town of Clinton, according to observations made with the 
aneroid barometer. 

No limestone is visible on the east side of this ridge, as you arise from 
the Clinton side ; the lowest rocks visible are black, grey, and ferruginous 
shales, surmounted by sandstone and conglomerate ; the order of succession 
being very much the same as had been observed in the principal ridges in 
White county. The descent on the west side reveals, however, under 
these shaly rocks, Archimedes and encrinital beds of the subcarboniferous 
group, which crop out along the bank of Lesley's ford, of Little Red river. 
Associated with this group is a bed of black limestone, one to one and a 



70 



GEOLOGICAL KECONNOISSANCE 



half feet in thickness, which, as the fossils show white, against a black 
ground, will' when polished, produce a beautiful marble. 

On section 12, township 13, range 15 west, the subcarboniferous lime- 
stone extends to the height of 15 to 20 feet above the bed of Lesley's 
creek, covered by the afore-mentioned shales. This is on the immediate 
confines of the western boundary of Van Buren county ; the line passes 
through the orchard of Hatchet, who resides on the banks of Lesley's 
creek, at the foot of the mountain. 



SEARCY COUNTY. 




No 8.— KNOB OF SEARCY COUNTY, TAKEN FROM THE DAWSON FARM, ON FORREST CREEK. 



Proceeding towards "Wiley's cove, in this county, from Lesley's fork of 
Little Eed river, the Archimedes and encrinital beds of the upper sub- 
carboniferous group gradually ascend to a higher level above the water- 
courses ; so that there appears, beneath these, in Wiley's cove, a consider- 
able thickness of hard, sheety, black, bituminous shale, which has all the 
lithological aspect of the black bituminous shale at the foot of the foils of 
the Ohio. But that shale belongs to the devonian period, whereas subse- 
quent observation showed this black shale of Searcy county to be a mem- 
ber of the subcarboniferous period. 



OF ARKANSAS. 77 

Immediately overlying this black shale is a black, bituminous limestone, 
much of the same character as that already mentioned as occurring in the 
Oil-trough ridge, and occupying very nearly the same geological horizon. 

The section in Wiley's cove is approximately as follows : 

1. Archimedes limestones. 

•2. Eucrinital, and Chonetes limestones, alternating with thin shaly 
partings. 

3. Black, brittle, bituminous limestone, or marble rock. 

4. Black, bituminous, hard, sheety shale. 

The exact relative thickness of these beds, remains yet to be determined; 
the two first members are approximately 50 to 60 feet; the third member, 
some 15 feet ; and the fourth member, from 40 to 60 feet in thickness. 

The superposition in Wiley's cove, renders it highly probable that the 
black limestone of the Oil-trough ridge, is also underlaid by a black shale, 
which is concealed, however, beneath the alluvium of White river, the 
black soil of which is partly derived from it, and, in part, from the wash- 
ings of the subcarboniferous limestones of the Oil-trough ridge. This is 
rendered still more probable, from the fact of dark shales and shaly lime- 
stones occurring under the same black limestones of the subcarboniferous 
group in Shield's bluff, as may be seen in the section given of that hill, in 
a previous part of this Report, under the head of " Independence county." 
In the centre of Wiley's cove, the grey beds of Archimedes limestone lie 
from 100 to 125 feet above the general level of the farms, and the top of the 
black shale and base of the black marble at 60 to 70 feet above the same 
level. 

There is abundance of black chert, strewed in the water-courses of the 
cove, which approaches very nearly to the character and appearance of 
the black flints, found in the chalk formation of Europe ; these appear to 
originate as segregations or concretions in the limestones, overlying the 
black shales, which, being more difficult of decomposition than their 
matrix, remain as gravel, while the imbedding rock, itself, has become a 
part of the rich, black soil of the cove. This is derived, in part, from 
the subcarboniferous limestone, and, in part, from the black shale. 

The deep mud holes in the road which leads up through the cove, have 
been washed out of and worked into the tenacious clay, derived from the 
disintegration of the black slate, and accumulated at the foot of the 
surrounding hills. 

Haifa mile beyond Wiley's cove, the black slate forms the bed of the 
Owl or Middle fork of Little Red river, with hard, heavy, dark, ferruginous 



78 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE. 

calcareous bands locally interstratified amongst the layers, exposed in the 
north-cast bank of that stream. 

At the crossing of a branch, five miles south-east of Burrowsville, the 
subcarboniferous limestones alternate with sandstone and grey fossilifer- 
ous shale, underlaid by some 50 feet of flaggy sandstone, resting on the 
dark shales which crop out about half a mile down the branch, to the left 
of the road. The gray fossiliferous shale, to the right of the road, lies 
about 85 feet above the base of the flaggy sandstones ; above this are 
alternations of sandstone and grey limestones, while on the slope of the 
adjacent hillsides, gravel of black flinty chert is everywhere strewed. 

Four, to four and a half miles south-east of Burrowsville, the sandstone 
overlying the black shale has a disposition to split into rectangular, pris- 
matic blocks. 

At Burrowsville, the present county-seat of Searcy county, there is a 
buff, flaggy sandstone, which is quite fossiliferous; some of the layers are 
charged with casts of Producta. The rock has been quarried to a limited 
extent, in the immediate vicinity of Burrowsville, and has been used for 
foundations and underpinning to buildings, and in the construction of 
chimneys. 

North-west of Burrowsville, the black shale was not seen ; the descent 
from the productal flags leads immediately on to chert and light-grey 
subcarboniferous limestone ; unless, therefore, the black shale is entirely 
concealed from view, the productal flags of Burrowsville must underlie 
the black shale, so frequently exposed in Wiley's cove, and between that 
and Burrowsville. A black slate is said to be exposed in a ridge west of 
Lebanon, where there is an extensive lick ; this locality, I have not yet 
had an opportunity of examining. 

In the vicinity of Lebanon, on the north bank of Bear creek, are 
perpendicular cliffs of cherty, subcarboniferous limestone ; one bed of 
which is nearly white, and of a texture passing from granular into sub- 
crystalline, with large Spirifers, allied to, but probably distinct from 
Spirifer striatus, which occurs in the same position on the Rapids of the 
Mississippi, above the mouth of the Des Moines, under the Archimedes 
beds, and above the Keokuk cherty limestone containing Orthis crenis- 
tria, which is superimposed on the encrinital beds of Burlington. 210 
feet of these cherty members of the subcarboniferous limestone is exposed 
on Bear creek; above the principal escarpment there is a slope of 100 feet 
more, where only loose pieces of chert are visible amongst the vegetation. 

At the next crossing of Bear creek, vertical walls of cherty limestone 
are again seen, where they dip 4 deg. to 5 deg. south-west. Here the 



OF ARKANSAS. 79 



white Spirifer bed was found in place 90 feet below the top of the ridge 
dividing the waters of Bear creek from those of the Buffalo fork of White 
river; which is 360 feet above that stream. 

In this ridge, 30 feet of sandstone was found overlying cherty limestones 
of the same character, and, no doubt, a continuation of the limestones 
forming the Bear creek cliffs. 

Greyish-pink beds of this limestone extend down to the water's edge, on 
the north-east side of the Buffalo fork, just above the ford on the road to 
Carrollton. 

At Spencer Adams's a Spirifer, allied to the cuspidatus, occurs in the 
sandstone, at an elevation of about 360 feet above the bed of the Buffalo 
fork. 

No black shale was observed, in any of the sections exposed on the 
streams, in this part of Searcy county. 

A few hundred yards, on the north-west side of Mill creek, an abrupt 
dislocation has fractured the strata and thrust up the beds of limestone ; 
which may be traced, ascending the hillside, on the north side of the road^ 
with abrupt mural faces, resembling. a dyke of basalt. 

Some lead ore has been obtained in the crevices of the subcarboniferous 
limestone along this axis of disturbance, and some shallow excavations 
have been made ; but these did not yield ore sufficient to encourage further 
search. 

The occurrence of this ore, adjacent to the axis of disturbance above- 
mentioned, is, however, a favorable indication for the discovery of a regu- 
lar lode, and more thorough and deeper explorations might lead to better 
discoveries. 

Where the Carrollton road ascends the hill, about a mile further, the 
following section is exposed : 

Slope, with carboniferous chert gravel. 

White limestone, about 20 feet. 

Encrinital limestone, 30 feet. 

Eed and pink limestones, or marble rock, 15 feet. 

Vein of ore containing iron and manganese ? 

Coarse-textured limestone. 

Variegated white and pink beds, some of the lower layers of which, 
for 40 to 50 feet, have a structure similar to that of lithographic lime- 
stone. 

The strata exposed below the chert slope, amount in all to about 120 
feet The summit of the ridge passed over is 470 feet above Mill creek, 
but in the 300 feet above the base of the chert slope, little else can be 
seen but gravel of this material. 



80 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



Specimens of soils were collected from this county, on the farm of Albert 
Dugger, near the mouth of the Dry fork of Clear creek. The growth is 
black-jack and hickory, with an undergrowth of sumach and hazel. This 
soil will average about 40 bushels of corn, and 25 bushels of oats to the 

acre. 

On the divide between the Buflalo fork and the waters of the Dry fork of 
Clear creek, the surface is strewed with a sharp chert gravel, overlying a 
pinkish limestone, occupying probably the place of the marble rock of Ma- 
rion and Carroll counties. Limestones of a similar character reappear in 
the descent of the ridge, towards the waters of the Dry fork, associated with 
a semi-oolitic variety of calciferous sand rock, perhaps of silurian date. 

I have, as yet, found no conclusive evidence to enable me to form a de- 
cided opinion as to the age of the marble limestones of north-west Arkan- 
sas ; but if they should, by subsequent observations, prove to be the repre- 
sentative of the Onondaga limestone of the New York system, then it is 
doubtful whether there are any rocks belonging to the iipper silurian divi- 
sion in the western part of Searcy county, as the marble formation seems 
to rest immediately on rocks of the lower silurian period. 

Some sandstone is interstratified with the limestones of the Dry fork of 
Clear creek ; but these sandstones are older than the productal sandstone 
of Burrowsville, in Van Buren county. 

The pink limestones are more earthy than the limestones occupying the 
same geological horizon in the central portion of Van Buren county. 




WW* 






OF ARKANSAS. 



81 



NEWTON COUNTY. 



•.> , "''\ 



j6Jli> V 




No. 9.— ROUND-TO P PEAK OF THE JUDAH MOUNTAIN OF THE BOSTON RANGE, TAKEN FROM JASPER, 

THE COUNTY SEAT OF NEWTON COUNTY. 



This is one of the most mountainous counties of Arkansas. Several of 
the most conspicuous peaks of the Boston range attain here an elevation 
of more than 1,000 feet above the general drainage of the country. 

The wood-cut sketch at the head of this section, represents one of these 
peaks as seen from Jasper, the county seat of Newton County, and known 
under the name of the Round-top peak of the Judah mountain of the 
Boston range. 

On the 21st of June, 18*58, I set out with the intention of measuring the 
elevation of this peak above the Hudson fork of Buffalo, but was pre- 
vented from accomplishing my object by a violent thunderstorm, which I 
encountered about 07ie-third of the distance up this mountain, and my 
limited time induced me to postpone its further ascent until the detailed 

6 



82 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



survey was undertaken. The encrinital and marble limestones are well 
exposed in the bed of the Dry branch, near the foot of the Judah peak, 

north of Jasper. 

The strata exposed immediately on the banks of the Hudson fork of 
Buffalo, below Jasper, are alternations of limestone and sandstone. The 
sandstone has a peculiar porous or honey-comb structure ; on this rests a 
lio-ht bluish-gray limestone. Near the mouth of this stream, a high escarp- 
ment of sandstone and limestone forms a prominent feature in the land- 
scape ; most of the ledges are probably of lower silurian date, but the per- 
pendicular nature of this cliff, prevented a critical examination of the 
individual members at this point. 

Further down Buffalo fork, at the mouth of Cave creek, rocks still lower 
in the series, but belonging to the same group, are exposed ; indeed, if the 
hard quartzose sandstone, which forms the base of the bluffs at this place, 
belongs,'as there is reason to believe, to the age of the Potsdam sandstone 
of the New York system, then there is, at this point, a greater elevation 
of the geological formations than at any locality in northern Arkansas ; 
and we must look here for one of the principal anticlinal axes of Searcy 

county. 

By reference to a map of Arkansas, it will be perceived that the two 
main branches of White river take their rise amongst these high peaks of 
Newton and Madison counties ; the longest branch, deflected around this 
great axis of upheaval, pursues a circuitous course through the latter 
county into Benton county, and thence making a great sweep to the north, 
traverses Barry and Taney counties, in Missouri, before it again waters 
the State of Arkansas, in the northeast corner of Carroll; while the 
smaller branch, taking a more direct course to the north-east, through 
deep gorges of the mountains, empties into the main fork in the south- 
west corner of Fulton. The geographical features of the country are 
thus strongly impressed by geological forces, that date back to a period 
long previous to the existence of the water courses, which now conform to 
the contour of this disturbed country. 

Lead ore has been found in several places in Newton county, as on Big 
creek and other branches of the Buffalo and Hudson fork of White river ; 
but the only attempt at tracing this ore to its origin in the rock formations, 
was undertaken near the line between sections 1 and 2, of township 15 
north, range 19 west, not far from the mouth of Cave creek, adjoining 
Hill's mill-tract. At this place Jesse Gunt explored for lead ore, and 
finally sunk a shaft of forty-five feet. He obtained some 60 to 70 pounds 
of lead ore, but finally abandoned the prospect. He might have been 
more successful, had he made search in the calcareous rocks that lie higher 



OF ARKANSAS. Q3 



in the adjacent hills, instead of prospecting, as he did, over the platform 
of sandstone which forms the base of the bluffs on this part of the Buffalo 
fork of White river, as will appear from the two following sections taken 
near the mouth of Cave creek : 

Heights above the Buffalo fork of White river. 

545. Top of chert slope. 

500. Slope with chert. 

440. Loose grey chert in continuation of slope. 

430. Reddish grey sandstone. 

415. Reddish sandstone with chert segregations. 

400. Reddish sandstone with stalactitic structure. 

370. Chert masses. 

335. Bench of yellowish-white sandstone. 

300. Rolled blocks of sandstone under the above bench. 

270. Obscure ledges of sandstone. 

255. Hard grey siliceous sandstone. 

250. " " « « 

20 °- " " " " in loose blocks in slope. 

130. Hard grey sandstone. 

90. Hard, white quartzose sandstone, rusty in the joints, but white inter- 
nally in the substance of the mass. 
50. Hard, white, quartzose sandstone. 
25. " " « « 

15. " " " « 

6. Grey siliceous (?) limestone. 

1. Hard, white, quartzose sandstone, possessing a sub-oolitic structure. 
In this section very little limestone appears, though some ledges may be 
concealed in the slope, since about half a mile north-west of the mouth 
of Cave creek, the following section was obtained above the main plat- 
form of hard, quartzose sandstone, which forms an escarpment on the 
north side of Buffalo : 

340. Slope with chert masses of 40 feet. 

200. Bench of brown, ferruginous sandstone. 

290. Encrinital chert and sandstone. 

270. Bench of white sandstone 6 feet exposed. 

250. Slope with chert. 

235. Reddish grey siliceous limestone. 

215. Grey. " « 

180. Checkered calcareous sandstone. 



84 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



The chert slope at 340 feet in this section is nearly on a level with the 
chert slope of the previous section. This formation seems to cap gene- 
rally the subordinate ridges from 500 to 550 feet above Buffalo, but there 
are other ridges, off to the south, which must be nearly double this height. 
The rocks°which constitute the preceding sections, have the lithological 
aspect and chemical composition of the rocks which form the hills on both 
sides of the Upper Mississippi, between the mouth of the Chippewa and 
Black river, and around Lake Pepin, referrible to the age of the Potsdam 
sandstone and calciferous sand-rock of the New York system. 

Geology being decidedly a science of comparison and analogy, I may 
venture to predict, in the absence of all systematic mining operations, 
from my former experience in other similarly constructed countries of the 
north-west, as well as from what has already been observed in Marion and 
Carroll counties, in Arkansas, that lead ore will be found, to some extent, 
in the rocks of Newton county ; but, in all probability, somewhat irregularly 
disseminated in " pockets," " crevices," " strings," and horizontal openings 
through the rocks, rather than in regular bodies ; hence, mining operations 
will be attended with some uncertainty, and considerable labor and 
expense; still, where the surface indications are encouraging, and the 
calcareous rocks predominate over the sandstones, they maybe undertaken 
by those having the necessary experience in rocks of this description, with 
considerable prospect of success, so soon as the district is supplied with 
furnaces for smelting the ore ; but not with as much profit to the miner as 
in a cherty limestone, a member of the subcarboniferous formation, which 
we shall have occasion to mention hereafter. 

In consequence of the southerly clip of the rocks, most of the strata of 
the preceding sections disappear in succession beneath the waters of Cave 
creek, as we ascend that stream. 

On the waters of Cave creek, about six miles above its mouth, a liver- 
colored marble-limestone forms the base of a cliff, at an elevation of 10 to 
20 feet above the bed of Cave creek, overlaid by cherty limestone. Several 
nitre-caves have been formed by the disintegration of the liver-colored 
marble limestone under the cherty limestone. The principal nitre-cave is 
on the property of J. S. Thompson, on 'section 27, township 15 north, 
range 19 west. 

The dark brown nitre-earth, which forms the floor of this cave, is rich 
in salts of nitric acid, owing, no doubt, to the large quantity of organic 
matter incorporated with the earth. The nitre-earth has been traced for 
50 to 60 yards back into the cave, and for 7 to 8 feet in depth, mixed with 
tumbled rock. 

Time has permitted, as yet, only a partial qualitative examination of 



OF ARKANSAS. 85 



this saltpetre earth, which shows it to he rich in nitre salts, associated 
with abundance of sulphate of lime. 

From a hopper of this earth, containing about 200 bushels, 1000 pounds 
of salt-petre have been obtained, after being treated with lye, and crystal- 
lized by evaporation in kettles, in a very rude manner. This would be 
equal to about 5 pounds to the bushel. But it is estimated, that there must 
have been a loss of at least one-third from leakage, overflow of the receiv- 
ing trough during rainy weather, and other causes. 

When the quantitative analysis of this earth shall have been completed, 
we shall be able to give a more precise estimate of the per centage of 
nitre-salts which it actually contains. 

It appears that this cave must have been once the habitation of the 
aboriginees, since not only bones of men, animals, and birds, such as the 
buffalo, deer, and turkey, have been found, on removing the earth ; but even 
the entire skeleton of an infant, enveloped in rags, and lying in a willow- 
basket. The bones are frequently found under a bed of ashes. A polished 
ivory breast dirk, with three holes in it, for the attachment of a handle, 
and a long piece of rope, were also found in this cave, together with a 
broken sea shell (Pyrula). 

There is reason to believe, too, from these and other relics and appear- 
ances in the cave, that it has been worked, to a limited extent, for nitre, 
in the early settlement of the country. 

The accumulation of organic matter, mixed with the earth of this cave, 
is so profuse that it emits a strong ammoniacal odor, wherever it has 
been stirred up and recently exposed by excavations. I infer, from the 
presence of animal exuviae— one of the chief requisites for the formation 
of nitre-salts — as well as from the approximate results obtained by the 
rude method hitherto employed in the manufacture of saltpetre on Cave 
creek, that the earth of the Thompson saltpetre cave contains a larger 
per centage of nitre-salts than any of the nitre-earths hitherto reported 
on ; at least, that part accumulated within 150 feet of the mouth of the 
cave. 

Beyond this, where the cave becomes low and contracted in its dimen- 
sions, for a limited distance, the earth will, probably, not be found as 
strongly impregnated with organic matter, and, therefore, proportionally 
less productive in saltpetre. 

This cave has several branches, which have been followed for some 
hundred yards ; these may also contain some nitre-earth ; but as the floor 
is covered with large blocks of tumbled rock, the underlying earths are 
not accessible without considerable labor. 



8G GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



A peculiar fatty or oily principle seems to be extracted with the nitre- 
salts, during the leaching of the earth, which, according to J. S. Thompson, 
rises in the form of a greasy scum to the surface, during the progress of 
the evaporation, and is capable of saponification with alkalies. 

The quantity of organic matter was too small, in the amount of earth 
subjected to qualitative examination in the laboratory, to be appreciable ; 
we are, therefore, still left to conjecture, from the accounts given of the 
nature of this substance, what it may prove to be. If it is capable of form- 
ing a soap with lye, as represented, we should suppose it to be one of the 
oily acids ; but, as these are insoluble in water, they could not be taken up 
by the water used to extract the soluble salts from the earth in their un- 
combined state, as this fatty principle seems to have been ; nor do we un- 
derstand how it could be so readily washed off the hand by simple water, 
as we understand the substance in question to have been. Glycerine, it is 
true, is a component of many fats, which, when set free, is miscible with 
water ; but this is a basic, organic compound, which does not form true 
soaps ; neither has it the greasy feel which the substance contained in the 
nitre-earth is said to have. It is more probable that it may be some com- 
bination of one of the known oily acids, with ammonia, which is soluble 
in water, as a kind of ammoniacal soap ; from this, when subsequently de- 
composed by the addition of lye, the ammonia may be set free, while the 
stronger alkali, taking its place, combines with the fatty acid to form a 
soap, which finally rises to the surface, when the liquor becomes sufficiently 
concentrated. This is rendered more probable, since by the addition of 
caustic lye to this earth, ammonia is evolved. 

It seems likely that the animal matters, present in this earth, may un- 
dergo a gradual change in their native bed, similar to that which pro- 
duces adipocere, but resulting in the combination of margaric, or some of 
the other oily acids, with ammonia, which is more soluble in water than 
that substance. 

We have several pounds of this earth still on hand, and may be able, 
hereafter, to determine the nature of this organic principle, if it exists in 
sufficient quantity to be separable, so that it can be subjected to the neces- 
sary tests for its determination ; if not, we must trouble Mr. Thompson to 
collect, the next time he has occasion to make saltpetre, some of this sub- 
stance from his kettles, for future special investigation. 

About a mile below J. S. Thompson's, an escarpment of silico-calcareous 
beds runs along the western borders of Cave creek, the lower layers of 
which, decaying faster than the superincumbent mass, have formed a deep 
recess beneath overhanging ledges. One of the early settlers in this part 




E— ' 

S 

a 
W 

CO 

a 






OF ARKANSAS. 87 



of Newton county, has taken advantage of this natural rock-house, to 
make it serve as a roof, back, and part of the side walls to a house ; closing 
in the south front with pine slabs, on either side of a stone chimney, and 
cutting two doors and windows, he has managed to construct, at little ex- 
pense and labor, a long, narrow room, about 8 by 30 feet, in which I found 
two families, numbering 8 to 10 persons residing at the time of my visit. 
Though somewhat contracted in the back part of the apartment, from the 
sloping nature of the ceiling to the north ; still as the overhanging ledges 
are sound and impervious to water, this half-natural and half-artificial 
dwelling, I found more comfortable than many log cabins met with in the 
Western States. 

Plate No. 10, is a sketch of this rock-house dwelling, taken from the 
south-east. 

The primeval forest and vegetation surmounting the entablature of the 
vestibule, reminded me forcibly of some of those remarkable habitations 
exhumed by the enterprise of Stephens, in Yucatan, which have been so 
interestingly and ably described by him, and beautifully depicted by 
the artist Catherwood. Many of these, it will be remembered, had large 
trees growing on the roof, and were often so completely concealed by dense 
jungle, that they were only disclosed by the use of the machete, axe, and 
shovel. 



CARROLL COUNTY-Coht 



INUED. 



The marble limestone is well developed in the southeast corner of Car- 
roll county, as well as in adjacent sections of land in Newton, Searcy, and 
Marion counties. On Marshall's creek it is underlaid by a sandstone, mostly 
white, soft, and possessing the saccharoidal character of the sandstone 
observed under the cavernous limestones of LafFerty creek, in the north- 
western part of Independence County, and no doubt, occupies the same 
geological horizon as the sandstone represented in plate 4, overlying the 
lead-bearing rocks of the eastern part of this county, and the western part 
of Marion. 

The block of marble sent from Arkansas, to be placed in the national 
Washington monument, was quarried near the corner of Carroll and 
Newton counties. 

At a tan-yard on Davis' creek, I saw a slab of this rock eight feet by two 
and a half, which had been got out for a currier's table. The predomi- 
nating color of this rock is gray, mottled and clouded with liver-colored 
spots and stains. This slab was dressed smooth, but not polished ; when 



88 GEOLOGIGAL RECONNOISSANCE 

wet it exhibited, however, the hues and appearance which it would pos- 
sess, if polished, and gave one a better idea of its tints and the variegated 
aspect of its surface, than could be obtained from an inspection of the rock 
in its native bed. The coloring matter is due to oxide of iron, irregularly 
distributed in the mass, and in that high state of oxidation and allotropic 
condition in which it is but little disposed to unite with nitric acid, even at 
a boiling temperature. At a future period, we intend submitting a chemi- 
cal analysis of this marble limestone, which will give the per centage of 
metallic oxide that enters as a coloring principle into the composition of 
this rock, which may be regarded as one of the most valuable mineral pro- 
ductions of this part of Arkansas. 

It had been supposed, that oxide of manganese entered into the compo- 
sition of this material, but the specimen submitted to a qualitative chemi- 
cal examination for this metallic oxide, gave no indication of its presence, 
although the test applied is so extremely delicate, that it will distinctly 
indicate even the minute trace of manganese found in some specimens of 
white Carrara marble. 

The conspicuous range of hills, lying partly in Carroll and partly in 
Newton county, whose northern terminus bounds the Marshall prairie, on 
the south, is composed of two flanking peaks, and a central flat-topped 
ridge. 

The most southerly of these conical peaks is known by the name of the 
" Pilot mountain ;" the northern one is called the " Stack mountain ;" while 
the middle ridge has received the name of the "Boat mountain," from its 
fancied resemblance to a boat, rising out of the adjacent prairie, like some 
gigantic water-craft resting on the ocean. 

The view represented by wood-cut No. 12, was taken on the edge of the 
Marshall prairie, near the corner of the three counties of Carroll, Newton, 
and Searcy, and exhibits the Boat mountain in the background, flanked 
on the left by Pilot mountain, and on the right by the Stack mountain. 

The indistinct terrace seen towards the summit of the Boat mountain 
is formed by cliffs of conglomerate, partly concealed by trees and vegeta- 
tion, and forms the highest bench of prominent sandstone in this moun- 
tain . 

The Boat mountain rises to the height of 844 feet above Marshall's 
prairie, at the foot of the principal ascent, and 1,244 feet above our en- 
campment of the 23d of June, on Marshall's creek. By computation, its 
summit must be about 1,527 feet above Little Ked river, at Clinton. 

Black bituminous shale is in great force at the base of the mountain, 
extending 70 feet up the slope, resting on light-gray limestone, with segre- 
gations or intercalations of chert. 



3 

TO 



5S 
o 



> 
w 

CO 

S 

> 



13 

2 

i 

s 

K 

tB 

a 
o 

> 



O 

> 

© 

CD 

i-3 
> 

o 



2 g 

O ^ 

O S- 

55 DO 



H 

>- 

O 

H 






a 

o 

o 

w 

K 

sa 

o 

» 

O 
2 



o 

-/J 

o 

> 
o 







I „|'jf 



|i' :: :L 






OF ARKANSAS. 



91 



The black shale has a slight dip to the north-east, which will reduce 
the thickness from 70 feet— the height from its base to its highest observed 
out-crop — to 40 or 50 feet of actual thickness. It has concretions of sep- 
taria, both calcareous and ferruginous, disseminated especially through 
its upper part, some of which contain a considerable per centage of iron. 
There are also saline exudations of sulphate of alumina and sulphate of 
iron, with, perhaps, some chloride of sodium or common salt; these attract 
the game and stock of the country, which resort to it as a " lick." 

The space between the shale and the millstone grit, that forms the top 
of the mountain, is chiefly occupied by alternations of sandstones and 
limestone belonging to the upper division of the subcarboniferous group. 

The following section exhibits the succession, and relative approximaet 
thickness, of the principal rock formation of which the Boat mountain is 
composed. 



SECTION OF BOAT MOUNTAIN. 



I c 



I o I 



I o-| 



4) 



40 



200 



Conglomerate, forming the summit of Boat 
mountain, 40 to 50 feet visible. 



Sandstone of the millstone grit series, two 
hundred feet in thickness. 



The upper member of 
the millstone grit series 
is here pebbly, and un- 
derlaid by grits without 
pebbles ; all the members 
together occupying a 
thickness of nearly two 
hundred and fifty feet. 

These repose upon the 
yellow upper strata of 
the subcarboniferous 
group, including the Ar- 
chimedes and pentrimital 
beds, which are, however, 
mostly concealed by for- 
est and vegetation ; in all, 
about one hundred and 
sixty feet in thickness. 

Beneath these, are 
coarser - textured, a n d 
subcrystalline members 
of the same group, occu- 
pying a space of three 
hundred and ten feet. 

These coarse-textured, 
subcarboniferous lime- 



92 



GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



SECTION OF BOAT MOUNTAIN— Continued. 



d 

CD 



160 



I L | 
L | I 



Sandstone of the millstone grit series, two 
hundred feet in thickness — Continued. 



Upper yellowish subcarboniferous limestone, 
including the Archimedes and encrinital 
limestones, with alternations of shale ; one 
hundred and sixty feet in thickness. 



stones are underlaid by 
sixty feet of sandstone, 
which repose on the 
black bituminous shales 
with calcareous and fer- 
ruginous segregations 
and septaria, which oc- 
cupy a space along the 
slope of the base of the 
mountain, of sixty or 
seventy feet. The cor- 
rection for dip will, how- 
ever, probably reduce its 
actual thickness to forty 
or fifty feet. This black 
shale reposes on the 
light-grey cherty lime- 
stone, that constitutes 
the base rock of Mar- 
shall's prairie, which is 
probably referrible to the 
subcarboniferous era, be- 
ing a part of the cherty 
limestone group overly- 
ing the marble limestone 
on Cave creek, and else- 
where, in Newton and 
Searcy counties. It is 
probable, that all the high 
ranges of hills, constitu- 
ting the Boston mountain 
range of Newton county, 
have a geological struc- 
ture analogous to the 
section here presented of 
the Boat mountain, with, 
probably, some local va- 
riations in the relative 
thickness of the differ- 
ent members; since, in 






OF ARKANSAS. 



03 



SECTION OF BOAT MOUNTAIN— Continued. 



* I 












4) 



310 



Coarse-textured, and subcrystalline mem- 
bers of the subcarboniferous group ; three 
hundred and ten feet in thickness. 



many instances, conglo- 
merate 'sandstone has 
been found, either in 
place, or in loose blocks 
on the slopes and at the 
foot of the mountains ; 
detached masses have, 
evidently, rolled either 
from the summit of the 
adjacent hills, or, at 
least, from elevated po- 
sitions on their flanks. 

The black slate is, per- 
haps, not everywhere 
present as an important 
member of the subcar- 
boniferous group, since 
it has not everywhere 
been found at the base 
of these hills ; but, being 
prone to crumble to clay, 
and being, no doubt, 
sometimes locally reduc- 
ed in thickness to a few 
feet, it is then, generally, 
completely concealed by 
debris, and thus fre- 
quently overlooked. 

The scenery in Carroll 
county, in the vicinity of 
the Boat mountain, as 
shown in the wood-cut 
No. 12, of Marshall's 
prairie, has much of the 
same character as the 
prairie landscapes in 
Wisconsin and Iowa. It 
is, decidedly, a fine agri- 
cultural district. The 
distant hills, and the roll- 



94 



GEOLOGICAL KECONNOISSANCE 



SECTION OF BOAT MOUNTAIN— Continued. 





/'. 




<u 


*-t 


— 


o 


c. 





n 


u< 













I 8 



S S 



I ■ 



I 8 | 



8 I 



CL | CL 



60 



Coarse-textured and subcrystalline mem- 
bers, etc. — Continued. 



Sandstone. 



ing character of the sur- 
face, together with the 
interspersed groves of 
timber, break the other- 
wise monotonous ap- 
pearance of some of those 
prairie scenes. The prai- 
rie soil, both of the Mar- 
shall and Huzza prairies, 
is derived in part from 
the disintegration of the 
subcarboniferous lime- 
stone, sandstones, and 
shale of the preceding 
section, and in part of 
the cherty limestone on 
which it is based. Where 
the soil is mostly, or ex- 
clusively, derived from 
the latter, it usually pro- 
duces land supporting 
stunted oaks, less rich 
than the preceding soil, 
and not so well adapted 
for wheat, but excellent 
for oats. 

The descent from Mar- 
shall's prairie to Crook- 
ed creek, is 230 feet, most- 
ly over chert derived 

from the equivalent of the light-grey cherty limestone, that underlies the 
black bituminous shale, at the base of the Boat mountain. Between 
Marshall's and the Huzza prairies, 100 to 200 feet of sandstone was passed 
over, interstratified amongst the limestone. 

The ascent from the Big spring, on Crooked creek, to the Baker prairie, 
is 270 feet. The light-grey limestone is here again exposed with segre- 
gations of chert, and with some encrinites imbedded ; but the species were 
not distinguishable. 

One and a half miles south-east of Charles Hutchison's farm, the 'fol- 
lowing succession was observed in a ravine : 



40 



CL 




Black bituminous shale with segregations 
and septaria. 



Light grey cherty limestone. 



Sandstone. 



OF ARKANSAS. 95 






1. Sandstone. 

2. Chert. 

3. Light-grey limestone. 

The Pilot Knob, near Charles Hutchison's, has the same general geo- 
logical structure as the Boat mountain. 

Four and a half miles from Carrollton, the Archimedes limestone was 
observed with remains of a dark shale over it. Under this limestone 
comes in a sandstone, which has much the appearance of that over the 
grey limestone on Crooked creek ; it is not likely that they can occupy the 
same geological horizon, unless there has been a great thinning away of 
the measures that form the base of the Boat mountain. 

Some loose pieces of conglomerate were also seen between four and six 
miles from Carrollton. 

The descent to Terrapin and Long creeks, is about 390 feet ; in the bed 
of the former creek, entrochital, cherty limestone was found. 

Along with some yellow pyrites, which was submitted to me for exami- 
nation by the citizens of Carrollton, there were some specimens of a blu- 
ish-black scoriaceous ore, in some of which I detected a notable quantity 
of copper. This ore was said to have been obtained in the Childer's 
mountain, about seven miles west of Carrollton, on the waters of Corne- 
lius or Dry creek. This ore has the appearance of some of the Duck- 
town copper ores of Tennessee ; and, as I found samples of that variety of 
Tennessee copper ore in the hands of the brother of the individual who 
brought the ore into town, I thought it probable that this might be a sam- 
ple of Tennessee ore, which, from inadvertency, had been mixed and con- 
founded with the pyritiferous ores of the Childer's mountain. On this 
account, and as the locality of this ore was then only known to the indi- 
vidual who collected it, and he was from home, I concluded, as my pro- 
posed route through Carroll county lay north-west, to request the Hon. W. 
W". ATatkins, as soon as it was convenient for him, to visit the locality on 
Childer's mountain in company with the discoverer of the ore. This he 
afterwards did, and subsequently addressed a letter to me, dated the 6th 
of July last, in which he states that there was no mistake as to the ore 
having come from the locality, since he had now obtained specimens from 
the mines himself, viz. : on south-west quarter of section 31, township 19 
north, range 23 west, and had forwarded some specimens to await my 
arrival at Little Rock. These specimens I received at Little Rock, and 
have now had an opportunity of testing them for copper, in my labora- 
tory, by the application of the reagents considered most delicate for 
the detection of that metal, without obtaining any copper reaction. If 
copper is to be found amongst these ores, in the Childer's mountain, it 
can be only sparingly and locally disseminated. 



06 , GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 

Most of this ore sent to me, from this mountain, is a white iron pyrites, 
associated with a hydrated oxide of iron, in which yellow iron pyrites is 
diffused. 

Where the Berryville road crosses the Childer's range of mountains, it 
is elevated about 370 feet above Terrapin creek. The surface rock, at this 
elevation, is sandstone, overlying cherty limestone. 

In the gap of the Osage mountain, the sandstone must be at least 130 
feet in thickness. 

About 11 miles north-west of Carrollton, and three and a half miles from 
W. Jones's, on the divide between Scott's prairie and Prairie township, 
magnesian limestones, probably of lower silurian date, crop out, which 
are separated from the limestone and sandstone of the Osage mountain, 
by crisp chert. The upper beds of this lower formation have the same 
earthy character and checkered appearance on the surface, as the strata 
which form the lower portion of the hills in township 19 north, range 17 
west, and on Fallen-timber creek, in Marion county, and are, no doubt, 
of the same age. Some of these limestones probably possess hydraulic 
properties. This change in the formations is accompanied by a corre- 
sponding change in the growth, which consists of small oaks, interspersed 
in groves on the hillsides, with a thick undergrowth of sumach and black- 
berries. 

Here, as in Marion county, numerous springs of water issue from 
amongst these earthy, magnesian limestones, and, flowing down the slopes 
render the roads wet and miry. 

The crisp chert, which occurs on this side of Scott's prairie, has a differ- 
ent lithological appearance from that associated with the sub carboniferous 
rocks on the south-east side of the same prairie, and occupies probably a 
lower geological position. 

The hills about W. Jones's are composed of the same description of 
magnesian limestones, and crisp chert, with some associate sandstone. 
About midway of the hills, the so-called " cotton rock" is found: a white, 
close-textured variety of magnesian limestone, which is used for under- 
pinning the houses and building the external walls of chimneys. If placed 
exposed to the direct heat of the fire, it is apt to crack and give way ; 
therefore, for the inside lining of fire-places, another bed is preferred 
which lies higher in the hills; this is, however, judging from its external 
appearance, a purer limestone, and, though it may not be so liable to 
crack by heat, it will certainly be more easily burnt to lime. Hereafter 
an analysis of these rocks will be made. 

Several intercalated bands of sandstone occur in the hills in this part of 
Carroll county ; most of them are below the level of the " cotton rock." 



OF ARKANSAS. 97 



The formations here appear to be of the same character and age as 
those in the lead region of the eastern part of this county, and the west- 
ern part of Marion, already described in the first part of this Report; it is 
probable, from this analogy in the two regions, that lead ore will be found, 
to some extent, disseminated in pockets in the calcareous members, in 
the same manner as it occurs in the Coka and Mitchell diggings. 

Four of the most conspicuous hills of the Osage range, in the north- 
west part of Carroll county, in sight of Berryville, have received the names 
of the " Sister," " Grandfather," and " Indigo" knobs. The Sister hill, 
nearest to Berryville, gave a height of 370 feet above the Berryville 
branch of King's river. The summit rocks on this hill are the red, varie- 
gated, and encrinital marble limestones; but most of the layers on this hill 
appear to be too earth}-, and too prone to decomposition for ornamental 
outside work. 

The w Fire-stone " was found in place about 15 feet from the top, and 
the ;: Cotton-rock" towards the base of the principal ascent, at an eleva 
tion of about 70 to 80 feet above the branch from which the levels were 
taken. 

In sighting with the level, across from the Sister to the Grand-father 
knob, a bench of rock was observed, cropping out about 80 or 100 feet 
from the top, corresponding, in level and position, to the red, variegated, 
and encrinital limestones that crown the Sister-hill. By computation, the 
Grandfather-peak must be nearly 100 feet higher than the Sister-hill. 

The succession of the different beds of rock, forming the hills in Prairie 
township, as far as they have yet been observed, is as follows: 

1. Subcarboniferous chert. 

2. Sandstone. 

3. Light-grey, subcarboniferous limestone. 

4. Chert. 

5. Encrinital, pink and red limestones; the place of the marble rock. 

6. Sandstone; about 70 feet in thickness. 

7. Chert. 

8. Magnesian limestone and sandstone. 

9. " Cotton-rock," a variety of magnesian limestone. 

10. Magnesian limestones, some of which, probably, possess hydraulic 
properties. 

Three or four pounds of lead ore are reported to have been found adja- 
cent to the town of Berryville, on land owned by Berry. The remarks 
previously made in regard to the lead region of the eastern part of Car- 
roll county, will apply also to Prairie township. 

Five miles north-west of Berryville, on the Osage, is a locality worthy 



98 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 

the attention of the iron manufacturer. Iron is found here in quantities 
which might be sufficient to supply a smelting furnace. An attempt was 
made, in this vicinity, to establish iron works; but, in consequence of the 
death of Belcher, one of the principal parties interested, the enterprise 
was never fully carried out. 

In the high ridge dividing the waters of the Osage fork of King's river 
from Piney, the succession was as follows: 

1. Cherty sandstone. 

2. Encrinital limestones. 

3. A great mass of chert, replaced sometimes by sandstone. 

4. Magnesian limestones, interstratified with some sandstone. 

At Stevens' mill, on Piney creek, the encrinital limestone is underlaid 
by 60 to 80 feet of sandstone. 

The soil, derived from the cherty sandstone, forming the summit of the 
above "divide," supports a growth of pine. 

On the ridge between Piney creek and the Dry fork of King's river, the 
strata of the preceding section appear to have dipped considerably 
towards the south-west, so that they lie lower in the ridges, and are capped 
with white, subcarboniferous limestone and sandstone, overlying the cherty 
sandstone of the preceding section. 

In descending from these strata to the Howard farm, on the Dry fork of 
King's river, a great mass of chert was passed over. 

No black shale was visible in any of the sections in this part of Carroll 
county. 

The rock in the bed of the Dry fork of King's river, at Howard's farm, 
is light-grey limestone and chert, at least 50 feet in thickness, and 
apparently of subcarboniferous date; but, if so, there must be a rapid dip 
of the strata between the Piney and Dry forks of King's river. 

Some lead ore is said to have been plowed up in Howard's field. 

A large spirifer was found in the limestone of the Dry fork, allied to 
Spirifcr str talus, and casts of Orthis crinistria in the overlying chert, both 
of which species belong to the subcarboniferous era, and, therefore indicate 
the age of these rocks. 

In passing from the Dry fork to the main branch of King's river, a ridge 
of about 330 feet in height was passed over. At the base of this ridge, is 
the aforementioned light-grey limestone, 50 feet or more in thickness; over 
this is a slope of chert, containing casts of Or this crinistria, surmounted 
by sandstone, which forms the top of the ridge, where we passed over it 
into Madison county. 



OF ARKANSAS. 



99 



MADISON COUNTY. 

The continuance of the south-west dip, brings in still higher members of 
the subcarboniferous group on the Main fork of King's river. 

Five miles below the forks of King's river, there are alternations of 
limestones and sandstones, with some shaly partings, all belonging to the 
upper division of the subcarboniferous group. Fifty feet above the high- 
est bed of limestone observed at this locality, there are some thirty feet of 
shale shown in a section in a ravine. The lower part of this shale is black 
and bituminous, and exhibits, in splitting, curious, conchoidal impressions, 
in which, however, no organic structure is discerned; the upper part is 
light-grey and encloses flattened concretions of clay ironstone. This 
shale is overlaid by sandstones belonging to the millstone grit series. 

