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UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD. 
 
 GEOLOGICAL & AGKICULTUEAL SURYEY 
 
 100 Miles West of Omaha. 
 
 r-' / 
 
 THE AMEEICAlSr BUEEATJ OF MII^ES, YW]^ 
 
 AMERICAN BUREAU OF MINES, No. 44 EXCHANGE PLACE. 
 1866. 
 
 "p- 
 

Office of the American Bureau of Mines, 
 
 No. 44 Exchange Place, 
 J\rew York, August 23dy 7866. 
 
 T. C. DURANT, Esq., 
 
 VicE-PKEsroENT Union Pacitio Eaileoad. 
 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 The American Bureau of Mines, having at 
 
 your instance undertaken the Geological and Agricultural 
 
 examination of the lands of the Union Pacific Kailroad 
 
 Company for one hundred miles west of Omaha, has the 
 
 honor to transmit the accompanying Report of the Board 
 
 of Experts. 
 
 GEO. D. H. GILLESPIE, 
 
 President. 
 
 GEO. P. A. RICKETTS, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
OFFICE OF THE BOARD OF EXPERTS ) 
 
 OF THE AMEEICAIT BtJEEAU OF MINES. ) 
 
 JVejp Tork, Auffusi 2Sd, /866. 
 
 Geo. D. H. Gillespie, Esq., President Board of Trustees. 
 
 Deae Sm: 
 
 The Board of Experts having received from you a 
 commission to examine the Geology and Agriculture of the first 
 100 miles of the Union Pacific Kailroad, Prof. Tnos. Egleston, 
 Jr., was charged with the personal reconnoissance of the ground. 
 The unanimous report of this Board, embodying the results of 
 his examination, is herewith respectfully submitted. 
 
 Prof. Egleston desires thanks to be given to his Assistants, 
 Messrs. Hale, Harmer, and Chester, students of the School of 
 Mines of Columbia College; to Capt. ECollins, guide of his 
 party; to the ofiicers of the Eailroad Company, and to the 
 citizens of Nebraska generally, who were everywhere ready to 
 facilitate his survey. 
 
 For the Board of Experts, 
 
 J. P. KIMBALL, Vicc-Fres, 
 K. W. RAYMOND, Secretary. 
 
OS TH2 
 
 Geology and Agriculture of the First Hundred Miles 
 
 or THE 
 
 imiON PACIFIC RAILROAD. 
 
 TOPOGRAPHY. 
 
 Omaha, the capital of Xebraska Territory, and the eastern ter- 
 minns of the Union Pacific Eailroad, is sitnated on tlie :Mi;souri 
 Kiver, at 41^15' north latitude, Meen miles above its junction 
 with the Platte. It is very nearly in tbe middle of tlie river-ft'ont 
 of the Territory, and 1000 feet above the level of the sea. The 
 Bnrface of the Territory gradually rises to the Xorth and West, and 
 at Fort Kearney, 175 miles -^est, the elevation is 2,360 feet. It 
 nowhere attains' an elevation that can be called a mountain, but 
 rises crently in a series of low table-lands and rolling hills. The 
 ^enerll direction of the Missouri Pdver is a little E. of S. The 
 Platte has the general direction of X. E., though it varies very 
 much in its course, running sometimes S., and even S. E. 
 Almost all of the larger streams north of the Platte flow into 
 it. In the northern part of the Territory, a few flow dii-ectly 
 into the Missouri. The Missouri Pdver, therefore, does not aflect 
 the topo£:raphy of the eastern part of the country, except within a 
 few miles of its bluffs, its divide being nsually from six to ten 
 miles from the river in Nebraska. In Iowa it aflect* the country 
 much further East, 
 
 The tributaries of the Platte on its north side are quite large. 
 and divide the country into several distinct valleys, each one 
 having its own water-shed, and varying in its features with the 
 size of the stream. 
 
 The largest of these streams within the first one hundred miles 
 are the Elkhom on the East, and the Loup Fork on the 'SVest. 
 Between the Elkhorn and the Missouri is the smaller valley of 
 the Papillon, and between the Elkhom and the Loup Fork that 
 of Shell Creek. 
 
8 
 
 South of the Platte Eiver, the streams which flow into it are 
 generally small. The only ones of any importance are Skull Creek 
 and Salt Creek. The other streams of any size are either tribu- 
 taries of these, or flow into the Blue, which is a tributary of the 
 Kansas River. 
 
 It will thus be seen, that, topographically, the Platte is the 
 most important river of Nebraska. It has no other importance, 
 however, as its stream is very rapid and shallow, changing its 
 channel often. It is obstructed in all directions with shifting 
 sand-bars, and is too dangerous to allow of its being navio-ated. 
 
 On the north side of the Platte the general direction of its 
 tributaries is S. E. ; while their tributaries are generally nearly 
 parallel to the Platte. 
 
 This disposition of the rivers of the Territory would seem to 
 indicate at least two series of geological disturbances nearly at 
 right angles to each other ; but no trace of water-courses formed 
 by rupture of the surface can be seen in any of the rocks. 
 Where they are exposed to view, they exhibit but very slight 
 marks of disturbance. The dip of the rock is constant, and 
 apparently never as great as one degree. 
 
 The river-valleys appear to be exclusively valleys of erosion,' 
 and their formation can be seen at the present time goino- on 
 both on a large and small scale all over the country. 
 
 Most of the streams on the north side have high earth banks, 
 and, like the Missouri and Platte Rivers, rapid currents. They 
 are subject to great fluctuations in their height, rising and fallino- 
 rapidly ; and their waters are rarely, if ever, clear. 
 
 Skull and Salt Creeks, on the South side, have, however, rock 
 bottoms and clear water. 
 
 All of the smaller streams have in turn their tributaries. 
 These are frequently dry, except just after a rain, and are 
 usually nothing more than the channel of the waters flowing from 
 the sm-face. These, however, as well as the continuously flowino- 
 streams, have their rise in slight depressions in the surface, which 
 would not be detected by the eye, except for the direction of the 
 current. 
 
 It will thus be seen that the country is cut up into a series of 
 valleys running at angles to the Platte, which correspond in size 
 and importance to the rivers flowing through them. These main 
 valleys are intersected by the valleys of the tributary streams 
 
9 
 
 and these again by others, giving rise to that peculiar structure 
 of the surface known as rolling prairie. 
 
 In ascending any one of the streams, we find a rich valley, 
 which is more or less broad according to the position and im- 
 portance of the stream which flows through it. This valley is 
 usually called the bottom. The banks of the larger streams are 
 generally quite low, and are separated from the bottoms proper 
 by a terrace of varying width. It is from two to three feet 
 high, and forms the banks of the stream. The bottoms proper 
 commence with the next terrace, which is of about the same 
 height. The width of these bottom-lands on the Missouri Eiver 
 varies from six to eight miles ; on the Platte from three to six ; on 
 the tributaries of the Platte they vary from one to two. They 
 are composed of rich alluvial soil, and are in many cases covered 
 with timber, when the bottoms are liable to overflow. The 
 smaller streams also have bottoms. Their banks are often fifteen 
 or twenty feet high, and are almost always of earth. They show 
 the general tendency of the soil to assume a vertical position 
 rather than a talus. There is usually but one terrace, and that 
 is the bottom proper. All these small streams are subject to 
 great fluctuations, but rarely leave their banks. The bottoms are 
 never so wide as on the larger streams, and their banks are 
 usually covered with " openings " of hard timber. 
 
 The Platte rarely leaves its banks. Jts tributaries, where they 
 enter the Platte bottoms, are liable to overflow in the sprino- 
 freshets, or after a very heavy and long-continued rain. 
 
 From the bottoms proper there is a gradual rise to the blufis 
 of the third terrace. The height of this terrace above the river 
 is about fifty feet at Omaha. The city is built upon it. The 
 blufis proper of the river are at the foot of a fourth terrace. 
 They are of variable height. At Council Bluffs they are 225 feet 
 above the level of the third terrace. They consist in a series 
 of low ascending hills, which constitute the divide of the waters 
 of the region. The divide between two streams is always broken 
 up by the valleys of other streams which are tributary to them. 
 The top of the divide from which the waters actually flow in 
 different directions, is called the "back-bone," and is usually very 
 irregular and crooked. 
 
 Upon this back-bone almost all the roads of the country 
 are built. They follow, in most cases, old Indian trails, and are 
 
10 
 
 generally tlie most expeditious routes of travel, since they present 
 the least incline, and allow of carrying the maximum load. 
 
 This disposition of the valleys of the streams in terraces 
 grows indistinct as we go west, and is frequently limited to the 
 first and the fourth. 
 
 It frequently happens that in the bottom-lands there are spots 
 which fall below the level of the rivers or of any di'ainage. These 
 places give rise to sloughs, which may be of almost any size. 
 Sometimes they are simply the collection of surface-waters, and 
 dry up after a rain ; sometimes they are supplied by springs, and 
 at others they are caused by the obstruction at one or both of 
 their ends of the former channel of the river. These support their 
 own fish, and never dry, except when the bed of the stream dries. 
 Sometimes such sloughs are from a quarter to half a mile in 
 length, and from fifty to a hundred feet wid^. They do not 
 appear to have any connection with the river, but their water is 
 of the same temperature, and clear. They are probably supplied 
 by filtration through the gravel which underlies the whole of the 
 bottoms at the depth of ten or fifteen feet. 
 
 . All the streams, whether large or small, take their rise in 
 slight depressions in the high rolling prairie, which are either 
 sloughs or springs. These are sometimes well defined, and some- 
 times only low moist ground, in which the stream is formed 
 imperceptibly, small disconnected sloughs appearing at first, grow- 
 ing larger and at shorter intervals, until gradually the banks of 
 the stream assume a defined form. It is frequently difficult to 
 determine the direction of the flow of the water at the head of 
 these streams, so very slight is the inclination of the surface. The 
 water in such streams has usually about the temperature of 
 the air. This method of formation is particularly noticeable at 
 the head of Calahan Creek, south of the Platte. As the banks 
 of the stream become well marked, and deepen, it commences 
 to form bottoms. These usually commence in a bend of the 
 stream upon the concave side. As the bottoms are entirely allu- 
 vial, the stream is continually varying its banks and changing its 
 channel. As the curves in the rivers embrace very large tracts 
 of rich land which are protected from fires, the bottoms produce 
 a very large amount of timber. The banks and narrow bottoms 
 of the smaller streams are covered with brush and some oak 
 and other trees, which are either in clumps or scattered so as to 
 
11 
 
 form " openings," and do not prevent the cultivation of tlie ground. 
 Occasionally, these trees will be found at a little distance from 
 the banks of the stream, and in the same direction. It is unusual 
 to find them at any great distance, since they then lose protection 
 from the prairie-fires. 
 
 Many of the sloughs in the bottoms are being slowly filled up 
 either by the turbid waters which deposit their mud there after 
 an overflow of the rivers, by the accumulations of wash when 
 they are near a hill, or of the decaying vegetation from their 
 own sides. Many bogs of this character were noticed. All of 
 them will furnish excellent top-dressings for the soil. 
 
 In some of these places there were indications of valuable 
 beds of peat. Some of them have taken fire in dry times, and 
 burned a considerable distance below the surface. 
 
