0a

 

FIRST ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE

GEOLOGICAL AND AGRICULTURAL
SURVEY OF TEXAS

-BY-

S. B. BUCKLEY, A, AL , PH. D., STATE GEOLOGIST. Corresponding member of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Pheladelphia;of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York; of the Buffalo, Natural History Society; of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Chicago; of the New Orleans Academy of Sciences; of the Cincinnati Entomological Society, etc.

HOUSTON
:
A. C. GRAY, STATE PRINTER.
1874.
1089007

 

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FIRST ANNUAL REPORT
-OF THE-
STATE GEOLOGIST,

To His Excellency Richard Coke,

Governor of Texas

The following report of the geological and agricultural survey of the State is respectfully submitted to your consideration. Here permit me to tender you my sincere thanks for the aid and encouragement you have given me in the prosecution of the work.

I have the honor to be, with great respect,

Your obedient servant.

S. B. BUCKLEY, State Geologist.

PREFACE.

Before my arrival at Austin this fall from the field work of the survey, I supposed this report would not be wanted until the meeting of the Legislature in January; but on the contrary, it has to be rutted before that time. The time for writing the report being so short--little more than four weeks--I determined to condense as much as possible, by merely grouping together the most useful information and leave the details for a future time.

I have studied to make it useful for the people, and hence avoided scientific terms as much as possible. I have endeavored to describe things as they really are, and I certainly represent them just as I think them to be. At my request, Prof. Burleson, my First Assistant, has prepared a

 

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report of things as he saw them. This report: I did not receive until mine was nearly done, and I did not read it until after mine was finished. I had intended to give a short account of each county, but such accounts would have much of sameness. The accounts of the geology, and of the soils of the different geological periods, give the main features of the country passed over by the survey this season, including also what I had seen previously when connected with the survey.

IMPORTANCE OF THE SURVEY.

To many it may seem unnecessary to say anything on the utility of a geological and agricultural survey, because such surveys have already been tested and found to be of great practical value by most civilized countries. Indeed it is impossible to develop the mineral and agricultural resources of a State in an economical manner without such a survey. Hence the capitalist and the emigrant consider a geological and agricultural report, made by the authority of a State, the most reliable as regards its mineral and agricultural wealth. The capitalist wants to know about the coal, iron, copper, and other mineral wealth of the State; also, its soil and agricultural capacity, that he may know best where to build railroads and start manufactories; and the emigrant also wants to know about these things, that lie may decide best where to locate with regard to his particular vocation. The Geological Department has many letters from representative men of those classes asking for information, and for geological and agricultural reports of the State. Only let Texas be known abroad as she really is, and there will be enough of immigration.

More than enough time and money has already been spent in Texas in searching and digging after minerals, where it is useless to look after them, than would be sufficient to defray the expenses of its geological survey. One of the most useful parts of a survey is the directing where to look and where not to look after minerals, and thus preventing useless expenditure. There are few counties in the State which have not had their mineral hunters--gold, silver and lead being the things most sought. In 1867 an expedition of about one hundred men started from Georgetown, in Williamson county, to take possession of large deposits of gold, which were said to be on the Pecos, near

 

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the route from Fredericksburg to El Paso. Gold in large lumps amid in the greatest abundance was reported by two men to be there. They had seen it, and knew it to be so. The party spent the summer, a large portion going through to El Paso, where they disbanded; some returning in squads, others going into Mexico. Nothing of value was found, nor did any of the party understand mineralogy or geology; hence, iron pyrites, sulphuret of copper, and yellow mica were mistaken for gold, and silver mica, etc., for silver, specimens of these being brought back by some, and sent to me for examination.

When at Jefferson, last summer, I read in a newspaper of rich silver mines having just been found at the Gordon Mountain, in Montague county; a large vein of silver was said to extend over and through. the mountain. I met young man who said he belonged to a party of twelve, who were going to start next week to get silver in Montague county. From Northern Texas many went to the Cordon Mountain after silver.

To see about this, we went there last September, but before getting to the spot, we were convinced there was no silver there, because the formation was the lower cretaceous abounding in fossils, being a sedimentary deposit formed gradually in the sea, and barren of silver; but on we went, and encamped at the foot of the mountain. In its side, high up, men had dug several days, mistaking probably a thin seam containing small crystals of selenite, a form of gypsum, for a vein of silver. We could see nothing else resembling silver, excepting a few grains of sand.

Instances of a similar nature could be multiplied into many pages. None of the mining companies in the rich mining States amok; the Rocky Mountains, venture to begin work before suitable geological examinations have been made. Hence mining, as it is now generally conducted on scientific principles, is much more reliable than it was a few years ago. This result lids been brought about by the enormous sums which have been spent by individuals and companies in fruitless mining operations.

The survey, if properly conducted, will make known the agricultural capacity and adaptation of the soil for particular crops, amid disseminate information as to the best modes of cultivating the different grains, gasses, cotton, sugar, tobacco, fruits, etc., for Texas is so extensive that

 

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she has a climate and soil suited to a more varied agriculture than any other State east of the Rocky Mountains. Within the last thirty years, the great progress and general. diffusion of agricultural chemistry in Great Britain, and also, in the older States of this country, has more than doubled the amount per acre of their agricultural productions, and more than tripled the value of their lands. We were often told this summer that such and such lands in Texas had borne annual crops for twenty years, or more, without any diminution of their yield. The truth is, land can bear annual crops, and the last crop be better than the first. It is so with many of the lands of Europe, and of the older States of this country. This has been accomplished by giving the soil more plant food than has been taken from it by the growing plants.

I believe the most speedy and economical way of protecting the frontier, is to make known its mineral wealth and agricultural capacity; then the tide of emigration westward will he such as to stop the incursions of the Indians.

HISTORY OF THE SURVEY.

In 1849, there was published at Bonn, in Germany, "Texas, with Observations on its Natural History and Geology," accompanied with a topographical and geological map of the country, by Ferdinand Roemer, and in 1852, by the same author, was published a notice of the cretaceous rocks of Texas, with descriptions of new species, illustrated with plates. This last work is almost indispensable to the student of Texas geology. Both of these works are in German.

The report of Capt. R. B. Marry, on the exploration of the Red River, of Louisiana, was published at Washington, in 1853. In this work are notices of the coal. fields of Fort Belknap, the gypsum on the upper Red River; also, specimens of copper are reported to have been found in that region.

The "Geology of North America," by Prof. Jules Marcou, was published in 1858. In this work a chapter is given to the geology of the country between Preston, on the Red River, and El Paso, on the Rio Grande. Here again the coal field of Fort Belknap is mentioned, also the gypsum and salt of north-western Texas, but no allusion to the copper is made.

 

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Marcou's observations were founded on specimens given him by Capt. John Pope, of the United States army, collected by his expedition through that region, which was not visited by Marcou.

The geological map of Marcou is far from giving a correct delineation of the geological periods of Texas.

The report of the Mexican boundary survey, embracing reports of the natural history of the region traversed by the surveying party, was published at Washington, in 1859, in two large volumes, with numerous illustrations. The first volume contains a notice of the country along the Rio Grande, and descriptions of the fossils collected, with geological notes by the well known paleontologists, Messrs. Conrad & Hall. Neither of these gentlemen were ever in that region, hence their report is based on notes and specimens submitted to them.

A few years previous to this period, the importance of having a geological survey of Texas was urged by some of the newspapers of the State, among the foremost of which. was the Houston Telegraph, edited by Dr. Francis Moore, who had, in the meantime, published several articles on the geology of the State, in the Texas Almanac.

The Legislature of 1858 passed a law authorizing a geological and agricultural survey of the State, to be made by a State Geologist, an Assistant State Geologist, and a chemist. The salary of the first was three thousand dollars a year, and of the two last, each fifteen hundred dollars. Dr. B. F. Shumard was appointed State Geologist, and be appointed his brother, Dr. Geo. B. Shumard, his first assistant Dr. Riddell, chemist, all of whom are said to have been installed in office in November, 1858.

First, the State Geologist went to New York and bought apparatus for an outfit, also chemicals.

In 1859, the counties of Caldwell, Comal, Hays, McLen-nan and Rusk were, examined, the work being mostly done by the assistants, the chemist being also in the field.

The State Geologist made a partial reconnoisance of southern and eastern Texas. Late in the autumn a hasty trip to Fort Belknap was made by all the party. Then the State Geologist made his first and only report to the Leg- islature in an octavo pamphlet of seventeen pages. It merely alludes to the counties examined, and gives a short account of the coal field at Fort Belknap. No copy of this is in the State Library. Few persons in Texas knew

 

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that Dr. Shumard made any report. Not having seen it, I only give its contents from hearsay.

About six months of Dr. Shumard's first year in the Texas survey was given by him to a description of the fossils of the Missouri and Oregon surveys, he having been an assistant in the Missouri State survey at the time he received the appointment of State Geologist of Texas. The draftsman, A. R. Roesler, whom he had employed for the Texas survey at $75 00 per month, made drawings of these Missouri fossils, for which purpose he was kept at Austin a large portion of 1859.

