USA > Iowa > Dallas County > The History of Dallas County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c. > Part 36
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In the main valley of the Raccoon river the strata dips gradually to the westward, carrying the lower member of the middle coal formation down to a level very little above the river at Rocky Ford, on the eastern border of Dallas county.
On section 26, township 78, range 26, the uppermost layers of the lower division appear in the right bank of the river, where the fossiliferous lime- stone layers, overlying the Panora coal, present their lithological and palæontological characteristics.
This exposure is capped by a four-foot bed of sandstone, forming the upper bed of this division. There is no definite evidence that the Panora coal appears here above the river level.
The next exposures of rock are found in the bluffs bordering the south side of the valley, a little above the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R. bridge, in sections 26 and 27, township 78, range 27, near Mr. Colton's. At this locality the middle division has almost a complete representation, being capped by the lower member of the upper division.
At De Soto, five miles west, almost the same series of strata are met with.
The upper beds of the section are well exposed just above the railroad track in the bluffs on the south side of the river on section 26.
The Marshall coal, with all the lower beds included, is finely displayed in a ravine a few hundred yards west of the former exposure in section 27, displaying a strata of about seventy feet thickness. The bed here furnishes a good quality of coal, but is only from two to six inches thick, and is too thin for profitable working.
At Van Meter, north of the station, a seam of the Marshall coal, not more than six inches thick, outcrops in the left bank of the South Raccoon river, where a fine section is presented of the accompanying strata. This includes some twenty-five feet of shales inclosing a limestone layer between the coal and the bed of the stream, and also shows the sandstone at the top of the middle division.
On Bulger creek, in the vicinity of De Soto, the upper layers of this sandstone are again seen in the bed of the creek, supporting some eight feet thickness of shales, including the lower carbonaceous horizon of the upper division. There are numerous beds of similar character in this vi- cinity. To the westward of De Soto the strata continues to rise until it reaches the vicinity of Redfield, and then it has a very considerable west- erly dip, which carries the lower coal-measures beneath the level of both rivers, while the middle formation appears again in the valley sides pre- senting successively its three divisions as you ascend either stream to the westward.
Two miles northwest of Redfield, in the south side of the valley of Mos- quito creek, in sections 34 and 27, township 79, range 29, the Panora coal crops out in a bed about six inches thick, and about thirty to thirty-eight feet above the Middle Raccoon River, on the lands belonging to Messrs. Parker and Piatt. The bed here dips again rapidly to the westward and disappears beneath the Middle Raccoon, half a mile west of Parker's
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mine. In this locality there are several beds of similar character, and farther up the stream still higher and higher strata are successively en- countered, consisting of shales and arenaceous deposits which belong to the two lower divisions of the formation, and appear at frequent intervals in low bluffs on the north side of the stream.
Near the west line of the county, some two miles southwest of Parker's coal mine, a vertical exposure, about eight feet high, of the upper beds of the middle division, is beautifully exhibited in a high bluff skirting the left bank of the river.
The highest bed found in this locality appears near the top of the expos- ure where a thin seam about six inches thick of Marshall coal outcrops be- neath a thin ledge of sandstone, and immediately above the sandstone the lower carbonaceous horizon of the upper division appears.
All that vicinity is well supplied with coal-beds belonging to the middle formation.
On Mosquito creek, seven or eight miles above its mouth, the Panora coal outcrops in the southeast quarter of section 31, township 80, range 29, where it has been worked by stripping off the shales and drift material.
A coal vein in this locality from twelve to twenty inches, and in places two feet thick, has been opened, and is being successfully worked. It yields unusually hard coal, but is not of so good quality and is rather diffi- cult mining. The outcrop at the water's edge was first discovered by George Martin and Lem. Southerland, and it is now vielding a good sup- ply. The highest point of the cut now opened is twenty-four feet.