 Some of the springs have medicinal qualities. That of 
 Saratoga is the most noted one. It is a sulphurous spring, con- 
 taining carbonates and sulphates in solution. Some of the springs 
 near De Soto appear to be of the same character. 
 
 We frequently detected traces of sulphur in the water. The 
 bases which were usually detected with them were potash, soda, 
 and iron. Wherever the springs pass near a layer of slate or 
 coal, they form a slough which is colored by hydrated sesqui- 
 oxide of ii'on. 
 
 G-EOLOG-Y. 
 
 The Territory of J^ebraska shows, within the boundaries of this 
 survey, only two of the geological formations : the Carboniferous 
 and the Cretaceous. Evidences of extensive action of a later age 
 also exist in the shape of drift, and deep valleys of erosion. 
 
 CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD. 
 
 The Carboniferous period is represented by a series of highly 
 fossiliferous limestones, filled in many places with bands and 
 nodules of silex, alternating with shales, which crop out along the 
 bluffs of the Missouri and Platte Rivers and some of tlieir tribu- 
 taries. The highest point Korth at which they were observed was at 
 Rockport, about 10 miles above Omaha, where the limestone forms 
 the bed of the river. They crop out in the blufis at Omalia, at 
 
12 
 
 Bellevue, and at Plattsmoiitli. At Nebraska City the bluff shows 
 a succession of shales and limestones. The best place for their 
 examination is at Bellevue, where they form the bank of the river 
 for more than a quarter of a mile, and on the north bank of the 
 Platte, near its mouth, where they crop out in the bluffs at short 
 intervals for ten or twelve miles. These limestones vary from 
 light yellow to blue, and furnish all the building-stone of the 
 country. 
 
 They contain the following fossils, which were identified by 
 J^ . B. Meek, Esq., of the Illinois Geological Survey : 
 
 CARBONIFEROUS FOSSILS. 
 Fish teeth. Watson's Quarry. 
 
 Philipsia . Plattsmouth. 
 
 Nautilus Illinoensis f Plattsmouth. 
 Macrochielus inhdbilis. Bellevue. 
 Bellerojphon carhonaHa. Pawnee Creek. 
 
 • . Plattsmouth Ferry. 
 
 Pleurotomaria spherulata. Bellevue. 
 
 Myalina sulquadrata? ^hxxm^vdi. Rockport, Bellevue and 
 Caliban Creek. ' 
 
 " amjpla. Plattsmouth. 
 
 Solenomya . Plattsmouth Ferry. 
 
 Allorisma ineqiialis. 
 
 Productus punctatus, Martin sp. = Productus tuUdo-spinns, 
 McChesney; P. semipunctatus, Shepard. BeUeviie 
 and Eockport. 
 equicostatus, Shumard. Bellevue, Eockport, and 
 
 Plattsmouth. 
 lYehrascensis, Owen. = P. Rogersi, IsTorwood and 
 Pratten ; P. asper, McChesney. Bellevue, Platts- 
 mouth, Pawnee Creek, and Calahan Creek. 
 Gostatus, Sowerby. Omaha, Bellevue, Larimer, Platts- 
 mouth, Plattsmouth Ferry, Salt Creek, and Paw- 
 nee Creek. 
 « semireUcidatus, Martin sp. = P. Calhomiianus, Swal- 
 
 low. Omaha, Bellevue, Watson's Quarry, and 
 Pawnee Creek. 
 
 hngispinus, Sowerby. = P. ^¥abashensis, JS^orwood 
 and Pratten. 
 
13 
 
 Productus symmetricus, McCliesney. Bellevue. 
 
 " Prattennianus. Watson's Quarry. 
 
 Athyris siibtileta, Hall. E.ockj3ort, Omaha, Bellevue, Larimer, 
 Dyson's Hollow, Sauntee, Plattsmouth, Pawnee 
 Creek, and Salt Creek 
 Spirifer earner atus, Morton. =/S\ trijplicatus^ Hall ; S. Meusebach- 
 anus, Roemer. Bellevue, Larimer, Dyson's Hol- 
 low, Watson's Quarry, Plattsmouth, and Pawnee 
 Creek. 
 " Uneatusf Watson's Quarry, and Plattsmouth. 
 " jolanoconvexus. Pawnee Creek. 
 " Kentuckiensis. Pawnee Creek. 
 Chonetes mucronata, M. & H. Pawnee Creek. 
 Terebratula 'bomdens^ Morton. Pawnee Creek. 
 Phetzia punctillifera, Shumard. Plattsmouth Ferry and Paw- 
 nee Creek. 
 Hemipronites crenostria. Watson's Quarry. 
 " striatocosfMus. 
 
 Archoeocidaris . Dyson's Hollow and Plattsmouth. 
 
 ErisochHnus types. Pawnee Creek. 
 Zwphrentis. Plattsmouth Ferry. 
 Favosites. " " 
 
 Zochrinus. " " 
 
 Fusalina cylindrica. Bellevue, Larimer, Plattsmouth, Salt Creek, 
 and Pawnee Creek. 
 These fossils show the strata to belong to the upper Carbon- 
 iferous. The rocks all dip northwest, but at such a slight angle 
 as to make them fall only a few feet to the mile, not more than 
 two or three. They are so nearly level, that it is impossible 
 without an instrumental observation to see that they dip at all. 
 They appear to keep very nearly the level of the Missouri River, 
 which descends about one foot to the mile. The dip is proven, 
 however, not only by instrumental measurement, but by the fact 
 that as we go west or north, we find the more recent formations 
 appearing, while the Carboniferous has passed completely out of 
 view at the distance of a few miles. The rise in the level of the 
 country is not sufficient to account for this, as the thickness of the 
 overlying foi*mations will more than counterbalance it. 
 
 If we follow the Platte River from its moutli, we shall find 
 these limestones cropping out in both bluffs. As we go west on 
 the north bank, we find them well developed at Larimer's Mills 
 
14 
 
 and at Dyson's Hollow, where there are extensive quarries. As 
 we approach Buffalo Creek, we begin to find occasional boulders of 
 a coarse red sandstone, and further on we find it in place on the 
 top of the hills, with the limestone below it. At Sauntee, where 
 the river runs south, this sandstone forms bluffs which are over 
 forty feet high. Here it shows no traces of fossils of any kind ; 
 further north, however, it contains impressions of dicotyledonous 
 plants of Cretaceous species. 
 
 On the south bank of the river these limestones can be seen 
 as far west as the bed of Salt Creek. The hills here are much 
 higher than on the north bank, and the sandstone commences to 
 appear in their tops as far east as Cedar Island. 
 
 At Bellevue, about ten feet above the water's edge, a seam of 
 bituminous shale occurs, which has given rise here and elsewhere 
 to a great deal of exploration and much useless expenditure. It 
 is from three to four feet in thickness, and contains about three 
 inches of coal. Lower down, below the level of low water, 
 another seam of bituminous shale is found, which has also caused 
 much disappointment. A shaft was sunk to it a few miles above 
 Council Bluffs, on the opposite side of the river. 
 
 It will thus be seen that the Carboniferous rocks extend for 
 ten or twelve miles, and possibly further, north of Omaha, at 
 which point they are about six miles wide ; and that on the north 
 bank of the Platte they extend west for about fifteen miles, while 
 on the south bank they can be reached for about twenty-five 
 miles. They form the extreme northwest boundary of the great 
 coal-field which embraces parts of Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois. 
 
 The thin seams of coal which crop out at or near the water's 
 edge have given rise to much exploration, most of which 
 was not only unprofitable, but of such a nature that nothing 
 was to be gained by it. The citizens of Bellevue directed a 
 boring to be made in a ravine near the town ; they, however, 
 stopped at 100 feet, and decided to go no further. No record was 
 kept of the boring, but from the men who made it we learn that 
 at thirty feet, as near as they could recoUect, they struck a six-inch 
 seam of coal. This is probably the bituminous shale to which the 
 shaft north of Council Bluffs was sunk. At ninety feet they 
 struck another seam which was two feet thick. 
 
 A seam of coal crops out on ISTodoway Creek, about forty-five 
 miles east of Bellevue, in Iowa, which varies from eighteen to 
 
15 
 
 twentj-five Indies in tMckness. This coal is worked to a small 
 extent and brought into Council Bluffs and Omaha. It is pos- 
 sible that this is the seam reached in the boring at Bellevue. 
 
 At Des Moines, 175 miles east of Omaha, in Iowa, a bed of 
 coal six feet in thickness is said to have been struck at about 
 200 feet. If this is true, and the dip of the strata is constant, 
 it would bring this bed at 550 feet from the surface at Omaha, 
 According to the section given of the Missouri coal-fields by Mr. 
 Hawn, in the Geological Report of Missom-i, a bed of coal six 
 feet in thickness should be found 600 feet from the water's edge 
 at Bellevue. 
 
 It is impossible, in the limited time that could be devoted to 
 (|his subject, and without a more intimate acquaintance with the 
 section of the Iowa coal-fields, to give any other than a conjec- 
 tural opinion mth regard to the depth at which a workable bed 
 of coal will be found. 
 
 Prof Swallow estimates the whole thickness of the Missouri 
 coal-field at 650 feet ; Mr. Hawn estimates it at T39. It is pos- 
 sible that it may be thicker in ^Nebraska, but admitting that the 
 thickness is 1000 feet, there is still a prospect of a workable bed 
 of coal being found within working distance of the surface. 
 
 There are two ways to settle this question. One is to explore 
 the country in Iowa which has never yet been surveyed. This 
 survey should extend to Des Moines. The second, and the most 
 satisfactory, will be to make an artesian boring. This can be 
 done on the shore of the Missouri at Bellevue, or on the bottoms at 
 Omaha, which are only a few feet above Bellevue. Bellevue is how- 
 ever preferable, because the boring will commence in rock, 
 while at Omaha a number of feet through tlie quicksands Avill 
 have to be tubed. 
 
 This boring should be at least TOO feet in depth. If the coal 
 is not reached at that depth, it should be pushed to 1000, to settle 
 the question. 
 
 If coal is found below 600 feet, it will become a question 
 of calculation whether it would be better to purchase land in 
 Iowa, where the coal is nearer the surface, and transport it by 
 rail, rather than work it at such a depth. 
 
 If such a boring is made, it will be very necessary that the 
 results should be carefully recorded from day to day, and that, as 
 far as practicable, specimens of the rock should be kept for in- 
 spection and examination. 
 
16 
 
 CRETACEOUS PERIOD. 
 
 The limestones of the upper Coal Measures are covered with a 
 red siliceous sandrock. It appears perfectly developed at Saun- 
 teCjin the bluffs of the Platte. It is also seen on theElkhorn, near 
 Iron Bluff, and on the Papillon, the exposures varying from 20 
 to 40 feet in thickness. It is quite unusual to be able to see its 
 actual contact with the limestone without considerable explora- 
 tion. The only place observed where they came together near 
 the surface is on Pawnee Creek, a few miles east of Salt Creek. 
 A few feet of earth removed here would show the junction of 
 the two, but the work even here would have been so considerable 
 that it was not undertaken. 
 
 The red sandstone which crops out in the hill is of rather 
 coarse grain ; and where the soil has been washed out, it is 
 usual to find large slabs of this rock, and of the limestone below it, 
 turned vertically on their edges. The top rock of the Carbon- 
 iferous is a light yellow limestone, filled with the debris of a large 
 number of fossils, including many Encrinite stems. It is much 
 sought for in the vicinity of Salt Creek for building. The stone is 
 quite soft, and is easily cut when first taken from the quarry, but 
 grows harder after exposure to the air. 
 
