USA > Missouri > DeKalb County > History of Andrew and De Kalb counties, Missouri : from earliest time to the present; together with sundry personal, business and professional sketches and family records. besides a condensed history of the state of Missouri, etc > Part 2
USA > Missouri > Andrew County > History of Andrew and De Kalb counties, Missouri : from earliest time to the present; together with sundry personal, business and professional sketches and family records. besides a condensed history of the state of Missouri, etc > Part 2
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The upper beds of encrinital limestone are gray and cherty. The top beds in St. Charles County include seventeen feet of thin chert beds with alternate layers of red clay. The middle beds are generally gray and coarse, the lower ones gray and brown with some buff beds.
Crinoid stems are common in nearly all the beds, hence it has been appropriately termed encrinital limestone.
The lower beds often abound in well preserved crinoidc. This rock occurs at Burlington, Iowa, Quincy, Ill., Hannibal and Louisiana, Mo., and is well exposed in most of the counties on the Mississippi River north of St. Louis, and from the western part of St. Charles to Howard County. South of the Missouri River and along its southwest outcrop it is not generally well developed.
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
In Green County it is quite cavernous. It has not been rec- ognized east of Illinois, and is not separated from other carbon- iferous stones of Tennessee.
DEVONIAN ROCKS.
The devonian rocks occupy a small area in Marion, Ralls, Pike, Callaway, Saline and Ste. Genevieve Counties; also narrow belts along the carboniferous strata to the south and west.
In the Chemung group, the Chouteau limestone, when fully developed, is in two divisions.
Immediately under the encrinital limestone, at the top of the formation, there are forty or fifty feet of brownish gray, earthy, silico-magnesian limestone in thick beds, which contain scattered masses of white or transparent calcareous spar.
The upper division of the Chouteau limestone passes down into a fine, compact, blue or drab, thin-bedded limestone, whose strata are considerably irregular and broken. In the northeast- ern part of the State, the Chouteau limestone is represented only by a few feet of coarse, earthy, crystalline, calcareous rock, like the lower division of the encrinital limestone.
THE VERMICULAR SANDSTONE AND SHALES.
The sandstones of this division are generally soft and calca- reous. They are easily recognized, being ramified by irregular windings throughout, resembling the borings of worms. This formation attains a thickness of seventy five feet near Louisiana in Pike County. It is seen in Ralls, Pike, Lincoln, Cedar and Greene.
The lithographic limestone is a fine grained, compact lime- stone, breaking with a free conchoidal fracture into sharp, angu- lar fragments. Its color varies from a light drab to the lighter shades of buff and blue. It gives out, when struck with the ham- mer, a sharp, ringing sound, and is therefore called "pot metal" in some parts of the State. It is regularly stratified in beds varying from two to sixteen inches in thickness, and often pre- sents, as in the mural bluffs at Louisiana on the Mississippi, all the regularity of masonry.
Where elsewhere seen, it somewhat resembles the upper beds
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
of the group. At Taborville, St. Clair County, it is of a salmon drab color, occurring in thick beds having an open texture, and contains a characteristic fossil-Pentremites Ræmeri. This lime- stone is found in Pike, Ralls, St. Clair, Cedar and Greene Counties.
THE HAMILTON GROUP.
This is made up of some forty feet of blue shales, and 107 feet of semi-crystalline limestone, containing Dalmania, Callite- les, Phacops bufo, Spirifer mucronatus, S. sculptilis, S. Congesta, Chonetes carinata and Favosites basaltica. The Hamilton group is found in Ralls, Pike, Lincoln, Warren, Montgomery, Calla- way, Boone, Cole and probably Moniteau; also in Perry and Ste. Genevieve.
ONONDAGA LIMESTONE.
This formation is usually a coarse gray or buff, crystalline, thick bedded and cherty limestone, abounding in Terebratula, reticularis, Orthis resupinata, Chonetes nana, Productus subacu- leatus, Spirifer euruteines, Phacops bufo, Cyathophyllum rugosum, Emmonsia hemispherica, and a Pentamerus like galeatus. Gen- erally it is coarse, gray and crystalline; often somewhat com- pact, bluish and concretionary, having cavities filled with green matter or calspar; occasionally it is a white saccharoidal sand- stone; in a few localities a soft, brown sandstone, and at Louis- iana a pure white oölite.
ORISKANY SANDSTONE.
In spite of its name, this is a light gray limestone, containing the Spirifer arenosa, Leptoma depressa, and several new species of Spirifer, Chonetes, Illonus and Lichas.
