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~ Author title. Series title.
Title for subject entry.
LIBRARY CATALOGUE SLIP.
Texas. Department of | agriculture insurance statistics and history. | L. L. Foster,
Commissioner. |
First annual report | of the | geological survey of Texas | E. T. Dumble | state
geologist | — | [Vignette] | — | Austin | state printing office | 1889 |
8vo. pp. xci. 410. pl. X. and map.
Dumble (E. T.)
First annual report | of the | geological survey of Texas | 1889 | by E. T. Dum-
ble | state geologist | — | [Vignette] | — | Austin | state printing office | 1890. |
8vo. pp. xci. 410. pl. X. and map.
Texas. Department of agriculture insurance statistics and history. (Geological
survey of Texas.
First annual report | of the | geological survey of Texas | 1889 | by E. T. Dum-
ble | state geologist | — | [Vignette] | — | Austin | state printing office | 1890. |
8vo. pp. xci. 410. pl. X. and map.
Texas. Department of agriculture insurance statistics and history. (Geological
survey of Texas.)
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| V ? Av DEPARTMENT OF
AGRICULTURE, INSURANCE, STATISTICS, AND HISTORY.
L. L. FOSTER, Commissioner.
FIRST ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
TEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF TEXAS.
leases):
Hide eal Wee Hl BG... Gy. A...
STATE GEOLOGIST.
AUSTIN:
STATE PRINTING OFFICE,
1890,
Vertebrate Paleontology
U. S. Naticnal Musewm
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LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.
OFFICE OF COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE,
INSURANCE, STATISTICS, AND HIsTorY.
AUSTIN, TEXAS, May 1, 1890.
Hon. L. S. Ross, Governor of Texas:
DEAR S1IR—I have the honor to submit herewith the First Annual
Report of the Geological branch of this office. The scope of the Re-
port is briefly stated in the letter of Prof. EK. T. Dumble, State Geolo-
_ gist, accompanying this Report, and any remarks in addition thereto are
deemed unnecessary.
_ The following is a summarized statement of the expenditures of this
branch of the office since December 15, 1888, the date of the Prelimi-
nary Report:
FINANCIAL STATEMENT.
Appropriation for Geological Survey of Texas, December 15, 1888, to December 31, 1889.
Eanee Ol NrSh APPrOplMalONs . "an. wdcsd seis aie es eek ee ab ee $11,016 29
Appropriation March 1, 1889, to February 28, 1890..... ....... 35,000 00
Expended:
SULCUS!» Sar gen SER ee OTST ae RA tO a $21,796 28
POMC OEE I aera te ee A oaks sires le blcims Ww sua deo etta ene sss Baya!
Field expenses......... Bee ercitasa tc titie: Awa UL n oes wie oe: 6,234 48
SO MISEEUINETIES CG APPAFAWUS: 45.2 2 ow ses see as Bg ger eed 28
BGI EEN EO, ATE HL GLITURR nial As aps) Seale Sietaye Sack ew wrestieee was OY Pes 3,010 95
IS UDES EI i Res: Se eet ee ee ae i nr eee _ 403 38
HE AMOLALOEY S SUP PNES a, aisi.s:cs sche aierecaes oh soe ne oe ae Slew se ee a 1,309 86
PESU MEN RMENS ator EEL: Caxitliaic/s-aclaien\ nt: ciclSvet ioc aya Gel cre ees Save Ta 363 50
THE@e STC ETS Ne ae et 5 ey Seg eae 161 87
JOOCSINS Ls A ehee Reee Oe gat eae el oe eae ee Shon Soa 570 28
Esai BOC er OSe een rteenls iar, Pa NLIN Cw ivia wala Cero sles ale 41 7,588 72
$46,016 29 $46,016 29
Your obedient servant,
L. L. FOSTER,
Commissioner of Agriculture, Insurance, Statistics, and History.
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CONTENTS.
REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST,
TSHRREIE YOUMBTE CHIVERS es pe SR pea gh ae A ee a EY XV
Se ce ATI re Ne) CR et oh fa: site Sieve eionk Shape aco ee lokim vnime vd «OG vie ele ea oe a she ed's oes xvii
Scope and Plan of the Survey ...... se ta Coe pA eee ee a AE ae eee xix
Emel DETAMONS orcs, «se Mee oie sein o's S = > tance ates Slane eet an ae xxiii )
Work of the First Year...... EEN A et ae a So A DR MES Aad Cody Ran oF yee a XXiV
RADDA AD Hae rei Ee Gino A. sinha thm vie Sie ote 3S 7 Stare Sree ne ae es eee 5.614
EOLON se cere s. te Ee 4» As aahcird Pid nz bares MP Oe Le Le ee XXV
eran meen ere i ie ee oa RS Ne ls eet SL ke et xxvii
USGI Ae al A a eed a ce ae a AY oie Se I eS ee Se ded Se oa XXvVili
ilaayaee tee omer MeO CRS CAG ent CRA Neg Peet oa ee ede dea xxviii
CUED T GS 5 1, ap hemetesy Goo dee nda Sho ot nM pian ee ee a a Xxvili
Resalis:. 2 25.1 522 ee LN. 6S gn ee el aR A XXix
HnteOmdenON ys Soc Shep Sos S's Pade oNerk ett eatin Uefa Wea ele wdd eke Sasa a's Xxix
ERA LVOS ePetatet ts hank urea here 2lgkatole, Sew Sime wD, ees Rg eu eae xxix
CeO ORE ee is hee. aS 9 Ge wid miata soars EU One Ss eens Be ae ee Me RK
(ELE (CoOgIE APS TAn Te nerd Ee ge pect Ree See ae A te a Xxxi
OAV MIE LAVS sak tints fcc) stein iris Gleick Gee a vise ama’ ats Sige sal CAPR est Se eee Xxxii
Bayetio beds... fre. . oss. ate RAO Pe et era or het Stand wha XXxiii
JMSPRU NETS TE PEITED, 1a2 i ocak oy 2 a RN ae ogg eS gee XXXvVi
OO ae oa acs o's eee ee at Be So ASS Ixvi
JEVSIN TET SID Meet Vth oe am SOR gE IED pe 2 Ae Re Ce a ea lxix
WSO, US = Saee ES or RS ead hod Fatt a ea ae eee a lxxi
LEB EMG cs Fs ea nae a A are te. Oe lt ce Oe ea 5 oat ee lxxi
Je SD SE DE TRIS eee SS UE IT ea ae deg ea ae Rede es Be oe Ixxi
JEEPS sy RE AG eg a Pare Ree Bi ong a a eS ALO Se lxxiv
CLA OVC OTC TUS erase winter sie Gre ae SOM oats oo we ies bee's = oS 8 lxxv
REPORTS OF GEOLOGISTS.
PROMOn mol eNKE Vic VONR OURCOEIW NACE (Re een wien dcidiepeicrki ijieng cess ce ese es lxxix
ero ROUBINI he eR oe ce eee ec ds x ate Shae WR re eo ij ka eel
' Teasdd SIM eh eet ASO PARACEL ee ce nl Sa Rs ay Fak 8 lxxxiii
‘Theo: b. COMmsioek. te oho tan. y 2 2a Ae Rmeires i pe Se enee RCK VT
CONTENTS.
ACCOMPANYING PAPERS.
PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS, BY R. A. F.
PENROSE, JR.
MrtrOdwetiOn:, «2; -%a cca kew = 201s6la'e wisile ae wie avails al allee bi elataita netete teal olor iene seaks hele ete a ane eae 5
Descriptive Geology—
Geography and Topography........... «bar ie opal Fxg ied Se a RN SH ee eat ee oe afar ij
Siitatiiorap ly. iss), bcc eee Gin tayets "aroterare als tola te ble yare ake isos Renae teem name Aube eins 13
Basal, or Wills; Point iClay Sree crc -tk~ ciatetet veel aenale sete eet US ia fat patelie B12 em ayo, ape MIPM ML Rram eR aI Oe Fld lata alice s/c ails ROR Ma eke eco ee 90
Mar giiiaecn rots. Savomateieyte ok x geikeda gens eeaepete tolls neue lens acte sake Poneto ke vole oiee emer LOT eae 90
FA nally SOS ete cseiserase piste vanetoks yw ah 9 adetsi.c/db ove. ahay ar vtan“eitere erate cere eieal hose ene ee 94
TAS TGCS oo cchis esas os's 5 sutvayosier aveves 6 «/s001 2 eychel eyes ob opens eich olore) atta Mclenen Sey Cn teen 94
Nan Tomas coal smmine.).i: cies acie-sianc ge orepeivensio teronerce tee FOr pate eae 96
Uses of Tonite 02. ic\a) eek eee eto ew oe 2s ere ee ee 97
Analyses «Of; lignite issactete nie wise seckethl sesh dea owes eee ees eee eet 98
Mineral springs aici. e sedi scores eres hese ce wiih ale ellei@ oi 6 ale ollelev oe eS eae ee ee 98
Oils ahieede. “Lay ay aegevana antecanrals eT eee rer Pe eeten ee Mo orc Ge oo eel.
nn rar LCE Cc gacdtoogds ce. 101
A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE CRETACEOUS ROCKS OF TEXAS AND THEIR ECONOMIC USES, BY
ROBT. T. HILL.
SV HOPSIS:: wetle cpcea ceene ewe Ee ee AO RTA RISC ey NSE D ceec.y co cot on coon eC 105
Initroductlonir, sce create PA ro tan ety Me RASH OOO cit0 Fao 20 OFS 105
Upper, or Black Prairieiseriese 3. oi. 5c) ens ene teu ae rerio eee eee 107
Geologic structure of the Black Prairie region RAPE Op Nee oo Acs 109
Lower Cross Timber sands: .(: 5 .)..29.4. Se eyeing epee Rc ope ees nei ee 110
Bagle Word clay, shales. 0, 2. c-< (ci. oe os) ste eal seen tertes oes denne een ee ae ete at
White Rock, or Austin=Dallas' chalk \...c:as.5 35.000) siete oe eee eee ole 112
Hxogyra Ponderosammarls . 52.0.6 eee rae RPI AES) 5S Arc. tae 114
Upper arenaceous, or glauconitic series .......0. 1. css cece ce cee ne oeee sree) LAG
CONTENTS. 1X
Lower, or Comanche series . ..... 4022.00 ERED rN cae as BaP eats ae shes nif LAG
Trinity sands, or Upper Gross Timber division ....... ...0..cccseeeeees ee. 118
The Fredericksburg VOM taal cae Pea ia ita eg: o-< 06-0 123
CC arena re sat aoe ool yo) -avis jo, abd) ola Us ajela via pe (BAS Cee poe STO Rea Oe 124
MC OMNY CAS Uitte NVA SOM fava tae tars ie teceie is alcls) eieis/o@ ss-inie eo onateriditoie| sree Se AG
UAE, TANG R OU TOVEE BM BERS Rn ln ie et an. ge An ee ee a 127
The Wipper Capropna GivisiOn -,.!yis «05, . 6, 0)0le 2o00 = Beales p ysl nnn og Mes sal a a's 127
Melnmarh fas ans AOS POMC. epeyeieys/ay- (open ie rm: ayeinysl oe Use iyoss fateh ele dara nu, d¥e0 a. dila,le eo» 128
De pE ORY TAA TIC NIA CLAYS. svoocae,-)- sida o aie as eRe certs BG os leldh os » aa 128
Me SMGAMC Teele MIMESFOMC |. poy fuctees sreleints 6 lgie ele ws alee 2m Biel oot 2g
SPER MID UUs OTM COS cata dees. yet jal spnstn xr auc atay sie S 1s AON AIS GRIMES aeRRT IS aloes wc o © 130
Siig napuyOr tie COMANCHE SCTICS)... 2.20 5 ee. 60} ucla s'¥08)os «aie plalele Lvs Baacose Med
Ee OOMOSSPSC COM. 5 Heyelaph 1 bseeye dur wil ciel vie B «)eai@folaieve ale o%s <0 1S
THE SOUTHERN BORDER OF THE CENTRAL COAL FIELD, BY W. F. CUMMINS.
Seu DIV Cre COLOO Ig a aati Matas vol stare sieve dues a) 8 aia 0'e, 0 o/s Bier oteteerelste wie fd eA Mais ate ene. 145
Hirata OLN AOC sce MA, COMED CN ter Nata Eki ey Sacyaveh ash oh eee ee teieta Lie Mel cles ards a 6 145
CLELACCOUS; SYSUCUN c, 5.0%) love ein sinre oe < ateen ss eA AR ER Sees EMT ch spo 2) 0.3 145
AO Aire OTN GO as ee nraue ete eke (Cos giacbsN oy PSs Sint alee’ ave tas iataiecaae @ ES ss alalete WS Se elate aa's's oe 147
OTTO NOMA CTALE) elsuen io Uslienet yan emye tauepaaa ieee tated vehcuNe aia ieersacsliand MOSSE el's by Shetek ia pes
Et RIME UE WOU, u.icevn,s-aiers i toevenetat ere vecttnie choecaon Ee eens Hees DRE ) li xb ett a 157
Eye Rey mantis seer) Sint awen ett ate Enea Mo chee Shs wine cee dee OME E caw teis 157
Cropavelhiistianaisy 46 Moos Geet co Soy MEE A ee Se aoa eee Pees ear a 158
Economic Geology—
OO ee ete PaaS EPR Mg oat uN fears tele wight: Sinica a labatl a olet as pei Peers ter eraratees | tees 2 158
LS eee a ee Ne aes Asi nie: 2214/5 A'S w Sieve Aa pale ee ae os + od ad SUMASS 168
ON ed nate St NA ee ol sh ais dave uid WU ASR SM Ee Meat OSs a Call 161
Mitscolllepeney sites 2 ewe cit ai ciosios as Geet cri ot one nano cas Bey Sas eiena eR A oees Ka tPA rc: Barwa lv J esl db bhatass 161
LATENE CRIME shng oS ies } ae OE a Se) a aE OO 2 ate a a ee ee 162
SURE TATE Mh peut cece teeth hora a MMe ML S/R eddie Joe, Gatete Pein Sie Sikh dege)ats big bite 162
EES UA CLITA SI GONG he stetey acces, Staines aces ey.ev ah @ Oe vuel eigen wid) ox oe ale wafcce 8 ce yet We, OS foc a Me Sg 162
HUE eg IOLS sofepeuane irene es tiara, tachopitee, tevevaren ud cava angeo Seat sss UbinrathsnGrcr tia Sed weeea Sl Serie Aa t.) 16D
CLAMS) 5 Ba lete CO Se tain Se Pee a Re IMO Clg em eine aan Pe Beat On Pe 165
EEO SrA oC SHOTS aay sece eat snsavtaye eau suee oksia aanane che ntie elvis spotan dea Sis wMislolald oe o0 165
SOll Sees SA rues tot Me seem RE eee UM OT. a. la 166
\NEIISIE y & oh ES eee oe 5 Rg, St ay EE ed 86 98) ORR a ee ee 170
INTIS RAID WEE Iron tae bcdah ous ek costa vn, tyme Sucka circ eck ett bl me Gin Sova e by wl etesee ends aed
Salt water. <..ss<.< ee RE Sells Shot ce ar heart Se on en Oe OnE Cae ed is
Water power....... ieee ea) acgbaepemaer es © Aiwtahsaarlend wn 6 BULA A Wes corny nee & 174
AGP ONO Nyame ace psu Sgeesnedbad ious Wales's ERE Rites ase chews. LTS
HERA TU RetT Lenore ay ae ea eters Ws ca ray ear feranct oaeyrels wW ch Iocan VA ate gar we sios BBW OM SLE ee 6 aR ge Ba
HS hate CALE C Rr nat peace aaa eytenpee at ele eeepe tart nrescralnioles sre lacdeabvuta kU ak Stole 180
JUNGON STE 9G TS iy oo Geek RN eRe eens Ohnttd hy enon Sh Ay UE OT NE A 8 SO a a 181
THE PERMIAN OF TEXAS AND ITS OVERLYING BEDS, BY W. F. CUMMINS.
DESEeriptiOme., oes Sela eerarens ye ee Re PL MCP RETM 6 ial aia) ole erated 185
ihe Wiehita- beds ...cc0c00 «sta Foe Peer oper iia hcl Spe oeMeR ONL Tay se ae ds ae dhoveves abe: lores 187
MeO Ca Te Oi KemOC USM arr mea neere eter ein aie ak ets lke Rdic Gani pescceees 188
Rn caWowolex Mond aimed Sren te2.65 sen miter < cee Satis Sima Chk A Chee bee 188
Overlying formations—
WOCKMIM VOCUS evweiew mre Shoe wis Cae deesed PASS eS LENE BU SB er eee 189
USNC ORC AMY OMPO CNS rc eetair cael. Yatst wi sie'eils crcru-ctorearuas wists ate! ahh th Ee een ters 190
Economics—
SOMES cero coed eA ee tea 8 Eee RE SI Se Or Ak 3) fe Loft. pe 191
CUI ZOL Caria ae naa Seater ce el Aes SENS see MT PEERS ae 193
RUBIO oo oP os es Api Go: Berane Hr ererae SUTTER RY Th c1h OPN cm, Oe aes er 193
Ea ehiTa et ep ng Ne MeN R eA ACC HCL ine Wa rule at ware id ides Wat TENT (pest SUSY SS 194
Sl ingaMmaberinleer ae sh hts ecwelcbies ce lees se eee se ou ee eke alee 194
bridal} 2) gegen on ee eee PPR ct ew erNal b Aetasrerr eek es bed oe g es ee 195
x CONTENTS.
Eeonomies—continued.
O10) 0: i an MMM Mains He LA oO Skee LS Suoldgemas 196
TOW oy, ja ete Min nae Sia 6 Sie O's 9k Ain Soni ono te ak pele ee Rel cee ToT
GeyPSUM oo. ee Lin Swe ceca swe 0) wots ecrotcriel «land 6 ere eee eee is) ri
A PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE COAL FIELDS OF THE COLORADO RIVER, BY RALPH S. TARR.
Introduction..... ee ee ee Ne oe a ee LUN ease eee Sid esiouak ete aya ote eke Ren ene ee 201
Stlo-CaroomiterOUGcioc cle cece o aidns wks os & le ee oe eee Sloide eee aed meee 202
CavWOmleCrOusae. were kt ecu nk ba Wate ads alec ah sb.yeye G6 aac ea et -. 203
Richland vsandstome: io. cig ee eee as ete ce fo GAM SS Pee 204
NMailburn division .2.. 2. pLierwtse Gallic dg Beka Ci ele RS OS ee 205
BLOW W OOE FCLVISTOM.. icici. aie ale, cls pie pga eee Di RIE Ron re een nae 5 lek oO
Wealldiriip diva Som’, 25a. ll. cay jaca lena ple ale ene eee bape tes 207
Coleman division....... bo i aie ee Dog a eee PNA i eh eee er 210
Economics—
Coal. ose ee ects eek ket, ia iso ake OA Sad Ra ae ee eee 2,
OMG eo Re Som wee Sok ua tea Sano ae eee do a ra oa 215
IMAM AMESE har tas spokapurcsele eral cso ome ee emis Xeon esis Byaaseple te daaarre Raa each eee ae ea 216
Oil (Gas andie Sali Wiateiae oo cic cee eel avs eienias Soe MAM IES A osAic C 216
GEOLOGY OF TRANS-PECOS TEXAS—PRELIMINARY STATEMENT—BY W. VON STREERUWITZ.
Character of (coumtty~ =.) Ge. ke eer sith Sait haha ia hwba cape tha bd SERS ey REE eee 219
Sierra; Blan ie@a IVonambarm eee ue sec ec sca ape pees esi ac oy cn iS ee tl Aik AUR Rees eis)
Omitiman Montara Cem cee acca i ere ne So aN ea garets (aa coh tere faery ean 220
@arriZO: Moma lia, some ora ose). ) sinter antec aie ee peste ne NE tae ae NC ee RS ca: 221
LOLLY TAD OVO vs wis en oS es coos oe, 5 ee edie Tas Soe te ui ce eters Tene ae) (0 ek Re aise es 222
Mineral TeSOUnGES icices 2s i a ous caret o epetls Rae ee Ree Spar Shas aitenre gan 1A areas 223
Agriculture and Irrigation. <5... ccencterrein one otsle = see seattete Tobe acres al Ae ee ee 2a eae
Mevelopnaent ss ss se esa ewes lain. a ieee Steet eee iste 8 peg ee 228
Conchisions xi. bcos eeneniaty aaeeein hes hae cea ers ae ENA SPU or at Sit. 5 6 Vc 231
Topographical WOtes: sss. eue sa ietestaee ecewraye cote Sci icpene. Seen re aan eaesaney ueeee 232 .
A PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE CENTRAM MINERAL REGION OF TEXAS, BY THEO. B. COMSTOCK.
Bch 010 U0 Leino) « OM gNR ner REN Ole Ra pmtresilenaM UMMM P sre meen SC, Mat Bele eM ae oe 239
Parr l--Straticraphic Geolomye. . creas Sel say ac eie eee wiabira telecon ae 254
Arehpean CTO ae: a vas eens way hom pieg eras Be holke oN eas eeu toe ene ares eae 255
Burnette Say, Stennis Aye dace 15 cial es earer ee fairs 4 ehagcaecufancner egal einem ope y ce tare eal ane 255
AGE Of ISNEOUS EET U PONS) a, ca «45 sect) orate arate alent ae 263
Irruptions of Burnetan system. - <4 <9 assess 2 ne eee herrea ae 267
Mermnandan Sy Sten 2.0. j:.)esre ve steals re
WB Curis op 5 Ss ere yarn ee Oct. - 1) 1888) 162056 eee
RotAS HMB ennoses (diie at a) ee acne Nov.10) 1888 j......2. eee
ae cS aC loms tock yt pet tie. wee vcte toe renee June-20,.- 1889 .\....3)..5 2)
Re Ts Dall east ee eee eens Reb. —, 1889 |: 2209 ee
Assistant Geologists—
CoC oMeCulloch: rit. Wie ete ears Oct... 10,; 1888. |... Jn ee
(CUES 000 gonaiintmee neaielered caiorraerd allah oer te cI Nov. 10, 1888 |*Dec. 10, 1888
J lay Ral bt, saltts peeps eg arte eres aaa Nov. 10, 1888 | Dec. 10, 1888
Jolin (Owens [ese ter ke Sg eee eerie Reged Nov. 10, 1888 | Dec. 13, 1888
AW eae Nisa errant nem is Lebar eee WHE Feb. 15, 1889\lc. -: ese
Chas TA pDeRbzis 2 sco e teva ete ue ee Mch: -1, 1889°)......3 ... 7)
J.B. Wialicen Ao) Sees a rete, enetee April: 1, 1889))\.22 3005 See
Gre sired Bee e: AEs aN ELL A June 1, 1889 | Nov. 25, 1889
DOW) RONG Cue. ce rani sci eee July 1, 1889 | Sept. 10) ese
NOW Dire i ean cee neler a July 20, 1889 "co. (eo
Jena SLONe 2 ane ae Sept. 23,~ 1889-2... ee
BAS. Wark yirtee er ol tea eee Nove 1 18890)lbs bee
Chemists—
J. Ei Gelerndion, eer eer ee Oct. 15," T1888 Ne. je ane
Me MS Smith Soke eae 2S Oct. 12, 1888 | June 20, 1889
iz Bi Elalleye cai het ie cee sie ere SORES Oct. 14, 1888 | May 10, 1889
PS. Tilson: aioe sty as eee eee Jan: 20, 1889 te. eee
L. EH. Magnenat...... en ae ee cee Aue. A usse
Topographers—
JAS NG Ole 6 oS a ee June 20, ASS 9 jee coer eee
Re \WWayechetzict 2 oii. eee al May” 1S AS8Oe| mame cee foe s
Sa GaeTSe Wald api Pf0.). 2 Ue eee eee June: 20PN SSO memes. eee
Clerks—
pele SOMES So yen tos hc whit: to 0-8 Bee ae Agi. 20% BOS. eres Acces ae Seer
We Cawthorne.)..'.).... os. soem Aug. 20, 1888 | Oct. 22, 1888
Ja ec Gunire aie ae os ae ne Dept. 28Puliese Hae eee se as
* Reappointed January 1, 1889.
REPORT OF THE STATE GEOLOGIST. Ixxv
I submit herewith the reports of the several field geologists, and for
the details of their work refer to them.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.
The thanks of the Survey are due to the great number of citizens of
the State who, by their interest and help, have contributed to the work
of the field parties. These favors have been so numerous that it is im-
possible to make separate mention of them.
To Major J. W. Powell, Director of the United States Geological
Survey, this Survey is indebted for many favors, among which may be
mentioned permission to make use of the Texas portion of the plates
of his new map of the United States, which here appears as our Pro-
gress Map. |
To Professor T. C. Mendenhall we are indebted for the use of the
base-bars used in measuring the base line in Trans-Pecos ‘T'exas.
Mr. G. Browne Goode, Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian In-
stitute, rendered us great assistance by furnishing plans, photographs,
and descriptions for the museum cases and their arrangement in the
room.
My own thanks are especially due to the different members of the
Survey, who, by faithful and earnest work, have made this Report—so
full of detail, and covering such an extent of country—a possibility.
oe oe sh 3
gy Pe
elt a iets if 41 eit uve
«GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF TEXAS. |
EPORTS OF GEOLOGISTS.
hoe o
REPORT OF MR. W. VON STREERU WITZ.
Austin, Texas, March 31, 1890.
Mr. E. T. Dumble, State Geologist:
Dear Srr—The portion of the State to which my field work was confined
during the year 1889 is that extreme western part, embraced between the
Pecos River and Rio Grande, known as Trans-Pecos Texas, and the time I was
in the field was devoted principally to preparatory work and determinations
which were positively essential to a correct understanding of its geology.
For successful geological determinations and investigations of this part of the
country, the study of the topography is absolutely required. Hruptive rock,
of different periods and character, intrude into and penetrate the sedimentary
strata, which are also of different ages, and for the most part strongly meta-
morphosed.
_ The mountain groups and ranges and the hills are separated from each
other by wide. gaps and extensive flats, filled in with more recent deposits,
which adds greatly to the complications of the geological work in this part of
the State.
Another source of complication arises from the great erosion of the older
mountains by the Cretaceous sea, as well as from later erosions and intrusions,
and the covering of these by more recent materials after the Cretaceous de-
posits were formed.
The information which can be derived from former records is meagre and
merely fragmentary, for the most part consisting of short remarks or discus-
sions, made more or less general and based on casual or disconnected observ-
ations during rapid trips; and consequently, even if the observer were per-
fectly trustworthy and of undisputed capacity, his information can only be a
very limited assistance to more exhaustive geological work.
Existing maps of the counties west of the Pecos River have been compiled
mostly from records of old surveys, some of which are of very doubtful
value. The mountain ranges, rising precipitately from the extensive flats, are
so rough and so steep that running and measuring straight lines across them
is almost or quite impossible. The starting point from which such lines are
said to be run (on the New Mexico-Texas line) are far distant, and to reach
them many obstacles of a serious nature have to be encountered. Adding to
this the changes of the needle bearings, the absence of corner monuments,
and numerous other difficulties of less importance, which must, however, be
met and overcome, it becomes evident that the existing maps and surveys
can not be made the base for the determination of mineral districts and other
geological work in Trans-Pecos Texas.
lxxx REPORTS OF GEOLOGISTS.
These complications made it an essential requisite to begin by preparing a
topographical map, on which to lay down the geological features of the coun-
try. So, being instructed to begin with the beginning, and fitted out for that
purpose, I prepared for taking the topography of the country, starting at Sierra
Blanca.
With the aid of an assistant, Mr. Wyschetzki, I began by carefully meas-
uring, with weighted steel tape, a preliminary base line from which to start
operations. I then laid down the bench marks for the first horizontal
curves, and located, by triangulation, the more prominent mountain peaks of
the surrounding country, at the same time obtaining as much information as
possible, and collecting specimens from prospects and outcrops.
Later, being provided with the county maps of West Texas, and receiving
instructions to classify the mineral lands to be taken from the market and to
be reserved for mining purposes only, I began to make such classifications,
and to map these out as closely as could be done without previous correct
topography and thorough examination of the country. Additions and
changes will doubtless become necessary as the geological work progresses.
An additional assistant sent from Austin left after two weeks service for
home. He was replaced by Mr. Girsewald, and I then began to map the
topographical features of the country in the vicinity of Sierra Blanca by
reconnoissance, which, after a careful consideration of surrounding circum-
stances, I thought the most expedient method.
To secure the necessary water supply for the outfit, | made my camp at
Sierra Blanca Junction, from which point I took the topography of the Ore-
taceous hills and the extensive flat north and northeast of the station, taking
the long tangents of the Texas and Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads as
a base, and starting the first horizontal curve at an elevation of 4600 feet
above sea level.
The vertical distances of the curves were taken 100 feet from each other.
Moving farther west, I extended the tangent of the Texas and Pacific Rail-
road by a transit line to the foot of the Quitman Mountains, working there-
from and checking the work from this line and by ordinates of the railroad
curves. I followed this course in all topographical work until I was fur-
nished with base-bars kindly furnished by the United States Coast Survey.
These, however, I did not receive until toward the end of December, although
they were shipped from Washington the 26th of September.
From Sierra Blanca Junction I moved the camp to the foot of the Quit-
man Mountains, or as they were called formerly by the Mexicans, very ap-
propriately, Sierra de los Dolores.
From this camp I took the topography of a part of the Sierra Blanca
Mountains proper which lie north of the railroad, the hills and the interme-.
pee.
REPORTS OF GEOLOGISTS. Ixxxl
diate flats west toward Finlay, and a part of the Quitman Mountains to the
south, with the foothills southeast.
The absolute dryness of the Rio Grande, and the absence of springs or
other water sources, compelled me to abandon for the time the contemplated
removal of the camp to the river; and in consequence the completion of the
topography of the Quitman Mountains, and indeed of all the hills, mountains,
and flats close to the river and distant from the railroads.
I therefore removed my camp to Hagle Flat on October 15, where I got
water, partly from the section house cistern and partly from an old prospect
hole in the foothills of the Sierra Diabolo.
From this camp I connected with the topographical work done from Sierra
Blanca east, extending the same in a north and northeast direction toward
the Sierra Diabolo and to the longitude of Torbert, and east to the railroad
track of the Southern Pacific Railroad.
After having removed the camp from Hagle Flat, on the Texas and Pacific
Railroad, to the Southern Pacific Railroad, six miles west from Torbert, I be-
gan mapping the topography of the foothills north of the Hagle Mountains,
and of the Devil’s Ridge, a series of Cretaceous hills and cliffs west of the
Hagle Mountains, and the country between these and the Quitman Mountains.
Just after New Year’s, having received the long-expected. base-bars, I
began the measurement of a base line in the flat, six miles west of Torbert,
on the north, and 200 feet off from the track of the Southern Pacific Rail-
road. After training an insufficient number of men (it was impossible to get
more help), I laid down a line, which, when corrected for inclination, contrac-
tion, and expansion by thermometrical changes, measured 6400.70070 metres.
I set stones at both ends of the base lines. The starting point and end of
the line are marked by iron pins in holes bored in the stones and filled with
lead. Both these stones, and a third one at a distance of 100 feet west of the
east end of the line, are protected by a covering of rocks piled over them.
From this line I began to take triangles to points which I thought of
greatest importance for future topographical work, but avoided any attempt
to lay triangles of the first order, or of taking any long sides, since the instru-
ment at my disposal (a good field transit, of Gurley’s make), is not sufficiently
delicate for such work. I took a number of observations up to the time that
the setting in of sand and snow storms rendered field work impossible.
The instruments were carefully boxed up, and with other implements were
left with the justice of the peace at Sierra Blanca. I then took the animals
to Fort Davis, where I turned them loose on the range of Capt. Dolan,
mayor of Fort Davis; paid off the drivers, and left with the assistants for
headquarters.
W. von STREERU WITZ,
oo Geologist,
Ixxxil REPORTS OF GEOLOGISTS.
REPORT OF MR. W. F. CUMMINS.
Austin, Texas, March 31, 1890.
Mr. EH. T. Dumble, State Geologist:
Dear Sirn—Having received instructions to make as detailed a section as
the time would permit of the southern part of the Carboniferous formation
in Central Texas, I took the field at Lampasas on March 13, with Mr. C. C.
McCulloch, Jr., as assistant. The general route was west to the Colorado,
then south to the contact of the Carboniferous and Silurian near Cherokee
Creek, San Saba County. From that point we traveled north and west to
the town of San Saba, and thence, via Richland Springs, Milburn, Trickham,
and Waldrip, to Santa Anna. We then turned southwest to Brady, Camp
San Saba (McCulloch County), reaching San Angelo May 31. In making
' the examination the greatest care was taken in the exact identification of
strata. Where there was a stratum which could be recognized with certainty,
it was traced from hill to hill until its exact relationship to the over and un-
derlying beds was determined. This was prevented by the drift in many
places, and therefore a continuous section could not be secured. Wherever
an exposure of sufficient extent was found, instrumental measurements were
made of dip, etc. |
Having completed this, I received instructions to continue westward and
make a like investigation of the Permian area. I therefore, with my party,
began the work of exploring the Permian formation at its extreme southern
limit, which is a few miles south of San Angelo, in Tom Green County. The
boundary of the formation had not been definitely determined except at places
widely distant from each other along the eastern edge. I therefore under-
took to trace the eastern boundary of the beds, or the line of contact between
the Coal Measures and the Permian. I traveled down the main Concho River
to a point almost south of Ballinger and a few miles above the confluence
of the Concho and Colorado rivers. I then went to Ballinger, in Runnels
County, and thence by way of Buffalo Gap to Baird. Finding at Baird that
I was east of the contact between the two formations, which had been ob-
scured by the overlying Cretaceous to the south, I turned westward to Abi-
lene, in Taylor County.
The line of contact between the Carboniferous and Permian is seven or
eight miles east of Abilene. At Abilene I was-joined by the State Geologist,
who accompanied the party to the Double Mountains. From Abilene we
turned northward to the Clear Fork of the Brazos River; we then went
down the river northeastward, being all of the time on the beds of the Per-
mian; and passing through old Fort Phantom Hill, we reached the road from
i
REPORTS OF GEOLOGISTS. : Ixxxill
Albany to Haskell. At that locality we found the contact between the two
formations. From thence we traveled almost west to the Double Mountains,
in the western edge of Stonewall County. From there we went south to
Sweetwater, on the line of the Texas and Pacific Railroad, passing through the
town of Fisher, sending the balance of the party back to Albany. From
Albany we ran a line of levels on a northwest line to Kiowa Peak, in the
northeast corner of Stonewall County. From thence we went west to the
edge of Kent County. Thence southwestward to the Salt Fork of the Brazos
River, and carried the line to the mouth of White River. Thence up that
river to the edge of Floyd County.
Mr. N. F. Drake had charge of the topographic work on this trip, and has
proven himself quite efficient in his work, the results of which will be pub-
lished in a later report.
The difference of present altitude above sea level between the lowest and
highest beds of the Permian, as determined by this Survey, is 916 feet.
This would be on a line from Clear Fork of the Brazos, near the line of
Shackelford County, to Dockum, in the western edge of Dickens County.
W. F. CUMMINS,
Geologist.
REPORT OF MR. R. T. HILL.
Austin, Texas, March 31, 1890.
Mr. E. T. Dumble, State Geologist:
Dear Str—lIn accordance with your request upon organization of the Sur-
vey, | undertook, in February, 1889, in co-operation with my duties as in-
structor in the University of Texas, the study of the natural features of those
portions of the State known as the Black and Grand Prairie regions and the
accompanying Upper and Lower Cross Timbers, all of which are the surface
features of the Cretaceous rocks, to which they owe their topographic ind1-
viduality, economic possibilities, and conditions for human habitation.
The work was originally taken up with the hope of bringing the instruc-
tion given my classes into closer contact with the practical side of Geology
by the utilization of the students in the field and training them for positions
upon the Survey; but this was found to be impracticable, and you gave me
the assistance of the young men whose names and service are mentioned
more fully in the accompanying pages, by whose faithful and painstaking
labor much has been accomplished. In the month of July I received an ap-
pointment as Assistant Geologist upon the United States Geological Survey,
Ixxxiv REPORTS OF GEOLOGISTS.
in co-operation with your Survey, which brought with it a small remunera-
tion for my services, which had previously been entirely voluntary.
The extent and character of the region to be surveyed, as set forth more
fully in the accompanying paper, embraced an area of over 72,512 square
miles, or over one-fourth (27.75 per cent) of the total area of the State—a
region three times as large as the combined area of Massachusetts and Con-
necticutt, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Delaware, or three times the size of
West Virginia. Since it would have been a physical impossibility for the
whole force employed upon your Survey to have covered this enormous area
with even a reconnoissance, it became a matter of necessity that the region
should be divided into working districts, and the work of my assistants lim-
ited to some certain portion.
In accordance with the necessity, the total area was subdivided, therefore,
into the following artificial divisions for working convenience:
1. Northern District, or portion north of the Colorado, including 24,000
square miles.
2. Southern District, or portion south of the Colorado, including 48,000
square miles.
3. Isolated areas, including remnantal patches surrounding the buttes of
Northwest Texas, or preserved in the mountain disturbances west of the
Pecos, or exposed in the Tertiary areas of Hast Texas by denudation. Area
not estimated.
_ The Northern District was chosen as the best adapted for preliminary
operations, and the work has been confined to that field.
Unlike most districts of the State, this region has been thoroughly recon-
noitered by previous investigations, and hence it was resolved to make what-
soever work was undertaken of a complete and final character.
GEOGRAPHIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC WORK.
The absence of good geographic and topographic maps has been seriously
felt, except in the small portion of the district covered by the United States
work, but it has been impossible to devote time to the correction of these de-
ficiencies, although some valuable data has been necessarily collected under
this head. )
STRATIGRAPHIC WORK.
Since all geologic products of economic value are derived from the rocks
composing the strata, considerable work has been devoted to the ascertain-
ment of the stratigraphic conditions of the region, part of which has been of
the character of reconnoissance to ascertain and define the sequence of the
rock sheets and a part to the making of carefully measured and delineated
REPORTS OF GEOLOGISTS. Ixxxv
cross-sections, for the purpose of showing the inclination, thickness, and se-
quence of the rock sheets. Much time has also been devoted to the tracing
of the boundaries and areal distribution of these different strata upon the
surface, and also to office work in mapping and recording the results thus de-
termined.
RECONNOISANCH.
I have made several trips for the purpose of ascertaining the boundaries of
my district and locating my assistants upon them. In addition to these,
many visits have been made by me to the rocks in the vicinity of Austin
for the purpose of ascertaining their sequence and defining their character-
istics.
CROSS-SECTION WORK.
Three accurate parallel cross-sections of the region have been commenced
and progressed towards completion. These approximately follow the breaks
of the Red, the Brazos, and the Colorado rivers, respectively, and are further
explained in the report of the work of Mr. Taff, which is appended. These
cross-sections have been made with great care and accuracy, and when com-
pleted will be of incalculable value in all stratigraphic and common deter.
minations.
The tracing of the areal extent of the formations determined by the '‘cross-
sections has been faithfully performed by Messrs. J. A. Taff, C. C. McCul-
loch, N. F’. Drake, and J. 8. Stone, as will be seen in their appended reports.
Over 2204 miles of partings (boundaries) have been traced and located, fixing
permanently the lines of demarcation between the different characters of the
country composing the surface of the region. These boundaries are abso-
lutely essential to all geologic questions that can arise concerning the region
and are a fundamental and essential portion of the work. The main subdi-
visions of the district have been accurately located, including the Upper and
Lower Cross Timbers, the Grand Prairie, the Black Prairie, and the boundary
between the Cretaceous region and the Hast Texas region on the east, and
the Central Texas features on the west.
ECONOMIC INVESTIGATIONS.
The foregoing operations have all heen essential and preliminary to a thor-
ough economic investigation of the region. All lines of economic work,
however, have progressed hand in hand with these preliminary surveys, as
fast as possible, and already results of value are foreshadowed and are being
described and recorded as rapidly as accuracy will permit.
|xxxvl REPORTS OF GEOLOGISTS.
ILLUSTRATION.
Several weeks were devoted to the procurement of suitable illustrations of
the Cretaceous areas, and for this purpose I have secured through the agency
of Mr. C. W. Hddy, the photographer of the Survey, a magnificent suite of
negatives, illustrating the characteristic structure, weathering, topography,
building material, fossils, and vegetation of the Cretaceous regions. ‘These
pictures will be invaluable in illustrating the unique natural conditions of
the region.
OFFICE WORK.
I have spent much time upon the necessary work of preparing the results
of observations for publication, and in study of material. In order to render
the work accurate much library research has been necessary, and this was
done in the libraries of the Hast, during the summer, in ascertaining the work
of previous investigators, in order to avoid unnecessary duplication, and in
the verification of details. Many pages of manuscript have been prepared,
and numerous technical papers published, containing concise preliminary
definitions, which must necessarily precede all results of permanent economic
value.
Messrs. Taff, McCulloch, and Stone have all been employed for a few
weeks each in office work for my division.
WORK OF ASSISTANTS.
Most of the details of the work have been carried out by the able young
assistants whom you have placed at my disposal.
Mr, J. A. Taff.—One of these, Mr. J. A. Taff, has been constantly engaged
upon the work, he having general charge of the field work. The faithful-
ness and accuracy of his labors are worthy of special commendation. In
addition to his services in the field, he has done valuable work as a draughts-
man in the office. He has traced, mostly on foot, over 2000 miles of part-
ings, and accurately located them. In addition, he has made over 200 miles
of instrumental cross-sections. A brief summary of his work is as follows:
The Basal Trinity Beds were traced from the Colorado -River, at the west
line of Travis County, through Burnet, Lampasas, Mills, Brown, Comanche,
Hrath, Hastland, Hood, Parker, Jack, Wise, Montague, and Cooke counties
to Red River, a distance of 400 miles.
A section was made along Red River basin from Nacona, Montague County,
through Montague and Cooke to Denison, in Grayson County; length 10
miles. A section was next made across Red River basin, at Gainesville,
Cooke County, followed by one across Red River basin at Denison. The
REPORTS OF GEOLOGISTS. lxxxvll
contact between the Eagle Ford shale and the chalk was then determined
from four miles south of Denison through Grayson, Collin, Dallas, Ellis, Hill,
and McLennan counties to a point on Brazos River one mile below the mouth
of Aquilla Creek, McLennan County, a distance of 164 miles. Mr. Taff then
took up the location of the Trinity sand contacts and the study of the Creta-
ceous rocks, west-of the main Cretaceous border, in Eastland, Callahan,
Taylor, Nolan, Coke, Runnels, and Coleman Counties. Ten miles of basal
Cretaceous contact was located in Hastland County, 109 miles in Callahan,
154 miles in Taylor, 234 miles in Nolan, 68 miles in Coke, 39 miles in Run-
nels, and 80 miles in Coleman County. This was followed by construction
of a section from base of Trinity sands, 10 miles west of Dublin, across
Hrath and Bosque counties, to Walnut, Bosque County, a distance of 40
miles. The following sections were then made:
1. From Dallas across Dallas, Tarrant, and Denton counties to Decatur,
Wise County, a distance of 60 miles.
2. Across Bosque River basin at Alexander, Hrath County, and at Iredell,
Bosque County.
3. Down the Colorado River basin from the mouth of Hamilton Creek,
Burnet County, across Burnet and Travis counties, to Austin—32 miles (in
this latter section he was assisted by Mr. Drake). In company with Mr.
Stone, the Cretaceous and Tertiary contact was then traced from Webber-
ville, Travis County, across Travis, Williamson, Milam, Falls, Limestone,
Navarro, Henderson, and Kaufman counties to three miles east of Terrell.
Mr, N. F. Drake.—Mr. Drake also performed faithful service in the field
during the months of July, August, and September, tracing out the bound-
aries between the various regions, as shown below.
The Upper Trinity sand contact was traced from Decatur, Wise County,
southward across Wise, Parker, and Hood counties to Acton, Hood County—
90 mules.
The boundary of the Exogyra Arietina clay located from Brazos River at
Bosqueville, McLennan County, across McLennan, Bell, Williamson, and
Travis counties to Austin—125 miles.
The Basal Austin Chalk contact was traced from the Brazos River, at
mouth of Bosque River, across McLennan, Bell, Williamson, and Travis
counties to Austin—125 miles; and the Austin Chalk Ponderosa Marl con-
tact from Austin to twenty miles into Williamson county. Mr. Drake was
then transferred to work under Prof. W. F. Cummins.
Mr. C. C. McCulloch spent the months of May and June in the field and
did the following work:
Upper Trinity contact was traced northward from Decatur, Wise County,
Ixxxvlil REPORTS OF GEOLOGISTS.
across Wise, Montague, and Cooke counties, to Red River, north of Marys-
ville—70 miles.
The basal contact of Lower Cross Timber sand was then traced from Red
River, north of Gainesville, Cooke County, across Cooke, Denton, Tarrant,
Hill, and Johnson counties to Brazos River at west line of McLennan County—
175 miles.
The Upper contact of Lower Cross Timber sand was determined from Red
River, near Gordonville, across Grayson, Denton, Tarrant, Dallas, Johnson,
Hill, and McLennan counties to Ross, McLennan County—175 miles.
_ In addition, Mr. McCulloch’s services have been employed in delicate pale-
ontologic determinations and editorial work ‘for my division. His services
have been of great value in many important branches. |
Mr. J. 8. Stone relieved Mr. Drake in November, and was placed with Mr.
Taff upon the eastern line of the region. His training in surface geology has
been of great service to the work.
RT. Ee
Geologist.
REPORT OF MR. THEO. B. COMSTOCK.
Avstin, Texas, March 31, 1890.
Mr. E. T. Dumble, State Geologist, Austin, Texas:
Str—In accordance with my original engagement with you, I reported for
duty at Austin, June 20, 1889, and started next day for Burnet, with Charles
Huppertz and C. H. Shamel as aids, under your instructions to make a rapid
review of the Central Mineral Region for the purpose of outlining a plan of
survey. Employing Richard Maxwell, of Bluffton, as cook and teamster, I
spent sixteen days (owing to delays by floods in the rivers) in traveling
through parts of Burnet, Llano, Mason, Gillespie, and Blanco counties. Upon
my return to Austin, plans were matured for the complete survey of the dis-
trict, which, it was then supposed, would comprise about the area of three full
counties. Your instructions gave me ‘the charge of the study of all the
territory within the Central Paleozoic Area, from the earliest rocks to the base
of the Carboniferous System, with such further work in other terranes as
may be necessary in your judgment to a clear understanding of the struc-
ture of the district.” It was thought that this limited field could be covered
fairly in the three months for which I had been engaged, and at the expira-
tion of that period, in September, enough work had been done to enable a
report to be prepared embodying all that was originally contemplated, although
REPORTS OF GEOLOGISTS. lxxxix
at that date we had ascertained that a large outside area of what had previ-
ously been regarded as Carboniferous territory is really of earlier age. Ar-
rangements were therefore made by which i became permanently attached to
the Survey as the Geologist for Central Texas, and the accompanying report
is transmitted as a preliminary statement of the work performed up to the
Cate of going to press with your Annual Report for 1889.
From June 23, 1889, until September 15, 1889, the personnel of this divis-
ion of the Survey was as below:
Theo. B. Comstock, geologist in charge.
James C. Nagle, topographer.
Charles Huppertz, geological aid.
David W. Spence, aid.
Oran G. Bunsen, rodman.
Harry Spence, rodman (July 25 to September 25, 1889).
R. V. Sanders, cook.
Richard Maxwell, hostler.
No important changes were made after the renewal of work in September,
except that Mr. David Spence left at that time, and the funds were insuff-
cient to enable me to supply his place. Mr. Bunsen, however, was partly
employed as general aid, in addition to his duties as rodman. Mr. O.
W. Wilcox replaced Harry Spence as rodman late in September, and J. L.
Nichols was engaged from late in October until December 5 as cook, in place
of R. V. Sanders. Mr. Nagle assumed temporary charge of the field party
during my absence in September, so that there was practically no cessation
of the work from June to December.
Upon the return from the field, December 6, the field party was disbanded.
Mr. Nagle was retained to work up the topographical notes and sketches, and
he has prepared maps with fifty feet contour intervals, upon a scale of 1040
feet to one inch, which he has reduced upon one sheet to the scale of ,,4,,5
(about two miles to the inch). This is not yet ready for publication, owing
to gaps which remain to be filled. The data for its construction were ob-
tained by transit and stadia work with the solar compass, along lines daily
selected by myself with reference to both geologic and topographic needs of
our Survey. These lines comprise about 500 miles of geologic sections, the
adjacent topography being accurately taken, and the intervening areas being
omitted, except where some check could be made upon the work. The tri-
angulation of the United States Geological Survey, under Major Powell,
affords us a very satisfactory basis, but the sketched topography in the pub-
lished maps has been found unreliable, in large measure, owing, it would
seem, to rapid work, and to undue dependence upon odometer and aneroid
measurements. Some very convincing tests, made by us last season, have
XC REPORTS OF GEOLOGISTS.
satisfied me that none of the rough methods of survey which are applicable
in regions where the geology is simple can be successfully utilized in a re-
gion of such complicated structure as this. Mr. Bunsen was also employed
as general assistant in the laboratory. Mr. Huppertz has been sent out at
different times during the winter to make special investigations, such as are
credited to him in the report.
I desire to express my gratification at the uniform courtesy and energy at
all times displayed by every one of my assistants. The zeal and endurance
exhibited by each member of this division have had very much more to do
with such merit as the report may possess than it is possible to express here.
Thanks are also due to the large number of citizens in the district who
have aided us freely in ways too numerous to recite. The interest manifested
by them, and the good will always expressed and practically shown, have
added new incentive to the heavy tasks set us in a region much confused,
geologically.
There remains much to be done to make our work complete, although the
accompanying report does not contain the largest part of the illustrative ma-
terial which has been collected, nor will all the conclusions which are war-
ranted be fully understood without much more study in the laboratory than
has yet been feasible. Much of the work already done in this way is merely
outlined in this preliminary report, but we are in much better shape for
attacking the remaining problems by reason of the foundation laid by this
outline. ‘
Under your instructions, plans have been made for the work of 1890, and
it seems probable that we may be able to settle most of the doubtful points
before the next Annual Report is issued.
The idea most prominent in the investigations has been always to gain such
a knowledge of the material resources of the country as will give practical
men the means of forming a judgment of their value and capabilities of de-
velopment. Wherein there is a deficiency in this respect in the report I feel
that I may safely claim that it is due to the absolute necessity of first getting
a clear understanding of the geologic structure as a basis for calculation.
In conclusion, let me add that your own constant encouragement and sym-
pathy, and the freedom of action granted to me, as well as the invaluable
counsel given by you, have been by far the greatest aids in my work, and
that to these in large degree must be attributed what may, perhaps, without
undue arrogance, be regarded as the success of our labors the past year.
With high esteem, very respectfully,
THEO. B. COMSTOCK,
Geologist for Central Texas.
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, INSURANCE, STATISTICS, AND HISTORY.
i PAPERS ACCOMPANYING THE ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF TEXAS
FOR
1889
PRELIMINARY REPORT
-GHULOGY OF THE GULP TERTLARY OP TEXAS
: 2 RED RIVER 0 ee RIO oe .
BY
R. A. F. PENROSE, Jr.
af
A
PRELIMINARY REPORT
ON THE
GEOLOGY OF THE GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS
FROM
RED RIVER TO THE RIO GRANDE.
R. A. F, PENROSE, JR.
INTRODUCTION.
The literature on the subject of the Geology of Hast Texas is very frag-
mentary and vague. This might well be said of all parts of the State, yet it is
especially true of the eastern part.
The first systematic work of a geological nature done in East Texas, was
by Dr. Ferdinand Roemer, who visited Texas in 1845-47; but even he, as
also most succeeding investigators, quickly moved into the Cretaceous and
Paleozoic regions lying in the western part of the State. He published two
principal works, both in German, entitled:
1. “Texas, with Special Reference to German Hmigration,” etc., with a
topographic and geognostic map of Texas. Bonn, 1849.
2. “The Cretaceous Formations of Texas and their Organic Remains, with
a Description of the Accompanying Paleozoic and Tertiary Strata.” Bonn,
1852. Besides these works, Dr. Roemer also published several articles on
Texas, in the American Journal of Science and Arts.
The Report of the Mexican Boundary Survey, of 1848-1855, contains data
on the geology of the region, by Arthur Schott; also, papers by James Hall
and T. A. Conrad, who, though they did not accompany the Expedition, drew
conclusions from the specimens collected. These statements, however, relate
only to the region in the immediate vicinity of the Rio Grande, and not to
Hast Texas proper.
The printed reports of the State Geologists, 1858 to 1876—Dr. B. F. Shu-
mard, Francis Moore, 8. B. Buckley, and John W. Glenn—contain but little
information concerning the eastern part of the State, although some of the
iron localities are described, and sections given.
In 1884 Professor Angelo Heilprin published his work entitled ‘‘Contribu-
tions to the Tertiary Geology and Paleontology of the United States.” This
6 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
volume comprises all of the little that was then known regarding the geology
of the Tertiary area of Hast Texas.
Professor E. D. Cope, of Philadelphia, has published accounts of the fossil
vertebrates of Central and Eastern Texas,* and has added greatly to our
knowledge of the subject in those regions.
In 1884 R. H. Loughridge published in the “Report on the Cotton Pro-
duction of the State of Texas, with’a Discussion of the General Agricultural
Features of the State,” Tenth Census of the United States, Vol. V, 1884, pp.
653-831, a brief account of the Geology of Texas, and a much more detailed
account of the soils and the agriculture. It gives a great deal of valuable
data, collected over a large area, but mostly in Central and West Texas.
In 1888 there appeared, as a congressional document, a report on “The
Iron Regions of Northern Louisiana and Eastern Texas,” by Lawrence C.
Johnson, Assistant Geologist United States Geological Survey. This outlines
the iron ore area of Louisiana and Texas, and gives data respecting the geo-
logical formations of those sections.
_In the Report of Progress, for 1888, of Mr. E. T. Dumble, State Geologist,
there is a short account of the iron ores of Hast Texas, by R. A. F. Penrose, Jr.
- Here ends the list of geological literature on Hast Texas. Though many
works on Central and Western Texas have been published, it is not necessary to
mention them here, as they do not refer to the question under consideration,
and have been already summarized by Mr. R. T. Hill.+
It will be seen that what little is known of Hast Texas consists largely of
fragmentary and vague statements, made often in connection with and as sub-
ordinate to other interests. It is purposed in this preliminary report to make
as concise a statement as possible of the facts already noted, not only in East
Texas proper, il. e,, the country east of the Brazos, but also at various points
on the Colorado River and Rio Grande. The various data will be described
under two principal headings—Descriptive Geology, and Economic Geology.
‘In conclusion, I wish to express most sincere thanks to Professor Angelo
Heilprin, of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, for much valuable
advice and information. I also wish to express the same thanks to Professor
R. T. Hill, of the University of Texas, for his kindly assistance and advice
during the prosecution of the work.
* Bulletin of the United States National Museum, No. 17, ‘On the Zoological Position of
Texas,” 1880, and elsewhere.
+R. T. Hill: ‘The Present Condition of Knowledge of the Geology of Texas.” Bulletin
of U. S. G. 8., No. 45, 1887.
—
GEOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY. 7
DESCRIPTIVE GEOLOGY.
GHOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY.
The name Hast Texas is generally applied to that part of the State lying
east of the Brazos River. This area is bounded on the north by Indian Ter-
ritory and Arkansas, on the east by Louisiana, on the south by the Gulf of
Mexico, and on the west by the great prairie region of Central Texas. A
large part of this area is a heavily timbered region, and marks the southwest-
ern terminus of the great Atlantic timber belt, extending from the Arctic
regions continuously along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of
Mexico, until it finally disappears in the mesquite and cactus prairies between
the Colorado River and the Rio Grande.
The country consists largely of the in-shore part of the bottom of the old
Tertiary Sea, which once covered the whole Gulf coast. This area has been
elevated into a table land one hundred to seven hundred feet above the pres-
ent sea level, sloping gradually to the southeast, and emptying its waters in
the same direction into the Gulf of Mexico. Since its elevation it has under-
gone great erosion, and is still being denuded at a tremendous rate. The strata
are all composed of sands and clays, and succumb very readily to the eroding
action of the atmospheric agencies. The result is that all that is left of the
once level surface of this table land are a few flat-topped hills and ridges, such
as are seen in the northeastern counties. Hast Texas as thus defined com-
prises a coast prairie region on the south, a great timber region in the center,
and an interior prairie country in the north and northwest. The coast prai-
ries reach inland along the Sabine about fifty miles, but as we go west they
spread farther and farther towards the interior, until, when we come to the
Brazos, they reach up the river for over a hundred miles. Near the Gulf
shore they are flat and low, rising twenty to thirty feet above tide water,
thickly covered with grass and cut by steep-sided channels of many rivers and
creeks. The monotony of the scenery is broken only by the narrow strips of
timber which follow the meandering courses of the streams down towards the
Gulf of Mexico. As we go inland the country slowly rises, and though the
prairies in their easterly part maintain their flat character, to the west they
become more undulating and broken, and groves of mesquite, hackberry, cot-
tonwood, and other trees are seen in many places. Finally, we come to the
beautiful rolling country of Washington and Grimes counties, the southern
border of the timber region. Continuing west across the Brazos, the prairies
rapidly encroach more and more on the timber of the interior, until they cut
8 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
it out altogether, and finally blend, beyond the Colorado, with the great pral-
ries of Southwest Texas. The timber that is found in the coast prairie region
of Hast Texas, along the streams and in isolated groves, is mostly cottonwood,
willow, elm, hackberry, sycamore, ash, water oak, pin oak, post oak, some red
oak, and cedar, and, in the western part of the area, pecan and mesquite.
Dense growths of vines, rattan, poison oak, and grape vine, have often wrapped
themselves about the trees, forming an impassable network. The spread of
the mesquite in this region is a noteworthy fact. When the country was first
settled it was a rare tree in the valley of the lower Brazos, and was identified
only with the western prairies. Since that time, however, it has spread to the
east, and is now seen in considerable quantities about Sealy and other Brazos
River towns. As we leave the coast prairies and enter the timber, we come
into a much higher, more rolling, and broken country, heavily covered with
pine, oak, and hickory. This is the region of gray sandy soils on the high-
_ lands, red clay or loamy soils on the lowlands, and rich dark chocolate soils
in the river bottoms. The country varies from two hundred to six hundred
feet above the Gulf, and sometimes, though rarely, the hill tops approach even
seven hundred feet. These hills have all been formed by the erosion of the
surrounding country, and nowhere in Hast Texas are there found any eleva-
tions which have resulted from the disturbance or contortion of the strata.
The highest points in the timber region, like Mount Selman and Gent Moun-
tain, in Cherokee County, Hynson’s Mountain, in Harrison County, and many
others, have their summits capped: by a horizontal, or almost horizontal, bed
of iron ore or sandstone, and to this covering they owe their existence, it hay-
ing protected them from the erosion which has worn down the surrounding
country. It has also given rise to a striking topography very much like that
of the western lava plains on a small scale. The hills, locaily called ‘“moun-
tains,” sometimes occur as small, flat-topped hills—the “butte” and ‘“‘mesa”’ of
the west—and at others spread out in broad plateaus, sometimes covering an
area of twenty or thirty square miles, deeply cut by the steep sided canyons,
and often showing an almost perpendicular slope. Such regions afford a
beautiful upland country, with a soil far different from the surrounding low-
lands, and a climate excellently adapted to the cultivation of fruit. In fact,
such lands are now among the greatest fruit districts of Texas, and bid fair to
become a worthy competitor of the California fruit country. Gent Mountain,
in the western part of Cherokee County, is a beautiful example of this plateau
country. It comprises over twenty square miles of area, is largely underlaid
by iron ore, capped by a sandy soil, and thickly covered with oak and hick-
ory. From its summit, looking south and west, can be seen the lowlands of
the Neches River bottom, and beyond, the rolling country of Anderson
County. To the north can be seen Gray’s Mountain, Grimes Mountain, Rags-
f
eee ee ee ee
GEOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY. G
dale Mountain, and many other iron clad hills. To the east looms up a sim-
ilar range, constituting the iron ore plateau of Rusk and New Birmingham.
The timber of this region differs considerably in different parts. In the south-
eastern corner, between the Sabine and the Trinity rivers, is the long leaf
pine region. It extends from the northern edge of the coast prairies inland
for over a hundred miles, and finally gives way to the short leaf or yellow
pine, the oak, and the hickory. To the west of the Trinity it also becomes
more and more scattered, giving place to the loblolly pine, until it disappears
altogether. This area is the terminus of the long leaf pine belt, which ex-
tends continuously from the Carolinas through Georgia, Florida, Alabama,
Mississippi, and Louisiana.
To the north and northwest of this region we come into a country covered
mostly by short leaf pine, post oak, blackjack, and hickory, with smaller quan-
tities of sweet gum. ash, white oak, black oak, pin oak, water oak, walnut,
willow, cottonwood, sycamore, and in still smaller quantities black gum, maple,
black locust, cedar, thorn, holly, black hickory, shell-bark hickory, mulberry,
birch, sassafras, and cypress. In the Trinity River bottom and to the west
of it large quantities of pecan are found, but to the east of that river it is en-
tirely wanting. Grape vines are of universal occurrence, and occasionally
rattan is found. The timber in many parts of this region is very dense, and
in places is on the constant increase. It was in 1840 to 1850 that the timber
region of Northeast Texas began to attract attention and immigration began.
Stephen Austin, as early as 1821, had led a party of Americans to the banks
of the Brazos and there, on the land originally granted by the Mexican gov-
ernment to his father Moses Austin for a colony, founded the first American
settlement of importance in this region. But this was in the coast prairie
country, and it was twenty years or more later that the country to the north
began to attract the pioneer. At that time the timber of the region was scat-
tered, and the only places where dense vegetation was seen were in the river
bottoms and along the bayous, creeks, and lowlands, where many kinds of oak,
walnut, gum, and, in places, cypress flourished in all the virgin luxuriance of a
comparatively warm, moist climate. On the uplands, and especially in the
great.sandy plateau regions, the ground was covered by a luxuriant growth
of tall grass, and the timber was scattered and confined to large oaks and
hickories, which offered no obstruction to the free passage of wagons and stock.
In fact, travel through it was as easy as on the open prairie. But with the
appearance of the white man and the withdrawal of the Indian came a great
Increase in the density of timber, especially oak, hickory, ash, etc., and it may
safely be said that in spite of the large amount of land which is now cleared
and under cultivation, the quantity of hardwood timber in Northeast Texas is
to-day greater than when the plough of the white man first broke the soil half
10 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
a century ago. The present growth of timber on the plateau country is not
so large as that which originally covered it, but it is very dense, and in many
places isa great hinderance to travel. Numerous explanations have been given
for this increase of timber, but the one which is popularly accepted, and for
which there is most proof, is asfollows: The Indians were accustomed every
autumn to burn the tall grass, which at that time became very dry and com-
bustible. This had the effect of killing off any small shoots and saplings
which had grown up during the previous year, and though it did not injure
the large timber it kept it from increasing in quantity. The object of the
Indians in doing this was doubtless to drive the game into certain parts of
the country; or else, knowing the tendency of the timber to grow up into a
dense forest, the object was to keep it down and thus facilitate his hunt.
Professor N. 8. Shaler,* speaking of this matter, says:
“These annual forest fires were kindled either to drive the game towards the hunters or
to aid the growth of the fresh grass which springs up after the conflagration. In this way
the prairies were extended eastward to Indiana, and south to the Ohio River. At a point
west of Louisville, Kentucky, the prairie crossed that stream and extended south to the Cum-
berland River, near where Nashville now lies. In this latter region we have a clear example
of the process by which the country was deforested. When the whites first came to the Ohio
Valley this prairie region between the Ohio and the Cumberland rivers occupied the whole
belt of limestone land of Western Kentucky. Skirting the southern border of the western
coal field, it extended westward across the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers into the low
table-land which lies between the last named stream and the Mississippi River. About five
thousand square miles of this area were actually deforested, except where, beside the scanty
streams, the ground was too moist to permit the ravages of the annual conflagrations. On
the border of this area the old trees were not destroyed, but remained in the form of a very
open forest. The younger growth was, however, wanting. The reason for this is plain:
The older trees have a very thick outer bark, which served to protect them from the dam-
age which would be inflicted by the momentary heat of the burning leaves, while the tender
stems of the saplings were easily destroyed. Thus it came about that when the old trees
died they left no successors, and so the prairie steadily widened its area.
