HISTORY   OF  KANSAS.
 

35
 

whole urea of Kansas is well watered, the number of creeks and rills in¬
creasing eastward, and threading, as with a flue network, the eastern half
Of the State, where is the most profuse flow and most diffuse distribution
of \vater to be found in any prairie country on the continent. The descent
Ot the Avaters is not rapid in any of the rivers of the State. Prof. Mudo-a
18 an authority for the statement that in the length of no river in the
State IS there a water fall seven feet high. Of the general descent of the
rivers, he says: "The average descent of the Arkansas is little over six
feet to the mile, while the Smoky is seven and the Solomon nearly ten
feet to the mile. On the upper portions of the latter two rivers the
descent is much greater than on the last hundred miles. This is seen in
the Smoky, which enters Kansas 500 feet above the Arkansas, but when it
unites with the Saline River, it has come down to the level of the Arkan¬
sas in the same longitude."

TIMBER, SHRUBS AND HERBAGE.

The river bottoms, or, in Eastern parlance, "intervals," vary in width
along the principal rivers of the State, from one to three miles. In the
extreme western parts of the State the bottom level sometimes spreads
each side of the stream some four miles, making a transverse line from
highland to highland of eight miles.   The Kansas River bottoms are some
 

two miles in Avidth, The plateau land, which is the plane of the surfaee,
is, except on the Arkansas, fiftv to one hundred feet above the surface of
the rivers. The timber is along the river bottoms bordering the large
streams that run into them, and stretches back up the acclivilies a short
distance into the hiijh prairie land. It consists mostly of deciduous varie¬
ties; the elm, willow and Cottonwood on the bottoms, the oak. walnut,
hickory, sycamore, ash, maple, mulberry and Avild apple trees on the hit;h
ground. Sumach, elder, green brier, gooseberry, hazel, papaw, prairie-
rose. raspberry, blackberry and wild grapes, were found growing indige-
nouslv. Tlie growthis generally sparse as compared with the growth of the
same Varieties in countries farther east or north, and hardly ever attains
to the size of more northern latitudes. The pines, spruce, cedar and other
evergreens are not sufliciently numerous to be ranked as indigenous. The
cedar, however, attains a stunted growth in small and detached sections of
the Kansas River Valley and elsewhere. .\ll trees and shrubs indigenous to
temperate climates flourish when transplanted to this region. Both the
climate and soil are favorable to the growth of wheat, corn and other ce¬
reals. The whole surface, in a state of nature, was covered with verdure,
which gave pasturage to buffalo and other herbiverous animals, more num¬
erous than the domestic flocks and herds of any people Avho ever lived
upon the earth.
 

GEOLOGICAL   STRUCTURE.^
 

A VERTICAL section of the soil and underlying strata of Kansas, had
it rested undisturbed during the ages of its formation, and to this time,
would have presented the order and approximate thickness of the various
formations, as follows:

1.   Post Tertiary formation—Alluvium, loess (Bluff), drift—150 feet.

2.   Tertiary—Sandstone (Pliocene)—1,500 feet.

3.   Cretaceous (chalky)—Limestone and shale (Niobrara, 200 feet; Fort
Benton. 260 feet); sandstone (Dakota, 500 feet)—960 feet.

