4l. 
42. 
43 
44. 
45. 
46. 
47. 
48. 
49. 
50. 
51. 
52: 
below the fossiliferous band in the Paleozoic. 
LARAMIE PLAINS RED BEDS AND THEIR AGE 
Feet. 
Brick-red sandstone, massive and thick bedded at base; changing 
to exceedingly cross-bedded structure above. This band weathers 
into the most peculiar wind-carved figures, which are so common 
along Sand Creek, where there are several hundred of them. The 
usual form is a dome, but there are columns, spires, arches, and 
figures altogether too numerous to refer to here. In reality this band 
weathers with a peculiar topography which can be easily traced - 51 
Whitish and red shaly sandstone, light bands alternating with the 
red - - - - - - - - - - - - 61 
Red shaly sandstone, capped with 2 feet of hard red sandstone 34 
Red sandstone, mottled with grayish-green blotches. The surface 
talus covered, and detailed measurements could not be made - I51 
There is an interval at this point in the section that has not been 
measured; but the thickness is of slight importance and will not 
amount to 50 feet. 
Red sandstone - - - - - - - - - - 15 
Greenish to gray soft sandstone - - - - - - - 20 
Grayish to reddish sandstone, containing the following genera of 
fossils: Allorisma, Pleurophorus, Bellerophon, Myallina, Aviculo- 
pecten, Dentalium(?), Pleurotomaria(?), several small gasteropods, 
and some remains of vertebrates” - - - - - - I to4 
Gypsum bed, excellent quality - - - - - - - 50 
Red clay and gypsum strata alternating, and one of the clay bands 
containing innumerable aragonites (pseudomorphs after hanksite) 20 
Red sandstone and shale - - - - - - - - 100 
Gray wavy-bedded quartzite - - - - - - - 3to5 
Red sandstone and shales. Light red and shaly at base; heavy 
bedded and dark maroon-colored near the top, with no change in 
general coloration - - = - - - - - - - 675 
Total - = - - - - - > = - 1,578 
419 
Inches. 
Oo 
2 
Measurements from 45 to 52, inclusive, are subject to 
revision. 
The genera referred to in No. 47 are so characteristic that it 
is not necessary to discuss their geological position; they belong 
to the Paleozoic, and resemble to a marked degree the fossils of 
the Kansas and Nebraska Permian. This places all of the strata 
There remains a 
formation of about eight hundred feet in thickness, with the 
gypsum beds at its base in a questionable position, and some 
may wish to retain these beds in the Triassic. 
All of the pioneer geologists who studied the Laramie Plains 