In January, 1860, I was also employed as an assistant by Dr. Shumard, I having charge of the botanical department, also making geological observations.

In May, 1860, Drs. Shumard. Riddell and myself went, via San Antonio, to Corpus Christi, returning by way of Goliad and Lockhart to Austin. About the first of June we started for the survey of Navarro county, which was finished about the first of July; then we removed, spending the month of July in the survey of Washington county. The month of August was employed in the examination of Bastrop county. Thence returning to Austin, we went into San Saba, remaining there until November.

Dr. George G. Shumard spent the summer in northern Texas, in Grayson, Lamar, Fannin, and other counties on the Red River. He returned to Austin in September.

During the summer, Dr. B. F. Shumard had been a large ,portion of the time at Austin, leaving Dr. Riddell and myself in the field. At Austin he was closely watched by Gov. Houston, who, being convinced that Dr. Shumard was not a suitable person for a State Geologist, removed him about the first of November, 1860. and appointed Dr. Francis Moore, of Houston, State Geologist.

On our return from San Saba, in November, I was appointed First Assistant State Geologist by Dr. Moore, and Dr. Riddell retained as chemist, he being left in the lab- oratory at Austin during Dr. Moore's term of office.

Early in December, 1860, Dr. Moore and myself went southward, through Washington, Fayette, Wharton and Fort Bend counties, to the coast near Brazoria.

Returning in January, we found Dr. Shumard still at Austin, occupying his former room at the Geological Department. Dr. M. thought it rather strange that Shumard had not vacated the office. In excuse, Dr. S. assured Dr.

 

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M. that he would do nothing which would injure the interests of Dr. Moore, and that he only wished to arrange his business and start for the North. Thus assured, we started for Llano county, but on our route Dr. M. thinking that all might not go right at Austin, where the Convention of 1861 was then in session, requested me to return and arrange specimens, and match Dr. Shumard, with whom I was then on very friendly terms. Soon after my arrival at Austin, a friend informed me that Dr. Shumard was busily enraged in persuading the members of the Convention to displace Dr. Moore, and reinstate him in office again, and that, too, with every prospect of success. To thwart this, I drew up some charges against Dr. Shumard, and placed them in the hands of Gov. Houston, who showed than to some of the leading; members of the Convention, and nothing farther was done in favor of Dr. S., who, soon after, left for St. Louis, vowing vengeance, saying that he would break down my scientific reputation. Hence he wrote the letter which has been published, and used by many against me. There is not one word of truth in said letter as regards me. I studied geology and mineralogy at the Wesleyan University of Middletown, Conn., where I was noted for proficiency in these sciences, as is well known to Dr. Will. Halsey, late President of Sonic University, at Chappell Hill, in this State, who was my classmate, and who now lives at Harrisburg, near Houston; also, to Dr. John W . Foster, late President of the American Association of Science, and President of the Academy of Sciences, at Chicago, who was my fellow student; also, Prof. Richard Burleson, of the Waco University, who remembers distinctly Dr. Shumard's speaking in the highest terms of lily scientific ability, when we were in the survey of Washington county in 1860; also, from a letter of Shumard's now in my possession, written in 1860, in which he calls mean "able naturalist."

I would not allude to these things had not the Shumard letter been republished In part by sonic of the Texas papers this summer, while I was engaged in the field work of the survey; hence, I consider it a duty which I owe to the people of the State, to my family and myself, to prove its falseness.

As regards the criticisms of Dr. Asa (Tray of my botanical publications in the proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, I admit I made errors in

 

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describing some species which had already been described,. anal he and other botanical authors have often done the same. I certainly did not commit as great a blunder as he, when lie referred specimens of my genus Hoopesia to three different species and two different genera. See Appendix. The charges against Shumard were that he had devoted a large portion of his time, and also the time of a draftsman, in the description and delineation of the fossils of the Missouri survey; also of the Oregon survey, and while thus engaged in foreign work, they received pay from Texas.

Also, that he lead exceeded the appropriation for the survey, he having, in two years, expended: $28,000, when $28,000 only were appropriated.

He also complained that tune had not been allowed him to prepare a report, when his own note-books showed that more than half of his time had been spent at Austin.

He also proposed to sell to other parties Texas minerals and fossils-things which belonged to the State-not to him.

Moreover, Dr. Shumard did not manage rightly. He was in office two years, with ample means for all the departments of the survey, yet he did little or nothing to develop the mineral resources of the State, or improve its agriculture. Impressed with the notion that all tertiary coals were of little use, he paid no attention to them. His chief end and aim was to discover and describe new species of fossils. To this end he gave most of his energies, unmindful of the fact that these thins are only of secondary importance to the people of the State. He had not the advantages of a classical education, was a poor mineralogist, and had little knowledge of the other departments of natural history. During his two year's of office not a soil was analyzed, and but very few minerals. Nor has the State any of the maps or drawings of the draftsman for the same period.

Dr. Moore and myself started early in March, 1861, on a tour through Western Texas, going through Llano, Burnet and Lampasas counties; we went north through Hamilton, Bosque, Hood and Parker, to Fort Belknap, in Young county, continuing onward and northward through Archer into Clay county as far as a few miles beyond the Little Wichita; returning southward through Stephens, Callalhan, Coleman, McCulloch and Mason, thence westward to

 

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old Fort San Saba, in Menard county, and back by way of Fredericksburg, arriving at Austin about the middle of June, and found that the survey had been suspended by the Legislature on the 18th of the preceding April.

Dr. Moore had much energy, was a pretty good mineralogist, and he did more to make known the resources of the State during his short time of office than was done by Shumard in two years. The result, in part, of Dr. Moore's labors in the survey are embodied in the report of the writer, published by the Legislature of 1866. Dr. M. went North in July, 1861, and in 1864, while in the employ of a Lake Superior mining company in the northern part of Michigan, he died. His remains were brought to New York and buried in Greenwood Cemetery. Dr. M. was an old citizen of Texas, and devoted the best energies of a long life to the advancement and improvement of his adopted State.

The result of the labors of Dr. Riddell in the laboratory, during the term of office of Dr. Moore, I have not seen. Mr. Roesler was also continued as draftsman by Dr. Moore, but none of his drawings of maps or scenes are now in the Geological Department.

Early in January of 1866 I arrived in Austin, for the purpose of renewing the geological survey, found the specimens of the State collection in heaps, covered with dust, their labels displaced, and the most beautiful ones missing. The geological rooms during the war had been used for the purpose of manufacturing percussion caps. With much hard work I succeeded in getting the specimens into their natural groups and geological periods. This accomplished, I wrote a preliminary report of what had been done, in the survey, which was published by Order of the Legislature of 1866, as before stated.

At the adjournment of the Legislature of 1866, in November, I was appointed by Gov. Throckmorton to take charge of the survey and rearrange the specimens in the Capitol. In March, 1867, I went, at the suggestion of Gov. Throckmorton, with Dr. Gideon Lincecum, to Milan. Bell and other counties. W e examined the coal in the eastern part of Milam county. Owing to wet weather the roads were such that I left Dr. Lincecum, with his hack, on the west side of the Brazos, and went on foot through Robertson, Leon, Limestone and Falls county, where, at the falls of the Brazos, I rejoined the party of Dr. Lincecum.

 

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Thence we passed southward through Bell comity, and back to Austin about the middle of May. Soon after I went through a portion of Burnet and Llano counties. At the request of Gov. Throckmorton, I prepared a report of what I had done under his administration. This was left in the hands of the reconstructionists and never published. Its most important matter is in the present report. Under military rule the survey was suspended.

In 1870 a notice of Texas geology, by A. H. Roesler, appeared in some of the Texas newspapers, copied from. ail European journal, where it had first been published. On reading this, I found that a large portion of it had been taken almost verbatim from my report of 1866. I published a notice of said article, stating that it was a very remarkable confirmation of tile accuracy of my report, the measurements of the section of Comanche Peak and of the iron hill of Llano county being exactly alike in every figure; also the fossils at Comanche Peak were the same, without any addition or dimunition. This Might lead some to think that one or the other of the publications was a plagiarism.

Roesler replied, admitting the similarity of the two publications, also stating that instead of his having used my report, that he had never read it, and further, that his publication had been made in the Vienna Journal at Austria, in Europe, in 1859. Here we joined issue. I immediately wrote to Pro,. Cope, Corresponding Secretary of the Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadelphia, requesting him to examine the volumes of the Vienna Journal in their library and ascertain the date of Roesler's publication. He did so, and found it to be either 1868 or 1869, (I have forgotten which), instead of 1859. This placed Roesler in a very unpleasant and dishonorable position.

