REPORC ON MF.I.l) WORK. IN CKOI.OC.N'. . 105 



altluKigh on the hill-tO])S it umloubtedly reaches farther south 

 This limestone s)stem has been named the Sioal/ow limestone by Dr. 

 Newlin of Oswego on account of its.having been described by Prof. 

 Swallow in 1854. For the present, at least, we may employ the same 

 term to designate it. The Swallow limestone is not very prominent 

 in the adjoining country, and in many places either is concealed from 

 view by the soil, or entirely fails to exist. Above this no limestone 

 is found until the the Oswego limestone is reached in the vicinity of 

 Oswego. 



The Oswego limestones are nearly 500 feet vertically above the 

 lead and zinc bearing limestones of Galena. This great distance is 

 principally occupied by shale, although in places sandstone is abun- 

 dant, and also the Weir City-Pittsburg coal beds are contained within 

 it. This is perhaps the heaviest bed of shale in the state, at least it is 

 nearly three times as thick as any other bed included in this section. 

 So far as known to the writers it has never been designated b\- any 

 distinct name. We therefore suggest that it be known under the 

 name Cherokee shales, and that the term be applied to all the shales 

 above the Galena limestone and below the Oswego limestone, unless 

 the Swallow limestone should prove to be more extensive in Cherokee 

 county than now seems probable. Should such be the case the term 

 should apply only to the shales below the Swallow limestones. 



The Cherokee shales have but few properties different from many 

 shales in other parts of this and other states. They vary considerably 

 in color, some of them being almost ashy white, while the other 

 e.xtreme is reached in those unusuUy rich in carbon, which of course 

 are of the usual black. They are generally poor in fossils, yet in 

 places fossil plants seem to be abundant. They contain man}- beds 

 or seams of coal, some of which are only a it^' inches in thickness, 

 while one of them is the thickest known in the state, the Weir City- 

 Pittsburg coal. The smaller beds have but little lateral extent, 

 and two or more of them often occur within a few feet of each 

 other vertically. The Weir City-Pittsburg vein extends many miles 

 southwest and northeast, but seems to have (juite a narrow transverse 

 limit. Along the Neosho river more than a dozen distinct beds of coal 

 were observed, some of which are thick enough to justify being 

 worked locally, but none of which admit of extensive operations. 

 The Cherokee shales are interbedded with sandstones in places to 

 such an extent that large deposits and persistent strata are met with. 

 The most extensive of these are the sandstones which outcrop along 

 Brush creek east of Columbus. The same strata extend many miles 

 to the east, northeast and southeast, forming bluffs along the Shawnee 

 creek valley, and a system of well defined hills farther south. Beneath 



