Scenes and Adventures in the Semi-Alpine Region of the Ozark Mountains of Missouri and Arkansas

by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft

Iron is a mineral common to all parts of the western country. One of its most remarkable localities is the head of the river St. Francis, in Missouri Territory, where it extends through a considerable part of Madison and Washington counties. The most noted body is called the Iron Mountain, and is situated about forty miles west of the Mississippi, in Bellevieu, Washington county. The ore is here found in immense masses, and forms the southern extremity of a lofty ridge of hills, which consists chiefly of red granite, but terminates, in a rich alluvial plain, in a mass of solid ore. It is chiefly the micaceous oxide, accompanied by the red oxide, and by iron-glance. It melts very easily, producing a soft, malleable iron.

Coal is not less common, and may be considered among those extensive mineral formations which stretch, in so remarkable a manner, throughout the vast basin included between the Alleghany and Rocky mountains. Salt and gypsum may also be referred to the same great geological formations, as they are to be traced, accompanying each other, from the western section of New York, to the southern banks of the Arkansas, where immense quantities of salt and gypsum exist. Clay, flint, ochre of various kinds, saltpetre, alum, reddle, soapstone, plumbago, oil-stone, marble, serpentine, &c., may be enumerated among the useful minerals of less importance, which characterize that region.

III. "To what extent and advantage do you think the mines might be worked, under proper management and superintendence?"

IV. "Are the laws of Congress, which have been passed in relation to our lead-mines, salutary in their operation?"

I have stated the amount of lead annually produced by the Missouri mines at three millions of pounds, which, on reflection, I think is sufficiently high. But there are numerous difficulties opposed to the successful progress of mining in that country, by the removal of which, the amount would be greatly augmented. Some of these difficulties arise from the peculiar nature of the business, from a want of skill, or of mining capital in those by whom mining operations are conducted; but by far the greatest obstacle results from the want of a systematic organization of the mining interest by the United States, or from defects in existing laws on the subject.

Immediately after the occupation of Louisiana by the United States, inquiry was made into the situation and extent of the mines; and a law was passed, reserving all mines discovered on the public lands, and authorizing the territorial executive for the time being to lease out such mines for a period of three years. A radical defect in this law appears always to have been, that there was not, at the same time, authorized the appointment of a specific agent for the general management and superintendence of mines. Such an officer has long been called for, not less by the public interest, than by the intelligent inhabitants of the western country, who feel how nearly a proper development of its mineral wealth is connected with their individual prosperity and national independence. The superintendent should reside in the mine country, and such a salary should be attached to the office as to induce a man of science to accept it. His duty should be to report annually to Congress the state of the mines, their produce, new discoveries, and proposed alterations in existing laws. He should lease out and receive rents for the public mines—prevent the destruction of timber on mineral lands, and the working of mines without authority, and should be charged with the investigation of the physical and geographical mineralogy of the country. At present, the most flagrant violations of the laws are practised—mines are worked without leases—wood is destroyed on lands which are only valuable for the wood and the lead-ore they contain; and the government derives but a small revenue from those celebrated mines, which, whether we consider their vast extent, the richness of the ore, or the quantity of metal they are capable of annually producing, are unparalleled by any other mineral district in the world.

There is another feature in the existing law, which is not beneficial in its operation. It is that clause restricting the terms of leases to three years. To embark in mining operations with profit, it is necessary to sink shafts and galleries, build engines, and erect other necessary works, which are, in some degree, permanent in their nature, and require much time and expense in their completion. A considerable part of the period must, therefore, elapse before the mine can be put in a state for working; and no sooner is that done, and it begins to afford a profit, and promises a reward for the expense incurred, than the expiration of the lease throws all these works into the hands of some new adventurer, or more successful applicant. This prevents many from engaging in mining on the public lands, and especially those who would be best able to prosecute the business; and of the number who take leases, a great proportion continue to pursue the desultory method of mining in alluvial[20] ground, introduced at an early period by the French, but which is attended with very great uncertainty.

Improvements remain also to be introduced in regard to the processes of mining, the furnaces employed, and the method of raising the ore. Inseparable from this subject is the distribution of more enlarged practical and scientific views of mining and minerals generally, which might, in a great degree, be effected by the dissemination of practical treatises on the subject, or by the employment of experienced and skilful miners from Europe.

When such improvements shall be effected, with others to which it is not necessary here to advert—when miners are properly secured in the object of their pursuit, either by permanent purchases from government, or by leases for a long period of years—and when the facilities for transportation which that country is destined to afford, by the improved navigation of its streams, and by the introduction of turnpikes, roads, and bridges, are introduced, there is reason to conclude that the annual amount of lead produced will far surpass the proceeds of those mines under the present arrangement, and, indeed, it is impossible to calculate the extent to which it may be carried. It is, perhaps, a moderate estimate to say, that they are capable of being made to yield, by judicious management, six millions of pounds of lead per annum, and that they will furnish employment to three thousand hands.

During my late tour throughout the western country, including nearly a year's residence in the interior of Missouri, I devoted much time to this interesting subject, and have been enabled to collect a body of facts on the physical resources and character of that country, and particularly of its mines and minerals, which it is my design to lay before the public. I must, therefore, refer you to this work, which is now in press, for further details on this subject, and, in the mean time, I beg your indulgent perusal of this hasty outline.