 The shade of the sandstone varies, and the rock is not con- 
 stant in character. It is sometimes fine and friable, some- 
 times quite compact and hard ; sometimes it is loose sand or 
 gravel, and at others a conglomerate, closely cemented with iron, 
 and containing large pieces of a siliceous oxide of iron. It is 
 generally, however, so loosely cemented that it may be rubbed to 
 pie(?es in the hand. Yery little of it is suitable for building 
 purposes. 
 
 The coloring and cementing material of this rock is oxide of 
 iron, which frequently becomes concentrated, so as to give the 
 rock an appearance of stratification. Wherever this concentration 
 occurs geodes of oxide of iron, of all sizes, are found. These 
 geodes are usually filled with yellow sand. One of them was ob- 
 served five feet long and four wide, resting on the top of a 
 cone fifteen or twenty feet in height. It had been much larger 
 than this ; pieces recently broken off had fallen down at 
 its side, and were scattered all along the slope of the hill. 
 Sometimes, instead of forming geodes, the iron appears to enter 
 into combination with the silica ; it then forms an exceedingly 
 
17 
 
 hard rock. This variety has been quarried to some extent at Iron 
 Bluffs for building purposes. Quarries in this rock are not, how- 
 ever, to be depended upon. 
 
 The goodes of iron do not occur in sufficient quantities to be 
 used as an ore ; besides which, the greater part of them are too 
 poor and too refractory to be used in a country where fuel is so 
 scarce. 
 
 At Sauntee tlie rock is so soft that it has been excavated to a 
 considerable extent by the Indians. Fifteen or twenty feet of 
 the excavation were formerly covered with Indian hieroglyphics. 
 These have been effaced to a very large extent by the inele- 
 gant carvings of recent visitors, who have generally taken care 
 to leave their names and the dates of their vandalism behind 
 them. 
 
 North of here and higher in the series, the rock frequently loses 
 the red tinge, becomes a light grey, and is filled with small part- 
 icles of mica and pyrites. This rock is full of dicotyledonous leaves. 
 The stems of many of the plants are, still preserved, and lie loose 
 in the cavities which contain them. This rock was observed 
 only once, in an excavation on Logan Creek, a branch of the 
 Elkhorn river. It had been thrown oat from a shaft sunk on a 
 thin bed of lignite. The rock appears to contain quite a num- 
 ber of thin seams of lignite. None of them, however, which 
 have yet been discovered, will pay for working. 
 
 Owing to the friable natui'e of the rock, and the very extensive 
 action of the drift, it does not often crop out in the prairies, 
 except near some stream. Its limits are Salt Creek, Buffalo- 
 Creek near its mouth, and the banks of the Papillon. The. 
 next indication of it is at Tekama, from which place specimens 
 were sent to the headquarters of the survey at Omaha. It is 
 possible that it crosses the Missouri River south of this place, 
 but no traces of it were observed as far north as De Soto. 
 
 The red sandstone is overlaid by a greyish marl, which appears 
 in the beds of the streams west of De Soto and again at Logan 
 Creek, where it was struck in the shaft sunk on the thin lignite 
 seam, No fossils were seen in it, and but for the fact that it appears 
 to contain several thin seams of lignite it would have been impos- 
 sible to distinguish it from the ordinary clays found everywhere 
 associated with the drift. This clay contains limestone concretions, 
 *vhich are sometimes of sufficient size to be burnt for lime. The* 
 9 
 
18 
 
 i 
 
 surface does not of course give any indications of the presence of 
 this clay. It is only seen in the bottoms of the streams whose 
 banks are at least fifteen or twenty feet high, and in one or two 
 shafts sunk for coal. The seams of lignite can generally be traced 
 by the presence of the hydrated sesquioxide of iron in the banks 
 of the streams. The thickest of these lignite seams does not ex- 
 ceed six inches. It is said, however, that on the northern 
 boundary of the Territory they are sometimes found of sufficient 
 thickness to work. 
 
 West of Logan Creek no rock appears in place on the north 
 bank of tlie Platte until we reach the Pawnee Reserve. 
 
 On the south bank, however, at Skull Creek, we find a grey 
 marl associated with a white limestone. These crop out in the 
 bed of the stream near its mouth, where a thin bed of bituminous 
 shale is found, which has given rise to some exploration and 
 disappointment. The white limestone contains a number of fossils. 
 A cast oi Ammonites percarinatus, what appeared to be a Baculite, 
 and Inoceramus prohleinaticus, were found. The latter fossil 
 is so abundant that it is almost impossible to break a piece of the 
 rock without finding two or three very perfect impressions of it. 
 The stream runs over the outcrops of these rocks for some dis- 
 tance, and the banks are cut down through the marl and lime- 
 stone to the depth of fifteen feet. 
 
 These marls are greyish and laminated when first taken out, 
 but on exposure to the sun they grow whiter, and assume nearly 
 the hardness and consistency of chalk, and are used as such by the 
 settlers. 
 
 West of Skull Creek no outcrops of rock were seen, and none 
 had been reached by the wells of which information could be 
 gained. In Beaver Creek, on the Pawnee Reserve, a blue marl, 
 containing Ostrea congesta, is found in the bed of the stream. 
 This marl is of different texture from that of Skull Creek, and is 
 found much higher in the series. It grows hard on exposure, 
 but not sufficiently to be used for building. The specimen 
 examined was obtained from the bed of the creek by an Indian, 
 who dove for it. 
 
 DRIFT 
 
 All of these rocks, where they are seen on the outcrops in the 
 bluffs, are covered with a stratum of clay overlaid with gravel.^ 
 
19 
 
 Wliere the rocks are compact, as is the case with some of the 
 sandstones of the Cretaceous and the limestones of the Carbon- 
 iferous, the line of demarcation between the two is perfect. Else- 
 where, it is somewhat confused. The clay varies in depth and is 
 generally of a bluish color. The gravel is made up of every 
 variety of material. Generally it shows no sign of stratifica- 
 tion. Occasionally, however, it presents a stratified apjDearance, 
 and shows the very changeable nature of the current which 
 deposited it. This disposition is not continuous, being shown 
 only occasionally, and then over a very small area. It can be 
 seen in the strippings of earth made to get at the rock below. 
 
 When the rocks are hard, the surface in immediate contact 
 with the gravel is polished and striated. The strise run S. 8° E. 
 They were traced over the Hme-rocks from Omaha to Platts- 
 mouth, and there is little doubt that they will be found wherever 
 the rock has been strong enough to resist disintegration. 
 
 The lower part of the gravel is made up of coarse material 
 of variable size. Pieces of argillaceous iron ore, evidently from 
 the destruction of the Cretaceous sandstone higher up the river, 
 were found, with other boulders several cubic inches in size. 
 
 The coarse gravel gradually passes into a fine sand, which is 
 almost pure quartz. 
 
 This drift is not unfrequently ten to fifteen feet in thickness, 
 and is composed of materials of every possible description. As we 
 should expect from the direction of the strise, it is composed 
 of the metamorphic and sedimentary rocks which are found 
 further north. 'No fossils were seen, except on Skull Creek, 
 where a boulder of limestone was found containing a Silurian 
 fossil. 
 
 Most of the sedimentary rocks which occur further north 
 arc too friable to withstand attrition, and for that reason 
 are rarely represented in the di'ift. Occasionally, large rounded 
 pieces of iron ore are found, several cubic inches in size. All the 
 materials which compose this drift are water-worn and well 
 rounded. 
 
 As we go west from the Missouri, as on the banks of the Elk- 
 horn, we find this drift composed almost exclusively of quartz. 
 Its thickness can rarely be measured, except in the blufis. 
 It is seen, however, very frequently in the wells dug by the 
 farmers, showing its distribution over a large area. 
 
20 
 
 1 
 
 As it overlies all of the rocks of the country it frequently 
 forms a talus over them, where they would otherwise outcrop, 
 thus concealing them from view. 
 
 BLUFF FOKMATIOlSr. 
 
 The gravel is everywhere overlaid by the yellow siliceous marl 
 of the bluffs. As we approach Omaha from the Missouri bottoms, 
 this bluff formation is the most noticeable feature of the scenery. 
 It usually forms the third terrace from the stream, separating the 
 bottoms from the high rolling prairie. These bluffs stand almost 
 vertical, and at Omaha are nearly sixty feet high. In some places 
 they are much higher. They are composed of a yellow siliceous 
 marl, which contains pieces of chalk, calcareous nodules, usually 
 not larger than two or three inches in diameter, and some terres- 
 trial and fluviatile shells. When this marl falls, it breaks off in 
 vertical columns, and forms a talus of no great height at a very 
 steep angle. 
 
 The soil rests upon this marl, and not unfrequently the 
 waters which filter through, absorb sufficient lime in their pas- 
 sage to cement the gravel beneath, giving it the appearance 
 of a rock in place. In some places, as at Lime Kiln Hollow, 
 in Iowa, this process has gone on to such an extent as 
 to form a complete conglomerate. Lying between the marl 
 and the limestone, it forms a terrace of its own, from which 
 large slabs of conglomerate fi-equently slide down to the 
 bottoms. These terraces can always be recognized at a dis- 
 tance by the very yellow color of the grass. They occur rarely, 
 having only been noticed where the drift was high in the bluffs 
 on the Iowa side. 
 
 This phenomenon is also observable on a large scale a few miles 
 above Florence, in the bluffs. A large stream issues near their 
 base over the conglomerate thus cemented, while the gravel is 
 found in place on either side, only a short distance from them. 
 North of Council Bluffs, on the opposite side of the river, in a 
 similar situation, this action has taken place to such an extent 
 as not only to cement the rock, but also to form a considerable 
 deposit of tafa over it. Where the rocks come near the surface, 
 the cracks which they contain are filled with concretionary lime 
 deposits, and when the outcrop is buried in the soil, it is fre- 
 quently covered with concretionary white limestone. 
 
21 
 
 The yellow marl underlies the whole of the rolling prairie 
 further west, and in the hills is often found to a very great depth. 
 The water of the wells is usually found on reaching the gravel 
 beneath it, and is, consequently, all hard. 
 
 The marl is seen in all the cuttings of the Railroad, where 
 it shows its peculiar character, refusing to take a talus, and fall- 
 ing off vertically. After passing the Elkhorn, it begins to thin, 
 and at Shins Ferry, fifteen miles east of Columbus, it is not more 
 than five feet thick in the high bottoms on the south bank. It 
 does not, however, within the first hundred miles grow so thin as 
 to lose its efliect on the vegetation of the country, rendering it 
 everywhere luxurious. Wherever on the river-iront it comes 
 near tlie surface, " oak openings " are found. In a few places 
 on the Platte bottom the soil is sandy, owing to the fact that the 
 river has several times changed its channel, leaving sand ridges 
 behind it. These ridges are not entirely sterile, since the Platte 
 sand is mixed with some loam ; but in comparison with the rich 
 bottoms, they appear poor. They are, however, susceptible of 
 cultivation. For such places the marl would be an excellent 
 dressing. In some places where the wind has acted upon these 
 sands, it has sifted out the loam, and the residue is almost pure 
 quartz sand. 
 
