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 3
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 3
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One fact, worthy of notice, is, that Jasper County, the great- est lead producing county of the greatest lead producing State, raises every year, upon her farms, products of more value than the lead dug in any one year from her mines.
IRON.
In the mining, shipping, smelting and manufacturing of the ores of iron, there is, perhaps, more capital invested and more labor employed than in all the other metal industries of our State combined.
There are three principal and important iron regions in Mis- souri, namely :
The Eastern Region, composed of the southeastern limonite district, and the Iron Mountain specular ore district.
The Central Region, containing principally specular ores.
The Western or Osage Region, with its limonites and red hematites.
These three principal regions combined form a broad ore belt running across the State from the Mississippi to the Osage, in a direction about parallel to the course of the Mississippi River from southeast to northwest, between the thirtieth and fortieth township lines. The specular ores occupy the middle portion of this belt, the limonites both ends of it. The latter are besides spread over the whole southern half of the State, while these sub- carboniferous hematites occur only along the southern border of the North Missouri coal field, having thus an independent dis- tribution, and being principally represented in Callaway, St. Clair and Henry Counties.
Iron Mountain is the greatest exposure of specular iron yet discovered. It is the result of igneous action, and is the purest mass or body of ore known. The work of years has only just un- covered the massive columns of specular ore that seems to pass
30
HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
down through the porphyry and granite to the source of their exist- ence. The region about is covered with the ore debris. The broken masses have the same general color and quality as the vein ore of Iron Mountain. The fresh fracture presents a light gray, tinged distinctly with blue. The crystallization is often coarse, presenting an irregular fracture. All the ore is more or less mag- netic. The streak is a bright cherry red, and possesses the hard- ness of 6. Analysis shows it to contain from 65 to 69 per cent of metallic iron.
The ore of Shepherd Mountain is called a magnetite. In some portions of the veins it shows itself to be granular, brown in color, and to have a clear black streak. Other portions present all the qualities of a specular ore. In portions of the specular, as well as magnetite, beautiful crystals of micaceous ore are found. The streak of this specular and micaceous is a dark red ; the hardness is about 5, with from 64 to 67 per cent of metallic iron. The magnetic qualities of this ore are quite variable, usually the strongest at or near the surface, but this is not the case in all the veins. The ore of Shepherd Mountain is superior to any yet developed in Missouri, not quite as rich as that of Iron Mountain, but so uniform in character, and devoid of sulphur and phosphoric acid that it may be classed as supe- rior to that, or any other ore that we have.
The ore of Pilot Knob is fine grained, very light bluish gray in color, and with a hardness representing 6, with a luster sub- metallic. There is a most undoubted stratification to the deposi - tion, occurring as before indicated. The ore of Pilot Knob gives from 53 to 60 per cent metallic iron, and is almost free from deleterious substances. The ore below the slate seam is much the best, containing only about from 5 to 12 per cent of silica, while the poorer ores show sometimes as high as 40 per cent. There have been more than 200,000 surface feet of ore de- termined to exist here.
The Scotia Iron Banks, located on the Meramec River, in Crawford County, are most remarkable formations. Here the specular ore is a deep, steel gray color, with a metallic luster. The crystals are fine, and quite regular in uniformity. This ore is found in the shape of boulders, sometimes small and sometimes
31
HISTORY : OF MISSOURI.
of immense size, resting in soft red hematites, that have been pro- duced by the disintegration of the specular ores. These boulders contain a great number of small cavities in which the ore has as- sumed botryoidal forms ; and upon these, peroxide iron crystalliza- tions are so formed that a most gorgeous show of prismatic colors is presented. The hardness of this ore is about 6; the soft red ore, in which it occurs, not more than 23.
In these banks there are some carbonates and ochraceous ores, but not in any quantity to deteriorate or materially change the character of the other ores. Many of the boulders present a soft red mass with a blue specular kernel in the center. This ore is found to be slightly magnetic, and gives from 58 to 69 per cent metallic iron.
Simmons Mountain, one-half mile south of Salem, Dent County, is about 100 feet high, and covers nearly forty acres. The second sandstone is the country rock and at the summit is uncovered, and mixed with specular and brown ores. Down the elevation larger masses of ore are met with that have the appear- ance of being drifts from the main deposit higher up. Shafts have been sunk in this elevation determining more than thirty feet of solid ore. The ore is a splendid, close, compact, brilliant specular, very hard and free from deleterious substances. The ores of this mountain do not show nearly as much metamorphism as many of the other banks in the second sandstone of this re- gion. The ore is quite strongly magnetic, and gives a bright red streak. This is the largest specular iron deposit, with the exception of Iron Mountain, that is known in the State.
