NRLF B M 17D 412 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF KENTUCKY IQiiN R. PROCTER, DIRECTOR RESOURCES OF THE NORTH CUMBERLAND VALLEY COMPRISING -ARTS OF WHITLEY, KNOX, BELL, HARLAN, AND LETCHER COUNTIES. BY JOHN R. PROCTER. PART IV. VOL. VI. SECOND SERIES 2gi & 292 EXCHANGE II GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF KENTUCKY. JOHN R. PROCTER, DIRECTOR RESOURCES OF THE NORTH CUMBERLAND VALLEY COMPRISING PARTS OF WHITLEY, KNOX, BELL, HARLAN, AND LETCHER COUNTIES. BY JOHN R. PROCTER. PART IV. VOL. VI. SECOND SERIES,, 291 & 292 ifl* INTRODUCTORY LETTER. I OFFICE OF THE KENTUCKY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY AND BUREAU OF IMMIGRATION, FRANKFORT, KY., October 26, 1880 To His Excellency, LUKE P. BLACKBURN, Governor of Kentucky : SIR : I have the honor to submit herewith for your approval a Report on the Resources of the North Cumberland Valley, hoping that the information therein contained may call atten- tion to the great natural advantages of that section, and aid in its development and in the securing of transportation facilities necessary to make these resources available. I remain, sir, most respectfully, Your obedient servant, JOHN R. PROCTER, State Geologist. 293 & 294 331371 THE RESOURCES OF THE NORTH CUMBER- LAND VALLEY. The topography and geology of this region will be under- stood by a study of the section given below and the accom- panying maps. The Cumberland Mountain to the eastward forms the eastern boundary of the great Apalachian coal- field. The line between Kentucky and Virginia follows the top of Cumberland Mountain from Cumberland Gap to a point near Crank's Gap, about forty miles to the northeast, where the mountain bends to the eastward and extends into Virginia. From this point the line follows the top of the Black Mountains until it reaches the Pine Mountain near Pound Gap. Pine Mountain, caused by a recent fault, extends from the Virginia line near Pound Gap to a point on the Ken- tucky-Tennessee line in Whitley county, where it is broken through by the Clear Fork of the Cumberland river, and continues in Tennessee past Elk Creek Gap. It will be seen from the following section that the region to be described, A Valley of Straight Creek B Valley of the Poor Fork of Cumberland River C Sub Carl>. Limestone D Poor Valley E Powell's Valley lying between these mountains, is composed of carboniferous rocks of great thickness resting in a broad synclinal valley.* This great valley is drained by the waters of the North Cum- *The massive sandstone capping Pine and Cumberland Mountains is the conglomerate at the base of the coal measures. 295 6 RESOURCES OF THE NORTH CUMBERLAND VALLEY. berland, the stream passing through a gap in Pine Mountain at Pineville, the county seat of Bell county. The valleys have an elevation of from 1,100 feet to 1,500 feet, and the moun- tains an elevation of from 2,000 to 3,500 feet above the sea. The accompanying photograph of Yellow Creek Valley well represents the character of this region. The view is taken from Cumberland Gap, looking northwest. It will be ob- served that the slopes of these mountains are gentle, often not too steep for cultivation, and that on the uplands are broad, fertile plateaus many miles in extent. There is less waste land than in any mountain region with which I am ac- quainted. The mountains in this region are known by various local names, such as Canada Mountain, Log Mountain, Little and Big Black Mountain. In this report they will all be called the Black Mountains. This region possesses such a remark- able combination of soil, climate, water, timber resources, coal and iron, that it needs but to be known to receive proper attention from persons seeking desirable homes and a field for profitable investments. I hazard nothing in saying it is a region of unsurpassed resources. SOIL. I believe the name Black Mountains was given to designate the deep, rich soil with which these mountains are covered. The soils of this entire region surpass any coal-measure soils within my knowledge. Dr. David Dale Owen, Director of the first Geological Survey, says : * "The richness of the soil on the slopes, and even on the summit of the Log Mountain, is a matter of surprise, sup- porting a heavy growth of walnut, cherry, oak, poplar, locust, and chestnut. The black, rich mold of the Log Mountains is owing to prevalence of dark carbonaceous shales, which no doubt contain more or less lime, either in the substance of the shale itself, or derived from the calcareous segregations therein imbedded. The Log Mountain and its peculiar for- mation extends into Harlan county, and is continued under * Volume I, old series, pages 222-3. 296 SOIL TIMBERS. 