DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR

sTrN" 387

STRUCTURAL MATERIALS

IN PARTS OF

OREGON AND WASHINGTON

BY

N. H. DARTON

WASHINGTON

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

1909

CONTENTS.

Introduction....................................... v ....................... 5

General geology............................................................. 6

Portland region....................................................... 6

Topography......................................................... 6

General geologic relations........................................... 7

Tertiary formations................................................. 7

Igneous rocks...................................................... 8

Quaternary deposits................................................. 9

Tacoma-Seattle region................................................. 12

Topography................................-...------------------- 12

Older rocks...............'........................................ 12

Quaternary deposits ....................................... ^....... 12

Structural materials........................................................ 13

Gravel and sand. ........................................................ 13

Broken rock........................................................... 16

Clay................................................................... 18

Building stone........................................................ 19

Plaster............................................................... 19

Portland cement....................................................... 20

Cement materials in Washington. ........................................ 21

San Juan County................................................... 21

Stevens County................................................... 23

Skagit County..................................................... 25

Whatcom County................................................... 25

Ferry County...................................................... 26

Snohomish County................................................. 26

King County......................................................... 27

Okanogan County................................................. 27

Pacific County................................................... 27

Kittitas County................................................... 28

Chelan County.................................................... 28

Limestone in Oregon. .................................................. 28

Jackson County................................................... 28

Josephine County................................................ 29

Baker County.................................................... 29

Polk County. .................................................... 31

Douglas County.................................................. 32

Clackamas County................................................ 33

Wallowa County................................................. 33

3
ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page.

PLATE I. Map of Portland, Oreg., and vicinity, showing distribution of structural materials.;........................................... .. 5

II. Dredge used for raising concrete gravel from bed of Willamette River

at Portland, Oreg............................................. 14

III. A, River gravel and.sand, east bank Willamette River, Portland, 

Oreg.; B, gravel on Cornell road in northwest part of Portland, 

Oreg.......................................................... 14

IV. A, Lower quarry near St. Helens, Oreg.; S, gravel and sand on east

bank of Willamette River, Portland, Oreg...........:........... 16

V. A, Gravel pit in southern part of Tacoma, Wash.; B, gravel pit on

Bellevue Avenue near Pike street, Seattle, Wash................. 16

VI. Temporary gravel and sand pit with screen, washer, and bin, Boren

avenue near Pike street, Seattle, Wash........................ 18

VII. A, Upper quarry, crusher, and loading incline south bank of Columbia 

River near St. Helens, Oreg.; B, quarry near Fishers Landing, 

Columbia River, Washington................................... 20

VIII. A, Clay pit at Russell Landing, 4 miles above Vancouver, Wash.;

B, gravel pit, screens, washer, and bins, Steilacoom, Wash...... 22

I.. Map of Washington and Oregon, showing distribution of limestone... 28 

FIGURE 1. East-west section through Portland, Oreg. ....................... 6

4
U.S.G-EOLOO-ICAL SUR.VET 

GEORGE OTIS SMITH , DIRECTOR. BULLETIN MO. 387 PL!

-^*//,v ^^

Alhivia.1

f Ct.<iLY,-tn Ufl, eirtff. S'tjl fl I

Kivor terrnce cle.posits 

.9

ivor teri'n<.'e uepos

'Sffn rf .trrn vet > rrsict 7- OftrH

Coiirrctc sajicl

Base, part of Portland quadrangle,U.S.G.S 

Topography by E.C.Barnard. 1896 

with culture to I9O6 by G.R.Davis.

MAP OF PORTLAND, OREGON, AND VICINITY, SHOWING DISTRIBUTION OF STRUCTURAL MATERIALS

IJY N". U.I

S c ale

4 Miles

3

Coxrto\ii- iTvtei'val 25 feet. 

J}a£itzn, !& rrte-czn .tea- level. 

1908
STRUCTURAL MATERIALS IN PARTS OF OREGON AND

WASHINGTON.

By N. H. DAKTON.

INTRODUCTION.

The rapid growth of cities in Oregon and Washington has caused 

great demand in these States for structural materials of all kinds, and 

although some of these materials a,re locally abundant and satisfactory 

others have to be brought from great distances. Common bricks, 

which form the principal component of most buildings, are made in 

the vicinity of all the cities, even within the city limits, and the 

supply of suitable loam is very great. Gravel and sand for concrete 

and sand for mortar are obtained in large quantities in the immediate 

vicinity of the cities. Cement, however, which is so extensively 

used in concrete, is produced at only one place in the two States, and 

most of that used is brought from distant points, much of it being 

imported from England, Germany, Belgium, and Japan. Building 

stones are hauled many miles, especially the kinds used for interior 

decorations, most of which are shipped across the continent. Highclass brick, terra cotta, lime, plaster, and man}' other building 

materials used in this region are produced at distant places.

Yet the cost of most supplies that are now brought from distant 

places can be reduced by utilizing the local resources' of Washington 

and Oregon. Limestone is available in ample supply for cement 

manufacture; building stones, even to finest marbles, exist in some 

of the mountains, and extensive deposits of clay, sands, and other 

building materials occur at many localities near the coast.

The investigation on which this report is based was intended 

mainly to ascertain the local resources of the gravel, sand, and 

crushed rock used in concrete in Portland, Seattle, and Tacoma. 

Representative samples of these materials were also obtained to be 

tested in the St. Louis laboratories of the United States Geological 

Survey. Considerable attention was given to the occurrence of limestone suitable for the manufacture of cement, and many localities 

were visited in that connection. The building stones of Washington 

have been treated extensively in a report by Prof. Solon Shedcl, 

published by the State Geological Survey. The demand for building
STRUCTURAL MATERIALS IN OREGON AND WASHINGTON.

1- to

o 2

,-" -,- °

lid: -a

materials in the Northwest is well indicated by the fact that in 1906 building 

operations in Seattle represented an 

expenditure of $11,920,438 for labor and 

materials and in 1907 an expenditure of 

$13,577,700. In Portland the amount in 

1906 was $6,927,971 and in 1907 it increased to $9,446,982. ; 

' The following publications give information regarding building materials available in the region treated in this report: 

Ann. Rept. Washington Geol. Survey, vol. 

1, 1901; vol. 2,1902. The latter includes 

a report on building stone by S. Shedd. 

Geol. Atlas U. S., Tacoma folio (No. 54), 

-by B. Willis and G. 0. Smith; Ellensburg 

folio (No. 86), by G. O. Smith and F. 

C. Calkins; Mount Stuart folio (No. 106),. 

by G. O. Smith; Roseburg folio (No. 49), 

by J. S. Diller; Coos Bay folio (No. 73), 

by J. S. Diller.

GENERAL GEOLOGY.

PORTLAND REGION.

Topography. Portland is built on the 

terraces and hill slopes on both sides of 

Willamette River, about 12 miles above 

the confluence of that river with the Columbia. The terraces rise in gradual succession to an altitude of slightly over 100 

feet above sea level on the west side of 

the river and to 300 feet in the outlying 

suburbs on the east. North of the* city 

the highest terrace constitutes a ridge 

separating the valley of the Willamette 

from the low flats on the south side of 

Columbia River. This ridge, known as 

the peninsula, has an altitude of 100 feet 

at its western end and rises gradually to 

the east. The terraces on the west side 

of the Willamette are less than 2 miles wide 

in Portland. They rise gradually to the 

west in a succession of long slopes and
GENERAL GEOLOGY. 7

several terrace scarps which are extensively masked by the grading 

and filling of the city. They are abruptly terminated on the west 

by steep slopes, rising into a high ridge with numerous summits over 

1,000 feet in altitude. The main rise follows a remarkably straight 

course, trending due northwest. The ridge is cut by numerous 

canyons which in places have precipitous walls. These canyons 

break the highland into irregular ridges with steep slopes but rounded 

summits.

From the wide terraces east of Portland rise a line of high, detached knobs known as Rocky Butte, Mount Tabor, Kelly Butte, and 

Mount Scott. The altitude of these above the surrounding plains is 

from 300 to 400 feet, and they are separated by wide, flat-bottomed 

gaps at the level of the general terrace surface.

General geologic relations. The extensive terraces about Portland 

consist of gravel and sand of Quaternary age, deposited by Columbia 

and Willamette rivers. These lie in a wide trough excavated in 

rocks of later Tertiary age, in part volcanic. The high ridge west 

of Portland consists of dark basalt, extensively covered by a loesslike silt and local gravel deposits. The general relations are shown 

in the accompanying cross section (fig. 1).

Tertiary formations. None of the older sedimentary rocks appear 

to be exposed in the vicinity of Portland, but it is probable that the 

entire region is underlain by them. The record of a well on the Ladd 

farm, in the SE. J NE. | sec. 36, in East Portland, is reported by 

W. S. Everett as follows:

Record of well on Ladd farm, East Portland, Oreg.

Feet.

Loam and sand......................................... 0- 100

Sand, clay, and gravel.................................. 100- 120

Sand with bowlders of granite and basalt . ............... 120- 140

Bowlders, gravel, and sand.............................. 140- 220

Coarse grit and gravel, with sandy layers. Water......... 220- 405

Olive marl compact; some sand and grit. Lignite and fossil plants............................................. 405- 720

Fine grit, sand, and gravel; basalt and granite pebbles..... 720- 730

Marl, "talc," shale, some gravel, and some layers of fine 

sandstone............................................ 730- 850

Stiff shale and marl, some sandy layers. Many fossil plants 

and wood............................................. 850-1,000

Fine white sand and coarse gray sand in alternating beds. 

