LOUISIANA. 



so essential to the rapid and economical 

 liai\ eoUiiji ot them. Oar regular rums are 

 frum Luc doutuucdt; yet lu suiximer liny 

 so_ucliuieci cijiiie iruiu me uuiluwesc, aud 

 wiitu LiiLy uo, liiey are usaaiiy accoiu- 

 pau.cU I,.) lnuuder and ligutnins'. 



The climate ui' the enure si.,ae, from 

 Oclouer im i\iay, is an iUeai one, at- 

 tracii.\e aiiJie lo ine iuvcilid and luarisc, 

 ana tuousanas ol visiiors Iroiii Lue noi lu 

 are yeany acuviug tuis sCaie m queat ot' 

 heaun or eiijojuieac. The hoteis oi Aew 

 Oneaua luni.ou aiiraclive hoix^es lor tne 

 opuJiiiL and iasnionable, wnue lueii of 

 moderate means can nnd cheap and ex- 

 celieiiL nomes m the smaller no.-sLelries 

 and pruaLC uoardiiig-hoi.ses of tnis ciiy, 

 in tne lowus and v.Uages scattered over 

 tnis siaie and along ine guil coast of 

 ilississ.ijpi. 



UKULOGICAL FEATURES. 



An erroneous impression generally pre- 

 vails LnaL i^o.iisiana is wnouy aiiuiiaj — a 

 low-lyuxg suainp which has to be diuin- 

 ed, iiitened and le\ eied to make inuabic- 

 able. An examination of the figures gneu 

 above refutes iu unmistaUable terms tuis 

 t'rrur. Jsot only the larger area of tne 

 state is upland and above any possible 

 Hood, but a sught majority of tne (supuia- 

 liou of the state, outside of the ciiy of 

 New Orleans, reside on these itplaiids. To 

 this portion of the state belongs nearly 

 seven-tenths of her rural white popula- 

 tion. 



GEOLOGICALLY 

 ipeakii'g, Louisiana is a very young state, 

 it had no existence at the end of ihe 

 paleozoic age. Only a few closing vhnp- 

 .ers of the world's history are here re- 

 .•orded, and these have been written by 

 .vater, which is now, as ever, Ihe great 

 factor in landmaking in this state. 



CRETACEOUS. 