7 the name of the ' Big and Little Black Mountains ' from south- west to northeast, until it reaches the Virginia line." The above attests the fertility of the soil on the uplands. Dr. Robert Peter, Chemist of the Geological Survey, and widely known for his great abilities as an agricultural chemist, after an examination of these soils, says:* "The soil from the plateau and summit is much richer than might have been expected. Its large proportion of organic and volatile mat- ters, as well as alkalies in the insoluble silicates, indicate the influence of the primeval forest growth, with which it is cov- ered, in retaining the elements of fertility on the surface. The unusually large proportion of silicates, rich in alkalies, in the rock material from which the soil was derived, may have been another cause." Mr. L. H. DeFriese, in his report on the forests of the North Cumberland, after describing the depth of soil on the slopes of the mountains, says:f "The consequence is, that in the parts of the Black Mountains familiar to me, even on the steepest slopes, there is a rich soil of from two to four feet in depth. For this reason there is a growth of chestnut, yellow poplar, black walnut, white and blue ash, birch, linden, and white hickory that I have never seen surpassed." TIMBERS. As Mr. L. H. DeFriese has made the study of timbers a specialty, the following extracts from his report on the timbers of the North Cumberland^ well attest the peculiar richness of that section in valuable timbers. Of a section made by him across the mountains, near the line between Bell and Harlan counties, he says: "About 500 feet below the crest of the mountain I found a remarkable belt of the finest old forest walnut timber I have ever seen. * * The walnut is growing on a very rich, loamy soil, partly de- tritus and partly decayed vegetable matter, about two feet *Page 35, Chemical Report, Part I, Vol. IV, new series. tPage 5, Part IX, Vol. IV, new series, Kentucky Geological Survey. % Part IX, Volume IV, new series, Kentucky Geological Reports. 297 8 RESOURCES OF THE NORTH CUMBERLAND VALLEY. deep, almost entirely devoid of undergrowth. * * * This walnut-bearing belt winds along the mountain as far as I had time to trace it. * * * On the northern exposure opposite, on the contrary, about thirty-five per cent, of the timber was massive yellow poplar, many trees of which were six and seven feet in diameter, with- trunks sixty to eighty feet high. ***** The white hickory and blue and black ash rank next in value, and they all abound in the Black Mountains especially. * * * The red maple, which is growing into favor in cabinet work, also abounds in Bell and Harlan coun- ties. The linden (Tilia Americana) is also found in large quantities through these mountains, and is very valuable in cabinet work/' &c. " After crossing (see page 15) into Harlan county, I made a section to the top of Black Mountain up Gray's branch, and came down a different way, so as to get two sections ; the results are here given in detail." I copy only a few references from Mr. DeFriese's report. Ascending the hill at an eleva- tion of 100 feet, he says: "The yellow poplars are five to seven feet in diameter, with trunks sixty to eighty feet long. The white ash is also extremely heavy, and the blue ash as fate as I ever saw." At an elevation of 200 feet: "No per- ceptible change in the splendor of the forest." The timber remains of the same character, with such changes as are noticed up to an elevation of 1,050 feet, where he says : " The splendor of the forest can hardly be imagined ; the belt of wal- nut before mentioned begins to show itself here, while the yellow poplar, the chestnut, and the white hickory are of the finest." "At this height (1,250 feet) crosses the curious belt, twenty-five per cent, of whose timber is old forest walnut. In size and quality these trees have no superior in this country, so far as I know" Elsewhere, speaking of this walnut belt, Mr. DeFnese says: "One of the many magnificent walnut trees I found in this peculiar belt was fourteen feet six inches in cir- cumference, with a curling, but straight and beautiful, trunk, sixty feet in length. In an area of twelve hundred and fifty square yards in this belt, the principal timbers were : 298 TIMBERS COAL. 9 Black walnut 6; average diameter .... 40 inches. Buckeye 5 ; average diameter .... 29 inches. White ash 3 ; one with diameter. ... 34 inches. Linden 6; average diameter . . . 23 inches." In addition to the valuable timbers enumerated above, the region described abounds in valuable .white walnut, cherry, elms, magnolias, sweet gum, beech, and other timbers. On the slopes of Pine Mountain to the west, and Cumberland Mountain on the east, are the timbers usually found on the conglomerate sandstone hemlock along the base of the mountains, pitch pine (Pinus rigida), and the yellow pine (Pinus mitis}, and chestnut oak, are very abundant and of the best quality. Excepting the clearings in the valleys, the timbers of this section remain almost untouched. The diffi- culty of running logs over the falls of the Cumberland and the Smith's shoals has been the cause of the preservation of this magnificent timber region. According to the best esti- mates I can make, at least ninety per cent, of this area is yet covered with primitive forest growth. Taking the popula- tion of Bell and Harlan counties as returned by the census, of 1870, and the area as returned to the State Auditor, the pop- ulation of these counties is 5.2 per square mile. The popu- lation of Massachusetts was, in 1875, 211.78 per square mile, and as this region is capable of supporting a larger population