The History of Jackson county, Missouri, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc., biographical sketches of its citizens, Jackson county in the late warhistory of Missouri, map of Jackson county, Part 10

Author: Union Historical Company
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Kansas City, Mo. : Union historical company
Number of Pages: 1068

USA > Missouri > Jackson County > The History of Jackson county, Missouri, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc., biographical sketches of its citizens, Jackson county in the late warhistory of Missouri, map of Jackson county > Part 10

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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.

with great ease. The prairie of the county is gently rolling throughout its whole extent. The timber is of a good quality, but the original growth has, to a con- siderable extent, disappeared in some parts.

TIMBER.

The first settlements of the county were invariably made in the timber or contiguous thereto. The early settlers so chose both as a matter of necessity and convenience. The presence of timber aided materially in bringing about an early settlement, and it aided in two ways: first, the county had to depend on emigration from the older settled States of the East for its population, and espe- cially Kentucky and Tennessee. These States originally were almost covered with dense forests, and farms were made by clearing off certain portions of the timber. Almost every farm there, after it became thoroughly improved, still re- tained a certain tract of timber commonly known as "the woods." The woods is generally regarded as the most important part of the farm, and the average farmer regarded it as indispensable. When he emigrated west, one objection to Jackson county was the scarcity of timber, and he did not suppose that it would be possi- ble to open up a farm on the bleak prairie. To live in a region devoid of the familiar sight of timber seemed unendurable, and the average Kentuckian could not entertain the idea of founding a home away from the familiar forest trees. Then again the idea entertained by the early immigrants to Missouri, that timber was a necessity was not simply theoretical. The early settler must have a house to live in, fuel for cooking and heating purposes, and fences to inclose his claim. At that time there were no railroads by which lumber could be transported from the pineries. No coal mine had yet been opened and few if any had been discovered. Timber was an absolute necessity, without which material improve- ment was an impossibility.

No wonder that a gentleman from the East, who in early times came to the prairie region of Missouri on a prospecting tour with a view of permanent location, returned home in disgust and embodied his views of the country in the following rhyme :

"Oh! lonesome, windy, grassy place, Where buffalo and snakes prevail ; The first with dreadful looking face, The last with dreadful sounding tail! I'd rather live on camel hump, And be a Yankee Doodle beggar, Than where I never see a stump, And shake to deaths with fever'n ager."

The pioneers were in the main, descendants of the hardy backwoodsmen when that was a new country. When farms were opened in that country a large belt of timber was invariably reserved from which the farmer could draw his sup- ply of logs for lumber and fence rails for fencing, and fuel for heating and cook- ing purposes. Even to the present time, a farm without this accompanying patch of timber is exceedingly rare in those countries.

Having from their youth up become accustomed to the familiar sight of tim- ber, there is no wonder that the early immigrants were dissatisfied, deprived as they were of the familiar sight of timber and shut off from the familiar sound of the wind passing through the branches of the oaks.

In this day of railroads, herd laws, cheap lumber and cheap fuel, it is easy enough to open a farm and build up a comfortable home away out on the prairie, far from the timber. But not so under the circumstances surrounding the first settlers. There was no way of shipping lumber, coal mines were unknown, and before a parcel of land could be cultivated it was necessary to fence it. Hence,

HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.

the most important resource in the development of this western country, was the belts of timber which skirted the streams; and the settlers who first hewed out homes in the timber, while at present, not the most enterprising and progressive, were, nevertheless, an essential factor in the solution of the problem.

Along either side of the various streams which flow across the country, were originally belts of timber ; at certain places, generally near the mouths of the smaller tributaries, the belt of timber widened out, thus forming a grove, or what was frequently called a point, and at these points or groves were the first settle- ments made ; here were the first beginnings of civilization ; here "began to operate those forces which have made the wilderness a fruitful place and caused the desert to blossom as the rose."

Much of the primeval forest has been removed for the building of houses and the construction of fences; other portions and probably the largest part, have been ruthlessly and improvidently destroyed. This destruction of timber has been somewhat compensated by the planting of artificial groves. Among the most abundant of the trees originally found is the walnut, so highly prized in all countries for manufacturing purposes. Oaks, of several varieties, are still very plenty, although for many years this wood has been used for fuel. The best tim- ber in the State is to be found in this county. Detached groves, both natural and artificial, are found at many places throughout the county, which are not only ornamental, in that they vary the monotony, but are very useful in that they have a very important bearing on the climate. It is a fact fully demonstrated by the best authority that climate varies with the physiognomy of a country.