4.   Upper Carboniferous—Limestone and shale—2,000 feet.

5.   Coal measure—Coal in limestone and shale—600 feet.

6.   Subcarboniferous—Limestone—150 feet.

The present succession of the strata, from the highest elevation in the
northwestern portion of the State to the lowest in the southwest, shows the
order of formation as above stated to be unbroken. By the gradual up¬
heaval of some portions of the area or the sinking or unequal changes in
others, the strata no longer rest horizontally one above the other, but dip
downward to the northwest, so that the edges of the several^formations,
even to the lowest, the Coal Measures are brought to or near the surface
of the soil, in some sections of the State. In the foregoing order of forma¬
tion which is as given by Prof. Mudge, he notes the "striking fact" that
the oldest rocks are not seen, and that the deposits of important ages and
parts of ages of more recent date are also missing, f He says: "Thus, the
the Triassic and Jurassic ages were either never deposited within the
bounds of Kansas and the adjoining territory, or, in the grand operations
of nature, all those deposits have been eroded and swept away, leaving no
trace of their existence. This allows the Dakota (cretaceous sandstone) to
rest directly on the top of the carboniferous, and nearly, if not quite, in
conformity, the geological level of the two being apparently identical."
He further notes the absence of four groups in succession, usually found
between the Pliocene rock of the tertiary age, and the middle formations of
the Cretaceous, " allowing the Pliocene of the latter age to rest directly on
the Niobrara or middle of the Cretaceous."

There are nowhere in tne State any evidences of violent disturbance of
the strata or metamorphic indications in any of the formations. Of the
gradual uplifting of the land above the awful waste of Avaters, Prof.
Mudge says: "The uplifting of this State and the adjoining country from
the level of the ocean must have been slow, uniform, and in a perpendicu¬
lar direction, which has left all the strata nearly in a horizontal position.:t

* A complete geological survey of Kansas has not yet been made. By an act of the Leitisla
ture in 1864, an appropriation of S1.50U was made, and the work bHaiun under the supervision;of
Prof. B, F. Mudge, then appointed State Geologist. In 1805, $7,500 was appropri ited, and Prof.
Q. W. Swallow appointed to continue the survey. No further appropriations have been since
made, and the important work is yet uncompleted. During ISGland 18G.i. the geologists ab(3ve
mentioned made a general survey of the eastern half of the State, and by exploration and inquiry
gained sulflclent surface information concerning the western half to describe with a degree of
ih'^curacy irj* general geological outlines and structure. The reports made by them and theiraa-
slstants are deemed reliable, although incomplete. From them, and such individual information
Hseo-ild be obtained from competent and trustworthy sources, the geological sketch is compiled,
it is hoped with sutncient elaborations to s itisfy the requirements of the general reader.

fProf. G. C. Swallow, who succeeded Prof. Mudge in the State geological survey, and whose
loyalty tti the truth of science is equally beyond question, is less positive In his belief that re¬
mains of the Triassic period are wanting. He gives it a place in his report, hot leaves it in doubt.
lie says: " The sandstones, limestone^, siialfs, marls and gypsum of Nos 2-11, were referred to
the Triassic with a ?) in IS'tS. The only evidence we then had of the aise of their beds was their
lithological characters, and a single fossil which could not be distingnished from -V.icula ^pecionn-
Munster, from the Muschelkalk of Bindloch. Sulisequeiit e-\aminations h'we strengthened the
evidence we then had that this is thnir true position. But still, the proof doe^i not amount to a
deminstration, and the true rplatio.i of these rocks must remain in doubt, till other discoveries
determine the matter." Prof. Aludge speaks, sub-eqiient to that time, and doubtless after a con¬
siderate knowledge ot Prof. Swallow's investigatio -s, as quite certain that those peri ids are iin-
repreaented in the Kansas formations.

XAi is shown by Prof. Madge's slmtigraphlcal map, the strata have a slight dip to the
northwest, which would lead to thy belief, that, althoo;;h there was no violent action sufflcient
tooccaaion faults Iq the stratv the upheaval was more rapid, or continued longer In the eastern
portions than In the territory farther west.
 

This may have been as slow as that now going on in Florida, or a rise of five
feet in a century. From our knoAvledge of the geology of the West, this
undoubtedly took place after the rise of the Rocky Mountains, and proba¬
bly did not come to a close until the drift period. The origin of our rivers,
therefore, may date back as far, at least, as the beginning of this uprising.
As the channels (valleys) cut by them are large, and often through heavy
beds of limestone, the earlier processes may date still farther baekin geo¬
logical history."