Mica scales and basaltic grit..........:................. 1,000-1,080

Fine conglomerate, containing layers of shale and marl with . 

fossil plants and sand.................................. 1, 080-1, 200

Coarse basalt grit........................................ 1, 200-1, 250

Fine-grained sandy marl and shale. Plants............... 1, 250-1, 300

"Granite".............................................. 1, 300-1, 700

Apparently in this well the older sedimentary rocks begin at a 

depth of 405 feet, and continue nearly 900 feet to the hard rock supposed by the drillers to be granite. The principal materials are
8 STRUCTURAL MATERIALS IN OREGON AND WASHINGTON.

shales with sandstone layers similar to the Tertiary rocks which outcrop farther west and south in the State. Unfortunately the fossil 

plants were neither determined nor preserved. Doubtless they would 

indicate the age of the strata.

In the museum in the city hall in Portland there is a fragment of 

sandstone containing late Tertiary fossils which, according to the 

label, was obtained at Sellwood or the southern portion of East 

Portland from the river bank during very low water. Possibly it 

was from a ledge underlying the basalt which crosses the river in 

that vicinity; on the other hand, it may have been a loose fragment 

brought from a distance.

Igneous rocks. The igneous rocks in the Portland region consist of 

lava flows of late Tertiary age, but their history and stratigraphic 

relations have not been ascertained. The highlands west of Portland 

consist largely of basalt, which outcrops extensively in their steep 

eastern slope and in all of the deeper canyons. In some of the sections it may be seen that the mass is built up of successive sheets. 

Probably it represents a series of old lava flows lying on a surface 

of Tertiary sedimentary rocks not far below tide level. The location 

of the vent or vents and the extent of the lavas to the west have not 

been ascertained. The rock reaches the west bank of the Willamette at the foot of Seymour street in the southern portion of Portland, and it is exposed ih the east bank in a low bluff opposite Riverside Cemetery. Thence south it is extensively exposed along the 

sides of the river beyond Oregon City, where the falls are over high 

ledges of it. Thin slices of the rock from various localities in the 

western portion of Portland were examined under the microscope by 

F. C. Calkins, who found that they were all basalts consisting of labradorite, brown augite, magnetite, apatite, and more or less glass. All

but one specimen from an old quarry in Johnson Creek contain olivine 

also. The texture is intersertal. The feldspars are in lath-shaped 

crystals, with the other minerals lying between them. There are 

many cavities varying in size from those conspicuous to the eye down 

to minute irregular cavities mostly filled with secondary minerals. 

In the rock from Jackson Canyon just west of City Park the percentage of glass varies from 15 to 30, and some of the rock contains 

roundish inclusions of finer-grained, more glassy basalt. The rock 

from Marquam Gulch collected on the road on the north side, well 

up the hill, contains 10 to 15 per cent of glass and much magnetite 

in grains, rods, and skeleton crystals. The basalt from an old quarry 

on Tanners Creek presents considerable variation, probably due to 

successive flows. The rock high in the slope contains only from. 5 to 

10 per cent of glass and much less magnetite than the other rocks. 

Its groundmass also contains much apatite and a few grains of olivine. The lower portion of the basalt on Tanners Creek contains
GENEKAL GEOLOGY. 9

from 25 to 35 per cent of glass and a little olivine.. It is a dense 

black rock of great hardness.

The black "basalt" which reaches the banks of Columbia River at 

St. Helens is being extensively quarried, as sliown in Plates IV, A, 

and V, A. A sample of the rock from the quarries at St. Helens was 

examined microscopically by A. Johannsen. While it is closely similar to the Portland basalt in composition, its structure is subophitic, 

so that it may be classed as an augite andesite. Its component minerals are grains of augite and feldspar laths, with some magnetite.

The prominent hill known as Rocky Butte rises out of the high 

terrace plain a mile northeast of Montaville, one of the easternmost 

suburbs of Portland. It consists of a light-colored igneous rock 

strikingly different in appearance from the black basalt west and 

south of Portland. A mass of similar rock appears in the north bank 

of Columbia River at Fishers Landing, where it is extensively quarried, and,, judging by a small outcrop in the northern portion of the 

summit of Mount Tabor, it also constitutes much of the latter highland. Apparently other masses of the same rock give rise to the 

buttes on the same line extended southward.

Doubtless these masses indicate a line of intrusion with local 

bodies of lava spreading out on the surface at intervals along its 

course. Probably they lie on a basement of Tertiary rocks at no 

great distance below tide level. Rocky Butte is nearly a mile long 

and 400 feet high and presents a steep rocky face to the east. The 

rock appears to be homogeneous in character. Microscopic ex- 

 amination by Mr. Johannsen showed it to be basalt with diabasic 

texture consisting of much plagioclase with some augite and magnetite and phenocrysts of fresh olivine. The rock from quarries 

just above Fishers Landing was found to be a somewhat similar 

rock, but of fluidal texture, with fresh olivine phenocrysts and 

grains of augite in a groundmass of dark-brown glass containing 

some magnetite. The basalt of Mount Tabor has porphyriticvesicular texture with phenocrysts of fresh olivine, with less augite 

and some magnetite. The outcrops in Mount Tabor begin just 

north of Belmonc street and extend in a narrow ledge northward 

across the Baseline road to the north slope of the hill. The high 

ridge south of Belmont street is so thickly covered by gravel that 

the structure could not be determined, but it is probable that the 

basalt underlies it.

Quaternary deposits. The wide terraces on which Portland is 

built consist of river deposits, mainly sand, gravel, and loam in 

extensive sheets. These were deposited in former times by Willamette and Columbia rivers when these streams were at a higher 

level than now and had courses somewhat different from the present 

ones. Both rivers now occupy channels cut below sea level and
10 STRUCTURAL MATERIALS IN OREGON AND WASHINGTON". \

are bordered by .freshet plains underlain by alluvial deposits. The 

latter are especially wide on the south side of Columbia River above 

the mouth of Willamette River and on the east side northwest of 

Vancouver. Alluvial flats border the Willamette below Portland, 

notably in the lowlands of Mocks Bottom and Swan Island and 

about Guild Lake.

The gravels and sands of the terrace deposits show local differences in character and succession. The predominant material is a 

mixture of gray sand and small gravel, with scattered pebbles of 

larger size and occasional bowlders. Local deposits of gravel occur, 

while in other places the sands are nearly free from gravel. On 

top of the terraces there is an almost universal thin sheet of buff or 

reddish loam.

There is a long cross-section exposure of the terrace deposits of 

the peninsula in the new deep cut of the Northern Pacific Railway. 

This cut is over a mile long, and in its deeper portion near University 

Park it is about 30 feet deep. The principal material is coarse 

sand of gray color, rudely stratified, but with much local crossbedding. The sand contains scattered lenses and streaks of gravel 

and a few bowlders, some 6 inches in diameter, but most of them 

small. At intervals of 3 or 4 feet thin beds of clay, or mixed clay 

and fine sand, lie nearly horizontal. These appear dark, because 

they are saturated with water. At the top is a covering of fine 

buff loam, 4 to 6 feet thick for the greater part of the distance but 

thickening as it extends down the lateral slopes, especially on the 

north or Columbia River side of the ridge. This loam covers a 

large part of the peninsula except along some of the steeper 

slopes, where gravel or sand comes, to the surface. The coarse sands 

appear extensively in high bluffs all along the north bank of Willamette River from St. John to Sellwood. Near St. John and in 

Waids Bluff the banks are 150 to 175 feet high. The sand is mostly 

stratified, with subordinate cross-bedding, thin clay layers, scattered pebbles, and small bowlders. East of Mocks Bottom a heavy 

bed of gravel and bowlders appears in the lower part of the bluff 

and soon presents a thickness of 30 feet. It continues for a mile, 

and either gives place to finer materials or sinks beneath tide level 

near the line of Fremont street. For the next 2 or 3 miles in East 

Portland the bluffs are low and mostly graded, so that no extensive 

exposures appear. Opposite Ross Island the bluffs are 50 to 60 

feet high and present the features shown in Plates III, A, and IV, B. 

The predominating material is sand, but the beds in the lower half 

of the bluff contain a large proportion of pebbles and small bowlders.

In the eastern portion of East Portland a higher terrace which 

extends eastward to Rocky Butte rises from the main terrace. In 

the eastern part of Irvington and along the west side of Rose City
GENERAL GEOLOGY. . ~ 11

Park steep slopes which, exhibit coarse sands, and gravels rise to the 

higher terrace. The best exposures are in several pits whose location 

is shown in Plate I. Much of the material is coarse and many bowlders of moderate size occur. The bedding is inclined to the southsouthwest, in part at angles as high as 15°. At the top is a capping 

3 to 4 feet thick of buff loam, locally gravelly, lying horizontal and 

constituting the surface of the higher terrace. It is probable that 

this buff loam, which caps the entire peninsula between Columbia 

and Willamette rivers, was the product of a widespread submergence without strong currents after the gray sands had been laid 

down and the two terraces developed. It has since been eroded 

from portions of the slope to the south where Willamette River 

has cut into the bluffs.

