et e pprwat zene ower , fo > i tare rene cabs dtett aspeipiet bhbawn T} i etegia ; ‘ Fi ‘lis . hot . . te me H ae ote , rea UN led hh lds Ath tate lad the | aT ' pogh et eenge pee see ereee rede ' om ‘ 4 : pibenei cone . ‘ tee ’ ‘ . ai ’ Pees ri ‘ : . & tie ‘ vovavges 1 papeose aotere ’ saat at ’ ' or) . ’ Ptarrernece ww ran) ' . ’ . 1] ‘ ved ' eleeee ogee tt apegl ateepecart perpen ' ‘ bee ’ . . nae we 4 . . vit :. ‘ Z bey ‘ Diappyptreceragye Vetpereeeeernateesaie reeaead? Were oe ‘ . yee * ‘ ’ ’ . rs 7 a> eee Z a ; ' top hav kengsopepagubeaan ps heaune tireharas Pirie ' eta taees tee te peed Se ; A case i ta ‘ . tianeiOrebesirse 1 OE ti ‘ ’ : but , . H of arte Py ‘s Fy r releases 7 sabe) 88 ‘ i ' ’ Oo ' tpaPeer enue ' ’ oa ” ‘ , i vos brent de peceterebherogar . ‘ oo oe cases ie ¢ oe ' rt . 08 pe gheatcyeeeebess eaaee oe shart be Dene et eaten tpr nesses trast \ . pire : ” on sie tae see Cactides ‘ rind a ety sae ‘ geay guy Vee Peharat dapat Ph aaidanes ‘ abpet tas mn) teoete roasyitert , wre . ’ ‘ a ‘ . . pe i : , 7 oyend tyr byeeecee he eaeenee (is rdeteeen? vedas ie ree rt becca whe cea \ ’ cer ys y . bee “ e “ ' - pices betty eas i vt or ’ jo fersseuretd ad eyrprcl seas rite erate yr beat ' veous te) esa ‘ ter sya x ° " is # : : ipotaaee sate yoteee piety. dad Cebadber pabere eroaygayrega ? auc teere . , ' ‘ vs + . ae « edse “ss ' torr vik ‘ sat ‘ tere re ee wo ethiot oer eee ena tee pete bps ee Sers a4 via . 4 i . ‘ : or, ee s ovenee sab lpewenre par eine s ’ aeesne prts eh tia ? Choaeo kees I+ ' rast te itt a thert . weuebace « ¥ oe : ore . ’ Podtey babi thaw beeatate 1 Veet petytrraserarer stehesan ho Vege one elerrtep rans pee . “ow hous Agt ‘ wre . : “oe Coa penne fo t WW rehired eta heeets pa eeoteaee ag deo saerpt det ’ ieeroe pijnecve i a wie atepeeeeaeted ' ot erert se ‘ Pret Pe wet wed ics ae . F wer eat vetsrro stligeceeted aotrotereetel seeds cdbaaretcdy ok Peer er ee ee os! Fiessrereeed eladee ree Puvepel iazedsaine ‘ vape quer F ifed f.08,7 ae J t , tealtes ee cava Lhe he’ bathe el Prd becebbort ' dybte beeteen ot peed sae ydbee pteer ' eheSbiruaee gs caper ate Speurtedy ce ‘Bits . 5 ct 7 rh is ¢ ’ 4b i tiriskchent pitauneget Picveceee® ) ‘ Peers teeeeer es ee ous pees! eehy vie ‘ arte iene yet TD anee gi fave aay A © 52 i yer ahoet " aeatabas hatha beebae abet tected RUirel eprceta eerees panna bch velugrevael jee ipt . nietses : . lea tree 7 ; ae o) . bat ee esther dd esp dartrrat ‘ gaat aders PPP OPatE TL EVD epee ne ts weed bas Peres aren gat eta thers . ‘ e shee bac ff Ta iy Oentdadecds Phoseeerate te wererty &. $s . aeebaue 4 of Forti peareas baat ‘ Viatesaiegs ‘ teeter awee o , , 3 i 1a8 vi aevecavibeus ‘ 74 ‘ Brersedeaehyes Pere eee er qd ceane P mat be iat a ‘ Fi cptedtearoe oe ia’ ves aeeereergl . tea ié t Wibtaipebtiaeaz se daatate i tray tateaety ‘ rertiog ; ‘ sah ettneaee . adeeb seeetees Us bhp tera asi syasuae vc AMb sae puereneys theses ace an 68 ‘ reer rete ‘ tatl eieeged ' sevese st gt ebiuet © gab ee aes tit . » gcttcCu cies ta eee: a i a6 Je 1 8 : sup adegr edgy sr isaer er iabs cheznerd vars vl) souk cbeeauastag ’ ties peieta? Thesbvet ve teer gue udy ati ce or tac pasepbeevesg or aee tex cae ri? Ae tee ; wat! qaesilavesas cteebeee Sad ode derardes as yeeetaariseray eee ee oe erie ' Fits 7 piddeaepabeaed aed i eetssy pesecdee seabed, faretaey treats Pas teenyd i teeea. ft ty) F - ¥ ent, J ~ 253 n PPE CeTTTIN TIP ET AR ORGd CET TSree Pee Cee ee! rabbovesib gas a 7 Ske Bee pth . idea EpDPbbeboeD rst hedtadatar devant cedppateage (ttesaa stad Pee veh NEV DOS Hee oe Corneesst res ° dary kbaedbhateareeedaberirbeaay cpdrhecddbatgdargopsteaaee sauagge tabbottsvine tur bece deegeaan a Vea pesscovepacDPeedvangrbabbitactanseepaba rea taal Savarese gd Pee lives tire abadees iy vert ae * aichide 8 shade U de ebeapeeaed sod ais seeds ie sartaaae ied aSal vbr tee eroPeeladbeeggaveccede reribes At ’ . pavers jae cDbbaeg BU As Tata eT ade aba batsaseeds Siapedcctbacebashbetaeeagearatag eed aa igh sd rata ates defheetcate ry apast ra seater ead iariag esa gapebdtdpectecobasietasalhatedaciaranseeace pabtabagsotiesdbaban Sibeparat seeds etead ite sti 4 bara ‘ tdaw edb NEED Thee Deadpdcagstedbedbiasbadarpas lect i betaateer shacest EUGds Sade RERPARTE NORD EST RODE te i ‘ t 7 ‘ See VEU ETE SEVER TOILE ESECLOC LAL ICOEE EES, Phutet hadi predsoae eae dtader onde ips ranceagesaesa deeds s(talercals Sain ded etts ets ares re a) pektpevtsadeusssartssaaa Peedbaa seb hb praphraeasye se. -ad PPaPSRG RES eet Coren i Cabeebeatigessei ts se@ube : vaiegs FELDVSE abet Dadedo ddbebecrseisaidertad sl eteeepehsateran i haay soe Teag sabes bias 3 vearedee yaks suet veeeny } ! Sapds iWon t dens SULLSeSUbads ccdipiaodhebbegieahseteregsa yl gee ia a bea shbebphavpart ive beable hiv eget aees ybshrates a i° pbbvecdooed RpVMbtDRagaedagee des spends Veh e Dacia be Raa RHI; bESyD iif SAV Pakage bhi atevaere Gsed eri ska shiasgurye Nyeen te af Loridscibeteess syabeeibavavedi cys) vepbotpedl othe sekbe cats cad rapes Se hee yay feast vine pobiphessapate reeset cew’s psig tevgts - ey thakeossdabdaveraigabards toes tan eR d debe ye aebbi ces reisdseddrededadscdessCearbepisaerens reese saeptater : ee aT eTte nity Us Vues! . batansgeeth lyedeatadonabesapbadveapredic ppeeeade? breudebeooe bess Gbiedans Perea A StcEe lire ited yasasabsetas athetr « Sakae bhende “geeeeegredes 4 ibyies wien pasghde (Ti Sang eabaldbpeapoadth ares ecatatabored per OAGAULTAAEDNTAG Geen taapheaveda seb tragadstsen i Fiaghiasena ces etrcce atinee cds sakes . : ‘ ' steered tbat Viicacaaetvlppateaart rep \cheeavdebadpaaiee epbpttedad i eeca bhai si bnoagkipeunyae is ehESp eds Ste basber gts vi + Scduateinenfersehes daha Py brgabdePededbres diets podobodetFhaTevacgbaebos theses seven capebessed bak epee sapeededss Caetgecs tenes Sear i adobe teeyenges ebay ead here sdaebbaoedeesers a pede apsaabsrhraedarhai reat vee MUTTTTILLEP TET EST TULL AT LET EC eee