It is due to the intelligence of the people of Texas to state that Mr. Roesler has never been employed by the State authorities as a geologist, nor has he ever added any thing of importance to the geological knowledge of the State. While employed as draftsman of the survey, he was never supposed to understand geology in the least, nor was he ever requested to make independent geological examinations. Knowing hat this Roesler has caused the Shumard letter to be republished, let me state that, when he did it, he knew said letter to be false, as I can prove frogs a letter of his (Roesler's) to me when he was in the

 

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General Land Office at Washington. In this letter lie states that my reply to the Shumard letter is a complete vindication of ms scientific reputation. I had replied to the Shumard letter in the State Gazette at Austin, in 1867. This is what Roesler alluded to.

In March, 1874, Col. J. T. Brady, of Houston, informed. Governor Coke and myself that, when he was in Washington, in December 1867, he saw in the possession of Roesler a large number of maps of Texas counties, also, drawings of scenes in 'Texas, which were made when Roesler was employed as draftsman for the State geological survey. Col. Brady inquired if these things did not belong to Texas, and Roesler replied that he kept them because the State of Texas had not paid him for his services, but the books in the State Department show that Roesler has been paid in full. By request of Gov. Coke I wrote to Roesler, demanding these things, and received from Roesler a contemptuous reply, nothing more.

In February, 1873, Gov. Davis appointed John W. Glenn State Geologist. Col. Glenn remained at Austin most of the time, until the 15th of November, when lie started into the field with Charles E. Hall, his First Assistant. They went into Burnet, Llano and San Saba counties, from whence they returned about the middle of January, 1874. No report of what was done has been published. Mr. Hall, who was with me in the earls summer, states that little of importance, as regards the mineral resources of the State, was accomplished.

Col. Glenn resigned, and I was appointed by Gov. Coke State Geologist, on the 6th of March, 1874. The result of the work of the survey since then is in the following report.

THE STATE COLLECTION.

The specimens were arranged in natural groups in an upper room at the capitol, in 1867, since which time they have been very much disarranged, and, what is more unfortunate, many of the best specimens have been taken away; when, or by whom, I cannot tell. Col. Glenn told me that he thought several boxes of specimens had been taken away when the State was under military rule. Be this as it may, I only know that many of tile best specimens of the old collection are not now in the cabinet.

We have not attempted to re-arrange the cabinet, because

 

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there are not cases enough to properly do it; moreover, the entire room is not sufficiently large for a State collection, especially such a large State as Texas. A separate building is needed for this purpose; a small portion of this for a chemical laboratory, and the remainder for specimens. A botanical. and zoological department can be added to the survey with comparatively little additional cost. The botanist can test the strength of the different woods of the State, and ascertain, as far as possible, their durability; tell us of our best grasses for hay and pasturage, and about the most useful plants, making collections of all these for the State Museum, where, if a full collection of specimens of the mineral, geological, vegetable and animal productions of the State are arranged, and shown, it will be one of the most useful and attractive places of resort at the South. There a person could, in a few hours, learn more about Texas than lie would in months of travel. It will be a, pleasant and instructive place of resort to both old and young. The old capitals of Europe are noted for their splendid and extensive museums of natural history, imitations of which are now being made in the principal cities of the United States. Let Texas join them in this good and noble work. She has material for a larger, better, and more attractive collection, than any State in the Union.

Such a museum here would draw more capital and people to the State, than would pay the expense of making it.

HOW A GEOLOGICAL SURVEY IS MADE.

That the management of a geological survey is not well understood by many, is shown from the numerous applications made to this department for situations, from surveyors and topographical engineers. Some have applied for the purpose of carrying a surveyor's chain. The geologist does not survey a region with compass and chain. He merely examines the strata of rocks, the soils, acid general features of the country, making notes of its natural productions, its climate, etc. From the fossils, which are the animal and vegetable remains in the rocks, lie ascertains their geological age and position with regard to the other rocks of the country, from which he infers, whether or not they are productive of minerals, and, if so, the nature of those minerals. To arrive at these inferences, he also observes the lithological character of the rocks.

 

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It is the work of the geologist to read the ancient and modern records of the changes of the earth in times past. Even the most casual observer cannot fail to see that the earth of to-day is different from that of yesterday; the earth of this year is still more different from that of last year, and the earth of this century from that of thousands of years ago. Sea shells, imbedded in the rocks of our hills and mountains, teach us that Texas was once beneath the ocean. A careful study will also show that some parts of the State were dry land, while others were under the sea. Those parts which have been the longest dry land, are termed the oldest; for, strictly speaking, no part is older than the other, for matter is eternal, and. what we call new and young is only old matter in a new form.

REPORT

As this report is intended for the general reader, we give below a synopsis of the principal geological periods already known in Texas, omiting their subdivisions:

The Azoic are igneous rocks, destitute of animal and vegetable matter, thrown up from below, or rocks altered by contact with such melted matter. These last are termed metamorphic rocks. Gneiss, mica schist, etc., are examples of the latter, and granite and its associated crystaline rocks of the former. The metamorphic rocks may have had fossils, which have been destroyed by heat.

 

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Some of the azoic rocks are the oldest known, and others not, for there are granites in Texas, in Burnet, Llano and San Saba counties, which have been thrown up during the formation of the rocks of the older Silurian. At the base of the preceding diagram, life began in Texas, from which, extending upwards, there has been a regular progression until the present time. Life also began in many other countries at the same period. The. details of its progression from then till now are given is geological works.

WORK DONE IN THE SURVEY THE PAST SEASON

Just one week (eleventh of May) after the adjournment of the Legislature, we started in the field work of the survey, with Charles E. Hall as sub-assistant, Friench Simpson and Jack Coke as amateurs, going without wages to see and learn and help in the work; James E. Horn, bookkeeper and commissary; Wm. D. Carrington, Ed. Shands, and one other person made the party.

As we could not start or buy an outfit until an appropriation was made, and as such appropriation was only made on the eve of-the adjournment of the Legislature, it will be seen that we were quick and prompt to begin the work.

Our trip during the summer has only been a general reconnoisance, or partial survey of the following counties: Burleson, Milam, Robertson, Limestone, Leon, Houston, Anderson, Cherokee, Nacogdoches, Rusk, Smith , Henderson, Van Zandt, Kaufman, Rockwall, Upshur, Harrison, Marion, Dallas, Collin, Grayson, Fannin, Lamar, Tarrant, Parker, Wise, Cooke, Montague, Clay, Jack, Young, Wichita, Throckmorton, Stephens, Shackleford, Haskell, Jones, Callahan, Coleman, Brown, Lampasas, San Saba, Llano, Burnet and Williamson counties.

No detailed surveys Lave been made, the object being merely to ascertain the leading geological, mineralogical and agricultural features of the counties visited, as a guide to future examinations, and aid to the capitalist and immigrant. Our party were kindly received by the inhabitants of the counties, who often gave us material assistance,, for which we can only give them our thanks. To the following persons we were indebted for special favors,: Mr. T. C. Glass, Mr. Herndon and Dr. Morrow. of Calvert also, to Mr. Brown, of the Texas Farm and Home, of the

 

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same place; Messrs. Roberts and Moore, of Bremond; (Esquire Moore traveled with us for several days and gave us much valuable information;) Senator W. D. Wood and Col. J. W. Durant, of Leon county; Dr. Hunter and Col. Word, or Palestine; Capt. James Eastland, of Anderson county; Senator J. E. Dillard, Mr. T. L. Philleo, Esquire Ragsdale and Dr. Yoakum. of Cherokee county; Senator W. H. Swift and Mr. R. W. McLain, of Nacogdoches county; Senator Web. Flanagan, of Rusk county; Mr. Wm. Anderson and Geo. A. Kelley, of Jefferson; Hon. J. W. Lane, Mr. Dodge, Mr. J. 0. Crutchfield and Ammon Burr, of Dallas; Mr. Sam. Long and Col. Wilkins, of Lamar; Senator II. D. Allison and Dr. G. A. Foote, of Mc-Kinney; Senator Trollinger, of Grayson; Messrs. LaWrance, Cetti and Brewer, of Fort Worth; Capt. A. B. Gant, of Weatherford; Colonels Stratton and Whaley, of Clay county; Messrs. Graham and Medlan, of Young county; Stribbling & Co., Fort Griffin; Judge Brown, of Brownwood; Dr. C. S. Smith, Mr. Wells and Mr. Holden, of Llano county.

IRON ORES OF THE TERRITORY

These abound in Eastern and Central Texas; also in the northwest part of Grayson county and the upper cross-timbers.

ORES OF ROBERTSON AMD MILAM COUNTIES.

About five miles east of Calvert, in the bed of Mud Creek, and in the hills in its vicinity, on lands belonging to the Hon. Mr. Barziza, and also on property belonging to Messrs. Wood & Glass. These ores are limonites, or brown oxide of iron. Some are of the honeycomb variety, valued by iron manufacturers for being easily smelted. These ores appear to be in large beds and sufficiently abundant for the manufacture of iron. Similar ores abound on the tops of hills and hillsides on the west side of the Brazos river, in Milam county, and opposite the Herndon coal-bed in Robertson county. The County Surveyor of Milam county told us that he had sent specimens of these iron ores to a chemist in Nashville, Tennessee, Who reported silty-five per cent. of metallic iron. Judging from specimens, it is probable that froth forty-five to fifty per cent of metallic iron would be their average yield from the furnace.