Ascending the valley of King's river towards the forks, masses of con- 
glomerate sandstone are encountered, which have fallen from the cliffs 
above. From the forks of King's river, a high bluff is seen to the east, 
with vertical cliffs of conglomerate and millstone grit, overhanging the 
shales, under which are the sandstones, Archimedes, and encrinital lime- 
stones of the- upper subcarboniferous group. 

The soil of the valley of King's river is black and rich, from the wash- 
ings it receives from the limestones and bituminous shales of the adjacent 
slopes; but the same cause has operated to produce a miry road, liable to 
be washed into deep holes, which makes the traveling disagreeable. 

Both the ascent of the valley, and the southerly dip, contribute to bring 
the Archimedes limestone and millstone grits gradually lower in the hills 
as you proceed up King's river. 

In the ridge, which divides the waters of King's river from those of 
War Eagle and Richland creek, on or near Samuel Rags' farm, and about 
a quarter of a mile to the end of the Clarksville road, a small branch 
makes a perpendicular fall over twelve feet of overhanging conglomerate 
sandstone; beneath this are about eighteen inches of shale, including six 
inches of coal. I traveled fifteen miles from my camp on King's river, to 
see this coal, in the hopes that it might prove to be a workable bed, but 
was disappointed in finding it so thin; because a good bed of coal would 
be of infinite service to this country, remote from a navigable stream, if 
for no other purpose than that of blacksmith's use.* At considerable 
labor a few hundred pounds of this coal were obtained, by taking advan- 

*So necessary do blacksmiths find coal in their business, that they often go great distances and 
haul a small supply to their shops, although it may be of inferior quality. 



100 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



ta°e of the cavernous opening made by nature, beneath the cliff of con- 
glomerate: already the bed is so difficult of access, back in the recesses of 
the cliff, that even with all the height, obtainable by the removal of the 
whole thickness of the shale, a space of only from 18 to 24 inches is 
cleared between the hard sills of sandstone, to work in, and it has become 
therefore necessary, in order to obtain any coal, that the workman should 
lie on his side and work his pick in this uncomfortable position. 

By computation, the coal under this conglomerate is at least 400 feet 
above the valley of King's river. It is underlaid by millstone grit, suc- 
ceeded, in the descending order, by a great thickness of marly shales, 
under which are the Archimedes, and encrinital limestone and associate 
sandstone. No continuous section was obtained where the relative thick- 
ness of the different members could be measured. 

In summits of the highest ridges, near the head of King's river, about 
200 feet of red and variegated shales and sandstone come in over the 
conglomerate. In this space, coals of workable thickness are more likely 
to occur than under the conglomerate; and the inhabitants of Madison 
county would do well to make diligent search for outcrops of coal, in these 
higher measures. As yet, however, no symptoms of coal have been dis- 
covered amongst these superior shales, in the south-eastern part of Madi- 
son county. 

Some pieces of lead ore are reported to have been picked up in the 
valley of King's river, viz: in the Basham and Roebuck settlement on 
Dry creek, three miles above Kingston; also by Burney, higher up the 
valley, near the head of King's river. At the latter locality, the rocks 
being mostly conglomerate sandstones and shales, which have not retained 
that openness of fissure requisite for the retention of metallic insinuations, 
it is not likely that productive lodes should occur, accessible to any rea- 
sonable amount of shafting; at the former, where the underlying lime- 
stone formations are nearer the surface, the prospect is somewhat more 
favorable; but still I do not consider the geological indications, in the 
south-east part of Madison county, as encouraging for mining operations 
as in the northern part of this county, where the barren and cavernous 
cherty limestones immediately underlie the country; the reason for this 
conclusion will appear more fully when treating of Benton county. 

From the forks of King's river, we ascended for several miles on the 
western branches of that stream, and then rose 460 feet to the divide 
between King's river and "YVarton's creek. In this ridge, the Archimedes, 
pentremital, encrinital, and other members of the upper division of the 
subcarboniferous limestone group were found in force, with intercalations 
and partings of shale and marl, with some alternations of ferruginous 



OF ARKANSAS. JQ1 



sandstone, especially on the western declivity, descenling to Warton's 
creek. 

{. At Dotson's farm, on that stream, underneath these formations, a blade, 
bituminous, sheety shale crops out, similar to the shale of Wiley's Cove, in 
Searcy county, of which 15 feet can be seen exposed on the west bank of 
the creek. This shale dips at an angle of 5 or G dcg. down stream, and 
is soon lost to view under flagstones, these again dip under argillaceous 
shales, including a fen-uginous, calcareous band, charged with the remains 
of producta and chonetes, of which the P. elegans is the most abundant. 

The ridge dividing Warton's creek and War Eagle, is 290 feet above 
the former stream. On the top of this ridge, some GO to 80 feet of con- 
glomerate overlies subcarboniferous limestones, shales, and sandstones. 

The succession on Warton's creek and War Eagle, is as follows: 

1. Ferruginous and argillaceous shales. 

2. Conglomerate sandstone. 

3. Shales, both black and ferruginous. 

4. Millstone grit and shaly sandstones. 

5. Shales. 

6. Archimedes and pentremital limestones. 

7. Black shale, thin. 

8. Grey shales, including band of productal calcareous rock. 

9. Flagstones. 

10. Dotson black sheety shale. 

No. 10, the Dotson black shale, is the lowest bed visible in this part of 
Madison county. 

Five miles above Huntsville, concretionary and schistose beds of Archi- 
medes limestone form the bed of War Eagle, and a rugged bench of 
harder layers of the same rock borders for some distance its north bank, 
like an artificial wall. Some dark shales are intercolated amongst these 
upper subcarboniferous limestones on this stream. Here the dip is south- 
easterly, so that the flagstones and dark shales soon rise from beneath the 
aforementioned limestones, in a north-west course. 

The surface of some of the slabs, both of the flagstones and harder 
shaly strata, is covered with cylindrical and conical impressions, often in 
high relief, some of which are in semi-lunar whorls or coils. These are, 
probably, referrible to various species of fossil fucoides, or sea weeds; but 
the structure is so obscure that the inference of their origin is, at present, 
rather problematical. 

All the ridges passed over between King's river and War Eagle, had a 
capping of conglomerate, which is separated from the Archimedes lime- 
stone by ferruginous shales; these are, however, not as thick as in the val- 



10.2 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 

ley of King's river. The conglomerate has, also, a considerable mass of 
ferruginous shale overlying it; and the associate sandstones of the mill- 
stone grit series are also charged with oxide of iron; indeed, some of 
these ferruginous layers appear to contain iron enough to be entitled to 
rank as ores, and were they not too siliceous, might be profitably reduced 
to iron. 

A few miles south of Huntsville, the road is in many places strewed 
with white water-worn quartzy pebbles, derived from the disintegration 
of the conglomerate rock which lies in the hill above. 

The soil here is generally red, from the quantity of iron washed into it 
from the shales and ferruginous sandstones of the adjacent hillsides. 

About 15 feet of black shale are exposed in the banks of the spring 
branch of War Eagle, two miles below Huntsville. This shale encloses 
hard and heavy kidney-shaped masses of carbonate of iron, in the center 
of which particles of white iron pyrites are found, which have been mis- 
taken for silver ore. Here, a considerable quantity of good iron ore could 
be obtained, though not enough, by itself, to supply a furnace; but, no 
doubt, other localities of the same ore can be disclosed, which, together, 
might afford sufficient. In fact, the symptoms of the presence of iron are 
so general in the rocks of this vicinity, under the conglomerate, as to ren- 
der it a locality well worthy the attention of the iron master and the 
owners of property. This mass of shale is covered with flaggy sandstone, 
and is, most likely, the equivalent of the Dotson black shale and flag- 
stone of Warton's creek. The strata dip, here, to the south-east. 

A qualitative analysis of the water obtained at the head of Kimble's 
creek, 4 miles from Huntsville, was made, and gave, as its principal con- 
stituents: 

Bi-carbonate of lime. 

Bi-carbonate of magnesia. 

Bi-carbonate of the oxide of iron. 

Chloride of sodium. 

Chloride of magnesium. 

Small quantities of sulphate of soda. 

It is a weak, saline chalybeate, possessing mild laxative, and tonic pro- 
perties. 

At our encampment on Holman's creek, 2 miles north-west of Hunts- 
ville, the Archimedes limestone occurs in ledges on its banks, underlaid 
by black shales. 

The same limestone, with its accompanying shales, occurs two or three 
miles from Phillips' on the road to Osage spring. 

A few inches of coal are said to have been discovered some distance 



OF ARKANSAS. 103 



up Ilolman's creek, associated with tins black shale. The rocks, along 
this branch, lie too low in the geological formations to contain any work- 
able beds of coal. 

On this same stream, about nine miles north-west of Iluntsville, the 
road leads, for half a mile, through barrens with a sandy soil, followed by 
prairie in which sandstone crops out about 10 miles from Iluntsville. 
This prairie is bounded by wooded hills off to the south-west. 

Proceeding towards the north-west, the Archimedes limestone and asso- 
ciate shale are succeeded by chert and chcrty limestone on the edge of the 
barrens; after which comes sandstone in the prairie. In the former, casts 
of Orlhis crinistria? were found about four or five miles from Ilolman's 

creek. 

This cherty limestone, which belongs, doubtless, to the lower division of 
the subcarboniferous group, has a considerable area in the northern part 
of Madison county, and possesses the peculiar lithological character of the 
most productive lead-bearing rocks of the adjacent part of south-western 

Missouri. 

Some lead ore has been found in the Moudey settlement, about four 
miles north of Huntsville; if it had its origin in this formation, it is a 
locality which should claim the attention of the miner, as will appear 
more fully in the next section, when treating of Benton county. 

This cherty limestone, containing a few entrochites, underlies the Brush 
creek barrens, and the spring at C. Fitches', on the edge of these barrens, 
and close to the line between this county and Washington, wells up 
through the same description of rocks; these are analogous, and most pro- 
bably cotemporaneous with, the geological formation that underlies the 
barrens of Kentucky. 



BENTON COUNTY. 

In the extreme south-east corner of this county, along the bluffs of 
White river, the barren limestone formation, of which we had occasion to 
speak in the previous section, under the head of Madison county, forms 
conspicuous cliffs near the crossing of the road from Huntsville to Ben- 
tonville. On section 24,? township 18 north, range 19 west, (if this road is 
correctly laid down on the maps,) a hard, sheety black shale comes in under 
this limestone, having the appearance of the black shale of Wiley's Cove, 
in Searcy county; but, probably, occupying a rather lower geological 
position in the subcarboniferous group; since that shale underlies the 
Archimedes and cncrinital limestones in the upper division of the subcar- 



104 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



boniferous group, while this succeeds, in the descending" order, the barren 
cherty limestone of the lower division. From SO to 35 feet of this shale 
are seen in section, not only along the bluffs of White river, but also on 
Hickory creek, about a mile to the west. At both localities, the shale is 
overlaid by the barren limestone, which, on White river, forms cliffs of 80 
to 100 feet. 

I have never seen, in any of my previous surveys in the western states, 
amongst the subcarboniferous rocks, shales possessing the solidity and 
hardness of the shales of Wiley's cove, or those of the south-east part of 
Benton county, which may be almost entitled to the appellation of slates, 
though not durable enough for roofing purposes; in this respect, these' 
shales resemble, in lithological character, the hard, black, sheety shale or 
slate of the Salt river valley, in Kentucky, and at the base of the knobs 
of Floyd county, Indiana, belonging to the devonian period; which slates 
are the representatives, probably, of the « Gennessee slate" of the New 
York Reports. The superposition and association will undoubtedly place 
both the shales of Wiley's Cove and Hickory creek, in Benton county, as 
members of the subcarboniferous group. The fossils found, as yet, in 
these shales, are too imperfect, and too few, to enable one to judge, from 
them alone, of the age of these Arkansas shales; we are, therefore, obliged 
to resort, for the present, to order of superposition for a solution of °the 
problem. 

The ascent from White river, up the ridge, on the west side is 310 feet; 
the road runs over chert, derived from the disintegration of the cherty 
limestones, overlying the aforementioned black shale. In this chert are 
found some of the disjointed disks of oval-shaped stems of platycnTms; 
and at the Osage spring, the fountain head of Osage creek, it contains 
Productus punctata, and the same species of reticulated, fossil corallines 
which characterize the cherty limestone in the barrens of Kentuckv and 
Tennessee. 

The lands between White river and Bentonville, are mostly oak bar- 
rens, interspersed with prairie. 

Samples of soil were taken from Benton county, for future chemical 
analysis, from the Hon. A. B. Greenwood's farm, near the town of Ben- 
tonville. 

The oak and hickory timber which has now sprung up on the borders 
of the present prairie, is mostly of a growth as recent as the settlement of 
the country; since the greater portion of this part of Benton county was, 
before that time, open prairie, with, here and there, thickets of low bushes 
\* est of Bentonville, there is a mulatto soil, somewhat different in its 
character from that immediately around Bentonville, and very productive 



OF ARKANSAS. JQ5 



as most soils of this color proved to be in the analyses of Kentucky soils. 

Water is generally obtained, in these prairies, at the depth of 20 to 25 
feet, after passing through chert and red clay, such as underlies a consid- 
erable area of this county. This underclay will, no doubt, be found an 
excellent fertilizer of land; and entering, as it does, largely into the sub- 
soils of this country, and therefore accessible by subsoiling, will be a per- 
manent store of agricultural wealth to the country. 

In the valley of Sugar creek, the black shale is again seen under the 
limestone, and is in view at intervals along this stream, all the way to the 
northern boundary of the state. 

At Squires' mill, 10 feet of black shale is well exposed, with 6 or 8 inches 
of marly earth between it and the overlying limestone. 

The stripe of the geological formations appears, therefore, to run diag- 
onally through Benton county, from Hickory creek, in the south-east cor- 
ner, to where Sugar creek crosses the state line into Missouri. 

Two and a half miles south of the state line, the limestone, over the 
black slatft, contains large Spirifer striatus? 

The succession in Benton county, so far as yet ascertained, is: 

1. Productive and coralline chert, at the head of the Osage and elsewhere. 

2. Cherty limestone of the barren limestone group, forming cliffs on White 

river and elsewhere. 

3. Black slate of Hickory and Sugar creeks. 

The first and second members of the preceding section, are of the same 
age and composition as the lead-bearing formations of the Granby lead 
mines, in Newton county, Missouri; and there is every reason to believe, from 
analogy of structure, both in the rocks and general surface of the country, 
that here, in Benton county, as well as in the northern parts of Madison, 
Washington, and western part of Carroll county, discoveries maybe made 
of lead deposits, similar to those of the Granby mines, in Missouri; there- 
fore, it may be well, in this connection, to record some of the facts con- 
nected with the mode of occurrence of the lead ores in these mines, which 
is, in many respects, peculiar, and particularly worthy the attention of 
the inhabitants of north-western Arkansas; since it may be the means of 
leading to discoveries that may not only enrich the owner of the land, but 
develop the mineral resources of the country. 

At the Granby lead mines, the lead ore has not generally been found, as 
usual, in fissures and veins, with a more or less perpendicular hade, but 
rather running in horizontal sheets between the stratification of the rocks, 
and generally beneath the great mass of overlying heterogeneous chert 
deposits, where it rests on the underlying limestone, which often possesses 
oolitic structure, close to the rich deposits of sulphuret of lead. 



10(5 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



The depth at which this junction of chert and limestone takes place, is 
from 30 to SO feet. The average depth of the shafts, before reaching the 
main deposits of ore, may be put down at G5 feet. After the shaft has 
reached the level of the " Sheet mineral" a barrier is often found, which 
has to be penetrated before reaching the heaviest beds of ore, known, 
technically, by the name of the "bar rocks;" this is usually from 15 to 30 
feet through; it seems to be composed of porous calcareous matter, in 
which some sulphuret of lead, sulphuret of zinc, (black-jack), and bitter 
spar, (magnesian limestone), is disseminated. After this barrier is broken 
through, the miner reaches the " sheet mineral," lying, not perfectly level, 
but waving somewhat with the irregular, corroded surface of the rock on 
which it has been deposited, and mixed, more or less, with a " tallow 
clay," either red or white, which is a tenaceous, unctuous clay, sometimes 
ferruginous, in certain states of dryness cuts like tallow or soap. There 
are, also, various minerals, either amorphous (i. e. without any regular 
geometrical forms), or crystallized; such as pearlspar, bitter spar, carbonate 
of lead, carbonate and silicate of zinc, sulphuret of zinc, with occasionally 
crystals of sulphate and phosphate of lead, disseminated with the calc-spar, 
the principal vein-stone accompanying the galena. The so-called " black- 
jack rock," (i. e. a rock in which sulphuret of zinc is largely disseminated), 
is considered a good indication of lead ore. 

The material passed through in sinking the shaft, is mostly white chert 
in displaced and confused masses. This chert is often light and porous — 
almost possessing the structure of pumice. 

Three tiers of sheet-ore have been successively passed through; that at 
an average depth of 65 feet from the "grass," has proved, as yet, the 
most productive. Ore has been reached, however, within 10 and 20 feet 
of the surface. 

The horizontal sheets of lead ore vary in thickness from a fraction of 
an inch to 2 feet, and even, in some extraordinary instances, to 3 feet. 
The average thickness may be put down at 6 to 10 inches. They are 
often so rich that it is not uncommon, after a shaft has been fairly sunk to 
the level of the ore, for two men to raise from 1,000 to 2,000 pounds, and 
even sometimes 3,000 to 4,000 pounds, in six or eight hours. 30,000 to 
50,000 pounds have been raised out of the Hopkins mine by 20 men, each 
man averaging from 400 to 300 pounds a day. 

At the Frazer shaft, from a quarter acre lot, 10,000 pounds were taken 
out; and, from all the Frazer claims, up to the present time, comprising 
10 acres, 400,000 pounds of lead ore have been raised. The total amount 
of ore raised in the last two years is about 800,000 pounds. 

The ore, as has been said, lies mostly in horizontal spaces, conformable 



OF ARKANSAS. 107 



with the bedding rock; but, nevertheless, there are crevices having a 
connection with the ore, the bearing of which is nearly north and south, 
opening occasionally into cavernous spaces, precisely analogous to the 
ore-bearing veins in other parts of the state, and in Wisconsin and Iowa; 
but these are either entirely barren of ore or contain only small quantities. 
My impression is, that the lead ore once occupied these north and south 
crevices, and was subsequently removed, in part or in whole, into its 
present bed by a transposition, analogous to that known to minerologists 
under the name of the pseudomorphous process, by which one mineral is 
removed, while another takes its place, assuming often the form of the 
first mineral, instead of the usual form belonging to itself. The term 
" analogous " is used, because the lead ore here cannot exactly be consid- 
ered to occur in a false form, or one belonging to another mineral; in this 
instance, I believe, it only took the place of the amorphous rock; therefore 
it was not infiltrated into a pre-existing geometrical mould, if I may so 
express it, but had freedom of space sufficient to assume its usual cuboidal 
structure. That it should be deposited like a limestone or sandstone, is 
altogether improbable and contrary to the usual nature of such ponderous 
and difficultly soluble minerals. 

The lead-bearing rock is not very fossiliferous, but there can be dis- 
tinguished the Orthis crinistria, Productus cora, and other fossils of the 
cherty barren limestone division of the subcarboniferous group; not, 
however, belonging to the Archimedes and pentremital group, as has been 
suggested. 

Though the profitable discoveries of lead ore at the Granby mines, have 
hitherto been confined to about one mile square; still, they attracted a 
population, in two years, of 3,000 people, to a section of land before 
almost neglected, even by the farmer, and which now, with the unfavor- 
able circumstance under which the mining claims are held, (being part of 
a tract conditionally ceded to one of the proposed Pacific railroad routes), 
has, nevertheless, in that short space of time, converted a wild prairie into 
a populous town, full of enterprise and industry. 

It should be observed, too, that the surface indications were no more 
encouraging, at the time the mines were started, than they are in many 
localities that may be pointed out in the above counties in Arkansas, 
where the same formation exists and where the cherty materials, thrown 
out from excavations for wells, cannot be distinguished from the rubbish 
rock at the mouth of the Granby shafts. I may add, too, that, in all these 
counties, surface ore has occasionally been found under circumstances 
similar to that in which they were first discovered in Newton county. 
But still the search after lead ore may be precarious, and lead to many 



lOg GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



disappointments; since ore is only locally and not univer sally distributed 
through the rock; hence it requires not only a general knowledge of 
minerals, but special experience in this particular rock formation, to sink 
a shaft successfully on ore, even though the miner may have surface 
indications to guide him. 

If the ore should be found in sheets, as in Missouri, the thickness of the 
lead-bearing rock is not a matter of so much moment; but if it should 
occur in veins or lodes, then that question assumes importance. 

In the north-west part of Arkansas I did not find, at any one place, 
more than one hundred feet of the cherty, barren limestone exposed; but 
this is, probably, not its entire thickness. Jn Searcy county, solid cliffs of 
more than 200 feet of this rock have been observed. In following vertical 
veins through this rock, the black shales of Hickory and Sugar creeks will 
be encountered; in this rock it is not likely that ore will be found in suffi- 
cient quantities to be profitable to work; but this shale is of no great 
thickness; 38 feet is the greatest number of feet I have seen exposed, and 
it is not likely that the whole mass will exceed 50 feet. This passed 
through, solid limestones will be again entered, in which the veins may 
also prove productive. 

The chances, then, are favorable for the occurrence of productive lead 
mines in the north-west part of Arkansas, north of the boundary line of 
the millstone grit and its underlying shales. This boundary line will be 
hereafter described, and ultimately indicated by a colored geological map, 
if the survey be hereafter carried through in detail. 

Near the north-east corner of the State of Arkansas, in Benton county, 
on Butler creek, black slate, the equivalent of that on Hickory and Sugar 
creeks, makes its appearance on the hillsides in the barrens, under a low 
cliff of white sub-crystalline limestone. These cliffs are surmounted by 
cherty limestone, chert, and cherty sandstone, which underlie the flat 
woods of Spavinaw, like those between Indian creek and Oliver's prairie, 
in Missouri, south-west of the Granby lead mines. 

A sulphur spring was reported to me on Butler creek, about five miles 
east of Maysville; but not until I had passed half a day's travel to the 
south of it, so that I had no opportunity of testing it. 

Beatty's prairie, north-east of Maysville, is a perfect counterpart of 

Oliver's prairie in Newton county, Missouri; the gently undulating surface, 

fringed, like it, with groves of oak, small hickory, is also dotted with low 

mounds, bearing tofts of rank weeds, and made up of isolated heaps of 

chert gravel. These mounds are so uniform in appearance that they 

convey the idea of an artificial origin. 

In riding over this prairie, about 3 miles from Maysville, the ground 



OF ARKANSAS. 109 



Bounded hollow under the horses feet, marking, no doubt, the roof of some 
cavernous space in the underlying limestone. It is not improbable that 
this spot may be on the line of some crevice, and, if within the sphere of 
action that produced the metalliferous deposits of Newton county, Missouri, 
might had to sources of cotemporaneous ore beds. The apparent west 
north-west bearing of the lead mines of south-western Missouri would, 
however, rather indicate their course north of this locality. 

The cavernous nature of the limestone, of this part of Benton county, 
is also indicated by the sinking of a branch of the Corner spring, that 
runs by the Burrow farm, beneath the surface, a few hundred yards below 
the house on this farm. 

The white, soft, decomposing chert of the barrens south of Beatty's 
prairie, has casts and impressions of reticulated corallines, similar to those 
of the corresponding formations in Kentucky and Tennessee. These 
fossils were also observed, in greater abundance and perfection, near the 
centre of township 18 north, range 32 west, in the materials thrown out 
of a well. 

The soil of this part of Benton county appears to be well adapted for 
wheat, and, having a substratum of red clay, which, no doubt, will be 
found to have fertilizing effects, the productiveness of the surface-soil, by 
judicious management, need not be materially impaired, even by continu- 
ous culture. This country is well watered by fine springs, that issue from 
the south-west slopes of the cherty limestone. 

The greater part of Benton county is, therefore, based on this member 
of the subcarboniferous group, except in the higher grounds, where the 
flat oak woods prevail; there the barren limestone and chert is"overlaid 
by shaly rocks and a kind of buhrstone and cherty sandstone. 



HO GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



WASHINGTON COUNTY. 

The geology of the northern townships of this county is very analagous 
to that of Benton county. The southern extension of the cherty barren 
limestone is here, as there, the base rock of the country, the underlying 
shales only showing themselves in the deepest cuts, in the extreme north- 
east corner of the county, on White river, near Van Winkle's mill, and 
near Blackburn's mill, on War Eagle. At the former of these localities, 
the limestone is cavernous. Close to the Washington county line, but 
probably in the south-east corner of Benton county, a salt-petre cave is 
reported which I have not yet seen. 

One of the most interesting features of the northern part of Washing- 
ton county, consists in the noble springs, which gush forth amongst the 
ledges of limestone, in such volume and force as to afford water- powers 
for small mills, even at their very source. The Elm springs, forming the 
head of one of the branches of the Clear fork of the Illinois river, are 
one of the most remarkable of these springs. They are, no doubt, due 
to the fissured and cavernous nature of the barren limestone, reposing on 
its underlying impermeable shale. Atmospheric water, filtering with 
facility through the cavities and rents of the limestone, is arrested by the 
impervious shale beneath, and flows out along the slope of the southerly 
dip. Besides affording convenient and permanent water powers, these 
springs, no doubt, contribute greatly to the fertility of the lands in the ad- 
jacent valleys, not alone by their irrigating effects, but by reason of the 
large amount of carbonic acid and lime with which they are charged, 
which must, undoubtedly, give a remarkable impetus to vegetation; since 
they are two of the most essential fertilizers in all manures. One of 
them, carbonic acid, is, in fact, the great solvent, or vehicle, which carries 
nourishment to the plant. 

In township 17 and the southern part of 18 north, range 29 west, the 
succession of the different beds of the subcarboniferous group is approxi- 
mately as folio ws: 



OF ARKANSAS 



111 



s s 

I I I 

s s 

1 1 1 

s I s 

I ■ I 

s s 

I ■ ! 

s s 



I * I 

s s 

I ■ I 

s s 

I i I 



200? 



s s 

l ■ r 

s s 

I - 1 

s s 



- 



CII 



CH CH 
CH 



CH CH 



L L 



40? 



40? 



35 



40? 



White, yellow and brown sandstones, some of 
which have a cellular structure. 



Ferruginous and dark shales. 



Chert and cherty barren limestone. 



Black cherty shale. 



The first and highest 
memberof this section — 
the sandstone formation 
— occupies the summit of 
the ranges of hills adja- 
cent to White river, 
above and below the 
mouth of Brush creek, 
and will, doubtless, be 
found capping many of 
the isolated peaks, which 
rise in various directions 
out of the barrens and 
prairies, on both sides of 
the Missouri road lead- 
ing to Springfield. The 
second member underlies 
more immediately those 
south-east sections of 
land, bordering on White 
river, that are elevated 
150 to 200 feet above that 
stream, while the under- 
lying chert and cherty 
limestone form cliffs on 
White river, near the 
mouth of Brush creek, 
and become the surface 
rocks in the north-west 



part of the county, in consequence of the rise of the geological forma- 
tions in that direction. 

This latter rock is, no doubt, for reasons already advanced in the pre- 
ceding section, the source of the pieces of lead ore which, according to 
the statements of many citizens, have been occasionally picked up in this 
township and along some of those branches, forming the heads of the 
Illinois river, which take their rise in the northern part of this count 
This inference is further corroborated by the statement of William Ray, 
that he had dug out a wagon-bed full of lead ore, somewhere in town- 
ship 17 north, range 29 west, 6 to 8 miles north-east of Fayetteville. 

Three miles north-west from the mouth of Brush creek, considerable 



\\2 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



iron ore of the limonite variety of mineralogists was discovered towards 
the base of the sandstone formation — the first member of the preceding 
section. Most of this ore seen on the surface, in connection with the 
sandstones, was too siliceous to make good iron; but it is not improbable, 
that better ore may be found amongst the underlying shales of the second 
member; strata which, being argillaceous in their composition, are more 
favorable for the retention of segregated iron ore, free from sand. These 
shales, seen in the slope of the road leading to the ford on White river, 
at the mouth of Brush creek, have a ferruginous appearance, favorable 
for the presence of ores of iron. 

The soil east of the Missouri road is more sandy than that west, in con- 
sequence of having received debris and washings from the adjacent main 
sandstone ridge lying to the east. 

It is not improbable, when the highest points of this range of hills come 
to be explored in detail, that some of the members of the upper subcar- 
boniferous group may be found, or even part of the millstone grit series. 

Where chert materials prevail, harder and more durable than the rest of 
the formation, they have resisted decomposition for a longer period of 
time than the surrounding parts, and given rise to those isolated mounds 
which rise conspicuously, in all directions, out of the prairie, when viewed 
from some elevated position in the neighboring hills. 

The low ridges bordering the northern limits of township 18 north, 
ran o- e 29 and 30 west, are composed of chert — the third member of the 
section previously given — while the farming lands in the valleys, which 
join them on the south, are based on the calcareo-siliceous member; i. e. 
the barren limestone formation. The low ridges, 140 feet above the Clear 
fork and the black-jack barrens, in the centre of township 17 north, range 
30 west, adjacent to the Fayette\ille road, are of the same formation. 

Near the line between township 16 and 17 north, range 30 west, sand- 
stone ledges, belonging to the first division of the section, are in place, 
restin°- on the underlying ferruginous shale. In the latter, some iron ore 
was observed. 

Approaching the town of Fayetteville, these strata dip rapidly under 
the upper members of the subcarboniferous group. 

Immediately adjacent to Fayetteville, on the north, ferruginous shales 
are seen, dipping at an angle of 20 deg. to the south-west, underlaid by 
a kind of amygdaloidal sandstone^belonging to the millstone grit series. 

One mile west of Fayetteville, on the head of the Trace branch of Wild 
Cat creek, black shale is exposed, containing abundance of good carbo- 
nate of iron, which, with other localities, will go far towards supplying 
the wants of a furnace for the reduction of iron. Over the black shale. 



OF ARKANSAS. 113 



with iron ore, is a variegated shale, on the exposed surface of which numer- 
ous crystals of selenite or sulphate of lime are forming, no doubt, from the 
mutual action of protosulphate of iron and bi-carbonate of lime ; giving 
rise to sulphate of lime and protocarbonate of iron. This may be the origin, 
too, of this latter mineral, so abundantly found in the underlying black 
shale. The production of the protosulphate of iron, implicated in this 
mutual decomposition, is evidently to be accounted for, at this locality, by 
the gradual oxidation of sulphur and iron, the elements of iron pyrites, 
abundant, even now, in these shales, and, no doubt, more so at a former 
period, before the production of the above minerals. 

This gypsiferous shale would, undoubtedly, prove to be a valuable min- 
eral manure, applied to some of the siliceous soils, overlying the sand- 
stone formations of this country, as well as to those located at the base of 
the sandstone ridges, which have received the sandy debris washed from 
their flanks. 

The strata concealed in the slope above these shales, exposed both at 
the Lick and on the Town branch, are, most probably, a continuation of 
similar shales, underlying the Archimedes limestones, such as were after- 
wards seen under that rock elsewhere in the county, as will appear in the 
subsequent part of this section. 

The shale beds, partly exposed in the drain below Cato's spring, proba- 
bly overlie the Archimedes limestone ; this member includes a seam of 
coal of one or two inches, of no practical value. The eight inch coal, 
which has been partially opened for the use of the blacksmiths, lies higher 
up in the hills, in shales, above the pentrimital limestone, at Cato's spring, 
over which is the main body of sandstone, forming the upper part of the 
ridge southeast of Fayetteville, including one or more calcareous bands. 

On the Town branch, on section 20, township 16 north, range 30 west, 
about 20 feet of black shale are exposed, similar to that at the Lick, one mile 
west of Fayetteville; the former shale contains large septaria, both of 
carbonate of lime, and carbonate of iron. 



114 



GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 





































1 CR 1 


CR | CR 
















































100? 



Sandstone of the millstone grit series. 



125? 



Calcareous bands. 



Sandstone of the millstone grit series, cel- 
lular, and carbonaceous. 



Shales, including eight inches of coal. 



The subjoined is an 
approximate section of 
the order of superposi- 
tion of the different beds 
from the sandstones, in 
the ridge south-east of 
Fayetteville, to the black 
shale, with carbonate of 
iron, at the Lick, 1 mile 
west of town. The ex- 
act thickness of each of 
the members I am una- 
ble to give, until more 
accurate measurements 
and levels are taken to 
the outcrop of the differ- 
ent members, and correc- 
tion for dip calculated ; 
for the present, most of 
the thicknesses are given 
by computation from ob- 
servations at different lo- 
calities, rather than from 
actual measurements at 
one locality. But, we 
hope, hereafter, to have 
an opportunity of sub- 
mitting a more complete 
section, in detail, with 
the absolute thickness of 
the beds. 

The sandstones, that 
form the upper portion 
of this section, contain 
some remarkable and 
very curious impressions, 
composed of subcylin- 
drical branches, radia- 
ting from a centre, bear- 
ing a distant resem- 
blance to some fossil 



OF ARKANSAS. 



115 




Fire clay and shale. 



50? 



~ 



* I 



L I 



Sandstone. 
Pentrimital limestone. 



Shales, including an inch or two of coal, in 
the cut below Cato's spring. 



sponges ; but less sym- 
metrical, and without 
any apparent porous 
structure. They are, 
most likely of vegetable 
origin, and may, per- 
haps, be referrible to that 
obscure order of marine 
plants, known under the 
name of fucoides ; but, 
if so, are entirely differ- 
ent in form from any- 
thing of the kind I have 
ever observed before, or 
seen described in any of 
the works on fossil bo- 
tany. 

In the collection of 
W. Washburn, I saw 
some fine specimens of 
lepidodendrons, which 
have weathered out of 
some of the higher sand- 
stones of the preceding 
section ; and imperfect 
specimens of the same 
fossil plant were observ- 
ed by members of the geological corps in the adjacent sandstone ridges. 
This is a plant which occurs in the millstone grit, but more abundantly 
at the base of the coal measures. 

It is a question of interest and importance, to determine whether any 
portion of the upper sandstones and shales of Washington county can be 
referred to the true coal measures ; since, in that case, there would be 
hope of finding thicker and more valuable beds of coal in this county than 
have yet been discovered. At present no coal beds are known of more than 
18 or 20 inches ; except one, with a clay parting, in Mountain township, 
on the head of the Illinois river, 6 or 7 miles east of Boonsboro, which is 
about two feet thick; and those beds, at present known, in the immediate 
vicinity of Fayette ville, in shales under the millstone grit, do not exceed 
one foot. 



i i i i 



30? Archimedes limestone. 



Shales. 

Calcareous band, with pyrites-? 

Gypsiferous shale. 

Black shale with carbonate of iron. 



116 GEOLOGICAL KECONNOISSANCE 



On section 18, township 15 north, range 29 west, 30 to 35 feet of shale 
are exposed, on the banks of Wood's branch, near Orion Rieffs' house. 
In this shale, and 11 to 12 feet above the bed of the creek," a band of dark 
grey fossiliferous limestone occurs, in which a greyish yellow iron pyrites 
is disseminated, that has attracted no small attention in the neighborhood, 
and has been' quarried to some extent, in the hopes that it might prove to 
be an ore of silver. Those who had taken the trouble and labor to extract 
this ore, were much disappointed that I could give them no encourage- 
ment to prosecute further their silver-mining operations. The "Wood's 
branch shale underlies the Archimedes cavernous limestone of the adja- 
cent ridges, with, perhaps, some interstratified layers of sandstone, and 
occupies, in all probability, a geological position corresponding to that of 
the shale in the Town branch, and at the Lick, one mile west of Fayette- 
ville. 

The dark grey, pyritifcrous, fossiliferous limestone, contains bellerophon, 
Productus corn; also a nucula and euomphalus, the species of which have 
not yet been determined. This rock would take a polish, but from the 
large quantity of sulphuret and protoxide of iron which it contains, would 
be liable to rust and stain, if exposed to atmospheric agencies. 

The succession on Wood's branch of the Middle fork of White river, 
on township 15 north, range 29 west, is as follows : 

1. Brown sandstone with amygdaloidal cavities. 

2. Space concealed with shales ? 

3. Archimedes cavernous limestone. 

4. Grey and black shales, with perhaps some interstratified sandstone, 
and including, near its base, a band of dark, fossiliferous, pyritiferous 
limestone, and segregations of carbonate of iron. 

The carbonate of iron is quite abundant in the lower part of this shale, 
in the sections both of the Middle and West fork of White river, so 
much so, that I believe sufficient ore can be obtained from the various 
localities of its outcrop, to supply a furnace, in connection with ores of 
the limonite variety, which can, probably, be found higher up over the 
limestone. 

The caverns in the vicinity of Orion Rieft's' have been formed by the 
disintegration of the concretionary beds of the Archimedes limestone. 
They are low and difficult of access. From one of these caverns, some 
earth was collected for the purpose of examining it for nitre ; time has not 
yet permitted an analysis of this earth, but its appearance does not indi- 
cate a large per ceutage of saltpetre. 



OF ARKANSAS. 



117 





9 


i 

— 
c 


r 


■ 


a 


50 

to 

100 

40 

to 

60? 

30? 




Sandstone, underlaid by shale ? in all, 50 to 
100 feet or more in thickness. 

Archimedes, cavernous, and concretionary- 
limestone. 

Grey shale; pyritiferous limestone shale. 


1 s 


■ 


■ 


1 s 


■ 


s 


1 ■ 1 









=r=:=^ 


1 


' 


i 1 L 1 


* 


i 


1 L 


«■ 


"■ 


1 L | 


l 


i 


1 1 


- 1 


L 




.1111 


— ^— -^— =r 



The succession of the 
rocks on the waters of 
the Middle Fork of 
White river, is exhibited 
in the accompanying 
diagram, in which the 
position of the bed of 
dark grey, pyritiferous 
limestone is shown, in- 
cluded in the shales at 
the base of the section. 
Several so-called " sul- 
phur springs," rise 
through the black bitu- 
minous shales, at the bot- 
tom of the sections, in 
the central part of Wash- 
ington county. The wa- 
ter of one, which was ob- 
tained from John May's 
place, one mile south of 
Favetteville, was found 
by the application of chemical reagents, to contain, as its principal 
constituents : 
Sulphate of magnesia, (Epsom salts). 
Sulphate of alumina, a trace. 
Sulphate of iron, a trace. 
Bi-carbonate of lime. 
Bi-carbonate of magnesia. 
This water will act as a mild laxative. 

County surveyor Ross informed me that there has been some difficulty 
in running lines with the compass, in the valleys and along the spurs of 
some of the hills, with what is considered the true variation in this part 
of the State, of 8 deg. SO mm. The iron ores which I have seen on the 
surface, viz., limonite ores and protocarbonate of iron, do not affect the 
magnetic needle ; neither have ores of lead any influence on it : it is only 
native iron, iron ores containing a combination of peroxide and protoxide, 
in the proportion of about 69 per cent, of the former, and 31 of the latter, 
and magnetic iron pyrites, containing about 40 per cent, of sulphur and 
60 of iron, that attract the needle. Those localities will require, therefore, 



118 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 

to be examined hereafter for such ores, when the survey of "Washington 
is made in detail. 

Samples of the red upland soil of this county were collected, for future 
chemical analysis, from John Rieffs' farm, on section 31, township 16 
north, range 30 west, where the growth is white oak, hickory, overcup oak, 
hackberry, walnut, box-elder, slippery elm, black ash, dogwood, and black 
locust, with an undergrowth of papaw, spice, and large grape vines. 

This soil is a good sample of the red uplands of the centre of Wash- 
ington county ; it resembles the Cane hill land, but is less siliceous ; it 
overlies, and has been mostly derived from, the Archimedes limestone and 
its associate shales. 

The ridge that divides the waters of the West fork of White river from 
those of the Illinois river, is composed of the same series of shales, lime- 
stone, and sandstone, as already described, at Orion Rieffs', on Wood's 
branch. Here, however, the junction of the shale with the limestone can 
be seen better than at that locality. 

Near the bed of the branch that runs by Bryant's house, a pyritiferous 
dark limestone is interstratified in the shale, similar to that on Wood's 
branch. Twenty feet over this is the base of the limestone, which is about 
25 feet in thickness. Eighty feet higher is the top of the sandstone, but 
this level does not represent its true thickness, since the limestone rises so 
rapidly to the north-west that it reaches the surface under John Tenny- 
son's farm on the top of the hill, not half a mile from Bryant's. 

A bed of coal of six to seven inches, is reported by Bryant, on the 
Davis place, on the waters of the Illinois ; one a foot thick, at J. Phillips', 
on the waters of the West fork ; a bed of 1 foot to 18 inches on the west 
side of the Davis ridge, south of Henry Ross's, and also on Morrison's 
place ; and a 6 to 8 inches seam at Curlis's, low down in the Boston range 
of mountains. The outcrop on the Morrison place is generally considered 
the best coal for blacksmiths' use in this part of Washington county. 

Some of the upper layers of limestone, at A. Bryant's, contain a 
considerable per centage of oxide of iron, and might come under the 
denomination of Eisenkalkstein of the Germans. A black bed of lime- 
stone is also interstratified in the mass of limestones, besides the band 
included in the underlying shale. 

Near the line between township 15 and 16, where the Cane hill road 
crosses the head of a branch, a locality was pointed out to me where 
copper ore has been supposed to exist. I could see no surface indications 
to corroborate this opinion, neither do I consider the rock which forms the 
surface, at all favorable for metalliferous veins. A much more likely 
thing to be discovered in the rocks of this part of Washington county, 



OF ARKANSAS. 



119 



fa 



where they form synclinal folds or troughs, is salt. By boring a few hun- 
dred feet, in some favorable position, it is highly probable a productive 
brine might be reached. Such a place is the Clay lick, on the property of 
Maj. John Billingsley, on the east prong of the Illinois river, near where 
the mountain road crosses that stream. I tested water which oozes up in 
this lick, and found it to contain a notable quantity of chloride of sodium, 
or common salt, some chloride of magnesium, and only a trace of sulphates. 

The succession, in the 
ridge south-west of 
where the road crosses 
the East fork of the Illi- 
nois river, is represented 
in the annexed diagram, 
the levels commencing 
in the bed of the East 
fork of the Illinois river, 
and extending to the top 
of the ridge, over which 
the road passes. 

On the waters of the 
same branch of the Illi- 
nois river, on Dr. Kuy- 
kendall's place, a fine 



L I. L 



so 



:iu 



70 



Soft brown sandstone. 
A few feet of limestone. 
Sandstone. 



Ferruginous sandy shales. 



Archimedes limestones. 



chalybeate spring issues from the bed of ferruginous sandstone of the mill 
stone grit series. This water has a powerful deoxidizing effect, instantly 
blackening a silver solution, even without the addition of ammonia; from 
this fact and the comparative small amount of carbonic acid present, it is 
probable that the protoxide of iron present, is held in solution by some 
organic acid. This water will probably be found to have valuable alterative 
and tonic effects combined. 

About a quarter of a mile from Dr. Kuykendall's there is also a sulphur 
spring, which I tested and found it to contain, as its principal constituents : 

Free sulphuretted hydrogen. 