‘“‘ As soon as the Indians ceased to use Kentucky as an annual hunting ground the forests
rapidly regained their possession of all the prairie lands of this district. The annual burn-
ing of the surface ceased in the latter part of the last century; in the second decade of this,
the whole of this great area was covered by a thin wood of young trees, which quickly
closed into a dense forest. At the present time all the parts of this field which have not.
been deforested by man are thickly wooded. Some indications of a similar process of forest
restoration may be found in Indiana and Illinois; but in those regions the annual rainfall is
less, and summer droughts, which are calculated to prevent the establishment of the young
trees, are more frequent and more prolonged than in Kentucky.”
The same phenomenon occurs in Arkansas, and the local explanation is the
same as that given above. Of course local causes may have entered into the
problem. The breaking of the sod by the plough and by rooting of hogs,
*N. S. Shaler, ‘‘ Aspects of the Earth,” p. 287, New York, 1889.
GEOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY. 11
which are allowed to run loose in the woods, may have been important fac-
tors in offering opportunities for acorns, etc., to take root. As we approach
the western border of the timber belt the short leaf pine disappears altogether,
and the forests are composed of the other woods mentioned above, especially
post oak, blackjack, hickory, and ash. As we continue north and northwest
through the timber belt, we again emerge into an undulating prairie country,
which extends thence into Central and West Texas. The soil is a very fertile
black clay, and cottonwood follows the courses of the streams until they
finally disappear in the forests to the east. Hast Texas is well watered, not
only by rivers and creeks, but by numerous springs and a rainfall which,
though not confined to any special part of the year, is most plentiful from
December until April. Unlike the country to the west, it rarely suffers from
severe drought. Lakes are of very rare occurrence, and are never seen except
in river bottoms, where they form muddy lagoons, abounding in fish and gen-
erally fed by springs. They are often of considerable depth, and are con-
nected with the main river by narrow channels. The only instance of an up-
land lake seen by the writer in Hast Texas is in Freestone County, some five
miles west of the Trinity River, and amounts to little more than a large
spring. Itis a small circular body of clear water, occupying a depression in
the clayey strata, some two hundred yards in diameter, and fed by springs.
It empties into the Trinity River and occupies an elevation of 175 feet above
it. The absence of lakes in this country is due to two causes:
1. The porous nature of the sandy strata which underlie the country and
which form the ready channel for the subterranean drainage of a possi-
ble lake basin.
2. The softness of the strata, which renders the natural cutting of channels
a very rapid process, and consequently makes the existence of a closed
basin suitable for a lake almost impossible.
In spite of the low elevation of many parts of East Texas, swamps are
rare, and in most places entirely unknown. The few that do exist are found
along the rivers and in the coast bayous, near their mouths, especially in the
lower part of the Sabine and thence towards the Trinity.
The main rivers of Hast Texas are the southwesterly (coastward) continua-
tion of the great rivers of the prairie country. They all preserve a general east-
erly or southeasterly course, and in the low coast prairie country, as they
reach base level, become very crooked and meandering. In the rivers of
Texas there is no well defined ‘fall line,” as described by McGee* and others
in the Atlantic States. The rivers are often very swift in their upper courses,
and become more and more sluggish as they enter the timber and approach
*“ Three Formations of the Middle Atlantic Slope,” W. J. McGee, American Journal of
Science, Vol. XXXV, p. 120, February, 1888.
12 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
the Gulf, but the trausition is gradual, and it is impossible at any place to
draw a sharp division that might represent the “falls line,” or line of separa-
tion of the highland and lowland. These rivers rise in various parts of the
State, and hence the sediments which the comparatively swift waters of their
upper courses carry down and deposit in the quieter basins in Hast Texas
vary considerably in character. The Red, Brazos, and Colorado rivers rise
in the eastern slopes of the Staked Plains, in Northern Texas, pass through
the Red (gypsiferous) Beds, the Paleozoic rocks, and the great Cretaceous
area of Central Texas, and finally deposit in East Texas a sediment composed
of materials from these regions, in the form of a highly calcareous red silt.
The Trinity rises in the Carboniferous rocks of Northern Texas, but far east
of the Staked Plains, and passing down through the Cretaceous prairies, be-
comes charged with calcareous matter. Hence its sediments, though often
calcareous, do not have the red color of the Red, Brazos, and Colorado riv-
ers. The Sabine rises still east of the Trinity, while the smaller rivers, such
as the Neches and Angelina, rise in the timber region, and the character of
the sediments of them all varies with the region they rise in and flow through.
Though terraces of gravel and river silt are found along the rivers, and
sometimes reach down to the water edge, yet all of them may be said to flow
in channels cut in the older sediments, as such strata crop out at very frequent
intervals along their courses. In this respect they resemble the Mississippi,
in connection with which a similar statement has been made by Humphreys
and Abbot*.
Loughridget gives the following drainage areas for some of the Hast Texas
rivers:
The Sabine River, on the Texas side, drains........... 17,100 square miles.
The. Trinity, River) draims: :/.12)4)s)ote\ ee eeewls. aie ee 16,600 square miles.
The Brazos -Riverdraims 2. .we3: eben eee pees 35,000 square miles.
The Brazos has a greater drainage area than any other Texas river. It re-
ceives many tributaries in its upper part, but below the basin is narrow, and
small streams instead of emptying into it run.direct to the Gulf. All of the
Texas rivers are navigable to a greater or less extent, and until the introduction
of railroads an extensive shipping business was carried on in transporting the
cotton production of the region. Of course the amount of freight that could
be carried depended on the high or low condition of the water. Now, how-
ever, boats rarely go up them for any considerable distance, as the journey
*“ Report on the Physics and Hydraulics of the Mississippi River,” by Captain A. A.
Humphreys and Lieutenant H. L. Abbot, 1861.
+R. H. Loughridze’s ‘‘ Report on the Cotton Production of the State of Texas, with a Dis-
cussion of the General Agricultural Features of the State.” Tenth Census of the United
States, Vol. V, 1884, pp. 653-831.
pai
STRATIGRAPHY. 13
takes a long time on account of the currents in the rivers, and, consequently,
competition with railroads is impossible. The Sabine was formerly navigated
for three hundred miles from its mouth, while cotton boats capable of carry-
ing a thousand bales made regular trips up the Trinity to Green’s Landing,
in the northwestern part of Anderson County. A small steam lannch is also
said to have once ascended this river as far as Dallas. The Brazos was navi-
gated before the railroads came in up as far as the town of Washington, and
boats are said to have gone up even to Marlin Falls, a distance of six hundred
miles. The Colorado River has only been navigated in places. A small
steamer carrying cord wood once plied a portion of the river in the neigh-
borhoed of Austin. A “raft” of drift timber at its outlet prevents the en-
trance of boats, and therefore prohibits any extensive shipping.
The smaller streams, such as the Neches and Angelina, are navigable for
short distances above their mouths.*
STRATIGRAPHY.
Hast Texas proper, i. e., the region east of the Brazos, is underlaid mostly
by Tertiary strata, though to the northwest we come to Cretaceous beds, and
on the coast we meet Post-Tertiary clays. The line separating the Tertiary
and Cretaceous strata has not yet been accurately run, but points along it
have been determined and are sufficient to allow a general line to be drawn.
This line runs in a general southwest and northeast: direction, crosses the Red
River west of Texarkana; thence proceeding southwest it interects the Texas
and Pacific Railroad near Elmo, nine miles west of Wills Point, and the Mis-
souri, Kansas and Texas between Corsicana and the Trinity River; it crosses
the Brazos in the northeast corner of Milam County; the Colorado ten miles
below Austin. Between here and the Rio Grande the boundary line has not
yet been run, but the first true Tertiary fossils found on that river, going
down stream from Eagle Pass, are met in the northwest corner of Webb
County and three miles below the Maverick County line, at a distance almost
half way between EHagle Pass and Laredo. The uppermost part of the Creta-
ceous and the base of the Tertiary strata are both composed of soft clay and
sand beds, which succumb readily to the weathering action of the atmosphere,
and consequently the line of separation is often impossible to locate exactly.
The uppermost beds of the Cretaceous in Texas and Arkansas are comyosed of
sandy and “glauconiferous” strata, sometimes reaching a maximum thickness
of three hundred feet. These have been termed the “‘glauconitic” division
by Hill.+ They,vary in composition from beds of pure siliceous sand to beds
* On the Rio Grande a steamer makes regular trips between Brownsville and Roma, and
tradition says that government supplies were once taken up as high as Laredo.
+ American Journal of Science, Vol. XX XVIII, December, 1889.
14 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
composed entirely of glauconite, and between these two extremes are found
all gradations in the relative proportions of the two materials. These beds
are the equivalent of the Ripley Division of Alabama, and probably are the
Southern representative of the “Fox Hills” beds of Nebraska. The “glau-
conitic ” deposit becomes more argillaceous towards its base, and gradually
runs into a great deposit of calcareous clay over twelve hundred feet thick
and characterized by large quantities of Hxogyra ponderosa. This bed repre-
sents the ““Exogyra Ponderosa Marls” of Hill’s Upper Cretaceous section,
and underlies a large part of the great prairie region of Central Texas.
These Upper Cretaceous beds dip gently at three to five degrees to the south
and southeast, and formed the Texas shore line of the early Tertiary sea.
Upon their much eroded surfaces were deposited the Eocene clay and sandy
strata which underlie Hast Texas. The “glauconitic” beds have in fact been
so much denuded that they now play only an insignificant part in the strati-
graphy of that part of the Southwest included in Texas and Arkansas. They
are developed in Southwestern Arkansas near Arkadelphia, on the Ouachita,
and near the town of Washington,* but to the southwest of the Red River
they are, so far as is yet known, almost entirely wanting until we get to Ander-
son County. Here, some six miles east of the Trinity River and over two
hundred miles south of the Arkansas outcrops, is found a small calcareous
hill, which is the equivalent of the “‘glauconitic” beds of the Ouachita. This
outcrop covers less than two hundred acres of territory arid is surrounded
and partly covered by clays of Lower Tertiary epoch. It lies over fifty miles
east of the main Cretaceous area of Central Texas, and is in fact a Creta-
ceous inlier, which doubtless formed an island in the old Tertiary sea. Sim-
ilar areas have been described by Hilgard+ as occurring in Louisiana, where
they crop through the Tertiary strata near Chicotville, Winfield, and Salines,
and form a range of outcrops running north northwest and south south-
east. Going southwest along the old Cretaceous shore line we again find the
‘“‘glauconitic” strata well developed on the Rio Grande, both above and be-
low Hagle Pass. How far these can be traced to the northeast is as yet un-
certain, as the stratigraphy of that region is but very little known. But they
doubtless end somewhere between the Rio Grande and the San Antonio
River, as they are not found in the latter locality. Consequently it will be
seen that the three hundred feet of “glauconitic” strata have, in Hast Texas
at least, been almost entirely eroded, and the underlying “ Ponderosa Marls”
now form almost everywhere in this portion of the State the uppermost Creta-
ceous division. Even this bed has been much eroded in many places, and while
*R. T. Hill, Geological Survey of Arkansas, Vol. II, 1889.
+E. W. Hilgard, “Supplementary- and Final Report of a Geological Reconnoisance of the
State of Louisiana,” 1873, p. 43. :
q
;
5
5
*
-
4
;
4
.
STRATIGRAPHY. 15
in Northern Texas the distance across its outcrop is over thirty miles, east of
Austin the distance is less than fifteen miles; yet in both localities the dip is
about the same. Of course these differences in the thickness of the bed may
be partly due to a lesser deposition of the ‘‘ Ponderosa Marls” in the latitude of
Austin. than in the northern part of the State, or else to the greater overlap-
ping of the Tertiary strata, yet the character of the country is such as to prove
that a great amount of erosion has taken place. The Tertiary deposits of East
Texas, overlying these Cretaceous strata, consist of a vast thickness of sand,
clay, and glauconite beds, in some places characterized by great quantities of
lignite, and in others by beds of littoral fossils. In fact the whole series
represents a succession of coastal, subcoastal, or brackish water* deposits, al-
ternating with marine deposits of a littoral character, and between these two
extremes we find all gradations. The lagoon or subcoastal deposits compose
by far the greater part of the series, and the marine strata represent slight
and temporary submergences of the coastal area. The proofs of the littoral
character of the marine deposits are many, and may be summed up as fol-
lows:
1. The fossils all represent a littoral marine fauna.
2. Fragments of lignite are frequently found in the marine beds. These
must have come from the destruction of a lignite bed on the shore, and
have been carried into the sea by rivers tributary to it. They must have
been deposited near the shore, as such soft fragments would have been
rapidly broken up before they got far out to sea. A bed of this kind is
seen at ‘‘ Bombshell Bluff” on the Colorado River, where numerous frag- .
ments of lignite are mixed in with glauconitic beds containing many
marine fossils.
3. Frequently lumps of clay or sandy clay are embedded in strata bearing
marine shells. These must have been deposited near the coast line, as
they could not have stood long transportation without disintegration.
A remarkable instance of this is seen in a bluff on the Brazos River at
the crossing of the International and Great Northern Railroad, where
there occurs a bed of glauconite underlaid by lignitic clays. Fragments
of this clay, one to twelve inches in diameter, are found in various parts
of the overlying bed.
4, The marine beds are not always continuous, but blend laterally into beds
of brackish or fresh water origin. Glauconitic beds containing fossils in
one place are often represented in another by beds of pure siliceous sand
or by clays containing large amounts of vegetable matter. Such an effect
*This same effect might also be brought about in salt water bays and estuaries into which
the rivers from the inland flowed.
16 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
could be produced by the evident estuary character of many of these
beds.
5. The fossil remains are frequently much broken, worn, and rounded, as if
by continued rolling on or near a sea beach.
6. Frequently the fossils are found in great beds of solid shells, sometimes
as much as ten feet thick, a condition of things that strongly denotes
littoral conditions, and that is seen going on along our coast at the pres-
ent day. Such beds of fossils are seen on the Rio Grande in many places
between Laredo and Brownsville.
The Tertiary strata strike in a general northeast and southwest direction,
approximately coincident with the coast, and dip gently toward the east or
southeast at an angle varying from 0 to 5 degrees. This dip, however, is
very irregular and undulating, and no estimates of thickness of strata based
on it can be relied on. In fact, a northerly or northeasterly dip is of no un-
common occurrence, though it is simply a local phenomenon. On the Rio
Grande the strata all dip normally to the east and southeast, until we get to
a point ten miles above San Ygnacio, when the dip changes to northeast at
an angle of 1 to 8 degrees, and retains this direction for a distance of twenty-
one miles down the river. Similar occurrences are seen elsewhere, though
in no other place were the strata observed to maintain this dip for so great
a distance. Usually a northerly dip returns to its normal direction in a dis-
tance of a few hundred yards at the most, though a horizontal and undu-
lating dip often extends for many miles. This variable character of the dip,
however, does not require the supposition of a disturbance or upheaval of the
strata for its explanation. It is doubtless due to the natural sinking and
warping in a great thickness of soft beds. In fact, it would seem a most un-
natural thing to see several hundred feet of soft clays and sands, covering
an area of many thousand square miles, lie horizontally when they were ex-
posed to the influence of atmospheric agencies. ‘The unequal expansion and
contraction of strata of different constituents, due not only to heat but to the
drying out of the beds, would alone account for much or all of the warping
that is exhibited throughout the Tertiary country. Besides, the chemical
action that has gone on in these beds is probably also accountable for a part
of the variable dip. Faults are of frequent occurrence, and are to be ac-
counted for on the same principle as the variations of dip. They are rarely
over eight or ten feet in throw, and play no important part in the features
of the country. One of the most clearly defined faults seen is represented
in figure 2. Jointing is also a very common phenomenon throughout the
whole of the Hast Texas region.
Hstimations of thickness of the Tertiary strata of this region are attended
by peculiar difficulties, as the dip is too variable to be relied on in such esti-
a
ere el Fa Nk, Ls Au
7 Pit
STRATIGRAPHY. 17
mations. The strata are rarely exposed in such a way as to show any con-
siderable thickness of any beds, and reliable records of well-borings are very
scarce. It seems possible, also, that much of the Tertiary area may have
grown by a gradual encroachment of the land on the sea by a process of ac-
cretion, such as is seen in many places on the Atlantic coast to-day, and that
it does not always require the supposition of a submergence.*
For the sake of convenience in description, the Tertiary strata underlying
Kast Texas have been divided as follows:
SECTION OF THE GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
LATER TERTIARY? Fayette Beds. | Sands, clays, and lignites. | 300 to 400 feet.
(Grand Gulf, Hilgard):
Timber Belt or | Sands, clays, lignites, and | 800 to 1000 feet.
Sabine River glauconites, or green-
Beds. sand marls.
EOCENE: Basal, or Wills 250 to 300 feet.
Point, Clays. /
Sufficient data have not as yet been collected to warrant an attempt at a
detailed correlation of all the Texas Tertiary with that of the other Gulf
States, and therefore the various strata are provisionally divided as above.
The classification depends, first on their lithological character; and secondly,
on the very different and very characteristic topography that each of the
three divisions gives to the country underlaid by it. The Basal or Wills
Point Clays underlie a narrow strip of rich rolling prairie region, east of and
parallel to the great Cretaceous prairie of Central Texas. The Timber Belt
sands and clays underlie the great timber region of Hast Texas, and the Fay-
ette Beds, so called from their extensive development in Fayette County, on
the bluffs of the Colorado River, underlie the interior part of the coast prairies.
The coastal part of this latter region is occupied by Quaternary deposits, to be
treated later. Throughout the whole of the Hocene area no evidence of any
considerable break in deposition can be seen. The lagoon and marine de-
posits appear to have alternated with each other in an unbroken series. TF re-
quently there are found in one bed fragments of the stratum that underlies
it, but no great amount of erosion of these lower beds appears to have taken
place, and the little that has gone on is simply what might have been ex-
pected to accompany a gradual transition from one kind of deposition to an-
other. The paleontological evidence on this point, though as vet somewhat
meagre, all tends to show a gradual and almost continuous deposition from
bottom to top of the series, and the few breaks in the fauna that have been
observed can probably all be explained by the interposition between the fos-
siliferous beds of the lignitic and other non-marine strata. In this continuity
* The estimates of thickness given below are simply approximations, and are intended more
to show the relative size of the different divisions, than to represent absolute thickness.
B
18 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
of deposition the Texas Eocene closely resembles that of Mississippi, the dif-
ferent stages of which, according to Hilgard,* “(are intimately interconnected
by community of species, from Claiborne to Vicksburg.”
The Texas Eocene contains many Claiborne and Jackson species, but the
Vicksburg, so far as is yet known, is but very sparingly represented, as but
three or four characteristic forms of that epoch were found among many fossils
collected on the Brazos and Colorado rivers in the region where the Vicksburg
strata might have been expected to occur. This is in accordance with the
observations of Hilgard at Sabinetown, Texas, concerning which he says:
‘“‘ At the base of the Grand Gulf Rocks we find on the Bayou Taureau a seam
of shell limestone with Vicksburg fossils. We then pass over the lignito-
gypseous strata to Sabinetown, Texas, where we see about seventy feet of
these overlying ledges of blue fossiliferous limestone, alternating every two
or three feet with what would be green sand marl, like that of Vicksburg,
had not the lime of the numerous shells, of which it contains casts, been re-
moved by subsequent dissolution. So far as I have seen, the usual leading
fossils of Vicksburg are wanting here, while the greater sandiness of the ma-
terials, as well as the prevalence of shallow-sea bivalves, indicates their depo-
sition in shallower waters.” The uppermost fossiliferous strata below the
Fayette Beds (Grand Gulf) in Texas are represented on the Brazos by the
Moseley’s Ferry Beds, and on the Colorado by the White Marl Bluff Beds.
Both these deposits show Claiborne and Jackson species, with a tendency
toward an increase of the Jackson over the Claiborne as we ascend the series;
yet the stratigraphical representatives of these beds in Mississippi and Louis-
iana contain a typical Vicksburg fauna. Above the Moseley’s Ferry and
White Marl Bluff Beds are a series of clays with lignite, silicified wood, and
other evidences of a land deposit. Similar deposits, but probably developed
on a much smaller scale, overlie the Vicksburg strata in the above mentioned
States. Consequently it seems possible that while the Vicksburg deposits were
being laid down in the Mississippi embayment, a land era existed in the part
of Texas just mentioned, and that this accounts for the much greater devel-
opment in Texas than in the Mississippi region of the fresh water or lagoon
clays, which overlie the last marine strata of the Eocene. Hilgard states that
the Vicksburg period closed with a more decided tendency to a deep sea
fauna than any other epoch of the Eocene. Hence it seems possible that the
same oscillation that caused this phenomenon may have also raised the Texas
region into a land area. Also the lignitic character of some of the beds of
the Vicksburg strata increases very much to the westward, and therefore it
would be expected. if this kept up, to run into purely non-marine deposits.t+
* “The Old Tertiary of the Southwest,” Am. Jour. of Science, Vol. XXX, Oct., 1885, p. 267.
+ “On the Geological History of the Gulf of Mexico,” American Journal of Science and
Arts, Vol. 2, December, 1871, p. 6.
BASAL OR WILLS POINT CLAYS. 19
It is, however, too early to theorize on this subject, as the data are as yet
very few and scattered. The great stretch of country between the Brazos and
the Sabine will doubtless clear up many mysteries.
BASAL OR WILLS POINT CLAYS.
At the base of the Tertiary and immediately overlying the eroded surface
of the uppermost Cretaceous strata in Hast Texas is a great bed of stratified
clay, which, on account of its position as the lowermost bed of the Hocene in
this region, has been provisionally called the Basal Clays. These underlie a
stretch of interspersed prairie and timber land, the country being composed
mostly of prairie, with occasional belts and groves of timber. This timber is
all hard wood, consisting mostly of post oak, blackjack, and hickory. The
belt is sometimes over ten miles wide, and runs between the western edge-of
the timber and the Central Texas prairies, from the northern part of the
State to the Colorado River and beyond. The stratification of these beds is
very characteristic, and is very different from the massive structure of the
underlying Upper Cretaceous ‘‘Ponderosa Marls,” but on a weathered surface,
where the stratification is not seen, the clays of the two formations are not
easily distinguished.* They consist of a stiff laminated clay, yellow, gray,
blue, or bluish-green in color, frequently interbedded with seams and lamine of
sand, containing many concretionary masses of gray non-fossiliferous lime-
stone, the latter much cut up by veins of brown crystalline calcite, and varying
in size from a few inches to six feet in diameter. They are generally of a
flat elliptical shape, and of a gray color. Large quantities of gypsum are
also found in places in the clay. On Burnet Creek, one mile east of Wills
Point, gypsum crystals five to six inches long are frequently found. Oneof the
most constant characteristics of the clay is the presence in it of soft small white
calcareous concretions one-tenth of an inch to two inches in diameter, and often
having the cauliflower-like form of some of the geyserite of the Yellowstone
Geyser basins. These are found very plentifully, and often collect in large
quantities in creek beds. No lignite beds have been seen as yet in these clays.+
Such deposits are found well developed at Wills Point, in Van Zandt County.
Going east from this place, they are traceable for two and a half miles, when
they finally dip under the overlying sandy strata. West of Wills Point
similar strata are seen until we reach Rocky Cedar Creek, a distance of five
miles. Here is seen a deposit of shell limestone, composed almost entirely of
*The Basal Clays are probably largely derived from the destruction of the underlying
Cretaceous strata.
+ These clay beds probably represent the Ko-lignitic of Heilprin’s Hocene section, the base
of Hilgard’s ‘‘Northern Lignitic” in his Mississippi section, and the Arkadelphia Shales at
the base of Hill’s ‘Camden Series” in Arkansas.
20 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
shells of Lower Eocene fossils. It is traceable up and down Rocky Cedar
Creek for seven miles, and underlies the divide between Rocky Cedar and
Muddy Cedar creeks, a distance of four miles. The following section of a
well on this divide shows the character of this bed.
isang, oray andibmitucolors crise peices eee lela. i= 2.2 chesueee ene aaa henee 3 feet.
2 Gray and yellow: clay (BasaljClays) 209 elena ee 9 feet.
SoHomell, Limestone coh ees eens MeN arabe | te de el Ate i da 3 to 4 feet.
A: COSTS (SANG e's eee ese rice igs oehat eves & 5 Sg: avete oteya tte eee 14 to 2 feet.
De SHELL MIMEeS TONS ss 6 Miss tse cn aebees wm mee BAL rch a Cilar yea. bet ale te arts cee 3 to 4 feet.
6. Sand in bottom of well.
About a mile below the point where the Texas Pacific Railroad crosses
Rocky Cedar, an outcrop fifteen feet thick of this limestone is seen, and as
it still forms the bed of the creek, its thickness here must be still greater than
that. The divide between Rocky Cedar and Muddy Cedar is covered with
sand as shown in the above section, and is heavily timbered with oak and
hickory. The village of Elmo is situated on Muddy Cedar, and just beyond
it we come into a black prairie region showing Cretaceous fossils. Conse-
quently the Rocky Cedar limestone is probably the lowermost bed of the Ter-
tiary series in this part of the State, and the line of parting between the Cre-
taceous and Tertiary strata can safely be placed about at Elmo, or possibly a
little west of it. The shell limestone bed is probably of limited extent, occu-
pying no very important stratigraphical position, and appearing at the base
of, and as a component part of, the Basal Clays. It is of great importance,
however, as showing the geological position of the lowermost Tertiary strata
in Northern Texas. The Basal Clay bed in Bastrop County is seen to the
west of Elgin, and between there and Manor, in Travis County. It forms
the same character of country as in the northern part of the State, and fin
ally disappears to the east under the overlying sands. On the Colorado River
it is seen cropping out at a point sixteen miles by river below Austin, and
one mile below the mouth of Onion Creek, in a bluff some forty feet high and
a mile long. Also at Webberville, on the line between Travis and Bastrop
counties, where it is seen in a low bluff just above the water’s edge. This is
a much darker and more massive clay than that seen in most other outcrops.
In the bluff sixteen miles below Austin are found a few fragments of fossils,
but they are all so broken as to make their determination very doubtful. The
representative of this bed on the Brazos is seen in the bluffs of the river ex-
tending from the northeast corner of Milam County down the river to wituin
two miles of Pond Creek, a distance of about seven miles. ‘These clays here
overlie the ‘Ponderosa Marls” which are extensively developed between this
point and Waco. They differ somewhat in lithological character from the
clays at Wills Point, and are at many places highly fossiliferous. The first
BASAL OR WILLS POINT CLAYS. yA |
bluff showing them, coming down the river, is in the corner of Milam County.
It is about a third of a mile long and forty feet high. The lower part of it is
composed of very dark, almost black, clays, containing fragments of shells, and
running into a lighter yellowish and greenish clay towards the top. This upper
part contains highly calcareous indurated strata, showing a nodular structure
and containing many fossils. The lower part of the bluff is also calcareous,
but not as much so as the upper part. Dip, three degrees southeast. At a point
two miles above Pond Creek is another bluff of interbedded dark gray clays
and white and gray sands, containing many flat calcareous concretions, weath-
ering in concentric layers and one to ten feet in diameter. They are dark gray
inside and brown on the outside. They are in the sand seams, and are prob-
ably simply part of the inclosing stratum indurated by the large amount of
calcareous matter that they contain. Ina thin bed of clay, four inches thick,
in this bluff are found many shells of an oyster. The dip of the bluff is very
gentle to the southeast. It becomes much more sandy towards the top than
at the base, and doubtless represents the transition bed from the Basal Clays
to the great overlying series of sandy strata (Timber Belt Beds.) The ex-
tension of the Basal Clays between the Colorado and Rio Grande has not as
yet been studied, but it is probable that it becomes much more sandy in that
region than it is to the north, as the first Tertiary beds found going down the
Rio Grande are very sandy, being composed mostly of siliceous grains and of |
glauconite. This fact, however, is to be expected, as the Basal Clays doubt-
less owe at least part of their existence to the clayey matter derived from the
Upper Cretaceous marl and “glauconitic” strata, and on the Rio Grande these
strata have not undergone so much erosion as those to the north. There is
little or no lithological change in the Rio Grande region from the Upper Cre-
taceous strata to the Lower Tertiary (Laramie?). They both consist of silice-
ous and glauconitic sands, and therefore, as no unconformity can be seen, the
evidence as to a break, if indeed any does exist, n the deposition of the strata
must depend upon paleontological evidence. The thickness of the Basal Clays
is difficult to determine, as it is rarely exposed in high bluffs, and the vague
records of well borings make that source of information unreliable. As
stated before, the dip of all the Tertiary strata is so uncertain that no reliance
whatever can be placed on estimations of thickness based on it. From an
examination, however, of all the details now available, it is probable that the
thickness of the strata from the top of the Cretaceous to where the Basal Clays
merge into the overlying sandy strata is about two hundred and fifty to three
hundred feet.
SOILS OF THE BASAL CLAY REGION.
These soils vary from clay to clay loams, are of a dark gray or black color,
22 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
and highly calcareous. They owe their black color to the combination of the
carbonate of lime with the vegetable matter on the surface. The soil‘is un-
derlaid by a subsoil of yellow and gray clays, with occasional thin seams of
sand, and many calcareous nodules, which latter supply an endless source of
lime. These soils are remarkably rich, and are well adapted for the cultiva-
tion of wheat, corn, oats, and other grain crops. Cotton is also most success-
fully cultivated here; and in fact the soil can support almost any crop that can
be raised in the prairies of Central Texas.
THE TIMBER BELT OR SABINE RIVER BEDS.
The Basal Clays, everywhere from the northern part of the State to the Colo-
rado River, blend upwards into the sandy Timber Belt Beds. These form the
mass of the Tertiary formation in Texas, and underlie the great timber region
of the eastern part of the State. They are composed entirely of siliceous and
glauconitic sands, with white, brown, and black clays. The clays, however,
are greatly in the minority, and the siliceous sands compose by far the larger
part of the whole series. ignite beds are of very frequent occurrence, vary-
ing from a few inches to ten and twelve feet thick; and the sands and clays
are often impregnated with vegetal matter to such an extent that numerous
traces of petroleum, asphalt, and natural gas have been found in the Hast
Texas region, sometimes in quantities of considerable economic importance.
Many of the black and brown clays and sands owe their coloring matter to
this ingredient of vegetable material, and burn white or buff color when ex-
posed to heat. These beds occupy an area over 125 miles wide in the north-
east part of the State, but-thin down to less than 40 miles on the Colorado.
This greater development of the Tertiary strata to the northeast is probably
due to a greater deposition in the vicinity of the embayment which existed
in the lower Mississippi at the time they were laid down. The sands are gen-
erally much cross-bedded, gray to buff in color, and contain black specks,
which are often glauconite. This latter mineral is a common constituent in
many of the beds, and there are found all gradations, from a pure siliceous
sand to a pure greensand bed, such as are well developed in the iron ore re-
gions of Anderson, Cherokee, Rusk, and other counties. All the sand beds
are more or less impregnated with carbonate of lime, and often it is in such
quantities as to form beds of calcareous sandstone, where it acts as a cement,
and forms a soft friable rock. Sometimes even beds of limestone are found,
and calcareous nodules and concretions are of very frequent occurrence
throughout the whole of the Timber Belt Beds. One of the most character-
istic features of the region depends on this presence of carbonate of lime in
the sandy beds. It is the occurrence of great masses of sand, varying from
one to ten feet and more in diameter, and cemented into a hard rock by the
THE TIMBER BELT OR SABINE RIVER BEDS. ae
calcareous matter. These rocks vary much in shape and hardness. Some-
times they have a concretionary shape and weather in concentric layers; at
others they show the horizontal stratification of the beds in which they occur,
and gradually blend into the soft enclosing sand. The presence of this car-
bonate of lime is due to two sources:
1. The calcareous matter of shells in the strata.
2. The carbonate of lime derived by solution from the old Cretaceous shore
line.
This latter source is probably the principal one, as all the waters flowing
from Texas into the Tertiary Sea had to pass over hundreds of miles of
calcareous strata, and could not help being strongly impregnated with car-
bonate of lime, not only in solution, but in a state of mechanical suspension.
Prestwich* estimates that 290,905 tons of carbonate of lime from calcareous
strata resembling those of Central Texas are yearly dissolved in the basin of
the River Thames and carried to the ocean in solution alone. From this we
can get an idea of the immense amount of the same material that was, and is
still, carried down by the Texas rivers. In fact the amount dissolved by a
given quantity of water in a Texas river, other things being equal, must be
much greater than by the Thames, as the water of the southern streams is
much warmer than that of the Thames, and therefore capable of taking up
into solution a much larger per cent of carbonate of lime. Doubtless, how-
ever, the calcareous matter held by the river waters in suspension has given
to the Tertiary strata more carbonate of lime than that in solution, as a large
part of the latter would be carried out to sea. This presence of carbonate of
lime is of the greatest importance, from an agricultural point of view, to the
welfare of Hast Texas, as it renders soils underlaid by such strata of great
fertility and durability; whereas without it, many of them would be perfectly
barren. Many of the sands are also intimately mixed with a fine impalpable
white clay, which renders the beds soft and highly plastic when wet, but
when dry it forms a hard, solid mass, often-occurring as a friable sandstone.
When such beds are exposed to.erosion by creeks and in gullies they break
up into lumps, which become rolled and rounded, and form putty-like peb-
bles. This is a very characteristic kind of erosion in some of the Lower Ter-
tiary strata, and such beds are well developed in central Van Zandt County.
The sand beds are generally also variable in composition. They blend by
insensible gradations, both vertically and laterally, into clay or sandy clay
beds, so that minute correlations, even in beds very close to each other, are
difficult to make. This extreme variability in composition is simply one of
the many proofs of a near shore deposit. The sand beds often contain consider-
*« Geology: Chemical, Physical, and Stratigraphical,” Vol. I, p. 107, by Joseph Prestwich,
M. A., F. R.S., F. G. S., London, 1886.
24 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
able quantities of dark brown or gray mica. The clay beds of this division vary
from a pure white highly plastic clay to a dark brown, or even black, ma-
terial containing large quantities of lignitic matter. They are generally lam-
inated, or finely stratified, and frequently occur interbedded with thin seams
of sand, the latter often in lenticular streaks, while the clay is generally con-
‘ tinuous. A very characteristic deposit of this kind is seen underlying the
Claiborne greensands in the iron ore regions. The seams of clay vary from
one-twentieth to one-eighth inch in thickness, and the sandy seams are but
very little thicker. The whole formation shows a peculiar undulating section,
the undulations being due to the thinning and thickening of the sandy seams,
and not to lateral pressure.* The lignite beds of this series are composed
mostly of brown or black varieties, which have not as yet been put to any
important economic uses, and which will be treated more fully under “ Hco-
nomic Geology.’ Silicified wood is of very frequent occurrence in these
strata; sometimes occurring as small fragments, and at others as large trunks
of trees. On the Brazos River, in the northern part of Milam County, was
seen a trunk one and a half feet in diameter, protruding from a clay bed.
Ten feet of it were exposed, while the rest was imbedded in the clay. In
many places such fragments are collected in great quantities, but it is espe-
cially plentiful in the lower part of the Fayette Beds. It is generally dark
brown or black inside, and weathers gray or buff color on the outside. Some-
times it occurs partlv lignitized\and partly silicified. It frequently shows
shrinkage cracks which are filled with quartz or chalcedony, and often lined
with quartz crystals. Carbonate of iron, in the form of clay ironstone, is of
very frequent occurrence throughout the Timber Belt Beds. It rarely occurs
in a continuous seam, but is found in lenticular masses and nodules, often oc-
cupying the same plane of stratification for considerable distances. Some-
times these masses coalesce into a bed continuous for a few hundred yards.
They are rarely over three or four inches in thickness, and are generally
rusty from oxidation. They are probably the source of some of the brown
hematite iron ores in the counties north of the Sabine River. (See Iron Ores.)
*The sand seams look like a series of connected lenses blending into each other at their edges.
This interlamination of sand and clay was caused by the different velocity of the waters that
flowed over the beds during their deposition—the swifter waters carrying and depositing the
sand and the more sluggish waters depositing the clay. It is natural that such waters as would
carry sand would have sufficient velocity to give a gently undulating surface to the beds
that they are depositing, and not the smooth level surface of a still-water sediment. Thin
beds of clay laid down afterwards on such a surface would naturally conform to the inequal-
ities of the surface, and hence the undulating section that we see does not require the suppo-
sition of a lateral pressure for its formation. It seems possible that this same phenomenon
may also account for the undulations in many of the old gneissic and schistose rocks, many
of which may have once been in the form of sands and clays.
THE TIMBER BELT OR SABINE RIVER BEDS. 25
Iron pyrites is an almost inseparable accompaniment of the Timber Belt Beds,
and is also the source of many of the iron ores south of the Sabine, as will be ex-
plained later. One of the most striking appearances in these beds is the mot-
tled red, yellow, and white character of many of the strata. This is due to
weathering, and though it is of very common occurrence throughout the
Tertiary, it 1s also seen in deposits of Quaternary age. The phenomenon is
usually brought about in one of three ways:
1. By the oxidation of iron pyrites in the bed, making red or yellow spots,
according to the amount of decomposition which that mineral has under-
gone.
2. By the infiltration of iron-bearing solutions into a white or light colored
bed.
When the solution of a soluble salt of iron percolates into a sand bed, it is
quickly decomposed by the oxidizing action of the air and precipitated asa
red or yellow oxide.
3. By the extraction of iron from a red ferruginous bed through the dissolv-
ing action of carbonic acid.
Frequently a ferruginous bed is pierced by the roots of trees, grass, or
shrubs, and when these die and begin to decompose they generate carbonic
acid. This is taken into solution by the surface waters and dissolves the iron
in the enclosing bed, frequently leaving it perfectly white in the neighbor-
hood of the roots. Often the sand or clay immediately around the dead root
is white from complete solution or yellow from partial solution of oxide of
iron, while the rest of the bed is of a bright red color. When there are many
such roots, the sand is often mottled in a most striking manner, and the dis-
tance that the hght colored sands extend from the root depends on the thick-
ness of the latter. A root an inch thick will often bleach the sand for over
an inch on each side of it. This same bleaching action 1s often brought
about by the carbonic acid solutions from the decomposition of leaves and
other vegetable matter on the surface of the ground.*
The strata of this series are well exposed on the Brazos and Colorado
rivers. These streams run across the strike of the strata in a southeasterly
direction, and therefore as we descend them we pass successively from the
oldest to the newest beds. The sections seen on them are given below:
BRAZOS RIVER SECTION.
s
Descending the Brazos River from Waco, we pass over strata of Upper
Cretaceous epoch until we reach the northeast corner of Milam County, where
* It might appear that causes 2 and 3 were directly opposed to each other in their
action, but such phenomena are influenced in their effect largely by the physical conditions
under which they opérate, and frequently show directly opposite results.
26 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
the Basal Clays of the Tertiary period, already described, are met and extend
thence for some seven miles to within two miles of Pond Creek. About a
mile and a half below Pond Creek is seen an outcrop of Tertiary sand, con-
taining black specks and rendered plastic by a white clay. It is capped by
semi-indurated Quaternary gravel and sand, and contains large nodules
which give a strong reaction for carbonate of lime, and which are simply
hardened masses of the enveloping sand. They are one to eight feet in di-
ameter, hard, kidney-shaped, flat or nodular, and project out of the compact
sandy bluff in a most characteristic manner. Loose fragments of silicified
wood, which have also doubtless been derived from the same bed, lie among
the many nodules that have been eroded out. So many of these rocky
masses have been loosened from the sand and piled up in the bed of the
river that they have obstructed its course, and have formed rapids. Many
of these rocks are round or oval, and are locally known as “kettle bottoms.”
Such strata as these are seen down the river for a mile and a half from this
point, where they dip under a series of gray clays containing beds of lignite,
varying from one to five feet thick and associated with ferruginous sand.
The clays contain large masses of silicified wood, which is sometimes seen in
places in the bed, but more often has been weathered out and lies in the bed
of the stream. Occasionally nodules of clay ironstone, generally in a semi-
oxidized condition, are found. Such strata are exposed for about a mile,
when the gray sands with calcareous concretions and indurations again ap-
pear. This deposit contains considerable quantities of iron pyrites, and the
indurations are often cut by veins of crystalline calcite. A short distance
below here is Calvert Bluff, Robertson County, where lignite occurs in large
quantities and has been worked intermittently for many years. The beds of
this strata are shown in the following section:
Le Browm iand Teds Piven SU. she. sieve ta levcrstenstt Uevanettere eteett fol crea thet es dete serene arses 10 feet.
Die GLELV CLA 7 ee fe uch eters ets toxe Soe Corote Pi ayy nay eevee Stee ee ae Sra calt ont per erene a Vite 12. O'ol3 teen.
MAILE, ten vai clsda tes allel oe fetele iter enanstiate le) ce Diop eme Remi ner fet genta iti een ee eRe 12 feet.
ALG TeVsCl ays. fa lepolstaretale hel otelee te ciate ME a RIOR Baie. SRR URE ee te uaa Ek REG 2 feet.
Gp Ibn digs aA Sonera od ade He ovo jae tutte lk s)he nian AN ee ay G cc ete Aan ait au ced ale 2 feet.
6. Gay: CLAY os ian tte Shc aleve stents ge ob nee cai Ane pehemen aaa ie ose ad cee Cae Ue agent 3 feet.
The clay beds in the above section contain large clay ironstone concretions,
which enclose many leaf impressions. The lignite is black, woody, friable,
and of a dull lustre. It is faulted and much jointed. Dip, three degrees south-
east. From here to where the International and Great Northern Railroad
crosses the river we see sand beds with calcareous indurations, such as have
been described at Rocky Rapids. At this point is a bluff showing sixteen
feet of Tertiary strata, capped by over fifteen feet of a highly calcareous light
green and yellow Quaternary clay containing many small white concretions.
——Pr =
THE TIMBER BELT OR SABINE RIVER BEDS. pq
The base of the Tertiary part of this bluff is composed of black clay from
the water edge up to ten feet above it, and is overlaid by six feet of non-fos-
siliferous greensand marl. The Quaternary deposit lies unconformably on
the Tertiary strata. It is to be seen at many points along the river from
Falls County down, and is doubtless the representative of an old river silt
formation. For twelve miles below this point is seen a series of interbed-
ded and interlaminated clays and sands,* with occasional beds of lignite, and
some few small gray calcareous concretions. Frequently small fragments of
lignite are seen in the sand beds, showing that the swifter waters, which
changed the character of the bed from clay to sand, were also responsible for
the destruction of lignite beds, the fragments of which were deposited with
the sand.
In the northern corner of Burleson County, and two and a half miles below
where the north boundary of the county crosses the Brazos, is seen the first
fossil-bearing stratum that has been met along the river below the Basal Clays.
_ Here is found a bluff, about thirty-five feet high, giving the following section:
BURLESON SHELL BLUFF.
Peas eUMELONUG ATCCNSANG: WAT), \s/elcio 26 feet.
4, UGIPEGE GIB NS cle! aos wi ee aay aR lek gine SU ie DGS ees Ce ea aa er 23 feet.
Smbrmie OlACk: ald Oibem ClOSSV sc: cr. one eh ese eee e ens eee dse sees 1 foot 8 inches.
as, | SAPS}? (SP | ee peerage teat een Sealing aoe Deeramartie'ae cies Soe eee Abba
i, JEL SIS PS Che aie neha che ane Aen a aaa a haa a a 9 feet.
6. Lignite...... Td ERs Gok ei sitar Jats eee keeles 6 ies 6 4 feet 2 inches.
Going west from Jefferson a series of sands and clays, mostly the former,
is passed over until we reach the Basal Clays, three miles east of Wills
Point. Such strata are seen at Hawkins, Neals, Wilkins, Gladwater, Long-
view, Marshall, and other places. These sands and clays belong to the Tim-
ber Belt Beds, and contain many seams of lignite, which crop out in the
bluffs of the Sabine River in Van Zandt, Rains, Wood, Smith, and other
counties, as well as in many creeks and wells. In Van Zandt County are
seen numerous outcrops of gray sand intimately associated with an impalpable
white clay. - When wet, it is soft and putty-like, but in a dry state it becomes
hardened, and stands up through the surrounding and more incoherent strata
like a reef of rock. Such a deposit is seen two miles southwest of Bolton,
on the Wills Point and Edgewood road, and probably represents the sand
beds seen at Rocky Rapids, on the Brazos. At Grand Saline, in Van Zandt
County, on the Texas Pacific Railroad, is a large deposit of salt. It has been
found in boring at a depth of two hundred feet, aud the salt bed has been
bored into for a hundred and twenty-five feet without reaching the bottom
of it. The overlying strata are Tertiary clays and sands. Salt was gotten
over thirty years ago from brine which rose in shallow wells ten to twenty
feet deep in the surface of the Saline, but is now obtained by the evaporation
of the much stronger brine from the deep borings. The Saline is about one
mile long from east to west, and about a half mile wide from north to south.
36 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
Saline Creek runs just southeast of the southeast corner, and thence into the
Sabine River, about three miles to the northeast. Along this is a series of
flat swamps, heavily wooded with thickets, and subject to the overflows of
the river. To the north, south, and west the land rises slowly into the sandy
hills of the Timber Belt Beds.
HENDERSON COUNTY.
' At Athens, the county seat of Henderson County, are seen similar sandy
and clayey strata to those described in Van Zandt County. The following
section, made up from data collected to the east and southwest of the town,
shows the character of the bed:
1. Ferruginous clayey sand, with thin seams of iron ore two to twelve
AMCHOS TICK 6 fo3 dass aust sicreea ere cape ateeun |) au Byers at ols rece eee ae ea 5 feet.
ZGray, clays and ferrusimous Sandsiee we ce ee se ee eo eee , 23 feet.
B--PObbers Claeys O. ciste eis Giecd ions ayers ose ares Se eae © cies ee =.: 12 t0 18 feer.
4. Siliceous sands and gray clay, in some places pure, in others ferruginous. . 78 feet.
Ds PAGOILC acs tals eres Sete Eras ei Sieeiahaws tena travers nuelere ake 6 xia) s, te Ota nee eo 3 to 4 feet.
6) Chocolate colored clave eerie SNP Barta BO abc es SNe S eaeaite 3 to 4 feet.
1. Gray clays and sands at base of section.
TIMBER BELT SOILS.
The soils of the Timber Belt Beds differ very much, and vary from the rich
dark river bottom clays and loams to the sandy lands of the upland plateaus.
Between these are the red and mulatto soils of the intermediate region.
These soils may be described under five headings:
Iecr@nocolate: Soules aa ee ee a tet toc es ae a eee eee River Bottom soils.
DANE SCIAVEY SSO1S 6.500, 105 si ero eye ae a eee ea
Br Red ‘Sandi sols is. ehic ta ets eee eda: Ie eee ee Lowland soils.
Ao. MialatbO SOUS. 1c, coon iuvpeeur ties: aut ce kre ee Mueaue dates ee Capea ea
5. Gray sandy ss0lls” 3 cues woe pee Cn ia ee olan nia ena Upland soils.
The river bottom soils, or chocolate lends, are found along all the rivers,
and are alluvial. They vary from the clayey to the sandy class, but gener-
ally belong to the former, differing a little in color, according to the local
presence or absence of iron. They are frequently highly calcareous. especi-
ally along the larger rivers, which, having previously flowed over vast areas
of calcareous rocks in the prairie region, have become highly charged with
carbonate of lime. When the rivers rise in the wet season they overflow this
bottom land, leaving a sediment of rich calcareous clay, which adds greatly
to the fertility of the soil. The red clayey, the red sandy, and the “mulatto”
soils are extensively represented in Hast Texas, and form some of the richest
THE TIMBER BELT OR SABINE RIVER BEDS. ot
lands of the region. They are not sharply divided from each other, but
gradually blend together. They are underlaid by the clay and sandy strata
of the Timber Belt Beas, and owe their color to the decomposition of glauco-
nite and other iron-bearing minerals.
The ‘‘ mulatto” soils are of a brownish red color, and are generally the re-
sult of the decomposition of the large glauconite beds of the region, and as
they contain the fertilizing ingredients of that mineral, they are very produc-
tive. Next to the river bottom lands, they are the most productive soils of
East Texas, and are extensively developed in Anderson, Smith, Cherokee,
Rusk, Gregg, Harrison, and other counties.
The upland soils, or gray sandy lands,* cap the high plateau country. They
are of a gray or buff color on the surface, but one-half to two feet below the
sand becomes much more mixed with clay, and is often stained red by iron.
The gray surface soil blends into and is doubtless derived from the red sub-
soil, but has lost its iron by the leaching action of carbonic acid solutions.
The clay has also been carried away on the surface by the action of rain
water. The early settlers avoided these high sandy lands, as they were con-
sidered barren and worthless. But with an increase of population came an
increase in the value of land, and a corresponding necessity to use all avail-
able soils. Then it was that these uplands were tried and found especially
well adapted to the cultivation of fruit. Such lands overlie the great iron
ore ridges of Cherokee, Anderson, Marion, and other counties, and doubtless
owe their agricultural value to the clay subsoil.
ANALYSES OF SOILS.+
ak lies Eis Siete. | 6 2 2
a2 | 25 | 2 an ae & | a3 o | 5d |e Se etean rah Ses oe cs
ge | 25 /22| $2 | 22/2 /82| 2 | & |88 22] 5 c a2 33 | 25
Mae bole | eile]. 2 | 8 eee (2°18.
oan are 6.10/0. 23/72 .09/16.99}2.78,0.23] 0.28/0.22/1.54 0.10)0.09/0.013)0.15/0.24
are hs 10.39/0.25)59.14/25.73/3.14/0.44) 0.16/0.30/0.31 .{0.11|0.0410.19 |0.09}0 37
Ss Se 0.65/0.33/71.15) 3.20)1.77/0.14/11.20)0.09]1.20/8.70/0.09/0.00/0.13 |0.10)0.29
oe T.04/0.29/87.61} 1.44/0.67/0.07| 0.97) tr’cej0.57)..../0.14 0.09 |0.11/0.06
D. 2.91/0.38/86.02) 1.64/0.69/0.18) 4.14) tr’ce}1.44)1.69/0.11 0.11 |0.02/0.21
Ee Tae 4.74/0.36/81.70) 1.92/1.74/0.19] 4.89/0.29)0.34/3.30/0.08)..../0.14 |0.28/0 22
+ By P. S. Tilson, Chemist to the State Geological Survey at A. and M. College of Texas.
Nos. 1 and 2 are “mulatto” soils from northwestern Cherokee County.
No. 3 is a Brazos River bottom black clay soil from Milam County.
No. 4 is a Brazos River bottom yellow clay soil, Brazos County.
Nos. 5 and 6 are Brazos River bottom reddigh-black clay soils from just above the mouth
of the Navasota River.
*These soils must be distinguished from lowland gray sandy soils, which are often very.
unproductive.
38 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS,
RIO GRANDE SECTION.
The beds on the Rio Grande, which stratigraphically seem to represent the
Timber Belt Beds to the northeast, come in direct contact with the Upper
Cretaceous glauconitic beds without any interposition of the Basal Clays.
Possibly a study of the paleontology may prove the existence of the equiva-
lent of these beds in that region, but their lithological representatives are not
there. Though considerable collections of fossils have been made in this
country, and are now in the hands of Professor Angelo Heilprin, they, un-
fortunately, have not, at the time this report must be published, been thor-
oughly studied, and therefore the position of the so-called “‘ Laramie” on the
Rio Grande will have to be left for future discussion. It may be said, how-
ever, that Cretaceous fossils have been found at Hagle Pass, and from there
down the river to the Webb County line are found great quantities of Ammon-
ates, and other fauna of that epoch. In fact, it is not until we reach a point
three miles below the northwest corner of Webb County that true Tertiary
(or Laramie) forms are found. Supposing the Cretaceous and Tertiary part-
ing to cross the river at this point, we would do away with the much mooted
question of the westerly extension to Las Moras Creek, above Hagle Pass, as
drawn by Loughridge,* Conrad, and others, and the slight deflection to the
west could easily be accounted for by the supposition of an embayment on
the Rio Grande at the time of the deposition of these strata similar to that
which existed at the same time on the Mississippi. Roemer} makes the line
of parting cross the Rio Grande at Presidio de Rio Grande, ten miles above
Laredo, while Schott{ refers to all the country from the mouth of the Pecos
to the Gulf of Mexico as the ‘Cretaceous Basin of the Rio Bravo” (Rio
Grande). It seems probable now, so far as can be judged without a further
study of the fossils, that Roemer was nearer right than the others, and - that,
as has been pointed out by Hill, the line as drawn by Conrad was based on
certain Tertiary fossils which had been misplaced in the collection.
The mineralogical constituents of the Upper Cretaceous and the Lower
Tertiary (or Laramie) formations on the Rio Grande are very much alike,
and nowhere can there be seen a break or an unconformity. It appears, so
far as the lithological character of the rocks goes, to have been a continuous
sedimentation from Hagle Pass to the sand beds, reaching down to below
Roma, a distance of over 325 miles. The beds of course vary slightly in
4
*“ Report on the Cotton Production of the State of Texas,” Tenth Census of the United
States, Vol. V., p. 679.
+ “Contributions to the Geology of Texas,” American Journal of Science and Arts, Second
Series, Vol. VI, p. 21, 1848.
{Mexican Boundary Survey, Vol. II, Part II, Chapter II, p. 28.
THE TIMBER BELT OR SABINE RIVER BEDS. 39
character from one place to another, but no decided change is seen. The
strata are composed of gray or buff colored sands in various degrees of in-
duration, from a loose material to a hard sandstone, and sometimes even to
a semi-quartzite, and associated with minor seams of gray or brown clay and
hard shelly limestone containing many fossils. Occasionally beds two to ten
feet thick and composed almost entirely of the shells of oysters are seen,
doubtless representing a littoral formation. The sands are composed largely
of pure siliceous grains, always containing specks of glauconite, which some-
times increase in number until they compose the mass of the bed. The ce-
menting material is usually carbonate of lime, which is here in much greater
quantities than in the corresponding strata to the northeast. Sometimes the
sands are cemented by silicic acid, and in such cases they form the hard semi-
quartzite rocks mentioned above. The climatic conditions in this warm, dry
region are such as to indurate rocks containing a cementing material much
more than the comparatively cool and moist climate to the northeast, and the
consequent greater hardness of the strata gives a much more rugged, angular,
and imposing topography to the country than is seen in Hast Texas proper.
The almost entire absence of timber of any kind tends still farther to enhance
the effect of this configuration. Springs are practically entirely absent, and
creeks are very rare, though their dry beds are seen in many places, and the
- heaps of pebbles in some of them prove the great torrents that sometimes
come down them. They run through narrow canyons thirty to eighty feet
deep and with very steep sides. This form of channel is doubtless due to the
meteorological conditions of the region, which consist of long drouths of
many months at a time, suddenly ended by spasmodic downpours. The country
is seen to consist of a great table land sloping gradually to the southeast, and
much cut up by dry creek and river beds. It is in fact the southwestern
continuation of the East Texas table land already described, though as it has
not been exposed to so much erosion as that region, it shows a greater surface
of the original plateau. Timber is very scarce throughout the Rio Grande
region, except directly on the river banks. At Hagle Pass the only vegeta-
tion is mesquite and cactus, with occasional areas of mesquite grass. The
-Inesquite trees are generally scrubby and low, though sometimes trunks one
foot in diameter are seen. On the river bluffs are also found hackberry and
cane. Half way between Hagle Pass and Laredo, willow becomes plentiful,
and increases on down to Brownsville. No large specimens are seen, as on
the Brazos, but it often occurs in dense scrubby thickets. Cane is plentiful
all along the river, and is especially dense on the water’s edge, disappearing
a few yards back and giving place to the cactus and mesquite. This charac-
ter of vegetation continues to Carrizo, where we see the first cypress, forming
a grove just below the mouth of the Salado River, on the Mexican side.
40 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
From here to Roma many other scattered cypress trees are seen, and are said
by Schott* to be colonies from other groves some distance up the Salado.
Below Carrizo, grass becomes more plentiful, and as we approach Rio Grande
City and Hidalgo, the low bluffs are often capped by rich grassy sod. The
willow here often entirely replaces the mesquite along the lower bluffs, and
the general appearance of the country is that of a better watered land than
up the river. This is especially true of the country about Brownsville, where
luxuriant corn fields are to be seen, as well as cotton and sugar cane planta-
tions and fine grass lands; all, however, assisted by irrigation.
Though, as has been shown, the strata on the Rio Grande differ somewhat
in physical character from those of the country to the northeast, yet the com-
position, dip, and the general make-up of the beds are remarkably similar to
' their stratigraphical counterparts in that region. In both places we see every-
where the signs of alternating marine littoral and brackish water lagoon for-
mation in the great banks of shells, the littoral character of the fauna, the
ripple-marked sands, the lignites, and the worn fragments of lignite even in
some of the shell-bearing beds. There is, however, one striking difference:
On the Rio Grande the marine character of the strata predominates, while in
Northeast Texas the lignitic or lagoon character occupies the vast bulk of the
strata.
At Piedras Negras, directly across the river from Hagle Pass, are inter-
bedded siliceous sands, sometimes containing large quantities of glauconite
and thin seams of lignitic matter. The strata are undulating, and are capped
by gray river silt, some twenty feet thick. Onthe American side of the river, a
half mile northwest of Hagle Pass, is found a series of light brown or buff semi-
indurated calcareous sandstones, containing Cretaceous fossils. This forma-
tion composes an abrupt and flat-topped ridge, rising some seventy-five feet
above the town, and running off in a southeast direction towards the river,
with a gentle dip in the same direction. One mile below Piedras Negras, on
the Mexican side of the river, are found deposits similar to those at that town,
but here they contain trunks of silicified wood, and large indurated masses, as
seen on the Colorado. Just below Rio Escondido is found a low bluff of stiff
greenish clay, resembling very much the ‘“ Ponderosa Marls” of the Upper
Cretaceous. A quarter of a mile below, on the same side, are seen interbedded
sands hardened into flat slabs three to ten inches thick, containing many
shells, interbedded with gray sands, and dipping three degrees southeast. The
same formation is seen for a mile and three-quarters below this, and on both
sides of the river. At this point there are found, on the Texas side, numer-
ous Ammonites and other fossils in a hard gray limestone. The series consists
of the same sandstone as the last. Six miles below, on the Texas side, is seen
* Mexican Boundary Survey, 1857, Vol. II, Part II, Chap. II, p. 43.
THE TIMBER BELT OR SABINE RIVER -BEDS, 4]
a similar formation to that in which the Ammonites above referred to were
found. Large blocks of limestone, with flat and bedded slabs of gray sand-
stone, are seen, and many fossils similar to those seen above. A quarter of a
mile below this, on the Texas side, is a bluff sixty feet high, composed of beds
of friable sandstone, hard shell limestone, with great numbers of oysters, and
softer sand and sandy clay strata. The shell rock is in places entirely com-
posed of fossils. From here to a point five miles below Las Cuevas Creek,
in Maverick County, are found a great number of bluffs, showing a similar
formation of sands and clays. The bluffs rise from ten to a hundred feet
above the level of the river. They are capped by pebble beds one to five
feet thick, which in turn are sometimes covered by five to fifteen feet of gray
river silt, containing recent land shells. The pebbles are composed of lime-
stone, flint, quartz, chalcedony, agate, black obsidian, jasper, and red pitch-
stone. The sandstones vary from a friable rock to a quartzite, and often lay-
ers of hard shell limestone or beds of oysters two to four feet thick occur;
also, many Upper Cretaceous Ammonites are found in various places. Islands
are of common occurrence, and are composed either of river silt or of the
older strata. -All the bluffs dip horizontally, or from one to three degrees to
the southeast.
At a point five miles below Las Cuevas Creek are the Angostora Rapids.
These are caused by a reef of oyster shells, of the same kind as mentioned
above, which run across the river, and are covered on either bank by the
same gray or buff sandstones. or sixteen miles below here, by river, we
find almost uninterrupted outcrops of similar deposits of dessicated and in-
durated sands and clays, containing many Ammonites and other forms similar
to those found at the Cretaceous exposure in Anderson County (pp. 33-34).
At this point we come to what is known as Las Isletas. The river is a half
mile wide and very shallow. It is full of small islands, consisting of sand
bars, and covered by mesquite and cane. The bottom of the river is rocky,
and causes almost continuous rapids for five miles.
For twelve miles below Las Isletas, and to a point three miles below the
north line of Webb County, we see many outcrops of a formation similar to
those already described, and with similar fossils. But here the fauna changes,
and the character of the strata becomes more glauconiferous. The following
section shows the character of the bluff at this point:
WEBB BLUFF.
1. White indurated fine sandy clay, with dark streaks, and specks of lignitic matter. 30 feet.
2. Greensand marl, with many Tertiary fossils, nodules of carbonate of lime con-
tannin elameonmite Specks).1/ 24!) )i0s.< ate eee ss oS bs ee ee eee 7-8 feet.
3. Stiff plastic bluish-black clay, jointed, specks of mica...................0008- 10 feet.
Dip of strata 3 degrees southeast.
42 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
This is the first outcrop which has a Tertiary appearance. A quarter of a
mile below is a bluff fifty feet high of indurated sandy clay, containing mica
and ferruginous scales between the strata. Dip 1 degree south. One and a
half miles below are seen similar deposits, but with no fossils, and containing
numerous gray calcareous concretions with veins of brown crystalline calcite.
Two miles beyond this, on the Mexican side, is a bluff, a quarter of a mile long
and seventy-five feet high, of interlaminated gray sands and chocolate clays,
with sulphur and gypsum in places, and occasional ferruginous spots. Hard
gray clay ironstones with leaf impressions are also found. The sand beds
are from one to five feet thick, and the clay is in thin laminz. Dip undula-
ting from 1 to 5 degrees southeast. These blufis have a decided Tertiary
appearance. The mica and black specks in the sand, the laminz of choco-
late clay, the presence of sulphur and gypsum crystals, all show a strong
resemblance to the Tertiary of East Texas. From here to the Hardin Ferry,
and thence to the mouth of the Cavezeras River, are seen similar strata, fre-
quently causing rapids where they cross the Rio.Grande. In one place the
indurated bluffs encroach on the river until it narrows down to thirty yards.
Here the waters have cut a deep channel and rush through at a great velocity.
Frequently interbedded glossy brown ferruginous layers, one to two inches
thick, are found in the sandstone. Three miles below “the Hardin” is a bluff
sixty feet high composed of friable standstones, the harder and softer layers
blending into each other and occasionally showing ferruginous patches. Dip
1 degree south. For nineteen miles below this point we pass over identically
similar strata, frequently containing calcareous concretions one to three inches
in diameter. These contain seams of crystalline calcite, and are of a gray
color, weathering brown or red in concentric layers.
At a point eight miles above the Texas town of Palafox, and on the Texas
side, the following section was seen:
i) Siliceous sand? colored red; yellow, andipurple sim Seams. - 2 9 eee ere 40 feet.
2. Tight green clay, wath specks ot black milcaly..) tees. pile ee ee een ee 10 feet.
In 2 was found the impression of a palm leaf, very similar to those found
at Palm Bluff, on the Colorado. The bed containing it is also very like those
of the “Fayette Beds” at that place. As true Eocene-Tertiary strata are
found below here, this bed must either not belong to the Fayette series, or
else it is an isolated deposit far inland from the westerly edge of the main
outcrop. Palafox is thirteen miles above the San Tomas coal mines and
directly opposite the Mexican town of Hidalgo.* The latter place is on a
ridge thirty to fifty feet high and a half mile long, composed of the same
sandstone as is seen above. Dip almost horizontal.
*This town is not the Hidalgo in Hidalgo County; the latter is in Texas.
