40 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 



The saudstones disappear entirely about ten to fifteen miles west of 

 Plattsmouth. 



In both the sandstones and limestones extensive quarries have been 

 opened ; the sandstone is used for all ordinary purposes, while the lime- 

 stones are made into the walls of buildings and for ornamental purposes. 

 Some fine dwelling-houses have been made of these limestones. 



The quarries of sandstones have been wrought to considerable extent, 

 and the stone is used for cellar-walls, wells, and some other purposes 

 where nice work is not required. 



The Cretaceous rocks of Cass County are composed of the same beds 

 of clays, sands, and sandstones before observed in formations of the 

 same age in the valley of the Little Blue Eiver. 



About twenty-five miles west of Plattsmouth a bed of fine argillaceous 

 grit is exposed, which was regarded by the settlers as gypsum. It may 

 become of some economical value at- some future time as fine clay for 

 mingling with other earths in the manufacture of bricks. On the 

 Weeping Water, an important stream near the central portion of Cass 

 County, are some very heavy beds of limestones, which are of great 

 economical value for building purposes. 



The limestone is readily burned into lime, and numerous dwelling- 

 houses, mills, &c., are constructed of this rock. 



These alternate beds of limestones, sands, and clays give to the sur- 

 face of the country bordering on the Weeping Water an unusually 

 rugged character. The bottoms of the little streams are narrow, the 

 soil is good, water excellent, and the valley is well settled and prosperous. 



!Near the mouth of Stone Creek, section 12, range 10, township 10, in- 

 dications of coal were observed, and Mr. E. L. Eeed, residing at Weep- 

 ing Water, sunk a shaft through the following beds: 



9. Sandstones, which form the bed of the creek, 10 feet. 



8. Slate and clay, 3 feet. 



7. Coal, 9 inches. 



6. Whitish fine clay, 3 feet. 



5. Crystalline quartz, 3 inches. 

 . 4. Bluish clay, 4 feet. 



3. Whitish fine clay, 6 feet. 



2. Eed clay, 3 feet. 



1. Soft, wliite limestone, (f). 



The coal above, although so thin a seam as to render it unprofitable 

 for working, is of good quality, and is useful to the blacksmiths in the 

 vicinity. 



We must, therefore, conclude that neither in Lancaster nor Cass 

 Counties will there ever be found any thick beds of coal, but in the 

 valleys of all the streams, and in numerous other localities, there are 

 low, boggy places which seem to promise peat, especially on the broad, 

 low bottoms of the Platte. 



I am continually more and more impressed with the importance of this 

 material as an article of fuel for the people of Nebraska, and I am con- 

 fident that before many years it will become an object of earnest pur- 

 suit and of great profit. 



The red sandstone of the Dakota group contains a considerable quan- 

 tity of iron ore, but the absence of fuel renders it unavailable, so that, 

 exclusive of the common building-materials, these counties may be said 

 to have no mineral resources. Their wealth lies in their inexhaustible 

 soil, which is this year producing most luxuriant crops. 



Wheat yields 30 to 35 bushels per acre; oats 40 to 50, and corn 60 to 

 75 bushels per acre ; and in this respect it is easy to predict for Nebraska 

 a remarkable destmv in the future. 