SILURIAN ROCKS.
This system is divided into the upper and lower silurian. Of the former are the following: The lower Helderberg group, which is made up of buff, gray, and reddish cherty, and argilla- ceous limestones, blue shales, and dark graptolite slates. The Cape Girardeau limestone, found on the Mississippi River, about a mile above Cape Girardeau, a compact, bluish gray, frangible limestone, with a smooth fracture, in layers from two to six inches in thickness, with thin argillaceous partings.
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
There are at least ten formations belonging to the lower silu- rian series. There are three distinct formations of the Hudson River group, as follows: First-Immediately below the oölite of the Onondaga limestone, in the bluffs both above and below St. Louis, there are forty feet of blue, gray and brown argillaceous, magnesian limestone. Above, these shales are in thick beds, showing a dull, conchoidal fracture. Below, the division becomes more argillaceous, and has thin beds of bluish-gray crystalline limestone. Second-Three and one-half miles northwest of Louisiana, on the Grassy River, some sixty feet of blue and pur- ple shales are exposed below the beds above described. Third -Under the last named division are, perhaps, twenty feet of ar- gillo-magnesian limestone resembling that in the first division, and interstratified with blue shales. These rocks crop out in Ralls, Pike, Cape Girardeau and Ste. Genevieve Counties. On the Grassy, a thickness of 120 feet is exposed, and they extend to an unknown depth.
Trenton Limestone .- The upper portion of this formation comprises thick beds of compact, bluish gray and drab limestone, abounding in irregular cavities, filled with a greenish substance. The lower beds abound in irregular cylindrical pieces, which quickly decompose upon exposure to the air, and leave the rocks perforated with irregular holes, resembling those made in tim- ber by the Toredo navalis. These beds are exposed between Hannibal and New London, north of Salt River, and near Glen- coe, St. Louis County. They are about seventy-five feet thick. Below them are thick strata of impure, coarse, gray and buff crys- talline magnesian limestone, containing brown, earthy portions, which quickly crumble on exposure to the elements. The bluffs on Salt River are an example of these strata. The lowest part of the Trenton limestone is composed of hard, blue and bluish-gray, semi-compact, silico-magnesian limestone, interstratified with soft, earthy, magnesian beds of a light buff and drab color. Fifty feet of these strata crop out at the quarries south of the plank road bridge over Salt River, and on Spencer's Creek in Ralls County. The middle beds sometimes develop a beautiful white crystalline marble, as at Cape Girardeau and near Glencoe.
The Black River and Birdseye limestones are often in even
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
layers; the lower beds have sometimes mottled drab and reddish shades, often affording a pretty marble. Near the base this rock is often traversed by vermicular cavities and cells. These may be seen from Cape Girardeau to Lincoln, and in St. Charles, Warren and Montgomery Counties, thinning out in the latter.
The First Magnesian Limestone is generally a buff, open-tex- tured, thick and even bedded limestone, breaking readily under the hammer, and affording a useful building rock. Shumard es- timated its thickness in Ste. Genevieve County to be about 150 feet. In Warren County, in North Missouri, it is seventy feet thick. It is found in Ralls, Pike, Lincoln, St. Charles, Warren, Callaway and Boone. Southwesterly, it is not well marked-in- deed it seems to be absent in some counties where, in regular sequence, it should be found. It occurs in Franklin, St. Louis, and southwardly to Cape Girardeau County.
Saccharoidal Sandstone is usually a bed of white friable sand- stone, sometimes slightly tinged with red and brown, which is made up of globular concretions and angular fragments of limpid quartz. The formation is well developed in Lincoln, St. Charles, Warren, Montgomery, Gasconade, Franklin, St. Louis, Jefferson, Ste. Genevieve, Perry and Cape Girardeau Counties. Besides the above, it is also developed in a more attenuated form, in Callaway, Osage, Cole, Moniteau and Boone. This sandstone is probably destined to be one of the most useful rocks found in Missouri. It is generally of a very white color, and the purest sandstone found in the State, and is suitable for making the finest glassware. Its great thickness makes it inexhaustible. In St. Charles and Warren Counties it is 133 feet thick, and in Southeast Missouri over 100 feet thick.