The "heights" west of Portland are covered by a thick mass of 

fine-grained porous silt,a closely resembling the loess of the Mississippi and Missouri valleys. It is several hundred feet thick in places, 

and lies on an irregular s.urface of igneous rock with a deposit of 

gravel intervening at one place. It constitutes the highest summits, 

but the igneous rocks protrude in some of the higher slopes, and they 

are bared in the deeper portion of the canyons and along the lower 

portion of the steep eastern front of the "heights." Some of the relations of this deposit are shown in figure 1. There are extensive 

exposures of this loess in the many new road and railroad cuts in 

Portland Heights, some of which exhibit from 20 to 40 feet of the 

material. In places it is exposed lying in the irregular and often 

deeply decomposed surface of the basalt. In the point of the highland just south of the mouth of Balch Canyon the loess is seen to be 

underlain by 40 feet or more of gravel, which lies on the basalt. 

This gravel, which is mostly coarse, is tightly packed- in silty sand in 

part of pale reddish color. It is extensively expose along the Cornell road (see PL V) and in new road cuts in slopes AV st from Johnson 

street northwest. There are also excellent exposures on and near 

Cornell road from the line of Twenty-eighth street to Thirty-second 

street on the north side of Balch Canyon. At one locality it is seen 

extending down into a narrow canyon in the basalt now exposed in 

cross section by the road cutting.

The alluvial deposits are sands, gravels, loam, and silt, constituting 

the low flats along the rivers and also the river bottoms. Much of 

the material in the wide flats along the south side of the Columbia is 

"mud" or fine silt often containing considerable finely divided vegetable matter. There is also much fine sand, especially on the islands 

and along the river banks. Ross Island, which lies in the Willamette 

in the upper part of Portland, consists largely of gravel. In the river

« This formation was discovered by J. S. Diller (Reconnaissance in northwestern Oregon: Seventeenth 

Ann. Kept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 1, p. 485.)
12 STRUCTURAL MATERIALS IN OREGON AND WASHINGTON.

<channels most of the deposits are sand or gravel, which becomes 

rapidly coarse grained as the stream is ascended. This is illustrated 

in Columbia River by the fact that fine-grained sands are dredged 

opposite Vancouver, coarse sands opposite Russells Landing, and 

gravel near Fishers Landing. In the Willamette the bed is fine sand 

near the bridges at Portland, but it becomes coarser above the upper 

bridge, and is largely gravel at Ross Island. Eight representative 

pebbles from the latter, examined microscopically by A. Johannsen, 

of the United States Geological Survey, were found to comprise 

quartzite, granophyre (consisting of quartz and orthoclase with 

granophyric texture), basalt (with olivine phenocrysts in a groundmass of plagioclase and glass), light-colored andesite and hornblende 

andesite (both with porphyritic plagioclase in a groundmass of feldspar), and a rhyolitic glass.

TACOMA-SEATTLE REGION.

Topography. The surface of west-central Washington consists 

mostly of sand, gravel, and clay deposited by or in connection with 

the glaciers of the glacial epoch. In the Puget Sound region the 

lands are generally less than 1,000 feet above sea level and the principal type is a terrace or low ridge rising abruptly from 200 to 300 feet 

above tide water in inlets which ramify far inland. Low alluvial 

flats also exist along some portions of the sounds and along the river 

valleys.

Older rocks. At the coast the surface of the older rocks lies beneath 

sea level, so that their outcrops are rare at most places near the sounds 

and inlets; farther inland, however, they are exposed at intervals. 

About Tacoma the nearest exposures are in the coal district near 

Pittsburg, Wilkeson, and Carbonado. The rocks also appear near 

Renton together with small masses of igneous rocks. Near Seattle 

Tertiary sandstones and shales are exposed in small areas. Igneous 

rocks also outcrop at Port Orchard.

Quaternary deposits. While the glacial and other Quaternary 

deposits of the Puget Sound region vary greatly in character, glacial 

drift or till is the predominating material. This*consists of a mixture 

of sand and clay in varying proportions, irregularly intermixed with 

bowlders and gravel, and is a product of the ice sheets which once 

covered the region. Three main drift sheets are recognized, the older 

of Admiralty till and the later Osceola till and Vashon drift. The 

Admiralty till appears in the lower portions of the bluffs of Puget 

Sound, notably along the Tacoma water front and at intervals along 

the east shore of Admiralty Inlet. It is a stiff blue clay usually 

stratified and locally filled with sub angular stones and large bowlders.

Stratified drift covers a large portion of the area adjacent to the 

Sound region and constitutes many of the high bluffs. A large
GEAVEL AND SAND. 13

amount of the material is a mixture of sand and clay, or consists of 

these two materials interlaminated. Beds of gravel are frequently 

included and in places they attain a thickness of 40 to 140 feet. 

Many of the pebbles consist of granite, often so rotted that it falls 

apart on exposure to the weather. Ordinarily the gravel deposit is 

overlain by evenly bedded sands containing gravel in lenses and 

scattered pebbles. This sand member is usually about 40 feet thick, 

but at one locality on Vashon Island clean sands 200 feet in thickness 

are exposed. Most of this material, however, is too fine for use in 

concrete. 

These stratified sands and gravels are overlain by the later till, 

which is known as the Osceola till in the region south and east of 

Orting, Alba, and Eddyville, and as the Vashon drift in the areas adjoining -the sound. The Vashon drift is the surface formation in a wide 

area about Seattle, Tacoma, Vashon Island, .and the table-land lying 

between Admiralty Inlet and Stuck and White rivers. It is composed of sand and gravel with pebbles mostly rounded and consisting 

largely of granite and other crystalline rocks. More or less clay and 

silt are intermixed in portions of the deposit. There are many localities, however, at which the material can be worked to advantage and 

by washing and screening sorted into gravel of various sizes, coarse 

sand for concrete, and fine sand for mortar. This process has been 

effected in a measure by nature in places where the original drift has 

been modified extensively by running streams of the glacial epoch.

The local variations in the character of the material are so great 

that it is not possible to describe the distribution of the various 

materials. One of the most extensive and notable members, which 

has been called Steilacoom gravel, occupies the greater part of the 

summit of the extensive plateau south of Tacoma, extending from 

the bank of the Puyallup Valley westward to the shore of the Sound 

southwest of Tacoma. Lake Spanaway lies on this surface and the 

formation appears in high banks at Steilacoom. The gravel is mostly 

coarse, hard material,-and washed clean of fine sand and clay, although 

on the surface there is frequently a thin layer'of sandy loam. Considerable coarse sand or fine gravel is intermixed, together with many 

bowlders, mostly of small size. This deposit is the product of a 

river which flowed westward at an earby portion of the glacial epoch.

STRUCTURAL MATERIALS.

GEAVEL AND SAND.

Portland region. Very nearly all of the large amount of gravel used 

for concrete construction in Portland is obtained by dredging from the 

Willamette River channel in or just above the city. The material is 

pumped up by dredges, screened and washed in the elevators, and
14 STRUCTURAL MATERIALS IN OREGON AND WASHINGTON.

loaded directly onto scows. (See PL II.) The process is so cheap 

that the gravel is sold for about 80 cents a cubic yard at bins located 

at several points along the water front in Portland. Several dredges 

are in operation most of the-time. At high water the gravelly shores 

of Ross Island, then inundated, are dredged. The gravel consists 

largely of volcanic rocks, basalt and andesite (see p. 12), together 

with quartz and quartzite. The pebbles average in large part from 

one-half to 1^ inches in diameter, but they vary greatly in different 

portions of the dredging grounds. The amount of material available 

is large, for the gravel banks extend for several miles up and down 

stream and vary from a few rods to a half mile in width. Their depth 

is unknown, but is probably great. Every freshet adds to the supply. A small amount of gravel is at times obtained from Columbia 

River near Fishers Landing, but the material includes a large proportion of scoriaceous or spongy rock called " honeycomb/' which is 

much less tough than the gravel of Willamette River. It is, however, 

in large deposits and is obtainable at low cost.

Very extensive beds of gravel underlie parts of the uplands in the 

Portland and Vancouver regions, and while they are dug for road 

making, they have not been utilized extensively for concrete. They 

are considerably more expensive than the river gravels, except for 

use at points far from tide water, when the item of hauling becomes a 

large factor in the expense. One of the largest exposures of these 

deposits is on the east bank of Willamette River opposite Ross 

Island. The river banks at this place are from 55 to 65 feet high, 

and although much of the deposit is sand, portions of it consist mainly 

of gravel. One bed of gravel about one-third way up the bluff 

extends for nearly a mile, with a thickness of 12 to 15 feet. A 

large amount of material has been removed from the bluff for grading 

an electric line that has been built along the river. Plates III, A, and 

IV, B, present two views of the deposit, one of them showing a steam 

shovel in operation. This bank extends eastward under the south 

part of East Portland, and its top is laid out in city lots, probably of 

too great prospective value to permit very extensive invasion by 

quarrying operations. A similar bluff of gravel and sand also extends 

north along the northeast bank of the river below Portland to St. 

Johns, and while the predominating material is sand, much gravel 

could be screened out of it. Opposite the south end of Swan Island 

the bluff contains a 30-foot bed of gravel and bowlders, which extends 

to the built-up district adjoining the yards of the Oregon Railroad 

and Navigation Company. Its thickness and purity diminish 

materially to the southeast. The steep terrace slope extending 

through East Portland from the west end of Rose City Park along the 

northern portion of Irvington consists of a thick deposit of gravel, 

which is worked for road material at several large pits. The amount
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

DREDGE USED FOR RAISING CONCRETE GRAVEL FROM BED OF WILLAME
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

A. RIVER GRAVEL AND SAND, EAST BANK WILLAMETTE RIVER, PORTLAND, OREG. II. GRAVEL 
GRAVEL AND SAND. 15

of gravel available in this area is very large, but with the increasing 

value of the land for building lots it is improbable that the workings 

will become extensive. Some thick deposits of gravel lie against the 

slope of the high ridges just south of the mouth of Balch Canyon, and 

they have been worked to a small extent for road making. One of 

the exposed faces near Cornell road is 40 feet high, and other smaller 

ones are exhibited in cuts for new roads. Some features of these 

gravels are shown in Plate III, B.

