Muskogee County, Oklahoma - Chapter 15: Natural Resources, 1922

Chapter 15: Natural Resources

NATURAL GAS - THE CLIMATE - GOOD ROADS - IXTER-STATE HIGHWAY DEVELOPMENT - ADDRESS OF CHIEF WILLIAM P. ROSS, AT MUSKOGEE FAIR, 187 6 - MINERAL RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT - OIL AND GAS

It would be difficult to find a locality in which the natural resources are more abundant or more diversified than in the Northeast quarter of the State of Oklahoma. By far the greater part of this section of the state was orginally a timbered country, and in the valleys of the numerous streams and on the Ozark hills of the eastern border of the state, much good timber may still be found. Some pine trees still adorn the hills and walnut is not uncommon in the valleys. Several varieties of hickory and oak are still quite abundant, as are also the sycamore, elm, hackberry, pecan and cottonwood. Timber sufficient for firewood and fence posts is available in almost every neighborhood. Wild grasses of various varieties grow abundantly in the timber and on the prairies and in the days ante-dating the arrival of railroads, Texas ranchmen were fond of lingering in this locality where grass and water were so abundant, while driving their cattle overland to the northern markets. That this section of the state is destined to become an important fruit-producing district is evidenced by the fact that numerous wild fruits, such as grapes, plums, dewberries, huckleberries, blackberries, persimmons and others, grow abundantly here. Many a spot in the Cherokee hills, where land is cheap, would soon prove a bonanza to the Italian grape-grower.

In the Northeastern corner of the state, principally in Ottawa County, has been developed one of the greatest lead and zinc fields in the United States. Marble of fine quality is available in Cherokee Countv and in some other localities.

Natural Gas

Natural gas has been found in nearly every county in this section and is now being used for heating the homes and business houses of the principal towns.

Oil wells are numerous in many localities and new ones are being drilled every week. Many Indians and negroes (Freedmen) have become wealthy from the receipts of royalties on oil found upon their lands.

The Climate

The climate of this section of the state is mild, the average annual temperature, according to official reports, being about 60 °F. Frost seldom occurs between March and November, thus giving a very favorable season for maturing crops. Our summer nights are invariably cool, the sultry, stifling nights so common in states farther North, being almost entirely unknown.

In 1913 several specialists from the United States Department of Agriculture made an extensive soil survey of this section of the state and reported the discovery of forty-two varieties of soil.

In summarizing their report on Muskogee County, these specialists say: "The county may be divided into three physiographic divisions: The prairie plains, of nearly level to rolling topography ; the wooded uplands, a part of the Ozark Uplift and consisting of a rugged escarpment with a nearly level crest, deeply intersected by an extensive system of small and intermittent streams ; and bottoms and terraces along the Arkansas and Canadian rivers, through numerous tributaries. The climate is adapted to the production of a variety of crops. The mean annual temperature is 60°F. and the mean annual precipitation about 38 inches. The rainfall is usually well distributed throughout the growing season.

"Cotton and corn are the most important crops, supplemented by oats, kafir, milo, sorghum and hay from native prairie grasses. Alfalfa is grown exclusively on the river-bottom soils and the acreage is being increased gradually. Irish and sweet potatoes, truck crops, sugar cane, peanuts, peaches and apples are minor crops growing in favor. Irish potatoes are grown on a commercial scale, principally on the bottom soils near Webbers Falls and Fort

Forty Acres Of Cotton, Muskogee, 1912 Muskogee And Northeastern' Oklahoma 237

Gibson. No systematic rotation of crops is practiced and the adaptation of the various soils to particular crops is not generally recognized."

"This type is a very desirable fruit soil, and of the fruits, peaches do especially well. AVhile the peach seems to thrive on a lighter soil than is considered best for the apple, apples of good flavor, color and keeping quality are grown, in a limited way, on this type. The indications are that the fruit industry could be established on a commercial basis, but at present fruit is grown only for home use and local markets."

During the eight years since the foregoing investigations and reports were made, much improvement has been made along the lines of rotation and diversification of crops, due largely to the advice and assistance rendered to farmers by the active county and Federal agricultural agents.

