Author: William Henry Holmes

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2016-08-18

Total Pages: 32

ISBN-13: 9781333269036

Excerpt from An Ancient Quarry in Indian Territory Mr. Jenney, while studying the zinc and lead mines of southwestern Missouri, had his attention called to a site located on Peoria lands in Indian Territory, and known locally as the old Spanish mines. A visit by him developed the true nature of the ancient operations, and demonstrated at the same time the futility of the search for precious metals at the site. I at once resolved to visit the locality, and late in October had the pleasure of beginning the study of one of the most interesting examples of our great aboriginal quarries. This quarry is situated on the Peoria reservation, about seven miles northwest of Seneca, Missouri, and some ten miles southeast of Baxter Springs, Kansas. From Seneca the Spot is reached by driving north ward along the Missouri border, for five miles, and then crossing the line and proceeding two miles in a westerly course through the forest. The country is a gently rolling plateau, with a gradual descent westward into the valley of Spring river, a branch of the Neosho, or Grand river, which falls into the Arkansas at Fort Gibson, Indian Territory. The forest which covers the region about the quarry is open, and con sists of a medium-sized growth of several varieties of oak, hickory, and other deciduous trees Geologically the country seems rather feature less, save for the presence of inty masses of chert that cover much of the surface and weather out in numberless rough fragments along the low ledges and terrace faces. Outcrops of this rock may be seen along the stream courses, but its gnarled and very forbidding appearance gives no encouragement to the advances of searchers for workable stone. It is only where fresh fractures are met that its true nature is discovered. Scattered over a wide range of country are seen evidences of ancient operations, and the refuse of aking is quite common, showing that the aborigines thoroughly explored the country before settling down to the one choice site in the trackless forests of Spring river valley. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."