INTRODUCTION. 



Hon. JOHN M. WIMER, 



President of the Pacific Railroad Company. 



Sir : In conformity to a law requiring me to make geolog- 

 ical surveys along the lines of all the Railroads aided by the 

 State, the country along the South- Western Branch of the 

 Pacific Railroad, in which the lands of your company are lo- 

 cated, have been examined with sufficient care to enable me to 

 speak with certainty as to the general character of the country, 

 the climate, soils, minerals, timber, and water power. In this 

 survey we have extended our examinations over the counties of 

 St. Louis, Jefferson, Franklin, Gasconade, Crawford, Phelps, 

 Maries, Pulaski, La Cledc, Webster, Green, Lawrence, Newton, 

 and a part of Jasper, McDonald, Polk, Stone, Barry, Taney, 

 Dallas, Washington and Wright in all, an area of some 

 13,000 square miles. 



In the time, and with the means allotted us for this work, it 

 could not be expected that we would be able to speak with cer- 

 tainty of each section or even township in so wide an area ; but 

 by availing myself of the examinations previously made in por- 

 tions of this region, and by so arranging the operations of the 

 geological corps as to render the labors of each directly or in- 

 directly available in this report, without materially retarding 

 the progress of the State survey, we have been enabled to 

 collect data sufficient to give a very correct view of the topo- 

 graphical, geological, mineral and agricultural features of the 

 country under consideration. 



I am indebted to Dr. Shumard for reports upon St. Louis, 

 Jefferson, Franklin, Crawford, La Clede and Pulaski counties ; 

 to Dr. Litton for many valuable analyses of soils and minerals, 

 and reports on numerous mines ; to Mr. Price for the sketches 

 of Granby and the Bluffs of the Niangua, for much valuable 

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