CHAPTER III.

GEOLOGY, BOTANY AND CLIMATE.

General Observations-Different Formations-Indications of Coal-Trees, Plants and other Pro- ductions-Horticulture-Bee Culture-Climate and Health-The Jackson County Cyclone- Climate, Health and Disease Continued.

A few introductory words may not be out of place at this time, and a brief synopsis of this chapter will doubtless benefit the reader and furnish a guide for the writer. In all branches of intellectual and physical labor some plan of operations is at first necessary. Every person who aspires to the position of an intelligent American citizen, capable of discharging all duties which attach to such a person, must read, and his reading should, if not extensive, be devoted to matters which particularly affect him in the proper understanding of home and local affairs ; he should be informed in regard to the history of his own State and county, he should, in brief, read just such a work as we propose to make the history of Jackson county. But if he should even read no more it would be well for him to have the facts of local Geology, Botany and Health presented in such a form that it may serve for reference. In this chapter we shall notice but briefly the most important facts in relation to these two sciences as they appertain to Jackson county. Jackson county might be taken as a representative county in the State, not only for agriculture, horticulture and internal improvements, but also in respect to its physical features, mineral resources, growth of forest trees and plants and cultivated crops of all kinds. Its soil, surface, drainage, salubrity of climate and other desirable qualities are not surpassed in the Union.

HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.

There are five sub-divisions of geological time, and beginning with the earliest formation they are named as follows : Azoic, or Archean, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic and Age of Man. The Paleozoic Time is divided into (1), the Silurian Age, or age of invertebrates, (2), the Devonian Age, or age of fishes, and (3), the Carboniferous Age, or age of the formation of coal. Mesozoic Time includes the Reptilian Age, or age of reptiles. The Cenozoic Time includes the Mam- malian Age, or age of mammals. This brings us to the Tertiary Period, or the geological formation which includes all the rock formations found in this county. The sub division of the Tertiary Period are, beginning with the lowest, the Eocene, the Miocene and Pliocene. The Quaternary, or time of the alluvial deposit ushering in the age of man is at the surface. The average thickness of the tertiary formation is 1,319 feet. The Quaternary, or Post tertiary formation, as it is sometimes called, extends to a depth in Jackson county ranging from a few feet to 150 feet. This last formation includes the bluff, or Loess formation, also the alluvial deposits and soils above the tertiary rocks. The Quaternary in- cludes three periods ; I, the Glacial, or the Drift ; 2, the Champlain, and 3, the Recent, or Terrance.

The following general vertical section of coal-measure rocks below the Jack- son county group is taken from the geological survey of Missouri for 1872. Be- ginning with the top rock at Kansas City and Independence, a strata thirty feet thick of irregularly bedded gray and buff thin bedded limestone, then blue clay shales with ochre concretions twenty-five feet thick, bluish gray limestone containing large fossils, nve feet thick, blue and bituminous shales two feet, even bed of cor- alline limestone one foot, blue shales within upper part, five feet, drab lime- stone nine feet, blue and olive shales five feet, nodular and buff shales two feet, irregularly bedded bluish drab limestone three feet, fossils eighteen feet, shales fifteen feet, blue limestone with fossils fourteen feet, blue clay shales two and one- half feet, rotten coal four inches, very dark blue silicious limestone with lenticu- lar forms and concretionary beds of black chert with numerous fossils especially in upper part, nine feet, fine-grained dove and drab-colored limestone with calcite specks throughout, nine feet four inches, shales five inches, irregularly bedded drab and blue limestone with some chert concretions and has buff shaly partings with fossils, three feet eight inches, blue shales five inches, concretionary ash-blue limestone fourteen inches, blue shales eleven inches, bituminous shales one foot, seven inches, clay shales, two feet, nodular and shelly fine grained limestone four feet, oolite limestone one foot, Bethany Falls limestone, dun and gray twenty feet, blue clay shales two feet, bituminous shales one foot four inches, blue clay shales seven inches, concretionary limestone six inches, blue clay shales two feet, gray and ferruginous limestone six feet, clay shales fourteen feet, calcareous sandstone and sandy limestone two feet."

