USA > Missouri > Buchanan County > The history of Buchanan County, Missouri > Part 10
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"As 'wild' grasses are subdued, and 'tame' ones take their places- as the prairies are changed into wheat fields and corn fields, and swamps are drained, shade trees planted in some places and forests thinned in others-when roads are opened and dwellings modernized as is rapidly being done, it will then be the healthiest improved country, as it is now the healthiest by nature, of all the Western States. A climate that is never too cold in winter nor too hot in summer for health ; where neither drought nor wet seasons exist, but enough variety of temperature of seasons, combined with its altitude and latitude and healthy atmos- phere to produce the highest and best types of the lower animals, as well as man, my prediction is that the human beings who will in the near future dwell here, will be both physically and mentally superior to those born and reared in either a colder or warmer climate. They will be
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HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY.
freer from all zymotic and other diseases which render feeble both mind and body in other climates. The child born here should grow to healthy, vigorous maturity, with great nerve force, energy and perse- verance, without any sickness except of an accidental nature, and ought to be ashamed to die before the age of 75 years."
SOIL.
There is a variety of soil, as well as surface in the county. Portions along the Missouri River, in particular, are somewhat broken and uneven, but the soil is productive and peculiarly well adapted for the growth of grasses. Along the river bottoms the soil is very deep and rich, owing to the heavy accretions, and there corn especially is raised with success. As a rule, the soil of the county is better adapted to the growth of grass and the cultivation of corn than to the production of the other cereals.
PRAIRIES.
" Lo! they stretch
In airy undulations, far away,
As if an ocean in its gentlest swell Stood still, with all its rounded billows fixed And motionless forever. Motionless ?
No, they are all unchained again. The clouds
Sweep over with their shadows, and beneath,
The surface rolls and fluctuates to the eye ;
Dark hollows seem to glide along and chase The sunny ridges. Breezes of the South ! Who toss the golden and the flame-like flowers,
And pass the prairie hawk, that, poised on high,
Flaps his broad wings, yet moves not-ye have played
Among the palms of Mexico and vines Of Texas, and have crisped the limpid brooks Thạt from the fountains of Sonora glide Into the calm Pacific-have ye fanned A nobler or a lovelier scene than this ? Man hath no part in all this glorious work ; The hand that built the firmament hath heaved And smoothed these verdant swells, and sown their hopes With herbage, planted them with island groves, And hedged them round with forests. Fitting floor For this magnificent temple of the sky- With flowers whose glory and whose multitude
Rival the constellations ! The great heavens Seem to stoop down upon the scene in love -- A nearer vault, and a tenderer hue Than that which bends above the eastern hills."
About one-half of the county is prairie and mostly of a very excel- lent quality. Prairies, however, are not found in this county of so great extent as in most counties of the State and there are none
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HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY.
in which the soil is of an inferior character. On nearly all of the divides between the rivers and running streams, are found large tracts of beautiful, rolling prairie lands, well drained, easily cultivated, highly productive and conveniently located to water, timber, mills and markets. The character of the soil in these prairies is such that good crops are raised even during the very wet and very dry sea- sons. The soil is light and porous, so that ten hours of bright sunshine will dry the roads after a heavy rain and fit the plowed fields to be cul- tivated. The same peculiarity of soil which enable crops to withstand much moisture and thrive during a very wet season, also enables them to endure prolonged drouths-the soil, being very porous, is capable of absorbing a large amount of water during the rainy season, and when the drouth sets in, the forces of nature bring back to the surface the sur- plus moisture from the subterraneous storehouses with as much ease as the water in the first place was absorbed. This is not the case with that quality of soil commonly known as hard-pan ; the subsoil not being porous, only a small quantity of water is absorbed, after which it gathers on the surface in pools, and is then carried away by the process of evapo- ration : drouth sets in, and as soon as the moisture is exhausted from the surface soil, plants wither and die.
There is comparatively but little waste land from marshes in the county, and many years will not pass till these sloughs, by a proper sys- tem of drainage, will be converted into corn fields.
BUCHANAN COUNTY COURT HOUSE, ST. JOSEPH, MISSOURI.
