USA > Texas > Tarrant County > History of Texas, together with a biographical history of Tarrant and Parker counties; containing a concise history of the state, with portraits and biographies of prominent citizens of the above named counties, and personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families > Part 23
USA > Texas > Parker County > History of Texas, together with a biographical history of Tarrant and Parker counties; containing a concise history of the state, with portraits and biographies of prominent citizens of the above named counties, and personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families > Part 23
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The hydrated iron ores embrace many different varieties. These appear almost ex- clusively in veins, for the most part in the older rocks. While they are not abundant enough to sustain any industry by themselves, they may become valuable in addition to the other iron ores.
Taking the iron ore deposits of the State as a whole, and considering their wide dis- tribution, their excellent quality, their rela- tion to fuel supply and other necessaries for smelting and manufacturing them, no doubt can remain of the magnitude which the iron industry is bound to assume in this State, and that Texas is destined to become one of the great iron and steel producing contors of the world.
The copper ores of Texas are of two char- acters. Those of the central mineral region and trans-Pecos Texas occur in veins, while the ores of the Permian are found as impreg- nations and segregations in the clays.
The copper ore of the Permian division was first described by Captain R. B. Marcy in his report on the exploration of Red river in 1852, when he found specimens of it in Cache creek. In 1864, Colonel J. B. Barry sent a party with Indian guides to Archer
county and secured a considerable amount of ore, which was shipped to Austin and part of it smelted and used for the mannfacture of percussion caps for the. Confederacy, under the superintendence of Dr. W. De Ryee. After the war several attempts were made to develop these deposits, but lack of transport- . ation facilities and the fact that the high- grade ore bodies were in pockets and irregul- larly distributed prevented the success of the undertaking. Still later General Mclellan and a strong company made an effort to utilize the deposits of Hardeman and adjoin- ing counties, but it seems that the true nature of the deposits were not fully appreciated, and the result was the same as those of earlier date.
As has been stated, these ores occur as im- pregnations or segregations in the clays at certain definite horizons in the formation. They are not in veins, therefore, but in beds, and are not to be mined by sinking shafts to lower depths, bat more after the manner of coal deposits. There are three (and possibly a fourth) of these horizons, one in each di- vision of the Permian. The Archer county deposits belong to the lower or Wichita beds, the California creek bed to the Clear fork beds, and the Kiowa Peak stratum or strata to the Double mountain beds. The general manner of occurrence is the same in all. The ores are found in a bed of blue clay from three to four feet thick. It is sometimes found in a psendomorphic form after wood, in which case the oxide of copper has replaced the ma- terial of the woody fibre in the same manner as is done by silica in ordinary petrified wood. In other places it occurs in rounded nodules of different sizes, " like potatoes in a bed, " as it is graphically described. In addition to this the stratum of clay is impregnated with copper to the extent of forming a low-grade
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ore in places. Analyses from various locali- ties of average specimens of these copper clays yield from 1.6 to 4.5 per cent. of cop- per. In any successful attempt to utilize these ores the work must be undertaken with a view of recovering the copper from the copper clays by lixiviation as the principal object. The extent of the deposits and amount of copper contained in them in places seem to warrant this character of development, and the probability of finding many rich pockets, such as have been found in nearly all the workings so far attemptod is additional inducement for the erection of such works. Some of these pockets have yielded as much as 6,000 pounds of ore assaying sixty per cent. copper.
The general lines of the outerop of copper clays are as follows: The lower bed appears at Archer, and from there northeast to the mouth of Cache creek, the original place of discovery. The next bed is found in a line running from Paint creek, in Haskell county, northeast through the northwestern part of Throckmorton county, and crossing Baylor county west of Seymour, and Wilbarger county east of Vernon into Indian Territory.
The upper bed appears at Kiowa and Buz- zard Peaks, and passing through the north- western part of Hardeman is finally found on Pease river west of Margaret.
In the central mineral region copper ores are known principally from the surface in- dications of carbonates and sulphides, which are found in outerops and scattered through the rocks in various localities. The principal onterops are confined to the Babyhead district, extending westward from the Little Llano to the head of Pecan creek. A few others are found still further westward in Mason coun- ty, and some in Llano, but all are apparently connected with the same series of rocks.
