New-York daily tribune., 1844-06-27
So,,,h Missouri.

NATION o. us .JiNtttlpGiidi dbt -'''i''-'
u-es contirfls AL our previous ,u'irnaton ;'9 u
the yas, amount and variety ol the nlncF'i fe-
sourccs Of that country. He says that the c"u,-
try between the Southern parts ot - fI"hI''
and Washington and the State line, has evidently
been subjected To violent Volcano *fto"' HIS
acludes the counties OF Wayne, RlP'ey' 'oilhh-
non and Madison, and parts OF other countries
The immense swamps in Wayne. Cape uiraT-
dean. scott. S;oadarj. and New Madrid, appear
20 have been made hy the same cause Inc
c,un,ry continues 20 re Of the same general
character as far as The Arkansas rIvcf. The
cnrntrv bounded Eastwardly by Tie great swaInps,
and on the West by tho Ozark mountains, IN
cludiny the iron region of Missouri and Ar
kansas is all of volcanic origin, and cmInenily
mineral country The hot springs OF Arkansas
are in the same range The hills aud rnountHns
of iron and other minerals appear to have bee"
pressed and thrown up rom the bowels OF ;hc cart
and to have been deposited in Z. confused chaoiit
state. AL! that region abounds with IRON ore @!
excellent quality, and bouucess IN qaan'Itt-
The country IS generally sterile covered w''ii
rock and stones the TIMBER Is Principally Pine
with some oak. hickory and other trees. he
rivers and creeks have allur!al bottoms, whca
are narrow but fertile. The swamps Procuce
much cypress and walnut. Sihcl0us limestone
abounds in many parts Of this region, and It WI
make lime, bu; not Of good quality There are
large quantities of granite, red and grey, IN diiiet
ent pats of the counrv, end other rocks OF p'!'hi
tive tormation In some places rocks are found
of secondary formation: but they are moi near
so common as in the Northern part OF the Siate
There is no coal in that region but timber Is
abundant.
The various forks of Current, Spring riye-
and Black river are bold permanent streams,
/ nave been much used for railng and will admit
! of navigation TO very considerable part OF thct
country There are many large springs that
/ burst out Of the ground at the bottom OF hii!s ~
mountains, and Immediately become a7se cree :
or rivers. The head spring CT Spring river is o.
this character. The rivers and creeks iurniSh
most ina naxhaus,iblc supply of water power Oh Tie
bes, kind. Any number OF mills, and any guam
ttv Of machinery may be prepeied by these
streams at a very small expense. Inc large
rivers will a.iord ready navigation to Newo
leans. This country aboundS III Iron and Cop.
per; in some places Lead is found Linc ana
other metals are also discovered We will notice
some of the localities as detailed 10 US. In the
Northern part OF Shannon county, red porphyry
abounds it is very hard, and would admit OF
high polish. This may. hereafter, become valua-
South of this arc immense masses C: IRON, u:
almost every possible formation. Near this point,
the three forks Of Black river unite. Here the
traveller has & natural Mac.Gainized road, for
the whole country IL covered with shattered roeh,
not larger than a hens egg, and this state oi
things continues 1t intervals Tor hundreds oi mlcs
TO the South west. About days journey to tie
South ;rcst lies The Current TycT and nppn II aTe
situated ineX!,susliblc copper mines, which are
now suffered 10 lie IDLE These mines afford the
stphurei the blue and green elaborate, and The
red oxide oi copper. A few miles from these Is
found white arSenicai copper. Near the mouihot
jacks Fork OF Current river, are found cyia
drical hemmatile iron, the bars of which. arc Of
the length and size of gun barrels. In this
ncghhorhood and still further down, the country
is very hliy. and on the top Of almost every hill
is found the hemmatte iron oi the same fornt-
ton Rods of iron have beer drawn out from
this ore in ii common bacl,sm.th'S shop. and Il
readily mG!lS with common hi0wpipc and can
die. Excellent water privileges abound III th'S
ueigh5orhood. Lower down and near the rlycr
hgh hills Of granite ruck present themselves
this primitive formation is OF Il rcdtSa color
aicunds in many parts OF the couni:y, and might
be transported! by water to the lover country i"r
building purposes jho river here IS Goniled "A
SIZE by an immense spfing that issues from tie
base of the granite n!i!s. Below this point Ii -
navigabe for fiat boats ol large size. Many oi
the hills of this country are nearly covered with
chrystaized quartz, which gh,ters like dlanoncs
in the sun Hills covered with these ch!yst@ls,
and with fragments of siicious limestone, jasp
per and chaccGon, relieve the eye Of the Traveller
as he descends the Current river, until he reaches
the dismal swamps of The Missouri and Arkansas.
In these swamps there are still numerous Elk and
d few Buffalo, who have not yet been driven
from their ancient range. In the a!luvlal lanes
of these swamps are also to be found the remains
of ancient mounds, buildings and notifications,
such as arc found in many parts Of the Western
country. The spring, which is the source 81
Spring river, is remarkable in It's character. II
boils up out of the earth pouring forth river Of
water iifty wards wide, and ii has been sounded
To- the depth OF $50 feet, and no bottom found.
The surrounding rocks indicate that it was once
the crater of a volcano. Every mile in ths
country for one hundred miles in BREADTH snd
much greater in length, bears evidence OF having
suffered volcanic agitation. The streams IN many
parts OF the country have u blue appearance,
from which it is probable they have been dis
coored by the sulphate Of copper. In WAYNE
county there is i spring that is blue and strongly
impregnated with the sal lphate Of copper. In
Tue lONcr CugC Oh .tdulsOu uidSstS IA
red porphvrv in the sands OF Black river III
Wayne many small particles of tine gold are 10
be found, bat whether in suiiicien, quantities 10
Justify The labor of washing remains to be tried.
Zinc and cobalt are found near Mime La Mote,
and they are now preparing TO smelt copper at
that mine on a large scale. In Shannon, is IN
immense hill Of arscnical iron which has some-
times been mistaken for block tin. In some
parts OF the country large quantities OF bsmnth
have been found, and the sulpha:e of bary,cs
is discovered in many places.
In Ripley county, on Current river, IS an i'm
mense hill OF iron pyEites, and it is the only in.
stance OF iron ore III that country, which docs
not appear to have undergone The action OF vel.
canc fire The iron orc generally, is very free
from sulphur and all conbusiiblc substances, and
is generally OF most excellent quality. The
greater part OF that country is still public land,
very little OF it has been entered, some good
spots of land are TO be found, but in general it is
not very suitable for agricultural purposes Many
of the inhabitants live on public land they are
nj, l,u. nd o,,I