124 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 



hardly capable of grinding 30 to 40 bushels per day ; quite insufficient even 

 for the accommodation of the immediate neighbors. The efficiency of 

 this natural dam, running, as it does, from bank to bank, with just the 

 proper inclination and a slightly diagonal direction, across the entire water- 

 course ; the solidity of its natural masonry, destined to endure for ages ; its 

 situation in the midst of a valley, which though contracted in its dimensions 

 by the mountain fastnesses that bound it on both sides, is, nevertheless fertile 

 and capable of supporting a moderate population : all combine to make 

 this natural mill-site an object of great interest, and its many advantages 

 would justify the erection of a substantial building, fitted up with all the 

 modern improvements in the machinery of a well-regulated business grist- 

 mill ; this would attract customers, not alone from the valleys of the differ- 

 ent branches of Lee's creek, but also from the neighboring mountains, 

 and more distant settlements, and contribute, perhaps, more than any im- 

 provement that could be introduced into the country, to attract fresh popu- 

 lation, and render the condition of its present inhabitants independent, 

 comfortable, and agreeable. Notwithstanding the continual wear to which 

 this member of the millstone grit series — more durable than its associate 

 beds — is continually subject, not alone from the mechanical force exerted 

 by the running waters of Lee's creek, but from the almost irresistible 

 - power of expansion, caused by the alternate thawing and freezing of the 

 water, continually permeating its mass ; it stands yet, a monument of ages, 

 bearing testimony to the strength and insolubility of the siliceous cement 

 that binds the particles together, and the stability of the individual grains 

 of which its substance is composed; and it affords, at the same time, a 

 striking example how enduring architectural edifices maybe made, if con- 

 structed of such freestone, judiciously selected, well built, and strongly 

 jointed with good mortar. 



The ridge, passed over about two miles from the Natural Dam, is about 

 390 feet above Lee's creek, and is composed, so far as can be seen, of sand- 

 stones and shales of the age of the millstone grit; with, perhaps, a cap- 

 ping of some of the lower members of the overlying coal measures. 



It is nearly of the same materials that; compose the high range of hills 

 above the town of Van Buren, which has a commanding view over the 

 valley of the Arkansas. From these heights, in a clear day, Fort Smith 

 can be seen, while the bluff opposite to it and the glistening water-line, 

 marking the bend of the Arkansas river, where it emerges from Indian 

 territory and sweeps past Fort Smith, can be distinctly seen at all times ; 

 also the distant range of hills, running from the Choctaw country towards 

 Sebastian county, including the House and Sugar Loaf mountains; with 

 the small prairie in the middle ground, which is said to be underlaid by 