Seattle-Tacoma region. A large proportion of the gravel and sand 

used for concrete in Tacoma and Seattle is obtained from extensive 

quarries on the high banks of the Sound a short distance north of 

Steilacoom, where a thick wide sheet of Steilacoom gravel lying on the 

till probably represents the course of a powerful stream during 

glacial time. The deposit is worked by several companies who excavate the material by hydraulic jet and wash and screen it down 

grade into storage bins, whence it is loaded onto barges and towed 

to Tacoma and Seattle. A view of one of the works is given in Plate 

VIII, B. The total production is about 1,000 yards a day. Representative samples of concrete sand and gravel from this locality were 

sent to the St. Louis laboratory of the United States Geological Survey for a working test.

Gravel and sand for concrete and other uses are obtained extensively from Richmond Beach, a station on the Great Northern Railway on the shore of Puget Sound about 12 miles north of Seattle. 

The deposit is about 150 feet thick in the center, where it constitutes 

nearly the entire bluff, but the thickness diminishes gradually to 

the north and south. It lies on glacial till and appears to represent 

a river channel of the glacial epoch. The material is worked by a 

hydraulic jet supplied by water obtained from springs on the tableland just east. It is washed over screens into large storage bins, and 

is loaded from these directly onto cars or barges. The capacity of 

the plant is about 500 yards a day. Representative samples of coarse 

sand and gravel for concrete were obtained at this place and sent.to 

St. Louis to be given a series of working tests.

Gravel and sand are obtained from pits at Eagle Harbor on the 

opposite side of Puget Sound from Seattle and on the west side of 

Vashon Island near its north end. The workings are in the high 

banks rising steeply out of the sound and the material is loaded 

directly onto barges. The washing is done by sea water pumped to 

tanks on top of the bank. The capacity of the Vashon Island works 

is 300 yards a day. A large proportion of the material is fine sand, 

used for plastering.

Gravel and sand for concrete are sold at an average price of about 

90 cents a yard in Seattle and Tacpnia, not including cost of hauling 

from, the bin§,
16 STRUCTURAL MATERIALS IN OREGON AND WASHINGTON.

Gravel and sand are dug in moderate amount at several localities in 

the city of Tacoma and while sand for mortar or plastering is the 

principal product, considerable coarse sand and gravel for concrete 

are obtained. The largest and best equipped plant is at Thirty-first 

and East E street; it is shown in Plate V, A. It uses city water 

for hydraulicking the material from a high bank into a sluiceway, 

whence it is elevated to screens, washers, and bins, and thoroughly 

cleaned and sorted.

In Seattle there are many small .plants for producing sand and 

gravel from the extensive deposits which occur in the glacial till and 

modified drift in most parts of the city and vicinity. Some of these 

plants, such as are shown in Plates V, B, and VI, are temporary 

ones operated to reduce hilly slopes to the city grade and convert 

them into building lots, meanwhile utilizing the products as building 

materials. The proportion of gravel and coarse sand varies from 

place to place, the coarser deposits giving place to clays and finer 

sands. Some of the latter are extensively utilized for mortar and 

plastering, and in fact the principal supplies of these materials are 

obtained locally, often from the excavation for the foundation of the 

building in which they are used. There are gravel pits of moderate 

size, with plants for washing, screening, etc., on the east bank of 

Lake Union and at the north end of Green Lake. Plans have been 

developed for large pits at the east end of Lake Washington and 

near Brighton Beach.

BROKEN ROCK.

Portland region. Broken rock is used only to a very small extent 

for concrete in Portland. This is due largely to the fact that the 

production from several quarries is scarcely sufficient to supply the 

demand for macadam and other road material and the price is considerably higher than that of gravel. Eventually, when the quarries 

are more extensively developed, this material also may be used, 

especially if it be found stronger than gravel.

The largest part of the broken rock brought to Portland is quarried 

on the bank of Columbia Kiver, a short distance below St. Helens. 

This locality is about 30 miles northwest of Portland, but direct tidewater connection makes the expense of transportation very low. 

The quarries are in the bluff about 100 feet above the river, and all of 

the products are loaded on large scows by gravity. (See PI. VII, A.) 

The rock is a fine-grained augite andesite of nearly black color, which 

outcrops in prominent ledges, usually presenting well-marked columnar 

structure. It occupies an area of about 2 square miles, extending 

westward to the railroad. The amount of material available is very 

large. One of the principal products of the quarry is paving blocks." 

The large amount of waste which results is crushed, screened, and
U. 8. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 387 PLATE IV

A, LOWER QUARRY NEAR ST. HELENS, OREG. 

In Anoesite used for paving blocks and crushed rock,

B. GRAVEL AND SAND ON EAST BANK OF WILLAMETTE RIVER, PORTLAND, OREG.

i .
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY IULLETIN 387 PLATE V

A. GRAVEL PIT IN SOUTHERN PART OF TACOMA, WASH.

E. GRAVEL PIT ON BELLEVUE AVENUE, NEAR PIKE STREET, SEATTLE, WASH.
BROKEN ROCK. 17

shipped as crushed rock for road. material. More than 2 tons of 

this rock were sent to St. Louis, for working tests in concrete to be 

made later. The rock is free from honeycomb structure, very dense, 

and exceedingly hard, but somewhat brittle. Notwithstanding this 

latter quality, working tests demonstrate that it possesses great 

toughness when used as a component of concrete. It is sold for 

$1.50 a yard on the dock at Portland.

In the vicinity of Portland a large supply of rock is available from 

the dark-colored basalt constituting the core of the highlands immediately west of the city and the river banks above the city, notably 

at the falls of the Willamette at Oregon City. The rock outcrops 

extensively in the canyons in the western portion of Portland, and at 

various localities in some of these it has been quarried and crushed. 

The product has been employed almost exclusively for road material, 

with very satisfactory results. Portions of the rock, however, are

scoriaceous or honeycombed, which greatly diminishes its strength. 

Some of the quarries have been abandoned because of this feature, 

for although much of the rock was solid, there was a very large 

amount of waste of the scoriaceous part. The two principal quarries 

now in operation are in Marquam Gulch. There are also quarries on 

the river bank near Oswego, a few miles above Portland.

The basalt of Rocky Butte, a short distance east of Portland, is a 

hard, coarse-grained gray rock of considerable toughness. Several 

small quarries have been opened on its steep eastern face for building 

stone for local use, and at one time a spur was built along its nojtheast face by the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company. The 

length of the ridge is very nearly 1 mile, its width is considerably 

over 1,500 feet, and its height above the adjoining lands is 300 to 

400 feet. These dimensions indicate a volume of about 83,000,000 

cubic yards of the rock, or over 200 million.tons within easy reach 

for excavation. The rock appears to be uniform in texture, free 

from honeycomb, and the joints by which it is traversed are so far 

apart that large blocks are easily obtainable. It dresses readily and. 

is of a light-gray tint of very much more pleasing appearance than 

the black basalt, which has been used to some extent for building 

in Portland. Although the basalt outcrop in Mount Tabor is very 

small, doubtless the rock is much more extensive underground and 

may be found to constitute a. large part of the nucleus of the Mount 

Tabor highland. It is massive, homogeneous in texture, of lightgray color, and of considerable toughness. Most of the outcrop 

ledges show very large blocks, which appear to have been very little 

affected by weathering. A deposit of coarse bowlders on Mount 

Tabor, which could be crushed for broken rock, consists largely of 

hard volcanic rocks, but includes considerable quartz and quartzite. 

80594 Bull. 387 09 2
18 STRUCTURAL MATERIALS IN OREGON AND WASHINGTON.

Some of the best exposures of the material are in the slopes adjoini 

the reservoir in the south end of the ridge.

The basalt which rises in high bluffs on the north side of Fishc 

Landing is extensively .worked in a series of large quarries. T( 

material is taken out in large blocks for use on the jetties at tj' 

mouth of Columbia Kiver and Grays Harbor. One of these quarril 

is shown in Plate VII, B. \

Seattle- Tacoma region. Crushed rock is produced in consideral 

amount from two localities in the Seattle region. It is not used f 

concrete, however, owing to its cost, which is SI.40 per yard, near 

twice that of gravel. One large quarry is a mile above Chariest 

or Port Orchard, at the head of the inlet, and another is on. the su 

urban trolley line, 2 miles south of Soutl\ Park, between Seattle ai 

Renton. The rock is a dark-colored andesite of igneous origin, ve 

hard and dense, but somewhat brittle. At the quarry south 

Seattle the rock rises in cliffs about 100 feet high on the west bank 

Duwamish River. The material is used entirely for admixture wi 

asphalt in paving.

