REPORT ON THE BEVIER SHEET.

BY C. H. GORDON, Assistant Geologist.

INTRODUCTION.

AREA AND LOCATION-RAILWAYS-TOWNS-INDUSTRIES.

AREA AND LOCATION.

The Bevier sheet comprises the southwestern part of Macon county, and also portions of Chariton and Randolph counties. It is named from the town of Bevier, in the north eastern corner. The area represented by the sheet is a quadrilateral of fifteen minutes extent in longitude and latitude, and covers 230.04 square miles. It is included between the lines 39° 30' and 39° 45' of north latitude and lines 92° 30' and 92° 45′ of longitude west of Greenwich. It is in the central part of that portion of Missouri which lies north of the Missouri river. Its location with respect to county lines is shown. in the following diagram:

Fig. 1.-Outline map showing the position of the Bevier sheet in Macon and

adjacent counties

RAILWAYS.

The only railway, exactly speaking within the area, is the Hannibal & St. Joe road, which enters the sheet at the northeastern corner and passes out at the north before traversing half the distance from east to west. A small branch of the Wabash railway connects Ardmore with Excello for the transportation of coal. Both of these roads are, however, contiguous to the sheet along the whole northern and eastern sides.

TOWNS.

No towns of importance occur within the limits of the sheet.

Bevier is a small town located in the northeastern part of the area on the Hannibal & St. Joe railway. It is a mining town, and one of the oldest in this section. There are nine mines in operation by five different companies. The population of the place, according to the result of the Eleventh census, is 876.

Ardmore is the center of the coal industry in the eastern part of the sheet. It is of recent growth, and its inhabitants consist solely of the operatives of the adjacent mines. It is connected with the Wabash railway at Excello by a switch. The population is not over a few hundred.

College Mound is an old town of inhabitants characterized by no special industries and supported by country trade. It is the center of a rich agricultural region. Its chief interest, however, is centered in McGee College, from which it takes its name.

Darkville consists of a few houses, a church and a store for supplying the local trade.

Thomas Hill is likewise of small dimensions, but has an additional interest in the coal mine which is operated there on a small scale.

Other places are, Rolling Home, Grand Center, Hubbard, Kaseyville, Barryville and Lagonda, which consist, for the most part, of a store and postoffice for the convenience of the surrounding country.

INDUSTRIES.

The industries of the region are restricted to agriculture and coal mining. With some exceptions, all of the sheet included between Middle fork and Chariton river is well adapted to agriculture, and for the most part, is in a good state of cultivation. Between East and Middle forks agriculture gives scant rewards, excepting over the higher portions of the hills. While the chief interest centers in coal, the total value of shipments is only about 68% of that of agricultural products, or about 40% of that of the total shipments. The farm products consist chiefly of hay, fruit, wheat, oats and corn, and, in addition, largenumbers of cattle, hogs and other live stock are raised and shipped. 1

PHYSIOGRAPHY.

TOPOGRAPHY-HYDROGRAPHY-SOILS-FORESTRY.

TOPOGRAPHY.

The tract included in this report is occupied mainly by the two divides extending from north to south and separating the adjacent valleys of East fork and Chariton rivers, in the order named, from east to west. It includes four plateaus, which may be termed the eastern-border, eastern-central, western-central and western-border areas.

The Eastern-Border Area.-The eastern-border area is limited in extent, including only the western margin of the "Grand Divide," where it is scalloped and ravined by the numerous and widely-branching secondaries of East fork. This stream enters the sheet near the northeastern corner and flows approximately southward, leaving the area for a short distance in the upper half, however. With the steep-bluffed ravines it occu pies a strip from two to three miles wide, though its bottoms do not usually exceed three-fourths of a mile in width. At

1 From figures given by the State Labor Commissioner, Hon. Willard C. Hall, in his report for 1891, the value of shipments of various products from railway points in Macon county during the year 1891 was, in round numbers, as follows: Coal, $553,000; cattle, $253,000; hogs, $196,000; horses and mules, $126,000; fruit, 29,000; wheat, $21,000; and hay, $19,000.

Macon City, just beyond the sheet, the altitude of the "Grand" Divide" is 890 feet,1 and from here it slopes gradually southward to Jacksonville, where the altitude is 861 feet. Erosion has reduced thistoward the west, so that the highest points in the strip included within the sheet are about 800 feet A. T.

The Eastern-Central Plateau.-The divide included between East and Middle forks is from five to six miles wide. It is sharply incised along its eastern margin, but broadly scalloped and crenulated, and with longer and gentler slopes, on its western side along Middle fork. The interior is generally well drained by more or less important secondaries, which take their rise in widely-branching dendritic systems, sharply incised in the plateaus. The crest of the divide occupies an irregular line from one to two miles west of the channel of East fork. Its highest point is just east and north of Bevier, on the road to Macon City, where its altitude is 878 feet. It slopes southward within a mile or two to about 850 feet, which altitude it maintains to near the southern limits of the sheet, where it descends to less than 820 feet. The chief drainage is thus seen to be toward the west into Middle fork, though the more important secondaries partake more or less of the general southward flow of the streams of this region. Especially is this true of Claybank creek, in the western-central part of the divide, and of Muncas and Dark creeks, in the southern portion.

The Western Central Plateau. This plain is included between Middle fork and Chariton river, and varies from three and one-half to five miles in width. On either side it is bordered by gradually sloping margins, broadly scalloped by the lateral drainage. Gentle slopes constitute an especial feature of its topography. In the southeast only do we find anything corresponding to the abrupt declivities and sharply incised drainage of the eastern areas.

Here, also, we find the highest altitudes at the north (840 ft. A. T.), with a gradual slope to about 760 ft. A. T., near the southern line. At the north the crest line is farthest from Middle fork, which thus drains the largest area, as in the preceding case. But, in the southern half the conditions are reversed, the crest line approaching Middle fork; the principal

1 The Hannibal & St Joe track in front of the depot is 867 feet; the Wabash Ry at the crossing of the Hannibal & St. Joe road is 886.5 feet.-Gannett's Dictionary of Altitudes Bulletin No. 5, U. S. Geol. Survey.

drainage, therefore, is westward into the Chariton river. The principal secondary is Morrow creek, which drains the northern central portion, traversing it from north to south, and emptying into Middle fork in the vicinity of Grand Center.

The Western-Border Area. This area consists of a narrow, pointed tract, bordered on the east by the Chariton valley and terminating on the south near the northwest corner of township 55 N., 16 W. The greatest width of this tract little exceeds two and one-half miles. Along its eastern margin the surface is abrupt and incised by many short, steep and widely branching ravines, which open into the valley of the Chariton river. Its central portion is drained by Puzzle creek, a southward flowing stream emptying into the Chariton river. Along this creek the slopes are comparatively gentle.

Altitudes. The altitude of the Chariton river valley varies from 650 feet to 690 feet A. T.; that of Middle fork from 675 feet to 740 feet A. T., and that of East fork from 700 feet to 760 feet A. T.