THE IRON ORES OF EAST TEXAS. 77 



ore. The line of separation of the top sandstone and the ore bed is sharp and 

 well defined. Though the iron ore is usually found near the tops of the hills, 

 one or more beds are often seen at a lower level, lying horizontally like the 

 upper bed, and separated from it by sands. These lower beds, unlike those 

 in Cherokee, are often just as thick or thicker than the top beds. Such a 

 formation as this, with its interstratification of soft and hard beds, gives a 

 very characteristic topography to the country. As in the Cherokee region, 

 the horizontal strata have been cut through by the numerous rivers and 

 creeks, leaving flat-topped hills and plateaus, with steep escarpments and an 

 alternately receding and protruding outline, resembling, on an exceedingly 

 small scale, the sides of the western canyon. 



The beds of the creeks are generally very sandy from the detritus washed 

 down from the uplands, and frequently large beds of conglomerate, composed 

 of ferruginous pebbles in a sandy cement, have been formed along the stream. 



In many places benches are seen along the- slopes of the hills. These, un- 

 like those in the land of the brown laminated ore, probably owe their origin 

 to the alternation of hard and soft beds, as has been explained on page 24. 



Marion County. — The largest beds of ore in this county lie to the north 

 and northwest of Jefferson. Six miles northwest of the town is the old Kelly 

 (Loo Ellen) furnace, which formerly drew its supply of ore from the surround- 

 ing country, but which has now been deserted. Going northwest along the 

 Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad, the ore is seen in large quantities near 

 Lasater station. At Leverett's Hill, a half mile from the station, the follow- 

 ing section was seen: 



1. Nodular ore, brown or yellow on the outside, black and glossy on the inside, kidney 



shaped and rounded, 1 to 24 inches in diameter, mixed in brown sandy clay. . . 2 feet. 



2. Solid bed of brown, yellow, and black limonite ore (brown hematite) 2 feet. 



3. Ferruginous sand to base of hill 10 feet. 



Large quantities of this nodular ore are said to have been used at the Loo 

 Ellen furnace, nine miles south of here, and a pile of several hundred tons of 

 it is still to be seen there. The nodules or geodes are generally hollow, 

 though sometimes they contain a coating of red ochre on the inside, which 

 has been locally used for polishing metals. At the base of the hill in the 

 bed of a dry creek is seen a deposit of conglomerate ore. (See Conglomerate 

 Ores.) 



Two miles east of Lasater Station is Lasater Hill, where there is a deposit 

 of ore of a yellowish-brown color, in places over ten feet thick, and overlaid 

 by sand beds carrying a thinner layer of ore. The following section shows 

 its occurrence: 



