68 GULF TERTIARY OF TEXAS. 



its full development and continuity as seen to the north of it. The ore is 

 thin, and the hills are scattered, small, and form isolated points, which though 

 low in absolute elevation look high and imposing in comparison with the sur- 

 rounding flat or gently undulating country. Such eminences are Collins Moun- 

 tain, Taylor Mountain, Carter Mountain, and many others, varying from one 

 hundred to one hundred and fifty feet above the surrounding drainage level, 

 and some five to six hundred feet above the Gulf of Mexico. In this region, 

 eight miles northwest of Alto, was situated the old Filleo furnace. It was 

 worked during the Civil War, but abandoned immediately after that time, 

 and it was from the immediately surrounding region that it drew its supply 

 of ore. Five miles southeast of New Birmingham we ascend the southern 

 extremity of the main iron range of central Cherokee County, which extends 

 thence in an unbroken table-land, running off to the northwest for over twelve 

 miles, and varying from one-half to three miles wide. It bears to the north 

 and east of the towns of Rusk and New Birmingham, and finally ends ab- 

 ruptly at Doyle's Gap, seven miles above Rusk. Throughout this whole area 

 the character of the ore and its associated beds is identically the same. The 

 ore varies from one to three feet thick, is of the usual chestnut color, and is 

 overlaid by from three to ten feet of gray sand. The new town of New 

 Birmingham is built on the western slope of this range at a distance of one 

 and a half miles southeast of Rusk, the county seat of Cherokee County, and 

 is the location of the furnaces of the Cherokee Land and Iron Company. 



Doyle's Gap is a narrow break, half a mile wide, in the main range, and to 

 to the west of it we again ascend the northeast corner of a similar iron-bearing 

 plateau. This is the eastern part of what is known as the Gent Mountain 

 country, which extends hence in a southwesterly direction to within eight 

 miles of the Neches River. Going west from Rusk we strike the south- 

 ern part of the Gent Mountain range in six miles, and in about four miles 

 further reach the village of Gent, situated on the southwestern corner of the 

 plateau. This range is almost cut in two by Horse Pen and One Arm creeks, 

 running respectively north and south from the summit, but the two parts are 

 connected by a narrow neck of ore-bearing land. This area is some six 

 miles long by four to five miles wide and is almost continuously underlaid by 

 iron ore. From the summit of Gent Mountain can be seen the sloping coun- 

 try to the west, running to the swampy bottom of the Neches, some eight 

 miles distant. Beyond the river the country can be seen gradually rising 

 into the forest-clad hills of Anderson County. To the south the low, flat, or 

 undulating country forming the Neches and Gum Creek bottoms spreads 

 out in rich pine and gum tree thickets. To the east and north are seen the ore- 

 bearing highlands of central Cherokee County, covered with a thick growth 

 of hickory, blackjack, and post oak, and extending on the east beyond Rusk, 