CHAPTER III.
GEOLOGY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY.
Having spoken of the area, surface, soil, prairie and timber of Buchanan County, we shall now proceed to speak of the different geo- logical formations of rocks, coal, mineral, etc. In order to present the geology of the county in an intelligent manner we shall here give the greater portion of Professor G. C. Broadhead's report, submitted in 1872, beginning with
SCIENTIFIC GEOLOGY.
Superficial Deposits-The alluvium is best developed on the Mis- souri bottoms.
Bottom Prairie-The washings on flat grounds at St. Joseph expose. about twenty feet of dark clay. Similar clays are seen on Platte River.
The "bluff" or "loess" is well exposed on the Missouri bluffs near St. Joseph, where it rises in steep and often gently sloping peaks, cov- ered mostly with grass. It is generally a fine, comminuted brown ash- clay, and where a few feet from the surface, exposed by washings, is always perpendicularly jointed. In King Hill, below St. Joseph, it has at the lower part eight feet of finely comminuted brown sand resting on two feet of white calcareous concretions. The fossils found were Heli- cina occulta, Succinia and Helix. The drift occurs immediately beneath the bluff, but I observed no good exposure of it in the county. Boulders of granite and quartzite were occasionally found.
UPPER CARBONIFEROUS.
The rocks in this county belong to the Upper Coal Series, and include a total thickness of about 470 feet, from a bluff limestone, equiv- alent to No. 160, Gen. Sec., to No. 108 or Plattsburgh limestone, inclus- ive, of which there are 125 feet of limestone, eleven feet bituminous. shales, the remainder consisting of sandstone, sandy and argillaceous. shales. The prevailing dip of rocks is a very little north of west.
On the headwaters of Sugar and Contrary Creeks Mr. Ulffers. observed the following section, which include some of the highest rocks seen in this county :
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HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY.
No. 1-15 feet light buff limestone shales ..
No. 2-17 feet argillaceous shales.
No. 3 -- 16 feet cherty limestone.
No. 4- 2 feet argillaceous shales ..
No. 5-13 feet bituminous shales.
No. 6- I foot hard blue limestone.
No. 7-14 feet argillaceous shales.
No. 8 -- 4 feet light buff, compact limestone.
No. 9- 7 feet argillaceous shales.
No. 10- 2 feet buff, shaly limestone.
No. 11-36 feet red and blue argillaceous shales.
No. 12 -- 6 inches shaly bituminous coal.
No. 13-18 feet argillaceous and sandy shales.
No. 14- 5 feet sandstone and sandy shales.
No. 160 was observed in bluffs back from the river, in the southwest corner of the county. It occurs as a buff limestone, with 35 feet slope. below, to No. 150. In the same vicinity No. 152 occurs as a dark gray lime- stone, containing a thin stratum of fine-grained, very dark green, fibrous Argillaceous Carbonate of lime, with probably some carbonate of iron,. the fibres nearly perpendicular to the horizontal surface, and interlock- ing, forming what is called "Tutcu Mergel," or "cone in cone." No. 150 occurs near the hilltops on the Missouri Bluffs, in the northern part of the county, that occupies that horizon on the Missouri Bluffs as far as the south county line ; its greatest observed thickness was 23 feet at Rushville. It is a buff brown near the top, with Productus, Rogersi, Chonetes, Smithii, Syringapora, Fusulina cylindrica, Athyris, subtilita; below it is very irregularly bedded and contains chert, especially in the upper portion. The beds of limestone are not often over 6 inches to I foot in thickness, and are separated by buff clay. Beatty's quarry, near St. Joseph, exhibits most of the beds of No. 150.
No. 1-23 inches limestone.
No. 2-28 inches limestone.
No. 3-18 inches concretionary limestone and buff shales.
No. 4-5 inches concretionary limestone.
No. 5-I foot nodular limestone, chert and brown shales.
No. 6-2 inches limestone.
No. 7-3 inches limestone.
No. 8-6 inches limestone.
No. 9-6 inches brown shales and limestone nodules.