 A small portion of cretaceous strata, 

 !onsit>ting of hard limestones, gypsum, 

 salt, sulpluir and marls, have bedi laid 

 iown at the close of the mesozoic age of 

 )ur eartli at the bottom of a deep hut 

 ;radually ♦'..illowing sea, extending fr( m 

 Arkansas into norlliwesteni Louisiana, 

 ind on in a southeasterly direction 

 :hrongh the state to Avery's island (salt 

 jvorks). which rises out of tlie salt 

 uarshes of the gulf of Mexico. This geo- 

 ogical period is found now only in iso- 

 ated spots, ancient peaks of this vidLie, 

 former cretaceous islands in a tertiary 

 sea. Onteroiip' of tli'« Iieriod are found in 

 Bienville, Winn, Rapides, St. Landry and 

 Dther parishes, but no prominent topo- 

 graphical features are given to tlie co ii- 

 try iby its presence. It forms the back- 

 D<jne of this state, and upon it and 

 against it are deposited the debris of 

 subsequent ages. In many instances it is 

 revealed only by the wel-diggers' spade, 

 bringing up fragments of crystaLuie 

 limestone and gypsum. These strata are 

 nearly alwavs accompanied 1)y sdlt, and 

 tlie old salt "works of Webster, Bienvil'.e, 

 Wiiiii and Rapides parishes are along this 

 ancient ridge. In Winn and St. Landry 

 parishes occur marble quarries, la'ge 

 bluffs of hard horizontally iranded crys- 

 lalline. cretaceous limestone, -nearly 

 GO feet in height. ■Sucii cretaceous out- 

 crops are the oldest lands in I.KMiisiana, 

 and have perhaps remained ever since 

 as dry land, unaltered by subsecpient 

 geological changes. Frequently the over- 

 lying tertiary and (piaternary deposits 

 have been removed by the force of water, 



exposing areas of 40 to 00 acres in ex- 

 teat, usually along the courses of me 

 smaller streams. These exposures aie 

 bare of vegecation and covered with an 

 eiiioresceuce of salt, torming the Ucks of 

 this country. In these expusuies shai.ow 

 weus were sunk, and troin tneir saiu- 

 raiod brine, standing ueany or quae up 

 to the (surface, large quantities of salt 

 \\ere manufactured during ihe late war. 

 Drake's. Rayborn s, King't*, i'riee's and 

 other salt works exiensive.y operaied 

 during tne war were located on these 

 outcrops. Since the war, on Petit Anse 

 (Avery .-5) isiand, iu the extieme southern 

 portion of the state, siiualed on this 

 bame ridge, has been, found enormous de- 

 positis 01 nearly pure sait. These mines 

 have been for years extensively worthed, 

 and the preseuc output gives no sign of 

 e.\naust!un. 



It is inferred from borings and ex- 

 posures tliat this cretaceous ridge is a 

 narrow one, with occasional high pro- 

 montories. Its sides are steep, and iu 

 many instances, aimost perpendicular. 

 ^Vells of cousiderabie depili liave been 

 dug in close proximity to this ridge wiih- 

 out striking this foundation. An artesian 

 well at snreveport, liUO feet deep, has 

 furnished a water strongly impregnated 

 with salt, and it is thought that this 

 water is furnished by the upper creta- 

 ceous sands. Again, at Suluhur City, 

 twelve mues west of Lake Charles, iu 

 Calcasieu parish, the sulphur mines oc- 

 cur, at (circa), ouO feet beiow the surface, 

 aiioiher revelation of this formation. These 

 borings prove a west, or southwest, dip 

 of tins foundation. 



iu the history of our earth the creta- 

 ceous deposits represent the close of tlie 

 middle, or mesozoic, age. The limestones, 

 marls and sauds of this period contain 

 the hrst record of modern life on our 

 globe, mingled side by side with the 

 forms of past ages, now fast disappear- 

 ing. Tliese cretaceous deposits are found 

 all along the Atlantic coast from New 

 Jersey, through Delaware, aiaryland, Vir- 

 ginia, North and South Carolina and 

 Georgia. In these states their course is 

 nearly parallel with the Atlantic coast, 

 but on reaching Alabama they change 

 direction to the west, and spread out 

 into a wide belt, forming the famous 

 lirairies and cane brakes of this state. 

 lOntt ring Mississippi, they assume a north- 

 erly direction, and give lo that state her 

 famous lime processes. From Mississippi 

 they imade Tennessee, as far north as 

 the mouth of the Ohio river. Beirinniug 

 again in the trans-Mississippi region, in 

 laiuisiana, they pass ihrou.gh Arkansas 

 and Texas, and tending northward, oc- 

 cupy almost the entire plains and prairies 

 along the I'acific. 



This formation serves in Louisiana as 

 the axis, against which subsequent geolo- 

 gical deposits were made, and, agri- 

 culturally, is of no value, owing to small 

 a teas exposed. Rut on this formation 

 have been found the extensive salt and 

 sulphur deposits of the st;ite, and on ac- 

 ccmut of the future relation of these 

 articles to the wealth of this country. It 

 is of great economical importance. 



I'rof. Ililvard, on reporting to the New 

 Orleans Academy of Science the results 

 of his reconnoisauce, has this to say rela- 

 tive to the salt mines of Avery's Island, 

 and rl*e sulphur beds of Calcasieu: 



i'ln view of tlie grand scale upon which 

 the conversion of ocean into land occur- 

 red towards the close of the cretaceous 

 period, .as exemplified by the magnitude 



