MURPHREE'S VALLEY; ECONOMIC GEOLOGY. 49 



light brown, and no fossils or lime crystals were seen in this 

 opening. 



The strata at this place dip 15 N. W. and 18 S. W.. 

 showing a downward flexure across the axis of the mountain. 

 This doubtless invited the streams which form the Oalvert 

 Fork of the Little Warrior to unite here, as they do, and cut 

 through the Red Mountain. 



On the S. W. side of this stream, and in the same section 

 (16), but near its southern side, two openings had been 

 made on beds 2 and 3. They showed a little improvement 

 in the quality of the ore, -but. no gain in thickness. These 

 beds are not roofed with rock here, and the ore which was 

 reached was much decomposed. This section is evidently 

 not favorable for mining, so far at least as yet tested. No. 1 

 was at this place entirely washed away. The existence ol 

 bed No. 2, which had not been seen for several miles, indi- 

 cated improvement in a S. W. direction, though as yet it 

 carried but 10 inches of ore. No. 3 was still only 18 inches 

 thick, but was evidently improving in quality. 



The Red Mountain occupies m'ost of the N. W. of S. 21, 

 the S. E. face is rough. The Trenton limestone is again 

 seen half way up the mountain. Outcrops of iron were seen, 

 but no test holes had been dug in this section, and owing to 

 slides on the face of the mountain, the outcrop, or indications 

 rather, of iron could not be relied on to identify the beds. 

 Near the line of sections 20 and 21, same Tp., several test 

 holes had been sunk. No. 3 was cut near the top of the 

 mountain ore limy, hard, crystalling dark gray in the 

 bottom or lower bench, and soft red colored ore, partly con- 

 cretionary and partly lenticular, in the upper bench. The 

 whole thickness of the bed, four feet, with a rock parting in 

 the middle of three inches thick, and two clay partings in 

 the soft ore total thickness of ore three feet. A total 

 change in this bed, in the last half mile. It has more than 

 doubled in thicknes, and totally changed in character of ore ; 

 yet there is no question of its identity. Bed No. 1 had been 

 opened near the same place, on the very top of the moun- 

 tain. It showed 30 inches of concretionary ore. not so good 