Coal is found on Mosquito creek during almost its entire length through Lincoln township, and there are strong indications of its existing still further up, but no veins have yet been definitely found. There is evidently much more and better coal further under this; but it has not yet been found as no one has sought diligently for it any deeper. The overlying bituminous shale and bands of earthy limestone are richly stored with fos- sils usually found associated in this horizon.
On the North Raccoon the first rock exposures above its mouth are ob- served in the vicinity of Adel. A vertical thickness of forty feet of strata belonging to the upper part of the middle division is exposed on Miller's branch.
This includes a thin seam of coal near the top, which is but the repre- sentation of the Marshall coal. On Hickory creek, about one inile and a half north, the same beds are again met with, presenting nearly the same characteristics; but showing the entire thickness of the upper sandstone of the middle division, and the lower carbonaceous horizon of the upper di- vision.
Half a mile north of Adel, in the bed of Butler's branch, a thin bed of coal has been opened which is overlaid by two feet of black carbonaceous shales and about the same thickness of arenaceous shales, with a soft heavy bed and shaly iron-stained sandstone, containing obscure vegetable re- mains.
The black shales immediately overlaying the coal present an interesting fauna, and afford a great variety of fossil remains. The same beds are again met with about three miles further north, where they appear at an elevation very little above their position at Butler's branch.
In a ravine about four miles northwest from Adel, in the southeast quar-
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ter of section 12, township 79, range 28, a thin bed of coal outcrops at an elevation of about forty feet above the North Raccoon.
This bed has been worked for several years with good success. It is from twelve to twenty inches thick, and about seven feet beneath the coal there is a ledge of rather hard, gray sandstone.
Half a mile southeast of this, about fourteen feet above the level of the river, a two or three-foot bed of coal ontcrops, and in the opposite side of the ravine a ledge of gray, shaly sandstone is seen, which probably belongs to the same bed. This exposure has not been regularly opened.
The strata at this locality has a slight westerly inclination.
Six miles southeast of Adel, near the head of Sugar creek, in sections 5 and 6, township 78, range 26, are to be found exposures of the upper and lower beds of the middle and upper divisions. This section also affords some valuable sandstone as well as a variety of interesting plant and fossil remains.
A short distance below this, in the low bluffs on the opposite side of the stream, at an elevation of about twenty feet above the Marshall coal, there is an outcropping of sandstone, about eight feet thick. In this bed there are one or two layers sufficiently durable to be used in ordinary masonry, but the mass of the bed is of no value for this purpose.
On Walnut creek, in the northeast quarter of section 16, township 79, range 26, a vein of Marshall coal about ten inches thick has been opened, which is said to be of excellent quality. It is overlaid by arenaceous clays, capped by a four-foot bed of soft, shaly sandstone, and containing imperfect remains of ferns and animal fossils.
The Upper Coal Formation occupies a quite limited area in Dallas coun- ty. The outcrops of this formation are confined to the southwestern town- ships below the South Raccoon river.
In the valley of Bulger creek, some four or five miles southwest of De Soto, on the line of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R., quite an extensive exposure of limestone calcareous clays present a vertical thickness of about sixty feet of unequivocal upper coal strata. These strata are seen in the cuttings along the railroad, and for a half mile or more present a very perceptible westerly dip.
It contains a great variety of shales, clays, and fossiliferous limestones. Upper coal-measure limestones are met with in various localities on the tributaries to Beaver creek, west of Bulger, in the southwest corner of the county, which furnish several excellent limestone quarries, and an abundant supply of superior building-stone.
ECONOMIC GEOLOGY.
IN the supply of fuel and building materials, Dallas has a very fair pro- portion, even greatly superior to many of its surrounding counties, not only of timber, but of coal, stone, gravel, sand, lime, brick-clay and other materials necessary for building purposes. All of these are quite conven- iently distributed for the supply of different localities.
Coal is the most important mineral product of the middle coal-measure, as is apparent from the preceding description; and by far the greater num- ber of exposures of that valuable mineral, within the county, belong to the thin deposits of that formation.