CLAY.

i;

Portland region. Clays of various kinds occur in the Portlai 

region, and they are utilized to a moderate extent. Brick is the pri! 

cipal product, and in fact the clays of the immediate vicinity of Poi. 

land appear not to be useful for anything else. Within a radius ! :

100 miles, however, clays suitable for terra cotta and other buildii'

f ?' 

erials are found, but as yet no special attention has been given j

them. t Brick loams occupy the surface at many places in the wil> 

terrace areas about Portland, and they are burned into brick at sei 

eral localities. The pits and kilns are mostly in East Portland, \. 

areas where the land is not too highly valued for building lots.. Bri<^

works of moderate size at Sylvan and in Johnson Gulch west of Poi[ 

land use a sandy clay from the base of the loess. Man.y bricks ff 

use in Portland are made at Russells Landing, on the north bank 

Columbia River, 5 miles above Vancouver, where 20 feet of gray bri< 

loam overlies 6 feet thick of purer blue clay; part of the pit is shW 

in Plate VIII, A. The blue clay has been mixed with shale brougl 

from coal mines in Washington and used for making terra cotta. [ 

Seattle- Tacoma region. Clay forms a considerable proportion of tl) 

glacial and other Quaternary deposits in the Seattle-Tacoma' regioi 

and it also occurs in the form of soft shale in the coal measures £ 

Renton, Taylor, Kummer, etc. The clay near the two cities is use 

extensively for making common red brick to supply the local demam 

Terra cotta and other building materials are made from the purt 

clays of the coal measures, especially at the points above mentioned
. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

TEMPORARY GRAVEL AND SAND PIT, WITH SCREEN, WASHER, AND BIN, BOREN AVENUE
BUILDING STONE PLASTER. 19

No special study was made of the clays in the Seattle-Tacoma region, 

so that the extent and character of the deposits and the relative 

merits of the products can not be given.

BUILDING STONE.

Oregon. While a large amount of building stone is used in Portland, 

an exceedingly small proportion of it is obtained in the vicinity of the 

city. The basalt and andesite of the region have furnished material 

for a few buildings, but this was mostly in years past, supplies nowadays being shipped by rail and in small part by water from neighboring States. One of the materials most extensively used is the dark 

greenish-gray sandstone from Tenino, Wash., but various other sandstones, granite, and limestones are employed. Most of the granite 

has been brought from long distances. The custom-house in Portland is built mostly of granite from the quarries in Snake River, 30 

miles below Lewiston, Wash.

The black basalt constituting the greater portion of the highland 

west of Portland has been utilized for a few buildings in Portland and 

for many walls and foundations. It is of great hardness and toughness, especially when rock free from "honeycomb" is selected, and it 

can be obtained at moderate cost, especially as a partial product from 

quarries worked mainly for road metal. Its dark color and the difficulty in dressing it appear to be the principal objections to its use. 

The gray basalt of Rocky Butte has been used to some extent in 

foundation work and to a small extent in building. Lately the demand for it has increased and some small quarries are being opened 

in the east side of the butte. The rock has a pleasing gray color, is 

not difficult to dress, and is of great durability. Much of it can be 

easily worked out in large blocks.

Washington. Practically all of the building stone used in Seattle 

and Tacoma is brought from distant points, some of which are, however, in the State of Washington. Large bowlders in the glacial till 

afford material for walls and foundations, and a few private houses 

have been built of them. The only "ledge rocks" occurring near the 

cities are the andesite, 2 miles south of South Seattle, and some beds 

of sandstone in the lower part of South Seattle. These have been 

used to a very small extent for foundations and do not offer any 

promise of being utilized extensively as building stones.

PLASTER.

Plaster of Paris and various "stucco" preparations are shipped 

from various places to the cities on the northwest coast. These products are prepared from gypsum, a mineral which has^not been found
20 STRUCTURAL MATERIALS IN OREGON AND WASHINGTON.

in any quantity in Washington, but which occurs in large deposits 

near Huntington in eastern Oregon. These deposits are worked 

extensively, and much of the product goes to. Portland, Seattle, and 

Tacoma. They have been known for many years, but worked only 

during the past decade. The plant is on Burnt River, 3 miles northwest of Huntington, and the deposits are in the ridge that separates 

the valleys of Burnt and Snake rivers. According to Lindgren,a the 

principal bed of gypsum is 20 feet thick and of excellent quality. 

Much of it is pure white and crystalline, but parts contain thin films 

of greenish chloride material. It rests on slate and limestone and is 

covered by red and green tuffaceous slate in a series dipping gently 

to the wesc. About 80 feet higher up is another gypsum stratum, 30 

to 40 feet thick, covered by gypsiferous limestone and green volcanic 

tuff. The gypsum deposits are in elongated lenses. They are worked 

by tunnels, entering about 200 feet below the summit of the ridge on 

the Snake River side. The production is stated .to be about 13,000 

tons a year.

PORTLAND CEMENT.

A very large amount of Portland cement is used in Oregon and 

Washington for concrete construction, especially in the larger cities 

Portland, Seattle, Tacoma, etc. Much of the material is imported 

from Germany, Belgium, England, and Japan, and a small amount 

is brought by water from California. Its cost reached S3.75 a barrel 

during 1907, but averaged S.3. It is estimated that the total amount 

of cement used in the three cities above mentioned in 1907 was 

1,294,800 barrels, with a value of about $3,884,400. Of this amount 

381,356 barrels were imported into Portland and 369,516 barrels into 

Puget Sound ports. The latter region also received 263,458 barrels 

from domestic sources, about two-thirds from California. Several 

companies have recently been projected for producing cement at various localities in Oregon and Washington, but the only plant now 

existing is that of the Washington Cement Company at Concrete, a 

station on a branch of the Great Northern Railway in central Skagit 

County. The plant was built in 1905 and started in 1907. It has 

two 100-foot rotary kilns, but will soon add others to the full capacity 

of the water power, which is derived from Baker River, on the bank 

of which the works are erected. A 6 by 10 foot flume carries the 

water about 1\ miles to the works. Crude oil is used for the kilns 

and driers. A large supply of high-class limestone is obtained from 

quarries near by and clay is excavated from the river banks.

The following analysis of the cement was furnished by the company:

oLindgren, Waldemar, Twenty-Second Anu. Kept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 2.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY ;ULLETIN 337 PLATE VII

A. UPPER QUARRY, CRUSHER, AND LOADING INCLINE, SOUTH BANK OF COLUMBIA 

RIVER, NEAR ST. HELENS, OREG.

B. QUARRY NEAR FISHERS LANDING, COLUMBIA RIVER, WASHINGTON. 

Shows loading incline.
CEMENT MATERIALS IN WASHINGTON. 21

Analysis of Portland cement from Concrete, Wash.

Silica ........................................................ 23. 96

Iron oxide..................................................... 3.16

Alumina...................................................... 6. 98

Lima-........................................................ 62. 76

Magnesia..................................................... 1. 58

Sulphur as S03 ................................................ 1.31

99.75 .'

Ninety-nine per cent of the cement will pass through a 100-mesh 

screen and 83 per cent through a 200-mesh screen. The setting time 

is given at 4^ hours for initial set and 8 hours for final set. The tensile 

strength is given as follows: Twenty-four hours, neat cement, 295 

pounds; seven days, neat cement, 773 pounds; seven days, 1 to 3 

sand, 276 pounds; twenty-eight da}7s, neat cement, 805 pounds; and 

twenty-eight days, 1 to 3 sand, 440 pounds. The boiling test'gave 

perfect results. This cement has been extensively tested and several 

contractors in Seattle assert that it comes up to the best requirements. 

From 1887 to 1890 a cement plant was operated at Oregon City by 

the Portland Cement Company, of Portland, Oreg. This plant was 

the first to use rotary kilns. A "natural cement rock" from Douglas 

County, Oreg., was burnt, using gas for fuel, and power from Willamette River. Owing to litigation it was shut down in 1890. Undoubtedly the great expense of hauling limestone from Douglas County 

was a serious handicap to the project.

CEMENT MATEEIALS IN WASHINGTON.

Limestone suitable for cement is known to occur at various localities in the State of Washington, but only the deposit in Skagit County 

is utilized for cement manufacture. Man}7 of the limestone bodies 

occur far off the main lines of travel and some of them are not sufciently pure for cement. Doubtless when the geology of the State is 

completely explored numerous additional localities will be discovered. Many of the following descriptions of known occurrences are 

condensed from a report by Prof. Henry Landes. a

San Juan County. The principal deposits of limestone in San Juan 

County are on San Juan and Orcas islands at or near tide-water level. 

On San Juan Island the rock has been extensively worked and burned 

into lime at Roche Harbor, furnishing the principal supplies for the 

northwest coast. The rock is a marble included in a series of metamorphic rocks of pre-Cretaceous age. It appears in two large ledges 

which extend north and south from Roche Harbor to Westcott Bay, 

a distance of about one-half mile. The width of outcrop from east to 

west is about. 1,000 feet and the ledges rise 200 feet in the slopes. The 

rock is considerably shattered and mostly bare, so that it is easily

"Cement resources of Washington: Bull. U. S. Geol. Survey No. 285,1905, pp. 377-383.
22 STRtJCTtJRAL MATERIALS IN OREGON AND WASHINGTON.

quarried. The quarry, which has been in operation since 1882, produces, about 300,000 barrels of lime a year. The limestone is very 

uniform in character and composition, as shown by the following 

analyses:

Analyses of limestone from Roche Harbor, Washington.

1.

0.44

1.13

98.21

99.78

2.

0.27

0.21

99.06

.40

100. 00

3.

0.20

0.30

98. 57

1.02

100.09

4.

