CHAPTER III. 
HISTORICAL RESUME AND GEOLOGY OF KANSAS 
GYPSUM. 
The I<ansas deposits early attracted the attention of geolo- 
gists and prospectors. The Kansas Annual Register for 1864” 
states that west of Fort Riley there are large deposits of gyp- 
sum, or plaster of Paris, and very extensive chalk bluffs, both 
of excellent quality ; also, that large deposits of gypsum occur 
along the banks of the Big Blue river, in Marshall county. 
Report of Swallow. 
Swallow, in the Preliminary Report of Geological Survey, 
issued in January, 1866, describes gypsum beds of the Triassic 
system, and says”: 
‘‘We have proved the existence of vast beds of gypsum cropping out across 
the central portions of the state and extending westward beneath the Cretaceous 
and Tertiary rocks. A large part of these beds are the pure white, granular sul- 
phate of lime, most valuable in the arts. It is very much used in forming fine 
plaster and stucco work, for plaster casts, and for cements now extensively used 
in manufactures. But its well-known effects upon poor and even barren sandy 
soils give to this deposit a transcendent importance in central and western Kansas. 
‘‘These plaster beds will enable the farmer at small cost to render the poor, 
sandy ridges and plains in western Kansas as fertile as the rivers and valleys 
which have the wash from these beds. The quantity of gypsum in these beds is 
so great that they will easily supply the demand of the Mississippi valley for 
many generations.’’ 
Reports of Mudge. 
In the First Annual Report on Geology of Kansas, in 1866, — 
Mudge” describes the deposits of gypsum on the Blue river, 4 
to 10 feet in thickness, and the central beds on the Saline, 
16. Pages 76, 196. 
17. Page 41. 
18. Page 26. 
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