 This siliceous marl of the bluff formation is seen in its great- 
 est development on the banks of the Missouri near De Soto, at 
 Rockport, about ten miles north of Omaha, and on the Elkhorn 
 near Iron Bluff. 
 
 At De Soto it is not less than 100 feet thick, standing vertical 
 in the Bluffs ; at Eockport it has about the same thickness, resting 
 on gravel, which, near springs, is cemented into conglomerate. 
 
 In most places it contains a large number of shells, among 
 which the species Helix, Planorhis, and Physa were recognized. 
 
 The marl is everywhere filled with calcareous concretions 
 which are usually hollow, and it is penetrated in every direction 
 to a considerable depth by round holes, formed by the decay ol 
 the roots of trees. The gophers and ground-squirrels are always 
 busy making their holes, and these passages form together a sys- 
 tem of natural di-ainage, which in the low lands prevents too great 
 an accumulation of water, and at the same time does not afford a 
 sufiiciently easy flow to cause the higher lands to lose their mois- 
 ture too quickly. 
 
22 
 
 SOIL. 
 
 The vegetable mould rests directly upon tlie yellow marl. It 
 has a brownish-black color, and when dry breaks up into angular 
 fragments, and crumbles easily when pressed between the fingers. 
 When wet it is tough : a few moments' rain is sufiicient to make 
 the roads very heavy. Half a day of wind or sun will, however, 
 dry them. When the weather has been dry for a long time, the 
 tires polish their tracks, and the roads become nearly as hard as 
 if they were macadamized. Dust does not usually collect so as 
 to make the roads heavy. It is generally blown off by the 
 wind, and it requires long-continued dry weather to cause it to 
 accumulate. 
 
 This soil has evidently been formed by the growth and decay 
 of plants on the spot, aided for a long series of years by the 
 accumulation of the ashes of the plants which have been burned, 
 and the gradual admixture of the marl with them. It is generally 
 free from sand except in isolated spots in the bottoms of the rivers. 
 Clay is rarely found vrithin the first 100 miles, except near the 
 banks or in the beds of a few streams, or where the clays of the 
 Cretaceous period come to the surface. 
 
 A characteristic of this soil, underlaid as it everywhere is by 
 the siliceous marl, is, that it is able to withstand long-continued 
 drought as well as frequent heavy rains. The farmer is rarely 
 disappointed in obtaining a fair average crop, while with mod- 
 erate care, in ordinary years, the harvest is abundant. 
 
 The native prairie grasses grow luxuriantly in most places, 
 and are found well adapted to raising stock of all kinds, which 
 fatten upon them as well as upon the cultivated grasses of the East- 
 ern States. When the native grasses disappear, either from culti- 
 vation or too much grazing, they are easily replaced by the 
 cultivated grasses, which thrive here as well as in the East. 
 
 The effect of the geology of the coimtry upon the soil is not 
 so apparent here as it is in the northwestern part of the Territory, 
 where the Cretaceous and Tertiary rocks come to and compose 
 the surface, and have gained for that part of Nebraska and Dacotah 
 the name of Bad Lands. 
 
 The influence of the Carboniferous rocks is seen mainly in the 
 character of the wash of the rivers. The rocks crop out in a very 
 few places, and then only in the bluff, where they are covered to 
 
23 
 
 a considerable depth by the drift and marl. Where the banks of 
 tlie rivers are formed by the rocks, the limestones are carried 
 only a short distance from their outcrops, and are either buried in 
 the talus or in the bottoms. The clays and softer slates are 
 washed out with the detritus of the lime-rocks, and go to make 
 the soil of the bottoms. 
 
 The same is true of the rocks of the Cretaceous formation, but 
 these, from their much more friable nature, are more likely to 
 extend their influence further, rendering the soil sandy, or stift 
 and clayey, according as one or another of the rocks comes near 
 the surface. Neither of these influences predominates within the 
 limits of this survey to such au extent as to interfere with the fer- 
 tility of the soil. Such soils rarely extend beyond the limits of 
 the talus of the hills, and they can always be rendered fertile 
 by means of the sub-soil plough. 
 
 The soil varies somewhat with its position relative to the 
 river-beds. In the bottoms it is entirely alluvial, and is com- 
 posed of the wash of all the geological formations above, as 
 well as of the alluvium of the rivers themselves, which contains 
 a large admixture of lime and loam. When these bottoms 
 are sufficiently above the first terrace to be beyond the dan- 
 ger of overflow in the spring freshets, they are cultivated, and 
 yield a very abundant crop. On the Missouri, ^vhen they are be- 
 low this level, and are subject to the overflow, they are generally 
 covered with a dense growth of cotton-wood. The size of these 
 trees depends on the fickle nature of the current. Sometimes 
 they grow to be three and four feet in diameter ; and at others, 
 they are washed out in the first or second year of their growth. 
 The bottoms of the streams west of the Missouri, being less sub- 
 jected to overflow, have much less timber — which is more frequently 
 oak, elm, and other hard woods — than on the Missouri bottoms. 
 
 The separation between the second and third river-terrace on 
 the Missouri, is usually an escarpment from sixty to one hundred 
 feet high, of the yellow, siliceous marl. It is this bluff which is 
 cut down to furnish the material for making bricks. At Omaha, 
 and elsewhere, this bluff rises vertically. Council Bluffs is 45 
 feet above the river ; and the rise is so gradual that the line 
 between the bottoms and the third terrace is scarcely per- 
 ceptible. 
 
 The soil ou the third terrace is made up of vegetable mould. 
 
24 
 
 The same is true of the valleys in the rolls of the prairie. The 
 rain washes it off from the surface, and collects the ashes of the 
 plants and the black soil. In such situations, it is not unusual to 
 Und this loam from twenty to thirty feet thick, and eveii thicker. 
 It is rarely less than two or three feet in thickness. As it is 
 always underlaid by the marl, it is more or less calcareous, and 
 in the best possible condition to yield an abundant harvest. 
 
 As we rise to the fourth and highest terrace, which forms the 
 actual divide of the waters, we find the black soil growing thin- 
 ner from the constant wash, and the marl approaching nearer the 
 surface. In very many places, the surface of this terrace is cov- 
 ered with siliceous and other pebbles, and occasionally with small 
 boulders of granite. These pebbles do not appear to extend to 
 any depth in the soil. They are not usually seen in the earth 
 thrown out by gophers in digging their holes. 
 
 Between the bottoms on this terrace, the country is formed of 
 rolling prairie, which is almost destitute of timber ; occasionally, 
 a clump of trees is found near the banks of some stream, or around 
 some slough, but there is never enough for agricultural purposes. 
 The soil is, however, fertile, and is covered with a luxuriant 
 growth of grass. This ground is admirably adapted for raising 
 stock of all kinds. Springs are not found as frequently as on the 
 bottoms, but they are found occasionally, and their scarcitv 
 is not felt, from the general abundance of sloughs. Water is usual- 
 ly reached at a depth of from thirty to sixty feet, in the valleys. 
 
 It will be seen that the soils are of two general characters ; the 
 alluvial, which forms the bottoms of all the rivers ; and the bluff, 
 which is characteristic of all the rolling prairie. 
 
 The alluvial soil is always rich. It is porous, slightly cal- 
 careous, and siliceous at the same time. It bears by far the 
 greater portion of the timber of the Territory, in whjch the cot- 
 ton-wood largely predominates. It is usually so near the level 
 of the rivers as not to suffer from drought until some time after 
 tlie stream itself is dry. It always produces a luxuriant growth 
 of grasses and corn. In many places wild hemp grows, to the 
 exclusion of the grasses. Such spots as these furnish protection 
 to the seeds of trees, and are often covered, after a short time, by 
 groves of trees. Where these bottoms are subject to overflow, 
 they are sometimes sandy; but generally the soil is enriched 
 by the top-dressing deposited upon it. 
 
25 
 
 The bluff soil is tliat formed upon and partly made np of the 
 yellow marl of the bluffs. The mineral constituents of this soil 
 are such^ and in such physical condition, as to adapt it admirably 
 for agricultm-al purposes. Wherever this soil exists to its fullest 
 extent the lands are rich, but not so rich as the bottoms. The 
 vegetable mould is never so deep, and it is consequently better 
 adapted to sustain long-continued drought. The farmers were 
 at loss to explain why it was that crops on their high lands 
 were less affected by drought than those on the low. This is 
 easily explained, both by the easy drainage of the bottom-lands, 
 from the porous nature of the soil, and their proximity to the 
 borders of the streams, as well as by the nature of the bluff-soil, 
 which loses its water much less easily. 
 
 Corn, wheat, and oats grow luxuriantly upon this soil. "Where 
 the current of a stream strikes the bluffs and causes a movement 
 in them, wild hemp and native grape-vines spring up in profusion. 
 On some of the small streams the hemp and grape-vine together 
 make a thicket which it is diflficult to penetrate. When this soil 
 is broken up by the plough, in the Autumn, to the depth of two or 
 three inches, it will be in excellent condition for cultivation in the 
 Spring, and it yields very large crops, sometimes even larger than 
 the apparently richer bottom-lands. Ground which has been 
 broken in the Spring even, produces a fair crop. This soil has 
 been enriched every year for centuries by the burning or decay 
 of the grass, and as little or nothing of the mineral element is 
 ever taken away, the ground grows richer every year. 
 
 Care must, however, be taken with it in ploughing, for as 
 there are no trees to arrest the rain, the ploughed ground is sub- 
 ject to wash. Attention must be paid to this fact by the farmer 
 in selecting his ground for planting. 
 
 In the high rolling prairie, and along the backbone, this soil has 
 been subject to wash for a long period, which has left it poorer and 
 more sandy than the other soils. The surface is strewn with various 
 kinds of pebbles. It is on this soil that the wind and storms 
 produce the little terraces which give a very peculiar character 
 to the landscape. The gophers and ground-squirrels, however, 
 have shown that this land is in no sense sterile, for wherever they 
 have thrown up the dirt fi-ora their holes the grasses show the 
 benefit of subsoil cultivation. A subsoil plough and a little manure 
 will make such land quite as productive as other soils; and while 
 
26 
 
 the fanner who has a better ground may feel himself justified in 
 neglecting it, a little care bestowed here will in many cases be 
 more than an equivalent for the extra fertility of the richer soil. 
 
 BOULDERS. 
 
 West of the Elkhom erratic boulders of red quartz and granite 
 begin to appear in the hills. They are usually found on the sides 
 of the rolls of the prairie. These boulders are rarely larger 
 than fi'om one to four cubic feet, and are well worn on the edges. 
 Smaller pieces of chlorite slate and diorite are . occasionally 
 found with them. The hills upon which these boulders of quartz 
 and granite are fomid are usually covered with small and much- 
 worn pieces of chalcedony jasper and wood-opal, and occasionally 
 pebbles of limestone. Only one piece was found large enough to 
 contain a fossil, which was Strojphomyna alter iiata^ showing the 
 rock to be Silurian. All these rocks are found in abundance 
 further north, in Dacotah, Iowa, and Minnesota. 
 
 ^5 
 
 FOKMATIO]Sr OF THE KOLLHSTG- PRAIRIE. 
 