0.14

0.30

98.75

49

99.41

1. Made in 1888 by Moss Bay Hematite and Iron Company, England.

2. Made in 1893 by Puget Sound Reduction Company, Everett, Wash.

3. Made in 1902 by C. F. McKenna, New York, N. Y.

4. Made in 1906 by Spackinan Engineering Company, Philadelphia, Pa.

The limestone of Orcas Island outcrops at several points on the 

northwest shore of the island near East Sound and Deer Harbor, and 

while the rock is a marble similar to that at Roche Harbor its area 

is less. It has been burned to lime to a small extent and yielded a 

most satisfactory product. Two analyses of the rock by A. H. Cederberg are as follows:

Analyses of limestone from Orcas Island, Washington.

Silica ...........................................................................

Sample 1.

1.01

.04

97.45

.51

99. 61

Sample 2.

1.14

97.23

Trace.

1.21

99.89

Extensive deposits of clay in the glacial deposits and of shales about 

Roche Harbor and Orcas Island could be used with the limestone for 

cement manufacture. The topographic conditions also are favorable, 

especially in the presence of water so deep that large vessels can come 

close to the shore. Analyses of clays and shales are as follows: 

Analyses of clays and shales from Roche Harbor and Orcas Island, Washington.

Silica.................................................

I.

56.35 

24. G2

3.66

2.58

.31

3.94

7.52

2.

57.3 

21.4

5.1

3.1

0.5

2.1

3.

53. 2 

23.9

6.3

4.1

.8

2.9

4.

78.00 

6.98

0.45

1.50

Trace.

1.50

.30

5.15

5:

62.8 

19.2

10.2

.9

6.

39.80 

21.62

29.10

2.91

.41

2.15

1. Clay from Roche Harbor; F. C. Newton, Seattle, Wash., analyst. 

2 and 3. Clays from Orcas Island; A. H. Cederberg, analyst. 

4. Slate from Roche Harbor; F. C. Newton, Seattle, Wash., analyst. 

5 and 6. Shale from Orcas Island; A. H. Cederberg, analyst.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 387 PLATE VII|

A. CLAY I ,7 AT RUSSELL LANDING, 4 MILES ABOVE VANCOUVER, WASH. 

P, Terra-cotta clay; B, brick loam.

B. GRAVEL PIT, SCREENS, WASHER, AND BINS, STEILACOOM, WASH.
CEMENT MATEKIALS IN" WASHINGTON. 23

Stevens County. Extensive bodies of marble and limestone occur 

in Stevens County, mostly north of latitude 48a. At the south the 

rock is in isolated masses among granites, quartzites, and other rocks, 

but farther north the deposits increase in extent, and near the northern edge of the county the limestone occupies a large area. In the 

southern part of the area the rock appears in the valleys or foothills, 

while to the north it is in the high slopes. Much so-called marble 

occurs along the foothills and ridges bordering Cqlville Valley from 

about Valley Brook northward, but it is dolomite or magnesite. The 

deposits about Valley and Chewelah are highly magnesian, and some 

of them are nearly pure carbonate of magnesia.

Some of the marble deposits in the Colville region consist of 94 

to 99 per cent of carbonate of lime and but little carbonate of magnesia. One of them is worked by the Jefferson Company in quarries 

15 miles northeast of Colville. The deposits are very large, and the 

rock varies in color from dark blue to white.

Analyses of marbles at Jefferson quarries, northeast of Colville, Wash.

Water at 110° ...................................................................

JWhite.

0.87

55.16

.21

43.77

100.01

Pinkish.

3.49

.24

51.54

1.11

42.46

.16

100. 00

The extensive marble deposits worked by the Crystal Marble Company about 7 miles southwest of Colville are dolomites containing over 

20 per cent of magnesia.

The marbles of the Keystone Company are about 16 miles north 

and a little east of Colville, in the foothills of the western slope of the 

Pend Oreille Mountains and at the headwaters of Clugston Creek. 

The deposits are large and vary considerably in color, ranging from 

almost pure white to almost black. The marble shows but little 

stratification and trends almost due north and south. There is 

an alternation of shale, slate, limestone, and marble. The following analyses given by Shedd show the composition of the principal, 

varieties:

Analyses of marbles 16 miles north of Colville, Wash.

Silica. ....................................................................

White.

0.98

Trace.

53.96

1.25

43.76

99.95

Gray.

0.82

54.81

.70

43.56

99.89

Dark 

gray.

1.89

42.60

10.05

44.63

99.17
24 STRUCTURAL MATERIALS IN OREGON AND WASHINGTON.

These analyses show that the darker rock contains too much magnesia for cement manufacture. This is the case also with the marble 

at the Standard Company's properties in sees. 13 and IS, T. 35 N., 

Rs. 39 and 40 E., 4 miles east and a little south of Colville.

The marble deposit' of the Colville Company is on the north fork 

of North Creek about 16 miles northeast of Colville and from 898 to 

1,398 feet above the altitude of that town. Limestones, marbles, and 

slates alternate, but near the old mill site a drill hole 1,100 feet deep 

is said to have been in limestone for the entire distance. Shedd 

gives the following analyses of the marbles from this locality:

Analyses of marbles 16 miles northeast of Colville, Wash.

Silica. ...........................................................................

White.

2. 01

53. 68

42.89

09.94

Dark gray.

3.12

.12

.81

.67

43.22

99.98

These analyses show that the rocks are high-grade limestones, containing but little magnesia and a very moderate amount of silica.

Several deposits of marble occur in sec. 13, T. 38, R. 37, 2 miles or 

more west of Bossburg in the slopes west of Columbia River. They are 

from 600 to 800 feet above the river. The beds are distinctly stratified and lie nearly horizontal. According to Shedd, they vary considerably in their composition, ranging from dolomite to nearly pure 

limestone. One analysis showed over 99 per cent of carbonate of 

lime with about 0.5 per-cent of magnesia, but in other analyses of the 

pure-white rock the magnesia ran as high as 18.56 per cent.

The marble appears again in a bluff a mile north of Ryan, the next 

station north of Bossburg, and in similar bluffs on the opposite side 

of Columbia River. An analysis given by Shedd shows nearly 96 

per cent of carbonate of lime, 1.6 per cent of magnesia, and 1 per cent 

of silica. Further exposures of the marble occur beyond Marble Station in sees. 22. and 27, T. 39 N., R. 39 E., on the east bank of the 

river. The deposits show some remains of stratification. Much 

of the rock is covered by gravel and sand 6 to 14 feet thick, 

but in places it rises in bluffs 10 to 30 feet high. In most portions 

of the region in which these marbles occur there are extensive 

deposits of clay and large bodies of shale or schist suitable for cement 

manufacture.

At Box Canyon, on Pend Oreille River, there are large deposits 

of very high grade limestone and also argillaceous limestone, both 

suitable for cement manufacture. Extensive deposits of clay also
CEMENT MATERIALS IN WASHINGTON. 25

are available. The Pacific Portland Cement Company, which has 

been organized to manufacture cement at this locality, plans to utilize 

a water power developed by damming Cedar Creek. The plant is 45 

miles from Newport, on the Great Northern Railway, but the place 

can be reached by river transportation.

Analyses of limestone and clay from Box Canyon, Washington.

Limestone.

1.6

TrflCc

98.5

Clay.

64.1

22.3 1.7

Skagit County. A thick mass of white crystalline limestone is 

included in the metamorphic series on the east side of Baker River, 

about three-fourths mile from the junction of that stream with Skagit 

River. The rock lies against slate, and the beds dip to the southwest at an angle of about 55°. The outcrop is nearly one-eighth mile 

long and averages 160 feet wide. It extends still farther underground 

and will afford a very large supply. It is now being worked extensively by a cement plant. Associated with the limestone is a clay 

which is utilized in the cement manufacture. This clay is a river 

deposit of considerable extent and thickness lying on a bed of gravel 

and abutting against the rock slopes of the sides of the valley. It 

is stratified, relatively uniform in character, and of light-blue color. 

The exposure is one-fourth mile in length, and the deposit was found 

to average 165 feet thick. The following analyses of the materials 

at the cement plant are given by Landes:

Analyses of limestone and clay at Washington Cement Works, Concrete, Wash.

 . Limestone.

1.

0.80 

.70 

98.14 

.65

2.

3.41 

1.78 

92.50 

2.30

Clay.

3.

58.75 

29.94 

4.66 

4.47

1.48 

4.60

4.

55.90 

25.50 

4.90 

2.83 

.51 

3.91 

6.45

Analyses Nos. 1 and 3 were made by C..W. Johnson, and Nos. 2 and 4 by F. C: Newton, both of 

Seattle, Wash.

WJiatcom County. Limestone occurs at a number of localities in 

the vicinity of Kendall, on the line of the Bellingham Bay and British 

Columbia Railway. North of the railroad at a point about 3 miles 

from Kendall there is a high bluff of white marble which is conspicuous for some distance. It is included in an extensive metamorphic
26 STBUCTURAL MATEEIALS IN OREGON AND WASHINGTON.

series of slates and other rocks, which is greatly folded and crushed, 

and, owing to its disturbed condition, the amount of rock available 

is not apparent. Several smaller outcrops appear south of the railroad. A few miles west of the limestone and along the railroad are 

beds of glacial clay known to be at least 50 feet thick, and this or the 

slate could be used with the limestone in making cement. The following are analyses of these materials:

Analyses of limestone, clay, and slate from Kendall, Wash.

Limestone.

1.

1.52 

.35 

97.48 

1.26

2.

1.37 

.42 

98.72 

.26

Clay

3.

