History of Texas, together with a biographical history of the cities of Houston and Galveston; containing a concise history of the state, with protraits and biographies of prominent citizens of the above named cities, and personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families, Part 25

Author:
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing co., 1895
Number of Pages: 1532

USA > Texas > Harris County > Houston > History of Texas, together with a biographical history of the cities of Houston and Galveston; containing a concise history of the state, with protraits and biographies of prominent citizens of the above named cities, and personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families > Part 25
USA > Texas > Galveston County > Galveston > History of Texas, together with a biographical history of the cities of Houston and Galveston; containing a concise history of the state, with protraits and biographies of prominent citizens of the above named cities, and personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families > Part 25

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The rock formation of the Grand prairie belongs to the Lower Cretaceous series, and consists of a great thickness of limestones and chalks -- magnesian, arenaceons and even argillaceons in places-which is underlaid by a great bed of sand and conglomerate, known as the Trinity Sands.

We have in these formations, therefore, well marked and definite sandy or porous beds, which are enelosed by others practically impervions. Some of these are the Orange

sands, the middle portion of the Fayette beds, the lower eross timber sands and the upper cross timber or Trinity sands. On the lower Rio Grande there oceurs a roek known as the Carrizo sandstone, the geologie age of which is not yet exactly determined, but which must be included among the other water bearing beds.

That these beds are indeed " catchment " basiirs and fully capable of supplying the belts nearer the gulf with flowing water has been amply verified by actual und successful boring. In the coast-emmy belt artesian water has been seenred in many places, as at Honston and vicinity, at Galveston, at Ve- lasco, at Corpus Christi, and at various other points. The shallowest of these wells is at Yorktown, De Witt county, where artesian water was secured at a depth of a very few feet. At Houston water is obtained in wells from 150 to 400 feet deep, and the water is practically free from mineral matter. At Galveston, fifty miles southeast, the wells are from 600 to 1,000 feet deep, and yield water carrying salt, etc., in, small quantities. The flow at Velasco is reported to be good, but at Corpus Christi it is highly charged with min- eral matter. The quantity of mineral matter contained in the water seems to vary with the depth and distance from the outerop of the " catchment " basin.

It can be stated, therefore, from our pres- ent knowledge that throughout the coast- clay district artesian water can be obtained where the topographic conditions are suit- able, but that it may be more or less impreg- nated with mineral matter leached ont of the containing stratum.

While the timber-bett beds are not classed as artesian beds, it is nevertheless the fact that favorable conditions exist in numerons localities, aud, although no great flows have

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HISTORY OF TEXAS.

been secured, still flowing water has been found in several places; for example, various localities in Robertsou county and at Liv- ing-ton, Polk county.

The lower cross timbers form the second "catebment " basin, but from their location have not been found to yield as good a flow as can be obtained by going deeper, to the Trinity sands.

The Carrizo sandstone ontcrops along a line drawn at a point on the Nueces river sonth of the town of Uvalde to a point ten miles west of Carrizo Springs, and ten miles north of that point, on the ranch of Mr. Vivian, produces a stream of excellent water four inches in diameter from a well 175 feet deep. This stratum of sandstone onght to be reached at Laredo at a depth of from 500 to 600 feet.

The third and possibly best explored col- lecting area is that of the Trinity sands. This bed, the Trinity or upper cross timber sands, is the base of the Lower Cretaceous system, and is the great water-bearing bed cast and south of the central basin. In its- many exposures and from the material bronght up from it in boring, its composi- tion is shown to be clear white grains of quartz, slightly rounded to much worn, con- taining a few grains of red and black chert. It is for the most part practically freo of soluble mineral matter, and the water derived from it is often of excellent quality. From its position, character and extent it forms a most important member in the geology of Texas. The water which falls upon the ex- posed edge of this belt is carried under the limestone of the Grand prairie platean, and part of it breaks forth in a system of great springs which extend from Williamson county by Austin, San Marcos and New Braunfels, toward the Pecos. These springs are natu-

ral artesian wells, which owe their existence to the fault lines caused by the disturbances, already alluded to, which formed the Bal- cones. The remainder of the water con- tinnes its course below the overlying forma- tions, and can be reached at almost any point east and south of the Grand prairie to the border of the basal clays of the Tertiary. Wells are very numerons and vary in depth with distance from catchment area from 100 to 2,000 feet. They can not be named in detail here, but the principal boring has been at Fort Worth, Dallas, Waco, Austin, Taylor, San Antonio, and in Somervell, Coryell, HIood and Bosque counties. These prove that artesian conditions exist, and there can be no doubt that wells bored in suitable localities will prove successful.

