194 KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 
DAKOTA SANDSTONE IN WASHINGTON COUNTY. 
BY H. W. CHARLES, WASHINGTON, KAN, 
Read before the Academy December 28, 1900. 
The Dakota formation, extending diagonally across the county, rests uncon- 
formably upon the Permian limestone. This is true throughout the Dakota 
area, so far as can be determined from the numerous exposures along its eastern 
border. Several well-defined contacts have been discovered, a most interesting 
one being on the farm of Mr. John Sage, in Farmington township. Another, 
that apparently shows thin transitional strata, is located about one mile south of 
Bond’s mill, in Charleston township. The upper surface of the underlying 
Permian is generally level, although in some localities there are evidences of a 
difference of level extending over limited areas. 
The Dakota, in general, shows the typical structure in its exposures. In 
several localities there are outcrops of massive sandstone, notably on the farm of 
Mr. Sage, above referred to, and also on the farm of Mr. F. J. Weakly, in Wash- 
ington township. In most localities, however, the exposures consist of irregular 
masses cropping out above the disintegrated material of the same formation, 
mingled with the overlying drift or loess. Evidences of glacial deposits may be 
found throughout almost all the Dakota area of the county. 
In the northeastern part of the county the rocks of this formation are dark in 
color and very hard, while in the central and western portions they are not so 
compact and disintegrate rapidly where exposed. In Highland township the 
structure is characteristic, but the color is much lighter than in other sections 
of the county. 
In the western part of the county the overlying Benton limestone is separated 
from the sandstone in a few places by layers of lignite, in some places two or 
three feet in thickness. 
The characteristic fossils of this formation are found in a few localities, 
though not generally distributed throughout the county. A few well-defined 
specimens have been found on the farms of Mr. Lavering and Mr. Carnahan, in 
Washington township. About one mile south of Ash Creek schoolhouse, on the 
farm of Mr. Weakly, several specimens were found in a bluish shale of the Da- 
kota formation. About one and one-half miles southwest of Day, and over an 
area extending into Clay county, some very fine specimens have been found by 
persons residing in that locality. By far the most interesting area of fossils, and 
the one that suggested the writing of this paper, is in the vicinity of Bond’s mill, 
in Charleston township. Here was found a field hitherto unexplored, and one 
which furnishes some interesting material for the student of paleobotany. A 
short distance south and southeast of Bond’s mill, on the high sandstone bluffs, 
and scattered over the surface of the ground, several thousand specimens were 
found, at first in company with Prof. C. N. Gould, at that time connected with 
the State University of Nebraska, and later in connection with my work in geol- 
ogy in the high school of this city. Most of these specimens were sent to the 
University of Nebraska, where they were examined by Professor Gould. Repre- 
sentatives ofthe Sassafras, Platanus and Protophyllum were identified. Many 
belonged to the well-known species of these genera, but there are evidently sev- 
eral new species awaiting identification. Some of these forms are apparently 
transitional, and may furnish evidence of the close relationship of the Sassafras 
and Platanus. 