61. 27 

25.30 

2.96 

4.68

4.

57.06 

26.80 

10. 62 

1.13 

2.56

Slate.

5.

66. 01 

17.65 

8.01 

3.15

6.

72.69 

22.19 

2.16 

2.47

1 and 3, D. W. Rieclle, analyst; 2, 4, 5, and 0, A. H. Cederberg, analyst.

Ferry County. The principal rocks in Ferry County consist of a 

metamorphic series of limestones, slates, and quartzites cut by granites and other igneous rocks. The largest limestone deposit occupies 

a narrow belt extending north and south across the county along the 

west fork of the granite divide which separates Columbia and Kettle 

rivers from the-drainage to the west. A large outcrop a few miles 

west of Columbia is worked for a limekiln which produces high-grade 

lime. The rock is of bluish color, compact, and hard. Near by are 

clays and impure limestones which could be utilized for manufacture 

of cement. The following analyses of these materials are by A. H. 

Cederberg:

Analyses of limestones and clay near Republic, Wash.

-

Silica. ....................................................................

Lime carbonate. ............... ..... ...

Marble.

1.1

98. 6

Trace.

Impure 

limestone.

18.9

7.2

66. 1

4.5

.21

Clay.

60. 13

29.10

8.98

1.36

.75

.29

Snohomish County. Crystalline limestone occurs at a number of 

places in the eastern half of Snohomish County as a member of an 

extensive metamorphic series. It has been quarried at a point on the 

Everett and Monte Cristo Kailway 3 miles east of Granite Falls; 

part of it has been used in the smelter at Everett and part burned 

into lime. The following analyses by A. H. Cederberg show the character of the rock and of associated calcareous slate and clay which 

could be used in manufacture of cement:
CEMENT MATERIALS IN WASHINGTON. 27

Analyses of limestone, calcareous slate, and clay near Granite Falls, Wash.

Silica. ........... ............................ , ..........'.................

Lime carbonate. ............... ............... ... ............

Limestone.

0.2

1.4

98.1

Trace.

Slate.

22.1

10.6

59.6

1.8

1.4

Clay.

61.6

25.4

7.2

2.3

1.6

2.9

King County. Crystalline limestones constitute a portion of the 

metamorphic series of King County, but very little information is 

available concerning them. Outcrops are known in the vicinity of 

Snoqualmie Pass and at several points along the Great Northern 

Railway, notably in the region about Baring. A large amount of 

clay occurs in the county, mainly in the coal measures at Renton, 

Taylor, Kummer, and other places, but no clays have yet been found 

near the limestone. Doubtless, however, some of the associated 

schists could furnish the argillaceous components necessary for 

cement manufacture.

Okanogan County. A large amount of crystalline limestone occurs 

in the metamorphic series in the northern portion of this county. 

The largest areas are west and northwest of Riverside, where sorne 

of the outcrops rise in conspicuous cliffs. One of these is on the east 

slope of Palmer Mountain, where the rock is light gray in color and 

only partly crystalline. No analyses are available.

Pacific County. Limestone has been reported from several localities in this county, but apparently the deposits are not of sufficiently 

large size to be of importance. The principal rocks are of Tertiary 

age, consisting mainly of shale. Some of the beds carry concretions 

of nearly pure carbonate of lime and others consist of an admixture 

of clay and carbonate of lime in varying proportions. Lime concretions have been collected and burned for lime near Knappton, but 

they are too widely scattered in the. shale to furnish a large supply. 

On Bear River, 6 miles east of Ilwaco, a mass of limestone appears 

on a small knoll rising a few feet above the tide marsh. The exposure 

is small, but owing to the covering the total extent of the deposit 

could not be ascertained; it contains fossils which appear to be of 

Eocene age. The following analysis is by S. V. Peppel, of Columbus, 

Ohio:

Analysis of limestone from Lindsey claim, Pacific County, Wash.

Silica........................................................ 4. 20

Alumina...................................................... 1. 80

Iron oxides.................................................... .76

° Lime carbonate................................................ 92. 00

Magnesium carbonate.......................................... 1. 48
28 STRUCTURAL MATERIALS IN OREGON AND WASHINGTON.

Limestone concretions and very impure limestones are included in 

the Tertiary shale series in the ridge east of Bear River, and a claim 

has been staked on them at a point about 7 miles east of Ilwaco. 

The writer made an examination of this locality, and found that the 

impure limestone is in ledges presenting a thickness of about 30 feet. 

The concretions, which are much purer, vary from a few inches to 6. 

feet in diameter and are scattered through the overlying shale. The 

following analyses, furnished by D. W. Riedle, of Portland, were 

made by E. C. Morse, of the Garrin Cyanide Company, Portland:

Partial analyses of limestones from Riedle claim east of Ihvaco, Wash.

Limestone.

27.40

34.54

13.06

Concretions 

in shale.

44.28

12.70

4.20

It will be seen from this analysis that the limestone is too 

impure to be used for cement unless the carbonate of lime constituent could be brought up to a much higher percentage by admixture 

with purer limestone.

Kittitas County. In western Kittitas County small lenses of limestone are included in the Peshastin formation, which outcrops on the 

mountain slopes 10 to 15 miles southeast of Easton, on the Northern 

Pacific Railway near the head of North Fork of Taneum Creek and 

South Fork of Maiiastash Creek. They are too small and too far 

from lines of transportation to be of value.

Chelan County. In the high mountain ridges of southern Chelan 

County are areas of Peshastin formation which carry small lenses of 

limestone, but they are too small to be of value.

LIMESTONE IN OREGON.

Occurrences of limestone in Oregon are widely separated, but 

deposits of large size are found in the southwestern and northeastern 

portions of the State. (See PL IX.) When geologic investigations 

are more widely extended doubtless many bodies of limestone will be 

brought to light and additional data obtained regarding deposits 

now known. In nearly all the areas where limestones are reported 

there are abundant supplies of clay or shale which could be used in 

making cement. Fuel, however, is scarce except near the coast, 

where low-priced oil from southern California is available.

Jackson County. Limestones occur at varions localities near Goldhill station on Rogue River, and some of them have been burned for 

lime for local supply and also shipped to Portland. A small amount 

has been used for flux in the smelter at Portland. The rock is in
U. 8. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 387 PLATE IX

S. 3^ft*jA *" IK «ca / S

_H< J^rhr^MtRainierV.

Limestone

MAP OF WASHINGTON AND OREGON, SHOWING DISTRIBUTION OF LIMESTONE.
LIMESTONE IN OREGON. 29

lenses of various sizes included in schist dipping steeply to the northwest. The largest mass, about 1$ miles southwest of the station, is 

not more.than 200 yards long and 30 feet thick. Other smaller masses 

are in the ridge north of the station and in the slopes south .of. the 

river. A moderately large deposit appears near Rockpoint, 3.--miles 

west of Goldhill, on the north side of -Rogue River. It is cut by 

dikes. An analysis made by J. S. Phillips is as follows:

Analysis of limestone from Rockpoint, west of Goldhill, Or eg.

Silica................'. ......................................... 3.1

Iron oxide..................................................... 2.2

Lime carbonate................................................ 89. 4

Magnesium carbonate............................................ 5. 3

100. 0

Analyses by P. H. Bates, of the United States Geological Survey, of 

two samples of limestone obtained near Goldhill are as follows:

Analyses of limestones near Goldhill, Oreg.

1 mile 

northwest 

of Goldhill.

0.92

98.22

.84

99.98

Jmile 

west of 

Goldhill.

25.21

69.82

1.30

96.33

Limestone of similar character and conditions of occurence appears 

at intervals in the valley of Applegate Creek, and it has been burned 

for lime at one or two points. It also appears in small bodies on the 

foot of the ridge west of Phoenix, or about 5 miles southeast of 

Medford. If coal is produced from the mines near Medford, doubtless 

some of the limestones above described could be made economically 

into cement. Much of the schist probably is of suitable composition 

to supply the clay ingredient.

Josephine County. Limestone occurs in large deposits in the 

southeastern portion of Josephine County and it is in this rock that 

the celebrated "Oregon Caves" are developed. Some lime and 

building stone have been produced, but no data are on record as to 

the conditions of occurrence or composition of the deposits. Steamboat, Sucker, and Williams creeks are the principal localities.

Baker County.a Baker County, which is in northeastern Oregon, 

contains a number of large bodies of limestone, some of which have 

been extensively utilized for lime. One thick deposit crosses Burnt 

River canyon 3 miles above Huntington. The beds are several

a The rocks of a portion of this county have been described by Waldemar Lindgren, in Twenty-second 

Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 2, pp. 551-776.
30 STRUCTURAL MATERIALS IN OREGON AND WASHINGTON.

hundred feet across and upturned so that they dip to the northwest 

at a high angle. They are exposed in large quarries on the east side 

of the river and thence extend eastward for some distance across the 

high ridge between Burnt and Snake rivers, but do not appear to 

reach the latter river. Another thick mass of similar limestone 

outcrops west of Conner Creek 15 miles north of .Huntington. The 

limestone quarried near Huntington is remarkably pure, carrying less 

than 1 per cent of silica, alumina, and iron. It lies in a series of 

shales, which appear to be suitable for admixture in cement manu- 

.facture.

A body of limestone with croppings several hundred feet wide 

extends along the ridge south of Burnt River 6 miles southwest of 

Durkee and smaller masses occur a short distance south and east, of 

the larger one. Another small mass appears in the east bank of 

Burnt River 3 miles below Durkee. Two small outcrops are known 

2 miles northeast of Pleasant Valley and another occurs 3 miles 

southeast of Baker. These all appear to be small lenses.