Chloride of sodium. 

Chloride of magnesium. 

Only a trace of sulphates. 

Bi-carbonate of lime. 

Bi-carbonate of magnesia. 

This water, having more saline matter (particularly* chlorides) than the 
water tested at Thomas's, 2 miles from Fayetteville, will be found more 



120 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



laxative in its effects ; but it is doubtful whether its alterative effects will 
be as decided, since the proportion of sulphur appears to be less. As 
iodides are usually an accompaniment of chlorides, this water will proba- 
bly be found useful in reducing glandular swellings. 

At the blacksmith's shop, near the sulphur spring, I saw several speci- 
mens of coal, found in this county, and obtained information in regard to 
the localities of others ; viz., the Morrow coal, 14 inches thick, considered 
to be the best for blacksmiths' use ; the Dyer coal, 12 inches thick, found 
on the second bench of the Boston mountain, which is a heavier coal than 
the former, but contains impurities ; Barnet's bank, about 11 inches thick, 
on the waters of Cove creek ; and Store's bank, three quarters of a mile 
beyond, and about the same thickness as that at Barnet's. 

On Cane hill, close by James Mitchell's house, the Archimedes limestone 
is well exposed, and is quite cavernous. One cave, near Win. Mitchell's 
house, is about 180 feet long, and seems to have been the resort of bears 
and other wild animals, in former times. It occupies precisely the same 
position as the one which 1 visited near Orion RieftY. The succession of 
the rocks on Cane hill is only a modification of the preceding section. 

1. Fine-grained sandstone, 15 to 20 feet. 

2. Limestone, a few feet. 

3. Coarse yellow sandstone, 40 feet. 

4. Greenish grindstone grit, 45 to 70 feet. 

5. Archimedes limestone, 60 feet. 

6. Marly shales in the bed of the branch. 

The blacksmiths of Boonsboro obtain a coal from section 16, township 
14 north, range 32 west, about three quarters of a mile from town ; it is 6 
or 8 inches thick : this is the most westerly outcrop of coal known in this 
county. 

Some iron ore is reported in Vineyard township, which I have not yet 
examined. 

A bold spring issues at Boonsboro, from under a bench of Archimedes 
limestone, 45 feet in thickness. The new College has been built on a 
commanding point on the shaly sandstones that occupy the hill, immedi- 
ately above the platform of limestone. Beneath these are dark shales, 
succeeded, in the descending order, by an even-bedded, brown freestone, 
very suitable for building purposes. The road to the Barren fork of the 
Illinois river passes for several miles on this building-stone, which, being 
often disjoined and displaced from the giving way of the underlying shale, 
renders the road exceedingly rough. This underlying shale is of no great 
thickness, and overlies chert and cherty limestone, which forms a mural 



OF ARKANSAS. 



121 



escarpment on the north bank of the Barren fork, extending clown to the 
bed of that stream. 

The different beds and their order of superposition, from the schistose 
sandstone of College hill, to the cherty limestone of the Barren fork of the 
Illinois river, are shown in the annexed section. 



i i i 



i i i i 



i i i i 



L I 



fa 



45 




CL | CL 



CL 



CL CL 



CL 



I 



CL | CL 



CL 



CL CL 



15? 



40 
to 
60 



Schistose sandstones of College hill. 



Archimedes limestone over the Boonsboro 
spring. 



A modification is ob- 
servable in this section, 
causing it to differ from 
those sections previously 
given of the strata under 
the Archimedes lime- 
stone : it consists in the 
introduction of the build- 
ing-stone amongst the 
underlying shales. Near 
the Barren fork, the 
strata have a strong clip, 
9 to 13 deg. north north- 
east and north-east. 
The fossiliferous lime- 
stone lies in a pavement 
form, with a regular and 
deeply marked system of 
joints, having a course 
north-west and south- 
east. The most abund- 
ant fossils in this rock are 
Terebratula piano- sulc at <( 
and planum-bona ; Pi •<>- 
ductus cora and a Pro- 
ductus allied to P. semi- 
reticulatus ; a favosite re- 
sembling the basaltica, but so deeply imbedded and firmly attached in the 
substance of the rock that they could not be properly examined in place, 
nor detached without defacing them in such a manner that the disposition 
of the rows of connecting pores could not be seen so as to determine their 
specific character. 

Both Productus cora and Terebratula plano-sulcata were found, also, in 
the overlying chert. 

This limestone has marly and shaly partings. 



Dark shales, 10 to 15 feet in thickness. 

Freestone or building-stone. 

Shale. 

Chert. 

Fossiliferous limestone. 

Sandstone. 



Chert and cherty limestones of the Barren 
fork of the Illinois River. 



Black shale ? 



122 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



The rock which forms the immediate cliff on the Barren fork, above 
Morrow's house, and extends down to the bed of that stream, is a very 
rugged and cherty limestone. 

Some loose pieces of lead ore having been found in the bed of the Barren 
fork, some shallow pits and shafts were sunk in the bluff above, into this 
cherty limestone, and about 100 pounds of lead ore taken out from amongst 
the red clay and loose chert, some of which will yield 70 to 80 per cent, of 
lead. Here we have a further confirmation of the lead-bearing character 
of this barren cherty limestone formation. 

This rock does not appear to be as thick here as further to the north, 
since shale has been struck in Morrow's well beneath this rock. 

Some " gravel mineral" has also been found in the bed of the Barren 
fork of the Illinois, near the mill, six miles from Evansyille. 

The fossiliferous limestone was again seen, three and a half miles from 
Evansville, overlying dark ferruginous, and light-colored chert. 

The succession in Vineyard township is, therefore, approximately as fol- 
lows : 

1. Fine-grained siliceous rock, approaching to the texture of whet- 

stones in its character. 

2. Limestone. 

3. Shale? 

4. Yellowish coarse sandstone. 

5. Finer grained schistose sandstone of the character of grindstone grit. 

6. Archimedes or other limestones. 

7. Dark shale rocks. 

8. Brown freestone. 

9. Shale. 

10. Fossiliferous chert. 

11. Fossiliferous limestone with marly and shaly partings. 

12. Chert, and 

13. Cherty limestone. 

14. Black shale. 

All of these strata belong to the millstone grit and underlying subcarbo- 
niferous group. 

Soon after leaving Evansville, we ascended a high ridge, 550 feet above 
the Barren fork, in the gap through which the road passes. 

On the north-west slope of this spur of*the Boston mountain range, the 
outcropping ledges of rock are mostly sandstone and subcarboniferous lime- 
stone, with some alternations of shale. In this side the Archimedes lime- 
stone was observed at an elevation of 240 feet. On the south-east slope 
of the mountain an immense mass of marly shale makes its appearance, 



OF ARKANSAS. \ 33 



with some intercalated beds of limestone. The top of this marly shale is 
230 feet below the summit. It is at least 100 feet in thickness, down to 
the junction of this shale and an underlying bed of limestone. 

The rocks are evidently much disturbed in this mountain. At one point 
in the descent, a dip of 4 deg. south-west was observed ; but a short 
distance further the dip was reversed. 



CRAWFORD COUNTY. 

Close to the spring, at the foot of the mountain over which we passed 
from the Barren fork of the Illinois to Lee's creek, the Archimedes lime- 
stone is in place, 260 feet below the level of the principal mass of corre- 
sponding limestone, in the section of the north-west slope of the mountain. 

There is no doubt a dislocation of the whole of the rocks of the moun- 
tain with a subsidence to the south-east, which causes so sudden a depres- 
sion of this limestone. 

Associated with Archimedes at the spring, near the foot of the mountain, 
on Lee's creek, occurs Agassizoerinus conicus. 

Lee's creek meanders for many miles at the base of high cliffs and 
slopes of the spurs of the Boston mountain range, which are composed of 
sandstones, shales, and limestone, belonging to the age of the millstone 
grit and subcarboniferous group, the strata gradually dipping down stream 
towards the south. No coal has ever yet been discovered on this part of 
Lee's creek, but near its head, 15 miles above Alfred Smith's place, a bed 
is represented as occurring, and ranging from 10 to 12 inches in thickness. 

Half a mile below Alfred Smith's farm, sandstone was observed dipping 
10 deg. to the south-east, the Archimedes limestone being no longer visible 
above the bed of Lee's creek. 

One of the most remarkable features in the scenery of north-western 
Arkansas is the " Natural Dam," represented in the steel plate engraving 
forming the frontispiece to this volume. It is formed by a solid bed of 
sandstone, from 6 to 8 feet in thickness, which runs entirely across the 
bed of Lee's creek, forming a natural barrier to the descent of the water, 
in consequence of the gradual dip of the rock up stream towards the north- 
east, at an angle of 4 to 5 deg. being just the proper inclination to 
dam the water back, and throw it to a sluice, that might be solidly and 
permanently fixed to this rock wall near where it runs into the north-west 
bank. 

The log mill, seen in the frontispiece, is one of the rudest description ; 



124 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



hardly capable of grinding 30 to 40 bushels per day ; quite insufficient even 
for the accommodation of the immediate neighbors. The efficiency of 
this natural dam, running, as it does, from bank to bank, with just the 
proper inclination and a slightly diagonal direction, across the entire water- 
course ; the solidity of its natural masonry, destined to endure for ages ; its 
situation in the midst of a valley, which though contracted in its dimensions 
by the mountain fastnesses that bound it on both sides, is, nevertheless fertile 
and capable of supporting a moderate population : all combine to make 
this natural mill-site an object of great interest, and its many advantages 
would justify the erection of a substantial building, fitted up with all the 
modern improvements in the machinery of a well-regulated business grist- 
mill ; this would attract customers, not alone from the valleys of the differ- 
ent branches of Lee's creek, but also from the neighboring mountains, 
and more distant settlements, and contribute, perhaps, more than any im- 
provement that could be introduced into the country, to attract fresh popu- 
lation, and render the condition of its present inhabitants independent, 
comfortable, and agreeable. Notwithstanding the continual wear to which 
this member of the millstone grit series — more durable than its associate 
beds — is continually subject, not alone from the mechanical force exerted 
by the running waters of Lee's creek, but from the almost irresistible 
- power of expansion, caused by the alternate thawing and freezing of the 
water, continually permeating its mass ; it stands yet, a monument of ages, 
bearing testimony to the strength and insolubility of the siliceous cement 
that binds the particles together, and the stability of the individual grains 
of which its substance is composed; and it affords, at the same time, a 
striking example how enduring architectural edifices maybe made, if con- 
structed of such freestone, judiciously selected, well built, and strongly 
jointed with good mortar. 

The ridge, passed over about two miles from the Natural Dam, is about 
390 feet above Lee's creek, and is composed, so far as can be seen, of sand- 
stones and shales of the age of the millstone grit; with, perhaps, a cap- 
ping of some of the lower members of the overlying coal measures. 

It is nearly of the same materials that; compose the high range of hills 
above the town of Van Buren, which has a commanding view over the 
valley of the Arkansas. From these heights, in a clear day, Fort Smith 
can be seen, while the bluff opposite to it and the glistening water-line, 
marking the bend of the Arkansas river, where it emerges from Indian 
territory and sweeps past Fort Smith, can be distinctly seen at all times ; 
also the distant range of hills, running from the Choctaw country towards 
Sebastian county, including the House and Sugar Loaf mountains; with 
the small prairie in the middle ground, which is said to be underlaid by 



OF ARKANSAS. 125 



coal.* The accompanying wood-cut [see p. 127] is engraved from a rapid 
sketch of this extensive prospect, comprising the various objects above enu- 
merated, taken from the above heights, north-west of the town of Van 
Buren. At the foot of this hill, and in the cuts of the ravines immediately 
back of the town of Van Buren, 23 to 25 feet of shale are exposed, the 
lower portion of which, for ten feet, is black and bituminous. One hun- 
dred and ten feet more of shale have been passed through in the well sunk 
at Pennywit & Scott's mill, including, near the bottom, a small seam of 
coal, reported 18 inches thick. 

The strata immediately exposed, adjacent to the town of Van Buren, 
are : 

Sandstone. 

Grey shale and shaly sandstone, with ferruginous segregations, 30 feet. 

Black and reddish shales, 15 feet. 

Blackish grey shale, with segregations of carbonate of iron, 15 feet. 

Shales, including 18 inch coal, passed through in the steam mill well 
below the town of Van Buren, 110 feet. 

These shales lie no doubt at the base of the millstone grit, as we found 
in the overlying sandstone, 150 or 200 feet above these shales, the same 
curious impressions of plants (?) which occur in the millstone grit of Van 
Buren county, near Theodore Goocllow's, showing the great extent and re- 
markable persistency of this formation, as it extends through the northern 
counties of Arkansas. 

The sandstones and shales seen in section in the Ozark mountains, north 
of Van Buren, have much the lithological character of the " Barren Coal 
Measures" of the eastern coal field of Kentucky, in which schistose earthy 
sandstones predominate ; but it is not improbable that they may be all re- 
ferrible to the millstone grit, which seems to have an enormous expansion, 
and to occupy great areas in the north-west counties of Arkansas. 

Four or five miles north-west of Van Buren, in some of the deep cuts 
where red and ferruginous shales are exposed, more or less iron ore was 
observed, but mostly of a siliceous character. 

The shales, at the base of the hills, bordering on the Arkansas river, 
noted in the preceding sections, seem to underlie a great extent of country 
not only in this county, but for a great distance down the valley of the 
Arkansas river, in a south-east direction. 

As limestone is a very scarce article in this county, it may be well to 
take note that there is a dark grey, ferruginous, calcareous bed, that crops 
out, not only near the sulphur springs in the bed of the Sulphur branch of 



* This country, south of the Arkansas river, has not yet been explored. 



126 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 

Webber's creek, but on Baker's bill, 2 miles from the springs, and on a 
hillside, 7 miles north-west of Van Buren and 1 mile from the Dripping 
springs. This rock will doubtless burn to lime, and yield an article which, 
though dark, will probably make a good mortar for building purposes. 

It is very probable that this ferruginous, fossiliferous limestone may be 
found about one-third of the distance up the high hill back of Van Buren; 
for, being encrusted with a rusty external coating, it is difficult to distin- 
guish it, in its native bed, from the associate sandstones. This limestone 
varies from 3 to 8 inches in thickness. 

The Penny wit sulphur water was tested at the fountain head. Its prin- 
cipal constituents are : 

Bi-carbonate of lime. 

Bi-carbonate of magnesia. 

Chloride of sodium, or common salt. 

Chloride of magnesium. 

Trace of sulphate of soda (Glauber salts.) 

Trace of sulphate of magnesia (Epsom salts.) 

A trace of free sulphuretted hydrogen. 

The taste of this water, and the small, white, fibrous sediment, formed 
in the gum log through which it rises, favor the view that there is some 
sulphur in this water, combined either with some organic principle or other 
substance. It will be observed that this water contains a notable quantity 
of common salt ; this fact, taken in connection with the formation through 
which it wells up, and the celullar nature of the sandstones in the vicinity 
of the springs, renders it probable that, if the Sulphur branch of the Web- 
ber fork of Lee's creek flows in a synclinal trough (as it very likely does, 
from the dip of the strata being reversed towards the valley of the Arkan- 
sas river), a good, profitable brine might be reached by putting down a 
systematic boring in the neighborhood of these springs. 

For further remarks on this county, see the Report of the Assistant 
Geologist. 




I . I III I f 



OF ARKANSAS. 



1*20 



JOHNSON COUNTY. 





01 

o 

fa 



My own observations in this county, have been confined, as yet, to the 
coal regions of the Spadra.* 

The best locality for the examination of the Spadra coal, is a few 
hundred yards above the confluence of Spadra creek with the Arkansas 
river, on the property of E. B. Alston. An opening has been made there 
into this coal, a foot or two above low water, where it can be seen under 
a high bank of dark shales and over flagstones, which appear in the bed 
of Spadra creek, with, probably, some intervening fire-clay which could 
not, however, be seen, in consequence of the water that had collected in 
the drift. This coal is three feet thick, including a clay parting of 3 to 4 
inches, one foot from the bottom of the bed. The underlying flagstones, 
in the bed of Spadra, dip from 3 to 5 deg. to the north, in which dip 
the coal is doubtless implicated ; but the state of the opening prevented me 

from making an observa- 
tion for dip in the drift. 

The annexed section 
exhibits the position of 
this coal, and its relation 
with the associate beds. 
On Spadra creek, no- 
thing lower than the up- 
per layers of flagstones 
can be seen ; but on the 
north bank of the Ar- 
kansas river, under E. B. 
Alston's house, the con- 
tinuation of these flag- 
stones can be observed, 
resting on indurated, ar- 
gillaceous shale, with 
hard bands of sandstone, 
extending down to low 
water of that stream,. as 
shown in the lower part 
of the preceding section. 



20 




Dark, argillaceous shale, with scales of mica, 
and containing segregations of an indurated 
material, similar to the matrix. 



10 



Flagstones. 



Three feet coal with clay parting; fireclay? 



Indurated shale. 
Band of sandstone. 

Indurated grey argillaceous shale, with hard 
band. 



* For further remarks on this county, see the Report of the Assistant Geologist. 

9 



130 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



The shale that forms the roof of the coal, is considerably indurated and 
of an argillo-siliceous composition, with disseminated scales of mica, and 
includes segregations of a material not very different from its matrix, but 
harder and heavier. Some obscure stems and long slender leaves or 
glumes of some plant can be discovered, by splitting up the shale ; but 
their specific and even generic characters are difficult to make out. The 
dark shales, forming the roof of this coal, are visible in sections at several 
bends of Spadra creek, for more than a mile above its mouth. From the 
dip of the rock, there is no doubt that this coal could be reached by shafts 
of reasonable depth, sunk in or near the town of Clarksville. 

The character of this coal is worthy of especial notice. The approximate 
chemical analysis here given shows it to be a semi-anthracite, rich in carbon, 
and containing a small proportion of ochre-colored ashes ; with only 8.4 
per cent, of volatile matter, including moisture expelled at 300 deg. of 
Fahrenheit's thermometer. Its specific gravity is 1.335. 

The approximate analysis gives : 

Tr , .., , . o a j Moisture, 0.5 

Volatile matters, 8.4 j y olatile combustible gases, . 7.9 

_, 1 01(1 f Fixed carbon, 85.6 

Coke > yi>b \ Ashes (ochre yellow), ... 6.0 

100.0 100.0 

This coal contains a far higher per centage of fixed carbon than any 
western coal that has ever been analyzed in my laboratory, except some 
coals* which I received from Arkansas some years before the commence- 
ment of the survey. 

In this respect, the Spadra coal resembles the coals of the Shamokin 
basin, of Pennsylvania ; especially the Zerbe's run semi-anthracite ; con- 
taining, in fact, 1.35 per cent, more fixed carbon than that coal, and nearly 
1 per cent, less ashes. Its gaseous matter is chiefly hydrogen, as its 
luminous property is so feeble as hardly to be distinguishable by daylight, 
when this coal is exposed to a red heat in an open spoon. The existence 
of a semi-anthracite coal in the west is the more surprising, since the for- 

* One of the specimens of coal was said to be from White county, and most probably from the 
bed mentioned in the section of that county. It had a specific gravity of 1.39, and gave by analysis: 

Volatile matters, including moisture, 10 

Fixed carbon in coke, ^" 

Ashes, ^ 

100 
Another speciman, said to be from the Petite Jean mountain, yielded : 

Volatile matters, including moisture, 8.5 

Coke, including ashes, 91-5 

100.0 



OF ARKANSAS. 131 



mation in which it occurs is comparatively level, undisturbed, and bear- 
ing little evidence of metamorphism or change by internal heat; while the 
coals of similar composition in Pennsylvania occur, as we are informed 
by Hayes and Rogers, only in coal fields and isolated patches, in the most 
disturbed portions of the Appalachian chain, and are associated with some 
of the boldest flexures and greatest dislocations of the whole coal region 
of that State. The nearest rock of undoubted igneous origin to this coal, 
at present known to me in Arkansas, is situated in Hot Spring county,* 
some sixty miles, in a direct line, south of the Spadra ; yet, here we have 
a coal, possessing all the chemical properties of the semi-anthracites, that 
are usually found in the midst of the most striking evidence of decided 
igneous action. The inference which I draw from these facts, is that, though 
granite and other hypogene (nether-born) rocks do not actually reach the 
surface in Johnson county, as far as at present known, they must be near 
enough the surface to have exerted an igneous action, sufficient to have 
permeated the strata, now found on Spadra creek, with heated vapors or 
gases, that have expelled the greater portion of the gaseous matter ; or 
else this coal has been subject to some extraordinary chemical agency, by 
which carburetted hydrogen has been removed. It is hardly possible that 
the Spadra coal can owe its present composition to any difference in the 
vegetation from which it was originally produced ; since it would be, in that 
case, a strange exception to anything previously observed in the bitumi- 
nous coal fields in any of the States west of the Alleghany mountains. 
But the peculiar fissured structure of the Spadra coal favors the idea, 
that the volatile matter has been expelled by a process more rapid than 
can be attributed to slow chemical changes, unaided by an elevation of 
temperature ; since the escape of the volatile matter by heat causes an 
expansion of the particles, and that severing the coal, gives it a friable 
tendency. The Spadra coal, in common with the semi-anthracites of the 
Shamokin coalfield of Pennsylvania, possesses this peculiar subdivision into 
cuboidal lumps, indicative of a quicker escape of the expansible gases 
than would take place under prolonged chemical evolution. 

This question of a former subterranean igneous action is interesting, not 
only in its relation to the influence it may have exerted upon the coals of 
the Arkansas valley, but also, in its important bearing upon the metalliferous 
character of the underlying geological formations ; since it is a matter of 
experience, that rocks are more apt to be intersected by metallic veins in 
districts adjacent to axes of dislocation ; and these are a frequent accom- 
paniment of subterranean igneous action. 

* It is likely that granite or some other igneous rock may be found in Montgomery county. 



132 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



From the insight obtained into the chemical composition of this coal, by 
an approximate chemical analysis, I am led to believe that the valuable 
properties of this coal have hitherto been overlooked. 

The experiments of Johnson, De la Beche, Playfair, Hayes and Rogers, 
on different coals, as well as the experience in the East, go to prove that, 
though the semi-anthracites may not be the best adapted for some pur- 
poses', they have far higher heating and considerably more reducing powers 
than the best bituminous coals ; and, besides, the semi-anthracites will 
evaporate, in a given time, from 15 to 20 per cent, more pounds of water 
than bituminous coals. It has been shown, moreover, by Hayes and 
Rogers, that the efficiency of the semi-anthracites in these operations is 
due to 'the total amount of carbon that enters into the composition of 
both coke and volatile combustible matter, but principally to the amount 
of fixed carbon to be found in the coke alone ; for it appears that the 
volatile carbon, i. e. the carbon which escapes as gas in the form of 
carburetted hydrogen, contributes but little to the actual heating effect, 
since the greater part of the caloric, generated by the combustion of this 
gas, becomes latent or absorbed by its change of state, from the solid or 
condensed condition in which it exists in the coal, into the elastic gaseous 
form it assumes during combustion. 

Now, the analysis of the Spadra coal proves it to contain 25 to 30 per 
cent, more fixed carbon in the coke than the best bituminous coals* of 
Europe or America; and it even exceeds, by 1.35 per cent, that of the 
richest semi-anthracites of Pennsylvania ; it has 3.83 per cent, more fixed 
carbon in the coke than the celebrated "Parker vein," of George creek 

valley, Maryland. 

Of the forty-three coals reported on by Johnson, in his work on Ameri- 
can coals, the semi-anthracite of Lyken's valley approaches nearest in 
composition to the Spadra coal, as will be seen by comparing the following 

approximate analyses of these two coals : 

Spadra. Lyhens valley. 

Volatile combustible matter, 7.9 6.88 

Fixed carbon, 85 - 6 83 - 84 

Ashes, 6.0 9.25 

The composition of the Spadra coal approaches so nearly to that of the 
Lyken's valley coal of Pennsylvania, that we may assume the practical 

* A sample of Pittsburg coal, analyzed by Johnson, gave 54.93 fixed carbon. A specimen, 
analyzed by Dr. Robert Peter, 65.30 fixed carbon in coke. A specimen of Youghiogheny coal, 
analyzed by myself, gave 60.14 fixed carbon in coke. Johnson's specimen must have been an 
inferior specimen, for the best Pittsburg coals always give a larger per centage of fixed carbon in 
the coke than 54.93. 



OF ARKANSAS. 133 



properties observed by experiments on this coal by Johnson, to be very 
nearly the same as those that would be found in the Spadra coal, if sub- 
jected to the same tests ; I, therefore, subjoin some of the most important 
characters representing the efficiency of that coal, compared with Pitts- 
burg coal ; one of the best known and most generally useful of our western 
bituminous coals. 

While one part of Pittsburg bituminous coal will generate 8.2 pounds 
of steam at a temperature of 212 deg., the same quantity of Lyken's valley 
semi-anthracite, will generate 9.46 pounds of steam at 212 deg. 

While one cubic foot of Pittsburg coal will generate 384 pounds of 
steam, one cubic foot of Lyken's valley semi-anthracite will generate 459 
pounds of steam. 

The reducing power of semi-anthracites is considerably greater than 
that of bituminous coal ; as is shown by the relative amounts of litharge 
reduced to lead by these same coals: 28.89 parts being reduced by Pitts- 
burg coal, while 32.6 are reduced by the same quantity of Lyken's valley 
semi-anthracite. 

The Spadra coal resembles still more closely the Zerbe's run coal of the 
Shamokin coal field of Pennsylvania, as will be seen by the annexed com- 
parative approximate analyses : 

Spadra. Zerbes run. 

Volatile combustible matter, 7.90 7.31 

Fixed carbon, 85.6 84.25 

Ashes, 6.0 6.11 

Hayes and Eogers estimate the water evaporated at 212 deg., by 1 pound 
Zerbe's run coal, at 9.58 pounds. The rate of evaporation per hour, to one 
square foot of grate, is 88.92, while the average for bituminous coal is 70.92 
under the same circumstances. 

The combined evaporative power and speed for the Zerbe's run semi-an- 
thracite are represented by the numbers 4777.4, while taking equal bulks 
of the averages of bituminous coals, under the same circumstances, the 
numbers would be 3456.0. 

These semi-anthracites burn after the manner of the natural coke of 
Virginia, throwing out, when fully ignited, an intense heat, accompanied 
by a blue flame. 

They require, it is true, a tolerably strong draft to bring them into full 
combustion, and, therefore, are perhaps not so suitable for open grates as 
the more inflammable bituminous coals, requiring usually the addition of 
blowers to increase the current of air passing through the grate, until the 



134 



GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



fire is fairly started ; and this is probably the reason why these coals, when 
first introduced into the eastern cities, were rejected as altogether unman- 
ageable and impracticable. Now, even the harder anthracites are in com- 
mon use in Philadelphia and New York for heating apartments, and some- 
times in open grates, with temporary blowers ; and it is now universally 
admitted that, for forges, rolling mills, and blast furnaces for the manufac- 
ture of iron, the semi-anthracites are unsurpassed. 




No. 11— PART OF THE BOSTON MOUNTAIN RANGE, NEWTON COUNTY. 



OF ARKANSAS. 135 



GENERAL SUMMARY, INFERENCES, AND REMARKS IN 

CONCLUSION. 



The three leading formations of the northern counties of Arkansas, west 
of Black river to the Indian boundary, and north of the Arkansas river, 
are: 

First. The millstone grit, with its associate shales, and conglomerate. 

Second. The subcarboniferous limestone, and its associate chert, shales, 
and sandstones. 

Third. The magnesian limestones, and their associate sandstones, cal- 
ciferous sandrocks, and chert, belonging to the lower silurian period. 

The formation known in Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee, under the 
name of the knob sandstone, is absent, or only very obscurely represented. 
It is doubtful, too, whether the grey and black bituminous shales and 
slates, belonging to the devonian period, are to be found in Arkansas. 
There are a few encrinital and variegated limestones and associated chert, 
which intervene between the magnesian limestones of lower silurian date 
and the subcarboniferous chert and limestones ; these may belong to the 
devonian era, but, as yet, I have no positive evidence to decide fully this 
question. 

No rocks have yet come under observation which I have been able to 
refer unequivocally to the upper silurian period, such as occur in Jefferson 
county, Kentucky 1 , Clarke county, Indiana, and elsewhere in these State-. 
under the coralline beds of the falls of the Ohio. 

East of Black river, in Greene, Poinsett, and Randolph counties, inco- 
herent sands, loose and cemented gravel, and clays of quaternary date, 
prevail. 

No crystalline* or hypogene rocks, i. e., no rocks which have been 
protruded from beneath, as mountain masses, dykes, or veins, possessing 
the structure of granite or syenite, have been observed, as yet, by the 



* A red granite is reported on Spavinaw creek, near the Cherokee line. Whether this be correct 
information, I am, at present, unable to say, as I have not examined the locality. 



130 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 

geological corps, north of the Arkansas river : i. e., in the part of the State 
on which I am noiv reporting. 

Arkansas is destined, I believe, to take the lead of all the Western 
States, in her resources in ores of zinc and manganese. 

The magnesian limestone, belonging to the lower Silurian period, seems 
to be the great repository of the zinc ore, of which there are three princi- 
pal varieties : the pure carbonate of zinc — the calamine or smithsonite of 
mineralogists — the silicate of zinc or electric calamine — and the sulphuret 
of zinc or blende (black-jack of the miner). 

The analyses of these ores prove them to be at least as rich as, if not 
richer and purer than, the zinc ores of the most noted localities in Europe ; 
and there is no reason why they should not be worked with profit to the 
miner and smelter, as well as with benefit to the State of Arkansas in 
particular, and to the United States in general. 

The manganese ores have, chiefly, been found in the cavernous sub- 
carboniferous limestones. These ores appear to be very abundant. A 
compact variety, allied to psilomelane, is the kind which I found most 
common on the surface, but there are other softer varieties, which have 
proved, on analysis, to compare favorably with those of Thuringia, the 
most celebrated European locality. 

Arkansas promises, also, to aftbrd considerable lead ore, which occurs 
both in the magnesian limestones of lower silurian date, and in the sub- 
carboniferous limestones ; also in the slates of the base of the millstone 
grit, where these border on the confines of the granite region of Pulaski 
county. 

The lead ore in this latter position is rich in silver, probably more so 
than the argentiferous galenas of Europe, which have been wrought to 
any extent. The only ore, which has been cupelled in my laboratory, 
that surpasses it in the per eentage of contained silver, is some of the 
steel-grey, finely crystalline argentiferous galena from Villeport, near 
Lozere, in France. 

Fragments of a porous lead ore, picked up among the rubbish at the 
mouth of one of the shafts in Pulaski county, yielded by cupellation from 
the reduced lead, at the rate of 224 ounces from the ton of 2,000 pounds ; 
and a specimen of a bright, steel-grey ore, finely crystalline in its struc- 
ture, from the same mines, obtained in Little Rock, gave as much as 339.2 
ounces to the ton of 2,000 pounds. 

The cherty limestone, which underlies the barrens and prairies of the 
north-west part of the State, promises to afford rich deposits of lead ore, as 
the geological formation is a complete counterpart of that around the 
already famous lead mines of Granby, in -Newton county, Missouri. 



OF ARKANSAS. 137 



The lead region in the lower magnesian limestones, bears more of the 
character of those in Taney county, Missouri. 

Iron ore promises to be abundant in all the three leading formations; 
especially in Pope, Pulaski, Randolph, Lawrence, Madison, Washington, 
and Benton. 

Near the junction of the subcarboniferous limestones and the saccharoi- 
dal sandstone, overlying the lower magnesian limestones, there are encri- 
nital, mottled, and variegated limestones, which take a good polish, and 
will make, at many localities, a fine marble rock, particularly near the cor- 
ner of Carroll, Newton, and Searcy counties. 

The best and thickest coal, which I have yet seen in Arkansas, is the 
Spadra coal of Johnson county. It is a semi-anthracite, even richer in 
fixed carbon than the celebrated Zerbe's run coal of the Shamokin coal 
field of Pennsylvania, and is superior, for manufacturing purposes, to any 
western coal at present known, where durability, intense heat and reduc- 
tion are required. Its thickness is three feet. It crops out close to the 
Arkansas river above the mouth of Spadra creek, and extends back into 
the interior of Johnson county. 

During the geological survey of Northern Arkansas, I have been strongly 
impressed with two facts : one is the vast extent, both vertically and super- 
ficially, of the millstone grits and the associate shales. There are eight 
whole counties that are already known to be almost entirely occupied by 
this formation ; besides a large portion of six other counties ; the other is 
the immense quantity of silex, in the shape of chert, buhrstone, and chal- 
cedonic flint, irregularly mixed and segregated amongst the rocks, espe- 
cially the limestones ; or diffused as quartz, in veins, amongst the sand- 
stones. I have travelled for days and weeks upon these siliceous forma- 
tions, both amongst the rocks of subcarboniferous and lower silurian date. 

It remains for me to define approximately the general boundary between 
the millstone grit and the subcarboniferous limestones, since it is north 
and west of that line that the lead and zinc ores are accessible for mining, 
within reasonable depths, excepting, indeed, those deposits in Pulaski 
county which border on the region of the igneous rocks. 

Commencing on White river, on Shield's bluff, where the old Cherokee 
boundary line strikes that stream, it runs nearly west, through the south- 
ern tier of townships in Izard county ; thence, it preserves the same wes- 
terly course through the northern tier of townships, in Van Buren county, 
bearing more to the north-west ; thence it meanders with the highest ranges 
of the Boston mountain, in the southern part of Newton and the central 
part of Madison county, towards Fayetteville, in Washington county ; 



|38 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



thence diverging to the south, it reaches the Indian boundary line, in the 
south-west corner of that county. 

Its southern limits cannot yet be defined, since this formation extends 
south of the Arkansas river, beyond the range of our present geological 

reconnoissance. 

All the accessible veins and deposits of lead, zinc, and manganese ores, 
at present known, are situated to the north of this line ; they doubtless 
extend beneath a portion of the area occupied by the millstone grit ; but, 
probably, are too deeply seated in the midst of the high mountainous dis- 
trict, south of this line, to be reached by the miner, except near the valley 
of the Arkansas river in Pulaski county. 

The coal beds interstratified amongst the beds of the millstone grit, are 
too thin to be worked profitably by drifts. 

Where the porous sandstones of the millstone grit form synclinal troughs 
under the drainage of the country, there are favorable positions for reach- 
ing productive brines by boring. Several of these saline troughs seem to 
exist, six to twelve miles north of the Arkansas river, in Crawford, Frank- 
lin, Johnson, and Conway counties. 

Large quantities of iron are disseminated amongst the beds of the mill- 
stone grit,'; when associated with the sandstones of that formation, it is 
generally too sandy to be smelted with profit and advantage ; but the under- 
lying ferruginous shale in many places offers encouragement for the search 
of the iron manufacturer, as for instance, at the Dwight Old Mission, in 
Pope county ; on War Eagle, in Madison county; and the centre of Wash- 
ington county. The bog iron ore of Pulaski county, 8 miles north-east of 
Little Rock, promises to be sufficiently extensive to supply a furnace, ac- 
cording to the report of the Assistant Geologist. 

The time allotted for working up and reporting on the materials which 
have been collected during the field work of this and the preceding season, 
has been too short to admit of the full digest, due consideration, and minute 
analysis of all the subjects and specimens now on record, and in the office 
of the Arkansas survey ; we have, in fact, only been able to make a com- 
mencement towards a thorough investigation of even the resources now 
within our reach. If the means are provided, we hope, hereafter to be able 
to complete this important, interesting, and useful work, begun under such 
favorable auspices. 

If the survey is continued, it would be desirable to put at least three 
corps in the field, in order to carry forward the work as rapidly as possi- 
ble. For that purpose, the geological appropriation should be equal to 
that in Missouri ; that is, twelve thousand dollars ($12,000) per annum. 



OF ARKANSAS. 139 



With this amount, the geological reconnoissance of the rest of the State 
could be completed in the next two years, and considerable progress made, 
at the same time, towards surveying the mineral districts in detail. 

As one of the great ulterior objects of the geological survey of the State, 
is the construction of a geological map, in which the areas of the geolo- 
gical formations can be distinctly laid down, and their boundaries accu- 
rately defined, it will become necessary, particularly through the country 
bordering on the confines of two geological formations, as well as in the 
mineral districts, to define the ridges, hills, and mountain ranges, on sec- 
tional maps, since the limits of formations often conform to, and are inti- 
mately connected with, the relief and topography of the country. The 
law authorizing a geological survey of the State, in detail, should, there- 
fore, provide that the geologist have access to all sectional, county, and 
other maps, records and profiles of railroads and other surveys, so as to 
afford him every facility in laying down such topographical and geo- 
graphical details, as may be necessary for the accurate exhibition of the 
geology of the State. It may become necessary, too, at the same time, to 
run a judicious system of levels in connection with lines of odometer mea- 
surements over parts of the country, in order to define with accuracy the 
elements of dip, the thickness of the formations and their individual mem- 
bers, and to form a basis of calculation for identifying equivalent beds, 
estimating the depth or height at which any known bed of coal, iron ore, 
or other valuable mineral deposit, can be found, when concealed by debris, 
or carried by the inclination of the strata beneath the water courses. 

This can all be done if adequate means, are furnished, and it is only by 
the adoption of such a system of operations, that a complete detailed sur- 
vey of the State can be made. 

I may add, in this connection, that, without exceeding the appropriation 
above named, and with very little additional expense over and above 
what must necessarily be expended, otherwise, in the various geological 
departments, a botanical survey of the State could be instituted, if con- 
sidered advisable, without organizing a corps for that branch alone ; and 
many useful items could, in the same way, be gathered in other depart- 
ments of the natural history of the State of Arkansas. 

The chemical department is already well organized, so that, if the con- 
tinuance of the survey be provided for, the chemical work can be carried 
forward, with despatch, upon the same plan as heretofore provided for. 

In carrying out such an important work as this, the palseontological 
department must, of course, not be neglected; that is, the collection of 
the organic remains or fossils of the different rocks, and the ultimate 
determination of their generic and specific characters; in fact, without 



140 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



attention to this, the geologist would dispense with one of his principal 
aids in drawing important practical inferences and proofs corroborative of 
his assertions. This branch of the survey might appear to some, without 
due reflection, a matter of little importance ; but when we consider that 
it is the surest and safest guide to the identification of all the formations 
of sedimentary origin, and even of the individual members of such for- 
mations, as for instance, the beds of coal, we discover that it is the index, 
the criterion, the sign, the " divining rod," if I may so express it, which is 
to lead the geologist in his search after mineral wealth. 

I cannot present the practical importance, as well as the interest con- 
nected with the study of these relics of bygone ages, in a stronger light 
than by inserting here an extract from my report of the surveys made in 
behalf of the United States, some years since, in the North-west. 

" The study of the organic remains of rocks is, indeed, a most beautiful, a 
most fascinating research. What can be more extraordinary: that we, 
the generation of the nineteenth century, should exhume from out the 
hard substance of the solid rocks, the delicate forms of organic beings of 
bygone ages, and display to the wondering eye of the naturalist, even 
their minute anatomical details ? And this, not alone of races which 
inhabited this earth in times immediately preceding the human epoch; we 
are even permitted to contemplate, and restore to our perceptions, the 
very fishes, mollusks, and corals, that swarmed in the carboniferous seas 
millions of ages ago. The animal matter composing their tissues and 
bones is indeed gone, but the simultaneous mineral infiltrations preserve 
a perfect counterpart. We can depict those remarkable and elegant forms 
of vegetation which constituted the forests, that fringed the shores of that 
same treacherous and overwhelming ocean. We seize them in the very 
act of uncoiling their frond, and unfold to the admiring gaze of the 
botanist, that luxuriant canopy of foliage that once waved in the sea- 
breeze nurturing their stems. We accomplish even more than this : we 
can read the records of myriads of the lower orders of animals, that date 
their existence yet further back than the times that gave growth to trees, 
now stored up as mineral fuel in the bowels of the earth — to times at least 
as long prior to the coal formation, as that geological era is antecedent to 
the present time ; we can assign to each its place in the zoological systems, 
and fill up the gaps in the existing orders of the animal and vegetable 
kingdoms. 

" To think that we, at this day, can demonstrate the structure of the eye 
of some of these — the most ancient races — and even count the lenses by 
which light was concentrated to the optic nerve, is truly astonishing ! Is 



OF ARKANSAS. \i \ 



it then surprising that it should engage the attention of the closet philoso- 
pher, and awaken the enthusiasm of the enterprising explorer? 

"But palaeontology is not a study of mere curious, scientific inquiry ; it has 
also its practical inferences, and these of the most important character, 
with their direct matter-of-fact bearings. In illustration of this view of 
the subject, permit me, in this connection, to direct the attention of the 
reader to Figs. 1, 5, and 6, of Table IV.* The fossil corals represented 
in these engravings, are found imbedded in the subcarboniferous lime- 
stones, and near the top of the series ; always under the true productive 
coal-bearing beds ; never above these, or included in them ; and nowhere 
else. This geological fact holds good, not only in Iowa, but through the 
entire range of the subcarboniferous limestones in Indiana, Illinois, Ken- 
tucky, and Tennessee. In not a single instance, from the range of the 
Cumberland mountains, on the east, to the interior of Iowa, on the west, 
has a workable bed of coal been discovered in a position beneath the 
strata of limestone containing these corals. In these organic remains, 
then, we find the surest, the most unerring guide in the search after this 
valuable article of commerce, that warms our houses, that drives our 
steam engines, by which we navigate our rivers, lakes, and oceans ; that 
propels the machinery by which we weave our fabrics ; that reduces our 
iron, by which we cultivate our soil, and carry on every conceivable 
mechanical operation ; that refines our metals, that contributes to the pro- 
duction of both the necessaries and luxuries of life, and by which we 
transmit intelligence with the swiftness of lightning, to stations the most 
remote. .Without the knowledge of this fact, millions of dollars might be 
expended — have been expended — in fruitless and hopeless mining opera- 
tions after geological incompatibilities. 

" All the figures on Table V, A and B,* are equally persistent in their 
undeviating geological position, quite below the productive coal measures, 
as well as beneath these same coral-bearing beds. 

"In stratigraphical palaeontology we have, then, the safest and the most 
trustworthy index to direct our explorations after mineral treasures in the 
fossiliferous strata." 



* See Geological Report of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota, 1852. 



CHEMICAL REPORT 



OF THE 



ORES, ROCKS, AND MINERAL WATERS 



OF 



ARKANSAS. 



BY 



WILLIAM ELDERHORST, M.D., 

CHEMICAL ASSISTANT TO THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



SAMUEL HUBBARD SCUDDER COLLECTION, 

BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY, 

WILLIAMS COLLEGE. 



INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 



Chemical Laboratory of tfje Geological Survey, 

New Harmony, Indiana, September, 1858, 
Dr. David Dale Ovvex, 

State Geologist of Arkansas: 

Sir— In conformity with your instructions, I herewith transmit to you 
the Chemical Report of the Geological Survey of Arkansas, containing 
the chemical analyses of such ores, rocks, etc., as you deemed most impor- 
tant for incorporation into this volume. 