The only permanent highway built by our National Government during the first century of its existence was called "The Great National Pike," which was begun at Cumberland, in the Northwest corner of Maryland and extended westward to Vandalia. in Southern Illinois. It was begun in 1806. but was not completed until 1840. It was eighty feet wide and was macadamized to the width of thirty feet. The Government intended to pay for it out of sales of public lands in the states traversed by the Pike, but on account of lack of knowledge concerning road-building and inefficiency in management, the task proved to be much more expensive than at first contemplated and through the influence of Henry Clay, Congress was induced to appropriate $6,821,246 to complete the road. It was regarded as a gigantic undertaking in those days, and the Federal authorities were so severely charged with extravagance, and became so annoyed by the long delay in completing the road, that for many years afterward no congressman had the temerity to advocate governmental road-building. In

1856 the Government donated the Pike to the various states through which it passed. In those early days when railroads were few in number and corduroy roads were numerous, thousands of emigrants, in search of Western homes, followed the National Pike. Caravans of from thirty to fifty covered wagons could be seen every day, slowly moving westward.

During recent years, however, the Government's attitude toward permanent road-building has changed very materially, and Federal aid is now being quite generously offered to every state that will interest its citizens in the construction of permanent roads.

Oklahoma was prompt in availing itself of this financial aid and plans are now being made which within a few short years, will result in a net-work of good roads covering every part of the state.

Good Roads

"When it was suggested a few years ago that an International Highway be built from Winnipeg, Canada, to New Orleans, it was regarded by many people as a joke, a visionary scheme, an impossibility. The World war delayed its progress, but since the war closed the project has been pushed vigorously all along the line and, considered but a few years ago an impractical proposition, it is rapidly developing into a reality. Muskogee's enterprising citizens were among the first to endorse the proposition and the interest which they manifested from the very inception of the scheme, resulted in placing Muskogee on its proposed route and the selection of Mr. D. N. Fink as the Vice President of the Highway Association. Through the energetic efforts of Mr. Fink the Jefferson Highway is already completed through Muskogee County and the counties North and South are planning to do their share toward making the road complete from Kansas to Texas. As the J efferson Highway contemplates extending branches out in various directions along its route, the section which crosses Eastern Oklahoma and passes through Muskogee, has been designated as "The King of Trails." The "Albert Pike" highway, another quasi National undertaking, which enters Oklahoma at Fort Smith and traverses the state in a Northwesterly direction, will also pass through Muskogee.

Tourists who are already making use of these great highways are inclined to linger in Muskogee when they arrive at the Tourists' Free Camp, with its shower baths and cooking tents, located in the beautiful Spaulding Park, in the Southeast part of the city.

Fifteen Indian Tribes Represented

"It would have been no difficult task for the association which brings me before this audience to find an agriculturist whose experience and success would entitle his views to more consideration than mine. It is true I was reared and have resided the greater part of my life upon a farm and at one time or another had more or less experience in the duties which usually devolve upon a tiller of the soil ; but I pretend not to speak with confidence upon any of its leading branches. There are, however, enough weak, strong and indifferent points in the manner of their usual pursuit to fix the attention and justify the comments of the most limited observer.

"There are in the Indian Territory, as elsewhere, the careful farmer, the indifferent farmer and the careless farmer. These classes might be compared as few, most, more ; and can be readily distinguished by their work, or the absence of it, as the cattle grazing on yonder prairie almost hidden from view by the tall grass and bright flowers into which they are plunged, by their marks and brands. The careful farmer does everything at the proper time. He plows deep and early, prepares the ground fully, plants or sows his seeds with care and cultivates them at the right time with neatness and thoroughness ; his dwelling is made comfortable, his larder and granaries are well filled, his cattle salted and fed in winter and his horses kept sleek and sheltered and there are around his premises evidences, not to be mistaken, of ease and comfort. Such a man is rarely pressed by want. His prudence avoids extravagance and gives him credit at all times to meet any emergency that may spring up in his affairs. If seasons are unpropitious and his crops fall below an average, he garners much as anvone else under like circumstances, and its increased value makes up the deficiency in quantity. In a word, he is usually prosperous, contented, respected ; a blessing to his neighborhood.

