8 THE IRON ORE DISTRICT OF EAST TEXAS. 



In order that the work might be completed more rapidly, there have been 

 several geologists in the field, and the reports on the separate counties are 

 given as made by them. * 



HISTORICAL. 



The existence of beds of iron ore in the eastern part of this State has been 

 known almost from the time of its first settlement. 



In a new country, where supplies had to be brought from great distances 

 by the slow methods of transportation in use at that time, it was only a mat- 

 ter of course that the abundance of wood for charcoal, the purity of the ore, 

 and the probability of a remunerative market at home should prove sufficient 

 inducement for men of enterprise to engage in its manufacture. Such was 

 the case; and some time in the fifties Mr. J. S. Nash erected a small furnace 

 in Cass County. Of this furnace Dr. B. F. Shumard states, in 1859, that "it 

 was erected several years since." This was the nrst attempt to utilize these 

 ores of which we have any knowledge. 



The investigations of the Geological Survey under Dr. Shumard, which 

 were carried on during the year 1859, proved that the ores were not confined 

 to Cass County alone but were very abundant. He says: f 



Until the commencement of the present survey, it was not known that we 

 had workable deposits of iron, except in one or two localities. But our labors 

 have demonstrated the important fact that we have a vast iron region in the 

 eastern part of the State, embracing considerable areas in Cass, Harrison, 

 Rusk, Panola, Smith, San Augustine, and Shelby counties. The ore deposits 

 belong to the tertiary era, and consist chiefly of hematites and limonites, of 

 which there are several varieties. We have also found in this district exten- 

 sive beds of carbonate of iron. 



According to Dr. G-. G. Shumard, Cass county alone is capable of supply- 

 ing a number of furnaces with an abundance of excellent iron ore for many 

 years. The ore occurs here in regular layers, which sometimes obtain a 

 thickness of fifty feet. The only iron furnace our State can boast of is lo- 

 cated in this county. It was erected several years since by Mr. Nash and 

 has been in nearly constant, and I believe profitable, operation up to the pres- 

 ent time. The ore is mined near the furnace, and the kinds preferred are a 

 porous variety of hematite, termed by the proprietors "honeycomb ore," and 



* Such descriptions as are written by myself are of counties examined by Dr. Penrose and 

 the iron ore localities mapped by Mr. G. E. Ladd. These are written from the notes of Dr. 

 Penrose, to which the results of my own examinations are added in places. Much of the 

 other matter contained in this report is taken either from the former published reports on 

 this region by Dr. Penrose or from his notes, which are admirable in their clearness and 

 detail. Quotations not otherwise credited are from Dr. Penrose's writings. 



f First Report of the Geological and Agricultural Survey of Texas. B. F. Shumard, M. D. 



This report is reprinted as an appendix to "A partial report on the Geology of West 

 Texas." Dr. G. G. Shumard. Austin, 1886, pp. 142, 143. 