per square mile by agriculture than Massachusetts, and the manufacturing capabilities are as great, as will presently be shown, it is reasonable to expect a great development in the near future. COAL. The coal-measures have here a thickness of over two thou- sand feet above drainage thicker than elsewhere in America. Thus far, only preliminary reconnoissance work has been done by the Geological Survey, and the densely wooded condition, with the depth of soil, is unfavorable for discovery of coal beds ; but enough has been done to establish the existence of many beds of workable thickness and of very superior quality. In a report on a reconnoissance in the Upper Cumberland sec- 10 RESOURCES OF THE NORTH CUMBERLAND VALLEY. tion, Prof. A. R. Crandall says:* " The thickness of the coaK measures is greater by many hundred feet than in any other part of Kentucky. The number of the coals is also greater. * * * * The quality of the coals of this valley is most excel- lent. The proportion of ash and sulphur is very low in all that have been analyzed, with the exception of one cannel coal, and the fixed carbon is high." The following are analyses of some of these coals from samples carefully averaged by members of the Geological Survey, representing the entire thickness of bed. It must be borne in mind that these samples were taken from imper- fect openings, and cannot represent the coal at its best : No. i. No. 2. No. 3. No. 4. No. 5. No. 6. No. 7. No. 8. Moisture I. 7O 5- 20 2.96 1.50 I.OO I.QO 1.26 1.36 35.70 31. 26 35-28 07.04 43.60 37. 50 33.96 35.80 60 08 58 40 47 80 C.C. C2 Ash o 4 6 2 36 2 l6 7 60 Total Coke 62.60 65. 54 61.76 60.56 55 60 60.60 64.08 62.84 Sulphur 0.750 0.618 0.736 1.038 o. 590 i. 519 2.672 0.9/5 i 280 1 282 No. i. Clover Fork coal, Harlan county, 54 inches thick. No. 2. Skidmore Bank, Martin's Fork. No. 3. Hignite Branch, Bell county. No. 4. Clear Fork of Yellow creek. No. 5. Cannel coal, Fork Ridge. No. 6. Straight Creek coal. No. 7. Fork Ridge ; a four-foot coal above the cannel. No. 8. Clear Fork, four feet thick. As indicated on page 5, the line between Kentucky and Virginia leaves the Cumberland Mountain about forty miles east from Cumberland Gap, and traverses the crest of one of the ridges of the Black Mountain, the divide between the waters of the Upper Cumberland and Powell's river, so that there is an area of coal measures in Southwestern Virginia. A portion of this region was explored by Prof. J. P. Lesley * Part XII, Vol. IV, second series, Kentucky Geological Reports. 300 COAL. I I in 1871, and his report* attests the value of the coals of that section. He says, speaking of the six-foot bed: " At one placej where the bed had been dug a little into, it yields the best kind of bituminous coal, fat and caking, but friable, with no appearance of sulphur, and making no clinker. It is a good blacksmith coal, and no doubt will make a good coke. A piece of ill-made coke shows that the best coke can be got from it." Prof. John J. Stevenson has recently made explorations on the head waters of Roaring and Pigeon Fork of Powell's river, near the Kentucky line, and reports coal of great thickness and superior quality. The coals were analyzed by Mr. A. S. McCreath, Chemist to the Geological Survey of Pennsyl- vania. Referring to these analyses, Mr. McCreath says:f "The above analyses speak for themselves, and indicate coals of remarkable purity." Prof. Stevenson adds: "This eight-foot seam will yield a coke with considerably less than three per cent, of ash, and with but little more than five-tenths of a per cent, of sulphur. Such would be a marvelously rich coke, the percentage of fixed carbon being somewhat more than ninety-six. The Connellsville coke has somewhat less than ninety per cent, of fixed carbon, the ash is between nine and ten per cent., whilst the average sulphur is about eight-tenths of a per cent," I have a sample of coke carelessly made from this coal which is excellent and of great strength. An examination of the iron ores contiguous to the above- mentioned coals will convey an appreciation of their value. For purposes of comparison I give below analyses of the best coals from neighboring States. These coals were sampled by members of the Kentucky Survey in the same manner as were the Kentucky coals, and were analyzed by the Chemists of the Kentucky Survey. Dr. Robert Peter says : J "Seven of the best coals from the State of Ohio, two of the best of those * Read before the American Philosophical Society April 21, 1871. t Page 18, report to the Tinsalia Iron and Coal Company. \ Page 146, Vol. I, new series, Kentucky Geological Reports. 301 12 RESOURCES OF THE NORTH CUMBERLAND VALLEY. of Illinois, and three of the celebrated ' Black Coals ' of In- diana, used there for iron smelting, &c., were submitted to similar processes of analysis with our Kentucky coals. We give results as follows: " States. No. analyzed. Volatile comb, matter Fixed carbon in coke. Per cent, of ash. Per cent, of sulphur. Ohio Illinois 7 2 34-59 3i CK 55-17 CO. O6 6-43 S Q6 1.494 1 .024. Indiana, j -?e 03 CA. 24. 7 2^ i .046 General average . 