xt7mpg1hj61z https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7mpg1hj61z/data/mets.xml Loughridge, R. H. (Robert Hills), 1843-1917. 1888  books b97-23-37603262 English J.D. Woods, public printer and binder, : Frankfort, Ky. : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Geology Kentucky. Report on the geological and economic features of the Jackson's Purchase region, embracing the counties of Ballard, Calloway, Fulton, Graves, Hickman, McCracken, and Marshall  / by R.H. Loughridge. text Report on the geological and economic features of the Jackson's Purchase region, embracing the counties of Ballard, Calloway, Fulton, Graves, Hickman, McCracken, and Marshall  / by R.H. Loughridge. 1888 2002 true xt7mpg1hj61z section xt7mpg1hj61z 

















A. D. 1888.

 




























6
U


a

U

 












GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF KENTUCKY.

        JOHN R. PROCTER, DIRECTOR.



             ,  I OPTH R   
                 ON THE



GEOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC



FEAT URES



OF THE



JACKSON'S PURCHASE REGION,
          EMBRACING THE COUNTIES OF



BALLARD, CALLOWAY, FULTON,



GRAVES,



HICKMAN, MCCRACKEN, AND
        MARSHALL.

  BY R. H. LOUGHRrDGE, PH. D.



STEREOTYPED FOR THE SURVEY BY JOHN D. WOODS, PUBLIC PRINTER AND BINDER, FRANKFORT, KY.

 This page in the original text is blank.

 



                TABLE OF CONTENTS.


                                                                        PAG3.
Letter of transmittal............... ...........                      . .  2
History of the Purchase.                                                 7
Surface configuration: Elevation; Lowlands; Uplands; Plateaus of varying
    elevations.                                                           8

DRAINAGE SYSTEMS: Tennessee basin; Clark's river basin; Ohio basin; Missis.
    sippi basin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES.    ....................                        16
GEOLOGICAL FEATURES: Border of the Purchase; Paleozoic shelf . . . . . . . 17
      Devonian .............. .                                           22
      Subcarboniferous ............          ....   ...   ..    ..        26
      Cretaceous .....................                  ...     ..        32
      Tertiary: Hickman; Lignitic; Lagrange  ....   .......     . . .   . 36
      Quaternary: Gravel beds; Tennessee river gravel; Ore region gravel;
        Gravel conglomerate  . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
      Stratified drift: Area covered; Deposition; Sand and sandstones .. . .63
      Port Hudson: Blue clays; Micaceous clay loam of valleys . . . . . . . 73
      Loess or grey silt: Shells from boess... . . . .. . . . . . . . . .   77
      Brown loam, lower and upper  ..... .  . .  .. ......        .   .   80
      Alluvium: Vr'ley gravel .... . .      ..      .                     82

ECONOMIC GEOLOGY.     ........................                            84
Clays: Uses; Methods of manufacture; Common brick; Front building brick;
    Terra-cottalumber; Fire-brick; Gas retorts; Pottery; Earthenware; White-
    ware and porcelain; Ornamental terra-cotta; Encaustic tile; Drain pipe or
    tile.                   ... .                                         84
Character of the Purchase clavs: Refractory clays; Hickman bluffs; Columbus
   bluffs; White plastic clays; Black or bluish clays; Comparison with Ger-
   man fire-clay; Unrefractory clays; Ochreous clays . . . . . . . . . .. 96
Lignite or brown coal.      . . . .      . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Iron ores: Of ore region gravel; Of later gravel; Clay ironstone; Magnetite;
   Iron pyrites   ....... . . . . . . . . . ...        . ... . ... . 122
Vivianite: Galena; Gypsum; Greensand; Sand; Polishing powder ... .      . 127
Water supply.         . .       ............ ... 134

AGRICULTURAL FEATURES .................                   . . . . .... 139
Lowlands: River. bottom lands; Bottoms of smaller streams; Valley lands;
   Tennessee; Ohio; Clark's river.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Uplands: Cane hills; Flatwoods; Barrens; Oak and hickory lands . . . . . . 156

 



4                        TABLE OF CONTENTS.

ANTIQUITIES: Fulton county; Hickman county; Ballard county; McCracken
   county; Marshall county ....................... . 173
Appendix I: Description of fossil plants from Tennessee  ... .  .   . ..... 196
Appendix II: Description of fossil plants from near Wickliffe . . . . . . . . . 198
Appendix III: Result of examination of material from bored well in Paducah. . 321

DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES; Fulton; Hickman; Ballard; McCracken; Marshall;



. . 201



Graves; Calloway ..............