 It is more than probable that the whole of the rolling 
 prairie of this country was originally level. *Che older streams, 
 like the Platte, the Elkhorn, the Loup Fork, the Papillon and 
 Shell Creek, appear to have given the first general outline to the 
 topography of the country. These are confined within broad 
 bottoms, and change their channel. Smaller streams are, how- 
 ever, constantly forming, and the minor topography is every- 
 where being changed by the wash of the Spring rains, or other 
 causes. It is not an unfrequent thing, while riding along the 
 bottom, between two rolls of the high prairie, to find that it sud- 
 denly descends almost vertically from five to ten feet, giving 
 unmistakable evidence of a recent freshet. 
 
 If any doubt, however, should exist in regard to it, the for- 
 mation of the rolling prairie can be seen actually going on at 
 De Soto. Just above the town, in the blufi*s, many earth-canons 
 are being formed at the present time'. There are quite a number 
 of them parallel to one another, and nearly at right angles to the 
 Missouri Kiver. Two of them were traced from their origia, which 
 were over a quarter of a mile in length. They have once cut ofl 
 the road leading north along the blufis, and are now rapidly en- 
 croaching on it again. 
 
27 
 
 These canons vary from sixty to eighty feet in height, and are 
 from fifty to two hundred feet broad. Their walls are vertical, 
 and when they fall, either by becoming detached from the bank 
 and falling over, or by being washed out from underneath and 
 settling down, they leave a vertical face. 
 
 The caiion commelaces generally in a hole made b}' a snake or 
 a gopher, or in a crack made by the frost. When any part falls 
 it does not crumble entirely, as we might expect, but carries down 
 with it large trees, which continue to grow erect. This settling 
 appears to take place gradually, and its effects can be seen from 
 the bottom to the top, in terraces in all stages of descent. As 
 the valley widens the water has less scope for energetic action. 
 The action of the waters on the sides of the canon begins to 
 round off the banks and to form depressions which gradually 
 become deeper, until we have the whole series of subordinate 
 valleys, both on a large and a small scale. 
 
 The same phenomenon can be seen on a much smaller scale 
 at Salt Creek, where an earth-canon recently formed has advanced 
 through the bluff into the road south of the town. 
 
 It can also be seen in the high bluffs about a mile north of 
 Council Bluffs on the Missouri. 
 
 The deepening of the valleys between the rolls of the prairie 
 is accompanied also by the destruction of the crest of the hill 
 where the incline becomes steep. 
 
 In the valleys which run in the direction of the prevailing 
 wind, earth-terraces about six inches high are formed by the action 
 of the storms, which facilitates the erosive action of the water. 
 
 CLIMATE. 
 
 The limits of the survey are comprised between 40° 40' 
 and 41° 50'. Within these limits very few meteorological obser- 
 vations have been made, except by the observers of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution of Washington, D. C. It is to them that we 
 are indebted for all the accarate records that have been made 
 of the climate of the Territory. The following tables have been 
 compiled from the published documents of this Institution. Table 
 No. 1 contains the observations taken at Bellevue arid Elkhorn 
 City for the years 1863 and 1864. Table No. 2 gives the mean 
 temperature for every month, season, and year, from 1858 to 
 
28 
 
 1864. 
 
 Table 'No. 3 shows the amount of raiu, in inches, which 
 
 has fallen, and the average for each season and year. Table 4 
 gives the observations for temperature at the same parallel further 
 East. These observations have been made for too short a period, 
 and over too limited an extent of territory, to admit of drawing 
 anything more than very general conclusions. Blanks in the 
 columns signify that no observations have been recorded. The 
 temperature is indicated in degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer. 
 A dash ( — ) signifies degrees below zero. 
 
 TABLE, No. 1 . 
 
 ELKHORN CITY. 
 
 1863. 
 
 Date, 
 
 Maximum Temperature, . 
 Date, 
 
 Minimum Temperature,. 
 
 Mean Temperature, 
 
 Eain and Melted Snow,.. 
 
 Jan. 
 
 I'eh. 
 
 Mar. 
 
 Apl. 
 
 May 
 
 Jtme 
 
 July 
 
 Auff. 
 
 JSept. 
 
 Oct. 
 
 Nov. 
 
 2 
 
 27 
 
 21 
 
 17 
 
 19,20 
 
 2.- 
 
 9,10 
 
 *lrt 
 
 
 *16 
 
 *6,18 
 
 51 
 
 46 
 
 68 
 
 88 
 
 86 
 
 96 
 
 96 
 
 96 
 
 
 70 
 
 60 
 
 16 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 21 
 
 16 
 
 29 
 
 
 23 
 
 23 
 
 - 9 
 
 - 6 
 
 S 
 
 27 
 
 45 
 
 52 
 
 56 
 
 35 
 
 
 4 
 
 — 15 
 
 2S.6 
 
 •23.5 
 0.90 
 
 3.5-J 
 
 53.8 
 
 63.8 
 
 67.89 
 
 72.6 
 
 72.5 
 2.70 
 
 
 36.6 
 0.50 
 
 32.9 
 2..30 
 
 Dec. 
 
 *3, 23 
 41 
 31 
 
 — 28 
 IS. 4 
 2.90 
 
 1864. 
 
 Date, [26,27 
 
 Maximum Temperature,. 
 
 Date, 
 
 Minimum Temperature, . 
 
 Mean Temperature, [16.1 
 
 Kain and Melted Snow, 
 
 Jan. 
 
 F^b. 
 
 Mar 
 
 Apl. 
 
 May 
 
 June 
 
 July 
 
 Aug. 
 
 Sept. 
 
 Oct. 
 
 Nov. 
 
 26, 27 
 
 22 
 
 3 
 
 25 
 
 29 
 
 21 
 
 18 
 
 24 
 
 2 
 
 13 
 
 5 
 
 49 
 
 65 
 
 67 
 
 79 
 
 94 
 
 101 
 
 100 
 
 99 
 
 99 
 
 70 
 
 56 
 
 7 
 
 17 
 
 20 
 
 5 
 
 10 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 17,18 
 
 24 
 
 18,28 
 
 22 
 
 — 22 
 
 — 3 
 
 6 
 
 2S 
 
 33 
 
 50 
 
 no 
 
 57 
 
 32 
 
 26 
 
 1 
 
 16.1 
 
 30.8 
 
 33. 
 
 46.3 
 
 63.6 
 
 74.9 
 
 77.1 
 
 74. 
 
 66.4 
 
 44.8 
 
 33.1 
 
 * These observations were taken at Fontenelle. 
 
 BELLEVUE 
 
 1863. 
 
 Date, 
 
 Maximum Temperature, 
 Date, 
 
 Minimum Temperature, 
 
 Mean Temperature, 
 
 Bain and Melted Snow,. 
 
 Jan. 
 4 
 59 
 16 
 
 Feb. 
 18 
 50 
 
 1,2 
 2 
 
 Mar. 
 21 
 
 70 
 4 
 
 7 
 
 Apl. 
 17 
 
 31. 26.3 87. 52.3 63. 67.50 71. 
 0.75 0.56, 0.50 0.75l 3.SS 2.84' 2.25 
 
 May\June\ July 
 15 "- " 
 87 
 
 6,23 
 40 
 
 Aug. 
 
 Sept. 
 14 
 
 Oct. 
 
 6,11 
 
 70 
 
 31 
 
 14 
 
 Nov. 
 
 6,18 
 
 60 
 
 28 
 
 — 3 
 
 65. 42.5 35.7 25.4 
 1.75 1.00 1.65 8.85 
 
 Dec. 
 
 315 
 20 
 
 1864. 
 
 
 Jan. 
 27 
 53 
 
 1 
 - 17 
 18.7 
 0.41 
 
 Feb. 
 22 
 66 
 
 16,17 
 — 2 
 
 31.6 
 
 Mar. 
 
 8 
 
 65 
 
 20 
 
 7 
 
 35. 
 
 Apl. 
 25 
 78 
 2 
 28 
 45.2 
 2.40 
 
 May 
 29 
 8S 
 11 
 82 
 60.6 
 1.32 
 
 June 
 20 
 95 
 1,6 
 53 
 73.7 
 2.86 
 
 July 
 
 17, IS 
 
 93 
 
 2 
 
 60 
 
 77.9 
 
 0.74 
 
 AUQ. 
 
 24 
 91 
 
 IS 
 
 58 
 
 75 2 
 
 Sept. Oct. 
 2 1 
 
 99 71 
 24, 30 2S. 29 
 
 40 1 28 
 67.4 46.6 
 
 Nov. 
 
 5.6 
 
 56 
 
 22 
 
 3 
 
 84.8 
 
 1.45 
 
 Dec 
 1 
 
 Maximum Temperature,. . . 
 
 50 
 8 
 
 Minimum Temperature, . . . 
 
 — 14' 
 19.9 
 
 Eain and Melted Snow 
 
 1.48 
 
 1.77 4.23 
 
 0.34 
 
29 
 
 TABLE, No. 2. 
 
 
 Average 
 1858. 
 
 Average 
 1859. 
 20.1 
 22.4 
 23.8 
 
 Average for 
 Six Years. 
 
 Average 
 1863. 
 
 Average 
 1864. 
 
 
 22.0 
 32.9 
 17.3 
 
 22.6 
 21.8 
 22.6 
 
 20.1 
 29.8 
 24.9 
 
 21 9 
 
 January, 
 
 17 4 
 
 
 81 2 
 
 
 
 Winter average, 
 
 24.0 
 
 22.1 
 
 22.3 
 
 24.9 
 
 23.5 
 
 
 44.7 
 48.2 
 53.1 
 
 39.8 
 41.4 
 64.6 
 
 40.2 
 48.0 
 58.7 
 
 86.1 
 53.1 
 63.4 
 
 84.0 
 
 
 45.8 
 
 May, 
 
 63.6 
 
 Spring average, 
 
 48.6 
 
 48.6 
 
 48.9 
 
 50.8 
 
 47.8 
 
 
 74.5 
 76.8 
 73.6 
 
 71.0 
 
 77.7 
 73.8 
 
 70 
 
 77.1 
 
 73.7 
 
 67.7 
 71.8 
 72.5 
 
 74.3 
 
 July, 
 
 August, 
 
 77.5 
 74.6 
 
 
 74.9 
 
 74.1 
 
 73.6 
 
 70.6 
 
 75.4 
 
 
 
 
 64. 9 
 51.9 
 31.0 
 
 63.0 
 51.6 
 37.3 
 
 67.7 
 54.1 
 33.4 
 
 66.5 
 89.6 
 89.3 
 
 66.9 
 
 
 45.7 
 
 November, 
 
 33.7 
 
 Fall average, 
 
 52.6 
 
 50.6 
 
 51.7 
 
 48.1 
 
 48.7 
 
 Mean Temperature, 
 
 50.0 
 
 48.8 
 
 49.1 
 
 48.6 
 
 48.8 
 
 TABLE, No. 3, 
 
 
 185S. 
 
 1859. 
 
 Min. of 
 (SicB Years. 
 
 1863. 
 
 18C4. 
 