THE TIMBER BELT OR SABINE RIVER BEDS. 43
Similar strata are seen from here to the San Tomas coal mines.* These are
situated on the Texas side of the river and at the mouth of San Tomas Creek,
about twenty-five miles by river above Laredo. The following section shows
the occurrence of the coal:+
LRTI INCLU ohne eA gS eb ins spe st o's ie Fie nin'e a’ 0 ne s.a.00 4 Sa 12 feet.
2, Friable sandstone........5..... PEL Mae ae A DPR eels OLS Id os ean ete pew dst 12 feet.
3. Chocolate, gray, white, and brown clays, with sulphur and gypsum crystals
in layers, running downward into black clays, with a two-inch seam of
SECOr MONT a rem UNCIOS ADOVE A oe ite Ee rune au wie ots wale wns 10 feet.
4, Coal, massive glossy black conchoidal fracture, but sometimes having the
SRIaa Uy Ee) EUL NISPRINEOUL ET COC eo ou eats se lt a ea, Sie hpi oie’ olin iw aise = wa Bs SN e's 0 1+ feet.
oe. Hard black clay........ a lo Al Np ae a a ai aa ay eS na 2 inches.
EUG Gi AEST fe Ei 2 nah SA se: 1 rai i Sie ea a Sane aS. 14 feet.
7. Gray clays containing lignite seams, directly under the coal... ........ .. 10 feet.
For three miles below this are seen indurated greenish clays with leaf im-
pressions, broken stems, and specks of lignite. Occasionally seams of choco-
late clay and calcareous nodules are found. As usual, the bluffs are capped
with pebbles or sand, and dip two degrees southeast. Fifteen miles above
Laredo is a bluff reaching a maximum height of forty feet, and about a mile
long. It is composed of interbedded coarse sand with calcareous nodules,
and sandy clay with gypsum and sulphur. The sand grains are red, yellow,
white, and gray, and the whole bluff has a greenish appearance, spotted in
places by ferruginous matter. Many similar outcrops are seen for seven miles
below, and as the dip is often horizontal, or nearly so, the exposures show
simply different parts of the same bed. Hight miles above Laredo is a bluff
about eighty feet high and a half mile long, composed of: semi-indurated buff
sands with an undulating dip. Similar exposures are seen down the river to
Laredo, and in fact that town is built partly on the same beds. In limestone
from this place Professor Heilprin has found Cardita densata, Turritella cari-
nata, and other Claiborne fossils.{ One mile below the town are seen highly
calcareous sandstones, soft on a weathered surface, hard and flinty inside, and
associated with chocolate clays. Large quantities of iron pyrites are found
all through the formation, as well as specks of lignite, grains of glauconite,
and often an efflorescence of sulphur. Five miles below Laredo, a large bed
composed of fragments of an oyster was found in the following associations:
*Dr. C. A. White refers the coal of Maverick and Webb counties to the ‘‘Fox Hills” or to
the “Laramie” formation. American Journal of Science, Vol. XX XIII, p. 19, January,
1887.
+For description of coal, see ‘‘ Economic Geology..”
{t‘‘ Contributions to the Tertiary Geology and Paleontology of the United States.”
44 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
1. Oyster bed, containing fragments of oysters cemented in greensand marl..... 1-2 feet.
2. Softer greensand marl, with a few oysters, Turritella, shark teeth, etc...... 2 feet.
3. Interlaminated gray and chocolate sandy clay with sulphur............... 2 feet.
4 “Greensand ‘marl to water €de@e. + ahn ei oe eae ee Re eee ene ee 14 feet.
Below this point for five miles similar deposits are seen, and here we come
to another highly fossiliferous bed consisting of interbedded siliceous sands,
chocolate clays, and greensand, in a bluff fifty feet high. Half way up is a
bed composed mostly of shells in a greensand matrix, and eight to twelve
inches thick. In it were found many oysters, Turritella and other gastero-
pods. Hard gray calcareous nodules, like those at “ Bombshell Bluff,” on the
Colorado, and containing specks of lignite, are found throughout the section.
One mile below, and on the Mexican side, is a bluff thirty to fifty feet high,
and extending down the river for a mile and a half. Itis composed of inter-
bedded gray sands, with specks of glauconite, and chocolate and gray clays,
containing thin lenticular seams of lignite one-eighth to one-quarter inch
thick, and a few fragments of shells; also gray calcareous concretions one to
two inches in diameter, and gypsum crystals. At its lower end this bluff
runs into a somewhat similar formation, but differing from it in having many
colored sands in seams of purple, red, yellow, brown, and bluish-gray. Con-
siderable quantities of iron pyrites are present, and it is probably to this that
much of the coloring matter is due. ‘Two miles below here the strata again
assume their normal character, and dip two degrees southeast. About at the
line between Webb and Zapata counties is a bluff a mile long, and reaching
a maximum height of a hundred feet. It consists of buff and greenish-
colored sands with gray calcareous concretions, one to ten feet in diameter,
and many large gasteropods, one to four inches long, in a hard shell rock at
the base. Near the top of the bluff is another shell bed, six to eight inches
thick, lenticular, and made up mostly of fossils, among which are many Tur-
ritella and Cardita. Similar bluffs, but without fossils, are seen almost con-
tinuously down the river, on the Texas side, for two miles.
At the mouth of Arroyo Dolores are found glauconiferous beds with many
oysters, in places made up entirely of them, with apparently no other fossils,
and rising ten to thirty feet above the water. Thirteen miles above San Ig-
nacio is seen a low reef of hard gray limestone, weathering to a greenish-gray
color, and rising two feet above the water. It shows a concretionary struc-
ture in places, and forms rapids in the river. Four miles below this is a bluff
three hundred yards long and varying from twenty to sixty feet high. The
upper third of it is composed of river alluvium, with a pebble bed at its base.
The lower part consists of buff sands and sandstones, with seams of chocolate
clay and greensand. The top of this deposit is capped by a shell bed containing
glauconite, and six to eight inches thick. Among the fossils were found
THE TIMBER BELT OR SABINE RIVER BEDS. 45
Cardita, Orassatella?, oysters and shark teeth. The shell bed contains specks
of lignite, and the shells are mostly in fragments. Small white calcareous
concretions are numerous. Dip, | to 2 degrees southeast.
Similar outcrops, but non-fossiliferous, are seen down the river to a point
twelve miles below San Ignacio. The sandstones vary from very friable to
hard and compact, and often loose masses lie on the slopes of the bluffs like
slabs of flagstone. Throughout this whole distance of twenty-one miles the
strata all dip to the northeast at an angle of from 1 to 10 degrees, and in one
place, five miles below San Ignacio, they dip 10 degrees northwest. This is
the greatest and longest variation in the normal southeast or east dip that has
been seen by the writer anywhere in the formations under discussion. The
strata do not show any other evilence of having been upthrown or disturbed
in any way, and it seems probable that this abnormal dip is due simply to
the natural sinking and contraction of the strata as explained on page 16.
Below here on the river are seen many local dips to the northeast of 5 to 8
degrees, but they never prevail for more than a mile or so. Four miles above
the Texas town of Carrizo, and on the Mexican side of the river, is seen a
bed of woody lignite one and a half to two feet thick, overlaid by ten feet of
buff sands and underlaid to the water’s edge by four feet of greenish-gray
clay. The Rio Salado flows into the Rio Grande from the Mexican side op-
posite Carrizo. The town of Guererro is on this river, six miles from the
mouth, and in this distance are seen many outcrops of buff sandstone, often
rising in abrupt ledges through the river alluvium. Most of the houses,
churches, and fences of the town are built of it. Similar rocks are seen for
sixteen miles below Carrizo on the Rio Grande, and dip at an angle of 2 to 6
degrees southeast. At this point a small creek on the Texas side cuts through
a series of low ledges of interstratified buff sandstones, containing gray con-
cretions and chocolate black and greenish-blue semi-indurated clays, dipping
1 to 2 degrees southeast. In the bed of the creek were found many fossils,
mostly oysters, and fragments of silicified wood. Thence down the river for
nine miles similar, but unfossiliferous, ledges areseen. At the end of this dis-
tance is a bluff forty feet high, composed of interbedded hard and soft calca-
reous sandstones and clay seams, and containing many Cardita and Crassatella.
Numerous calcareous concretions are found, and the sand occasionally con-
tains coarse black and gray siliceous grains the size of a mustard seed and
larger. Three miles below here, and half a mile above the Starr County line,
is a low bluff composed of gray clay and capped by a bed, six to eight inches
thick, of shell rock with specks of glauconite, Cardzta, and many gasteropods
(Turritella, etc.). Hight miles below the western line of Starr County the fol-
lowing section was seen: ;
46 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
1. indurated light brown sand../)......)5. 225-2 98.2% Pee ee rtatts eccue ede clemee 3 to 6 feet.
2: Soose lishtibrown ‘sand. : 2:5 1/5) Reisen eee map euen ye eee eee reise erp 10 feet.
Se AGMA A GLAY ceo oe ed oats altho eV neha ne ele Mea ears oe eee he eae at a 5 feet.
4. Oyster bed, Ostrea géorgiana?....). jee aes oe E atnolagea ee] eo ees 10 to 12 inches.
DCL: (CLAY sie) see sje Sie oe ice aceite ge le Ree NN RMR Re ee ears a 1 foot.
G, Oyster bed, Ostrea Geongvand 1 nce eter Mey eee Veni er ee 1 foot.
fe Detritus to water dee... onc aia emer eee neeerene cares ee ae el eee 4 feet
Beds 4 and 6 are a solid mass of shells. Some of the oyster shells are over
one foot long. Dip of strata varies from horizontal to 3 degrees northeast.
Hight miles above Roma are seen similar beds, associated with similar clays,
and dipping 2 to 3 degrees south. Two miles below this point, on the Mexi-
can side of the river, the following section was seen:
1. Greenish-yellow hard clay, with white calcareous concretions, gypsum, and
sulphur, indurated ‘in layers one to three inches thick......... 5p Sone nee 20 feet.
2. Oyster bed, same as described above, in a white calcareous rock.... .... ... 2 feet.
S-goame sand sand, clays as: Umilcwy.ieee ae ee ey eeu eo ea eee eee eee: 18 feet.
4. Brown and black lignitic clay, with gypsum and sulphur.................... 6 feet.
5. Siliceous sandstone, rusty and hard in seams, gray to brown in color, and con-
taining much sulphur as ib approaches bedi4oc. 5. 4.5. eee ee eee 10 feet.
Dip of strata 7 degrees southeast.
The bluff varies from ten to thirty feet in height, and is a half mile long;
the above section is taken along three hundred yards of it. Two miles below
this, on the Mexican side, is seen an oyster bed, in the same associations as
in the above section. It is ten feet thick, and contains a seam of clay in the
lower part. The bed immediately overlies the brown and black clays of the
last section. Dip, 0 to 2 degrees northwest. Four miles below, on the Texas
side, are seen ledges and reefs of similar shell beds, and in some cases single
shells are as much as eighteen inches long. Dip, 5 degrees west. The same
formation runs hence to Roma, but at that place only a few of the large
oyster shells are seen scattered through the buff sandstone. One and a half
miles below Roma are seen the same strata as at that town, and dipping 7
degrees east. At this point we come into a great clay and sand area, non-
fossiliferous, and resembling the Fayette beds (“Grand Gulf”) of the Colo-
rado River. It seems exceedingly possible, however, that the oyster-bearing
strata above and below Roma, and even some of the beds as far up as the
mouth of the Salado and above in the isolated localities mentioned, may come
under this head. They resemble the Fayette Beds very much in lithological
character, and all contain the characteristic clays of that epoch. The large
oysters mentioned above have not been found in Hast Texas, and therefore
the strata containing them must either be wanting there, or must represent
the base of the ‘Fayette Beds” of that region. Another argument in favor
of the supposition of the extension ot the Fayette Beds up the river is that if
THE FAYETTE BEDS. 47
we place their inland limit below Roma, the line of separation on the Rio
Grande between the Fayette Beds and Timber Belt Beds would curve out-
ward toward the Gulf of Mexico, whereas we should expect it to curve in-
ward, just as the line between the Cretaceous and the Timber Belt Beds does,
on account of the probable embayment on the Rio Grande at the time of their
deposition. These beds lying between here and the coastal region will be
treated under the heading of ‘Fayette Beds.” A more detailed discussion
of the Rio Grande strata is reserved until the fossils have been thoroughly
studied.
THE FAYETTE BEDS.
These beds underlie the interior part of the coast plains of East Texas, and
as we near the Gulf shore they are seen to gradually dip under the Post-
Tertiary deposits. The surface of the country consists of a rolling prairie,
and parts of it are undoubtedly destined to become very rich agricultural
regions, combining as they do all the advantages of a rich soil, a well-watered
country, and the temperate climate of the sea coast.
The thickness of these strata is at the minimum 350 feet, and probably
nearer 400. They consist of a series of clays and sands, very characteristic in
their color, mode of occurrence, and associations, and are easily distinguished
from any other beds in the Tertiary series of Texas. They include all those
beds found on the Brazos, Colorado, and Rio Grande which lie between the
uppermost fossiliferous strata of the marine Tertiary below and the Post-
Tertiary clays, limestones, and pebble beds above. Above the uppermost of the
marine Tertiary already described on the Brazos and Colorado rivers, occurs
a series of clay and sandy strata, the clay rapidly becoming more and more
predominant as we go up the series, until the beds are composed almost ex-
clusively of it. Then again the sandy beds suddenly assume predominance
and extend upward to the Post-Tertiary beds. The lower or clayey part of
this series composes a little over half of the formation, and the sandy beds
compose the rest.
These beds represent the “Grand Gulf” series of Hilgard’s Mississippi sec-
tion. Professor Angelo Heilprin, in speaking of the Grand Gulf Beds, says:
‘No unequivocal deposits of Miocene age have thus far been detected on the
Gulf slope, although strong grounds exist for the supposition that the forma-
tion designated by Hilgard as Grand Gulf Group belongs to this period of
geologic time, but to which division or horizon of the same it is as yet impos-
sible to state.”* In Mississippi and Louisiana, as in Texas, the base of this
formation is composed of clays with lignite beds, and the upper part consists
*“ Contributions to the Tertiary Geology and Paleontology of the United States,” Prof.
Angelo Heilprin, 1884, p. 4.
48 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
largely of sand, with calcareous seams and nodules. The local differences
will be mentioned farther on. The clays vary from laminated chocolate-col-
ored beds to massive light watery-green and pale sky-blue strata of a most
characteristic and unmistakable appearance. This latter variety increases in
abundance as we approach the middle of the Fayette Beds, and the clays that
are associated with the upper sandy part are all of this character. They are
hard, massive, heavy, with conchoidal fracture, and cut like talc. They weather
a pure white. Such clays underlie the town of Rio Grande City, on the Rio
Grande, and the climatic conditions here are such that they have become in-
durated by the heat and dryness of the region into a soft rock. Large quan-
tities of lignite are frequently found in the clay beds, especially in the choco-
late clays near the base; and even where lignite is absent, the strata are very
often highly impregnated with vegetable matter, and contain the remains of
many plants. The study of these will doubtless throw much light on the
geological position of the Fayette Beds, but they have not yet been deter-
mined. Faulting on a small scale is of very frequent occurrence and consider-
able jointing is seen everywhere. Figure 2, page 52, shows a faulted lignite
bed on the Colorado River, in Fayette County. Sulphur and gypsum are of
very frequent occurrence, the latter often being found as twin crystals in the
shape of an arrow head. The beds also frequently contain carbonate of lime
in the shape of nodules, or impregnating the strata. One of the most marked
characteristics of the clays, and especially of the chocolate-colored beds, is a
white bleached appearance on the surface, while, a few inches in, they regain
their dark color. This, and the presence of sulphur and gypsum, are
intimately connected phenomena, and can be easily explained by the com-
bined decomposition of the iron pyrites, carbonate of lime, and the vegetable
coloring matter of the dark clays. The iron pyrites decomposes with the form-
ation of sulphate of iron and sulphuric acid; the sulphuric acid attacks the
carbonate of lime, forming gypsum and carbonic acid; the former is de-
posited as crystals, and the latter goes off in the air and surface waters. The
sulphate of iron attacks the organic matter in the clays and is again reduced
to iron pyrites with the evolution of sulphuretted hydrogen and oxygen. The
oxygen forms carbonic acid with the vegetable matter, and rapidly goes off
into the air. This reaction repeats itself until the clay finally becomes devoid
of all vegetable material, and hence of coloring matter, and exposes a white
surface. The sulphur, which originally formed a part of the sulphuretted
hydrogen, but which has now lost its hydrogen. is deposited as a yellow or
white crust on the surface and in the cracks of the strata.
The sandy strata of the Fayette Beds are very variable in thickness and
consistency, though their composition-is very constant. They consist almost
entirely of pure coarse siliceous sand, generally sharp, and containing red
THE FAYETTE BEDS. 49
grains. It is of a gray to light buff color, and frequently contains lenticular
beds of very coarse sand with grains the size of a mustard seed. These lat-
ter evidently represent eddies, or pot-holes in the surface of the bed during
its deposition, as they often occur in very irregular and always in very local
patches. The sand beds frequently contain lenticular seams and nodules of
the same kind of watery-green clay that underlies them, and these often give
the impression of being eroded masses from a clay shore line. The strata
are all impregnated to a greater or less extent with carbonate of lime, some-
times occurring as a white cement in the interstices of the sand, and at others
in soft white nodules, a quarter of an inch to two inches in diameter, or as len-
ticular beds six to twelve inches thick. The amount of carbonate of lime in
these beds is much greater than that described by Hilgard* in the correspond-
ing strata of Mississippi and Louisiana. This great increase of calcareous mat-
ter can be easily explained, as in the case of the underlying Timber Belt sands
and clays, by the fact that the waters supplying the basin in which these sands
were deposited were much more heavily charged with carbonate of lime than
those of the other Gulf States. Of course, most, if not all, the calcareous
matter that was in solution was carried far out to sea, but a large part of that
in a state of mechanical suspension must have been deposited with the sands
under consideration.
Roemer,}+ speaking of this country, says: ‘(You see no solid rock in place
through the whole distance, excepting irregular layers of a coarse calcareous
sandstone of very modern origin exposed on the steep banks of some of the
rivers.’ The sand beds vary very much in their state of coherence.
Sometimes they are soft and loose, as the sands of the modern coastal bars,
but generally they are more or less hardened. The presence of carbonate
of lime has much to do with this state of induration, as it acts as a cement for
the sand, and frequently we find the latter in the state of a soft friable sand-
stone. Often, however, silica is the cementing material, and in some places we
find the sand beds hardened by this substance to such an extent that they al-
most approach the character of a quartzite. Such beds are seen at Quarry,
in the northern part of Washington County, where there are found hard
siliceous and semi-transparent strata, which are very valuable for economic
purposes. (See Building Stones.) Frequently the strata of the Fayette Beds
form reefs across the rivers, causing rapids, and sometimes much impeding
navigation. Such occurrences are seen above La Grange, on the Colorado,
and in many places on the Brazos, in Washington County. Iron pyrites is
*“The Later Tertiary of the Gulf of Mexico,” American Journal of Science, Vol. XXII,
July, 1881.
+A Sketch of the Geology of Texas,” American Journal of Science and Arts, Second
Series, Vol. IT, 1846, p. 359.
D
50 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
of very frequent occurrence throughout these strata, and in some places the
sands are stained black by the presence of oxide of manganese. Silicified wood
is also of very frequent occurrence through the series, especially in the clays.
Generally it is of the ordinary character of the Tertiary beds, consisting of
fragments of trunks of trees, black in the interior and gray or buff color on
the outside.* Sometimes, however, the silicified wood of the Fayette Beds
is beautifully opalized, showing alternating layers of brown and white opal,
with a bright glossy surface and a conchoidal fracture.
This whole series bears signs of a littoral deposit, and among the most
characteristic evidences of this are the signs of slight erosion, followed by
subsequent sedimentation. Frequently clays and sands overlie each other
unconformably, but this unconformability is of only local extent, and doubt-
less due to changes in the currents of the waters under which the strata were
deposited. Also, the presence of lumps of clay in the sandy strata tends to show
an erosion of the underlying clay beds. The dip of these strata is from 0
to 5 degrees to the southeast. This trend is especially observable in the clays
forming the lower part of the series, while the sands of the upper part show
a greater tendency towards a horizontal dip. In this respect they resemble
the Grand Gulf sands of Louisiana and other Mississippi States.
Indigenous fossil remains of fauna have nowhere been found as yet in the
Fayette Beds of Texas.| In one place, two miles below the mouth of Yegua
Creek, on the Brazos River, were found worn fragments of shark teeth, pieces
of bone one-half to two inches in diameter, rounded fragments of silicified
wood, and lumps of light watery-green clay in the cross-bedded sands of this
series. These, however, prove by their worn and rounded character that
they have been derived from underlying strata by the erosion of a shore line,
and it is more than probable that the organic remains have been carried down
into this bed, during its deposition, by the waters tributary to the Gulf as it
existed at that time. A similar instance of worn fragments of fossils is to be
seen eight miles below Roma, on the Rio Grande, but here also they are prob-
ably derived from older beds. There are, however, numerous remains of the
flora of this epoch imbedded in the strata of the Fayette Beds. As has
already been stated, the clays of the lower part of the series contain many
impressions of vegetable remains in the shape of leaves, trunks of trees, etc.
At one point on the Colorado, four miles above La Grange, there are found
*]+ may be stated here, that in this respect the silicified wood resembles that of the lava
beds of Montana, Wyoming, and elsewhere in the Western States and Territories.
+Exception must be made to this rule if the beds on the Rio Grande containing Ostrea
georgiana are included in the Fayette Beds. Exception must also be made of the vertebrate
and invertebrate forms mentioned by Dr. Buckley (First Annual Report of the Geological
and Agricultural Survey of Texas, pp. 64, 65).
THE FAYETTE BEDS. 51
in the sand beds many impressions of leaves very much resembling those of
the palmetto which grows on many parts of the Gulf shore of to-day, together
with numerous fragments of stems and trunks of the trees.*
The resemblance of these Fayette Beds to the Grand Gulf Beds of Louis-
iana, Mississippi, and Alabama is very remarkable. There are only two
striking differences, (1) the increase of calcareous matter in the Texas beds;
(2) the greater thickness of the clays at the base of the series in Texas than
in the other Gulf States. The first difference has already been explained; the
second is accountable, as suggested before, by the fact that as we go west
from the Mississippi River the land or non-marine character of the stratigraph-
ical equivalents of the Vicksburg Beds rapidly increases, and in the region
of the Brazos and Colorado rivers very few species of the characteristic
fauna of that epoch are found. Therefore it is possible that part of the clays
of the Fayette Beds represent the era of the Vicksburg strata. In all other
respects the Fayette Beds are identically similar to those of the Grand Gulf.
They both overlie the marine strata of the region, and both occupy the strati-
graphical position on the Gulf coast that is held by the Miocene and Pliocene
strata of the Carolinas and other Southern States on the Atlantic coast. Both
are composed of sands and clays in equally variable stages of induration, both
contain impressions of land flora, and both are equally barren of all traces of
animal life.
Hilgard, in speaking of this last fact, says: ‘I have heretofore * * *
remarked that such absolute dearth of fossils in a formation whose materials
are so well adapted to their preservation staggers belief, and that I interpret
the calcareous seams and concretions found in some portions of the formation
as derived from the long continued maceration of an apparently copious
fauna, as is exemplified in the Quaternary Beds of Cote Blanche on the
Louisiana coast, and notoriously in the limestone of the coral reefs.”
The prairies underlaid by the Fayette Beds vary from a hilly, rolling
country to a flat plain This character of topography is to be expected in a
formation differing so much in its degree of induration. The soft strata tend
to form the flat country, while the interbedding of alternate hard and soft
beds produces a region of rolling or abrupt hills. Ag a rule the lower part
of the formation appears to be harder than the upper, the natural result of
age in such strata. Consequently, as we enter the region underlaid by the
Fayette Beds we meet with hills, abrupt slopes, steep river bluffs, and a roll-
ing country. As we go southeast—that is, towards the upper part of the
formation—we come into a more gentiy rolling, and then a slightly undulating
*Hilgard speaks of palm wood and other vegetable remains at Bayou Pierre, Rocky Spring,
and elsewhere in Mississippi. ‘‘ Geology and Agriculture of the State of Mississippi,” 1860,
p. 149.
52 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
country; thence into the flat prairies about Sealy, San Felipe, and other
places, where we finally reach the Post-Tertiary strata. Timber occurs along
the streams and in inland groves throughout this region, and has already
been mentioned on page 8. The sections of the Fayette Beds on the Colo-
rado and Brazos Rivers and the Rio Grande are described below.
COLORADO RIVER SECTION.
As we enter the country underlaid by the “Fayette Beds,” going down
the Colorado, we pass a series of low bluffs, composed of dark gray or black
clays, much jointed and faulted, until the mouth of Barton Creek is reached.
Here there is a bluff over 100 feet high and composed of clay and sandy
strata, as represented in the following section:
le Red quaternary eravyelsamd ysanmel yn es este veces age ices) le lee eer ene 12 feet.
2. Light brown sand and clay......... TS BUS Re Be I OO. ig elec Nea a Ga 16 feet.
3. Lenticular bed of lignite... ... .. ou LD asee LR Re Ales 8 5 Meigs peg eee 14 feet.
4, Chocolate colored sand and clay, with gypsum and sulphur...... Pr eter Pa 10 feet.
5. Gignite ,.. . hilipeticave eters thewel ae Sreteueiey orce cad i ee tras 1A SN, rata ante ee mt 1 foot.
6. Interlaminated beds of gray sand and clay of a black, chocolate or watery-
green color, with gypsum and sulphur........ AUR takes 212 ce pear Sea eee 55 feet.
T. Thgemitte sy. oa ie bene ee OR NEUE 8 DDT Tee etl oto Rea ay A Ree 2to4 feet.
8) Similar strata’ to those soll (Ginn eer ses aaers teria Sia heen acer 3 feet.
The whole formation is much faulted and jointed, and dips 2 to 5 degrees
southeast. A representation of one of the jointed lignite beds is seen in Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.—Faulted lignite bed, Barton Creek Bluff.
From here to within twelve miles, by river, of La Grange we passjover a
series of outcrops of similar sand and clay strata, all aipping in the same
direction, and frequently containing rusty masses of carbonate of iron. At
this point we come to what is locally known as Chalk Bluff, on account of the
resemblance of the hard clay to chalk. It dips 5 degrees southeast, and is 100
feet high. The following section is made up from different parts of the bluff.
THE FAYETTE BEDS. 53
PI APeMpbyne sie taAVy EEGs c/otacla oes dnt 1.0 Deeg atic o oid'ale wine viele te os tied ates « 10 feet.
2. Laminated chocolate clays and sandy clays, white on exposed surface, or
yellow with sulphur..... ects Pete neva ds hain iris hi ShA Bieta eB. wccidhal wp a ots d= 100 feet.
SOCOM ESTING 16 5 5.n%5 «iol sie ee oe NSS pg aes RS Ren Sak eh ee Na 5 feet.
eS CRAB E ee a clse AA es 6 Mere cle, Niches! broth wills wale ois x ate able ie Le are egy ae 5 feet.
Numbers 2 and 4 contain large quantities of sulphur, coating the ex-
posed surfaces and joint cracks as an efflorescence. Gypsum crystals are
very plentiful throughout the beds. The lignite contains masses of partly
silicified and partly lignitized wood. The associated clays also contain frag-
ments of the same material. The whole bluff presents a white or yellow ap-
pearance, but on breaking through the outside crust the sands and clays re-
gain their original dark color. At the foot of the bluff we find fragments
of a hard light watery-green clay, of the consistency of talc. These pieces
came from near the top of the ledge, and will be mentioned further on. Low
outcrops of the same materials are seen below this point until we come to the
second “Chalk Bluff.” This is about a quarter of a mile long, has a general
dip of 3 degrees southeast, and is about the same height as the first one. The
following section is made up from different points along the bluff:
1. Quaternary drift.
2. Interbedded gray and white sand, white and watery-green clay...... ase 70 feet.
3. Hard watery-green clay, like in (2).. ..............- ee ae tape isis 4 feet.
UMBRO RC Rries ese SEA ie Mist atl ich Yo\lain (igi Doni Sioa a) v Bile jp SAEs, Saha dia Linwye cre Ho B08 2 feet.
5. Similar strata to (2), light chocolate color on surface.................-. 3 feet.
Pomp RGR TERE C ererere yrs sratarneetes Seetaoe aI tie o's crs eS wads ee ancusiee Nw ge. wa ep aie as oi 1 foot.
Rome irl nie SuneDiAR UO (Ceara Oopaera cea wie miaeie ere te e,< iim w¥ern Gres! wd sicje ee ee be es 1 feet.
8. Chocolate clays, with black leaf and reed impressions......... ........ $ foot.
EPL ANOL WiebOL y-OTCOMPCLUY ii aie) ne ctl t CW Atte Dats Ia Ane at's 4 ula wipe nie a sysionn,e 4 feet.
UPN TEESEEL EG uene pets ae ae Pca dh coe Coser ert: SA a aS alle ch gaia wh we wf Bea pe ms, De ea 1 foot.
Pelee Lec eRENG RE CE Tih Clabbrete ieee ites a coe ofers tnt o amuslaceiketoe Si Saye emis pe wmresest 5 feet.
OAeroimMilar strata, tO (S)iccc. «clan sc tas sess - Pe NERO earn er cis da tche. a his: pors 4to1 foot.
Pan eep lenin ECCI Clave ae cee Sees hits iis eS re aie oe ne ee eae 6 feet.
BEPC R TACT ERM ER Am Reig oiacite nts S| cicthas Ree be Ma dake lto2 feet.
bbseHardelich t oreen Clays. 2 (eos hele lan boa chk ea FE ise a SER here td 10 feete
Leaf impressions are found in many places throughout the whole bluff, but
especially in the two beds mentioned in the above section. Considerable
gypsum and sulphur exist throughout the strata. The lumps of hard clay
found at the base at the first Chalk Bluff are probably from a bed corres-
ponding to the foot of this bluff. For two miles below here are seen small
outcrops of similar strata, all showing a uniform southeast dip of about 5
degrees, and composed of green, grey, chocolate, and black clays or sands.
In one place a lignite bed over ten feet thick was seen. The river here is
very crooked, and the same beds are cut by it in several different places.
Four miles, by river, above La Grange is “Palm Bluff,” about 100 feet high
54 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS,
and covered in its lower half by a heavy bed of detritus. The upper half is
composed of a series of light watery-green clay, with sand beds and calcareous
seams. -The upper thirty feet of this bluff is composed of sand, in places
hardened into a friable sandstone similar to those already described. It is
composed of sharp siliceous grains, and often contains black specks. Patches
of very coarse transparent sand the size of a mustard seed and larger occur
in it. Lumps of white or light brown clay and similar nodules of limestone,
from one-half to one inch in diameter, are of frequent occurrence. In some
places black oxide of manganese coats the grains of sand. Many impres-
sions of a palm or palmetto leaf, as well as silicified stems and trunks, are
found in the sand bed. From here to La Grange are low outcrops of the
same sand as caps Palm Bluff. They are of a very striking light watery-blue
color when wet, but gray when dry.
“Ta Grange Bluff” is about a mile below the town of La Grange. It is
100 feet high and the lower part is heavily covered by alluvium and detritus
from above. The exposed part is composed of interbedded soft friable sand-
stones, white or yellow in color, specked in places by rusty spots of decom-
posed iron pyrites, and containing many small white calcareous and clay nod-
ules. The whole bluff offers very much the same appearance as “‘ Palm Bluff,”
and the sand varies from a very fine variety to that of the size of a mustard
. seed. Frequently a hard clay is interbedded with the sands, and when dry
often weathers into nodules, due to its conchoidal fracture. The white calca-
reous nodules are in places so numerous that they form a conglomerate, with
sand or yellow sandy clay as a matrix.
BRAZOS RIVER SECTION.
As we descend the river from the “ Moseley’s Ferry” shell bed, which is the
uppermost fossiliferous Tertiary bed seen on the river, we reach, at a point
four miles below it and at the mouth of the Little Brazos, a rapid caused by
cross-bedded sands, with gray, black, and greenish clays in lenticular seams,
and containing many ferruginous concretions. For over two miles below
this are seen outcrops of gray sand and watery-green and chocolate clays,
with lignite beds up to one and a half feet in thickness. Many calcareous
concretions, one-half to two feet in diameter. are seen, as well as hardened
masses of clay and sand and a tremendous amount of silicified wood in loose
blocks. This wood was not seen in place, but occurred in the gravel drift
overlying this formation. Nine miles below ‘Moseley’s Ferry,” and in the
eastern part of Burleson County, is “Sulphur Bluff.” The following section
shows the occurrence of the strata:
1. Light brown thardened ‘sandy; clay <).c)’aeip seen mneis neme elie ee ch terete ate 10. feet.
2) TMS ee ee picts te laPaila Misti 'c alle via ies or ells wetenshedatatalene etnuer ade) ius tovcts fee olla fotata le etete/= i 1 foot.
THE FAYETTE BEDS. 55
oy CMA ATLL Penawete oteh a Ld TolatE ey eld vi ainialaya isha el Clay ails heb ole « eye ble fy abet sMial «2135, 24), 4 4) Je 1 foot.
Ae UN IIEG Bechara! Aa [a es ielol aa bie.i0 4) 2 Bae RE UR ge aya ae ee One Boe) 4 foot.
5. Interbedded gray sand, and chocolate and greenish clay, turned white in ~
bIG@eo ronal Me SAC En nen ete oie inue lc cvatayd are Momeieisi eke a )/ais aisle aie s\n sn» 60 20 feet.
The whole bluff is coated with sulphur as at the “Chalk Bluffs” on the Col-
orado River. Itis one mile long, 40 feet high, dips 3 degrees south, and
presents a white and bleached appearance. Silicified wood is found in many
places, and is similar to that already described on the Colorado. From here
to a point eight miles above the mouth of Yegua Creek are seen small out-
crops of the same sands and clays. At this point is seen a bluff showing the
following section:
PuCross-veddcdoray sand, hardened in, places... 44.12 2 a2 etd ewe tise oe ae re ose 10 feet.
2. Hard greenish clay, with seams of chocolate clay........ ...-..«-2+---+--- 12 feet.
SS ePPUVECTUUGE ears ig navel enamine ashe, 3) oh ee ie Sea GC Aa rent aed 2 MR Seah al Dea tek, 1 foot.
4h, Jeeiral Gaieeran lila Geis Liss See as ae er ete aha are One eee ee rE 6 feet.
PO Comer Na tye aisiniie se AlAL Ie oe sis eh wise ce cw ese bride te nece ss 2 feet.
6, Caleareous gray sand, with indurations ...........2.2e2-c0e+00% oa ees US Greet
Dip of the strata 1 to 5 degrees south. Many imperfect leaf impressions
and considerable iron pyrites are found in the clay. Three miles above Yegua
Creek is seen a bluff of similar clays and sands, and a quarter of a mile below
that creek, in Washington County, are seen ten feet of light green clay capped
by one-half to one foot of hard gray cross-bedded sandstone. The sandstone
hes unconformably on the clay, and contains lumps of the latter, proving that
the increase in speed of the waters, that caused the character of the deposit to
change from a clay to a sand, had also eroded part of the clay and deposited
lumps of it in the sand. A mile and a half below this is alow bluff showing
similar sands, composed of coarse transparent white. red, and black grains,
with pebbles of the same composition, and one-eighth to one inch in diameter.
There are also found in it worn pieces of silicified wood one to six inches long,
with similar fragments of vitreous wood opal; lumps, singly and in lenticular
patches, of light green clay, one quarter to two inches in diameter; rusty
crystals of iron pyrites; worn pieces of bone, one-half to two inches long;
small shark teeth, worn and broken; and small white calcareous nodules.
The sand is cross-bedded, and in places hardened into a friable sandstone.
The organic remains in this bed have doubtless been eroded out of the Terti-
ary strata and laid down here during the deposition of the sands, as they
have evidently been much worn and rolled, and the shark teeth strongly re-
semble Tertiary forms. A mile and a half below this is a hill rising 100 feet
above the river bottom, and closely resembling the La Grange bluff. It
shows the same friable sandstones, coarse and fine sand, loose yellow sandy
clay, with white calcareous nodules, iron pyrites, etc. From here down to
the town of Washington, and thence on to where the Houston and Texas
56 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
Central Railway crosses the Brazos, in the southern part of Washington
County, are seen similar strata. The sands are highly calcareous as else-
where, and as on the Colorado frequently show a very characteristic light
watery-green color when wet. Going west from the Brazos River over the
‘“‘Hayette Beds” to Chappell Hill and Brenham, we travel a rolling prairie,
studded with groves of elm, hackberry, and other timber, and covered with
a rich black or dark red clay or loamy soil. The town of Chappell Hill is
situated on a high point in this formation, and commands a beautiful view of
the surrounding country. frequent outcrops of the Fayette Beds are seen
in the Houston and Texas Central Railway cuts both east and west of Bren-
ham, and along the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway to the north of the
town. These all show the characteristic sands, soft or hardened, with or
without calcareous nodules, and white or yellow calcareous clays and marls.
Friable Fayette sandstone is found in beds at Sealy at from thirty to sev-
enty-five feet below the surface. Itis overlaid by stiff massive clay, with many
root impressions even at a depth of over twenty-five feet, which belongs to
the Post-Tertiary strata, and will be treated farther on.
The coarse sands passed through at considerable depths in boring artesian
wells at Houston and Galveston are probably of the same formation as those
already described.* At these places, however, as at Sealy and elsewhere
near the coast, the sands are overlaid by clay deposits, like those mentioned
above. Whether these overlie the Fayette Beds unconformably, there is as
yet not sufficient evidence to state definitely, but they are so different in con-
sistency, composition, and general character that they are here treated under
a separate heading. (See Coast Clays.)
RIO GRANDE SECTION.
The strata on the Rio Grande that represent the Fayette Beds are very
similar in every respect to those in the region of the Brazos and Colorado.
In consistency, however, they are somewhat different, but the difference is
no greater than is to be expected from the different climatic conditions, and
from a possibly greater content of cementing material in the shape of car-
bonate of lime and clay in the waters of the Rio Grande than in those of the
Brazos or Colorado. The variation consists of an occasionally greater state
of induration of the strata. The first undoubted beds of this series are seen
five miles below the Texas town of Roma,t+ and in the Mexican State of Ta-
maulipas. They occur in a ledge three hundred yards long and one to six
feet high, and consist of hard light sea-green clays with many leaf impressions
*Unfortunately, reliable records of the strata in these wells are not obtainable.
tIt is possible, and even probable, that certain beds above and around Roma also belong
to this series. (See p. 50.)
‘
THE FAYETTE BEDS. Hi
and rusty iron pyrites. At the lower end it is overlaid by similar beds, but
somewhat harder and more sandy. Frequently small white calcareous con-
cretions, and sometimes large clay indurations with veins of crystalline calcite,
are found. Three miles below are found similar beds just above the water
level, and overlaid by fifteen feet of sandstone, with concretions, fragments
of worn silicified wood, and a few broken pieces of an oyster. These latter
have the appearance of being derivative and not indigenous to the bed, as
they are much rounded and rolled, and were very probably derived, during
the deposition of the enclosing clays, from the great oyster beds of the strata
about Roma. Two miles below this are seen similar beds, but with no clay,
the soft and indurated layers alternating with each other. The dip is 2 de-
grees north 20 degrees east. This, however, is a local variation due to the
causes explained on pages 16 and 45. Nine miles above Rio Grande City
are seen similar sands with silicified trunks and branches of trees. The sands
have the characteristic grains seen in the Fayette Beds on the Brazos and
Colorado.
The town of Rio Grande City (Ringgold Barracks) is situated on a bluff of
hard white clay, rising some fifty feet above the river, and indurated into a
substance of a chalky consistency, though, chemically, it is only very slightly
calcareous. It probably represents the light green clays of the Fayette Beds,
and has become indurated by exposure to heat in a dry climate. The effect
of such agencies would also account for its white appearance, as the charac-
teristic pale green color of these clays is doubtless due to their hydration.
The bed shows a highly conchoidal fracture, contains iron pyrites, and is
much jointed. These joint cracks are frequently filled by veins of smoky
quartz one-eighth inch to one inch thick, often showing a globular surface.
The bluff extends along the river for half a mile below the town, and two
. hundred yards above it. Beyond these limits it disappears under the gray
river silt.
Below Rio Grande City we pass through low alluvial banks for a distance
of twenty-two miles. About a mile back from the river at this point, and
a short distance below Las Cuevas, is a bluff of semi-hardened sharp sand,
with lenticular seams of coarse sand and siliceous pebbles one-sixteenth inch
to one-half inch in diameter, also white calcareous nodules one to three inches,
and seams of calcareous gray clay. The bluff is fifty feet high, the upper
ten feet being a quaternary conglomerate of river pebbles cemented in a white
calcareous matrix. Ata point ten miles above the Texas town of Hidalgo,
or Edinburg, in Hidalgo County, is a low ledge rising one foot above the
water and composed of Fayette sands. A similar outcrop is seen at the
water edge at Reynosa, in Tamaulipas, and directly opposite Hidalgo. This
outcrop reaches only two feet above the water edge, and overlying it and
58 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
forming a hill some fifty feet above the river is a hard white limestone, which
will be described more fully further on.
Mr. E. T. Dumble, State Geologist, has noted the Fayette sand at the fol-
lowing localities not mentioned above: Beeville, Bee County; Goliad, Goliad
County; Victoria, Victoria County; Cuero, De Witt County; Hallettsville,
Lavaca County; Columbus, Colorado County; Wharton, Wharton County,
and. elsewhere.
R. H. Loughridge* has also noted the “Grand Gulf” Beds near Cuero, in
De Witt County; near Oakdale, Live Oak County, and in Duval County.
Hence there is but little doubt of the continuous extension of these beds
from the Sabine the Rio Grande. as already stated (p. 50) it seems probable
that the beds above and below Roma, containing the large Ostrea georgiana?,
and even certain beds up as far as the mouth of the Rio Salado and Carrizo,
belong to the Fayette Series.
SOILS OF THE FAYETTE BEDS.
The country underlaid by these beds is a rolling prairie, stretching across
the State from the Sabine River to the Rio Grande, parallel te the coast and
from fifty to one hundred miles back from it. It borders the eastern edge
of the great timber region, which also separates it from the parallel prairies
of the Basal Clays and the Central Texas region. This belt is in places over
sixty miles wide, and is probably sometimes over one hundred. ‘The soil is in
many parts of remarkable fertility, of a black clayey or sandy character, and
heavily charged with carbonate of lime. In its local fertility this belt is in
striking contrast with the corresponding region in Louisiana and Mississippi,
which is often a barren sandy country, of but little agricultural value. This
difference is due to the fact that the Fayette Beds in Texas, like the under-
lying Timber Belt Beds, are much richer in lime than in the other Gulf States,
and consequently much better suited for agricultural purposes.
POST-TERTIARY DEPOSITS.
The Post-Tertiary deposits of East Texas have not as yet been thoroughly
studied, and the following remarks are given simply as a preliminary state-
ment of their occurrence. For the sake of convenience they will be treated
under the following headings:
1. Upland Gravel.
2. River Silt.
3. Coast Clays.
*“ Report on the Cotton Production of the State of Texas,” Tenth Census of the United
States, Vol. V, p. 679.
POST-TERTIARY DEPOSITS. 59
UPLAND GRAVEL.
The Upland Gravel occurs in the shape of pebbles capping even the
highest hills in the region, and is especially well represented on the summits
of the high bluffs of the larger rivers. On the Brazos, Colorado, and Rio
Grande it forms beds from one to fifteen feet and more in thickness. Back
from the rivers, however, as far as has been seen by the writer, the gravel
becomes much less plentiful, and often occurs simply as scattered pebbles,
overlying the eroded surface of the Tertiary sands and clays. Hiull* speaks
of great beds of gravel, “Plateau Gravel,” in Southwest Arkansas, which
probably represent the “Orange Sands” of Hilgard. This Red River region
has not been visited by the writer, but to the south of it the gravels, except
nearer the larger river courses, occupy a most subordinate place in the
topography of the country.
According to Hilgard, the ‘‘Orange Sands” occur in great abundance in
Mississippi on the tops of the high hills and ridges, but in the part of Texas
in question the hill tops are capped by soils resulting from the immediately
underlying Tertiary strata, and the only representatives of the gravel are a
few scattered pebbles. If we suppose the water courses at the time of the
deposition of the gravel to have run in the same general direction as now,
it is natural to expect a greater development of the gravel beds in the region
of the Mississippi embayment than in Texas, as that river, carrying more
water and having an influence over a much larger area than any Texas river,
not only had a larger region to draw gravel from, but also had more power
to transport it, and a larger region to spread it over. Hence the much
smaller development of these deposits in Texas than in Mississippi. These
pebbles in Texas decrease in size and quantity as we go down stream, and
vary considerably in their composition on the different rivers. This is to be
expected, as the rivers rise in the different regions, and hence their sources
of supply of pebbles are different. On the Colorado they consist of lime-
stone, flint, quartz, silicified wood, jasper, and rarely granite and feldspar.
The limestone and flint have come from the Cretaceous rocks and are fre-
quently fossiliferous. The silicified wood is rounded and worn, and has
doubtless come from the Tertiary strata of the region. The other pebbles
are from the area of crystalline rock in Burnet and Llano counties. The
scarcity of granite and feldspar is due to the ease with which they decompose,
and consequently the only representative of the granite that is usually seen
is the quartz.
On the Brazos the pebbles consist of fossiliferous limestone, water worn
* R. T. Hill, Arkansas Geological Survey, Vol. II, 1888, p. 29.
60 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
Cretaceous fossils, yellow, gray, and white quartz, jasper, and chert. Here
also the limestone is from the Cretaceous area, and the other pebbles from
the Paleozoic area to the west of it. On the Rio Grande the pebbles are com-
posed of limestone, flint, quartz, chalcedony, agate, black obsidian, red pitch-
stone, jasper, and porphyry. Many of these doubtless came from the eruptive
rocks higher up the river, while the limestone and flint pebbles are from the
Cretaceous area. The gravel on the high bluffs of the Texas rivers is in
some places loose, and at others cemented in a ferruginous or calcareous
matrix. This cemented material forms a conglomerate of various degrees of
hardness. The ferruginous cement has its source in the older (Tertiary)
strata of the region which underlie the gravel. The source of the iron is not
necessarily in the beds immediately under the gravel, but it is invariably in the
neighborhood, as it is always the case that the pebble beds in the vicinity of
pyritiferous or glauconitic beds are more apt to be ferruginous than those
overlying beds destitute of iron-bearing minerals. For this reason the gravel
beds overlying the Tertiary strata are much more apt to be cemented than
those overlying the Cretaceous, the Tertiary strata as a rule containing much
more ferruginous material than the Cretaceous.
A large bed of ferruginous conglomerate is seen at ‘Red Bluff,” on the
Colorado, and in Burleson County, on the Brazos.
Pebble beds with a calcareous cement are much more numerous on the
Brazos and Rio Grande than on the Colorado. This is doubtless due to the
fact that the Brazos and Rio Grande flow over a vastly greater area of calca-
reous rocks than the Colorado, and therefore carry down much more carbon-
ate of lime, not only in solution, but in a state of mechanical suspension. It
is doubtless the carbonate of lime held in suspension that supplies the greater
part of the cementing material. Such conglomerates vary from one to ten feet
in thickness, and differ greatly in hardness. At Roma, on the Rio Grande,
a rock of this kind is used as a building stone, and a hard compact form of
it is seen capping the bluff of the river three miles below Las Cuevas. On
the Brazos it is found near the mouth of Turtle Creek, McLennan County,
and in many of the bluffs in Falls County.
Below these Upland Gravel beds is often found a series of lower gravel
and sand covered terraces, until we reach the river bottom silts.
RIVER SILT.
The rivers of Hast Texas rise in various parts of the State, and hence the
sediments which the comparatively swift waters of their courses carry down
and deposit in the quieter basins in Hast Texas vary considerably in character.
The Red, Brazos, and Colorado rivers rise in the eastern slopes of the ‘“Staked
Plains,” in Northern Texas, pass through the red gypsiferous beds, the Pale-
POST-TERTIARY DEPOSITS. 61
ozoic rocks and the great Cretaceous area, and finally deposit, in East Texas, a
sediment composed of materials from these regions in the form of a highly cal-
careous red sediment. The Trinity River rises in the Paleozoic rocks of
Northern Texas, but far east of the ‘‘Staked Plains,” and passing down
through the Cretaceous area, becomes charged with calcareous matter. Hence
its sediments, though often calcareous, do not have the red color of the Red,
Brazos, and Colorado rivers. The Sabine rises still east of the Trinity, while
the smaller rivers, such as the Neches and Angelina, rise in the timber re-
gion, and the character of the sediments of them all varies with the region
they rise in and flow through.
Cotorapo River Sitt.—The alluvium now existing in the immediate bluff
of this river, and rising ten to thirty feet above the water, is composed of deep
red stratified sandy and clayey silt, containing many land shells and frequent
beds of leaves, as well as the branches and trunks of trees. This is fre-
quently underlaid by gravel beds such as have been described in the high
lands. Occasionally there is found overlying, unconformably, the red bluff
a deposit of deep chocolate-colored stratified clay. It occurs in lenticular
patches on the surface of the red bluff, and contains many beds of leaves and
vegetable detritus. These deposits doubtless represent old filled-up channels
or river bottom lakes. When a river shifts its course the old channel is
often converted into a lake. This gradually becomes filled up by the wash-
ing of detritus by rain, by the drifting of sand by the winds, and by vegetable
matter; and, after passing through the stage of a bog, eventually becomes
dry land. The soft strata of the Tertiary are especially well adapted to the
occurrence of such phenomena, while in hard rock they would not so readily
happen. Some of these chocolate clay deposits may also represent old lakes
in the course of the main river, filled up with sediment by the slackening of
the waters as they enter the wide part of its channel. Occasionally both the
red and chocolate bluff contain small white calcareous nodules. The allu-
vium now being laid down along the Colorado in the Tertiary area of Texas
is a gray or buff-colored sand with occasional pebble beds.
Figures 3 and 4 show the relation of the red, the chocolate, and the gray
alluvium.
a b a
—s ——S
= SE D$WOA®X#|=—=
aes, SL
———— =
Fig. 3.—Section showing relation of red and chocolate silt. a, red silt; 6b, chocolate silt.
62 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
Fig. 4.—Section showing relation of red and chocolate silt and recent river sand. a, red silt;
b, chocolate silt; c, recent river sand.
Above the river bottom are found three or more successive terraces, finally
reaching the upland gravel, as explained on page 60.
The red and chocolate alluvium underlies extensive river bottom areas and
gives rise to rich clay or loamy soils, varying somewhat in character with the
local changes in the alluvium, but generally of a black or brown color, and
very productive.
Brazos River Sitt.—The alluvium now found along the banks of the Brazos
rises ten to thirty feet above the water, and is composed of stratified red
and chocolate clay, often with beds of yellow, black, or light watery-green
colored clay. The whole deposit is highly calcareous, and often contains
many small white calcareous nodules. The yellow, black, or watery-green
clay generally occupies a position below the red and chocolate, though in
some cases it is underlaid by thin beds of the latter. The two deposits gen-
erally merge into one another, and in only very few cases was a sharp line of
separation seen. These clays are underlaid by gravel beds one to six feet
thick.
The alluvium now forming is a gray or buff sand, and in low water thin
seams of clay are interstratified with it.
Above the silt deposits are a series of gravel terraces, often poorly defined,
and gradually reaching the upland gravel.*
THe Rio GranpE SiLtt.—The alluvium now forming the immediate bluffs
of the river varies in different parts of its course. It rises from ten to thirty
feet above the water, is all characterized by being highly calcareous, and con-
taining many land shells (Bulumulus). From Hagle Pass to Laredo it consists
of a fine gray silt, rarely showing any signs of stratification, in which respect it
differs very markedly from the alluvium of the Brazos and Colorado. For
some distance below Laredo it continues the same, though indistinct signs of
stratification begin to appear; and from Roma on to Point Isabel, at the
mouth of the river, it is markedly stratified, and often colored a light brown
by iron. It frequently contains small white calcareous nodules, as on the
Brazos. In the upper part of the river this alluvium is underlaid by pebble
*These terraces are much more difficult to define in the Tertiary than in the Cretaceous
area, aS in the former case the red-colored river deposits and the underlying older strata are
of the same general color, and often of the same sandy consistency, while in the Cretaceous
country the underlying chalks and clays form a radical contrast.
POST-TERTIARY DEPOSITS. 63
beds of the same material as those capping the high hills and from one to ten
feet thick. These beds are not seen in the lower part of the river.
This alluvium is seen extending all the way to the coast at Brazos Santiago
and Point Isabel. Here it has been eroded, and forms low hills five to twelve
feet above the surrounding tide water marshes, and frequently capped with cac-
tus and mesquite. The sides of these hills are often very abrupt and free from
vegetation, clearly showing the character of the material. The alluvium now
forming is likewise highly calcareous. It varies from a fine sand to an im-
palpable silt, so fine that clouds of dust often rise in the wind from the dry
river bars.
Reynosa Limestons. — The Mexican town of Reynosa, in the State of
Tamaulipas, on the Rio Grande, is situated on a hill rising some fifty feet
above the level of the river and composed of a hard white limestone. This
is made up of very hard calcareous nodules, one-half inch to over three
inches in diameter, white to creamy-brown in color, ana in places showing
a concretionary structure imbedded in soft white material of the same com-
position. This deposit les on the sands of the Fayette series, which are
exposed at the water’s edge. Though usually hard, yet in places on the
surface it is soft and crumbly, and in this softer material were found many
specimens of Bulwmulus alternatus, Say., a shell found now in great quanti-
ties on the Rio Grande. These prove the late origin of at least the material
in which they were imbedded, and it apparently blends into the harder rock.
But unfortunately time did not permit a thorough investigation of the
region, and consequently, though it is probably true that the whole of the
limestone is of the same late origin, its relations and extent have not been
studied. It undoubtedly overlies the Fayette Beds, as this is proved by
the small outcrop of the latter at the water edge at Reynosa. Similar lime-
stones are said to be found in various parts of Hidalgo County, and that in
digging wells they are passed through for about tlirty feet, when they find
water in an underlying sand or sandstone (Fayette Beds’).
COAST CLAYS.
Along the coast of Texas there extends a belt of country underlaid by
clays and sandy clays of a gray, yellow, or mottled color, and often black on
the surface from the combination of their calcareous contents with vegetable
matter. These have been seen by the writer only in a few places along the
Brazos, and therefore can not be treated in full at present. They represent
the Port Hudson group of Hilgard, and the country underlaid by them is a
flat, open prairie, with an exceedingly rich soil. They extend inland toa
distance of fifty to one hundred miles, and in some places probably more,
until the Fayette Beds rise up to the surface and cut them out. The line
64 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
separating these formations is very irregular, and often long arms of coast
clay run far inland, especially along the river channels, where during the
deposition of the clay there were lagoons and embayments suitable for the
formation of such heds. Hilgard* speaks of this formation as consisting of
‘“‘a group of partly littoral and estuary, partly swamp lagoon and fluviatile
deposits, whose thickness and location is manifestly dependent upon the
topographical features of the continent then (during the Champlain period)
in progress of slow depression, as shown by the nature of the deposits and
the numerous superenclosed generations of large cypress stumps imbedded
in laminated clays exhibiting the yearly fall of leaves.”
Dr. Ferdinand Roemert+ says in reference to these coast deposits: ‘At the
head of Galveston Bay, and even near the town of Houston, I found, at a
height of twelve to twenty feet above the general level of the bay, large
deposits of shells of Gnathodon, a bivalve mollusc which lives abundantly in
the brackish waters along the coast of the Mexican Gulf, and in the Bay of
Galveston particularly. Some few oyster shells of the common kind occur
in these deposits of half fossilized Gnathodon shells, but there are no shells
different from those now living in the bay. Everything tends to the suppo-
sition that the conditions of climate, etc., at the period when these deposits
along the coasts of Texas were formed did not differ materially from the
present, except that a change in the relative level of the land and sea has
taken place.”
COAST CLAY SOILS.
The country underlaid by this group of strata is a flat prairie, reaching
from the Gulf shore to the outcrop of the Fayette Beds. The soil is a fertile
black clay, very similar to that of the prairies of Western Texas. The land
is now used for very little else than a great cattle range, but is doubtless des-
tined in the future to become one of the richest agricultural regions in the
Southwest, as it combines all the advantages of a most productive soil with
those of a moist and temperate climate.
*“On the Geological History of the Gulf of Mexico,” American Journal of Science and
Arts, Vol. II, December, 1871, p. 11.
+‘‘ Contributions to the Geology of Texas,” American Journal of Science and Arts, Second
Series, Vol. VI, 1848, p. 22. Y
THE IRON ORES OF EAST TEXAS. 65
ECONOMIC GEOLOGY.
THH IRON ORES OF HAST TEXAS.
The Iron Ores of East Texas all belong to the class of Brown Hematite
(Limonite). Though they have been known ever since this region was orig-
inally settled by Americans, over fifty years ago, and have been and are
still worked on a small scale, it has only been in the last few years that they
have begun to attract the serious attention of iron manufacturers. Until
then the railroad facilities were too few, and the markets too far away, to
allow of the ores being utilized. But now railroads are much more numer-
ous, and every year new lines are being pushed into hitherto inaccessible
regions. Local markets in many of the towns of the State, and throughout
the Southwest generally, are springing up, and the demand for pig iron is
daily increasing. The population of the country is growing rapidly, and labor
is becoming much more plentiful, and consequently cheaper, than ten years
ago. The result of this is that iron manufacturers are now looking to Texas
as a source of supply of ore for this region. These ores were worked on a
small scale before, during, and shortly after the Civil War, at several small
furnaces is Hast Texas. Most of them are now in ruins, or are rapidly ap-
proaching that condition. Among them were the Nash and Sulphur Forks
furnaces, in Cass County; the well known Loo Ellen (or Kelly) furnace, in
Marion County; and the Filleo and Young furnaces, in Cherokee County.
Shumard,* in 1859, speaks of the Nash furnace as having been erected
“several years since,” and it was probably the first furnace ever in blast in
the State of Texas. At present the only furnace working in the State is one
of twenty-five tons capacity at the State Penitentiary, near Rusk. This pro-
duces an excellent grade of pig iron, which is largely used at the car wheel
works in Marshall, Texas. Lately, however, two companies have bought up
extensive tracts of iron lands, with the object of manufacturing pig iron.
One of these, the Cherokee Land and Iron Company, has located furnaces
at the town of New Birmingham, one and a half miles southeast of Rusk,
Cherokee County. The other, the Lone Star Iron Company, is building
furnaces at Jefferson, in Marion County.
The mode of occurrence and the associations of the iron ores differ con-
siderably in the different districts, and therefore, for the sake of convenience
*First Report of Progress of the Geological and Agricultural Survey of Texas, B. F. Shu-
mard, 1859.
E
66 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
in description, they have been grouped under three different headings, and
will be treated separately.
1. Brown Laminated Ores.
2. Nodular or Geode Ores.
3. Conglomerate Ores.
1. BROWN LAMINATED ORES.
These ores are extensively developed south of the Sabine River, especially
in the counties of Cherokee, Anderson, Smith, Rusk, and probably in Harri-
son, Panola, Nacogdoches, and Shelby, though this latter region has not been
examined. The extension of this belt to the southwest across the Trinity
River also remains to be examined.
The ore is a brown hematite of a rich chestnut color, and often of a highly
resinous lustre. In structure it varies from a compact, massive variety show-
ing no structure, to a highly laminated form, the lamine varying from one-
sixteenth inch to one-quarter inch thick, frequently separated by hollow spaces,
and sometimes containing thin seams of gray clay. These often give ita ~
buff color and a crumbly nature, and hence the name often applied to it of
“Buff Crumbly Ore.” The laminz frequently show a black glossy surface,
though the interior is always the characteristic rich chestnut brown color.
The table of analyses which have been made at the Survey Laboratory is
given beyond. The ore occurs in a horizontal bed from one to three feet
thick, and averages between eighteen inches and two feet in thickness. It
is flat on top, but is bulging and mammillary below and lies at or near the
summits of the highest hills in the region In fact, it is to this protecting
cap of hard material that the hills owe their existence, as it has saved the
underlying soft strata from the effects of erosion, which otherwise would
quickly have lowered them to the level of the surrounding rolling country.
The iron ore bed is directly underlaid by a deposit varying from thirty to
forty feet thick of a soft yellow indurated glauconite (greensand). This
bed is sometimes hardened into a soft rock, easily cut with a saw or
axe, and locally used as a building stone. The interior of the bed, how-
ever, where it has not been exposed to the atmosphere, retains the dark
green color of the unaltered greensand. It contains considerable iron
pyrites and numerous casts of fossils of the Claiborne epoch, and repre-
sents the northeasterly extension of the Smithville Beds of the Colorado
River. This bed in turn is underlaid by a great series of sands and clays,
for a description of which see Timber Belt Beds. Sometimes thin seams
of iron ore are found in the greensand below the main ore bed, but they are
small and rarely of value. At times they lie horizontally, and at others
occupy joint cracks. The main ore bed is usually directly overlaid by a thin
THE IRON ORES OF EAST TEXAS. 67
seam of dark brown and very hard siliceous sandstone, varying from one
to six inches thick, and averaging about one and a half inches. It ad-
heres closely to the iron ore bed, though the line of separation is sharp and
well defined. Above this is a gray sandy deposit, becoming more clayey
and ferruginous towards its base, and varying from one to sixty feet thick.
This latter thickness is, however, very extreme, and the average is about
six to eight feet. Asarule the thickness of the ore depends, in a general
way, on the thickness of the overlying sand bed, it being thicker where
the sand is less than fifteen or twenty feet than where it is greater. Other
conditions, however, enter into the thickness and continuity of the iron
ore bed, which will be mentioned under the heading of Origin of Ores, and
which often upset the working of this rule. Nevertheless, the general fact
holds good that when the ore is capped by a great thickness of sand, it is
liable to be thin and discontinuous. The hills on which the ore occurs are
steep and show a broad flat plateau-like surface, heavily capped with post oak,
blackjack and hickory, generally of a small size, but very dense. The ore
crops out on the brink of these hills, forming a protruding rim or crown,
and often covering the slopes with great masses which have broken off from
the main bed. These plateaus are sometimes as much as twenty square miles
and more in area. They are often deeply cut by the ravines of creeks
which have originated in springs in the superficial sand and which flow away
from the plateau in all directions, cutting deep gullies and exposing the ore
bed along their courses. On top of these plateau areas the covering of sand
often conceals the ore for a distance of several miles at a time, but it is always
found cropping out at the top of the slopes, and in wells, proving its continu-
ity over very large areas. But, as has been stated above, when the overlying
sands and sandy clays reach a great thickness, the ore grows thin and very
often runs out altogether. Frequently there are found in the iron ore region
beds of conglomerate composed of ferruginous pebbles in a matrix of sand.
These are found along the rivers and creeks, and often form a prominent
feature in the topography of the country. They will be treated under “Con-
glomerate Ores.” The general distribution of the iron ores in special regions
can be best understood by a detailed description of such localities, and below
is given an account of the areas that have been visited:
Cueroxer County.—The ore belt in this county begins at its southern end,
about three miles north of the town of Alto, and runs in a northwesterly and
north northwesterly direction through the county into the southern part of
Smith County. Going north from Alto the ore is found capping small flat-
topped hills and narrow ridges, of limited extent, until we come within five miles
of New Birmingham. These ore-bearing areas show the usual brown laminated
ore, but near Alto, their extreme southern limit in the county, it has not reached
68 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
its full development and continuity as seen to the north of it. The ore is
thin, and the hills are scattered, small, and form isolated points, which though
low in absolute elevation look high and imposing in comparison with the sur-
rounding flat or gently undulating country. Such eminences are Collins Moun-
tain, Taylor Mountain, Carter Mountain, and many others, varying from one
hundred to one hundred and fifty feet above the surrounding drainage level,
and some five to six hundred feet above the Gulf of Mexico. In this region,
eight miles northwest of Alto, was situated the old Filleo furnace. It was
worked during the Civil War, but abandoned immediately after that time,
and it was from the immediately surrounding region that it drew its supply
of ore. Five miles southeast of New Birmingham we ascend the southern
extremity of the main iron range of central Cherokee County, which extends
thence in an unbroken table-land, running off to the northwest for over twelve
miles, and varying from one-half to three miles wide. It bears to the north
and east of the towns of Rusk and New Birmingham, and finally ends ab-
ruptly at Doyle’s Gap, seven miles above Rusk. Throughout this whole area
the character of the ore and its associated beds is identically the same. The
ore varies from one to three feet thick, is of the usual chestnut color, and is
overlaid by from three to ten feet of gray sand. The new town of New
Birmingham is built on the western slope of this range at a distance of one
and a half miles southeast of Rusk, the county seat of Cherokee County, and
is the location of the furnaces of the Cherokee Land and Iron Company.