The analyses have all been performed in the chemical laboratory of the 
survey, with the exception of the qualitative examinations of the natural 
waters, which were executed in the field. Among the valuable mineral 
productions, in which the northern counties of Arkansas abound, special 
attention has been paid to the ores of zinc. Specimens of the ores from 
all the principal localities which were visited by us in the first field excur- 
sion in the fall of 1857, have been subjected to analysis, and I should not 
neglect to state, that I have endeavored, by a careful selection of average 
specimens, to give to those, more directly interested in those mines, a 
correct idea of the average value of these ores. I am happy to say, that 
the results of my examinations even surpass the favorable opinion which I 
formed of their value in the field; and there remains no doubt, in my 
opinion, that with judicious management, the working of these mines 
and smelting of the ores, extracted therefrom, will prove not only very 
remunerative to the enterprising miner and smelter, but highly beneficial 
to that portion of the state in which these mines are situated. Much, 
however, remains yet to be done with regard to the development of the 
mineral riches of these counties: analyses ought to be made of the differ- 
ent kinds of ore taken from the old mines, as well as of specimens from 
the newly discovered mines*; all the rocks associated with the ores, ought 

•Mr. E. J. Cox collected specimens of ore from new localities during the field-excursion in 
arrived^' ' S ° me unaccounUlble «*son, the boxes containing them, ha?e notyet 

1G 



-i ig GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



to be carefully examined (the analyses of a few of them you will find 
detailed on p. 17G, etc.), in order to establish a rational connexion between 
the general geological features of the country and the mineral deposits, 
and to discover, if possible, the hidden cause which occasioned the for- 
mation of such extensive deposits, and exercised so powerful a pseudo- 
morphic action as is evidenced in that part of the state. 

I beg leave to call your attention, in the next place, to the analyses of 
the ores of manganese. You will perceive, by a glance at the table on 
p. 1GG, that the analytical results here are also very favorable; the ores 
are valuable to the bleacher, the paper and the glass manufacturer, and 
I confidently believe, that by pursuing a rational system of mining, and 
examining carefully the neighborhood of the veins on Laflerty creek, an 
ore still more valuable, the "pyrolusite" of the mineralogists will be dis- 
covered, an opinion based on the observation: that the last mentioned 
mineral almost invariably occurs associated with psilomelane and brau- 
nite, the minerals already found. I have endeavored, on p. 167, etc., to 
establish rational formulas for the composition of these ores, in the expec- 
tation of throwing some light on the mutual chemical relation which the 
various, so closely connected minerals, bear towards each other; I hope 
that the continuance of the survey may enable me, by an additional series of 
analyses, to draw some general conclusions as to their formation, mutual 
relation, and probable origin. 

As to the remaining portion of my Report, no further remarks appear 
necessary: the analyses speak for themselves. 

The reasons which prompted me to append a chapter on the " methods 
of analysis," I have given below. 

All which is respectfully submitted, 

WILLIAM ELDERHORST, 

Chemical Assistant. 






OEES OF ZINC. 



0- 



The ores from two counties only have as yet been subjected to analy- 
sis, \iz: those from Lawrence county and Marion county; [one from Inde- 
pendence county, see "Appendix."] 

A-— ORES OF ZINC FROM LAWRENCE COUNTY. 

Ores, containing zinc, especially in the shape of carbonate of zinc, have 
been found at numerous localities in this county. The richest diggings 
are situated in the vicinity of Calamine, and at the time of our visit, the 
deepest excavations had been made at the localities, designated, respec- 
tively, as the Hoppe mine, Bath mine, and Koch mine. Specimens of the 
ore taken from these three mines, were subjected to analysis. The ore 
occurs in cavities (pockets and veins) in dolomite, and in most cases, is 
found imbedded in a stiff, red, feruginous clay. Both, the dolomite and 
he clay, contain small quantities of zinc, (compare analyses Nos. 32, 34 
and 35.) In some cases, however, the ore is closely connected with the 
dolomite, either adhering to its surface, or filling small cavities in the 
rock, or traversing the dolomite in small veins, rarely more than a quarter 
of an inch in diameter. 

A. — Ore from the Hoppe mine. 

By far the greater quantity of the ore found at this mine, is a massive, 
amorphous, hydrous carbonate of zinc, of pale grayish-yellow color; 
soft; breaks easily; powder of a pale cream color; small pieces dissolve 
readily in dilute hydrochloric acid, with effervescence. The composition 
of this mineral is given below, No. 1; the analysis may be considered to 



148 



GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



represent the composition of a fair average-specimen of the whole of the 
ore brought out from this mine. The ore No. 1, contains, occasionally, 
cavities in which small yellow crystals of blende (sulphuret of zinc) are 

found. 

Although of comparatively rare occurrence at this locality, large 

crystals of blende are occasionally met with, sometimes imbedded in dolo- 
mite and surrounded by masses of flesh-colored, crystallized smithsonite, 
(carbonate of zinc), and pearlspar. Crystals of smithsonite are abundant; 
they are either found in the small veins traversing the dolomite (No. 32), 
or forming the outer layer of irregular masses of ore, imbedded in red 
clay; the crystals are of pale yellow, pale red, or flesh-color, rough on the 
exterior, frequently possessing curved faces. A few hand-specimens pre- 
sented the appearance of a brecciated rock; here, angular fragments of a 
light reddish-gray, very close-textured dolomite (?) of splintery fracture, 
were imbedded in a matrix of greenish-gray, coarser grained dolomite, 
intermixed with flesh-colored crystals of smithsonite. 

The great mass of the ore occurs imbedded in red, feruginous clay, in 
more or less rounded, irregular pieces. These pieces frequently consist 
of three distinct layers: the outer one is formed of well-developed crys- 
tals of pure smithsonite; then follows a layer of amorphous smithsonite, 
possessing the physical properties of the above described ore, No. 1, which 
passes gradually into a very soft amorphous mass of the composition 
given in No. 2, and which is nothing but the same mineral constituting 
the second layer, intermixed with some clay and other impurities. Its 
color is from cream-color to brownish-yellow; it is easily scraped with a 
knife, yielding a cream-colored powder. 

No. 1. Massive, amorphous, carbonate of zinc. 

Composition dried at 230 deg. F: 

Clay, and silicia '• 18.805 

Carbonate of zinc 75.474 

« « lime 0.364 



" mncrnfisia. trace 



" " magnesia 



Peroxide of iron, and alumina 1.771 

Water, and loss 3 - 586 

100.000 
The air-dried ore lost 0.69 per cent, of moisture at 230 deg. F. 
The carbonic acid in the carbonates of zinc and lime amounts to 26.685 
per cent.; a separate experiment, on treating the pulverized mineral with 
hydrochloric acid in a carbonic acid apparatus, gave 26.881 per cent. 
Some of the iron was probably in the state of proto-carbonate. 



OF ARKANSAS. J49 



75.474 per eent. of carbonate of zinc, are equal to 48.95 per cent, of 
oxide of zinc, or to 39.30 per cent, of metallic zinc. 

No. 2. Same as No. 1, impure. 
Composition, dried at 230 deg. F: 

Clay, and silica 31.0G9 

Carbonate of zinc 51.111 

" " lime 8.114 

" " magnesia 4.417 

Peroxide of iron, with traces of alumina and 

manganese 4.800 

99.191 
The air-dried mineral lost 1.29 per cent, of moisture at 230 deg. F. 
51.111 per cent, of carbonate of zinc are equal to 33.149 per cent, of 
oxide of zinc, or to 26.60 per cent, of metallic zinc. 

B. — Ore from the Bath mine. 

The prevailing ore at this locality is a massive, brownish-yellow, cellular 
smithsonite; the cavities are clad out with botryoidal incrustations of 
grayish-white smithsonite, and occasional buff-colored crystals of the same 
mineral. The surface of the ore is covered with a thin crust of yellowish- 
red clay. Several pieces of the ore were crushed, well mixed, and from 
the mixture two samples taken for analysis, (No. 3 and No. 4). 

At this mine occurs also the light-colored, soft variety of carbonate of 
zinc, partly amorphous, partly sub-crystalline, pieces of about a cubic 
inch of which are cemented together by the dark brownish-gray or 
brownish-yellow cellular smithsonite above described; the dark-gray cel- 
lular masses often consist of concentric layers, the outer layers being gen- 
erally of a much lighter color, and contain occasionally crystals of brown 
blende. 

The dolomite containing the ore at this locality, abounds with small 
veins of pearlspar, and with amygdaloidal cavities, sometimes an inch 
wide and two and a half inches long, which are filled with crystals of 
pearlspar and blende. 

No. 3. Brownish-yellow, cellular, smithsonite. 
Composition, dried at 250 deg. F: 

Clay, and silica 8.831 

Carbonate of zinc 86.490 

" " lime 0.742 

" " magnesia trace 



^50 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 

Alumina, sesquioxides of iron and manganese, 4.389 

Oxide of lead trace 

" " copper trace 

100.452 
The air-dried ore lost 0.50 per cent, of moisture at 250 deg. F. 
8G.49 per cent, of carbonate of zinc are equal to 5G.099 per cent, of 
oxide of zinc, or to 45.045 per cent, of metallic zinc. 

No. 4. Same as No. 3; different specimen. 

The analysis of this sample was executed 'by igniting the ore, and 
extracting the oxide of zinc with a mixture of ammonia and carbonate of 
ammonia, (compare " methods of analysis," below.) 

Composition of air-dried ore: 

Carbonic acid and water 32.150 

Silica, clay, iron, lime, etc 14.519 

Oxide of zinc 53.331 

100.000 
53.331 per cent, of oxide of zinc are equal to 42.822 per cent, of me- 
tallic zinc. 

The residue, left after the treatment with ammonia, etc., and which 
consists essentially of clay, was found, on examination, to contain some 
oxide of zinc, showing that a small portion of this oxide must exist in the 
ore in combination with silica, forming silicate of zinc, a compound 
insoluble in ammonia. On comparing analysis No. 4 with No. 3, it 
appears that about 3 per cent, of oxide of zinc are combined with silica. 

C. — Ore from the Koch mine. 

The principal ore from this mine is a cellular, subcrystalline mass of 
brownish-white and grayish-white color; within the cavities, the surface of 
the smithsonite is botryoidal and usually covered with a very thin layer of 
red clay; this mineral is intimately associated and intermixed with an 
amorphous, grayish-yellow, massive variety of carbonate of zinc, resem- 
bling ore No. 1, from the Hoppe mine. Its powder has a pale cream 
color. 

Three different specimens of this ore were analyzed; of the first speci- 
men a complete analysis was made, showing the total amount of oxide of 
zinc present, and the quantitative relation of the impurities. The other 
two specimens were analyzed after the method employed for No. 4, show- 
ing only the amount of oxide of zinc that is contained in the ore in the 
state of carbonate or hydrate. 



OF ARKANSAS. J5J 



No. 5. Brownish-white, cellular araithsonite. 

Composition, dried at 250 clog. F: 

Silica 0.501 

Oxide of zinc Gl .753 

Peroxide of iron 0.552 

Alumina 0.097 

Lime 1.338 

Magnesia trace. 

Carbonic acid, water, and loss 35.759 



100.000 
The air-dried ore lost 0.14 per cent, of moisture at 250 deg. F. 
61.753 per cent, of oxide of zinc are equal to 49.59 per cent of metallic 
zinc. 

No. G. Same as No. 5; different specimen. 

Composition of air-dried ore: 

Carbonic acid and water 35.911 

Insoluble residue (silica, iron, lime, etc.,)- • • • G.839 

Oxide of zinc 57.250 

100.000 

No. 7. Same as No. 5; different specimen. 

Composition of air-dried ore: 

Carbonic acid and water 35.267 

Insoluble residue (silica, iron, lime, etc,.)- • • • 8.298 

Oxide of zinc 56.445 

fcoo.ooo 

The mean of analyses Nos. 6 and 7, shows 56.847 per cent, of oxide 
of zinc, combined with carbonic acid or water, which is equal to 45.65 per 
cent, of metallic zinc. In both cases, the residue from the treatment with 
ammonia, was found to contain zinc, whence the presence of a small 
quantity of silicate of zinc may be inferred. 

B— ORES OF ZINC FROM MARION COUNTY. 

In this county, the only locality from which specimens of ores of zinc 
were obtained, is known as " Wood"s mine,'' situated, section 13, township 
19 north, range 17 west, on the west branch of George creek. The ore 
occurs here, as in Lawrence county, in pockets or veins in dolomite (the 
analysis of which is given in No. 34,) and is in most cases found imbedded 



152 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 

in ferruginous clay. The most valuable ore is a compact, cellular, sub- 
crystalline smithsonite, of brownish-white and grayish-white color, surface 
botryoidal, resembling, in its general appearance, the principal ore from 
the Koch mine, (analysis No. 5); the cavities are partially filled with clay. 
The subjoined analysis, No. 8, represents the composition of this ore. 
The sample has been carefully selected, so as to approach as near as 
possible to the composition of a fair average-specimen. 

Well developed crystals of smithsonite, abundant in the mines of Law- 
rence county, appear to be entirely wanting, as are also the thin veins of 
pearlspar, traversing the dolomite. In their stead, the dolomite is frequently 
found incrusted with a compact mass of a pale brownish-white, or 
greenish-white carbonate of zinc, with botryoidal surface, consisting of a 
succession of concentric layers, the whole deposit having sometimes a 
thickness of upwards of half an inch. Its hardness is between 4 and 5; 
streak white; translucent; brittle; fracture splintery; heated in a glass-tube, 
closed at one end, gives no water, but turns opaque and yellow, after 
cooling opaque and white; on charcoal before the blowpipe, gives the 
reactions of oxide of zinc. Its composition is given in No. 9. Interven- 
ing between this mineral and the dolomite, a thin layer of crystallized 
quartz, of brownish color, is frequently met with; the quartz in the sub- 
joined analysis (No. 9), is probably derived from an intermixture of this 
layer with the carbonate of zinc. 

No. 8. Brownish-white, cellular, smithsonite. 

Composition, dried at 212 deg. F: 

Clay, sand, and silica 7.523 

Oxide of zinc 59.770 

Peroxide of iron, with trace of manganese- • 3.507 

Oxide of cadmium 0.486 

" " lead 0.066 

" " copper trace 

Lime 0.466 

Magnesia trace 

Carbonic acid, water, and loss 28.182 

100.000 
The air-dried ore lost 1.84 per cent, of moisture at 212 deg. P. 
59.77 percent, of oxide of zinc are equal to 47.97 per cent, of metallic 
zinc. 

The iron has been represented as peroxide, because the greater part of 



OF ARKANSAS. J 53 

it has certainly been derived from the red clay, filling the cavities of the 



ore. 



No. 9. Compact smithsonite, incrusting dolomite. 
Composition, dried at 212 deg. F: 

°- uartz 1.512 

Oxide of zinc Gr , 907 

" iron trace 

Lime ; 1.067 

Magnesia trace 

Carbonic acid, and loss 31.454 



100.000 
The air-dried mineral lost 0.1 1G per cent, of moisture at 212 deg. F. 
From the high per centage of oxide of zinc in this mineral, it would 
appear to be a basic carbonate of zinc, but as no direct carbonic acid 
determination was made, it is not, at present, possible to construct a for- 
mula for its composition. 

Rounded pieces of dark-gray, subcrystalline dolomite appear, sometimes, 
as if cemented by carbonate of zinc, which surrounds the fragments in 
concentric, incrusting layers. The carbonate of zinc is of grayish, brown- 
ish, or reddish color; between its layers, but mostly between the dolomite 
and the carbonate of zinc, a white mineral is occasionally observed, whose 
properties and composition are given in No. 10. 

No. 10. Maiuonite, a new hydrous carbonate of zinc. 

Occurs in concentric and contorted lamina?, also, in botryoidal and mam- 
milated incrustations; amorphous; earthy; color milk-white; hardness 2.5; 
easily reduced to powder; powder milk-white. 

Dissolves readily, and completely, in cold dilute hydrochloric acid, with 
effervescence; also, when pulverized, in ammonia; in both solutions, sul- 
phydrate of ammonia produces a white precipitate. Heated in a matrass, 
yields water and turns yellow; heated before the blowpipe with a solution 
of nitrate of cobalt, assumes a bright green color; on charcoal, behaves like 
oxide of zinc. 

On being ignited in a platina capsule, the mineral lost 26.818 per cent; 
the residue, dissolved in hydrochloric acid, and the solution precipitated 
with carbonate of soda, gave 73.262 per cent, of oxide of zinc. 

Carbonic acid and water 26.818 

Oxide of zinc 73.262 

100.080 



154 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



The water was determined by heating the mineral in a small glass 
retort, the neck of which was connected with a chloride of calcium tube. 
The experiment gave 11.808 per cent, of water; this deducted from the 
total loss by ignition gives the carbonic acid; hence, the composition is: 

Oxide of zinc 73.202 

Water 11-808 

Carbonic acid 15.010 

100.080 

The only mineral known consisting of oxide of zinc, carbonic acid, 
and water, is Smithson's " zinc-bloom," for which the formula 
3 ZnO.C0 2 -j-3 HO has been constructed. This formula requires: * 

Found by Smithson. 

Oxide of zinc 71.28 69.38 

Carbonic acid 12.89 13.50 

ater 15.83 15.10 

100.00 97.98 

Yon Kobell § constructed for this mineral the formula 
3 [2 ZnO.C0 2 ]-j-2 [Zn0.3HO], which does not agree with Smithson's 
analysis, and which, therefore, cannot be considered as expressing the 
composition of zinc-bloom. But Von Kobell's formula agrees very well 
with the analytical results obtained by me for the above-described mineral, 
which has to be considered a new species, or at least a new variety of 
zinc-bloom, and for which 1 propose the name of " Marionite." f 

In 100 Found 

8 Zn O 324.24 72.99 73.2G2 

3 CO 2 66.00 14.86 15.010 

6 HO 54.00 12.15 11.808 



444.24 100.00 100.080 

Blende (sulphuret of zinc), occurs abundantly at Wood's mine. It is 
mostly of dark brown color, and large crystals are frequently found 
cemented by irregular masses of impure smithsonite. In some specimens 
the blende presents a cellular appearance, as if acted upon by a dissolv- 
ing liquid; the cavities are generally coated with a layer of minutely crys- 
talline carbonate of zinc, of gray or reddish color. 

* v. Dana's mineralogy, 4th ed. p. 400. 
§ v. i; , ■ Handworterbuch, etc., vol. 2, p. 205. 

Want of material prevented a repetition of the analysis. 






OF ARKANSAS. | *JK 



The blende is very pure, though occasionally small particles of iron 
pyrites and copper pyrites are visible. Fragments of a large crystal, of 
brownish-yellow color, were found, on examination, to be pure sulphur, t 
of zinc, with only 0.47 per cent, of sulphuret of cadmium, and a trace of 
copper. The qualitative examination of another specimen showed the 
presence of a small amount of cadmium, with traces of copper and iron. 



-o- 



The subjoined table will furnish a comprehensive view of the composi- 
tion of the ores from the various localities; the numbers in the column 
"carbonic acid and water," have mostly been obtained by subtracting from 
100 the sum of the directly determined constituents. Thinking it a mat- 
ter of some interest, to compare the ores of Arkansas with those of other 
countries, I have added a few analyses of the ores of Upper Silesia, where 
about one-half of all the manufactured zinc is produced, and some other 
localities, and it will be seen, on comparison, that the Arkansas ores are 
inferior to none, and superior even to the famous Silesian ores. 

1 to 9 correspond to Nos. 1 to 9 of the Report; 10, analysis of a 
white compact smithsonite from the " Planet-Grube," near Tarnowitz, 
Upper Silesia; 11, analysis of a compact smithsonite from the "Marie 
Grube," near Miechowitz, Upper Silesia; 12, analysis of a red compact 
smithsonite from same locality; 13, analysis of a white compact smith- 
sonite from the " Scharley-Grube," near Beuthcn, Upper Silesia; 11. ana- 
lysis of a red compact smithsonite from Polonia; 15, analysis of a compact, 
brownish, smithsonite from the " Busbacher Berg," near Aachen, Prussia; 
1G, 17, and 18, crystallized smithsonites from Altenberg, near Aachen; 19 
and 20, crystallized, green smithsonite from the " Herrenberg," near 
Aachen; 21, crystallized smithsonite from Moresnct, Belgium. 10 to 14 
have been analyzed by G. Yon Gellhorn, \Chcm. pharm. CentralMatt, 
1853]; 15 to 20 by Monheim, [Che/n. pharm. Ctntralblatt, 1850, and Dana, 
system of mineralogy, '4th cd.]: 21, by Schmidt, [Rammelsberg, 5th supple- 
ment.] 



156 



GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 





Oxide of 

zinc. 


Carbonic 

acid and 

water. 


Silica and 
insoluble 
silicates. 






Peroxide 
of iron. 


Alumina, 
lime, mag- 
nesia, etc. 




v. j 


v t j 


^ 


j 


V 




S v^_ 


-^s J 




48-950 


30-271 


18-805 








— v 


1 




V 

1-974 




2 


33-149 


23-612 


31-069 






11-361 




3 


50-099 
53-331 
01-753 


30-717 
32-150 
35-759 


8-831 






• 


4-805 


j 


4 


0-501 






V " 
14-519 




, j 


5 




1-987 






57-250 


35-911 


^ 










j 


C 








Y 

6-839 






7 


50-445 


39 - 267 








8 • 298 






8 


59 - 770 


28-182 


7-523 






3-507 




1-018 


9 


05-907 
49-77 


31-451 
31-22 


1-512 

v. 






trace 




1-067 


10 








20-48 






11 


27-02 


26-63 


10-58 






10-80 




19-79 


12 


39-15 


30-36 


0-35 






17-40 




12-74 


13 


42-12 

48-07 


30-35 
33-49 


8-42 
v 






1-49 




17-60 

j 


14 








Y 

18-03 






15 


00-97 
39-11 


10-32 


18-79 






9-52 




1-67 

* 


1G 






02 - 00 








17 


30-22 






62 


28 








18 


55-04 






44 


54 








19 


55-59 






45 


56 








20 


48-23 






50 


• 69 








21 


03-00 


35-00 


1-58 






0-34 







The smelting of zinc from these ores, although not quite as simple a 
process as the smelting of lead from galena, offers no difficulties: the ore, 
reduced to a proper size, is simply mixed with a sufficient quantity of coal, 
and heated, in a closed vessel, to a temperature high enough to cause the 
reduction of the oxide; the metal, being volatile, distills over and is col- 
lected in a receiver. The execution of the process varies somewhat in 
practice; at present, three methods are principally in use, known as the 
English, the Belgian, and the Silesian method, each possessed of its pecu- 
liar advantages and disadvantages. 

The only preliminary operation which the ores are subjected to, besides 
the necessary sorting and bruising, is the calcination, (and even this opera- 
tion is sometimes omitted in England). The calcination is generally per- 
formed in reverberator)' furnaces, and has the object of removing carbonic 
acid and water, and lessening the cohesion of the ore; it is a necessary 
operation if the carbonate of zinc contains blende, to convert the latter 
into oxide of zinc; in this case, a small proportion of coal must be added. 






OF ARKANSAS. 



157 



Where fuel is cheap, the calcination is advantageously performed in heaps. 
The heaps are formed by alternate layers of wood and carbonate of zinc; 
fire is set to the lowest layer of wood, and the ore left to the influence of 
heat and air; by this means the water is removed, but not the carbonic 
acid, and the state of cohesion lessened. 

In the English process, the calcined ore is mixed with about one-seventh 
of its weight of coal, and filled into large crucibles or pots. These pots 
are made of fire-clay, and cement of old pounds finely ground; they are 
covered with a lid, through an orifice of which the charge is introduced, 
and are provided, at the bottom, with an aperture; to this aperture a long 
sheet iron pipe is joined, which dips, at its end, into a vessel filled with 
water. On heat being applied, the oxide of zinc becomes reduced, the 
metal is vaporized, passes through the iron pipe, and collects in drops in 
the water vessel. From 6 to 8 pots are placed in a furnace; a furnace 
will work up from G to 10 tons of ore in 14 days, consuming from 22 to 24 
tons of coal, and yielding 2 tons of zinc, on an average. A pot lasts 
about four months. 

In the Belgian process, the reduction furnace is filled with long, hori- 
zontal earthen tubes, from 3 to 4 feet long, and from 4 to 5 inches in 
diameter; 22 tubes in each furnace; the tubes are filled with a mixture of 
ground ore and coal, (1 volume of ore to i to f volumes of coke or char- 
coal, broken to pieces the size of nuts); to each tube a conical piece of 
cast-iron is attached, in a slightly slanting position; these conical pipes 
serve as receivers and condensers of the vaporized zinc, and are raked 
out every two hours. Each earthen tube holds 40 lbs of the mixture of 
ore and coal; the distillation is completed in 12 hours, and each furnace 
yields every 12 hours, 100 lbs. of crude zinc; on being remelted and cast 
into moulds, the crude zinc loses 10 per cent. For every pound of zinc 
about 28 lbs. of coal are used. 

In the Silesian process, the small earthen tubes are replaced by muffles 
made of fire-clay mixed with ground potsherds; the muffles are from 3 to 
4 feet long, and have a diameter of from 14 to 18 inches. The number of 
muffles in a furnace varies from 5 to 10; in Upper Silesia, double furnaces, 
holding 20 muffles, are in use. The charge consists of calcined ore mixed 
with an equal volume (about one-fifth by weight) of cinders. A single 
muffle will produce from 40 to 50 lbs. of zinc daily. A muffle will last 
several months. 

The crude zinc obtained by any of the above described processes has to 
be remelted; in this operation the heat must not rise above a low red-heat, 
and the surface covered with a layer of charcoal. Experience has shown 
that, with careful management, 100 lbs. of crude zinc will yield from 92 



J 58 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



to 94 ft>s. of purified zinc, and from 12 to 16 lbs of a scoria, containing 
nearly 50 per cent, of zinc. 

The preceding data I have collected from the most reliable works on 
metallurgy which I had at my command. They would he more valuable 
if 1 could have added a calculation of the probable expense at which a 
furnace can be worked, and also of the probable expense of erection; but 
the prices of building material, fuel, etc., the wages of workmen, and all 
other contingent expenses being so extremely variable, the conditions 
under which the mining and smelting of the ore are carried on in Europe 
being so little comparable to the circumstances which would surround 
similar enterprises in Arkansas, I very much doubt whether a calculation 
of that kind, even if it could have been made with some approach to 
accuracy, would' have benefited any one anxious to get information on the 
subject. The above data teach how much metallic zinc can be produced 
in a certain time, with a furnace of a certain construction and size, how 
much fuel will be consumed in the operation, and how much of the crude 
ore is probably required to effect the result; this is all that science can 
teach—commerce and political economy must furnish the rest of the desired 
information. To one point, however, I wish to call particular attention, 
viz: the richness of the Arkansas ores; in all calculations respecting the 
probable success of active mining and synelting operations, this circum- 
stance ought to enter as an important item, since, from it, we must reasona- 
bly expect a comparative large yield of metal, and, therefore, larger 
returns than ordinary, other circumstances being equal. 



ORES OF LEAD. 

Galena, or sulphui et of lead, is the only ore of lead as yet found in the 
northern counties of the state. The different kinds of galena which were 
subjected to analysis, occur all in dolomite, either in pockets or veins; 
they are all distinctly crystalline, forming, for the most part, large cubes, 
with perfect cubical cleavage. 

They are almost pure sulphuret of lead (fcontaing 13.4 parts of sulphur 
to 8G.G parts of lead), being perfectly free from zinc, antimony, and 
copper; only three of them contain appreciable quantities of iron. All 
the ores contain some silver, though probably only one of them (No. 14) a 
sufficient quantity to be profitable for working. For the method employed 



OF ARKAXSA.-*. 



159 






in determining the amount of iron and silver, compare " methods of 
analysis," below. 

A-— GALENA FROM MARION COUNTY. 

No. 11. Galena, from Wood's mine, section 13, township 19 north, range 
17 west, west branch of George creek: 

Occurs in the dolomite No. 34. Is pure sulphurct of lead without any 
impurity but a trace of silver. The lead, smelted from the ore, contains 
0.00624 per cent, of silver, equal to 1.G7 ounces of silver in the ton of 
galena (1 ton=2,000 ft>s). 

No. 12. Galena, from the New York company's diggings: 
Is pure sulphuret of lead, with a little sulphuret of iron, corresponding 
to 0.103 per cent, of metallic iron. The lead, smelted from the ore, con- 
tains 0.0106G per cent, of silver, equal to 2.88 ounces of silver in the ton 
of galena. 

No. 13. Galena, from Molton's diggings, one mile above the fork of 
Jemmy's creek: 

Is pure sulphuret of lead with a little sulphurct of iron, corresponding 
to 0.10 per cent, of metallic iron. The lead, smelted from the ore, contains 
0.0020 1 per cent, of silver, equal to 0.784 ounces of silver in the ton of 
galena. 

No. 14. Galena, from Seawell's di^in^s: 

Is pure sulphuret of lead, without any impurities but a small quantity 
of silver. The lead, smelted from the ore, contains 0.14014 percent, of 
silver, equal to 37.44 ounces of silver in the ton of galena. 

No. 15. Galena, from Hudson's diggings: 

Is pure sulphuret of lead with only traces of iron and silver. The lead, 
smelted from the ore, contains 0.00746 per cent, of silver, equal to 2 
ounces of silver in the ton of galena. 

No. 10. Galena, from McCarty's diggings: 

Is pure sulphuret of lead, without any impurities but a trace of silver. 
The lead, smelted from the ore, contains 0.00825 per cent, of silver, equal 
to 2.25 ounces of silver in the ton of galena. 

No. 17. Galena, from Jemmy's creek diggings, near the forks: 
Is pure sulphuret of lead, with a little sulphuret of iron, corresponding 
to 0.1 per cent, of metallic iron, and a trace of silver. The lead, smelted 



160 



GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



from the ore, contains 0.019 per cent, of silver, equal to 5 ounces of silver 
in the ton of galena. 

B — GALENA FROM LAWRENCE COUNTY. 

No. 18. Galena, from E. W. Haughton's diggings: 

Occurs associated with a light, ochre-yellow, argillaceous rock, contain- 
ing oxide of zinc (v. No. 37). 

Is pure sulphuret of lead, with only traces of iron and silver. The 
lead, smelted from the ore, contains 0.00292 per cent, of silver, equal to 
0.78 ounces of silver in the ton of galena. 



C-— GALENA FROM CARROLL COUNTY. 

No. 19. Galena, from Coka and Mitchell's diggings: 

Is pure sulphuret of lead, with only traces of iron and silver. The 
lead, smelted from the ore, contains 0.01083 per cent, of silver, equal to 
2.9 ounces of silver in the ton of galena. 



TABULAR VIEW — Of the co?nposition of the different kinds of galena 
from the, counties of Marion, Lawrence, and Carroll. 



CD © c3 

> © C 

~ CN « 

o § w> 

+a +* <*-l 



LOCALITY 



No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 



11, from 

12, from 

13, from 

14, from 

15, from 

16, from 

17, from 

18, from 

19, from 



Wood's mine 

New York company's diggings • 

Molton's diggings • 

Seawell's diggings 

Hudson's diggings 

McCarty's diggings 

Jemmy's creek diggings- 



Contain in 100 parts, 
86.6 parts of lead, 
with 



Iron. 



E. W. Houghton's diggings- 
Coka & Mitchell's digrsrinsrs- 



none 
0.103 
0.160 
none 
trace 
none 
0.100 
trace 
trace 



Silver. 



0.00624 
0.01066 
0.00294 
0.14014 
0.00746 
0.00825 
0.01900 
0.00292 
0.01083 



1-67 
2-88 
0-784 
37-44 
2-00 
2-25 
5-00 
0-78 
2-90 



Only one of these ores (No. 14) would probably pay for the extraction 
of the silver; the others are good lead ores. If, by sinking shafts, and 
ascertaining the extent of the ore-deposit at Seawell's diggings, the pre- 
sence of a sufficient quantity of the ore can be proved, there is no doubt 
that, with judicious management, the extraction of silver will prove very 



OF ARKANSAS. 



161 



remunerative. In England, the average quantity of silver contained in 
the lead which is worked for silver, is 7 or 8 ounces per ton, or about G or 
7 ounces per ton of galena.* The galena, from the mines of the ''Middle- 
town Silver and Lead Mining and Manufacturing Company," in Connecti- 
cut, contains from 25 to 75 oz. of silver to the ton (of 21 cwts) of lead. 
The galena from the « Washington mine," North Carolina, contains only 
7.5 oz. of silver in the ton (average of 200 assays). * 



ORES OF MANGANESE. 

Of the five specimens of ores of manganese, subjected to analysis, two 
(Xos. 20 and 21) were collected on the spot; the other three, I received 
from a gentleman in Batesville, who collected them at the localities below 
mentioned. 

No. 20 Psilomelane, from the main manganese mine, two miles above 
West fork of Lafferty creek, Independence county: 

Massive; lustre submetallic; color between dark steel-gray and iron- 
black; hardness 5.5; fracture subcrystalline, hackly, somewhat resembling 
the fracture of cast iron; brittle; strikes fire with steel; powder reddish* 
brown. 

Before the blowpipe, infusible alone; on charcoal in reduction flame 
becomes reddish-brown; in a matrass, yields water; with fluxes, gives the 
manganese reactions. Dissolves in hydrochloric acid with evolution of 
chlorine, leaving a small residue of silica. 

Occurs in veins traversing the encrinital beds of the cavernous limestone. 

Composition, dried at 250 deg. F: 

Manganoso-manganic oxide (Mn 3 4 ) 91.367 

Silica 2.845 

Bar yta 0.512 

Lime trace 

Water and oxygen, expelled by heat 5.931 



100.655 
The air-dried mineral lost 0.53 per cent, of moisture at 250 deg. F, 



See J. D. Whitney's "Metallic W^lth of the United States." Philadelphia, 1854 
11 



1Q2 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



The above numbers are the direct result of analysis. In order to ascer- 
tain how much of the volatile matter, expelled by heat, is water, and 
how much oxygen, the pulverized mineral was heated in aplatina capsule 
over the smallest flame of a spirit-lamp with Argand burner, until the 
weight remained constant; the loss amounted to 1.82 per cent. The heat 
was then raised and kept for about half an hour, just below redness: the 
mineral did not suffer any further loss. Assuming the 1.82 per cent, of 
volatile matter, expelled below red-heat, to be water, we obtain for oxygen 
5 931 — 1.82=4.111 per cent. The 91.367 percent, of manganoso-manga- 
nic oxide consist of 84.995 parts of protoxide of manganese with 6.372 
parts of oxygen; these, added to the above 4.111 per cent., give 10.483 
per cent, of free oxygen, and the composition of the mineral may, there- 
fore, be expressed thus: 

Protoxide of manganese 84.995 

Free oxygen 10.483 

Silica 2.845 

Baryta 0.512 

Lime trace 

Water 1-820 

100.655 
As a controlling experiment, the amount of free oxygen was determined 
by Mohr's method [v. "methods of analysis," below], and found to be 10.510 
per cent. 

No. 21. Tsilomelane, from same locality as No. 20. 

jMassive; close-textured; color bluish steel-gray; hardness 5.5; fracture 
splintery and subconchoidal; brittle; strikes fire with steel; powder reddish- 
brown. 

Before the blowpipe, and to reagents, behaves like the preceding. 

Composition, dried at 250 deg. F: 

Manganoso-manganic oxide 88.628 

Silica 5.329 

Baryta 0.282 

Lime 1.178 

Magnesia trace 

Water and oxygen, expelled by heat 4.433 

99.850 
The air-dried mineral lost 1.02 per cent, of moisture at 250 deg. F. 



OF ARKANSAS. 



1G3 



The amount of free oxygen was determined by Mohr's method to be 
10.002 per cent. 

Taking into consideration the quantity of free oxygen contained in the 
88.628 per cent, of manganoso-manganic oxide, we obtain for water, 
expelled at a red heat, 0.G11 per cent.; hence, the composition of the 
mineral may be expressed thus: 

Protoxide of manganese 82.448 

Free oxygen 10 002 

SiIica 5.329 

BaO'ta 0.282 

Lime 1.178 

Magnesia trace 

Water 0.611 

99.850 

No. 22. Wad, from near the North fork of White river, Izard county. 

A brecciated rock; the matrix consists of wad, in which angular pieces 
of white chert are imbedded. The wad possesses the following physical 
and chemical properties: 

Compact, amorphous; lustre dull, on rounded edges shining; color iron- 
black; hardness 4; powder dark brownish olive-green. 

Heated on charcoal in reduction flame, turns reddish-brown; heated in 
a matrass, yields water copiously, at a low heat. With fluxes gives the 
reactions of manganese. Dissolves readily in hydrochloric acid, with 
evolution of chlorine, and separation of silica. 

Having but a small specimen at my disposal, and the siliceous mineral 
adhering very firmly to the ore, I could not collect enough of the pure 
wad for the purpose of analysis, but was compelled to analyze the 
mixture. 

The mixed minerals, dried at 220 deg. F., had the following compo- 
sition: 

Manganoso-manganic oxide 51.365 

Silica 26.230 

Alumina, with trace of iron 6.245 

Oxide of cobalt 0.104 

Baryta 1.875 

Lime trace 

Water and oxygen, expelled by heat 14.889 

100.708 



X64 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 

The air-dried mineral lost 2.1 per cent, of moisture at 220 deg. F. 

The amount of free oxygen was ascertained by Mohr's method to be 
7.82 per cent. Taking into consideration the quantity of free oxygen 
contained in the manganoso-manganic oxide, we obtain for water expelled 
at a red heat 10.653 per cent.; hence, the composition of the mineral may 
be thus expressed: 

Protoxide of manganese 47.781 

Free oxygen 7.820 

Silica 26.230 

Alumina, with trace of iron 6.245 

Oxide of cobalt 0.104 

Baryta 1.875 

Lime trace 

Water 10.653 

100.708 

Subtracting silica and alumina, as adventitious intermixtures, and cal- 
culating the remaining constituents for 100 parts, we obtain for the wad 
the following composition: 

Protoxide of manganese 70.03 

Free oxygen 1 1 .46 

Oxide of cobalt 0.15 

Baryta 2.75 

Lime trace 

Water 15.61 

100.00 

No. 23. Braunite (?), from Poke bayou, Marion county. 

Massive; texture finely granular; lustre submetallic; color dark steel 
gray; hardness 5.5; strikes fire with steel; powder grayish-black; much 
more easily reduced to powder, than the two preceding minerals; wea- 
thered surface shows brown spots of hydrate of peroxide of iron. 

Before the blowpipe, infusible; on charcoal in reduction flame, becomes 
pale reddish-gray at the point of contact with the charcoal; in a matrass, 
yields a little water; with fluxes, gives the manganese reactions. 

Dissolves in hydrochloric acid with evolution of chlorine, leaving a 
residue of silica. 

Composition dried at 220 deg. F: 

Protoxide of manganese 75.386 

Free oxygen 7.979 



OF ARKANSAS Jg£ 

Silica 9.9G8 

Peroxide of iron 3.523 

Oxide of cobalt trace 

Lime 1.833 

Magnesia 0.192 

Water 1.295 

100. 17G 
The air-dried mineral lost 0.1 per cent, of moisture at 220 deg. F. 
The free oxygen was determined by Mohr's method. The 1.295 per 
cent, of water were determined by the loss which the mineral suffered on 
ignition; the volatile matter was not collected; hence, it remains uncer- 
tain whether it consisted of water, or of water and oxygen; but if any 
oxygen had been driven out by heat, it is difficult to conceive why the 
weight, after repeated ignitions, remained constant, and why not the 
whole of the oxygen beyond the composition MnO was removed, 
amounting to 2.328 per cent. For this reason the loss on ignition has 
been stated as water. 

No. 24. Psilomelane, six miles north of Batesville, on Poke bayou. 

Massive; lustre submetallic; color iron-black; fracture uneven, platy; 
hardness 5.5; powder reddish-brown. 

Before the blowpipe, infusible; on charcoal in reduction flame, becomes 
brown; in a matrass, yields a little water; with fluxes gives the manga- 
nese reactions. 

Dissolves in hydrochloric, acid with evolution of chlorine, leaving a very 
slight residue of silica. 

The mineral was only partially analyzed. It lost at 250 deg. F. 0.452 
per cent, of moisture; heated higher, but below redness, the dried mineral 
lost 1.124 per cent., probably water; and on ignition lost, additionally, 
5.185 per cent., which must have been oxygen. The free oxygen was 
determined, after Mohr's method, to be 11.700 per cent. 

The qualitative examination proved the presence of small quantities of 
cobalt, baryta, lime, magnesia, and silica. 

Commercial value of the Ores of Manganese. 

The ores of manganese are used in the arts principally for the purpose 
of bleaching, where they serve, in conjunction with common salt and sul- 
phuric acid, to produce chlorine, the bleaching agent, and in the manufac- 
ture of glass, for the purpose of correcting the tinge imparted to the glass 
by iron. In both cases, their value entirely depends on the amount of 



166 



GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



free oxygen which they contain, that is: the quantity of oxygen more than 
sufficient to form with the whole of the metallic manganese the lowest 
degree of oxidation, the protoxide; for the purpose of the glass manufac- 
turer, they ought also to be as free from iron as possible. Of the various 
compounds of manganese, the ore containing the largest proportion of 
free oxygen is the peroxide, commonly known as "black oxide of manga- 
nese," a compound which occurs native as a mineral, called " pyrolusite;" 
it contains 18.36 per cent, of free oxygen. 

In order to ascertain, as near as possible, the market value of the Ar- 
kansas ores, I procured from a New York firm a sample of what is sold 
in that city as " black oxide of manganese " at the rate of three and a 
half cents per pound, by the hundred weight, in the ground state; on 
analysis, I fou d this sample to contain 9.246 per cent, of free oxygen, 
corresponding to 50.35 per cent, of pure peroxide of manganese; it contained 
a large proportion of silica, a circumstance which probably makes the 
ore very difficult to grind. In the Hartz mountains, a famous European 
locality for the ores of manganese, three qualities of the ore are sold, the 
price varying with the amount of free oxygen; the 

First quality contains 12.60 per cent, of free oxygen. 

Second " " 10.00 " " " " 

Third " " 7.36 " " " 

(See Bruno Kerl, in Chem. Cenlralblatt for 1853.) 

The ores of Arkansas contain 



NUMBER OF SPECIMEN. 



100 parts of ore| 
Per cent, of free correspond to pure. Peroxide of iron, 
oxvu-en. Mn 02 



No. 20 

No. 21 

No. 22, crude 

No. 22, freed from gangue* 

No. 23 

No. 24 

Ore from New York 



10.483 
10.002 

7.820 
11.460 

7.979 
11.700 

9.246 



57.24 
54.47 
42.59 
62.42 
43.46 
63.72 
50.35 



none 
none 
trace 

3.523 

? 



The ores Nos. 20, 21, 24, and 22 when freed from its gangue, are, as 
seen by the table, superior to the ore procured from New York, and ought 
to command, therefore, a higher price; they contain, on the average 10.911 
per cent, of free oxygen, which places them intermediate between the 1st 
and 2d quality of the German ore. 