 December, 1857, 
 
 January, 
 
 0.80 
 1.82 
 0.80 
 
 0.90 
 0.94 
 0.63 
 
 0.70 
 1.38 
 0.74 
 
 0.70 
 0.75 
 0.73 
 
 3.40 
 0.41 
 
 March, 
 
 
 Winter Total, 
 
 3.42 
 
 2.52 
 
 2.82 
 
 2.18 
 
 8.81 
 
 Winter Average, 
 
 1.14 
 
 0.84 
 1.73 
 1.64 
 5.60 
 
 0.94 
 
 0.72 
 
 1.90 
 
 
 1.60 
 5.05 
 4.40 
 
 1.76 
 3 44 
 
 5.00 
 
 0.50 
 0.75 
 
 
 
 2.40 
 
 May, 
 
 
 Spring Total, 
 
 11.25 
 
 8.97 
 
 9.20 
 
 1.25 
 
 2.40 
 
 Spring Average, 
 
 3.75 
 
 2.99 
 
 3.06 
 
 0.41 
 
 2.40 
 
 
 7.10 
 15.80 
 1.90 
 
 2.80 
 1.80 
 1.80 
 
 4.30 
 6.40 
 4.40 
 
 2.80 
 2.25 
 2.70 
 
 2 86 
 
 
 74 
 
 August, 
 
 1.43 
 
 Summer Total. 
 
 24.80 
 
 6.40 
 
 15.10 
 
 7.75 
 
 5.08 
 
 Summer Average, 
 
 8.26 
 
 2.13 
 
 5.03 
 
 2.58 
 
 1 75 
 75 
 
 2 00 
 
 1.69 
 
 
 2.60 
 6.00 
 0.60 
 
 2 10 
 1 30 
 1 20 
 
 2 40 
 8 70 
 1 20 
 7 SO 
 
 1 77 
 
 
 4 23 
 
 
 1 45 
 
 
 
 Fall Total, 
 
 9.20 
 
 4 60 
 
 4 50 
 
 7 45 
 
 
 8 06 
 
 1 53 
 
 2 48 
 
 1 50 
 
 2 48 
 
 
 
 Yearly Total 
 
 48 67 
 
 22 49 
 
 34 42 
 
 15 68 
 
 18 74 
 
 
 4 05 
 
 1 87 
 
 2 87 
 
 1 30 
 
 
 
 
30 
 
 TABLE, No. 4, 
 
 Burlinffton, N. J., 
 
 Harrisbuvcr, Pa., 
 
 Augusta, 111., ,. 
 
 Newark, N. J., 
 
 Easton, Pa., 
 
 Loeaiisport, Ind., 
 
 Madisiin, Ohio, 
 
 New London, Conn.,. 
 "West Point, N. T., .., 
 
 Muscatine. Iowa, 
 
 Council Bluffs 
 
 N.Lat. 
 
 Winter. 
 32.10 
 
 Spring. 
 
 Summer. 
 
 Fall. 
 
 40. 
 
 46.35 
 
 70.55 
 
 50.58 
 
 40.16 
 
 32.76 
 
 48.79 
 
 74.4 
 
 55.75 
 
 40.12 
 
 26.86 
 
 43.18 
 
 72.05 
 
 50.21 
 
 40.45 
 
 26.71 
 
 45.43 
 
 69.00 
 
 52.70 
 
 40.43 
 
 28.45 
 
 45.08 
 
 68.66 
 
 50.13 
 
 40.45 
 
 26.00 
 
 42.66 
 
 70.00 
 
 51.00 
 
 41.52 
 
 28.89 
 
 42.89 
 
 67.82 
 
 48.99 
 
 41.32 • 
 
 26.18 
 
 43.33 
 
 67.16 
 
 52.66 
 
 41.23 
 
 29.7 
 
 48.7 
 
 71.3 
 
 53.2 
 
 41.25 
 
 22. 
 
 46.40 
 
 70.44 
 
 49.14 
 
 41.15 
 
 21.7 
 
 49.3 
 
 74.7 
 
 51.4 
 
 Year. 
 50. 
 52. 
 
 43. 
 48. 
 48. 
 
 47. 
 48. 
 50. 
 47, 
 49. 
 
 These tables sliow the Spring and Summer to be warmer, and 
 the Winter colder, in ISTebraska than on the same parallel further 
 east. This is easily accounted for by the absence of trees. There , 
 is no protection from the Summer sun, and the Winter winds have 
 nothing to break their force. 
 
 The distribution of rain shows an average for ten years of 
 28 inches. The minimum was 15.68 in 1863, and the maximum 
 was 48.67 in 1858. The amount is not quite equal to the average 
 in Iowa. It is a well-kno^^m fact, howev^er, that the amount of 
 rain diminishes as we go west of the Mississippi. It will be seen 
 that the greatest amount falls in the Summer and Spring, and 
 the least in the winter. 
 
 The Winters are sometimes severely cold, the thermometer 
 sinking at times several degrees below zero. The extreme cold 
 does not continue for more than a few days. The mean tem- 
 perature is not very low. The cold is, however, felt more keenly 
 on account of the winds. Stock requires more protection, during 
 most Winters, than in other climates of the same averai2:e tern- 
 perature, but can sometimes be allowed to run at large, in places 
 protected by trees, during the whole Winter. 
 
 The prevailing winds are from the S. E., S. W. and JST. W. 
 The storms usually come from the S. E. During the Summer, 
 the sand upon the river-bottoms becomes dry. The prevailing 
 summer winds are from the S. W,, and frequently carry 
 it a little distance from the river and form slight sand-ridges 
 running E". W. and S. E. This sand is frequently found on the 
 line of the Eailroad, and is composed almost entirely of quartz, 
 all the lighter materials having been separated from it. 
 
 MISSOURI VALLEY. 
 
 The eastern part of this survey embraces a narrow strip of 
 land in the Missouri Yallej. The river runs very near the 
 
31 
 
 bluff on its western side, so that the bottom .is narrow. Its posi- 
 tion changes a little every year. Sandbars and islands are con- 
 stantly forming or being washed out, so that land near the 
 river is held by a very uncertain tenure. A single freshet often 
 carries away a large number of acres of woodland, without leaving 
 a landmark behind. Land is continually forming too, and 
 proprietors who have the river for one of their boundaries often 
 find that one acre has been increased to ten. Such land, being 
 liable to the wash of the rivers, is rarely cultivated, and is left 
 to the spontaneous growth of trees, which furnish the larger por- 
 tion of the fire-wood of the eastern counties. Another large 
 portion of this wood is drift, which is stranded on the islands in 
 the river, and drawn away during the Winter over the ice. 
 
 The sand of the river-banks mixes easily with water, and 
 forms quicksand. On the banks proper, above the water, this 
 sand is firm. At the water's edge, it ajppears to be so. If, how- 
 ever, a slight movement is made from side to side by throwing 
 the weight of the body first on one foot and then on the other, 
 the sand soon separates into strata, with water between, which 
 make long, low undulations, and in a few moments more be- 
 come quicksand. When the undulations commence, a stick 
 can be pushed down to almost any depth, by the slight pressure 
 of the hand. A few inches above the level of the water, it is 
 perfectly dry and hard. 
 
 The bluifs of the river produce a large quantity of oak and 
 other hard woods. In the vicinity of Omaha, and as high up as 
 Rockpoi-t, the most of this wood has been or is now being cut ofi". 
 
 Tlie soil is composed of black loam, and the surface above 
 the bottoms and beyond the terraces is rolling prairie. 
 
 Water is everywhere reached in the wells at from 30 to 60 
 feet, according to the situation. 
 
 PLATTE VALLEY. 
 
 The width of the Platte bottoms is about three miles. They are 
 exceedingly fertile, and are covered with a luxuriant growth of 
 grass. As the river rarely if ever overflows its banks, they are 
 well adapted for all agricultural purposes, and amply repay the 
 least cultivation. For the first fifteen or twenty miles of its course, 
 as we go west, rocks crop out in the blufis, and furnish a good qual- 
 ity of bailding-stone. Red and yellow ochre are found on Pavv^- 
 
32 
 
 nee Creek, and wiU probably answer for paints. Springs are 
 frequently found issuing between tbe layers of the rocks. Sloughs 
 of all sizes abound, which are frequently quite deep, and water can 
 be reached very generally at the depth of from ten to twenty feet. 
 
 iJ^J'ear its mouth the bottoms are covered with cotton-wood, and 
 the bluff with " oak openings ;" but as we go west, the oak disap- 
 pears, and the cotton-wood is the only tree, and is confined 
 to the islands and to the banks of the stream. These oak groves 
 are sometimes very extensive, as between Skull and Salt Creeks, 
 on the south side of the Platte, and near Sauntee on the north 
 side. Other timber, such as ash and elm, is sometimes mixed with 
 the oak. Such groves of timber encroach very fast upon the 
 prairie when the fires are kept out. Two or three places were seen 
 where twenty or thirty acres had been overgrown with thick 
 hard- wood brush, after keeping the fires out for three years. A 
 little care in thinning out these trees would make the timber- 
 lands valuable in a few years. 
 
 The land is rich, except where the river has changed its course, 
 or the wind has thrown up sand-ridges. The surface is so near 
 the level of the river that water easily filters through the 
 porous soil. When the surface falls to the level of the river the 
 ground is moist. When it falls a little below, so as to form 
 marshes, muck swamps are formed, which in dry seasons some- 
 times take fire and burn. It is probable that such places will 
 furnish a good quality of peat. 
 
 In some of the islands of the Platte which are overgrown with 
 cedar-trees, stock can be left to run all Winter. Where the 
 farmers have sheltered their farms with trees, they have found no 
 difiiculty in raising winter wheat, which has always yielded a 
 very large crop. As we rise from the bottoms, we meet high 
 rollino- prairie, which is generally destitute of trees except on 
 the banks of the small streams, where the timber is usually oak. 
 
 As we go west on the river, the soil becomes more and more 
 sandy. At the mouth of the Loupe Fork, the soil is decidedly 
 sandv, but not so much so as to interfere with its fertility. On the 
 south side, above Premont, there are very few trees. In many 
 places the groimd is covered with a tall bearded grass, which dis- 
 appears wlien the groimd is cultivated. The soil contains more 
 clay than on the north side. A short blue grass grows abundant- 
 ly, which is very nutritious, and is eagerly sought after by cattle, 
 
 1 
 
33 
 
 and eaten off to the roots, in preference to the .other grasses which 
 grow with it. The general yield of the crops, to the acre, is 
 corn, 30 to 60 bushels ; wheat, 25 to 30 bushels ; sorghum (syrup) 
 280 gallons. In extraordinary years, with good tillage, as much 
 as 80 bushels of corn, 40 bushels of oats, and 400 gallons of 
 sorghum have been produced. The wheat is spring wheat. 
 
 PAPILLOlSr VALLEY. 
 
 The valley of the Papillon does not differ from the valley of 
 the Platte. The bottom is about one mile wide, and very fertile 
 and well timbered. The character of the soil varies slightly with 
 the rocks that outcrop, and this is more especially true of the 
 red Cretaceous sandrock. Groves of hard timber are found occa- 
 sionally, at some little distance from the streams. Peat-bogs have 
 been found, but have not been worked. This valley is well set- 
 tled, and the farms are in a higher state of cultivation here than 
 anywhere except upon the Elkhorn. Large droves of stock of all 
 kinds are herded on the rolling prairie. 
 
 elkhor:^ valley. 
 
 The banks of the Elkhorn are usually low, and the bottoms, 
 like those of the Platte, which this river resembles very much, 
 are rich, and generally well timbered. Some of the cotton- 
 wood trees are five feet in diameter. Elm, maple, oak, and ash 
 grow in small quantities on its tributaries, but the chief timber of 
 the bottoms is cotton-wood. The timber is not wholly confined 
 to the river-bank, but groves are found round the banks of the 
 sloughs, giving a very picturesque appearance to the landscape. 
 