No. 19-2 feet limestone ; contains some dark chert concretions in upper part.
No. 11-4 inches shales and limestone nodules.
No. 12-5 inches shales.
No. 13-2 feet limestone.
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HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY.
Total thickness of beds exposed here was about 143 fect. The rock is used for making lime, and curbing and macadamizing, in St. Joseph.
Bituminous shale is found in a pit about 10 feet below the limestone. The lower beds of limestone abound in fossils, mainly Orthis corbonaria ; also contains Rotsia punctulifiera, Rynchonella Osogensis, Athyris sub- tilita, Productus splendens, Schizodus. The upper beds abound in Fusu- lina cylindrica and Athyris subtilita; also contain Hemipronetes crassus, Orthis carbonaria, Spirifer (Martinia) planoconvexus, and Crinoid stems.
Section on King Hill, below St. Joseph, is as follows :
No. 1-72 feet bluff formation, finely comminuted marly clays.
No. 2-8 feet sand.
No. 3-2 feet white, calcareous, concretionary bed-bluff.
No. 4-7 feet irregularly - bedded limestone ; abound in Fusilnia cylindrica, also contains Athyris, Rotsia, Orthis carbonaria; cherty, No. 150.
No. 5-19 feet slope.
No. 6-5 feet shales.
No. 7-7 feet deep brown limestone (No. 143). upper two feet shaly, light drab ; below is ferruginous, and contains but few fossils.
No. 8-35 feet slope ; tumbled sandstone, at lower part containing plants-Lepidastrobus, etc.
No. 9-8 feet shales, bottom 2 feet green, with 13 feet red just above.
No. 10-7 feet ferruginous limestone, upper 2 feet shelly, with iron- oxide crust (No. 137.)
No. 11-48 feet slope, mostly shales ; in lower shales are some iron- stone concretions.
No. 12-Outcrop of shaly limestone, abounding in fossils.
No. 13-5 feet shaly slope.
No. 14-10 feet red and green clay shales ; at bottom we find 4 feet of ochrey green clay, with occasional thin bands of yellow ochre concre- tions and streaks of ochre.
No. 15- 4 feet limestone.
No. 16-30 feet shales.
A buff limestone, equivalent to No. 145, was observed on King Hill.
No. 137 is seen on Platte River bluffs, two miles south of the Han- nibal & St. Joseph railroad, cropping out ten feet in thickness. On the Missouri bluffs there are shales 60 to 75 fect in thickness, with some- times a thin seam of coal. Near the upper end of Sugar Creek Lake we have :
No. 1-Lop slope.
No. 2-18 feet of limestone, fracture buff and drab, weathering, brown ; contains occasional lenticular beds of concretionary deep-blue chert ; has brown shaly partings and contains Athyris subtilita Sp. lineatus, Sp. cameratus, Rotsia, etc.
99
HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY.
No. 3-77 feet shaly slope ; shales near the lower part.
No 4-Outcrop of coal.
No. 5-40 feet slope to railroad.
Three miles above Rushville we have
No. I-Limestone. No. 150.
No. 2-95 feet slope.
No. 3- 4 feet . even-bedded, shelly, dark ash colored limestone (128), at about 15 feet above the grade of railroad and forming a fine waterfall.
Approaching St. Joseph from the south we find the last named lime- stone quarried near the hill, and also northwest on King Hill, and in the next succeeding hill it is seen 30 feet above the bottoms, with 30 feet of shales lying below it.
Section 31, 23 miles below St. Joseph, is as follows.
No. 1-72 feet bluff clay ; contains some round calcareous concre- tions.
No. 2-6 feet sandy shale.
No. 3-5 feet limestone, upper part shelly, ferruginous, lower, 3 feet thick, even bed ; can be quarried in 2-feet layers.
No. 4-53 feet slope.
No. 5-5 feet shales.
No. 6-5 feet shales, good red ochre at bottom.
No. 7-4 feet even bed of limestone.
One section, one-half mile below junction of Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, is as follows :
No. 1-Bluff.
No. 2-4 feet green shales ; paint bed.
No. 3-4 feet green and yellow ochery shales.