12 34-13 56.12 6.54 1.768 Iron ores not so rich as can be had near the Upper Cum- berland coals are carried hundreds of miles to be smelted by the above coals in the three neighboring States. Taking for comparison analyses of five celebrated coals from the reports of the Second Geological Survey of Penn- sylvania (Report "H. H."), as follows: " Cambria Iron Com- pany's Mines," " Coal A, Woodcock Mine," " Kittanning Coal E," " Cambria Coal and Coke Company," and the celebrated "coking coal near Johnstown," as analyzed by the Chemist of the Pennsylvania Survey, gave respectively of ash, 6.930, 5.750, 4.750, 6.163, and 8.83, and of sulphur, 2.843, -S^7> 2.728, 2.352, and 2.78. The coals of the Upper Cumberland Valley are not only very thick, but are above drainage, and can be opened at small cost and mined very cheaply. IRON ORES. The position of the rocks, and the relation of the Clinton Group, in which this ore, known as "Clinton," "Dyestone," and "Fossil" ore is situated, to this region is shown in the section on page 5. This Clinton ore extends irregularly along the eastern escarpment of the Alleghenies from Canada to Alabama. It is the principal source of local supply for the furnaces of Pennsylvania, and is the source of supply for the furnaces of the Roan Iron Company, Tennessee ; the furnaces in the Sequatchie Valley, and most of the furnaces in Eastern Alabama. This ore is very persistent, and of good workable 302 IRON ORES. thickness along the entire eastern edge of the region under consideration, from Elk Gap in Tennessee to and beyond Big Stone Gap in southwestern Virginia. The ore at Elk Gap can find easy access to the coals of this region by way of the proposed extension of the Knoxville and Ohio Railway down the Elk Fork of the Cumberland. There has been a develop- ment of this ore near Speedwell, in Tennessee, where it has been smelted in a charcoal furnace. The ore can be brought to the coal by tunnelling the Cumberland Mountain at one of the gaps near that place. At Cumberland Gap and eastward there is a large deposit of this ore, well shown in the accom- panying plate, taken from Mr. P. N. Moore's report on "The Iron Ores in the Vicinity of Cumberland Gap."* The several beds of ore in this section, near the Gap, range in thickness at from 22 inches to 27 inches. Eighteen miles east from the Gap it is found 52 inches thick; at Pennington Gap, yet further east, 35 inches thick, and at or near Big Stone Gap the several beds range in thickness from 25 inches to 7 feet 2 inches. f The quantity of this ore along the eastern outcrop of this coal is unlimited. In quality an examination of the following analysis will show that it is superior to the Clinton ores of other localities. SAMPLES AVERAGED BY MR. P. N. MOORE AND ANALYZED BY DR. ROBERT PETER AND MR. JOHN H. TALBUTT, CHEMISTS OF THE SUR- VEY. 3 .042 3.014 77.38o 77.Q7C 3-941 5-776 Lime carbonate .. . . . . .. .420 4. ^10 tr. .266 2. Soo 3.8<;o i S . 960 ii .730 54. 166 51.750 . 140 . 140 tr. tr. * Part V, Volume IV, second series, Kentucky Geological Reports, t Report of Prof. J. J. Stevenson, page 13. 303 14 RESOURCES OF THE NORTH CUMBERLAND VALLEY. The following are analyses of ores from the Big Stone Gap district No. i the Clinton ore, and No. 2 a brown hematite by Mr. McCreath: No. i. No. 2. 52.600 ^2. cc;6 o 018 O O77 o 116 O O^I 18 140 7 84.0 For purposes of comparison, the reader is referred to the analyses of the Clinton ores in Pennsylvania, in volume "F," "Second Survey of Pennsylvania." During the high price of iron in 1872 the Clinton ores were carried from Alabama to Louisville by rail, carted from the railway through that city, and loaded on boats, and carried to furnaces in Ohio and Western Pennsylvania. The excellent ores described above can be delivered to furnaces along the Eastern border of the Kentucky coal-field at prices ranging from 50 cents to $1.50 a ton. Prof. Steven- son estimates that pig iron can be made at Big Stone Gap at $8.25 per ton. The above is but a small part of the ore sup- ply to be relied on by this region. The writer, in a report made to the Kentucky Legislature in the winter of 1875, says: "The great Pine Mountain fault, extending across the State from Pound Gap to the eastern portion of Whitley county, brings the level of this ore (Clinton) above the drainage, but it is so covered by the talus from the mountain that the ore has not yet been seen. If this ore extends so far west, we can reasonably expect to find it by drifting for it near the base of Pine Mountain. The dislocation of the rocks in Elk Fork, Tennessee, and the Sequatchie Valley anticlinal bring up this ore and prove its westward extension, and as these disturb- ances are but an extension of the Pine Mountain dislocation, the evidence is strong that the ore is in place along the base of Pine Mountain." Fragments of this ore have been found in the valley of Straight creek, along the base of Pine Moun- tain. 304 IRON ORES. In addition to the above ores, the great thickness of coal- measure rocks will undoubtedly yield a large supply of carbo- nate ores. Little search has been made for iron ores in this region, and the rocks are so covered with the deep soil and luxuriant forest growth that outcrops of such ore would sel- dom be seen. The fragments of such ores are numerous in the streams, and some workable beds have been discovered. The following are analyses of ores from the western part of the region under discussion, made by Dr. Robert Peter for the first Geological Survey : * A B C D E Carbonate of iron 73-35 3.36 73-13 4-94 8o.no 67.72 6.QQ 63.60 Carbonate of lime .88 i i ^ 18 3 38 Carbonate of magnesia .... Carbonate of manganese. 