VERMILION COUNTY. 263 



estimate of the quantity can be made; but, judging by the eye, there must be 

 nearly or quite as much ore here as at the locality on Brouillet's creek, in Ed- 

 gar county, which for years furnished an abundant supply of ore for the Indi- 

 ana furnace, without any signs of piving out. On the Big Vermilion and its 

 branches, just below the State line, I found a pretty constant band of a calca- 

 reous carbonate of iron, varying from one and a half to three feet in thickness, 

 which may, at some points near Browntown, outcrop within the limits of the 

 county. Upon the whole, there appears to be enough ore to warrant the erec- 

 tion of an iron furnace somewhere in this region, \vhenevera railroad shall fur- 

 nish the requisite transportation. 



Zinc Lh-ntle has been found in small quantities in some of the ironstone nod- 

 ules of the Little Vermilion, and small quantities of this mineral, disseminated 

 in small grains through an ironstone jut-t below coal No. 6, at the Horse Shoe 

 of the Little Vermilion, has caused considerable excitement over the supposed 

 discovery of " silver." The quantity is nowhere of any importance in this 

 region. 



Gold is met with in small quantities in certain thin gravel beds which ac- 

 company the boulder clay, but not in sufficient amount to be anything mere 

 than a periodical source of excitement to the ignorant. 



Several large masses of Native Copper have been picked up in the Drift beds 

 of this county. It is needless to say that they do not indicate any valuable 

 deposit of this metal at any point nearer than the mines of Lake Superior, 

 whence they have drifted. Here, as elsewhere, " the Indians" are credited 

 with the knowledge of valuable lead mines in this region. 



Salt. Springs feebly impregnated with salt are known at several points in 

 this region. The most notable is near the junction of Middle and Salt Forks, 

 in section 16, township 19 north, range 12 west, where, during the early set- 

 tlement of the country, a well was bored to a considerable depth, and salt made 

 in large quantities. The following account of the work done here was taken 

 from the lips of Harvey Luddington, E?q., of Danville, who was engaged in 

 the work for some years : 



The well was begun in 1819, by a small company, of which Messrs. Black- 

 mail, Treat and Beckwith, are remembered as the principal members, and deep- 

 ened at intervals. The following is given as an approximate section of the 

 materials passed through : 



FEET. 



1. Alluvium 19 



2. CoalJ\ T o. 7 2 to 2^ 



3. Blue fire clay .-. 3 " 4 



4. Shale.. 90 " 100 