ee ebay ieriidass 3 Leacuse’ gage : psaa ro Were ep Petre eiral See Carre prridbbacscc ehh) Devebuatosktbagstatya bxtvshiseitearde pause tia tibesdaastiahea peecsa bac skates v7 vibe ’ PE USD PTD eR er sat aa pdeeeeblycastheccgeabrdartad ies btacdh PUURT ERECT RURSROT IES T IST ORL OS eee LRA Ag Beeee yrases ba abe shag lee sauabeeadt pedrrttyeiae pehaabocS ets eto as Pictu bebbatueed sae begaregage fee eVaseretsebectaeges ast casi cigene r 3 ' \ sy ats ICeC ST PPR TT EE) Lee he E PUPRI TERIOR TINE SPT RICE OS Soe geciibecstseghasitaas ae) fsqste gebianar # dueree i, ii sti Siisiptivebelsaibai, scours satay euVNsa debs teed ben eds bb eba gs PePeTERTIIE Cat eres eee Ra OL Setnizers F Te 4 att wh sab d sap aeb ods ae obedient aceeeeanenyy UYTCUEL YER POtRAIET TIRE TIES ESS CELL peactonsiat® erhsaae cuhtarethisthaatccssz toes lerts ; aa bis peubauvttnaseiovisys IST PTVTLERUTIPT ECT LEPTIREE TS? POLE ee Ree hibsitiveds dati ted togarreneare tase 4 vaea boey bei taphavabey ei ad eeenes sider eebat bievsbrsaehind shcceaacicelydtage eavtetee itsesegubeer: Pheaabobedac cad) osQUGapUSddatchpankaseaaeea lan ssebesgaaats Sede tin Waa Teo kdens GeNVabataapees Ga pS Qee Tee eer hha sasyhe Sides Perpediaee etae eerie bat Lal et aa bas cebau dp etaas tie rT) Ph, eee ehh adhe eDas iw tangy ss loans 4 phbae sbevbadssiedin 3 wate s wb dad ed eaet ase See bab Dare bah e wd ee ebb adam de at eV beeg ects 2392 faebeseat Poasecdgre Wbstrei tay besligucuar Llpaetebitee Dated isbeetalcate attsans syeuhsaiidecatieceds Tear aatet hessebecvers vieaastanals Vab Tae wets eS isit is Psi veer ilidedie aus regrereg isl eadtbes Lbseais Bewebedeelae veel a bbe vee tele pedal shy BU Ree ee beast bares Tpadancedacdhoe Pep DiUsh ooh dba SPtp ag ttatada ves PaVRUEPIPTITESPI ET CSE OCIS SELL Deere fase bh! a ireares waevdiies Weeverervererverriy iit iirirerriiriti i iirerir irre eee La tite Tes peGerires ise “3 za: aah Biota valpsomahpeedd seas SaaS Pegg ante dabe beak bara eects ph badbsdas as liarye PIUEVATESERTLECE TOIT Peete eee eee prep sddab eSaledshiaseatsatsar Bedovebsiad YEDDA ppabipebaschessebayeteta ahead nidides Diaadberan bers ebene Apibatet eentia sEea bangers Tater reves peedpebivartssivine esebbzeeS ade cu edevemecetharad Ssspabesbbabeatse eebearagaeds toesbsit is t tae eciapatesl “4 PUheapa sshd yids tt Pe PeRere Tor Ur SERRE Serer pan tha babhs beseade sorta tbaed TEED ae b aa Pade Eyaaba phedP Pas babe ober det getad eb haigss sage dead leas 2see en . tatseeaty i bpetdagebasdbes DodearepdadeeebaadeaavatpaabersaScea Ube baa set dpr isis ett ’ p)idawet a beea denvthordageie y s)apcbaea da DEMab capes ada bah aedassrekeas beisadoghiasea ribbes Dighets seiuage baacres Pea Perea res SERS PITT REAR ee Lage aqueed ve iiges ; VETER RUCRIOETIOROLIOES 3 Vick saaees eehadaohacabvadeaesaaebeatdes Seeeapea Vb uae beter cttpanees disscedasettian ot TEVERET EST YS CULV eREEE LRT eELe PODAREChAL DCL ade SLEDS AUDA DAS e ard ot bad pr benassi de