Doyle’s Gap is a narrow break, half a mile wide, in the main range, and to
to the west of it we again ascend the northeast corner of a similar iron-bearing
plateau. This is the eastern part of what is known as the Gent Mountain
country, which extends hence in a southwesterly direction to within eight
miles of the Neches River. Going west from Rusk we strike the south-
ern part of the Gent Mountain range in six miles, and in about four miles
further reach the village of Gent, situated on the southwestern corner of the
plateau. This range is almost cut in two by Horse Pen and One Arm creeks,
running respectively north and south from the summit, but the two parts are
connected by a narrow neck of ore-bearing land. This area is some six
miles long by four to five miles wide and is almost continuously underlaid by
iron ore. From the summit of Gent Mountain can be seen the sloping coun-
try to the west, running to the swampy bottom of the Neches, some eight
miles distant. Beyond the river the country can be seen gradually rising
into the forest-clad hills of Anderson County. To the south the low, flat, or
undulating country forming the Neches and Gum Creek bottoms spreads
out in rich pine and gum tree thickets. To the east and north are seen the ore-
bearing highlands of central Cherokee County, covered with a thick growth
of hickory, blackjack, and post oak, and extending on the east beyond Rusk,
THE IRON ORES OF EAST TEXAS. 69
and on the north to within five miles of Jacksonville. Gent Mountain is
some three hundred feet above the Neches River. For the first two hundred
feet the slope is very rapid and then drops more gradually to the river.
The following section on the slope of the plateau and just east of Gent
shows the occurrence of the ore:
Le RESP OTST yr EE ae ne a ee ene ee 1 to 10 feet.
PCOS: HANONIHE CANN ais ae eee a Vag c= oainie wid oe aye kale arses 1to 2 im
Perrowil LAMINALEO IFO OFC... ..2.-s0---0s055+ sce) Mee PEGE s Soi eee 2 feet.
4, Indurated greensand with thin seams of clay and casts of fossils.......... 45 feet.
Pathe Wik elayey BANG! Sokol cts Jl sede vel Satie Wile. e ieee 20 feet.
6. Dark blackish-brown sand, more clayey towards the base, nodules of
rusty clay ironstone showing shrinkage cracks..................-- 31 feet.
7. Brownish-gray sand to base of section ....... Se ATR hata Saat cok din 1 ers'b 11 feet.
To the west and northwest the Gent Mountain range is bounded by Gum
Creek, and beyond it the iron-bearing plateau again becomes broken up into
numerous flat topped hills and narrow ridges, extending from Gum Creek to
the International and Great Northern Railroad, and beyond. The railroad takes
advantage of this break in the main range to pass through the plateau coun-
try, and it is the only east and west pass in a distance of over twenty-five
miles. Among the most prominent of these isolated hills are [ron-Furnace
Mountain (the location of the old Young furnace), Gray’s Mountain and
Grimes Mountain. Beyond we come to another iron-bearing plateau. It
begins in its southern extremity at Ragsdale Mountain, three miles west
of Jacksonville, and extends on the north to the old town of Larissa, where
again it is cut off by Killough Creek. This range is over six miles long, and
three miles wide in its widest part. On the east side it slopes off in a series
of fertile red and mulatto soils into Gum Creek bottom, which separates it
from the Mount Selman range. On the west slope of the plateau is a broad
fertile agricultural country, with soils similar to those on the eastern slope,
and reaching to the Neches River, a distance of five to eight miles. The ore
is of the same general character as that already described. It varies from
one to three feet thick, is capped with the usual one to three inches of hard
brown sandstone, and one to six feet of gray sand. The prosperous town of
Jacksonville is beautifully situated three miles east of Ragsdale Mountain, and
on the southwestern slope of the Mount Selman range. The International and
Great Northern Railroad enters the town from the southern end of the range,
and the Kansas and Gulf Short Line comes down the southwestern slope,
intersecting the International and Great Northern at Jacksonville. Go-
ing northeast from the town, the summit of the plateau is reached in about
one and a half miles. The ore shows itself in the gullies and breaks of the
mountain slope, and is of the same character and thickness as that described
70 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
on Gent Mountain and elsewhere. The range is of the customary plateau
character, is twelve miles long, and varies in width from a hundred yards to
a half mile. The sand cap overlying the iron here is much thinner than on
many of the other iron-bearing ranges, and often the bare ore bed is exposed
directly on the surface of the ground, thus adding greatly to the value of the
deposit, as the mining of it requires but little or no stripping. The absence
of this covering is doubtless due to the narrowness of the range, which has
made it easy work for the surface waters to wash away the loose sand, and
also to a westerly dip of the iron ore, which has still farther facilitated the
erosion of the surface deposits, by allowing the superficial waters to run off
at a rapid rate, and all in one direction. This westerly dip is peculiar to this
plateau, and extends along it throughout its whole length. It is doubtless
due to a local sinking to the west of the underlying strata, probably before the
formation of the iron ore, and also before the plateau was cut out of the Ter-
tiary strata. At Mount Selman, eight miles north of Jacksonville, the ore on
the eastern brink of the range is seventy feet higher than it is on the western
side, less than one mile distant. Another result of this dip is to make the
eastern slope of the range very steep, and in some places perpendicular, while
the western slope drops off much more gradually toward Gum Creek bottom.
Mount Selman is simply a part of this range, and the village of that name is
situated directly on the summit of the plateau. To the north of it the ore ex-
tends for four miles, and reaches its terminus at a point one mile south of the
Smith County line, and a little greater distance southeast of the village of
Bullard. Here the range ends in a small flat-topped hill a hundred yards
long by ten to thirty yards wide. To the north from here the country slopes
off gradually to Tyler, in Smith County, in a stretch of fertile country with
red and mulatto soils, and largely underlaid by glauconiferous strata. The
Kansas and Gulf Short Line follows the crest of this ridge from below Bul-
lard to within three miles of Jacksonville. In a cut on this road about a
mile and a half south of Mount Selman is seen a somewhat unusual occur-
rence of iron ore. It consists of large concretionary masses six to seven feet
in diameter, of a black or dark rusty-brown color, and imbedded in the in-
durated altered greensand. This is overlaid by the regular horizontal bed of
ore, as shown in Fig. 5, Plate II.
The origin of these masses will be explained on page 73. A short dis-
tance south of this is McKee’s Gap, which is a narrow break in the top of the
plateau and is the only interruption in the continuity of the iron ore through-
out its whole twelve miles of extent. The ore of this area is of very regular
thickness, varying from two to three feet. The following section on the
eastern slope of the range south of Mount Selman shows the occurrence of
the ore:
THE IRON ORES OF EAST TEXAS. vail
PGA SAMI eter AcE Prodi thd clas tle tds sola wha he pial we Edid SUL ani ohsie ele sluiern ord le 0 to 2 feet.
Dae Bua ihe ALAC COR OPES tis) to iacie' stabs: sie a gawd erhiw Slare 6,03 ore a hens Re a Sy 88s 2 to 3 feet.
CommTTOUNN Se CE LES AINE Lp cite tals at Aidt ol wh shoul ao /Phaliol 2 b> vj olny aud wlaye ya nl ofe wel @ oe 30 feet.
4. Detritus.
This region forms the divide between the waters of the Neches River on
the west and Mud Creek, the headwaters of the Angelina River, on the east.
It reaches its highest elevation at Mount Selman, where it is seven hundred
feet above the sea. From here north to the limit of the iron ore there is but
little change in height, but from there to Tyler it drops off to 531 feet. To
the south of Mount Selman the plateau maintains almost the same elevation
to within a mile northeast of Jacksonville, when it rapidly slopes off to 525
feet at that town. From the summit of the ridge the land slopes off on the
east very abruptly for a hundred feet, and sometimes shows two or three suc-
cessive benches (see pages 84, 85); thence the grade is more gradual down to
the settlement of Little Arkansas and to Mud Creek bottom. To the west
the grade slopes off in gently undulating hills, with a rich growth of pine,
oak, and hickory, and watered by numerous creeks and springs.
The town of Lone Star, in Cherokee County, is situated about ten miles
south of the Smith County line, and near the line between Cherokee and Rusk
counties. To the east of the town is seen a series of ore-capped hills, one
of them two miles long by a quarter of a mile wide. The ore is one to two
feet thick and is often discontinuous under the heavy covering of gray sand.
Smita County.—The continuation of the same iron ore belt as is seen in
Cherokee County is also found in the southwestern part of Smith County.
It caps ridges varying from one-quarter to three miles long, and is also found
on isolated flat-topped hills. It is of the brown laminated variety, and occurs
in the same associations as in Cherokee County. Hight miles southeast of
Tyler, on the land of Col. W.S. Herndon, of Tyler, the ore was seen in large
quantities. It is laminated, dark or light brown, with a bright black gloss
on the lamine. Sometimes it is of a buff color and crumbly. On the slopes
of the hills are seen the characteristic ore-capped benches, which here are two
in number. Between here and Tyler are several other small outcrops, in
the William T. Wright and James Kelly surveys. In the northern part of
the county are also considerable areas of iron ore. These have not been
visited by the writer, but have been partially traced out by Mr. G. E. Ladd.
They extend in broken areas from three miles west of the Missouri, Kansas
and Texas Railroad, in a westerly direction to the Van Zandt County line,
and at a distance of two to six miles south of the Sabine River.
ANDERSON County.—The iron ore of Anderson County is identical in
every respect to that of Cherokee, not only in its general character, but in its
mode of occurrence and its origin, In fact, it is simply the westerly contin-
V2 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
uation of the same belt as has been described in that county. Going north
from Palestine, the county seat of Anderson County, the main iron-bearing
range is met at about three miles from the town, and extends in a great pla-
teau, often broken up into separate flat-topped hills, from here northerly
towards Beaver, Brushy Creek, Kickapoo, and the Henderson County line.
To the east this plateau breaks into small hills extending to the Neches River,
and to the west it gradually disappears in the same way in the water shed of
the Trinity River. This iron region forms the divide between the Neches
and Trinity, just as in Cherokee the Selman Range forms the divide between
the waters of the Angelina and the Neches. In this range, as in Cherokee,
springs give rise to many creeks, which flow down the steep slopes of the
plateau, come together in the lowlands, and finally discharge into the muddy
waters of the main rivers. The ore found here is continuous over large areas,
and maintains a very steady thickness of one to three feet. To the south of
Palestine the same ore is found, but here the bed is generally thinner and
less continuous and the ore bearing hills are more scattered, though the ore
is of very good quality. Many of the hills are capped with hard, yellow
altered greensand, but carry no ore. The iron range in the great high-
land region to the north of Palestine comprises most of the ore of the county,
and is of very great economic importance. What adds still more to its value
is its nearness to the pure white limestone in the Saline, six miles southwest
of Palestine. This is excellently adapted for a flux in smelting iron ore, and
in consideration of the rarity of such deposits in Hast Texas, is of the great-
est practical importance.
Henperson, Van Zanpt, Rusk, Nacogpocnres, PANoOLA AND OTHER CouUN-
TrESs.—Iron ore also occurs in the southeastern part of Henderson County,
and in Van Zandt, Rusk, Nacogdoches, Panola, and elsewhere in this region,
but only a few spots in these counties have as yet been visited by the writer.
In Henderson County, on the Cotton Belt Railroad and one mile east of
Athens, are seen thin seams of a brown hematite ore, two to twelve inches
thick, and associated with sands and clays. This bed belongs to the class of
nodular ores, which will be described later on. In the southwest part of the
county ore is also found, but it has not yet been seen by the writer. In
Rusk County brown laminated ore is reported to exist in large quantities.
ORIGIN OF THE BROWN LAMINATED ORES.
These ores are always associated with the glauconite deposits. Though they
are sometimes separated from it by a thin bed of gray clay, they invariably
overlie it very closely, and where the glauconite disappears, so also the iron
ore disappears. On the other hand, however, the same glauconiferous stratum
THE IRON ORES OF EAST TEXAS. 73
is frequently found without any covering of ore. A comparison of the parts of
the bed that carry ore and the parts that do not, discloses the following facts:
That the parts carrying ore are yellow, indurated, and partially decomposed
.for some distance in from the surface; also that though they once contained
large quantities of fossil shells, these shells have either entirely or almost en-
tirely disappeared and only the casts of the shells remain; also that when the
bed is dug into until the green undecomposed part is reached, large qauntities
of undecomposed iron pyrites are seen, the only trace of it on the outside
being rusty spots or a hard brown ferruginous crust; also in the sandy clay
immediately overlying the greensand there are frequently found large quan-
tities of iron pyrites. An examination of the part that does not contain ore,
or where the ore is very thin or scattered, discloses the following facts: The
greensand preserves its green color often even on the surface, and shows
little or none of the tendency to go into a yellow mass seen in the iron regions;
also the fossils are represented by the shells themselves, and not by the casts
of the same; also little or no iron pyrites is present. The natural conclusion
from these facts is that the presence of iron, the removal of shells, the altera-
tion of glauconite, and the accompaniment of iron pyrites are closely connected
phenomena; and everything goes to show that they are not only closely con-
nected, but are absolutely dependent on each other. The explanation seems
to be that the change results from the decomposition of iron pyrites. The
decomposition of this mineral gives rise to sulphate of iron and sulphuric
acid. The sulphate of iron is either carried off in surface waters or decom-
posed on the spot into hydrous peroxide, the basis of the iron ore of the
region. The sulphuric acid, set free by the decomposition of the pyrites,
attacks the fossil shells, which are composed largely of carbornate of lime,
and forms carbonic acid and sulphate of lime (gypsum). It also attacks the
glauconite, decomposing it either partially or wholly, and converts it into the
yellow indurated mass seen everywhere in the iron ore region. In many places,
however, iron pyrites has not produced the whole of the iron ore bed, but
has been assisted by the decomposition of the glauconite, which itself contains
over twenty per cent of metallic iron. When the pyrites is absent this does
not decompose easily, but.the continued action on it of sulphuric acid, from
the decomposition of the pyrites, causes it gradually to break up into its vari-
ous constituents. The sulphate of iron resulting from this would, in turn,
become decomposed into the hydrous peroxide, which would be deposited
with the portion of the same material furnished by the iron pyrites. That
the ore is often entirely produced by the pyrites unassisted by the glauconite
is proved by the fact that it is often separated from this latter by a clay one
to three feet thick; and that the glauconite does sometimes assist is seen in
the occasional blending of it with the ore, as well as in the very rare occur-
74 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
rence of glauconite fossil impressions in the iron ore. A large supply of iron
pyrites is also found in a thin bed of sand and clay containing large quanti-
ties of, and often entirely composed of, that mineral, with small pieces and
seams of lignite, and directly overlying the glauconite. The following sec-
tion shows its occurrence in a pit at McBee School, two miles east of Alto,
Cherokee County:
1. White sandy clay....... Roba test so fried Bia oh Mauabee cis Jocee sid @ arent inr otha aaa E Seen 10 to 30 feet.
2. Ferruginous sandy clay becoming stony hard at the base ......... po ae 1 foot.
3. White siliceous sandstone with a cement of finely disseminated iron pyrites.. 1 to 3 in.
4. Loose sand with lenticular masses of lignite, one to four inches thick, and
many disseminated particles of iron pyrites, running into a very plastic
dark sreenish-lorowydsel ays oe lOiwae aurea) -ipevee eles eee 3 feet.
5. Dark green glauconitic marl with casts of fossils, at bottom of the pit.
Here we doubtless have the original condition of the strata above and be-
low the iron ore horizon before the brown hematite was formed. It will be
seen that the brown hematite is not represented in the section, but in its place,
i. e., below the top of the sandy clay and above the greensand, are some four
feet of clay and sand, with large quantities of iron pyrites. There is enough
of this mineral here to give rise to a bed of brown hematite ore equal in
thickness to the average of that found in the country, without the assistant
supply from the glauconite. The ferruginous matter from the decomposition
of the pyrites would percolate into the black clay and with it form the brown
hematite as it now occurs. The clay would supply alumina to the ore, and
hence the source of that material found in all analyses. Also, the ore fre-
quently contains inclusions of clay, and the lamin are often coated with a
thin film of it, giving rise to a brittle gray colored mass known as “buff-
crumbly ore.” In fact every material found in the brown hematite is also
found in the. materials of this section, and the process of decomposition and
of subsequent reconstruction in an entirely different form of the substances
involved, is simply the fulfilment of the laws of chemistry. The reason that
this section is still seen in this almost entirely unchanged state is due to the
fact that the overlying sandy clay is a very stiff impervious bed, and has
protected the underlying strata from the decomposing influences of the air.
But that even in spite of this protection it is beginning to decompose, is seen
by the ferruginous crust at the base of 2 in the section. Also by the
fact that a spring, heavily charged with iron, rises from it. This fact also
gives a reason for the local absence of the ore, even in the iron ore belt, where
the capping of sand is very heavy or very clayey, as this protects the iron
pyrites from decomposition, and hence prevents the formation of the brown
hematite. Another cause for this absence of the hematite is also to be found
in the very probable local absence of the pyrites, even in the midst of pyrit-
THE IRON ORES OF EAST TEXAS. 75
iferous strata. It is only natural that iron pyrites, dependent as it is on the
combined decomposition of organic matter and soluble salts of iron, should
be somewhat uncertain in its presence, and it is a most remarkable fact that
it should be so regularly distributed as it is found to be in the iron ore re-
gion. The McBee School section also explains one of the most perplexing
occurrences in connection with the iron ore region, and that is the capping
of dark brown hard, flinty, and siliceous sandstone, directly overlying the ore
and from one to six inches thick. This rock is sharply defined from the ore,
and often contains fragments of ferruginized lignite.* Such a deposit could
easily be formed from the constituents of beds 2 and 3 by the decomposi-
tion of the pyrites, first into sulphate of iron and then into the hydrous per-
oxide, and the subsequent cementing of the sand by this latter material. The
McBee School section is the only one of the kind that has been seen by the
writer. But this rarity of such occurrences is very easily explained, as they
can exist only when protected by either a heavy covering or an impervious
one, and hence are usually obscured. The exposal to view of the case in
question is an accidental occurrence, due to the cutting of a steep ravine, and
the fact that the overlying sandy clay was so dense and impervious that a
thin cover of it protected the underlying strata. A fact, however, that tends
to prove its existence elsewhere is tle almost universal occurrence at the con-
tact of the glauconite and overlying sandy clay of highly ferruginous springs,
especially in places where no brown hematite is seen. The exact contact is
invisible, as the sandy clay has invariably drifted over and obscured it. The
shape of the ore bed is also strong proof that these chemical and physical
actions have gone on; the upper surface of the bed is usually flat, but the
base of it is very uneven and shows a bulging mammillary form and large
concentric bulbs at the bottom. Frequently the bulging parts of the bed are
in separate masses, though they are closely compacted together like a paved
road. SO aa Sie 1.58.1 (0:62) | eeaeuene
LUO bee Oia pe 16.10 '13.09 |49.46 SESO i AS ee SiS) eee 2226) 4) 0045). ae
lowe 5.65/20.95 |16.28 |47.62 | Tip oh El eae Were SI relies ee ak Re See W OsOB Wogoco-
WH 2 5 .85)/25.95 (11.20 |45.25 OAD TL ALON Oe Bx os ke 212 Ol Sal eee
1633 6.00/30 85 |16.87 |36.83 O GO? Weeks OsZl occ oe 344 | N27 eee
4b, 6.35/32.00 |20.66 |34.94 ZG). Welet O4 es secce 3 UT 10466 Wee
* Tron and alumina.
LIGNITES.
The lignites of Hastern Texas have been mentioned in many places in this re-
port in the description of the geology of the various parts of the region. They
consist of the decayed vegetation which covered the region during the time
that the lignites and their accompanying sandy and clayey strata were being
deposited. In them are found the remains of trunks of trees, branches, and
In fact
every lignite bed in the region represents the position occupied by an ancient
leaves, with impressions of reeds and other bog or swamp flora.
swamp or coast lagoon. Probably most of the Texas lignites were formed
in bayous and lagoons on the coast, and the vegetable matter was carried to
them by rivers.
Such places were probably heavily timbered, and year after year the trees
dropped their leaves and dead branches on the moist ground. Here they
collected and were mixed up with dead reeds, moss, grass, etc. As the trees
themselves died they also lay down in the same grave, and rotted in the same
boggy waters as their leaves and branches, until often a great thickness of
decayed vegetable matter had collected. Then, from some cause, either from
a change of elevation of the land or an increase of rainfall, and hence of sur-
face waters, these beds were submerged. The waters passing over them de-
posited sand and clay on top of the vegetable matter, and often reached a
thickness of several hundred feet, compressing it by their weight into a solid
mass. Hence the lignite beds as they now exist, overlaid and underlaid by
sands and clays. It might happen that these same sand and clay beds that
had been deposited over the vegetable matter may be again raised above the
water level, form the bottom of another bog, collect more dead trees, leaves,
ete., and again be submerged to be covered by sand and clay, in the same way
LIGNITES. 95
as the first or underlying bog. Hence the reason that we often find two or
more beds overlying each other and separated by sands and clays. The
vegetable matter in these beds has in some few cases preserved its original
shape, but in the vast majority of lignites it has been altered to such a degree
that we see simply a solid mass, varying from dark brown to black in color,
and showing no trace of its former existence as a tree, reed, or leaf. The
lignite also varies very much in its physical character. At times it is a soft
amorphous mass with no structure, a dull earthy lustre, and easily crumbled
when exposed to the air. At others it is harder, with a bright and often a
brilliant jet black lustre, breaking with a cubical or conchoidal fracture, and
though soft, yet not so easily crumbled as the first variety. Between these
stages there are found all gradations. The difference in character is probably
not only due to the conditions of deposition of the vegetable matter in the
original bog, but also to chemical changes which have since taken place, and
to the different pressure of the overlying strata. It can not be due to any
disturbance or folding of the strata, as they all lie almost horizontally or dip
gently to the east or southeast, and show no signs whatever of any such dis-
turbance. Yet we often find beds of these two different varieties of lignite
in strata of the same material and exposed to exactly the same physical and
meteorological conditions. Hence we are brought down to ascribing these
differences either to different conditions of deposition, or to the chemical ac-
tion which has gone on since the deposition of the lignite. A strong proof
of this is shown in the case of the San Tomas coal, page 96.
These lignite beds occur all through Hast Texas, from the top of the Basal
Clays on the western edge of the timber to beyond the middle of the Fayette
Beds, sometimes to within a hundred miles or less of the gulf coast. They
are not confined to any special strata in this region, but occur at intervals all
through it. They are, as is natural from their mode of formation, of uncer-
tain areal extent, and occur as lenticular beds in the overlying and underly-
ing strata. Yet they are so numerous and often so thick that if they were
to be used on a large scale, vast quantities of the material could be obtained.
They vary in thickness from a fraction of an inch to over twelve feet. On
the Sabine River these beds are seen in many places, cropping out on the
bluffs in Van Zandt, Rains, Smith, Wood, and many other places on the lower
part of the river. In many parts of Van Zandt County, especially between
Canton and Grand Saline, lignite is found in most all the wells, often giving
them a strong mineral taste from the decomposition of the iron pyrites.
Near Alamo, Cass County, lignite has been worked to some extent, and oc-
curs in three different beds (page 35). Similar beds crop out on the Trinity
River, in Anderson, Houston, and other counties. In Henderson County it
is found on the land of W. E. Jones, three miles southwest of Athens. In
96 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
¢
Cherokee, it is found in many places south of Alto, and thence on into An-
gelina, Nacogdoches, Rusk, and other counties. On the bluffs of the Brazos,
lignite is exposed in various places, from the northern part of Milam County
down to the southern part of Burleson County. The largest bed seen here
is at what is known as “Calvert Bluff,” in Robertson County, near the town
of Calvert. A section of this bed is given on page 26. It will be observed
that there are two separate beds, the upper one twelve feet thick, and the
lower one two feet, and separated by two feet of clay. The lignite is black,
friable, of a somewhat woody structure, and crumbles on exposure to air.
Both above and below this point on the Brazos are seen numerous beds va-
rying from one to five feet thick. On the Colorado River, many lignite beds
crop out in Bastrop and Fayette counties. Both above and below the town
of Bastrop they are very numerous, and form an almost universal accompa-
niment of the sandy and clayey bluffs, varying from one to five feet thick.
Along the river, in the western part of Fayette, they are seen near the mouth
of Barton Creek, and in the First and Second Chalk Bluffs. See page 52.
Some eight miles by river above La Grange is seen a bed ten feet thick.
SAN TOMAS COAL MINE.
This is the only place where fuel is mined on any considerable scale east of
a line drawn between Hagle Pass*.and Dallas. A section of this is given on
page 43. The coal bed is two and a half feet thick, and separated in the
middle by a two inch seam of hard black clay.t The coal is jet black,
highly glossy, and has a conchoidal fracture. It is generally massive, though
sometimes it has the structure of bituminous coal. It is light and friable,
and has the appearance of being an altered lignite.
This materia] has proved a very serviceable fuel. and is especially valuable
in a country like Southern Texas, where there is no other coal, and where
wood is very scarce. The enterprising manager and owner, Mr. C. B.
Wright, has built a railroad, the ‘Rio Grande and Pecos,” from the mine to
*Considerable coal is mined a few miles northwest of Kagle Pass.
+As will be observed in the section, the coal is both underlaid and overlaid by clays contain-
ing thin seams of true woody lignite. The presence of these throws some light on the cause
of the metamorphism of the coal into its present shape. If it had been due to any disturb-
ance in the strata of the surrounding country or connected in any way with the existence
of the eruptive knobs to the west and northwest, we should expect to see all the beds met-
amorphosed, and not the central one only, as they are so close together that any such influ-
ence that would affect one must also affect the other. Therefore we are driven to the con-
clusion that the change of character of the material must have been due either to the pecu-
liar conditions surrounding its deposition, or else to the chemical action which has taken
place since that time. Probably both these causes have operated, the chemical cause pos-
sibly having been started by the physical one.
LIGNITES. OF .
Laredo, a distance of twenty miles, thus facilitating the shipment of the coal to
the various markets. It is extensively used on the Mexican International
Railroad, and for steam and household purposes in Laredo, and has already
become an important factor in the welfare of the region. When the mine
was visited by the writer, in May, 1889, the output was 100 tons a day.
USES OF LIGNITE.
The San Tomas coal is so vastly superior to any of the Hast Texas lignites
that it can not fairly be classed with them, and therefore the following re-
marks are not intended to refer to it. The lignite beds have not yet been
worked to any considerable extent. Some of the material has been taken
out at the following places: In Raines County; at Alamo, in Cass County;
some three miles southwest of Athens, Henderson County; at Calvert Bluff,
Robertson County; and in other places in small quantities; but so far as the
knowledge of the writer goes, it has in every case been attended with unsat-
isfactory results. There are three causes for this:
1. The lignite, even when it is sun-dried, contains a high percentage of
water, ten to twenty per cent, and when it is burned a large amount of the
heating power of the fuel is consumed in evaporating the moisture, and
is absolutely lost for all practical purposes. This water, in the sun-dried ma-
terial, is chemically combined with the lignite, and can not be removed
without decomposing it. Hence the popular saying that the lignite “burns
without heating.”
2. Most all the lignites have a strong tendency to crumble when exposed
to the air, and a large part of it is wasted by being carried up the flues of
a furnace even by an ordinary draft. Also, a finely crumbled fuel is diffi-
cult to handle in a furnace, and its transportation is expensive, and accom-
panied by a large amount of waste.
3. The part of Hast Texas where lignite is found is heavily timbered, not
only with pine but with hardwoods. Railroads in many places can have this
fuel placed on the track for $2 to $4 per cord, and it requires a very good
and cheap coal to compete with that price for railroad or furnace purposes.
It might be said that the wood will run out, and the lignite will then be used.
But as the hardwood of Hast Texas is increasing every year, and spreading
over areas that were once prairies, the outlook in this direction is not en-
couraging. As the value of lignite will not stand transportation, it can not,
except under special conditions, be sent into the regions where wood is scarce.
There are, however, uses to which lignite can be applied:
1. The better grades can be used for household purposes.
2. It can be ground and pressed into bricks, with some cementing substance
like asphalt or coal tar, and thus gotten into a much more serviceable shape
G
. 98
GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
than that in which it naturally occurs. This does away with the inconven-
ience of having it crumble. Such bricks are considerably used in France and
Belgium* for railroad and other purposes.
3. Lignite of a black color, in a finely powdered state, has been used in
England, under the name of ‘‘Cologne Harth,” as the basis of a black paint.
4. Lignite has been successfully used in place of bone-black in clarifying
sugar.
ANALYSES OF TEXAS LIGNITES AND COAL.
Water. | Matter, | Carbon. | 48% || pum
Lignite—Rockdale, Milam County......... 19.925 | 52.425 | 22.000 5.650 | 1.235
ISCO) COMMU o55¢cd60eabc0rc 13.285 | 59.865 | 18.525 8.325 | 2.360
Athens, Henderson County... ... 9.100 | 42.200 1.375 | 41.325 | 0.625
Rusk County Se aaa eee ha ty ae ah oae ee 16.825 | 46.325 | 31.475 5.375 | 1.090
Calvert Bluff, Robertson POE 16.475 | 58.400 ! 18.675 6.450 | 1.330
Shelby County holeapesnetee tLe it ce oRepe et ents 18.260 | 43.510 | 29.530 8.700 | 2.460
eon County ce Aiiemrts eto ete 14.670 | 37.320 | 41.070 6.690 | 06.250
Rockdale, Milam County..... ... 13.800 | 43.550 | 36.830 5.320 | 1.350
ANALYSES OF LAREDO AND EAGLE PASS COAL.
Water. | Matter, | Carbon. | 45% | phur,
Iharedo Coady crak 5 Soyeuse bee ae on ee 2.5 51.05 39.1 feo Tes
inagle “Pass Coders saren nate. a meter eee ieee 3.675 | 39.42 41.7 15.205 | 0.81
MINERAL SPRINGS.
Springs are of very frequent occurrence throughout East Texas. Some-
times they are very pure, and almost entirely free from any mineral matter,
while at other times they are highly charged with iron, sulphuric acid, and
salts of lime, magnesia, alumina, and alkalies.
by far the most plentiful of all the mineral waters, and it is an exceedingly
Iron springs, however, are
common occurrence to see chalybeate waters arising from Tertiary strata.
The interstratification of sand and clay beds, representing as they do alter-
nate permeable and impermeable layers, is peculiarly favorable to the ex-
istence of local springs. Water falls on the sandy surface of a hill and runs
down between the loose materials until it meets a clay bed. This proves im-
passable on account of its impervious nature, and the water, thus deflected
from its downward course, runs over the surface of the clay until it reaches
the outcrop of the bed in a hillside or river bluff, and here gushes out as a
spring. The ferruginous springs derive their iron from the beds through
which they pass. The sandy soils are often bleached on the surface, while
* Compare First Report of Progress Geological and Mineralogical Survey of Texas, 1888,
p. 20.
MINERAL SPRINGS. 99
below they are highly ferruginous. This is sometimes due to the difference
in the strata, but is also often due to the bleaching or deferruginizing power
of waters passing through decaying vegetation, such as leaves, roots, dead
trees, etc. The iron in the sand is in the form of sesquioxide, which is in-
soluble in pure water, but slightly soluble in water containing carbonic acid.
The rain water falls on the decaying vegetation of the surface, becomes
highly charged with carbonic acid generated by it, and percolates into the
underlying sand bed. Here it takes up its portion of iron, and, when it
finally appears again as a spring, it is highly charged with it. This, on ex-
posure, is again oxidized, and appears in the form of a rusty, oily looking
scum, often mistaken for petroleum; or as a brown slimy sediment in the
bottom of the spring and the stream running from it. Frequently part of
the oxide of iron is precipitated before the stream appears on the surface, and
forms layers of hard rusty scales on the top of the clay bed over which it is
running.* Many iron springs are also formed by the decomposition of iron
pyrites in the sandy and clayey strata. This mineral breaks up with the for-
mation of sulphate of iron and sulphuric acid, both of which are taken up in
the subterranean waters and appear again on the surface as ingredients of
chalybeate springs. The sulphuric acid sometimes attacks the clay, taking
up part of the alumina contained in it and forming alum. Also, it attacks
any lime, magnesia, potash, or soda salts that may exist in the strata, and
forms gypsum from the lime, epsom salts from the magnesia, and soluble
sulphates from the potash and soda; hence the presence of these materials in
many mineral springs.
Springs such as have been described are very numerous throughout Hast
Texas. They appear in many hillsides, and especially on the bluffs of rivers,
coating them with a rusty scum, and often cementing the loose strata sur-
rounding them.
Hynson Springs are in Harrison County, six miles southwest of Marshall.
Some of these are highly charged with iron, and others much less so. They
also contain magnesia, lime, and alkaline salts. They are situated on a hill
composed of sandy and clayey strata associated with iron ore, and rising 250
feet (barometric) above the town of Marshall. The summit commands a
beautiful view of the surrounding country, and from it can be seen the forest-
clad hills of Marion, Rusk, and Harrison counties to the north, south and
west. ‘To the east the country slopes off into the dense forests of Caddo and
Sodo Lakes, and the Red River bottom. This property has been fitted up
as a health and pleasure resort by the energetic owner, Captain Hynson, and
promises to be one of the most popular places in the eastern part of the State.
* Lignite beds often, doubtless, supply much carbonic acid to the surface waters.
100 - QULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS.
The Hlkhart Wells are one mile southeast of the town of Hlkhart, in An-
derson County. They vary from thirty to sixty feet in depth, and have been
sunk for the sake of the mineral waters they contain. A hotel is being built
here and a health resort started. Some of the waters are comparatively free
from mineral matter, while others are strongly impregnated with iron, alum
and sulphur. Some of the old wells here are said to have smelled so strongly
of sulphur as to have been obnoxious, and were filled up. The surrounding
country is flat, low, and underlaid by sand and clay. These are brown from
the presence of vegetable matter, and contain iron pyrites, lime, gypsum, and
sulphur. It is doubtless from the mutual decomposition of these materials
that the mineral matter in the water owes its origin. Some of the waters
have a strong sulphur taste, and others have the pungent effects of alum and
iron salts. |
_ In the northeast part of the Musquez survey, in Mud Creek bottom, Cher-
okee County, are a great number of ferruginous and sulphur springs. The
sulphur gives a strong taste to the water, and is deposited as a white sedi-
ment. The iron springs deposit a heavy sediment of hydrous oxide, and are
closely associated with the sulphur springs. Twelve springs like these were
seen in an area of about one square mile. In one of them asection of a large
hollow gum tree has been sunk, making a beautiful clear basin within the
sides of the trunk. Tradition says that General Rusk, almost fifty years ago,
placed this tree here, and used to come every year from his home in Nacog-
doches County to drink the water. Many other such springs are found in
Hastern Texas, and many are the stories of wonderful cures that have been
worked by them, but they have not yet been examined by the writer.
OILS.
The subject of oils in Nacogdoches, Angelina, and other counties has not
been studied, and is left for future discussion. The oils and asphalt-bearing
sands of Anderson County are briefly described below.
Ten miles east of Palestine is seen a series of black and chocolate colored
sands lying horizontally and containing specks of mica. They are impreg-
nated with bituminous matter, sometimes in the form of stiff sticky asphalt,
and at others as mineral oil. In this neighborhood six wells were bored for
oil by a Palestine syndicate in 1887, but little or no oil was found. The fol-
lowing two sections of borings, from data collected by Mr. J. L. Mayo, con- ~
tractor, show the associations of the oil-bearing strata:
i a
SALT. 101
Feet
ae ol ee eee eterno asi ch tansy ave lais! asco )a.s)'0) Date ohisiiaica oye cho) wie ole sieve Ge wise Doe faeces. 15
Amat sano (SOIC) OLL)h.2) alte Sueur» lene sie or eve oe ohio Re se Geese a ata iho 5 ce! be 3
SE OUpeOliie-COLOLeMs MArdened. SANG. ri: «fs ase sieiscis om 6 cw tiene pow: ewe 4s Mere
Ame Mike Mc LEAba ROM Sau AIG Clavene ise se i canis siacc, die pioegs stil enw. ss bebe vcees 34
Se Seen PE MA LEMME OWS go.va.e a) orale sine aiek foi le) a ele) Oe aneln sa oP we ofe'diw! So» 05 sR a 14
Grp O reve SAIN ete t. ciety, tle xfaleptie eel opel sxe tian o's OH SiO PEACE ee mee 43
LPmMROIBICG Lary AUN ANC ONC OM EUs paramere iehcnn Sobres etdates es CLINT Onn a) Ses dene p lei p bis Wl cee v.46 'e.s 6
Sy MEM UM Te CLAY. sys slags <4 aise ole hot vee sb ervnbee acd’ ee ee aes. 159
PU DOSO SAI ec oar SD were gales Wi oreo wine wns Hes tor Ne ee RPE oh risks eireiayas 5 Givin ba 30
PRMD Uy CLANE sie lectern crseicr ne 2) ea i Siovomn a wiNelioe se Wee es eek 2 2, Fohaies 3 15
4, (GNUICISSEIOIGL, ot ik Aieee melee o Sa luge eis ea ues, Sen ee chee MM cet Sener gens eee at ae 15
Se LIC Mb COLOLEON CAV. lcacc.s see oie cieie | cs EPA ca Ne ueans SMa se aS AES ais ai eee 22
4, Sand impregnated with oil.......... ee ene a ee ee re Ry Eas alee NE ey. 'e atv ai8 36
Oil-bearing sands were passed through in all the borings, and oil is occa-
sionally seen in the creeks and springs of the neighborhood, but in none of
the borings was it found to flow in any quantity. The reason of this is
doubtless due to the fact that the oil-bearing stratum has been cut through
by numerous creeks, and the oil, if indeed it ever did exist in any quantity,
has been drained off.
The asphalt is probably due to the oxidation of the residuum of oil left in
the sand. In many places the summer heat has softened it and caused it to
run out of the sand, forming small pools on the hillsides.
This is especially true where the bitumen-bearing bed has been exposed on
the surface, as it often is, and subjected to all the atmospheric influences.
The amount of asphalt which could be obtained in this locality is not very
large, and the asphalt-bearing sand is apt to run into oil-bearing sand, so that
the quantity in any one spot is very uncertain. There is, however, enough of
the material to be used for paving in the surrounding towns of Palestine,
Jacksonville, New Birmingham, Rusk, and other places, and if the asphalt
sand was used in its natural state on the streets and pavements it would
greatly increase the welfare and comfort of these towns.
SALT.
The subject of salt and salines is also left for future discussion, as the time
at the disposal of the writer has not permitted a full examination of the va-
rious localities. It may be said, however, that ‘salt is found in many places
in Hast Texas, and the future possibilities of a large product of that material
are excellent. The deposits in Van Zandt County are described on pages
35, 36, and those in Anderson County on pages 33, 34. Besides these locall-
ties, salines have been found and worked in Freestone, Smith, and other
counties. In all of these places, except in Van Zandt County, the salt was
gotten from the brine of shallow wells.
Ack Uae
A
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION
OF
AND
THEIR ECONOMIC VALUE.
BY
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ECONOMIC FEATURES. 139
formation may imbibe nearly all of the rain which falls upon it; another may
imbibe less than one per cent of it.
Another stratum may become saturated and slowly yield its moisture to
agriculture, as in the case of the Ponderosa clay marls underlying the main
black waxy area; while another, like the upper Cross Timber sands, may give
up its moisture so rapidly, owing to its porosity, that it is poorly adapted. to
_ stand drouth and heat. Again, as has been said, one rock sheet may drink
in much of the rainfall and convey it through the pores to a lower region,
where by boring from above they may be tapped and come forth as abun-
dant artesian waters for a streamless and springless region. By the study of
the dip and extent of such a sheet, we have been enabled to accurately pre-
dict the extent and importance of an artesian area, the value of which, when
fully appreciated, to the people in the region in which it lies will be greater
in dollars than the cost of this survey; for by the simple knowledge of this
fact artesian water can be supplied to an area of 30,000 square miles of one
of the most fertile districts in America.
Lanp CLassiFIcATIoN.— An important part of the work is the classi-
fication of the lands of the region according to their agricultural, grazing,
mineral, quarrying, watered, arid, timbered, prairie, or other conditions.
The work of the past year has already accomplished much in this direction,
inasmuch as the general characteristics of areas have been determined, a nec-
essary step for the more specific classification which must ultimately follow.
. STRUCTURAL MatEriaL.—There is a great variety and abundance of build-
ing materials of the Cretaceous formations, but the task of studying them is
so large that the work can hardly be considered begun. Building stones of
many qualities, paving stone, road material, cement stone, Portland cement
material, hydraulic cement material, fire-brick and tile clays, gypsum for
plaster of paris, sands for diverse uses, flint for glass making and sandpaper,
all appear in more or less abundant quantities in the Cretaceous rocks, and
need careful investigation and description.
In their development lies a twofold source of wealth, in that they will not
only attract an intelligent capital to their development, but place in the hands
of our own people cheaper and more convenient building material Among
the building stones there are are many varieties which deserve especial atten-
tion as worthy of export; while with chalks, clays, and every variety of mag-
nesian limestones, the region will no doubt become the centre of a great
American cement industry, like that of England, and such as can not exist
elsewhere in the United States, owing to the fact that it is in this region only
that the chalky formations upon which the English cement conditions are
dependent occur. One rock sheet (the Caprina limestone) already affords
140 CRETACEOUS ROCKS OF TEXAS.
the material for a commercial lime of unexcelled purity, which is now
shipped as far east as New Orleans, and west to San Francisco.
Minrratocican Fraturns.—The Cretaceous formations east of the Pecos
are not a profitable field for the search for metallic minerals, owing to their
slightly disturbed condition. There are many beautiful and rare forms of
the non-metallic minerals of the lime group, but none of great value.
Gold has been found in small and unprofitable quantities in the chalky re-
gions of Williamson County, as recorded by Schaeffer, but there is hardly a
possibility that it will ever prove of commercial value. Its mode of occurrence
and distribution, however, will be exhaustively examined into, so as to settle the
question beyond cavil. Occasional nodular lumps of limonite iron ore, often
of deceptive size, are found in the Caprina limestone, but in no case have I seen
a locality where a cart load could possibly be gathered. Calcite, aragonite, ce-
lestite, gypsum, anhydrite, occur in great abundance in places, as well as flint,
chalcedony, agate, opal, etc., all of which are upon the list for further study.
A large amount of information concerning the general occurrence and distri-
bution of these has been collected, preliminary to their final study.
Prant anp ANIMAL Lire oF THE CrutTackous Rrgion.—Any one who
attempts to observe the character and distribution of life in the Cretaceous
region of Texas will soon be impressed with the fact that it possesses floral
and faunal conditions peculiarly its own, which no existing classifications
or text books sufficiently explain; and he will find that these conditions
also vary with the subdivisions, and that there is a most intimate relation
between the substructure and the life which inhabits it, especially exhibited
in the plants. Thus it is that the Hxogyra Ponderosa marls are singularly
void of forest growth; that the evergreen oaks are fond of the White Rock
and Shoal Creek limestone; that the juniper loves the Caprina limestone;
while the unique and beautiful Sophora (Mount Bonnell laurel) flourishes
only in the magnesian beds of the Lower Fredericksburg division. The
post oaks and black jacks tenaciously inhabit the sandy formations, such as
the Upper and Lower Cross Timbers, and the Quaternary debris of the river
terraces. This natural plant growth will prove the surest guide to the most
appropriate agriculture to which the region is adapted. Lists of many of the
plants have been kept, which, together with the observations of previous
observers, and more careful investigations to be undertaken during the com-
ing season, will prove of great value.
It is popularly supposed that observations upon the animal life in general
are of less economic importance, and are of interest and value only for
educational purposes. The insects, mammals, and birds may be destructive or
protective to vegetation. They are therefore of great economic interest.
In concluding this paper, the writer can not omit the opportunity to urge
ECONOMIC FEATURES. 141
upon the people the necessity of recognizing the chalky formations of Texas
as a distinct geographic region of the State and the United States. This in-
dividuality must be recognized, and the economic development of the region
based thereon, instead of the conditions of the entirely different non-chalky
regions of the United States from which most of our settlers have come.
The agricultural experiences of Massachusetts, Mississippi, or even Hast
Texas, will not apply to these soils, but we must rather go to the chalky
regions of 'rance and England, where analogous formations occur, to learn
for what they are best adapted. Experiment stations should be located
upon these soils and their utility fully determined.
The Black Prairie region, which is already one of the most prosperous in
our State, will greatly increase in value with coming years, as its agricul-
tural capacities are more fully appreciated and improved upon. The already
rich land now given up to the culture of coarser plantation crops, such as
corn and cotton, will ultimately be devoted to more refined agriculture, as
the soils are better understood, and a local demand is created for the pro-
ducts. With this rural development will continue the growth of its cities,
which has been wonderful even in the past decade. It only remains to ascer-
tain in a scientific manner the exact capacity and adaptability of these soils,
and to improve facilities for transportation and communication.
THE
SOUTHERN BORDER
OF THE
PA COAL FIELD:
BY
W. F. CUMMINS.
THE
SOUTHERN BORDER
Pte COAL WILD.
W. F. CUMMINS.
The exploration upon which this report is based extended over parts of
Lampasas, San Saba, Coleman, McCulloch, Concho, and Tom Green counties.
The object of the trip was to secure such general information regarding the
section as would indicate the special lines of work that could be most advan-
tageously pursued in the detailed survey of this region.
DESCRIPTIVE GEOLOGY.
During the present expedition strata belonging to the Silurian, Carbonif-
erous, Cretaceous, and Recent systems have been observed, some of which
will be more fully mentioned under separate headings, but their boundaries
must be left for more detailed work.
The different formations have been identified either by their fossils or by
their relative positions in regard to other known strata. There is great uni-
formity of structure in the individual strata of the several formations over the
entire field; so much so that one becoming familiar with the characteristics of
a stratum in one place need have little trouble in recognizing it elsewhere
when found.
The strata of the Paleozoic Group as observed along the route have a gen-
eral and uniform dip to the north and northwest, with little or no disturbance,
except in one or two instances which are noted. The Mesozoic strata, on the
contrary, have a general inclination to the southeast.
Few evidences of faults or folds of the strata in any of the formations were
seen, except where they are in contact with the eruptive rocks. The alterna-
tions of limestone, sandstone, and shales in the various formations show that
the periods of their deposition were attended with alternating conditions of
subsidence and elevation.
CRETACEOUS SYSTEM.
The rocks of the Cretaceous system are found in contact with strata of both
the Carboniferous and Silurian, showing that the Silurian and Carboniferous
J
146 SOUTHERN BORDER OF CENTRAL COAL FIELD.
strata had been tilted to the northwest before the Cretaceous period; and as
the Cretaceous is found on or in contact with every stratum of the Carbon-
iferous and Permian, from the highest to the lowest, there is little doubt
that the Cretaceous strata at one time extended continuously from the foot of
the Staked Plains to the Cretaceous beds on the east, and that the present
exposure of the underlying Paleozoic group is due to their subsequent erosion.
The Cretaceous formation in this part of the State belongs entirely to the
Lower or Comanche series. The beds have a thickness of about 200 feet
wherever seen, except on the upper South Concho River, where the thick-
ness increases to about 400 feet.
A section made at Santa Anna Mountain will give a general idea of the
Cretaceous formation as observed in this part of the State.
No. Strata. 3 Feet. In.
I (Compact limestone tater. thn carols herchoneetoseis acelatioteines one eerste aah eR ue pai 8
2.1) Limestone: wathftossilsisilieimed se. Fei mis Siemkea et ines) Sites net sep eee ee 2
3. MeSFOME, /COMPACL seit al pene rer co tela a ime ie he CERNE Ebel eure eee Olean UNL Pee cae 4
A. LM ESTOME, SOL as SS Ash AMF ees rahe alr sucha age ee tutu uoe eee Senokot Oe eisela pecan get eee ere ae 66
d: Shell comeretion:. 512 iy. used. Mee baey te ieee rt copa Eel eed en fe e et e 6
6. Sandy clay, whiten seh ee ce eae ere desea oe caer ee ayn re na 20
eiveddisih clayey ries se c tebe) ahd iayetatoa leila: ooh harks, Ae at ete) Diese het at statis et eNO 2
cI ces Kel G1 1610 ee ee ee eed Em reer Rant eta UN ers A ice coo 6 aba Go 50
9, Wihite loose sands ..3 si’: arepesds Wistar mle tavers oar aim pete «eye eRe een ee eae eats ear eco ae 20
MO. Bed: cleaver 55/6 dare case uel oti ea pa ee cen, Bane ce pee eae eee eos 2
TE. Sandstone.r: se F526 AG esp ead ae pero untae ee neat aha nets ede ea ae 13
12) Reddishycelay, wath bands of white same ij. ernryer eeneien) st ceneeerneicye rs erate 20
205 6
The following section was made at Cow Gap, a pass in the Brady Moun-
tains, in McCulloch County:
No. Strata. Feet.
Je himestonetnhard’ ave andeseate ham ien PAG et Deine tae ore ate hint arcs 20
23) ABATMLOSTOM Gi is cle 2 ces setews rae, core bees eae FA eatie a ahi ane ar ahha ends Tah ei ahsodte tea hele ok Ee pean 80
3. Rotten limestone, with bedsiol sandy: clayycy. a). ssid ire leet eet pete ton reece 100
A, Pack sami. oi) adislevect's. seve tele ble SU inte ty oceteie/ alterna TaaAT ected lane ate inane retical MMe Rented etree 10
210
No. 1 in the above section had the same fossils as No. 2 in the section
made at Santa Anna Mountain.
The principal fossils found and identified in this formation were Gryphea
pitchert and Hxogyra texana. These Cretaceous strata rest directly and un-
conformably upon the clays and sandstones of the Carboniferous.
CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. [47
CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM.
The Carboniferous system extends over the largest part of the country ex-
amined during this trip, and to it the most of the time was devoted.
No attempt is here made to separate the Subcarboniferous from the Car-
boniferous. In fact [ am not certain that the Subcarboniferous formation
occurs. The strata of the entire series, so far as I observed them, are con-
formable and the fossils found in the lower part of the formation were not
characteristic of the Subcarboniferous, but are those which are for the most
part embraced in the fauna of the coal measures. I am certain, however,
that there is a section at least 400 feet thick, lower than the strata of the coal
measures which are found in the northern part of the State.
The Permian formation was clearly distinguished overlying the coal
measures on the west.
The general dip of the strata of this system is to the northwest at about 30
feet to the mile, except near Lampasas, where the dip is to the northeast,
which may be accounted for either by the existence of an anticlinal in the
western part of Lampasas County, or possibly by faulting.
The strata of the Carboniferous are composed of limestones, sandstones,
clay beds, and shales, with three or more beds of coal. On top of the meas-
ures in many places is a bed of conglomerate similar to that found overlying
the coal measures in the northern part of the State.
The measures are about 1600 feet thick, so far as examined, although
their upper part was not reached. In many places the strata are so deeply
covered up with drift that it was impossible to get a continuous section,
and the thickness is therefore estimated by the known dip of the strata,
where a section could not be made by actual measurement. Many sections
were made at different localities, with the hope of being able to secure a
continuous section, but there are gaps that can only be filled by estimates of
thickness, based on dip and the distance occupied by the wanting section.
Enough, however, has been done to give a very correct idea of this forma-
tion, which can be worked out more in detail in the future.
The Carboniferous limestone was first observed at the mineral springs of
Lampasas, where the water issues from a fissure in a blue limestone belonging
to this formation. The limestone dips east at an angle of one and one-half
degrees.* On the top of the limestone is a yellowish marl which seems to
be more disturbed or flexed than the underlying material. The limestone
contains such distinctive fossils as Spirifer cameratus, Productus costatus, P.
e
*The dips here given are from careful instrumental measurements—frequently of lines of
considerable length—by Mr. C. C. McCulloch, Jr.
148 SOUTHERN BORDER OF CENTRAL COAL FIELD.
cora, and a great many stems of Hnecrinites. Below the spring is a bed of
recent conglomerate made up of the water-worn pebbles from the surround-
ing hills. Three miles west on the Llano road, at the forks of the creek, the
limestone extends across the creek from the south side. The massive lime-
stone (which may be Silurian) dips here to the northeast, and is about twenty
feet thick. Above it is the hard blue limestone which was seen at the spring.
Above that is ten feet of the yellow shale, and above that ten feet of shaly
limestone. The fossils seen are evidently those of the Carboniferous, but
they have been badly pressed and are out of shape.
Six miles west of Lampasas, in the bed of Donaldson’s Creek, is a black,
thin-bedded limestone, which dips 14 degrees north 20 degrees east, with a
line of jointing north 89 degrees east. Above this limestone is a hill sixty
feet high, the only stratum exposed being a fine grained blue limestone with
chert nodules.
Three-fourths of a mile east of this last named place is Indian Bluff. This
is a perpendicular bluff, seventy feet high, composed of thin layers of lime-
stone, hard, black and shaly. This limestone overlies the rocks of the last
locality.
At the top of this hill, in the fossiliferous limestone and in the chert nod-
ules, I obtained the following Carboniferous fossils: Spurzfer cameratus, Pleu-
rotomaria turbiniformis, Bellerophon crassus, Spuriferina kentuckensis, Productus
nebrascensis, Platyceras nebrascens, Huomphalus rugosus, Myalina subquadrata,
Synocladia biserralis, Bellerophon carbonarius, Machrochealus fusiformis.
The material in which these fossils occur is so hard that it is very difficult
to get good specimens of the fossils, and many of them could not be sepa-
rated from the matrix. In places the fossils are so badly distorted by pres-
sure that they could not be recognized. Especially is this the case with those
found in the black shale.
Just west of Nix, the overlying Carboniferous sandstone is exposed for one
mile, when the Carboniferous limestone again appears. The dip of the strata
here is to the north, and at about 2 degrees. In this limestone were found
Productus semireticulatus, Productus punctatus, Nucula bellstreata, Chonetes,
spines of Archeocidaris. These fossils are mostly in the chert or flint nod-
ules found in the limestone. The limestone on top here very closely resem-
bles the cherty limestone seen at Indian Bluff.
Near Mr. McRae’s, fifteen miles west of Lampasas, are several caves, none
of which were explored. At another place, near by, the massive limestone
has been very badly fractured, and the water having carried off all the over-
lying material, some of the fractures are open to twenty feet in depth. This
stone is that which is called Burnet marble, and is near the boundary be-
CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. 149
tween the Carboniferous and Silurian formations, probably belonging to the .
latter.
Along Lynch Creek there is a bed of very hard black thin-bedded lime-
stone, that can be obtained in very large slabs of uniform thickness. These
slabs would make very fine flagstones. The sandstones are on the north
side of the creek, and the limestone on the south, all the way from its head
to the Colorado River. The creek seems to run on the contact between the
limestone and the sandstone the entire distance from the head to its mouth.
On the west side of the Colorado, there is a fine exposure of the Carbonifer-
ous shale, with thin beds of black limestone below. In the limestone and in
the top of the shale are many fossils. The species are quite numerous and
very abundant. Just above the limestone, in the black shale, part of the
head of a vertebrate was found which resembles Hdestus voraz.
The following section, made on the south side of the Colorado River, near
Bend postoffice, will give the relation of the strata:
Feet. In.
Hien OUI OMMCT ALC Mer eds te 6) save la\ele\-s\a'e = (emi a6dio'ia) 61% (oat hehe e's pis iy bias bs Ua Neribys babe a. 7
PreSEOW OO. SUAS. 530s 6a ars. sicccis « Wea abe Hattie sat ele he vadet yes ieaui lekerewtitete raid a qd bine 20
2, Ip Ge Sineilos, SA Beas Odealeecrs Sack 6 cre es Se ree Ce eat ae Nae raat 22
PGI S OMe mole cama Cem uae mmremia ch dss giglts ete, Maleate seal ac'e'e wae vis) ie ee oie
BPMPESIIT SINGIN Cec ry eee ear cl ei Sheen ate serene tar cvune is GM careneha Guid aiaree ce se ew oa else 3
RPMIDRITI GLa seep eemeriniey WEN Aerio ANS Seu el ele he ith erase k arevels oda s eo w-otelslalantovet a’s 4
Fe) TEI oye SIMI a 2 9, CORES WA VRE Sen wh ae ge gre ras OP, 1 et oe ee Seep
Sem iNewdimMestone: WediOleTiVver ssi eee fll olay) 4 nen Jceyepumnee Wald waters oils Wie bien sia b ves 6
The strata dip 13 degrees north 23 degrees west. There are two lines of
jointing, one north 77 degrees east, the other north 47 degrees west.
In No. 4 of the above section there are large masses of coral Chaetetes
radvans, that I have seen only in this limestone. This species is not mentioned
in Miller’s “‘N. A. Paleontology ” as occurring in North America.
At the mill near the mouth of Rough Creek the sandstones lie immediately
upon the limestone, the shales having entirely disappeared below the sand.
stone, showing an overlap. Up the west side of the creek are the massive
limestone hills extending for a mile or more, but in the next hollow the sand-
stone is found on top of the limestone as before. The sandstone is here com-
posed of larger grains of sand than before observed, and has more the ap-
pearance of a conglomerate. South of this, Rough Creek cuts through the
massive limestone, below which is the thin-bedded black limestone, from
which the same fossils were secured as were gotten at other localities.
Two miles southeast of Mrs. Houston’s, on Cherokee Creek, there was said
to be a stratum of lithographic stone. The stone was found in a cave as
represented, but the quality is not good enough to make it of any commercial
value. One-half mile southeastward the same stratum of lithographic stone
150 SOUTHERN BORDER OF CENTRAL: COAL FIELD.
was observed outcropping on the side of the hill. It was then traced along
the outcrop southeastward for three miles or more, and the quality found to
be about the same all the way. This is the same stone found in Hill’s pasture,
a little northeast of the Sulphur Spring on the Colorado, the horizon being
readily determined by the similarity of the surrounding rocks.
In the bed of Cherokee Creek there is a dark limestone, with small frag-
ments of coal outcropping in the side of the bluff. The coal is of no com-
mercial value, and there is no probability that it will be better if traced to
another locality.
At Simpson Creek, two miles south of the town of San Saba, the same
blue limestone that is seen below the black shales at McAnnelly’s Bend was
found, and also at the spring at the town. In this blue limestone, just east
of the spring, is found a stratum containing the same coral as the limestone No.
4 of the section made on the Colorado just west of Bend, and also north
of Cherokee Creek. On the north side of the San Saba River, one mile
north of the town, there is another exposure of the black shales, which are
here 30 feet thick, with identically the same fossils as found at Bend. From
a trip up the San Saba River, from San Saba to near the mouth of Brady
Creek, careful observation seems to indicate that the river runs most of the
way along the strike of these black shales. One mile northeast of Doran’s
Ranch house, near Brady Creek, there is another outcrop of black shale be-
tween the limestones, which is evidently the same stratum as that found be-
tween the limestones at Bend. Again, on the south side of the river, and a
half mile south of the ranch house, there is a bluff of 60 feet in height, show-
ing strata of blue limestone and shale, very much resembling the strata at
Indian Bluff, in Lampasas County; the only difference being that at this
place the layers of limestone are somewhat thicker. Underlying this is a bed
of massive limestone that in places has been changed to marble. There is
also a similar bluff on the north side of the river, half a mile west of the
ranch house. The river cuts through these strata, and also through the mas-
sive limestone, which continues to be visible to the mouth of Brady Creek.
In the massive limestone, about half a mile below the mouth of Brady Creek,
there is a fissure crossing the river at an angle of north 30 degrees east, filled
with carbonate of iron and iron pyrites. The vein cuts the bluff on the north
side of the river, and can be traced by the iron outcroppings for several
miles. It was traced very readily across the hill for more than half a mile,
and seemed to contain about the same amount of iron all the distance. The
vein is from one to two feet wide.
Along the Goldthwaite road, north of San Saba about six miles, there is a
hill 60 feet high capped with the Carboniferous sandstone. The bottom of
the hill is composed of bluish and yellow clay shales, on the top of which is
CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. "EDT
the even grained gray sandstone, which is about six feet thick. In the sand-
stone were found impressions of Carboniferous plants, Calamites, etc., but no
other fossils were observed. This stone has been used in the town of San
Saba and vicinity for building, for which purpose it is a fine material.
Crossing the San Saba River north of Richland Creek; and traveling up
the divide between it and the San Saba River, there is found near the mouth
of the creek, on the north side, a hill showing the bluish and yellowish clay
at bottom with the sandstone four feet thick at-the top. At several places
along the way the same formation is seen, but always on the north side of
the road. On the south side, in the creeks running into the San Saba, the
black shales appear. At Richland Springs, on the slope of the hill, are found
the thin-bedded limestones with thin seams of black shale, as seen at other
places. These black shales are also found on Job’s Creek, a few miles south
of this locality, where they contain the same fossils as at Bend. Some of the
houses in the town of Richland Springs are built of a light stone which is
here the equivalent of the upper stratum at Indian Bluff. Carboniferous
sandstone is found near this place on the north side of the creek.
One mile above the crossing of the Colorado, north of Milburn, McCulloch
County, and on the north side of the river, is an exposure of strata 80
feet thick, composed of blue shale, with thin beds of sandstone, having a
massive sandstone on top. In the shales, and in a thin stratum of shell con-
glomerate, were found the following fossils: Productus nebrascencis, Athyris
subtilita, Aviculopecten occidentals, Myalina subquadrata.
From the Colorado River to the head of a prong of Clear Creek, on the
Brady and Brownwood road, occasional exposures of the Carboniferous sand-
stones were seen. On the head of Clear Creek the massive limestone of the
Carboniferous was again found, but no fossils were to be obtained.
In this limestone, near Trickham, are some very large Campophylla associ-
ated with Fusulina cylindrica. The shaly limestone is 20 feet thick, and is
underlaid by a blue clay, as is shown by well borings. |
One mile north of the town is a hill some 60 feet high. The bottom is
composed of shale, with nodules of clay ironstone, and the top is capped with
a massive sandstone 8 feet thick. ‘The sandstone here is coarser in structure
than is usually seen in the Carboniferous.
On a hill still further northwest is a compact limestone above 10 feet of the
shale, which here overlies this sandstone. The dip of the strata is to the
northwest.
In Dunson and Kingsbury’s pasture, 6 miles west of Trickhim, there is an
exposure of the same strata, with sandstone 4 feet thick on top; yellow
clay 10 feet thick, and bluish clay 8 feet thick at the bottom. In the yellow
clay there are a great many nodules of clay ironstone, and in the nodules
152 SOUTHERN BORDER OF CENTRAL COAL FIELD.
quite a number of the characteristic fossils of the Carboniferous period: Spir-
afer cameratus, Productus nebrascensis, Myalina perattenuata, Orthoceras, Fusulina
cylindrica, Hemipronites crassus, Discina convexa, Chaetetes milleporaceus.
Over the entire surface of the valley here there is found a bed of conglom-
erate, the gravel of which comes from the surrounding strata.
At the head of Dry Creek we came to an exposure of limestone capped by
a shale and a heavy-bedded sandstone. The same limestone as seen at the
crossing on Dry Creek appears also in the bed of Camp Creek, and two miles
further on, after going up a slope from Camp Creek, there is a hill 80 feet
high made up of clay beds, limestones, and sandstones. In a bed of clay
about half the height of the hill are a great number of Campophyllum tor-
guium.
