Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/18

xii, notably Iron, St. Francois and Wayne. Copper and zinc are also taken in connection with lead and other minerals are mined on a smaller scale.

There exist great quantities of fine clays and some of the largest deposits of sand fit for glass making in the United States. Besides these there are immense quantities of valuable building stone both lime stone and granite and also considerable quantities of a good quality of sand stone.

The north part of this district is drained largely by the Maramee river which has its source in Maramee springs in Dent county and flows north and east emptying into the Mississippi on the line dividing Jefferson county from St. Louis county. It is a picturesque and beautiful stream and with it are connected some of the earliest events in the history of the state. It receives a number of small tributaries from both north and south. The principal tributary of the Maramee on the south is Big river which rises in Washington county, flows north through Washington and Jefferson counties and empties into the Maramee in Jefferson county. It is not navigable but is a very beautiful stream and has considerable water-power yet undeveloped. All the eastern part of the district is drained by streams which flow to the east and empty into the Mississippi. South of the Maramee are Saline creek, Aux Vases, Cinquehomme, Apple Creek and Cape LaCroix creek; these streams with other smaller ones have their source within the Ozark upland and flow down its eastern border into the Mississippi.

The rest of this district is drained principally by streams flowing to the south, the easternmost of these are Castor and Whitewater both of which have their origin in St. Francois county flowing toward the south and uniting to form Little river in New Madrid county. The St. Francois river also rises in St. Francois county and flows in a general southerly direction receiving the waters of Little river in Arkansas and finally flowing into the Mississippi. West of the St. Francois river are Black river and Little Black; these streams rise in Reynolds and Iron counties, flowing to the south into Arkansas and finally uniting with White river. The most westerly of the streams of the district is Current river, perhaps the most beautiful stream in the entire state, its general direction is south and east, it is a tributary of Black river.

South and east of the line which we have indicated, from Cape Girardeau to the Arkansas line, is found the alluvial bottoms of the Mississippi, Little River, the St. Francois, and Black River. With the exception of two areas, this section is practically level and all alluvial soil. These two areas are the Scott county hills and Crowley's ridge. The Scott county hills lie just south of what is called the Big swamp south of Cape Girardeau and extend a distance of about 15 miles from the neighborhood of Gray's Point to near Morley in Scott county. These hills are a part of the Paleozoic uplift and were doubtless connected with the ridge in Illinois at the time when the Mississippi river flowed to the southwest from Cape Girardeau. They are essentially the same in structure and geologic origin with the Ozark plateau.

The other elevated land in this part of Southeast Missouri is Crowley's ridge, extending from a point in Scott county not far from Bell City in a southwesterly direction, crossing the state line near Campbell, and ending at the Mississippi river near the mouth