risdedadsatfeyecava eins POSER UPEOET CESERE ITER Rete ee woot via Pespar baby she geeieagl ar obeddbaaod pt beeres boegest aT scar ‘ tes | cae + rehabobul debhedossdstadalddetd ehh ed tab babae nde l abla seaaedatehts tesad rie we bass shar suet bgadstreiaesy rlescasde euge tebbatyes wete S 3 Videnbatshebadel, abi apdeaaced py) EapUdp Behar reese data eeticnvas sridsubpatrlssdes fag ls byerrt Wut % oe Pere ‘ thaltbnéaebenused pElesatherivs bel Pi phtare, & she shaTibheas thay shade Sob ethane puede bape’ PPT Cade al daw eeke ishnbsisyee erat pees a bee ateses trices be Setets ” potabeyyeaaabena Vang casa akatehadpastabselagedea das becgad i sUpuRcaatessecudatapecsbrclestiucasbacsigedsit im he Dosecdebersrrbags dy iabagbaaadenascatads ur bupacttanpbhaveaade bavhedte bbiadspaanyatel é LEpsuthecdhlagegatsclectcey se Par baspowrteas i elaBt GRRL bees bose spac dente nal TeAeE Veda ke Saauapebiterets EDD EODT ERS POPC DEP ab aD aah Deeb ek ready Poebbel oe dag bic geds ss preabeleaetaaga Seevardana pedbeheadas We TUUPESI CIRO TERE EI SSO SE RS ray vidas Phebe abastibiop hss bared bodcbad escedbedeibeade ta ebbee bal Fy ‘ cis pe dyad biota ba sO DDERDTOAR ITE Dee eRER ThE ERD G ESD HSPTEERETON da oate sadadersanel VapenvitssheDbsaibdGaaagvennetsa: nie ah baeeesgagedal ode De, ed ‘ WV ype bac dbbeeda hyp deacdsbadl bhartbaaat oiadebaibe bone phied . gus dibbiivasct ‘ beseed oa rade np eva bog dhe bade PES Ge ChdbE areata ae Te fidedageaes teanaad sibel sgthaateady 3 pelnddecepagby isa Vibareades ioe seve cee bh ed let iD decaabaaea ayes ayatohase Sabb aage sons a bbusabeste 5 sbeveuasi te basdvabsaaaics : sabgaesi PE TYUTSP ETERS LS Etta es Pe ieee pi habsds SGaeanrppebadtabertigheats rpdaa Lyveadbrebaesba baad ipa bbarhaddbe arta pero debe eahaesoues ab taee: aed H f Ltdteehisaleedees bea Pp hadc chee) dL beeen) DALVESPIRLPE DADS aa beh sede aca ae apebaeadba Veobeeddebapse peated thayesayes 1tst jiaes lide: ‘ PePUY) ote lip dase ead tava gash TESEOTIRO STIR Se eee eee SobspsthAdaspstacews lace abbega’ baaataser hasaslauebed ries ee Tees er peijaeeebary sy padshorboegabebag hve abbarad deatecdphaatyi bess vatye tanturehbaaat : > PPETET TEINS LI SESER DTT CrP Rhea inn QipetSasaeseeeb bgp varvarseas USE d PERRETEE SURE SS peas’ ittbia bes aekiboe Qivedas weebadece Deepa bog heiset ha edied at} PEPPERS IUECTOCSLETEOEE IE) eabige eat ibeaerhispecss ‘ VEER Updehbesadecem re desetpethy Borda bos hhbaed gee dh sdp bra pipoabhisaapatedahisesaed se uhanipebedoaadasbsalk eT ee a Se Daas peadaberst peepee vob aascasabeesecer . hy TAVe beet iaasye Vhdda Poavk, Sosdtinedbbsl ehabdays PECs OPE MOSE PES SESECC OS Ores Pek vee T aa peasy ix Pade edd dr emaad & dassbags ‘ PUPP EPIRORETERUEST URES ET OIR Sol Veeedb ss eretecbvet sea beesaead ais sevalsaies aebedisore spashbisaact Padpnecetd ediasssbeby tse Bodog seks bi ghee y haar dbpevtoapibe vath ibeababsopsgadccsabheasabotdaseetyd Decheeaapbanaghtjestda raat ErveeeG ares ldap