Mr. J. W. Gibson has put down several prospecting holes in this vicinity
south of the hills, and in the valley of Little Bull Creek. The only shaft open
at present is about one mile east of the creek, and is west of the principal out-
crop. This shaft is 48 feet deep. The last 3 feet was through a stratum of
coal; the coal is reported as 24 inches thick at the bottom, then 2 inches of
slate, and then 10 inches of coal. In a bank of the creek 400 feet northeast
of the shaft the coal crops out about 8 feet above the bed of the creek. Here
the upper seam of coal is 20 inches thick and the lower seam 8 inches thick,
with a thin seam of slate between. One-fourth of a mile northeast, and on
the east side of the creek, the coal again outcrops, showing about the same
conditions. The dip of the strata at this place is about 30 feet to the mile
to the northwest.
There are several outcrops in the vicinity of the coal on the east side of
the creek. In places the seam is not morethan 4 inches thick. The coal
has over it, clay 6 feet, shaly limestone 10 feet, and a rough, thick sandstone.
Below the coal is a bed of fireclay 2 feet thick. In the bed of the creek,
just east of the shaft and below the fireclay, is a bed of sandstone.
The Williamson shaft is located one mile northwest of the town of Wal-
drip. A few years since a company, at a heavy expense, put down this shaft,
8x8 feet, to the depth of 160 feet, and timbered it from top to bottom.
It is reported that a bed of coal only twelve inches thick was found, that
it dipped to the southwest, and was eighteen inches thick at the south side.
The shaft has been abandoned and is nearly full of water. From the mate-
rial taken out I think it to be the same as that found on the east side of the
river.
The Chaffin mine is two miles southeast of this shaft. The coal has been
mined here to some extent at different times. The seam is twenty inches
thick and is immediately below a shaly limestone and very much resembles
the coal found west of Trickham, in Dunson and Kingsbury’s pasture, and I
CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. 153
take it to be a lower seam than the one in the Gibson shaft on the north side
of the Colorado. The dip is to the northwest. Thecoal was mined from the
surface by following the seam from the outcrop to the branch.
The Finks mine is one-half mile west of the town of Waldrip. The shaft
has been put down to the depth of eighty-four feet. Inthe bottom is a seam
of coal twelve inches thick, then a thin parting, then four inches of coal, then
a thin parting, and finally another bed of coal twelve inches thick. A tunnel
has been driven from the bottom in an easterly direction for forty feet, and
the coal taken out for some distance on either side. Work on the mine has
been stopped for the present.
The following section was made at this mine, beginning at the top.
Feet. Ins
iw Purple clays: 6.02. Sire Mia teraestad 2 nT he age Sn gece Re ee 8
Dan Neellony Claiy.. 2. ze; 6/14 wehbe cag Coc ty PE Eo WG te AEC Oe ee 8
Mts Seer SOO Mae eey Lal rstere sve ieieh yes! 2 hve'w, wine oiwsd in sini ie Lia, elie e adie ele ee aes wed 4
4a, CAGE o's 0 si boa ahh Ae RAR ee ey Se 4
GO. SGI ORRTEIM (Gap Sis Hla ae SUA, en aera ne Eee Ae 20
E. GHEIY oie clinic Bo untae Sena icinoe le nee en Re in 17
Cs TEMGIG SUC eg et Sree Bis 8 ar) 6 ca ites Se ee ec 18
BaP LOW Class Sisista 5 ok Sahel YP celeste Re er ae eva yt Eha te arm vevedoidte area sl oe cists 28
PMU REI DRA teh ee sich Sh ctteefsNe ate uci Ute cad spe fai sw Pastas Malas Sie els wie, wle Pr 28
Uf Ramee CLEA ase ae te Dy NPL UA Sees hs Le ined Sided anv creUh Jalate elite Siu % ke eset 12
A shaft fifty-five feet deep was put down near the river and struck the
same seam of coal.
A section of a hill in Mahoney’s pasture, two and a half miles southwest of
Santa Anna, gave the same strata as those observed west of the mountain—
sandstone on top, with clays and limestone below.
Below the red clay is a bed of limestone three feet thick, and below that
is a bed of reddish clay twenty feet thick. Near Mahoney’s house there is a
hill showing the same bed of sandstone that is on the top of the hill west of
Santa Anna at about half the height of the hill. Above the sandstone there
are twenty feet of yellow and purple clays, and a hard limestone eighteen
inches thick rests on that.
In this limestone are again found deposits of a soft material like the diato-
maceous earth.
In the bed of the creek, half a mile southeast of Mahoney’s house, there is
a bed of bituminous shale 18 inches thick, with a bed of blue limestone below
it three feet thick. Still further down the creek, to the southeast, there is in
a bluff the same bed of limestone, with blue shale below it, which is 20 feet
thick. The bottom of the slate was not seen.
In the valley of Home Creek, in many places, there is a conglomerate
composed of the rocks from the surrounding strata.
154 SOUTHERN BORDER OF CENTRAL COAL FIELD.
In one place, above the highest sandstone, is a conglomerate that very
much resembles the ‘bean ore” found in the Permian in Archer County.
In Cow Gap, a pass through the Brady mountains, the following section
was obtained:
Feet.
fey Hard Wlimestome2 asia) atccm eyes steeereuetcnevene ype a) i Wad 1 ner Ree NaH CRANE Mola aly Sr a ete el gts & tee
2 aIMEStONE <5 2 Ayers Biss , vijay vane) bisa) SCN to yal Ca8 + gs it Nee ae aaa aa 80
3) ‘Rotten: limestone wath beds of clay. a.6o | oclacae eee ieee eee ee strange 100
A. Pack sand (Cretaceous) 2-05. oases 9c 1, il a, Be ac eh othe teres ieee ie a HOt id ot AE ee een 10
5. Massive limestone (Pusulina).........cc.e-cceene AE AUER Rae Bee:
6: Hime stone yc). ise aa esc etre ene es sel! wie eile ib nike WY TUS. Se Se Aa eres gta akc re Uae alia eee eon 6
i Shaly* Inmlestome:s (i: 05002) elie la al ancetiee tear ake Reh ee EM AL REL NE Br. 2h Fe u's ble 10
8. Reddish: Cl aiy: acc... cacsie syncovarenaayaTe-gim)emyedinlen shal fener ange olbte oleae eee en nena lean 10
No. 1 of this section has the same fossils as No. 2 of the Santa Anna
Mountain. At the base of the Cretaceous, but apparently not a part of it, is
a conglomerate which very much resembles the conglomerate and sandstone
at the head of Lynch’s Creek, in Lampasas County. Cow Gap is almost di-
rectly south of Santa Anna Mountain, and the Brady range of mountains |
runs east and west. ‘The dip of the Carboniferous is to the northwest and
that of the Cretaceous to the southeast.
Nine miles west, at the head of Live Oak Creek, was fcund an outcrop of
the Carboniferous limestone containing Fusulina cylindrica, Meekella striato-
costata, and a Terebratula. 'The limestone is quite shaly.
South of Brady along the Menard road, three miles or more, there is a bed
of conglomerate composed of small siliceous pebbles bound together by a
siliceous matrix.
This conglomerate is so compact as to take a fine polish, and the pebbles
being of very bright color it makes very handsome ornaments.
Southeast, at the head of Rocky Creek, there is a pass between the hills.
The hills are about 30 feet high above the pass, and are Cretaceous, contain-
ing such fossils as Gryphea pitchert and Hxogyra tecana. Half a mile further
south, on Rocky Creek, the rocks of the Silurian appear, but no fossils were
found.
On the north side of the river, opposite Camp San Saba, there is a bluff
showing a section of thin-bedded, fine-grained, purple sandstone that has
been extensively quarried to make chimneys. It is called in this locality
soapstone, but it has none of the qualities of that material. There were no
fossils found. Over this is a heavy-bedded, even-grained, very hard sand-
stone 8 feet thick. Half a mile away to the south is the upper limestone of
the Potsdam epoch—the glauconitic. :
Down Brady Creek, 3 miles toward the east, were found the black shales
above the blue limestone, as at McAnelly’s Bend. In the limestone there
CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. 155
appeared the same coral Chaetetes radians as at Bend and elsewhere. The
massive limestones of the Carboniferous rocks are the only rocks exposed
near the creek. On top of the hill west of Post Oak Creek there is a bed
of sandstone four feet thick. The court house and other buildings at Brady
are constructed of this material.
In many places along Brady Creek is a coarse conglomerate composed of
pebbles from the surrounding hills. Two miles above Melvin’s Ranch house
a heavy bed of this conglomerate overlies the Carboniferous limestone.
The country westward up Brady Creek is a level plateau, with Cretaceous
hills on both sides, and the Carboniferous in the valley of the creek. Three
miles east of the town of Eden, in the bed of the creek, there is a rough
limestone containing Productus semireticulatus, Huomphalus, Pinna, Nautilus,
and stems of Hncrinites.
The higher hills from here to Kickapoo Creek are Cretaceous. At the
base of the hills the Carboniferous strata appear. In a bluff just below the
crossing on Kickapoo Creek there is an exposure of 20 feet of Carboniferous
beds overlaid by the Cretaceous. The Carboniferous has yellow clay at
the bottom, then 2 feet of sandstone, then 18 feet of sandstone and shale,
with Productus semireticulatus; conglomerate on top.
After leaving the creek the Lipan Flat is reached, which continues to near
San Angelo, with scarcely a break and no exposure of the formation. The
Cretaceous hills are seen far to the southward, and later they are seen di-
rectly to the west and northwest.
San Angelo is situated on the west or north side of the North Fork of the
Concho River. The river near the town cuts through the conglomerate, and
in other places the conglomerate extends entirely across the stream. Below
the conglomerate is a white sandstone 18 inches thick; below the sandstone
is a bed of green and red clay.
In the marl is a thin seam of carbonate of iron. Southwest of the town,
at a distance of eight miles, red clay was found which very much resembles
the red beds of the Permian.
Above the red clay is a whitish sandstone with bands of iron ore, but the
iron is not in sufficient quantities to be of any commercial value. Still
further to the westward appear the high hills of the Cretaceous. These hills
are separate peaks formed by erosion. On top is the thick compact lime-
stone, below which is the Trinity sand, and below that the reddish clay which
is always found at the foot of the Cretaceous in this part of the country. The
peaks are one hundred and fifty feet high above the Permian clays.
Further south, in the valley of the main Concho, a bed of sandstone was
observed that is evidently Permian, resting upon the red clay; and at the
old town of Ben Ficklin, on the east side of the Main Concho, was found a
156 SOUTHERN BORDER OF CENTRAL COAL FIELD.
rock quarry of argillaceous sandstone in several layers. In the stone were
found Permian fossils, which show the blendings of the old and new forms
of life. In the stone were found species of Productus, Ammonites, Aviculopec-
ten, Orthoceras, Nautilus, Myalina, and several other forms that were not identi-
fied. The fossils are very similar to those in the Permian in the northeastern
part of Baylor County.
Among the number of specimens is what appears to be a new Aviculo-
pecten, that I have previously called A. costatus.
Below the stone is a bed of green clay three feet thick, and below that a
bed of dark red clay. Bottom not seen.
CONGLOMERATE.
There are two kinds of conglomerate found in this part of the State; one
of them composed of small much water-worn siliceous pebbles of various
colors, bound together sometimes by an iron matrix and sometimes by a
siliceous matrix. This conglomerate is generally very hard, and is more
often found as bowlders, yet at places it covers many square acres and seems
to be in place. It has been thought that these bowlders were left in their
present locality by glaciers, but I am sure they are only the remains of a
more extensive deposit that was destroyed at the period of erosion. This
conglomerate does not occur as a regular stratum in the series, but is found
overlying nearly every stratum in the Carboniferous. It seems to be the
same conglomerate that is found overlying the Carboniferous formation in
the northern part of the State, of which mention is made in my report pub-
lished in the First Report of Progress of the Survey last winter. It is not so
universally distributed in this part of the State as it is further north; at least
it seems to have been more nearly destroyed.
This conglomerate in some localities is very compact, and the bowlders
are worn smooth by the driving of sand against them by the wind. The
materials of these bowlders are usually bound together by a siliceous cement
so compactly that they are as solid as a single mass of quartz, and receive an
excellent polish and are very beautiful.
Associated with this conglomerate are the only specimens of petrified
wood I have seen, and yet they are not associated in such a way as to show
that they were deposited at the same time.
There is another conglomerate found along all the rivers and creeks, made up
of fragments of stones from the surrounding strata. This conglomerate was
deposited at the same time of the erosion, some of it evidently in the early
part of that epoch, and some of it at the very last. I conclude that such is the
case from the different heights at which it occurred. At the Colorado River,
on the hills west of McAnnelly’s Bend, a bed of this conglomerate 7 feet
CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. : THT
thick is 140 feet above the bed of the river, while higher up the river, and
especially along the valley of the Concho, this same conglomerate is found in
the beds of the rivers in the lower valleys.
It has no fossils in it, except the water-worn fossils of the surrounding for-
mations. It is usually bound together with calcareous material. The size of
the pebbles, and the fact that they are of the same material as the surround-
ing rocks, show that they have not been carried very far. These deposits are
from a few inches to 40 feet in thickness. They are sometimes two and three
miles wide.
This conglomerate is found overlying all the formations when they form
the strata of the river valleys. I have never seen it on top of a high Creta-
ceous hill, either on the east or west of the eroded district; but it does occur
on top of the high Carboniferous hills on the eastern side of this great valley
of erosion.
PETRIFIED WOOD.
Petrified wood was seen at but two places, and at both of these localities it
was so situated as to lead me to believe that it did not belong to the strata in
the immediate vicinity, but had been carried there during the period of ero-
sion that destroyed the upper part of the strata in these places.
The first locality where I found this material was on the south side of Cher-
‘okee Creek, five miles from its mouth. There was found only a single piece
about 3 feet long and 2 feet in diameter. It was on the side of a hill com-
posed of the massive limestones of the Carboniferous. There were other evi-
dences of drift in the large pebbles found there.
The only other piece was found a few miles north of Brady. This was near a
bed of conglomerate composed of small siliceous pebbles, having an iron matrix,
and overlying the Carboniferous. At this place the fragments of what ap-
peared to have once been a single tree lay scattered over the surface of the hill
for a hundred feet or more. This piece must have been of gigantic propor-
tions, some of the pieces now being four or five feet long and two feet in di-
ameter. It will require closer examination of these woods than I was able to
give in the field to determine their character. These woods may assist in de-
termining the time at which the erosion was made and the conglomerate de-
posited. .
CAVES.
Caves are very numerous in the limestones of the Carboniferous, and some
of them are very extensive. Very few of them have been explored for any
purpose other than idle curiosity. I entered only one of them, and traversed
it about three-fourths of a mile. Sometimes the roof would be high over-
158 SOUTHERN BORDER OF CENTRAL COAL FIELD.
head, and then again we would have to crawl upon our hands and knees.
There were lateral openings at different places, but we kept in the main
opening. Most of the way the bottom was dry, but here and there a pool of
water would be found standing in a basin of calcareous rock. Stalagmites
covered the floor and stalactites hung from the top. We came to a place
where there was a descent of the bottom of the cave for several feet, and
lowering our candles into the opening, found on account of the gas they
would not burn, so we retraced our way to the entrance. This cave is in the
massive limestone, three miles down the Colorado River, on the west side
from the Sulphur Spring, and just below the mouth of Falls Creek.
Other caves have large quantities of guano in them, deposited by the bats.
Some of these deposits are twenty feet thick, and are of unknown extent.
These caves will in the near future no doubt be fully explored, and their
valuable beds of guano put upon the market.
CONCLUSIONS.
The sections made at the various localities mentioned, which can not all
be published at this time, warrant the following conclusions:
1. The lowest Carboniferous beds (omitting the Burnet marble and litho-
graphic stone strata, which may prove older) consist of blue and black shales
and limestone, with a strongly marked and persistent band of thinly bedded
black limestone, containing a highly characteristic and distinctive fauna.
This seems to skirt the northern border of the Silurian, from Indian Bluff,
Lampasas County, to Brady Creek, McCulloch County, as a fringe, and has
no great width. ;
2. This is overlaid by a series of sandstones and shales with little lime-
stone, containing coal measure fossils throughout.
3. This in turn is overlaid by a series of limestones, clays, and sandstones,
with probably two seams of coal 24 to 28 inches in thickness.
4. The coal measure strata are overlaid to the southwest by Permian sand-
stone, limestone, and shales.
5. The conglomerate found in the coal fields of the more northern part of
the State appears here also, scattered over the surface in larger or smaller
pieces.
ECONOMIC GEOLOGY.
COAL.
There are three seams of coal in the Carboniferous formation, as observed
in this part of the country; only two of these will in any probability be of
commercial value. One of them, the lowest, is found on the Scurlock survey,
COAL. 159
six miles west of the town of Trickham, in Coleman County. The following
section made in the vicinity of this coal will show the surroundings:
No. Feet. In.
EMRE ERR SG gyIbC se ere ee Me tees et See NN nai eee ae ais she) amis iekaie 5) bei Gelese'aiar vlna e ue» 4
2, SCTE SIRT, TOE ee 48 OP RPV tg a Pe er Ca Preheat, 10
Sy lmishyielay.:.:, 21:5. sts ROR umes Meat finet sine dey eames! LE Cad 8 Site A ae ane cals 8
Ae LAMPE SCOME, MASSIVE: of of! 2. eles eee + ace SRR er ELS ac be cel La whe Sip via: Ot oS ns 4
SoG LAN MET IO Fe Tah, ety Sie ner oS ceo oils s a) Oe aot ave sos 208 ald a. ei'a ee woman ale Suey ow 8 8
Oe LETIVE, (SUSI Peneee each RS et eT AN ERG eral ce I a caer oS ean 2
onl SRI SRM eet ENT Gata. met OIE Nt i REL yn da\a'e, Saltha-w\e woo bi slaid Sis) ise w8 Se 28
Si Bine Clay. 6.4 see ee essen PS Na abn olcyelaic ate pene ale a Gps nate ae 10
A, Bie kay OG Sa SOYA SRC AT Te ea en ae aD eer 20
10. Massive sandstone............ Me Nye sh cts alraca cia yc oucis fate w ehenayauainit) co 6! 2» 8
67 2
There has been some prospecting done in this vicinity, but not of a very
satisfactory character. The coal outcrops in several places in a ravine and
in the bed of Home Creek. This coal is of a sufficiently good quality to be
of economical value, provided it can be found to extend over sufficient terri-
tory, which I think is quite probable, and may be decided by proper exam-
ination and exploration. This seam was seen again two miles east of Wal-
drip, at Chaffins’ mine.
At this place the coal is 20 inches thick and is immediately below the
massive limestone. It is of excellent quality and has been mined to some
extent by following the seam under the hill from the outcrop.
The second seam of coal is that found on Bull Creek, in Coleman County,
a few miles northeast of the town of Waldrip, in what is known as the Gibson
shaft. In the vicinity of this shaft I made the following section:
Feet. Ins.
IPRMITOR GOH CHa eia ne lik Wenner eis Sean goats ama eee ho cy Loi alg deo. Whdid ew th baie 3
PRS AMES TORTS Ne pe Re NEA Wile Seeley ody Rushes thats ces aes way hs 6 abo: ac Bes AI ei 10
eR OLyIN, tercraria'e 6 Ses Dap eckehMarciats: BIS MeN cig rset a kts hake ae ayehs wien SG On aw separ eric 40
ep SELLS OTL CMP yen aPC Cece ea UC ela iy, Mirae cats einiele) Stale’ uiaverd » sie) ok mio one: & we sated 3
ed MLE OEM MEM ea CLL eho evs oy Seteerb, aha @ disiewle Healy ww Ste eases 2
San reer ern) Whar nimi ei talk ayia Ak slave Oeeielda a tb/ele of Sabu d 6
teem el Pe IMME TASS Eases Ree oto tle y Movgha Akl ang 8 Si vel Siplars oar ceta loka dies 10
es SLAB e as ogg Slte bho Wee MI eA eS ae ei Rs or hee a 2
Prat Oct PPE OPE EPs Aira SSI Clee ins. As 3 bie ait avg tania mine ORem aaa sald te © RS ss 24.
AB CDDP ETT se eM ya, omy BA CA 8 GSC va oso gy at: 6s 91 SUM Jum rmey SUA RS wre er ecm esl Sa A eee ie
MARSH TAG SV ONTE as o5 Sk: be HS ge a s ofratci tte onetba ina ara tgis sey 2s) seen 3
The coal outcrops in several places in this vicinity showing a variable
thickness. In places the seam is almost entirely cut through by ‘horse
backs” from the under side.
160 SOUTHERN BORDER OF CENTRAL COAL FIELD.
One-half mile west of the town of Waldrip, at the Finks mine, the section
given on page 153 was made:
This shaft is 84 feet deep. A tunnel has’ been driven from the main shaft
for a distance of 40 feet and a considerable amount of coal taken out, of very
fair quality. The mine is not now worked. One mile northwest of this
shaft is a shaft sunk by Williamson. This seam of coal shows to be only
ten inches thick; and two miles southwest of the Finks mine the coal was
again found to be only ten inches thick.
I doubt very much if this seam of coal will be found of commercial value
on account of its want of uniformity of thickness over any considerable ex-
tent of country.
GAS.
Natural gas has been found in boring wells for water in a number of
places in the country covered by the present expedition. This gas is from
the same shales that produce the oil, that of the lower Carboniferous. In the
well of Mr. L. L. Shields, of Trickham, the gas rises to the surface with the
water and oil. : If the water be pumped out of the well, the gas rises in such
quantities as to produce a noise when rushing out of the well. One mile west
of Trickham the salt water and gas were reached at a depth of 280 feet. The
flow of gas at that place is said to.be stronger than from the well at Trick-
ham. The gas at this well was lighted with a match, and burnt with a con-
tinuous flame, sometimes as high as 20 feet.
Three miles southwest of the town of Waldrip, in McCulloch County, on
the south side of the river, on the farm of Mr. John Kellett, at a depth of
about 80 feet a flow of salt water was obtained, and with it gas in sufficient
quantities to burn continuously when lighted.
The gas is without odor, and is no doubt in sufficient quantity to be of
economical value. There being a supply of salt water flowing from the same
wells that furnish the gas, the gas could be utilized in the manufacture of
common salt.
It is probable that gas might be obtained at some of the towns in this part
of the country in sufficient quantity to be used for lighting the streets, if not
for other purposes. At a depth of about 500 feet it is probable a flow of
gas would be found at the town of Lampasas.
Four miles south of San Angelo, on the farm of Mr. Nasworthy, there is
a flow of gas from a well 325 feet deep. The gas is probably found with
the salt water, which was obtained at a depth of 80 feet. This stratum of
‘salt water ought to be reached at the town of San Angelo at about 150 feet.
IRON. 161
OIL.
Oil has been found in several places in the country over which I have re-
cently traveled. The most notable place is at Trickham, in Coleman County.
A well on the premises of Mr. L. L. Shields in that town was put down to
the depth of 220 feet. At a deptn of 100 feet salt water was reached, which
flows from the top of the well. With the water is brought up oil, which col-
lects on the top of the water. This oil has never been analyzed, and has not
"been collected in any considerable quantity. It has been used for lubricating
purposes. It is found in the lower part of the Carboniferous. Mr. J. H.
Finks, of Waco, is now drilling another hole only fifty feet away from the
first, for the purpose of testing the quantity of oil to be obtained.
The same oil-producing stratum was penetrated and oil obtained at Brown-
wood. The shales producing this oil are found at the surface near Lampasas,
McAnnelly’s Bend, near San Saba, and westward to near the town of Brady.
Whether the oil will be found in quantities sufficient to be of economical
value, is not yet determined. This determination will have to be arrived at
by penetrating the oil-bearing stratum at different localities, and possibly at a
more remote point from the line of outcrop.
Oil has been found in several places, in small quantities, oozing from the
ground, but never in sufficient quantity or under circumstances that warrant
particular mention.
IRON.
I have only seen two places during the expedition where there is any prob-
ability that iron ore can be obtained in sufficient quantity to be of economical
value. The first place is on Cherokee Creek, two miles northeast of the town
of Cherokee, on the lands of Mr. J. T. White. The ore is in the Silurian
limestone, and isa brown hematite in stalactitic form. Considerable ore is
scattered over the surface of the hill, and I traced the deposit for several hun-
dred feet. A small amount of money judiciously expended in prospecting
would determine the quantity of ore to be obtained in that locality.
The other place is on the San Saba River, a mile below the mouth of Brady
Creek, in San Saba County. At that place there is a fissure in the massive
limestone partly filled with iron ore. This fissure is from 18 to 30 inches
wide. I traced it in a northeastern direction about half a mile. This ore is
brown hematite, and the only question is as to the quantity. The ore seems
to be continuous for some distance, and the vein is easily traced by the scat-
tered ore on the surface, |
K
162 SOUTHERN BORDER OF CENTRAL COAL FIELD.
ARAGONITE.
This mineral was found by me in only two localities in sufficient quantity
to be of any use; yet I do not doubt that it can be found in other localities
equally as abundant as at the places mentioned below.
One of these places is on the lands of Mr. D. N. McRea, about fifteen miles
west of the town of Lampasas, near the north line of Burnet County. It
occurs in a fissure in the massive limestone of the Carboniferous formation.
It is very compact and much of it is beautifully banded. Some of it when
fractured has a dark resinous color. It takes an excellent polish, and can be
obtained in slabs large enough for table tops.
Another locality is in San Saba County, on the south side of Cherokee
Creek, five or six miles from its mouth. This has about the same geological
position as at the former locality, and the material is about the same as that
from Lampasas County, only it seems to be a little whiter and the crystals are
smaller. This material is used largely for making ornaments, and is generally
known when polished as ‘“‘ Mexican onyx.” Itis not an onyx, but is simply
a carbonate of lime crystalized under a peculiar form. It does not differ in
composition from calcite.
STRONTIANITE.
This mineral is found in beautiful crystals on the head of Little Lucy
Creek, six miles north of the town of Lampasas, and elsewhere in that vicin-
ity. It also occurs at the head of Lynch’s Creek, twelve miles northwest of
the town of Lampasas.
At both these places it is imbedded in the limestones of the Cretaceous
formation. It is found on Lucy Creek at two horizons about twenty feet
apart. In the lower it isin massive nodular form, and is in a bluish lime-
stone. At the upper horizon it occurs in geodes, with crystals of dog-tooth
spar. Some of the crystals are beautifully tinged with blue, and are almost
perfect crystals. Other crystals are clear white. This mineral is used in the
manufacture of nitrate of strontia, which is used for making red color in fire-
works. One nodule was obtained weighing forty-three pounds.
Another locality where this mineral was seen was near the head of Lynch
Creek. It occursin this place also in the Cretaceous formation, and is asso-
ciated with crystals of calcite. None of the material at this place had the
beautiful blue tinge that gives value to the crystals for cabinet specimens. It
is probable, however, that such crystals might be found upon diligent search.
BUILDING STONE.
There is an abundance of building stone in all the counties, and in nearly
4
BUILDING STONE. 163
every neighborhood good stone for building purposes may be had within a
convenient distance.
Very few quarries have been opened to any extent, and those only to sup-
ply a local demand; and besides every builder has opened his own quarry, and
its location was determined more by the nearness of the quarry to the edifice
to be constructed and the convenience for quarrying than anything else.
The stone suitable for building purposes may be had in all the formations
examined, but is more abundant in the Cretaceous and Carboniferous than in
the Silurian.
A particular description of the stones found at various localities will give
an idea of their fitness for building purposes.
Everywhere on top of the Cretaceous is a bed of hard limestone, ranging
from 2 feet to 10 feet in thickness. The bed is sometimes divided by a thin
stratum of siliceous shell conglomerate, and when that is the case, there is a
difference of structure in the stratum above and below the shell conglom-
erate. This is Mr. Robt. T. Hill’s “Caprina limestone.” (See his report.)
These two classes of stone are found in the quarries near Lampasas, where
they are both used extensively for building purposes. One of them is more
compact and is whiter than the other, and, as a matter of course, is more
desirable. They are both easily quarried, and are soft when first taken out,
but harden on exposure to the atmosphere. So durable and compact is the
upper stratum of this rock that it is extensively used for the bases of tomb-
stones, for which purpose it is shipped to different parts of the State. It is
also used extensively for facings in buildings erected of other material. This
stone is easily dressed when taken from the quarries, having no siliceous
material in it whatever. These same beds are found on the top of the Santa
Anna Mountain, in Coleman County, where it has been quarried and shipped
to various localities. They are also found on top of the Brady Mountains, in
McCulloch County; but, so far as I am informed, no quarry has been opened
at that place.
They are found on top of the hills west of the town of San Angelo, in
Tom Green County. These stones have not been used very extensively at
this place, for the reason that the Permian sandstone and limestone are more
convenient to the town, and are said to be more easily worked—at least such
is said of the Permian sandstones. A
The sandstone of the Carboniferous is,found in many places, and has been
used in preference to any other when it could be obtained. I first found it
on this expedition near the head of Lynch’s Creek, in Lampasas County. No
use has been made of the stone there except for building chimneys. It is
there found in layers from 1 foot to 4 feet thick, This is a yellowish, soft,
164 SOUTHERN BORDER OF CENTRAL GOAL FIELD.
even-grained sandstone, easily quarried and worked. It hardens on expos-
ure, and becomes darker with the length of time exposed.
This bed of stone may be traced from where I saw it on Lynch’s Creek to
the head of Richland Creek, in McCulloch County, and probably farther.
This stone occurs a few miles north of the town of San Saba, where it is
quarried and used for building purposes to some extent. There being a good
limestone nearer to the town than the sandstone, it has been more exten-
sively used.
At Brady City, the county seat of McCulloch County, the court house is
. built of a sandstone found in the vicinity. This is the same stone as at San
Sapa. .
There are several limestones in the Carboniferous formation that will make
good building material. Some of them have already been used to a limited
extent in a few localities. The stones are very much harder than the Cre-
taceous limestones and do not harden much on exposure. They are all dark,
except some of those which have metamorphosed by heat into semi-marble.
These limestones vary in thickness from a few inches to several feet.
The best limestones for building purposes in the Carboniferous formation
are the beds of blue limestone situated just below the beds of black shale.
At that horizon there are several strata of this rock, varying in thickness
from one to three feet. This stone is dark blue, and is in such even beds
that there would be but little work necessary to be done if the stone was
laid down in the same position it occupied in the seam in the quarry. This
rock is found along Lynch Creek, in Lampasas County, and at Bend on the
south side of the Colorado River, at San Saba, and the country west, under-
laying the black shale. The line of the fracture is smooth, but seldom at
right angles. J have seen acres of a bed of this stone exposed in blocks of
uniform thickness, yet broken so as to make pieces eighteen inches wide and
from two or three inches to four or five feet long. The lines of fracture and
cross fracture are perfectly straight, so that a wall could be built without
having to cut a single stone except those used at the ends. This stone re-
ceives a very fine polish, and is of a bluish-black color and very ornamental.
The Permian sandstone is of a bluish color and is very abundant in the
vicinity of San Angelo, where it has been extensively used. It is easily
quarried, and when first taken out of the quarry is easily dressed. It is
even-grained, and may be had entirely without spots of iron. The stone
hardens on exposure to the atmosphere. Some of this stone has been shipped
to Galveston and other places for the erection of buildings.
The limestone of the Permian is quite hard, and when well selected makes
an excellent building material. It is of a reddish-yellow color, and is in
beds from one to three feet thick. It does not take a fine polish. It varies
LITHOGRAPHIC STONE. 165
greatly in quality within a short distance. The stratum that would furnish
good building material at one place might be absolutely worthless for such
purposes within a very short distance. A considerable amount of stone has
been taken out near the old town of Ben Ficklin, four miles south from San
Angelo, and used in the latter place, the public school building there being
built out of this material.
MARBLE.
The stone called “Texas Marble” is nothing more than a partly meta-
morphosed shaly limestone, that is of no value for building purposes except
for making lime. There are, however, several good quarries of marble that
in beauty will rival the best. The most notable place is a few miles southeast
of San Saba, and only a short distance from the Fleming Springs, where
there is sufficient water to run machinery for the purpose of manufacturing
the marble. The marble in this vicinity has several colors, ranging from
pure white to shades of red or flesh-colored. These beds are at the base of
the Carboniferous or top of the Silurian.
Another locality where the marble has been quarried is on the north side
of Cherokee Creek, six miles below the town of Cherokee, near the farm of
Mr. Charles Harris. The quality of this I do not think is as good as that
near the town of San Saba.
It is more than probable that other places may be found where the stone
will be equal in quality and abundance to that at these places.
CLAYS.
The clays suitable for economic purposes are not abundant, except for the
heavier pottery and for brick-making. These are everywhere abundant.
The Carboniferous abounds in fire clay of various degrees of purity. Clay
for the manufacture of paints can be found in large quantities and of various
colors. The localities where this kind of material can be found are too
numerous to be mentioned.
There is not a town in the entire district examined where good clays for
making brick cannot be readily obtained in its immediate vicinity. I have
not seen any of the finer clays, yet they might occur in many places.
LITHOGRAPHIC STONE.
The lithographic stone occurs in a thin bed near the base of the Carbonifer-
ousformation. It has a general uniformity of stratification and texture. It was
first seen in Hill’s pasture, just east of the Sulphur Springs on the Colorado,
20 miles west of Lampasas. It was also traced along the outcrop for many
miles in different localities. It was again seen in Ramsey’s pasture, on the
166 SOUTHERN BORDER OF CENTRAL COAL FIELD.
west side of the Colorado; and again on the south side of Cherokee Creek,
on both sides of the San Saba and Bluffton road. Another place at which
it was observed was three miles east of the town of San Saba. In all these
places it occupies the same geological position. The texture of the stone is
as fine as need be desired, but it has not been found in large enough pieces
to be of any value. The stone has a perfect network of lines of fracture
running through it. These lines are filled with calc-spar, which renders it
worthless. The best was seen near San Saba. It is possible if the vein was
uncovered so as to get away from atmospheric influences it might be much
better; or it might be that if the deposit was traced by its outcrop from one
locality to another, which might be easily done, a locality would be found —
where the stone would be free from these lines of fracture. The stone is of
a uniform color wherever seen, being a light gray. The bed is from six to
eight inches thick. When much weathered, and struck with a hammer, it
splits into thin layers.
SOILS.
The soils have a very great variety of composition, and consequently of
fertility, owing to the fact of their being composed of the detritus from the
strata in the immediate vicinity, as well as material transported from great
distances. There are no barren soils in the country, unless it be an occa-
sional small area at the base of some hill, where the clay has been washed
down and spread over the valley. These places are of rare occurrence and
are of small extent
The soils of the Cretaceous and from the limestones of the Carboniferous
are very black, with but little sand admixed.
The soils of the sandstone region of the Carboniferous are sandy, of a red-
dish color, often having a red clay subsoil. The soils of the valleys of the
rivers and some of the local plateaus are a reddish loam, with different kinds
of subsoil, owing to the difference in locality. Another class of soils are
those along the smaller creeks, where they are made up entirely of the wash-
ings from the adjacent hills and of the vegetable and animal remains that
have lived and died on these lands. They are probably the most fertile of
all the lands in this part of the State. Any of these soils are of sufficient
fertility to make good agricultural lands, and the only questions that need be
seriously considered in selecting a location, or that need be discussed, are the
questions of rainfall and possibility of irrigation.
The soil of the Lampasas River is principally from the adjacent Cretaceous
strata. There has been at some time a large amount of water flowing down
these valleys, bringing in the sands and other material from a distance, mak-
ing a black sandy soil of great fertility, and which annually produces fine
SOILS. 167
crops of wheat, oats, and cotton, as well as vegetables of all kinds. These
valleys are overgrown with sumach and other smaller brush and vines.
The timber is principally elm, burr oak, hackberry, wild china, and pecan.
This valley below the town of Lampasas can be easily irrigated.
The uplands of Lampasas County are the black and gray soils of the Cre-
taceous. The lands are fertile and produce abundant crops of wheat, oats,
corn, and cotton. They are principally prairie. Along the creeks and
branches there is some post oak, blackjack, and. live oak timber. On some
of the high hills there is cedar.
Many places in the county where the Carboniferous limestones occur, the
soils have a reddish tint, commonly known as mulattolands. For a few miles
east of the Colorado River there is a belt of country that is quite rocky; and
while the soil is very fertile, the rocks which lie scattered over the surface
render it unfit for agricultural purposes It is excellent land, however, for
grazing, and it has more timber than the other lands.
The sandy lands made from the sandstones and shales of the Carbonifer-
ous formation are on the north side of Lynch Creek, in the northwestern
part of Lampasas County. They are reddish in color, with a subsoil of red
clay. These lands are overgrown with post oak and blackjack timber. They
are easily cultivated and are quite productive. It is not probable that they
will stand the drouth as well as the more compact soils, but with enough rain
they produce good crops, and this is the case nearly every year.
The bottom lands of the Colorado River are a red sandy loam, and have
been made by the drift brought down from the country higher up the river.
They owe their reddish color to the material brought down from the red clay
beds of the Permian formation, situated a hundred miles to the northwest,
through which the river runs. This soil is rendered fertile by the admixture
of gypsum with the other material. This material is from the great gypsum
beds found near the headwaters of the Colorado River. These lands are
easily cultivated, and produce abundant crops. They are level enough in
places to be irrigated; and it will be easy enough to take the water out of the
Colorado River for that purpose, if it shall be thought advisable to do so.
The soils along Cherokee Creek are mostly derived from the decomposition
of the black shales and limestones of the Carboniferous, and from the sands
of the Silurian, found on its upper waters. They are generally of a reddish
color. The hills on either side of the creek are covered with cedar. Some
of the lands on the higher valleys are made from the material of the strata
of the surrounding hills, and have less sand, and are much darker in color.
This is fine wheat land, and is equally good for all other crops. The soils
of the country situated within the Silurian formation are more sandy and
of a redder color, the red sandstones of that formation giving color to
168 SOUTHERN BORDER OF CENTRAL COAL FIELD.
these soils. In the greensand of the lower Silurian occurring in this part of
the country is found the source of their great fertility. The valleys are
overgrown with large pecan timber, as well as burr oak, walnut, and elm.
On this kind of soil I found the largest sumach trees I have ever seen any-
where. Some of them on the lands of Mr. J. T. White, near the town of
Cherokee, are ten inches in diameter. On the high hills of the Silurian
limestone there are extensive thickets of shin oak brush.
The soils of the San Saba River are generally dark, and are the result of
the disintegration of the limestones, shales, and sandstones of the Carbon-
iferous. They are equally as fertile as the soils of the Colorado. The timber
is about the same as that of the Colorado River. The valleys are level and
suitable for irrigation.
The soils along Richland Creek are much the same as those along the San
Saba River. This creek runs along the line of contact between the limestone
and the sandstone of the Carboniferous. The soils are sometimes reddish
and sometimes black, owing to the side of the creek on which they are situ-
ated. The black soils are mostly on the south side of the creek, while the
reddish soils are on the north side. The reddish soils have much more sand
in them than the black, yet they seem to be of about equal fertility.
The high level plateau between the San Saba River on the south and
Richland Creek on the north is generally black, with more or less sand. It
is principally derived from the black shales of the Carboniferous. The timber
on this plateau is live oak and mesquite.
To the northward of Richland Springs are the sandy post oak lands of the
Carboniferous. At Putnam, in the northwestern corner of San Saba County,
the Colorado River is again reached, and the same classes of soils exist as
were found in Lampasas County. The valleys are broader and the timber
not so abundant. The soil is redder, and has received less material from the
surrounding hills. The valleys are here overgrown with large mesquite and
live oak timber.
The soils about Trickham are in broad plateaus; some of them prairie, and
some overgrown with mesquite. They are made from the sandstone and
limestones of the Carboniferous. The creek valleys are broad and generally
black sandy soil. Some of the lands are overgrown with post oak and black-
jack timber, and in addition to these, in the bottoms, are large pecan, elm,
and burr oak trees
The soils in the country about Santa Anna, in Coleman County, are gen-
erally a reddish sandy loam. They are sometimes a dark sandy soil. They
are made from the strata of both the Cretaceous and the Carboniferous form-
ations. They get their reddish color from the reddish clay of the Cretaceous
and the red clay of the Carboniferous. The sand also comes both from the
a
SOILS. 169
Cretaceous and the Carboniferous. The lands are generally prairie, with an
occasional live oak scattered here and there. The soils are fertile, and pro-
duce good crops of wheat, oats, corn, and sorghum. ‘These soils are particu-
larly adapted to raising the sorghum cane. Mr. G. W. Mahoney, four miles
south of Santa Anna, says that in the dryest year that has been in the last
eight years, he grew sorghum fifteen feet high. He was cutting his wheat
when I visited his place. It would average thirty bushels per acre. These
soils need deep plowing in the fall and deep planting in the spring, and then
as little cultivation during summer as possible. If the ground is broken deep
in the fall, and the seed planted deep in the fall or early spring, according to
the variety, there is no danger but what there will be good crops of wheat
or oats raised.
West of Home Creek, on a high level prairie, the soil is black waxy with
‘“hog-wallows.” It looks much like some of the black lands farther eastward.
The country between Waldrip and Brady Mountains is generally a high
level prairie, with mesquite brush. The soil is a reddish sandy loam. The
crops in this belt of country were in excellent condition, there having been
good rains during the entire season. The soils from the Brady Mountains to
Brady Creek are blacker and are not so sandy. They contain more lime.
The soil on Brady Creek is black sandy and is very fertile. There is no
chance to irrigate these lands, unless it should be done by making dams and
storing the surplus water.
The largest body of level land seen on this trip is whatis known as the
Lipan Flat, and is situated partly in Concho and partly in Tom Green County.
It is between the Cretaceous hills on the south and the Concho River on the
north and west. The body of land is from 15 to 20 miles wide and 30 miles
long. It is so situated that it could nearly all be irrigated by making a dam
near the head of the South Concho River and storing the surplus water, as
well as utilizing the water of the river.
The soils of this flat are of various colors. Generally it is a black argilla-
ceous soil and is quite fertile. If these lands could be irrigated there are
none which would yield greater returns.
The lands of the Concho rivers and their upper tributaries, Dove Creek,
Spring Creek, and others above the red beds of the Permian, are black and
very fertile. They are made from the Cretaceous strata and the vegetable
deposits which have grown on these lands for ages past. Large amounts of
these lands are under irrigation and the crops are abundant. Fine crops
have been raised this year on some of these lands without irrigation.
What can be done by thorough cultivation of the uplands in this country
without irrigation may be seen from a description of the Riverside farm,
situated two and one-half miles northeast of San Angelo, and owned by
170 SOUTHERN BORDER OF CENTRAL COAL FIELD.
Lasker and Lerch. On this farm there are 200 acres in cultivation.
Two years ago they broke the land and put it in condition to plant.
On the 29th of March they finished planting 4000 fruit trees, consisting of
apples, pears, peaches, plums, apricots, cherries, nectarines, and almonds.
These trees are all growing nicely, not more than five per cent of the whole
number having died. Some of the trees bore a small amount of fruit this
year. . There are also raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries, and strawberries.
On the farm are 72 varieties of grape vines, all showing a vigorous growth.
The crops consist of corn, wheat, oats, barley, rye, clover, millet, sorghum,
cotton, and flax. There is also a great variety of vegetables growing.
The crop of 1888 gave an average per acre of 40 busuels of corn, 45 bush-
els of oats, and one-half bale of cotton. The present crop promises to be
equally as good. The plan of cultivation on this farm is to break the ground
deep in winter and plant deep and cultivate often with shallow plowing. The
soil on this farm embraces every variety found in the country.
WATER.
There is no scarcity of water for domestic purposes in any part of this
district. There are a great many springs, and wells are easily obtained at mod-
erate depth. There is only one place where any trouble has been experienced
in getting water, and that was just after leaving Richland Springs, in San
Saba County. In places there they have to go 100 feet or more to get water
in their wells. There are probably more large springs in San Saba County
than any other county in the State. No less than sixteen of these springs
occur in this county, and the smallest will not run less than 200 gallons per
minute; and besides these there are innumerable smaller springs in different
parts of the country.
Water for stock purposes is abundant everywhere—in the rivers, in the
springs, and in the creeks. At only a few places has it been found necessary
to construct tanks for supplying stock water.
The water in nearly all the springs and wells mentioned is measurably free
from impurities.
Water for driving machinery is found at several localities but has been
used only in a small way for that purpose in a few places.
There are small areas in different places where shallow water can not be
obtained. The localities are near the outcroppings of the thick clay beds,
and where the overlaying gravel and sand beds are too thin to be water-bear-
ing, but these areas are very small and are entirely local.
ARTESIAN WELLS.
The conditions for obtaining artesian water are very favorable in every
WATER. 171
part of the territory I have examined. ‘The strata are composed of alternat
ing beds of sandstones, shales, and clay beds. The sandstones and shales of
the Carboniferous formation are generally of sufficiently open structure to
allow the passage of water through them. Then there are also shaly lime-
stones that will prove good conductors of water. The strata of the Silurian
will also be found a good water-conducting formation.
There is a gradual dip of these strata to the northwest in both the Silurian
and Carboniferous, and there is sufficient elevation to the southward to bring
the water to the level of the surface in the northwest, at least as far as the
country covered by this examination. Artesian water obtained in the Silu-
rian will sometimes be free of salts, and again will be highly impregnated
with mineral matter. I do not think it probable that fresh water will be ob-
tained anywhere in the Carboniferous. At least none of the water already
found in any of the wells has been free from salts.
A well at Trickham gives flowing water at a depth of 100 feet. The
water is too highly impregnated with chloride of sodium to be used for
domestic purposes, and other salts may or may not be associated with it
which would render it unfit for making common salt.
One mile west of Trickham, in Coleman County, there is another well in
which water was reached at a depth of 280 feet, which rises to the surface
and would probably flow if suitably cased. The water in this well is about
the same as at Trickham. Three miles southwest of the town of Waldrip,
in McCulloch County, is a well in which flowing water was reached at a
depth of 80 feet. The water is highly impregnated with chloride of sodium,
and has a small percentage of iron in the form of ferrous carbonate. An
analysis shows that it has no other ingredients in it that would be deleteri-
ous in the manufacture of common salt. In a well belonging to Mr. John.
R. Nasworthy, four miles south of San Angelo, that is 325 feet deep, salt
water was reached at a depth of 80 feet. The well is not cased, yet the water
rises to the surface. This water is quite salty, enough so to be excellent for
the manufacture of common salt, unless there should be impurities contained
therein. This could be easily determined by analysis.
No wells have been put down below the strata of the Carboniferous to test
the water of the Silurian. As the artesian water at Waco, Fort Worth, and
other places is found in the Cretaceous strata, and has its origin east of this
country, it is useless to expect to find the same water here.
MINERAL WATERS.
Mineral waters are abundant, and are found both in springs and in dug or
bored wells at various depths. Some of these latter are artesian or flow-
ing wells. The most notable springs are those at Lampasas, which have
172 SOUTHERN BORDER OF CENTRAL COAL FIELD.
long been famous for their medicinal qualities. As early as 1868 the
writer spent a summer at these springs. At that time there were no hotel
accommodations, and the visitors brought along their camp equipments and
pitched their tents under the shade of the trees. The bath house was a tem-
porary structure, made of canvas over the principal upper spring. An oc-
casional raid in the vicinity by the Comanche Indians kept the visitors most
of the time in the camp. Now everything is changed. The railroad brings
hundreds of visitors every year. Large and commodious hotels with mod-
ern improvements and conveniences are there; the grounds have been en-
closed and the natural growth of trees trimmed; a large and convenient
bath house has been constructed, where one can have either a hot or cold
bath, as his inclination or necessities may require; a street car runs from
one spring to the other, the two being situated about one mile apart, and
everything is done to make the stay of the visitors pleasant. Invalids and
visitors can secure such accommodation as their ability to pay for will war-
rant.
There are two principal springs. The Hanna Spring is the one farthest
east, and is on the east of and nearest to the town. It has a flow of 2500
gallons of water per minute, and a temperature of 71 degrees Fahrenheit.
These waters are variable in the amount of mineral salts they contain, and
they alternate in these changes. . When the Hanna Spring is highly impreg-
nated with salt, the Hancock Spring is weak; and when the Hancock Spring
is highly impregnated the Hanna Spring is weak. They are evidently both
from the same source, and owe these periodical changes to the flowing into
them of water from other sources than that which furnishes the salts, in
variable quantities at different times.
The following analysis was made of the water from the Hanna Springs by
HE. Waller, Ph. D., of New York, per United States gallon of 231 cubic
inches:
Ingredients. q Grains.
Chioridevof sodinmm: 5 (x ab Tey Melee ete te ae ca ca eal ogee te eee 49.835
Bromide Of SOdiMMS.c4 calc aed Levereslo cahi ta ie i eee eee eee eee ae eects trace
Bicarbonate ‘Of linhiasee @cseras ecieeine 2a ip erase ya taheaeane Nee alias mane ete sist le pan hole whe reve 0.186
Bicarbonate of Limes. 2% oc:de0% 3c a cseaete ea epes, oe Se eee ee eee 24,282
Bicarbonate of aronaey. -aee. mee ee eee ee he ee nes UAT Sa eee 0.052
Chioride of ‘magnesium’ ¢ 2.2 says cic ei cpe asus ee re ee eel Eee tee ieee le rerer 18.265
@hioride. :of calcium: 226F.0 See es sk abe at Eid Ba Fead eR A dad Ak coeder, Us 8.040
Sulphate Of POtassa ./sc.iicles a adeuiee oat tee ree ieee nae ciao eer tee 2.024
Pulphate Of LmMe os ae esa jae whe ld elect alters rele Eee ea eRe Romenesko nen 3.462
Wimibe ye eke sk esses ees ee PO re ae Ra ee Fs L059
SHIGA wis caress A ae oe astie Sie eave Siu kee yah ovale cane Re Tene mena ate Teleco nena etc ene 0.496
Organic qmatier... Pie. 06 cas oe eee ee ee Ree meee eee sn anes trace
106.701
WATER. 173
Both of these springs come from a fracture in the Carboniferous limestone. ©
Another spring, known as the Sulphur Spring, is situated on the west side
of the Colorado River, in San Saba County, and about twenty miles west of
Lampasas. This spring has about the same mineral qualities as those at Lam-
pasas. It is near the bank of the river, and issues from beneath the massive
limestone near the base of the Carboniferous. I had no means of estimating
the amount of water flowing per minute. There are no improvements at
this place except a very rude bath house. Numbers of people from the sur-
rounding counties come here with their camp equipage and spend weeks dur-
ing the summer months. The scenery is wildly romantic. The river here
has cut its way for miles through the massive limestone to the depth of 200
feet, forming a canyon. The sides of the hills are covered with almost im-
penetrable jungles of cedar. A more romantic locality can hardly be found
in the whole State. Any one who might desire to get away from the busy
scenes of a city life and spend a week or two with only the wild scenes of
nature for companions, could not find a better place than this.
Some of the salt wells in Coleman County and McCulloch County, in addi-
tion to the large percentage of chloride of sodium they contain, have also a
large percentage of iron, shown by the broad deposit of hydrous peroxide of
iron seen near the streams. Before reaching the surface the iron is held in
solution in the water as a ferrous carbonate that is almost immediately changed
into the insoluble peroxide on reaching the atmosphere. In order to get the
benefit of these waters they must be used fresh from the wells. This kind of
water flows from the artesian well near Waldrip, situated on the land of Mr.
John Kellett.
There is a well in the town of Brady that has been used by invalids with
beneficial results. No analysis of its waters has been made. A well on
the Riverside farm, near San Angelo, gives water that is highly impregnated
with minerals of several kinds, such as magnesia, potash, etc. In fact, in
almost every neighborhood in the country covered. by the Carboniferous
formation there are wells or springs highly charged with minerals, varying
in different quantities and in different combinations.
SALT WATER.
Water containing a large per cent of chloride of sodium is abundant
throughout the country occupied by the lower part of the coal meas-
ures. Some of the wells are flowing, and in some the water comes very
near to the surface, and would probably flow i proper efforts were made by
casing in a suitable manner. Some of these waters contain as high as 7.5 per
cent of common salt, without any other undesirable ingredients. In the
174. SOUTHERN BORDER OF CENTRAL COAL FIELD.
dryness of the atmosphere of this country water evaporates very rapidly, so
that large amounts of salt could be made from these flowing wells with but
little expense. The flowing wells at Waldrip and San Angelo are samples
of what may be obtained at almost any locality embraced within the Carbon-
iferous formation. I have not made an estimate of the amount of water
flowing from any of these wells, nor of the amount that it is probable they
would furnish by pumping, but am sure there is no lack of water in abund-
ance. A few miles from San Angelo salt water is found very near the sur-
face. Some of the waters have ingredients that would render them unfit for
the manufacture of common salt, but the suitability of water for this manu.
facture can be very readily determined by analysis.
WATER POWER.
There are a number of places where the water could be used for driving
machinery, and where it seems only. a question of a very short time until it
will be so used. It is estimated that the four springs at Lampasas will fur-
nish about 10,000 gallons per minute. The creek below the springs has a
fall of fifteen feet per mile, so it will be seen at once that a considerable
amount of power could be had within a short distance of the town. This
would be a favorable locality at which to establish manufactories of different
kinds. It would be a fine locality for a cotton or woolen mill, or for both.
The fall in the Colorado River anywhere below the mouth of the San Saba
is great enough within a short distance to give sufficient power to run heavy
machinery, and in many places a dam could be constructed at no very great
expense, as the material with which to build such dam can be had in the im-
mediate vici!ity.
The falls at the mouth of Falls Creek are 105 feet perpendicular. The
water comes from a spring in the vicinity, and in sufficient amount to give
large power.
The springs which flow into Cherokee Creek give sufficient water to sup-
ply a large power. At only one place, so far as learned, has the water been
used for this purpose. Mr. J. S. White, who lives one mile and a half east
of Cherokee town, has put in a dam four feet high across the creek, by which
he has turned the water into a race three hundred yards long, where he has
a turbine wheel which runs a corn mill and cotton gin.
Near the mouth of Cherokee Creek there is a fall of 18 feet in 900 feet.
With the amount of water usually in Cherokee Creek this would be sufficient
to produce a large amount of power.
Rough Creek, which runs into the Colorado River a few miles above Cher-
okee Creek, has enough and constant water to make it a stream of import-
ance ina small way. There is now a small mill and cotton gin run by the
IRRIGATION. 175
water. There is sufficient water to run much larger machinery than is now
being used.
The spring at San Saba is used for driving the machinery of a flour mill
of 250 barrels capacity per day. Ata short distance below the mill, on the
same stream, is the dam for the waterworks. The Fleming Spring could be
utilized for working the beds of marble in the immediate vicinity, without
losing any of its value for irrigating purposes.
The San Saba River has a succession of falls from head to mouth At al-
most any locality there could be constructed a dam that would furnish water
sufficient for a large amount of power.
The Concho River has a fall of about fifteen feet to the mile. All the riv-
ers are fed by large springs at no great distance above the town of San An-
gelo. This water could be very easily made to furnish a large amount of
power for manufacturing purposes. This would be a good place to start a
woolen mill, as a very large amount of wool finds its market here every year.
No city or town of any size can flourish without manufactories; and cheap
motive power is always to be taken into account in the estimates of a manu-
facturing enterprise. Water power is always the cheapest that can be used,
when it is convenient, so there is no reason why the immense power that can
be derived from the waters of the Concho River in the vicinity of San
Angelo can not be used in the way indicated. It has been estimated that
there is water enough in the river on the Riverside farm to give 380 horse-
power.
IRRIGATION.
The question of irrigation is one so intimately connected with the farming
interest in this part of the State that every available supply of water and
every locality of suitable land for this purpose ought to be investigated.
With this idea before me, I have given this matter particular attention dur-
ing the present expedition. While it is not absolutely necessary to the rais-
ing of crops that the land shall be irrigated, yet the value of the product
may be greatly enhanced thereby. There are two sources of water supply;
one is the utilizing of the natural supply from springs and streams already in
existence, and the other is to make large reservoirs for the storage of the
surplus waters of the creeks and rivers. The many large springs and the
perennial streams of this country have been examined with this in view, so
as to give some definite idea of the adaptability of all of them to the purpose
of irrigation. The first place examined with reference to irrigation was
Lampasas Springs. Here there is a constant and unvarying flow of water
from the several springs of 14,400,000 gallons per day. All this water
can be very easily taken out of the channel and turned on the wide val-
176 SOUTHERN BORDER OF CENTRAL COAL FIELD.
leys below. In the first three miles below the springs there is a fall of 46
feet. The valleys of the stream are broad and level, so that there would be
no trouble in getting water over the entire space. The soils are well adapted
to the purpose of irrigation, being black sandy, with a subsoil that would re-
tain moisture for a considerable length of time. Although this water is
largely mineralized when first issuing from the springs, it is not found to be
detrimental to the growth of crops, nor does it injure the land after having
gone a distance of a mile or two in an irrigating ditch. There is land enough
subject to irrigation in the valleys below to consume all the water furnished
by these springs. This water might also be taken out of the Lampasas River
at other places than immediately below the city. The water might be first
used in driving machinery for manufacturing purposes near the town, and
afterwards taken from the channel and used for the purpose of irrigation.
There are several springs along Cherokee Creek that might be used in a
small way for irrigation; or the creek might be taken as a whole and used
upon some of its broad valleys. The Cherokee Springs, at the head of the
creek, furnish a large amount of water, and at a very small expenditure the
water could be carried to the broad valleys below. Already a dam has been
constructed across the channel below one of the springs, and at a small ex-
pense of a few hundred dollars it could be extended so as to include the water
from both springs. This water is fresh, and the springs are constant in
amount of water they furnish.
The Fleming Spring, three miles east of the town of San Saba, furnishes
water to irrigate at least 300 acres of land if properly distributed. It issues
from beneath the massive limestone at about the same height as the valleys.
Already a part of the water is being utilized for irrigating purposes. At
one time it was the intention of a former owner to use all the water from the
spring for irrigating his farm, but he was restrained from doing so by an
action brought against him by the owners of land below him on the creek
made by this spring. A large part of the water now goes to waste.
The Hubbard Spring, a mile northeast of the Fleming Spring, is well situ-
ated for irrigating purposes and furnishes about the same amount of water.
It is also used in a small way for irrigation, but the most of the water runs
to waste. There is plenty of land in reach of this water to consume it all by
irrigation, but the riparian rights of the owners of land below on the stream
have been asserted.
The large spring just east of the town of San Saba, which is now used for
driving machinery in the flouring mill and the water works, furnishes a suffi-
cient amount of water to irrigate several hundred acres of land, but is per-
mitted to run into the river after serving the before mentioned purposes. A
IRRIGATION. ii
small amount is taken out at the upper dam and turned into a garden and a
small field.
On the lands of Mr. Sloan, ten miles west of the town of San Saba, and on
the south side of the San Saba River, a fine large spring bursts out from
under the massive limestone rocks. This spring and branch made by it to
the junction with the San Saba River are all on the lands of Mr. Sloan, so
there is no one to set up a claim of riparian rights; hence all the water from
this spring has been used to irrigate his fine farm of several hundred acres.
The Richland Springs, at the head of Richland Creek, in the western part
of San Saba County, furnish enough water to irrigate several hundred acres,
but the water has never been used for this purpose. These springs occa-
sionally, in very dry times, go dry, but not until after the crops are ma-
tured. The lands are good and of such a character as to be well adapted to
irrigation. There are sixteen of these springs in San Saba County, and all
of them might be used for irrigating the lands in their immediate localities.
The Colorado, San Saba, and Concho rivers can all be utilized for irrigat-
ing their broad valleys and the adjacent plateaus.
The Colorado River would be the most difficult to divert from its channel,
as the lands are generally much above the bottom of the channel. The
valleys are of sufficient extent anywhere above San Saba County to consume
all the water of the river, and are very fertile.
The waters of the San Saba are abundant, and no trouble would be ex-
perienced in taking the water from its present channel and conveying it to
the valleys above. The valleys are broad and fertile. They now produce
fine crops of corn, wheat, oats, and cotton without irrigation, but this yield
would be greatly increased by irrigating. There is less need for irrigation
along this river and in San Saba County than in any of the counties over
which my observations have extended.
The Concho rivers and the country adjacent thereto are more adapted to
irrigation than either of the other rivers in the district described. The river
is more constant in its supply of water and the plateaus of level land above
the lower valleys are more. accessible. ©
The South Concho River, Dove Creek, Spring Creek, and North Concho |
River all have their source at the foot of the Staked Plains. They all have
very large springs at the head. None of these springs has a flow of less
than 2000 gallons of water per minute. Irrigation ditches have been taken
out on all these streams, and thousands of acres are already under irrigation.
In none of these streams has one-half of the water been utilized. “The system
of irrigation, if it can be called a system, is of the most primitive kind. The
farming is mostly done by Mexicans, for a share of the crop. Every man
takes out what water he wants, and for as long a time as he wants it, letting
L
178 SOUTHERN BORDER OF CENTRAL COAL FIELD.
the remainder flow back into the channel. The next man below him has
built a ditch and taken out the water, and so on to the end.
Such is the character of the soil of these streams that they retain a large
amount of moisture after having the water from the irrigating ditch spread
over them, and numerous springs have broken out along the banks of the
river since the plan of irrigating the lands has been put in operation; and
instead of the water from the river being exhausted by taking it out and
spreading it over these valleys, it is really stored for constant use. There is
as much water in the river below the irrigated farms now as there was before
there was any water taken out. There is really more water now in the Lower
Concho River than there was before these irrigated farms were made. The
only reason that can be assigned for this fact is that heretofore all the water
was allowed to flow down the channel during the rainy season, and at all
other times, while now the surplus water is taken and spread out on the
valleys above and forms reservoirs and supplies numerous springs with water
which before only flowed during wet weather.
The advisability of storing the surplus water need not be discussed in a
report like this. The only questions that need be considered are whether it
can be done successfully, and the places where such storage can be made to
advantage. It would be a very easy matter to find places along the San Saba
River where dams could be made from one hill to the other and an immense
amount of water be saved for future use. This river runs from head to
mouth through the massive limestone of the Silurian and Carboniferous
formations, and it would be difficult to find a place where the water could be
stored in reservoirs except along the immediate channel of the river, owing
to the height of the surrounding country.
It would be more difficult to store water in the channel of the Colorado
River, on account of the material over which it flows and the character of the
soil in its immediate valley; but when once the water is taken from the
channel it could be conducted to localities where immense lakes might be
formed and water stored for future use.
The clays of the Carboniferous formation are impervious to water, and
places could be selected where these clays would form the bottoms and sides
of artificial lakes of immense size. When the time comes for selecting
localities for water storage, there will be no trouble to find such places to store
the immense surplus of water that at times goes down the Colorado River.
The Concho River furnishes the best locality for utilizing or storing surplus
water of any of the rivers of this region, owing to the ease with which the
water may be taken out of the channel, and the extensive plateaus which lie
contiguous to that stream.
It is possible to make an immense reservoir for the storage of water a few
RAINFALL. : 179
miles below the head of the South Concho River, and the water could be
taken out and used to irrigate the Lipan Flat, a body of land containing at
least half a million acres. The lands in this flat are so situated that this water
could be taken to any part of them. There is not a better place for such an
enterprise in the State.
RAINFALL.
The amount of rainfall necessary to successful agriculture without irriga-
tion varies in different parts of the United States. Much more depends upon
the distribution of the rainfall than upon the annual amount of precipitation.
In California, the rainy season is from December to April, and the annual
precipitation in inches is given at less than 20.
In Dakota, the rainfall is in the spring and summer, and is given at 15
inches annual precipitation.
In California agriculture is entirely dependent upon irrigation, while in
Dakota the rainfall is sufficient to be useful in raising abundant crops without
the aid of irrigation. The following table of rainfall, taken from the record
kept at Fort Concho from 1868 to 1889, shows that there have been about
four years in which the annual rainfall was below 15 inches; and in the dry-
est year the rain fell from April to July, the months when it was most needed
for agriculture. In 1888 excellent crops were made in the arid regions of
Texas, and the record shows the rainfall to have been 22.08 inches. Of that
amount 13.28 inches fell from April to August. In the first five months of
1889 the rainfall has been 9.97 inches, which has been as much as desired
and the crops never looked better.