ILLUSTRATIONS, SECTIONS, ETC.



Ds.wn the Tennessee river, Callowvay county
Cretaceous beds at mouth of Cypress.
Hickman Bluffs...     ............
Bluff at Columbus ..............
Irregular and cross lamination of sands at Colun
Plain east of Columbus. Chalk Banks and Missi
Railroad cut near Boaz . . . . . . . . ..
Escarpment of the bluff at Columbus
Swamp cypress, Calloway county.
Bartram oak, Calloway county ........
Indian fortification two miles east of Hickman
Indian mounds on Bayou de Chien   .. ...
Indian fortification two miles south of Laketon
Indian mounds south of Mayfield creek ....
Indian mounds at Wickliffe .........
Indian footprints in sand rock ........
Indian mounds on Jonathan creek .. ....
Indian characters on rock at Haddock's Ferry
Sketch of fossil leaves from Tennessee .....
Section of clay showing markings .......
Sketch showing section of the Paducah well ai
   strata .



..... . Frontispiece.
.. . . . . . .   35
..  . . . .  . .  38



.....  .   .4.7.. ..   . .  4
ibus ........ .. . 54
;sippi river ........... 55
............... 67
..7.9.... ... . .. .     .  9
..... . .  . . .   . .    150
....... . . .. . . .. 168
............... 175
.177.... . . . . . . . .  . __
.......  ... ... ..    . 181
...... ...... ....... .........182
........ . .. .. .. 185
...... ....    . . .. . 189
.. . . . . . . . . . . . .   193
......I........ 194
  ........ .. ...       . 197
      ............ 269
rid the great fault in Paleozoic



..... ..   .  323



                                   MAPS.
Maps showing geology and elevations.
Showing agricultural features.
Showing deposition of gravel beds.



.. . . . .
.. . . . .
.. . . . .



. .. . . .

 


LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.



Professor JoHN R. PROCTER, Director:
  SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith my report on
that portion of Kentucky lying between the Tennessee and
Mississippi rivers, and known as the Jackson Purchase.
  The report embraces:
  1. A description of the general topographical, geological,
economic and agricultural features.
  2. A chapter on antiquities.
  3. A description of each of the seven counties included in
the region.
  The report having, for the most part, been prepared before
the organization of all of that part of Ballard county south
of Mayfield creek into the new county of Carlisle, it would
have required much time and labor to revise the work with
reference to that county; then, too, the maps that accom-
pany the report were already engraved and published, and
to have made new ones would have entailed a very heavy
expense upon the Survey. Under the circumstances, there-
fore, reference to the county of Carlisle is omitted.
  It gives me pleasure to say that in my field work I have
met with every encouragement on the part of the citizens
of the region, many of whom gave me very material assist-
ance. Among these may be mentioned Mr. W. F. Bradshaw,
Dr. S. C. Caldwell and Capt. Golay (U. S. Engineer Corps),
of Paducah; Mr. Lilley, of Birmingham, and Mr. Ed Brown,
of Buffalo Landing.
The Survey is also indebted to Mr. W. Taylor, Superin-
tendent, and Karl Langenbeck, Ph. D., Chemist of the Rook-
wood Pottery, Cincinnati, for tests made with more than
thirty samples of clays sent from the Purchase counties.
The specimens of crude "biscuit ware" and of beautifully

 

6                LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.

decorated ware, have been presented to the Survey museum,
and have been the object of great admiration on the part
of visitors.
  To Prof. Wetherby, of Cincinnati, the Survey is indebted
for determinations of shells from the Loess bluffs; to Mr.
Angelo Heilprin for that of Tertiary fossil casts from near
Paducah, and to the U. S. Geological Survey for identifi-
cation of fossil flora from the clays and clay-stones of the
Tertiary of Kentucky.
  With assurances of my high appreciation for the cordial
assistance and uniform courtesy which I have received from
yourself and from the officers of the Survey,
                         I am, very respectfully,
               R. H. LOUGHRIDGE, Assistant Geologist.