 The second terrace is not very well defined ; the first terrace 
 usually extends to the bluffs. The third terrace is, however, 
 well marked, and furnishes quite a large amount of level prairie. 
 There is also a considerable amount of level ground near the 
 mouths of all the tributaries of the Elkhorn. 
 
 This and the Papillon valley are the best cultivated of the 
 region. The farmers have planted trees on a large scale, and are 
 already reaping the advantages of it. The soil is very fertile. 
 The average crops are : com, 40 to 60 bushels ; wheat, 12 to 18 ; 
 sorghum, about 200 gallons. 
 3 
 
34 
 
 Small seams of lignite crop out in the banks of the river. This 
 lio-nite and the rocks associated with it are filled with pyrites, so 
 a? sometimes to render the water in the wells which reach it 
 quite noxious and unlit for use. The water of ordinary wells, 
 however, generally reached in a few feet from the surface, does not 
 contain anything more than salts of lime. 
 
 PEBBLE AND MAPLE VALLEYS. 
 
 The branches of the Elkhorn do not differ from it in their main 
 features. The most prominent of them are Pebble and Maple 
 Creeks. The banks of these streams are quite high, and they are 
 subject to sudden rises and falls. The bottoms of Pebble 
 Creek are about a mile wide. The soil is rich and easily worked. 
 The blue grass, which is so eagerly sought for by stock, is frequent- 
 ly found, both on the bottoms and the high prairie. Near its 
 junction with the Elkhorn the bottoms are well timbered; for 
 the most part with oak and elm. Farther west, the timber de- 
 creases, especially as we reach the point where the streams are 
 liable to run dry for a certain time during the year. There is 
 considerable wet land in the bottoms, and peat will probably 
 be found there. The average crops are : corn, 60 to 80 bushels ; 
 wheat, 15 to 20 ; sorghum, 150 to 200 gallons. 
 
 The bottom-lands of Maple Creek are from one to one and a 
 half miles wide, and the divide is made up of gently undulating 
 prairie. The bottoms contain considerable hard timber, but it 
 is usually scattered and in clumps. 
 
 SHELL CKEEK VALLEY. 
 
 The bottom-land of Shell Creek Valley is from one to two 
 miles wide. It is the most beautiful valley on the north side 
 of the Platte. The divide is broad, composed of gently undu- 
 lating prairie, and well watered with streams, as may be seen 
 by reference to the map. Sloughs are of less frequent occur- 
 rence than in the valleys of the other streams. Hard tim- 
 ber is found along the banks, which are quite high. All 
 the smaller streams flowing into it are subject to great 
 fluctuations. The average crops to the acre are : corn, 40 to 60 ;« 
 wheat, 12 to 16 bushels. 
 
35 
 
 On the south side of the Platte the countiy is higher, but in 
 its main features does not differ from the north side. The char- 
 acter of the land is nearly the same. The amount of timber is 
 considerably less. 
 
 The valleys of the two principal streams, Skull and Salt 
 Creeks, do not differ from those of the streams l!Torth. The water 
 of Salt Creek is slightly brackish in low water. 
 
 AGKICULTUHE. 
 
 Farming is conducted throughout the Territory without any 
 regard to the future value of the land. The country is but thinly 
 settled ; the land is cheap, and its owners are too frequently 
 either ignorant that their system of farming is exhausting the 
 soil, or indifferent to it. Yery little if any manure is used, and, 
 except in rare instances, the manm-e of the stable and farm- 
 yard is either carted into the road or thrown into pits. The 
 farmers find it too much trouble to place it on their fields, be- 
 cause they think the soil so rich that there is no danger of ex- 
 hausting it. They generally plant the same crop year after 
 year, and when the land no longer yields sufficiently, the field 
 is abandoned. This injudicious system is ameliorated by the 
 fact that large portions of the Territory are devoted to grazing. 
 The manure of the stock restores to the soil a large part of the 
 mineral constituents taken from it, thus contributing to enrich the 
 ground which is not cultivated. The cultivated soils are allowed 
 to regain their fertility by rest and the accumulation of the ashes 
 of the weeds. 
 
 The farmers in Iowa are commencing to learn, by theii* 
 decreasing crops, that such a system will eventually wear out 
 their land. The farmers in Virginia and New York have already 
 learned it. If the soil is to remain fertile, the farmer must return 
 to it a portion, at least, of the mineral constituents which the plant 
 removes from it, in about the same physical condition as the 
 plant found them ; for the fertility of the soil does not depend bo 
 much on the exact proportion of the ingredients it contains, as it 
 does upon its physical condition, which renders them more or less 
 easy of absorption by the plant. If, under the stimulus of large 
 crops and a ready market, the soil is robbed, the large crop will 
 soon become a small one, and the rich bottom-lands will refuse 
 
36 
 
 to yield, as they have done in Yirginia. The soil, if it is to be 
 rich, must be kept so, and its constituents taken away in the 
 crops must be restored to it. The reason why the lands are so 
 rich now, is that the ashes of the plants have been restored to 
 the soil every year, either by the decay of the plant or the burn- 
 ing of the prairie. Where these ashes have accumulated a short 
 bluish grass grows, which is so nutritious that the cattle seek 
 it first. 
 
 It is a very easy thing for the short-sighted farmer to raise 
 from twenty to thirty bushels of spring wheat for four or five 
 years successively from the same land ; but if such a system is 
 continued, it will reduce the crop, as it has done in some places 
 in !N^ew York, to five. 
 
 The average yield of the ground can be kept up by changing 
 the crop, top-dressing, and subsoil ploughing. The use of the 
 subsoil plough is especially beneficial in all parts of the country 
 where the bluft'-marl comes near the surface. This marl contains 
 a certain percentage of silica and lime, and is frequently the only 
 manure the soil needs. Farmers were found surprised and de- 
 lighted with crops produced where a little unintentional subsoil 
 cultivation had mixed this marl with the soil, and equally disap- 
 pointed at the results of surface cultivation near by, where the 
 ground had not been turned more than two inches, even when 
 top-dressed. 
 
 Most of the crops are raised by machine-labor, for which tlio 
 nature of the surface is very well adapted. This is necessary, on 
 account of the scarcity of laborers and the high wages demanded. 
 Ground which is broken during the Summer with the prairie- 
 plough, to the depth of two or three inches, and planted the 
 next Spring, yields abundant crops. Even when the ground 
 is ploughed in the Spring and planted, it produces a fair crop. 
 These crops are usually put in, cultivated, and reaped by machines, 
 at a much less expense and with greater yield than could be ob- 
 tained by hand-labor. 
 
 Lands designed for grazing in the Spring, are burned over in 
 the Fall, in order to secure a sweet and early grass for the stock. 
 In the Spring, the portion destined for hay is burned again. 
 The grass is cut and the hay made entirely by machine, and is 
 stacked in the fields or near the house for winter use. 
 
 Buildings used for the protection of stock during the Winter 
 
3T 
 
 are generally raade of poles. The sides are woven witli hay. To 
 form a roof, poles are placed close together, hay is laid over them, 
 other poles are fastened at right angles to these over the hay, thus 
 making a tight and secure roof against both rain and wind. 
 
 ISTot unfrequently these buildings, as well as the dwellings, are 
 made of pieces of turf piled together and cut smooth with a spade. 
 This kind of construction makes a very warm dwelling and a 
 cheap shelter for stock. Tlic log or frame houses of some of 
 the best farmers frequently have their additions constructed 
 iu this manner. They last a long time and are easily repaired. 
 
 All garden vegetables are easily cultivated, and do well. 
 Fruit, however, does not thrive unless it is protected against 
 the high winds. The wild plum grows with great luxuriance 
 in small natural orchards. The plums are gathered by the far- 
 mers and preserved for winter use. 
 
 It is probable that if the system of low training in use in some 
 countries were adopted here, the culture of fruit-trees would be 
 more successful. The low tree protects itself, while the tall one 
 is frequently thrown out of the ground by the wind. If the 
 ground were devoted exclusively to fruit, and the trees trimmed 
 low and planted nearer together, they would protect themselves 
 and yield abundant crops. 
 
 The average yield of the crops of the whole Territory, for the 
 years 1863 and 1864, is given below. The statistics for 1865 have 
 not yet been published. All these crops, with the single excep- 
 tion of potatoes, are above the average yield for the whole United 
 States, in 1864, while those for 1863 far exceed it. These statis- 
 tics have been compiled from the Eeports of the Patent Office. 
 
 1SC3. 1864. 
 
 Sprinff Wheat. .20 bx:sliels to the acre 14 bushels to the acre. 
 
 Rye 30 " " " .... 16 
 
 Barley 43 " " " .... 20 " " 
 
 Oats 33 " " " .... 28 " " 
 
 Corn 33.5 " " " .... 28.5 » " 
 
 Potatoes 82.5 " " " .... 51.6 " " 
 
 Hay 1.25tons" " .... 1.3tons " " 
 
 TABLE OF STOCK FOR 1864. 
 
 Number. Average Price. 
 
 Horses 9,687 $ 85.79 
 
 Mules 1,130 121 . 90 
 
 Oxen 53,606 26 . 46 
 
 Cows 17,449 30.63 
 
 Sheep 10,872 3.10 
 
 Ho"-3 32,889 9.93 
 
38 
 
 FENCES. 
 
 Most of the farmers fence their land witli wood. The whole 
 farm is usually included in one enclosm-e. The fence consists 
 of upright posts, to which either split rails or young saplings are 
 nailed. Some of the fences are made of boards. The rail 
 fences are generally made of oak and cotton-wood. The islands 
 of the Platte abound in cedar, which furnishes the posts for many 
 farmers. The posts are sometimes made of locust, when it can 
 
 be had. 
 
 Occasionally trees such as the cotton-wood, locust, and white 
 willow, are planted for hedges, and after a few years afford very 
 good protection against animals. 
 
 Hedges are growing in favor, and have been, successfully cul- 
 tivated in many parts of the Territory. 
 
 When wood cannot be had, it is the custom to dig a ditch 
 and throw up the earth so as to form a mound. This aiiswers 
 for protection against stock. 
 
 The willow or cotton-wood fence is easiest made. It can be 
 made from large cuttings. If these cuttings are taken from one 
 to two inches in diameter, and five feet long, and are planted nine 
 inches apart, twigs can be twined between them immediately, so 
 that they will form a good fence. Almost all of the cuttings are 
 sure to grow, and in a few years the tops will furnish a consid- 
 erable amount of fire-wood. This system has been put into prac- 
 tice successfully in some portions of France and California. 
 
 The stock is allowed to run at large over the prairie, the farmers 
 being generally responsible to each other for the damage done by 
 trespass. Where there are no fences, there is usually a herd-law. 
 The cattle are herded for so much a head, and the herder made 
 responsible for damage done. 
 
 TREE PLAISTTHSTG. 
 
 The greatest want of the country is timber. Until within 
 comparatively few years, the prairie-fires have killed the young 
 growths, except in places where there was some natural protec- 
 tion against them, as on the banks of sloughs or streams, or in 
 some bottoms of the rivers. 
 
 This defect can be easily remedied, as there are several kinds 
 of trees which grow rapidly after a year or two of protection. 
 