The above rocks have entire thickness of 240 feet. The area and thickness of the coal measures are obtained from the same report: The upper or barren coal measures of Missouri include a vertical thickness of 1087 feet. To this we add 180 feet of the Atchison county rocks with probably about fifty feet of rock not seen in Missouri which should be placed at a lower geological position than our Atchison county rock, thus making a total of 1317 of upper coal measures, extending to the highest rock in Atchison county, and embracing an area of 8406 square miles, including the rocks in the counties of Atchison, Holt, Nodaway, Andrew, Buchanan, Clinton, Dekalb, Gentry, Worth, Harrison, Daviess, Platte, Clay, and most of Cass, Jackson Caldwell, with limited areas in Johnson, Lafay- ette, Ray, Livingston, Grundy and Mercer.

The south and last boundary of the upper coal measures is about as follows : Entering the State near the southwest part of Cass county, passing eastwardly, near Harrisonville, thence northeast across the mounds between Big Creek and Camp Branch, thence northeast to the middle of T. 46, R. 29, thence north tc

HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.

Chapel Hill in Lafayette county, thence via Oak Grove and Pink Hill or Owens' Landing on the Missouri River, crossing the river, the line passes down to the vicinity of Albany, Ray county, thence it tends off to the north part of Ray county and the line of Caldwell and Livingston counties, thence northwardly along the ridges on the west side of the east bank of Grand River, to the line of Grundy and Mercer counties, and thence northwardly to Iowa State line. Around and without this line are occasional outlines of upper coal measure rocks, for instance, Center Knob at Kingsville, Johnson county, and the knobs to the north, the long ridge east and north of Greenton, Lafayette county, Grady's Knob near Wellington and hills east of Grand River, Mercer county. Within this border where the streams have made deep erosions, the sandstones of the middle coal series are often exposed for some distance up stream, as for instance, on Big Creek, Cass county, nearly to Jackson county line, on Little Blue, Jack- son county, as far up as the middle of T.48 and on Shoal Creek, Caldwell coun- ty, nearly to Kingston, and up the west fork of Grand River above Gallatin.

In this great thickness of upper coal measures, only about eight thin seams of coal are found, amounting in the aggregate to about four feet, including one of ten inches, another of about a foot, two are three inches in thickness and the others mere streaks of one to two inches thick.

COAL.

Speaking more particular of coal, it may be proper first to observe that in the fall of 1859, a company was formed for the purpose of sinking a shaft, and the shares at that time were $100 each. The members of the company, so far as the writer can now collect, were, J. A. Lobb, R. N. Hudspeth, John Wilson, David Waldo, Wm. McCoy, W. N. White, N. B. Stone and M. O. Jones. There was no money paid in at that time neither was the company fully organiz- ed, and the war put an end to the undertaking before the work was done. The theory advanced at that time was, that coal in paying quantities had been found all around Jackson county, and that from the known laws of the coal measures it must underlie our county ; but deeper than in some counties adjacent. The Lexington coal formation had been traced as far up the Missouri River as Napo- leon, where it was to be seen at low water mark, and that it still continued, was evidenced from the fact the floods of 1844 threw up quite a quantity of coal on the head of an island just below Cogswell's (now Mathews') landing. Jonathan Colcord hauled several loads from thence to blacksmith shops in and near Sibley. Some of the blocks were as large as two men could lift and the coal was said to be of the best quality.

A. M. Allen, living near Cogswell's landing, about two years before the war, struck a layer of excellent coal about eighteen inches thick, in a well some thirty- five or forty feet deep, at the foot of a bluff in Fire Prairie bottom. A mile or two south of Mr. Allen's discovery in the hills of Fire Prairie Creek, coal has also been found of about the same thickness. The last mentioned formation can be traced through the Bone Hill country to Sni-a-bar Creek, and across the creek up Horse Shoe Branch to the neighborhood of Oak Grove. The next best sur- face indications are to be found about three miles northwest of Lone Jack, on the head waters of Sni-a-bar Creek, where sand rock, similar to the sand rock that overlies the Warrensburg coal, is to found, but no coal has been discovered or even prospected for at this place. Surface indications in nearly all the remaining portions of Jackson county are not good, and the presumption is, if we get coal outside of the above named localities, we must go deep, although there are nu- merous beds of shale or slate all over the county, and some of them carry a very thin seam of coal, as may seen in the railroad cut north of Little Blue station on the Missouri Pacific Railroad.