supporter of law and order and almost invariably a pillar in Church and State. I wish men of this character, by some process of alchemy, could change the entire population of the Territory into the likeness of themselves and spare even a brief contemplation of their opposites. The indifferent farmer does things by halves, and one knows not whether to pity or despise him. He is nothing positive but reminds one of the common remark that 'he is so good, until he is good for nothing.' His fences are good enough to make stock breachy and keep himself and his neighbors in an uproar during the whole farming season ; his plows are out of order, his teams just fat enough to do half work in half style, or to bring half price if it becomes necessary to sell. There is a perpetual race between the weeds and his crop and he compromises with them by plowing out the middles between the rows and leaving as many burrs or other noxious weeds and grass as stalks of corn in a hill, to be equally but only half cultivated.

"The seasons are always out of joint with him and Providence ever presents a frowning face. He has no luck but bad luck and is always between the upper and nether millstones and I regret to think that there are thousands of such men all over this Territory who today are leading unhappy lives, half way providing for their families simply because of the want of pluck and energy to change their condition. There is, however, some hope that the force of example, the latent spirit of ambition, the pride of good housewives or the new ideas and higher aspirations imbibed by the rising generation will root him out of the grooves in which he has so long run and force him, at least to attempt achievements worthier of his intelligence and condition. I am aware that when you bid men who have only maul and ax and their own hands to go forth and grow rich you impose no ordinary task.

"But there are those who have achieved success and competence under such circumstances. Let them remember that the sixty-ninth effort of the spider to raise himself by his own attenuated web gave fresh courage to the drooping spirits of Bruce of Scotland and nerved his arm afresh to deeds of daring when, supposing all was lost, he was hiding in a cavern of the earth from his country's oppressors. And so will it be with patient, persevering industry and economy in every walk of life. Will, application, energy, self devotion, are the elements of success in the fieMs of agriculture as well as in the closet or upon the forum.

" So far as the careless farmer is concerned I have but little to say, for there is but little that can be said of him. His picture was forcefully sketched a few years ago by Asahabet, the distinguished war chief of the Comanches, whom I am glad to know is here today. Seated on the fertile banks of the Washita one bright morning a few years ago, he was pointing out and deploring the change in the condition of his people. The winds of winter had beaten his tents into tatters, his children had scarcely the semblance of a covering for their persons, the tobacco given him was wet, the flour scarce and wormy and the stringy beef upon which he was fed, stuck in his throat and almost choked him as it passed downward to its destination. And thus it had been with him since he abandoned his own for the pathway of the white man, which he had done amid the taunts and ridicule of bands of his own people, who roamed successfully as hunters and warriors. Nor could he see anything hopeful for him in the future. 'Indeed,' said he, 'a short time since I had occasion to visit Fort Washita, and while on my way there I stopped at the house of what I was told was a civilized man. It was made of very small logs and the cracks between them were left open or daubed with clay tempered into mud. There was an opening for a front door, but no shutter ; there was no floor but one of dirt ; a stretched hide answered for a bed, but besides a sore-backed pony, a half starved calf, two or three pots for cooking and a few children, dogs and pigs mixed together, I saw no other property and no evidence of comfort, or prospects ; and I turned away from the place and said to myself f "If that was the end of the path which the white man invited me to travel, if that was civilization, I wanted it not." ' And I wondered not that his heart sped its way back from such a place, as the arrow from the bow twanged by his brawny arm, to the green grass, the clean ground, the limpid water, the savory bison and the sweet pure air of his native plains. And so say I, if such be the necessary condition of civilized life, its squalor, its filth, its mental darkness, its moral ignorance, its laziness and physical debasement, I want it not. A thousand times sooner give me the life of the free and dauntless nomads of the plains, with them to chase the buffalo, to decoy the antelope, to drink their fresh waters and to hear in their native bowers the notes of the woodbird wild and free.