 

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Limestones for fluxes are in Milam county; also ill Limestone county northward on the Central Railroad. Timber and coal both abound in Robertson and Milam.

Cherokee county has immense beds of iron ore. The hills around and in the vicinity of Young's Iron Works. on the International Railroad, about eight miles southwest from Jacksonville, and three miles front the Neches river, abound in first-class iron ores, of both the red and brown hematites. These works were in operation during the war, but the death of the enterprising proprietor, soon after the close of the war, caused them to be suspended. Their location is very pleasant, on an eminence amid trees, at clear springs of good water. The forge or smelting furnace is thirty-four feet square and thirty-four feet high, built in the most substantial manner of the best reddish brown sand rock-a rock peculiar to Central and Eastern Texas-at a cost of between $6000 and $7000. Ore, more than can be used for many centuries, lies in beds in the adjacent hills, and also scattered in loose masses over the surface of the country. Lime of the best quality about eighteen miles distant. This would have to be hauled by teams, as it is not on the line of the railroad. Pine and other timber very abundant on the surrounding hills. These hills or small mountains, composed mostly of sandstones and iron ores, are nearly, and perhaps entirely, the highest in Eastern Texas.

Young's Iron Works, on account of railroad and other facilities, offer peculiar and superior advantages for smelting purposes, and also for the manufacture of all manner of iron ware, to which may be added agricultural implements-the ash, oak and other wood, not far distant, being excellent for their wood work.

South of Rusk, about eight miles, amid pine-clad hills. and at a perrenial stream of clear water, is Philias Iron Works, where ore was smelted on large scale during the war, at the close of which the smelting was suspended. and only the foundry business continued; hence the works now are in a very dilapidated and decaying condition. The only drawback to the profitable manufacture of iron here is the want of better transportation than that offered by wagons. Here the ores are good, convenient, and in inexhaustible quantities, at least for the next hundred years. Lime abundant. only three miles distant. Plenty of pine and other timber on the hills and in

 

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the valleys, in the midst of a fertile healthy region. Sugar maples are on the banks of the streams, and the chinquapin, which in Virginia is only a large shrub, is here tree twenty to thirty feet high, and two feet in diameter.

NACOGDOCHES COUNTY.

The iron works of Mr. R. W. McLain, in the northern part of this county, are situated similar to the preceding, amid hills, among pines, and with plenty of good water. No lime was here used;. the blowing process, consisting of roasting and breaking up the ore, was here adopted. The metallic iron made here is said to have been better than most of the imported iron. 1.50,000 pounds of hammered iron bars were here made in about eight months, when the work was stopped. At the close of the war, Mr. McLain told us that in sinking wells, at and near the iron hills, an iron ore of good quality was passed through, until water was obtained at the depth of twenty to twenty-eight feet. The ore thus found was in loose detached masses. Mr. McLain, having a large body of land, told us that he would give three hundred acres of land at the side of the works to any one who would there manufacture iron. The works had been burned; hence all would have to be begun anew. These works were in the midst of a fertile country, about six mikes from Linn Flats, and twelve from Nacogdoches. Near Linn Flats arse beds of a very good brown coal, equal in quality to any ewe saw in Eastern Texas. See notice of this elsewhere.

BOWIE, CASS AND MARION COUNTIES.

Iron ores extend over a large portion of these counties, in the northeastern part of the State, where they have been largely smelted. A Mr. Nash had works for smelting ore in Cass county, which were in successful operation several year; before, and also during the war, at the close of which they were seized by the United States Government, and the work or smelting suspended, since which it has not been resumed. Specimens of the iron and steel made here and the .ore used are in the State cabinet. In the same county a Mr. Hewes is said to have had a smelting furnace during the war, now suspended.

The furnace at Kelley's iron works, about five miles

 

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northward from Jefferson, we found in full blast, producing daily upwards of one thousand pounds of pig iron. The ore occurs here in places, in and over the hills, like that at Philleo's, Young's, etc., but not as abundant, yet sufficiently so for all practical purposes. To save hauling, the ore was being excavated from the hill at the furnace. The furnace top is near the top of the hill and its base at tine foot of the hill. Hence the ore is dug out, wheeled a short distance, thrown into the top of the furnace, and the melted iron runs out at the base. :The following proportions of material are here used for smelting the ore:

• 18 bushels charcoal.
• 750 pounds ore.
• 60 pounds lime.

No available lime being near, oyster shells from New Orleans and elsewhere were used.

The hills around are clad with pines, mixed with other trees. The pine region extends northward to the State line.

Seventy workmen are employed at the furnace and fifty at the foundry.

I omitted to state that three hundred men were employed during the war at Philleo's Iron Works, near Rusk. Many of these men have families, hence the importance of encouraging manufactures of every available description, for they give a permanent population--a people who buy from the farmer and merchant; at the same time they add to the real available wealth of the State.

Iron ores are prevalent in nearly every county in the State where the older tertiary rocks prevail. In Anderson county, about three miles southward of Palestine, on land belonging to Judge Reagan, an excellent quality of iron ore crops out on all sides of a large hill, forming an extensive bed, so reported to us by the Judge. On the road

 

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from Jacksonville to Rusk, in Cherokee county, we passed over several iron hills. Cherokee, to all appearance, has iron ore enough to supply all the wants in iron of the entire South for centuries. It should have been stated before that iron was made from the ores of Anderson county during the war. We did not have time to visit the locality. Iron ore is also in the vicinity of Whitesboro, in Grayson county, in the tertiary of that region. These ores are in an iron hill or ridge, a few miles west of the town.

In the hills, near Mt. Enterprise, in Rusk county, there are good iron ores, similar to the best in Cherokee county, and sufficiently abundant for the manufacture of iron.

These tertiary ores are sedimentary deposits in beds and in concretions in the clays and sands. Red clays derive their color from the iron, which also adds to their fertility. The average yield of these ores, where they have been smelted, is reported to be about 50 per cent. Some manufacturers report much more, but we prefer to give safe and reliable estimates, that future manufacturers may not be disappointed. Chemical analysis of this or that ore is of little practical use, unless several specimens are carefully selected, so as to give a fair average of the ore to be ana- lyzed. Generally only the best are sent the "chemist," hence the manufactured yield of metal seldom equals that reported by the chemist. This deficiency also arises from the greater or less wastage incidental to all manufacturing establishments, where things are not and cannot be managed in such an accurate, saving manner as is done by a good chemist in the laboratory.

IRON ORES OF WESTERN TEXAS

These ores are mostly of a different class from those of the tertiary period. They are magnetites or magnetic iron ores, which are more massive, and yield a larger per cent of metallic iron than the tertiary ores, but they are also more difficult to smelt.

In Burnet, beds of magnetite are within two or three miles of the town of Burnet, from whence they extend southwestward into Llano county, in the vicinity of Packsaddle Mountain. Large boulders of the ore lie scattered over the surface, and it also occurs in immense beds. The rocks of this region are granites, and their associated rocks of igneous origin. Here there is plenty of lime, also of

 

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cedar and other timber, the best of water in abundance, a delightful, healthy climate and fertile soil.

The largest deposit of iron ore yet known in Llano county is on a creek near a Mr. Epperson's, about twelve miles west of the town of Llano, and from six to eight miles southeast of the Smoothing Iron Mountain. It is an immense and apparently solid mass of iron of an oblong, oval form, surrounded by granite, having evidently been raised up from below with. the latter. It has a length of about 800 feet, a width of about 500 feet, with an elevation of from 25 to 30 feet above its visible base. Loose masses of ore, some of which are of several tons weight, lie scattered over the surface of the iron hill and on its, outskirts. There is no ore known in any country which gives a larger per cent of metallic iron than this, nor any which will make a better quality of iron.

A large bed of iron ore of a similar character to the preceding is distant from it about eight miles, in a northwesterly direction. It lies between two granite ridges, and is traversed by veins of quartz in all directions. Here, too, there is ore enough for all practicable purposes to make metallic iron for ages.

On the road from Honey Creek to the town of Llano, about eight miles from the latter, the magnetite ores are in beds, extending across the road and into the adjacent mountain.

Northward, in the carboniferous region, in the southern part of Stephens county, iron ores are reported as rich and abundant.

Lime and timber, to make charcoal, for the manufacture of iron, abound in Llano county; nor are beds of good stone coal far distant, at the north, those of Coleman county being less than one hundred miles.

We know of no State which has greater advantages for the manufacture of iron than Texas, both in its eastern and western portions, taking climate, quality of ore and its availability, it being at or near the surface, fuel, both charcoal and stone coal. Only think what a saving to the State it would be to manufacture our railroad iron. Much more is paid out in this direction than would pay for the manufacture of the iron at home. Taking everything into consideration-people, as permanent citizens, added to our population, capital added to its available wealth, increase of trade, given to the farmer and merchant-all these things,

 

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and more, prove unmistakably that it would be better and more economical for the State, if the iron, needed by railroads and by the people, were made in Texas.