The ores at the surface are largely carbon- ates, both Azurite and Malachite occurring, but the latter predominating. Tetrahedrite is more or le-s common, and sometimes car- ries considerable silver. Chalcopyrite is also present in small quantities, and in some places Bornite occurs.
The various prospecting works which are scattered through this area, beginning at the Houston & Texas Central Railway diggings on the east, includes many trial shafts and pits sunk by Captain Thomas G. MeGehee on Little Llano, Yoakum and Wolf creeks, Hubbard Mining Company on Pecan creek, others by the Houston Mining Company on Wolf creek, and the Miller mine, also on Pecan. Further west in Mason county sim- ilar prospecting works are found. In addi- tion to these some prospecting has been done in the vicinity of Llano, and also southeast of that city. Specimens taken from the dif- ferent localities by different members of the survey assayed all the way from one per cent. to forty-tive and six-tenths per cent. copper, in silver from nothing to 107.8 ounces per ton, and of gold from nothing to one- fifth ounce.
There have been several attempts at devel- opment, but there are no mines in successful operation at present. The work that has been done on the different onterops has not been carried sufficiently far, nor has it been of such a character, as to make it possible to speak with certainty regarding the existence of extensive bodies of copper ore in the dis. trict. What has been done, however, taker in connection with the outerops and assays and our knowledge of the geological forma- tion of the country, suggests the accumula tion of ores of considerable importance below, and will justify a much larger expenditure for the purpose of developing them than has yet been made.
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The copper ores of trans- Pecos Texas have been known for many years, and considerable prospecting has been done on them. There is, however, only one mine in operation at present-the Hazel mine in the Diabolo mountains, near Allamore, El Paso county. This mine is situated at the foot of the Sierra Diabolo on a lime-spar lead entting through a red sandstone. The principal ore is copper glance or sulphide of copper, at times carry- ing a good deal of wire silver, and occasion- ally rich pockets of grey copper. This pay streak runs in a vein from a few inches up to ten feet in width, in a gangue of strongly siliceous limestone, which is also impreg- nated with the ore. The width of this · gangue is in some places as much as thirty- five feet, and the material is a low grade ore of about $15 per ton.
In the Carrizo mountains and further south in the Apache or Davis mountains are other good copper prospects, in addition to the many outerops in the Quitman mount- ains and Sierra Blanca region which show copper at the surface.
Lead and Zinc .- While many finds of lead ore have been reported in many portions of the State, all those outside of the central mineral region and trans-Pecos Texas have proved to bo merely float specimens. In the central mineral region the lead oro ocenrs sparingly in veins in the older rocks, under similar conditions and within the same area as marked out for the copper ores, but it is principally found in the rocks of the Cam- brian or Silurian age under circumstances similar to those in which it is found in Missonri.
Perhaps the most extensive " digging " on any of the veins of galena was that of the Sam Houston Mining Company, who worked in the Riley mountains. This shaft, which
followed the irregular course of the vein, was 160 feet, or possibly more, in depth. There was a string of galena, sometimes widening out and sometimes almost entirely missing, but enough ore was not secured to satisfy the owners and work was stopped.
The deposits which occur in the horizon of an age apparently corresponding to that of the Missouri galena ores have been pros- pected, chiefly in Burnet county. The principal work is at Silver Mine Hollow. The galena is not only scattered through the sandy, ferruginous vein material, but is found abundantly in the adjacent dark gray to green magnesian limestone. Its original source is probably the " cavern limestone " of the Silurian, but up to the present time there has not been sufficient development to make it possible to speak with any degree of certainty regarding the exact locality of the ores.
No zine ores at all are known in the cen- tral mineral region.
In trans-Pecos Texas ores of both lead and zinc are very abundant and contain silver and gold in variable quantities. The pros- peets of the Quitman mountains and vicinity are the best known. These mountains are crossed by numerous vein outerops and indi- cations of ore, and wherever prospecting holes have been sunk there are promising indications, and even distinct veins of lead- carrying silver, most of them at least having traces of gold. Occasionally, also, tin is present. The outcrops are generally com. posed of iron silicates, with probably some carbonate and oxide of iron, usually contain- ing a little silver; a few feet below the sur- face the copper stain begins; deeper down the quantity of copper increases and traces of lead appear with the copper. This be- comes stronger the lower the shaft is sunk,
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and shows zinc and bismuth in greater depths. The zinc sometimes amounts to 30 per cent. of the whole, and even pure argent- iferous zinc ores are found. One fact ob- served is that on the northeast slopes of the mountains nranium is found in connection with the ores, while on the southwest slopes this metal gives place to molybdenum even on the same vein traced across the crest of the mountain.