efforts and beckons onward the people of this Territory. It is to a condition higher, purer, better, more plenteous and independent. I well remember to have heard the distinguished scholar, philosopher and gentleman so long secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, remark to a class of students, that it was a common error to suppose that barbarism was the natural condition of man ; on the contrary it was when he presented the highest type of civilization as he came from the hand of the Almight}^ That is the condition to which we aspire and to which we desire to see the people - the Indian people of this Territory, attain. I know there are those who affect to despise the capacity of the Indian for civilization. A few years since I was present at a meeting of distinguished humanitarians when this subject came before them, and after a brief consultation they were graciously pleased to express the opinion that the Indians were susceptible of a high degree of civilization, avoiding the superlative degree of speech. Perhaps this was the truth and the whole truth in regard to them. But I did not believe it then, nor do I believe it now. No people ever possessed such histories as these now above us who were not capable of great achievements. Pluck, bravery, fortitude, sagacity, perseverance, endurance and a lofty patriotism have ever distinguished them and none who have these qualities ever become effete or contemptible or hopeless. The Mississippi, the Alabama and the Tennessee are not the only monuments more lasting than brass that will hand their memories down to posterity. Their names are carved in the niches of the great temple of American history and will not perish while those of its warriors stand uncorroded by the tooth of time. Osceola, of the Seminoles; Pushmataha, of the Choctaws; Sequoyah, of the Cherokees, the Cadmus of modern times; are names honorably mentioned and preserved.

"It is said that a British minister once remarked to President Jackson, that Sir Richard Parkinham was perhaps the most gallant soldier he ever met. 'Not so, sir,' was the prompt reply. 'That distinction belongs to "Weatherford, the warrior of the Muskogees;' and well might he pay such compliment to gallantry, for who, when all was lost but his bravery, threw himself into the hands of his conqueror and bade him do his pleasure. And can you believe for a moment that the people who have produced such men are incapable of progress, that their success is limited by mere animal instinct, and that there are no higher realms of thought and effort and achievement for them? Believe it not. The success of the past is the earnest of the future, and the descendants of these magnificent specimens of physical manhood who stand before me today, will stand here in future generations, the peers of the noble race, whose presence honors this occasion and whose blood is so rapidly solving the great Indian question.

"Do you enquire upon what I base these hopeful anticipations for a race oftentimes declared to be doomed bv the miserable advocates of the doctrine of 'manifest destiny?' I answer, 'upon these fertile acres, all their own, these patriotic hands and the faith of that government which has preserved them through the first century of its eventful history. ' The board of Indian commissioners in 1873 estimated that there were of improved land in farms, 204,677 acres; bushels of wheat, corn, etc., produced, 6,739,355; value of farm produce including increase of stock, $4,663,610; number of horses, cattle, etc., 464,465 ; value of personal property, not including real estate and stocks held in trust for them, $16,- 987,818. The government holds in trust, in investments and in lieu of investments of these tribes, not less than $8,000,000, the income from which is applied to the support of their governments and the cause of education. From the published report of the proceedings of the general council of the Territory, which convened in May, I learn that, omitting schools and aggregate attendance of schools in successful operation among the Kaws, Osages, Shawnees, Sacs and Foxes, the number of common schools is 185. with an aggregate attendance of 5,962. The Church membership among the Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Cherokees, and Seminoles is upwards of 7,500. From these general statistics and recent sources of information, allow me to recapitulate briefly such items of special interest as relate to the people of the Cherokee Nation. Besides the seven millions of acres of land in the western part of the Territory, subject to settlement by friendly Indians upon such terms as may be agreed upon in the manner provided by the treaty of 1866, their permanent reserve, upon which they now reside and for which they hold letters patent from the Government of the United States, adjudicated and recognized to be in fee simple conveyance by every department of the United States Government, is estimated to contain 3,284,000 acres, investments something less than $3,000,000. Fifty percent of this income is applied to the support of this government ; thirty-five per cent to general school purposes and fifteen per cent to the orphan fund. The recognized citizen population of the natives residing within its limits is 19,000 of which there are of native Cherokees about 14,850; adopted Creeks, 298; Delawares, 752; Shawnees, 655; whites, 760; colored, 1,670; orphans under eighteen years, 258; blind, 39; insane, 9; deaf and dumb, 7. Acres in cultivation, 65,950; horses, 12,185 ; cattle, 41,550; other stock, 43,750 ; mills, 22; smith shops, 65; stores, 22-; total number of day schools, 75; 1 orphan school and 1 female high school; aggregate attendance, 2,254.