 


          JACKSON'S PURCHASE.


  The country embraced between the Mississippi, Ohio and
Tennessee rivers, and the Tennessee State line on the south,
and covering an area of about 2,340 square miles, is com-
monly known as "Jackson's Purchase," from the fact of its
having been purchased from the Chickasaw Indians by Gen.
Andrew Jackson, a commissioner appointed on the part of
the United States to make a treaty with them.
  The history of the purchase, so far as I have been able to
ascertain from records and other sources, is as follows:
  The Legislature of Ken9tcky, for the session of 1817, re-
cognizing the right and title of that region as belonging to
the Chickasaw Indiane, memorialized Congress to purchase
the lands from the Indians  This was acceded to, and Gov.
Isaac Shelby for Kentucky, and (Gen. Andiew Jackson for
Tennessee, were appointed commissimneri by the President.
They met with the Indian Council at King's Mountain. The
Indians, however, had so strong an animosity toward Gov.
Shelby that they refused to treat with him, and Jackson was
obliged to conclude the treaty in his own name, promising,
on the part of the United States, to pay 20,000 annually
for fifteen years. The treaty was signed on October 19, 1818.
  The following Legislature of Kentucky, recognizing the
fact that the State had "recently come into possession of a
large additional territory," passed an act for the survey of
the line between this State and Tennessee.
  The Purchase region became then a part of Livingston
and Caldwell counties, but in 1821 was formed into Hick-
man county; the same act also outlining three other counties
which should be organized so soon as the population justi-
fied it. Calloway was, formed in 1822, Graves in 1823, and
McCracken in 1824.
In 1842 Marshall county was cut off from Calloway, and
Ballard from Hickman, and in 1845 McCracken and Fulton
were organized from Hickman.

 


GEOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC FEATURES



  The Purchase now embraces the seven counties above
enumerated, and had in 1880 an aggregate population of
96,348 persons, a little over one-half of whom were males.
The number of voters in 1880 was 21,588.
  In 1830 the population of the Purchase was 14,163, which
was more than doubled in the next decade; the county
of Graves receiving the largest accessions. Each succeeding
census shows a continued increase in population.
  Graves took the lead among the counties in 1850, and has
kept that place to the present time, her population number-
ing 24,138. McCracken ranks next, 16,262, nearly half of
whom are included in the city of Paducah.
  The surface of the country is very generally rolling, and
more or less broken and irregular from the many streams
and small tributaries that have deeply cut their way into
it. The broad areas of comparatively level uplands occupy-
ing the water-divides in various parts of the region, are
themselves qu; te generally grooved wvith ravines and gullies
along the borders of the streams the light brown loam soil
being easily boine away duning washing rains. On the large
creeks and rivers the country is generally very deeply eroded,
forming "breaks" or a broken and rough country. Such
is especially the case along the north and east borders of
Mayfield creek.
  The most broken portions lie along the Tennessee river on
the east, through Ca4loway and Marshall counties, and along
the Mississippi river bluffs from the State line northward to
the town of Hickman. There are, however, no prominent
high points in any part of the region other than those that
represent the remnants of what was once a broad plain, and
whose summits are no higher than the general level of the
country.

ELEV-ATION.-The altitude determinations, as given on the
map accompanying this report, were made chiefly with an
aneroid barometer. The readings being frequently repeated
and corrected for weather changes, with the low-water de-
terminations made by the United States engineers between
New Madrid and Paducah to serve as a base, it is believed

 


OF THE JACKSON'S PURCHAIS REGION.



that the elevations as given are approximately correct.
Back-water from the Paducah flood in 1883, along the vari-
ous streams, also furnished points from which to check ba-
rometer readings.