There are a number of shallow prospect holes scattered over this region, but very few of them reach a depth of fifty feet.
Several mines have, however, made ship- ments of ore, the principal being from the Alice Ray and Bonanza mines, both of which are on the same vein. Their ores have an average value of $60 to $65; but owing to the fact that they contain 25 to 30 per cent. of zinc and that the El Paso smelt- ers are not prepared to properly treat such ores, it has not been found possible to work them profitably after paying for roasting the zinc ont of the ores in place of receiving pay for it. The Bonanza is the best developed mine in the Quitman range. The lead runs about east and west, dipping ahnost verti- eally in a contact between granite and por- phyry. A shaft ninety-five feet deep is sunk to a drift below, running on the vein and about 350 feet in longth, which shows a soum of galona from two to ten inches in thick- ness. This carries an average of about thirty ounces of silver, although it sometimes reaches as high as sixty ounces, to the ton. The shipping average of this ore is abont 30 per cent. of lead, 25 to 30 per cent. zinc, and thirty ounces of silver, to the ton, and about 500 tons have been shipped. From the drift a winze is sunk 110 feet deep.
On the Alice Ray claim, at a distance of 3,000 feet from the Bonanza, a tunnel is run
into the same lead. This mine is 5,095 feet above the sea level, which, when compared with the deepest body of the Bonanza, shows an ore body 450 feet in height by about 4,000 feet long. The ore body of the Alice Ray, like that of the Bonanza, is a well de- fined vein of galena, running from two to eight and ten inches in width.
There are many other valuable prospects in this district, which are more fully described in the reports.
Besides the ores of this district, ores are found in distriets on the east and south. The Chinati region is, however, the only other one in which much prospecting has been done. Ilere there are a great many pros- pecting shafts, as well as some well devel- oped mines. The ore on the river side is galena, the outerops being strongly ferru- ginous streaks, similiar to those of the Quitman mountains. Some outcrops show carbonates and sulphides containing both bismuth and silver. An assay of one of these onterops gave silver ten ounces, bismuth three and five-tenths, lead forty and five- tenths per cent. On the eastern side the con- tacts between the porphyries and crystalline limestones are very clearly marked, and it is on these that the most satisfactory prospect. ing work has been done. These yield both fino milling silver and galenas.
In the other ranges examined to the south and east similiar ores also exist, but they are at present so difficult of access that little work has been done on them.
Gold .- The precious metals occur in con- nection with the ores of copper, lead, and zinc, as has already been stated under those heads. They occur also in a free state. Small amounts of free gold have been found by panning in the .Colorado river and in some parts of Llano county, but the amount found
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is too small for profitable working. In the Quitman mountains some of the quartz and ferruginous onterops show traces of gold, and by using the pan colors of gold are fre- quently found in the gravel and sand. A small piece of quartz found near Finlay as- sayed eleven ounces of gold to the ton. Tak- ing this evidence, with the general geologic features of the Quitinan and surrounding mountains, the presence of gold is established, although the probable quantity is still uncer- tain. Free gold has also been observed in certain ores received from Presidio county.
The best developed mine in this region is generally known as the Shafter or Bullis mine, and is owned and operated by the Pres- idio Mining company, who are now working two mines-the Presidio and Cibolo. In the former, which was discovered in 1880, the inine consists of pockets and bunches of ore of irregular shapes and sizes, generally iso- lated from each other, imbedded in a lime- stone country rock, thus forming chamber deposits.
The Cibolo has the same general character, but, in addition, has an ore body sitnated in a well defined fissure, and is a contact deposit. This company work their own mill and ship their product as bullion. The mill, which is of ton stamps of the common California pattern, is located on a hillside, so that the ore from the crusher falls to the antomatic feeder at the stamps, from which the pulp is lifted to the amalgamaters. The amalgam is freed from the excess of quicksilver by strain- ing, as usual, when retorted and fused. This mill averages from thirty to thirty-five tons of ore per day, which yields from forty to forty-five ounces of silver per ton. The mo- tive power is an eighty-horse power engine. There is an ample water supply in Cibolo creek to permit an increase in the size of this
mill and the erection of others as well, and there is also good opportunity to build stor- age reservoirs along it. There are other locations being worked up, many of which promise good returns, and there is no doubt that this district must soon become one of the centers of the mining industry in Texas.