Year. Jan. Feb. |March.| April. | May. | June.} July. | Aug. | Sept. Oct. Noy. Dec.
MSG Sins Seaversy sien e |) Sess vall ene: seeuel tee aietee Set 45 MOEA Oe S0l2 1.86 2.35) 6-40) 3.75) 1.69
MSG Owes ee. ci 8: ZAOO | ae Ole ie Ol Sookie Tom L4sy 194) "i pO 96h 1.59) 1.60
1 ibost (0 setae ge Gh aol. (olan 262) so 2olpteoola.g2) O.90) 9.921 5.44) 1.24)" (12
SCL eo ee eset oe 4d 2 Col 90) Acai SAB. DOAN [SOIS2E48) +44) 20
MSO. se aa 3 DZS LAZO ence 1.12) £.86- 1.50) 3.79) 2.60 85 66} 1.66 53
LES Bae is ae 16 cata) lend UE 0) ee 4.56!) 6.40 SPA PAG. At O82. eo
1S eee 25 DO de A ee oat eo OF 88 61] 5.58 64} 2.92} 5.80
13) ie a ea 05) 1.75 Tw 50) 1.0) 2 64/05.. 67 22) 1.22 ,36) 2.47
PSR 5 fae
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3] 41.87] 81) 5) 45.90] 84) 26] 57.41) 94) 31} 62.98) 103] 48) 77.35) 105} 54) 78.14
1884; 73) 5} 38.04) 82) 17) 46.85) 89) 26) 58.97} 95) 32) 61.56) 93] 44) 69.82] 100) 53} 82.05
1885] 74| 2] 39.35) 79| 15) 45.64) 90) 30) 54.61) 99} 42) 67.18] 93) 45) 71.09] 107) 62) 84.63
1886] 80) 3) 39.51} 78] 17! 50.15) 87) 24| 60.94) 93} 30] 68.80) 107) 50} 81.14) 112} 60} 81.14
1887; 84) 5) 43.51) 84) 14| 50.42; 95) 29) 60.86) 101} 34] 67.78] 101) 43) 74.60} 107) 64) 82.07
1888) 79) 1} 40.84) 79] 28} 50.34) 91) 24) 51.78) 94) 43] 66.13] 98) 51) 97.43} 104] 58).........
1] 46.32} 81) 17} 50.08) 85} 35) 57.20} 94! 44) 69.11] 98] 43) 72.13)......]......| cco.
July. August. September. October. November. December.
H
S | wld x] ; 4 : 4 rd
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PAT | I Nice Meet pl cet me Nested es Ogee aah es et Pest let ee tp tee ee
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(0.0)
It must be remembered in consulting the above table that the high tem-
perature shown does not produce the same effect upon vegetation or animal
nature that the like temperature would produce at a lower altitude and one
where there was little breeze. In this country the atmosphere so rapidly
absorbs the moisture of the body that the heat is not as oppressive as where
the absorption is not so great. Such a thing as sun-stroke has never been
known in this part of the State.
TIMBER. 181
The following table will show the course of the wind from 1886 to 1889,
kept by the signal station at Fort Concho, Texas:
A is Alias eave jemjRe te, |e log
eee eats eae | 3) S| 2
1886.
Ie Kin SUN, c A AEG ORD Oe AP lee i a dy
Si g0t ce de eee ee eke Peat avid bed | ate. ly 6
Dh oo aisha rien ease 5 lee pee Mean Ann bet | 1 | 1
Senin eg ie ese kt eae Met ies los Beira 4 1] 8
So. oe oe eon lO tse de 6 | 47) 4
Soe 2 bo lice aaa Caotone ater dae asl ert sms fm)? g la
WE Lace Ae eee Se lbey liedle dae | Bile Me Tay Br t\..3
Li We ee eee Nel te | a a ee ae A Fo em Ne
1887.
i: tig Ae ee ne ee nee teal Gleb Blk D
1. 10 a ee eee eck | ated |e 4a) oe) a | 6 | 5
ARG Wet ame wo. oi: ior etieatiatal| ma ac shes tM tac c.
SEM ee siray Ug Ts ee lemap Sata he al sl 3 | 7
Sakae aos eat (mee eo aie at tory 69 |S |. 3 17
WV GNM, a8... eer miei aia Se eel om. | ja 1a | A
Pe eT fick so) memoria ch 4) 7) 4) 5 1-6
1 SE? a eae ae By sel (ala 1) 6 P) ela ies
1888.
in oy See a ee Mee iioeet bean sw |G | & | 2 | el 8
Te cole of ee aa a eae ae Ge ari Sh Ae emo a wel Ag Salt m liciabalbn te
1B ae a Help JU oN ay 42 59 as Les ae al a i A a Oe
SL 1D). oe beached iia ea ees ete se eon a eT fede 8
See anys G84, Sits 23 EON Get ERG SUB Pa Fig LOE es eee ee a Pe (A
Sc, Wind Cee a ae Simona ee oe Bute | Glo | cl Gd
Wee eae eee ApoE mete bal Sy I Dona
Demneig ere ka eh i Ae ce mete sohede le || 4 | <3
1889.
ist Re are Sub em Menlo nite i he eee to
PE Get. ot ab ac ow a x Res Ste eee ce culo ST te a ae ee ee
I Os Pena ec Th ge AS TCAs Sol Ue Dae coe |e
Sh Ts eee eae EN) ecg coat | Satoh i A ee OD a ee Hee (nee
SW espe se nee As ee eeOe MON les sel abe. teen \oewal cealless.
5. Ae ee eee SL EAS GS | | ee a a
RON ey ketal eh Ne cee rmriohi ws So 1 8 7 NR Bera terace lis ety a Netererhene Scailterm se)? |v. aime | aces
i(k ead ea ke ene Gabe pea wip eM woe tle sal. Rods. |e.
TIMBER.
The timber in the district examined is in sufficient quantities for all econom-
ical purposes, except for building houses, unless it be in the extreme western
part of the country. The different kinds are post oak, pecan, hackberry,
cottonwood, elm, water oak, shin oak, cedar, live oak, mesquite, and white
china. The most important is the cedar, which is to be had in almost unlim-
ited quantities along the Colorado and San Saba Rivers, as well as on Cher-
okee and other creeks. The post oak is found almost everywhere in that part
of the country occupied by the Carboniferous sandstone as far west as Camp
Creek, in Coleman County. Along all the creeks and rivers there is plenty
of timber for firewood. The mesquite is of almost universal growth. The
larger mesquite trees make excellent fence posts, and there is no better wood
182 SOUTHERN BORDER OF CENTRAL COAL FIELD.
for domestic purposes than dry mesquite. It is a rapid growth, and where
the fire is kept away, in a few years a growth will be made sufficiently large
for firewood. In some places farther west, the roots of the mesquite com-
pose the only kind of firewood to be had, and it is very little more trouble
or labor to get a load of roots out of the sand than it is in many places to
get a load of wood above ground.
In the San Saba River bottoms are to be found some very large burr oak
trees. I measured one near the town of San Saba that was four feet in
diameter. It was straight and twenty-five feet to the first limbs. This was
not an isolated tree, but stood in the midst of a forest of others almost as
large.
The pecan trees are found along every creek and river, often in great
numbers and of large size. Their chief value now is not in the excellent
timber they afford, but for the abundance of nuts they bear. The growth
of timber is everywhere rapidly increasing, and will so continue where it is
protected from fires.
The fencing is almost entirely done with posts and wire. The posts are
made of cedar found so abundantly along the Colorado River and shipped in
car loads to the place needed. In other localities the mesquite is used for
posts. In other places the live oak and other oaks are used for this purpose.
> Y
; :
3 we
mi)
d rs -
es
THE
PERMIAN OF TEXAS
AND ITS
OVERLYING BEDS.
BY
W. F. CUMMINS.
TELE
PERMIAN OF TEXAS AND ITS OVERLYING BEDS.
WwW. F. CUMMINS.
It is only intended in this report to give a resume of the work done* in
the Permain formation in Texas, as well as an outline of the leading charac-
teristics of the formation as I have observed them, and also to draw some
conclusion in regard to the economics of the district, leaving to a future
report the work of giving these facts a fuller and more extended explanation.
The Permian formation in Texas embraces all that territory situated be-
tween the Coal Measures on the east and the base of the Staked Plains on
the west, except a line of disconnected hills extending from Comanche
County to Big Springs, ranging along the south side and almost parallel
with the line of the Texas and Pacific Railroad. These hills, at least in their
upper members, belong to the Comanche series of the Cretaceous. There
are also a few isolated hills north of the line of the Texas and Pacific Rail-
road, such as the Double Mountains in the western part of Stonewall County,
whose tops are capped with the rocks of the Cretaceous.
The extreme southern limit of the Permain formation in Texas is a few
miles south of San Angelo, in Tom Green County. In that locality it is only
afew miles wide. It is covered on both the east and west sides in that vicin-
ity by the Cretaceous. The formation widens constantly to the northward,
until at its broadest part it is not less than 150 miles wide. ,
The stratification is conformable with that of the underlying Carboniferous
and has a general dip to the northwest.
The area underlaid by these beds is, as one would naturally suppose from
the character of materials of which they are made up (mostly sands and clays,
with interbedded sandstone and limestone), a beautiful rolling country, cut
here and there by smaller or larger creeks or rivers, with little timber save
along the streams, with broad valleys in places, and at others precipitous
canyons. Only where the heavy bedded limestones of the middle division
*The observations on which this brief statement is based have extended over a period of
nearly ten years, although the closer stratigraphic study was mostly done during the field
season which has just closed. Previous to that time my investigations were carried on at
various places, and not connected by direct observation, as has now been done.
186 PERMIAN OF TEXAS AND ITS OVERLYING BEDS.
occur, or in the massive gypsum deposits of the upper beds, do we find any
bluffs of considerable height.
This formation was first reported as Permian, in 1852, by Professor Jules
Marcou, who was at that time geologist with the Pacific Railroad Survey,
from Fort Smith to the Pacific Coast.
In 1868, Dr. Wm. De Ryee, in a report made for the Texas Copper Mining
and Manufacturing Company, and published by them, reported the red beds
of Archer County as Permian. Prof. Jacob Boll, formerly of Dallas, Texas,
in an article entitled ‘Geological Examinations in Texas,” published in the
American Naturalist (Vol. XIV, pp. 684, 686, September, 1880), called these
red beds Permian. Since that time Prof. E. D. Cope, of Philadelphia, Pa.,
has described, in the American Naturalist and elsewhere, many vertebrate
fossils coming from these beds as Permian species. Dr. G. C. Broadhead
also refers some of the beds at Colorado City to this series. Dr. C. A. White,
of the United States Geological Survey, published in the American Natural-
ist (Vol. XXIII, pp. 109-128, February, 1889), an article describing the in-
vertebrate fossils of the Permian that had been collected by myself while
collecting vertebrate fossils for Prof. E. D. Cope, and also those collected by
him from localities which I pointed out during a five days trip in that field.
This, except a few smaller notices, is all that has been written on this subject.
The estimated thickness of the strata of the Permian is about 2800 feet.
A detailed section has been made across the formation, but a general section
has not yet been made up so as to determine the exact thickness of the strata.
The dip of the strata is about 40 feet per mile north 45 degrees west. At
one locality the dip was calculated by an actual instrumental measurement of
ten miles, and at another place of five miles, and at a great number of places
of smaller distances, so that the dip of the strata is well determined. It is
only at the western edge of the Double Mountain beds that there is any in-
crease in the dip, and in that locality the strata are so much distorted and
folded that it was difficult to get long lines of observation, so that the general
dip could be determined with anything like certainty. There were no faults
found nor any evidence of eruptive disturbances.
For convenience the strata are here divided into three beds, whose correla-
tion with the Permian formation in other localities will not be attempted in
this report.
Beginning with the lowest or eastern, we have:
1. The Wichita Beds.
2. The Clear Fork Beds.
3. The Double Mountain Beds.
These beds, from the nature of their constituents and of their formation, so
grade into one another that the exact line of demarkation is very obscure,
DIVISIONS OF THE STRATA. 187
even if it can be found at all. This is no less the case with the line between
the Permian and the underlying Coal Measures. A separation of these series
from the Coal Measures is, however, based, first, on lithological differences;
second, on fossil contents. .
The strata of the Coal Measures are not persistent in character on the line
of contact between that formation and the overlying Permian; and yet in
each locality there seems to have been a continuous sedimentation. On the
line of contact between the Coal Measures and:the Wichita Beds, from Red
River south to the Brazos, there are only sandstones in both strata; yet there
was a considerable lapse of time between their deposition, as is shown by the
fact that the limestones, which at other places constitute the highest beds of
the Coal Measures, and which at those places overlie the sandstones, are en-
tirely wanting along the line of this contact. Further south, on the line of
contact between the Coal Measures and the Clear Fork Beds there are only
limestones, which are apparently continuous in sedimentation, yet we know
that such is not the case, for only a few miles north of this line of observa-
tion we find that the Wichita Beds of the Permian underlie these Permian
limestones.
The fact of the want of continuity of sedimentation between the Coal
Measures and the Clear Fork Beds is shown also by the fauna of the two
beds. The fauna of the Coal Measures limestones, which lie directly below
the limestones of the Clear Fork Beds, is abundant, and consists of such char-
acteristic forms as Productus semt-reticulatus, Chaetetes gracilis, Schizodus wheeleri,
Allorisma sub-cuneata, Hemipronites crassus, etc., but they almost fade out before
they reach the top of the series, and only a few species pass up into the over-
lying limestones of the Permian, and other species of newer type take their
places. The same may be said of the fauna on the line of contact between
the Coal Measures and the Wichita Beds.
The Double Mountain Beds do not reach the Coal Measures at any point,
but lie conformably upon the Clear Fork Beds. The Clear Fork Beds are
the only ones that reach the southern extremity of the Permian district.
The Permian Beds are overlaid on the west by the Jura-Trias (?) and Cre-
taceous. It is evident from the remaining buttes and ranges of Cretaceous
hills that the entire Permian and Carboniferous strata were at one time cov-
ered by the Cretaceous, at least along the southern portion of the district.
Hrosion has again removed these strata and exposed the older beds.
THE WICHITA BEDS.
The Wichita Beds are the lowest in the series, and are composed of sand-
stones, sandy shales, clays, and a peculiar conglomerate. The sandstones and
sandy shales are red, gray, and variegated, often containing large oval con-
188 PERMIAN OF TEXAS AND ITS OVERLYING BEDS.
cretions, ranging in size from one-quarter of an inch to several feet in diame-
ter. The sandstones are often shaly in structure, while in other places they
are massive. They are often ripple-marked and at other places have a cross-
bedded structure. The concretions are very hard, and retain the peculiar
structure of the sandstone in which they occur. The clays are red and
bluish. In the red clays are nodular masses of clay, iron, and lime, which
often take the form of geodes, filled with tabular lime-spar in the center.
The bluish clay is copper-bearing in many places. The conglomerate is
composed of rounded pieces of clay or clay ironstone, cemented together
by iron. Fossils occur in all these beds, which consist mostly of plants and
vertebrates, very few invertebrates being found. The largest number of the
vertebrates described by Prof. E. D. Cope were taken from the Wichita Beds.
THE CLEAR FORK BEDS.
The Clear Fork or Middle Beds of the Permian are composed first of
bedded limestone, magnesian, and earthy, which are sometimes carbona-
ceous enough to be classed as stink stone. These carry a large and char-
acteristic fauna. They are in turn overlaid by clays and less fossiliferous
limestones and shales. The limestones become less fossiliferous towards
the top of the beds. The clays are both red and blue, the former color
largely predominating. The red clays are in thick beds and are in places in-
terstratified with sandy shales. There are also beds of white, red, and
spotted sandstones. Toward the top the beds become more sandy, and a few
seams of gypsum occur, but not in the quantity in which it is found in the
Double Mountain Beds. There is also the peculiar kind of conglomerate
which has been described in the Wichita Beds. The red clays contain verte-
brate fossils, the bluish clay has copper, and the limestones have large quanti-
ties of invertebrate fossils.
The fossils mentioned by Dr. White in his article heretofore quoted, pub-
lished in the American Naturalist, were taken principally from the Clear |
Fork Beds. By reference to the list it will be seen that it embraces both
paleozoic and mesozoic types, and some that are peculiar to and characteristic
of the Permian. It will be seen from the list that the broad shouldered
Brachiopods, which were so abundant in the coal measures, are wanting.
THE DOUBLE MOUNTAIN BEDS.
The Double Mountain or Upper Beds of the Permian are composed of
sandstones, sandy shales, limestones, red and bluish clays, and thick beds
of gypsum. The limestones are quite earthy, and are often very full of
the casts of fossils, the newer types largely predominating. The shales are
DOCKUM BEDS. 189
often highly impregnated with common salt, and none of them are free
from gypsum. The sandstones are red, gray, and spotted, and are generally
very friable. The gypsum beds are numerous and often very thick, and the
seams of fibrous gypsum traverse and transect the clays and shales in every
direction, ranging from paper-like seams to those ten inches in thickness,
and often making a perfect network of seams. Towards the western bound-
ary of these beds the strata are much distorted and folded. It looks as if
there had been a heavy lateral pressure from the west, crumpling the strata
into short folds. In the gypsum the folds are often only an inch or two
across.
During the progress of this expedition, and since the publication of Dr.
White’s article, I have found in the Clear Fork beds a few specimens of a
Productus. I have also taken a few new species from the different beds
which are yet to be described.
The last of the Orthoceratites occur in the limestones of the Double Moun-
tain beds. In that bed the mesozoic types largely predominate.
The vertebrate fossils described by Prof. E. D. Cope in his several articles
were taken entirely from the Wichita and Clear Fork beds, principally from
the former. The species described by him was each peculiar to the horizon
from which it was taken, except in a few instances. Out of about fifty
species taken from these beds and described by Prof. Cope, not a half dozen
come from both the Wichita and Clear Fork beds. This number may, how-
ever, be increased upon further observation. The fossil vertebrates found in
these beds embrace fishes, batrachians, and reptiles. Very few of them were
known to science until taken from these beds and described by Prof. Cope.
The flora of these beds is yet undescribed, but enough is known of it to
see that some of the characteristic species of the Permian are contained
therein. It is intended to have the specimens of plant remains which have
been collected from these beds placed in the hands of a specialist for exami-
nation and identification.
OVERLYING FORMATIONS.
DOCKUM BEDS.
A few miles before reaching Dockum, situated in the western edge of
Dickens County, I came upon a bed of conglomerate sandstone and red clay,
resting unconformably upon the clays and sandstones of the upper Permian,
entirely unlike anything I have heretofore seen in Texas. This formation
lies along the foot of the Staked Plains in a narrow belt. Because of its ex-
tensive occurrence in the vicinity of Dockum, I gave the formation the name
of Dockum Beds, but will not for the present attempt to determine their cor-
190 PERMIAN OF TEXAS AND ITS OVERLYING BEDS.
relation. I have found everywhere on the beds of the Permian belt pieces
of conglomerate and large pebbles of white quartz that did not belong to the
Trinity sands of the Cretaceous which were supposed to overlie the Permian
to the westward, and it is a matter of interest to know where this drift came
from. ‘The fragments of conglomerate increased in size as we traveled west-
ward until we came upon the beds of that material in the vicinity of Dockum,
and the question was solved as to the origin of the fragments of conglomer-
ate and the quartz pebbles.
In the conglomerate are many silicified trunks of trees, some of them of
great length. In the red clay above the conglomerate are fossil remains of
large reptiles, whose species I was unable to determine in the field. In the
upper sandstone were many casts of a Unio that I have provisionally called
Unio documensis. In most places that fossil occurs only as casts, and in one
place only did I find specimens of both valves, and they were so badly in-
crusted with carbonate of lime that the peculiar markings of the shell could
not be seen. The sandstone was everywhere full of scales of mica, some of
the scales being one-sixteenth of an inch square. The whole thickness of
this formation in this vicinity is about 150 feet. These beds extend under
the Staked Plains. I traced them up Blanco Canyon to the falls of White
River, where they pass out of sight under the beds of the overlying strata.
There are a great many springs of clear pure water flowing from these
beds, and wherever the formation has been penetrated by wells, an abundance
of good water has been obtained.
BLANCO CANYON BEDS.
Overlaying and resting unconformably upon the Dockum Beds are beds of
red clay, white sandy clays, white clays, and a hardened clayey limestone,
fronting to the eastward and forming bold escarpments 200 feet high. These
beds constitute the Staked Plains. Because of the extensive presentation of
these strata in Blanco Canyon, Dickens County, I have given them the name of
Blanco Canyon Beds. The strata have a very slight dip to the southeast. A
distance of twenty-five miles gave an average dip of eight feet to the mile.
The surface is almost level, except where it is traversed by deep canyons.
These canyons occur only at wide distances.
The only fossils found in these beds were some of the larger mammals and
a species of turtle. Knough was found to show the strata to be of much
more recent date than the Cretaceous which is found at the foot of the Staked
Plains farther southward. Blanco Canyon takes its name from a butte on
the west side of the canyon, twenty miles from its mouth, which is capped
with a white clay with the appearance of chalk. White River, a beautiful
stream of clear water, flows through the canyon, fed by numerous bold springs
ECONOMICS. 191
and lateral streams on its west side. For twenty miles from its mouth the
canyon is from one to three miles wide, and is bordered everywhere by pre-
cipitous bluffs 200 feet high. In only a few places is it possible to get down
these bluffs on horseback, and for twenty miles there are only two places
where a wagon can be taken down.
ECONOMICS.
Hspecial attention has been given to the study and collection of soils and
the soil-making material from this district, with direct reference to their
adaptability to the production of the ordinary crops. It has been thought
that this part of the State was not adapted to agriculture, and that an attempt
to open farms would be time and labor thrown away. In order that the
Survey may be able to give definite information on this subject, the character
of the soils has been investigated.
Nothing is intended in this report more than a general statement of the
prominent characteristics of the different soils in the district, leaving the
more detailed statement to be made after having the soils analyzed and
studied.
There are three principal kinds of soil in this district, classed by their de-
rivation rather than by their chemical properties. The first are those de-
rived from the immediately underlying strata, and have only such foreign
ingredients as have come from the decomposition of the vegetation growing
upon them from year to year., (Residual soils.)
The second class are those having in their composition such material as
has been brought from other localities; they were deposited during the time
of the great erosion and have derived very little if any of their material from
the strata upon which they rest. (Soils of transportation.) The third class
are the soils along the rivers and larger creeks, and are derived from the
other soils and the later erosion of strata along the different courses of the
stream. (Alluvial soils.)
The first class are purely local, and do not extend over very wide areas in
any one locality. They vary in composition and color according to locality.
Where they are derived from the massive friable sandstones and clays they
are quite sandy and have a deep red color. In such localities the color and
composition have been very little changed by vegetable deposits. In the lime-
stone belts, where the origin of the soils is due to the decomposition of the
limestones and the accompanying bluish clay beds, the soils are dark and in
places are quite black. They have a good deal of vegetable material in their
composition, and owe their dark color largely to this fact. All of this class
of soils are more or less sandy. These are generally the best grass lands.
192 PERMIAN OF TEXAS AND ITS OVERLYING BEDS.
The second class of soils are by far the most abundant in the region under
consideration. They are very homogeneous in color and composition, yet in
places they have been changed in both respects by their immediate contact
with the underlying strata.
In considering the composition of this class of soils it will be necessary to
remember that several hundred feet of material has been eroded and carried
away or redeposited. During this period of erosion the waters probably
spread out in broad sheets. These waters were heavily laden with the ma-
terials gathered up on their way, the materials being precipitated to the bot-
tom on any decrease in the rapidity of the flow of the waters.
Afterwards the rivers and creeks cut through these deposits in various di-
rections into their present drainage basins, and left the deposits as they now
are in broad, high, level plateaus. The overlying strata destroyed by this
great erosion were several hundred feet of the lower Cretaceous formation,
composed of sand beds and limestones, and several hundred feet of the
Permian strata, composed of sandstones, limestones, clay beds, and gypsum.
Still further northward the beds that have been called Blanco Canyon Beds,
composed of sands and white clays, were involved in the erosion. The mate-
rial derived from all these beds was mixed into a homogeneous mass and
deposited, making the broad level plateaus. The soils of these plateaus will
therefore be composed of the white clays and sands of the Blanco Canyon
Beds, the clays, sands, and limestones of the Cretaceous, and the sands, clays,
and gypsum of the Permian. |
It will be seen from a glance at the composition of these soils that they are
derived from such a variety of sources that they are likely to contain the in-
gredients necessary to the composition of first-class soils. Hxperimental
tests, which after all are the best sources of information, have proven that
they will produce abundant crops of wheat, oats, and corn. In Baylor and
Wichita counties, where this soil largely prevails, the average crop of wheat
was over twenty-nine bushels per acre. I mention these two counties because
they are the only localities where I have personally examined the matter of
crops, and they are fair representatives of that part of the State in the way
of soils. The thickness of this class of soils ranges from a few inches to
many feet, owing to the undulating and uneven surface of the underlying
strata at the time of their deposition. The surface is very often so level
that the height will not vary over five feet ina mile. It might be supposed
from this statement that the soils would be unfit for cultivation for want of
drainage, but such is not the case. There is so much sand in the soil that
the water is soon taken up and none left on the surface, and therefore no
surface drainage is necessary. Water is always found in wells at the base
of these soils, and by capillary attraction they are always kept moist.
WATER. 193
The third class of soils might very well be classed as a variety of the sec-
ond class, as the most of their material has been brought from a different
locality than that where they are found. They were, however, deposited by
different agencies, and are somewhat different in composition. They contain
more clay, and consequently are of a very red color. They are found along
~ the present courses of the rivers and creeks, and might with propriety be
called bottom lands. There is ordinarily more timber on them than upon
either of the others. Where these lands have been put into cultivation they
have proven of equal fertility with any others in the district. They usually
do not lie in as large bodies as does the second class of lands mentioned in
this report.
Soils that are derived from one stratum are very often lacking in some essen-
tial ingredient that goes to make up an ideal soil, and this must be supplied
by artificial means. Soils formed as these are contain all the principal ingredi-
ents necessary in a good soil. In a word, they are all that could be desired
for agricultural purposes and will not be easily exhausted.
FERTILIZERS.
The principal fertilizers to be obtained in this district are the gypsum and
pypseous marls found principally in the Double Mountain Beds of the Per-
mian. These occur everywhere in inexhaustible quantities wherever those
beds are found. Their value as a fertilizer is very great, and if upon analy-
sis the soils should be found lacking in the qualities which these substances
furnish, it will be no great task to supply the missing quality.
The gypsum occurs in all conditions of purity, from the pure transparent
selenite to the more massive varieties. The beds are often 25 feet thick, and
are the most abundant rocks in the Upper Permian.
WATER.
It has already been said that in many places the country is well supplied
with water. No difficulty has been experienced in any locality in getting
water in shallow wells ranging from 20 to 50 feet in depth. Other wells
have been sunk to 100 or more feet, where a still greater amount of water
was obtained. The water is generally impregnated with carbonate of lime,
and in the Double Mountain Beds it is all impregnated with gypsum.
Stock water is furnished by the rivers and creeks, and by tanks con-
structed in such localities as are too distant from the natural supply of water
for the cattle to reach them and return to their pasturage.
194 PERMIAN OF TEXAS AND ITS OVERLYING BEDS.
RAINFALL.
After the question of soils that of the rainfall is, to the agriculturist, the
one of most importance. No matter how good the soils of a country may
be, if the rainfall is too small, or comes at the wrong time of the year, it
would be impossible to raise crops without irrigation.
There is an idea extant that this belt of country is within the arid district,
but such is not the case; the eastern boundary of that district is west of the
western part of the Permian formation. I will be prepared to give full sta-
tistics of the rainfall and temperature of this part of the State in a later re-
port. It is enough to say now that there have been but few seasons in the
last twenty years when there was not enough rain to mature the crops, espe-
cially the wheat crop. It will be shown by these statistics that the rains
come as a general rule in those months when most needed by the farmers for
agricultural purposes. The proper cultivation of the soil so as to utilize the
rain when it does come is a matter of very great importance in a country
where there is not a surplus of rain. If the farmer does not attend to the
cultivation or breaking up of his land until after the spring rains, he is likely
to need rain and not get it at a time when it is most needed for maturing his
crops; but if he will break up his land in the fall or winter, and break it.
deep, and be ready to plant at the proper time, whether the rain has come or
not, when the rain does come his crop will grow, and all the subsequent rain
will be used in its growth and maturity. Such crops will have to be planted
as will mature the earliest in the spring, unless they will stand the drouth of
summer and then mature with the fall rains.
Wheat can be raised with profit, and will be the surest crop, as it is the
earliest to mature. Oats will also be a good crop, yet is likely to be short
straw. Sorghum is always a good crop, and when sown for hay gives an
abundant yield.
BUILDING MATERIAL.
Sandstones and limestones suitable for building purposes are found in the
Permian in great abundance. There is not acounty explored that has not or
could not have a number of good quarries. The sandstones of the Wichita
Beds have been used extensively at Wichita Falls and Henrietta. The lime-
stones are very abundant in the Clear Fork Beds, and have been used in sev-
eral of the towns situated in that part of the district. The quality of the
limestones is very suitable for building purposes. The towns of San Angelo,
Ballinger, and Seymour are largely built of this kind of stone, where stone is
used. Many private residence throughout the country are built of this stone,
SALT. 195
and in the construction of the railroads which pass over these beds this stone
has been used in the building of piers for the bridges. The ease with which
the rock can be quarried, and the fact that it needs so little dressing, make
it very desirable building material.
There are also some very good sandstones in the Clear Fork Beds; some of
them have been used at San Angelo, Benjamin, and other places. There is
no lack of good building stone anywhere in the entire Permian district within
a short distance of any given locality.
A great many of the limestones will make good quick-lime, and sand is
abundant everywhere, so that no trouble need be had in getting good mortar.
Clays for making good brick are also abundant everywhere, and many of the
towns are principally built of brick made in their immediate vicinity. The
bricks are of a bright red color, and are of good quality when properly burned.
TIMBER.
The timber is mostly confined to the valleys of the creeks and rivers, except
the mesquite and cedar. There is plenty of wood for domestic purposes, and
the cedar and mesquite furnish large quantities of fence posts. The fencing
is generally done with wire, and the posts are ordinarily taken from the land
fenced or in its immediate vicinity. Timber will increase rapidly when the
fires that have heretofore prevented its growth are kept out. It is not until
the Staked Plains are reached that wood becomes scarce.
SALT.
The wide distribution of common salt throughout the upper beds of the
Permian has already been referred to. That it occursin quantities sufficient
to be of economical value has been practically demonstrated at several locali-
ties; also that there are many other places where salt can be manufactured
very cheaply. It is quite certain this will be done when there shall be cheap
transportation from that section.
The salt occurs in massive beds of rock salt and as impregnations in the
clays and waters. At Colorado City, at a depth of about 500 feet, a bed of
rock salt more than 100 feet thick was found. It is probable that these beds
do not extend over a large scope of country in such thick seams, but that
they do occur in several localities is quite probable. At Colorado City they
are manufacturing salt quite extensively from water pumped from deep wells.
There are numerous salt springs throughout the entire Upper Permian. All
the rivers and creeks are impregnated with salt.
A noted place for procuring salt deposited by solar evaporation is Salt Flat,
in the northern part of Stonewall County, and on Salt Croton Creek, a few
196 PERMIAN OF TEXAS AND ITS OVERLYING BEDS.
miles above its junction with the Salt Fork of the Brazos River. This flat
embraces an area of about 200 acres, and is entirely level, and barren of veg-
etation. It has been formed by the erosion of the upper strata of the sur-
rounding country, as is shown by the bluffs on either side and the isolated
conical hills here and there in the flat.
In the midst of the flat is a bold running salt spring, whose waters spread
out over the surface of the flat when there is the least rise in the water, and
when the waters recede there is left an incrustation of salt from one-half to
one inch thick. These waters are very highly charged with salt, so that the
least evaporation causes the precipitation of the salt. Along the banks of the
spring branch the salt is in beds, very often several inches thick. No effort
has ever been made to manufacture salt at this place except in a small way,
but for a long while persons have been gathering the salt as they needed it
as it was deposited on the flat.
That salt could be manufactured at this locality at a minimum cost and in
large quantities is very apparent. The spring flows at least 2000 gallons per
hour, and this water could be run into open vats and left for solar evapora-
tion, needing the labor of men enough to handle the salt.
There are many other places where the same thing could be done in this
part of the State, and when it will be done is only a question of time. Cheap
transportation is the only thing necessary to put such enterprises on foot.
COPPER.
There are three distinct and separate copper-bearing beds in the Permian
strata—one of them in the Wichita Beas and two in the Clear Fork Beds.
The one in the Wichita Beds is most largely presented in Archer County and
passes thence northeastward. At that locality several years ago a mining
company took out and shipped to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, large quanti-
ties of the ore. The mine was abandoned on account of the expense of
shipping the ore, which had at that time to be hauled in wagons 150 miles
to the railroad, and shipped from there by rail to the furnace. .
The first belt of copper-bearing clays in the Clear Fork Beds occurs just
west or above the lowest beds of limestone. This deposit of copper is found
on California Creek in Jones County, and near Table Top Mountain in Bay-
lor County, and other places along the same horizon. Several tons of ore
were taken out in Baylor County a few years ago.
The upper bed of copper is found at Kiowa Peak, near the northeast cor-
ner of Stonewall County, at a point about ten miles west of Benjamin in
Knox County, on Raggedy Creek in Hardeman County, and other places
along the same horizon. The ore is very nearly the same at all these local-
ities. It has the form of wood and yields from 40 to 68 per cent of metallic
r= =
ee, 4
V Seren =
\ E
GYPSUM. 197
copper. It also occurs in nodular form and as incrustations in the clay.
There are no regular veins, as is the case in many mining districts, but the
copper occurs in beds. It was evidently precipitated from the sea water at
the time of the deposition of the clay beds. This copper will be of economic
value when works for its reduction shall be erected at the mines so that low
grades of ore can be used.
IRON.
The iron ore of the Permian formation is principally a carbonate of low
grade; it occurs in the red clay of the Wichita Beds in concretions. The
disintegration of the clays has caused these concretions to accumulate at the
bases of the precipices in large quantities, and in a convenient form to be
handled, if the ore, upon proper analysis, shall be found to contain sufficient
metallic iron to warrant the reduction. The red color of the clays is due to
the oxidation of the iron contained therein, but the amount of metallic iron
in the clays is very small.
GYPSUM.
The deposits of gypsum found in the red clays of the Permian strata are
the most extensive of any such beds in the United States. They are co-ex-
tensive with the Double Mountain Beds and the upper part of the Clear Fork
Beds. The beds are of thicknesses varying from that of paper-like sheets to
25 feet. There are all varieties, from transparent selenite to the massive
earthy kinds. Some of the beds of alabaster are very clear, and admit of
fine polish. There is enough gypsum in these beds to supply any demands
that could be made.
4
Pie a hed oa fala r s
hee ear.
AU Rie a
nes
* )
PRELIMINARY REPORT
ON THE
COAL FIELDS OF THE COLORADO RIVER.
) BY
RALPH S. TARR.
PRELIMINARY RHPORT
ON THE
COAL FIELDS OF THE COLORADO RIVER.
RALPH S. TARR.
The section covered in this report includes the northwestern portion of
Lampasas County, along the Colorado River; about two-thirds of San Saba
County, principally north of the San Saba River; McCulloch County north
of Brady Creek; the eastern part of Coleman County, from the Colorado as
far north as Jim Ned Creek; Brown County, east of Pecan Bayou; and the
southeastern corner of Mills County. The greater part of this area is under-
laid by rocks of the Carboniferous system, and the chief object of the work
was to determine the amount of coal, its position in the series, and the rela-
tion which it and the surrounding rocks bear to each other. The object of
this report is to state, in general terms, and as briefly as possible, the most
important results of the work, as a preliminary report, to be followed later
by a more comprehensive and detailed statement.
This portion of the Carboniferous area is bordered on the east and west by
outcrops of Cretaceous rock, which overlie the Carboniferous unconformably,
the dip of the former being southeast and the latter northwest. To the
north the Carboniferous rocks extend away toward the Indian Territory; but
just north of Coleman County a band of Cretaceous covers the Carboniferous,
nearly connecting the east and west Cretaceous areas. Pecan Bayou has cut
through this capping rock and revealed the Carboniferous below, thus con-
necting the Palo Pinto field with the southern field by a narrow neck. In
the center of the Carboniferous area buttes of Cretaceous are found resting
upon the Carboniferous, either as isolated peaks, as in the case of Santa
Anna Mountains and Harkey Knobs; or in a broad area, as, for instance,
that south of Brownwood, in the angle formed by the Colorado River and
Pecan Bayou; or as in the case of Brady Mountains, in the form of a long
spur connected with the main body of Cretaceous rocks.
It is plain from this and other evidence that the Carboniferous has been
uncovered by the erosion and removal of the Cretaceous rocks which once
buried them, and that this removal is very recent and still in progress. At
its southern border the Carboniferous rests on older formations. The older
Paleozoic rocks of Llano and Mason counties were the chief land areas from
202 COAL FIELDS OF THE COLORADO RIVER.
which the sediments composing the Carboniferous strata were derived. Rest-
ing unconformably upon these rocks is a limestone, which is also unconform-
able with the true Carboniferous. These beds appear as a narrow strip, sep-
arating the Carboniferous from the Silurian, and consist almost entirely of
crystalline limestone with beds of shale. The beds of the Lower Carbonifer-
ous series were formed mostly in rather deep water off the shore of an old
Silurian land area, and the beds of the sea shore may yet be seen in the form of
shales, and rarely conglomerates in the bays and on the headlands of the old
shore line, which may be plainly traced. The dip of the beds is somewhat
variable, but the average is gentle, from 1 to 2 degrees northwest. In one
place the dip is 20 degrees in the same direction. There are small anticlin-
als and synclinals much more numerous than in the Upper Carboniferous,
where they are very rare. Unless carefully mapped and studied over a con-
siderable area, this formation might he overlooked and classed as a portion of
the Upper Carboniferous. The fossils resemble those found in the true Car-
boniferous, though upon closer study some will undoubtedly be found to be
quite different. One specimen of Goniatites has been pronounced by Prof.
Alpheus Hyatt to be a distinctive Lower Carboniferous form.
The deceptive resemblance of fossils would at first lead to a decision that
these beds are a part of the Upper Carboniferous, and this deception is in-
creased when an actual contact occurs between the strata of the two forma-
tions. At two places east of San Saba the limestone seems to dip conforma-
bly beneath the sandstones. In both these places the dip of the strata of
each series is the same. It is only when we see the section as a whole that
the true relation of the two series is discovered. The San Saba River, from
just above its mouth nearly to the mouth of Richland Creek, is the dividing
line between the Upper and Lower Carboniferous, and this line of division
is continued westward up the valley of Richland Creek. On the north side
of this line is the true Upper Carboniferous, consisting at this place of a
great thickness of sandstone. South of this line is the Lower Carboniferous,
composed in this region entirely of limestone and limy shales. As a person
crosses the region for the first time there are three possible explanations of
such a relation of beds. The first is that the limestones and sandstones are
interstratified; but this is quickly disproved, since in the sandstone areas
there are no limestones, and in the limestone regions no sandstones. This
and abundant other field evidence proves that the limestone is beneath the
sandstone; and then the problem is narrowed down to two possible solu-
tions—the two series are either conformable or unconformable. There are
two proofs that they are not conformable. The dip of the limestone averages
at least two hundred feet to the mile, and with such a dip any bed of lime-
stone, as for instance the bed on the Colorado below Red Bluff, would soon
CARBONIFEROUS BEDS. 203
dip under the sandstone if followed a few miles to the west, and the over-
lying sandstone would cover it and extend to the Silurian. But such is not
the case. The belt of limestone extends continuously for nearly thirty miles.
In this series there are many different beds of limestone and shale, one above
the other, each one of which strikes up to the sandstone and there stops.
We have, therefore, an upper sandstone formation, composed of various
beds, striking southwest, and overlapping a great thickness of limestone.
There is, therefore, no explanation, to my mind, but unconformability; a fact
which necessarily proves a different age from that of the overlying coal
measures. That they are Lower Carboniferous rather than Devonian is
shown by the close resemblance of the fossils of the lower beds to those of
the Upper Carboniferous. The field evidences thus seem to prove that these
beds are not a part of the true coal-bearing series, but belong to an older for-
mation—the Lower Carboniferous. The Lower Carboniferous extends from
near Lamy asas to some distance west of Brady, with an average width of not
more than ten miles, and is the formation on which the towns of San Saba
and Brady are situated. ‘This will remove all hope of finding coal in quan-
tity at either of these places. The conditions which existed when the Lower
Carboniferous limestone series was being formed were not favorable to the
formation of extensive coal deposits. Such seams of coal as those encoun-
tered at San Saba and Brady are the best that can be expected in this forma-
tion. Thin beds of an inch or two in thickness and of local extent may be
found in various places in these limestones, but it will be useless to prospect
for better ones.
The lowest beds of the true Carboniferous which are exposed in this part
of the State are the sandstones on the Colorado, nearly west of Lampasas, in
the neighborhood of Nix Postoffice. This is the beginning of a great thick-
ness of sandstone, having, in common with al] the beds of the series, a very
gentle dip to the northwest. With some few exceptions of local importance,
the dip is uniform in that direction. The amount of dip is difficult to esti-
mate without accurate instrumental measurement, which will be done in time
for the final report on the coal measures. A careful examination of many
hundred exposures shows considerable variability in the dip. There are
places where it is as great as five degrees, but such instances are rare and
very local. Again the rocks are almost perfectly horizontal, or even re-
versed, thus dipping to the southeast. To choose between these and select
the normal is a difficult task in a region of gently dipping rocks where a
superficial dislocation of a few feet will reverse the apparent dip. This dip
has been previously estimated at 30 feet to the mile, but this, I am confi-
dent, is entirely too small. Many measurements which I made on outcrops
average much more than 100 feet to the mile, and the general appearance of
204 COAL FIELDS OF THE COLORADO RIVER.
the strata shows a much greater dip than 30 feet to the mile, which would
be so near the horizontal that no inclination would appear on the ordinary
outcrop.
The sandstone series, which may be the equivalent of the millstone grit,
has on this basis a possible thickness of 4500 feet. The Colorado flows
through it from Milburn to a point 8 miles below the mouth of the San
Saba River, a distance of 70 miles. The greatest cross section is 40 miles,
from a point about 20 miles northwest from Lampasas to a point 5 miles
south of Brownwood. East of Brownwood the upper beds of this series dis-
appear beneath the Cretaceous, and from this place they strike southwest to
Rochelle, in McCulloch County. The eastern extension is buried by the
Cretaceous east of the Colorado, and on the south the sandstone beds have
been eroded away from the Lower. Carboniferous, so that in no place are
they found actually resting on the Silurian, although they must once have
done so, since the material in the various conglomerate layers is almost en-
tirely derived from Silurian formations. The western part of Lampasas
County and the entire area of San Saba County, which lies in the true Car-
boniferous, is underlaid by this sandstone rock, as well as the Carboniferous
corner of Mills County, the southeast corner of Brown, and a strip on the
eastern border of McCulloch. Owing to its characteristic development along
Richland Creek in San Saba County, I propose for this division of the Car-
boniferous the name of ‘‘Richland Sandstone.”
This great thickness of sandstone covers an area of more than 1000 square
miles. In general it consists of many beds of sandstone, with occasional
beds of shale, as for instance on Elliott and Antelope creeks. The various
beds of sandstone are of every conceivable grade of coarseness, from the
shale to the conglomerate, though the latter rock is strikingly rare. The
sandstone is generally yellow and white, containing much iron, which gives
the weathered rocks a deep red or yellow color. In form of bedding the
sandstone presents every grade, from the fissile shaly sandstone to massive
thick-bedded layers, which in weathering form immense blocks as a talus
to the hills. This is strikingly shown at various places along the Colorado,
particularly near the mouth of the San Saba River. The fossil remains in
the Richland Sandstone division present no great range of form, but are con-
fined almost exclusively to some of the most durable coal plants washed from
the land, and these are very common.
Conglomeritic sandstone layers are very often encountered throughout the
series, but they are more often fine grained, and a breccia rather than a con-
glomerate. The Richland Sandstone beds are terminated in the upper por-
tion by a band of conglomerate, of variable thickness, and extending from
fe
RICHLAND SANDSTONE. 205
Rochelle northeastward to the Colorado, along Deep Creek, and just east of
the town of Milburn.
At its southwestern end it is coarsely conglomeritic, and contains pebbles
often weighing a pound or two. These pebbles are almost entirely well
rounded flint of various colors, derived directly from the Silurian, and ce-
mented in some places by iron and in others by silica. Near Rochelle, the
conglomerate attains a maximum thickness of fifty feet, and because of its
development at Rochelle I propose the name of Rochelle Conglomerate bed
of the Richland Sandstone division. Traced northeastward the conglomerate
becomes finer grained, is very much cross-bedded, is interbedded with layers
of sandstone, and eventually becomes, near the Colorado, a conglomeritic
sandstone with thin layers of conglomerate. Hast of Deep Creek a portion
of the Rochelle Conglomerate is buried beneath the Cretaceous, an eastern
extension of the Brady Mountain Cretaceous beds, and it is in this buried
portion that the change from conglomerate to conglomeritic sandstone takes
place. Where it is again uncovered east of Milburn it is difficult to separate
the Rochelle Conglomerate from the upper layer of the Richland Sandstone.
Northeast of here the conglomerate bed becomes less distinct, but it may be
traced as a distinctly conglomeritic sandstone band across Pecan Bayou to
the Cretaceous.
The entire area of the Carboniferous included in the Richland Sandstone
division, from its upper bed, the Rochelle Conglomerate, to the Lower Car-
boniferous, is barren of coal measures. Thin seams of coal may possibly be
found, but no beds of a paying nature are to be expected in this formation.
A condition of rapid deposition with abundance of coarse sediment, accom-
panied by a gradual subsidence, seems to have prevailed. That coal plants
were growing on the neighboring lands is proved by their presence as casts
in the sandstone, and undoubtedly thin seams of coal and carbonaceous shale
will be found; but the conditions which favored the accumulation of coal
beds had not yet arrived.
With the close of the sandstone era, as marked by the deposition of the
Rochelle Conglomerate, a condition of quiet water and finer sediment pre-
vailed. With the new conditions a new series of beds began to be formed,
and for these I propose the name “Milburn Shales.” The southwestern ex-
tension of these shales is hidden beneath the Cretaceous of Brady Mountains,
but in the neighborhood of Milburn they are well shown. They are capped
by limestone and underlain by the Rochelle Conglomerate. Near the head
of Deep Creek the lower layer is shaly sandstone with a thickness of 60 feet.
This shale grades from the conglomerate below to an argillaceous shale
above, and is overlaid by a deposit of clay 15 feet thick, with scattered nod-
ules of clay ironstone. Some gypsum is also present in this layer. Above
206 COAL FIELDS OF THE COLORADO RIVER.
this is three inches of fire clay and a stratum of carbonaceous shale 1 foot
thick, with laminz of true coal. The shale is composed of clay, so filled with
plant impressions that their casts are found everywhere in the shale along
layers. Above this comes 25 feet of sandy shale—in places a true sandstone,
but in its upper and lower layers a true shale.
At Milburn, 12 miles northeast by north from this point, the following
section was obtained at Mr. Hubank’s place, in a well 62 feet deep. Section
from below upward:
Feet. In.
1 Blue slates (very hard)si.\..ct. tack eee eee oc past eine Gee cee . .Unexplored.
2, “Kossiliferous blue clay(eodacis) «~ aereeten oie) yobs oe ee ee 1a
3. Horse back coal” (carbonaceous shale)es Fe 0g pee eee eee ee 12
ASC OO oo. a ss 5 ietmts oc lnene ee aloly Qitly uel ripley tesa aie ease eae Oa vere eee eee 4
3; Horse back coal” (carbonaceous shale)... -ecscs oe cee ey ae ise 2 =
Gs Goals oS 6 ois ae aig eibl Se tees eecictrc ete anata I cae ee ee As
(uBlue shales ..\: 0s 01. Re ites cee cle eae: Eaeaee hee Liopehevers touee ote eee 12
8. Shaly sandstone: .\.icis3 cise eee ce eaters, 2 kei een eee eee 16
_ This coal is fully 75 feet beneath the limestone, while 12 miles south of
this the distance between the two is not more than 25 feet; yet they are the
same layer. I am convinced that the Milburn shales are thickening to the
northeast; and further evidence that the division as a whole is thickening in
this direction is found by following along the strike north of the river.
At several places at Milburn and vicinity coal has been encountered in
wells, but nowhere in workable quantities. There is very little chance of
finding workable coal in the Milburn division south of the Colorado; but as
the formation is thickening to the northeast these beds north of the river
may contain coal of economic value. No prospecting has been done in this
section, and nothing can be said except that the surface indications are good.
Coal is certainly there, but in what quantities can only be told by the pros-
pector’s drill.
Above the Milburn division is another great barren area, consisting chiefly
of limestone, which I shall call the Brownwood division. There is present
in these beds sufficient salt to render much of the water from deep borings
unfit for drinking purposes. The presence of salt is noticed in many of the
beds of the Carboniferous, but in this belt the salinity reaches a maximum,
being in some places almost a brine.
The Brownwood division will average in width about ten miles, and has a
thickness of about 1300 feet of alternating sandstone and limestone. In the
northern part, in the vicinity of Brownwood, the sandstone is thicker and the
layers more numerous than south of the Colorado near Milburn. West of
Milburn, immediately over the Milburn shales, the Brownwood beds consist
of limestone, very sandy below, attaining a thickness of 100 feet, overlaid by
;
|
WALDRIP DIVISION. 207
25 feet of sandstone, generally fine grained, though in some places conglom-
eritic and cross-bedded, and these in turn are overlain by nearly 1200 feet of
limestone. At this point these beds are thicker than where they are first
seen to appear from beneath the Cretaceous Brady Mountains. At Brown-
wood the beds are much more complex, as will be seen in the following sec-
tion, beginning at the base:
Feet thick.
1. Le Lome Tir esi aie se Be ae eee cence ee ee See es ae Pe tobe Ke LA 200
a. SET SNES Sh a ee SE ae Oe ee ee ee 100
3. Limestone... .. Met an a ee Meas eof ey. 6 5e a tan abS vm ish! of alin, myo ey © 6! dye Bel oreieya.e-@ ¢ 80
mS aMatone (eliciy Shaly SaNGShOUCr a pcs ose = ep cen cee sn wee teen mes eee. ces 40
2, UUTERREE op Gee eee eG lee (ee sean call Rael = bp Poa 60
Tou SELIG SU eM oS ear are a ea SEE aA, Poa ee Fe itall Bese 20
PO MELOMGONE: stn 5 seis ao stbeclalelep eu eid Bsns eee ae are PSC eae ee Le 150
3. Servis Be ea Ee Oe Fe ae aac ce a 10
o: LESS RTE Ye eg Se SS Si eee A oe a Hs ee BAD
The lowest sandstone layer (2) has been traced along the strike entirely
across the Carboniferous, but all the other layers, 4, 6, and 8, thin out to the
south, and are there represented by an impure yellow rusty limestone con-
taining much argillaceous matter. The Milburn and Brownwood beds are
rich in organic remains of the usual Carboniferous types. The Brownwood
Beds besides being saliferous, are also oil-bearing at places, as at Brownwood
and Trickham.
Above the upper Brownwood limestone begins the Waldrip coal division.
Below the coal-bearing beds proper is a considerable thickness of sandstone,
which like all similar formations in this area, thickens to the northeast. The
lower sandstone beds at Waldrip are not more than 100 feet thick, and are
chiefly conglomerate. West of Trickham it is 250 feet thick and quite uni-
formly a sandstone. At Thrifty, northwest of Brownwood, the sandstone
series is about 500 feet thick, with some conglomerate, particularly in the
lower beds. Thus in 35 miles along the strike proceeding northeast, these
beds thicken to five times their original depth.
While this sandstone series forms a true portion of the Waldrip coal series,
it is as far north as I have seen it quite barren of coal, though in the north-
ern portion along the Jim Ned Creek some of the beds closely simulate coal-
bearing strata, and from here northeast beds of coal may possibly be found,
though this is merely an inference, since | have not personally examined the
strata north of the Jim Ned.
Above these sandstone beds are the true coal-bearing strata, consisting of
thin beds of clays, shales, sandstones, and limestones. The thickness of this
series of strata is not more than 300 feet, and often less, and the breadth of
the outcrop from one to three miles. Owing to the character of the strata,
208 COAL FIELDS OF THE COLORADO RIVER.
most of which are very soft and easily washed away, the position of the beds
is usually indicated by a valley of considerable width, bordered on the north-
west by a bluff capped by the hard overlying limestone and sandstone. The
Waldrip beds are first plainly seen on the Colorado at Waldrip, but their
exact southward extension is very obscure, owing to a thick soil derived from
the decay of the Cretaceous rocks of the Brady Mountains. Traced to the
northeast, in Coleman County they occupy the southern portion of the valley
of Bull Creek, then curve, first east then north, around the base of a bluff into
the valley of Camp Creek; then in a similar way from Camp Creek to Home
Creek, the valley of which it follows northward to the east branch of Hay
Creek, north of the old Trickham and Paint Rock roads. From this point
it follows up the valley of this branch in a northeasterly direction to the
headwaters of that creek. The new Santa Anna and Brady road crosses it
just north of the old Brownwood and Paint Rock road crossing. Still con-
tinuing northeast, the series of beds crosses the railroad in the valley of the
Mukewater, about four miles east of Santa Anna. Beyond this the beds
strike across the divide between the Mukewater and Mud creeks, and follow
down Mud Creek to the Jim Ned. The further northeast extension of this
series has not yet been traced.
The nature of the strata in this division, while similar at all points in so
far as the general features are concerned, is very different in detail.
every case in our region in which the upper contact of the terrane can be
determined, there is an unconformity, although this is not always detected
by casual observation. In most exposures the whole Cambrian System has
been involved in Post-Cambrian uplifts, and this fact has caused previous
observers to overlook the Inter-Cambrian minor unconformities. Probably the
best outcrops of the lowest member of the series are those in the neighbor-
hood of House Mountain, in the valleys of Hickory Creek and its tributaries,
but there are also instructive exposures of higher beds in many other places,
as at the summits of Smoothing Iron, Fox, Town, Sandstone, Sharp, Pack-
saddle, Sandy, Lockhart, and other peaks or elevated tables in Llano County.
Besides these, there are patches in portions of Mason County, south of Fly
Gap, between Mason City and the Llano River, and on Katemcy and Ranch
creeks in the northern part. The last named exposures extend more or less
into McCulloch County. An outcrop of the lowest conglomerate also occurs
in Burnet County, about four miles from Burnet on the road to Bluffton, on a
branch of Spring Creek, and what appear to be sandstones of the Hickory
Series are well displayed at Cottonwood Spring, south of the same road, two
miles farther west. The rocks begin at the base of the series with a coarse
conglomerate absent from some of the sections, and they somewhat gradually
change above to pebbly sandrock of medium fineness, with much local modi-
fication. In most cases false bedding and rapid variegation in color and
lamination afford abundant evidence of littoral deposition. The basal con-
glomerate especially exhibits marked traces of in-shore beach accumulation
from the degradation of the local subjacent rocks, and this feature gradually
disappears in the higher strata, which have more the character of off-shore
deposits made in shallow water. Some of the highest beds have the texture
resulting from deposition in deeper water, regularly agitated. One very
characteristic and persistent division is a massive white to buff fine pebbly
sandstone near the top of the series, which is almost a quartzite, and which
might be supposed to be burnt by igneous contact, if judged from some of
286 CENTRAL MINERAL REGION OF TEXAS.
its outcrops. But the compact character is not a local feature like a certain
other effect often observed where this stratum is in actual contact with pro-
trusive granite. On the top of Sandy Mountain, and particularly on and
about a little knob to the north of it, this Hickory layer has been consider-
ably altered by heat so as to exhibit in different parts a gradual transition
from above downwards, between the compact massive sandrock and a rock
which most lithologists would class as a granite. Similar conditions exist on
Sharp Mountain, House Mountain, Smoothing Iron Mountain, and elsewhere,
but not on Packsaddle Mountain.
These facts taken together, in view of all the known occurrences of the
Hickory strata, give the only lucid explanation of the situation, and one
which has required more detailed study than almost any other problem con-
nected with this district, and it has been puzzling to decide whether the two
or more lines of protusion of granite of undoubted Post-Hickory age are the
cause of the unconformity succeeding that epoch, or if they may not be of
very much later date.*
But now it seems clear that the pulsations of the granite magma produced
several broad folds in the Hickory strata, leaving certainly two great syncli-’
nal basins to be afterwards partly filled by the later Cambrian sediments.
One fact, although not of itself a perfect proof of this postulate, affords ex-
cellent confirmatory evidence. This is the absence, a every case, of any later
than Hickory sediments from the granite ridges now capped by them, ex-
cepting, of course, in the rare instances where uplifts in the later trends may
have raised them to view. The thickness of the Hickory Beds, all told, can
not well be above 200 to 250 feet. I should put it nearer 150 feet, judging
from the best exposures, but in places where it is most altered by heat it is
usually difficult to determine its basal members. On Packsaddle Mountain
there is less than 100 feet of it between the Texan strata beneath and the
higher Cambrian above, but the basal conglomerate is absent in these sections,
as well as some coarse white false-bedded sandstone elsewhere observed. The
Hickory Creek section is the only complete one yet observed, but some of
the strata there exposed are more developed in other localities.
No fossils have been taken from any of the Hickory Beds.
(2) THE RILEY SERIES (MIDDLE CAMBRIAN?).
On Packsaddle Mountain, at the east end of the eastward projection, the
*This difficulty is enhanced by the apparent fault lines following the same north-south.
course, which, if they be true faults, must have originated as late as the Silurian period. Fora
long time the writer was unable to explain this feature satisfactorily, but now that the early
Cambrian uplift is understood, other troublesome points concerning the later structure are
made to disappear.
PALEOZOIC GROUP. 2S]
Hickory Series, dipping south about 15 degrees, and underlaid by the Texan
Beds, dipping in the same direction 28 degrees, are overlaid by a thin capping
of coarse grained, dark red, pebbly sandrock, dipping a few degrees north-
west. This mountain is badly faulted, and contains, therefore, many puz-
zling features. Near the line of Walcott’s section the structure is plainly in-
dicated, but confusing unless very careful instrumental work be done. From
the summit of the Texan System at the north base of the mountain to the
top of the peaks and down upon the other side to the valley upon the south
there is no such simplicity as Mr. Walcott has described from a rapid recon-
noissance. That is not a good place to study the whole Cambrian System,
although it does afford some hints regarding the subsequent dynamic history
of our region. At the point of the westward extension of the Putnam
Mountains, southeast of House Mountain on the right bank of Hickory
Creek, there is the best possible exposure to explain what is not clearly ex-
hibited in many other contacts. Here the granite, of a type characteristic of
a Post-Cambrian (Silurian) uplift, has pushed up the conglomerate into a
southeastward dip rising towards House Mountain, and this is overlaid by the
set of conformable sandstones now recognized by myself as belonging to the
Lower Cambrian Hickory Series. These sediments have been mistaken
heretofore for the Potsdam sandstone, by the writer as well as others, but
in this section the Hickory Beds are unconformably overlain by a thick
series of strata which is itself unconformable below the Potsdam. From
their great development in the Riley Mountains the name Riley Series is pro-
posed for this set of beds, which presumably represents the Middle Cambrian
Epoch. It is not always easy to distinguish them from the overlying series,
although there is unconformity which can be made out in good exposures.
The conditions prevalent during the Hickory Epoch were somewhat changed
in this Middle Cambrian Epoch, and the Riley deposits were laid down in
synclinal bays between the ridges whose elevation began in early Hickory
time. Probably that elevation continued during the Riley Epoch, for the
strata are chiefly such as are deposited in shallow water, their thickness im-
plying a gradual subsidence. The exposures indicate a different and more
irregular shore line than any previously existing in the region, but there
still was probably a considerable land area within our district. But an era
of subsidence had begun for the surrounding area, which did not cease until
a much later period than the Cambrian.
Fine exposures of what I now believe to be the Riley Series occur in the
Sandy Watergap in the Riley Mountains; also over a wide area north of the
Llano and Brady road west of Valley Spring, as far as Fredonia and beyond,
spreading out through a large part of Mason County, where it is lost under
Cretaceous deposits. It reappears, as if by erosion of the Cretaceous, in a
288 CENTRAL MINERAL REGION OF TEXAS.
tongue in the valley of the Llano River, in Kimble County. Upon the
southern side of the Paleozoic area of-Central Texas there are also good ex-
posures in the valley of James River (east bank) and in a few other places.
I do not yet feel confident enough of the true correlations of the scattered
sections to set a sharp line of demarkation between this series and the one
above it. There is a point assumed as a parting in the field which may prove
to be an easily traceable horizon, but this would be very difficult to define
verbally so that no one could mistake it. Many fossils have been collected,
and such attention as has been possible to give them thus far has tended to
confirm the judgments based upon the stratigraphy. There is the widest
variety in the thickness of the beds, owing to the local inequalities left by
erosion and subsidence prior to deposition. This makes it very difficult to
give a detailed section which will be characteristic. The maximum thick-
ness is probably from 300 feet to 400 feet.*
In general the rocks are sandstones varying in color from light red and
shiny black to brown and yellow, and even white. These conditions are very
interesting when considered in connection with the locus of formation in eavh
case, for they can usually be explained by reference to the underlying rocks
or to the geographic distribution of the color. Dark brown and chocolate
beds are most persistent, the white being confined to areas adjacent to the
oldest Archean rocks. “Sand Castle,” one and a half miles northeast of Valley
Spring, and “Sand Fort,” a similar eminence in the upper part of Cold Creek
valley, are examples of the latter class, although it is not certain that they
belong to the Riley Series, as I now suppose. The view of the Riley Beds in
Sandy Pass, as shown in Plate IX, gives a good idea of the cliffs of sandstone
outcropping there. Fault lines of two or more trends are prevalent in this
region. In the engraving one of these courses is nearly in line with the face
of the cliffs, and another cutting it at an angle of sixty degrees comes in at
the right. Sandy Creek is following both faults in its course. These breaks
are of later date than the Cambrian. The rocks here are the bright red and
white variegated soft sandstones, running up into buff calcareous shales above,
the section in the lowest part being much like that of Sand Castle and Sand
Fort. Above these, in the weird Glen Gap, a little behind the cliff at the
right, a capping of different rock occurs. This is the dark brown granular
rock already referred to, and in this segregations of umonite and hematite are
common, and occasionally enough manganese stain to give them externally a
jet black color. Some compact chocolate colored limestones are associated
*The field work of 1889 was devoted so closely to the Pre-Paleozoic rocks that enough
time was not left for a complete examination of the later sediments. Although much evi-
dence has been collected bearirg upon points here treated, just conclusions can not be drawn
in detail without more study with especial reference to the elucidation of doubtful points.
‘ALNNOO ONVTI ‘AVOUALVM AGNVS—SHAAITO NVIYANVO
PALEOZOIC GROUP. 289
with these near the summit. In portions of what I have taken to be Riley
Beds the ferruginous segregations are very numerous. These are not always
commercially valuable, but there are extensive strata of this horizon which
in certain localities contain enough iron to be profitably worked. We shall
discuss this feature and the distribution of such ‘bonanza areas” in another
place. (See Part Il.) The cause of such occurrences may be readily ex-
plained.
The Mid-Cambrian life of the Riley Epoch has not been distinctly outlined .
for this region. | Walcott thinks it absent from our rocks, out I have taken
forms closely allied to Lingulella celata, Hall (sp.), Lingulella ella, H. and W.,
Hyolithes americanus, Billings, and Orthis? highlandensis, Walcott, besides
Hocystites? and undetermined sponges and fucoids. These do not necessa-
rily indicate a middle Cambrian fauna, but they do not disprove it; for the
known species all occur elsewhere in Walcott’s Middle Cambrian, although
not wholly characteristic of this series. There are no known places in the
Riley Series where the beds are suitable for the preservation of the Peczllo-
poda (including Trilobites), and no such fossils have yet been found. Not far
above this, however, in the higher Cambrian Series, Trilobites are very
abundant, and they are not Paradoxides nor Olenellus.