  Low Lands.-Between Cairo and Hickman the Mississippi
river has a fall of sixteen feet. The low-water mark of the
river at Hickman is 256 feet above the sea; the wide bot-
tom lands, subject to yearly overflows, being estimated to be
about 295 feet, while the old depot of the N. C. & St. L.
R. R. is 301 feet. The bluffs rise 160 feet higher, that por-
tion of the town being 461 feet above the sea. The town of
Columbus, further up the river and located on its bank, has
an altitude of about 309 feet, while above it the bluffs rise
abruptly for 125 feet.
  From Cairo to Paducah the Ohio has a rise of fourteen
feet, low-water mark at the latter place being 286 feet. Above
this, as shown by the river gauze, the banks rise fifty feet,
the town of Paducah having an altitude of 341 feet above th
sea.
  The Tennessee river, so far as can be ascertained, has a fall
of about fifteen feet from the Tennessee State line to Paducah.
Its eastern bank is at the immediate foot of Subcarboniferoas
limestone and flint bluffs, while on the west the hills lie from
one-half mile to one mile from the bank. The bottom land
proper is an extremely narrow belt (too much so to be marked
on the map) subject to annual overflows. The rest of the val-
ley is mostly above overflow, and the central portion is higher
than that near the hills, which is usually occupied by a slough
or creek. From its border, the hills rise rather suddenly to
elevations of from 160 feet on the south to 100 feet on the
north.
  Clark's river has scarcely any bottom land, but is bordered
on the west by a broad and level valley, an extension of the
Ohio river valley, as far south as Carter's Mill or Kaler Post-
office, a distance of nearly twelve miles in a direct line from
   The elevation of Paducab, as given by the C. 0. and S. W. R. R., and publikhed
in the Dictionary of Altitudes of the United States Geological Survey, is 484 feet-
the error extending also eastward for all the railroal stations in the Purchase region.



9

 


GEOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC FEATURES



its mouth. Back-water from the Paducah overflow reached
to Lyle's Mill, showing a fall of about fifty feet to low-water
at Paducah. On the East Fork of Clark's river the back-
water reached to within three miles of the bridge at Benton.
  Mayfield creek, emptying into the Mississippi river, is bor-
dered by broad bottom lands to almost its source. There is a
fall of about sixty feet in the river from near Mayfield to
Blandville, to which back-water from Mississippi floods reaches
through a distance of only seven miles. On the north the
uplands rise abruptly to 120 feet above the creek; but on the
south they rise more gradually for several miles before they
reach the same elevation as on the north. An exception to
this feature occurs at the junction of Mayfield and Mississippi
bottoms, where the high bluffs that face the latter river have
been cut in two by Mayfield creek, and present abrupt points
both on the north and south.
  There is a difference of between thirty and forty feet between
the levels of the waters of Mayfield creek and Clark's river
at the points where they come nearest each other, viz.: Boaz
and Kaler, a distance of four miles.
  Obion creek and Bayou de Chien are each bordered by
wide and low bottoms, subject to overflow. Back-water from
Mississippi river floods reaches up the former to a point east
of Columbus; and on the Bayou de Chien to a little above
the mouth of Little Bayou de Chien.

  UPLANDS.-The highest elevation of the entire region is
along the dividing ridge from Pilot Oak, in Graves county,
eastward to Lynnville, and thence southward to the Ten-
nessee line, south of Murray, where an altitude of 600 feet
is reached; this then passes south-eastward towards the Ten-
nessee river east of Paris, in the State of Tennessee.
  The next highest portion of the Purchase region, that
lying about 500 feet above sea level, occurs on the south-east,
forming a broad section from the Tennessee line northward for
about ten miles, and westward beyond Crossland; embracing,
also, the narrow water-divide that farther north reaches west-
ward by Lynnville and Pilot Oak and separates the head
waters of Mayfield, Obion and Bayou de Chien from those



10

 


OF THE JACKSON'S PURCHASE REGION.