2.67 I 4-Q 1-59 3 74. 10. 15 7O .... Alumina Phosphoric acid .58 .61 79 .16 1.88 ,: 7 58 76 2.98 31 Bituminous matter .... 3 2$ Silex and insoluble silicates . . Moisture and loss 9.88 1.16 9-95 63 2.48 12.66 8.48 0.56 17-25 13.75 Percentage of iron ... . . 3Q.2O 38 81 c6. 37 37.60 44, c? A. Carbonate of iron, Log Mountain, Whitley county, Ky. B. Carbonate of iron, under Cumberland Falls, Whitley county, Ky. C. Limonite, headwaters of Mud Creek, Whitley county, Ky. D. Carbonate of iron, mouth of Poplar Creek, Whitley county, Ky. E. Limonite, south part of Pine Mountain, Whitley county, Ky. There are good carbonates and limonites in Pulaski county, Ky., near the head of Indian and other creeks, which can be brought into this valley by the proposed railway (to be dis- cussed hereafter) connecting the Cincinnati Southern with the Cumberland river above the falls. It is evident that this region has an abundant supply of ores, and that only transportation to the markets of the country is needed to insure the building up of an extensive iron industry. In no region in the United States can iron be produced cheaper than in this area between the Pine and Cumberland Mountains. * Second Chemical Report, page 276, Vol. II, old series, Kentucky Geological Reports. VOL. VI.-20 35 1 6 RESOURCES OF THE NORTH CUMBERLAND VALLEY. A discussion of the advantages as an iron-manufacturing cen- ter would be incomplete without reference to the very rich and pure ores of the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina section. I believe it will be found that no ores of like richness and purity are to be found so convenient to pure, cheap coals as are these ores. The imports of iron ore to meet the extraordinary demands for Bessemer pig-iron was, for the year ending December 31, 1879,* 284,141 tons, mostly from Spain and the Mediterranean ports. It is estimated that the furnaces of Western Pennsylvania will this year draw 500,000 tons of ore from abroad, f mostly from Spain and Algeria. The Lake Superior region produced 1,414,182 tons last year, nearly all of which was carried to the furnaces in the Apalachian coal-field, as was the product from Iron Mountain, Missouri. The production of steel in this country is not sufficient for the increasing demands, and the importation of steel and steel-making ores from abroad is largely on the increase. In 1879 thirty-four per cent, of all the iron produced in this country was made into steel. The nearness of the very pure ores of East Tennessee and Western North Carolina to the pure coals in the Upper Cumberland region are an assurance that, with transportation secured, that region will be one of the great iron and steel-producing centers of the world. As it requires about five tons of coke to produce a ton of finished bar iron or steel, it is evident that these ores will be brought to the coal, and for this reason we have an interest in the quality, quantity, and future development of these ores. The scope of this report will not permit anything beyond a mere mention of some of the principal ores of the Unaka and Blue Ridge section. The ore of most importance is probably the celebrated magnetite ore near Cranberry, North Carolina, and the extension of same ore in Carter county, Tennessee. Prof. W. C. Kerr, State Geologist of North Carolina, says * Annual report of Secretary American Iron and Steel Association for 1879, page 17. t Report of Prof. W. C. Kerr, on visit to Pittsburgh, made to the Governor of North Carolina April, 1880. 306 IRON ORES. of this ore: * " In quality this ore is unsurpassed by any iron in the world, and in regard to quantity, the bed much exceeds the great deposits of Missouri and Michigan, and at least equals anything in the Champlain region, so that it has not probably an equal in this country." The quality of the ore will be seen from the following analyses: No. i. No. 2. No. 3. No. 4. No. 5. Magnetic oxide of iron .... Oxide of manganese . . . . . 94-37 O 20 91.45 0.06 85.59 O 24. 80.77 I 4.2 91.89 O 32 O 4.2 o 77 O. II O EJ2 I .03 O.4.7 1 .01 O.72 1. 06 w '*0 O. 36 O. C3 O. 33 O 23 Water 0.44. I . ^3 8 21 I I"i Silica pyroxene &c .... 4. 16 e 74 II 48 9 08 4 O2 O' llr 68.^4. 66.22 61 q.8 e8 4.Q 66. 58 The first four of these analyses are by Dr. Genth, who says: "The first three samples contain neither titanic acid nor phosphorus and sulphur. The fourth contains a trace of phosphoric acid." No. 5 was analyzed by Prof. Chandler, of the Columbia College School of Mines, New York City, who says : " This is the best iron ore I have ever analyzed. It is very rich in iron, and very free from sulphur and phosphorus." In Carter county, Tennessee, near the State line, is an extension of this wonderful deposit. There are also in John- son and Carter counties other valuable iron ores. The fol- lowing are analyses of some of these ores : f No. i. No. 2. No. 3. Combined oxygen 2C.6O 22.07 24.29 Water O 22 c.4i 0.67 Silica ... 