The patent puddling apparatus, which is expected to revolutionize iron manufacture, being an immense saving in cost, has recently been introduced into the Rockdale Iron Works, which are 70 miles north of Chattanooga, at Rockdale, 'Penn. Iron is now being made at less expense than in any other part of America.

It is said that rails for railroads can be made at Rockdale and sent to Pittsburg at less cost than they can be made at Pittsburg. The ore at Rockdale is said to cost $2 per ton at the furnace, coal only about the same, and limestone 80 cents.

The iron ores of Pennsylvania yield from 30 to 60 per cent. of metallic iron; the most of those manufactured (rive less than 50 per cent. The cost of the ores at the furnaces is reported to be from $3.50 to $4.50 per ton. Yet iron is made at large profits in Pennsylvania, which State, about twenty-five years ago, was loaded with debt and her people taxed heavily; but now her railroads, her iron and coal give an income sufficient to defray -the expenses of the State government, and the taxes of the people are little or nothing.

Texas has more and better iron ores than Pennsylvania. She lies plenty of coal, a better climate, a soil equal to any in the world; these and other advantages, rightly managed, will make Texas one of the most prosperous and wealthy countries of the world.

COAL OF THE TERTIARY.

-- BASTROP COUNTY.

On Cedar creek, three or four miles from the town of Bastrop, on the west side of the Colorado river, are some large beds of brown coal; on land belonging to Mr. P. H. Jones, in the north-west corner of the Rosseau survey, is the following section, taken by the writer in 1860:

 

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About one-quarter of a mile below this, on the same creek, the following section appears:

I traced the length of this bed, to the distance of 150 feet, coal of fair quality.

From one and a half to two miles further down, on the same creek, in the Lightfoot survey, there is another large coal bed 80 feet long, where is the succeeding section:

A few rods below this, the coal appears again in the bed of the stream, from which it extends down the creek about three miles. Last spring I sent Charles E. Hall to examine the coal beds of Bastrop county.

Last Spring Mr. C. E. Hall and Mr. Horne, of the survey. visited the coal deposits of Bastrop county. At Mr. Goodman's, they learned that coal from his mine has been Used to run the engine of a cotton factory, in the town of Bastrop, for more than six months, to the perfect satisfaction of the proprietors of the manufactory.

COAL OF ROBERSTON AND MILAM COUNTIES.

From Little river, in Milam county, north-eastwardly to the Herndon place on the Brazos, there are almost continuous coal beds, as is indicated by wells along the route; distance, 10 to 12 miles. On Little river are two beds, the upper 4 to 5 feet thick. and the lower 6 to 8, to the bed of the stream-the base of the coal unknown.

It has an exposed thickness in the banks of the Brazos river, a few rods below the old dwelling of Mr. Herndon,

 

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of from 15 to 25 feet, the base of the coal bed shot seen, the coal forming the bred of the river, and extending across the stream. Here it has little or no rock roof, but, instead, is covered with from 4 to 6 feet of clay and dark. vegetable soil, as seen on the banks of the river. This, however, will detract little from the value of the coal, if in mining the method is adopted which is practiced in some of the English mines, only prop for a few feet, take out all the coal, let the roof fall in, and the working go ahead into the bank. This could be easily done at the Herndon place, which has about 700 acres, all or nearly all. of which is valley land, underlaid by tile coal, which again outcrops in the banks and bed of the Little Brazos, 2 to 4 miles westward.

On re-visiting this place last spring, I was sorry to find the coal bed on fire, and to learn that it had been ore fire about two years. It burns slowly, for the surface soil falls in and smoulders the burning mass below. Floods in the river have, on several. occasions, nearly extinguished the fire, at which times it might have been put out with very little labor.

Concretions of sand and limestone abound in the strata of the hills winch overlie the coal. Many of these are of large size, some of them. being from five to tell feet in diameter. These concretions are loose in large quantities in the bed of the Brazos, at the upper end of the coal bed at Herndon's, where also some of the loose lime rocks are filled with cretaceous fossils, cryphias, ostnas, etc., showing that the cretaceous strata are not distant. In the sandstones here, we found impressions of leaves and palms. some two and three feet long; also, many leaves of trees or shrubs of exogynous plants, nearly all of which are entire, only one specimen of a lobed leaf being found-this is a platanus. Some of these entire leaves are very large, and have prominent veins. They evidently belong to the eocene of the tertiary, and are in strata overlying the coal. In none of the tertiary coals of the State have we seen vegetable remains in food preservation, in the shales in contact with the coal, excepting in Fayette county, where are oblong ribbed fruits, about an inch in length.

This Brazos coal bed probably extends eastward five or more miles, a well having been sunk not far from the town of Calvert in which a coal bed was penetrated twenty feet, and the boring stopped on account of the flow Of water. It

 

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may be, and probably is, the case that this water is merely as small stream flowing over the coal bed, similar to those passing over the coal into the Brazos, where are some small streams and springs, which, however, affect only a small portion of the coal bed; hence, at a different place near Calvert, water might not be found in the coal.

Northeastward from the Brazos coal, about eight miles east of the town of Bremond, at Mr. David Barclay's, we obtained the following section of his well:

Water not abundant. Mr. B. intends to dig deeper. Mr. B. says that No. 7 contained many small fragments of coal. At Mr. Morgan's place, half a mile from Mr. Barclays, in ravine, is the section below

only being exposed and depth unknown.

Near Mr. Smith's, about one mile from. Mr. Barclay's, the coal is exposed along a ravine for several hundred feet, at the depth of six to ten feet from the surface. A well was dug several years ago, near Mr. Smith's house, to the. depth of nearly twenty feet, where coal was dug into to the depth of about ten feet, without finding the bottom of the bed, and the well abandoned.

As coal has been found in all wells in the vicinity of Mr. Barclay's, it is probable this coal bed extends over an area of several hundred acres. This coal is of fair quality, very similar to the Brazos coal. Northeastwardly from Bremond, about eighteen miles, on Head's prairie, in Lime-tone county, near the Irving place, the coal clops out in several places in a ravine. Here the coal is of a compact texture and good quality, having been tested by blacksmiths, and also for propelling an engine to run a cotton

 

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gin at Kosse. Here the coal is so pure that it does not injure the water in wells and springs, all of which afford excellent water. This bed of coal is about four miles long and three wide, and six or more feet thick. At one place in the ravine, we were told that it had been dug into to that depth without finding its base. A few miles distant coal was found at the depth of eighty feet.

Some gentlemen of Dallas have given me the following analysis of this coal by Prof. Maurie, of Chicago:

Prof. Maurie wrote, in reply to the Dallas gentlemen, that the coal was excellent for fuel, and also for the manufacture of gas. The yield of coke also shows that it is good for the manufacture of iron.

LEON COUNTY COAL.

At Bear Grass, in the northern part of Leon county, there is an exposure of coal in a ravine, at a mill run by water from springs. Here the coal extends across the stream, and is seen again 200 to 300 feet above, in its banks, these being nearly covered by sand. A few rods distant, about twenty feet above the ravine, a well was dug by Messrs. Roberts and Moore, of Bremond. At about twenty feet from the surface, coal was found, and passed into to the depth of nine feet. Several hundred pounds of this coal was taken by them to the State Fair of 1873, at Houston, where a cotton gin, on exhibition, was being run by an engine heated by Pittsburg coal. A trial was here made to see which was the best, and the Texas coal found fully equal to the Pittsburgh; so said the man (Col. Win- ship, of Atlanta) who had charge of the engine.

We traced this coal for several hundred yards up the ravine, and also saw the fire clay, which is usually above the coal, exposed in other ravines in the vicinity. Hence, there is no doubt but that the supply of coal is ample for all practical purposes. Saw some very good iron ore on the hills here, but apparently not enough for the profitable making of iron. As our stay here was only a part of a day, it may be that other and more extensive beds of iron

 

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ore may be found in that neighborhood. Here are fine and permanent springs. The situation is pleasant, amid hills; the International railroad only eight or ten miles distant. These things make this a good place for a manufacturing town.

Small deposits of coal are exposed in ravines about seven miles southwest or Centerville, near a Mr. Patrick's. It is possible that thicker beds of coal than now shown there may be found at a greater depth.

A large coal bed is said to be seen in the bank of the Trinity- river, about fourteen miles below the Alabama Ferry.

COAL IN ANDERSON COUNTY.

Near Douglas, in this county, boring was being made for coal (June, 1874), at a place we visited, accompanied by Dr. Hunter, of Palestine. Here there is a small bed of coal at the bottom of a ravine. A shaft was being sunk on the hill above. This boring, at that place, was unwise, because the ravines around had already penetrated the earth to considerable distance. Did not think the indications for coal of much promise, and have not heard the result.

In the northern part of this county coal beds of small extent are exposed in ravines on the Bergen league, a few miles north of Fosterville.