No. 4-33 inches limestone, upper part gray ; the middle abounds in Fusulina ; lower part deep brown ; middle is fine grained.
No. 5-17 feet sandy, ochrey shales.
No. 6-15 feet slope to railroad.
One-quarter mile below the last we find :
No. 1-Outcrop of shady limestone, with Allorisma, Hemipronites. No. 2-15 feet slope.
No. 3-Red and green shales.
No. 4-4 feet limestone, 128 ; very good building rock.
No. 5-30 feet shales, to level of railroad grade.
Ascending King Hill, at 63 feet above No. 128, is found 7 feet of thick-bedded gray and brownish limestone, with but few fossils. Its upper part is shelly and brownish ochery, but affords a good, strong and durable building rock. It has been extensively used in buildings at St. Joseph. We found overlying it, tumbled masses of buff and brown soft sandstone, and hard green sandstone, containing remains of plant-leaves
100
HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY.
and the stem of a tree, probably a Lepidostrobus. Intermingled with. this overlying mass was some deep red clay, apparently very suitable for paint ; sixteen feet still higher is found seven feet of ferruginous limestone, and 24 feet above the last are seen outcrops of No. 150. All these layers have been extensively quarried for various purposes of building in St. Joseph. The last named is quarried in the hills north of St. Joseph for lime and for paving.
One and a-half miles along the bluff above St. Joseph our section is. this :
No. I-Slope.
No. 2-10 feet gray limestone, slightly ferruginous, in one solid bed ; breaks in small angular fragments. (No. 137.)
No. 3-92 feet slope to railroad, 35 degrees for half way, then 30 degrees ; the lower 40 feet seems to be principally sand shales.
No 2 corresponds to No. 143 ; in its manner of weathering resembles No. 78. Three miles above St. Joseph it is 90 feet. (No. 128.)
At bridge on Platte River, rocks were observed which I refer to those from 126 to 121, of which the following is a correct section :
Section 4.
No. 2-6 inches even-bedded, dark-gray limestone.
No. 3-6 feet brownish-buff, sandy limestone, some of it silicious, and with sandy, shaly partings, thin bedded.
No. 4-23 feet green shales.
No. 5-10 inches limestone, mottled drab and brown.
No. 6-I foot grayish drab and brown, irregularly bedded, coarser than No. 5 ; irregularly wavy-cracked.
No. 7-2 feet gray limestone.
No. 8-3 feet ashy-blue ferruginous limestone ; weathers brown.
No. 9-3 feet ashy-blue limestone ; weathers buff : contains Ste Cameratus.
From 120 to 113, the rocks are generally covered with debris, and include about 100 feet. In southeast of township 55, range 34, No. 112 was observed. 12 feet in thickness, consisting of thick beds of coarse, colored, semi-crystalline limestone. The lowest rock was observed on Platte River, in the eastern part of the county ; it is a blue limestone, equivalent to the Plattsburgh series ; 12 feet of it was observed ..
MINERALS ..
Coal .- Opposite Sugar Creek Lake, coal crops out about 30 feet above the level of the railroad. Limestone, No. 150, is in bluff 77 feet above. The same bed of coal is seen a mile below: Hall's Station, on Mr. Hinman's land. Section here is Section 19:
No 1-104 feet slope from hill-top.
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HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY.
No. 2-5 feet drift.
No. 3-3 feet blue, sandy shales.
No. 33-3 feet coarse, shaly, ferruginous sandstone.
No. 4-1 inch shaly coal.
No. 5-8 inches deep-blue, shaly clay, with thin lamina of coal ; · contains ferns.
No. 6-6 inches coal.
No. 7-Fire clay.
No. 8-67 feet to foot of hill.
Opposite Hall's Station the coal has been opened at several places ; ·one on railroad land, worked by Jacob Gross, appears thus :
3 feet rough-bedded, yellow sandstone; 8 inches sandy clay ; 12 inches shale and thin lamina of coal ; 23 inches of coal ; 13 inches blue .clay ; 6 inches good coal ; 1} inches blue clay ; 3 inches good coal ; fire- . clay.
