GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY. 149 
Notwithstanding these facts, there are hundreds of buildings along the line of 
outcrops constructed of the sandstone. The group might be traced from Okla- 
homa to South Dakota by observing buildings alone. Stone fences, corrals, and 
foundations throughout certain sections are constructed almost exclusively of 
this material. But the use of the sandstone is not confined to the lesser struc- 
tures. Dwellings, railroad depots, business blocks and schoolhouses are built of 
the Dakota. Some of the towns in which may be seen buildings of this stone 
are: Larned, Pawnee Rock, Great Bend, Ellinwood, Ellsworth, Kanopolis, 
Brookville, Glasco, Concordia, and Washington, Kan.; and Fairbury, Endicott, 
Beatrice, Lincoln, Ashland, Louisville, Tekamah, Homer, and Dakota City, 
Neb. If limestones were not so plentiful the number would be greatly increased. 
It is a noticeable fact that this sandstone is rarely shipped by rail. 
There are, however, several localities in the group where valuable building 
stone may be obtained. The best of this stone is from the quartzite ledges men- 
tioned under ‘‘Stratigraphy.’’ So far as known, there are three outcrops of the 
quartzite, in widely separated localities in the Dakota. The quartzite-like bould- 
ers in the vicinity of Salina, Kan., and thence fifteen to twenty miles southeast, 
mentioned by Doctor Beede,®! will furnish an almost inexhaustible supply of the 
best of building material. The principal objection to its use is its extreme hard- 
ness, which only argues in its favor. The last time the writer visited Salina (in 
1898), the quartzite near the old mill in the southeast part of the city was being 
removed for building purposes. 
A ledge on Whisky run, five miles northwest of Fairbury, Jefferson county, 
Nebraska, is composed of very hard, gray, quartzite-like rock. The exposures 
occur along the sides of a ravine, and where seen were some four feet thick. 
The stone contains numerous finely preserved dicotyledons and wood fibers. 
There are also some pockets of iron pyrites, but scarcely enough to detract from 
the value of the material asa building stone. The rock from this ledge has been 
used in the construction of several farm buildings; but it is in bad repute among 
local stone-masons on account of its extreme hardness. It is the best building 
stone known in the state, and when developed promises to become an important 
economic factor. The hard ledge near Blackbird mission, on the Omaha reser- 
vation, mentioned by Doctor Hayden, is very like the Whisky run stone, but is 
not quite so hard. The old Presbyterian mission building, a large four-story 
structure, constructed of this stone fifty years ago, seems as solid to-day as 
when it was completed, and bids fair to stand for centuries. The ledges from 
which the rock was obtained are from one to four feet thick. Several other 
ledges along the bluffs back of Dakota City furnish rock of about the same 
character. 
There is no reason why material from the quarries just described should not 
take the place of Wisconsin and Colorado stone in eastern Kansas and Nebraska. 
In appearance, durability, and general utility it is the equal of any that is being 
shipped into these states; and the supply is practically inexhaustible. Nothing 
is needed but the development of the quarries. 
CLAYS. 
Clays and shales occupy the greater part of the Dakota group. The term 
Dakota ‘* sandstone,”’ by which the group is known, is clearly a misnomer. The 
sandstones, being harder, resist denudation and by their uneven weathering give 
tone to the erosion forms throughout the Dakota area. It is rare that the clays 
and shales are to be observed when passing through the region of outcrops; 
while the sandstone ledges are everywhere conspicuous. The ledges of shale 
51. Univ. Geol. Surv. of Kansas, 2: 291. 