"During the past year the Cherokee Nation has expended under authority of law and the personal supervision of Capt. Haskell, the distinguished architect of Kansas, between eighty and ninety thousand dollars of their own funds in buildings and additions to be used for an orphan school, a female high school, a male high school with primary department, a home for the blind and insane. Previously, but since the war, $7,000 has been expended for a jail for the punishment and reformation of criminals and about $20,000 in building a capitol and more than twice that sum prior to the war in school buildings now undergoing repairs and additions.

"Agriculture, horticulture and stock raising must continue to furnish the support and prosperity of the people of this Territory. Fortunately for them they have no difficulty in their pursuit ; an error which seems to extend to millions of otherwise well-informed people upon almost everything relating to the Indians, supposes that the Creeks, Seminoles, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Cherokees have been chiefly a race of wandering hunters.

"But such is not the case. While doubtless they hunted and fished at a former time, largely as a means of subsistence, it is well known that, in their rude way, they have been from time immemorial, tillers of the soil.

"When first discovered by the Europeans they existed as natives, planted their own soil and cultivated their favorite corn and various vegetables. They have never been simply meat eaters and I feel warranted in asserting that while the white population has increased around them, hemming them in and cutting off the resources furnished by the hand of bountiful nature, their productions have increased and varied to a corresponding degree.

always have been. The government has bestowed upon them no gratuity. The moneys sometimes paid them per capita, have been their own, while the subsistence furnished them temporarily after their immigration to this country, was paid for from the small consideration allowed them for their lands east of the Mississippi River. Occasional failures of crops have stinted them as in the past year, but there has been rarely any general suffering among the people. The many thousand head of cattle stolen from the Creeks and Cherokees alone during the late war attest the declaration that famine could not then have thrust its gaunt form and shrivelled features in their midst. And how is it now? I have presented evidence of their permanent improvement and rapid progress which no sensible man will fail to recognize, while these specimens of well developed manhood and womanhood can well treat with scorn ill-mannered scribblers who sneeringly taunt them as members of the "Lo family." You my countrymen, be not discouraged. These broad acres are all your own. See that you hand them unabridged to your children. They are fertile and responsive to the hand of industry. Sow and reap and they will add wealth to your homes, strength to your bodies and permanence to your rights and existence.

"Let the garden, the field, and the orchard contribute their vegetables, their grains and their fruits; let these hills again be dotted over with flocks and herds ; let its mines of coal, salt and ores be developed under wise and judicious regulations; let its pine, walnut and oak be worked up into cottages, furniture and implements of industry; let labor be stimulated and diversified; let the light of knowledge from them take the place of the beacon fires of the plains, illumine the mines and elevate the character of our youth; and then churches inspire the way to order, sobriety, obedience to law and to values of eternal bliss beyond the skies, and we shall have no cause to fear for the future. Industry will take the place of idleness ; sobriety that of intemperance ; good will that of strife and bickering; prosperity that of adversity; plenty that of stintedness ; and the land will abound with brave and intelligent men and lovely and virtuous women ; and while the people of this Territory are thus pushing on we appeal to the stranger here today in our midst for his sympathy and forbearance. I ask not the shylocks of speculation to forego their pound of flesh, nor the apostates from the faith of our fathers to stay their traitorous hands or cease their howlings around the borders ; nor those mercenaries of the press whose principles are as rotten as the shoddy fabrics upon which they are united, to cease their tirades of abuse and calumny of this great encampment, nor the potentates of mammon to shut down in satisfaction the lids of their plethoric coffers, and pause in their nefarious conspiracy against the perpetuity of this Indian country. But there are those to whom I would appeal with hope and confidence in its behalf ; To the smith at his forge, to the farmer at his plow, to the merchant behind his counter, to the mechanic at his bench, to the toiling thousands whose daily prayer is for their daily bread and those other thousands who believe that of our flesh God made all the nations of the earth; who renders justice to all men from the highest inspiration of human action ; for the sake of justice to them I would appeal in behalf of the people of this Territory. Their opinions pervade with noiseless but resistless power all the relations of life, fix the position of men and determine the destinies of government. These we ask for simple justice and implore them not to allow communities like these struggling bravely if not always wisely, to maintain an existence and to work out the regeneration and perpetuation of their race, to be trampled under the heel of power or despoiled by chicanery and fraud. The history of this government from its foundation, its faith, plighted time and again in scores of solemn treaties and the obligations of this great nation to humanity forbid it. Truth, honor, justice, manliness, forbid it.

