Of 



Issued December 26, 1912. 



United States Department of Agriculture, 



BUREAU OF SOILS CIRCULAR No. 73. 

 MILTON WHITNEY, Chief of Bureau. 



U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 



Washington, D. C., October 3, 1912. 



SIR : I have the honor to transmit herewith the manuscript of a report covering 

 investigations of certain nitrate prospects in the Amargosa Valley, California, 

 by E. E. Free, of this bureau, and to recommend that this article be published as 

 Circular No. 73 of the Bureau of Soils. 



Respectfully, MILTON WHITNEY, 



Chief of Bureau. 



Hon. JAMES WILSON, 



Secretary of Agriculture. 



NITRATE PROSPECTS IN THE AMARGOSA VALLEY, NEAR 



TECOPA, CAL. 



By E. E. FREE. 

 INTRODUCTION. 



The data outlined in this memorandum were obtained on a very 

 brief reconnoissance in March, 1912. The time available for the 

 study was so short that it was impossible to work out the geology of 

 the region with any exactness or completeness. The views stated 

 below are therefore quite tentative and subject to correction. 



The localities examined lie along the line of the Tonopah & Tide- 

 water Railway in California, near the Inyo-San Bernardino County 

 line. The first locality is at the raihvay station of Morrisons Siding, 

 the second at the station of Sperry. The nearest supply point is 

 Tecopa, Cal. 



The work was carried out in the company of Mr. W. G. Luckhardt, 

 then chief engineer of the Tonopah & Tidewater Railway. Acknowl- 

 edgments are due Mr. Luckhardt and his company for many courtesies 

 and much invaluable assistance. 

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