West of the Grand prairie plateau we find the central basin region, which is principally occupied by strata of the Paleozoic forma- tions. The eastern and southern border of this area is plainly marked by the scarp of the Grand prairie. Its western border is not determined further than that in Texas it is terminated by the Guadalonpo mountains in El Paso county. In its topography it shows a gradual elevation toward the west, most usually, however, in a series of steps which rise one above the other, having the ascent facing toward the southeast and a long gentle slope toward the west, the average rise being less than eight feet per mile.

At the edge of the Staked Plain, which is a newer formation superimposed upon thesc, there is an abrupt elevation of from 200 to 300 feet in places, and a continued rise toward the west to a height of 3,100 feet. West of the Pecos the rise is much more rapid, being about fifteen feet per mile. The dip of the strata, which on the east is toward the northwest not exceeding forty feet to the

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mile, is reversed, that is, it is to the south- east, and brings the edges of the strata to the surface again after crossing the river. In the southeast corner of this region we find the Archæan arca of Llano county, around which the npturnel edges of the older paleo. zic rocks are exposed at a considerably greater elevation than that of the basin north of them, giving the overlying rocks of the basin itself a northward dip.

The western extension of this southern border has not been examined. We find the northern border of our basin in the Wichita mountains in the Indian Territory, where the edge of the Siluriun rocks is again exposed at a higher altitude than the interior portion of our region. This region is, therefore, of a basin form of structure, with the exposed edges of its lower members and the under- lying rocks topographically higher on the northern, w eteru and southern borders than on the east or in the center.

The formations which occupy this basin, if we except some overlying cretaceons and the plains formation, are almost entirely con- fined to the Carboniferons and Permian sys- tens. There consist of beds of limestone, sandstone, sands, clays and shales, with coal, gypsum and salt as associated deposits. The general dip of all the strata in the eastern portion of the basis is to the northwest, but its elevation along the easteru border is less than in almost any other portion of it; conse- quently there can be little hope of finding artesian water from any catchment area on this side, although some of the strata (the lower sandstone and shales) are well adapted for carrying water, and where suitable topo- graphic conditions exist do furnish artesian water. An instance of this is found in the flowing well at Gordon, but such cases are the exception and not the rule. The same

series of sandstones and shales are exposed on the southeastern border, and the flowing wells at and around Trickham and Waldrip find their supply in them. The conditions are very favorable in the valley of the Colo- rado and some distance north, between the 99th and 100th meridians, for similar wells The rocks of this age are covered by later deposits in the Wichita mountains, and it is therefore impossible to judge of the possibil- ity of their water-bearing character there. Similar rocks are exposed on the western border of this basin, in the vicinity of Van Horn and further north in the Guadaloupe mountains. They are reached by a well 832 feet deep at Toyah, some seventy miles east of Van Horn. This well has an abundant flow. We have, therefore, in the lower men- bers of the Carboniferons rocks of this basin water-bearing strata, the exposed edges of which on the southeast and west are suffi- ciently elevated to furnish artesian water to portions of the basins in their immediate vicinity.

We do not know what interruptions to the subterranean flow may exist in the way of dikes or fissures, and therefore the areal ex- tent of this portion favorably sitnated cannot be given until the topography and geology are better known. The quality of the water from every well thus far secured in this basin, which has its origin in this series of rocks, is highly saline, and it is safe to assume from this and from the character of the deposits that no fresh water can be ob- tained from this source. Therefore, if the supply be general over the entire region, it will only be adapted for limited nses. In addition to this, this water-bearing bed can be reached in the greater portion of the region only after passing through the entire series of Permian strata and those of the up-

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HISTORY OF TEXAS.

permost Carboniferons, amounting in all to 2,000 or 3,000 feet, or even more in places.