These deposits, however, are quite limited in number and extent of pro-
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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
duction as compared with those of the lower coal-measure; but their quality is greatly superior. They afford a much purer and more valuable coal, as they contain comparatively little pyrite or other impurities, and therefore they are being mined more or less extensively to supply the local demands for special purposes, which require the use of pure coal. Some of these beds are too thin to be opened and worked with any degree of profit, while many others are considered sufficiently thick, even at twelve to twenty inches, to be quite extensively mined with good profits; and the local demand for coal is being largely supplied with coal from them. Should this supply threaten to fail, there is still an abundance on reserve in the lower formation, which can be seenred by adding a little more labor and expense.
In many places throughout the county, the upper bed of the lower form- ation is brought to the surface, which affords a fair quality and plentiful supply of coal two and three feet in thickness. It is thought probable, too, that in the northern portion of the county especially, still lower beds in the productive measures will be discovered not far from the surface.
When the demand for mineral fuel increases so as to warrant the neces- sary expenditure, these lower coals will be reached by shafting, and heavy coal deposits will be opened at depths varying from a few feet to one hun- dred and fifty feet below the surface in the valleys.
Since the geological survey was made from the report of which the above account was taken, several important coal mines have been opened, and quite a number are now in working order in the county. These are prin- cipally all thin veins near the surface belonging to the upper coal-measure, averaging in thickness from two to three feet, and yielding a fair quality of soft coal; but they are not very extensively mined, as they only supply the local demand.
Coal Mines .- Caldwell's bank is, perhaps, the most extensively worked of any of these surface veins in the county. It is situated near the Middle Raccoon river, about eighty rods south of "hanging rock ford", on section 4, township 78, range 29, not far from the town of Redfield.
The vein, as now being worked, is from three to three-and-a-half feet in thickness, and yields a very good quality of soft coal, similar to the Des Moines coal.
The bank is opened on the high table-lands, with its entrance into the side of the hill, and the vein here has quite a downward dip.
Sixteen hands are now working in it, and mining, as an average, about three hundred and fifty bushels of good coal per day.
It is estimated that on the flat land below Redfield, by shafting about 125 feet below the surface, a vein of four to six feet in thickness can be secured of a much better quality of coal than is found so near the surface; but no definite steps have been taken yet to secure it.
The Wiscotta cool bank is situated about eighty rods east of Caldwell's bank, on the north side of the Middle Raccoon river, on what is known as the Redfield land, and near Wiscotta.
It has also a vein about three to three-and-a-half feet in thickness, which is thought to be the same vein as that opened at Caldwell's bank, only cnt off by the river, or, perhaps, taking a downward dip beneath the river.
The opening of this one, however, is about ten feet higher than the other, and the vein lies nearly level, so that the entrance goes almost directly into the hill, showing no dip at this locality.
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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
It is not being mined very extensively. It was opened some time ago, and small quantities were taken out, but for several years it was allowed to remain idle until this winter, when two men again opened it, and are now working it on a somewhat limited scale. The coal is of about the same character as that across the river.
Still further down the South Raccoon river, and a short distance from its banks there are two other coal banks open.
Payton's bank is situated near George B. Warden's farm, on section 2, Union township, and shows a vein of about the same quality of coal about two feet in thickness. This bank is not being worked very extensively as the local demand is not very great and sales are light, there being no con- veniences for shipping.
Marsh's bank is still further down the river, in Adams township, with about the same thickness of vein, and nearly the same quality of coal. This is the only bank opened in Adams township. But there are doubtless great quantities of coal all along these bluffs. This one is also being mined to some extent.
Northwest of Redfield, in Linn township, there are also five coal banks now being mined to a considerable extent.
Maulsby's bank, situated in the southwestern part of Linn township, on the north side of the Middle Raccoon, shows a two-foot vein of coal a short distance below the surface, and of about the same character as that found at Wiscotta.
Underneath this vein, about thirty-six feet, another vein some four feet thick is found by prospecting; and just under that again is found an excel- lent fire clay for potter's use.