The Second Magnesian Limestone occurs in all the river counties south of Pike as far as the swamps of Southeast Missouri, and is more often the surface rock in all the counties south of the Mis- souri and Osage Rivers, to within fifty miles of the western line of the State. It is generally composed of beds of earthy mag- nesian limestone, interstratified with shale beds and layers of white chert, with occasionally thin strata of white sandstone,' and, near the lower part, thick cellular silico-magnesian limestone beds. The layers are more often of irregular thickness and not
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
very useful for building purposes. It is often a lead-bearing rock, and most of the lead of Cole County occurs in it. It is from 175 to 200 feet thick.
The second sandstone is usually a brown or yellowish brown, fine-grained sandstone, distinctly stratified in regular beds, vary- ing from two to eighteen inches in thickness. The surfaces are often ripple-marked and micaceous. It is sometimes quite fri- able, though generally sufficiently indurated for building pur- poses. The upper part is often composed of thin strata of light, soft and porous, semi-pulverulent, sandy chert or hornstone, whose cavities are usually lined with limpid crystals of quartz.
The Third Magnesian Limestone .- This also is an impor- tant member, occurring in nearly all the counties of Southern Missouri. It is generally a thick-bedded, coarsely crystalline bluish gray, or flesh-colored magnesian limestone, with occasional thick chert beds. It is the chief lead-bearing rock of South- east and Southern Missouri. In some counties it is as much as 300 feet thick.
The Third Sandstone is a white, saccharoidal sandstone, made up of slightly-cohering, transparent globular and angular par- ticles of silex. It shows but little appearance of stratification.
The Fourth Magnesian Limestone .- This formation presents more permanent and uniform lithological characters than any other of the magnesian limestones. It is ordinarily a coarse- grained, crystalline magnesian limestone, grayish-buff in color, containing a few crevices filled with less indurated, siliceous matter. Its thick, uniform beds contain but little chert. The best exposures of this formation are on the Niagara and Osage Rivers.
This magnesian limestone series is very interesting, both from a scientific and an economical standpoint. It covers a large part of Southern and Southeastern Missouri, is remarkable for its numerous and important caves and springs, and comprises nearly all the vast deposits of lead, zinc, copper, cobalt, the limi- nite ores of iron, and nearly all the marble beds of the State. The lower part of the first magnesian limestone, the saccharoidal sandstone, the second magnesian limestone, the second sand- stone, and the upper part of the third magnesian limestone be-
23
HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
long, without doubt, to the age of the calciferous sand rock; but the remainder of the series to the Potsdam sandstone.
AZOIC ROCKS.
Below the rocks of the silurian system there is a series of siliceous and other slates, which present no remains of organic life; we therefore refer them to the Azoic age of the geologist. They contain some of the beds of specular iron. In Pilot Knob we have a good exposition of these Azoic strata. The lower fossi- liferous rocks rest non-conformably on these strata.
IGNEOUS AND METAMORPHIC ROCKS.
Aside from the stratified rocks of Missouri, there is a series of rounded knobs and hills in St. Francois, Iron, Dent and the neighboring counties, which are composed of granite, porphyry, diorite and greenstone. These igneous and metamorphic rocks contain some of those remarkable beds of specular iron, of which Iron and Shepherd Mountains are samples. This iron ore often occurs in regular veins in the porphyry.
HISTORICAL GEOLOGY.
When the continent of North America began to emerge from the primeval ocean, Pilot Knob, Shepherd Mountain and the neighboring heights were among the first bodies of land that reared themselves above the surrounding waters. When Pilot Knob thus grew into an island, it stood alone in the ocean waste, except that to the northwest the Black Hills, to the northeast a part of the Alleghany system, and to the southwest a small cluster of rocks lifted their heads out of the flood. These islands were formed in the Azoic seas by mighty internal convulsions that forced up the porphyry and granite, the slates and iron beds of the great ore mountains of Missouri.
COAL.
The Missouri coal fields underlie an area of nearly 25,000 square miles, including about 160 square miles in St. Louis County, eight square miles in St. Charles, and some important outliers and pockets, which are mainly [cannel coal, in Lincoln,
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
Warren and Callaway Counties. This area includes about 8,400 square miles of upper coal measures, 2,000 square miles of exposed middle, and about 14,600 square miles of exposed lower measures.
The upper coal measures contain about four feet of coal, in- cluding two seams of one foot each in thickness, the others be- ing thin seams or streaks.
The middle coal measures contain about seven feet of coal, including two workable seams of twenty-one and twenty-four inches, one other of one foot, that is worked under favorable cir- cumstances, and six thin seams.