which flow south into Tennessee; other northerly extensions
reach to Farmington and Kirksey.    The surface presents
broad and comparatively level plateaus west of the Blood
river, not so much furrowed by erosions as are the lower
elevations of the Purchase, though small streams are numer-
ous. East of Blood river the country is very broken and
hilly, the streams having cut deeply and broadly into the
loam and gravel material.
  The third plateau of from 450 to 500 feet chiefly lies imme-
diately north of the one just mentioned, reaching to Benton, in
Marshall county; while westward two long narrow arms pass,
the one south-west to the Tennessee line south of Feliciana,
and thence east to Crossland; the other northward for ten or
more miles, and thence north-westward nearly to Woodville,
and on a course toward the Grand Chain of the Ohio; its
northward trend forms the summit of the dividing ridge
separating the waters of the Mayfield creek and West Fork
of Clark's river, rising abruptly from the former, but imme-
diately sloping towards the latter. The contour is highest
to the southward, where it gradually rises to the higher
elevations.
  Another plateau of the same elevation occurs on a high
bluff bordering the Mississippi river, from Hickman south
into Tennessee, presenting a very abrupt face toward the
west, and sloping eastward from its immediate edge.
  There is very little room for doubt that it once continued
not only westward over the region where now the Mississippi
river flows, but northward to Illinois, to be subsequently cut
away by erosions.
  At the Tennessee line the plateau falls gradually eastward
for several miles, but in the region of Hickman it is narrow,
and its eastern side is rather abrupt.
  Between the Bayou de Chien and the Obion the upland has
receded eastward beyond the bluff plateau, and it is only after
passing to the north of the latter stream that we again find it,
but then with an elevation but little above the main upland.
The bluff northward has a north-west trend which again
brings it toward the high plateau region, and its elevation
increases to 430 feet at Chalk Banks and Columbus, which



it

 


GEOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC FEATURES



points are five miles east of a direct north and south line
from Hickman. The bluffs here also have a gradual eastward
slope, the highest points being on the immediate brows of the
abrupt face.
  Between Columbus and Chalk Banks (two miles below) the
bluffs recede to the eastward, and have a much lower eleva-
tion. Still northward toward Wickliffe and beyond, the ele-
vations are less and less as the bluffs bend to the eastward
or away from the supposed line of high plateau.
  At Hickman the bluffs seem to have been cut away by
eroding floods, whole course was from the north-west, act-
ioig at the same time upon the entire line of bluffs from
Cairo southward. 
  The fourth area, embracing elevations of from 4(0 to 450
feet, forms a diagonal stretch of country from near the
Tennessee river on the north-east to near Clinton on the
south-west, extending also to the north-west on the north
side of Mayfield creek, and embracing the narrow bluffs
along the Mississippi river from Mayfield creek to Co-
lumbus, and southward, and also a broader region on the
south-west near the Tennessee line.
  The lowest uplands, with elevation of from 350 to 400 feet,
embrace the flats or -valley lands along the Tennessee and
Ohio rivers, and a broad region reaching from Mayfield creek
southward to the Tennessee line.
  The former differ greatly from the latter, and will be sepa-
rately described elsewhere.
  The surface of the latter is uneven from erosions by numer-
ous streams.
The deep trough-like depressions in the western portion of
the plain, would seem to have been caused by the debouche-
ment of the rapid and deep current of the Mississippi river
into the embayment in their south-westerly course, before
its momentum was checked.
  The north side was apparently deeply eroded by impact of
the Ohio river current.



 Crowley's ridge in the Mississippi river bottom in Arkansas, with its altitude
160 feet above the river, is doubtless a relic of the plateau.



12

 


OF THE JACKSON'S PURCHASE REGION.



  DRAINAGE.--A dividing ridge, lying nearly east and west
along the Tennessee State line, forms the Purchase region
into a water-shed; the Tennessee on the east, flowing north-
ward, the Ohio on the north, flowing westward, and the Mis-
sissippi river on the west, flowing southward, receiving almost
the entire drainage water, the area drained south into the
State of Tennessee covering only about eighty-five square
miles.
  The respective areas drained by each river are approxi-
mately 850 square miles into the Tennessee, 250 square miles
into Ohio, and 1,150 square miles into the Mississippi direct.
  The general course of all of the larger interior streams is
to the north and north-west; those entering the Tennessee
river on the east flowing almost parallel with it for. many
miles before turning east.
  Tennessee Basin.-The north and south basin of the Ten-
nessee, omitting that of Clark's river, is narrow, not exceed-
ing twelve miles in its greatest width within.this State; its
area is about 350 square miles. The only tributaries of note
are Blood river, in Calloway county, which, rising in Ten-
nessee, flows northward ten miles and turns abruptly to the
east, with a width of about twenty-five feet; .Jonathan's
creek, rising in the northern part of Calloway, flowing north
for twelve miles, turns east three miles to the Tennessee Val-
ley, and again north to the river; and Big and Little Bear
creek, the former lying within the valley, the latter in
the hills, but both uniting and emptying into the river.
These streams are narrow, and have but narrow bottom
lands on either side.
  Cypress creek, another tributary, rises near Briensburg and
flows northward until it reaches the river flats, when it turns
westward for six miles, parallel with the general course of
the Tennessee river throughout. Its bottom lands, before
reaching the valley, are very broad, presenting, during cer-
tain seasons of the year, an almost impassable cypress swamp
several miles in width. After entering the valley there is
scarcely any bottom land along the creek.
  Clark's River Basin.-This stream, with its two forks and



