8 AN ANCIENT QUARRY IN INDIAN TERRITORY. j kthnoYoga^ 



geologist engaged in the investigation of zinc deposits. This letter 

 related to the occurrence of an ancient flint quarry, and was accom- 

 panied by a small box of specimens which made it apparent at a glance 

 that an important archeologic find had been made. 



Mr. Jenney, while studying the zinc and lead mines of southwestern 

 Missouri, had his attention called to a site located on Peoria lands in 

 Indian Territory, and known locally as the "old Spanish mines." A 

 visit by him developed the true nature of the ancient operations, and 

 demonstrated at the same time the futility of the search for precious 

 metals at the site. I at once resolved to visit the locality, and late in 

 October had the pleasure of beginning the study of one of the most 

 interesting examples of our great aboriginal quarries. 



This quarry is situated on the Peoria reservation, about seven miles 

 northwest of Seneca, Missouri, and some ten miles southeast of Baxter 

 Springs, Kansas. From Seneca the spot is reached by driving north- 

 ward along the Missouri border, for five miles, and then crossing the line 

 and proceeding two miles in a westerly course through the forest. The 

 country is a gently rolling plateau, with a gradual descent westward 

 into the valley of Spring river, a branch of the Neosho, or Grand river, 

 which falls into the Arkansas at Fort Gibson, Indian Territory. 



The forest which covers the region about the quarrj^ is open, and con- 

 sists of a medium-sized growth of several varieties of oak, hickory, and 

 other deciduous trees. Geologically the country seems rather feature- 

 less, save for the presence of flinty masses of chert that cover much of 

 the surface and weather out in numberless rough fragments along the 

 low ledges and terrace faces. Outcrops of this rock may be seen along 

 the stream courses, but its gnarled and very forbidding appearance 

 gives no encouragement to the advances of searchers for workable 

 stone. It is only where fresh fractures are met that its true nature is 

 discovered. Scattered over a wide range of country are seen evidences 

 of ancient operations, and the refuse of flaking is quite common, showing 

 that the aborigines thoroughly explored the country before settling down 

 to the one choice site in the trackless forests of Spring river valley. 



At an early date the whites learned of these ancient diggings, and 

 work was undertaken by various parties and at wide intervals of time, 

 with the view of discovering the precious metals su^jposed to have 

 been sought by the Spanish or other peoples in early times. Several 

 shafts were sunk in and about the old pits, some to the depth of fifty or 

 sixty feet. As a matter of course, nothing of value was found. It is 

 reported that some of the later explorers discovered iron tools of a 

 primitive type in the ancient jiits, but it is believed that these were left 

 by our own pioneer miners, and that there is no evidence either that 

 the Spanish were ever here or that the aborigines possessed metal tools. 

 The ancient quarry is situated mainly on the southern end of a low, 

 rounded ridge, which rises perhaps forty or fifty feet above the dry 

 branch bordering it on the west and falls off gently to the shallow water- 