If there be any other hope for an artesian water supply in this region, the catehment 'arei must be either in the pre-Carboniferous · rocks of the central mineral region and the Wichita mountains or in the Gnadalonpe and connected ranges. That such a catchment area exists on the south is fully proved by the powerful springs at Lampasas and in San Saba county, all of which have their origin below the rocks of Carboniferous age. Some of these springs, such as the Lampasas, have their vent through roeks of this period, but they belong to the very lowest strata, and the temperature of the water proves that it "comes from still greater depths. All such water is highly mineralized, but mneh of it reems suitable for general nses after exposure to the air has dispelled the sulphuretted hy- drogen. Others of these springs, like that at Cherokee, San Saba county, spring through rocks below the Carboniferons, and these fur- nish water of au excellent quality. The dip of these rocks is much greater than the over- lying Carboniferous, and the water supply would therefore be rapidly carried beyond the depths of ordinary artesian borings. The conditions of outeropping strata are similar in the Wichita mountains to those of Llano und San Saba counties, but we have no sneh evidence in the way of springs to prove their value, and no boring has been carriel far enough to test the matter, although prepara- tions are now under way to do so. No rocks of similar age have been observed in the Guadaloupes. We must therefore conelnde that while the artesian conditions of the con- tral basin are not unfavorable, the probabili- ties are against securing an adequate supply of water sufficiently free from mineral matter to be of use for general purposes, unless it

be from the sandstones of the Guadaloupe mountains, which would require sinking to impracticable depths in most places. All ex- ceptions will be of purely local extent and will require much local topographic and geo- logical work for their designation.

There still remains the area of the Staked Plains formation to be discussed, but on knowledge of its geology is too limited to permit anything but the most general state- ment. The upper portion of these plains is composed of strata of later Tertiary or possi- bly Quaternary age, underlaid by a conglom- erate and sandstone of earlier date than the Trinity sands, dipping southeast. It is this bed that furnishes the surface water of the plains, and from it gush the headwaters that form the Colorado, Brazos, and Red rivers The beds underlying this are probably Per. mian on the sonthern border, but newer for. mations may intervene toward the north. It is possible that this conglomerate bed inny yield artesian water near the western border of the State, and it is said that one such well has been seenred. It is the opinion of the State Geologist, however, based on such knowledge as he can obtain, that the probabilities of artesian water on the plains are rather nnfavorable than otherwise. It will require a considerable amount of work in western New Mexico to decide the mutter finally.

The well at l'ecos City most probably be longs to the series newer than thint described under the Grand prairie region, and there- fore gives no clue to the arca north of it.

The trans-Pecos mountain distriet from the Guadaloupe mountains to the Rio Grande consists of numerous mountain ranges and detached peaks which rise from comparatively level plains. These plains are composed of loose material which has been derived from

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HISTORY OF TEXAS.

the erosion of the mountains and sometimes has a thickness of over 1,000 feet, as is proved by the wells along the Texas Pacitie & South- orn Pacific railways, The geologie formations of the mountains themselvesconsist of granites, sandstones, schists, and quartzites and Siluri- an, Carboniferons, and Cretaceous limestones. The whole area is faulted, broken, and cut by intrusive porphyries, basalts, granites, and other ernptives.

These conditions of structure prevent any other than a general unfavorable report on the district, although in certain localitios conditions may, and probably do, exist favor- ablo to the securing of artosian water.

Mineral springs are to be found every- . where in the world, the financial suecess at- tending the management of them depending mainly npon advertising and equipment. It is therefore nunecessary to detail here the springs and wolls that are frequently visited for medicinal purposes. The mineral ele- ments of such waters generally comprise com- mon salt, sulphur, magnesia, soda, iron, salts of lime and potash and traces of a few other minerals, and often of organic matter. More or less of these elements are also to be found in nearly all artesian water.

OAVES.'

Cavos are very numerons in the limestones of the Carboniferous, and some of them are very extensive. Very few of them have been explored for any purpose other than idle curiosity. "I entered only one of them," says a member of the geological staff, "and traversed it about three-fourths of a mile. Sometimes the roof would be high overhead, and then again to crawl upon our hands and knees. There were lateral openings at different places, but the main opening.