"A few weeks since I had the honor to participate in the ceremonies connected with laying the corner stone of the building to be used as an agency for the five principal tribes of this territory. And as I stood on yonder eminence in the presence of a large and intelligent audience of citizens and visitors, and contemplated the magnificent scene of beauty composed of hill and dale, plain and woodland, river and streamlet, grass, flower and shrub, productive fields and fertile acres, the locomotive, the telegraph, all basking in peace and harmony beneath the splendors of a morning sun in a cloudless sky, my heart swelled with delight. But as I recalled to mind that this great republic of the world was moving from the east and the west from the north and the south, from ocean to ocean and from the lakes to the gulf with one impulse, to raise one great voice from one great heart in commemoration of the wonderful progress that marks the completion of the first century of their existence, and when I recalled to mind also that the nations these represented before had not only completed a century of their existence within its bosom, but also other centuries unknown to the record of man, my heart overflows with gratitude for the fidelity which had thus marked the history of the United States and for the mercy which had been bestowed upon them by the Great Spirit above.

"Imagination sought to peer into the impenetrable future and divine the destiny of those to follow the persons there assembled as it does today. Then rivers in close proximity, whose waters are gathered from the snows of the Rocky Mountains, the plains of Kansas and the fertile valleys of Missouri, and first meet, then embrace, then mingle without the loss of drop or tittle, flow on as one stream to meet the great ocean."

Mineral Resources And Development

In 1908 Prof. Charles N. Gould, State Geologist, made a survey of the mineral resources of the state, from which the following statements are taken, as applying to this part of Oklahoma.

Oil And Gas

There is no authentic record of the earliest discovery of petroleum and natural gas in Oklahoma. Oil, it appears, was known to the earliest settlers near Mounds and Adair for there is a single oil spring that has been known for years at each place. The greater development to date is in six general fields namely : the Muskogee field, in and near the city of Muskogee; the 96" meridian pool which extends from the North line of the State to the Glenn field ; the Coody's Bluff- Alluwe field, usually known as the shallow field, East of the Verdigris River, in Nowata and Rogers counties ; the Cleveland field in Eastern Pawnee County; the Hogshooter field in Eastern Washington County; and the Bald Hill-Morris region East of Okmulgee.

Of these fields, the Muskogee field was the first where oil was discovered by boring. The first development there was in 1894 when two wells were drilled within the present limits of the city. One' was 800 feet deep and the other was 1100 feet deep. Thes^ wells had an initial production of twelve and sixty barrels daily.

Owing to local conditions, further development was deferred until 1904, when approximately thirty new wells were brought in with a total production of about 1,000 barrels daily. The oil was of the paraffine base and tested forty-two degrees Baume. Development in the Muskogee region was confined to a small area near the City until the winter of 1906-7, when a strong well of high grade oil was brought in, a few miles Southwest of the City. Since that time more than a hundred producing wells have been drilled and the development possibilities in that region seem only to be fairly entered upon.

The ninety-sixth meridian region consists of a large number of small fields or so-called pools, the most prominent of which are those near Copan, Bartlesville, Dewey, Ramona, Skiatook, Tulsa, Red Fork and the world-renowned Glenn Pool. The first wells were drilled prior to the year 1901, at which time there were five producing just beyond the Osage line West of Bartlesville. The first producing wells of the Coody's Bluff- Alluwe field were brought in a few miles West of Chelsea, about 1900. Development went on rapidly until within a few years this field covered a region from six to ten miles wide and twenty miles long. The depth to the oil sand in this field is variable, ranging from 150 feet in some places West of Chelsea, to nearly six hundred feet in the Northern end of the field.