Some of the most extensive red hematite banks in Missouri are located in Franklin County. Along the Bourbense there are thirteen exposures of fine red hematite iron ore. Near Dry Branch Station is an elevation, capped at the summit with saccha- roidal sandstone, beneath which there is a large body of red and specular ore. The red hematite, however, predominates, and is remarkably pure and free from sulphur or other deleterious sub- stances. The sinking of a number of shafts upon this hill reaches the deposits in several places, in all of which the red hem- atite shows itself to be the prevailing ore. This ore will be found to work well with the hard specular and ores of the siliceous character, like Pilot Knob.
32
HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
In Miller, Maries, Cole and Camden Counties, also in Bol- linger, Stoddard and Butler Counties, along the line of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railroad, there are a number of red hematite banks of considerable promise. There are simi- lar banks in the northern part of Texas and Wright Counties, and in Morgan. Benton, Cedar and Laclede.
In Wayne County there are over seventy different limonite ore banks. In Miller, Maries, Camden, Cole, Moniteau and Cal- laway Counties there are very extensive banks of the same kind. In Morgan, Benton, St. Clair, Cedar, Hickory and Vernon Coun- ties, considerable brown hematite has been found.
In Franklin, Gasconade, Phelps, Crawford, Laclede, Chris- tian, Webster and Green Counties, large limonite beds have been found. In the Moselle region very large deposits have been opened and worked for many years. In Osage County there are a number of promising brown ore banks, as well as fine specular and red hematite.
It is impossible, in the brief space at our command, to de- scribe the number of banks, rich in iron ore, which are situated in the above and other counties of our State; but a glance at the tables found in the works of prominent geologists of the State, will give some idea of the resources of Missouri as an iron pro- ducing region.
ZINC.
The ores of zinc in Missouri are almost as numerous as those of lead. They are distributed throughout almost all the geolog- ical strata, and scattered through nearly every mineral district; but the principal supply of the metal for commercial purposes is obtained from a very few ores, the more important of which are zinc blende (sulphuret of zinc), the silicate of zinc and the carbonate of zinc, and these are furnished by a comparatively few localities.
In reference to their geological position, the ores are in two classes: The first class includes all zinc ores which occur in the regular veins of the older rocks, and hence are associated with other metalliferous ores. The second mode of occurrence, and the ore by far of paramount importance in Missouri, is that of the third magnesian limestone of the lower silurian series, where
33
HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
it usually occurs in association with galena in the cave formation.
Zinc blende abounds at Granby and Joplin, and is found at many other mines of the southwest. It also occurs at the lead mines of Franklin and Washington Counties, and at some other points in Southeast Missouri.
The pockets of coal in Central Missouri nearly all contain zinc blende. The lead mines of the same section also sometimes carry it.
There are quantities of silicate of zinc at Granby and Joplin, and the ore is found at most of the lead mines of the southwest, and occasionally in Central and Southeast Missouri. Carbonate of zinc occurs at Granby, Joplin, Minersville and Valle's mines. It is in the Granby, Joplin and Valle mining districts that zinc ore is principally worked.
COPPER.
Several varieties of copper ore exist in the Missouri mines. The copper mines of Shannon, Madison and Franklin Counties have been known for a long time. Some of those in Shannon and Franklin were once worked with bright prospects of success, and some in Madison have yielded good results for many years.
Deposits of copper have been discovered in Dent, Crawford, Benton, Maries, Green, Lawrence, Dade, Taney, Dallas, Phelps, Reynolds and Wright Counties, but the mines in Franklin, Shan- non, Madison, Crawford, Dent and Washington give greater promise of yielding profitable results than any other yet dis- covered.
NICKEL AND COBALT.
These ores abound at Mine La Motte and the old copper mines in Madison County, and are also found at the St. Joseph mines.
Sulphuret of nickel, in beautiful hair-like crystals, is found in the limestone at St. Louis, occupying drusy cavities, resting on calcite or fluor spar.
MANGANESE.
The peroxide of manganese has been found in several locali- ties in Ste. Genevieve and other counties.