vbadtasdaebedsebuedal bpd heatae vibe Siete fp ebpesad seni be tudes we ‘ Slab bed pee hae de deeded gh tSsad nee t ana a] dee pho bbeb Cebae beets sPedisacctes apearebanidar UT TET PELE TUTECTTTER TTR OTs Catt it POPES OPER ROBES BUSSE ORESP SERS SL eee) art teen PE VSPER DETOUR VOCLEUTELY SER ERE Seed, yaad dbarbasde ebeabbiees palvsapetaarecsal PLEyS isi abl eactacus Pai deasdebriaarba Dae b eae a PIVOVERRT SIE TELTE RT Cr eeeet eee eee [be cates yaa Witte ? podbot ebeea lead eee iad si Ac bead baa beet SEPP EEN DERE ASOD rraate pevibaadpageSabia bee adah bast el aed ebercaea tas Uh a pier ansrees labs rsteas eae teeds + § Wyiladys ate deaephadgpudantaain? SP PererPrsveTTirevestVirTiriitritl Tete ieie ties atecbbis : bevade sabbade ay Shad eased eed bcbatbhoveds phelbeshGTbERSDadaeeo Sel ei bacage eee ee EDESSroboabat ope eager raises piyesha Poprdatbtoavddpaebsduiiagaddea asi Pa bbetaae u kpgcbavkdne SU) peed der adap gh aedaa be tbae baa sebbed sdEaTMSE, wei bsal Tpibasake views fda atedyaha FREVUL ECL ERE TRER See ETE paegetssdes acid Ea by chase beaks easter bbe ih TDG) bade) Boe Saeed peel Opsbdbad ehPithebeed ad crak) aby ae Beer haledbebaatescsst en SPEYER ER ee eens VEbUP AMER G tae abe i eeetaiy) Fi seboebadaseaars Ver p rt bapea babes paaesd lag cerns faa} de DDRELSAS cap Vee Dede SOURED ENED jdabaapeghsabasSibssavaubatins| sabbeaye chee * CSaUba Reed) 416 a Bi deedeeed. babe betes dene yee LEdpeaa NA GGSD PhD DALES tiaarbbas CB rade be adhp (Deed RaaD EST IED Vbapesaeone ; eee hte atest Sadan ohh 2Vba mF “ppamhedeta ed) Fi astaes we bebabbeaed ephesipcerapy my ibaekb aa ian eeravbaeit aeedbpaLipbabrndy, ilcspee Siyvbvie’ Spe basen Pidtigess athe ae SSpeuelgecteha ” t phivaat APerrrarereyit7 3s 0i0) pebccrephakagntbblicptectece Debra bane § ju ceyassary OSPAPESHPLAUSEDVS TIE DDO ESD shFipart deeberebisleae ea TTi) ~ Re a vadepegtphaadssebee pag easecgeabes bak dares ny PareeFhLoUaPOb PRED I eebaceboarads TECbLELE Fissbbivaat gacbas oe bave ebro’ eoude bese d bie oesbel babas aye ny ie WEPETERTEREISL LEA ht Wert teec trary oa penb parade o paaidpesp bates yd /oekales apbaviess LP cetlanaespaaes ’ zeaudea 4 iaabaadipadagnebs shoes 7 Pees tsaet anh pSas dee TamerGi sabi thease ' oe So peapibeas de he LVGS sua tibs SSAQSTURNED bee BBE G aeriicess bbage beds ‘Soe. bibes 7 prepdedp ebb cdbe evav Rs Desh) (lyse ddbas TeeE by adeara yes Abe byes Vash Byalees Per sbsdo ee Weeers Mette ds TSEEEI Ee SRE Deadbbedaeeaasc pes Py se bbb pee eteadd Ripasbondaggyt \opapdapeepsazcya edb ee ebat Dad eee) peereae a phabvae DELVED Veber DIDS aa eaat es Dae tha bus tedda pee ac ber ted pyebesgedeee- pegtives dae : papi ty gebed ‘ plain’ Pv aheddseed ones tebe pec bhi tog hed sd if eee aERD ee yates tots whee Vo ated dd psi ee a : ecthtaaee Weerisanee) phabipeasecsepsbeneare seFbibhst8-- a fee be ak BnenbbeserDb sep i tse ated dept deed bs SEapibpidpedel babheobpetgatpens ‘ ab ple Pet Or eee eee 0 ; oh bees Yosoak Faeepael