146 University of Kansas Geological Survey. 
apparently three references to the Cretaceous of this locality, though 
they are very meagre. In one place it is simply stated that “In the 
high lands east of the Cimarron, in the southwest portion of 
Comanche county, the lower strata of the formation [Cretaceous] 
apear at about 90 feet above the gypsum ledge [Medicine Lodge 
gypsum (?)].! Later, in describing the pre-Tertiary erosion, St. 
John wrote that “Judging from data at present accessible, it would 
appear that the present region marks the limits of the northern 
extension of this peculiar southern fauna of the Cretaceous; and 
these occurrences are of much interest in connection with the physio- 
biological history of the period. These upper deposits have been 
excessively eroded in this eastern belt, occurring in the highland 
ridges and in isolated remnants like that in the Black Hills between 
Salt Fork and the Cimarron, on the southern border of Comanche 
county. Upon the uneven surface thus formed, Tertiary deposits 
were laid down, which extend east into Barber and Pratt counties.’ 
Professor Cragin referred to the presence of Kiowa shells on 
this hill as follows: “The black hill south of Avilla which I have 
crossed, I have never found time to examine; but I have casually 
observed Gryphaea Pitcheri, Ostrea Franklini, Cyprimeria crassa, 
eic., aS among its fossils. The wide separation of this hill from 
other outcrops, and the numerous loose specimens of Gryphaeca 
scattered about to the west and to the northwest of Avilla, taken 
in connection with the outcrops on Elk and Mule creeks, testify to 
the former existence of the Neocomian series over the entire county, 
and to its subsequent extensive erosion.’”? 
The above Comanche area is about 32 miles northeast of the one 
mentioned by Professor Cope on the divide between the Cimarron 
river and Beaver creek, five miles northwest of Camp Supply, which 
is described as ‘tof limited extent, being cut off to the north by the 
drainage of the Cimarron river, and to the south by the drainage of 
the North Fork of the Canadian. Its horizontal extent cannot ex- 
ceed fifty square miles.”’! 
1 Fifth Biennial Report Kansas State Board of Agriculture, 1887, p. 142. On the 
following page is a mention of the Dakota, as St. John called the Comanche, ‘in 
the Black Hills, in southwest Comanche.”’ 
2 Ibid., p. 144. 
#6 3 ony: Cragin, Bulletin Washburn College Laboratory Natural History, vol. II, 
0, p. 80. 
4 =. D. Cope, Proceedings Academy Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, 1894, Pt. I. 
p. 65. 