Howell's bank is a little to the south of this in the same locality and shows, in the main, about the same general characteristics. It is probably part of the same vein, and underneath it about the same distance a similar bed of fire or potter's clay appears.
Bailey's bank, a short distance west of this, and George Duck's bank, still west of that a little further, about in section 29, each reveal a two-foot vein of pretty much the same quality of coal; and the mines present about the same general characteristics as those before described.
Near the west line of the county, on the south side of the Middle Rac- coon river, near Harvey's Mill, the same two-foot vein of coal appears in the mine of D. Lewis, on section 31; and a bed of fire-clay underlies the lower vein some forty or fifty feet below the surface similar to that found beneath all the others.
None of these mines are worked very extensively, however, only from four to six men are engaged in them.
The largest coal mine in the county, and the one mnost extensively worked, doubtless, is the one at Van Meter, owned and worked by the "Chicago and Van Meter Coal Company." J. L. Platt, president; John Walker, superintendent; John Honicker, clerk and cashier; Ira S. Hall, weigh-boss.
The shaft is 257 feet deep, and is located northwest from the town of Van Meter, about thirty rods from the town limits and about the same dis- tance south of the main Raccoon river, just below the forks.
The mine was first opened by Messrs. Boag and Van Meter, who com- menced sinking a shaft in 1878, and afterward sold out to the present owners. The vein runs from two-and-a-half to four feet in thickness, and
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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
yields a good quality of coal. From the bottom of the shaft they have thus far worked principally north toward the river, and find a slight in- crease in thickness of the vein.
The coal is elevated by steam power, and there are now about fifty men engaged in the mine. They are mining at the rate of about one thousand bushels, or thirty-six tons of coal per day, but are capable of turning out two thousand five hundred bushels, or ninety-six tons per day. Lump coal sells at nine cents per bushel, and nut coal at eight cents per bushel at the mine.
The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Co. take two flats, or twen- ty-four tons per day from this mine for their own use; and besides there is sold at the mine six or seven hundred bushels per day to the farmers, and vicinity round about.
The "Pioneer Coal Shaft" is located in Des Moines township, on section 14. It is owned by Frank West, of New York, and was first prospected in 1870.
The shaft is 40 feet deep, and the coal is elevated by horse power. The vein is from two to two-and-a-half feet thick, and about twenty feet below it there is another vein three or four feet thick. Beneath this again is found a fine bed of fire-clay for pottery.
It is now being worked quite extensively, considering its location, but it is too far from any railroad to be run on a large scale.
This mine and the one at Van Meter are the only shafts of importance in the county.
In the same section there are also two other mines of about the same character as those mentioned in the southern part of the county. On Mil- ler's branch, northeast of Adel, a bed was opened some time ago which shows a vein of eighteen inches to two feet in thickness. But that one has never been worked systematically.
On Mosquito creek, in Lincoln township, on section 31, a mine of con- siderable importance is being worked. This one has been previously men- tioned. Other mines of some importance may have been omitted, but the above is sufficient to show that Dallas county is almost completely under- laid with one continuous bed of coal, which can easily be secured in unfail- ing supply, and which is sure to make it one of the first counties in the State.
Building Materials .- Next to coal good stone is the important product of the upper and middle coal-measures for the improvemnt and develop- ment of a county. In this respect, also, Dallas is fortunately supplied, both with sandstone and limestone of good quality for building-stone and lime manufactory.
Much of the sandstone found here in the middle coal formation, how- ever, is not very suitable for building-stone, but some of it, and also the thin bands of impure limestone afford a tolerable substitute in the absence of better materials, while the sandstone between the two upper divisions of this formation sometimes affords a very fair freestone, which is durable and quite extensively used for building purposes.
This bed of freestone is extensively quarried on Hiekory creek near Adel, and is largely used for building in that vicinity.
It is said to be one of the best quarries of this kind in the State.
The limestone of the upper coal-measure, however, furnishes the main supply of stone for building material. This quality of stone is found ex-
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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
tensively in the southwest part of the county, also on Mosquito creek, and in other places throughout the county.