2.17 10.32 6.30 O.o6 0.03 -> 0.06 O.OO3 0.09 0.07 CQ.7C 51.50 63.72 * Geology of North Carolina, Vol. I, 1875, P a S e 266 - |See description of these ores, "Tennessee, Its Agricultural and Mineral Wealth," Nashville, 1876; Dr. Safford's Geology of Tennessee, Nashville, 1869. 307 1 8 RESOURCES OF THE NORTH CUMBERLAND VALLEY. A system of railway already under contract will, within the following year, bring the above-mentioned ores of Tennessee and North Carolina in connection with the coal under discus- sion. In Greene, Cocke, Blount, and other counties of East Tennessee are high grade ores, which will be briefly referred to in discussing the railway system of this region. The fine deposits of ore in Bompass creek, Washington county, are described in a paper read by Prof. J. P. Lesley before the American Philosophical Society, May 3, 1872. A remarkable deposit of iron ore is found in Rockingham and Guilford counties, North Carolina. This ore is not only valuable for the manufacture of high grade iron and steel, but is highly prized as a lining for puddling furnaces. Five tons were sent to the works of Mr. Nathan Rowland, Kensing- ton, near Philadelphia, and, upon trial, this ore stood up three times as long as the Champlain ore. Prof. J. P. Lesley, in summing up the results of his investigations of this ore belt, says : * "It is an advantage, therefore, that while many Can- ada ores hold 25 and 30 and 35 per cent, of titanic acid, your company's ore has less than 15, leaving the percentage of metallic iron over 50. At the same time you have all the ad- vantages which the presence of titanium affords: ist. Making the ore so firm that it is the best possible for lining puddling furnaces; 2d. Making the iron tougher and harder, like the best Sweden iron ; and, 3d. Imparting a certain quality (the cause of which is not yet understood) which adapts the iron especially for the manufacture of steel. * * * * The quality of ore, although various, and suited to at least two branches of the iron manufacture, is of the very first rate ; none better in the world. "The soft ores will smelt easily and make magnificent iron ; absolutely the very best perfectly malleable, tough, and strong. "The hard ores will command a high price for puddlers' linings ; will be in demand for mixing with poorer ores of other regions in the blast furnace, to increase the quantity * "The Tuscarora Iron Ore Belt in North Carolina:" Philadelphia, 1871. 308 IRON ORES TRANSPORTATION ROUTES. 19 and quality of their pig metal, and will have an especial value for the Siemens and Bessemer processes and the steel manu- factures generally. The quantity of the ore is limitless." In Chatham and Orange counties is another remarkable deposit of iron ores. The Chapel Hill ore, a dense, steel-grey hematite, specular in part, slightly magnetic, is from 7 to 30 feet thick, has 65.77 P er cen t. of metallic iron, with 2.63 silica, 1.68 per cent, of alumina, and but 0.04 per cent, of phosphoric acid. In Caldwell county is a large deposit of "martite" a schist of specular ore, resembling the ore from the " New York Mine/' of the Lake Superior region. Reference has been made to but a few of the ores of this favored region. Nearly all of the magnetic and specular ores of the United States are smelted by furnaces in the Apalachian coal-field, or by coke furnished from that region. Assuming Connells- ville to be the centre of the iron manufacturing region of the Northern States, we find the distance by straight line (the available railway lines will be of course much greater) from Marquette iron region to Connellsville, 700 miles ; from Iron Mountain, Missouri, to Connellsville, 650 miles ; from the Champlain region to Connellsville, 450 miles. From the celebrated Cranberry ore or North Carolina to the coals of Southeastern Kentucky, by an available railway route, it is less than one hundred miles. TRANSPORTATION ROUTES. At present this district is without railway transportation. From Cumberland Gap to Morristown, the nearest station on the East Tennessee and Virginia Railway, it is thirty miles, and to Livingston, the present terminus of the Knoxville Division of the Louisville and Nashville Railway, it is sev- enty miles. From Big Stone Gap to Bristol, Tennessee, it is sixty-five miles, and from Pennington Gap to the railroad at Rogersville, Tennessee, it is about thirty miles. The present northern terminus of the Knoxville and Ohio Railway, near Careyville, Tennessee, is the nearest existing railway to the southwestern portion of this region, and the Cincinnati South- 39 2O RESOURCES OF THE NORTH CUMBERLAND VALLEY. ern is within twenty-five miles. It will be observed by a glance at a railway map of the United States that the area of South- eastern Kentucky and Southwestern Virginia comprises a portion of the largest district barren of railways to be found east of the Mississippi river. A knowledge of the peculiar topography of the Apalachian Mountains, partially shown by the accompanying map, will explain