34
HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
SILVER AND GOLD.
Silver occurs to a limited extent in nearly all the lead mines in the State. Gold, though found in small quantities, has never been profitably worked in any part of Missouri.
MARBLE.
Missouri has numerous and extensive beds of marble of vari- ous shades and qualities. Some of them are very valuable, and are an important item in the resources of the State.
Fort Scott marble is a hard, black, fine-grained marble, with veins of yellow, buff and brown. It receives a fine polish, and is very beautiful. It belongs to the coal measures, and is common in the western part of Vernon County.
There are several beds of fine marbles in the St. Louis lime- stone, of St. Louis County.
The fourth division of encrinital limestone is a white, coarse- grained crystalline marble of great durability. It crops out in several places in Marion County.
The lithographic limestone furnishes a fine, hard-grained, bluish-drab marble, that contrasts finely with white varieties in tessellated pavements.
The Cooper marble of the devonian limestone has numerous pellucid crystals of calcareous spar disseminated through a drab or bluish-drab, fine compact base. It exists in great quantities in some localities of Cooper and Marion Counties, and is admira- bly adapted to many ornamental uses. There are extensive beds of fine, variegated marbles in the upper silurian limestones of Cape Girardeau County. Cape Girardeau marble is also a part of the Trenton limestone, located near Cape Girardeau. It is nearly white, strong and durable. This bed is also found near Glencoe, St. Louis County.
In the magnesian limestone series there are several beds of very excellent marble. Near Ironton there are beds of semi- crystalline, light-colored marbles, beautifully clouded with buff and flesh colors. In the third magnesian limestone, on the Niangua, is a fine-grained, crystalline, silico-magnesian limestone, light drab, slightly tinged with peach blossom, and beautifully clouded with deep flesh-colored shades. It is twenty feet thick,. and crops out in the bluffs of the Niangua for a long distance.
35
1225202 HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
There are numerous other beds in the magnesian limestones, some of which are white and others so clouded as to present the appearance of breccias.
The Ozark marbles are well known, some of them having been used to ornament the Capitol at Washington. Wherever the magnesian limestones come near the igneous rocks, we may expect to find them so changed as to present beds of the beautiful variegated marbles.
SULPHATE OF BARYTA.
In its pure white form, this mineral is very abundant in Mis- souri. It occurs in large beds in the mining regions, as the gangue of our lead veins, and as large masses, especially in the magnesian limestone of the lower silurian rocks. It is utilized as a pigment in connection with lead, and may be made valuable for the same purpose in connection with some of our ferruginous and argillaceous paints.
CLAYS.
Fire clays, possessing refractory qualities, suitable for making fire brick, occur beneath most of the thicker coal seams.
Potter's clay is abundant, especially among the coal measure clays. It is also sometimes found associated with the lower car- boniferous rocks.
Kaolin is only found in Southeast Missouri, where porphyries or granites prevail.
Brick clays have been found and worked in nearly all the counties where there has been a demand for them. The argilla- ceous portions of the bluff formation make good brick, as shown in the brick yards all along our large rivers. Some of the ter- tiary clays will make the very best brick.
CAVES, ETC.
There are several very interesting and quite remarkable caves in the State. Hannibal Cave, situated one mile below the city of Hannibal, and about a quarter of a mile from the Mississippi River, is approached through a broad ravine, hemmed in by lofty ridges, which are at right angles with the river. The ante- chamber is about eight feet high and fifteen feet long. This
36
HISTORY Y OF MISSOURI.
descends into the Narrows, thence through Grand Avenue to Washington Avenue, and through the latter to Altar Chamber. This is a ferruginous limestone formation, and crystal quartz, carbonate of lime and sulphate of magnesia abound. Stalactites and stalagmites are continually forming by limestone percola- tions. In Bat Avenue Chamber the bats may be seen hanging from the ceiling in clusters, like swarms of bees, some of them fifteen inches from tip to tip. Washington Avenue, over sixteen feet high, with long corridors of stalactites and stalagmites, is the largest division of the cave. It contains a spring, and a deep pool, in which are found the wonderful eyeless fish. The Devil's Hall, Alligator Rock, Elephant's Head, two natural wells filled with limpid water, Table Rock, and numbers of other curiosities, will amply repay the tourist for his exploration.
Cliff Cave, thirteen miles below St. Louis, has been utilized by the Cliff Cave Wine Company as a wine cellar.