An analysis of specimens of this coal from Niagara, Andrew County, gives-
Water 8.94
Volatile 34.75
F. carbon 45.38
Ash
10.93
Color of ash light red brown.
Section No. 30.
No. 1-93 feet, 40 to 45 degrees slope.
No. 2-limestone outcrop.
No. 3-52 feet to bottom of coal ; some red ochre clay appears on slope 8 feet above coal.
On South Fork of Sugar Creek, near the south county line. Section 24 :-
No. 1-3 feet olive shales, with streaks of coal.
No. 2-7 inches bituminous coal.
No. 3 -- 26 feet shales ; concretionary bed in lower part, with remains of striated plants.
No. 4-15 to 20 feet slope.
No. 5-outcrop of ferruginous limestone ; fracture dark bluish, ash shelly and rough breakings.
In the northeast of the southwest of Section 1, T. 55, R. 26, six inches of shaly coal and shales.
Four inches of bituminous coal was observed in Section 23, T. 45, R. 36, and in Section 32, coal is also said to have been found on the headwaters of Bee Creek, a few miles southwest of Sparta. These beds are thin and poor and not worth working.
The annexed is the section of boring at St. Joseph.
No. 1-21 feet soil, boulders and sandy clay.
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HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY ..
No. 2-74 feet blue clay. No. 3-21 feet sandstone. No. 4-4 feet limestone. No. 5-2 feet soapstone. No. 6-2 feet slate. No. 7-1 5-6 feet coal. No. 8-6 feet black slate.
No. 9-7 feet limestone.
No. 10-5 feet slate. No. 11-6 feet limestone.
No. 12-2 feet slate.
No. 13-43 feet limestone.
No. 14-53 feet slate.
No. 15-1 foot limestone.
No. 16-6 feet slate.
No. 17-8 feet slate. No. 18-43 feet limestone.
No. 19-3 feet soapstone.
No. 20-23 feet gray sandstone,
No. 21-23 feet soapstone.
No. 22-4 5-6 feet gray limestone.
No. 23-24 feet slate. No. 24-2 feet limestone.
No. 25-10 feet limestone.
No. 26-53 feet slate. No. 27-13 feet coal. No. 28-8 feet slate. No. 29-4 feet limestone.
No. 30-20 feet shale. No. 31-6 feet limestone.
No. 32-20 feet slate. No. 33-25 feet limestone. No. 34-15 feet limestone. No. 35-10 inches coal. No. 36-3 4-5 feet soapstone. No. 41-23 feet coal. No. 42-9 feet limestone. No. 43-4 feet limestone. No. 44-3 feet limestone. No. 45-23 feet slate. No. 46-23 feet limestone. No. 47-15 feet blue clay. Total depth, 402.3 feet.
103'
HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY.
From careful comparisons I find, from reports made by St. Joseph. Bridge Company, that the bottom of the "bore" still lacks about 440 feet of reaching the "Lexington coal," which would be the first coal of any considerable thickness that would be reached. Other valuable coal beds would lie still lower. These remarks concerning coal beds can be applied, with but slight variation, to localities in the adjoining counties of Platte, Clinton, DeKalb, and southern parts of Gentry County.
In each of these counties thin surface outcrops are seen, but they are not valuable.
* *
The annual rainfall in the basin, drained by the river at St. Joseph, averages 193 inches, while that of the basin below is 26 inches; thus showing that three-fourths of the water flowing out of the Missouri River, at its mouth, passes St. Joseph ; at an ordinary spring flood, 170,- 000 cubic feet pass in a second, with a mean velocity of 26-10 miles per hour. The fall in the low water channel, for seven miles below the city, is 82-100 of a foot per mile. At low water the channel opposite the city is from 400 to 500 yards wide, and 15 to 30 feet deep. The differ- ence of high and low water is 23 feet.
At the greatest, the narrowest channel opposite the city will be 1,420 feet wide. Rock is found at an average of 43 feet below low water, and at no point deeper than 48 feet.