OF ARKANSAS. \ffi 



Chemical constitution of the ores of Manganese. 

The constitution of the manganese-minerals which do not occur in the 
crystallized state, has been a point of some discussion amongst mineralo- 
gists. As long as their rational formulae are not indubitably established, 
every new analysis may be expected to throw some light on the subject. 
Although the foregoing analyses were principally executed with a view 
to ascertain the economical value of the ores, the importance of the sub- 
ject may serve as an excuse, if I take up a short space for purely theoreti- 
cal speculations. 

It was Rammelsberg, if I mistake not, who first considered psilomelane 
as a compound of peroxide of manganese with bases of th« constitution 
RO, these bases being principally MnO, BaO,KO, CaO, MgO, and Co05 
the peroxide of manganese in these compounds acts the part of the acid. 
Adopting this view, we have to reject, in the construction of a formula, 
the silicia and the bases of the constitution R 2 3 , as adventitious constitu- 
ents; a rejection which, though rather arbitrary,* may be admitted on the 
a of expediency. Leaving, therefore, the silica in the analysis of Nos. 
20 and 21 out of consideration, and calculating the'remaining constituents 
for 100, we obtain for these minerals the following composition: 

No. 20 No. 21 

Protoxide of manganese- • • • 86.898 87.22 

Oxygen 10.718 10.58 

Baryta 0.523 0.29 

Lime trace 1 .27 

Water 1.801 0.G4 

100.000 100.00 

Uniting the free oxygen with a portion of the protoxide of manganese to 
the formation of peroxide, we have 

For No. 20. 

Peroxide of manganese 58.373 contains O 21.4 

Protoxide of manganese 39.243 " 8.83) 

Baryta 0.523 " 0.05V 9.53 

Water 1.801 " 1.651 



* Compare on this subject the observations of Gustav Bischof, in the 2d vol., ot' his " Ele- 
ments of chemical and physical geology," p. 85, etc. 



168 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



For No. 21. 

Peroxide of manganese 57.92 contains O 21.27 

Protoxide of manganese 39.88 " 8.97"^ 

Baryta 0.29 « 0.03 t OQ 

Lime 1.27 " 0.36 [ 

Water 0.64 " 0.57 J 

Rammelsberg does not include water under the bases of the constitution 
RO; but seeing no objection to its being considered isomorphous with CaO 
and BaO, and gaining the advantage of a simple formula, I have classed 
it with these bases. From the above oxygen-ratio, we obtain for the two 
minerals the general expression: 

RO. Mn0 2 -|-x MnO 2 

in which x MnO 2 stands for the amount of peroxide of manganese which 
must be considered as mechanically intermixed with the compound 
RO.MnO 2 . For the potassa-psilomalane from Ilmenau, Rammelsberg 
deduced the formula 2 RO. Mn0 2 -|-x MnO 2 . 

For No. 20 we finally obtain the expression: 

(MnO. BaO. HO). Mn0 2 -|-6.37 per cent, of MnO 2 
mechanically intermixed. 

For No. 21 

(MnO. BaO. CaO. IIO).Mn0 2 --3.84 per cent, of MnO 2 
mechanically intermixed. 

# 

Uniting in analysis of No. 22, the free oxygen with a portion of the pro- 
toxide of manganese to the formation of peroxide, we have: 

Peroxide of manganese 62.41 contains O 22.92 

Protoxide of mangauese 19.08 " " 4.29) 

Baryta 2.75 « " 0.52V 4.84 

Oxide of cobalt 0.15 " " 0.03) 

Water 15.61 « 13 97 

100.00 
The formula 

(MnO. CoO. BaO). 2 Mn0 2 -!-3 HO-l-x MnO 2 
requires 

Peroxide of manganese (mixed) 9.61 Oxygen-ratio. 

Peroxide of manganese (combined) 52.80 contains O 19.36 4 



OF ARKANSAS. J(J9 

Protoxide of manganese 10.08 " M ) 

Baryta 2.75 " "V 4.84 1 

Oxide of cobalt 0.15 " ") 

"Water 16.33 " " 14.52 3 

100.72 

This is the same formula which Rammelsberg established for the com- 
position of the wad from llubeland (v. 2d supplement, p. 167). 

Proceeding in the same manner with the analysis of I\ T o. 22, that is, 
rejecting silicic acid and peroxide of iron, and calculating the remainder 
for 100, Ave have: 

Protoxide of manganese ; 8G.9G 

Oxygen 9.20 

Lime 2.12 

Magnesia 0.22 

Water 1 .50 

100.00 
80.96 parts of protoxide of manganese consist of 67.41 of manganese and 
19.55 of oxygen; hence we have, in toto 67.41 manganese to 28.75 oxygen, 
corresponding to the ratio 69.68 Mn : 29.72 O; 
the compound Mn 2 3 requires 69.68 Mn : 30.42 O, 
so that the' mineral may be considered as sesquioxide of manganese, or 
braunite, under the supposition that we are justified in rejecting lime, 
magnesia, and water as adventitious. But if these bases have to be taken 
into consideration, and the free oxygen is united with a portion of the 
protoxide of manganese to the formation of peroxide, we have: 

Peroxide of manganese 50.10 contains O 18.40 

Protoxide of manganese 46.06 " " 10.36^ 

Lime 2.12 << « 0.601 

Magnesia 0.22 " " 0.08 f 

Water 1.50 " " 1.33 J 

Here the oxygen-ratio of RO : MnO 2 is nearly as 4 : 6, which would lead 
to the formula 

4 (MnO. CaO. MgO. HO). 3 MnO* 

I am not at present prepared to pronounce in favor of any of these 
views, but as I am continuing" my investigations into the composition of 
the massive manganese-minerals, I hope to find myself soon enabled to 
advance some well-founded views on the subject. 



170 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



ORES OF IRON. 



No. 25. Yellow ochre, from the St. Francis side of Crowley's ridge, near 
David Schultze's, between township 18 and 19, range 8, Greene county. 

A loosely aggregated, amorphous, homogeneous rock, of gold-yellow 
color; very friable; feels gritty between the fingers; becomes brick-red on 
ignition: 

Composition dried at 220 deg. F: 

Fine sand 71.081 

Sesquioxide of iron 23.640 

Alumina trace 

Water 5.094 

99.815 

The air-dried substance lost 1.15 per cent, of moisture at 220 deg. F. 

This ochre forms only a small deposit in the quarternary rocks of Greene 
county, and is evidently nothing but a fine sand impregnated with hydrated 
sesquioxide of iron, which is the coloring principle. The amount of iron 
(15.55 per cent.) is too small to constitute this ochre an iron ore, even if 
the deposit should prove to be very extensive; but it may be profitably 
used as a paint, both in its natural state and calcined, since it is very soft 
and uniform throughout, and hardly needs any washing in order to remove 
the coarser particles. 

No. 26. Limonite, from Old Jackson, Lawrence county. 

The ore consists of contorted, more or less concentric layers of brown- 
ish-red, steel-gray, and brownish black color; it contains amygdaloidal 
cavities filled either with stalactitic, glossy red hematite, or with yellow 
hydrated peroxide of iron. 

Dissolves in hydrochloric acid with evolution of chlorine. 

Composition of air-dried ore: 

Clay, sand, and silica- • • «< 15.069 

Sesquioxide of iron 58.278 

Sesquioxide of manganese 13.843 

Alumina trace 

Oxide of cobalt trace 

Carbonate of magnesia 0.664 



OF ARKANSAS. 171 



Carbonate of lime ■> trace 

Water 12.080 

90.934 
58.278 parts of peroxide of iron contains 40.79 parts of metallic iron. 

• No. 27. Limonite, from Dr. Payne's land, Pocahontas, Randolph county. 

Massive; reddish-brown, with yellow spots on surface; rather earthy in 

appearance; evolves argillaceous odor when breathed upon, and adheres 

to the tongue. Powder dark brownish-red, becoming rather more red on 

ignition. 

Composition of air-dried ore: 

Clay and sand 21.100 

Sesquioxide of iron • G9.03G 

Sesquioxide of manganese 1 .488 

Alumina trace 

Carbonate of lime trace 

Water 7.590 

99.214 
69.03G parts of sesquioxide of iron contain 48.33 parts of metallic iron. 

No. 28. Limonite, from Alfred Bevens & Co., Lawrence county. 

Massive; of earthy appearance and yellow color on and near the sur- 
face, in the interior brownish-yellow and more compact; evolves strong 
argillaceous odor when breathed upon; adheres to the tongue. Powder 
dirty brownish-yellow. 

Composition of air-dried ore: 

Silica 3.099 

Sesquioxide of iron 79.GG3 

Sesquioxide of manganese trace 

Alumina 5.203 

Carbonate of lime 0.55G 

Water 11 .397 

99.918 
79.GG3 parts of sesquioxide of iron contain 55.76 parts of metallic iron. 

No. 29. Limonite, so-called "pot and kidney ore," from Alfred Bevens 
& Co., Lawrence county. 

Massive; compact, stalactitic and reniform; surface smooth, of reddish- 



172 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



brown and blackish-brown color, with occasional yellow spots; fracture 
dull, dark reddish-brown; emits argillaceous odor when breathed upon; 
adheres slightly to the tongue. 

Composition of air-dried ore: 

Silica and clay 3.090 

Sesquioxide of iron 83.920 

Sesquioxide of manganese trace 

Alumina 1.710 

Lime trace 

Water • 11.580 

100.300 
83.920 parts of sesquioxide of iron contain 59.74 parts of metallic iron. 

No. 30. Limonite, four miles south-west of Imboden's ferry, Randolph 
county. 

Exterior crust dirty reddish-yellow, earthy; in the interior dark bluish- 
brown, consisting of indistinctly concentric, contorted layers; loosely 
aggregated; rather soft; evolves strong argillaceous color when breathed 
upon; strongly adhering to the tongue; powder of a dirty brownish olive- 
green color, becoming dark reddish-brown on ignition. 
Composition of air-dried ore: 

Insoluble silicates 7.740 

Sesquioxide of iron 66.808 

Sesquioxide of manganese 11.472 

Alumina 1 295 

Lime trace 

Phosphoric acid trace 

Water 13.337 

100.652 
66.808 parts of sesquioxide of iron contain 46.76 parts of metallic iron. 

No. 31. Limonite, four miles west of Salem, Fulton county. 
Massive; very compact; on surface brownish-yellow; on fracture 
brownish-red, with steel-gray spots and stripes; fracture subconchoidal: 
evolves argillaceous odor when breathed upon; adheres to the tongue. 
Composition of air-dried ore: 

Insoluble silicates and sand 20.722 

Sesquioxide of iron 68.543 

Sesquioxide of manganese 1.221 



OF ARKANSAS. 



173 



Alumina 
Lime • • • 
Water • • 



3.590 
trace 
8.259 



95.155 



68.543 parts of sesquioxidc of iron contain 47.98 parts of metallic iron. 



-o- 



The preceding six ores are all very good iron ores, and valuable for 
manufacturing purposes if procurable in sufficient quantity. With regard 
to Nos. 26 and 30, it is to be remarked that the yield of metal will be 
increased by an intermixture with the manganese, reducible from the ses- 
quioxidc of manganese, which forms with the iron an alloy, valued very 
highly by some iron-men as being particularly adapted for the manufac- 
ture of a superior quality of steel. 

The following table shows, at a glance, the richness and comparative 
value of the ores: 



100 parts of ore from 



Old Jackson, No. 26 

Dr. Payne's land, No. 27- 
Alf. Bevens & Co., No. 28. 
same No. 29 

Randolph county, No. 30- 
Fulton county, No. 31 • • • 



r~ 



Contain 



Iron. 



-> 



40.79 
48.33 
55.76 

59.74 
46.76 

47.98 



Manganese. 



9.64 
1.04 

trace 

trace 

7.99 

0.85 



Total. 



50.43 
49.37 
55.76 
59.74 
54.75 
48.83 



The absence of sulphur and phosphoric acid in these ores is a further 
recommendation for smelting purposes, as the presence of these impuri- 
ties is apt to injure the quality of the iron. 



174 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



/ 



ROCKS ASSOCIATED WITH THE ORES OF ZINC 

AND LEAD. 

A careful examination of the rocks in which the ores of zinc and lead 
occur, and of the substances which are found associated with them in the 
veins and crevices, will probably throw some light on the origin of these 
metalliferous deposits, and enable the geologist to form a correct idea of 
their mode of formation. This was one of the objects we had in view in 
submitting the below enumerated rocks to chemical analysis. Want of 
time, however, prevented me from carrying on the investigation to a 
sufficient extent, and I was obliged to defer to a future period the comple- 
tion of a sufficient number of analyses to enable us to draw satisfactory 
conclusions from them. 

f No. 32. Dolomite, which cuts out the ore at the Hoppe mine, Lawrence 
county. 

A pale yellowish-gray, compact dolomite; fracture subconchoidal; very 
hard; brittle; powder of a light cream-color. 

Composition, dried at 230 deg. F: 

Insoluble silicates 6.701 

Carbonate of lime » 53.998 

Carbonate of magnesia 35.059 

Carbonate of iron 2.253 

Carbonate of zinc 1.978 

Potassa 0.106 

100.095 
The air-dried rock lost 0.37 per cent, of moisture at 230 deg. F. 

No. 33. Dolomite, with and below the zinc-deposit at the Koch mine, 
Lawrence county. 

A dark yellowish-gray dolomite, compact and close-textured; fracture 
subconchoidal; very brittle; gives out a peculiar bituminous odor when 
struck with the hammer; powder ash-colored. 

Composition, dried at 250 deg. F: 

Insoluble silicates 10.935 

Iron, alumina, and trace of manganese- • 1.482 



OF AH KANSAS. 



175 



Carbonate of lime 50.075 

Carbonate of magnesia 32.487 

Potassa 0.130 

Organic matter, and loss 4.985 

100.000 
The air-dried rock lost 0.10 per cent of moisture at 250 deg. F. 

No. 34. Dolomite, in which occur the zinc and lead ores at Wood's 
mine, Marion county. 

A grayish-white, fine-grained dolomite; lustre sub-resinous from minute 
crystalline, shining particles dispersed through the rock; easily reduced to 
powder; powder grayish-white. 

Composition, dried at 230 deg. F: 

Silicia, with a trace of clay 3.191 

Alumina, with trace of iron 3.023 

Carbonate of lime 50.041 

Carbonate of magnesia 42.317 

Carbonate of zinc 1.950 

Potassa, with trace of soda 0.435 

100.957 
The air-dried rock lost 0.23 per cent, of moisture at 230 de°- F 

No. 35. Red clay, occurring in veins and pockets in dolomite and 
imbedding the zinc ore at the Bath mine, Lawrence county. 

A ferruginous clay of dirty yellowish-red color; soft; easily crumbling 
to powder between the fingers; when burnt, assumes a bright orange-red 
color. 

Composition, dried at 250 deg. F: 

Silicates, insoluble in hydrochloric acid« • 84.616 

Sesquioxide of iron 4.303 

Sesquioxide of manganese 0.236 

Alumina 3 . 515 

Carbonate of zinc 0.380 

Carbonate of lime 0.275 

Organic matter, and water 6.447 

99.772 
The air-dried clay lost 4.32 per cent of moisture at 250 deg. F. 
On account of the bright color which the clay assumes on burning, it 



176 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 

might become useful as a common paint, though the amount of oxide of 
iron present is rather small. 

No. 3G. Argillaceous rock, from the crevices of the New York company's 

lead mines, Marion county. 

Massive, amorphous; color pale yellowish-white and reddish-white; 

very light and soft; can be cut with a knife like chalk; on the surface, 

covered with a crust of peroxide of iron; powder of a pale reddish cream 

color; assumes on ignition a fine pink color. 
Composition, dried at 230 deg. F: 

Insoluble silicates, mainly a very fine soft clay 96.095 

Peroxide of iron, and alumina, with a little phosphoric acid. 1.795 

Lime 0.148 

Manganese, magnesia, and potassa traces 

Water 2.055 

• ' 100.093 

The air-dried rock lost 0.73 per cent, of moisture at 230 deg. F. 

No. 37. Argillaceous rock, associated with galena, at Houghton's dig- 
gings, Lawrence county. 

Bears a great resemblance to the preceding rock in general appearance. 
Its origin is probably the same, occurring, as it does, under similar condi- 
tions; but it appears to have come in contact, after its deposition, with liquids 
containing oxide of zinc in solution. The presence of about 8 per cent, 
of oxide of zinc in this clay points to the deposition of carbonate of zinc 
somewhere near Houghton's lead diggings. 

Massive, amorphous; color ochre-yellow; light and soft; can be cut with 
a knife like chalk; covered on the surface with a thin layer of red clay, 
resembling No. 35; powder of a dirty grayish-yellow color. 

Composition, dried at 230 deg. F: 

Clay and sand 74.841 

Peroxide of iron 2.383 

Alumina 8.213 

Phosphoric acid 0.214 

Oxide of zinc, with trace of manganese 8.262 

Carbonate of lime 0.709 

Carbonate of magnesia 1.337 

Water and carbonic acid (?), expelled by heat- • 3.844 

99.803 
The air-dried clay lost 3.92 percent, of moisture at 230 de°\ F. 



OF ARKANSAS. 



177 



As no carbonic acid determination was made, it remains undecided 
whether the oxide of zinc occurs in the rock as such, or in combination 
with carbonic acid; most likely as a basic carbonate. 



-o- 



The foregoing analyses need no comment. Nos. 32, 33, and 34 are 
true dolomites; the small amount of carbonate of zinc, which occurs in 
two of them, is by no means surprising if we consider that the deposition 
of carbonate of zinc in the crevices of the rock was most likely effected 
by means of liquids containing the salt of zinc in solution; and whether 
these liquids actually percolated through the dolomite or entered the 
crevices by some other way, the deposition of a small quantity of the salt 
in the immediately adjoining rock is equally well explicable. Gustav 
Bischof mentions several instances of this kind {Elements of chem. and 
phys. geology. Engl, edition, vol. 1, p. 165.) 



LIGNITES. 



Both varieties of lignite, the analyses of which are given below, occur 
in the same bed, interstratified in the quarternary deposits of Crowley's 
ridge, Greene county. 

No. 38. Lignite, from the Beech-branch of Cache, near Gainesville, 
Greene county. 

Color light brown to blackish-brown; woody structure eminently pre- 
served, laminated; on fracture, partly shining, partly dull; may be cut with 
a knife, cut surface shining; very brittle; on application of a gentle heat, 
evolves empyreumatic odor and assumes the appearance of charcoal. 
Composition, dried at 212 to 220 deg. F: 

Volatile matter 41.030 

Fixed carbon (charcoal) 57.405 

Ash 1.505 

100.00 
The air-dried lignite lost 14.89 per cent, of moisture at 220 deg. F. 
A qualitative examination of the ash showed the presence of clay and 
silica, sulphate of lime, iron, alumina, and potassa. 

12 



17g GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



No. 39. Lignite, from same locality as No. 38. 

Color dark grayish-brown; woody structure only partly preserved, in- 
distinctly laminated; fracture dull; may be cut with a knife, cut surface 
shining. 

Composition, dried ot 212 to 220 deg. F: 

Volatile matter 31.903 

Fixed carbon (charcoal) 53.737 

Ash 14.300 

100.000 
The air- dried lignite lost 12.774 per cent, of moisture at 220 deg. F. 

A qualitative examination of the ash showed the presence of clay (pre- 
ponderating) and silica, sulphate of lime, iron, alumina, and potassa. 



The small amount of ash which these lignites contain, would make 
them useful as fuel, if timber were scarce in that part of Arkansas where 
they occur, or as a substitute for stone-coal, in cases where the use of the 
latter is preferable to that of wood. 



NITRE EARTHS. 



Of the samples of nitre earth which were collected on the first geo- 
logical excursion, I made a complete analysis of only one; two have been 
analyzed by Dr. Owen,* who determined all the various constituents 
directly, with the exception of the nitric acid, the quantity of which 
was estimated by the loss. The importance of the subject made it 
appear desirable to have a direct determination of this acid in the two 
samples referred to; they are given in Nos. 41 and 42. For the method 
employed, see "methods of analysis," p. 190. 

No. 40. Nitre earth; labeled "white nitre earth formed from decompo- 
sition of bottom rock, Marion county." 

A soft, calcareous earth, of pale yellowish-red color, feeling slightly 
gritty between the fingers; of sandy appearance, containing fragments of 

* See Dr. Owen's Report. 



OF ARKANSAS. 179 



soft dolomite, and excrements of bats or birds. It is very easily reduced 
to a fine powder, which feels soft between the fingers. 

Composition dried at 2 10 deg. F: 

Matter insoluble in hydrochloric acid 11.510 

Oxide of iron, phosphates of alumina, lime and 

magnesia 5.908 

Lime 22.929 

Magnesia 14.884 

Potassa 1.106 

Chlorine 0.062 

Sulphuric acid 1.375 

Nitric acid 0.973 

Carbonic acid 38.487 

Organic matter, and loss 2.790 

100.000 
The air-dried earth lost 1.681 per cent, of moisture at 240 deg. F. 

Another portion of the air-dried earth was treated with distilled water, 
until fresh portions of the solvent ceased to take up any fixed matter. 
The solutions were united, evaporated to dryness, and the residue sub- 
jected to analysis. 100 parts of the air-dried earth yielded 3.936 parts of 
solid, soluble matter, at 220 deg., F., which had the following compo- 
sition: 

Lime 1.013 

Magnesia 0.180 

Totassa 0.066 

Chlorine 0.012 

Sulphuric acid 1.338 

Nitric acid 0.956 

Organic matter and water 0.371 

3.936 

Hence it follows, that from 100 lbs of the air-dried earth 1.791 lbs of 
nitre may be obtained, which consist of 0.956 lbs of nitric acid and 0.835 
lbs of potassa. 

No. 41. Nitre-determination, in a nitre earth, labeled " laminated nitre 
earth from a cave in Marion county." 

100 parts of the air-dried earth were found to yield 9.892 parts of solid 



IgQ GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



matter to the solvent action of water; this extract contained 1.33 parts of 
anhydrous nitric acid, corresponding to 2.493 parts of nitre. 

The air-dried earth lost 7.59 per cent, of moisture at 212 deg. F. 

No. 42. Nitre-determination, in a nitre earth, labeled " red nitre earth 
above and below the laminated nitre earth, same cave." 

The watery extract from 100 parts of air-dried earth contains 3.305 
parts of anhydrous nitric acid, corresponding to 6.195 parts of nitre. 

According to Dr. Owen, the air-dried earth lost 3.15 per cent, of mois- 
ture at 300 deg. F. 

This nitre-earth is by far the richest of the three, a ton yielding nearly 
124 lbs of nitre. 



WELL AND RIVER WATER. 



The examinations of these waters having been performed in the field, 
with comparatively limited means, only qualitative analyses could be 
made, and in these even, regard could only be paid to such constituents 
as occur in not inconsiderable quantities. I hope to be enabled to report 
at a future period full quantitative analyses of the water of the principal 
rivers and mineral springs. 

No. 43. Water of the St. Francis river, taken at Chalk Bluffs, Greene 
countv. 

The ordinary reagents showed only the presence of 
Bi-carbonate of lime, and 
Bi-carbonate of magnesia. 

No. 44. Water from a well on A. L. Stuart's farm, Greene county. 
This water is remarkably pure, containing no lime, and only a small 
quantity of 

Bi-carbonate of magnesia, and a trace of 

Chloride of magnesium, or an alkaline chloride. 

No. 45. Water from a well on Wm. Lane's farm, Greene county. 
This is also a very pure water, containing only minute quantities of 

Bi-carbonate of lime, and 

Bi-carbonate of magnesia. 



OF ARKANSAS. \$\ 



No. 40. Water from a well on J. P. Harris 3 farm, dug through shell- 
marl of the Loess into gravel below. 
Contains a considerable amount of 
Bi-carbonate of lime, and 
Bi-carbonate of magnesia. 

No. 47. Water from a well on Thos. McElrath's farm, sunk in the bot- 
tom land, Jackson county. 
Contains small quantities of 
Bi-carbonate of lime, and 
Bi-carbonate of magnesia. 
The test with chloride of gold showed the presence of a trace of or- 
ganic matter. 

No. 48. Water of White river, taken at Jacksonport, Jackson county. 
The water contains not inconsiderable a quantity of 

Bicarbonate of lime; only traces of 

Bi-carbonate of magnesia, and 

Chlorides. 

No. 49. Water from a well on Mr. Cobb's farm, Oil Trough bottom, 6 
miles west of Jacksonport. 
Contains small quantities of 

Bi-carbonate of lime, and 

Bi-carbonate of magnesia, and a comparatively large amount of 

Chlorides. 

No. 50. Water of North fork of White river, taken at Mr. Ware's mill, 
Izard county. 

Contains considerable quantities of 

Bi-carbonate of lime, and 

Bi-carbonate of magnesia. 

No. 51. Water from a spring, being one of the heads of Big creek, 
taken near J. Young's farm, Marion county. 
Contains a large amount of 
Bi-carbonate of lime, and 
Bi-carbonate of magnesia. 

No. 52. Water of the "Mammoth Spring," head of main Spring river, 
Fulton county. 



X82 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 

Temperature of the spring on the 10th of December, 1857, 57 deg. F., 
the temperature of the atmosphere being 18 deg. F. 

The ordinary reagents showed only the presence of considerable quan- 
tities of 

Bi-carbonate of lime, and 
Bi-carbonate of magnesia. 



APPENDIX. 



After having brought to a close the foregoing analyses, to be embodied 
in the present Report, I found time to examine a lew more of the speci- 
mens collected during our first field-excursion. The results could not be 
reported in their proper places without re-arranging and in part re-writing 
the contents of the foregoing pages; I, therefore, give them a place in 
this appendix. 

No. 53. Pearlspar, forming veins in the dolomite (No. 32) of the Iloppe 
ore-bank. 

Crystallized, crystals partly interwoven, the characteristic curved sur- 
faces eminently developed; color white to pale flesh-color; covered on sur- 
face with a thin layer of peroxide of iron. Powder, pale reddish-white. 

Composition, dried at 220 deg. F: 

Silicates, insoluble in hydrochloric acid 0.219 

Sesquioxide of iron 1.1G8 

Carbonate of lime 55.052 

Carbonate of magnesia 43. 560 

99.999 

No. 54. Massive smithsonite, from Cury creek diggings, township 15, 
range 5, sections 35 and 3G, Independence county. 

The ore consists chiefly of a dirty yellowish-gray and bluish-gray cellu- 
lar mass, the cells mostly of cubical shape as if formed by the destruction 
of crystals of galena; they are partly filled with dark-gray smithsonite, 
forming botryoidal incrustations on the walls of the cells, partly with an 



184 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 

amorphous, yellow, soft variety of smithsonite; powder of dirty cream- 
color. 

Occurs in fissures in dolomite. 

Composition of air-dried ore: 

Silica • 2.367 

Sesquioxide of iron . 2.750 

Oxide of zinc 55.238 

Sulphuret of zinc- • '• 0.328 

Lime 2.158 

Magnesia 1 .065 

Carbonic acid and water 34.738 

98.644 
55.238 oxide of zinc contain 44.334 metallic zinc. A very good ore for 
smelting, intermediate between ?so. 4 and No. 3, of the Bath mine. 



No. 55. iua?dve smithsonite, from Mr. Smith's land, township 17, 

range 2 west, section x0, Lawrence county. 

A massive, soft, earthy rock, of white, reddish-white, and pale-yellow 
color, containing amygdaloidal cavities, which are, in part, filled with 
incrustations of botryoidal smithsonite; the surface of the latter fre- 
quently covered with a thin layer of peroxide of iron. The rock contains 
crystals of galena imbedded. 

Composition of the earthy, air-dried ore: 

White sand, and clay (?) 26.454 

Sesquioxide of iron, and alumina 2.193 

Oxide of zinc 27.600 

Sulphuret of lead 0.793 

Lime 8.048 

Magnesia 3.260 

Carbonic acid, water, and loss 31.652 

100.000 
27.600 parts of oxide of zinc contains 22.15 parts of metallic zinc. Not 
a rich ore, but equal to the Silesian ore No. 11, of the table on page 156. 

No. 56. Smithsonite, from the Koch mine. 

For the subjoined analysis, pieces of the pure, botryoidal smithsonite 
were taken, which occur as an incrustation on the compact ore. 

Concentric incrustation, internal structure semi-fibrous; color yellowish- 
gray, the outermost layer dirty reddish-gray; hardness between 4 and 5: 
fracture conchoidal; lustre vitreous; subtranslucent; brittle. 



OF ARKANSAS. 1£5 



Composition: 

Silica 1 .449 

Oxide of zinc 62.SG4 

Oxide of iron trace 

Lime 1 .'322 

Magnesia trace 

Carbonic acid, (loss on ignition) 34.095 

99.730 

The rational composition is, perhaps: 

Silicate of zinc 2.748 

Carbonate of zinc 94.925 

" « lime •' 2.360 

100.033 
which requires 34.398 per cent, of carbonic acid, instead of 34.095, as 
found. 

No. 57. Nitre earth; labeled "average nitre-earth, from J. T. Thomp- 
son's nitre-cave on Cave creek, Newton county." 

Time did not, at present, permit more than a qualitative examination 
of the watery extract of this earth. It was found to contain: 

A large amount of sulphate of lime; 
Nitric acid; 
Magnesia; 
Potassa; 

Chlorine, and a very small quantity of 
Phosphoric acid. 
As soon as circumstances allow, I shall report a complete analysis of 
this earth. 



188 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



METHODS OF ANALYSIS. 



■o- 



In the following pages, I propose giving a short exposition of the 
methods employed in the analysis of the ores and rocks described in this 
Report; not for the purpose of serving as a guide to those engaged in 
similar investigations, but merely to furnish those who are able to judge 
with a scale, by which to measure the reliability of the results. For this 
reason, I shall forbear entering into details, and confine myself to giving 
a general outline. 

SMITHSONITE, 

Impurities: insoluble silicates; iron; alumina, lime; magnesia. 

I. The pulverized mineral is treated with hydrochloric acid, the solution 
evaporated to dryness over a water-bath, residue treated with dilute 
hydrochloric acid, and insoluble silicates collected on filter. 

II. The filtrate is oxidized with nitric acid, excess of acid partly 
removed by evaporation, solution nearly neutralized with carbonate of 
soda, then iron and alumina precipitated with carbonate of baryta; pre- 
cipitate collected on filter, dissolved in dilute hydrochloric acid, baryta 
removed by sulphuric acid, and iron and alumina precipitated with 
ammonia; the ignited and weighed precipitate is dissolved in hydrochloric 
acid, the solution reduced with metallic zinc, and the iron determined 
volumetrically with chamaelon mineral. 

III. The filtrate from the treatment with carbonate of baryta is precipi- 
tated with sulphuric acid, to remove baryta, the solution neutralized with 
ammonia, and precipitated with sulphhydrate of ammonia; liquid with 
precipitate allowed to rest (in a well-stoppered bottle) for about 24 hours, 
sulphuret of zinc collected on filter, washed with water containing sulph- 
hydrate of ammonia, dissolved in hydrochloric acid, and precipitated with 
a hot solution of carbonate of soda (from the washings, traces of zinc 



OF ARKANSAS. 187 



removed by sulphhydrate of ammonia); the carbonate of zinc washed with 
hot water, and ignited. 

IV. The filtrate from the sulphuret of zinc is acidified with hydrochloric 
acid, the sulphur separated by filtration, the lime precipitated with oxalate 
of ammonia, and in the filtrate the magnesia determined as phosphate of 
magnesia-ammonia. 

For practical purposes it is unnecessary to ascertain the relative quan- 
tities of all the different impurities, and the following method, which was 
employed in the analysis of Nos. 4, 6, and 7, and which recommends 
itself by great simplicity, may be advantageously followed: 

I. The mineral is ignited, and the amount of carbonic acid and water 
ascertained by the loss in weight. 

II. The ignited substance is digested in a beaker, covered with a watch- 
glass, with a mixture of ammonia and carbonate of ammonia, the residue 
collected on a filter, ignited, and weighed. The difference in weight 
expresses the amount of oxide of zinc extracted. 

III. The residue consists of silica, alumina, iron, lime, and magnesia, 
and also contains silicate of zinc, if this compound was present in the ore. 
Its presence is easily detected, by treating a portion of the residue before 
the blowpipe on charcoal. 

From the fact that silicate of zinc is insoluble in ammonia, it follows 
that this mode of analysis is not admissible for ores containing more than 
a few per cent, of this compound. 

Schwarz (see Mohr " Lehrbuch der Titrirmethodc, part I, p. 231, and 
part II, p. 74,' 1 ) recommends to precipitate the zinc from the ammoniacal 
solution (II) by means of sulphhydrate of ammonia, to treat the sulphuret 
of zinc with sesquichloride of iron which is thus reduced to protdchloride, 
and to determine the amount of the latter with chamaeleon mineral; 2 
equivalents of iron correspond to 1 equivalent of zinc. I have not suc- 
ceeded in obtaining satisfactory results by means of this method. The 
reasons for my failure will appear from the following considerations: It is 
of the utmost importance that the excess of sulphhydrate of ammonia, 
employed in precipitating the zinc, be thoroughly removed by washing; if 
this is neglected, a portion of the sesquichloride of iron will become 
reduced at the expense of this compound, and the amount of zinc, conse- 
quently, be found too high. Now, it is extremely difficult to remove the 
last trace of the precipitant by washing; even in using boiling water it 
required ntarhj two days' icasliing, and I have no doubt that during this 
time a perceptible quantity of sulphuret of zinc becomes oxidized and 
passes into the washings as sulphate of zinc. If dilute ammonia is used 



188 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



instead of boiling water, the process proceeds still slower, though the 
danger of loss consequent on oxidation becomes lessened, and perhaps 
entirely prevented. At any rate, the length of time required in effecting 
a thorough washing is a serious inconvenience. I should mention here 
that I took the precaution of allowing the precipitate to settle before 
throwing it on a filter. The next step consists in placing the filter with 
the moist precipitate in a stoppered glass cylinder containing neutral 
sesquichloride of iron and dilute sulphuric acid [the addition of the latter 
is required in order to effect a complete decomposition]; in doing so, 1 
invariably noticed a strong odor of sulphuretted hydrogen; the escaping gas 
does, of course, not act on the sesquichloride of iron, and the amount of 
zinc will be found, proportionally, too low. The method, therefore, is 
possessed of two sources of error, acting in a contrary sense; the two 
errors may, perchance, counterbalance each other, and the result may, 
consequently, be the correct one; but the method can hardly be relied 
upon — at least not as far as my experience goes. For this reason the 
results, thus obtained, have not been embodied in the Report. 

PSILOMELANE, 

Containing : water, free oxygen; silica; peroxide of iron, alumina; protox- 
ide of manganese, cobalt, baryta, and lime. 

I. To determine the amount of free oxygen, I used the method of Pre- 
senilis and Will, with the modification of Mohr; it combines great sim- 
plicity with accuracy, and requires but little time. From 1.5 to 2.5 gram- 
mes of the dried mineral are introduced into a Florence flask, a measured 
volume of normal oxalic acid and some concentrated sulphuric acid added, 
and heated over a spirit lamp until the evolution of gas has ceased; if the 
ore is decomposable only with difficulty, the liquid is poured off from the 
dark-colored residue, some more normal oxalic acid and sulphuric acid 
added, and heated again until the residue appears white, or nearly so; the 
liquid thus obtained is diluted to 500 cubic centimeters; 100 cub. cent, are 
taken out with a pipette, largely diluted with water, sulphuric acid added, 
and the excess of normal oxalic acid determined volumetrically with 
chamaeleon mineral; the same process is repeated with another 100 cub. 
cent, of the solution; subtracting the undecomposed normal oxalic acid 
from the amount originally used, we obtain the quantity decomposed by 
the mineral. 1 cub. cent, of normal oxalic acid is equal to 0.008 gram- 
mes of free oxygen. 

II. Water and oxygen above the composition Mn 3 4 are determined by 
ignition. 



OF ARKANSAS. J go 



III. The mineral is treated with strong hydrochloric acid, solution evapo- 
rated to dryness, residue treated with dilute hydrochloric acid, and silica 
collected on filter. 

IV. Filtrate diluted with water, and baryta precipitated with sulphuric 
acid. 

V. Filtrate nearly neutralized with carbonate of soda, and iron and 
alumina precipitated with carbonate of baryta; separated as described 
above, in the analysis of smithsonite. 

VI. After removal of baryta with sulphuric acid, the filtrate is neutral- 
ized with ammonia and precipitated with sulphhydrate of ammonia in a 
well-closed bottle; the precipitate is allowed to settle, collected on a filter, 
washed with water containing sulphhydrate of ammonia, and digested with 
dilute hydrochloric acid [the small quantity of sulphurct of cobalt which 
remains undissolved is collected on a filter and strongly ignited]; from the 
solution the manganese is precipitated with carbonate of soda, and the 
precipitate ignited until the weight remains constant. 

VII. In the filtrate from the sulphurets, the lime is determined as usual. 



LIMONITE, 

Containing : Insoluble silicates; water; sesquioxides of iron and manga- 
nese, alumina; phosphoric acid; lime, and magnesia. 

I. Water determined by ignition. 

II. The pulverized mineral is boiled with strong hydrochloric acid until 
the residue appears colorless; the whole evaporated to dryness; the dry mass 
treated with dilute hydrochloric acid, and insoluble silicates collected on 
filter. 

III. The filtrate is diluted to 250 cub. cent.; of these 

50 cub. cent, are used for the determination of iron by means of chamadeon 
mineral. 

50 or 100 cub. cent, are used for the determination of phosphoric acid by 
means of molybdate of ammonia. 

100 cub. cent, are nearly neutralized with carbonate of soda, acetate of 
soda added and heated to ebullition until the liquid appears colorless; the 
precipitate is collected on a filter, washed, dissolved in hydrochloric acid, 
and reprecipated with ammonia; it contains all the iron, alumina, and 
phosphoric acid; the filtrate is treated as in IV. 

IV. To the filtrate some hypochlorite of soda is added, and enough 
acetic acid to produce acid reaction, and allowed to rest for 24 hours; the 
peroxide of manganese is collected on a filter, and ignited [if the precipi- 



J90 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



tate is considerable, it has to be dissolved in hydrochloric acid and precipi- 
tated with carbonate of soda]. 

V. To the filtrate some hydrochloric acid is added, and heat applied until 
the odors of chlorine and acetic acid have disappeared; the lime is then 
precipitated with oxalate of ammonia, and from the filtrate the magnesia 
with phosphate of soda. 

DOLOMITE, 

Containing : Insoluble silicates; carbonates of lime, and magnesia; sesqui- 
oxide of iron with trace of manganese; alumina, potassa. 

I. The mineral is dissolved in hydrochloric acid, solution evaposated to 
dryness^ residue treated with water acidified with hydrochloric acid, and 
insoluble silicates and silica collected on filter. 

II. To the filtrate a little chlorine water is added, to oxidize the man- 
ganese, then precipitated with ammonia; the precipitate, containing all 
the iron, alumina, and manganese, and a little lime and magnesia, is re- 
dissolved in hydrochloric acid and again treated as above. This precipi- 
tate is free from the alkaline earths. It is dissolved in hydrochloric acid 
and the solution divided into 2 equal portions: 

In the first portion iron plus alumina are determined by ammonia; 

In the second portion the iron alone is determined by chamseleon mineral. 

III. The two filtrates, and washings, are united, and about ^th of the 
liquid used for the determination of lime by oxalate of ammonia, and that 
of magnesia by phosphate of soda. 

IV. For the determination of the alkali a fresh portion of the mineral 
is treated with repeated portions of boiling acetic acid; the filtrates are 
united, evaporated, transferred to a platina capsule, and ignited until the 
empyreumatic odor of decomposing acetic acid disappears; the residue is 
exhausted with boiling water, the liquid mixed with some oxalic acid, 
evaporated to dryness, ignited; the residue is again treated with boiling 
water: the filtrate contains the potassa as carbonate; it is converted into 
chloride, ignited and weighed. 

DETERMINATION OF NITRIC ACID. 

To ascertain the quantity of nitric acid in the nitre earths subjected to 
analysis, I proceeded as follows: 

100 grammes of the earth are pulverized, and digested over the water- 
bath with repeatedly renewed portions of distilled water until all the 
soluble constituents of the earth are taken up by this liquid. The solution 



OF ARKANSAS. 



191 



thus obtained is reduced to a small volume by evaporation, and an aliquot 
part of the concentrated liquid evaporated to a syrupy consistency in a 
porcelain crucible, over a water-bath. [It is nut possible to evaporate the 
watery extract to dryness by means of the water-bath; the extract assumes 
the consistency and appearance of honey, without solidifying]. 

Some pure, soft iron-wire is then dissolved in strong hydrochloric acid, 
with the necessary precautions for the exclusion of atmospheric air, and 
the crucible containing the extract thrown into the solution of protochloride 
of iron; heat is applied to expel the nitric oxide, the liquid diluted with 
water, and the amount of unoxidized protoxide of iron determined by 
chamaileon mineral. 

Ox A L E N A. 

In the different specimens of galena which have been analyzed, the 
amount of lead was not directly determined; but since it was proved by 
the qualitative examination of these specimens, that no other impurities, 
besides iron and silver, were present, the amount of lead can easily be 
ascertained by subtracting from 100 the sum of these impurities plus the 
amount of sulphur. 

For the determination of the silver, the following method was pursued: 
50 grammes of the finely pulverized ore are intimately mixed with 50 
grammes of carbonate of potassa, 25 grammes of cream of tartar, and 10 
grammes of metallic iron (small iron tacks); the mixture is placed in an 
iron crucible, covered with a layer of borax, the crucible closed with an 
iron lid, and then exposed to a bright red heat until the mass flows quietly. 
The contents of the crucible are then poured into a conical iron mould, 
when the metallic lead falls to the bottom, forming a well-defined metal- 
lic button which is easily separated from the slag by a blow with a ham- 
mer. The weight of the button of lead varied from 39 to 40 grammes. 
Of the metal thus obtained, about 5 grammes are subjected to cupellation, 
and the button of silver is weighed on a very delicate balance. . 

The iron was determined in the following manner: The finely pulverized 
galena is oxidized with strong nitric acid; to the mass a few drops of con- 
centrated sulphuric acid are added, and heat applied until the excess of 
nitric acid is completely removed. The dry mass is treated with water, 
the insoluble sulphate of lead collected on a filter, and washed with dilute 
sulphuric acid. To the filtrate a piece of metallic zinc is added, in order 
to reduce the sesquioxide of iron to protoxide, and the amount of the lat- 
ter determined by chamaileon mineral. 



REPO 11 T 



OF A 



GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANOE 



OF A PART OF THE STATE OF 



A. R K A 1ST S A S > 



MADE DURING THE YEARS 1857 AND 1858 



B Y 



EDWAED T. COX, 



3SISTANT GEOLOGIST. 



13 



INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 



-o- 



Office of the Arkansas Survey, ) 
New Harmon}/, Indiana. October 15th, 1858. J 
David Dale Owen, M. D. — 

Dear Sir: I herewith submit my Report of a Geological Reconntis- 
sance, made in the State of Arkansas, during the fall of 1857, and summer 
of 1858; prosecuted in accordance with instructions received from you, at 
different times, while progressing with the survey. 