A large amount of limestone is included in the Triassic series on 

Eagle Creek, especially on its east branch, about 25 miles northeast 

of Baker. The following description is from Lindgren's report : a

Limestone and black slate in small croppings were noted a short distance north of 

the Dolly Varden mine on the road from Sparta to Lily White. Similar rocks were 

noted 2 miles west of Sanger, at the Sanger mine, and at Lily White. On the road 

from the latter place to Cornucopia gray, soft, calcareous shale and limestone, with 

northerly strike, crop .near the crossing of Eagle Creek, and the bluff at the bridge 

shows nearly horizontal gray limestone and calcareous shale, but little altered, in 

strata from 1 to 10 feet thick. The road continues up Paddy Creek, and limestone 

with uncertain dip is seen in places up to 800 feet above Eagle Creek, where it is 

covered by red and green shale and volcanic breccia of the same colors, containing 

fragments of old lavas and quartz diorites. The dip is here probably 10° N., and 

these rocks continue for a mile or two until the basaltic area is entered a short distance beyond Little Eagle Creek. On the high slopes above, toward Paddys Paradise, 

strong croppings of limestone are seen.

Between the junction of the forks and Miles Camp, 2 miles below, the series is well 

exposed in mostly horizontal beds, sometimes faulted and in places containing 

strata of interbedded volcanic rocks. Half a mile below the junction is a high bluff 

on the east side, which at its base shows horizontal strata of calcareous shale and 

limestone. Two hundred feet above the creek the strata dip 20° to 30° E. and contain abundant Halobia shells and fragments of ammonites. Above the junction, on 

the east fork, bluish-gray limestone appears in heavy beds and continues in bluffs on 

both sides of the creek for half a mile. Three miles above the junction heavy limestone bluffs appear on the west side and the rock contains pentagonal crinoid stems 

and spines of echinoids. Interbedded with this limestone is a volcanic breccia of red 

and green colors, containing fragments of various lavas as well as of a quartz diorite. 

From here on the limestone gradually becomes more crystalline. The trend of the 

strata is N. 10° E. and the dip probably east, though it is difficult to determine exactly. The highest point reached was about 7 miles from the junction, where, at an 

elevation of 4,500 feet, an important creek comes in from the west. Above this place

a Op. cit., pp. 734-735.
LIMESTONE IN OBEGON. 31

the canyon, which has been open with sloping benches in the bottom, becomes narrower, and the mountains rise several thousand feet on both sides. On the west side 

an enormous white sugar loaf of highly crystalline limestone, containing prisms of 

tremolite, reaches an elevation of about 6,000 feet. On the east the slopes are 

a little more gentle, but the mountains are much higher and consist of heavy 

masses of dark-green amphibolitic schist, showing, high up on the declivities, huge, 

' interbedded, lenticular masses of gray limestone. The strike of the schistosity and 

also of the bedding'is N. 20° E.; the dip 60° E. This schist is the volcanic breccia 

mentioned above, and has been compressed and made schistose by regional metamorphism. The transition from a series of altered limestone, shale, and volcanic 

breccias to schists and crystalline limestone is exceedingly beautiful and instructive. 

The change is rapid and yet gradual. High up at the head of the creek sharp limestone pinnacles rise to elevations of 8,000 feet; granitic rocks are probably entirely 

absent, though bowlders of this rock were noted in a gulch joining Eagle Creek 5 

miles above the junction. A passable wagon road leads up the east fork from Lily 

White as far as 7 miles above the junction.

An outcrop of crystalline limestone of good quality occurs in the 

argillite half a mile north of Sumpter. It could not be traced far 

either way in the direction of the strike of the rocks, but it may be 

continuous for a greater distance than is apparent, as the rocks on 

the hillside are not well exposed. The outcrop is 10 to 15 feet across, 

and a small quantity was quarried for a smelter that was in operation 

for a short time during 1900.

At Winterville, 40 miles southwest of Sumpter, a stratum of limestone 300 feet thick outcrops close by the placer diggings. It strikes 

N. 70° W.

In the Copper Butte mining district, 18 miles northwest of Baker 

City, several masses of limestone occur, which are described by 

Linclgren as follows:

One of the largest of them outcrops a mile northwest of Table Mountain, and is 

called the Big Lime dike. It is at least 600 feet long and 100 feet wide. Smaller 

masses are found 1 and 2 miles north of Medical Springs; others at the mine of the 

North American Copper Company and near Gilkeson's ranch. Many of them appear 

entirely bedded in greenstone. The limestone is not greatly altered. The stratification is not well defined, but it is believed that it has a moderate dip and a northwesterly strike.

In the Snake River canyon below the mouth of Cedar Creek southwest of .the Seven Devils, 80 miles from Baker, the older rocks appear 

from under the lava and among them are bluish-gray limestones of 

supposed Triassic age. "On tlie Kleinschmidt grade 2 miles west of 

Huntley's ranch limestone and shale crop with northerly strike at an 

elevation of 3,800 feet; more limestone is found northwest of this 

place in Lime Peak Gulch;" finally, a heavy mass of limestone 

crosses Snake River between Spring Gulch and Eckles Bar.

Polk County. About 3 miles west of Dallas are extensive exposures of an impure limestone which is quarried for building stone. 

It is claimed to be a natural cement rock. According to an analysis
32 STRUCTURAL MATERIALS IN OREGON AND WASHINGTON.

made in the Agricultural College of Michigan/its composition is as 

follows:

Analysis of "cement rock" from 8 miles west of Dallas, Oreg.

Silica........................................................ 24. 08

Alumina and iron oxide....................................... 15. 66

Lime......................................................... 31. 58

Magnesia. .................................................... 2. 74

Carbonic acid (C02 )............................................ 20. 24

Water at 105°................................................. 3. 56

Undetermined.. ............................................... 2.14

Douglas County. In the sandstones and shales of the Shasta series 

("Myrtle formation") south and southeast of Roseburg are a number 

of lens-shaped masses of limestone, which Diller a has designated the 

Whitsett limestone lentils. They occur at intervals along the ridge 

and slopes extending northeast from Umpqua River nearly to the head 

of the north fork of Deer Creek. The limestone is a massive gray rock, 

and as it has yielded satisfactory lime at several localities it is probably of good quality. The southwesternmost occurrence is in sec. 

30, T. 28 N., H. 5 W., near the top of a prominent ridge; the rock is 

traceable for only about 100 yards, with a width of 30 to 40 feet, so 

the supply is not great. The next exposure, a mile northeast, in 

sees. 20 and 29, shows a much larger body of the limestone rising in 

prominent, ledges with the beds dipping northwest at an angle of 

70°. The next body, which is mostly in. sec. 14 of the same township, is somewhat smaller, but shows a thickness of 60 feet. Two 

small bodies occur on the south and north forks of Deer Creek in the 

next township northeast (T. 29 N., R. 4 W.); they are so compact 

that they are regarded as marble and have been quarried to some 

extent for that material. The last mass to the northeast is only 15 

feet thick.

Near Oakland there are three small masses of impure limestone 

which have been regarded as cement rock. One is by the road 

nearly a mile northeast of Oakland, another at the head of Green 

Valley, 6 miles northwest of Oakland, and the third on Starr's ranch 

about 4 miles northeast of Umpqua Ferry. The areas are less than 

an acre in extent. Near Oakland the rock is a bluish shaly limestone 

that falls to pieces rather readily on exposure. It contains, besides 

a few fossils, brownish veins and nodules of various sizes up to 4 feet 

in diameter. At Starr's ranch the limestone is full of broken shells 

and the beds dip gently to the northwest. Some of the limestone 

from this region was quarried several years ago and taken to Oregon 

City to be tested as a cement material, but the results were not 

reported.

flJMller, J. S., Descriptionof the Roseburgdistrict: Geol. Atlas U. S.,folio 49, U. S. Geol. Survey, 1898.
LIMESTONE IN OREGON. 33

Some deposits of tuff a few miles northeast of Wilbur have been 

claimed to be a natural cement rock, but no authentic tests are 

know . The material occurs in bodies of considerable size, but not 

well exposed. An analysis is as follows:

Analysis of tuff near Wilbur, Or eg.

Silica (Si02 ).....................".............................. 55. 15

Carbon dioxide (C02 )......................................... 3. 64

Alumina, titanium oxide, and phosphoric acid.................. 9. 75

Ferric oxide (Fe203 ). ..................................... '.... 7.76

Lime (CaO) .................................................. 10. 48

Magnesia (MgO).............................................. 2. 22

Potash (K20)................................................. .50

Soda (Na20)................................................... 1. 00

Water......................................................... 9. 29

99. 79

Clackamas County. Five miles east of Monitor, a post-office in 

Marion County, is a ledge of impure limestone which has been traced 

at intervals for 12 miles. It has been burned into a natural cement, 

which it is claimed was used in the construction of the Oregon City 

Woolen Mills and in building the Coolidge block at Silverton. No 

analyses are given.

Wallowa County. Very- extensive deposits of limestone are reported in Wallowa County. At Lostine quarries produce rock which 

is burned into lime. The yearly production is about 1,000 bushels. 

Another kiln is at Joseph, and the rock is also reported at Fruita. 

No data are available as to the conditions of occurrence, extent, or 

composition of these limestones.

O

80594 Bull. 387 09 3