Silver .- Native silver has not yet been re- ported. In trans-Pecos Texas, however, the conditions are more favorable; and there are two mines now working a free-milling silver ore in Presidio county, and many trial shafts have been put down in the surrounding region. A considerable amount of silver bullion has already been produced, and shipped to San Francisco.
Tin .- The occurrence of tin was reported, doubtfully, in the central mineral district in 1889, and it was also found in connection with lead ores in trans-Pecos Texas. In No- vember, during the examination of specimens collected by members of his party, Dr. Com- stock found some excellent pieces of cassi- terite, or oxide of tin, and made a special trip to decide the reality and manner of its occur- rence. This resulted in the discovery that it occurred not only as cassiterite, but in small quantities in connection with other minerals in the rocks of a certain portion of the Bur- netan system extending from the western part of Burnet to the eastern part of Mason county, a distance of fifty miles, and having a width of eight to ten miles. In this belt the tin ore has been found at four or five lo- calities. It occurs in a quartz of somewhat banded appearance, and when pure may often be recognized by its weight, being of greater specific gravity than the iron ores.
Near the divide between Herman creek and tributaries of the San Saba river, in Ma- son county, are the remains of two old fur- naces, and considerable slag which carries
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tin in little globules scattered through it.
While it is impossible to speak positively of the probable quantity of ore, the indica- tions are favorable for its existence in amounts sufficient to be of economic value.
In trans-Pecos Texas tin has been found in connection with some of the ores of the Quitman range.
Mercury .- Like tin, this metal has been reported from several localities, but up to the present we have not succeeded in verifying any of the reports or of finding any traces of it.
Manganese .- The only workable deposits of manganese yet defined by the survey are those of the central mineral region. These deposits are both in the form of manganese ores and of combinations of iron and manga- nese ores in different proportions. The Spiller mine, south of Fly Gap, Mason county, is the only known occurrence of the manganese ore on an extensive scale anywhere in the region, although surface croppings wero traecd, which seemed to indicate companion belts to the one which has been opened at the locality inentioned.
The ore is rather siliceous psilomelane, with patches of pyrolusite and more or less black wad, filling cavities and crevices in the vein, which is three or four feet wide. The ore seems to lie as an interbedded voin, and nu- merous borings were made on it with a dia- mond drill, presumably for the purpose of prospecting in the direction of its dip.
Manganese ores are found under similar circumstances in the region between Pack- saddle and Riley mountains, and specimens are reported both from Gillespie and Blanco counties. Manganese also occurs as an in- gredient of the various limonitic ores, and in one instance such an ore was found to con- tain as much as eleven per cent. of this metal,
in the form of dioxide. These deposits, how- ever, are not likely to prove of much economic value.
Bismuth ocenrs in small quantities in con- nection with the ores of the Quitman range, and inone vein examined in the region of the Chinati mountains as much as three and one- half per cent. of this metal was found in the ore (galena).
ABRASIVES.
Buhrstone .- In the Fayette sands are found stones of excellent quality for use as Inillstones. In Jasper and other counties millstones which have given perfect satisfac- tion in use have been cut from certain hori- zons of these sands.
Grindstones .- Certain sandstones in the Carboniferons and older formations furnish excellent materials for grindstones, but up to the present they have been utilized ouly locally.
No whetstones have yet been manufactured in Texas, although excellent material exists for such a purpose. The Fayette sands probably furnish the best of the material, and some specimens from Fayette county are now in the State museum. Other material suitable for the purpose is found in the cen- tral mineral region and in the central coal field.
Several localities of deposits of infusorial earth are known in Hopkins, Leon, Polk and Crosby counties. Very little has been mined for shipment.
ORNAMENTAL STONES AND GEMS.
Among the gem stones may be mentioned beryl, smoky quartz, rose quartz, silicified wood, garnet, agate, moss agate, amethyst, jasper, sardonyx, tourmaline, and others.
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HISTORY OF TEXAS.