 1 
 
39 
 
 On all the bottom-lands the cotton-wood {Popuhis Monilifera, 
 Gray), grows readily, and without cultivation. In many places 
 the farmers plough and weed it out, to prevent its taking posses- 
 sion of their lands. It also grows well on the higher lands, 
 especially when its roots can penetrate the yellow siliceous marl. 
 In five or six years the cotton-wood is large enough to be cut for 
 fire-wood, and it is very doubtful whether any crop the farmer 
 can plant will yield him such ample returns. 
 
 The scrub oak, the common and the slippery elm, ash, walnu 
 and hickory, grow on the bluffs of almost all the rivers. This 
 blufi-soil seems to be particularly adapted to the oak, which 
 sends its roots down into it to a considerable depth. "When these 
 roots die, the marl becomes filled with holes, and more or 
 less porous. Wherever this soil comes near the surface, groves 
 of hard timber spring up. On Pawnee Creek and at Fairview 
 large tracts of hard- wood brush were seen, which had been pro- 
 tected from the fires for three years, and which, in the course of 
 one or two years more, would no longer require watching. A 
 little judicious thinning out is all this brush needs to make it 
 valuable timber in the course of ten or fifteen years. 
 
 Trees are easily cultivated if a little attention is given to 
 them ; they require less care than any other crop, and will yield 
 larger returns. Every farmer should plant trees, not only be- 
 cause he needs the wood for fuel, but because they are needed 
 for building, for fences, and to protect his stock. 
 
 It is a fact well known to eastern farmers that grain which is 
 protected from the winds by trees, even though the trees are at 
 some diftance, is less likely to be winter-killed. Their protec- 
 tion is not only required for grain, but also for fruit as well as for 
 stock. There are many places on the plains where fruit 
 will not grow unless protected against the winds by trees. Many 
 of the farmers in the eastern counties are beginning to see the im- 
 portance of this, and have been planting extensively within the 
 last four or five years. They feel the effects of the trees almost 
 immediately in the increase of their crops and in the comfort of 
 their houses. One of them, who had planted three years 
 before, remarked that he could see a very perceptible differ- 
 ence in the amount of fuel consumed, and in the yield of wool 
 from his sheep. He found less liability to disease, and a very 
 marked difierence in the general condition of all his stock, so 
 
40 
 
 nmcli so that lie should continue to plant. Trees are not only a 
 protection against the cold produced by the high prairie-winds, 
 but they are also a protection against the hot sun of the Summer 
 and form a very grateful refuge for stock. 
 
 Many of the farmers are in the habit of planting trees, 
 especially cotton-wood or locust, as a hedge. It requires very 
 little care, though the locust is liable to be attacked by borers, 
 and is much less certain than the cotton-wood, or the white wil- 
 low, which grows almost as fast as the cotton-wood, and is pref- 
 erable for some purposes. If there is no other protection, the 
 trees should be planted three rows deep in quincunx. A hedge 
 of this kind becomes impassable to cattle in a few years, and is 
 the least expensive fence that can be made. If the trees are 
 planted nine inches apart and twined with brush, it will be of 
 service immediately. 
 
 If trees were planted on a large scale all over the Territory, 
 there is little doubt that they would mitigate the effects of the 
 high winds and reduce the extremes of heat and cold. Keeping 
 a large amount of ground protected from the sun, and prevent- 
 ing that sudden drainage of the surface which is now changing 
 the topography of the country little by little, they would have a 
 tendency to increase the amount of rain by the slow evaporation 
 of moisture from the surface of the leaves, and at the same time 
 cause a more equal distribution of it. The extraordinary health 
 of the prairies is doubtless owing to the high winds, which pre- 
 vent the malarious gases, arising from decomposing vegetation, 
 from collecting in any one place. While the planting of trees would 
 so materially reduce the force of this wind as to add to the com- 
 fort of the settler and the health of his stock, there could be no 
 fear that it would affect the health of the country. Experience 
 has shown that the growth of trees is beneficial in this respect. 
 The malarious gases that escape from decomposing vegetation, 
 are compounds of carbon. The leaves of the trees eagerly seek 
 these compounds, decompose them, assimilate the carbon to them- 
 selves, and render the gases not only powerless for harm, but 
 liberate a certain amount of oxygen, which revivifies the air. 
 The trees then purify the air, at the same time that they accumu- 
 late the carbon for the future use of the farmer. 
 
 While the trees are young they require very little care, which 
 consists in preventing them in the first few years from being 
 
41 
 
 choked by weeds, and in keeping out the prairie-fires. This is 
 necessary, because the want of frequent rains renders the grass 
 liable to take fii-e at any moment. The fire, once kindled, spreads 
 rapidly, and young trees are very generally destroyed by it. 
 
 Cotton-wood grows so vigorously that it is the natural pro- 
 tector of the other trees. The harder trees should be planted with 
 it, since the cotton-wood famishes the trees of slower growth 
 the protection which they require from the weather. "When 
 they have attained the proper size, the cotton-wood can be 
 gradually thinned out, and the harder trees, which have been 
 raised either from the seed or the cuttings, will then be old 
 enough to bear transplanting. In this way, with little care, a 
 plantation of trees can be made productive to the farmer at the 
 end of a few years, and will well repay the trouble, not only by the 
 interest on the capital invested, but also in the greater amount of 
 his own comfort, and the increased health of the stock. 
 
 MINERALS. 
 
 The portion of the Territory included in this survey contains 
 few minerals, and these, for the most part, of little importance. 
 
 COAL. 
 
 Coal has not as yet been found within the limits of this survey 
 in workable beds. Thin seams are worked to some extent near the 
 sm'face, in the southern part of the Territory. Coal is said to 
 have been found in Johnson, ISTemaha, Pawnee, and Richardson 
 counties ; but no authentic information was obtained concerning 
 the beds worked. It is quite probable that some of the upper 
 ones, which are usually thin, crop out there. There is very lit- 
 tle doubt, however, that the bed measuring six feet in thickness 
 will be found by a boring ; and from such basis for calculation as 
 can be obtained, it is probable that it will be within a workable 
 distance from the surface. 
 
 PEAT. 
 
 It is probable that peat-beds, similar to those in the eastern 
 States, will be found in ISTebraska, especially in the vicinity 
 of sloughs, or of lands which are wet during a certain portion of 
 the year. Quite a number of muck-bogs may be seen on the bot- 
 
42 
 
 toms of the Platte, the Elkhorn, and Pebble Creek. These bogs 
 sometimes become so dry as to burn down several inches when 
 the prairie takes fire in the Pall of the year. 
 
 The peat is not only valuable for fuel, but also for manure. 
 For heating purposes it has a value almost equal to the poorer 
 kinds of coal, and if properly manufactured will prove an excel- 
 lent fuel. 
 
 IRON. 
 
 Iron ores, of a quality that can be worked to advantage, are 
 not found. A few scattered pieces of limonite (hydrated ses- 
 quioxide of iron) are found in the drift, and in the sandstone 
 of the Cretaceous period; but they are too siliceous and too 
 poor to be worked with success. 
 
 In some explorations on Calahan Creek, there were occasion- 
 ally found small pieces of compact carbonate of iron of the Coal 
 Measures. They did not appear to be abundant. It is possible 
 that this variety may be found in making explorations for coal. 
 
 MANGANESE. 
 
 An ore of manganese is found in a stratum about six inches 
 thick, covering the limestone of the Coal Measures at Larimer's 
 Mills. It is also found at Pontinelle. It is called black sand- 
 stone among the farmers, and will probably be of no commercial 
 importance. 
 
 BUILDING-STONE. 
 
 The limestone of the Coal Measures furnishes excellent build- 
 ing-stone, and is quarried extensively at Omaha, Bellevue, and 
 Larimer for that purpose, l^o proper attention has been paid to 
 the method of quarrying. It is done in the rudest way, by strip- 
 ping off the earth ; and as there is a limit beyond which this can 
 no longer be profitably done, the quarries are never extensive, 
 and the stone is of constantly varying quality. The quarries on 
 Pawnee Creek furnish a limestone so soft that it can be cut with 
 a saw and planed, like the building-stones around Paris. It 
 grows hard upon exposure, and makes a beautiful building-stone. 
 
 The Cretaceous sandstones are used to some extent for 
 foundations. These quarries cannot be depended upon, since the 
 
43 
 
 stone varies in quality. It is prized by the farmers, how- 
 ever, since where it is found it is the only rock. 
 
 GRAVEL. 
 
 Gravel and fine sands are found either on the bottoms of most 
 of the rivers, or a short distance below the surface, and will be 
 found useful for building purposes. 
 
 LIME. 
 
 The limestones of the Coal and Cretaceous fomiations furnish 
 very good materials for making lime. It can be manufactured very 
 cheaply, and requires no masonry. An excavation of the required 
 size and shape is made in the bluff, which, after the first fire, 
 will- become hardened, and retain its shape for a long time. The 
 necessary openings are cut through from below, and require no 
 support. When a kiln is burned it is covered over, to protect it 
 from the weather, and the lime drawn out as required. 
 
 HYDRAULIC CEMENT. 
 
 It is probable that stone suitable for making hydraulic cement 
 will be found. Some layers have all the exterior characters of 
 the hydraulic limestones. It is impossible to tell, without trial, 
 whether they are suitable for that purpose. 
 
 ARTIFICIAL BUILDING-STONE. 
 
 An artificial building-stone is growing in favor in Europe, and 
 is much used in Paris for certain purposes. It consists of a mix- 
 ture of sand and lime, with or without cement, in certain propor- 
 tions, according to the nature of the stone required. Its intro- 
 duction at Omaha has been undertaken by a company, and it 
 will probably be found economical, as the materials of which it 
 is made occur in great abundance. 
 
 BRICK. 
 
 The marl and clays of the bluff and the alluvial sands fur- 
 nish very good materials for manufacturing brick, and are 
 much used for that purpose. Machines are about to be intro- 
 duced for tlie manufacture of bricks, which will furnish them 
 
44 
 
 cheaper and of better quality than those made by hand. As the 
 materials for their manufactm-e are distributed over a very large 
 area, brick and the artificial building-stone will probably 
 supersede wood in constructions. 
 
 MILL SITES. 
 
 The smaller streams which have high earth banks fui*nish ex- 
 cellent sites for mills. Up to this time, but few dams have been 
 built, owing partly to the failure in the structure of some, from 
 want of knowledge, and partly to the fact that the Territory is 
 yet too thinly settled to demand many mills. 
 
 COKCLUSIOK. 
 
 It is evident from the foregoing description that Nebraska must 
 remain an agricultural country. For this it is destined by its geo- 
 graphical position, no less than its fertile soil and its climate. Tra- 
 versed by the great highway to the Pacific, and connected, there- 
 fore, by the shortest route, with the central mining districts of 
 the continent, it cannot fail to find, beyond its western borders, 
 a permanent market for its staple products. The facility 
 afibrded by its topography for the cultivation of large areas by 
 machine-labor, will enable Nebraska to keep pace with the in- 
 creasing demand of the future. Having once supplied the 
 great western market, it will control it, and the gold and silver 
 of the mountains will be exchanged in this Territory for grain 
 and stock. Adding to these favorable conditions the present 
 inducement of abundant cheap land, it is not difficult to foretell 
 for this region a rapid increase of population, and a prosperous . 
 future. 
 
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