The rock formations do not crop out to any great extent, but are gen¬
erally hidden by the post tertiary deposits, alluvium, loess and drift. The
tAvo former, which have already been noticed, are of more recent formation
than the drift, which underlies them, resting on the tertiary sandstone be¬
low. It consists of quartz, gravel, pebbles and sand, differing very little
from the same deposits found in other parts of the country, and having a
like origin, viz., the glacial or ice period. It is intermixed with large met¬
amorphic stones and bowlders of stratified quartz, greenstone and other
rocks not among the formations of this State. The nearest permanent
formations similar are found hundred of miles north and east. The de¬
posit of fine drift material seldom exceeds five feet in depth. Concerning
the drift, surface bowlders and evidences of glacial action in this State,
Mr. Mudge Avrites as follows:

We have not found the true bowlder clay in any |iart of the state. The large bowlders
are scattered an far south as :i8^ and oil', or ten miles south of the Kansas itiver, while the
smaller pebbles and gravel are seen as low as :in^ of latitude.

The large bowUers are quite numerous on the Pottawatomie Reserve, on both sides
of the Kausaji. They lie on the tops of the blurt's and lii^'b prairies more frequently than
on the lower laniLs. We observed one on a hill near Mill (.reek, Wabaunsee ('oiinty, '200 feet
above the valley of the Kansaa River, 1,100 feet above the sea, weigliing fully eight tons.
Some larger, including one of greenstone, are to be found near Oskaluosa.

Bowlders lie scattered in small numbers in detached areas north of the Kansas Ri\er,
from the Missouri nearly to the Republican, but west of the latter none hre noticed. The
drift gravel extends a little farther. The origin of our drift, like all other in the Northern
Hemisphere, must be sought in regions far to the north. No original ledges of quartzite or
other metamorphic or igneous rock are found within three hundred miles of the northern
.State line, and it is only in the western portions of -Alinnesota that these deposits are repre¬
sented. No other material of our drift is found so near. Therefore, much of our drift must
have traveled .^00 miles during the ice age, and some of the granitic fragments from still
farther north, nearer the line of the iSritisli Posse.ssions, or a journey of sun miles.

In Western Kansas are beds of gravel which, on ciusuai examination, resemble the
drift, but a closer acquaintance shows that it is not. It has no quart/.ife or other bowlders,
and much of the other materials are 'lill'erent and less water-worn. The ingredients are
the same as the coarser portions of the Pliocene, which cover about nine thousand miles of
the northwestern part of the state, and which undoubtedly at one time en\cred more than
twice its present area. The gravel contains small fragments of petrified wood and ol her fos¬
sils similar to those found in the Pliocene. It is not improbable that tin-drift in small
?[uantities may be found in the State farther west than I have noticed it. But. if so, tliedif-
erenee in its appearance from the Pli»>eene will readily be deteeted. This dei'osit is seldom
more than a few feet in thickness, and covers but a liniited jiorfion of the siirfai e. It is not
sufficient to affect the fertility of the- soil, except in a few small are.ts.

No marks of grooving, stria- or other glacial action lla^e been notieeil on any ledge in
this State. Perhaps the limestone is too soft to have preserved the*iii, if sueli marks e\er
existed. In one instance only have we noticed a bowlder with stria- upon it, and those
were made before it left its northern home. In some specimens of fine qn.irtz a gorwl polish
is seen.

In a general sense, it may 1) ■ said that the post tertiary formation in
some form—alluvium, loess, drift or mixtures of the same—cover, as Avith
a blanket, all the lower rocky strata in whatever order they may come to
the surface. As has been stated, the surface rock is not the same throuuli
out the State, but shmvs within different areas and well-defined limits
such different rock formation from the hiirhest to the lowest,

TERTI.ARA- .A.RE A (PI.IOCF.NE).

The Pliocene group of the Tertiary system, the first in verlical order,
is seen only in the northwestern pnrlion of the State, whieli Icis ihe lii.irli
est altitude.    The territory covered lij-this formalinn i xleniU along the
north line (if the  Slale eastward as  far as  the  niiildle of .(ewell C'"iiiil\
The eastern  and simlhern  line of demarkalioii runs  south and we-i   imu