Allow me, also, to acknowledge here, the many obligations I owe to 
you for valuable counsel and aid, while carrying forward the survey, under 
your direction. 

Most respectfully yours, 

E. T. COX. 



INSTRUCTIONS. 



The following are instructions received, on different occasions, from Dr. 
D. D. Owen, Principal Geologist of the State of Arkansas: 

Instructions, dated Ociobei-, 1857. 

<• After separating from corps No. 1, you will proceed by the most 
feasible route between Cache and Black rivers, through the north and 
north-west part of Greene, south-east part of Randolph, the eastern part 
of Lawrence, and the north part of Jackson county, and make a general 
geological reconnoissance of those portions of the State of Arkansas. 

You will keep your camp on some main route, and make lateral excur- 
sions to any points of interest between Black river and the eastern branch 

of Cache river. 

Along the line of your route, you will endeavor to see the gentlemen 

whose names are in the list herewith furnished, under the head of the 
counties through which you pass, for the purpose of obtaining information 
in regard to localities considered of special interest, and make a geologi- 
cal exploration of those which may be co«sidered important. 

You will, also, make inquiries in regard to sections r of rocks exposed 
on- Black and Cache rivers, and examine the same, in order to obtain a 
clue to the formations of that part of Arkansas. 

I would particularly call your attention to a locality in Randolph county, 
on Mr. McLaires' land, supposed to contain iron; also, to a locality near 
Pocahontas, in the same county, which is, perhaps, an extension of the 
same bed; also, to deposits of black oxide of manganese, supposed to 
exist in some of the northern counties. 

In your descent of the valleys of Black and Cache rivers, you will 



198 



GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



extend your observation, as far south as Jaeksonport. If you arrive at 
ft- place before corps No. 1, you will encamp at some convenient point 
^ the vicinity, and wait for further instructions; you will, however, occupy 
the tune, while awaiting my arrival, in making explorations in the vicinity 
ot Jaeksonport." J 

Instructions received at Jaclsonport, Jackson county, Ark., Nov. 17th, 1857. 

„,"/"; Cr0S t" g B ' aCk riVer ' 3 ° U WU1 Pr ° cecd t0 *• ™ ™°<«. stunted 
on Reeds creek, m the southern part of Lawrence county, and make a 
recon nolssance ^ part of the country ^ J, k. ,j> 

Back rivers, as far north as township 17. Yon will proceed thence to 
Soil eCOnn r a " Ce ° f the C0Unt, ' J ' <J** beh ™» Strawberry and 
ZZ2T' a " S t nOTth " WMt °° UrSe t0Ward3 Salem - 1" ^*»» -unty, 

rot Whtto ' and ;° minUe " est > «"-«* 4- range, of township | 
I*!™' and e " Ca ™P at ~™ -table point near Yeilville 
where 5 ou « ,11 await my arrival and further instructions." 

Instructions, dated December 4th, 1837. 

wither InMa 8 *" ^'^ "^ "*"" "' * he H °^^ b -d »f 
VVhttcnet, nManon county, and collecting samples of the earth for 

rtZl T y °l ""' reCr ° SS WUte "" 6 "' «">«««-- that potion 
o Rltonounty south o your previons route, and pass through ^oss 

c ^of Lav? y ° U PTOCeed ^ ' EVeniDS Shade >' in the - u "—t 

corne of Lawrence county, to Cury creek, in Independence county and 

examme the prospect for lead ore in that county. After compTet !'y OU r 
}ou will cross Black river and meet me at Jaeksonport." 

Instructions, dated May 12th, 18S8. 
- During the time I shall be absent in Pulaski and Hot Spring counties 
jou will examine the north-western tier of townshins no, L , 

«plored, in Randolph county, and visit Rice's spri^ „'n "e wa^W 
Muddy creek take its temperature, and make "a c^Jfta ™ Cell 
exammation of it at the fountain head; you will investigate Z , 

ever may be of interest in that vicinity! * ' "' What " 

From Randolph county, yon will proceed through Lawrence county to 
Batesville, ,n Independence county, and examine the geological for™ 5 
on the north side of White river, between that place and Se T 
below the mouth of Laferty creek; and ^Z££££Z 



OF ARKANSAS. 



199 



is any evidence of the existence of an outburst of basalt, or other igneous 
rocks, amongst the subcarboniferous group in that vicinity. You will 
examine, also, the fossiliferous shale below the town of Batesville. 

The manganese locality, a short distance above the mouth of Lafferty 
creek, was already examined, last season, by corps No. I; but, as it is 
desirable to obtain a greater variety of the ores than was then collected, 
you will cither obtain an additional supply from Dr. Smith, former super- 
intendent of the mines, who lives somewhere In the neighborhood, or at 
the mines. Endeavor, especially, to ascertain whether any of the softer 
and blacker varieties of this ore occur, and have been taken out; such as 
are known to mineralogists under the name of « pyrolusite » and « manga- 
nite" which arc more valuable than the hard, compact « psilomelane " ore, 
which was found most abundant in the rubbish of the mine last year. 

You will write to me from Batesville, and let me know when you will 
be in Van Buren county, and at what place it will be most convenient for 
us to meet, either in that county or White county. _ 

From Independence county, you will cross over White river, into Vv lute 
county, and explore the northern townships in that county, as far south 

as Searcy. , 

In the counties south of White river, you will especially investigate for 
coal, as the south-west dip of the rocks from the • Oil-trough ridge and 
Shields' bluff, lead to the inference that coal may soon come in south of 
these localities." 

Instructions dated 21s/ July, 1858. 
« You will proceed to finish the geological reconnoissance of Crawford 
county examining those localities in the south-east part not yet explored; 
especially the coal on Frog bayou, and the sulphur spring on the property 

of Mr. Herd. . 

From Crawford countv pass into Franklin, and examine the state salt 
,prin- on Mulberry creek, exploring, also, the geological formations on 
that stream; thence pass down towards Ozark, and take the most feasible 
route to examine the coal region, on the waters of Horsehead creek, in 
Johnson county, and the geological position of the rocks, in the northern 

part of that county. 

As I, myself, shall have an opportunity of examining the Spadra coal, it 
will not be necessary for you to go to that locality in this county. 

In your explorations of Pope county, I would especially direct your 
attention to a locality near the Dwight Old Mission, where the so-called 
- lapis lazuli" was said to have been found by Mr. Washburn. Your survey 
in the middle, northern, and eastern part of this county, will be best regu- 



200 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



lated after you have learnt more of the other localities of interest. When 
in Conway county, examine the state salt spring. There are also several 
other localities of interest in this county, on the Cadron, and, perhaps 
also, on Cedar creek, a branch of that stream, which may require your 
attention. When in the north-east part of this county, you will pass over 
a few miles into White county, and examine a locality of coal, of which 
I have previously given you a note and directions how to find it. The 
rest of this county has already been explored. 

Ascertain where the coal measures of Conway county terminate and 

the metamorphic slate formation of Pulaski county commences, in 'your 

easterly route into Pulaski. It is, probably, somewhere near Palarm bayou. 

Some gold ore is said to have been found somewhere near that stream. 
^ One of the most important localities to be examined in Pulaski, is the 

Kellogg mine of argentiferous galena, some ten miles north of' Little 

Rock, on Kellogg's creek. 
As I have been over the road from Little Rock to Oakland Grove, in 

White county, it will not be necessary for you to pass over that ground 

again at present, unless you hear of something special that may require 

your attention. 

I know of nothing particular at present to which I can direct your 

attention, while passing through Prairie county into Monroe, where your 

geological reconnoissance will terminate for this season; but you will take 

every opportunity to inquire, before you enter a county, what there may 

be m it of particular geological interest, and direct your course accord- 
ingly. 

In each county which you pass through, you will collect sets of charac- 
teristic soils, upon the same plan as heretofore followed by the geological 
corps of Arkansas. ° 

D. D. OWEN, M. JD., 

Geologist of Arkansas:' 



REPORT. 



GREENE COUNTY. 

As you had examined, personally, the country adjacent to the Chalk 
bind', before we separated on our respective routes, it will be unnecessary 
for me to make any report on that locality. 

The northern part of Greene county, included within my instructions, 
belongs to the quaternary and alluvial period. The quaternary deposits 
observed, consist of sands, gravel and potter's clay; these occupy the 
highlands, extending from the Chalk bluff, on the St. Francis river, through 
the greater part of range seven. They are spread over an area of eight 
or ten miles in width; and their vertical thickness is from one hundred to 
one hundred and fifty feet. 

The alluvium forms the bottom lands of the St. Francis, Cache, and 
Black rivers. 

A locality in section 36?, township 21 north, range 7 east, one and a 
half miles from Mr. James W. Payne's, has been rendered notorious on 
account of a phenomenon, which induced Mr. Payne and others, to believe 
that gold or other precious metals might be found there. The account 
given is as follows: When Mr. Payne was out hunting about two years 
ago, he heard a slight noise at his feet, and on looking down saw the earth 
open to the width of three or four inches; being reminded of the memo- 
rable New Madrid earthquake, which sunk a large district of land in this 
count)*, this frightful phenomenon, of course, alarmed him, and he left, 
supposing the hill was about to be engulfed. After a few dny.^, finding 
that no serious catastrophe had taken place, he returned to view the con- 
dition of things. On examining the ground, he became po^ of the 
idea that the opening of the earth was a revelation, to notify him of the 



6>Q2 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



existence of a vein of gold below. In this belief he was further strength- 
ened by the fact of the tops of the trees, in the vicinity, being dead. Ac- 
cordingly, with some of his neighbors, he went to work, and sunk three 
pits, one of which was thirty feet deep. Unfortunately, when I visited 
the place, these pits had become filled up with the rubbish and washings 
from the hill above. 

After the examination of the material thrown from these pits, and aided 
by the memory of Mr. Payne, 1 was enabled to make out the following 
succession in the deposits: 

(//) Slope above the shaft, composed of waterworn hornstone 
and chert gravel, and sand, which are sometimes formed 

into a ferruginous conglomerate of small extent 30 feet. 

(/;) Light colored plastic clay, with small, pure, transparent, len- 
ticular crystals of selenite imbedded 10 to 15 

(r) Variegated plastic clay, alternating with beds of clay, in all 

about? 15 " 

Bottom of the shaft ° 

GO " 
The deposits passed through in this shaft, are not such as to afford any 
hope of finding gold, or other precious metals. The labors of Mr. Payne 
have disclosed, however, in the member marked (6), of the above section, 
a material which will undoubtedly prove to be a valuable fertilizer of 
land, from the large amount of selenite (a transparent variety of gypsum) 
which it contains. Judging from its external appearance, the selenite 
forms about one-third of the whole mass composing this member. An 
earth, so rich in this ingredient, and so easy of access, must be of great 
value to the farming community. 

The lower bed reached, (c), is a good potter's clay, which, by a proper 
selection, and washing, will .be applicable for the manufacture of the 
coarser lands of porcelain. 

The yellow member of this bed, which is sometimes several feet thick, 
is a variety of yellow ochre that has commercial value as a cheap paint, 
used for the coarser kinds of work. 

The evidence of the cracking of the earth, at this locality, is still very 
apparent; and it is probable that such cracks are not uncommon, and 
may have favored the formation of the selenite, by giving egress to pent- 
up sulphurous acid or sulphuretted hydrogen gases, which, by oxidation, 
have been converted into sulphuric acid; this, combining with the lime 
present in some of the quaternary deposits, has formed the sulphate of 
lime, (selenite). These cracks may have originated, in part, from the 



OF ARKANSAS. 



203 



shrinking of the underlying argillaceous strata; and in part, from the 
slumbering effects of former earthquake action. 

The other mystery which aided in drawing attention to this locality, the 
decay of the tops of the trees, may be explained from the fact, thai the 
soil has been washed away from their hasr into these cracks, and they are 
left rooted merely in gravel. Thus deprived of sufficient nourishment, 
the languid sap fails to reach the top, and the upper branches naturally 
decay first. 

Where the hills are of sufficient height, a bed of waterworn horn- 
stone and chert-gravel is superimposed on the quaternary sand and clay. 
The pebbles are from one to three inches in diameter; occasionally in 
some of these are found fragments of carboniferous fossils. 

Beneath this graved bed, a ferruginous conglomerate, or pudding stone, 
sometimes occurs in sheets of two or more inches in thickness. This is 
the only instance of finding a hard cemented rock in any portion of 
Greene county, within the scope of my observation. 

In the stratum of potter's clay (c) at Mr. Payne's shaft, were found a 
few specimens of the leaves of oaks (quercus), and willow (salix), which 
belong undoubtedly to species now living. No other organic remains 
were observed: but I have no doubt that if good exposures of this bed 
were accessible, some associate land or fresh- water shells might be dis- 
covered. 

Minora/ and Agricultural Resources. 

Though no metallic ores proper have yet been found in the northern 
part of Greene county, I consider the selenite bed (b) near Mr. Payne's of 
great importance, in an agricultural point of view; and it may hereafter 
be the source of no inconsiderable revenue to the county. It occurs in 
beautiful, small, transparent crystals, abundantly distributed through the 
clay, which itself contains soda, potash, and perhaps, phosphates and 
nitrates, forming a combination which will be applicable as a mineral 
fertilizer to a great variety of soils. 

The underlying stratum (c) will afford a good, cheap, red, as well as 
yellow paint; for, by simple burning, the yellow ochre is converted into a 
red ochre; this latter can be used as a dyestufF for coarse cloth and 
varn. 

Potter's clay is in great abundance, and of excellent quality for com- 
mon ware. 

In the absence of more durable rocks, the ferruginous conglomerate 
may be used for the underpining of houses, building chimneys and walling 
up wells. 



234 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



The alluvial bottoms, above overflow of the rivers and creeks, are very 
productive and easily cultivated. The elevated land between St. Francis 
and Cache rivers, known by the name of Crowley's ridge, is somewhat 
broken, but highly susceptible of cultivation, producing all kinds of grain; 
it is particularly noted for its adaptation to the growth of wheat. Mr. A. 
Muckelroy, who lives on section 19, township 21 north, range 8 east, 
informed me that he had raised six consecutive crops of wheat on his 
land without any apparent diminution of fertility; in fact, all the farmers 
with whom I conversed, spoke in great praise of its wheat growing pro- 
perties; and when by continued cultivation it may require renovation, 
there lies close at hand, in the gypsiferous clays, a supply of mineral ma- 
nure that will keep it in good heart. 

The settlers in this part of Greene county, are just beginning to turn 
their attention to agriculture; heretofore, the great abundance of game 
seduced them into a thriftless way of living; depending almost exclu- 
sively, for a livelihood, on the sale of furs and peltries, which constitute, 
at all times, a critical and uncertain means of support. As game is now 
becoming scarce, they are compelled to devote their time to agriculture, 
or move farther west, where wild animals are more numerous. 

The projected railroad, from Fulton, in Texas, to Cairo, at the junction 
of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, runs through township 21, range 6, and 
if completed, will prove of incalculable advantage to a region of country 
rich in fertile lands; as the want of a ready market for the surplus pro- 
duce of the country, is one of the greatest drawbacks to its progress. 

A plank road from the Chalk bluff, to Point Pleasant, on the Mississippi 
river, twelve miles below New Madrid, is under construction and will soon 
be completed. 

This road will prove highly beneficial to Greene county, and is the best 
route for emigrants coming from Kentucky, Tennessee, and the Carohnas, 
who wish to locate in the northern part of Arkansas. The emigration to 
and through Greene county, during the fall and winter of 1857, was very 
great; and as the people of this and the adjoining county of Pvanuolph, 
receive, from this emigration, no small amount of money, in exchange for 
produce, it is to their interest to improve the road from the Chalk bluif to 
Pocahontas, particularly the crossing of Cache river, which is in a wretch- 
edly bad condition, and could be made passable at very little cost. In at- 
tempting to cross this river, our mules mired down and came very near being 
drowned in trying to extricate themselves from the deep mud. We were 
compelled to obtain a?sistance, and after disengaging the team had to get 
the wagon out by hand. 



OF ARKANSAS. 



205 



The principal growth of timber on the highland is largo white, black, 

and red oak*, mockcrnut hickory, (commonly called black hickory,) and a 
few shell-bark hickories. On the alluvial lands of Cache river, are found, 
in addition to the above, large poplar, black and sweet gums, and in the 
sloughs, cypress. 



RANDOLPH COUNTY. 

The portion of Randolph county, east of Black river, is covered with 
an alluvial deposit, elevated but a few feet above high water; and, with 
the exception of a low ridge, which divides the waters of Cache from 
those of Black river, it is much cut up by sloughs and lakes. Immedi- 
ately on the west bank of Black river, at Pocahontas, magnesian lime- 
stones of the lower silurian period are seen at the water's edge, and ex- 
tend up into the highest ridges, where they are capped by black and 
orange-colored sandstone and waterworn gravel of the quaternary 
period. The country is generally broken, with hills from one to two hun- 
dred and fifty feet in height, covered on their slopes with chert, which has 
weathered out of the limestone. 

On the property of Mr. Samuel McLaire, one and a half miles from 
Pocahontas, is a deposit of black ferruginous sandstone, exposed to the 
thickness of (23) twenty-three feet, and forming the top of what is con- 
sidered to be the highest ridge in the county. It is frequently fluted, and 
resembles in its outward appearance and fracture, a rough variety of pig 
iron.* At some localities this rock is of a dark orange-color, friable, and 
readily decomposing into coarse-grained sand. In its lithological charac- 
ter, it resembles very much the indurated and cemented portions of the 
orange-sand formation of Mississippi and Alabama. Indeed it is so com- 
plete a counterpart, that when specimens were exhibited to Dr. E. H. 
Hilgard, Geologist of Mississippi, he at once recognized the identity with 
those he had himself collected in the State of Mississippi. 

The place of this sandstone is probably in Greene county, below the 
quaternary clay, which, however, I did not see in Randolph county; it 
appears to rest immediately on the lower silurian rocks. 

The following approximate section exhibits the position of the rocks in 
this county, extending from the bed of Black river to the waterworn qua- 
ternary gravel on the tops of the highest ridges: 



*This is probably the locality referred to in mv instructions. 



20G GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 

(a) Waterworn gravel 1 to 10 feet. 

(/;) Rough, black, fluted sandstone, equivalent to the 

" orange sand formation " of Mississippi 23 " 

(c) Place of iron ore deposit 1 to 4 " 

(d) White cherty limestone; chert in large masses, very 

brittle and full of cracks 30 to 80 " 

( ) Light-gray limestone, mottled with flesh-colored spar, 
passing down into alight-colored calciferous sand- 
rock 66 " 

(f) Hard compact cherty magnesian limestone, in the bed 
of Black and Eleven Point rivers, as seen at Imbo- 
boden's ferry 80 " 

253 feet. 

The grayish-buff, hard, and close textured magnesiam limestone (/.) 
forms the bed of Black river, at Pocahontas, and Eleven Point river, at 
Mr. J. II. Imboden's. Its thickness could not be seen at Pocahontas, but 
on Eleven Point river it is exposed to the thickness of eighty feet or more. 
(c.) is also best seen on Eleven Point river. At its base, it is a light- gray, 
calciferous sand-rock, with a sharp grit, and passes upward into a gray 
limestone, mottled with flesh-colored spar, (d.) is a rough weathering 
magnesian limestone, full of whitish chert segregated in large masses 
which are filled with cracks, and readily break into small pieces. This 
member has a variable thickness of from thirty to one hundred feet or 
more, and may be seen along the road from Pocahontas to the ferry on 
Eleven Point river. On the top of this rock is the place of the iron ore 
deposits (c.) The iron ore appears to be scattered about in patches, from 
one to four feet in depth; but it was only found extending over a limited 
area. Though sometimes mixed with too much sand, it is usually of ex- 
cellent quality, and belongs to a variety designated by mineralogists as 
" limonite." It is usually in large cellular blocks, but occasionally pre- 
sents a globular, and concentric structure. 

The rough, ferruginous sandstone, (b.) near Pocahontas, possesses a re- 
markable, fluted structure, and was generally supposed to be manganese 
ore; but, on examination, it is found to contain only a trace of that metal. 
In the State of Mississippi, some of the slabs of this rock are so univer- 
sally, and regularly fluted that they have been, u^ed for water spouts. 

The bed (a.) composed of waterworn gravel, from one to four inches in 
diameter, belongs above the ferruginous sandstone, but is often seen, where 
that member is wanting, resting on the older rocks. It usually forms the 
capping to the highest ridges, and has a thickness of ten feet or more. 



OF ARK A.\ 



207 



Rice's spring, situated on the waters of Mud creek, a branch of Fourche 
Dumas, on section 14, township -21 north, range 1 west, is a place of much 
resort for invalids from this and the adjoining- counties. The following is 
the result of the qualitative chemical examination, made at the fountain 
head: 

Temperature of the air 82 deg. F., temperature of the water 62 dcg. F. 

Carbonic acid (abundant). 

Bi-carbonate of lime. 

Bi-carbonate of magnesia. 

Bi-carbonate of the protoxide of iron. 

Sulphates, a trace? 

The examination of this spring was made at a very unfavorable time; 
the unusually heavy rains, which fell in the spring, had completely satu- 
rated the surface of the earth, and diluted the spring with fresh water. 
From the above analysis, it appears to be a weak chalybeate, whereas it 
is represented by those who frequent it in a dry time to be a strong sul- 
phur water. In its present state, acetate of lead would give no reaction 
of sulphuretted hydrogen. 

Small deposits of hydrated brown oxide of iron (limonite) are seen, at 
various places in this county. The most extensive are those near J. H. 
Imboden's on Eleven Point river, and in the vicinity of Old Jackson, close 
to the boundary line between Randolph and Lawrence counties. It is 
possible a sufficiency of good ore may be found at the latter locality to 
supply a small forge. 

Agriculture. 

East of Black river the soil is principally river deposit; and, where not 
submerged by ordinary freshets, is easily cultivated and remarkably pro- 
ductive. It is well adapted for corn, wheat, oats, and clover. Samples 
of soils were collected in this part of the county, from a farm 18 miles 
from Pocahontas, belonging to Maj. Proudfit. The virgin soil is of a light 
black color, and the sub-soil a yellow clay. The field, in which the soil 
No. 2 was collected, had been in cultivation twenty years, nearly all the 
time in corn, and will now produce with ordinary tillage a crop of 50 or 
70 bushels to the acre. 

West of Black river, the principal soils for cultivation are the rich allu- 
vial lands adjacent to the river. 

The growth of timber on the east side of Black river, with the excep- 
tion of black walnut, is the same as that noted in Greene county. On the 
weat side of this river the growth is small oak and hickory, on the hills; 



298 



GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



whilst on the river bottoms the timber is large, and contains, in addition 
to the hickory, gum and elm. 



LAWRENCE COUNTY. 

The geological position of the rocks, along my route, have been mostly 
determined by their lithological character, owing to the almost total 
absence of organic remains; in one member alone of the magnesian lime- 
stones were any discovered, and they were only a few very imperfect 
casts of the genus orthis, too indistinct for determination; also a simgle 
specimen of an orUwccraiile, which is probably new. The want of so 
essential an aid to the determination of the position of rocks, (especially 
where there has been a great thinning out of the members, and a condi- 
tion which indicates a deposition on a very unequal bottom, together with 
a subsequent cutting away by currents of the deposited members,) renders 
the identification of equivalent formations difficult and uncertain. The 
accompanying section may therefore require, upon more minute investiga- 
tion and comparison, correction in some of the details; and, for the present, 
I shall only indicate the system to which I think they will hereafter prove 
to belong, without designating the particular member they may represent. 



The strata are lettered in the ascending order 




I l I 



i_ L _I 

L L 

CH 



CH CH 



CH 



f 



I I 



30 



15 



Rugged weathering limestone, with veins of 
calcspar, and casts of a small cytkerea. 



White chert bed. 



1 I 



60 



Massive saccharoidal sandstone, white, red 
dish, and variegated. 



All the members from 

(a) to (h) inclusive, be- 
long, most probably, to 
the lower silurian period. 
The remaining mem- 
bers (i) and (j ), are of 
quaternary date. 

The thick-bedded mag- 
nesian limestone (a) and 

(b) are the rocks in which 
the zinc, lead, and cop- 
per ores are usually 
found. The copper is 
but sparingly dissemin- 
ated in some of the calc- 
spar veins ramifying this 
rock. On the property 
of Mr. C. T. Stewart, 
township 17, range 2 
west, many small sam- 



OF ARKANSAS. 



209 



-frr 



20 



Compact magnesian limestone, with casts of 

orthis. 



Light buff, impure magnesian limestone, with 
conchoidal fracture. 



Gray thick-bedded magnesian limestone, with 
ferruginous chert, lower part siliceous. 



Place of zinc ore. 

Thick-bedded magnesian limestone, full of 
crevices; lead and copper bearing rock. 



pics of copper pyrites 
found, and a similar va- 
riety of ore was also 
found in the same geo- 
logical position on the 
property of Mr. William 
R. Williams, on section 
32, township 17 north, 
range G west. 

The veins of calcspar 
in which the copper oc- 
curs, have no constant 
direction, where seen; 
but it is probable that, 
when the country comes 
to be examined more in 
detail, they maybe found 
connected with some 



L L 

system of true veins. 

The principal working for lead, in these rocks, in Lawrence county, has 
been made on the property of Mr. E. W. Houghton, six miles from Pow- 
hatan, on section 10, township 17 north, range 2 west, where as many as 
twenty pits have been sunk, from which between one and three thousand 
pounds of galena have been taken out. No profitable lode was reached, 
therefore the diggings were discontinued. Surface lead ore (" float min- 
eral") has been occasionally picked up, over a district about one-fourth 
of a mile in breadth, and extending several miles in a i;orth-west direc- 
tion; but no continuous vein has so far been discovered. 

In the openings which have been made in this county, the cap rock is 
first reached; after penetrating it, at a depth of thirty or forty feet, 
members (a) and (b) of the preceding section are reached; in these, small 
crevices occur, in which the lead ore is found, accompanied with clay, 
charged with oxide of iron ("gossan"). These crevices have a bearing 
north-east and south-west, but do not extend continuously^ any great dis- 
tance. The abandoned shafts, at this locality, had become mostly filled 
with rubbish, so that I had no opportunity of seeing the position of the 
ore at the bottom. When more time can be devoted to the examination 
of this county, a more satisfactory conclusion may be arrived at, in regard 
to this lead region, than could be gained in the time allowed for a simple 
reconnoissance of the country. All that can be at present stated, from 

14 



210 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



the best information, is that the ore was rather more abundant at the 
greatest depth reached, than near the surface, as if it, might concentrate 
into a true vein. For want of sufficient capital to sink deeper, these 
mines have never been thoroughly proved. 

Associated with the lead at Houghton's diggings, is a yellow, earthy- 
looking rock, resembling indurated mud; hence, labeled mudstone, which 
proves on examination to be remarkably rich in carbonate of zinc; for the 
chemical constituents of this ore, see the Chemical Report. 

Many other localities in this county have afforded some lead. On the 
headwaters of Reed's creek, on the property of Mr. Robert G. Shaver, 
township 15, range 4 west, lead ore is found, associated with carbonate of 
zinc and zinc-blende (sulphuret of zinc). At this place, digging has only 
been made to the depth of two or three feet, entirely insufficient to prove 
the richness'of the deposit. The crevices in which the lead is found, tra- 
verse the strata in a north-east and south-west course. This locality has 
the appearance of being a very favorable place in which to find a good 
vein of galena; at least, it is worthy of a more systematic search than has 
yet been made. The rocks in which this lead occurs, belong also to a and 
b of the section. 

Carbonate of zinc, belonging to the variety known as "smithsonite," is very 
abundant in this county, and, for the purpose of converting this ore into 
the metallic zinc of commerce, works have been erected by a company of 
gentlemen from St. Louis, known as the Independence Mining Company. 
Their works are located on section 22, township 16 north, range 4 west, 
and are called " Calamine," after the zinc ore of that name. 

So far as can be ascertained by the present openings, the zinc ore does 
not run in veins or crevices, but occurs in beds, associated with a red ferrugi- 
nous clay, resting on a dolomitic limestone. Both the matrix of red clay 
and specimens of the associate limestone, which were analyzed by Win. 
Elderhorst, M. D., the Chemist to the Survey, have been found to contain 
a small per centage of zinc. The ore, imbedded in the clay, is usually of 
a porous or cellular character; but sometimes compact, and covered with 
crystals stained with oxide of iron. That which is found in contact with 
the dolomitic bedrock, is mostly in mammillary or botryoidal masses, hav- 
ing an opalescent appearance on the fresh fractured surface. The corro- 
ded and irregular surface of the dolomite seems to indicate that large por- 
tions of it must have been removed, perhaps by some material inter- 
change of the elements of the rocks and the metallic solutions pervading 
it. The small fractures, which traverse this bed rock in every direction, 
are, at some of the localities, filled with beautiful rose-colored crystals of 
carbonate of zinc, resembling pearlspar. 



Or ARKANSAS. OJJ 



The foil wing section will show the succession of the rocks at "Cala- 
mine," and the relative position of the zinc ore: 

Slope to the top of the hill covered with chert and scattered 
masses of brown oxide of iron, resting on limestone with cherty 

segregations 35 f ce t. 

Zinc ore, resting on cherty magnesian limestone (b) of the previ- 
ous section 35 « 

Calciferous sandstone 10 " 

Magnesian limestone- , . . \q « 

Spring at " Calamine" furnace " 

86 " 

The ore bed in the above section is only a few yards from the smeltin 0- 
furnace, and is called the " Koch mine," after Dr. Koch, one of the mem- 
bers of the smelting company. 

The most extensive deposits of calamine seen, were at the c: Hoppe 
mine," section 19, township 10 north, range 2 west; " Bath mine," section 
29, township 17 north, range 3 west; and the " Raney mine," three miles 
south-east of Smithville. 

At all of these localities of calamine, the ore occurs under precisely the 
same conditions; consequently a description of one, will answer for all. 

The " Hoppe mine " is opened on the north-west side of a low and very 
gradually sloping hill, some fifty feet above the valley. A great manv 
tons of calamine have already been taken out from the present opening, 
which is about six feet deep; and the ore has been proved to continue to 
a depth exceeding fifteen feet, by trial shafts, sunk for this purpose. The 
greater portion of the ore, lies in irregularly curved and hollow masses, 
sometimes covered with rusty-looking crystals of carbonate of zinc, having 
its interstices, as well as the intervening spaces between the blocks, filled 
with a tenacious, red, ferruginous clay. This clay is found resting upon 
a magnesian limestone, about four feet thick, presenting the appearance 
of a segregated mass, and is traversed by small veins of the carbonate 
and sulphuret of zinc; the former, sometimes, in beautiful rose-colored 
crystals. The calamine resting on, or in close proximity to, the dolomitic 
bed rock, usually presents a brecciated appearance, caused by the 
mammillary opalescent carbonate of zinc, enclosing fragments of an amor- 
phous zinc ore, which has the appearance of dolomite, and which had 
very probably that composition, but has become carbonate of zinc by a 
process of displacement. 

Some specimens of the ore found at these mines, convey the idea of a 
simultaneous deposition of the zinc and dolomite; while others rather 



212 



GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



indicate an infiltration of the zinc through interstices of the previously 
formed rock. Perhaps the most plausible explanation of these pheno- 
ls that the ore was first in the state of sulphuret, and was subse- 
tlv changed into carbonate by some reciprocal play of chemical 
ffinitiea acting from the interior upwards. The increase of the sulphuret, 
- vou descend in the rocks, and the general structure of the deposit 
which resemble inverted cones, showing a divergence at the surface froi 
a central point of action; together with the existence of carbonate of 
zinc in the associate rocks and clay, rather favor this view of its forma 



Bt, 

>m 



.. 



tion. 

It is a remarkable fact, to which attention was first called by Dr. Koc 

that where deposits of calamine are found at the surface, the only vege- 
tation to be seen is a small, black lichen, closely adhering to the ore or 
Accompanying rocks; and the soil, to the depth of a few inches, is of an 

intense black color. 

There are, in addition to those already mentioned, four other mines, 
opened and belonging to the Independence Mining Company, on the 
following sections, viz: Section 28, township 17 north, range 3 west; 
sections 12,28, and 20, township 18 north, range 4 west. 

At the town of Powhatan, in the street leading to Smithville, I discovered 
a deposit of carbonate of zinc, the extent of which cannot be known 
without digging; but it is no doubt considerable, and there is every reason 
to believe, that good calamine vail be found abundant in the immediate 

vicinity of this town. 

Powhatan is situated on Black river, a stream navigable for small boats, 
at all seasons of the year; it has under construction, and partly graded, a 
plank road leading to Gainsville, in Greene county, which will intersect 
the Cairo and Fulton railroad twelve miles distant. This, together with 
the fact, that it is surrounded by, and close to, the main deposits of zinc 
ore, renders it the most desirable point for the location of a zinc smelting 
furnace. In addition to the advantages to be gained at this place for 
shipping the metallic products of the furnace, abundance of charcoal may 
at all times be had, from the extensive forest bordering on Black river. 

These suggestions, for the location of a zinc furnace at Powhatan, are 
made from the fact that the " Calamine" furnace, from mismanagement, 
did not go into successful operation; and experience has shown that its 
location is not a favorable one. At all events, before the members of the 
zinc company remodel their establishment and engage experienced 
smelters, they should take into consideration the advantages of a change 
in the location of their works to Powhatan, or some equally accessible 
point on Black river; because* the success of the enterprise certainly 



OF ARKANSAS. 0}3 



depends, in a great measure, on the proper location of the smelting 
establishment. 

Considerable beds of excellent brown oxide of iron have been found in 
this county, strewed about over the ground in loose blocks. The original 
place of this ore is between c and d of the previous section. 

This ore not only occurs in the usual stalactitic botryoidal and mammil- 
lary forms; but, also, crystallized; the form of the crystals being modified 
Ictohedrons (pyramido-octohedrons), which seem to be pseudomorpha from 
magnetic iron ore. 

By far the most usual form of this ore is a stalactitic or mam miliary 
structure on one side, whilst the other side is flat, as if it might have been 
attached to rocks, over and from which the ferruginous waters flowed and 
dripped, gradually depositing their iron. 

The most abundant localities seen, for iron ore, were on the property of 
Alfred Bevens & Co., on the waters of Williams creek, sections 23, 25 and 
30, township 16 north, range 4 west. On section 23 this mineral has 
assumed the form familiarly known amongst miners as " pot-ore," imbed- 
ded in a red ferruginous clay, resting on dolomite. This bed is from two 
to five feet thick. The upper part is sandy, the middle nearly free from 
sand, and the lower part usually of excellent quality for smelting. The 
surface of the ground, above this bed, is covered with a mixture of sili- 
ceous, and good-working blocks of stalactitic ore. 

Alfred Bevens & Co. have erected a forge on Williams creek, one and 
a half miles north-east of the zinc furnace at " Calamine," for working 
this ore; it has two fires, and is driven by a good water-power. When 
visited, this forge was undergoing thorough repairs, and preparations were 
being made to introduce the hot blast in place of the cold blast, formerly 
in use, by which alteration it was expected to increase the amount of 
swaged bar iron manufactured from (500) five hundred to (1000) sixteen 
hundred pounds per day. Though the quantity of iron produced at these 
works is not great, owing to the mode of manufacture, which is wasteful 
of ore, and especially so of fuel; yet it is of excellent quality and meets 
with a ready sale on the spot, without seeking a market. 

Another very promising supply of iron ore, for a small forge, was seen 
near Dr. John Bevens, township 15? range 3 west. 

On Big creek, a branch of Strawberry, there is a white cellular quartz- 
ose rock found in abundance, intercalated amongst the sandstones of the 
section of this county, which may a fiord good millstones; indeed, millstones 
have been made out of it for some of the mills in the vicinity. A pair of 
stones made from this rock, may be seen running in Jone's mill on Big 



214 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



creek, six miles from the mouth, and have proved of excellent quality for 
corn. 

The coarse-grained saccharoidal sandstone (/) in the vertical section of 
the rocks in Lawrence county is mostly of a dark red color, but locally 
very white, and occasionally ornamented with buff-colored bands. This 
sandstone makes its appearance in the south-eastern part of the county, 
near. Mr. Campbell's, caps the hills on Big creek (Williams creek), four 
miles south of the zinc furnace at Calamine, and extends in a north-west 
course through " Evening Shade," or Hookram, as it is usually called, and 
continues on through Fulton and Marion counties; universally covered 
with a luxuriant growth of yellow pine. 

The orange sand (/') and the water-worn gravel bed (j) were seen in 
the vicinity of Powhatan, the former corresponds to the ferruginous sand 
belonging to the quarternary in Greene and Randolph counties. The 
western limits of these two deposits is somewhere near range 4 west, 
since I was not able to discover either it or the gravel bed west of that 
line; in fact, I was not able to detect the ferruginous sand west of the line 
between ranges three and four. 

At Powhatan the citizens were extremely anxious to know if stone coal 
did not exist close by, as fragments had been found on the river sand-bars, 
which, it was supposed, had been broken from the main deposit and trans- 
ported by the water. For their information, I may here state, that the true 
coal-bearing rocks do not exist in the counties through which Black 
river flows; nor yet in Greene county, where some of its tributaries take 
their rise; hence there is no probability of discovering beds of bituminous 
coal; but there are beds of lignite amongst the quarternary deposits of this 
latter county, some of which has very much the appearance of coal. I 
am disposed, however, to think that the lumps of coal found on the sand- 
bars, were most likely dropped from the steamboats navigating the river. 

Agriculture. 

The upland soils of Lawrence county, west of Black river, are derived 
chiefly from the cherty and earthy magnesian limestones of the lower 
silurian period, and its overlying- sandstones. Soils derived from the 
quarternary are limited to some of the ridges bordering on Black river, 
east of range four. The soils selected in this county, for analysis, Avere 
collected on section 15, township 17 north, range 2 west, overlying and 
derived from the buff, earthy, magnesian limestones of the lower silurian 
system. 

Eait of Black river the soils are essentially alluvial, like those of the 



OF ARKANSAS. OJ 



eastern part of Randolph. The " Buncomb ridge " may be especially 
cited for its productiveness; and, being more elevated than the adjacent 
land, is not subject to overflow. 

The timber on the highlands, with the exception of the pine ridges, 
where the sandstone prevails, is a thin growth of stunted oak. On the 
bottom land, the growth of timber is large, and comprises white, black, 
red and postoaks, gum, hickory and black walnut. 



JACKSON COUNTY. 

The northern part of this county, examined by me as far south as the 
town of Jacksonport, on AYhile river, is entirely destitute of solid rock. 
The geological formations are those earthy deposits, such as usually con- 
stitute alluvial lands. The low ridge, dividing the waters of Black river 
and village creek, is composed as follows: 

Siliceous soil and subsoil 7 feet. 

Tough yellow clay 18 " 



25 feet. 
These are underlaid by a light-colored sand, the thickness of which 
could not be seen; this sand forms the substratum, which affords unfailing 
supplies of good water, and is reached by sinking wells, at a depth of 
from 15 to 30 feet. From the qualitative chemical examination, made of 
this water, taken from Mr. John Robinson's well, two miles north of Jack- 
sonport, it was found to contain 
Carbonic acid, 
Bi-carbonate of lime, (small quantity), 

" " magnesia, " " 

Sulphates, a trace? 
The examination of this water is important to clear up the prejudice of 
those persons, who have looked upon the well water of this portion of 
Jackson county, as deleterious to health. It contains the usual mineral 
ingredients of hard spring water; these, when not in quantities so large as 
to produce medicinal effects, cannot be looked upon as injurious to health, 
since they contain elements essential for the growth of the body, in a form, 
easy of assimilation. 

The northern part of Jackson county contains a large amount of highly 
productive land, easily cultivated, and especially adapted to the growth 
of cotton, wheat, oats and corn. A set of the alluvial soils of Jackson 
county were collected for analysis from Mr. II. J. Dowel's land, section 32, 
township 14 north, range 2 west, fourteen miles north of Jacksonport; 



216 



GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



also, a set from Mr. M. L. Robinson's land, two miles north of Jackson- 
port. At the latter place, No. 2, the cultivated soil, was selected from an 
old field fifty years or more in cultivation, and has produced for the last 
twenty years successive crops of cotton, with an average yield of about 
eight hundred pounds of seed cotton per acre, rating in the New Orleans 
market in quality equal to the Mississippi cotton, and having a rather 
better staple than the cotton from Tennessee. 

The principal growth of timber on this land is black, white and post- 
oak, sweetgum, blackwalnut, and some hickory. 

The Cairo and Fulton railroad crosses White river near Jacksonport, 
and runs along Village creek, through the northern part of the county. I 
was informed that as many as one hundred and fifty hands were employed 
this season in its construction in Jackson county, and it is hoped that the 
completion of so important a work to the State, is placed beyond a doubt. 
The large grant of lands bordering on the road, it is estimated will be 
sufficient to pay for its construction. 




480 



Watcrworn quaternary gravel. 

Coarse ferruginous quaternary sandstone. 



INDEPENDENCE COUNTY. 

The geological formations in the part of this county explored by me, 
are exhibited in the following section: 

On the road from Jack- 
sonport to Batesville, 
after reaching the high- 
land some five miles in 
a westerly course from 
Black river, the water- 
worn quaternary horn- 
stone and chert gravel 
(k) of this section is 
found capping the tops 
of the hills as far west 
as range 4. This gravel 
bed sometimes rests upon 
the ferruginous sand- 
ston (/), and sometimes 
immediately upon the 
buff-colored sandstone 
(/); but was nowhere 
recognized in connection 



Conglomerate ami millstone grit, with interca 
lated shale and schistose sandstone, 4d0 feet 
in thickness. 



OF ARKANSAS 



217 



c I 

l o l 

c I c 

c I c 



c c 



JL C _L 

c c 
c c 

TVT 



•ISO 




lomerate and millstone grit, with intcrca- 
id shale and schistose sandstone, 480 feet 
in thickness — Coutiuued. 



20 Black entrochitil limestones. 



q ? Place of dark shales, usually under the black 
limestone. 



180 



Buff-colored fossiliferous sand-tone, with inter- 
calated, dark shale; lower part thin-bedded 
and schistose. 



with the intermediate 
members. 

The coarse ferruginous 
sandstone (j) is seen, in 
many places in the east- 
ern part of Independence 
county, resting, usually, 
on the buff sandstone ( /"). 
At some localities, it is 
very rich in iron ore; but 
too much mixed with 
sand to admit of its being 
used, profitably, as an 
ore for the manufacture 
of iron. 

The conglomerate or 
millstone grit (i) was not 
seen on the north side of 
White river, but makes 
its appearance in the 
southern part of the 
county, near Rocky Point 
post-office, where it con- 
tains embedded pebbles* 
This rock has been quar- 
ried, and is held in good 
repute for millstones. 
Though not more than 
fifty or sixty feet in thick- 
ness at the above locali- 
ty, on the south side of 
Salido creek it increases, 
with its associate shales, 
to four hundred and 
eighty feet. I have not 
observed any coal asso- 
ciated with these rocks 
in this count)'. 