13

 


GEOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC FEATURES



tributaries, drains an area of about 500 square miles. The
head waters of each fork are near together; thence the
WVest Fork flows nearly northward and the East Fork east-
ward for nine miles, the latter then bends northward and
north-westward by Murray and Benton, uniting with the
former about five miles in a due course from the junction
with the Tennessee river. The main river is narrow, flows
between steep banks, and has but little true bottom land,
being bordered by a broad flat valley region. Each of the
forks has, on the contrary, from one-fourth to one-half mile
of well-timbered bottom land.
  Ohio Basin.-The area drained by streams running into the
Ohio direct is about 250 square miles, embracing the coun-
try sonth of the river, almost to the bluffs of Mayfield
creek.
  The streams are mostly very small, and have very little
bottom land. Massac, Clanton and Humphrey's creeks are
the largest, the latter two uniting just before emptying into
the river. Shawnee creek, south of Humphrey's creek, while
flowing west into the Ohio bottom lands, turns immediately
southward with a slough-like channel to the Mississippi river
at Wickliffe.
  J8issi8.ippi Basin.-The main drainage streams of the
Mississippi Basin are Mayfield, Obion and Bayou de Chien.
  An interesting feature connected with the Mayfield and
Bayou de Chien is, that they drain very little of the coun-
try on the north of their banks; and that the north bluffs
of the Ohio and Mayfield creek are high and precipitous,
while on the south of each the country rises very gradually
for many miles before assuming the elevation of the north
bluffs.
  Mayfield creek rises in the southern central part of the
region, flows northward to within twelve miles of the Ohio
river, and turns quite abruptly west to the Mississippi. Its
basin, covering an area of 390 square miles, is, south of May-
field, quite wide, but narrows at Mayfield and northward to
but four or five miles, while in its westerly course it receives
the drainage waters of a large scope of country on the south.



14

 


OF THE JACKSON'S PURCHASE REGION.



  The divide between these two parts of the basin lies just
east of Kansas, Pottsville and Anytime, but is low and
scarcely perceptible. From the east and north the creek
receives very little drainage, the high bluffs being often the
summit of the water-divide. These bluffs border the bot-
tom land from the Mississippi river bottoms east and south
nearly to Mayfield, with an elevation of about 120 feet.
They then become lower and less abrupt. On the south the
lands rise gradually from low and rounded bluffs for many
miles, reaching, at Milburn and Fancy Farm, the elevation
of the bluffs north of the creek.
  The main tributary is Little Mayfield creek, which rises
near Mayfield and unites with the main stream near Bland-
ville. Wilson's creek is another tributary. Mayfield and
Little Mayfield creeks have wide and well-timbered bottom
lands.
  The Obion creek drains a basin of about 250 square miles,
with head waters near those of Mayfield creek; it flows
north-west into the southern part of Ballard county, and
abruptly turns west and south-west into the Mississippi river
not far above Hickman. It has comparatively large tribu-
taries on each side. Its banks are steep and regular, and
the stream is not very wide.
  The Bayou de Chien, the last important stream of the
region, also has its head waters in the south and central
part of the Purchase region, and has a general westerly
course to the Mississippi river. Its basin covers an area of
165 square miles. The tributaries are Cane, Little Bayou de
Chien, Big Mud and Snapneck creeks. The creek enters the
Mississippi about a mile above the town of Hickman, or one
and a half miles below the mouth of the Obion.
  There is little doubt that these two streams were once
united a little westward from their present mouths, and
flowed southward near the line of bluffs and independent of
the river, through what are now wide sloughs, and through
Reelfoot Lake into the Obion river, many miles south in
Tennessee, and thence to the Mississippi river. Not more
than thirty years ago there was a wide slough and bottom
land west of the present town of Hickman, where now the



16

 


GEOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC FEATURES



river has its most rapid current, and the mouths of the
Obion and Bayou de Chien were within 300 yards of each
other. The Morrow slough, in its course through the bot-
tom and in the continuation of its channel through the lake
and southward, resembles verv much the channels of the
creeks.