There are several caves in Miller County, the largest of which is on Big Tavern Creek, in the bluff near its confluence with the Osage River. The entrance is about twenty-five feet square, and is situated thirty or forty feet above the river, in a solid lime- stone bluff. During the civil war it was used as a retreat by the bandit, Crabtree. The stalactite formations are of strange and fantastic appearance, some of them looking like colossal images of marble, and the whole effect by torchlight is weird and solemn.
Phelps County contains several interesting caves, the most accessible of which is Freide's Cave, about nine miles northwest of Rolla. Its mouth is 60 feet in width and 35 feet in height. It has been penetrated to a distance of three miles without find- ing any outlet. The Stalactite Chamber is a beautiful apartment 200 yards in length, varying from 15 to 30 feet in width, and from 5 to 30 feet in height. The Bat Chamber contains thou- sands of wagon loads of guano, which is extensively used by the farmers of the neighborhood. The cave also contains quantities of saltpetre, and during the war large amounts of powder were manufactured there.
There are also caves in Christian County. The principal one is two and a half miles northeast of Ozark. Its entrance is
37
HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
through a rock arch 50 feet across and 80 feet high. About 400 feet from the entrance, the passage is so contracted that the ex- plorer must crawl through on his hands and knees. A fine stream of water, clear and cold, gurgles down through the cave.
About twelve miles south of Ozark, near the Forsyth road, on the top of a very high hill, is a small opening, which, about 100 feet from the surface, expands into a hall 30 feet wide and about 400 feet long, the sides and top of which are of rock lined with beautiful stalactites.
In Stone County at least twenty-five caves have been explored and many more discovered. One mile from Galena is an exten- sive cave from which the early settlers procured saltpetre in large quantities. About two and a half miles above this is a smaller one of great beauty. From the ceiling depend glittering stalac- tites, while the floor sparkles with fragments of gem-like luster. A pearly wall, of about half an inch in thickness and 15 inches high encloses a miniature lake, through whose pellucid waters the wavy stalagmite bottom of this natural basin can be plainly seen. The sacred stillness of the vaulted chamber renders its name, "The Baptismal Font," a peculiarly fitting one.
A cave about twelve miles from Galena is well known among curiosity seekers in the adjacent country. The entrance cham- ber is a large dome-shaped room, whose ceiling is very high; a glittering mound of stalagmites rises in the center of the room, nearly one-third the height of the ceiling; stretching out at right angles from this are long shining halls leading to other grand arched chambers, gorgeous enough for the revels of the gnome king, and all the genii of the subterranean world. One can not but think of the Inferno, as, wandering down a labyrinth- ian passage, he reaches the verge of an abyss, striking perpen- dicularly to unknown and echoless depths. The name, “Bot- tomless Pit," is well bestowed on this yawning gulf.
Knox Cave, in Green County, about seven miles northwest of Springfield, is of large dimensions, and hung in some parts with the most beautiful stalactites.
Fisher's Cave, six miles southeast of Springfield, is of simi- lar dimensions, and has a beautiful stream of water flowing out of it.
38
HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
There are a number of saltpetre caves along the banks of the Gasconade, which were once profitably worked. Some of these caves are large and interesting, consisting frequently of a succession of rooms joined to each other by arched halls of a considerable height, with walls of white limestone, upon which, as well as upon the floors, the saltpetre is deposited, and is gen- erally so pure as to need but one washing to prepare it for use or export. When these caves were first discovered, it was not unusual to find in them stone-axes and hammers which led to the belief that they had formerly been worked for some un- known purpose by the savages. It is doubtful whether these tools were left there by the Indians or by another and more civil- ized race which preceded them.
There are numerous caves in Perry County, two of which penetrate beneath Perryville.
Connor's Cave, seven miles southeast of Columbia, has an en- trance twenty feet wide and eight feet high, and has been ex- plored for several miles.
There are extensive and beautiful caves in Texas, Webster, Lawrence, Laclede, Oregon and several other counties.
MINERAL SPRINGS.
Salt springs are exceedingly abundant in the central part of the State. They discharge vast quantities of brine in Cooper, Saline, Howard and the adjoining counties. These brines are near the navigable waters of the Missouri, in the midst of an abundance of wood and coal, and might furnish salt enough to supply all the markets of the continent.