(3) THE KATEMCY (POTSDAM) SERIES (UPPER CAMBRIAN‘).
As the writer now views the matter (provisionally), there is a distinct set of
red sandstones in position above the highest beds of the Riley Series, with at
least an overlap, if not a dynamic unconformity, at the contact. Very possi-
bly further examination in the field in 1890 may render necessary some
changes in localities, as it is by no means certain that a well marked bound-
ary exists at the base of the series in all exposures. But assuming such a
line, temporarily, at the junction of the chocolate limestones of the Riley
series with the rocks usually overlying them in good sections, there will
generally be found some stratigraphic record of a changed area of deposition.
From my present limited knowledge of the life of the Cambrian in Central
Texas, I dare only report that a conviction has been growing of its probable
transitionary aspect, although some few types may be found in only one of
the series. The final separation of the Middle and Upper Cambrian will
probably be based upon the horizon of the lowest occurrences of Lingula,
Dicellocephalus, etc., and my present opinion is that the boundary here drawn
is consistent with such a paleontologic classification of the strata. At any
rate, my own observations, stratigraphic and paleontologic, are in harmony
with this view.
We may conveniently adopt three divisions for the Katemcy Series, based
Ss
290 CENTRAL MINERAL REGION OF TEXAS.
upon persistent lithologic characters, viz.: A, the Potsdam Sandstone, or Lin-
gula grits; B, the Potsdam Hlags; and C, the Potsdam Limestone.
DIVISION A. THE POTSDAM SANDSTONE.
The basal rocks of the Katemcy (Potsdam) Series differ from their prede-
cessors in a way which, of itself, implies the degradation of the latter to pro-
duce them. They are not always as fine-grained as some particular strata of
the Riley Series. but they are generally more comminuted, and they ordina-
rily have a yellowish-red color or a paler tint than the Riley Beds. These
and the higher beds are well exposed in the valley of Katemcy Creek, Mason
County, from which outcrops the serial name is taken. Complete sections
of this comprehensive set of beds are not usually to be had in a single dis-
trict, owing to the later faults which have broken the continuity of the strata
in two, and sometimes three, Cirections. By putting together the detached
sections, as well as may be without more detailed paleontologic study, there
seems to be a succession of the following character, beginning below:
1. A red, rather friable sandstone, often containing Lzngule, and some-
times more or less irregularly charged with ferruginous segregations, chiefly
Limonite. Thickness variable, say 50 to 100 feet.
2. A white sandstone, similar in texture to the foregoing; thickness, 10
. feet to 20 feet.
3. A very friable greensand, perhaps not always present, but as much as
20 feet thick in places.
DIVISION B. THE POTSDAM FLAGS.
A set of thin greenish shales and shaly limestones sometimes overlies con-
formably the series of grits described above. There may be a doubt of their
presence in some sections, but they are well developed on Morgan Creek,
Burnet County, where they are fossiliferous. The division is not a very
prominent feature of any exposure, but its prior existence can usually be de-
_ tected: by the occurrence of a conglomerate at the base of the higher division,
which is made up of the waterworn flaky fragments of a similar material.
The flags may be allowed a maximum thickness probably of 50 feet.
DIVISION C. THE POTSDAM LIMESTONE.
The highest Katemcy division begins, at the base, with the compact green-
ish conglomerate above mentioned, of which there is usually 50 feet, with
variations in thickness according to the relations of the sections to the oldest
shore-lines. There must have been important vacillations of the sea-border
during the Katemcy Hpoch, but they seem to have been more in the nature
of tidal incursions and excursions than local changes of land level. As before
remarked, however, there is some evidence of a continuance to this age of
PALEOZOIC GROUP. 291
the meridianal uplift which began after the Texan Period. Overlying the
conglomerate there is a set of limestones, usually thickest where the former
is thinnest, and vice versa, but in some places both are well developed. Wal-
cott reports 310 feet of ‘Potsdam limestone” in Packsaddle Mountain.
Among these beds he probably included the flags, and perhaps some of the
beds of our Middle Cambrian, which might have been mistaken for them in
that section, owing to blind faults not discoverable without some detailed
study. He is wrong in putting 90 feet of Potsdam sandstone above this
limestone, for it is immediately covered by Silurian dolomite. There is a
continuous section of the Upper Katemcy Beds north of Bauman’s, extending
from the east bank of Cold Creek up to within about 50 feet of the summit
- of Sponge Mountain, where it is capped by the Silurian. In this exposure
there are 200 feet of the limestones, surmounting 50 feet of the conglomerate
interstratified with limestones. Much of the limestone is impregnated with
_ greensand particles, and the whole is laminated and largely fragmental.
Several well defined fossiliferous horizons, containing especially numerous
mutilated trilobite remains, are included. An interesting discovery is the
occurrence of Foraminifera in abundance in some of the greensand limestones.
The greensand beds of the lowest division may contain similar fossils, but I
have as yet been unable to detect them there. They occur in some of the
chocolate and red sand rocks, of uncertain horizon, but apparently of Pots-
dam age. Practically the same sections exist in many parts of our district,
but the basal contacts are by no means regular. On Deer Creek, in the
southwest corner of San Saba County, the Upper Katemcy Beds (Potsdam
limestones) seem to be resting conformably upon the Lower Katemcy (Pots-
dam sandstone) basal members. At Camp San Saba, at the mouth of Ka-
temcy Creek, the conglomerate appears to be nearly absent, although it
comes out in full force again in supercontact with the Middle Katemcy strata
(Potsdam flags) only a little west of the town. The junction with the Silu-
rian is no less variable. All these facts have an important bearing upon the
geologic history, but enough has been written to make the salient features
understood, and further discussion must be left until a more convenient
opportunity.
292
CENTRAL MINERAL REGION OF TEXAS.
TAXONOMY OF THE SYSTEM.
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anywhere observed, but there is good warrant for dividing the series into two
divisions. These are here named: A, The Hinton Division, and B, The Deep
Creek Division.
/
A. THE HINTON DIVISION (BIRDSEYE, BLACK RIVER, AND TRENTON?)
The distribution of the lower division, if such it really be, is apparently very
much restricted within the limits of our district, and yet is represented by
thick deposits of unusual interest. The region of greatest deposition seems
to have been in the northwest, and the present positions of the beds give
vague hints of gradual movements of elevation and depression along lines
which have not been clearly defined.
The following generalized section is made up from different exposures
south of the San Saba River in San Saba County, in the valleys of Deer and
Hinton creeks, one of the best regions for study. This agrees well, also, with
the partial outcrop on Cold Creek, in Llano County, and with an incomplete
development of the series on Hudson Creek, north of Camp San Saba, and
westward in McCulloch County. Beginning below there are:
1. A transition set of siliceous limestones of variable thickness, and some-
what indefinite composition, making it difficult in some sections to draw a
sharp line. Occasionally a semi-conglomerate of limestone fragments occurs
here, as on Cold Creek, at Sponge Mountain.
2. A pink, white, or mottled red and white limestone, with crystalline
, facets, agreeing well with the typical Birdseye Limestone of New York and
elsewhere. Thickness usually not above 15 feet.
3. Tough, commonly dull gray to brownish, crystalline dolomites, weath-
ering gray, usually in some variety. In this set, two miles west of San Saba,
on the road to Brady, I took from a block of limestone Maclurea crenulata,
Billings, and Favosites, sp.?
4. Sometimes a set of calcareous shaly beds, 15 to 20 feet.
5. A fossiliferous horizon with a solid pavement of large sponges—~WSiro-
matocertum rugosum, Hall, or a near ally. In some cases there are beds of
these fossils at least 10 feet thick.
6. An aggregation of sandy calcareous shales or slabby dolomites, usually
forming cliffs or craggy outcrops; 25 to 30 feet.
7. A sponge bed made up of strata of slabby character, containing exces-
sive quantities of what seems to be Stromatopora concentrica, Hall; from 15 to
20 feet. |
Here the section stops in many instances, and a hiatus in our knowledge
occurs which has not been completely filled, owing to great faults and through
lack of notes upon any one exposure, including these beds with both higher
and lower beds. But there is reason for assuming the base of the higher
division to be just above the summit (No. 7) of this section. In the plateau
4
:
PALEOZOIC GROUP. 303
south of Burnet a succession of beds occurs which is equivalent to the Deep
Creek division, and this is underlaid by the Hoover division of the Leon
series, with very few, if any, of the Hinton Beds. The base of the former
there, as elsewhere, so far as now known, is always a gritty fine-grained dol-
omite, here assumed as the lowest member of the highest Silurian division.
B. DEEP CREEK DIVISION (HUDSON? OR NIAGARAN 2).
Deep Creek and its branches, especially in the lower stretches, exhibit a
peculiar topography of a type characteristic of the massive terrane which
crowns the Silurian system in Central Texas.
This is, par excellence, the siliceous division of the Paleozoic in our district,
the beds being solid masses of cherty limestones mingled with gritty dolo-
mites and tough magnesian limestone, the last often containing abundant
segregated semi-geodes of drusy quartz. The distribution of the Deep Creek
strata is as unique and interesting as the texture and composition. Reference
has already been made to the ancient shore line of the Hinton age which
followed along the southern edge of San Saba County, with a southward
prolongation or bay extending down into western Llano County and another
into western Burnet County. The representative of the American Trenton?
Sea had a somewhat different coast in this region. In Burnet County part of
the Hinton land surface became depressed so as to allow deposition over a
considerable portion of that area during the succeeding age. The western
bay in Llano County retreated northward but slightly, although the shore.
line in San Saba County and further west was apparently pushed out north-
ward in places and extended back southward in others.
Long faults, which can be traced in some instances for many miles, and
subsequent denudation to an even grade, have left the field in very bad shape
for rapid study. Much remains to be done in piecing out gaps in the record
but the section given below is so often repeated that it may be regarded as a
fair presentation of the succession of strata. In ascending order there are:
1. A stratum of gritty, fine-grained, saccharoidal, light grey, or slightly
yellowish, highly siliceous dolomite, weathering dark grey. Included in this,
or above it, are similar but tougher dolomites, with numerous scattered
patches of drusy quartz following surfaces of a somewhat regular, crumpled,
or molded pattern. The forms and disposition of these infiltrations, although
they are disconnected, suggests the possibility of a connection with organic
growth. But as yet they have not been studied minutely. The thickness,
all told, is about 50 feet.
2. Strata of dolomite gradually becoming tough and cherty, and weather-
ing with deeply pitted surfaces. Thickness in places 40 feet. These contain
cherty (fossiliferous?) nodules, small, weathering ‘‘in relief;” above which, in
sections removed from the old shore line, are often
304 | CENTRAL MINERAL REGION OF TEXAS.
3. Thinly laminated, tough, cherty dolomites, white to dull grey, or
chalky, sometimes with interstratified beds of chert, from one foot to three
feet in thickness. Maximum thickness not above 25 feet.
4. Massive chert beds, averaging about ten feet or less, overlaid by
5. Fossiliferous strata of varying thickness and difficult of interpretation.
The best judgment the writer can offer is that a set of essentially cherty beds,
now largely decomposed, and represented by fragmental surface deposits,
apparently in situ for the most part, originally made up a considerable part of
the Silurian system. At present the total thickness of this cap is probably
50 to 100 feet, although it would be difficult to accept this statement without
a knowledge born of actual day by day experience over many square miles of
territory. The strata represented by this vast aggregation of debris appear
to have been of the following kinds, beginning below:
5a.. Dolomitic, light-colored siliceous rocks, containing abundant remains
of Stromatopora sp.?, or of one form or more of Bryozoa.
5b. Much thicker cherty strata, carrying perhaps some dolomite, but now
represented by masses of cauliflower or sponge-like ramifications of chert and
drusy quartz. For want of better terms I have given these the distinctive
working titles of ‘spongy chert” and “spongy quartz.” The exact relations
of the two and each to a third form, a compact fossiliferous chert, are as yet
unknown. In fact the whole problem relating to the debris awaits a solution
which I hope to be able to work out the coming season. ‘To the casual ob-
server the surface capping of the highest Silurian would, no doubt, suggest
the idea of a drift deposit. And there are facts which go to support the
hypothesis of transportation to a moderate distance. The chief argument of
this nature rests upon the truth that, upon the southern border of the debris
area, the fragements commonly rest upon strata much lower than those of an
age directly antecedent to themselves. There may, perhaps, also be a thin-
ning of the “float” towards the south, and possibly a predominance of the
material of the higher strata in that direction. But without special investi-
gation upon these points, a correct estimate of their importance can not be
made. Granting these premises, however, it is not to be gainsaid that the
whole. San Saba section is less complete, thinner, and more deficient in the
higher beds than is the case farther north. It is also true that no instance
has yet been observed of the mingling of the different kinds of debris in one
surface exposure. Wherever such occurrences have been noted there is
always evidence of strictly local transportation. More than this, rare out-
crops of the actual undecomposed strata in question have been encountered,
and they always sustain the same relations, one to another, as those existing
among the debris layers. The shattered condition of these fragmental de-
posits, as compared with the massive structure of the supposed original
PALEOZOIC GROUP. 305
strata, is not easy to explain from the study of them alone; but the excessive
Post-Silurian dynamism is abundantly manifested wherever a view of the
subjacent rocks can be had.
The fossils of the Deep Creek division are extremely numerous in some
localities and almost abesent from others. The nodules referred to in No. 2
of the section suggest an organic origin more by their form than by their
texture or markings, although there is the semblance of pores upon the sur-
face occasionally. The Stromatopora? beds and some of the associated strata
contain enormous quantities of a peculiar marking which needs more study
than has yet been possible. They seem to belong among the sponges, al-
though this opinion may not be taken as authoritative at present. Some of
the strata of a different character are almost certainly sponges, but the writer
has not had opportunity to study them thoroughly. Associated with these
are forms not the best for determining doubtful paleontological questions, as
they are largely the internal casts of Gasteropods. Straparollus sanctisabe,
Roem. (sp.), a smaller Straparollus, Platyostoma?, Holopea (sp. ind.), and a
doubtful Helicotoma, with what appear to be Annelid borings, are abundant
in the “spongy chert.” In lower strata several Orthoceratites are common.
Iam unable from lack of literature to determine these accurately, but one
resembles Orthoceras imbricatum, Sowerby; another is near O. multicamera-
tum, Emmons; and a third may perhaps be an undescribed form. This last
is short conical, with septa in number between the other species named, and
the siphuncle is eccentric, narrowing conically from the body cavity back-
ward. If it prove to be new I propose the name Orthoceras sansabensis.
TAXONOMY OF THE SYSTEM.
The classification of the Silurian terranes as arranged in the preceding
pages is not wholly satisfactory, although it is the best tentative scheme
which can now be framei. In any use which may be made of if, our present
inability to explain the exact relations of the Post-Hoover divisions should
be borne in mind. There is at least a little suspicion that a part or all of the
San Saba Series may be entitled to rank as a separate (Niagaran) system.
Here is another unsolved problem which we go afield to study in 1890. The
schedule below recapitulates what has already been given in detail.
OF TEXAS.
CENTRAL MINERAL REGION
306
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PALEOZOIC GROUP. 307
IRRUPTIONS DURING AND SUCCEEDING THE SILURIAN PERIOD.
The problems. connected with the dynamic history of the Silurian are not
as difficult to solve as some of the earlier complications, and yet there are a
few points which still remain doubtful, on account of more recent uplifts and
because of unfilled gaps im the record. There are several localities in which
the Silurian system presents structural features very difficult to explain upon
any other hypothesis than that of upthrow or downthrow of the strata along
the courses of the Post-Texan and Post-Fernandan orographic movements—
the north and northwest trends, respectively. The lower portion of Katemcy
Creek, in McCulloch County, the headwaters of Cold and Little Llano creeks,
in Llano County, and the Colorado River along much of the eastern bound-
ary of Llano County, are all bordered upon the east by abrupt cliffs of Silu-
rian strata which extend southward as promontories, or baylike prolongations,
sharply outlined upon the west by meridianal fault lines. In the southwest,
along the upper portion of James River, in Mason County, and in the north-
west, along the San Saba River, as well as over intermediate territory on Bluff
and Little Bluff creeks and elsewhere, a similar manifestation of the north-
west trend is apparent in Silurian strata. It would seem that these move-
ments ceased before the deposition of the San Saba series, and it may be
that they can all be referred to slips along the earlier uplifts, although some
of the facts seem to require the solution suggested above.
But there is another series of breaks which certainly represent a subsequent
dynamic event. These trend very uniformly in the course north 25 degrees
east,* and so far as my observations go they are not characteristic of any
terranes of later age than the Silurian.
Invariably this trend has broken all the others which have been regarded
as earlier in this report, and they are always broken by those to be herein-
after classed as later trends. Within the area now covered by Silurian strata
the results of this Post-Silurian uplift are manifested by faults and changes
of dip, but very seldom has erosion brought to view the igneous agents. It
is probable that a comparison of such exposures (of which none are now cer-
tainly known) with outcrops of the same magma in the much denuded inner
area will give us the means of determining conclusively whether the Silurian
strata ever extended over the latter district. At present the evidence, such
as it is, favors a contrary verdict. There are two belts in which the peculiar
phenomena of the Post-Silurian uplift are plainly exhibited over limited
areas. One of these is in the north 25 degrees east trend, north of Packsad-
dle Mountain, on Honey Creek and the Llano River in Llano County; the
- *North 16 degrees east, magnetic; variation, 9 degrees 15 minutes east; corrected, north
25 degrees 15 minutes east.
308 CENTRAL MINERAL REGION OF TEXAS.
other follows the same course along the valley of another Honey Creek in
Mason County, six miles west of Mason City. The former locality is the one
observed, in part, by Mr. Walcott, and the one which forms the foundation
for his mistaken reference of all the Central Texas granites to a Pre-Potsdam
age.* In both these outcrops there are coarsely crystalline granites entomb-
ing masses of schists of a character similar to the adjacent country rock.
Mr. Walcott was the first to report this fact, but he failed to observe the true
relations of this granite to the other strata, its wholly different character from
all other granites of the region, and the series of fractures in Packsaddle
Mountain corresponding to the trend of this granite eruption.
It is remarkable that these particular masses are the only examples of
schist enclosures in the granite of our region. The granite itself is often
nearly white or dull grey, and the black schists form nuggets, or pockets,
distributed irregularly through the base, but invariably in intimate associa-
tion, and usually welded into the matrix, if not materially altered at the
edges. Often both the schist and the granite are mutually blended into one
another at the contact, and the original schist structure is very rarely retained,
except in very thick masses. In the smaller inclusions re-crystalization has
frequently taken place to such an extent as to leave no evidence of the pre-
vious condition, and sometimes the reaction of the enclosed schist upon the
granite has been strong enough to alter the mineral composition of the latter
in its neighborhood. Occasionally, where there are good exposures of the
adjacent schists in the same trend, slips have occurred, leaving wedges of
comminuted schists and granite with “slickensides.” Over wide tracts the
hard granite is covered with a thoroughly decomposed granite 10 to 30 feet
thick. There seems good warrant for the belief that the present exposures
are due to denudation of superincumbent strata, but it is almost impossible
now to determine whether the Silurian system was represented here by any
members at the time of the uplift, although there are some facts which seem
to make this improbable. Taking into account the extent and character of
the breaks, and the structure, texture, and composition of the granite, I am
inclined to believe that this Post-Silurian outburst was of the nature of a
sudden release of long continued tension along a line which had not exhibited
weakness prior to that time. This view is greatly strengthened by the fact
that the same trend has a different aspect, more like the earlier uplifts, in
places where an intermediate environment exists; thus for instance, a little
west of Cold Creek, and elsewhere, the Texan and later strata have been
violently thrown into the breaches caused by this irruption. In other cases,
where the capping has certainly extended to the Cambrian strata, these have
* Op. cit. American Journal of Science, vol. XXVIII, 1884, p. 431.
PALEOZOIC GROUP. 309
been shattered and baked or glazed only at the edges of the clefts. Wherever
the Silurian strata, especially the later members, have certainly covered the
magma the breaks are like those which would be produced by sudden snap-
pings, and the subjacent strata in such cases have not been broken in the
same manner as in the cases previously cited. In the valley of Honey Creek,
Mason County, south of the Menard road, there are huge bowlders of the
granite once covered by alluvium, but now exposed by stream erosion; and
southwest of this, between Honey Creek and Little Bluff Creek, north of the
Junction City road, a large area is occupied by blocks and hills of the same
rocks. These occurrences and the immense deposits of white sand over
much of the area make it very probable that the granitic extrusion from the
earlier strata rose to a greater height than the protrusion of the same magma
beneath the Silurian strata. Such a condition of affairs is compatible with
the hypothesis here advanced, if not really essential to its support.
The importance of this feature will be appreciated when the later granites
are considered.
We have still to inquire what cause or set of causes could have been
responsible for the elevation of the southern border of our district after the
Hoover deposition and prior to the San Saba Epoch. From the observations
of Mr. Jermy upon the Pedernales River, in Blanco and Gillespie counties,
and from incidental notes sent in from time to time by different observers, it
is thought probable that a very extensive land area existed southward after
the Hoover Epoch until long after the beginning of the Cretaceous Period.
Perhaps there will be found in that direction some further clew to orographic
movements which faded out in our area; meanwhile, we can only report the
result as an oscillation involving subsidence northward and elevation south-
ward. But extensive discussion on the subject at this time would be prema-
ture, because much remains to be done in collecting facts for the study of
just such questions.
6. THE NIAGARAN (UPPER SILURIAN) SYSTEM (Abdsent?).
There is abundant evidence that the sea retreated along the northern coast
before the sedimentation of the next period, for no Niagaran deposits have
been found anywhere in Central Texas, unless we are wrong in accrediting
the San Saba series to the Silurian. The uplift which we have assigned to
Post-Silurian times may have been more effective in folding the strata north-
ward, and indeed there is some little ground for such assertion. Mr. Cum-
mins, of this survey, informs me that his observations strongly support this
view as regards later shore lines in that quarter. There must, then, have
been a very large area of dry land during the period of accumulation of the
Niagaran strata in New York and Canada, or else contemporaneous deposits
310 CENTRAL MINERAL REGION OF TEXAS.
in this region were of a different character. Until special study has been
given to this matter the writer prefers to hold the view taken in this report,
chiefly because his notes as yet yield no certain evidence of such relations
between the undoubted and the doubtful Silurian as would seem to be required
by a different supposition. At the same time the fossils, and above all the
structural relations, lend much color to the hypothesis that the San Saba
series, or a part of it, is the representative of Post-Silurian (Niagaran) depo-
sition. More facts bearing upon this point will be collected for the next
report.
7. DEVONIAN SYSTEM.
At several points along the northern border of our district the contacts of
the Silurian (San Saba series) with overlying beds are different to what has
been reported elsewhere, and not what I have observed in other places. Be-
tween what Mr. Cummins and Mr. Tarr, as I understand them, assume for
the Siluro-Carboniferous contact in the region about the southwest corner of
Lampasas County, there is in some sections an important series of strata of
but little thickness, but containing fossils closely allied to Devonian types.
Neither of these gentlemen has examined the outcrops referred to, but Mr.
Cummins states, after seeing my collections, that a very similar rock under-
lies his so-called Carboniferous near Lampasas; this he included in his
Carboniferous section. The writer, being charged with the study of
the pre-Carboniferous rocks, has made incursions to the territory of
the later sediments only for the purpose of gaining assurance that no gaps
remained unfilled, and the possible occurrence of Devonian was not as fully
apparent in the field as it has since become by study of the specimens.
Special attention will be given to the subject the coming season, but it is pos-
sible now to announce the probable verification of Shumard’s doubtful dis-
covery in San Saba County, and the extension of the outcrops into Mason
and Menard counties, and probably into Burnet and Blanco? counties. As
stated by Shumard,* the thickness of this terrane, if it be Devonian, probably
does not exceed fifty feet, although this estimate can not be regarded as
strictly accurate in the case of a system but little explored.
All that has really been done to date is the discovery of a few localities in ~
which outcrops appear of unusual strata whose position is intermediate as
regards the San Saba series below and the known Carboniferous rocks above.
But there are grave difficulties in correlating observations which were scatter-
ing, confused as they also are by faults and varying contacts, as well as by
areal changes in lithologic complexion. Stratigraphically these rocks all be-
long with the Post-Silurian representatives, for they are unbroken by the
* Transactions Academy of Science, St. Louis, vol. I, 1860, p. 673.
Rese
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POST-PALEOZOIC UPLIFTS. aie
characteristic Silurian fault course (north 25 degrees east), while the Post-
Paleozoic uplifts have affected them in common with the higher beds. Paleon-
tologically, the generic types are, perhaps, a little more near the Niagaran
than the Carboniferous, although the specific forms are commonly Upper
Devonian, and the composition of the beds is usually nearer that of the
higher system. Still, these generalizations do not always apply, and it may
be that further discovery will even enable us to construct an important transi-
tion system; for, in the northeastern part of Menard County, near the old
Pegleg Crossing of the San Saba River, south side, specimens of Dictyonema
fenestratum, Hall, Loxonema, and Favosites were found in chert much like cer-
tain strata of the San Saba series, and the Devonian (if it be such) near
Marble Falls, in Burnet County, resembles the neighboring Silurian, carrying
also a Lower Devonian fauna in part.
The provisional reference of this little known system to the Devonian is
based upon the occurrence of the following fossils: Dictyonema fenestratum,
Hall, Anewnites, sp. ind., Psilophyton, sp. ind., Neggerathia? (or Rhacophyllum?),
Taonurus (Spirophyton) caudagalli, Vanuxem, Aulopora serpuloides?, Winchell,
Cyathophyllum, Favosites, sp. ind,., Centronella, sp.ind., Aviculopecten duplicatus,
Hall, Discina seneca?, Hall, Bellerophon, Holopea, sp. ind., Loxonema solidum,
Hall, Dalmanites egeria, Hall, Phallipsia, etc.
THE POST-PALEOZOIC UPLIFTS.
Much of the most interesting geology of our district is connected with
events of later date than those we have been discussing. While it is not in
the province of the writer to make detailed observations in Post-Devonian
territory, it happens that no observer in that field in Texas can completely
understand the dynamic history of his district without a knowledge of what
is revealed within our area. It is therefore very important to report here
such facts as have been collected bearing upon the later upheavals. In the
foregoing dissertation we have noticed all the classes of granite in Central
Texas, save two. Those which have not been mentioned occupy different
territory from the Pre-Niagaran uplifts. Leaving the details of Post-Devonian
history to be treated by those who have charge of that geology, it is proper
to state what are essential features of our district. The conclusions now to
be given are partly verified by the observations of Messrs. Cummins and
Tarr in the Carboniferous area northward, and of Mr. Hill in the Cretaceous
region upon the north and east, as I understand them. Within the core of
the Central Texas region, especially in the district hachured upon the pro-
gress map by vertical lines, the later uplifts are more extensive than the out-
bursts at the close of the Silurian. Excepting the secondary northwest
trend of that epoch, concerning which the collected evidence lacks precision,
3 CENTRAL MINERAL REGION OF TEXAS.
the results are comparatively slight in the way of upturning of the strata,
but the two disturbances since the Paleozoic Hra have left enduring monu-
ments in the shape of highly tilted rocks. Such sight unconformities as I
have observed among the marginal Post-Silurian deposits, aside from the
Cretaceous, are wholly due to overlap, and this statement is, I believe, con-
firmed by the reports of Messrs. Dumble, Tarr, and Cummins, who have
given the subject more careful study in the field. There is no warrant,
therefore, for referring either of the later upheavals to a time earlier than the
close of the Carboniferous period.
A. THE PRE-CRETACEOUS MOVEMENT.
In the outer area of the Carboniferous, as well as in the earlier rocks, there
are numerous fractures and faults trending almost due east and west.* Some-
what similar breaks may also occur in parts of the Cretaceous, but a different
explanation must be sought for these, because it is demonstrable that compara-
tively few of the Carboniferous joints extend upward into the later deposits.
In the region occupied by the crystallines and the more ancient sediments
the manifestation of this latitudinal uplift is extensive and expressive. We
do not yet know all its geography, but it is very significant that the most im-
portant structural results in our district were confined to the drainage of
the Llano River and Big Sandy Creek. The igneous action was wholly
south of the Llano River, so far as can be judged from the observations,
unless some provisional Archzean west of Mason, on the Menard road, shall
prove to belong to this category. A very stubborn problem is presented
‘in this locality, and I may not have solved it correctly, although some very
accurate topographic and geologic work has been done upon it. The prob-
ability is that every one of the seven or eight trends of uplift is included in
the structure, although only three were clearly recognized in studying the
outcrops.
Not far south of this the combinations are different, and as is usual where
very comprehensive sections are exposed, there is liability to err in interpret-
ing the structure unless the key has been worked out in less complicated
areas. Without the knowledge of the meaning of each trend which has
since been gained, it is hardly probable that any one could unravel the intri-
cate network. It is very possible that the Post-Paleozoic upheaval followed the
old Burnetan trend more closely in some places than in others, in which case a
very good acquaintance with the textural habit of each of the two granites will
be necessary in order to distinguish them. The fact remains, however, that the
Post-Silurian granite is actually cut through in places by dikes of the material
*North 80 degrees east, magnetic; declination, 9 degrees 15 minutes east; corrected, north
89 degrees 15 minutes east,
POST-PALEOZOIC UPLIFTS. ra I,
here referred to a later age, and the question of the relative age of this and
the associated rocks is not now involved. The details of this Post-Carbon-
iferous dynamic history must largely be worked out by one familiar with
what we have been studying here. It is therefore appropriate for us to in-
quire into the nature of the problems which still remain to be worked out;
for it has been manifestly impossible to give attention to more than the salient
features in the time heretofore at our disposal. One of the best fields for the
investigation is the extremely rugged area of the Riley Mountains, whose
relief has been erroneously recorded upon all previous maps. A little expe-
rience in that region has well shown the absolute necessity for doing good
topographic work there as a basis for geologic study.
In the northern end of that ridge, at the source of Honey Creek, the Silurian
upon a high plateau, abuts against an outer rim of Cambrian rocks along an
east-west fault. The strike of the Hoover beds is there in line with the Post-
Silurian uplift, but farther south and east, upon the south side of Honey
Creek Cove, the faults and strikes are mainly parallel with the Post-Paleozoic
disturbance, and the latitudinal trend is beautifully shown by the highly tilted
strata, not dipping in one direction, as Mr. Walcott has remarked, “from
10 degrees at the north end of the ridge to 40 degrees at the south end,”
but varying in strike through faults which give such an appearance upon
cursory examination. This upheaval is more or less evident over all the
country in line with it, wherever the rocks are adapted to show it; but its
modes of expression are various. It will be many years before the details
of some of the structure are worked out. A few points of interest have
been noted, and these are all we can now present. é
From the mouth of Hamilton Creek, Burnet County, and perhaps farther east
up the Colorado River to the mouth of Big Sandy Creek, and up that stream
to its source, thence on across country in the same course, as far as the Cre-
taceous escarpment upon the west in Kimble County, the continuation of
this orographic movement may be readily traced. In this distance of eighty
miles, and over a tract of thirty-five miles on either side of this line, the only
known exposure of Carboniferous rocks is this mited one in the Riley Moun-
tains, which has been faulted, downthrown, tilted, and denuded, and it exhibits
none of the earlier trends.
About three miles east from this exposure stands Packsaddle Mountain,
scored, fissured, and eroded, about as diverse in its structure and as different
from the Riley Mountain types as could well be, and yet epitomizing, in
effect, the same dynamic events, with those of earlier date as well.
In Mason County, on the divide between Honey and Little Bluff creeks,
south of the Mason and Junction City road, Fernandan, Texan, Cambrian
and Silurian strata are jumbled by three or four of the dynamic movements,
314 CENTRAL MINERAL REGION OF TEXAS.
including the Post-Paleozoic, in such manner as to almost literally leave not
one stone among them which has not been overturned.
IRRUPTIVES ACCOMPANYING THE EAST-WEST UPLIFT.
The enormous masses of valuable granite now known in Texas as the
Capitol Granites, from their conspicuous and successful use in the State Cap-
itol at Austin, have been generally regarded by the public as restricted to the
Marble Falls quarries in Burnet County. On the other hand, most geologists
who have entered this field have been disposed to throw all the granitic rocks
of Central Texas into one and the same class with these. We have conclu-
sively shown in these pages that neither view is correct, but it has not been
a simple matter to determine how to classify them. Having already elimin-
ated so many, it may seem a small thing to decide whether such huge mounds
as Granite Mountain, in Burnet County, and Enchanted Rock, in Llano and
Gillespie counties, belong to one or other of the last two irruptions. But the
writer has had great difficulties in deciding the question, notwithstanding the
careful manner in which observations have been made in both localities and
in the intervening country. The chief reasons for announcing his belief in
the Pre-Cretaceous age of these granites are: (1) That they lie within the
belt of greatest activity of this uplift; (2) that the general ‘ pose” corres-
ponds more nearly to the east-west than to any other of the dynamic trends
of the region; and (3) the Cretaceous beds lie unconformably upon the gran-
ite in parts of Gillespie County.
Mr. R. T. Hill is the only geologist who has previously expressed a similar
opinion as to the age of the Capitol granite near Marble Falls. In his paper
giving “A Portion of the Geologic Story of the Colorado River of Texas,”
he remarks:
A few miles eastof Marble Falls * * * the Carboniferous shales begin to show much
disturbance in the shape of faults, joints, and excessive dip. The underlying limestones also
show this by extensive metamorphism as well as by folding, until finally a peculiar topo-
graphic feature known as Shinbone Ridge is reached, two miles northwest of the village.
This is caused by the lowest or encrinital limestone strata of the Carboniferous having been
thrust up almost vertically by the great granite mass which is exposed here, and extends
nearly ten miles due west to Sand Mountain.
I have ascertained beyond a doubt, by hundreds of instrumental observa-
tions, that the trend of north 50 degrees east, in which these ‘‘Carboniferous”
rocks (I believe they are Silurian) of the Shinbone are involved, invariably cuts
through the Pre-Trinity trend (north 89 degrees east) wherever the two cross;
and moreover it is known that the same uplift which brought up these Silu-
rian strata (‘‘Carboniferous” of Hill) also involved a portion of the Cretace-
ous System, i.e., the Trinity and Fredericksburg divisions; if not more,
of the Comanche Series. But Mr. Hill was justified in drawing his
_
ee ee eS —
—4) "a
POST-PALEOZOIC UPLIFTS. 315
inference from the exposures he saw; for, although my interpretation is
based upon evidence accessible also to him upon his trip, it would have been
impossible for him to appreciate its import without much detailed study in
the surrounding region. He hit upon the correct age of the Capitol granite,
but did not get the clew to the structure of the “Shinbone,” although he
knew and correctly plotted the course of the later uplift to which it belongs,
and determined the age of the same dynamic action, as elsewhere observed
by him. These granites are marked or clad with their own waste in most
exposures, but there are some good contacts with strata under which they
have protruded. A very good example occurs in Slaughter Mountain west
of the pass through which the track goes between Fairland and Granite sta-
tions, on the Austin and Northwestern Railroad. 1 know of no superposition
of Carboniferous rocks upon the sediments covering this magma; but wherever
the Cretaceous overlies it, directly or otherwise, it seems to have no dip con-
formity with it, as do the earlier strata when they appear in contact with this
granite.
B. THE CRETACEOUS UPLIFT.
There remains one prominent line of upheaval which proves in two ways
its title to be designated the youngest orographic trend: (1) It cuts the other
trends without itself losing continuity in any exposures, and (2) it involves
the Lower Cretaceous Beds as well as the older strata.
The course of the axes of this uplift is nearly north 50 degrees east.* That
it has greatly increased the confusion of structure need not be stated, but
there are some features of its distribution and of the late topography which
tend to simplify problems which might otherwise be made more obscure. In
the Cretaceous area, and in less degree upon the Paleozoic fringes of our dis-
trict, the effects of the northeast upheaval are easily studied, although at times
sections may be found in which it is very difficult to explain the present topog-
raphy upon any theory which seems to agree well with a majority of the facts.
I have sometimes been so puzzled by obstinate exposures of this nature that
the whole fabric of the geologic history of the region as now outlined has
seemed at variance with any possible interpretation of the Cretaceous and later
record. But gradually, after months of study and most careful plotting of
the observations, some of the facts which appeared most contrary have at last
become among the strongest evidence in support of the geognostic scheme
promulgated herein.
Mr. Hill has been very positive that the Cretaceous sea covered the whole
of the Central Paleozoic area, of which our district is but a part. I am un-
*North 41 degrees east, magnetic; declination, 9 degrees 15 minutes east; corrected, north
50 degrees 15 minutes east.
316 CENTRAL MINERAL REGION OF TEXAS.
able to agree with him as regards the area familiar to me, which he has not
yet visited; but his cogent reasons for adopting this view for the area north-
ward, which he has examined, are not subjects of this discussion. From the
best judgment I can make, after the kindly aid of Messrs. Hill, Dumble, Cum-
mins, and Tarr, in view of my own limited observations north of the San Saba
River, it would appear that the violent disturbances which have made the
Central Mineral Region a veritable piece of “crazy patchwork” expended
their energy largely before reaching the valley of the Colorado River upon
the north. In our area, prior to the Cretaceous period, there was, as it were,
a struggle for the supremacy in orographic expression of the forces acting
along meridianal and longitudinal lines. While it is certain that some of the
uplifts at least were but small parts of important continental elevations, it
ought not to be forgotten that this was practically a centering point for them
all, though not necessarily the initial point. On this account, and by reason
of the badly broken condition of the strata, the portion of the region which
had all along been an area of shallow water or of dry land, was in good shape
for elevation, while the surrounding region was being depressed. Mr. Hill
has well shown in his writings the fact of this long continued subsidence in
Cretaceous times. We have seen how the Central Mineral Region was in
earlier times a changing, but permanent bulwark between the inner and outer
seas. The latitudinal uplift at the close of the Paleozoic Hra left a new topog-
raphy, and one which went far towards preventing what would otherwise
have been a covering of our district by the Cretaceous sea. At the same
time the Lower Silurian anticline trending northward (north 25 degrees east)
presented a barrier in a part of our district which has never since been sub-
merged.
Reference has been made to the difference of present level between the
Silurian (Hoover) beds in Kimble and Gillespie counties and the same geo-
logic horizon in Burnet and San Saba counties. The relations of these beds
and the subsequent Silurian and Carboniferous deposition go to show that the
Post-Paleozoic, Pre-Cretaceous orographic movement was foreshadowed late
in the Silurian period, and culminated at the close of the Carboniferous pe-
riod, when subsidence ensued.
But as was previously noted, the irruption of the Capitol granite at this
juncture was most active over the eastern half of the district and practically
over the southeastern quarter. The subsidence in the north and the elevation
in the south resulted in the deposition of several hundred feet of Post-Hoover
deposits in the former area, none of which are found in the latter, although
they do occur in part upon the east. .
Now it happens that the summit of the Trinity (Cretaceous) Series upon the
southeast at the border of our district is nearly on a level with the base of the
POST-PALEOZOIC UPLIFTS. SLT
same terrane upon the opposite side of the latest uplift. Upon the northeast
the Trinity-Silurian contact is about three hundred feet lower than the base of
the Cretaceous at a Silurian contact on the southwestern border.* The Capitol
granite in the southeast is in part overlaid by the Cretaceous unconformably,
the altitude of the contact being variable, and the basal Cretaceous strata dif-
fering accordingly. More than this, upon the north, east, and west there is a
thickness of some 300 feet of Trinity sands, which are absent from much of the
southern border. Practically over the district between longitude 98 degrees
20 minutes, and from latitude 30 degrees 30 minutes to latitude 31 degrees
10 minutes, there 1s not a scrap of Cretaceous, excepting minute prongs, which
may cross these boundaries from the main outlying area. This uncovered tract
of 2300 square miles does not represent the whole of the region now bare of
Cretaceous, nor all of the region which has not been covered, for there isa
long tongue or promontory, running eastward in the central part, the inner
end of which has here been taken as the western boundary, whereas large tracts
north and south of this extend farther west. The topography, the geologic
structure, the dip of the Cretaceous beds, the absence of the lower beds upon
the southeast, the littoral character of the sediments, and the relations of the
Cretaceous strata to the earlier rocks, each and all indicate that this area was
above the sea during Cretaceous times. There is much variety in the basal
members of the Trinity Series, and in almost every case the material is locally
derived from the subjacent strata. The conglomerates which lie beneath are
in contact with almost every bed, in different places, from the earliest granites
to the Carboniferous, respectively, and the lithologic character is nearly as
changeable. The structure is that of beach deposits of near-by origin, and
the old shore line can be approximately traced in many places.
There is, however, a peculiarity which, at first sight, may seem to conflict
with the views here expressed. This is the precipitous character of the Cre-
taceous escarpment in many places, and the present great elevation of the
Cretaceous summit along the borders of the interior area at many points. A
cursory examination of the Cretaceous alone might readily result in the con-
viction that this system had once crossed the lower lying territory, although
I can not conceive of such a condition in the case in question without the re-
tention of any remnant whatever over so wide an area; for the erosion and
faulting have been such as to give opportunity for the preservation of relics
of any beds which once covered the tract. But it is wrong to assume that
the general level of the Cretaceous is higher than the earlier rocks in the un-
covered region. There are plenty of exposures of granites and other rocks of
Pre-Cretaceous age which now stand above the average level of the Cretace-
* This Cretaceous base is certainly made up of much higher strata than the lowest Trinity
beds.
318 CENTRAL MINERAL REGION OF TEXAS.
ous summit, and what is more important, the existence of upthrow faults
along the edges of the elevated Cretaceous plateaus is indubitable. These
faults clearly exhibit evidence of their formation subsequent to the deposition
of the Cretaceous Beds, but they may possibly be breaks of later date than
the northeast Cretaceous uplift. It is not the writer’s province to determine
the exact Cretaceous horizons involved, nor is the evidence for this obtain-
able without going beyond the district. There is no doubt that the strata
from the base of the Trinity Division to the summit of the Fredericksburg
Division, inclusive, were brought up by what is here termed the Cretaceous
upheaval. Whether the uplift occurred prior to the deposition of the Upper
Cretaceous or at the close of that Period is a question for my colleagues to
settle by their observations in adjacent fields. It has been necessary for me
to discuss the matter thus far in order to explain some very important topog-
graphy and some granitic outbursts which are part and parcel of my own
district. From my more recent observations in the Wichita Mountains, I
feel warranted in asserting that the orographic movement here outlined was
of Pre-Tertiary date. Further allusion to this point will be made in the dis-
cussion of the geology of the Wichita range at the close of this part of the
report.
IRRUPTIVES ACCOMPANYING THE NORTHEAST UPLIFT.
The rocks which most clearly represent the Cretaceous movement within the
Central Mineral Region are granites of a type different from any previously
described in this report. They are usually less massive than the Capitol gran-
ites, more granular, but slightly micaceous, and often porphyritic, with coarse
crystals of orthoclase scattered through the mass. In a well defined outcrop
near the eastern base of Enchanted Rock, in Gillespie County, there is a very
interesting infiltration of milky quartz, both amorphous and as crystals of
great beauty. This seems to be of subsequent origin to the granite or por-
phyry base, and the peculiarity is developed locally in such manner as to have
caused the eroding agents to leave peaks or hills separated from the generally
much denuded areas in which the northeast trend is prevalent. The igneous
rocks of this age are much less pronounced in the topography than the earlier
Capitol granites, but they may be well studied in the comparatively flat country
east of Enchanted Rock, near the head of Crab Apple Creek, and with less
ease in the areas adjoining Granite Mountain. Wherever the Cretaceous con-
tacts with these granites can be observed there is always evidence that their
upheaval carried those beds with them; that is to say, the Cretaceous strata
are bent over the granites and do not lie unconformably upon the latter, as
is always the case with the Capitol granites in contact with the Cretaceous.
There is a noticeable lithologic relation between these latest granite-porphy-
put deieemes
WICHITA MOUNTAINS. 319
ries and the Capitol granites at their junction, where they shade into each
other somewhat gradually. All the features of this character are, however,
very readily explainable upon the supposition that the material was in part
the result of the remelting of the older magma at its edges.
THE POST-CRETACEOUS DEPOSITS.
There are numerous local accumulations of travertine and tufaceous ag-
glomerates, besides alluvial sands and clays, which may be of some geologic
importance in future studies of the surface deposits. But at present very
few of these can be considered of much moment in the general history of
the country, nor are they of economic interest. There can be no doubt of
their Post-Cretaceous origin. In the bed of Cold Spring Creek, near Loyal
Valley, Mason County, we dug out a large tusk of a mastodon or mammoth,
which was imbedded in the conglomerate, and the material of these deposits
is always more or less restricted to the debris of adjacent rocks. Nowhere
in the Central Mineral Region have any extensive accumulations of this na-
ture been found, which may have represented a widespread terrane of Ter-
tiary or later date, except in a remarkable basin in the Llano River Valley,
about ten miles east of Junction City.
RELATIONS OF THE WICHITA MOUNTAINS TO THE CENTRAL
PALEHOZOIC ERA.
As stated at page 257 of this volume, the results of studies in the Central
Mineral Region left at least a possibility that one or other of the upheavals
hereinbefore described might have extended its influence to the little known
Wichita Mountains. As the key to our district gradually began to assume
definite form, and as the work of other members of the survey became ex-
plicit, the probability of the existence of some important relations between
the two areas grew more evident. The perusal of Marcy’s and Shumard’s
reports,* although these do not give much idea of the structure of the moun-
tains, indicated that a fair knowledge of that district would be very advan-
tageous in the study of our own. :
As, in the opinion of the State Geologist, the trip also promised results of
great value in their direct bearing upon the geology of the Coal Measures and
Permian beds of North Texas, especially in regard to artesian water conditions,
Mr. W. F. Cummins and the writer were instructed to make a reconnois-
*Hxploration of the Red River of Louisiana in the Year 1852. By Randolph B. Marcy,
Captain Fifth Infantry, U. 8. A.; assisted by George B. McClellan, Brevet Captain, United
States Engineers. With Reports on the Natural History of the Country and Numerous
Illustrations. Washington, 1854. (H. R. Exec. Doc., 33d Cong., Ist Session.) Appendix
D—Geology, Part II. By George G. Shumard, M. D.
320 CENTRAL MINERAL REGION OF TEXAS.
sance of as much of the Wichita Range and outlying hills as was possible in
the limited time that could be given toit. This arrangement was made in
order that, by the knowledge already acquired by us, each in his own district,
we might more rapidly and certainly ascertain the exact relations of the
various formations. The results of this very interesting reconnoissance, as
they relate to the Central Mineral District, are embodied herein.
We have had no knowledge heretofore of the age of the Wichitas. Mr.
Hill remarks:*
‘“Concerning the latter [i. e., ‘the red granites, basalts, porphyrites, and eruptives of the
Wichitas’], no more is now known than was expressed as follows by Dr. Edward Hitchcock
some years ago.” [ Here follows a quotation from pages 146, 147, of Marcy’s Report. |
Mr. Hill, in the article quoted,+ has given a general statement based in part
upon his own observations at a distance, but excepting this, I know of no
other allusions in print to the geology of the Wichita Mountains.
Dr. Hitchcock wrote in 1853 a portion of Appendix D to Marcy’s report,
being ‘“‘ Notes Upon the Specimens of Rocks and Minerals Collected.” As he
was not a member of the expedition and never visited the Wichitas, the con-
clusions drawn were necessarily of little importance. .
Dr. Shumard, in his own itinerary, gives very little more than a running
description of special occurrences of ‘‘granite, quartz, and greenstone por-
phyry,” so far as the mountains themselves are concerned.
The impressions gained from the reading of the papers quoted above were
about as follows:
(1) That the Wichita Mountains are chiefly granitic, but that irruptives of
basic character occur in parts of the region.
(2) That the Post-Carboniferous uplift (Ouachita orographic system of Hill)
is represented by a considerable portion of the range, especially eastward.
(3) That unexplored portions of the chain might be found to be of Ar-
cheean age.
The last conclusion, in the writer’s mind, was based very largely upon the
belief that the Central Mineral tract is the key to a wide region upon all sides
of it; but the statements made to me by Messrs. Cummins and Hill, who had
examined intermediate territory, in addition to my own acquaintance with
some of the complicated geology of Arkansas, had much to do with confirm-
ing this opinion.
Before proceeding to the discussion proper, it is only fair to quote from
Dr. Edward Hitchcock’s paper, already referred to, the following generaliza-
* American Geologist, vol. V, p. 73. February, 1890.
}Classification and Origin of the Chief Geographic Features of the Texas Region. By Robt.
T. Hill. American Geologist, loc. cit., p. 12 et seq.
WICHITA MOUNTAINS. O20
tion which my recent observations have shown to be correct. He re-
marks: *
Taking all the facts into the account, I can not but feel that there is reason to presume
that voleanic agency has been active in that region more recently. than the trap dykes.
Of this more in due time. The route selected took us across the Permian
plain northwestward from Henrietta, Texas, by the most direct road to Fort
Sill, Indian Territory. Crossing Red River by the ferry below the mouth of
the Big Wichita, our course lay along the valley of the Hast Fork of Cache
Creek. Along this line no evidences of any rocks except the Permian sand-
stones and overlying red clays were seen until reaching a point fifteen miles
south of Fort Sill, where fragments of Silurian limestone and a porphyrytic
rock appear in the drift. Back of this, at the stage stand about twenty-six
miles from Fort Sill, there is an exposure of false-bedded Permian sandstone,
apparently dipping south 16 degrees. ‘This is the first indication of an east-
west strike which was observed. Black sand occurs in the wash at the south-
ern limit of the drift, and this becomes very abundant nearer the mountains.
It is fine grained, crystalline magnetite, and probably also zlmenite.
About one mile southeast of Fort Sill one of the hills has been cut down
upon two sides, and much rock has been taken from the quarry for use in
building at the post. This affords a fair section of Silurian limestone very
similar to that above mentioned as “float.” The horizon is nearly that of the
typical section on Cold Creek, Llano County, the fossils being somewhat
abundant, but chiefly fucoids and non-characteristic markings. It is exceed-
ingly interesting to find here the same master-joints as in the Central Texas
area, ‘The dip is 11 degrees, south 65 degrees east, locally, but the east-west
(Post-Carboniferous) trend is well pronounced. The Silurian break of north
25 degrees east is very prominent.
At the southeastern portion of the Wichita range, near Fort Sill, the trap-
pean ridge referred to by Marcy and Shumard presents a marked topographic
and geologic feature. It was evidently not understood by these explorers, and
in fact it would be next to impossible to work out the Wichita structure in
detail without some such historical key as is furnished by the stratigraphy
of the Central Texas Region.
Upon Marcy’s Itinerary Map some of this portion of the mountains is
marked as ‘Trap Bluffs,” and Shumard’s diary has the following entries:
July 17.—Many of the mountains presented a marked difference in character and com-
position from any that had been previously observed; instead of displaying a rough and
*Marcy’s Report, p. 147.
+For these important elevations, extending from the target grounds at Fort Sill westward
to the main Wichita range, near Mount Sheridan, I propose the name of ‘ Carlton Mountains,”’
in honor of Colonel Carlton, the present commandant at Fort Sill.
U
329 CENTRAL MINERAL REGION OF TEXAS.
broken exterior, they were more or less rounded, and exhibited a gradual slope to the
prairie level, while the granitic structure almost entirely disappeared, its place being occu-
pied by fine porphyry ofa reddish color. |
July 18.—* * * We arrived at Cache Creek. * * * From the water’s edge rose
abruptly a long line of smooth perpendicular cliffs, varying in height from 300 to 400 feet,
and having in some places a slight columnar structure. * * * Upon examination they
were found to be composed mostly of fine porphyry of a reddish color, which was traversed
by parallel and nearly perpendicular veins of cellular quartz, varying in thickness from two
to three feet.
July 19.—About one mile below our present encampment J came to the termination of
the cliffs. A short distance below this I observed a nearly horizontal stratum of coarsely
laminated sandstone, fifty feet thick, and including in its composition fragments of igneous
rock of the same character as that composing the cliffs, the intermediate space being occupied
by red clay, which as before appeared to underlie the sandstone.
These statements, and the view and section given in Marcy’s report, de-
scribe fairly the situation in the southeastern portion of the Wichita Range.
The sandstone referred to as overlying the Permian red clays is what Mr.
Cummins calls the Fort Sill Series, and our observations make me think it
may be Tertiary. It is persistent along the southern base of the Wichitas
for many miles westward, and in most places it is overlaid by thick deposits
of Quaternary gravels and boulders of local origin.
The porphyry outcrop of Carlton Mountains strikes in a general way east and
west, and a close examination of \its structure shows that its eruptive line was
probably in the path of the great Post-Carboniferous uplift. This trend is dis-
cernible in almost every part of the Wichita Mountain System in the form
of joints, and, in every case thus far observed, it breaks all other joint-courses
except that trending northeast. This is in exact accordance with the facts
in Central Texas.
The texture and the columnar structure of the igneous mass, its peculiar
topography, and the mode of deposition, as well as the subsequent erosion,
all point to a volcanic origin. The greatest development was off to the west,
near where the ridge seems to merge into the main chain southwest of Mount
Scott, and here, as in a portion of the eastern end, there is all the structure
and resulting topography of an ancient crater. The slopes and semi-stratifi-
cation give the appearance of lava flows, and this feature is a very common
characteristic of the Wichita rocks of different ages.
North of these lava hills, which include the Palisades of Cache Creek
above Fort Sill, there is a ridge, or a long series of irregularly disposed peaks,
which forms the backbone or the real geologic axis of the Wichita chain.
Mount Scott and its eastern neighbor, for which I here propose the name Mount
Cummins, as well as other peaks still further east and a multitude of knobs
and peaks extending many miles westward, all belong to this nucleal trend.
WICHITA MOUNTAINS. ee
The geologic course is north 75 degrees west, the very counterpart of our
Texas Burnetan core; and wherever I have crossed it or examined it, all along
the belt for seventy-five miles, it tells the same tale in its composition and its
broken joints, as we have already read in Burnet and Llano counties. Shu-
mard saw these records, although he could not explain them, nor could any
one else without the knowledge which comes from the study of a pivotal re-
gion like our own. He says: |
At a distance they appeared to be smooth, but upon a nearer approach their surfaces were
found to be quite rough, and presenting the appearance of loose rock thrown confusedly
together. In many places the granite was observed occupying its original position, and was
variously traversed by joints and master-joints, which, intersecting each other at right
angles, gave to the mass somewhat of a cuboidal structure.
Had Mr. Shumard observed accurately the courses of these joints he would
have discovered that in the nucleal ridge, which is practically the water divide,
and which Marcy’s maps do not well depict, there are represented every one
of the strikes which the writer has worked out and dated in Central Texas.
And, moreover, this earliest Burnetan strike is everywhere broken by the
other trends, in both regions alike.
The Burnetan rocks of the Wichita Mountains are most like some of the
more readily disintegrating kinds in the neighborhood of Lockhart Moun-
tain, in Llano County, but the successive uplifts in the Wichita Region have
been rather volcanic than plutonic; and thus these relics have become hard-
ened and much more resistant to erosion than their Texas relatives. For
this reason, as Shumard has observed, the mountains in the former region
often appear like huge piles of massive boulders.
It is a noteworthy fact that there are really very few real granites in the
Wichita Mountains. The rocks which have been so called are chiefly por-
phyries, which may be styled binary granites by courtesy in some of the more
ancient types. Mica is extremely rare—I would say it is practically absent,
unless it occur in that portion of the range west of the North Fork of Red
River, in Greer County, known as the Headquarters Mountains. This small
area at the northwestern end of the system I was unable to visit, but it ap-
pears to be a continuation of the nucleal Burnetan Ridge.
As we go west, along the base of the Wichitas, two or three prominent
spurs run out southward into the plain, which seem at first sight to be mere
prolongations of the volcanic ridge of Post-Carboniferous age, but upon nearer
approach they are found to be tilted outcrops of the Silurian limestones, of
horizons near that at the Fort Sill quarry. These expose a thickness of 150
feet, including a section of the Siliceous limestone extending from below the
Maclurea Beds to the gritty crystalline marbles of the Cold Creek section.
The general dip is 14 degrees south, but in the middle of the most eastern
ont CENTRAL MINERAL REGION OF TEXAS.
exposure there is a belt of higher beds, endyked as it were in a nearly ver-
tical dip with a northeast strike, breaking across the strikes of the earlier
uplifts. This trend of the Cretaceous upheaval is again visible in the form
of joints and special porphyry and quartz dykes, further northeast in the
Palisades upon Cache Creek, near Fort Sill.
Upon the far north side of the Wichita range, some sixty miles north north-
west of Fort Sill, and perhaps forty miles northeast of Navajoe Town (Greer
County) there is a very similar but more comprehensive exposure of the Silu-
rian beds, with the reverse dip of 16 degrees north, and broken escarpments of
the same character are visible along the flank of the range eastward. In the
outcrops visited by me there is a fine section of 250 feet of the Siliceous lime-
stones extending from below the horizon of the lowest stratum in the Fort
Sill quarry to a level equivalent to the summit of the Cold Creek Section of
Central Texas. The facies is in all respects identical with the Texas Silurian,
except that the beds of the Wichita foothills are more fossiliferous, contain-
ing corals, Brachiopods, etc., in addition to the meagre fauna of our district.
In all these Silurian cliffs there are beautiful illustrations of sea shore ero-
sion subsequent to their elevation. The Fort Sill Beds run up horizontally to
the base of the escarpment and intrude within the irregular bays, which have
been cut into it by the waves of the Tertiary? sea in which they were formed.
Hven in the crater-like basins, high up in the mountains themselves, lacus-
trine deposits of great thickness have been accumulated, and everywhere the
Tertiary and Quaternary sediments have deeply buried the ancient terranes,
so that, with the exception of the Silurian and the outlying Permian, there is
not a relic of any Paleozoic or earlier stratum of aqueous origin, or any of the
schists. The interpretation of the geologic history of the whole Wichita range
consequently hinges upon an accurate acquaintance with the meaning of each
orographic movement as tested by the character of the irruptives, chiefly
eruptive, which each trend displays. In treating the subject, it is assumed that
the details of the geology of the Central Texas complex, as outlined in this re-
port, are sufficient to prove the full value of these axial trends as elements in
diagnosis wherever the relative ages can be determined by their intersections.
This test is all that is left us in the Wichita chain, except, as stated in the
case of the Post-Carboniferous uplift, which has involved the Permian Beds
in one or two places where they are now uncovered.
The Burnetan axis of the range is the most persistent of all the strikes.
If it be true that the Headquarters Mountains, in Greer County, are of this
age, as is most probable, the line of peaks, from 200 feet to 1300 feet above
the plains at their bases, extends with few extensive gaps for a distance of
about 100 miles in a course parallel to the trend of the oldest Archean rocks
of Central Texas.
WICHITA MOUNTAINS. * 325
The great northwest, or Fernandan, trend of our district is also represented
in the Wichita Mountains, but in a way which suggests obscured deposits or
outbursts of readily denudable material along the mid-course of the chain.
West of the point where the Carlton Mountains seem to be stopped by the Bur-
netan axis of the Wichitas, about twelve miles from Fort Sill on the Navajoe
road, there is a broad dyke, or spur, of granitic porphyry not unlike some of
the Fernandan irruptives of Central Texas. Thisis badly broken by joints of
the later trends, but the northwest strike is discernible and the general course
of the rugged outcrop is maintained fora number of miles. This line of low
peaks forms a prominent topographic and geologic landmark not heretofore
recognized at its true value. Strictly speaking, it is not a part of the main
Wichita range, but a subordinate uplift, checked in its progress by the older
axis, aS in the case of the much more modern Carlton Mountains. In honor
of the chief of the Comanches, whose range is in this neighborhood, the
name of Quanah Mountains is proposed for this sub-range.
There are suspicions that certain gaps in the Burnetan axis, at intervals
along the chain, have been caused by this later Archean upheaval. The
evidence is often obscured by the Post-Paleozoic sediments, but the present
disposition of the compound axial ridges of the Wichita System is such as to
frequently cause one to travel northwest to cross the chain through the gaps
from the south to the north side. At the intersection of the Burnetan and
Fernandan trends there are topographic features in the shape of peaks and
passes which are of a distinctive type. West of this for twenty miles the
Burnetan axis presents a determined front to the south, as if free from break
by important orographic movements, although the joints of the later trends
are usually discernible, and a special expression of the northeast course is
evident in certain places, besides an interesting development of the Post-
Silurian uplift.
The Texan, or north-south, trend is characterized by what is probably the
type of Dr. Shumard’s “greenstone porphyry.” It is a green basic porphyry
of coarsely crystalline texture, which is referred to by Dr. Hitchcock at page
146 of Marcy’s report. This is associated with a complex rock of similar
character, studded with little patches of magnetite, and the whole set probably
occupies a belt fifteen miles in width, although this is now largely covered by
Tertiary and Quaternary deposits. Along its western border, however, it has
resisted denudation, and now forms a well marked mountain chain independ-
ent of the Wichita-Burnetan axis. Some portions of these outlying ridges can
not be so easily explained, and there is reason to believe that an expression of
the Ouachita uplift, or east-west trend, is in some way represented. To eluci-
date these points in detail, such accurate topographic work as we have done in
the Central Texas area will be absolutely necessary. Isuggest thename Dumble
326 CENTRAL MINERAL REGION OF TEXAS.
Range for this rugged row of basic hills, as a token of esteem for my friend
and chiet, the State Geologist of Texas. A very prominent landmark for many
miles at the eastern border of the greenstone, at its intersection with the axial
Burnetan strike of the main range, and which seems also to be crossed by the
east-west strike of porphyry, is most fittingly denominated Branner’s Peak,
as a compliment to Dr. J. C. Branner, the State Geologist of Arkansas, an
area in which these three trends (approximately) are also well exhibited. This
eminence stands like a beacon upon the outer wall. towering alone above its
neighbors, which are all of earlier origin. A similar peak, the highest point
in the Dumble Range, I would respectfully dedicate by name to Mr. Robert
T. Hill, my colleague, as a slight memento of his brilliant career as a working
geologist in the vast regions adjoining the Wichita Mountains in Texas,
Arkansas, and Indian Territory. Hill’s Peak is likewise near the meeting
point of the Ouachita and Cretaceous uplifts, and thus it is fitly chosen to
honor one who has ably worked in those fields. |
It should have been stated that the Texan outcrop in the Wichitas is ex-
actly in line with the main exposures in Llano and Mason counties.
The Silurian trend, north 25 degrees east, is not absent either from the
Wichita Mountain System. Admirably is the parallel with our district car-
ried out, even to the two features of striking interest, viz.: (1) the occurrence
of schist enclosures in granitic rocks, and (2) the repetition of the Texan and
Fernandan strikes in joint-courses.
The granite here is somewhat more porphyritic, and the inclusions are at
times altered to blotches of actenolite and other basic minerals with a coarsely
crystalline texture. But there are different portions of the exposures in which
the whole appearance is very decidedly similar to our Honey Creek outcrops
in Llano and Mason counties.
The confirmation of the repeated or continued action of orographic move-
ments into Silurian times which had begun much earlier is well brought out
in the western part of the Wichitas, where the relations of the joints can
often be studied to better advantage than in Central Texas. Beginning, so
far as my observations go, at a point about eight miles east of Branner’s
Peak, where the schist-including granites ontcrop, the Silurian trend is very
prominent in the joints of the inner or northern system of elevations. In
the neighborhood of Branner’s Peak there are what we may style boulder .
peaks of tough granitoid porphyry, which seem to belong to the Burnetan
axis in part, but which are also posed about little elevated flats oflacustrine
origin in such a manner as to suggest a crater of ancient date. The great
gap in the mountains west of this, and the continuation of this same topog-
raphy off to the south-southwest in an undoubted Silurian uplift, leads me to
regard this as an important geologic feature of Silurian type modifying a
WICHITA MOUNTAINS. BPA
Burnetan volcanic focus. Branner’s Peak is almost certainly of later origin.
