SOUTHERN PACIFIC LINES 43 
Liberty, founded in 1831, is in the wide valley of the Trinity River, 
one of the great rivers of Texas, which rises west of 
Liberty. Fort Worth and flows into Galveston Bay 20 miles 
epee fo below Liberty. This valley extends nearly to Dayton, 
opnilation 2,187. J ; Pe ah 
New Orleans 321 miles. Where there is a steep rise to the ordinary prairie 
level. The swamp occupying part of the valley shows 
some cypress and gum trees with Spanish moss. 
Three miles below Liberty on the Trinity River is the South Liberty 
salt dome and oil field. The salt here comes within 500 feet of the 
surface and has a thick capping of gypsum and anhydrite, topped by 
a thin body of limestone. Its area is more than 2 square miles, and 
the volume of salt is very great, for it has been penetrated 2,100 feet. 
The field, discovered in 1905, was not productive at first, but several 
holes finally obtained satisfactory supplies of oil. The production 
in 1930 was 1,503,000 barrels, and the total yield is estimated at 
12,651,800 barrels. Some of the deeper wells penetrated to the Oligo- 
cene(?) beds, which are believed to underlie the Coastal Plain at a 
depth of about 2,900 feet. 
Near Liberty was the ‘Champ d’Asile,”’ where 120 French colo- 
nists who had moved from an unsatisfactory settlement in Alabama 
established themselves on Spanish soil in 1818, They were soon 
ousted by the authorities anu retired to Galveston. (Turn to sheet 6.) 
From Dayton the railroad goes nearly due southwest to Houston. 
That the Coastal Plain is gradually rising in elevation is shown by the 
increasing depth of the trenches cut by rivers and 
Dayton. creeks. On the broad prairie uplands considerable 
perder oni dagaets pine timber remains, and there are numerous farms, 
~ eae mostly of small size. About 7 miles northwest of 
Dayton is the small North Dayton oil field, discovered 
in 1905 and yielding 406,000 barrels of petroleum in 1930 and 1,605,100 
barrels in all. The field occupies an area of about 300 acres and has 
salt at depths below 300 feet. The derricks of this field are visible 
north of Stilson siding. 
About 6 miles southwest of Dayton is the Esperton (or Sheeks) 
dome, discovered by a torsion-balance survey made late in 1928. This 
dome lies deep under the sands and clays of the Coastal Plain, and the 
oil was found at a depth of about 3,300 feet. Wells nearly 6,000 feet 
deep penetrated the Jackson (Eocene) beds. (Bowman.) test 
hole 7,836 feet deep did not reach salt. According to the Texas Gulf 
Oil Scouts Association, the production in 1930 was 846,486 barrels 
from 27 wells. 