The black limestone 
(//) belongs t > ihe sub- 
carboniferous limestone 



218 



GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 




"in 

L L 



L 


1 


L 


| 


L 


L 


| 


1 


i 


L 


L 


1 


L 













- 









~~ z. 







== 





s l s 

A* I 

s s 

s s 

I s ! 

L L 

!'■ I 

L L 

I I. 1 

L | I. 

I x, | 

L L 



Black bituminous shale 



I L I 

L L 

! -• I 

L L 

I L I 
I. 1, 

I I- I 



a \ s 

I B | 

s s 

I B | 

B ! S 

I B I 



400 



Snbcarboniferous or cavernous limestone, with 
intercalations of sandstone and shale; con- 
tains large d< posits of manganese, some iron, 
and copper pyrites. 



7 5 Massive saccharoidal sandstone. 



period; where it crops 
out, north of Rocky Point 
post-office, it has a thick- 
ness of about twenty 
feet. It is quite iossilife- 
rous: the most abundant 
fossils are, Producius 
cora, and P. chgans. One 
layer, full of entrochites, 
is hard enough to take a 
polish, and the fossils 
generally showing white 
on a black ground, it will 
make a handsome mar- 
ble for ornamental pur- 
poses. This limestone is 
usually underlaid by the 
dark shales (»■) of the 
section. 

Sandstone (/) is buff- 
colored, and rather soft; 
usually in prismatic 
blocks near the base, and 
contains casts of subcar- 
bonilerous fossils belong- 
ing to the genera sjnri- 
jlr, orthis, lingula, pro- 
ducttis, niiada, and bel- 
krophon, also fragments 
of tnlobitcs. At Mr. 
McDonald's, on the head 
waters of Mud creek, 13 
miles from Batesville, 
this member is but a few 
ieet in thickness, and 
rests upon dark, sheety 
shales; the sandstone is 
bedded in blocks from 
three to four inches 
thick, having an earthy 
look, and low specific 



OF ARKANSAS. 



219 



b 

a 


L I. 

1 L | 


I. L 

-Li ! 

ML ML 


ML 


ML ML 

ML 




40 



Light-colored earthy looking limestone, "white 
rock." 



Magnesias limestone, containing galena, blende, 
carbonate of zinc, and some copper pyrit 



gravity. Between Sul- 
pher rock and Parson 
Rogers' dwelling, it is 
only eighty feet thick; 
between Batesville and 
Spring creek, it has ex- 
panded to one hundred 
and eighty feet or more. 
It forms the substratum 
upon which the town of Batesville is built, and crops out about one mile 
to the north. Seven or eight miles south of Batesville, this member dips 
beneath the drainage of the country. East and west, along its strike, it 
can be traced as the surface rock from the highland, on Black river, pass- 
ing through Sulphur rock and Batesville, to the western boundary of the 
State. Though very persistent, in its lithological character, this member 
is, at some places, almost entirely replaced by limestone, with, locally, 
one or more beds of intercalated dark argillaceous shale. 

Member (e) was first observed, along my line of survey, at Mr. Mc- 
Donald's, in a little branch called Shakeray, a tributary of Mud creek, 
where it is not more than three or four feet thick, the upper part of a 
dark-gray color, and splitting into large thin sheets. The lower part is 
ferruginous, more compact, and quarries into blocks six or eight inches 
thick; it will probably be found, when analyzed, to contain a considerable 
amount of iron; in fact, wa.s impressed with the belief, while at some of 
the localities of this shale, near Sulphur Rock and Batesville, that it would 
prove to contain enough iron to justify smelting.* 

Going west from McDonald's, this black shale increases in thickness, 
and is found in the bottom of wells, and in the deep cuts of ravines, as 
far west as Spring creek, three miles north-west of Batesville, where it 
attains a thickness of thirty-five feet or more; and though undoubtedly 
belonging to the subcarboniferous period, has the lithological character of 
the devonian black shales of Indiana and Kentucky. It is charged with 
bitumen, possesses a strong, fetid odor, splits into thin sheets, and decom- 
poses too easily to permit of its being used for roofing buildings. At 
Spring creek, this member contains the same black, compact, and ferru- 
ginous stratum found in the vicinity of Sulphur Rock, which is here 



*Owing to some nnknown cause, the packages shipped by me, early last spring, to the office of 
the Arkanses Survey, have not yet been rec< ived. One of tin se packages contained the principal 
specimens of this shale, collected in Independence county, the manganese ores from Dear Batesville, 
and many other important samples of the rocks in that region: consequently do ani a, at 

present, be given. Enquiries have been instituted, and it is hoped these missing boxes may yet be 
found at some of the shipping points along their route. 



2.20 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 

increased to a thickness of ten or twelve feet, and has been quarried to 
build, in part, the race at Ruddle's mill, on this creek. 

The organic remains 6ecn in this shale, comprise imperfect casts of the 
genera, cardium, lingula, avicuta, and orthoceras, bi-furcatcd teeth of 
fishes and stems of plants. 

The cherty subearbonilerous or cavernous limestone (d) which commen- 
ces al Black river hills, in township 14, often encroaches upon and replaces 
the greater portion of the overlying sandstone (/). This cherty limestone 
has its southern limits one mile north of Batesville, caps the mountains in 
the northern part of the county with its detached chert, and continues in 
the direction of its strike, a little north of west to the Cherokee territory. 
In the western part of the State, north of township 15, it is in great force, 
and extends northward into Missouri, beyond the lead mines of Granby. 
In tie' western part of Independence county this limestone forms a per- 
pendicular cliff on White river, above the mouth of Laiferty creek, from 
four hundred to five hundred feet in height, making a conspicuous land- 
mark for navigators of this river, and bears the name of " Pinter's Bluff." 
Between this point and Batesville it forms the substratum of extensive 
table-lands, well adapted for agriculture. Characteristic samples of this 
soil have been collected from the farm of Mr. R. A. Childress, section 36, 
township 14 north, range 8 west, ten miles from Batesville. 

One and a half miles north of Batesville, on the property of Mr. Mull, 
there is an oolitic member of this limestone, having a thickness of thirty 
or forty feet, which takes a good polish and can be quarried in blocks of 
any re [uired size for building purposes, and has the reputation of being a 
durable stone. Mr. Mull is now engaged quarrying this rock, for the 
manufacture of lime, for which use it is well adapted, on account of its 
purity and whiteness. Lime made from the oolitic limestone, on the 
Ohio river, below Louisville, always brings a higher price and meets with 
a more ready sale than that which is made from the associated dark lime- 
stones. 

The ores found in this member (d.) are oxides of iron and manganese, 
galena and some little copper pyrites. The two former of these promise 
to be abundant. This is the same geological formation in which the fine 
deposits of iron ore occur on the Cumberland river, in Kentucky and Ten- 
nessee, that supply the western furnaces located in its vicinity. 

North of Batesville, near Mr. Cason's, there is a strong axis of distur- 
bance in the strata, bearing south-east and north-west. Small quantities 
of copper pyrites are found disseminated amongst these titled strata, 
chiefly in a close textured limestone rock, which has a slight greenish 
color. Its occurrence, in proximity to this line of disturbance, may be re- 



OF ARKANSAS. 



221 



garded as a favorable symptom and indicative of its origin from beneath. 

In this formation, in the vicinity of Lafferty creek, rich beds of manga- 
nese ore have been found at several places.* The most remarkable 
occurrence of this ore, within my range of observation, is on the property 
of Mr. Martin Cason's in section 34, township 14 north, range G west, three 
miles north of Batesville. Here it does not occur in veins, but in regularly 
stratified beds, splitting up into rusty slabs two or three inches thick, and 
containing imbedded sub-spheroidal concretions of a harder and more 
metallic appearance than the matrix ore; in size they vary from a half to 
one inch in diameter. This segregated ore is not inappropriately called, 
" Button ore/'t It is well exposed at Mr. Cason's, on the slope of a hill 
in his field, where, in fact, he actually turns it up in great sheets while 
cultivating his land with the plow. After it has been exposed to the 
atmosphere for a short time, decomposition take* place, producing a black 
soil more fertile than any other portion of his farm. Shafts have been 
sunk into the ore at this place, fifteen feet in depth, without reaching the 
bottom. The ore-bed is overlaid by a coarse-grained entrochital limestone, 
which has four feet of its base colored red and filled with the aforemen- 
tioned button-shaped concretions of manganese ore. 

The position and appearance of the ore, at this locality, render it highly 
probable that beds of limestone, previously existing, have been replaced 
by infiltrated oxide of manganese. 

The saccharoidal sandstone (c) was best seen in the eastern and north- 
ern part of the county on Bayou Doty and Bayou Cury, where it has a 
thickness of fifty or seventy-five feet. Jt is a coarse-grained, slightly 
cemented rock, possessing a variety of shades of color, from pure white 
to deep red. This variegated sandstone underlies the subcarboniferous 
limestones (d.) and rests on magnesian limestones of lower silurian date 
but being destitute of fossils we are, at present, not prepared to say posi- 
tively to what geological period it belongs. 

The earthy looking limestone (o.) is found associated with and over the 
lead bearing magnesian limestone of the lower silurian period, and is 
usually known in the vicinity where it occurs, by the name of "white 
rock," or " cotton rock." This is a very constant member in the slopes 
of the hills, in the northern counties, where lead ores have been dis- 
covered. 

The massive magnesian limestone (/.) is a continuation downwards of 



* See Report of Dr. D. D. Owen, State Geologist. 

t The specimens collected at this locality, and shipped, have not yet arrived. The economical 
value cannot therefore be reported on. 



2,22 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 

the above formation, and is frequently intersected by small imperfect veins 
of galena, associated with calcareous spar, copper pyrites and zinc', 

Some five years ago a company was organized in Batesville, to search 
for lead in tbis rock, on Bayou Cury. Several pits or shallow shafts were 
sunk under the direction of Judge T. C. Bricky, one of the company, and 
a considerable amount of lead taken out; the means at the disposal of this 
company were inadequate to make the necessary investigation for prov- 
ing the ground. In consequence of the shafts having caved in, no oppor- 
tunity was afforded to see the character of the veins. In the rubbish, 
thrown out of the shaft, I saw a considerable amount of the sulphuret 
and carbonate of zinc, and collected specimens for analysis; * these speci- 
mens of sulphuret of lead are of the steel-gray variety, but disseminated 
amongst spar and rock, rendering it difficult to obtain large specimens of 
the clear ore. The geological formation is certainly perfectly analogous 
to that in the lead region of Marion, Carroll, and Lawrence; which 
circumstance renders it probable that the ore will be found under the same 
circumstances as in the above mentioned counties. 

Agriculture. 

A considerable diversity of soil is to be found in Independence county, 
corresponding to changes in the underlying geological formations. Though 
the surface is considerably broken, still there are extensive areas of table- 
land underlaid by the cherty subcarboniferous limestones. These soils 
are rich, and being based on red clay, are retentive and durable; they are 
similar in composition to the land in the barrens of Kentucky. There 
are, also, extensive tracts of bottom land, bordering on the numerous 
small streams which water this county, that are well adapted for culti- 
vation. 

The principal growth of timber is white, black, red, and postoaks, 
hickory, gum and elm; on the cherty limestone land, the most abundant 
trees are blackjack, sassafras and persimmon. 



FULTON COUNTY. 

In the southeastern corner of this county, near Judge Billingsley's, the 
substratum is a hard impure limestone, rough weathering, and full of cross 
cracks; superimposed on this, are thirty or forty feet of thin-bedded sili- 
ceous limestone, disposed in layers like pavement stones, on the surface of 
which remarkable fucoidal impressions are apparent. Above this flaggy 

* For result of the analysis, see appendix to Chemical Report. 



OF ARKANSAS. , ^.23 



limestone is an impure, cherty member, about twenty-five feet thick. 
This succession continues nearly to Salem, and the country is strewed 
with the reddish and variegated chert, derived from these formations. 

Half a mile north of Salem, is an isolated, comical hill, called the 
"Pilot Knob." A measurment made with the aneroid barometer, gave 
its height four hundred and forty-five (445) feet above the town of Salem. 
The summit is capped with a reddish, quartzose sandstone, and disinte- 
grated fragments of the same are strewed on the sides of the "Knob;" 
thus entirely concealing from view any other rocks which may exist at the 
base. This is a conspicuous knob that may be seen from a distance of 
many miles; hence it served, in early times, to direct the course of the 
pioneers. 

Four miles west of Salem, there is a considerable bed of hydrated 
brown oxide of iron, in connection with an impure siliceous ore, laying 
exposed on a ridge, about one hundred feet above the general drainage 
of the country. 

The geological position of this ore is probably the same as that which 
has been before noted in Lawrence county. 

Both copper pyrites and galena, have been found in small quantities in 
the magnesian limestones, in the southern and western part of the 
county. 

Between Salem and Bennett's bayou, the substratum is a white earthy 
limestone, resembling the " white rock " (b) of the Independence county 
section, alternating with a greenish, marly shale, which weathers easily 
and forms broad grassy valleys between the hills destitute of timber. 
Bennett's bayou, along which is a rich agricultural district, cuts its way 
principally through this stratum. 

In the western part of this county, on the North fork of White river, 
there are seen, in the base of the hills, ninety feet of irregularly bedded, 
impure, cherty limestone; the chert is very brittle, and has a tendency to 
break into cubes. This is overlaid by one hundred and eighteen feet of 
cherty limestone, alternating with a grayish-buff, siliceous rock. 

In the southern part of the county, on Piney creek, the saccharoidal 
sandstone (c) of the Independence county section, forms the tops of the 
ridges, and is covered with a heavy growth of yellow pine. 

Agriculture. 

The valleys of the numerous streams, watering this county, afford a 
rich fertile soil, well adapted for cultivation; and that forming the small 
grassy valleys, derived from the decomposition of the " white rock" ard 



f>l>4 « GEOLOGICAL RECONKOISSANCE 



its marly shales, is generally black and quite productive for all kinds of 
small grain. Characteristic soils of the latter land were collected from a 
farm belonging to Judge Billingsly. 

The principal growth of timber on the limestone and chert ridges is 
blackjack, blackoak, postoak and hickory, and where the sandstone pre 
vails yellow pine. In the prairie-like valleys, besides the tall barren- 
grass', there is an abundant growth of « Rosin weed," Camphorosma^ rest- 
nosa (Gray). 

MARION COUNTY. 

In the eastern part of Marion county, there is an alternation of the 
ma-nesian or lead-bearing rocks of the lower silurian period, with sand- 
stones, and the tops of the highest hills are covered with chert belonging 
to the subcarboniferous rocks, as proved by the characteristic fossils which 
it contains; these- are, however, in most instances only casts. A number 
of fine specimens of fossils, found in this chert, were presented to he 
survey by Mr. William Flipping, among which are several crinoides, 
belon-ino- to the genera platycrinus and actinocrinus, also Syirifer stria- 
tes and a large undescribed nautilus. The light impure limestone 
- white rock," with its associate greenish marly shale, is seen over a great 
portion of this county, and forms the substratum to the gently undulating 
tracts of land, known by the name of « Barrens." The principal of these 
are the Flipping, Rapp, and Talbot barrens. Characteristic soils have 
been collected from the latter, which will give a fair average of this kind 
of la .d. It is very black, and in addition to barren grass, supports a luxu- 
riant o-rowth of "Rosin weed," Camphorosma resinosa {Gray). 

On "the immediate bank of White river, in section 28, township 20 north, 
range 15 west, in what is called the Horseshoe bend of the river, a mag- 
nesia.! limestone, alternating with sandstone, forms a conspicuous bluff;, 
in all some two hundred and fifty feet thick. A number of rock-house 
caves have been formed by the disintegration of the magnesian member 
of this series, in which large quantities of nitre earth have been formed 

The principal of these caves is known generally as the Bean cave, and 
seems to have been worked in early times, as an old decayed leaching- 
hopper has been found in it. A story is related by some of the first set- 
tlers in the country, that a man of the name of Bean once made nitre at 
this place in partnership with another man, who he is said to have killed 
in a quarrel. This circumstance, it is believed, caused the enterprise to 
be abandoned; and to this day, the cave is known under the name of the 



OF ARKANSAS. 



225 



" Bean cave." It is about thirty feet wide at the entrance, and runs back 
some one hundred feet or more, when it becomes much wider. Its height 
will average about eight feet. The walls or sides of this cave are com- 
posed of a laminated, tough, ferruginous clay, the lamina) having a varied 
color, from pale yellow to dark red. The upper and lower portions of this 
laminated clay, forming the walls of the cave, are partially dry, whilst 
the center, for about two feet, is quite damp. Though this clay, as it is 
dug from the bed, contains a considerable quantity of nitre, and most in 
the upper and lower part, yet it is only after it has been broken down and 
left on the bottom of the ca\e for some time, that it acquires sufficient 
nitre to be worked with profit. After it has been broken down in the 
cave, it rapidly loses its moisture, and crumbles into a fine powder. A 
considerable quantity of this dry earth, equal perhaps to one-third of the 
dimensions of the cave, is found on the sloping sides and floor. 

These nitre earths yield from 3 to 6 per cent, of salt-petre, as will be 
seen by consulting the Reports of Dr. D. D. Owen and Dr. Elderhorst; 
the red, dry, crumbled earth on the floor being the richest in these nitre 
salts. 

After lixiviation with water, this earth can also be used as a coarse 
paint, being nearly free from grit; it contains so much oxide of iron as to 
give it the color of Spanish brown, the depth of which is increased by 
ignition. 

I was informed by Mr. Flipping that a drift had been made into the 
laminated clay of this cave in search of lead, and that some little was 
found, but not sufficient to encourage further investigation. 

About one hundred yards from Bean's cave, in the same bluff, and 
occupying the same level, is another cave, one hundred and sixty feet wide 
at the mouth, and nearly as many feet in depth. The thickness of the 
deposit of laminated nitre earth, though not as great as in Bean's cave, is 
nevertheless, from four to seven feet, and there is good reason to believe 
that the earth will be found continuous from one cave to the other. 

There are several other nitre caves, of less extent, and filled with this 
«ame description of earth, reported to exist in this bluff, which I had not 
time to visit. 

Messrs. Smith & Co., of Elgin, Jackson county, Arkansas, have recently 
purchased land on White river, including these caves, and made arrange- 
ments for the manufacture of salt-petre from the nitre earth which they 
contain. I was informed by one of the partners, when at Elgin, last 
spring, that the yield of nitre was fully equal to their expectations, and 
they were quite sanguine that it would prove a profitable investment. 
He stated also that they used the lye for evaporation in the kettles, with- 

15 



226 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



out increasing its strength by passing it through hoppers, containing fresh 
earth; if so, the expense for fuel is unnecessarily increased. To evaporate 
the lye in the most economical manner, it should be brought to the 
strength of 12 or 14 deg., by passing it repeatedly through fresh earth, in 
order to extract the soluble salts. A very useful instrument for ascer- 
taining the strength of the lye, is the saltpetre hydrometer. 

The best method of arranging the lixiviating troughs, or casks, is to 
place them at such heights, one above the other, that the lye passing 
through the first shall run into the second, and so continue, until the requi- 
site per centage of saltpetre is obtained, before proceeding to the boiling and 
graining process. In lixiviating, no more water should be used than is 
actually necessary to extract the nitre; and lye, under 12 or 14 deg. of the 
hydrometer, should be returned through fresh earth, before boiling, until 
that strength is obtained. 

There can be no doubt that works properly constructed, and judiciously 
and systematically managed, will produce salt-petre sufficient to make it a 
remunerative business. The location is immediately on White river, which 
is navigable at all times, as high up as Jacksonport, and, for a small class of 
steamboats, during the greater portion of the year, up to the caves. The 
mouth of the cave is so close to the river bank, that, by means of a chute, 
the earth can be very conveniently projected to the river, where the water 
for lixiviation can be easily obtained. Fuel is close at hand, and will cost 
but the chopping and transportation. 

For further information, in regard to the geology of this county, as well 
as for the particulars of the analysis of the nitre earth, see the Report of 
Dr. D. D. Owen, State Geologist, and also that of the Chemical Assistant, 
Dr. William Elderhorst. 



CRAWFORD COUNTY. 

After separating from you at Van Buren, I proceeded to examine the 

coal, on Frog bayou, owned by Mr. rhillips. The principal opening is on 

the west half of south-west quarter of section 18, township 19 north, 

range 30 west, being one mile south of the stage road leading from Van 

Buren to Little Rock. The same s< am is also opened, on this bayou, 

about one mile north of the stage road. This coal, known as the " Phillips 

bank,*' is one foot thick, it has a semi-metallic lustre, and though easily 

mined in large blocks, its cohesion is so slight that it soon breaks into 

small lumps by handling. It is the principal coal used by the blacksmiths 

in the southern part of Crawford, and the greater part of Franklin county, 



OF ARKANSAS 



227 



and is in good repute with the workmen. By analysis, it is found to con- 
tain, in 100 parts: 

Volatile matter 16.2 $ JJoisture 1.0 

( Volatile combustible matter 15.2 

Coke 83 8 S Fixed carbon 80.8 

( Ashes, (yellowish-red) 3.0 

100.0 100 .0 

It belongs to the class of semi-bituminous coals, and is free from earthy 
impurities, as shown by the small amount of ashes in the analysis. 

As a fuel, the semi-bituminous coals are in high estimation, being rich 
in carbon; and, without any superflous volatile matter, they have a suffi- 
ciency of gas to render them easy of ignition. 

On%Frog bayou this coal lies under a bed of twelve feet of blue shale, 
which has to be removed in order to get out the coal. So long as this 
coal can be reached by this amount of stripping, it can be obtained, but 
not without considerable expense, which will be greatly increased when 
it shall become necessary to follow it by a drift, as much waste material 
will have to be removed to make head room in the mine. 

The black shale forming the roof of this coal contains fossil plants, belong- 
ing to the genera Kpidodendron, sphenopleris, catamites, and pinularia, and 
also a shell belonging to the genus avicula, of which only a fragment was 
found, too imperfect for determining the species. 

At the Phillips bank, the argillaceous shale is all that can be seen over 
the coal; but the following section, taken in the hills near by, shows the 
overlying beds: 

Top of the hill, soil and subsoil ? 

Thin bedded sandstone, alternating with red marly clay, (base of 

millstone grit) o 5 f eet 

Blue argillaceous shale with segregations of carbonate of iron GO " 

Black bituminous shale with fossil plants 1. 

Semi-bituminous coal j t 

Fire clay 0.6 

87.G 
Thirteen miles from VanBuren, and about one mile north of the stage 
road, on the property of the Messrs. Herds, a mineral spring breaks out at 
the base of a hill, from beneath an exposure of bluish-colored, rough, 
shecty Sandstone, with concretionary markings. The water comes, most 
likely, from a blue shale, which is concealed below the surface: as strata 



2»>g GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



of this character were reached in Mr. Herd's well, twenty feet below the 
surface, and a similar water obtained. 

A qualitative chemical examination of this mineral water, at the foun- 
tain head, showed its principal constituents to be: 

A small quantity of free sulphuretted hydrogen. 

Bi-carbonate of lime. 

Bi-carbonate of magnesia. 

Sulphate of soda (glauber salts). 

Sulphate of magnesia, (epsom salts). 

Chloride of sodium, (common salt). 

Chloride of magnesium. 

The chemical reactions indicate only small quantities of saline matter. 
It is therefore, a weak saline sulphuretted water, and its medicinal pro- 
perties will be tnat of a mild laxative, it will also be found beneficial in 
all cutaneous diseases. 

On section 30, township 10 north, range 30 west, at Mr. Etherly's black- 
smith shop, a thin coal was struck in digging his well, overlaid by twenty 
feet of hard blue sandstone and blue argillaceous shale. From the shale 
thrown out, specimens of lipidodendron and stigmaria were obtained. 
This coal is most likely the equivalent of the Frog bayou coal, or another 
thin seam in close proximity. 

For further remarks, on the geology of Crawford county, see Report of 
Dr. D. D. Owen, State Geologist. 



FRANKLIN COUNTY. 

The millstone grit series prevails in the northern part of Franklin 
county, composed of conglomerates and thick-bedded coarse sandstones, 
flagstones, and red and blue shales. Only thin beds of coals can be ex- 
pected to be discovered in such materials as lie below the true productive 
coal measures. 

A slight wave in the strata, carries the coal of Crawford county beneath 
the surface in the northern part of this county, and it is not until you reach 
the waters of Horsehead creek, in Johnson county, that this coal again 
makes its appearance at the surface, on the north side of the Arkansas 

river. 

One and a half miles north-east of Benner's mill, near William Parker'* 
house, there is an excellent chalybeate spring, which was found on exami- 
nation to contain: 

A trace of free sulphuretted hydrogen. 



OF ARKANSAS. 229 



Bi-carbonate of lime. 

Bi-carbonate of magnesia! 

Bi-carbonate of the protoxide of iron. 

This water appears to contain a considerable amount of oxide of iron, 
and it is therefore somewhat remarkable that it should also indicate, with 
acetate of lead, the presence of sulphuretted hydrogen, a combination that 
can only exist when the oxide of iron is held in solution by a free acid. 

This water will have a tonic effect, combined with an action on the 
skin and kidneys. 

At and near Mr. Parker's spring, is seen the following succession of 
rocks: coarse-grained sandstone, alternating with flagstones, reddish-yel- 
low and gray shales; in all about two hundred feet. In the gray shales, 
ten feet above the spring, there is a thin coal-dirt. 

On Mulberry river, the thick-bedded sandstone of the millstone-grit 
series attains a thickness of more than three hundred feet. From the 
base of one of the cliffs of this sandstone, on Mulberry river, section 30? 
township 1 1 north, range 28 west, there issues a saline water, from a fissure 
in the rock, that is known as the State salt spring. This spring has lately 
been given up by the State and is now the property of Messrs. Basham & 
Ward. It contains: 

Chloride of sodium, (common salt). 

Bi-carbonate of lime. 

Bi-carbonate of magnesia. 

Bi-carbonate of the protoxide of iron. 

Sulphates, a trace. 

This is a weak brine, which might become much stronger by deep bor- 
ing, as it occupies the same geological position in which the strongest 
brines are found in the western states. 

There is another saline spring, reported to be of about the same strength, 
situated higher up on Mulberry river, which I did not have an opportunity 
to visit. 

The qualitative chemical examination of a mineral water, on Spirit 
creek, a branch of Mulberry, township 11 north, range 28? west, resulted 
as follows: 

Carbonate of the protoxide of iron (strong). 
Bi-carbonate of lime. 
Bi-carbonate of magnesia. 

This is a good chalybeate water, and its effects will be that of an active 
tonic. 

A chalybeate spring was also examined at Mr. William Ham's, on Mul- 



230 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 

berry river. This water contains the same ingredients as the preceding 
though the oxide of iron is not in such large quantities. 

Between Mr. Ham's, on Mulberry river, and Ozark, the following sec- 
tion was obtained: 

Siliceous flagstones 130 feet. 

Siliceous iron ore, 5 to 6. " 

Yellow, red, and gray shales 60. " 

Coal-dirt, or thin decomposed black shale 1. " 

Space concealed, to bed of creek 60. " 



257 feet. 



Agriculture. 



"o 



The northern part of Franklin county, though much broken, contains a 
large amount of good tillable land on the creek and river bottoms, which 
is very productive, when properly cultivated. The principal growth of 
timber is white, black, and redoak, blackjack, postoak, and hickory, sweet 
and black gum. 

JOHNSON COUNTY. 

A number of openings have been made into a seam of semi-bituminous 
coal, on the waters of Horsehead creek, in Johnson county. The princi- 
pal of these are the Wilmoth coal, section 18, township 10 north, range 
25 west; Butts' coal, section 8, township 10 north, range 25 west; Lee's 
coal, section 15, township 10 north, range 25 west; Flemming's coal, sec- 
tion 1, township 9 north, range 25 west. These coals are all opened in 
an extensive plateau formed by the easily-weathering mass ol shales 
underlying the massive sandstones of the millstone grit series, which are 
seen prominently capping the mountains, a short distance to the north. 

The Wilmoth coal bed, from 20 to 22 inches thick, is worked by drift- 
ing; it has a dip of 6 or 8 degs. to the south-east, and rests on a dark fire- 
clay bottom, filled with stems of stigmaria. In mining the coal, some 
eight inches of the roof falls down and has to be carried out, which gives 
a head room equal to about thirty inches. In this dark earthy looking 
shale, is found a small, undescribed species of fossil shell, belonging to 
the genus modiola, and fragments of plants belonging to the genus 
2>e copter is. 

A section of 650 feet of the rocks overlying the coal, was obtained and 
is here given in the following section: 



OF ARKANSAS. 231 



Millstone grit or conglomerate, a massive sandstone in three 
members, with shale between, and forming three distinct 

benches on the mountains, in all 350 feet. 

Vermicular sandstone, in thin beds, with remarkable impres- 
sions 80 " 

Schistose sandstone with intercalated hard bands 100 " 

Yellow and reddish shales 50 " 

Dark argillaceous shales GO " 

Brown earthy shale forming roof of coal 0.8 " 

Whitish-gray shale, mottled with dark spots 9 " 

Semi-bituminous coal 1.10 " 

Fire clay 0.00 " 

G50.9 feet. 

Mr. Thomas Butts has opened this coal on his property, where it is 18 

inches thick, and dips 10 deg. to the south-east. It is here overlaid by the 

same character of shale as seen at the Wilmoth coal, and there are found 

in the roof the same fossils. 

An opening has also been made into this vein of coal at Mr. Russel 
Lee's. The spring rains had filled up the opening so that the coal could 
not be seen, and Mr. Lee being absent, I did not ascertain its thickness. 
I believe it to be identical with Butts' coal, as fossils of the same charac- 
ter occur in the roof shales thrown out of the opening. If this inference 
be correct, the thickness of the two coals will probably correspond. 

Mr. Fleming's coal is opened on a little branch, which runs into Horse- 
head creek; it is 18 or 20 inches thick, and is mined by stripping oif the 
roof. The overlying shales and organic remains are identical with the 
above. It is undoubtedly an extension of the Wilmoth coal. 

Mr. Hodges has opened, and works by stripping this same vein of coal, 
two miles north of Clarksville. It is here 18 inches in thickness, and the 
same characteristic fossils were found in the shale. At this localitv the 
coal is not quite so free from sulphur as at the other openings, nor will it 
stand exposure to the atmosphere as well as the coal at Mr. Wilmoth's. 

The coal taken from the different mines in this county, meets with a 
ready sale. On account of the difficulty experienced in working so thin 
a vein of coal, the miners receive 10 cents per bushel for raising; and it 
is sold at the bank to the consumers at 20 cents per bushel. 

At Mr. Hodge's, the coal has but very little, if any dip, and it is only- 
carried above and below the drainage of the country by local undulations 
in the strata. Though the coals, at these various openings, differ some- 
what in quality and appearance, yet I believe they will be found to be all 



232 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 

an extension of one and the same bed. Experience has shown that local 
changes in the composition of the same vein of coal are not unusual, and 
cannot alone be relied upon as a means of identification. The organic 
remains of the roof shales and observations on the superposition of the 
strata, are much surer guides in the determination of the position of beds 

of coal. 

For further remarks on the coals of Johnson county, see the Report of 
Dr. D. D. Owen, State Geologist. 

East of Clarksville, and north of the Arkansas river bottoms, the heavy- 
mass of dark shales, associated with the coal, disappear beneath the sur- 
face, and the overlying sandstone becomes the surface rock, with some 
intercalations of shale towards the base. The siliceous soil, derived 
from this sandstone, supports a growth of large yellow pines, on the high 
ridges between Clarksville and Dwight mission. 

Agriculture. 

The tillable up-lands of this county are derived principally from the 
shales lying below the main mass of millstone grit rocks. Sample of 
soils were collected for chemical examination, from Mr. Arthur Davis' 
farm, one and a half miles east of Clarksville, where the growth was 
principally postoak. 

The bottom lands, bordering on the Arkansas river, are highly esteemed 
and very productive. 



POPE COUNTY. 

The geology of Pope county is almost a counterpart of that of Johnson. 
The northern part is broken and mountainous. The mountains are com- 
posed of massive sandstones, belonging to the millstone grit formation at 
the summit, and thin-bedded and shaly sandstones at the base. Near the 
head waters of Illinois bayou, the upper bed of sandstone is a true con- 
glomerate charged with pebbles, huge blocks of which have rolled from 
above into the valley beneath. 

On Indian creek, the subcarboniferous limestone appears beneath these 
rocks, interstratified with reddish shales. This is the only limestone 
observed in the county. 

South of Dover, between Illinois bayou and Galley creek, and south of 
the Carrion Crow mountains, the country is comparatively level, where 
the siliceous, red and dark argillaceous shales, having no capping of hard 



OF ARKANSAS. 233 



sandstone to protect them, have been worn away and filled up the ine- 
qualities of the surface. 

Throughout all this southern part of the county, thin beds of semi-bitu- 
minous coal are found. One of the principal openings lor coal, is in the 
bed of the Illinois bayou, near Dwight mission; but, at the time of my 
examination of this county, the river was too high to admit of its being 
seen. Mr. Edwards informed me that it was 15 or 20 inches thick. The 
geology of the adjacent country leads me to believe that it will be found 
to occupy the same geological position as the coal described on Horse- 
head creek, in Johnson county. 

The following section exhibits the succession of the rocks at lur. Ed- 
ward's dwelling, Dwight mission, Illinois bayou: 

Thin-bedded sandstone, top of the hill xd feet. 

Reddish, ferruginous, argillaceous shale, with nodules of iron 

ore GO " 

Shaly argillaceous carbonate of iron 3 to 5 " 

Dark shale with fossil plants, lepidodendron and stigmaria* • 2 " 

Band of sandstone in two layers (local) 2 " 

Alluvial bottom 20 " 

Bed of Illinois bayou " 

99 feet. 

The shaly argillaceous carbonate of iron in this section, is of excellent 
quality and sufficiently abundant fcr the supply of smelting furnaces. It 
contains 32.2 per cent, of metallic iron, and is similar in its composition 
to the best quality of the ore from the Cross Basket mines, in Scotland, 
used at the Clyde iron works. Iron made from this class of ores is of the 
finest quality, combining strength and ductility. 

This description of ore, will no doubt be found at many other localities 
in the vicinity of Dwight mission, and must eventually attract the enter- 
prise of the' iron manufacturer, from its vicinity to the. Arkansas river 
and proximity to large forests of pine timber, and to the workable coals 
of Johnson county; especially the Spadra mines described in Dr. Owen's 
Report. The coal which is exposed in the bed of Illinois bayou, at low 
water, may be reached by a shallow shaft at the base of the section at 
Dwight mission, and may be worked by the removal of 8 or 10 inches of 
the shale roof. 

Considerable quantities of argillaceous iron ore were observed in the 
vicinity of Dover, but not in the same abundance as further south. 



234 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 

Six hundred feet of the rocks, exposed in section in the Carrion Crow 
mountain, near Mr. Potts', on Galley creek, are here given: 
Millstone grit in three benches of thick-bedded rock, having 

shale between — in all about 400 feet. 

Space concealed by debris, mostly flagstone and shale 140 " 

Argillaceous shale GO " 

Semi-bituminous coal 1.3? " 

Galley Creek " 



601.3 feet. 

The above thickness of the individual members will be subject to a cor- 
rection for a slight north-west dip. 

Some iron ore was observed in the Carrion Crow mountain, under the 
upper bench of sandstone; but the greater portion of it contains too much 
silica to be considered valuable for the manufacture of iron. The coal 
at the base of the mountain has the same appearance as the semi-bitumi- 
nous coal of Frog and Illinois bayous. It was not sufficiently opened to 
be cen well. 

Agriculture. 

The cultivated lands lie chiefly in the southern part of this county, east 
of the Illinois bayou. There are extensive districts of level tracts, chielly 
in townships 0, 7, 8 and 9, ranges 19 and 20 west, that are very produc- 
tive, especially adapted for wheat. The soil of this region overlies, and 
has mostly been derived from, the disintegration of the reddish and dark 
shales at the base of the millstone grit, sufficiently intermixed with sili- 
ceous washings from the overlying flagstones to correct their otherwise 
tenacious and refractory character. Samples of soil were collected 
from John P. Langford's land, on the Illinois bayou, five miles north- 
east of Dover. The timber was very large and mostly oaks with some 
hickory. 



OF ARKANSAS. 235 



CONWAY COUNTY. 

The- northern part of Conway county is skirted bj a continuation of the 
same chain of mountains that traverse the preceding counties of Pope 
and Johnson, and has a corresponding geological structure. Sandstones 
of the millstone grit form its summit, overlying flagstones and shale. 
The hills diminish very much in the southern part of the county, seldom 
exceeding three hundred feet, and are composed mostly of thin-bedded 
sandstones, underlaid by reddish siliceous, and dark argillaceous shales. 
In the level portions of the eastern part of the county, the latter shaly 
members underlie the fine tracts of grass land, which affords excellent pastu- 
rage for cattle. 

Thin beds of coal have been opened, in many places, on the waters of 
the Cadron, in the eastern part of the county, and range in thickness from 
4 inches up to 20 inches. In section 7, township 5 north, range 12 west, 
on the Black fork of the Cadron, a 4 inch seam of coal is intercalated 
amongst the shales. It is a more solid coal than those beds previously 
described, in Pope and Johnson counties, highly bituminous and very 
black; it has but little tendency to crumble, and breaks with a smooth 
angular fracture. A few fossil plants were found in its roof shales, 
belonging to the genus pecopteris and n uropt ris. This is probably a 
different seam of coal from that, before mentioned, on Illinois bayou and 
the waters of Horsehead creek. It is, however, too thin a seam to be of 
much commercial value. 

Three layers of subcarboniferous limestone crop out on Turkey creek, 
a branch of the Cadron, in all four or five feet thick, dipping about 3 deg. 
south-east. It is a dark, earthy-looking rock, containing encrinite stems 
and indistinct carboniferous fossils. This is the only limestone that has 
been observed, south of Little Red river and north of the Arkansas river, 
in this part of the State; as this rock will make a good strong lime, it is 
important to a country where limestones are seldom accessible. 

In the north-east part of Conway county, close to the Bull mountain, 
the dark shales under the millstone grit are fractured, dislocated, and 
traversed by veins of quartz, associated with talc and other allied mag- 
nesian minerals; the shales, for some distance on either side of these 
veins, are indurated, altered, and more or less metamorphosed. I observed, 
at one locality, an almost vertical bank of dark, siliceous rock, one foot 
wide, charged with iron, and possessing a cubical structure, the blocks 



236 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 

averaging about three inches by two. This siliceous vein traverses the 
disturbed shales, in a north-east and south-west course, for several miles. 
Where these quartz veins pass through the property of Dr. David Lewis, 
in section 24, township 6 north, range 11 west, several shallow pits have 
been sunk to investigate their character. All that were discovered, proved 
to be talcose slates and fine transparent crystals of quartz, three or four 
of which had enclosed a drop of water. These pits I consider too shallow 
to prove the metalliferous character of the veins. The apparent con- 
nection of these veins witli those in Pulaski county, which contain 
argentiferous galena, leads me to suspect that similar ore might be found 
at a greater depth; especially, as the Bull mountain veins reach the 
surface through a hard, siliceous slate, which overlies the metalliferous 
shales in Pulaski. The following is a section of the rocks at the Bull 
mountain, near Dr. Lewis' house: 

Conglomerate, thin-bedded and shaly sandstones, in all 310 feet. 

Dark, siliceous shales, with bands of prismatic shale, much dis- 
turbed, and traversed by veins of quartz, in all 75 " 



385 " 
Near the mouth of the Cadron, veins of milky quartz are found, tra- 
versing the millstone grit; this appears to be the western limit, on the 
north side of the Arkansas river, of that subterranean action which has 
filled or injected the slates, south of the Cadron, in Pulaski county. 

At Springfield, the county seat of Conway county, a qualitative chemical 
examination was made of the town spring, which issues, in a bold clear 
stream, from the reddish and dark-colored shales under the millstone grit. 
It proved to be a good chalybeate water, possessing decided tonic proper- 
ties. The principal ingredients are: 
Carbonic acid; 
Bi-carbonate of lime; 
Bi-carbonate of magnesia; 

Bi-carbonate of the protoxide of iron (strong). 
Another chalybeate spring, of the same character, occurs at the Peach- 
orchard-gap, in section 20, town? hip 6 north, range 10 west, in the edge 
of White county, and belongs to Mr. Elliott. 

Agriculture. 

The most important tracts of arable land, occupy she southern part of 
the county, in town, hips G and 7, ranges 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17, on 
the waters of the Cadron and Point Remove creeks. They are the same 



OF ARKANSAS. 237 



description of lands, already spoken of, in the south-cast part of Pope 
county, and have been derived from the same geological formations. 

PULASKI COUNTY. 

North of the Arkansas river, the stratigraphical character of the rocks, 
in Pulaski county, is very much the same as that previously noted, in the 
counties laying to the west. The millstone grit still forms the capping to 
the highest hills, while the cuts in the valleys have laid bare the reddish 
and dark underlying shales, which seem to augment in thickness to the 
south and east; while the sandstones of the millstone grit appear to 
become more schistose in structure. 

Imperfect crystals and veins of amorphous milk-white quartz have 
ramified the strata, close to the junction of the sandstones and shales, 
near Mr. Irvin's, and not far from the stage road leading to Little Rock, 
where the adjacent walls of sandstone and shale are metamorphosed for 
18 inches on each side of the veins, but especially on the south side, where 
the wall is slaty and micaceous. The whole strata, through which the 
vein runs, are so much disturbed that, for a width of fifty feet, they dip 35 
deg. to the north east, with a north-west and south-east strike. Beyond 
this, the strata gradually assume a more horizontal position. No mining 
explorations have been made along the line of this vein, in search of 
metallic ores; though I believe the conditions under which the vein 
appears, favorable for discoveries. 

The hill at the toll-bridge, on Palarm creek, is 220 feet high, measured 
from the bridge floor, which is about 30 feet above the bed of the creek. 
The rocks of which this hill is composed, are thin-bedded, soft, brownish- 
colored sandstones, dipping about 40 deg. north-east, and intersected with 
veins of milky quartz. On the surface of some of the sandstones, quar- 
ried out to improve the road over the hill, clusters of transparent crystals 
were found attached. The upper part of this quartz-bearing sandstone, 
which caps the hill, is a coarse-grained, reddish rock, which crumbles 
easily to sand. 

About two miles west of Winfrey's old stand, a remarkably hard, black 
metamorphic rock, in semi-crystalline blocks, traversed by numerous fine 
veins of white quartz, crosses the road. It is one foot wide, and dips 
about 35 deg. north-east. The strata, on each side of this tilted band, 
appear to be nearly horizontal. 

The most important mineral locality which has yet come under my 
observation, in Pulaski county, north of the Arkansas river, is situated on 
Kellogg 1 s creek, and known as the " Kellogg lead mines." The principal 



233 



GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



mines are in township 3 north, range 11 west, and about ten miles north 
of Little Rock. When first discovered, these mines created considerable 
excitement, and the right of mining was leased by the proprietor of the 
land, Mr. Kellogg, to a company, who were to hold this right so long as 
they paid him regularly a stipulated amount of the ore. Some forty or 
fifty tons of this ore were mined and shipped to Europe, for the purpose 
of ascertaining its value. ]\o account was ever received, at the mines, 
regarding the sale or disposition of this shipment of ore; and the company, 
vt -e means were limited, becoming involved in debt and discouraged, 
finally abandoned the enterprise. 