On Bulger creek, near De Soto, the same quality of stone is found as that so highly prized just across the line in Madison county.
"Bear Creek Stone Quarry," in Adams township, on section 28, is per- haps the most extensive quarry now being worked in the county.
Some of the stone used in building the new State capitol was furnished from this quarry, and a great deal of building-stone has been shipped from it to different parts of the State.
Several years ago a railroad track was laid out to it from the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, for the purpose of shipping building-stone, but lately that road has not been used very much. There are from twenty to thirty hands at work in this quarry most of the time, and are thus quar- rying quite extensively. This quarry furnishes a very good quality of limestone, and contains an extensive bed of valuable stone.
There are numerous other good limestone quarries in different parts of the county along the various streams and bluff lands, conveniently situated to most localities in the county, and sufficient for all practical purposes. The flat sandstone, however, is not found so extensively here as it is in many other localities, but its place is well supplied with an abundance of other kinds.
Quicklime .- The upper coal-measure will furnish an almost unfailing supply of material for the manufacture of lime when the supply from other sources is exhausted. Thus far the drift has afforded a plentiful sup- ply of limestone boulders, known as the "lost rocks," which furnish some of the very best quicklime manufactured here, being much stronger and more valuable than that derived from the limestone of the upper coal- measure. These boulders, however, are generally large and difficult to handle, being often of many tons weight, and the labor of removing and preparing them for the kilns frequently requires a greater outlay of time and expense than it would to quarry them; but this seems to be fully re- compensed by the superior quality of the lime they produce. A large sup- ply of these limestone boulders is found on Sugar creek, in Boone town- ship. The fact that these exist so numerously in this section, Prof. White says, "is probably owing to the much greater degree of denundation to which the drift was subjected along the lower reaches of the Raccoon in the process of the erosion and deepening of the valleys, which swept away the larger portion of the finer materials of which these deposits were in part composed, leaving behind only the boulders and coarser materials, as they are now found."
Clay for the manufacture of brick and pottery is found in good supply. The superficial deposits, in various localities, afford plenty of good clay and other material for common brick of the finest quality, and in the under clays of the coal beds, in various parts of the county, is found excellent clay for potters' use, and fire-brick purposes.
Not much of this latter clay, however, has yet been utilized, though it is abundant in the county.
Sand and Gravel are found plentifully distributed along the beds and valleys of rivers and running streams.
Beautiful stones, shells, pebbles and choice geological specimens of var- ious kinds are found in great variety, scattered through the numerous gravel beds and rocks of the quarries along the streams. Not many sand banks are
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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
found on the uplands, but on the lowlands along the rivers and running streams, especially in the bends and shallow beds of the rivers, great bars are washed up by the freshets, of choice sand for plastering and building purposes.
Soil .- On the uplands the soil of Dallas county in general is a rich, black, vegetable loam, averaging from one to three feet thick.
In the valleys and lowlands is found a greater per cent of sand, and also, as an average, a much greater depth of soil, of a somewhat more fertile character, while on the terraces, or second bottoms, is found a warm gravelly soil such as usually exists in similar situations throughout this region. As will be remembered, Dallas was the banner county of the ban- ner State on soils represented at the Centennial Exhibition, in 1876, and carried off the first premium.
This specimen of soil was procured from the valley of the main Raccoon river, in Boone township, on the north side of the river, not far from Mr. Flinn's farm. It was taken out by Prof. Fox, one of our former State Geol- ogists, and prepared by him in a large glass tube, six feet in length, and about ten inches in diameter; which tube was filled with earth in the exact order in which it appeared in nature. This column showed at the top about four feet depth of rich black soil, underneath which was a two- foot layer of yellow clay, showing a somewhat shaly, rocky substance at the bottom It was placed in the Agricultural Hall at the Centennial Exhibi- tion, in connection with similar representations from numerous other counties of the State, and over all received the first premium.
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