80 W. M. Foote — Meteoric Iron from Sams Valley, Oregon. 



Art. II. — Note on a New Meteoric Iron from Sams Val- 

 ley, Jackson Co., Oregon ; by W. M. Foote. 



The mass of iron described below was found in 1894 by 

 Mr. George P. Lindley, since deceased. The specimen then 

 passed into the hands of his son, Mr. Nolo M. Lindley, under 

 the belief that it was a meteorite. Later it came to the attention 

 of Mr. E. W. Liljegran. All were, or are, residents of the 

 town of Medford, Oregon. Through the latter gentleman, the 

 mass was secured in October, 1914, by the Foote Mineral 

 Company of Philadelphia. It was found in the Sams Valley, 

 a farming and ranching region about ten miles northwesterly 

 from Medford. The ground here possesses a wavy and flat 

 surface, gradually rising into foothills to the north ; Mt. Pitt 

 is about thirty-five miles to the east, with an elevation of 9760 

 feet. The location of the find is approximately 123° E. longi- 

 tude and 42° 30' N. latitude. The iron was found on the 

 nearly level surface of the rocky soil which characterizes this 

 locality. The exact position of the mass was not recorded. 

 No other pieces are known to have been found, nor are there 

 any local rumors of the observation of the fall of such a mete- 

 orite. The writer is indebted to Mr. Liljegran for the preced- 

 ing data. 



The designation " Sams Valley " is used for the meteorite, 

 as there is now a small post office town of that name at this 

 point. 



As will be seen by figs. 1 and 2, the mass is irregularly len- 

 ticular in contour. On the lower left corner of fig. 1 a sawed 

 sample of 30 grams was replaced, as shown; the upper end 

 has been reconstructed as indicated, where a sample of about 

 15 grams was sawed off at Medford and lost. In the extreme 

 right center of fig. 2 is seen a much oxidized depression of crys- 

 talline cleavage, where a sample of perhaps 35 grams was long 

 since cut and fractured off with a tool. The mass, when re- 

 ceived at Philadelphia, weighed 6810 grams, which, with the 

 weight of samples and loss in sawing two of them, brings the 

 total weight when found to about 6900 grams (15J lbs.). After 

 sawing and etching, the various pieces had a total net weight 

 of 5,517 grams. The surface exhibits no effects of fusion, nor 

 are its irregularities probably due to aerial pitting. The ter- 

 restrial weathering has left broad shallow depressions and a hole 

 of about 8x8 ram in a troilite nodule of about 23 mm diameter, 

 shown in the center of fig. 1. The mass is thinly oxidized, the 

 rust being from about 0*1 to 0*5 min thick. Crystalline lamellae 

 and schreibersite are slightly in evidence on the surface. 



The greatest dimensions of the mass are about 17xl2x9 cm . 



