8
In order that the work might be completed more rapidly, there have been several geologists in the field, and the reports on the separate counties are given as made by them.
HISTORICAL.
The existence of beds of iron ore in the eastern part of this State has been known almost from the time of its first settlement.
In a new country, where supplies had to be brought from great distances by the slow methods of transportation in use at that time, it was only a matter of course that the abundance of wood for charcoal, the purity of the ore, and the probability of a remunerative market at home should prove sufficient inducement for men of enterprise to engage in its manufacture. Such was the case; and some time in the fifties Mr. J. S. Nash erected a small furnace in Cass County. Of this furnace Dr. B. F. Shumard states, in 1859, that "it was erected several years since." This was the first attempt to utilize these ores of which we have any knowledge.
The investigations of the Geological Survey under Dr. Shumard, which were carried on during the year 1859, proved that the ores were not confined to Cass County alone but were very abundant. He says:
Until the commencement of the present survey, it was not known that we had workable deposits of iron, except in one or two localities. But our labors have demonstrated the important fact that we have a vast iron region in the eastern part of the State, embracing considerable areas in Cass, Harrison, Rusk, Panola, Smith, San Augustine, and Shelby counties. The ore deposits belong to the tertiary era, and consist chiefly of hematites and limonites, of which there are several varieties. We have also found in this district extensive beds of carbonate of iron.
According to Dr. G. G. Shumard, Cass county alone is capable of supplying a number of furnaces with an abundance of excellent iron ore for many years. The ore occurs here in regular layers, which sometimes obtain a thickness of fifty feet. The only iron furnace our State can boast of is located in this county. It was erected several years since by Mr. Nash and has been in nearly constant, and I believe profitable, operation up to the present time. The ore is mined near the furnace, and the kinds preferred are a porous variety of hematite, termed by the proprietors "honeycomb ore," and "
Such descriptions as are written by myself are of counties examined by Dr. Penrose and the iron ore localities mapped by Mr. G. E. Ladd. These are written from the notes of Dr. Penrose, to which the results of my own examinations are added in places. Much of the other matter contained in this report is taken either from the former published reports on this region by Dr. Penrose or from his notes, which are admirable in their clearness and detail. Quotations not otherwise credited are from Dr. Penrose's writings.
First Report of the Geological and Agricultural Survey of Texas. B. F. Shumard, M. D. This report is reprinted as an appendix to "A partial report on the Geology of West Texas." Dr. G. G. Shumard. Austin, 1886, pp. 142, 143.