Review of Science and Industry, 
A MONTHLY RECORD OF PROGRESS IN 
SCIENCE, MECHANIC ARTS AND LITERATURE. 
VOL. VIL DECEMBER, 1883. NO. 8. 
GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. 
THE TRIASSIC BEDS OF TEXAS. 
CHARLES H. STERNBERG. 
The Red River and Big Wichita receive their characteristic color from the 
extensive red clay beds along their valleys. These deposits have been called 
Triassic by most geologists. Professor Cope claims they are Permian, and that 
the vertebrate fossils are similar to those found in the Permian shales of Illinois. 
They have been but little studied and offer a rich field for the stratigrapher and 
palaeontologist. For miles along the Big Wichita are thousands of acres of the 
rich colored strata exposed. So persistent is the red color that all the surface 
waters are colored. On examination the water will be found to hold red clay in 
solution and though on still days the clay is partially settled, the least wind will 
make the water almost as thick as cream. As there is no other water but that 
which is impregnated with salts of magnesia we were obliged to drink it, I found 
that boiling would settle it, as would also the bruised leaves of the prickly pear. 
Some of the scenery along the Big Wichita is very beautiful. The miniature 
Bad Lands are made up of pinnacles, ridges, cones, hills, etc., composed of red 
and green clays interspersed with layers of grey sandstone, some of which has 
such a fine grit that it can be used for sharpening razors or other fine instruments. 
I spent several months among these beds in search of fossil vertebrates for Har- 
vard University, in the winter of 1881. The Triassic beds are covered with yel- 
lowish sands and clays of quite recent age, containing the remains of the elephant, 
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