COAL OF RUSK COUNTY.

About four miles northeast of Henderson, on the banks and in the bottom of a small stream, is the outcrop of a large bed of coal. On the sides of the bank, about three feet of the coal is seen. Mr. Park, who accompanied us to the spot, said that he had dug into the bed of coal to the depth of four or five feet, without finding its bottom. This coal is compact, and resembles in appearance the best coals of Robertson county. Another bed of coal, about six miles southward of Henderson, is reported to have been passed through in digging a well. This bed is said to have been about six feet thick.

OTHER TERTIARY COALS.

About thirty stiles south of Marshall, on the Sabine river, at the Coal Ferry. on the Trammel Trail, is bed of

 

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coal which, at low water, can be seen to extend across the stream. Coal is also reported to have been lately found in a bed 3 to 4 feet thick, a few miles from Marshall.

At the Sulphur Creek Bluffs, in Cass county, there is a coal bed 3 to 5 feet thick. The following analysis of this coal was made many years ago by Dr. Riddell, who was then Professor of Chemistry in the University of Louisiana, at New Orleans. He was a brother of the late chemist of the Texas survey. This analysis was made for a gentleman of Jefferson (Mr. Moseley), to whom we are indebted for it:

Dr. Riddell reported the coal to be good, and the above analysis proves it to be good for fuel for the manufacture of iron, after having been coked; also superior for making gas.

Not far from the Jourdan Salines coal was found at the depth of about 70 feet, in a well sunk by the Texas Pacific Railroad Company. Bed 3 to 4 feet thick and coal good, so reported.

At Dallas specimens of brown coal were given us, which is said to occur about 25 miles northwest of the city. This is probably a tertiary coal in the upper Cross Timbers.

In the northwest part of Grayson county, not far from Whitesboro, are some beds of coal 2 to 3 feet thick in the tertiary. Surface specimens of an inferior quality, and none others seen.

We have received specimens of coal from Burleson county, and also from several counties southwestward nearly to the Rio Grande, hence these tertiary coal. beds may be said to begin near the Rio Grande, southwest of San Antonio, and extend in a northeast direction to Bowie county, near the northeast boundary of the State. The larger beds are along the western boundary of the eocene of the tertiary, near its Junction with the cretaceous. Below, or in the coal beds, we have found no tertiary fossils, with the exception of the fruit in the shale above the coal in Fayette. county, near the southern boundary of the eocene. A few miles above the Brazos coal at Herndon's-it may be 25 or 30 miles-in

 

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the west bank of the Bravos, is a shale 25 to 30 feet thick, This shale is very friable, and probably of the same age as the coal. It contains tertiary fossils.

It was customary a few years ago to call all tertiary coals lignites, or imperfect coals, and of little value. But the experience of the last fifteen years has proved that coal of good quality often occurs in the tertiary. It is so in Texas. and extensively so in the Rocky Mountain States and territories. Says J. Ross Browne in a report on the mineral resources of the Western States and territories, p. 228:

"Modern geologists have abandoned the idea that coal, to be of a good quality, must be found in one particular formation. Experience, the most reliable guide, contradicts such a theory. Researches in India, China, Australia, New Zealand, Chili and the States on the Pacific coast of the Ignited States, prove that good coal, adapted to nearly all purposes, is found outside of the carboniferous formation. Science has failed to demonstrate that good coal may not be found in any geological formation."

Coals of the tertiary period are now extensively used in the Rocky Mountain States and territories, and also in those of the Pacific coast. In California, coal is now mined to the depth of even 800 feet at the Black Diamond mine. It is found by experience that the tertiary coal of the Pacific States "is less destructive to boilers and grates, than the anthracite imported from Pennsylvania, or the bituminous coals of Australia."

Dr. F. V. Hayden, United States Geologist, in a report to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, from Silliman's Journal, of March 1868. says: "My examination of the geology of Nebraska, during the past season, failed to develop any workable beds of coal within the limits of that State. My attention was then directed to the great lignite deposits of the Laramie plains. I found the lignite of excellent quality, in beds from 5 to 11 feet thick, and I estimated the area occupied by this basin at 5000 square miles. Its most eastern limit is about 10 miles east of Rock Creek." Here follows a list of localities.

"The lignite taken front the beds oil Rock Creek is front the outcroppings, yet it burns with a bright, red flame. giving out a good degree of heat, leaving scarcely any ash. and is quite as desirable fuel for domestic purposes, as any wood. It is non-bituminous, exhibits just a trace of sulphurate of iron, which, decomposing, gives a rusty, reddish

 

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appearance to the outcrops, and there are seams of jet, 1 to 12 inches in thickness, which look much like cannel coal, and is thus termed by the miners.

The Union Pacific Railroad will pass directly through those great coal fields, and as most of their freight will go westward for many years, the cars, on their return, can be loaded with this lignite, thus to be distributed through Nebraska, at a cost much less than that of wood at the present time.

There are also indications of an abundance of iron ore in the vicinity of these deposits, and the Union Pacific Railroad Company contemplates establishing rolling mills in the Laramie plains at no distant period.

The next point visited was South Boulder Creek, the Marshall mines, which are probably the most valuable in the West. I made a pretty", careful examination of these mines, which have been wrought for four or five years. An average of 5O tons is taken from this place daily, and sold in Denver at prices varying from $12 to $15 per ton. The beds are at the foot of the mountains, and dip to such an extent as to expose the whole series, eleven in number, varying from 5 to 12 feet in thickness, so that we have front 30 to 50 feet at least of solid lignite."

I give the above long extracts, because the value of Texas tertiary coal has been questioned, lignites, as they have generally been called.

Prof. Rogers, many years ago, in his report on the geology of Pennsylvania, proposed to class coals according to their chemical composition. He proposed the following classification, which seems preferable to any other, and better fitted to designate coals as they are now known.

The semi-bituminous he divides into semi-bituminous cherry coal, and semi-bituminous splint coal.

The bituminous into coking coal, cherry coal and splint coal.

When Prof. Rogers proposed the above classification,

 

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the tertiary coals of Texas and the great West were little known, so little, that they were not alluded to by him. But, with perhaps slight modifications, it will include these tertiary coals, which may be placed in the second and third classes.

In Texas, no anthracites of any commercial value are known; but among the tertiary coals of the State are the semi-bituminous and the hydrogenous, or gas coals. Most of them belong to the semi-bituminous, that is, they abound in the ingredients which make bitumen, as shown by chemical analysis, and by the scent which they give when burned.

That they are valuable as fuels, and for most all the purposes to which coal is applied, has already been proved by experiments made on a large scale. The coal of Bastrop has been satisfactorily used for more than six months to run an engine in a cotton manufactory at Bastrop. That of Robertson county has been tested on an engine to run a steamer, also, tested in New York and at Pittsburg and pronounced to be a good and valuable coal for the ordinary purposes of fuel, and also, for the manufacture of iron; the person having charge of the experiment at Pittsburg, wrote to a leading citizen of Austin, Judge Terrill, that this coal. would run puddle iron without coking.

In Washington Territory, coals of the middle tertiary (miocene) are used to run engines on steamboats and elsewhere. Let it be remembered that our Texas coals under consideration, are of the eocene, or older tertiary, and that too, at the very dawn of this period.

According to Prof. Rogers, the semi-bituminous coals also soften and swell into compact coke, but do not agglutinate at all, or only slightly; they are, therefore, equally eligible with the non-coking.. bituminous varieties for certain purposes of combustion, while they are preferable to them in heating power, in proportion to the greater weight of solid matter they contain.

I have been told that some of our tertiary coals, when tested on the engines of railroads, burn too fast, and are not easily regulated, as the grates of the engines are now made. It is probable that, with differently made rates, where the draft can be accurately regulated, this difficulty would be removed.

Our former State Geologists, Drs. Moore and Shumard, regarded the tertiary coals of the State as of little value,

 

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and thus pronounced them, without taking the trouble to test them in a practical manner; hence, it is difficult to convince many people of their real value as fuels, and hence the tests which were made a few years ago with the Brazos coal of Robertson county by as Austin company, who, finding it a good coal, invested in coal lands there; since which, some members of the same company have also bought coal lands in Bastrop county.

Let the people of the State be assured that many of the coals of Central and Eastern Texas are of equal value to many coals of the carboniferous period, and even superior to some of them, excelling in this respect as fuel for public and private buildings and other purposes, to which they will- ere long be applied.

I will add another item which I had almost forgotten. A few years ago, Willard Richardson, of the Galveston News, received a letter from the secretary of a northern coal company, requesting information about the coal and iron of Texas. This letter was referred to me, and a long correspondence ensued. I sent him specimens of the coal anti iron of Robertson and Milam counties, both of which were reported by him to be better than lie had expected to see from Texas. This company would have started the manufacture of iron in Robertson county, had not radical rule and radical reports of disorder in Texas prevented. Since I began to write this report, I have received a letter from the secretary of another northern company, inquiring about the coal and iron of the tertiary period, of the State. To this letter I have not yet had time to reply.

