﻿Gould 
  — 
  Phases 
  of 
  the 
  Dakota 
  Cretaceous 
  in 
  Nebraska. 
  429 
  

  

  Art. 
  XLIY. 
  — 
  Some 
  Phases 
  of 
  the 
  Dakota 
  Cretaceous 
  in 
  

   Nebraska; 
  by 
  Charles 
  Newton 
  Gould. 
  

  

  [A 
  paper 
  read 
  before 
  the 
  Nebraska 
  Academy 
  of 
  Science, 
  Dec. 
  1, 
  1899.] 
  

  

  Nebraska 
  is 
  the 
  home 
  of 
  the 
  Dakota 
  Sandstone. 
  It 
  was 
  

   along 
  the 
  bluffs 
  of 
  the 
  Missouri 
  River 
  opposite 
  Sioux 
  City 
  that 
  

   Meek 
  and 
  Hayden 
  tirst 
  noticed 
  the 
  ledges 
  of 
  dark 
  brown 
  and 
  

   red 
  sandstone 
  which 
  formed 
  the 
  No. 
  1 
  of 
  their 
  now 
  classic 
  

   Cretaceous 
  section 
  of 
  the 
  Missouri 
  River. 
  This 
  was 
  as 
  early 
  as 
  

   1853. 
  The 
  name 
  Dakota 
  is 
  not 
  from 
  the 
  State, 
  but 
  from 
  the 
  

   town 
  of 
  Dakota, 
  the 
  county 
  seat 
  of 
  Dakota 
  County, 
  the 
  north- 
  

   eastern 
  county 
  in 
  the 
  State. 
  The 
  first 
  fossil 
  leaves 
  collected 
  

   by 
  Meek 
  and 
  Hayden 
  were 
  from 
  Nebraska. 
  These 
  were 
  

   dicotyledons, 
  the 
  first 
  of 
  the 
  magnificent 
  series, 
  comprising 
  

   perhaps 
  the 
  most 
  luxuriant 
  fossil 
  flora 
  in 
  the 
  world. 
  It 
  was 
  to 
  

   Nebraska 
  that 
  the 
  noted 
  French 
  geologists 
  Capellini 
  and 
  

   Marcou 
  came 
  in 
  1868 
  when 
  they 
  made 
  their 
  celebrated 
  collec- 
  

   tion 
  at 
  Tekamah 
  and 
  Black 
  Bird 
  Hill. 
  This 
  collection, 
  figured 
  

   and 
  described 
  by 
  Oswald 
  Heer, 
  the 
  noted 
  Swiss 
  paleobotanist, 
  

   forms 
  the 
  basis 
  of 
  all 
  later 
  Dakota 
  paleobotanic 
  literature. 
  It 
  

   was 
  to 
  Nebraska 
  that 
  Leo 
  Lesquereux, 
  " 
  the 
  Nestor 
  of 
  Ameri- 
  

   can 
  paleobotanists," 
  came 
  when 
  he 
  first 
  studied 
  the 
  Dakota 
  in 
  

   the 
  field. 
  The 
  type 
  sections 
  and 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  type 
  species 
  of 
  

   fossil 
  leaves 
  from 
  the 
  Dakota 
  sandstone 
  are 
  Nebraska's. 
  

  

  Nevertheless, 
  judged 
  from 
  the 
  standpoint 
  of 
  exposures 
  alone 
  

   the 
  Dakota 
  in 
  Nebraska 
  is 
  comparatively 
  insignificant. 
  The 
  

   heavy 
  mantle 
  of 
  Glacial 
  drift 
  and 
  loess 
  which 
  covers 
  the 
  eastern 
  

   third 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  in 
  most 
  places 
  completely 
  conceals 
  the 
  sub- 
  

   jacent 
  formations, 
  including 
  the 
  Dakota. 
  It 
  is 
  only 
  in 
  compara- 
  

   tively 
  small 
  areas 
  where 
  erosion 
  has 
  removed 
  the 
  post-Cretace- 
  

   ous 
  deposits 
  that 
  the 
  Dakota 
  may 
  be 
  seen. 
  Probably 
  the 
  entire 
  

   area 
  of 
  visible 
  Dakota 
  would 
  not 
  cover 
  a 
  single 
  county 
  the 
  size 
  

   of 
  Lancaster, 
  while 
  the 
  country 
  underlaid 
  by 
  this 
  group 
  com- 
  

   prises 
  more 
  than 
  a 
  dozen 
  counties 
  in 
  the 
  east-central 
  part 
  of 
  

   the 
  State. 
  

  

  The 
  largest 
  single 
  area 
  is 
  south 
  of 
  the 
  Little 
  Blue 
  River, 
  

   near 
  Endicott 
  and 
  Fairbury 
  in 
  Jefferson 
  County, 
  just 
  beyond 
  

   the 
  line 
  of 
  Glacial 
  drift. 
  The 
  second 
  largest 
  is 
  probably 
  Iron 
  

   Mountain, 
  a 
  few 
  miles 
  southeast 
  of 
  Beatrice. 
  With 
  a 
  few 
  

   minor 
  exceptions 
  the 
  remaining 
  outcrops 
  are 
  isolated 
  points 
  

   along 
  the 
  bluffs 
  of 
  Salt 
  Creek, 
  the 
  Platte 
  River 
  below 
  Fre- 
  

   mont, 
  and 
  the 
  Missouri 
  River 
  from 
  Omaha 
  to 
  Ponca. 
  The 
  

   eastern 
  limit 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  known 
  is 
  near 
  the 
  towns 
  of 
  Odell, 
  

   Holmesville, 
  Bennett 
  and 
  Plattsmouth, 
  and 
  the 
  western 
  limit 
  

   near 
  Fairbury, 
  Milford, 
  Seward, 
  Fremont 
  and 
  Ponca. 
  The 
  

  

  Am. 
  Jour. 
  Sci. 
  — 
  Fourth 
  Series, 
  Vol. 
  IX, 
  No. 
  54.— 
  June, 
  1900. 
  

   30 
  

  

  