The lower measures contain about five workable seams of coal, varying in thickness from eighteen inches to four and one half feet, thin seams varying from six to eleven inches, and sev- eral minor seams and streaks, in all, thirteen feet, six inches of coal. We therefore have in Missouri, a total aggregate of twenty- four feet, six inches of coal. The thinner seams are not often mined, except in localities distant from railroad transportation.
All beds over eighteen inches thick are workable coals. The area where such may be reached within 200 feet from the surface is about 7,000 square miles. Most of the State under- laid by the coal measure is rich farming land. That under- laid by the upper measure includes the richest, which is equal to any upon the globe. The southeastern boundary of the coal measure has been traced from the mouth of the Des Moines through Clark, Lewis, Scotland, Adair, Macon, Shelby, Monroe, Audrain, Callaway, Boone, Cooper, Pettis, Benton, Henry, St. Clair, Bates, Vernon, Cedar, Dade, Barton and Jasper Counties into the Indian Territory, and every county on the northwest of this line is known to contain more or less coal. Great quantities exist in Johnson, Pettis, Lafayette, Cass, Chariton, Howard, Put- nam and Audrain. Outside the coal fields, as given above, the regular coal rocks also exist in Ralls, Montgomery, Warren, St. Charles, Callaway and St. Louis, and local deposits of cannel and bituminous coal in Moniteau, Cole, Morgan, Crawford, Lincoln and Callaway. In 1865 Prof. Swallow estimated the amount of good available coal in the State, at 134,000,000,000 tons. Since then numerous other developments have been made, and that es- timate is found to be far too small.
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
LEAD.
This mineral occurs in lodes, veins and disseminations, which are, as yet, only partially determined. Enough, however, is known of the number, extent, dip and thickness of these de- posits to show that their range and richness exceed those of any other lead-bearing region in the world.
Galena occurs in this State in ferruginous clay, that becomes jointed, or separates into distinct masses, quite regular in form, when taken out and partially dried; also in regular cubes, in gravel beds, or with cherty masses in the clays associated with the same. These cubes in some localities show the action of at- trition, while in others they are entirely. unworn. Lead is found in the carboniferous rocks, but perhaps the greater portion is ob- tained from the magnesian rocks of the lower silurian, and in one or two localities galena has been discovered in the rocks of the Azoic period. At Dugals, Reynolds County, lead is found in a disseminated condition in the porphyry.
THE SOUTHEAST LEAD DISTRICT.
The Mine La Motte region was discovered about 1720 by La Motte and Renault. It was not, however, until this territory was ceded to Spain that any considerable mining for lead was done in this part of Missouri. Moses Austin, of Virginia, secured from the Spanish Government a large grant of land near Potosi, and sunk the first regular shaft; and, after taking out large quantities of lead, erected, in 1789, the first reverberatory furnace for the reduction of lead ever built in America.
In all this region are found crystallized cubes of galena in the tallow clay, occurring as float. In Franklin, Washington and Jefferson Counties galena is found in ferruginous clay and coarse gravel, often associated with small masses of brown hema- tite iron and the sulphuret of iron; sometimes lying in small cavities or pockets.
The Virginia mine in Franklin County has produced by far the greater portion of lead from this section.
At the Webster mines, the silicate and carbonate of zinc are found always accompanying the lead. At the Valle mines silicate of zinc and baryta occur, as well as hematite iron ore. The
2
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
Mammoth mine was a succession of caves, in which millions of pounds of lead were found adhering to the sides and roof, and on the bottom was mixed with clay and baryta.
The Frumet or Einstein mines are the most productive ever opened in Jefferson County, and yield also large quantities of zinc ore. There are other valuable mines, in some of which sil- ver has been found.
In Washington County lead mining has been carried on un- interruptedly for a greater length of time, and more acres of land have been dug over that have produced lead than in any other county in the State.
In St. Francois County, lead deposits are found in the fer- ruginous clay and gravel. These mines formerly produced many millions of pounds, but have not been extensively worked for many years.
Over portions of Madison County considerable lead is found in the clay. There is lead in several locations in Iron County. In Wayne, Carter, Reynolds and Crawford Counties lead has been found.
Ste. Genevieve has a deposit of lead known as the Avon mines on Mineral Fork, where mining and smelting have been prosecuted for many years. In this vicinity lead has also been found as " float" in several places.
Lead exists in the small streams in several places in the western part of Cape Girardeau County.
In the region above described at least 2,000 square miles are underlaid with lead, upon which territory galena can be found almost anywhere, either in the clay, gravel openings, or in a disseminated condition.
