Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1866-10-20
The Coal Region OF Texas.

port Of the Texas Geological sur
vey," by S. B. Buckley.
We made but n flying trip TO Fort
Belknap and the adjacent region
We saw that the coal measures, in
their characteristic forms, occupy Il
large region of country in Young
and its ncighboring counties. The
rocks consist Of sandstones, lime
stones and shells, with seams Of
bituminous coal. Some Of the sand
stones are ripple marked, and the
limestones have some Of the well
known fossils peculiar to the coal
measures of the Western States, in
the valley OF the Mississippi, such
us Spirifcr cameratus, Athyris sub
tilita, Chonetes mesoloba, Fusilina
cylindrica, Products Rogersii, and
semireticulatus. The vegetable re-
mains are very numerous and we'll
preserved, among which are the
genera Neuropteris, Sphenophylum,
Pccopteris and Calamitcs, Of which
the lasl is very abundant. There is
q bed of coal about three -fourths Of
a mile above Fort B9lknap, in n
small ravine near the Brazos river.
From this seam coal was obtained,
both for fuel and for blacksmithing,
when the Fort was occupied by the
Government troops. After the re-
moval of the troops the bank above
the coal caved in, so that now there
is no view of the coal bed which
was worked. The lay r of coal at
this place is said to be between three
and four feet thick.
The following section was taken
about two hundred yards above, in
the same ravine:
l. Sandstone and shale al
ternating, 4 feet,
2. Hard grey sandstone, 1 foot.
3. Blue and ochreous shale, l J feet
4. Coal, u feet
5. Blue fire e-clay, a feet
6. Black sandstone, 0a-
minaD B feet
7. Bed Of coal exposed to
bottom Of ravine, but
not to its bottom, 2 feet
This ravine has not running
stream, and at the time of our visit
was partly filed with dirt and
stones. No. of the above section
is a good potters' clay. There are
from two to four seams ofcoal in the
vicinity of Fort Belknap, one OF
more of which are met in sinking
wells throughout that region. The
country is undulating, with hills Of
from one hundred to two hundred
feet high, and gentle slopes, except
ing occasionally on the banks Of
streams, or the sides of a few rocky
hills. It's timber is liveoak, post,
oak, blackjack, elm, hickory, cotton
wood, mesquit, and q few Other
small trees and shrubs. The prairies
are small. Stock raising is the CHIEF
business of the farmers, bat sufficient
corn and wheat are grown for home
use. The soil ofmany of the prairies
is of an excellent quality. On Hub.
bards creek there is said to be good
coal, which is used by blacksmiths
We were shown coal from this place
of quite a hard texture, breaking
with a concoidal fracture like can.
mel coal The blacksmiths of the
country say it is a good quality o.
bituminous coal, and little if any
different from the coal of the west
ern coal fields in Ohio, Illinois anc
Kentucky. The strata of this sc
ton are horizontal, or dip at ar
angle of from three to five degrees
to the northeast.
On Whisky creek, about two miles
north of Fort Belknap, there is s
fine exposure of the coal strata, o
which the following is n section
taken near its mouth, and not fal
from the Brazos river:
/. Soil sandy loan, / foot
2. Sandstone (conglomer-
ate), A feet
/ 3. Coal, II feet
4. Sandstone and shale al
ternately, s feet
5. Coal, 81 feet
6. Sandstone, 26 feet
7. Shale and limestone,
fossiliferous, 2 feet
s. Coal, II feet
Q. Light grey triable shale,
to bed of stone, 3 feet
| 901 feet
j A few hundred yards higher VI
the stream, where coal has beef
mined to some extent, and wher'
one man is said to have dug ou
'seventy-five bushels in a day, ther'
is the following section: