REPORTED  GOLD  DEPOSITS  OF  THE  WICHITA  MOUNTAINS. 
By  H.  Foster  Bain. 
The  Wichita  Mountains  occupy  portions  of  Caddo,  Comanche,  Kiowa, 
and  Greer  counties,  Okla.,  and  for  the  most  part  are  within  the  area 
formerly  known  as  the  Kiowa-Comanche  Reservation,  which  was 
opened  for  settlement  in  1901.  They  consist  of  a  core  of  crystalline 
rocks,  including-  granite,  gabbro,  porphyry,  and  certain  greenstone 
dikes,  the  whole  partially  encircled  by  a  fringe  of  Paleozoic  lime- 
stones. The  gabbro  and  porphyry  are  pre-Cambrian.  The  granite  and 
the  dikes,  which  include  certain  rare  and  petrographically  interesting 
types,  are  eruptive  through  the  older  ciystallines,  but  their  relations 
to  the  sedimentaries  are  not  certain.  Mr.  Taff,  who  made  a  reconnais- 
sance map  of  the  region  in  1901,  correlates  the  granite  with  a  pre- 
Cambrian  granite  of  the  Arbuckle  Mountains.  The  sedimentary  rocks 
include  representatives  of  the  Cambrian,  Ordovician,  and  Carboniferous. 
For  many  years  there  have  been  rumors  of  the  occurrence  of  gold 
and  other  ores  in  the  mountains,  and  upon  the  opening  of  the  country 
many  mining  claims  were  staked  out.  The  miners  have  come  into 
serious  conflict  Avith  holders  under  agricultural  and  Indian  titles,  and 
as  the  evidence  was  somewhat  conflicting  it  was  thought  necessary  to 
make  a  special  investigation  of  the  reported  ore  deposits.  This  was 
accordingly  done  in  October,  1903. 
The  mountains  extend  as  semidetached  masses  about  50  miles  west 
and  30  miles  north  of  Lawton,  the  principal  town  of  the  region.  Their 
general  trend  is  a  little  south  of  east.  The  most  important  mountains 
occupy  the  east  one-third  of  the  area  and  form  the  Wichitas  proper. 
West  of  them  is  a  great  mesquite  plain  extending  to  Otter  Creek,  and 
beyond  that  an  area  of  scattered  granite  and  gabbro  peaks  extending 
some  miles  beyond  Red  River.  Meers,  the  most  important  mining 
camp  on  the  north  side  of  the  mountains,  is  at  the  foot  of  Mount 
Sheridan  and  about  20  miles  northwest  of  Lawton.  Craterville  is  on 
the  south  side  about  2  miles  north  of  Cache.  From  Craterville  to 
Oriana,  on  the  edge  of  the  mesquite  plain,  the  mountains  are  being 
prospected  at  many  points.  Near  Mountain  Park,  Wildman,  and 
Roosevelt,  towns  in  Otter  Creek  Valley,  there  are  numerous  prospects. 
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