We will now glance at the configuration of our county with reference to coal

HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.

deposits. Stratified coal, in the carboniferous age, it is conceded, extended over great areas of country, and at that time the deposits were about on the same level ; the thickness of the deposits were not uniform, but would vary gradually at differ- ent places. In subsequent geologic periods the strata of the earth's surface be- came greatly changed, so that in some places they were wavy, in other places broken by faults or other depressions, and in other places, particularly in mountain- ous countries, they were changed by upheaval and the shrinkage of the earth into folds of every conceivable angle, from the horizontal to the perpendicular.

The surface of our county gives but little evidence of upheaval, hence all stratified formations that are in place, including the coal measures, have not changed their former horizontal positions abruptly, but gradually, and have gener- ally a wavy dip or angle of depression for consideration, and then changing the angle for some other direction. The dip of the stratifications in this county ap- pears to be toward the west or northwest, and the geologic, or rock formations at the water's edge Kansas City are similar to the formations on the top of Bone Hill in the eastern part of the county. From the foregoing it appears that if coal exists in the central and western portions of the county, it must lie deeper than it does farther east. There is presumptive evidence of its existence deep in the earth at Kansas City, since in all their deep borings around that place they strike an inflammable gas, which we cannot well account for, unless we consider that it arises from carboniferous deposits in that locality, and we know that still farther to the northwest the enterprising citizens of Leavenworth have developed coal in paying quantities some hundreds of feet below the level of the Missouri River. From the foregoing deductions we conclude that enterprise will develop coal in almost any locality in Jackson county, if there is only the purse and nerve to go deep enough.

The great consideration is, can we find coal in sufficient quantities by going deep to obtain it.

We cannot flatter ourselves that the stratum that appears at Lexington, un- less it becomes thicker, would pay in deep excavations, but the experience in coal mining is, that the first stratum indicates other strata below, which, as a rule, are thicker and of better quality; we would also state, that since the dip of the coal measures in this county are toward the west or northwest, the inference ob- tains that the coal deposits in Jackson County are in a kind of basin, since the coal formations again appear at or near the surface north and west of this county. If this basin-like depression had commenced forming in the carboniferous period, which seems probable, then we may look for an increase in the thickness of the coal strata throughout this basin on the same principle that we look for a deeper soil in low situations.

The next inquiry is, where to find the best localities for prospecting. In making a selection, we must not deceive ourselves because we have found a bed of shale or slate cropping out of a hill or ravine, or a spring of mineral water, and conclude that by following them into the hill we shall find coal, since we have good evidence, as above stated, that if we find it we must go deep-deeper per- haps than the bed of the Missouri River, consequently deeper than any tributary of that stream. In our view of the proper place to begin work, would be in the bottom lands of some streain, and near where such bottom lands meet the hill or bluff, since in such situations the formations have not been changed at any great distance beneath the surface by the action of water in ages past.

This was the plan adopted at Leavenworth where they sunk their shafts at the foot of the bluff and near the margin of the Missouri River. They are at work there on the second stratum, and although they are so near they river, they experience no inconvenience from an influx of water. In an enterprise like this, experienced men should select the site for operations with an eye to railroad facil- ities as well as the lay of the ground. If coal can be found in paying quantities,

HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.

it would undoubtedly pay better (everything else being equal) to have the works located near Kansas City; but we have reasons to believe that we would reach the coal measures sooner and at less cost east of Independence in the bottom lands of Little Blue or Fire Prairie Creek, where we might reasonably expect to strike the first or Lexington formation between one and two hundred feet.

Prospecting for coal should be done by boring, the cost of which would be much less than the sinking of a shaft. A capital of many thousand dollars would be needed to purchase lands, buy and put up the necessary machinery, buildings and fixtures required to carry forward the work.