Most of the way the bottom was dry, but here and there a pool of water would be found standing in a basin of calcareous rock. Stalagmites covered the floor and stalactitos hung from the top. We came. to a place where there was a descent of the bottom of the cave for several feet, and, low- ering our candles into the opening, found on account of the gas they would not burn; so we retraced our way to the entrance. This cave is in the massive limestone, three miles down the Colorado river, on the west side from the Sulphur Spring, and just below the month of Falls Creek."

Other cavos have large quantities of guano in them, deposited by the bats. Some of these deposits are twenty feet thick, and are of un- known extent. These caves will, iu the near future, no doubt, be fully explored, and their valuable beds of guano put upon the market.

PETRIFACTIONS.

Some magnificent specimens of petrifac- tion are found in several places in the State.

TRANS-PECOS TEXAS.

That portion of western Texas lying west of the Pecos river is called "trans-Pecos Texas." The mineral deposits of that region are proved to be extensive and of great richness:

1. By their extensive outcrops, the many assays of which show the almost universal presence of the precious metals in them.

2. By the prospecting and work already done.

The advantages offered the miners and prospectors are:

1. The ease with which the outcrops may be distinguished.

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HISTORY OF TEXAS.

2. The proximity to railroad transporta- tion and ease of access by wagon roads.

3. The healthy climate and freedom from fear of Indian depredations.

4. Little need of timbering for mines. The disadvantages are:

1. The present clouded titles of certain districts.

2 The lack of definite land lines, mark- ing exact boundaries between surveys.

3. The lack of surface water. (This can be supplied by reservoirs or can be found in the mines themselves.)

4. The demand for a yearly cash payment on each claim in addition to the amount of work required.

All of these disadvantages except the third can be removed by proper legislative action, and the country opened to prospectors in earnest, and as easy terms offered as those by Mexico and other sister States. When this is done, and not sooner, may we expect to see trans- Pecos Texas take that position among the mining countries of the world which the richness of her deposits so surely warrants.

While western Texas has been regarded as perfectly valueless, and its value doubted even now, because it is not settled by farmers and stock-raisors, and the fact is that it is not and , will not be fit for farming and stock-raising without water reservoirs und irrigation, there are in the mountains mineral districts of un- common valne. The question arises, why have these resources not been developed ?

This can be answered by simply hinting at the circumstances as they existed in western Texas up to a few years ago. In former years the want of water, added to the danger of Indians, prevented the settling of western Texas; and even travelers hurried through parts of the country, as the Sierra de los Do- lores ("the Mountains of Misery," now Quit-

man and surrounding monntains), with its Puerta de los Lamentaciones ("Gate of Lamentations"), and nobody stopped long enough to examine the mountains for their mineral resources; or if perchance some one did stop he did so at the peril of his life, as is proved by the numerous graves which are found in the mountains.

Up to ten or twelve years ago military de- tachments were kept at stage stations on the road to Fort Davis and El Paso, to protect these stations from the Indians. Under such circumstances travelers were not inclined to lie over at the station houses, which were uninviting, and to make geological examina- tions of the hills and mountains, or try to ascertain their ore-bearing character.

The daring pioneers who prospected and who began the development of other mineral districts of the United States had not suffi- cient inducement to undergo like hardships and risk their time and life in Texas, for this State had no mining law granting to pros- pectors any right to discoveries they may have made. The Mexicans living along the Rio Grande were farmers,-very indolent, too poor to bny arms, too timid to make explora- tion trips to the mountains without arins.

In 1883 the legislature of the State passed a mining law, but its contents and ruling were not very tempting. Very few persons in Texas knew, and nobody outside the State suspected, that there was really a mining law at all. It was quite natural that no mineral resources were expected in a State which did not deem it worth while to pass sensible mining laws.

The railroads made traveling through trans-Pecos Texas easier and quite dangerless. They brought mountain ranges which were hardly accessible in former times in easier reach; and in 1889 the legislature of the

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HISTORY OF TEXAS.