The Hogshooter field is situated along Hogshooter Creek from which it takes its name. The first producing wells were drilled in 1906. Some splendid flows of gas were encountered; the largest reported was in the spring of 1907, when a well said to produce 60,000,000, feet of gas per day was brought in.

Development has been continuous since the beginning. Conditions are such that it is believed that much more productive territory will be found between the East line of Osage County and the Verdigris River. By 1907, 44,300,500 barrels of oil had been secured in the Oklahoma fields. There is no way of estimating the amount of natural gas produced in the State. Almost every city and hamlet within the reach of the fields uses gas for manufacturing and domestic purposes.

"The Bergen sandstone is -a massive, moderately fine-grained light-brown rock. The beds are thick and planes of stratification are usually indistinct. The rock consists of nearly pure silecious sand of rounded grains, with a matrix scarcely sufficient to cement together.

"In natural exposure the rock breaks readily under the stroke of the hammer, crumbling into loose sand. The formation varies in thickness from a thin stratum to beds aggregating more than a hundred feet. It is exposed in the Tahlequah quadrangle, in but a single area, on the Illinois River, Northeast of Tahlequah, where it rises in bluffs to a height of nearly a hundred feet, and the base is not exposed. The full thickness is therefore not less than a hundred feet."

Unfortunately, however, the glass sand in this region is found in the bottom of the narrow valley of the Illinois River, and at present is without available railroad connections.

Granite

There is a small dike along Spavinaw Creek, (Delaware County) about one-half mile west of the postoffice of Spavinaw. During some former period this dike has been thrust up from below, penetrating the softer rocks. These rocks have been worn away and expose the granite for nearly half a mile on the North side of the creek. If a railroad is ever built along Spavinaw Creek this stone will be valuable. There is no reason why Oklahoma should import a cubic foot of granite. There is as good granite in the state as can be found anywhere in the world and the great variety of color makes it desirable for all sorts of architectural and monumental purposes.

Limestone

The largest of the limestone areas is in the north part of the state, in the vicinity of Chelsea and Catoosa (Rogers County), and extending from there toward the west. In this area the rocks consist of heavy ledges of limestone, varying in thickness from 10 to 75 feet, interbedded with sandstones and shales. There is scarcely a town within the entire region that is not convenient to limestone suitable for building purposes. Eight railroads either cross or border this region and there are but few stations on any of the roads from which limestone could not be profitably shipped if the nearby ledges were but opened up by practical quarrymen. The stone varies considerably in color and texture. In the vicinity of Newkirk it is cream-colored and even-textured, though coarse and full of small fossils. It makes a beautiful building stone and has been widely used throughout the state for building purposes. Quarries have been opened at Bartlesville, Dewey, Claremore, Nowata, Skiatook and other places.

The limestone region next in size is found in the northeastern part of the state, east of the Grand River. This region comprises an area of approximately two thousand square miles and the rocks are mainly limestones, sandstones and shales of carboniferous age. Of these the limestones are of far greater importance industrially.

None of the limestones in any amount is being shipped out from this section, though there is every reason to believe that a little diligent search would reveal a limestone as good as the Carthage limestone.

Marble

Technically, marble is limestone that has been changed 01 metamorphosed by the action of heat and pressure. In common parlance, however, any limestone that takes a good polish is a marble. The line between marble and limestone can never be very sharply drawn. If we accept the latter definition there are a large number of ledges of marble in Oklahoma. There is one region, however, in Oklahoma, where true marble has been found. This region is near Marble City, on the Kansas City Southern Railroad, in Sequoyah County. The area containing the marble occupies four or five sections of land. The stone is known to be more than two hundred feet in thickness, thus making the approximate amount of available marble to exceed ten million cubic yards. The stone is principally calcium carbonate, but contains a small per cent of magnesium carbonate, thus making it slightly dolomitic (white marble). In color it ranges from a pure white to a pink, and in places shows the characteristic mottled or marbled appearance of gray marble. A block of this stone subjected to pressure tested six months after it was removed from the quarry, showed a crushing strength of 12,000 pounds to the square inch. When just removed from the quarry it crushed at 8,000 pounds. The occurrence of this stone near the Kansas City Southern Railroad which connects with several East and West roads gives splendid facilities to operators.