It is perfectly reasonable to expect that the mineral wealth stored up in the bosom of historic old Jackson, will be utilized in the coming years of progress.

Taking the dip of the rocks from Lexington, distance about forty miles east, and also the fall of the river, we may calculate (1) the dip, in a general westerly di- rection, which is about three feet to the mile, which would make about 120 feet below the river at this place, and (2) the fall of the river plus 120 feet would give the depth at which a good vein of coal would be found below low water mark of our own river frontage at Wayne City.

We are located in what is known as the upper or barren coal measures, which are about 300 feet below what is known as No. 78, in the State survey, and which rocks outcrop of the bluff at Wayne City about fifty feet above the river, and the peculiar formation of the rock with their stratification and above all, the fossils found here, is evidence that coal is there in paying quantities, provided the bor- ing or shaft is sunk deep enough, which, at the elevation of the courthouse, would be about 700 or 800 feet.

Mr. Thomas, an old miner, whose experience in coal digging extends to for. ty years under ground in the business, and who has prospected all over the county and found what there is in small seams, and knows well their different lo- calities, is sanguine that a four foot vein of coal can be had.

It appears that we are here right over the deepest part of a basin of coal, as all around us coal is found, some places outcropping and at various depths, as for instance we have an eight-inch vein on Little Blue River, this is, however, an inferior quality ; and closer to the city on Mill Creek we have a good vein of coal of four inches, and on Rock Creek a two-inch vein of very good bituminous coal, while in the bluffs at Wayne City a vein of semi-anthracite eighteen inches in thickness outcrops, and burns with all the characteristics of the Lehigh coal and leaves as pure and white ash as can be found in any coal.

Geologists give in their general sections of the upper coal measures a series of 224 strata of rocks, shales and clays. We here in our neighborhood have nu- meral order about No. 100, the public springs of Independence coming out of No. 98, so it can be seen from a geological point of view, our horizon is not as near as in Atchison where No. 224 outcrops, and at places is 1087 feet. Where here it is about 245 feet, in Platte and Buchanan counties No. 159 outcrops and is the highest there, and has a geological elevation of 757 feet. A geological hori- zon must not be confounded with a geographical horizon, for the latter refers to the level of the earth, whereas the former refers to the upheaval of the rock, caus- ed by the shrinking of the earth's crust. As for instance, Independence is geo- logically higher than the Rocky Mountains.

Our rocks are mostly limestone, but on the eastern part we have a carbonif- erous sandstone, and at Kansas City there occurs in the bluff in one strata about one foot of the same and about the foot of the bluff at Wayne City. No. 98 is the top rock at Kansas City and Parkville, and in it may be found fossils that give good indications of the much sought for carbon which has called forth so much discussion and labor. They are unerring guides to the rich treasures lying be- low. Among them we find three varieties of Productus, also Terebratula bovi- dens, Athyris subtilita, Meekella, Myalina quadricostatus, Plerutomaria tabulata,

HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.

P, spherulata, Machrochular Chonites, Athyris and Orthis (Brachropods) and among the Lamellibranchs Macrodon carbonarius and Allorisma subcuneata. Among the Radiates we find Corals and crinoides, and varieties of fish teeth, notably several varieties of Petalodonts and Placoids which are abundant in a quarry just east of Independence. We also have the Proetus Euprops, Dana, Spirorbis and numerous other fossils belonging to the carboniferous age, that if mentioned here would take too much space.

Stratum 98 is about thirty feet thick. We next come to bluish gray limestone. We find here the first and upper traces of Trilobites, Philli sia and other numer- ous fossils and scales of the Lepidodendron, transformed from their native trees as the epidermis of them to a beautiful sulphuret of iron, and preserving their shape in all their pristine beauty still luring the enthusiast on to deeper diggings to find what must be below, viz: Thicker and better veins of carbon which in- crease as we go deeper.

WEEPING MOUNTAIN ASH.

HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.

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The History of Jackson county, Missouri, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc., biographical sketches of its citizens, Jackson county in the late warhistory of Missouri, map of Jackson county, Part 10

Author: Union Historical Company Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Kansas City, Mo. : Union historical company Number of Pages: 1068

Author: Union Historical Company
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Kansas City, Mo. : Union historical company
Number of Pages: 1068