"Crystal" Quartz .- The clear white vari- ety, which is known as crystal, is sparingly found in masses of a size suitable for use. Clusters of crystals are found which form handsome ornaments, but the greater part are stained or milky.
Smoky Quartz .- The central mineral re- gion produces fine crystals of smoky quartz of deep color. Barringer Hill, Llano county, is one of the best localities.
Rose Quartz .- Beautiful shades of rose quartz are found in Llano and Gillespie counties.
Amethyst .-- Gillespie county furnishes some amethysts of fair color, but the deeper- colored ones have so far been found only in the Sierra Blanca or Quitman region.
Thetis Hair Stone .-- This variety of lim- pid quartz, with fine needles of actinolite scattered through it, is found in the northern part of, Gillespie county, near Enchanted Rock.
Beryl .-- Some very large, fine crystals of beryl have been found in Gillespie county, and occasionally in Llano county.
Garnets are abundant both in the central mineral district and in trans- Pecos Texas. Fine cabinet specimens showing both large and attractive crystals are in the museum, but no systematic work has been done in working the deposits. There are several colors -- brown, black, and green -- and they occur in abundance. Among the localities inay be mentioned Clear Creek valley on the Burnet and Bluffton road, Babyhead, King. mountains, and similar areas in Llano and Gillespie counties, in the Quitinan mountains and other localities in trans-Pecos Texas. In Llano county fine crystals are also found of idocrase, or Vesuvianite, which is near the garnet in character.
Black tourmaline is abundant in certain granites of Llano county, and will be useful for all purposes for which it can be ein- ployed, although there is no prospect of . specimens of value for cabinet purposes being found.
Chalcedony .- Some fine specimens of chal- cedony have been found in Travis county in the neighborhood of the disturbances caused by the Pilot Knob eruption. They al. o occur in Presidio county and other portions of west Texas.
Carnelians have been found in the vicinity of Van Horn, El Paso county.
Sardonyx .- Beautiful specimens of sar- donyx are found in the trans-Pecos region in El Paso or Jeff Davis counties. A number of specimens are now in the State museum.
Jasper .- In this same region are found handsome varieties of plain aud banded jas- per, but, like the other deposits, there has been no attempt at development, and only a few specimens have been collected by per- sons happening on them. Pebbles of jasper are also abundant in the drift as far north as the Staked Plains.
Agate .- The occurrence of this beautiful
. stone has been mentioned in the former re- ports of this survey. It is found abundantly in several parts of west Texas and occasion- ally in the river drift of the Colorado. In west Texas they are found in a schistose ma- terial and scattered over the surface in large quantities, from fragments to boulders of considerable size. The colors are rich, and the banded and fortification agates show beautiful bandings and stripes. Moss agates are also plentiful, and there is ample room for the establishment of an industry in this material, even if they are only collected for shipment abroad. The average price paid for rough agate for manufacturing purposes
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HISTORY OF TEXAS.
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at Idar, Oldenburg, Germany, one of the principal manufacturing cities of this ma- terial, is about 25 cents per pound, and the beauty of the varieties occurring in Texas would add materially to that price.
Pudding Stone .-- Of equal beauty with the agates are some varieties of metamor- phosed pudding stones brought from the lower mountains by Prof. Streeruwitz. They take fully as fine a polish, and the variety of color and shape of the inclusions are very pleasing.
Serpentine .-- Some of the serpentines of west Texas will be valuable as ornamental stones. So far no "precious serpentine " has been found, but some of the red and green varieties will come into use as the region is developed. Central Texas also affords varie- ties which may be utilized.
Alubuster .- Alabaster of fine grain and translucency occurs both among the rocks of the Cretaceous formation and in the gypsum region of the Permian. Its uses in vases and statuary are well known, and material suitable for any of these purposes can be secured in any desired quantity.
Pearls .- Texas is one of the principal pearl-producing States of the United States. Mr. Kunz, in "Gems and Precious Stones," mentions one from Llano valued at $95, which was sold in New York. The pearls are found in the Unios, or fresh-water mus- sels, which abound in the Colorado, Llano and Concho rivers, and many other streams in Texas. They have been collected in large numbers, and in collecting them great num- bers of the shell fish have been destroyed. In order to avoid this wholesale destruction and leave the animal to propagate more val- uable progeny, it is recommended that in- struments similar to those used in Saxony and Bavaria be introduced here. One of
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