Sandstone

Sandstone is the most widely distributed building stone in Oklahoma, there being scarcely a county in which it is not found in quantity. Its color, texture and quality varies greatly in different regions. The sandstone in Eastern Oklahoma is usually of a light brown or grayish color, regularly bedded and of fine texture, which qualities render it a handsome building stone. It outcrops along the sides of bluffs and cliffs and on top of high hills. Stone of this character is found in all parts of more than thirty counties, including practically all of the Cherokee Nation, all of the Creek Nation, and the northern parts of the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations. Hundreds of cities and towns in this part of the state contain buildings constructed of local sandstone.

Clay And Shale

Clay and shale are found in all parts of Oklahoma and in most places the quality is such that they may be used for brick or other ordinary clay products in which a red color is not objectionable.

The greater part of the clay in this part of the state is suitable for the manufacture of pressed brick, stiff mud brick, tile, hollowware and certain grades of pottery. Pressed brick plants have been established at Bartlesville, Ramona, Ochelata, Yinita, Claremore, Muskogee and other places.

Portland Cement

Oklahoma has deposits of Portland cement rock that never can be exhausted, and vast deposits of coal, oil and gas. Limestone occurs in practically all parts of the state except the central and northwestern sections.

nate layers of shale, sandstone and limestone. There are in all this region about twenty ledges of limestone varying in thickness from 10 to 40 feet, which strike slightly west of south from the Kansas line about as far as the Arkansas River. The shales which are interstratified with the limestones are apparently suited to the manufacture of Portland cement. The amount of natural gas already in sight is sufficient to last for many years. Numerous wells yielding from 5,000,000 to 10,000,000 feet 'per day have been shut in, and a number of wells are reported to yield all the way up to 60,000,000 cubic feet daily.

As an example of the conditions which I found in this region, I may cite a single instance where a hill which occupies a number of square miles is capped with a ledge of limestone, beneath which is a bed of shale and under the shale is a vein of coal. Both the limestone and shale are suitable for the manufacture of Portland cement. There is plenty of water convenient, gas is found near at hand and two competing lines of railroad cross near by. It will be seen that all that is necessary at this place is to dig down the hill and grind it up. The northeastern part of Oklahoma is occupied by a series of rocks, largely limestone and shale, which includes the southwestern extension of the Ozark Mountains of Missouri. Practically all the limestone and shale might be used for the manufacture of Portland cement. The abundance of limestone and shale, the cheapness of fuel and the constantly increasing demand for Portland cement lead to the conclusion that no more profitable investment can be made than by the establishment of such plants.

Tripoli

Tripoli is one of the minerals that occurs in abundance in Oklahoma but is comparatively rare elsewhere. The present seat of the tripoli industry is located at Seneca, Mo., just east of the Oklahoma line, but a large share of the raw material comes from Oklahoma, so that tripoli should be considered among the mineral resources of the state. The deposits which are being worked at this time occur in two localities, about eight miles distant from each other. One of these is in Oklahoma, and there is one pit on the Missouri side of the line just east of the works in Oklahoma. The tripoli obtained from these localities is-largely ground up into tripoli flour. This flour is used for various purposes but the greater part of it is used as an abrasive or polisher in the metal working trades. The very finest grades are used as a jewelry polish, while the coarser parts are used as brass and steel polishes.

There seems to be no reason why tripoli deposits should be confined to this one spot in Oklahoma. The same formation which is foimd at Seneca, also covers a large part of the region east of Spring and Grand rivers and north of the Arkansas River. Small specimens of tripoli have been found in the vicinity of Tahlequah and in the vicinity of Spavinaw Creek, but no large deposits have yet been noted. Systematic prospecting will doubtless reveal the presence of tripoli in commercial quantities.

Lead And Zixc

Very rich and extensive deposits of lead and zinc are found in Oklahoma, principally in the northeastern corner, and scores of mines and mills have been in operation for many years, all of which are described in the sketch on Ottawa County.

Oklahoma probably has a greater variety of valuable minerals in paying quantities than any other state in the Union, the development of which seems yet to be only in its infancy.