Our State has been in such an unsettled and unfortunate condition, politically, as to prevent many capitalists from investing here, but under the present government confidence is again restored, and we have the dawn of a good tune coming, when our coal will be used, acid our iron ores manufactured.

COAL OF THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD

The carboniferous extends over a much larger area in the State than we supposed possible last spring, at the commencement of our labors in the field, and if the survey had accomplished nothing more than has been done in this portion of the field, it would have done a good work. Tile carboniferous formation has been traced from. the western Part of Montague county westward through Clay and Jack, into Archer and Young counties; thence westward through

 

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Throckmorton into Haskell county, and south through Jones, Shackelford and Stephens into Callahan, Coleman and Brown counties. From reports from Eastland county, and coal said to be found there, there is no doubt but that it is also included in the boundaries of the carboniferous, which extends southward from Brown and Lampasas into Llano and Burnet counties. From former explorations, I feel confident that Concho, McCulloch, Menard and Mason counties belong mostly to the carboniferous period. It is also highly probable that a large portion of the unexplored region of the western part of the State belongs to the same formation. This much we know, that we have a larger coal field, by many thousand square miles, than Las ever before been made known.

The coal field in Young county, around Fort Belknap, has long been known, and its coal was used by the governmen officers, when Fort Belknap was occupied by them, many years ago.

A part of this bed of coal is about a mile above the Fort, outcropping- in several. ravines which empty into the Brazos river. On a recent visit to this place, with Col. Graham, of Young county , we found two beds of coal there, the upper between two and three feet thick; and the lower exposed about three feet in the bottom of the ravines, and. base not seen. This coal has been quarried to a considerable extent lately for the use of blacksmiths. At present. there are but two families living at the Fort, the government buildings having mostly been destroyed, and the remainder being in ruins. As there is plenty of good wood there, the coal is not now used for domestic purposes.

On Whiskey creek, about two miles north of Fort Belknap, there is a fine exposure of the coal strata, of which the following is a section, taken from near its junction with the Brazos river:

 

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A few hundred yards higher up the stream, where coal, a few years ago, was mined to some extent, is the following section:

Here the sandstone above the coal contains coal plants, and is ripple marked. There are several other places on Whiskey creek where the coal outcrops.

North of Fort Belknap, at the distance of about six miles, near the former residence of Judge Harm enson, is a bed of coal five feet thick. This bed is exposed along the base of a hill to a distance of front twenty to twenty-five yards. Here coal has been dug out, both for fuel and for blacksmithing.

In the northern. part, on Coal creek, near the Salt Fork of the Brazos, in Young county, is a large bed of coal, which has lately been mined to some extent for the use of blacksmiths. Here the coal is of a very good quality, in a bed five to six feet thick at the base of a small hill. Owing to recent rains, and the half-way, careless manner of mining the coal, its real thickness could riot be measured, but it probably is thicker than stated above. Above the coal strata is a bed of limestone one to two feet thick, and above this, sandstone five to six feet, and again, limestone two to three feet, capped with a brown sand rock. The upper limestones in the vicinity abound in fusilina shells. The tops of the adjacent hills have the conglomerate, which overlies a large portion of the hills of the coal region.

Coal is said to outcrop on the banks of a small. stream, about three miles from the coal on Coal. creek.

 

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No. 5 extends along the side of the mountain more than half a mile, in some places having an abundance of ferns and calamites. Both above and below No. 3, adjoining it, fossil shells are abundant and finely preserved. Productus Rogersii, Athyris subtilita, Fusilina-two species and both very common, Belerophons, Crinoids, Allorisma subcuneata, and several other bivalves; Pleurotomaria tabulata and sphaerulata, Spirifer cameratus, rare. Of these, and many other carboniferous fossils, we obtained a large collection.

The bed of the Clear Fork of the Brazos, in the northern part of Stephens county, is composed of coal, which extends under both banks, as is seen in low water, at which time the coal is quarried for the use of blacksmiths. It is obtained in large blocks, is black, breaks with a concoidal fracture, and is in every respect a very good coal. We saw specimens of it at a blacksmith's, at Fort Griffin. This blacksmith told us that coal had been quarried from that coal bed during the last ten years, and that the bottom of the the bed had not been reached. At the time of our visit rains had raised the streams so high that we did not go to see this coal bed.

On Hubbard's creek, in the same county, there is another large bed of coal, four to five feet thick, which also has been used quite extensively by blacksmiths, showing that these coals are quite free from sulphur and other impurities.

COAL IN CLAY COUNTY.

At the well of Mr. John Preston, two and a half miles southeast of New Henrietta, we obtained the following:

 

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And well unfinished and being dug at the time of our visit.. No. 3 abounds in fern leaves and calamites in a fine state of preservation (carboniferous). No. 4 has small particles of coal. No. 5 contains marks of roots and stumps, six or more inches in diameter. A large portion of the ferns are of the same species as those found in Young county.

We were told at Henrietta that two men had recently found a bed of coal several. feet thick about five miles distant from the town, but they would not tell where, because they wished to buy the land. Other localities of coal in Clay county were also reported.

COAL IN MONTAGUE COUNTY.

In the southwest corner of this county, on Sandy creek, about four miles from Judge Marlett's, a coal bed extends along the creek about three hundred feet. At this place we obtained fine specimens of calamites and ferns. The outcroppings of the coal here are of an inferior quality, but good coal may abound farther into the side of the hill, at the base of which lies the coal bed.

About a mile up the creek, and high up in the hillside, is another coal bed of similar character.

COAL OF COLEMAN COUNTY.

On Horne creek, nearly eighteen miles southwest of Camp Colorado, is a coal bed, which is worked by a Mr. Waldrup, who sells coal to the blacksmiths.

Near the Colorado river, about midway of the southern boundary of the county, is a coal bed about four feet thick, which is said to outcrop near the base of a hill, and also on the opposite side of the same hill. At a blacksmith shop in Brownwood, Brown county, I saw specimens of this coal.

There is also said to be a coal bed immediately south of Santa Anna Mountain, and another bed at Blackwell's ranche, on the line between Coleman and Brown counties.

On Little Bull creek, in Coleman county, is a bed of coal, which is said to be six to eight feet thick, from whence

 

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coal is furnished to the blacksmiths of San Saba county, where we saw it used. The use to which it is applied proves it to be excellent.

COAL IN LLANO AND SAN SABA COUNTIES.

In the honey creek cove, four to six miles front the Packsaddle Mountain, coal in large pieces has been found in the bed of the creek. At this locality, I saw shale at the base of the bank of the creek, but did not see any coal in its native bed. Specimens of coal from this locality are in the bed of the stream, and if the coal can be obtained in large quantities (which is quite doubtful) it will prove to be a valuable acquisition for use in manufacturing the iron ores of that region.

In San Saba county, north of the San Saba river, are shades in hillsides, the hills being mostly sand rocks of the carboniferous age. In such places, Dr. Watson and Mr. Barrett told me they had seen coal. These gentlemen are noted for hunting the minerals of that region. They also report coal in Mason and McCulloch counties. They gave me some very fine mineralogical specimens for the State cabinet.

The preceding are mostly mere outcroppings of the coal of the carboniferous formation, and they are amply sufficient to convince us that in this large coal field there is plenty of good coal. Let us remember that most of these are only surface outcroppings; that in all the coal regions of Europe, and the older States of this country, the best coal is generally obtained at a great depth, coal. being mined in England to the depth of more than fifteen hundred feet, and in this country to more than eight hundred feet. Throughout our entire coal region, both tertiary and carboniferous, it is highly probable that at greater depths more coal will be found.

A few years ago, the State of Illinois was supposed to he almost without coal, only a few outcroppings being known in distant parts of the State. But the geological survey of that State has stimulated deep researches to be made at the proper places, and the result is a great abundance of good. coal.

Our carboniferous region is now but thinly settled; but now people are flocking there and making homes for themselves and families, and these people are every-year finding

 

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new coal beds. The survey has taught many where and how to look for coal. In one instance, we found coal in the cretaceous. This coal is but a small seam in the banks of the South Gabriel, near Liberty Hill, in Williamson county. Limestones with cretaceous fossils are above and below the coal, which is only about two inches thick, of small extent, and overlaid by a thin strata of sandstone.

OTTER'S CLAYS.

These abound throughout the carboniferous and tertiary of the State. There are few, if any, counties in these regions in which good common wares cannot be. made.

PORCELAIN WARE

Can be made of good quality, and probably of the very best, from the feldspars of Llano county, of which there are veins two and three feet thick near the base of Packsaddle Mountain.

COPPER.

