534 GEOLOGY OF NORTHWESTERN TEXAS. 



About one mile west of the Gordon mine, on the west side of Palo Pinto 

 Creek ?» shaft was put down, reaching the coal at forty feet. At this place 

 the coal has good roofing, and is free from atmospheric influences, and would 

 be an excellent place to open a mine. This is known as the Swank mine. 

 At several other places in the vicinity of Swank's the coal seam has been 

 reached in sinking wells for water at various depths. 



One mile north of Gordon coal was found in a well at a depth of sixty-nine 

 feet. I traced the outcrop of the coal from hill to hill for several miles to 

 the southwestward from the old Gordon mine. The seam is just above the 

 town of Gordon, at the south edge of the tank; it can be traced from there 

 around the hills to the eastward, and up Barton Creek on the west side, and 

 passing through a gap in the hills to Brooks Hollow, and thence up that hol- 

 low to its head at a point one mile east of the Pincastle mine. Then it may 

 be seen on the southeastern side of the hills about one and a half miles from 

 there, and traced from hill to hill by the outcrop to the Bridge Farmer place 

 on Rush Creek, eight or nine miles south of Strawn, where it is in the bed 

 of the creek, and soon passes under the higher beds of the formation, which 

 are in turn overlaid by the Cretaceous. 



A railroad has been surveyed from the Texas and Pacific mine to a point 

 on the Houston and Texas Central Railway in the vicinity of Dublin. A 

 road built along that line would pass over available coal land for a distance 

 of ten miles. 



STEPHENS COUNTY. 

 TOPOGRAPHY AND DRAINAGE. 



This county is hilly, with broad valleys along the river and creeks. Broad, 

 level plateaus are often found on the top and between the hills. There are 

 many small areas of level land scattered among the hills that will make good 

 homes for small farmers. The Clear Fork of the Brazos River runs through 

 the county from west to east, and several large streams run into the river 

 from the south side. Hubbard Creek is the largest which flows from the 

 southwest, and Gonzales comes in from the south. Sandy Creek runs into 

 Hubbard from the south a few miles from its mouth. This county can be 

 said to be well watered by creeks and river, as these creeks always have an 

 abundance of water in them for stock purposes. 



GEOLOGY. 



The formation in this county belongs entirely to the Coal Measures. Sev- 

 eral years ago Mr. Charles Ashburner visited the county for the purpose of 

 examining the coal beds, and in a paper read before the American Institute 