the cause of this. South of the Potomac the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway is the only road crossing this entire mountain system until we reach the Western and Atlantic Railway, in Georgia. Some of the roads in Western North Carolina have penetrated beyond the outward barriers of the Blue Ridge, and from the Valley of East Tennessee two roads have goneto the foot of the Unaka Mountains. Realizing the importance to Kentucky of a road crossing these mountains at right angles to the axis of uplift, for reasons which will be apparent to all who will study the geology and the variety of productions from the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge to the coal-field of Central Kentucky, the writer has taken a deep interest in the railway developments progressing in North and South Carolina and East Tennessee, and was partially instrumental in bringing the parties inter- ested in perfecting a system of narrow-gauge roads in these States into communication. A conference was held at Bristol, in September of this year, and the reports from the various roads are so encouraging that hopes may be expressed of the completion of a through system of narrow-gauge from the Kentucky coal-fields to the Atlantic sea-board at an early date. The projected road from Big Stone Gap to Bristol, Tennessee, the present terminus of the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad and of the Atlantic, Missis- sippi and Ohio Railroad, has been put under contract, to be completed by September i, 1881. A narrow-gauge road from Johnson's City, on the E. T., Va. & G., 23 miles west of Bristol, to the Cranberry ore bank, in Western North Car- olina, is under contract, to be completed at the same time. The Chester and Lenoir, narrow-gauge, is completed and running from Chester, S. C., to the Catawba river, north of 310 TRANSPORTATION ROUTES. 21 i Dallas, N. C., and is graded to Lenoir, and work will be pushed north towards the Cranberry ore. A narrow-gauge is completed east from Chester, S. C., to Lancaster, and it is believed that the road from Lancaster through Sumter to the sea-board at Georgetown will be soon under contract and pushed to completion. A narrow-gauge is in process of con- struction from Fayetteville through Greensboro, N. C., and will unite with the Chester and Lenoir on the Blue Ridge plateau, and use a common track, uniting at Cranberry ore bed with the road to Johnson's City, and probably making short connection with the Big Stone Gap road. This system of roads will bring the North Carolina ores to the Kentucky and Southwest Virginia coals, and will open up an immense market to the Southwest for these coals. A road chartered by the Legislatures of Kentucky and Virginia, known as the Richmond and Southwestern, is now engaged in surveying a route for a narrow-gauge road from Central Kentucky to the Virginia line, somewhere between Pound and Pennington Gaps, and on to Richmond, Va. This road will give a north- ern connection to the narrow-gauge road from North Carolina, and when built will certainly be as favorably located to get an immense business as any new road in America. There are no serious engineering difficulties to be encountered in the construction of a railway through the above-mentioned gaps. The valleys of the streams in the coal-measures of Eastern Kentucky are favorable to the construction of railways. * The Kentucky Central Railway is now looking to an exten- sion. Three routes are under consideration : 1. Up the valley of the Kentucky river, crossing at Pound, Pennington, or Big Stone Gaps, and forming connection to- wards North Carolina. 2. From Paris or Lexington to London, and uniting with the L. and N. Knoxville Branch, via Barboursville, Pineville, Cumberland Gap, to Morristown, where connection will be made with the railway from that place to Wolf Creek, on the * For additional information on this subject, see Prof. N. S. Shaler's report on " The Transportation Routes of Kentucky," Part V, Vol. Ill, second series, Kentucky Geologi- cal Reports. 3" 22 RESOURCES OF THE NORTH CUMBERLAND VALLEY. French Broad, and finally connecting with the North Carolina system of roads at Ashville. 3. From London to Williamsburg, and up the Clear Fork of the Cumberland, passing through Pine Mountain at Elk Gap, and uniting with the Knoxville and Ohio Railway at Careyville. Either of the three proposed routes will give this North Cumberland region an outlet to the north and south. The Louisville and Nashville Knoxville Division will extend on one or two of the proposed routes (i or 2), most probably through Cumberland Gap. There are three roads in the eastern part of Kentucky from which we may in the future expect an extension to the eastern portion of this region the Chattaroi Railroad, now completed to Peach Orchard, the Eastern Kentucky Railway, now engaged in making a survey of line into Morgan county, and the Cincin- nati and Southeastern, formerly known as the Licking Valley Railroad. A road has been chartered to start from a point on the Cincinnati Southern, in Kentucky, south of the Cum- berland, and run to the Cumberland river at a point above the falls. This road would be