ryan oa Pec eeuyer cee tii ier? a1) Rep brder een Dee best batsipheb beds Spabbeubebgacese Vv deca’ seedy na beds ote Seb bepabe pabebees fa Shed er ree Pe bieseiyanaVere i } i bedlbbberee asrbae PPEADE) PoaevadG eps eOdD Pe DOT AE aaa dee Sh penbeh ater veel ee See od Shee yl Se dd bap hee ob aheeed Whar bepenbaebanzbeds while Bovebee eb haadoey ebb leper ere sas Pepe eapgadz prebeRbaway Siaee bad ee bee? ste veluaed gatiaks a SEDaDS Peg be wea pea be PP Rae Rar ETY be beseeb DOE DBRDS FONE foergebe anand vid hy eo a et be Lv eBp hE Show h er IMGp eaebRQRT BORED Bind padet tp poibihabapeid IPTC CUT eee Por eee prbophabyed cagtbanancst beat stene pApegeevinad yen peehe tot aebw) vag detip gd Heth oKeanbbed ub sade ‘ Shp pbies Naot spbavasepayye iva sabavbpyksyoarabantebs oy staked eAe NTS bee bdidiege obey pes a me abete dh bosrn tens o Thiebate tape br eutl peaes } fenkbhabaet tyres soko dae trees au Seapebeta tag taney par) spats sean dyeavu beget: vee losehie beattyhe Prdeg rab leenee javeveraneaht ise ee cer ay) bani’ reehe Sea ptrey ett Hib t spe bete mipwpses seek esesios Oe bpete pbhacbabecet sal ditee teal avaseVapiaddyady boty bear ee reeled beter ye ge bee repbbigast pre bepebaneeee Repeenrr is Ter rar yy Fhe de rebe bed bees eben weep ee pyrene beep Tag hapow ss oda cen deb pavear ; 7 ay wee Avy ! die 7) seeaeerye dite peytabesay sper! seb plivcbagebe padee bent thebeep tbe Sto. a>) vheg bt odeg eed epee be pees ys bagrerd hepa Vie breed vee) bebe peebuete Deb ahabedeegeni tars j3 bapbe dd daeeadebe eed bebe dieser i phasglyapbarserte UEP P eh epg ec pti ha eadape rate 48 Teepedhee Mineebbe lL) * pede peed tedner tape pe Lobby bps bean .Sphat erparese sheesh spade leaps aybbe baat reheats Pye b RAST PSAP RRR D ree ee vi ped) dyer ba pb age bpdbeed binerbaabpers ; Bp eeTesdpee pana Pr NECMPPRp age dete udht Suh elppabss pth ppb? there pel pabeaee Leesan pabae bb peee eV ev SPPEPeSS ee kap dere Sdebe rb eebi ters E Subba ed proper d Bae tush papa hes ve bhvbh pga oo webebepasppaves saaebe peabteadaspppbe seep per ee bob bear pe ab ‘hee bhatt ae Laat 4 DaeDeeebet seyeplpeyee ’ paehiaeevnd panpade sedi kabbpebatpesapebabance peetberbbas : Vebeel shir bheiby apeaebate vibved be tds Pode pebbn euee-teed sep bene aby ecewen cdr br ie. si gbh awk beer ed Lbppeatabes Lae bed aeh Veapeeee bpee cepa pri eek vob apy bape pepl deer babe Phibsed- haps sh ROGEPD REA Ros eae p a) paeb re Mobe, shybepettneved spenunds she! bpeoaee Vpahoes tena hed poh bh bt tog : pEPAPEREND SLES baer Veshur heute apes peprybhad eRe be we ah ite een be ebunbebone aye be De Shes thai eantae Verret) bhoes cbs aeed Aphbe bye pierer ness ts phe camer chiral bpeh hb on sey pagedpsbhiader- vat babpaed Vega bes ewes babab iV paba res peop heey Sppesbiabeeper hen bape bee This yabi cit yay your debe at V4 Shake ee ea se agen spireees 4 wr gaberets & ieovlatsintes aM pee Sy etTs sheds ~ 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.) Oe. u * Gin Aix | 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 oe ey, ‘e i 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. “A, Se yg ee aa hanes us «& > Se Se ee en te - % SET Ln nn ne etre erent eer ‘ \ 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 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 { A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF AND THEIR ECONOMIC VALUE. BY ROBERT ©. Bib. WG. S.A. Piva or 7 me ar” ee, ae Fie ii) a ancl cle © ticle x nle'e (wie lee era nutes taes's — 80 Rieminenita OF Hori VV OLbm. WimMestOne) 2 oirr A slelgla eee el ea ole eee oe coe, +150 The Caprotina, “Beds... .. w+... (ORL Re bare Be EOSIN Ao ae techny ctctes lee. tienen sania (e + 20 PRC RAO SOMES: cde rembionnisy citys wide os gigas /<\e\ns's biclolle mixtis) ae einai Shae sass ee ee + 10 MOA UMCKHESS lM LECT yisisc c ¥ 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 ~ lor) xi Ne} ie) or = ~] io} io) LSS) im (=) os ~J bo co — — [o.e) 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 Ore Was 2 = FS 2 = a3 || os =) ules a ay |e = PAT | I Nice Meet pl cet me Nested es Ogee aah es et Pest let ee tp tee ee — oo SJ Or — S rs oO ito) co i=) Ww e — (=) r= Or OO co — [o'o) sJ pr S oO ee (ee) ~I S CO ~] Ne} for) i —_ lor} io} — bo io} bo bo oo or for} is loz) oo o iw) (oe) Or bo NI (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. ) 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 Lge Se 2 8 6.18 ATT) law: 91.4 SE ey eae PS) 1953 (yee 79.56 20*1 (J) ....3 91.41 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. °o é a & = es ae . | 2 | #2 | Es ae ee eae ire D a a | PROGRESS MAI ; oe | 1889. CRETACEOUS AREA | STARR / | / f t aaah 4 J UIDALG Cretaceous Boundaries Traced wae" Bf Probable DSSS Cross Sections Run TRANS-PECOS REGION oe’! ARUN Boundaries of Mineral Districts 26°}-+— ~ Topographic Survey Completed CENTRAL MINERAL DISTRICT Pre-Cambrian Area = Pre-Carboniferous Paleozoic Arex Miles. _=en too aes. 254} = =. & | | = ot ———_—————— —S aa 107 106" 105 lor et PET Gg. pO” Fad 9 eee Ware Et " “ . 3 . : . i 3 | e : : 4 oye Poe EL) Oe. Ae oa or : ; ? | | ! af ade oe m hea bs a ‘y ‘ .. ¥ anne, « cm on i -. ad . : ee, | - - = ae = a : Lite, y aan ¥ a “ . ae Fre becpe ae bit . dpe CR = f : A % oa « a & 4 ‘ : : Ag of , a f } ; t - ‘ t ps] oy ’ ‘i ; ; » 4 # rp : Dae ecto - | ae - i 7s i c é b = — - = ¥ i & - : ht a : od g Fa) F A t 5 “ f aT . : Fla a ” ema ae ta EN - > : a. as f f F ‘ t i s tf F 4 é ng < nk, a ¢ int 28 hs i le e 4 i " is Ting ; = a : = } ae 4 9-0 : ssl +h 4 q : P Fi i + e : = 4 .* _ i 4 - - , ne ; : ,.§ r ait > K : ; | a , : , ? a o4 eed - 4 “a te fa 4 - a : a gre a x "% ow : - ™ ~ 7 : ; i i ‘ ; ry y Ke ‘ i 7 ; x | 4 “ * fe t atti x . 4 4 © + ‘ a q j f fe oo | ra - \: es j eo. | . , L 4 Re ae sate a Soa i re eye + { w | 7 J 5 4 eae} P M 2 ny ” i : ; a ' e . ete . } : 4 t 3 2 ee oe ee tlie ie cy Ta at ae ie Fs Pg OI i ala vt. %.& q.. 2 é “ een, ) 4 “A ~ | an 8 00733