Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1849-1856, 1853-07-07

tCsi i'oH 'he CIT VI III. SH"hh''u'
gentleman who enjoys wide reputation
ior his geolS eical ard scientific krow.
ledge. relative TO tie mineral wealth
Of Arkansas, have been !urDshed 10 us
by Judge Wheeler editor of the Her.
aid, Fort Smith, Arkansas -
The Arkansas Coal field is one OF The
largest IN the United States. The
Coal is generally OF ihe very best quail.
ity. FIom about thirty miles above
Llttle *, OK 10 within few miles OF
Fort hrbuckie may be said TO be one
immense Coal field
About Fort Smith Coal is found ia
inexhausllble Quantities. The seams
or strata vary from Two to eight feet in
thickness, and from the way IN which
they often present themselves, are much
more easily woik-d iIIaD those Of PltrA-
burgh, while the Coal ID tot inferior in
quality TO any in the United States.
VAmETirs.--That about Fort Smith
is mostly bi,uminouf. Between there
and Litlie Rock il presents in many
places the appearance and character oi
Camel and Anthracite Coal. The Coal
is well adapieI Tor manufacturing pur-
poses. Among the counties IN the
State in which Coal occurs ia worha.
ole quantities may br mentioned Sebas-
tian, Washington, Crawford, Franklin,
Yell, Perry. Conway, Johnson and
Scott. From my inio nation, howtv-
er, am disposed 10 !hiHs that not halt
me counties in which it occurs ute here
mentioned. |, Is also found about Fout
Gibson, and through various portions
al the Cherokee aud Choctaw Nations.
From Fort Smith 10 Fort Washua the
country CONSISTS OF gently rolling pra!-
riJ. W.ta nlrlrJpnr,Ion Of timber.
Ab.ut thirty miles from Foi Wa-hi-
Ia Copper ore has been found IN large
q"nnillice; some specimens OF wh ch |
tested yielded OVcr n.y per cut Of
pure Copfcr.
Apou, twenty-five miles west OF For,
WashIta IN extensive deposiie OF Gran
lie. covering al al ra OF aboit one hun
dred and fifty square miles, is found
The Granlle is well adapted for build
lns purposes.
The country from For, Smith to For,
Avbuchle prtsens the finest natural
ROAD | evce travelled over. Although II
10 well waiered, II presents no difficult
streams 10 cross. The soil throughout
the entire route Is rich and very produce
tive.
At Fort Arbuchle we have an extern
sive Limestone region. The Limestone
ls al ii very good quality. Some OF The
1 Iaber also IL we'll adapted Tor built-
ing purposes.
Between Fort Arhuck!e and Cooke
creek tie soil is generally very good,
Uui lie country well watered,
Near Cooke creek an extensive Cop
per region was discovered. Some OF
The specimens which / tested yielded
over sixty per cent. Ofpufe Copper.
The Wichita r,omnta rs are near two
hundred miles long. They run nearly
east anu vest They are mostly conl-
posed OF line Granite oi tie very best
quality. Although no Gold was discov-
cred ia them they presented all the i'll
dlcations OF that metal. The mdica-
! iions 0! tia metal were the same as
I those which led Dana TO predict God
. IN California, several years before iis &C.
! tual discovery IN THAI situation. A few
small .peciHens o! Gold were found IN
( zoe dri!t bat they Iay have bern trans-
ported hundreds oil miles 10 tue sliua-
/ ilon ia y ich they were found. Tie
! kiyhesl OF the Wichita mountains mea-
sure uboA, %. 4 thousand ieet. they all
\ project abruptly from smooth, level
prairie ana are often isolated so az 10
/ permit wagons TO pass through them al
, almost any point upon perfectly level
\ ground. The soil ia this region Is very
\ fertile, and the land Ia well waiered. -
. .ii the western extremity OF the Wnchi-
\ u mountains We iound the Gypsum
field, winch continues until we arrived
at the Staked Plans. Between the
\ Wllchia mountains and the Staktd
\ Pains the country does no, present any
!, high hills. !; IL, however, rough aud
much divided by raylnes. The SOL! Is
I not so god. We nevertheless passe d
many lcrisie rsg.ons. Game OF every
. dcscrIpuon-such ts Antelope, Deer,
\ Turkey, Woi, aud also few Butfllc--
were iuund in The greatest abunuance.
Il Although no Coal was discovered alter
I, we started from For: Belhlng, yet i
Il ,h,nk II may hereafter be found IN great
I' abundance, inasmuch as large por-
\ tiou oil the rocks met with were lItho,og-
4 icaliy the same as those about For
H Smith.
Throughout The entire route The road
was sufficiently good 10 pernl. our way
/ gons TO pass. Ihc only digging neccs
sary was IN making roads across small
I strCgms.