State passed a new mining law. The terms, however, under which this law grants mining rights to prospectors are not as inviting as those of tho mining laws in force in the mineral districts in other States of the United States or Mexico. There are very few actual prospectors who are able or willing to pay the locating and recording fees, and in addi- tion to their work make a payment annually of $50 in cash on each claim, some of which they may not wish to patent, thus entailing a loss of both work and money. This feature of the law encourages capitalists to locate and scenre mineral lands for speenlation, and discourages, or it may even be said excludes, the actual prospector. This law does not prevent persons from erecting corner monu- ments of fictitious mineral claims wherever they think good indications might be found, which will at least serve to prevent othor honest prospectors from locating on them. There are numerous such bogns locations, which have neither been surveyed by the authorized surveyor, nor recorded in the I und office, nor the assessment work done, nor the cash payments made on them., There is nobody in the mineral districts to watch and prevent snch work, even if it were prohibited by law. The required annual payment of $50 on each claim location would certainly benefit the school or university funds if locations were made under the law; but under the circumstances very few locations will be made. Most of the alternate sections, as well as larger tracts of school and university land, in West Texas in their present condition can not be sold at a reasonable price; they can not be rented out as farming or grazing land; . they therefore bring no revenne through taxation, and they are, and evidently will remain, dead capital mrtat the mineral re- ronrecs are developed in the mountains, and

water fonnd or provided for in the flats; and the present mining law should be made as favorable as is possible to secure this develop- ment. But this is not the only drawback.

The titles to some of the lands of west Texas are clouded by large Mexican or Span- ish grants, covering hundreds, and some of them (as, for instance, the Rongnillo grant) thousands of square miles of the best mineral and prospective farming lands. Prospectors who are able and who are willing to submit to the terms of the mining law are afraid to risk time and money without knowing on whose land they are loeating, or which party, State, railroad, or grantee, has a right to grant them the rights.

In other parts of the trans-l'ecos region, where there are no Spanish or Mexican grants clonding the titles, the prospcetor can, in very few cases only, be perfectly certain whether his claim is located on State or railroad land, even though the location be made by the authorized surveyor, who knows or professes to know the lines. The terms which are offered by the railroad are for the most part so exacting that in fact it is almost impossible for a prospector to accept them. Thus, instead of offering sufficient indnce- ments to secure a greater amount of pros- pecting, everything is against the prospector, and helps to prevent the development of the mineral resources of the State.

The scarcity of water, also a drawback to the development of the mineral and other resources of west Texas, can be overcome by storage reservoirs, and will be partially over- come by the water found in deeper mines. The scarcity of mining timber is not severely felt, for little timbering is required in the solid material of the western mountains.

The scarcity of fnel is a drawback, the greater beennse it prevents the utilization of

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HISTORY OF TEXAS.

the poorer grade of ores which can not stand shipment, and also in less degree on account of its need for nse nuder steam boilers for hoisting, pumping, and ventilating machin- ery. But poorer ores might be stored until the coal deposits of Texas are sufficiently explored and developed to furnish cheap fuel, or until the imjustified prejudice against the excellent brown coal of the Tertiary is over- come sufficiently to bring it into nse.

The railroads will no doubt find it to their interest to make cheaper freight rates for coal and ore to and from trans- Pecos Texas.

The mineral resources, like those of the Quitman district, will and must attract atten- tion, and will be appreciated and utilized as soon as a more liberal mining law makes them acceptable to prospectors, as soon as the title clouds are removed, and as soon as it is pos- sible to determine the exact location of the claims. The advantages for mining are fully as great as the disadvantages that have been mentioned, the proximity of the railroad to most of the mountains being by no means the least. The communication from the monnt- ains to the railroad is easy, the roads either good or capable of being made so at nominal cost. The climate is healthy, and there is not the slightest danger of Indian outbreaks or other disturbances so common in many other mining districts.

ECONOMIC GEOLOGY.

The practical man desires a knowledge of the useful minerals and other natural resources, and he, therefore, often fails to appreciate the necessity for such determinations as have been laborionsly worked out for the geological reports. But experience has clearly shown that haphazard methods of development are not only ruinons to individuals and

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Author: Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing co., 1895 Number of Pages: 1532

Author:
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing co., 1895
Number of Pages: 1532