METEORITES OF NORTH AMERICA. 359 



April 18, 1860, he- 

 read letters from Doctor Evans and Professor Henry, of Washington, in relation to the great Oregon meteorite; though 

 individuals of the society had written on the subject, it was feared that from want of a memorial from the society the 

 appropriation necessary to obtain it would not be inserted in the congressional bill. 



On motion, it was voted that a committee be appointed with full powers, to see what can be done in the matter, 

 and to take any steps which may seem likely to secure the whole or a portion of this valuable specimen for the 

 museum at Washington. The president appointed Drs. C. T. Jackson, Bacon, and Shaw, to whom the president 

 was afterwards added. 



May 2, 1860— 



Dr. C. T. Jackson announced that a memorial had been sent to Congress by the committee appointed at the last meet- 

 ing in relation to the Oregon meteorite, praying that it might, in whole or in part, be placed in the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution, and be thence distributed to scientific bodies. 



Haidinger 2 stated to the Vienna Academy in 1860 that he had received information from 

 N. Holmes of a great meteoric iron mass found by Dr. John Evans on his latest expedition in 

 the southwestern part of Oregon. He stated that it was partly embedded in the earth and was 

 larger than the Siberian Pallas iron. He says : 



It lies in the Rogue River Mountains, not very far from Port Orford, on the Pacific, about in 42° 35' north lati- 

 tude and 123° to 124° west longitude. 



In 1861 3 he gave a further account of it as follows: 



Of the iron mass from Oregon, mentioned in the session of July 5 of last year, news of which was obtained from a 

 letter from Mr. Nathaniel Holmes, of St. Louis, I have the honor to place in the Imperial Mineral Cabinet a piece 

 weighing 3.530 grams, which I owe to the friendly offices of Dr. Charles T. Jackson, of New York City. His analysis 

 was published in the Mining Magazine of New York City for February, 1860, in the Proceedings of the Boston Society, 

 the American Academy of Natural Sciences, and elsewhere. 



Dr. John Evans, Government geologist for the territories of Oregon and Washington, discovered the mass 4 or 5 

 feet in horizonal dimension and exposed 3 or 4 feet high in the Rogue River Mountains, about 40 miles from Port Orford 

 He separated little pieces, of which Doctor Jackson received about an ounce. Unfortunately Doctor Evans died on April 

 13 (1860), and search for the mass is thus rendered very difficult if its occurrence is not even placed in question. 

 It was hoped that efforts would be made to place this great mass, of which over 200 ctr. are visible, in the Smithsonian 

 Institution in Washington, but the latest reports do not indicate that anything is being done in this direction. 



The meteorite belongs, as Jackson has already stated, in the class of Pallas irons, since it has a compact groundmass 

 and large included olivine crystals. Etching produces, not the straight Widmannstatten figures, but figures like those 

 of the Pallas iron, Brahin, and others. The fragment shows yet some of the fine original fusion crust, so that the mass, 

 although exposed, has not been oxidized since its arrival on the earth. 



Some further details regarding the location of the meteorite were given by Jackson 'in a 

 biographical sketch of Doctor Evans. They are as follows: 



One of the most interesting scientific discoveries made by Doctor Evans during his explorations in Oregon was that 

 of an enormous mass of meteoric iron containing an abundance of chrysolite or olivine embedded in it. During the Indian 

 war in that region Doctor Evans ascended Bald Mountain, one of the Rogue River Range, which is situated from 35 to 40 

 miles from Port Orford, a village and port of entry on the Pacific coast, and obtained some pieces of metallic iron which 

 he broke off from a mass projecting from the grass-covered soil on the slope of the mountain. He was not aware of its 

 meteoric nature until the chemical analysis was made, but the singularity of its appearance caused him to observe very 

 closely its situation, so that when his attention was called to the subject he readily remembered the position, form, 

 appearance, and magnitude of the mass, and manifested the most lively interest in procuring it for the Government 

 collection in the Smithsonian Institution at Washington, a duty I doubt not he would have been commissioned to 

 perform had his life been spared. 



By the aid of information contained in letters to me perhaps some traveler in those regions may be able to find this 

 very interesting meteorite, and I shall, therefore, transcribe what he says of it. In reply to my inquiry, whether he 

 felt confident he could again find this mass of meteoric iron, he says in his letter of May 1, 1860: 



"There can not be the least difficulty in my finding the meteorite. The western face of Bald Mountain, where it 

 is situated, is, as its name indicates, bare of timber, a grassy slope, without prejecting rocks in the immediate vicinity 

 of the meteorite. The mountain is a prominent landmark, seen for a long distance on the ocean, as it is higher than 

 any of the surrounding mountains. It would doubtless be best and most economical to make a preliminary visit to the 

 locality, accompanied only by the two voyagers alluded to in my last letter." (Two of the Canadian Frenchmen in 

 employ of the Hudson Bay Company.) 



"Arrangements might then be made with the Indians for its purchase and the best plan selected for its removal. It 

 would be expedient to procure the men and animals necessary in the TJmpqua Valley, east of the Coast Range of moun- 



