20 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
There is a vast quantity of limestone in this region, part of it in 
beds too thin to be useful, but some of it in thick deposits and con- 
sisting of nearly pure calcium carbonate. This rock is utilized at 
Iola, Independence, and other places in Kansas and elsewhere for 
the manufacture of Portland cement. 
On leaving Holliday, the train ascends the valley of Mill Creek to 
its head at Olathe, a distance of 124 miles and a rise of about 260 
feet. This valley is excavated in the beds that constitute the bluffs 
at Kansas City and Argentine. Several beds of shale are exposed, 
and many ledges of limestone extend along the valley sides. 
Olathe (o-lay’the, th as in thin; Shawnee for beautiful) is on the 
summit of the plateau which is traversed by the railway for many 
; miles toward the southwest. This plateau is mostly 
Olathe. covered by shale. At long intervals the railway 
tron ts ie descends into shallow valleys, most of them exposing 
Kansas City 26 miles, ledges of underlying limestones. 
At Olathe the railway crosses the line of the Santa 
Fe Trail, which is described in the footnote on pages 17-18. 
The trail lies a short distance north of the railway from Olathe 
through Gardner and Edgerton, but near Edgerton it diverges toward 
the west, going through Baldwin, which was formerly 
Gardner. the well-known Palmyra stage station. A short dis- 
pevation 1,065 feet. tance west of Wellsville the railway track crosses a 
‘ansas City 34 miles, thin ledge of limestone and enters a broad area, of 
shale. At Ottawa Junction (North Ottawa) the main 
Edgerton. line is crossed by a branch of the Santa Fe system 
aiden tain which extends from Lawrence southwar1 to Tulsa, 
Kansas City 40 miles. Okla. A mile south of the junction is t. e town of 
aaa Ottawa, which has a population of 7,650 and is the 
— county seat of Franklin County. Ottawa is a locally 
candi cn steed ‘eet. important center and has several manufactories, most 
Kansas City 46 miles. Of them operated by water power from Osage River, 
which passes through the town. In borings at this 
eee place natural gas is obtained from sandstone at 
Kansas City 57 miles, CePths of 435, 665, 803, and 1,060 feet. Some years 
ago the skeleton of a mammoth was dug up on Main 
‘Cement is made by burning a mixture facture, but at present there would be 
of ground limestone and shale and grind- difficulty in competing with the southern 
ing the resulting clinker to a very fine | Kansas product owing to the advantage 
powder. In some places clay or loam is | afforded by a natural-gas fuel supply to 
used instead of shale. Some limestones | the plants located farther south. More- 
a pea! : aan — oh the cement market appears to be 
clay element ior the manu ure 0 i ‘ j - 
hydraulic cements, but the term Portland PSs ee te gage ie 
is generally applied only to cements pro- | The shale in the region from Kansas City 
duced by burning an artificial mi ture, | w d could be utilized more exten- 
as described. Many of the thick beds of sively for tile, brick, and other similar 
limestone exposed from Kansas City west- | products if fuel were cheaper or if the 
ward could be utilized for cement manu- | local demand were sufficient. 
Ottawa Junction. 
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