Sulphur Springs are also numerous throughout the State. The Chouteau Springs in Cooper, the Monagaw Springs in St. Clair, the Elk Springs in Pike, and the Cheltenham Springs in St. Louis County, have acquired considerable reputation as me- dicinal waters, and have become popular places of resort. There are similar sulphur springs in other parts of the State.
Chalybeate Springs .- There are a great many springs in the State which are impregnated with some of the salts of iron. Those containing carbonates and sulphates are most common, and several of these are quite celebrated for their medicinal properties.
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
Sweet Springs on the Blackwater, and the Chalybeate Spring in the University campus, are perhaps the most noted of the kind in the State. The Sweet Springs flow from cavities in the upper beds of the Burlington limestone. The hill is here forty- seven feet high above water in the Blackwater, spreading out at the back in a flat table-land. The spring itself is about twenty- feet above the river, and has a sweetish alkaline taste. It is use- ful as a promoter of general good health, and is much resorted to at the proper season. The water is used for ordinary cooking and drinking purposes, except for making tea.
Petroleum Springs .- These are found in Carroll, Ray, Ran- dolph, Cass, Lafayette, Bates, Vernon and other counties. Many of these springs discharge considerable quantities of oil. The variety called lubricating oil is the most common. It is impossi- ble to tell whether petroleum will be found in paying quantities in these localities, but there is scarcely a doubt that there are reservoirs of considerable quantities.
MANUFACTURING.
The State of Missouri presents every facility for extensive and successful manufacturing; abundant timber of the best quality, exhaustless deposits of coal, iron, lead, zinc, marble and granite, unmeasured water power, distributed over the State, a home mar- ket among an industrious and wealth-accumulating people, and a system of navigable rivers and railway trunk line and branches, that permeate, not only the State, but reach out in direct lines from gulf to lake, and from ocean to ocean.
Of the manufacturing in Missouri over three-quarters of the whole is done in St. Louis, which produced in 1880, $114,333,375 worth of manufactured articles, thus placing her as the sixth manufacturing city in the Union, being surpassed only by New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Brooklyn and Boston.
The leading manufacturing counties of the State are St. Louis, Jackson, Buchanan, St. Charles, Marion, Franklin, Greene, Cape Girardeau, Platte, Boone, Lafayette, followed by Macon, Clay, Phelps, St. Francois, Washington and Lewis.
The subjoined table, arranged from the tenth United States census, will give the reader a comprehensive view of the pres-
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
ent state of manufacturing in Missouri, and its variation during recent years.
Average Number of Hands Employed.
Year.
No.Es- tablishı- ments.
Capital.
Males
Above
16 Years.
Females
Above
p 15 Years.
Children
and Youths.
Total Amount Paid in Wages During the Year.
Value of Materials.
Value of Products.
1850
2.923
$ 8,576,607 20,034,220
14,880
928
$ 4,692,648 6,669,916
$ 12,798,351 23,849,941
1870
11,871
80,257,244
55,904
3,884
5,566
1880
8,592
72,507,844
54,200
5,474
4,321
31,055,445 24,309,716
115,533,269 110,798,392
$ 24,324,418 41,782,731 206,213,429 165,386,205
1860
3,157
18,628
1,053
The products of the principal lines of manufacturing inter- ests, for the year 1880, are as follows: flouring and grist mills, $32,438,831; slaughtering and meat packing, $14,628,630; tobac- co, $6,810,719; iron, steel, etc., $5,154,090; liquors, distilled and malt, $5,575,607; clothing, $4,409,376; lumber, $6,533,253; bag- ging and bags, $2,597,395; saddlery and harness, $3,976,175; oil, $851,000; foundry and machine shop products, $6,798,832; printing and publishing, $4,452,962; sugar and molasses, $4,475,- 740; boots and shoes, $1,982,993; furniture, $2,380,562; paints, $2,825,860; carriages and wagons, $2,483,738; marble and stone works, $1,003,544; bakery products, $3,250,192; brick and tile, $1,602,522; tinware, copper ware and sheet-iron ware, $1,687,- 320; sash, doors and blinds, $1,232,670; cooperage, $1,904,822; agricultural implements, $1,141,822; patent medicines, $1,197,- 090; soap and candles, $1,704,194; confectionery, $1,247,235; drugs and chemicals, $1,220,211 ; gold and silver reduced and re- fined, $4,158,606.
These, together with all other mechanical industries, aggre- gate $165,386,205.
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