The bed of the river is fine sand on top, with layers of stiff, hard clay, and coarse sand near the bed-rock ; resting on the bed-rock was found a 2 to 5 feet bed, consisting of medium sized and thoroughly water-worn boulders mixed with coarse sand ; the boulders composed of red and gray granite, quartz, gneiss, trap, conglomerate, agate, with some fine quartz specimens containing gold.
The excavations were made to a depth of about 40 feet below the bed of the river, including the upper 30 feet of coarse and fine sand, then 5 feet stiff, blue clay, and lastly a deposit of gravel and boulders, through which flows a stream of clear, pure water, entirely different from that of the river. While ice at the surface was two feet thick, and the mercury below zero, the water from this spring had a uniform temperature of 54 degrees.
The bed-rock is said to be a smooth, hard, whitish-gray limestone. I have no doubt of its being equivalent to limestone No. 121 of General. section.
CHAPTER IV.
PLATTE PURCHASE.
THE PLATTE COUNTRY-CORRESPONDENCE IN REFERENCE THERETO-MEETING AT LIB- ERTY, MISSOURI-IT'S OBJECT-MEMORIAL-EFFORTS OF BENTON AND LINN- TREATY WITH THE 10WAS, SACS AND FOX INDIANS.
Buchanan County being a portion of the territory originally included in the "Platte Purchase," a history, showing how, when, and through whom the same was accomplished, will doubtless be of great interest to the citizens of the county.
In January, 1835, the Hon. L. F. Linn, then a United States Senator from the State of Missouri, addressed H. Ellsworth, Esq., the following letter :
WASHINGTON, January 23, 1835.
SIR: It has long been desired by the people of Missouri to have annexed to the state that portion of territory lying between her western boundary and the great river, Missouri, for the purpose of preventing the location of an annoying Indian population, and for the purpose of having points on the river to receive their supplies and ship their pro- ductions, within a moderate distance from the homes of those inhabit- ants residing along that line of the frontier.
The location of the Pottawatamies, by the treaty of Chicago, on this territory, interposes a barrier to the attainment of these objects, so important to the welfare and tranquility of the inhabitants of the north- ern and western counties. Will you be so good as to furnish me your opinion as to the propriety of ratifying that treaty, and the danger of collision between the two races, from placing the Indians between the white population and the river Missouri.
. Very respectfully,
H. ELLSWORTH, ESQ.
L. F. LINN.
The following is the answer of Mr. Ellsworth :
WASHINGTON, January 27, 1835.
SIR: Yours of the 23d instant, requesting my opinion as to the propriety of ratifying the Chicago treaty, and the danger of collision that will probably arise from placing the Indians between the white population and the river Missouri, at the northwest section of the state, was received this morning. In reply, I hasten to observe that the small strip of land lying between the Missouri River and the State of Missouri, is, compared with the country lying north of the state line. an unfavor- able location for the Indian tribes.
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HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY.
In the fall of 1833 I held a council with the Ioways and the little band of Sacs and Foxes living on this strip, who complained of the great difficulty attending their present situation, on account of the contiguity and encroachments of white men in the state, and all the chiefs desired me to make a treaty for their removal to land lying north of the state line. Not being authorized to make this treaty, I did not attempt it, but have recommended the subject to the favorable consideration of the government.
I have understood that the Pottawatamies are willing to receive other land, in equal amount, for that lying south of the north line of Mis- souri extended. If this can be done I have no doubt it would be advan- tageous to all the parties concerned. The government would realize the value of land, but more especially the Pottawatamies would have an excellent location, one far less likely to be interrupted by the encroach- ment of white neighbors. The State of Missouri might hereafter be accommodated with a good natural boundary, several excellent water privileges, and additional landings on the navigable waters of Missouri for one hundred and forty miles. The ratification of the Chicago treaty will prevent the future disposal of this narrow strip to Missouri. Hence I conceive it highly important that the Pottawatamies should make an exchange of part of the lands embraced within the original treaty. It may be proper to state that, from the concurrent testimony of all per- sons residing on the Missouri, as well as from a personal view from the opposite side of the river, the location of the Pottawatamies north of the land in question, will give them a rich and fertile tract, equal to that of any tribe already migrated.
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