From long disuse, the shafts from which this ore was raised, have 
become filled with water, rubbish, earth and rocks, washed in or detached 
from the mouth of the pits, so that there is no opportunity, now, of inspect- 
in * the condition of the ore in place. In giving an opinion, therefore, in 
regard to these mines, we have to judge from the material thrown out, 
from the general geological structure of the country, and from information 
derived from Mr. John W. Purdom, who lived close by the mines at the 
time the ore was mined. It appears that the ore "was found, not in a 
single vein only, but occupying a number of veins, which traverse the 
argillaceous shales under the millstone grit at this place; these seem to 
• very much the same distribution and relation, as those previously 
mentioned as occurring on the property of Dr. Lewis, at the Bull moun- 
tain, in the north-east part of Conway county, as well as those observed 
near Mr. Irvin's in this county. 

To convey a clearer idea of their geological relations, I subjoin the 
annexed vertical diagram; which illustrates not only the succession in 
Pulaski county, but also in Conway county: 

The millstone grit 
marked (c), at the top of 





MG 51G 




JIG 


MG MG 




MG 




MG MG 









MG 


t 






■ 

























200 



Millstone grit, 200 feet in thickneffl. 



the section, occupies the 
[highest position, not on- 
ly in the hills adjacent 
to the mouth of Palarm 
bayou, and in the ridge 
dividing the waters of 
that stream from Kel- 
logg's creek, in Pulaski 
count}', but also in the 
Bull mountain, in the 
north-east corner of 
Conway county. 



OF ARKANSAS. 



239 




MG 




Millstone grit, 200 feet in thickness — Continued 



i i i i 






S B 

HIT 

s s 



15 



40 



30 



Siliceous and argillaceous Bhales, with thin 
bands of hard rock. 



Fhin-bedded soft sandstone. 



Hard shale. 



200 



Argillaceous shale, traversed by metallic reins. 



The underlying silice- 
ous and argillaceous 
shales (d) are exposed, 
in section, on the Arkan- 
sas river, near Mr. Ir- 
v in's, at Pal arm bayou; 
as well as on Bull bayou, 
in the north-east part of 
Conway county. It is 
through them that the 
veins of quartz reach the 
surface, on the property 
of Dr. Lewis, in Con- 
way county, and near 
Mr. Irvin's in Pulaski 
county. Locally, a bed 
of soft sandstone (c) is 
intercalated amongst 
these shales, succeeded 
by thirty feet of hard 
shale or slate, (b), inter- 
sected with lines of cross 
fracture, probably caus- 
ed by shrinkage. 

The lowest stratum (a) 
of this section comprises 
the shales forming the 
valley of Kellogg creek, 
which are traversed by 
a system of metallifer- 
ous veins, containing a 
rich silver-lead, associat- 
ed with quartz, talc, (tal- 
low rock of the miners), 
copper pyrites, spathic 
iron, and blende. The 
principal veins have a 



course nearly cast and west. At the Kellogg mines, metalliferous veins 
are found, occupying a belt of country from north to south, cf more than 
half a mile, and the whole system of quartz veins and tilted strata, of 



210 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



which the Kellogg veins form a part, must have a width, in the same 
direction, exceeding twelve miles. 

From 40 to 50 tons of silver-lead ore have been taken out of one of 
the shafts sunk at the Kellogg mines, according to information derived 
from Mr. Purdom, and one lump carried to Little Rock, as a sample, 
weighed 108 pounds. In following the vein, this shaft was carried 108 feet 
through shales (a) of the section, after which the work was abandoned. 
The vein was found to contain more or less lead throughout the whole 
depth. Another shaft, known as the " Well or Moreland diggings," passed 
through 200 feet of the same shale, which still continued beneath. This 
vein also afforded a considerable amount of argentiferous lead, associated 
with the minerals before mentioned as belonging to this locality; but the 
amount of ore taken out of this shaft could not be accurately ascertained. 
Mr. Purdom was of opinion that it had not produced as much as the 108 
feet, or " Johnson shaft." A large quantity of copper pyrites was found 
amongst the rubbish thrown out of these shafts, and it is believed that 
o-ood veins of this ore might be reached by following the veins. 

The lead and copper bearing shales of Kellogg creek are underlaid by 
the subcarboniferous limestone, which, we have every reason to believe, 
would be more favorable to mine in than the overlying shales; besides, 
the surface indications of this system of veins give evidence, that the 
deeper they are followed, the richer they become; for the quartz veins of 
the Palarm, which I conceive to be an extension upwards of the veins of 
Kellogg creek, have not as yet yielded any ore, either of lead or copper. 
I believe it, therefore, to be a fair inference, that the deeper the veins are 
followed, the richer they will become; more especially when they reach 
rocks more favorable for the reception of ores. 

The analysis of two samples of lead, from the Kellogg mines, gave the 
following result: No. 1, a bright crystalline looking ore, gave, by reduc- 
tion, 81. 7 per cent, of metallic lead. By cupellation, this lead gave a 
silver bead weighing 1.06' per cent, of the lead employed, which is equal 
to 339.2 ounces of silver in a ton of 2.000 pounds. 

No. 2, a porous fine-grained ore, with particles of talc disseminated, 

gave 73.45 per cent, of metallic lead; this, by cupellation, gave 0.7 per 

cent, of silver, equal to 224 ounces in a ton of 2,000 pounds. 

The silver-lead ores of Great Britain and Ireland, 'worked in 1852, 
according to Mr. Hunt, (as quoted in Whitney's " Metallic wealth of the 

United States),'' ranges as low as G ounces of silver in a ton of lead; the 
highest, being that of Devon, contains 40 ounces of silver in a ton of lead. 
The Cardiganshire and Montgomeryshire lead ores sometimes contain as 
much as 75 or 80 ounces of silver to the ton. At Wildberg, in Prussia, 



OF ARKANSAS. 



241 



the lead contains 80 ounces of silver to the ton. The silver-lead of the 
Upper Ilartz, belonging to Hanover, contains from 13 to 123 ounces of 
■liver to the ton. From 70 to 80 ounces of silver is obtained from a ton 
of the argentiferous lead of Obcrnhof, in Saxony. 

From this it will be seen, that the silver-lead from the Kellogg mines 
greatly exceeds in richness the silver-lead ores of Europe, and in the com- 
parison, leaves a margin for profits so broad, that no doubt can be enter- 
tamed of the practicability of working these ores, not only for the lead 
but the silver. ' 

Why these mines have been so long abandoned, after having been once 
partially worked, I was unable to learn. The situation is highly favora- 
ble for rich lodes of metal, not only silver-lead, but also copper. 

If the property, belonging to these mines, can be obtained on reasonable 
terms, and a judicious and eoonomical system of mining instituted there 
can be but little doubt of a profitable result. The stratum of argillace- 
ous shale is easily mined, and there is no difficulty in sinking a shaft 
through it. From the increasing thickness of the shale to the south-east 
it is difficult, at present, to state exactly, what the total thickness of the' 
•hales on Kellogg creek may be, before reaching the limestone; it may 
probably, be 300 feet or upwards. ' 

The qualitative chemical examination of the Newton sprin- on the 
property of John W. Purdom, in section 26, township 3 north,°ran*e 12 
west, 8 miles north of Little Rock, gave, as its principal constituents^ 
Bi-carbonate of lime. 
Bi-carbonate of magnesia. 
Bi-carbonate of the protoxide of iron. 
This is a strong chalybeate water, and will be found an excellent tonie 
for patients suffering from debility. 

Two and a half miles east of Mr. Purdom's, between the old Batesville 
and Memphis roads, there is a large body of bog-iron ore, which will *. 
doubt, be found to contain sufficient iron to pay for working, judging £o» 
its appearance. A strong chalybeate spring breaks out from this bed of 
ore. Several persons have been induced to sink prospect holes, for lead 
in this vicinity; all of which reached bog-iron ore, proving this ferrugin,' 
eus deposit to be extensive. Its thickness, where it was only partially 
exposed, is two feet. This is, therefore, a locality worthy of the attention 
©J the iron manufacturer. 

IS 



242 GEOLOGICAL RECONKOISSANCE 



Agriculture. 

Large tracts of level land exist over the area of the above mentioned 
shales? from which the soil has been chiefly derived iirthis county. Where 
the reddish-colored ferruginous shales of this group prevail, the land is 
productive and easily cultivated; but where the purely argillaceous shales 
exist, the soil is stiff, refractory, and inclined to be sprouty, and difficult to 
bring into a good condition for cultivation; however, when subdued, it 
becomes fertile. These flat clay lands, in their wild state, support a luxu- 
riant growth of "barren grass," excellent for stock. The timber is mostly 
postoak and gum. The soil of the hill land is mostly derived from the 
sandstone of the millstone grit series, and is easily cultivated, though not 
so productive as the bottom lands. The principal growth of timber, on 
the highlands, consists of white, red, and blackoaks, black hickory, and 
black-jack oak. A set of soils was collected, characteristic of the latter 
lands, from Mr. John W. Purdom's farm, in section 36, township 3 north, 
range 12 west. 

PRAIRIE COUNTY. 

At the time I reached this county, the flies were found to be so numer- 
ous that it was impossible for the horses to travel during the day; conse- 
quently my observations in this county have been limited. 

It is a level prairie country, as its name implies, and its substratum is 
composed of the orange-colored sand belonging to the quaternary period. 
The only solid rocks observed, are in the north-western part of the county, 
and belong to the millstone grit formation. The greater portion of this 
county is well adapted for cultivation, and though mostly open prairie, 
there are considerable bodies of good timber bordering along the numer- 
ous small streams that water this county. There is, at all times, an inex- 
haustible supply of wild grass, for stock, and large droves of Mexican 
mustangs, and Texas horses, passing through the country, are, annually 
brought to this countv to recruit upon its rich, wild pastures. Samples of 
soils were collected from the John Percifield old place, in the Grand prai- 
rie seven miles from Brownsville, section 10, township 2 north, range 7 
west This soil is said to be excellent for small grain, and will produce 
twenty-five bushels of wheat to the acre. It is not so good for corn, the 
average being from twenty-five to thirty bushels to the acre. 



OF ARKANSAS. 



243 



MONltOE COUNTY. 

West of White river, this county is formed of high level prairie lands, 
similar in character to the lands of Prairie county, just described, except 
a short and narrow strip bordering on White river, in the vicinity of Aber- 
deen, which is broken by hills, about one hundred feet in height, composed 
of yellow clay and orange sand. East of White river, in this county, the 
land is generally low, and much cut up by lakes and sloughs, which, in 
time of high freshets, overflow large tracts of country. The remaining 
portion of this part of the county is composed of ridges that never over- 
flow, and is amongst the finest cotton land in the state, producing 1200 or 
1500 pounds to the acre. Soils characteristic of this land were collected 
from Alfred Mullen's farm, in section 25, township 1 north, range 3 west. 
No. 2, soil fourteen years in cultivation, and now in cotton. The princi- 
pal growth of timber, in this section of the county, is large sweet-gum, 
elm, hickory, and dogwood. 

I did not see any solid rock formation iirthis county. 



244 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



CONCLUSION. 



It will be seen, on review of this Report, that the northern part of the 
counties lying north of the Arkansas river, are bounded by a chain ot 
mountains, which are crowned, on their summits, with massive conglome- 
rate or thick-bedded sandstones, locally pebbly, belonging to the millstone 
grit series. These massive sandstones are underlaid by reddish and dark- 
colored shales of great thickness, especially towards the south-east, ae 
three hundred feet have actually been measured where they still extend 
beneath the drainage of the country. Thin seams of coal are found in 
the upper part of the dark shales, in all the counties from Crawford to 
Pulaski,* one of these veins appears to be persistent, and has been identi- 
fied, by its organic remains, over a great extent of country. Though 
often interrupted by extensive waves, which must have taken place 
in a great degree before the deposition of the superimposed sandstones, 
the general horizontality of the strata is well preserved. The axis of 
these waves appears to be parallel to the strike of the strata, and the 
elevated ranges produced from this cause are always capped with the 
millstone grit, with sometimes one or two hundred feet of shale over- 
lying it. After reaching the eastern boundary of Pulaski county, the dark 
underlying shales, with the incumbent sandstones, disappear either ty 
dipping to the south-east, or what is most likely the case, they have been 
removed by denudation, and buried beneath heavy deposits belonging to 
the quaternary period. 

Permit me to take the present occasion, to acknowledge the many acts 
of kindness experienced at the hands of the citizens of the various counties 
through which I passed, which have promoted and facilitated the objects 
of the Survey. Where these are numerous and universal, it would be 
invidious to particularize individual ca:es. 

EDWARD T. COX, 

Assistant Geologist. 

* Though I did not see any coal in Pulaski, I was credibly informed by Mr. Elliott, that he had 
found a thin scam not far from the Kellogg mines; and he promised, if possible, to meet me at the 
Klines and show it. 



INDEX 



Actjxocrinus in chert 

Agassizocrinus conicus ...... 224 

Agate in Izard county, occurrence of! '. '. 123 

Amber in Poinsett county, occurrence of. . . 4 * 

Analysis, methods of 31 

Analysis of argentiferous galena'fro'm ' Pulaski' county " 186-1M 

argillaceous rock imbedding galena. . 240 

blende oe 176 

brauuite '.'.'.'., 155 

coal 164 

dolomite 13°. 227 

galena 174, 175 

lignite 159, 160, 240 

limonite 177 > 178 

marionite ' 170-172 

nitre earth 153 

pearlspar ..." 53, 54, 178, 185 

potter ; s clay ..........[ i83 

psilomelane 21 

red clay imbedding zinc ore... 16l » iG ~ 165 

shell-marl from Greene county l75 

shell-marl from Kentucky. ... 27 

smithsonite 27 

Spadra coal .... 148-153, 183, 184 

wad '.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'..'. 130 

water from Cobb's well i63 

John Robinson's well 181 

Wm. Lane's well 215 

J. P. Harris' well . . . .'. 29, 180 

Thos. McEIrath's well i81 

a spring near J. Young's farm ..'.'.'.'.'.'. Jf 1 

a mineral spring in Crawford county. ... j*£ 

a sulphur spring in Washington county 1 1'~' 77a 

a mineral spring on Spirit creek, Franklin county'.'.'.'." '.'.'. 'Ill 

a chalybeate spring in Franklin county ™ 

A. b. Stewart's spring, Greene county oi i£ 

J5« « m Sprin ? 0t ' Spri^eld, Conway county. ...::.';::; ' oJfi 

the " Mammoth spring" } -" b 

the Searcy sulphur spring, White county.' .'.'.'.'.'.'.'.' 2 f? 

the Black sulphur spring of Van Buren county 70 

the Puce spring, Van Buren county ii 

the Pennywit sulphur spring, Crawford county. .'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.' ,«£ 

the Kice's spring ... J 1 ~ D 

*u_ c. . f. fc . " on7 



the State salt spring, Franklin" county .'.'.'.'.'.'.'.' «2I 

Newton spring, Pulaski county "J* 

of St. Francis river. . . **■ 

23, 180 



24G 



INDEX. 



Page. 
102 

Analysis of water from Kimble's creek, Madison county '.'.'. \S1 

of White river jgj 

of North fork of White river ." 22 170 

Analysis of yellow ochre ........' 183 

Appendix to Chemical Report • H 4 

Archimedes limestone of Independence county. • • • _ l7(J 

Argillaceous rock imbedding galena, analysis oi .'.'.'.'.'.'.'.' 220, 227 

Avicula, casts of in shale 

72 

Bald lick of Van Buren county • • oij 

Bath mine • • 149 

Bath mine, analysis of the ore from the 53> 224 

Bean's nitre cave 108 

Beatty's prairie of Benton county 67 

Bee rock of White county m% 24 

Beech branch of Cache river, section on the 1<v7 

Belgian process of manufacturing zinc 116, 218 

Bellerophon 103 

Benton county • • ' mmm 104, 109 

character of soils of jqq 

Beatty's prairie in • • - jqV ^9 

prospect of mining operations in 1()8 

reported existence of a sulphur spring in • • • • • lQ5 

succession of strata in .... . 38 

Big spring in Independence county ." 35, 218 

Black marble of Independence county " 77 

Black marble of Searcy county ' 75 

Black marble of Van Buren county " '^5 2 8, 30 

Black sand lands of Greene county ' 32 

Black spice lands of Jackson county 31 

Black wax lands of Poinsett county ............. 155 

Blende, analysis of • • ........ 222 

occurrence of, in Independence county 63 l4g 

Lawrence county ' 55 

Marion county 239 

Pulaski connty ' " ' gg 

Boat mountain of Carroll county 91 

Boat mountain, section of strata of .'.'..'.'.'.'.'.'. 1 64 

Braunite, analysis of ■ ' " " • ;-S8 

Brines, where best reached by boring .... . 4<' 

Buhr millstone of Izard county "*.!."]".! 53 

Buhrstone of Marion county "" ^g 43 

Buhrstone chert of Izard county 

(See, also " millstone.") 221 

Button ore 

25, 32 

Cache lands, character 01 210 

Calamine, the zinc works at 227 

Calamilcs, in shale of the coal measures 58 

Calcareous spar in Carroll county, occurrence of ............ 43 

Calico rock ■ • ■ ; 44 

Camp creek hollow, succession of rocks in ' ,^4 

Camphorosma resinosa, or rosin-weed '.'.'.... y20 

Curdium, casts of, in shale 5g^ ^7 

Carroll county Ii0 

analysis of galena from 96 ^7 

« cotton-rock » of. .7.7.7.".7.66,"57," 87', 97 

encrmital marble ol 94 

Huzza prairie of * 93 

iron ores of. ...'.'.'.'.'.' .'56-58, 97 

lead ores of _ _ y9 94 

Marshall's prairie of ' ' gg 

Pilot Knob of • 91 

Pilot, Stack and Boat mountains ot 95 

reported occurrence of copper ore in • " g - -, gg 

reported occurrence of lead ore in ' ' * ' ^ 

saline exudations in 57 

section in the lead region of 91 

section of strata of Boat mountain of • ' 9 

section of strata of hills in Prairie township oi 



INDEX. 247 

Page. 

. Bean's of Marion county 53 

Caves in lnd< unty 38, 41 

Caves in Washiiij itj 11G, 120 

mi of tin.' qnati man beds ai 20 

I the, use and analysis of 



i i of i ~i r> 

1 my 227 

Coal, an of Johnson county 130 

Coal, occurrence of, in Conway county 235 

1'i.iu i »td county 226 

Johnson county 129, 230 

Madison comity !J'J 

Pope county 233 

W ishington county 113, 115, 118, 120 

White county 69 

Coal, reported occurrence of, in Crawford county 123 

Coal, reported o icurrence of, in Van Buren county 75 

Coal, Spadra, oi Johnson county 129 

an.uysis of 130 

era! remarks on , 137 

practical value of „ 132, 133 

Commercial value of the ores of manganese 165 

Constitution of the ores of manganese 167-169 

Conway county 235 

a D ilysis of the town spring of Springfield, in 236 

i \ ldtnces of the disturbance of strata in 235 

limestone iu 235 

occurrence of coal in 235 

occurrence of talc and allied minerals in 235 

spect for the occurrence of argentiferous lead ores in 236 

section of strata in 238 

Copper ore, occurrence of, in Carroll county 95 

Fulton county 223 

Independence county 220 

Izard county 45 

Lawrence county 208 

M irion county 55 

Pulaski county 239 

Cotton-rock of Can-oil county 96 

County of Benton 103 

Carroll 56, 87 

Conway 235 

Crawford 123, 226 

Franklin 228 

Fulton 59, 222 

Greene 19, 201 

Independence 33, 216 

Izard , 41 

Jackson 32, 215 

.1 ohnson 129, 230 

Lawrence 63, 208 

M idison 99 

.Mil ion 45, 224 

M nitoe 243 

\ ewton 81 

Poinsett 30 

Pope 232 

Prairie 242 

Pulaski 237 

Randolph 205 

arcy 76 

V:in Buren 72 

Washington 110 

White 67 

Crawford county 123, 22C 

analysis of the water from a spring in 228 

Natural dam of 123 

occurrence of coal in 226 

occurrence of iron ore in 125 



248 index. 

Pagb. 

Crawford county, Permywit sulphur water of 126 

reported occurrence of coal in 123 

section of strata near Phillip's coal bank in 227 

section of strata near Van Buren, in 125 

Crowley's ridge, productiveness of the soils of 23 

Cupriferous pyrites in lignites of Greene county 25 

Cythcrea, in limestone 41 

Dam, natural, of Crawford county 123 

Determination of nitric acid, method for the 190 

Dislocation of strata in Searcy county .' 79 

Dislocation of strata in White county 71 

Disturbance of strata in Conway county, evidences of the 235 

Dolomite, analysis of 174, 175 

Dolomite, method of analysis of 190 

EARTH-cracks in Greene county 202 

Earth-cracks in Poinsett county 31 

Eisenkalkstein in Washington county 118 

English method of manufacturing zinc 157 

Euomphalus in limestone 116 

Favosite in limestone 121 

Ferruginous shales of Independence county 218 

Ferruginous shales of Madison county 102 

Fishes, teeth of, in shale ■ • 220 

Formation, cretaceous, not in the north-eastern part of the State 26, 31, 32 

Formations, the three leading, of the northern counties of Arkansas 135 

Franklin county - 228 

analysis of several mineral springs of 229 

section of strata on Mulberry river in 230 

Freestone, occurrence of, in Van Buren county 75 

Freestone, occurrence of, in Washington county 120 

Fulton county 59, ~22 

character of the soils of 223 



Mammoth spring of 



60 

Pilot knob of . . ° 223 

occurrence of copper ore in 223 

of iron ore in 62, 223 

of lead ore in 223 

section near the Rapp barrens in 59 

white sandstone of 62, 223 

Gainesville, lead ore in the vicinity of 24 

Gainesville, lignite in the vicinity of 24 

Galena, method pursued in the analysis of 191 

(See lead ore.) 

General summary, inferences, and remarks in conclusion 135 

Genessee slate, probable equivalents of 97 

Geological map of the State, importance of the construction of a 139 

Geological survey, importance of 11 

Geological survey of Kentucky, results of 13 

Gold, reported occurrence of, in White county 68 

Grandfather knob of Carroll county 97 

Greene county 19, -01 

black sand lands of 25, 28 30 

character of soils of 204 

earth cracks in 202 

mineral and agricultural resources of 203 

occurrence of lead ore in 24, 30 

of yellow ochre in 22, 202, 203 

potter's clay of 21, 202, 203 

quarternary shell -marl of 26, 27 

quartzose sandstone of 28, 29 

selenite in 202 

succession of strata near J. W. Pyne's, in 202 

Hoppe mine, analysis of the ore from the 148 

mode of occurrence of the zinc ore at the 211 

Houghton's diggings 209, 210 



ndkx. 249 

Huzza prairie, of Carroll county, soils of the 94 

Hypogene rucks, not observed north of the Arkansas river 125 

Importance of geological surveys 11 

Impressions, curious, in Bandstone ' 114, 125 

Impressions of leaves in quarternary Bandstone 25, 29 

Independence county 33, 216 

analysis of the zinc ores of 183 

Big Bpring of 38 

black marble of 218 

character of soils of 40, 222 

cotton-rock of 221 

ferruginous shale of 219 

millstone rock of 217 

occurrence of ores of copper in 220 

iron in 40, 217 

lead in 222 

manganese in 39, 221 

zinc in 222 

oolitic limestone of 220 

salt-petre cave of 38 

section ol strata in 216 

white sandstone of 38, 41, 221 

Indigo knob of Carroll county 97 

Introduction 9 

Introductory letters 5, 145, 196 

Iron manufactured in Lawrence county quality of the 213 

Iron ore, analysis of 170-173 

occurrence of, in Carroll county 98 

in Crawford county 125 

in Ful ton county 62, 223 

in Independence county 40, 217 

in Lawrence county 213 

in Madison county , 102 

in Pope county 233, 234 

in Pulaski county 239, 241 

in Randolph county 206, 207 

in Van Buren county 72 

in Washington county 112, 116, 120 

in White county 68, 69 

table, showing the richness of the different kinds of 173 

where most abundant 137 

Izard county 41 

agate and hornstone in 44 

buhr millstone of 44 

limestones of 41, 42, 44 

occurrence of copper ore in 45 

reported occurrence of manganese ore in : 44 

of silver ore in 43 

soils of 42 

Terra Sienna of 44 

white sandstone of 41-43 

Jackson county 32, 215 

black spice land of 32 

character of northern part of 215 

of soils of 215 

Johnson county 129, 230 

occurrence of coal in 230 

section of strata in the coal region of 231 

on Spadra ereek, in 129 

Spadra coal of 129 

Kellogo lead mines 237-241 

Kentucky, results of the geological survey of 13 

Kimble's creek, analysis of the water of 102 

Koch mine 211 

Koch mine, analyses of the ore from the 151 

L' A.-.guille bottom of Poinsett county 30 

L'Anguille bottom, wells sunk in 31 



250 index. 



Page. 

Lawrence county 63, 208 

analysis of a lead ore from 160 

analysis of the zinc ores from 147-151, 184 

character of the soils of 214 

millstone ruck found in 213 

mode of occurrence of the zinc ore in ^11 

occurrence of ores of copper in 208 

of iron in 213 

of lead in 63, 209 

of zinc in 63, 210-212 

section of strata in 208 

section of strata at Calamine in 211 

Lead mines of Missouri, description of the 105-107 

Lead ore, analysis of the, of Carroll county 160 

of Lawrence county 160 

of Marion county 159 

of Pulaski county 240 

argentiferous, occurrence of, in Pulaski county 237-241 

argentiferous, prospects of the occurrence of, in Conway county 236 

general remarks on 136 

occurrence of, in Carroll county 56-58 

in Fulton county 223 

in Greene county 24, 30 

in Independence count}- 222 

in Lawrence county 63, 209 

in Madison county 103 

in Marion county 46-48, 52, 53, 55, 225 

in N ewton county 82 

in Searcy county 79 

in Washington county 122 

reported occurrence of, in Carroll county 97, 98 

reported occurrence of, in Madison county 100 

probable occurrence of, in Washington county Ill 

tabular view of the composition of the 160 

Lee's mountain, in Marion county 51 

Lepidoileudron 115-227 

Lignite, analysis of 177, 178 

Lignite, of Greene county 24 

Lignite, of Poinsett county 31 

Limestone, Archimedes 34, 36, 77 

incrinital and marble- 56, 57, 77, 87 

marble- of Marion county 45, 51 

of Newton county 81, 84 

of Independence county 218 

(See, also, Marble.) 

Limestone, occurrence of, in Conway county 235 

Limestone, oolitic, of Independence county 220 

Limestone, pyritiferous, of Washington county 216, 218 

Limouite, analysis ot 170-172 

Limonite, method of analysis of 189 

Litt'jula. in sandstone 218 

easts of, in shale 220 

MAnisoN county 99 

analysis of water of Kimble's creek, of 102 

ferruginous shale of 102 

occurrence of iron ore in 102 

occurrence of lead ore in 103 

occurrence of coal in 99 

prospect of mining operations in south-east part of 100 

reported occurrence of lead ore in 100 

section of strata on Warton's creek, in 101 

Mammoth spring, of Fulton county 60 

reported occurrence of iron ore near the 62 

Manganese ores, analysis of 161-165 

commercial value of the 165 

general remarks on the 136 

of Arkansas, their value as compared with the manganese ores of other 

countries 166 

of Independence county 39, 221 

reported occurrence of, in Izard county 44 



INDEX. 



251 



Page. 
■ _ 

Manganese ores, method pursued in their analysis 

their chemical constitution 

Manure, gypsiferous deposil in Greene county, valuable as a - 

lre , gypsiferous shale of Wa ihingtoa county, valuable ae e 

Marble, 'black, of Independence county 

of Van Buren county 

of Searcy county... ■••■•« 

encrinital, ot <- arroll county 

-limestone, of Newton county 

-rock, where most abundant ' '- ^ 

variegated, of Marion county ' ' „ 

Marion county • 

analyses of the ores of lead of . 1 Yl - 1 .">."> 

analyses of the ores of zinc of ^ 

buhrstone of • ' ggg 

manufacture of salt-petre in V V •.;,',^ ~, "r, 

nitre-caves of * " ^ j 

marble limestones of ^ 

occurrence of ores of copper in ■•-:• ••• •■• ' " ././- 

of lead in 4b-4ft, oJ, o.. ,..._>, --•> 

ot zinc in 

sandstone of • ^g 

section of strata in the lead-region of • ]y) 

Marionite, description and analysis of ^ 

Mariouite, formula of <>7 

Marl, shell-, of Greene county, analysis of ~ 7 

Marl, shell-, of Kentucky, analysis of *.\". ..... . 89 

Marshall's prairie • <J4 

Marshall's prairie, character of soil of 1:i 

Mattener's knob _jgj 

Methods of analysis ■ ■ 

Metamorphic rocks in Pulaski county, occurrence ot •• • ; _ 

Millstone grit, its vast extent in northern Arkansas. ••••••• '' ,07 

Millstone grit and the subcarboniferous limestones, boundary between the i»« 

Millstone rock of Independence county ~ l3 

Millstone rock of Lawrence county " ',."-' ~ () g 

Mining operations, prospect of, in Benton county 

. in Newton county •- ^ 

in south-east part of Madison county 

in the north-east part of Arkansas lut 

Missouri, description of the lead mines of " - 

Mitchell's hill, section on " '.q 

Modiola, in shale of coal measures y ^3 

Monroe county ' 7,43 

Monroe county, general character of ^ 

Morell prairie, soil of ... • 

Mounds in Washington county 

43 
Naked Job of Izard county ' ^3 

Natural dam of Crawford county ' L) ~^ 

Nautilus in chert ~7jg 

Nautilus ferrutus ' ' 035 

NuropU ris in shale of coal measures g j 

Newton county ■ ,05 

analysis of nitre earth from ■ • • feG 

marble-limestone of J, . 

nitre caves of on 

occurrence of lead ore in . . _. 

prospect of mining for lead in • • • J 

section of strata near the mouth of Cave creek, in • • ■ *» 

Nitre cave, Bean's, of Marion county gg 

of Independence county ' g^_gg 

of Newton county ' . . ,. 

reported occurrence of a, in Washington county • • • • J* 

Nitre determinations in nitre earths from Marion county ' J > j* 

Nitre earth, analysis of, from Newton county • ' za 

from Bean's cave 178 

from Marion county ' 

Nitre earth, fatty principle in, from Thompson's cave • • 

Nitre, manufacture of, in Marion county 



, origin of 



252 index. 

Page. 

Nitric acid, method for the determination of 190 

Nucula f! 116, 218 

Ochke, yellow, from Greene county 22, 25, 202 

Ochre, yellow, analysis of 22, 170 

Ochre, yellow, use of 22, 203 

Oil-trough bottom, character of soil of 33 

Oil-trough ridge, section of strata of 34 

Orthis 208, 218 

Orthis crinistria 98, 103 

Ortlwc. ras 208, 220 

Palaeontology, importance of 139-141 

Pearl spar, analysis of 183 

Pecoptiris in shale of coal measures 230-235 

Pilot knob of Carroll county 95 

Pilot mountain of Carroll county 88 

Pine, diggings for silver ore at the, in Greene county 22 

Pinularia in shale of coal measures 227 

Plalicrimis 224 

Poinsett county 30 

amber found in 31 

black wax lands of 31 

earthcraks and sandblows in 31 

lignite of 31 

sandstone of 31 , 32 

Pope county 232 

character of soils in 234 

occurrence of coal in 233 

occurrence of iron ore in 233, 234 

section of strata on Galley creek, in 234 

. section of strata on Illinois bayou, in 233 

Potter's clay in Greene county 21, 202, 203 

Powhatan, zinc ore found in the streets of 212 

Prairie of Benton county, character of soil of 104 

Beatty's 108 

Huzza 94 

Marshall •. 89, 94 

Morell, character of soil of 31 

Prairie county 242 

Prairie county, general character of, and its soil 242 

Productal limestone of Independence county 35 

Productus 78, 218 

cora in limestone 116, 121, 218 

elegans 100, 218 

punctatus in chert 104 

Psilnmelnne, analysis of . . 161, 162, 165 

Psilomelane, method of analysis of 188 

Psilomelune. occurrence of, in Independence county 39 

Pulaski county 237 

analysis of argentiferous lead ore of 240 

analysis of the Newton spring of 241 

character of soils of 242 

Kellogg lead mines of 237, 241 

metamorphic action observable in the strata of 237 

occurrence of blende in 239 

of copper ore in 239 

of iron ore in 239, 241 

of lead ore in 237 

section of strata in 238 

Pyrites, yellow cupriferous, in lignite of Greene county ^25 

Quaternary sandstone, impressions of leaves in 25, 29 

Quartz veins, occurrence of, in Conway county 235 

Quartz veins, occurrence of, in Pulaski county 237 

Randolph county 205 

agricultural resources of 207 

occurrence of iron ore in 206, 207 

Rice's spring of 207 



INDEX. 253 

Pagh. 

Randolph county, section of strata in 206 

Raney mine 211 

Red clay imbedding zinc ore, analysis of 175 

Red soil of White county, character of 69 

Rice'.- Bpring 207 

Rocks associated with the ores of zinc and lead, analysis of the 174-177 

Rock house in Newton county 86 

Rosin-weed in Marion county 224 

Round-top peak of the Judah mountain 81 

Saccuaroioal sandstone of Missouri, equivalent of the 42 

Saline exudations in Carroll county 91 

Salt-petre. See nitre. 

Sandblows in Poinsett county 31 

Sandstone, quartzose, of Greene county 28, 29 

quaternary, of Greene county 25, 29 

of Carroll county 57, e7 

of Independence county ^5 

of Marion county 4f>, 5l 

of Izard county 41, 12, 43 

of Poinsett county 31, 13 

of White county 68, 69, 70, 7l 

flaggy, of Searcy county 78 

Baccharoidal, equivalent of the 43 

white, of Fulton county (3 

white, of Independence county 38^1 

with vermicular impressions 70 

Searcy county 76 

black marble of 77 

flaggy sandstone of 78 

occurrence of lead ore in 79 

section of strata on the Carrollton road in 79 

section of strata in Wiley's Cove, of 77 

Section of strata on Spadra creek, Johnson county 129 

on Mitchell's hill ." 50 

in the lead region of Carroll county 57 

in the lead region of Marion county 4q 

near the Rapp barrens, Fulton county 59 

in Wiley's Cove, Searcy county 78 

on Carrollton road, Searcy county 79 

near the mouth of Cave creek, Newton county c3 

of the Boat mountain, Carroll county 9l 

of hills in Prairie township, Carroll county 97 

on Warton's creek, Madison county 10l 

of the subcarboniferous group of Washington county Ill 

near Fayetteville, Washington county . 114 

on Middle fork of White river, Washington county 117 

on East fork of Illinois river, Washington county 119 

on Cane hill, Washington county 120 

on College hill, Washington county 12l 

in Vim yard tow nship, Washington county 122 

Van Burcn, Crawford county 125 

in Randolph county 206 

in Lawrence county 208 

at Calamine, Lawrence county 211 

in Independence county 216 

Phillip's coal bank, Crawford county 

on Mulberry river, Franklin county 2. 

in coal region of Johnson county , 231 

on Illinois bayou, Pope county 2.' 3 

on Galley creek, Pope county 2; 4 

in Pulaski and Conway counties 238 

Selenite 113, 203 

Shale, gypsiferous of Washington county 113 

ferruginous 102, 219 

hard, of Benton county ]04 

Shell-marl, quaternary, of Greene county 26, S7 

Shield's bluff, section at ." ; g 

Bilesian method of manufacturing zinc 1^3 

Silex, its abundance in northern Arkansas 1^7 

Silurian period, rock* of the upper, not occurring in the northern counties of Arkansas 1U5 



254 INDEX - 



Page. 

Silver, in the lead ore of Marion county 159 

Pulaski county 136, 240, 241 

Silver, richness of the Arkansas lead ores in, compared with the richness of the ores of other 

countries 136, 161, 240, 241 

Silver ore. reported occurrence of, in Izard county 43 

Carroll county 97 

Smithsonite, analysis of 148-153, 183, 184 

method of analysis of » 186 

occurrence of, in Lawrence county 63 

Marion county 55 

Soils of Greene county, character of 204 

Randolph county, do 207 

Jackson county, do 215 

Lawrence county, do 214 

Independence county, do 222 

Fulton county, do 223 

Pope county, do 234 

; ilrie county, do 242 

Pulaski county, do 242 

Crowley's ridge, productiveness of 23' 

Spadra coal of Johnson county 129 

Sphenopi tris in shale of coal-measures , 227 

Spirifer 78, 98, 218 

slriatus 105, 2:24 

Spring, analysis of water of Rice's 207 

of A. L. Stewart's 23, 180 

of a, in Crawford county 228 

of a chalybeate, in Franklin county 223 

of the State salt, in Franklin county 229 

of a mineral, on Spirit creek, Franklin county 229 

of the town-, of Springfield, Conway county 236 

of Newton and Pulaski county 241 

Puce, of Van Buren county 73 

Eye, of Van Buren county 73 

Black sulphur, of Van Buren county 73 

Big, of independence county 38 

Mammoth, of Fulton county 60, 182 

sulphur, of Washington county 117, 119 

chalybeate, of Washington county 119 

Pennywit sulphur, of Crawford county 126 

Stack mountain of Carroll county 88 

Stigmaria Jicoides 68 

St. Francis river, analysis of water of 23, 180 

SubcarboniferOus limestones, boundary between the millstone grit and the 137 

Succession of strata in Benton county 105 

Succession of strata near J. W. Pyne's, Greene county 202 

Si ar loaf hill of Marion county 50 

Si ar loaf mountain of Van Buren county 72 

Sulphate of lime, crystals of, in Washington county 113 

Sulphates of iron and alumina, exudations of, in Carroll county 91 

Sulphur springs of Washington county 117, 119 

Sulphur spring, Pennywit, of Crawford county 1-6 

Sulphur spring, reported existence of, in Benton county 108 

Sulphuret of copper, see copper ore. 
of lead, see lead ore. 
of zinc, see blende. 
Summary, general, inferences and remarks in conclusion 135 

Table, showing the richness of the zinc ores of Arkansas compared with those of other coun- 
tries L">6 

showing the value of the ores of manganese 166 

showing the amount of silver in the lead ores of northern Arkansas 160 

showing the comparative richness of the iron ores 173 

Table-land of south-western part of Van Buren county 72, 74 

Talc and allied minerals in Conway county 235 

Talc in Pulaski county "39 

Teeth of fishes, in shale 220 

T< rebratula plano-sulcata 121 

planum-bona 1~1 

Terra Sienna, in Izard county 44 

Trilobites in sandstone 218 

Tufa, calcareous, formation of, on Mammoth spring 61 



INDEX. O55 



c 



Page. 

Van Buren county 72 

black marble of 75 

Black sulphur spring of 73 

character of ap-land soil of 74 

freestone of 75 

Eve Bpring of .- 73 

Puce spring of 73 

occurrence of carbonate of iron in 72 

reported occurrence of coal in 75 

Sngar loaf mountain of 7:2 

table-land of 72, 74 

Veins and deposits of lead, zinc, and manganese ores, where situated KH 

Vermicular impressions in sandstone 70 

Wad, analysis of 163 

Warton's creek, section of strata on, Madison county 101 

Washington county 110 

character of the red up-land soil of 118 

chalybeate spring in 119 

caves in 116, 120 

brown freestone in 120 

Eisenkalkstein in 118 

good prospects for boring for brine in 1 19 

gypsiferous shale of 113 

occurrence of coal in 113, 115, 118, 120 

of iron ore in 112, 116, 120 

of lead ore in 122 

of selenite in 113 

reported occurrence of a nitre cave in 110 

probable occurrence of lead ore in HI 

origin of mounds in 112 

pyritiferous limestone of 110", 118 

section of strata of subcarboniferous groups of Ill 

near Fayetteville, in 1 14 

on Middle fork of White river in 117 

on East fork of Illinois river in ■■. 119 

on Cane hill in 120 

on College hill in 121 

in Vineyard township in 1 22 

springs of 110 

sulphur springs of 117, 119 

Water of White river, analysis of 181 

St. Francis river, analysis of 23, 180 

Kimble's creek, analysis of 102 

Black sulphur spring, analysis of 73 

Puce spring, analysis of 73 

Water from a sulphur spring in Washington county, analysis of 117, 119 

well on A. L. Stewart's farm, analysis of 180 

on Wm. Lane's farm, analysis of <m 180 

on Thos. McElrath's farm, analysis of 181 

on Mr. Cobb's farm, analysis of 181 

on John Robinson's farm, analysis of 215 

a spring near J. Young's farm, analysis of 181 

the North fork of White river, analysis of 181 

the Mammoth spring, analysis of J —3 

a spring in Crawford county, analysis of 228 

a chalybeate spring in Franklin cruntv, analysis of 22S 

the State silt spring, in Franklin county, analysis of 229 

a mineral spring on Spirit creek, Franklin county, analysis of 229 

the town spring at Springfield, analysis of 236 

the Newton spring, Pulaski county 241 

Searcy sulphur, analysis of 71 

Pennywit sulphur, analysis of 126 

Well of J. P. Harris, Greene county 26, 27 

James Lamb, " " 27 

Win. Lane, " " 09 

J. Robinson, Jackson " 215 

Wells, sunk in L'Anguille bottom 31 

White county 67 

Bee rock of 67 



256 INDEX. 



Page. 

\\ hite county, carboniferous system of 68 

character of red soil of 69 

occurrence of coal in 69 

iron ore in 68, 69 

reported occurrence of gold in 68 

sandstones of 68, 69, 70 

Searcy sulphur water of 71 

White river, water of 33 

White river, water of, analysis of 181 

Wiley's Cove, section of strata in, of Searcy county 77 

Wood's mine, analysis of the ore from 152 

Zixc, carbonate of, in dolomite 177 

(See smithso7iite.) 

process of manufacturing, from its ores 156, 158 

ore, occurrence of, in Independence county 222 

Lawrence county 63, 210-212 

Marion county 53, 55 

ores, general remarks on the , 136 

method pursued in the analysis of the 186 

of Independence county, analyses of the 183 

of Lawrence " " " " 147-151,184 

of Marion " "' " " 151-155 

of Arkansas, table showing the comparative richness of the 156 



ERRATA 



p. 24, 


line 


: 8 : 


trom 


bott 


P- 42, 


tt 


M 


a 


top, 


p. MS, 


« 


17 


tt 


tt 


p. 219, 


« 


2 


tt 


n 


p. 227, 


tt 


20 


it 


tt 


p. 258, 


(< 


19 


tt 


tt 



sandstone " standstone. 
ferruginous " feruginous. 
Sulphur Rock for Sulpher rock. 

lendron " lipidodendron. 



WILLIAMS COLLEGE