Texas has one of the richest copper regions of the world, covering a large portion of the carboniferous formation, in the northern part of the State, especially abounding in the upper carboniferous. Associated with the copper, I found in several places, the present season, strata unmistakably carboniferous, as indicated by their fossils. Examples of this occur in Clay, Young, Throckmorton, and Haskell counties. In Throckmorton county, on the Graham road to Fort Griffin, about two miles before its junction with the Fort Belknap road, near the base of a hill, is a strata of copper ore about one foot thick. In the rocks above and below this are carboniferous shells, many of which belong to the same species as those before named, as being found in the bills near Graham, in Young county. During a hasty trip into Young, Archer and Clay counties, in. 1861, from the appearance of the hills and rocks of Archer county, and their resemblance to descriptions of the permian, of Germany, I was led to believe that Archer and other portions of the copper regions also belonged to the permian, and I thus stated in the Texas Almanac of 1868. Now, I think they belong to the upper carboniferous, because thus far no permian fossils have been found in that

 

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region, but upper carboniferous have been found in many places during the present season, associated with the copper bearing rocks and clays.

The copper lands extend from the western part of Montague county westward into Haskell county, and probably much farther westward and southwestward. In the southwestward part of Montague county, near the residence of Mr. Pevler, at his spring, is a bed of copper ore, about four inches thick, extending into the bank between sandstone. It is a green copper, (crysocolla and malachite), associated with cuprite or red copper ore. Mr. Pevler also showed us this same form of ore in a bank about one mile south of his house, and again, in small seams, in sand rocks, about half a mile northward from his house. Mr. Pevler, who has an interest in the copper mines of Archer county, and who has worked there in getting ore six months, now owns the copper lands near his residence. The hills and rocks of the Montague copper, are very similar to those of Archer county, and indeed of the whole copper region, where a red clay often and generally prevails. This clay is impregnated with the red oxide of copper, to which it probably owes its color. In it, copper concretions occur, which are frequently washed out, and lie at the base of the hills. Clays often form a large portion of either the base or middle of the hills. Rains and other causes wash the clays from beneath the rocky strata above, and give the hills a jagged and ruined appearance, often covering their sides with broken rocks. Sometimes large masses of rocks stand out alone on clay supports.

In the northwest part of Clay county, are some of these copper hills, at the base of which we found green, blue and black copper ores. These are near the mouth of the Big Wichita, and not far from the Red River. The black copper ores are generally overlooked by copper hunters, who are wide awake in their search for the green and blue ores.

In Wichita county, on Gilbert's creek, about three miles from its junction with the Red River, there is a deposit of green, blue and red copper, in a clay bank at the edge of the water. A few years ago, a considerable quantity of ore, from this place, was sent to Philadelphia, where it was smelted and said to yield more than sixty per cent. of copper. A company was formed for the purpose of working the mine, but the war came, Mr. Gilbert died, and nothing more was done with the copper mine, which now

 

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belongs to the children of Mr. Gilbert, some of whom are minors. In several. other places, on the banks of this creek, I found copper ores. At the place formerly worked. there is said to be a large bed of copper, at the base of the hill. The clays from above had fallen in, and I could only see loose masses of copper. only the outcroppings, which lead. not been considered rich enough to take away. Here the bed of copper is not far below the surface, which is a large prairie, the whole country being nearly all prairie land.

Knox county is said to have some very rich copper beds. The postmaster at New Henries told me that he was one of a large party out last spring for the purpose of hunting game, and finding minerals, especially copper. He gave me very rich specimens of blue copper, (malachite), of which he said lie saw beds of considerable thickness between sand rocks on the side hills of that region.

THE COPPER OF ARCHER COUNTY.

In the report of the General Land Office for 1869, p. 49. is a, notice of the copper ores of this county containing some erroneous statements. It is said to be in the permian period, and that if this "formation were ever known to exist in Texas, it has been mistaken for the triassic system, which is overlying the former to the southeast." In a notice, which I gave of this copper in the Texas Almanac of 1868, it is stated that Archer county probably belongs to the permian. Many years ago Shumard reported that the permian was at the Guadalupe mountains, of Texas. It has never been mistaken for the triassic by any geologist of the Texas State survey, nor does the triassic overlie it at the southeast. I now think that Archer county belongs to the upper carboniferous. Certainly no permian fossils have been found there. It is also stated that the veins of copper are very numerous in Archer county, and have been traced over the summits and sides of the hills, so that hardly a tract of one hundred and sixty acres can be found. without ore on the surface. It is supposed that these veins are contemporaneous with injections, at different periods, of quartz, trap and porphyry.

I have seen no veins of copper in the copper bearing strata of Northern Texas. Capt. Gant, of Weatherford, who is a very good geologist, and who knows more about

 

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the copper of Archer county than any other man, told me last September that lie had not found any veins there. It is possible, and very probable, that true veins of copper are west of the eastern portion of Haskell county, but not east of it. In this region, the copper is in beds or concretion:, both of these forms being quite to common. It is here, evidently, a sedimentary deposit, the beds being nearly horizontal, or but slightly inclined. I have not seen any of the azoic. igneous rocks in situ in that part of the State, nor are there any known injections or veins of quartz, trap and porphyry in Archer county.

In the northern part of Young county the red copperbearing clay appears, and washed front it, on the surface, are loose masses of ore, containing a small per cent of copper.

In several places, near the road from Graham to Fort Griffin, we saw outcroppings of copper in the clays at and near the base of the hills. This was in Throckmorton county.

In the vicinity of California and Paint creeks, in Haskell county, arc, loose copper ores on the sides and at the bases of the hills. The red copper clays Bear the head of Paint creek give color to its waters and have suggested its name. Still farther west, in Haskell county, the copper ores are more abundant and rail, the specimens from that region yielding bout the salmi per cent. of copper as the best ores of Archer county.

South of Archer, in Jones county, between California creek and the Clear Fork of the Brazos, in several places, I saw the copper clays and loose specimens of ore in ravines and the base or on the sides of hills. As both Haskell and Jones counties are unsettled, and we had no county maps, it is impossible to designate localities.

The copper ore of Northern Texas ought to be smelted there. Coal abounds there, to which will soon be added railroads now in process of construction. Col. Stratton, who lives near the Red River, in the northern part of Clay county, suggests the following plan, which seems to be a good one: Let furnaces be made as cheaply and well as possible, combining all recent improvements; then let so much per ton be given for the ore, grading the price according to quality; then the inhabitants of that section will furnish the ore, for loose specimens will be gathered from the surface of that country by men, women and children,

 

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and wagon loads will be driven to the furnace from all directions. It is said that recent improvements will reduce the expense of smelting, copper ore more than one-half. What was formerly a difficult work is now said to be simple and easy. Let this be as it may, more money can be realized from the working of the ore into copper at home than by taking he ore north to be smelted. Manufactured in Texas, it would aid in the settlement of the copper region, which is also a fine a agricultural country, and then the frontier protection now required would not be needed.

COPPER OF LLANO COUNTY .

On the Little Llano, near the northern boundary of the county, are some large veins of ore, containing a large per cent of copper. These veins are, some of them, from two to three feet thick in granites, and. their associated crystalline rocks also. The veins extend into the metamorphic rocks, gneiss and mica schist. Surface specimens show a large per cent. of iron mixed with the copper. It may be that downwards the ore will contain a larger per cent. of copper than is now given.

A few miles west of this copper, ore of a similar character has been found in veins. A Mr. Tharp has been mining for silver and copper during the present season at a place near his house, about four miles west of Packsaddle Mountain. If I has found some fine specimens of blue copper, but had not, at .time of our visit (October) succeeded in finding a true vein. He is working in feldspathic granites, composed mostly of feldspar, considerable quartz, and bolt little mica. On the surface, near the road front Llano to , the cove of Honey Creek, about three miles from the latter place, I saw specimens of copper ore, to which my attention was called by Dr. C. S. Smith, of Llano. These were on the surface of the metamorphic mica schists, acid if a true vein is there, it will probably prove to be very valuable.

In the State Cabinet are specimens of copper ore which are said to have been obtained from near Eagle Pass.

The copper ores of Texas give promise to be next in value to its deposits of iron and coal. Westward and southwestward from the present known copper region, there are probably richer beds and veins than any yet known. Such are the geological indications.

Last winter Dr. Beaumont, of the State Department,

 

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gave me a specimen of native copper, which lie said was found in Northern Texas. Its finder reported such copper to be quite abundant in that portion of the State. I do not think it was found east of Haskell county. It may have come from the Lake Superior region, the specimens of which it much resembles.

LEAD.

Lead has been found in small quantities in Llano county, where it is associated with silver. At an old Spanish mine, not, far from Honey creek cove, near the top of a mountain a few hundred feet high, mining appears to have been done for both lead and silver. The mine is in the calciferous sand-rock, associated with the magnesian limestone of the lower silurian. Large rhomboidal crystals of calcite are abundant near the entrance of the mine. These are sometimes termed the "blossoms of lead," by some miners in Missouri, where lead is found in the same geological formation. A piece of slug, given me by Dr. C. S. Smith. of Llano, who obtained it at the old furnace, where the ore was smelted, contains lead, which has been smelted. Around the entrance of the mine are some rocks which contain titaniferous iron ore.

Mr. Magee, a few years ago, had the water drawn fr