Geographic Features of Texas. — Hill. 25 
TJie Red Beds. 
North of the Colorado region and west of the Coal region 
the denudation of the Cretaceous strata is more complete, and 
there is exposed between the 99th and 101st meridian, extend- 
ing north into Kansas, a large area of country for which, from 
the prevalent color of its surface and its affinity to similar 
formations in the west, to which the name has been given, I 
propose the name of the Red Beds. This region is included 
between the scarp of the Staked Plains upon the west, the 
scarjD of the western prolongations of the Grand Prairie upon 
the south, and the Palo Pinto or Coal Measures upon the east. 
Topographically it consists of rolling treeless plains becoming 
more broken toward the Staked Plains by the valleys of the 
numerous arroyos and wide flood plains of the few rivers that 
transect it. Its flora is that of the arid region. The soil is 
marly and void of much humus, and usually of a vermilion 
color. Unprotected by turf and exposed to driving rains after 
long intervals of drouth, the region readily yields to disinte- 
gration and denudation, producing deeply cafioned arroyos, 
the depth of which increases in proportion to the proximity 
of the plains, forming large areas known as the "breaks of 
the plains," making typical exposures of bad lands, similar to 
those of the other portions of the arid region. 
The few rivers which transect the region, as the Red, the 
Canadian, the Brazos and the Colorado, of the second class," 
and the Pease and Wichita of the third, possess exceedingly 
wide and deep valleys, with low and inconspicuous scarps and 
are especially marked by very wide flood-plains, filled with 
quicksands and out of all proportion to the small volume of 
water which ordinarily fills them. Those who have seen the 
valleys of the Platte, the Cimmaron or the Arkansas between 
the same meridians will readily recognize the type of streams 
to which they belong. 
Structurally the region is composed of almost horizontal 
westwardly dipping ^^ strata of unconsolidated clays, loosely 
segregated red-brown and mottled sandstones, and massive 
beds of gypsum which collectively compose the as yet un- 
^^ For classification of rivers of the Texas region, see vol. ii, Annual 
Eeport of the state geologist of Arkansas, 1888. 
'^ The Red Beds represent the western inclination of the anticline 
of the Central Denuded region. 