The Silurian expression in the southwest, along the valley of West Otter
Creek, is a beautiful exponent of the great geanticlinal of Post-Silurian date.
No sedimentary beds have been observed as involved in this uplift, but the
west branch of Otter Creek flows through an anticlinal ridge of the granitoid
porphyry. The trend of this uplift is indicated well in the relief, and nearly
all the maps give the facts fairly, although few of them are good for the
Wichita Mountains as a whole.*
The sketch map of the region which is given on the Section Sheet accom-
panying this Report gives such a representation as will enable any one to
locate the peaks to which names have been given herein.
To the series of knobs which lie along West Otter Creek Valley, east and
north of the North Fork of Red River, opposite the Navajoe Mountains, I
have given the name Blanche Mountains, as a tribute to my wife.
The Blanche range, if prolonged in its strike, would cross Texas west of
the Central Mineral Region; and Mr. Dumble informs me that there are indi-
cations of such a structure in that area, which will receive close attention
later.
The Navajoe Mountains, an isolated but elevated ridge upon the west bank
of the North Fork of Red River, in Greer County, represent the crossing of
severals of the uplifts, being hardened erosion relics similar to some of the
remnants in Llano County. |
The Post-Carboniferous, or Ouachita, uplift has already been described.
The east-west trend is prevalent everywhere throughout the range. Carlton
range has no exact counterpart, so far as I have determined, but there are
ridges of dolerytic material and dykes of basic character for the most part,
which certainly belong to this system. These occur, as stated, near Branner’s
Peak, in the Dumble range, especially near Hill’s Peak, and in places along
the northern edge of the Wichita chain.+
It seems probable that Shumard has confounded in his term “greenstone
porphyry ” two distinct types of lava, one being the Post-Texan outburst of
dolerytic rock laden with magnetite, and the associated basic rocks passing near
*The latest maps of the United States War Department give the topography very well in
some details, and the compilation made for the Land Office map of Texas shows even the
Burnetan, Fernandan, Silurian, and Carboniferous uplifts as nearly as the actual topography
will admit. The imperfections in this last map are chiefly in the shape of extras which do
not occur in nature, and omissions which have been strangely made since the time of Marcy’s
reconnoissance.
+I have not seen much of the northern side of these mountains between Mount Scott and
the head of the Hast Fork of Cache Creek, but I very much doubt the existence of certain
ranges put down there upon recent maps, as they were not visible from any of the peaks
ascended by Professor Cummins or the writer.
328 CENTRAL MINERAL REGION OF TEXAS.
the base of Branner’s Peak, at the divide between West Cache Creek and
East Otter Creek; the other including the tough dark gray material of the
Dumble range, which is also visible as a dyke cutting through Branner’s
Peak. Some of this resembles the Little Rock syencte in a general way, but
this may be only superficial.
Some veins of quartz of the east-west trend have been obeenyed near the
Dumble range and elsewhere.
The latest uplift of the north 50 degrees east trend is clearly illustrated by
joints which break all the others. In places between the crossings of the
earlier outbursts, the Burnetan rocks have been so riddled by this dynamic
movement as to present the appearance of loose rock piles, and some of the
same ancient outcrops which now peep through the thick Tertiary and Quar-
ternary deposits southward are even arranged in lines corresponding to this
latest upheaval. The only typical rock of this uplift, here clearly shown to
Pre-Tertiary (if the Fort Sill Beds be Tertiary), is a trachytic red lava, no-
where occurring in great quantities, but chiefly existing as dykes and low
hills in the upper valley of Otter Creek.
There are numerous minor relations of an intimate character which bind
together the two regions we are discussing, which have evidently been com-
panions in development through the eons of geologic time; but enough has
been given to prove that from the earliest Archzan to the close of the Paleo-
zoic their history has been practically the same, although different in degree
of igneous activity.
3
4
,
Bi
ECONOMIC GEOLOGY. 329
fos he
ECONOMIC GEOLOGY.
The practical man desires a knowledge of the useful minerals and other
natural resources, and he, therefore, often fails to appreciate the necessity for
such determinations as have been laboriously worked out for the first part of
this Report. But experience has clearly shown that haphazard methods of
development are not only ruinous to individuals and corporations engaged in
mining, but also detrimental to the legitimate industrial growth of any region.
Little as it may be realized by those who have suffered from ill-advised spec-
ulation in mining property, and undesirable as the revelation may be to those
who live by preying upon the credulity of investors, it is certainly true that
there are no isolated cases of marvelous subterranean wealth. If a bonanza
in gold, silver, copper, lead, iron, or manganese exists anywhere in Central
Texas, it is because certain causes have acted to produce it; and if one such
occurrence be known, others of the same kind probably exist in the same
region. Still, it does not follow that the discovery by accident of one ore
body necessitates a similar method for acquiring knowledge of others. Noth-
ing is now more firmly established than the close relations of geologic structure
and mineral deposition. Hvery competent mining engineer is a structural
geologist, or he is wofully unfitted for his profession, however well trained
he may be in other very necessary directions. The really practical miner is
often the best judge of the proper means of attacking a special problem in
excavation, provided that it requires no knowledge beyond the range of his
own experience. But whenever any person, of whatever training and expe-
rience, assumes to pass an opinion upon values after simple inspection, without
such knowledge of the structure and of the chemical composition as can come
only from varied experience and thorough tests, he is arrogating to himself
powers beyond the capacity of any human being.
No industry can be built upon such a foundation. Whatever may be the
future of our district, its development will depend upon its resources as they
are, not as they are estimated by any individual, although correct statements
of fact will aid materially in attracting attention from capitalists. Unfounded
hopes and guesses of inexperienced persons, if converted into cash, may pro-
duce a temporary artificial excitement, which will certainly result in eventual
disaster. The money which has already been honestly expended in the Cen-
tral Mineral Region by well-meaning enthusiasts, often without competent ad-
vice, would have sufficed to determine the value of the resources of the tract
330 CENTRAL MINERAL REGION OF TEXAS.
if it had all been understandingly applied. The amount actually expended in
unnecessary work in one investigation would have given a fair knowledge of
the economic value of a vast area, had it been used in a different manner.
That this is not idle talk, but hard business sense, is proved by the fact that
the writer has already been able in several instances to predict accurately the
results of explorations in advance of the work, simply from his familiarity
with the geologic structure, as outlined in the first part of this Report.
Having, it is believed, given such a statement of the geologic history as
will enable interested parties to determine from personal observations what
conditions exist in given localitities, it will be the object of this part of the
Report to treat the subject from the economic standpoint. For this purpose
main headings, grouping together the resources of each class, will be used,
the individual su-stances being arranged alphabetically under the different
heads.
I. PRECIOUS METALS.
The Central Mineral Region has not taken a position among the producers
of the precious metals, and there are now no mines for which any claim is
made that marketable gold or silver ore can be taken in profitable quantity.
Nevertheless, there have been numerous workings in various districts, and
several parties are still at work upon what they seem to regard as fair “pros-
pects.” There can be no doubt that specimens and even small working lots
of gold and silver ores have been taken from certain localities, and the geo-
logical structure and the nature of the rocks in some districts are at least not
indicative of the ahsence of these metals. But this is far from saying that
such ores are abundant or workable with profit. All the facts known to the
writer are embodied in the special report on each metal below.
i GOLD:
There are several possible sources of gold in this region, and much care has
therefore been taken to secure fair tests of the different materials. Wherever
there has been reason to suspect the presence of this metal, and in many cases
where its absence has been almost certain, samples have been taken and assays
of the different kinds have been freely made.
The rocks which would be most liable to carry gold are:
1. The various dykes, veins, and masses of quartz which lie in the courses
of the several uplifts.
2. The veinstones of different character which fill numerous fissures, es-
pecially those bearing north, northwest, and between north and northeast.
3. The streaks and pockets of pyrite and other metallic minerals which
PRECIOUS METALS. Bn |
often occur among the older rocks, but much less commonly in the later
trends.
The assays made by Messrs. Herndon and Magnenat of material collected
by myself do not give much promise of profit. The material selected covers
the ground well, and it is hardly probable that extensive prospecting will
seriously alter conclusions based upon these samples, for they represent all the
types which have been detected in the whole region.
In Table I these are shown in connection with the other assays.
It is very probable, as occasionally reported, that higher specimen assays
have been obtained, and it would no doubt be possible for prospectors to dis- -
cover rare pockets, and possibly some better indications than any here re-
ported, but the chances are all against the finding of any auriferous deposits
of workable size. The only mining operations which were systematically
carried on in the region in 1889, with gold as the object of search, consisted
of the sinking of a shaft on Silver Mine Creek, southeast of Enchanted Rock,
in Gillespie County. Here the thin streaks of ore, in contorted schists and
quartz seams, are chiefly very fine-grained, brassy pyrite, with some solid,
massive pyrite partly altered to hematiteand limonite. There are also, at differ-
ent depths in the shaft, micaceous schists with spots of oxidized mineral, includ-
ing also some patches of quartz, pyrite being distributed meagerly through the
mass. With these occur talcose and weakly graphitic pyritous schists. The
mechanical structure, or the crevices, preparatory to the occurrence of a min-
eral vein are here, but there has not been the regularity nor the subsequent
action necessary for the accumulation of such a deposit. The shaft, if con-
tinued in its present vertical course, will encounter different terranes and
different trends, perhaps, but it is likely to continue mainly in the Archean.
There is a possibility that deeper working may strike similar schists to those
in the earlier trends in the Babyhead District, but gold would probably not be
abundant even in those.
Thus far, the only district which has given us any returns in gold is the
area about the headwaters of Little Llano Creek and Babyhead Creek, in
Llano County. Here the gold is almost invariably associated with silver-
bearing or copper-bearing minerals, and it is therefore to be regarded as a
slight additional inducement to the mining of these metals, rather than as a
probable independent source of revenue.
It has been claimed that the enormous alluvial deposits of Big Sandy
Creek contain enough gold to give respectable “colors” in the pan, but there
has not been any profitable working of these sands. I have occasionally
panned deposits of this character in different parts of the district without any
results of value, and as the quartz of the whole contributing area is mainly
barren, the prospects for future discovery of auriferous tracts is very unfa-
Boar CENTRAL MINERAL REGION OF TEXAS.
vorable. Perhaps the worst of all places to search for gold is in the veins of.
red and yellow oxides which occur in faults in the Silurian limestones, as on
Hinton Creek, Bluff Creek and at Camp San Saba and elsewhere. These
iron deposits have been thoroughly tested, and they contain no other metal.
Similar veins in the schists and gneisses, as near Long Mountain, sometimes
have rare metals in the matrix, but gold is not known to exist there.
It is true that all possible chances have not been weighed by the Geological
Survey, but the whole matter will be most thoroughly investigated before
the subject is dropped, and if the final result be any different from this pre-
liminary verdict it will not escape the attention of the writer.
2. SILVER.
It is very difficult to arrive at anything like a satisfactory conclusion re-
garding the probabilities of silver-mining. As is shown in Table I, seven-
teen of our assays give traces and six samples have yielded from three ounces
to 107.8 ounces of silver to the ton. Without exception, the real returns
are from ores of the Babyhead District, including the area from the head of
Little Llano Creek westward to the head of Pecan Creek. This fact enables
us to form some idea of the best conditions in our region for the accumula-
tion of silver ores. The Babyhead District is one of the tracts in which the
Burnetan and Fernandan strata (Archean) are best exposed, and in addition
to this, the greater part has apparently not been greatly disturbed by more ~
recent upheavals. This, it would seem, has left the fissures permanently
continuous, and accordingly there has been a much more uniform infiltration
than in other sections, where successive disturbances have obliterated possi-
ble prior accumulations and closed the channels of deposition. If this idea
be correct, we shall find areas of like character the best places in which to
prospect for similar ores. There are few such tracts, however, within the ter-
ritory now uncovered by the Paleozoic rocks. This little district is almost
unparalleled even in this region of unique structures. The nearest approach
to it is, perhaps, in an irregular area with Bodie Peak and Fly Gap as mark-
ers, although limited patches extending along the drainage of Big Sandy
Creek for the most part may be other examples. The “traces” given in
assays recorded in Table I are mostly from exposures more or less closely
connected with the last mentioned district. It is noteworthy that traces of
lead are present in nearly all the samples from that tract.* We are not yet
prepared to speak understandingly of the special causes which have produced
the silver ores, nor of the source of the material of the veins. Enough tests
* All the material marked (J) in the tables was collected by Mr. G. Jermy, and I have no
notes concerning the mode of occurrence or other features, although I have worked to some
extent over the same field in a small part of Gillespie County.
PRECIOUS METALS. 3393
have been made to show that in all probability no profitable returns can be
expected from any except the least disturbed districts, but the facts can not
be clearly interpreted without a better knowledge of the veins than has yet
been obtained. No very large bodies of silver ore have been encountered in
any of the workings. There is encouragement certainly in the quality of
the mineral taken from some of the mines, but the explorations should be
conducted upon a larger scale than has heretofore been possible with the
means at the disposal of the landholders. The ore must be won by shafts,
and pumping facilities will be required at an early stage. By judicious man-
agement, giving attention to the geologic structure and expending money
chiefly in one place, there is at least a reasonable prospect that a fair return
may be realized upon wise investments in this region.
Not a few shafts have been sunk, some of them to a depth of more than
100 feet; but the mistake was made very often of excavating much larger
pits than were justified without better knowledge of the deposits. In some
cases, incompetent overseers did a large amount of wild work, such as the
sinking of several deep shafts side by side, at intervals of less than a dozen
feet, running trenches through wide veins of barren quartz already well ex-
posed by nature to greater depths in the immediate vicinity, and similar costly
and useless operations. The lack of pumps and the necessary appliances for
deep work has compelled the abandonment of nearly all mineral enterprises
in our region; but when capital, advised by experienced engineers who know
where not to work, shall have entered this field prepared for extensive devel-
opments, a thorough test of the resources can be made with relatively low
costs. An advantage over many districts similarly placed is the occurrence of
valuable ores of copper in the same locality.
The ores which have given the highest returns in silver come from several
shafts, known locally as the ‘‘Mexican Diggings,” on a branch of Babyhead
Creek, south of Babyhead Mountain, in Llano County. The mineral is tetra-
hedrite (gray copper) in white vein quartz, with galena and chalcopyrite irreg-
ularly distributed. The sample (No. 11, Table I) was my own; not an
average of the vein, but made by ‘cobbing” the samples to a grade such as
could readily be prepared by hand assorting at the mine.
Specimen assays would run higher, as this contained much quartz. It is,
however, next to impossible to say in what quantity the ore can be mined
from present development, as the shafts are flooded and the ore-streak is but
a few inches in width at the surface. The associated rocks are Burnetan or
Fernandan types, which abound in the vicinity. Outcrops of the quartz are
abundant. At present I am unable to say whether the veins are uniform or
““nockety.”
The Mexicans, who have periodically worked here, have erected two fur-
334 CENTRAL MINERAL REGION OF TEXAS.
naces of simple type, besides a crude sluice for washing (concentrating) the
ore, and a small arrastre for grinding it. Assay No. 12, in Table I, is lead
matte from the reverberatory, and No. 10 is concentrated ore from the same
place. I have no means of knowing positively that the ore came from this
place, but it agrees well in character with what occurs im place in the neigh-
boring veins.
The occurrence of silver ores, as stated, proves that the conditions for such
deposition were present in the Babyhead District, and it is not improbable
that other places of the kind may be found. But prospectors should give
most attention to localities in which these same conditions prevail. There are
no exposures elsewhere as favorably placed, although it may be that erosion
has uncovered similar limited areas. The next most promising fields, per-
haps, are the country east of Mason, in Mason County, and along the upper
valley of Comanche Creek, and the lower valley of Beaver Creek (Mason
County). Other suitable districts may possibly occur in Gillespie County and
northward on tributaries of the Big Sandy; but explorations have not thus
far been successful in that tract.
The occurrence of galena in the Burnet County Beaver Creek District
opens a possibility for silver production there. As far as now known, there
is no probability of any occurrence of the precious metals in any other min-
eral in that area.
Referring to assay No. 4, in Table I, for particulars, and to the title “ Lead”
for a description of the environment, further mention here is unnecessary.
Il. BASE METALS.
Under this head, for our purpose, we may class copper, lead, zinc, and tin,
these being the only metals of the group, excepting iron and manganese, which
present indications give any hope of discovering in the region.
i, sCORERE:
The district from which the greater part of the specimens of copper ore
have come is almost identical with the silver tract. The occurrence of copper,
however, is more extended than the known deposits of silver-bearing min-
erals. A cause of this may be, perhaps, the greater readiness of the copper
minerals to oxidize. This idea is, in a measure, supportea by the fact that
such copper ores as are known outside of the silver vein courses are almost
wholly carbonates. Such as least has been my own experience with these
ores. The new element of distribution is the north-south trend, and appa-
rently a basic irruptive? of Post-Texan age is the exciting cause; for it is
where meridianal dykes of such material transect the Burnetan or Fernandan
trends that stains of malachite and azurite are found in the Texan rocks. The
till eaten “veilh
"
COPPER. BS)
junction of these two or three ancient trends, especially where the dips of the
different systems are unequal, will make mining difficult, as it will necessitate
a thorough knowledge of the rocks and of the local strikes and dips of the
Burnetan, Fernandan, and Texan systems. LBesides this, the slips, faults, and
contortions make a complicated underground structure, which not only re-
quires much study to follow it properly, but it is also liable to cut out the ore
bodies or make infiltration impossible. Still, any vein which shows well at
surface has probable continuity in depth, or it would not have been brought
to light. The deposits which can certainly be made out to be associated with
igneous rocks of the north-south trend are most probably the easiest to fol-
low, because that is a late uplift in the afterward little disturbed copper belt.
But it is not probable that the richest ores lie in this trend at the surface; on
the contrary the assays made for this Report give the best record to the most
ancient course—north 75 degrees west, the one in which the silver ores chiefly
occur.
A. THE BABYHEAD DISTRICT.
The Babyhead District is the best copper region now known in Central
Texas. The ores at surface are largely carbonates, both azurite and malachite,
the latter predominating. Tetrahedrite (fahlerz) is more or less common, occa-
sionally, but not always, carrying a notable amount of silver. Chalcopyrite is
sometimes present, but usually not in much abundance. None of the dig-
gings have gone below the zone of surface action, and as many of them have
not followed the veins, it is difficult to form an opinion as to economic values.
Results of assays of my samples are given in Table I, with localities. Below
are brief descriptions of the principal workings, beginning upon the east at
Little Llano Creek.
HOUSTON AND TEXAS CENTRAL RAILROAD DIGGINGS.
On railroad land (section No. 3, survey 1239) near the mouth of Yoakum
Creek, north side, there is a peculiar ridge of hornblende rock, or of schists
with a hornblendic belt or belts running through them. The appearance at
the diggings near the summit of the ridge is that the north 75 degrees west
(Burnetan) trend is the course of the copper-bearing band, but the strike
of the schists is apparently northwest (north 36 degrees west—northwest,
magnetic). A semblance of a north trend is also visible, but there is little
evidence of a strike in that course. The rock is stained with malachite, which
also partly saturates porous masses. Some parts contain a little epzdote, and
magnetite is abundant in places in fine grains. According to the proportions
of the iron ore, the specific gravity of the gangue varies from 3.277 to 3.978.
(Table I, No. 4.)
336 CENTRAL MINERAL REGION OF TEXAS.
M’GEHEE DIGGINGS, HEAD OF LITTLE LLANO CREEK.
In the upper valley of Little Llano Creek, where it flows nearly east, work
has been done on a tough garnet rock, carrying patches of fine-grained
bornite. This is probably Burnetan material, trending north 75 degrees west,
and thus it agrees with most of the ore deposits of the region, although ex-
cavation has not entirely followed this course. The gangue is massive, but
its environment is very similar to that of the crystalline garnet in the same
trend on Clear Creek, Burnet County. ibrolite accompanies the garnet in
both places. Some of the ore here (Llano County) is saccharoidal in appear-
ance, causing a glistening which makes it seem to contain more bornite than
is really present. ‘T'wo assays of the product of this shaft are reported in
Table I.
M’GEHEE SHAFT, YOAKUM CREEK.
About one mile east of Babyhead Postoffice, near the head of Yoakum
Hollow, Capt. McGehee, the pioneer of the Babyhead District, has sunk an-
other shaft which seems originally to have been in ore upon a vein or deposit
coursing in the Burnetan trend. The exploration, as in other places, has
been pushed more in a north-south direction, and the ore body has been
missed in the deeper workings. ‘This excavation illustrates the difficulty of
development in the region and the necessity of gaining a practical knowledge
of the geologic structure before planning work. Not far east of the locality,
a northward bearing fault has further complicated matters, and the mixture
of trends below surface, here as often elsewhere, makes a dyke or an up-
turned stratum more prominent than the ore body. In this case the gangue
is largely a granitic rock, impregnated with malachite. Assay No. 6, from
this locality, was selected ore and does not represent an average product, al-
though it may serve to indicate the quality of the mineral streak when as-
sorted closely.
M’GEHEE SHAFTS, WOLF CREEK.
Two deep shafts not far apart, connected (I am told) by a drift now under
water, were sunk by Capt. McGehee on a hill between Wolf and Babyhead
creeks. The situation is very similar here to what has been described at the
Mexican shafts on Babyhead Creek, but there is more copper strain in the
quartz. This property was not in condition for detailed inspection much below
the surface, at the time of my visit. There is some appearance of ore at the
outcrop, and small crystals of chalcopyrite, with some tetrahedrite, occur spar-
ingly. That is all that can be predicated of the vein above the present
water level.
The Burnetan (older Archzean) rocks come out well in their characteristic
— Se ee ee
COPPER. Dat
trend in a wide belt, extending across the upper part of the drainage area of
Wolf Creek and Pecan Creek in Llano County. Im this tract. which is
merely the westward extension of the Babyhead District, there is even a
stronger expression of the ancient uplifts, although it can not be said that
subsequent breaks are lacking. A large amount of prospecting has been
done here, and although all has been abandoned for the nonce, the owners
claim they are not discouraged by what they discovered. There certainly
can be no doubt of the occurrence here, as in the main Babyhead District, of
valuable copper ores, sometimes carrying silver, but determinations of quan-
tity are almost impossible from the indications presented by the flooded
workings. The mineral streaks which bear the richest ore are apparently
thin, but some of the workings show fair-sized pockets or “swells.” Much
labor has been expended in places which yield no signs of metalliferous ore,
and there are abundant outcrops of barren white quartz following the same
course as the veins. Judging from the strike (north 75 degrees west) and
the persistence of certain physical features, it is very probable that two, pos-
sibly three, mineral belts cross practically the whole of the Babyhead District
from Little Llano Creek to the divide between Pecan and Magill creeks.
Between these, or perhaps forming part of the same belts, are barren areas
which give no signs of anything but quartz or schists.
Between the Miller and the Hubbard mines, which are on Pecan Creek
waters, there is a broad outcrop of white quartz, which shows most plainly
eastward between Wolf and Pecan creeks, in the shape of high knolls and
dykes. In many respects these resemble the outcrops in the same trends
and of the same geologic age at Barringer Hill, on the Colorado River, but
the minerals of that locality are not duplicated here, so far as now known.
Towards the northern edge of this belt the schists and granites appear, 1m-
pregnated with the copper minerals. Another similar tract runs south of the
barren? quartz. A description of some of the old workings on Wolf and
Pecan creeks will serve to make the conclusions understood, which are given
beyond. |
HOUSTON MINING COMPANY DIGGINGS, WOLF CREEK.
In the northern ore belt above mentioned a number of test openings have
been made, some of which on Wolf Creek show well enough to encourage
further exploration. In one place, where Mr. Streeruwitz, of this Survey,
formerly worked, there is an abundant staining or impregnation of the gran-
itic rock in a streak several feet in width, the enclosed mineral being light
green malachite (copper carbonate). It would seem impossible for such a
body of this material to occur under such conditions as it exhibits without
the existence of important ore bodies in the neighborhood. There is a kind
Vi
338 CENTRAL MINERAL REGION OF TEXAS.
of vein structure at this point, and the comparatively slight working has made
a good showing. The ore, however, appears more solid than it really is.
Assays of my samples do not give as high returns in copper as might seem
likely from the rich color and apparently great degree of saturation by the
carbonate. But, as will be seen by reference to Table I, No. 18, the grade is"
such as to encourage development if the quantity can be proved adequate.
MILLER MINE, PECAN CREEK.
Farther west and north, upon the west bank of Pecan Creek, the Miller
mine was opened in a situation somewhat complicated by faults and broken
vein courses. The ores, like those near Babyhead Postoffice, are high grade
copper carbonates, with admixtures of silver-bearing minerals. The deposits
here have more the character of fissure veins than is the case in some open-
enings; but it is very difficult to form a rational judgment as to the size or
courses of the ore bodies from such examination as one can make in the
flooded incline and drifts. A large excavation of irregular shape was made
here, as if the confused structure had made it uncertain in what course the
ore body lies. This again emphasizes the urgent necessity for a thorough knowl-
edge of the local structural geology upon the part of the worker in this field.
HUBBARD MINE, PECAN CREEK.
The ore belt lying south of the massive quartz exposures is somewhat sim-
ilar to the one in which the foregoing properties have been worked. The
Hubbard mine is the principal excavation, and its output has not been materi-
ally different from the products already described, although it and several
other shafts to the eastward present features more closely parallel with the
McGehee diggings upon the southern belt, between Wolf and Little Llano
creeks.
With all the puzzling questions which it has been necessary to solve in
order to get a general idea of the occurrences of economic minerals in our
region, it has thus far been impossible to give to any one locality that detailed
study which would be requisite for the formation of a business Opinion as to
the probabilities in the only district where any serious attempt at mining has
been made. That the record has not been such as to positively prove the
possibility of commercial success is very evident in the abandoned shafts,
very few of which are now in condition to be critically examined. Upon
the other hand, the existence of rich ores over a well defined area, in deposits
which partake of the vein character, especially when considered in connection
with the geologic history, affords encouragement to the view that a general
source of supply is buried somewhere in the region.
As a mining engineer, charged with estimating the resources of Central
Texas for public purposes, 1 have not felt it incumbent upon me to make
LEAD. 339
such examinations of individual properties as would be demanded of one em-
ployed by private parties. It is, therefore, only proper to state here the gen-
eral conclusion that while pioneer work and crude methods of excavation
have not developed a paying mine in the whole region, there is such a show-
ing in a general way as will justify the expenditure of considerable capital in
further explorations, provided that it be used with due caution under compe-
tent advice and superintendence. Without much preliminary investigation
and the most prudent management, success can hardly be anticipated.
The writer has examined fully thirty localities in the Babyhead District in
which excavations have been made in search of copper ores, and all of them
agree well with one or other of the prominent types already described. The
conclusions already given apply with more or less force to all. The pros-
pecting has not been so thorough as it has been extensive.
B. THE KOOCHVILLE DISTRICT.
There is only one other region in which copper prospects have been de-
tected, but the extent of that tract may be considerable, although discovery
has thus far been limited to one locality. In Mason County, in the southern
part of the German Emigration Society Survey, No. 750, about two miles
west of Koochville. there is an exposure in the bed of a little branch of Co-
manche Creek. These rocks have been leached out at the surface, and yet
samples taken from the outcrop in the creek assay high enough to attract
attention. (See No 29, Table I.) A very little work was done here a few
years ago, but the traces are almost obliterated now. The geologic structure
is very much like that at the excavations in the vicinity of Little Llano
Creek, excepting that here the north-south trend prevails and the older strikes
are deeply buried. The same or similar conditions prevail over a large area
adjoining, and it may be that further search will be rewarded. Deep work-
ings in this region may be best. On some accounts there would seem to be
greater chance of a continuous vein in situations like this than in the cases
already described; but this is reasoning more upon general principles than
upon exact knowledge of the local problems which the workings have not yet
revealed. The writer hopes to be able to investigate this matter more fully
in the season of 1890.
2. LEAD.
We shall have to devote more special attention to the Silurian rocks before
the exact relation of any of them to the galena limestone of other regions is
made clear. All that can be positively asserted now is that the most promis-
ing lead district within the Central Mineral Region is where strata abound of
an age not far removed from the horizon of the Missouri galena ores. Aside
from the small proportions of lead in some of the veins of the Babyhead Dis-
340 CENTRAL MINERAL REGION OF TEXAS.
trict, there are several areas which have been reported as possible producers
of the metal. Of these tracts, only one has yet shown good warrant for the
hopes of its advocates, although it would seem that this can not monopolize
the essential conditions, for there are other very similar exposures.
The Beaver Creek District, in Burnet County, has been explored by shafts
which do not extend to a great depth. The situation, geologically, is pecu-
liar, and I have not yet had time to give it the attention it deserves. But
nothing is given herein at second-hand, and enough personal observations were
made in 1889 to get a clue to the main features. To bring the information
as near to date as possible, my efficient aid, Mr. Charles Huppertz, was sent
to the district in February, 1890, and such later data as he obtained are em-
bodied herewith.
At the head of Silver Mine Hollow, a branch entering Beaver Creek from
the left bank not far above its mouth, there is a granite exposure in contact
with the Potsdam strata. The adjoining region is much faulted, and alterna-
tions of Cambrian and Silurian beds make up much of the section exposed
in the canyon walls of the Beaver Creek drainage basin. Apparently in the
fault courses, or part of them, there are veins or dykes, the courses of which
are north 25 degrees east, and perhaps east-west and northeast, although the
effect of the first named, or Post-Silurian, irruption seems to be most marked.
The granites, however, are of both this and the Post-Carboniferous type.
The veins are not quartzose or granitic, but rather sandy and ferruginous,
the lead-bearing mineral (galena) being scattered through the mass in small
crystals. The galena is not confined to the veins; in fact, it is more abun-
dant in dark gray to green magnesian limestones, perhaps near the Cambro-
Silurian contact. The ore is scattered through the mass of the rock, as if
segregated, but it does not occur usually at any great distance from the veins
in the limestones. The excavations have chiefly been made in the search for
silver, and this has probably prevented the prospecting of the neighboring
cavern limestones, which may perhaps really be the sources of supply if they
are the equivalents of the galena limestones of Missouri and Wisconsin. The
whole subject needs careful examination, which it will receive at the writer's
hands as soon as practicable. The hopes for a silver industry based upon
these deposits is not promising, for there is nothing but the ga/lena to yield
that metal, and the assays do not indicate its presence in paying amounts.
Assay No. 4, Table I, gives an idea of the present product, such as may be
easily obtained in moderate quantity by very simple methods of excavation
in the veins and the adjoining limestone. It is very probable that system- —
atic exploration in this region may result in the discovery of large and valu-
able deposits of galena, for the rocks, the mode of occurrence, and the geologic
age of the ore beds correspond generally with the conditions existing in Mis-
LEAD. , 34]
souri, Illinois, and Wisconsin, where lead has been successfully produced.
‘Rule of thumb,” guess work, and theoretical practice of persons unable to
work out geologic structure will, however, damage this district, as in many
other instances. What is needed is careful and thoughtful observation by
trained eyes, explorations wisely conceived, and plans of development exe-
cuted under skilled management. It may be many years before the usual
process of discovery will determine the value or lack of value of the district,
but comparatively little well directed effort under competent guidance would
soon settle the question whether lead bonanzas exist in cavities in the lime-
stone. As preliminary, this Survey will undertake to determine the coming
season, if possible, the geologic relations of the strata in which the lead has
already been found. We know now that the galena occurs in beds which lie
somewhere between the base of the Potsdam limestone and the Deep Creek
Division of the San Saba Series, and it is more than probable that the horizon
is very close to that of the Galena Limestone of other States. As in other
districts of the Central Mineral Region, perhaps in less degree, the structure
is confused by faults and dips of different ages, and therefore no one who is
not accustomed to such mining problems can expect to succeed in following
the complicated veins or dislocated deposits. The practical difficulties will be
- great enough for the highest engineering talent, although the key outlined in
this Report will enable a good geologist to start understandingly upon the
investigation of local details.
West of Lone Grove, between the road to Llano and that to Valley Spring,
there is a vast exposure of quartz very similar to that traversing the Baby-
head District. In this a very little galena and chalcopyrite (copper pyrites)
have been found, but I have been unable to detect any indications of a de-
posit of ore of any importance there as yet.
While working in the canyon of Bluff Creek, Mason County, Mr. J. H.
Caylor brought me some very choice specimens of pure galena, larger and
better than any which have come under my notice as products of any part
of the Central Mineral Region. He afterward guided me to the locality
from which he claimed to have taken the ore. The spot is about on the
divide between Little Bluff and Honey creeks, eight miles west of Mason,
south of the Junction City road. Here the rocks are badly jumbled, several
of the ancient trends appearing, and faults and contortions producing a cha-
otic structure. It is possible that the conditions existing upon Beaver Creek,
Burnet County, are repeated here, but there is no certain evidence of this,
and, if so, the confusion is much greater, so that it might be a herculean task
to develop any ore bodies which may lie in the tangled rocks. In the bluffs
south of this point the work would be easier, provided the rocks are the
same, which may be the case, The peculiar topography southwestward is
O42 CENTRAL MINERAL REGION OF TEXAS.
not much different from that on Beaver Creek tributaries, and no prospect-
ing has been done in the region.
The excavation shown by Mr. Caylor did not exhibit a speck of galena,
and I was unable to find any within a mile or two upon either side. Chem-
ical tests have failed to reveal more than a trace of this metal in any material
collected within many miles of it. ) Memean oigaings | Quartz 515 f/ichars Ves acter elatetatte rll ste te
Babyhead Creek, | |
Llano County.
GOLD, SILVER, COPPER, LEAD. 343
TABLE I. GOLD, SILVER, COPPER, LEAD—continued.
> Gold, | Silver, | Copper, | Lead,
No. Locality. Material. Oz. Oz. per per Remarks.
pr ton.| pr ton. cent. cent.
11* |Mexican house,| Galena and slag..|/Trace| 93.5 | .....| 43.34/Concentrates.
Babyhead Creek,
Llano County.
12*+/Babyhead Moun-|Assorted ore..... 0.2 | 107.8 6.4 |Trace .
tain, in Llano
County.
13* |Mexican house,|Lead matt .......]... Ale 0" lela ete ae (eee
Babyhead Moun- |
tain, in Llano
County.
14* |Pecan Creek, Llano| Malachite and gar-|.....|...... MOSS bats By
County. net.
15*+|Miller Mine, Llano|/Malachite........|....-]...-.. 40.40)...... ‘Trace of zine.
County. |
16*+/Pecan Creek, Llano} Azurite and mala-|..... 25.00} 25.60)......
County. chite. 5
17*+/ Yoakum Creek, in|Granite with mala-|..... Trace.| 4.4 |......
Llano County. chite and azur- |
ute.
18*+/Pecan Creek, Llano|Granite with mala-|Trace| 3.5 | 10.80)Trace. |
County. chite. |
19+ |Packsaddle Moun-|Quartz..........)..... MEECU age a cecal. she; AU) |
tain, in Llano
County.
20*+|Near Packsaddle|Mineralized quartz|..... AUTRES sir eie cee he.ctole ts |
Mountain, Llano |
County.
21*}/Chaney diggings,|Pyritous marble. .|.....|...-../.--eecleeeee-
. Llano County.
22+ |Four miles south|Quartz..........]..... Prac’ s |. .
of Llano, Llano
County.
Zoruieontotoe, Mason Washing 22.05. 2).|n sa claf sees flee cates coe e's
County.
PM OMbOLOC ss Ma SOM GMierizys Uf to ve wich. (ee erat (leieter ede + lis aaa =!» fm ae sles
County.
25+ |Near Caylor’s dig-|Segregated Jimo-|..... BTCC. eena sts a nta's! =e
gings, in Mason| niteand hematite
County. in limestone. |
26+ |Divide between|Siliceous dolomitic|..... TrAGGIS\es. walaacte.ciopecks of. black |
Honey Creek| marble. mineral. !
and Little Bluff
Creek, in Mason
County.
27+ |Quarter mile eastof|Dolomyte........ BEN MUR PACE ine eta tae sits Specks of black
| Caylor diggings, mineral.
Mason County.
28+ |Caylor diggings, in|Blue quartz......|..... FErai@ey oi] ih 3 ea0\lhagel
Manganese. protoxide. 22". .5): 4) ide eeiete ol el ep ond Swi tcelke Sra raucleetel leet octets es 29.04.52) ene
Manganese sesquioxide..... pave ate aA rated an eee 56.63 SOM 2 Serre 66.64
Manganese dioxide. 2o)) 0 aie ic soa crete ale ei Dremicie erates cllnr eee eae 1.48 | Trace 3.06
MO Galle ee hep hate che eleva aapsve sulle cathe caarealy hare te he 100.28 | 100.15 | 100.23 | 100.19
AvaillaMle Oxy Gels. syne ies see nS Nc a Neca eae cee) al s Uae 9.20 SPOS een mate Ton
Metallic Mangadneseniiac ce hie nde tea re ae il pL eo 26.07 22.48 | 48.32
*Analyst, L. Magnenat.
Another field which has yielded some manganiferous ores, and which may
be worth prospecting for manganese ores, is that portion of the district be-
tween Packsaddle Mountain and the Riley Mountains in which the northwest
strike is at the surface. The occurrence here of quartz with manganese
stain and the similarity of the deposits generally to those in which the man-
ganese ores occur elsewhere, as well as the identity of structure in other par-
ticulars, all make it possible that the indications of ore point to much the
same conditions of accumulation as those existing at the Spiller mine. These
remarks are very general, but they can not well be more explicit until special
IRON ORES. 347
investigation can be made of the causes which have produced these ores.
There are important differences in the geology of the two regions here men-
tioned, and it is too early now to decide whether the deposition of manga-
nese minerals has been affected thereby, or whether the similarities may not
outweigh the divergences. It is interesting to note that the Fernandan and
Silurian strikes occur in both places.
Manganese as an ingredient of limonitic ores is not uncommon in veins of
different ages, but perhaps most frequently in those following the more an-
cient trends. A good illustration of this is given in Table IV, No. 5. In
some cases particular streaks are strongly enough charged with the oxide to
entitle them to be called ferruginous-manganese ores, rather than manganif-
erous iron ores. But it is doubtful whether any of these accumulations are
important enough to cut any figure in the industrial development of the
region.
IV. THE IRON ORES.
In a region of very rugged topography, much broken by faults and deeply
eroded, it is not reasonable to expect that exposures of any one group of
rocks will occur in all parts alike. It does happen in this case, however,
that almost everything within the wide range from Archean to Recent is
somewhere exposed in such manner as to enable its structure to be under-
stood. Thus it is that the history of iron deposits in our district has been
pretty closely made out, so that the resources of this kind may be estimated
with some degree of accurary. |
The three classes of iron ores, viz., the Magnetites, Hematites, and Hydrous
Oxides, are all represented, and each has practically a locus, or mode of oc-
currence, of its own. It is best to treat these classes separately.
1. MAGNETITES.
The Magnetites lie in the northwest Archean trend. They do not appear
in their greatest development in ali exposures of these rocks, and it may be
doubted whether there is actually a continuous bed, or set of beds, forming
a definite horizon in the Fernandan System. Some of the outcrops comport
as well or better with the idea that they are ‘‘lenses” or “bosses” of ore
brought to their present condition by local causes. But in many instances it
has been found that, while the large masses may be apparently discontinuous
across the region, there is usually an indicator of continuity in the shape of
a line of ferruginous soil or other land mark; and when the undecomposed
hard ore again presents a topographic outline of its own, it is usually found
to possess the same character as its representatives in the same trend. This
statement may be verified by any one who will take the trouble to note the
348 CENTRAL MINERAL REGION OF TEXAS.
positions of the bright red soil belts which are successively crossed in going
from Lone Grove to Cold Creek, on the Burnet and Mason road, or in trav-
eling an equivalent stretch of country by almost any other route. It is also
a very interesting fact that the derived, or secondary, iron deposits of later
date, in the basal Cambrian strata at least, follow roughly the same trend,
though in a much less pronounced manner.
The area in which the Fernandan beds prevail as surface rocks may be
limited for the present practical purposes by northwest-southeast lines, drawn
through Lone Grove Town upon the east and through Enchanted Rock upon
the west. This blocks out a district twenty miles wide and extending, per-
haps, thirty miles in the direction of the strike. Within this field, however,
various structural features have prevented, in many places, the outcropping of
the iron-bearing system, so that probably two-thirds of the area is not in con-
dition to yield ore without removing thick deposits of later origin. Assum-
ing that one-third of the territory, in scattered patches, will show the Fer-
nandan Beds at surface or at depths that may be considered workable from
an economic standpoint, it must be understood that only a small fraction of
the thickness of these strata is iron ore. Keeping in mind also the folded
condition of the rocks, it is evident that the chances for mining will be de-
pendent largely upon the character of the erosion, it being premised that the
iron bed, if such it be, is not very near the top of the system to which it
belongs.
It is the province of this Survey to obtain facts and to draw conclusions
concerning the general nature of the ore deposits, as dependent upon geologic
structure. It is not, as some have imagined, the business of the writer to
ascertain and inform every land owner of the value of his property or of its
mineral contents. But if any intelligent citizen will apply to individual cases
the generalizations in these pages where they fit, and if he will undertake to
study his own locality as a minor, but integral, part of one or other of the
districts outlined in our natural classifications, he will at least be able to deter-
mine whether he can hope to discover iron or other ore upon his land.
The main facts and the conditions in which the magnetic ores are placed
are these:
1. Whenever a set of rocks appears such as is described in Part I of this
Report under the head of Iron Mountain Series,* there is liable to be a valu-
able deposit of magnetite. In prospecting, be sure that you have a set of rocks
whose strike 1s very nearly northwest (magnetic).
2. If, in the same connection, a large amount of red soil occur in com
paratively narrow strips, there may be a good ore body at no great depth
beneath the decomposed portions. Wide belts, especially along valleys of
*See page 271 of this volume.
IRON ORES. 349
streams, are usually not of this class. To test the matter, dig down to bed rock
only, and do not waste labor in excavating rocks which you do not know. Pay out
money for competent advice and act upon it. If you or your friends or “practical
miners” “have never seen such rocks before,” experrenced engineers can tell you their
values accurately by theur tests.
3. A body of magnetite ore having been found, it may be followed by the
dipping needle or by prospecting in a northwest or southeast direction. But
when you strike the red sandstone or other rock overlying, the beds with the northwest
strike will disappear beneath the others.
4. Beds trending nearly north-south resemble these somewhat, but they
are of later date and the magnetic ores occur beneath them. Yow can rarely
Jind the ore bodies by digging in such places unless you have an intimate knowledge
of the geology of the country.
5. There are at least three parallel belts in which it is possible that valu-
able deposits of magnetite may be discovered.
A. THE BABYHEAD BELT.
The most eastern outcrops follow a course represented by a line bearing
southeastward, west of Babyhead Postoffice and Lone Grove, and coming out
southward very near the Wolf crossing of the Colorado River. This belt is
well exposed in the Babyhead Mountains, but is buried beneath the Cambrian
strata before reaching the north line of Llano County, which is thus practi-
cally the northern limit. The typical strike of the Fernandan System can be
traced southeastward nearly to the Colorado River, with some breaks where
more recent uplifts or alluvial deposits have cut out or obscured its path; but
no workable outcrops of the ore have attracted attention except those in the
vicinity of Babyhead. There is every reason to expect good results from
prospecting in the tract here outlined, especially in the north half, down to
the crossing of Miller Creek. Northward between Lone Grove and Lockhart
Mountain, and southward from Lone Grove as far as Miller Creek, the car-
bonaceous and calcareous strata have not been eroded from above the ore beds,
and still farther southward the later granitic masses have largely obliterated the
original structure. These geologic features are not as favorable to economic
mining as the conditions prevalent north of Lockhart Mountain, because the
ore cannot always be found at the surface in the former areas. But the ex-
posures in the Babyhead Mountains are partly due to faults, and it is not im-
probable that limited districts elsewhere in the belt may present conditions
suitable for working.
However, it must be remembered that this field is one in which the Bur-
netan System is prominent. This means that denudation or lack of deposi-
tion over much of the belt has left no chance for discovery of any of the Fer-
350 CENTRAL MINERAL REGION OF TEXAS.
nandan rocks, or of their thin edges only. The Magnetite Beds themselves
are not here so thick nor so prominent as in some other districts.
B. THE LLANO BELT.
There is an area about five miles in width between Pacxsaddle Mountain
and the Riley Mountains, in which the Fernandan rocks are well exposed
where they are not cut out by later uplifts. This belt extends northwest to
the Cambro-Silurian escarpment. The rocks are folded here as in the areas
on both sides, and several times the succession of the strata is repeated. In
all the exposures the typical Fernandan section 1s exhibited, and there is
usually some indication of the presence of iron ores in situations which corre-
spond to the horizon of the Iron Mountain Series. The marbles and graphitic
schists cross the Brady road between Pecan Creek and Valley Spring in two
places, and ores of value have been detected in a number of places among
these outcrops. Over much of the road between Lone Grove and Llano, and
between Llano and Valley Spring, there are beds of red hematite sand, which
may be the results of the alteration of underlying magnetites. A tract of
this kind, not very far from Lone Grove, very probably represents the Baby-
head Belt, either in place or as a transported product. Another passes west
of Wright Creek, and has been examined by me at several places in its
course. Near the mouth of Public Pen Creek, northeast of the Wolf Moun-
tains, between the two roads from Lone Grove leading to Valley Spring and
Llano respectively, I have seen good altered surface indications of the magne-
tote, and these also come out in Public Pen Creek not far northwestward, and
again in the upper valley of Willow Creek. In the same course, southwest-
ward, this belt crosses the Lone Grove and Llano road, where it exhibits
similar features. Still another line of outcrop crosses the Llano River near
the lower ford at Llano, and this is again repeated near the upper ford, one
mile above Llano, but in these cases the marbles prevail. In all the outcrops
of these Llano belts, which are broken at intervals by faults and granitic
irruptions, the magnetite seems to lie at a considerable depth below the surface,
and its products appear at surface now as hematite or limonte. A marked
example of this is visible at the Chaney workings, near the southwest corner
of Packsaddle Mountain. Numerous observations have been made which
confirm my judgment that the magnetite horizon is a persistent one in the
Fernandan system.
C. THE IRON MOUNTAIN BELT.
There are two localities in which the development of the magnetite depos-
its has been undertaken with some degree of enterprise. In both places very
large and valuable masses of this mineral have been exposed. The belt is
IRON ORES. oe
,
most persistent and can be traced for many miles. It has been worked at
Tron Mountain and at points south of Llano, while fragments of ore have
been collected from the tract at the southeastern base of the Riley Mountains,
where the quantity of derived segregations on the surface is also enormous.
THE “IRON MOUNTAIN” OUTCROP.
About one mile and a half north of west from Valley Spring Postoffice,
upon the right bank of Johnson Creek, the ground slopes somewhat steeply
beyond the old flood plain of the stream, and at the culmination of the hill a
small ridge or mound formerly stood out in relief. This was the condition
at the date of the writer’s first visit, in June, 1889, but by the time it was
again examined, in the following August, the excavations since made in the
so-called Iron Mountain had changed its appearance, so that now it would be
difficult to understand this nomenclature. The course of the iron ore and its
probable persistency in the northwest trend was clearly made out when I
first examined the locality, and the excavation of numerous pits all over the
adjoining space was unnecessary, as has been proved by the results, which
fully confirm my original views regarding the strike and character of the
mass. ‘The section of the rocks at this point has already been given under
the head of the Fernandan System, in Part lof this Report. The quantity of
magnetite and hematite at this outcrop is very great, and the explorations made
by a shaft and drift since my last visit have increased the knowledge of its
extent. Mr. Chas. Huppertz, who was sent to the spot in February, 1890,
thus reports: ;
They have sunk the shaft straight down the side ef the iron outcrop, going down about
fifty feet and then turning across into the “lead” about twenty-two feet. There is also a
digging about one hundred yards from the Iron Hill and shaft, and being in a southeast di-
rection from the hill, it is presumed that the “lead” strikes northwest.and southeast.
The occurrence of a very high phosphorous hematite layer upon one side of
this outcrop is peculiar, as almost no phosphorous exists in the average of
the ore. A reference to the section given under the head of the Iron Moun-
tain Series, Part I of this Report, will explain the probable cause of this streak.
THE WAKEFIELD TRACT.
In the course of the Iron Mountain Belt prolonged southeastward there are
other exposures of the magnetite, but erosion has apparently not extended far
enough in parts of the line to uncover the ore, while in other places the
detrital deposits have obscured the continuation, if it exist, as the writer be-
lieves. About three miles south of Llano City considerable prospecting has
been done in this and parallel belts. For want of a better name this will be re-
ferred to as the Wakefield tract, although the work done by Mr. Wakefield
in the region is by no means limited to this area. Here the magnetztes and
352 CENTRAL MINERAL REGION OF TEXAS.
associated rocks and ores of the Fernandan type have been again brought to
view in a position adapted to mining, and the situation is very similar to
what has been noted concerning the Iron Mountain outcrop. The ore, espe-
cially from shaft No. 1, is almost identical with the Iron Mountain product,
and there is little to be said of one locality in this preliminary Report which
will not apply with equal force to the other, excepting that the topography of
the two areas is not the same in detail.
D. THE WESTERN BELT.
West of the Riley Mountains, between that range and the Enchanted Rock,
and perhaps over a greater breadth in the northwest, the Fernandan Beds
appear occasionally, and in wide exposures in some areas. The outcrops of
the magnetite are less understood in this belt, because the country is fenced in
and not easy to investigate. It is also a tract which has many complications,
and one which had to be neglected in part last season for lack of time to
work it properly. Still the belt was crossed by us with section lines in four
places, and several special reconnoissances were made in other parts; so that
a generally correct idea has been obtained of the economic situation. The
indications are good for the discovery of important masses of iron ore in the
district, but at present I am unable to clearly define the position of the mag-
netite except by analogy with the outcrops of the other belts. Much of this
tract is covered by thick deposits of the later sediments (Cambrian, etc.), and
granitic irruptions and other complications have made a rather puzzling struc-
ture. But there are two or three parallel lines trending northwest across the
area in which the hematites are well developed, from which I judge that the
magnetites are not very far to seek in certain outcrops.
H. GILLESPIE COUNTY MAGNETITES.
The writer has done practically no work as yet in Gillespie County beyond
a rapid reconnoissance, which he is not willing to consider more than an in-
troduction to a knowledge of the geology of that area. But he knows that
magnetite of excellent quality occurs there in some quantity, in positions which
indicate extensions of the mineral belts of Llano County southeastward. In
Table II, No. 6, the analysis is given of a fine granular lodestone, having very
much the appearance of the Iron Mountain hematite streaks. This is the
best iron ore yet discovered in the region. It was collected by Mr. G. Jermy,
Assistant Geologist.
Table No. II gives results of analyses of magnetites in this district with all
necessary details.. A perusal of this list (in which only typical ores occurring
in quantity are given) will make apparent the richness and purity of this class
of iron ore. These are first class bessemer ores, and they must eventually
IRON ORES. woe
become an inducement for the growth of a vigorous mining industry in the
district of which the town of Llano is now the commercial centre. The dis-
tribution of these ores is sufficiently indicated by the localities given in the
table.
TABLE II. MAGNETITES.
Localities.
Tron Mountain, Llano County.
Iron Mountain, Llano County.
Iron Mountain, Llano County. %
Iron Mountain, Llano County.
Tron Mountain, Llano County.
Gillespie County (J). Lodestone.
So Stepan eee ar
Ferric Oxide
Ferrous Oxide.
Acid.
Alumina.
Lime
Magnesia.
Phosphoric
Sulphuric
Acid
Metallic Iron.
Total.
Pe 4 Ta 1b AL 3.50 Gi2b.4) Praeecoh 3 es 1.02 0.24 100.56 | 63.87
2F|- 81.31 Sie 4.70 6.17 0.65 | Trace. 0.02 | Trace.| 100.97 63.23
3*| 65.40 16.53 5.80 11.07 0.78 | Trace.| Trace. 0.18 99.76 58.62
4+| 65.70 | 23.20 4.70 4.44 LAO ge ok Trace .| Trace. 99.50 | 64.02
5+) 77.10 | 16.54 4.65 O21G) | brace’. 2... 3% 2 Trace. 15 99.80 | 66.82
6*| 68.64 | 26.49 SEOs fees we CAME iret ata bagiats Lisiope ate a ws 100.24 | 68.63
*Analysis by J. H. Herndon. yAnalysis by L. Magnenat.
2. HEMATITES.
The analysis of iron ores given in Tables IJ, III, and IV represent really
more classes than are indicated by the arrangement adopted. As explained
in the preceding pages, there are real magnetites occupying a definite geolo-
gic position, and there are also true hematites, with stratigraphic relations al-
most as closely restricted, while a variety of the limonites* are distributed
according to principles to be explained in another place. In addition to
these three classes it might be possible to make up one or two other sets with
characters sufficiently distinctive to entitle them to separate consideration.
But it is best for the present purpose to group them as in these tables, thus
allowing the term hematite to assume a commercial rather than a strictly min-
eralogic significance. This adjustment is not at variance with the modes of
occurrence of the ores, which naturally fall under three general heads when
considered from this standpoint.
In the Central Mineral Region the true hematites occupy a position midway
between the magnetites and the limonites, in age, in composition, and in mode
of origin. Some of them have too little ferrous oxide to be fairly rated as
magnetites, although they are anhydrous and resemble magnetite in texture
*A general name of hydrated iron oxides, as here used.
WwW
354 CENTRAL MINERAL REGION OF TEXAS.
and other qualities. A close examination of these will make it clear that
they contain a certain amount of disseminated magnetite, which fact-ex-
plains the occurrence of the iron protoxide. Others are slightly hydrated,
amorphous, and generally similar to “monzte, but with the color and streak of
hematite, and giving its blow-pipe reactions. Careful observation and de-
tailed study of the occurrences of the different varieties prove that this
gradation of the hematztes both ways into the other classes is not merely hy-
pothetical, but that sharp lines are not drawn in the actual outcrops where
the different types occur together. The transition is real, not fanciful.
Beds of hematite in our district are unusual, excepting where they occur
with the magnetites, as previously explained. This mineral occurs here under
somewhat diverse conditions, but it has not yet been observed in any situa-
tion where its relations are such as to imply an independent origin. So far
as known it is with us a secondary deposit—a derivative from the subjacent
magnetite, directly or indirectly. Sometimes it occurs in a way to suggest
the reverse alteration from limonite, but such cases are comparatively rare.
There are also special inclusions in certain veins of quartz, but these are not
now under review.
The outcrops of this class of ores along portions of the northern border of
the magnetite area are chiefly segregations in Cambrian sandstone, occurring
as black or blood-red impregnations, varying in quantity from simple colora-
tion and cementation to thin streaks, ramifying seams, and even solid strata
of noticeable thickness. In some places erosion has cut off the sandstone in
such a manner as to leave low escarpments of the iron-bearing sandstone,
and this has given rise to the erroneous idea that there is an east-west strike
to these deposits. There is certainly a wide field for inquiry concerning the
history of deposition of the hematites, but enough has been learned to explain
fairly the common methods of occurence. Three different kinds of exposures
may be made out as viewed with reference to their modes of origin. To these,
for convenience, we may give names as follows: (1) Altered Magnetztes; (2)
Concretionary Ores; and (3) Hematite Sandstones. Such a classification does not
exhaust the variety due to local and special causes, but it gives a sufficiently
accurate arrangement for a preliminary discussion.
(1) THE ALTERED MAGNETITES.
A very common experience in our district is the observation by travelers
of large amounts of what may be termed ‘iron float” in pebbles, boulders,
and apparent strata. These occur at intervals in various parts of the region,
but especially at or near the contact of the red Cambrian sandstones with the
Fernandan strata, along the borders of the magnetite area previously defined.
To the novice there is not much difference in the material at sight, but almost
IRON ORES. O08
everybody who has handled the float at a number of separated localities has
been led to remark that some of it is very heavy, while other pieces of exactly
the same appearance in other places may be of the weight of ordinary rock.
This statement is true, except that there is usually a distinction in the ap-
pearance of the two qualities which would not escape the attention of a trained
metallurgist. The former variety is almost always gray to bluish gray with
a sub-metallic lustre, and the latter is never so, although it may be black and
glossy, or even show a hackley fracture. Some of this material is also flinty.
Now, if the prospector will take the pains to note carefully the localities in
which the heavy metallic float occurs, he will probably find that it comes
from places where the Fernandan magnetites are buried beneath the Cambrian
sandstones. A part of the float, and possibly some of the Cambro-Fernandan
contact rocks, may be changed magnetite, but when hematite occurs in such
situations it is almost certainly a product from the alteration of the under-
lying magnetites. Perhaps the largest portion of this kind of material may
have been modified since its deposition in its present locus. The facts remain
that it is now hematite of much value, and that the distribution is restricted.
The bonanzas of this kind seem to occupy zones following approximately the
trends of the magnetite belts.
It is difficult to explain their formations, for they are usually compact like
vein stones, and many of them contain Cambrian fossils, although none of
the impressions are very large.
. These border ores are very valuable, and some of them may come into
market eventually. The necessity for stripping them of an increasing thick-
ness of the later strata as they are mined farther from the outcrops will re-
tard their development somewhat. At present none of the exposures have
been marked, and it is uncertain how much reliance ought to be placed as
contributions to the future output of the region. They are pronably not
very tltick themselves, but they may prove invaluable as “indicators” in the
search for buried deposits of the Fernandan magneitztes.
(2) THE CONCRETIONARY HEMATITES (SEGREGATIONS).
Probably the segregated ores have been drawn up from below to some ex-
tent. There is an open door here for the student of chemical geology into a
study, the threshhold of which I have only been able thus far to cross. As
nearly as my observations can be interpreted as yet, the history after the ac-
cumulation of the contact hematites of the Cambrian (chiefly or wholly Lower?
Potsdam) seems to have been about as follows:
1. The deposition of sandstones, highly ferruginous.
2. The segregation of the iron-bearing portion in streaks and veins
through the mass of the sandstones, sometimes impoverishing the rock and
356 CENTRAL MINERAL REGION OF TEXAS.
rendering it crumbly, but much less commonly than in regions such as
Western Arkansas, where this process has acted excessively in carboniferous
rocks.
There is a considerable variety in the segregations, and it is not always easy
to learn what circumstances have caused these differences, or whether there
is any natural order of arrangement of the products. The conviction is
strong that the nodular, concretionary, and streaky types are nearer the base
than the disseminated, cementing, and friable kinds, but much special study
must be given to these points before definite conclusions can be deemed ad-
missible. An interesting hint is given by the assays, some of which, al-
though reacting as hematites to blow-pipe and physical tests, are founds by
analysis to yield small portions of water.
(3) THE HEMATITE SANDSTONES.
Usually overlying the segregated ores, where these form a distinctive
stratigraphic horizon, are strata of sandstone of a peculiarly rich blood-red
color, varying much in texture and compactness. Some of them are exactly
what some of the red sand soil of the magnetic belts would be if it were re-
silted and hardened; other portions are similar, but variegated by lamin, or
partings, of pure white sand, and among them is a remarkable granular hem-
atite sandstone, often with the grains not firmly cemented together. This
last has often the reactions and physical characters of beaumxite, but the per-
centage of water is too small for this mineral.
The chief commercial value of this set of rocks will depend upon their
capacity for being washed or “jigged” to free them from the siliceous base.
Many of them will be useless for this purpose, and fortunately it is not at all
likely that it will be necessary to resort to such methods in this district, ow-
ing to the abundant supply of far richer ores, carrying higher percentages of
iron, which would readily deceive even experienced metallurgists if “judged
wholly by appearances.
Table III gives analyses of a fair assortment of the three kinds of hema-
tite here described. As previously hinted, there is another class of pure,
coarsely crystalline, specular hematites, which have sometimes been mistaken
for high grade silver ores. These may appear to a novice like ‘‘grey copper,”
but they are not minutely crystalline, and they exhibit a blood-red streak
when scratched by a knife or other hard substance.
These ores occur in white quartz, usually only in such small proportions to
the gangue as to make them valueless for use in the iron industry. Occa-
sionally, as in the vicinity of the Kothman Water Gap, east of Fleming Post-
office, there are pockets or possibly workable? masses of such ore; but I
regard all such cases as indicators of the occurrence of iron in the region
TRON ORES. 357
rather than as evidence of local deposits. These manifestations are appar-
ently connected with cross dykes in Burnetan strata wherever we have met
them. They are well developed in the region of the Body Mountains, near
Fleming, in the King Mountains, and elsewhere, and near the divide between
Hooking Hollow and Spring Creek, in Burnet County.
DISTRIBUTION OF THE HEMATITES.
As may be inferred from the foregoing statement, the geographic range of
the hematites is much less restricted than the magnetic ore belts; and yet
there is such a close relation between the two that we may almost determine
the locus of one from the discovery of the other, provided that certain strat-
igraphic conditions are fulfilled in the exposures. But the hematites are not
all as deeply buried as the magnetites, and they belong in large measure to
later periods, which in our region are represented by deposits now extending
over wide areas. Speaking then of the whole group of hematites, it is proper
to state that they are chiefly to be sought in the red sandstones of the Cam-
brian System, and especially at the contacts of these with the earlier terranes
as well as in the same situations as the magnetites. With much local modifi-
cation in accordance with principles already outlined, their general distribu-
tion outside of the magnetic belts is along the edge of the Central Mineral
Region, particularly upon the north, south, and west. In Mason County
there is an irregular fringe of the rocks in which these ores often occur else-
where, and it may be that important outcrops in that section may yet be dis-
covered. Quantities of fine segregations occur in side canyons of the James
River valley, and some of the collections from this country seem to indicatc
the near presence even of the magnetites. At Caylor’s lead? diggings, near
the divide between Honey and Little Bluff creeks, I got No. 12, Table ITI,
which is one of the best of the hematite ores of the whole region. The north-
west and other trends cross near this point, and it may be that diligent search
will develop something of great interest, although the confusion of strata is
too great there to hope for continuous deposits of any kind.
TABLE TI. HEMATITES.
Localities.
Iron Mountain, Llano County.
Tron Mountain, Llano County.
Iron Mountain, Llano County.
Iron Mountain, Llano County.
Near Packsaddle Mountain, Llano County.
South of Packsaddle Mountain, Llano County.
Pontotoc, Mason County.
Pontotoc, Mason County.
Brady Road, two miles east of Smoothing Iron Mountain, Llano County.
I i PS CB ed gi ake
308
10.
ik
west of Katemcy, Mason County.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
Lae
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
CENTRAL MINERAL REGION
OF TEXAS.
Three miles southeast of Camp San Saba, McCulloch County.
Twelve and one-half miles from Mason, on road to Camp San Saba, two miles north-
Caylor’s diggings, Mason County.
West of Christian Schneider’s house, near Castell, Llano County.
Near Castell, Llano County.
North of east of Castell, Llano County.
Silver Mine Hollow, Llano County.
Tron Creek, Gillespie County.
Three miles southeast of Camp San Saba, McCulloch County.
Gillespie County.
Gillespie County.
Gillespie County.
Gillespie County.
23. Gillespie County.
24. Gillespie County.
5
=
TL Ped ery: 89.70
Dies eek te 78.03
Sibi tus lene evar 79.09
ANF Seah. hes, Rte vote (6203
iy ea ane ye a 82.61
GE See (ioe
he Soe ee 87.2
SER nate eree 85.68
oa 24.73
LOPE a 19.47
Tp oven 86.58
dO ei Ge 88 .48
SR ae 44.86
WA Nobuaki 86.22
De ce eoeAn Sea 42.07
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1953 (yee 79.56
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TEI) eae 53.85
PP AON CD Weibel « 34.88
23%8 (J) 41.31
PME MO daa rhea 84.15
* Analysis by J. H. Herndon.
1 Ferrous Oxide—No. 1, 4.20; No. 3, 1.12; No. 4, 1.67; No. 7, 3.22; No. 9, 1.12; No. 10, 2.36; No. 11, 1.40; No.
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