The Central Lead district comprises the counties of Cole, Cooper, Moniteau, Morgan, Miller, Benton, Maries, Camden and Osage. During later years the lead development of Cole County has been more to the northwestern corner, passing into Moniteau and Cooper Counties. In the former several valuable mines have been opened.
The West diggings have been extensively developed and proved rich. The mineral is found in connected cubes in lime- stone rock, and lies in lodes and pockets. Lead has been found
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
in several places in Cooper and Osage Counties. The later dis- coveries in that vicinity, although not yet fully developed, give promise of great richness.
Camden County possesses considerable deposits of lead; a number of mines have been successfully worked, and, as the en- tire northern portion of the county is underlaid with the mag- nesian limestone formation, it may be discovered in many places where its existence has never been suspected. Miller County is particularly rich in galeniferous ore.
Paying lead has been found north of the Osage River. On the Gravois, Big Saline, Little Saline and Bush Creeks, and the Fox, Walker, Mount Pleasant and Saline Diggings have yielded millions of pounds of lead.
Benton County contains a number of lead deposits, the most important being the Cole Cany mines. Lead has been found as a " float " in many localities.
Morgan County, like Washington, can boast of having lead in every township, either as clay, mineral, "float," or in veins, lodes, pockets and caves. The magnesian limestone series of Morgan, in which the lead ores now are, or have all existed, are the most complete and well defined of any in Missouri.
The most extensive deposits of lead in Morgan County have been found south of the center of the county, yet in the north- western part are several well known lodes. We can not even name the hundreds of places in the county where lead is found in paying quantities. There seems to be a region, covering 200 square miles, entirely underlaid by lead. These wonderful deposits are as yet but partially worked.
The Southern Lead Region of the State comprises the coun- ties of Pulaski, Laclede, Texas, Wright, Webster, Douglas, Ozark and Christian. The mineral deposits of this region are only partially developed. In Pulaski County lead has been discovered in several localities. Laclede County has a number of lead deposits; one about eleven miles from Lebanon, where the ore is found in a disseminated condition in the soft magne- sian limestone. In the southwestern part of Texas County, along the headwaters of the Gasconade River, there are considerable deposits of lead ore. Wright County has a number of lead
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
mines almost unworked, which are situated in the southeastern part of the county, and are a continuation of the deposits in Texas County. In Douglas County, near the eastern line, and near Swan Creek, are considerable deposits of galena. Ozark and Christian Counties have a number of lead deposits, zinc being invariably found in connection.
The Western Lead District comprises Hickory, Dallas, Polk, St. Clair, Cedar and Dade Counties. In Hickory County quite extensive mining has been carried on, the larger deposits having been found near Hermitage. In the northern part of the county and along the Pomme de Terre River, lead occurs as "float," and in the rock formation. The more prominent lodes are found in the second magnesian limestone, with a deposit occurring in the third. The lead deposits of Hickory County are richer and more fully developed than any other in this district. Dallas County has a few deposits of lead, and float lead has been found in various localities in Polk. In St. Clair County the galeniferous deposits are in the second sandstone, and in the ferruginous clay, with chert, conglomerate and gravel. Cedar County presents a deposit of lead, copper and antimony. Galena is found in the clay and gravel. In Dade County a considerable quantity of galena has been found in the southeastern corner of the county.
The Southwest Lead District of Missouri comprises the coun- ties of Jasper, Newton, Lawrence, Stone, Barry and McDonald. The two counties first named produce more than one-half of the pig lead of Missouri, and may well boast their immense deposits of galeniferous wealth. The lead mining resources of Jasper and Newton Counties are simply inexhaustible, and new and rich deposits are continually being found. Lead ore seems to have been obtained here from the earliest recollection, and furnished supplies to the Indians during their occupation. Formerly, smelted lead, merchandise and liquor were the principal return to the miner for his labor, as the distance from market and the general condition of the country precluded enlarged capital and enterprise. Since the war capital has developed the hidden wealth, and systematized labor, and rendered it remunerative. This, with the additional railroad facilities, has brought the county prominently and rapidly before the public as one of the
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
most wonderful mining districts of the world. The total produc- tion of lead in Jasper County for the centennial year was, accord- ing to the estimates of the best authorities, over half the entire lead production of the State, and more than the entire lead produc- tion of any other State in the Union. Later statistics show a steady and rapid increase in the yield of these mines.
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