of immense advantage to the Upper Cumberland, as navigation can be had for boats, rafts, &c., and an outlet will in that way be afforded. At present the falls and the shoals below are a barrier to navigation. With railways crossing the Cumberland river at Williams- burg and Pineville, the navigation of the Upper Cumberland will be a question of some importance. There will be no obstruction to descending navigation for the greater portion of the year, and I believe small boats can ascend the Poor Fork of the Cumberland during several months in the year. The United States Government has expended money during the past few years in improving descending navigation over the shoals between the crossing of the Cincinnati Southern Railway at Point Burnside and the Falls of the Cumberland. The falls must remain for years to come an impediment to navigation, as the amount necessary to their canalization is large. A possible water-way connecting with the waters of 312 TRANSPORTATION ROUTES. 2 3 the Kentucky river, and giving a direct outlet to the Ohio river, is worthy of consideration. The Cumberland river at Barboursville is 121 feet higher than the waters of the Kentucky river at Goose Creek Salt- works, near Manchester. The summit divide between Rich- land Creek (emptying at Barboursville), and Collins' Fork of Goose Creek (see map), is 78 feet higher than low water at Barboursville, and less than a mile through. A dam at Bar- boursville, and an open cut through this divide of less than a mile in length, will allow the waters of the Cumberland to flow through. The amount of water taken from the Cumber- land would be inconsiderable, as it would only flow when boats were passing the locks, and the supply taken for the canal would be from the reserve held back by the dam at Barboursville, and would hardly affect the flow of the river below that point. This dam would afford slack-water to Pine- ville, and from there a canal could be carried along Yellow Creek to Cumberland Gap. It is possible to connect this system with the river system of Tennessee by a canal through Cumberland Gap and down Gap Creek* to Powell's river, a distance of six miles from the Gap. I have in the foregoing report but glanced briefly at some of the most important resources of this valley. There are others which, with the development of the future, may assume equal importance with those mentioned. To the north, in Perry and Breathitt and Clay counties, salt brine is obtained from borings, and near Whitesburg brine was obtained at 300 and 400 feet depth. Favorable results may be anticipated from borings in this valley. I believe it is an established fact that the petroleum of this country is derived directly or indirectly from the Devonian Black Shale. It will be seen, by reference to the section on fifth page, that this shale, which is quite thick along the eastern base of the Cumberland Mountain and the western base of the Pine Mountain, is below the drainage in this valley, and the position of the rocks, with the superincumbent weight of the mountains, is most favorable for the production of flowing wells. 3'3 24 RESOURCES OF THE NORTH CUMBERLAND VALLEY. The massive conglomerate on the sides of this valley is a great storage reservoir of water, so that the springs are numerous, never failing, and bold, and the streams afford ex- cellent water-power. The climate of this section and the varied beauties of scenery add much to its attractiveness. Here we have along the two sides of this valley the bold escarpments of conglomerate along some of the clear moun- tain streams, enriched with a profusion of rhododendrons, kalmias, azalias, cucumber magnolias, holly, &c. The cen- tral valleys, broad and fertile, are surrounded with gently sloping hills and mountains, covered with a grandeur of forest nowhere surpassed. There is no more grand or beautiful scenery elsewhere in the Alleghenies than in this valley. The mountains of the Big Black are probably the culmination of this entire range, as are the North Carolina Mountains opposite the culmination of the entire Apalach- ian range. It will be observed that around these Black Mountains, on the line between Kentucky and Virginia, head the Sandy, the Kentucky, the Cumberland, the Powell, and the Guest's rivers. The genial summer climate is due to the high elevation of this entire region above the sea level. The summer rain-fall is greater than elsewhere in the Ohio Valley. This combination of advantages healthfulness of climate, good soil, valuable timbers, abundance of coal and iron of excellent quality, so situated as to be cheaply mined, and the certainty of transportation facilities in the near future certainly renders this country peculiarly adapted to persons seeking new homes. Lands can be purchased in large tracts at a low price, and the writer will take pleasure in giving addi- tional information to persons desiring to investigate the re- sources of the Valley of the North Cumberland. 3H 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED EARTH SCIENCES LIBRARY This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. LD 21-40m-5,'65 (F4308slO)476 General Library University of California Berkeley 377