POINSETT COUNTY. 153 
It will be seen from the foregoing that whether or not considerable 
quantities of kaolin are to be expected in the region west of Vaughn 
Creek in Pike County depends on the topography of the country. 
If the hills are all lower than the point at which the outcrop is found, 
near Mr. Planna's, the kaolin has all been washed away. If the hills 
are higher and their height is not due to the great thickness of the 
gravel bed, the kaolin may reasonably be expected to outcrop on 
the hillsides. In broad and flat-topped hills, with kaolin outcropping 
around .the margins, prospecting may be done by boring with testing 
augers on the hilltop. If the boring is in a depression it will not be 
necessary to bore through so great a thickness. 
There is a very widespread and a very erroneous impression among 
a certain class of miners that mineral deposits grow thicker and better 
as one goes deeper. In the case of this kaolin, other things remaining 
the same, the material will improve as the cover thickens, but this is 
simply because the thicker cover prevents the infiltration of iron into 
the kaolin. Whether the beds thicken or not can not be predicted, 
but in view of the sedimentary origin of the deposit it is reasonable 
to suppose that they will not vary greatly in thickness. 
In the SW. \ NE. \ sec. 24, T. 9 S., R. 24 W., a bed of kaolin is 
said to have been discovered in digging a grave about the year 1874. 
This point is said to be on the top of a sandy hill or bench about 30 
feet above the "bottoms" of Little Missouri River. 
POINSETT COUNTY. 
GENERAL GEOLOGY. 
The topography of Poinsett County is very similar to that of 
Cross County on the south and Craighead on the north. The eastern 
half of the county is a low, flat country, which is traversed by St. 
Francis River. A large area in the northeastern part is covered by 
shallow lakes, which were caused by the general sinking of the land 
during the earthquake period of 1811-12. Crowleys Ridge extends 
across the county in a north-south direction just west of the center. 
The country west of the ridge is a flat slash land sloping to the south 
and west. The elevations along the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and 
Southwestern Railway, in the western part of the county, are from 
7 to 24 feet higher than corresponding points in the same latitude 
along the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad in the eastern pari 
of the county. 
The Tertiary sands and clays outcrop in deep ravines and in roads 
along the sides of Crowleys Ridge, in the vicinity of Harrisburg, 
and doubtless at other places on the east side of the ridge. The top 
of the ridge at Harrisburg is 107 feet (barometric reading) above the 
