Creek, Cherokee and Osage Nations. 189 



of particular geological interest. The dip of the sandstone 

 ledges to the west is distinctly noticeable, and no fewer than 

 five "stair steps" may be noticed from this point. Coal is 

 found in several places in the vicinity. From what I was able 

 to learn it occurs in at least two beds. On Coal creek, five 

 miles east of the mound, a vein three feet thick is reported. 

 Oil is also said to be present, although this can scarcely be 

 authenticated as yet. 



The most eastern point reached on the trip, and the lowest 

 geologically, was the Dawson coal field in the west-southwest 

 corner of the Cherokee nation. In the vicinity of Dawson the 

 country is gently rolling. The coal is obtained by stripping. 

 At present it is taken from a depth of from ten to fifteen feet. 

 The rock dips quite strongly to the southwest. The following 

 section shows the location of the vein : 



Dawson Coal Field Section. 

 No. _ Feet. 

 4. Evenly laminated light brown shales with 

 regular cleavage lines and some concre- 

 tions 10 



3. Coal.j .__ 2£ 



2. Shales like No. 4, grading upward from No. 1 8 

 1. Massive gray or yellowish sandstone, be- 

 coming shaly above and grading into 

 No. 2 __ 15 



Total 35£ 



Other exposures of the same vein are found for several miles 

 both north and south of Dawson. Outcrops are reported from 

 numerous points along Bird creek all the way to Skiatook, a 

 distance of more than twenty miles. This promises to become 

 one of the most productive coal fields in the territory. 



From Dawson to Pawhuska, a distance of 45 miles, the road 

 lay up the valley of Bird creek. The hills are often steep and 

 rugged and the bluffs are capped by ledges of massive or cross- 

 bedded sandstone. Although no opportunity afforded to secure 

 complete sections of the rocks of the region, the following (p. 

 190) is believed to present a fairly accurate provisional section 

 from Skiatook to the top of the hill west of Pawhuska, or, in 

 other words, from the upper coal beds to the base of the Flint 

 hills. The dip of the rock continues to be to the west and 

 southwest. 



The three most noticeable features of the section are : 

 1st. The great predominance of sandstones and sandy shales. 

 Of the entire section less than fifty feet consist of limestone. 

 The three ledges of limestone are located near the center of 

 the section and are well exposed on the blufis below Lewis 