  TRANSPORTATrON.-The three rivers that form the three
sides of the Purchase region afford splendid and regular
transportation facilities for the contiguous country, and at
all seasons of the year, unless blocked with ice in winter.
The smaller streams in the interior are not at all navi-
gable, and, except for logging, they play no part in the
transportation problem.
  There are also several railroads which run through the
region, and afford to the central and western sections addi-
tional facilities.
  The C., 0. & S. W. R. R., connecting Paducah with Lou-
isville, runs south-westward via Fulton to Memphis, and
thence to the great south-west. The Illinois Central system,
reaching to Chicago on the north and New Orleans on the
south, enters the region at Cairo and passes out at Fulton.
The M. and 0. R. R., reaching from Mobile northward,
enters the State at Jordan, and runs to Cairo; a branch of
two miles length, from South Columbus to Columbus, con-
nects with the St. L. and Iron Mt. R. R.
  Hickman is connected with Nashville by the N. C. &
St. L. R. R. The above roads cross each other at different
Points southward in Tennessee. Hack lines (daily), carrying
United States mails, connect Paducah with Benton, and on
alternate days with Blandville. Murray has a daily line to
Paris, Tennessee, and on alternate days to Mayfield. There
are daily mails between Mayfield and Columbus via Fancy
Farm, Milburn and Arlington; also between Wickliffe and
Blandville. Merchandise is brought to Murray from the
Tennessee river by wagons. The roads over most of the
region are in winter almost impassable.



16

 


OF THE JACKSON'S PURCHASE REGION.



                GEOWGICAL FEATURES.
  The Purchase region occupies an interesting geologic posi-
tion almost at the extreme northern extension of what was
once a bay or arm of the ocean, reaching northward from
the extreme south, and whose waters washed the Paleozoic
shores on the east and west. The northern shore line of the
embayment extended across the southern part of Illinois,
beginning below the mouth of the Cumberland, at New Lib-
erty on the east, and reaching south-westward parallel with
the Ohio river and but a few miles from it, until at a
point about fifteen miles north of Paducah it turned sharply
westward to within fifteen miles of the Mississippi, when it
bent south-west to the river at Santa Fe, opposite Com-
merce on the Missouri shore. The Tennessee river marks
what was then the eastern side of the embayment, while on
the west the shore line was twenty or thirty miles beyond
the present position of the Mississippi.
  Within the region the following geologic formations have
been observed. They are given in the order of position, be-
ginning with the most recent or topmost:
  ALLUVIUM (of river and creek bottoms).
  QUATERNARY.
      Brown loam; surface loams of uplands.
      Loess; grey silt of Mississippi bluffs.
      Port Hudson (Hilgard' s Louisiana); stiff dark and
      bluish clays with calcareous concretions, under the
      river alluviun, and overlaid in the Ohio valley by
        micaceous loam.
      Stratifled Drift; rounded chert and quartz gravel in-
      terstratified with coarse sand, the whole more or less
      stained and cemented with iron oxide.
  TERTIARY.
     Lagrange (of Safford's Tennessee); stiff plastic clays,
       variegated in color and interstratified with whitish
       sand, and holding impressions of leaves.
       Lignitic; blackish arenaceous clay and clay-stone, with
       leaf impressions and beds of lignite and lignitic
       peat.
    GEOL. SuR.-2



17

 


GEOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC FEATURES



      Porter's Creek (of Safford's Tennessee); massive and
        jointed clays (locally called "soapstone"), somewhat
        micaceous, blackish when wet, dark grey when dry.
      Hickman (provisional, of the Hickman bluff); siliceous.
        clay-stone over a thick bed of buff-colored clays.
  CRETACEOUS.
      Ripley; black clay in very thin laminge, separated by
        fine white and highly micaceous sand; beds of sharp
        angular white and yellow micaceous sand, 100 feet
        thick.
  SUBCARBONIFEROUS.
      Lower (or silicious, of Safford's Tennessee); heavy lime-
        3tone beds intercalated with dark flint layers.
  DEVONIAN.
      A region or belt of massive quartzose sand - rocks